{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.isakson.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ContentRecord_id=A4D08BA5-5F8D-4E4C-BA50-B8E6FB92BB69", "Isakson Reflects on Senate Veterans Committee Accomplishments", "2019-12-23", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "GA", "Johnny Isakson", "I000055", "www.isakson.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "ATLANTA  U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, today reflected on the committee's accomplishments over the past five years while he has served as chairman. A video was released last month featuring Isakson's colleagues discussing his efforts to improve the lives of veterans across the country through his tireless efforts to reform the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).\r\nIt has been an honor of a lifetime to represent our veterans in the United States Senate over the past five years, said Isakson. During this time, we have fundamentally changed the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to be more responsive to the veterans it serves. I am proud of how far we have come, and I hope the committee will continue this progress to ensure veterans continue to receive the care and benefits they deserve.\r\nSince 2015, the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs has passed 63 pieces of legislation to improve accountability at the VA, expand VA education benefits, modernize the process for veterans' appeals of benefit determinations, and overhaul the VA's community care programs. Of these measures, 57 have been signed into law. The most significant reforms include the:\r\n \r\nThe VA MISSION Act  Isakson's landmark legislation to dramatically improve the way the VA delivers health care, signed into law in 2018. Since its enactment, the choice of care has been put in the hands of veterans and their doctors instead of bureaucrats.\r\n \r\n \r\nThe Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act  to improve accountability and significantly reduce the amount of time it takes to remove, demote or suspend VA employees at all levels based on performance or misconduct, signed into law in 2017. VA medical center directors are now able to improve the quality of care they provide veterans through transparency and accountability.\r\n \r\n \r\nThe Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act  to update the benefits claims appeals process for the first time in more than 20 years, signed into law in 2017. Since its implementation, this reform has already reduced the backlog of pending appeals cases by roughly 175,000 cases as of July 31.\r\n \r\n\r\nIn addition to legislation, the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs also:\r\n \r\nHeld 85 hearings, including oversight hearings on topics such as VA MISSION Act implementation, veteran suicide prevention and modernizing information technology at the VA;\r\n \r\n \r\nHeld 25 joint hearings with the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs to hear from veterans service organizations;\r\n \r\n \r\nConducted more than 83 oversight visits to VA health care facilities, VA regional offices, VA construction sites, homeless program facilities, educational institutions, military facilities, employment program facilities and other entities that coordinate with the VA in serving veterans;\r\n \r\n \r\nConfirmed 22 presidential nominations to various positions at the VA, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims and the U.S. Department of Labor.\r\n \r\nWhile my time in the Senate is coming to a close, I want to thank every single one of my colleagues on the VA Committee for working together in a bipartisan manner to ensure veterans receive the benefits they rightfully deserve. I hope the committee will carry on this tradition of bipartisanship to continue transforming the VA into a department worthy of our veterans.\r\nFor a full list of Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee accomplishments during Isakson's time as chairman, click here.\r\n###\r\nThe Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs is chaired by U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., in the 116th Congress. Isakson is a veteran himself  having served in the Georgia Air National Guard from 1966-1972  and has been a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs since he joined the Senate in 2005. Isakson's home state of Georgia is home to more than a dozen military installations representing each branch of the armed services as well as nearly 700,000 veterans.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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.isakson.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ContentRecord_id=A4D08BA5-5F8D-4E4C-BA50-B8E6FB92BB69"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.512008883059025, "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"}