To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish an Ombudsman within the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Key: what the circles and colors mean

Each circle is a bill. The ring fills as it moves through Congress:

IntroducedPassed one chamberPassed both chambersBecame law (gold)Resolution agreed to (full, dark)Failed or vetoed (gray)

Under the number: the Yea · Nay count of its final (or latest) recorded vote. On a member's page, the small badge is how that member voted: Y Yea / Aye, N Nay / No, P Present, – Not voting.

Gold and violet are only for Yea and Nay; they never mean a party. A member's party is the letter on their photo.

D HodesSponsor

44 cosponsors · 39 D, 5 R

0 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.

House Introduced May 7, 2007
House Passed Jul 29, 2008 398–0

Establishes in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) an Office of the Ombudsman, headed by a Director.

What it does: CRS summary · Passed House amended · Jul 29, 2008

Establishes in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) an Office of the Ombudsman, headed by a Director. Outlines Office and Director duties, including: (1) serving as a last resort for veterans' health care and benefits complaints and issues that cannot be resolved at a local or regional level; and (2) maintaining a public website with contact information for each patient advocate at each VA medical center.

Requires the Director to: (1) appoint three regional administrators to support VHA facilities and veterans integrated service networks in their patient advocacy activities; and (2) establish a board to hear appeals from veterans dissatisfied with efforts of their local medical center and service network, and issue letters outlining possible solutions.

Member	Party at vote	Seat	Position
Don Young	R	AK-AL	Yea
Jo Bonner	R	AL-1	Yea
Terry Everett	R	AL-2	Yea
Mike Rogers	R	AL-3	Yea
Robert Aderholt	R	AL-4	Yea
Bud Cramer	D	AL-5	Yea
Spencer Bachus	R	AL-6	Yea
Artur Davis	D	AL-7	Yea
Marion Berry	D	AR-1	Yea
Vic Snyder	D	AR-2	Yea
John Boozman	R	AR-3	Yea
Mike Ross	D	AR-4	Yea
Rick Renzi	R	AZ-1	Yea
Trent Franks	R	AZ-2	Yea
John Shadegg	R	AZ-3	Yea
Ed Pastor	D	AZ-4	Yea
Harry Mitchell	D	AZ-5	Yea
Jeff Flake	R	AZ-6	Yea
Raúl Grijalva	D	AZ-7	Yea
Gabrielle Giffords	D	AZ-8	Yea
Mike Thompson	D	CA-1	Yea
Ellen Tauscher	D	CA-10	Yea
Jerry McNerney	D	CA-11	Yea
Jackie Speier	D	CA-12	Yea
Pete Stark	D	CA-13	Yea
Anna Eshoo	D	CA-14	Yea
Mike Honda	D	CA-15	Yea
Zoe Lofgren	D	CA-16	Yea
Sam Farr	D	CA-17	Yea
Dennis Cardoza	D	CA-18	Yea
George Radanovich	R	CA-19	Yea
Wally Herger	R	CA-2	Yea
Jim Costa	D	CA-20	Yea
Devin Nunes	R	CA-21	Yea
Kevin McCarthy	R	CA-22	Not Voting
Lois Capps	D	CA-23	Yea
Elton Gallegly	R	CA-24	Yea
Buck McKeon	R	CA-25	Yea
David Dreier	R	CA-26	Yea
Brad Sherman	D	CA-27	Yea
Howard Berman	D	CA-28	Yea
Adam Schiff	D	CA-29	Yea
Daniel Lungren	R	CA-3	Yea
Henry Waxman	D	CA-30	Yea
Xavier Becerra	D	CA-31	Yea
Hilda Solis	D	CA-32	Yea
Diane Watson	D	CA-33	Yea
Lucille Roybal-Allard	D	CA-34	Yea
Maxine Waters	D	CA-35	Yea
Jane Harman	D	CA-36	Yea
Laura Richardson	D	CA-37	Yea
Grace Napolitano	D	CA-38	Yea
Linda Sánchez	D	CA-39	Yea
John Doolittle	R	CA-4	Not Voting
Ed Royce	R	CA-40	Yea
Jerry Lewis	R	CA-41	Yea
Gary Miller	R	CA-42	Yea
Joe Baca	D	CA-43	Yea
Ken Calvert	R	CA-44	Yea
Mary Bono Mack	R	CA-45	Yea
Dana Rohrabacher	R	CA-46	Yea
Loretta Sanchez	D	CA-47	Yea
John Campbell	R	CA-48	Yea
Darrell Issa	R	CA-49	Yea
Doris Matsui	D	CA-5	Yea
Brian Bilbray	R	CA-50	Yea
Bob Filner	D	CA-51	Yea
Duncan Hunter	R	CA-52	Yea
Susan Davis	D	CA-53	Yea
Lynn Woolsey	D	CA-6	Yea
George Miller	D	CA-7	Yea
Barbara Lee	D	CA-9	Yea
Diana DeGette	D	CO-1	Yea
Mark Udall	D	CO-2	Not Voting
John Salazar	D	CO-3	Yea
Marilyn Musgrave	R	CO-4	Yea
Doug Lamborn	R	CO-5	Yea
Tom Tancredo	R	CO-6	Yea
Ed Perlmutter	D	CO-7	Yea
John Larson	D	CT-1	Yea
Joe Courtney	D	CT-2	Yea
Rosa DeLauro	D	CT-3	Yea
Christopher Shays	R	CT-4	Yea
Christopher Murphy	D	CT-5	Yea
Michael Castle	R	DE-AL	Yea
Jeff Miller	R	FL-1	Yea
C. Young	R	FL-10	Yea
Kathy Castor	D	FL-11	Yea
Adam Putnam	R	FL-12	Yea
Vern Buchanan	R	FL-13	Yea
Connie Mack	R	FL-14	Yea
Dave Weldon	R	FL-15	Not Voting
Tim Mahoney	D	FL-16	Yea
Kendrick Meek	D	FL-17	Yea
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen	R	FL-18	Not Voting
Robert Wexler	D	FL-19	Yea
Allen Boyd	D	FL-2	Yea
Debbie Wasserman Schultz	D	FL-20	Yea
Lincoln Diaz-Balart	R	FL-21	Yea
Ron Klein	D	FL-22	Yea
Alcee Hastings	D	FL-23	Yea
Tom Feeney	R	FL-24	Yea
Mario Diaz-Balart	R	FL-25	Yea
Corrine Brown	D	FL-3	Not Voting
Ander Crenshaw	R	FL-4	Yea
Ginny Brown-Waite	R	FL-5	Not Voting
Cliff Stearns	R	FL-6	Yea
John Mica	R	FL-7	Yea
Ric Keller	R	FL-8	Yea
Gus Bilirakis	R	FL-9	Yea
Jack Kingston	R	GA-1	Yea
Paul Broun	R	GA-10	Yea
Phil Gingrey	R	GA-11	Not Voting
John Barrow	D	GA-12	Not Voting
David Scott	D	GA-13	Yea
Sanford Bishop	D	GA-2	Yea
Lynn Westmoreland	R	GA-3	Yea
Hank Johnson	D	GA-4	Yea
John Lewis	D	GA-5	Yea
Tom Price	R	GA-6	Yea
John Linder	R	GA-7	Yea
Jim Marshall	D	GA-8	Yea
Nathan Deal	R	GA-9	Yea
Neil Abercrombie	D	HI-1	Yea
Mazie Hirono	D	HI-2	Yea
Bruce Braley	D	IA-1	Yea
David Loebsack	D	IA-2	Yea
Leonard Boswell	D	IA-3	Yea
Tom Latham	R	IA-4	Yea
Steve King	R	IA-5	Yea
Bill Sali	R	ID-1	Yea
Mike Simpson	R	ID-2	Yea
Bobby Rush	D	IL-1	Not Voting
Mark Kirk	R	IL-10	Yea
Jerry Weller	R	IL-11	Not Voting
Jerry Costello	D	IL-12	Not Voting
Judy Biggert	R	IL-13	Yea
Bill Foster	D	IL-14	Yea
Timothy Johnson	R	IL-15	Not Voting
Donald Manzullo	R	IL-16	Yea
Phil Hare	D	IL-17	Yea
Ray LaHood	R	IL-18	Yea
John Shimkus	R	IL-19	Yea
Jesse Jackson	D	IL-2	Yea
Daniel Lipinski	D	IL-3	Yea
Luis Gutiérrez	D	IL-4	Not Voting
Rahm Emanuel	D	IL-5	Yea
Peter Roskam	R	IL-6	Yea
Danny Davis	D	IL-7	Yea
Melissa Bean	D	IL-8	Yea
Jan Schakowsky	D	IL-9	Yea
Peter Visclosky	D	IN-1	Yea
Joe Donnelly	D	IN-2	Yea
Mark Souder	R	IN-3	Yea
Steve Buyer	R	IN-4	Yea
Dan Burton	R	IN-5	Yea
Mike Pence	R	IN-6	Yea
André Carson	D	IN-7	Yea
Brad Ellsworth	D	IN-8	Yea
Baron Hill	D	IN-9	Yea
Jerry Moran	R	KS-1	Yea
Nancy Boyda	D	KS-2	Yea
Dennis Moore	D	KS-3	Yea
Todd Tiahrt	R	KS-4	Yea
Ed Whitfield	R	KY-1	Yea
Ron Lewis	R	KY-2	Yea
John Yarmuth	D	KY-3	Yea
Geoff Davis	R	KY-4	Yea
Hal Rogers	R	KY-5	Yea
Ben Chandler	D	KY-6	Yea
Steve Scalise	R	LA-1	Yea
William Jefferson	D	LA-2	Yea
Charles Melancon	D	LA-3	Yea
Jim McCrery	R	LA-4	Not Voting
Rodney Alexander	R	LA-5	Yea
Donald Cazayoux	D	LA-6	Yea
Charles Boustany	R	LA-7	Yea
John Olver	D	MA-1	Yea
Bill Delahunt	D	MA-10	Yea
Richard Neal	D	MA-2	Yea
Jim McGovern	D	MA-3	Yea
Barney Frank	D	MA-4	Yea
Niki Tsongas	D	MA-5	Yea
John Tierney	D	MA-6	Yea
Ed Markey	D	MA-7	Yea
Michael Capuano	D	MA-8	Yea
Stephen Lynch	D	MA-9	Not Voting
Wayne Gilchrest	R	MD-1	Not Voting
C. Ruppersberger	D	MD-2	Yea
John Sarbanes	D	MD-3	Yea
Donna Edwards	D	MD-4	Yea
Steny Hoyer	D	MD-5	Yea
Roscoe Bartlett	R	MD-6	Yea
Elijah Cummings	D	MD-7	Yea
Chris Van Hollen	D	MD-8	Yea
Tom Allen	D	ME-1	Not Voting
Michael Michaud	D	ME-2	Yea
Bart Stupak	D	MI-1	Yea
Candice Miller	R	MI-10	Yea
Thad McCotter	R	MI-11	Yea
Sander Levin	D	MI-12	Not Voting
Carolyn Kilpatrick	D	MI-13	Yea
John Conyers	D	MI-14	Yea
John Dingell	D	MI-15	Yea
Pete Hoekstra	R	MI-2	Yea
Vernon Ehlers	R	MI-3	Yea
Dave Camp	R	MI-4	Yea
Dale Kildee	D	MI-5	Yea
Fred Upton	R	MI-6	Yea
Tim Walberg	R	MI-7	Yea
Mike Rogers	R	MI-8	Yea
Joe Knollenberg	R	MI-9	Yea
Timothy Walz	D	MN-1	Yea
John Kline	R	MN-2	Yea
Jim Ramstad	R	MN-3	Yea
Betty McCollum	D	MN-4	Yea
Keith Ellison	D	MN-5	Yea
Michele Bachmann	R	MN-6	Yea
Collin Peterson	D	MN-7	Yea
James Oberstar	D	MN-8	Yea
Wm. Clay	D	MO-1	Yea
W. Akin	R	MO-2	Yea
Russ Carnahan	D	MO-3	Yea
Ike Skelton	D	MO-4	Yea
Emanuel Cleaver	D	MO-5	Yea
Sam Graves	R	MO-6	Not Voting
Roy Blunt	R	MO-7	Yea
Jo Ann Emerson	R	MO-8	Yea
Kenny Hulshof	R	MO-9	Not Voting
Travis Childers	D	MS-1	Yea
Bennie Thompson	D	MS-2	Yea
Chip Pickering	R	MS-3	Yea
Gene Taylor	D	MS-4	Yea
Denny Rehberg	R	MT-AL	Yea
G.K. Butterfield	D	NC-1	Yea
Patrick McHenry	R	NC-10	Yea
Heath Shuler	D	NC-11	Yea
Mel Watt	D	NC-12	Yea
Brad Miller	D	NC-13	Yea
Bob Etheridge	D	NC-2	Yea
Walter Jones	R	NC-3	Yea
David Price	D	NC-4	Yea
Virginia Foxx	R	NC-5	Yea
Howard Coble	R	NC-6	Yea
Mike McIntyre	D	NC-7	Yea
Robin Hayes	R	NC-8	Yea
Sue Myrick	R	NC-9	Yea
Earl Pomeroy	D	ND-AL	Yea
Jeff Fortenberry	R	NE-1	Yea
Lee Terry	R	NE-2	Yea
Adrian Smith	R	NE-3	Yea
Carol Shea-Porter	D	NH-1	Yea
Paul Hodes	D	NH-2	Yea
Rob Andrews	D	NJ-1	Not Voting
Donald Payne	D	NJ-10	Yea
Rodney Frelinghuysen	R	NJ-11	Yea
Rush Holt	D	NJ-12	Yea
Albio Sires	D	NJ-13	Yea
Frank LoBiondo	R	NJ-2	Yea
Jim Saxton	R	NJ-3	Not Voting
Chris Smith	R	NJ-4	Yea
Scott Garrett	R	NJ-5	Yea
Frank Pallone	D	NJ-6	Yea
Mike Ferguson	R	NJ-7	Yea
Bill Pascrell	D	NJ-8	Yea
Steven Rothman	D	NJ-9	Yea
Heather Wilson	R	NM-1	Yea
Steve Pearce	R	NM-2	Not Voting
Tom Udall	D	NM-3	Not Voting
Shelley Berkley	D	NV-1	Yea
Dean Heller	R	NV-2	Yea
Jon Porter	R	NV-3	Yea
Timothy Bishop	D	NY-1	Yea
Ed Towns	D	NY-10	Yea
Yvette Clarke	D	NY-11	Yea
Nydia Velázquez	D	NY-12	Yea
Vito Fossella	R	NY-13	Yea
Carolyn Maloney	D	NY-14	Yea
Charlie Rangel	D	NY-15	Yea
José Serrano	D	NY-16	Yea
Eliot Engel	D	NY-17	Not Voting
Nita Lowey	D	NY-18	Yea
John Hall	D	NY-19	Yea
Steve Israel	D	NY-2	Yea
Kirsten Gillibrand	D	NY-20	Yea
Michael McNulty	D	NY-21	Yea
Maurice Hinchey	D	NY-22	Yea
John McHugh	R	NY-23	Not Voting
Michael Arcuri	D	NY-24	Yea
Jim Walsh	R	NY-25	Yea
Thomas Reynolds	R	NY-26	Yea
Brian Higgins	D	NY-27	Yea
Louise Slaughter	D	NY-28	Yea
Randy Kuhl	R	NY-29	Yea
Pete King	R	NY-3	Yea
Carolyn McCarthy	D	NY-4	Yea
Gary Ackerman	D	NY-5	Yea
Gregory Meeks	D	NY-6	Yea
Joe Crowley	D	NY-7	Yea
Jerrold Nadler	D	NY-8	Yea
Anthony Weiner	D	NY-9	Yea
Steve Chabot	R	OH-1	Yea
Dennis Kucinich	D	OH-10	Yea
Stephanie Jones	D	OH-11	Yea
Pat Tiberi	R	OH-12	Not Voting
Betty Sutton	D	OH-13	Not Voting
Steven LaTourette	R	OH-14	Not Voting
Deborah Pryce	R	OH-15	Yea
Ralph Regula	R	OH-16	Not Voting
Tim Ryan	D	OH-17	Yea
Zack Space	D	OH-18	Yea
Jean Schmidt	R	OH-2	Yea
Michael Turner	R	OH-3	Yea
Jim Jordan	R	OH-4	Yea
Robert Latta	R	OH-5	Yea
Charles Wilson	D	OH-6	Yea
Dave Hobson	R	OH-7	Yea
John Boehner	R	OH-8	Not Voting
Marcy Kaptur	D	OH-9	Yea
John Sullivan	R	OK-1	Yea
Dan Boren	D	OK-2	Yea
Frank Lucas	R	OK-3	Yea
Tom Cole	R	OK-4	Yea
Mary Fallin	R	OK-5	Yea
David Wu	D	OR-1	Yea
Greg Walden	R	OR-2	Yea
Earl Blumenauer	D	OR-3	Yea
Peter DeFazio	D	OR-4	Yea
Darlene Hooley	D	OR-5	Yea
Robert Brady	D	PA-1	Yea
Christopher Carney	D	PA-10	Yea
Paul Kanjorski	D	PA-11	Yea
John Murtha	D	PA-12	Yea
Allyson Schwartz	D	PA-13	Yea
Michael Doyle	D	PA-14	Yea
Charles Dent	R	PA-15	Yea
Joseph Pitts	R	PA-16	Yea
Tim Holden	D	PA-17	Yea
Tim Murphy	R	PA-18	Yea
Todd Platts	R	PA-19	Yea
Chaka Fattah	D	PA-2	Yea
Phil English	R	PA-3	Yea
Jason Altmire	D	PA-4	Yea
John Peterson	R	PA-5	Yea
Jim Gerlach	R	PA-6	Yea
Joe Sestak	D	PA-7	Yea
Patrick Murphy	D	PA-8	Yea
Bill Shuster	R	PA-9	Yea
Patrick Kennedy	D	RI-1	Yea
Jim Langevin	D	RI-2	Yea
Henry Brown	R	SC-1	Yea
Joe Wilson	R	SC-2	Yea
J. Gresham Barrett	R	SC-3	Yea
Bob Inglis	R	SC-4	Not Voting
John Spratt	D	SC-5	Yea
Jim Clyburn	D	SC-6	Yea
Stephanie Herseth Sandlin	D	SD-AL	Yea
David Davis	R	TN-1	Yea
Jimmy Duncan	R	TN-2	Yea
Zach Wamp	R	TN-3	Yea
Lincoln Davis	D	TN-4	Yea
Jim Cooper	D	TN-5	Yea
Bart Gordon	D	TN-6	Yea
Marsha Blackburn	R	TN-7	Yea
John Tanner	D	TN-8	Yea
Steve Cohen	D	TN-9	Yea
Louie Gohmert	R	TX-1	Yea
Michael McCaul	R	TX-10	Yea
K. Conaway	R	TX-11	Yea
Kay Granger	R	TX-12	Yea
Mac Thornberry	R	TX-13	Yea
Ron Paul	R	TX-14	Yea
Rubén Hinojosa	D	TX-15	Yea
Silvestre Reyes	D	TX-16	Not Voting
Chet Edwards	D	TX-17	Yea
Sheila Jackson Lee	D	TX-18	Yea
Randy Neugebauer	R	TX-19	Yea
Ted Poe	R	TX-2	Yea
Charlie Gonzalez	D	TX-20	Yea
Lamar Smith	R	TX-21	Yea
Nick Lampson	D	TX-22	Yea
Ciro Rodriguez	D	TX-23	Yea
Kenny Marchant	R	TX-24	Yea
Lloyd Doggett	D	TX-25	Yea
Michael Burgess	R	TX-26	Yea
Solomon Ortiz	D	TX-27	Yea
Henry Cuellar	D	TX-28	Yea
Gene Green	D	TX-29	Yea
Sam Johnson	R	TX-3	Yea
Eddie Johnson	D	TX-30	Yea
John Carter	R	TX-31	Yea
Pete Sessions	R	TX-32	Yea
Ralph Hall	R	TX-4	Yea
Jeb Hensarling	R	TX-5	Yea
Joe Barton	R	TX-6	Yea
John Culberson	R	TX-7	Yea
Kevin Brady	R	TX-8	Yea
Al Green	D	TX-9	Yea
Rob Bishop	R	UT-1	Yea
Jim Matheson	D	UT-2	Yea
Chris Cannon	R	UT-3	Yea
Robert Wittman	R	VA-1	Yea
Frank Wolf	R	VA-10	Yea
Tom Davis	R	VA-11	Yea
Thelma Drake	R	VA-2	Yea
Bobby Scott	D	VA-3	Yea
J. Forbes	R	VA-4	Yea
Virgil Goode	R	VA-5	Yea
Bob Goodlatte	R	VA-6	Yea
Eric Cantor	R	VA-7	Yea
Jim Moran	D	VA-8	Yea
Rick Boucher	D	VA-9	Yea
Peter Welch	D	VT-AL	Yea
Jay Inslee	D	WA-1	Yea
Rick Larsen	D	WA-2	Yea
Brian Baird	D	WA-3	Yea
Doc Hastings	R	WA-4	Yea
Cathy McMorris Rodgers	R	WA-5	Yea
Norm Dicks	D	WA-6	Yea
Jim McDermott	D	WA-7	Yea
David Reichert	R	WA-8	Yea
Adam Smith	D	WA-9	Yea
Paul Ryan	R	WI-1	Yea
Tammy Baldwin	D	WI-2	Yea
Ron Kind	D	WI-3	Yea
Gwen Moore	D	WI-4	Yea
F. Sensenbrenner	R	WI-5	Yea
Tom Petri	R	WI-6	Yea
Dave Obey	D	WI-7	Yea
Steve Kagen	D	WI-8	Not Voting
Alan Mollohan	D	WV-1	Yea
Shelley Capito	R	WV-2	Yea
Nick Rahall	D	WV-3	Yea
Barbara Cubin	R	WY-AL	Not Voting

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish an Ombudsman within the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Votes to become law

Final vote · House · Jul 29, 2008