Providing for Further Consideration of H.R. National Defense

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the amendment of my friend and colleague, Congressman Lieu, that would allow the Department of Veterans Affairs and community partners to address the needs of homeless veterans in the Los Angeles area by authorizing the use of innovative funding streams.

Currently, the VA's West Los Angeles Leasing Act of 2016 restricts funding. Any Federal revenue generated from leases on the West Los Angeles VA campus may be used only for the renovation and maintenance of land and facilities.

This means that while the VA can use proceeds from the leases to pay for things like running utility lines, they cannot use funds for the supportive services that veterans residing on the campus need.

Los Angeles has the largest homeless veteran population in the country, with close to 10 percent of all homeless veterans across the U.S. residing there.

The West LA VA hospital campus provides an enormous opportunity to provide shelter and support for those who have served our Nation, but face hard times, by building a supportive community for veterans.

We have made great strides at the West LA VA campus to address veteran homelessness, but there is still so much more that needs to be done.

Specifically, this amendment will ensure that the West LA VA is able to collect $25 million from the Los Angeles Purple Line Metro easement and put that money toward housing and supportive services for homeless veterans.

Funds from easements and other use agreements at the West LA VA should be returned to the campus and used for those who served our country in the Armed Forces. This is simply common sense.

Last November, I visited the West LA VA campus with VA Secretary McDonough, Congresswoman Brownley, Congresswoman Bass, and Congressman Lieu, who is leading this amendment.

During that visit, we learned about how the VA campus was transitioning the care, treatment, and rehabilitative services, or CTRS, from using tents to small innovative shelters.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, this provides a much more supportive living situation for those veterans trying to escape homelessness.

Currently, there are roughly 105 veterans residing in these innovative shelters, and over 550 unique veterans have been admitted to the program--it has proven to be a successful model for getting veterans connected to VA resources and quickly moved into permanent housing or treatment programs.

The change Congressman Lieu's amendment will make is especially significant.

VA has determined that under current law it is restricted from using funds from its leases and easements to pay for critical improvements for veteran safety and well-being, like security for CTRS.

This amendment would also free up funding for permanent supportive housing to be built on the campus, which means more veterans will be off the streets and into a home to call their own with the VA care that they need close by.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, as Chairman of the House Committee on Veteran's Affairs, one of my top priorities has been to curtail unethical conduct aimed at the men and women that have worn the uniform of our Nation. The Cicilline/Takano amendment offered to H.R. 7900, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 is another means to that end. This amendment would prohibit the enforcement of forced arbitration clauses in contracts covered by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA).

SCRA was created to extend important financial protections to military service personnel who are currently serving on active-duty and often targeted for exploitation. These protections can range from prohibiting lenders from repossessing cars and foreclosing on homes while servicemembers are actively deployed. Despite the protections granted in SCRA, corporations and big banks have been consistently targeting servicemembers and their families through the deceptive use of forced arbitration clauses. Forced arbitration has undermined the rights of servicemembers for years by forcing them to waive their ability to seek remedies through the courts. More often than not, these clauses are buried in the fine print of lengthy employment contracts.

This amendment will expand these protections to remove a common tool used in an exploitation that has become all too common. Those who serve in our military are inherently at a disadvantage against aggressive lenders as the nature of their service makes it difficult to seek fair resolve in any claims. Lenders are acutely aware of this unique disadvantage of servicemembers and many seek to take full advantage.

This prohibition on forced arbitration clauses would protect countless men and women from predatory lenders while deployed. Our servicemembers protect us both at home and abroad, and it is time we safeguard their rights against predatory lenders and others who shamelessly seek to exploit members of our military. I am hopeful that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will vote in favor of this amendment, and I thank Congressman Cicilline for his leadership.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source