{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.young.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/young-colleagues-applaud-house-passage-of-va-spina-bifida-bill/", "Young, Colleagues Applaud House Passage of VA Spina Bifida Bill", "2023-09-21", "2023", "2023-09", "Republican", "Senate", "IN", "Todd Young", "Y000064", "www.young.senate.gov", "toddyoung", "https://www.young.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Today, a bill to strengthen the VA Spina Bifida Program to benefit the children of Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange passed the U.S. House of Representatives on a unanimous vote.\n\nThe bill previously passed the Senate unanimously in July.\n\nThe bipartisan bill was led by U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), and a group of Senate colleagues.\n\n\u201cThis bill will support the children of Vietnam veterans born with spina bifida due to their parents\u2019 exposure to Agent Orange and ensure they have access to better resources and care. I\u2019m pleased to see it pass Congress and head to the President\u2019s desk,\u201d said Senator Young.\n\n\u201cThis legislation will ensure that the children of Vietnam veterans born with spina bifida due to a parent\u2019s exposure to Agent Orange will get the care and benefits they deserve for the rest of their lives. I\u2019m proud to have led this valuable bipartisan bill through the Senate and the House and look forward to it being signed into law for these veterans\u2019 kids,\u201d said Senator Braun.\n\n\u201cVietnam veterans sacrificed significantly for our country, and it is up to us to ensure that their children who were born with spina bifida receive the care that they need,\u201d said Senator Hassan.\n\nBackground:\n\nThe OCC Spina Bifida Health Care Benefits Program Guide states, \u201cThis program provides services and supplies for enrolled beneficiaries for all covered medical conditions, not simply those related to Spina Bifida.\u201d This assistance includes instrumental activities of daily living (i.e., cleaning a house or apartment, showering, cooking, etc).\n\nThe VA Inspector General (VAOIG) reported serious problems with the administration of the Spina Bifida program in their 2021 report, including failure to deliver benefits appropriately and to conduct proper oversight, leading to waste of taxpayer dollars.\n\nIt is estimated over 1,500 Veterans\u2019 children suffer from Spina Bifida in the U.S. and yet fewer than half of those are enrolled in the program.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:35:26Z"]], "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.young.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/young-colleagues-applaud-house-passage-of-va-spina-bifida-bill/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4210729859769344, "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"}