Preventing Crimes Against Veterans Act of 2016
Floor Speech
I am pleased to support H.R. 4676, the Preventing Crimes Against Veterans Act of 2016, as amended. This legislation provides an important tool for Federal prosecutors to combat veterans' benefits fraud, a very despicable practice.
Because we honor their service and the sacrifices that they have made, it is particularly important that we go above and beyond the call of duty to protect America's veterans from fraud and to ensure the integrity of the system of benefits we provide to them.
Currently, there are about 21 million veterans of the United States military, men and women who selflessly served our Nation in various theaters of war, from the Second World War, Korea, and Vietnam to more recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Unfortunately, many of our veterans, as a result of their service, have physical and mental scars.
There are well over 1 million American veterans with service- connected disabilities. The suicide rate among veterans is 300 percent above the national average, and it is estimated that about 30 percent of all Vietnam veterans and 20 percent of veterans of the recent Middle East conflicts suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder in a given year.
In addition, veterans are more likely than nonveterans to become homeless. They comprise 17 percent of our homeless population. On any given night, an estimated 50,000 veterans are sleeping on America's streets.
In recognition of the extreme sacrifice by our veterans and the hardships many of them continue to face after completion of their military service, it is our solemn duty and our obligation to provide to the best of our ability an appropriate measure of compensation for them.
For instance, we provide disability payments to those with service- connected disabilities. We provide pensions for veterans with limited incomes. We provide them with opportunities for education and training under the GI Bill. And we also provide various life insurance benefits. This is the least that we can do, and it is still not enough.
Unfortunately, there continues to be issues with the medical care we provide our veterans and problems with some benefits never being processed and paid because of the loss of claims by the Veterans Benefits Administration.
H.R. 4676 would make it a crime to knowingly engage in any scheme to defraud a veteran of his or her veteran's benefits or to knowingly engage in fraud in connection with obtaining veteran's benefits. Anyone convicted of such crime could and should be fined, imprisoned, or subjected to both penalties.
I note that the amended version of the bill we are considering today reflects an amendment offered in the Judiciary Committee markup by Ranking Member John Conyers. The amendment, which was approved by voice vote, extends the bill's protections to fraud involving the benefits owed to the survivors and dependents due to the service of a veteran.
Those who defraud veterans or their surviving spouses or dependents endanger our system of veterans' benefits not only by harming the victims, but also by diminishing the resources required to pay these claims and fund the programs that are needed to help those who have served their country.
Accordingly, I support H.R. 4676. I commend the bill's sponsors, Representative Tom Rooney and Representative Ted Deutch, both of Florida, for their work on this important issue.
I thank the chairman for hastening the consideration of this very important piece of legislation by the full committee.
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Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, it warms my heart today to be a part of this body and to be a part of the movement of such important legislation as this, which is to protect people who are very vulnerable to abuse. Without our action, it will just simply continue.
I want to once again applaud the efforts of Representative Tom Rooney and Representative Ted Deutch for bringing this legislation to us.
I look forward to its passage. I would recommend to all of my colleagues that they join us and support this legislation.
I yield back the balance of my time.
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