U.S. Veterans Affairs Deputy Secretary Donald Remy in a visit to Colorado Springs on Tuesday renewed federal commitment to providing veterans “increased access and improved outcomes” in health care services.

As part of his visit to, Remy attended the national conference of the American GI Forum, a Hispanic veterans and civil rights organization based in Texas, as an opportunity to hear firsthand the needs of of those individually affected by VA policy.

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“At the end of the day, they’re the ultimate judges of the services that we provide to them,” Remy said while addressing conference attendees. “They’re the ultimate judges of our success.”

Remy’s appearance comes on the heels of VA Secretary Denis McDonough’s own visit to Colorado Springs last month amid growing demand for VA clinic services and subsequent concerns over wait times for appointments.

Jose Martinez, AGIF’s national legal adviser, said the national conference serves as a way for veterans to share experiences and issues they face locally, statewide and nationally. AGIF has seven chapters in Colorado: one in Pueblo, one in Colorado Springs and five in Denver.

He said members of AGIF’s command met with Remy personally to express additional concerns regarding veteran homelessness, suicide prevention and exposure to toxic substances during military service.

“Those issues were brought up and, of course, the deputy was very attentive to that,” Martinez said.

Remy was confirmed last July, not long before the approval of the VA’s $270 billion budget proposal for the 2022 fiscal year, which included suicide prevention and combating veteran homelessness as key funding priorities. 

Remy emphasized the importance of the new three-digit Veteran Crisis Line phone number, launched July 16, in increasing “ease of access and clarity” to crisis response professionals. The line can be accessed by calling 988 and pressing 1.

“We’ve been intimately involved in trying to make sure that this quick and easy way for all of our citizens, and our veterans in particular, (to reach help) is available to them,” Remy said.

The old VCL number, 1-800-273-8255, will remain operational.

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Remy celebrated the progress of the Honoring our PACT Act, which stands for Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics, that aims to help millions of veterans exposed to toxic substances during military service.

Burn pits were commonly used to burn waste like trash and hazardous material at military sites in Iraq and Afghanistan and let off dangerous substances that have caused short and long-term health issues in those exposed, the VA said.

The act essentially presumes that veterans were exposed to these “certain substances, chemicals and airborne hazards” during their service, eliminating the requirement for veterans to prove their illnesses or conditions were caused or worsened by these burn pits. 

The bill would add more than 20 respiratory illnesses and cancers to the VA’s umbrella of coverage, expanding coverage to an estimated 3.5 million veterans.

Remy said that if passed, the bipartisan bill will be the “biggest expansion of care and benefits in VA history.” He addressed pushback from some lawmakers who fear the addition of more veterans needing care will further overwhelm VA clinics around the country.

“We recognize that that will increase the number of veterans that VA serves,” he said, referring to adding procedures such as hiring more claims processors and automating claim processing.

“We understand that there will be more people in the system and more people in the system will likely result in some lag time,” he said. “But we’re working as hard as we can to minimize that impact on our veteran community.”

Remy said he will continue to visit with veterans in the Springs area after Tuesday.

“Colorado is an important location for all of our veterans,” he said. “And when I leave here, I’ll go into the community and I’ll be able to visit with others across the state and hear their stories about how they’re providing benefits and health care to our veteran population.”