Third District Congressman Jim Banks is serving as the chairman of the new House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization, which will look at the $15.8 billion, 10-year electronic health record modernization program that will replace the department’s legacy EHR system.

The new EHR system, if implemented successfully, will ensure members of the armed forces have a seamless, lifetime medical record that follows them from their time in uniform through their transition into civilian life.

The subcommittee’s first meeting was Thursday. Banks serves on the House Armed Services and Veterans Affairs committees.

A spokesman for Banks’ office was asked about Banks’ role, and said House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Phil Roe, of Tennessee, asked Banks to lead this subcommittee and that Banks “felt it was his duty to take on this leadership role on behalf of our nation’s veterans.”