U.S. Rep. Martha Roby spoke to the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce today and touched on the Benghazi report released this week by the committee she serves on and on military appropriations and veterans care that are vital to her congressional district.
Roby, R-Montgomery, served on the House Select Committee on Benghazi that released a report on the events surrounding the 2012 attack on U.S. facilities in Libya that left four Americans dead. It highlighted the Obama Administration’s lack of action.
“I am proud of this report,” Rep. Roby said.
Rep. Roby said the Administration was more concerned about a diplomatic reaction had the U.S. military acted in a rescue capacity than “it was for our personnel.”
“I encourage everybody in this room to read it in its entirety,” Rep. Roby said. “Government agencies were covering their tracks.”
Rep. Roby spoke at the Chamber’s Issues and Eggs breakfast sponsored by the Business Council of Alabama and others.
Rep. Roby also spoke of H.R. 5128, the Protection and Advocacy for Veterans Act, which she introduced in May. The bill seeks to create a VA advocate to ensure mental health and substance abuse care.
Rep. Roby also sponsored H.R. 3234, the VA Medical Center Recovery Act, which passed the House in February. It would require the VA to determine whether each medical center is satisfactory or underperforming to send a rapid deployment team to underperforming centers to turn them around.
Rep. Roby serves on the powerful House Committee on Appropriations and the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Committee. She has been an advocate for better medical service for veterans.
The Second Congressional District that Rep. Roby represents contains three military installations, two VA medical centers, and three VA outpatient clinics.
The Appropriations Committee in April approved the Fiscal Year 2017 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill that funds veteran services and military installations. The bill totals $81.6 billion, $73.5 billion of which is directed to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the highest level of discretionary funding ever for the VA.
Rep. Roby said the legislation will speed up VA payments of outstanding bills to vendors and provide Congress an accounting of any unpaid bills. She said her goal is for the VA to settle outstanding debts and fix the reimbursement process so providers will be confident in partnering with the VA.
Earlier this year the BCA endorsed Rep. Roby’s reelection bid.