Health Care

Congressman Gerry Conolly (D-VA) joined Reps. Steve Cohen (D-TN), Bobby Rush (D-IL), John Sarbanes (D-MD), and David Price (D-NC) in writing a letter to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Andrew Wheeler, regarding an EPA proposal to continue to weaken safeguards for coal ash piles. The letter, which was signed by more than 27 Members of Congress, expresses concerns regarding unsafe coal ash disposal and demands answers as to why the EPA has begun to weaken several cr... Read more

On Thursday, June 20, 2019, Rep. Gerry Connolly, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations, will hold a hearing to examine longstanding critical deficiencies at the Washington, D.C. Veterans Affairs Medical Center (DC VAMC). WHERE: 2154 Rayburn House Office Building WHEN: Thursday, June 20, 2019 TIME: 2:00 p.m. EST The hearing will be broadcast here. PURPOSE • The Subcommittee will probe the VA’s efforts to address longstanding problems that cause extreme risks to veterans’ healt... Read more

Joe Davidson Key members of Congress want the Trump administration to address charges of a “secret” Veterans Affairs wait list that has a higher number of patients seeking medical care than information publicly available. Allegations about significantly different data regarding veterans awaiting treatment on internal and public records were made by Jereme P. Whiteman, VA’s national director of clinic practice management, in a Washington Post Federal Insider column published online Monday . The ... Read more

On Saturday, June 8th at 11:00 AM Congressman Gerry Connolly, Chairman of the House subcommittee on Government Operations, will host a community town hall in Prince William County on the ongoing opioid epidemic. The town hall is open to the public and will include a discussion looking at what can be done at the federal, state, and local level of government in response to this public health crisis. “This is a crisis that’s impacting communities across Northern Virginia and our country. By bringin... Read more

Andrea Worker Thousands of furloughed government employees suffered during the shutdown. Many were forced to seek public and and/or private assistance to meet basic needs and financial obligations. But during their ordeals, those government employees knew that when they returned to work they would eventually receive back pay. The same is not true for the businesses and employees who contract their services to the federal government. There is no provision for lost personal compensation or compan... Read more

Mark Rockwell Even though the six-week partial government shutdown ended in February, its impact is still being felt, contractors told a congressional panel on May 6. Several federal contractors at a field hearing convened by the House Oversight and Reform Committee's Subcommittee on Government Operations testified their operations and employees faced extreme difficulties during the 35-day partial federal shutdown. Vendors told panel Chairman Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) that contractor employee... Read more

Nick Iannelli About three months after the longest government shutdown in history came to an end, leaders of companies and unions representing federal contract workers are speaking out, asking for legislative changes to ensure that their employees are guaranteed back pay if another shutdown occurs. “We should harness the pain of this most recent event and learn from it,” said Leidos CEO Roger Krone. Krone was among a handful of witnesses who testified Monday in front of the House Subcommittee o... Read more

Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Chairman of the U.S. Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and Congressman Steve Chabot (R-OH) reintroduced the bipartisan Global Health Security Act, which reaffirms the United States’ commitment to promoting global health security. The legislation is cosponsored by Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Ami Bera (D-CA), Ann Wagner (R-MO) and Rick Larsen (D-WA). The Global Health Security Act seeks to address two main issues – that U.S. glob... Read more

Today, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations, and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, led House Democrats in sending a letter urging the House Committee on Appropriations to deny funds for the implementation of President Trump’s government reorganization plan and the proposed merger of Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the General Services Administration (GSA). “We have grave concerns about the Admini... Read more

Representatives Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA) and Jackie R. Walorski (R-IN) have reintroduced the Federal Firefighter Pay Equity Act, bipartisan legislation to ensure federal firefighters are eligible for the same full and fair retirement benefits as their state and local counterparts. Every day, more than 15,000 federal firefighters put their lives at risk to protect our nation’s most critical assets – including the families, homes, and infrastructure on military installations across the country. Y... Read more