Providing Certain Burial Benefits for Spouses and Children of Veterans Who Are Buried in Tribal Cemeteries

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the House amendment to S. 2248, the Veterans Benefit and Transition Act of 2018. This bipartisan measure contains legislation championed by my House and Senate colleagues on both sides of the aisle and is a testament to the bipartisan relationships we cultivate and preserve on both the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees.

I thank Chairman Roe and all members of the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees, both Democrats and Republicans, for their hard work putting together this legislative package that will improve the benefits and support our country owes America's veterans.

I want to specifically acknowledge my Democratic colleagues, Ranking Member Walz, now Governor-elect of Minnesota--and, yes, Chairman Roe, it is very cold there--Congressman Scott Peters, Congressman Correa, Congresswoman Pingree, Congressman Himes, and Congresswoman Bustos, who have made valuable contributions to this legislation.

I would also like to take this time to thank Dr. Roe for his leadership as chairman of this committee in this Congress. I look forward to working with Dr. Roe as ranking member of the 116th Congress so that we can continue to function as a productive committee in the 116th, free from partisan gridlock, on behalf of the veterans whom we represent.

Now, as a former teacher--actually, a current teacher--and advocate for improving educational and training opportunities for veterans, I am pleased this legislation contains several provisions written by my colleagues that will improve the lives of our student veterans and those of our Gold Star spouses.

This package also includes a provision that helps our reservists and National Guard members access the valuable help that the vocational rehabilitation program can provide.

I would first like to highlight legislation written by Mr. Peters, our colleague on this committee. This measure contains his bill, H.R. 5538, that would provide parity to our National Guard and Reserve servicemembers involuntarily mobilized to Active Duty under 12304b of title 10 in support of commands that conduct combat missions.

As our country continues to utilize our Guard and Reserve members as an operational reserve force, it is critically important that we modernize our statutes to treat our Guard and Reserve members who have served shoulder to shoulder with Active-Duty servicemembers on multiple deployments with parity while they serve in uniform.

This bill allows Guard and Reserve members to stop the clock on the 12-year limit to use vocational rehabilitation programs while they are supporting active combat missions. Currently, the clock is stopped for most other instances in which National Guard and Reserve are mobilized, but this particular authority was overlooked.

This is an important fix because the Department of Defense continues to increase the use of its 12304b authority. With this provision, Congress has the authority to be proactive in addressing the needs of our servicemembers.

Now, let me turn to Congressman Himes' bill, H.R. 3634, the Securing Electronic Records for Veterans' Ease Act of 2017. It is included in this measure as well.

For student veterans, the VA does not currently provide sufficient information about the exact amount of housing stipend that a beneficiary will receive under the GI Bill benefits; but many veterans rely on their housing stipend to pay for housing while they are attending school, making it necessary for them to show proof of their housing allowance as proof of income. Without this proof of income, veterans often find themselves unable to secure housing before the start of school.

Now, this is a commonsense piece of documentation that VA can electronically provide to allow our veterans to easily use their earned benefits, and I am pleased this great idea by Congressman Himes was included in this package.

Congresswoman Bustos' legislation, H.R. 5882, the Gold Star Spouses Leasing Relief Act, would allow the spouse of a deceased servicemember to terminate a housing lease following the death of his or her loved one.

Servicemembers and their families are often stationed far from home due to the needs of the service. In the sad and difficult time after the passing of a servicemember, spouses should not be locked into a rental lease far away from their home and support network and face an additional financial burden to return home.

This small detail can make life a lot easier for a grieving spouse, and I am pleased to see my colleague's bill included in this package.

Congressman Lou Correa, our colleague on this committee, introduced H.R. 4335, the Servicemember Family Burial Act, which makes permanent VA's practice of providing burials and headstones for the family of servicemembers who predecease them.

When an Active-Duty servicemember loses a spouse or a child, it is always in tragic and difficult circumstances. VA should continue to seamlessly provide this benefit with dignity, sensitivity, and compassion.

I want to thank Congressman Correa for sponsoring this legislation, and I am pleased to see it included in this measure.

I also wish to highlight legislation written by Congresswoman Pingree, the Veterans Fair Debt Notice Act of 2017, which is included in this legislative package.

The American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans, the Paralyzed Veterans of America, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars testified before our committee that the debt collection letters VA sends veterans are confusing, do not clearly explain the reason for the debt or clearly describe the steps a veteran must take to dispute or mitigate the debt.

This legislation would require VA to explain the reason the veteran incurred a debt in plain language and clearly explain the steps they can take to dispute or repay the debt.

It would also require VA to give veterans the option to opt-in to electronic notification and require VA to determine the number of veterans who are not receiving debt notification letters due to incorrect addresses on file, which prevents veterans from taking action because they have not been notified. This legislation forces VA to make these changes within 90 days of enactment.

Finally, I wish to thank my good friend, Ranking Member Tim Walz, for his leadership on this committee during the 115th Congress. The Governor-elect of Minnesota leaves the United States House of Representatives with a legacy of bipartisan legislative accomplishments that will undoubtedly improve the lives of veterans for years to come.

I want to thank Chairman Roe and our Senate colleagues for including his bill, H.R. 4245, the Veterans' Electronic Health Record Modernization Oversight Act of 2017, in this measure, enabling this committee to continue its oversight of the $16 billion Electronic Health Record Modernization, or EHRM, program over the next 10 years.

Mr. Speaker, I say to the gentleman, Chairman Roe, we are going to do intensive oversight of this project; I guarantee you that.

This legislation requires the VA to submit contract, technical, and other documents to Congress and to provide updated documents on a quarterly basis.

The legislation also requires VA to notify Congress about program challenges, including incidents affecting patient safety, cost overruns over $1 million, and a milestone delay of 30 days or more, bid protests, or a data or privacy breach.

Now, we know that we will likely need to expand these reporting requirements in the future to include other contract and technical documents as the program matures and additional technical capabilities are achieved. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the next Congress to ensure that we maintain close oversight of this program and hold VA accountable, if necessary.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the House amendment to S.

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Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time I have remaining?
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Mr. TAKANO. Pingree), my good friend.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers.

I want to urge all my colleagues to join me in passing this important legislation, S. 2248. I want to announce my intention to work with Mr. Roe, my colleague from Tennessee, in the next Congress, that we will preserve the sacred bipartisan space that we have here for America's veterans in the Veterans' Affairs Committee. We have so much more to do, and I hope it lays the groundwork for this Congress to continue to heal and reach out to each other and serve America as well as our veterans.

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