{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=0D4139EC-A121-4E3B-A0B6-FFFEBB0DA072", "ISAKSON & McCAIN REAFFIRM COMMITMENT TO MAKING THE VETERAN CHOICE PROGRAM PERMANENT IN THE 115TH CONGRESS", "2016-12-06", "2016", "2016-12", "Republican", "House", "AZ", "John McCain", "M000303", "www.mccain.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C. \u00ad\u2013 U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans\u2019 Affairs, and Senator John McCain (R-AZ) released the following statements today on their commitment to making the Veteran Choice Program permanent in the 115th Congress:\r\n\u201cEvery veteran deserves access to the health care they were promised, whether it\u2019s provided through the VA medical system or through care in the community,\u201d said Chairman Isakson. \u201cI applaud Senator McCain\u2019s work on the Veterans Choice Program, and I admire his passion for serving our nation\u2019s veterans. Next year, I look forward to hitting the ground running alongside Senator McCain and the Senate Committee on Veterans\u2019 Affairs to enact the necessary reforms to ensure that the Choice program can continue to be available for all veterans.\u201d\r\n\u201cI am grateful that Chairman Isakson is committed to making permanent the Veteran Choice Program and ensuring our veterans never again have to face unending wait-times for appointments with no recourse,\u201d said Senator McCain. \u201cSince the Veteran Choice Program went into effect, more than six million appointments have been made using the Choice Card and 350,000 more doctors, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants now deliver care to veterans than ever before. Today, the Veteran Choice Card is being used at 700 hospitals and nearly 10,000 clinics nationwide. This more than triples the number of hospitals treating veterans who would otherwise be forced to drive far from their homes to visit a VA facility, or face unreasonable wait-times for appointments. Having made so much progress, we can\u2019t afford to allow this critical program expire. I look forward to working closely with Chairman Isakson to make the Veteran Choice Program permanent next Congress, and appreciate his ongoing leadership of the Veterans Affairs\u2019 Committee to improve the care of all those who have served.\u201d\r\n###", 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.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=0D4139EC-A121-4E3B-A0B6-FFFEBB0DA072"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5786150470376015, "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"}