{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=53AA5FF0-2131-4A9E-8A0A-D4027CA9B462", "Boozman, Colleagues Introduce Legislation to Expand VA Services to U.S. Veterans Residing in Freely Associated States", "2025-12-15", "2025", "2025-12", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "John Boozman", "B001236", "www.boozman.senate.gov", "boozman", "https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON\u2014 U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR), Chairman of the Senate Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (MilCon-VA) Appropriations Subcommittee, joined Senators Jerry Moran (R-KS), Chairman of the Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee, and Brian Schatz (D-HI) to introduce the Caring for Veterans and Strengthening National Security Act. The legislation would expand Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care and benefits to U.S. veterans who reside in the Freely Associated States (FAS) of Palau, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands by providing telehealth services, mail-order pharmacy benefits and beneficiary travel reimbursements. Implementation of these services by VA relates critically to U.S. national interests with respect to global security and supports populations with some of the highest per-capita enlistment rates in the U.S. military.\n\n\u201cWe have a duty to fulfill the promises made to those who have sacrificed for our country including veterans in the Marshall Islands and their FAS peers,\u201d said Boozman. \u201cI\u2019m pleased to join this bipartisan initiative to ensure access to earned benefits isn\u2019t constrained by where a veteran calls home. Providing telehealth, medication delivery flexibility and travel reimbursement will honor our compact and maintain strong ties that serve our shared interests.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe have a commitment to support and care for those who have served our nation,\u201d said Moran. \u201cThis legislation confirms our commitment to helping veterans succeed after their military service is over and bolsters our longstanding and unique relationships with these three important countries in the Pacific. I thank my colleagues for supporting this legislation that would improve services for our nation\u2019s veterans and support our collective national security interests abroad.\u201d\n\n\u201cU.S. veterans in the FAS deserve the same care as all other servicemembers, without having to navigate complex, costly barriers or travel long distances just to see a doctor or get medication,\u201d said Schatz. \u201cThis bill ensures servicemembers can finally access the care they deserve.\u201d\n\nThe measure is cosponsored by Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), James Risch (R-ID), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).\n\nHere\u2019s what representatives of the FAS are saying about the Caring for Veterans and Strengthening National Security Act:\n\n\u201cI strongly support this bipartisan legislation to extend VA health care to veterans in the Freely Associated States,\u201d said Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Marshall Islands Kalani R. Kaneko. \u201cThis is not a political issue, it is personal and rooted in shared sacrifice. As a retired U.S. Army veteran, I recruited nearly 200 Marshallese men and women who served under the U.S. flag and earned these benefits. Allowing veterans to receive care at home strengthens families, stabilizes communities, and advances shared national security interests by reducing forced Marshallese out-migration driven by lack of access to care, while reinforcing the enduring defense partnership between the United States and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. This legislation honors the service of Marshallese and American veterans alike and is a win-win for both nations.\u201d\n\n\u201cFSM is proud to have some of the highest enlistment rates of our citizens who have volunteered to serve in the U.S. military,\u201d said Ambassador of the Federated States of Micronesia to the United States Jackson Soram. \u201cHowever, veterans who return home to the FSM after serving have faced significant cost and access barriers to care through the existing Foreign Medical Program. The Compact of Free Association Amendments Act of 2024 removed statutory barriers for veterans to access their earned VA healthcare benefits. We appreciate the strong bipartisan leadership of Senators Moran, Schatz, Wicker, Hirono, Boozman, Blumenthal, Risch, Heinrich, Murkowski, and Shaheen on the Caring for Veterans and Strengthening National Security Act, which will direct the VA to provide certain necessary healthcare services, including telehealth, mail-order pharmacy benefits, and beneficiary travel consistent with the congressional intent of the provisions of the COFA Amendments Act of 2024.\u201d\n\n\u201cA top U.S. military commander called Palau \u2018part of the homeland.\u2019 We effectively are in a Texas-sized area next to Asia,\u201d said Ambassador of Palau to the United States and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in the United States Hersey Kyota. \u201cOne reason is that we let the U.S. military base radars, missile tests, a runway, and a dock. More importantly, though, it recruits our young. Most can\u2019t come home after their service, however, because they can\u2019t get the VA healthcare to which they\u2019re entitled. That devalues their service, deprives Palau of their skills, and deprives the U.S. of compelling citizen ambassadors. President Whipps and his team have worked to have this inequity corrected, and last year\u2019s bipartisan U.S. law to strengthen the free association that binds our nations almost as one was intended to do that. This new bill would. Palau greatly appreciates it.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=53AA5FF0-2131-4A9E-8A0A-D4027CA9B462"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.519575947895646, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}