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

Floor Speech

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Ms. PINGREE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California for yielding the time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Veterans Benefit and Transition Act of 2018. Frankly, it is always a good feeling to be able to speak for commonsense legislation put together in a bipartisan fashion for the good of America's veterans.

In particular, I welcome the inclusion of section 504, the Veterans Fair Debt Notice Act. I introduced this last year in response to frustrations veterans have been experiencing with the VA's debt management system. It incorporates some refinements made in the Senate companion bill introduced by Senator Deb Fischer, which demonstrates the bipartisan nature of this effort.

The legislation improves the way that veterans are notified about debts that they may owe from the VA benefits program. Because of the VA's failure to notify or due to confusingly worded letters or letters that actually just never reach the vet, many veterans in Maine and elsewhere are shocked to learn that they owe debts, and for many, they have missed the deadlines to dispute or seek forgiveness for the alleged debt.

This bill directs the VA to work with veterans service organizations to develop standard notification notices that are written in plain language that anyone can understand and it also allows veterans to receive notices electronically.

To promote accountability, the bill requires the VA to report to Congress on the new standard and on the VA's efforts to reduce the number of errors in its debt notification system.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Roe and Ranking Member Walz for their work in support, and I urge passage.

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