Ernest Peltz Accrued Veterans Benefits Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise to express my support for H.R. 3123, the Ernest Peltz Accrued Veterans Benefits Act, as amended.

It is no secret that our offices get a lot of calls about casework on veterans' benefits. Sometimes these calls are a simple matter of getting people the right point of contact in the right office. Sometimes it is an ask to wake a sleepy bureaucracy to move faster on behalf of a constituent. Sometimes these calls highlight a loophole or a blind spot in the law that has been discovered because deserving beneficiaries have been wronged or overlooked.

It is imperative in those instances that we as Members of Congress work to fix those problems on behalf of those who elected us to this body.

That is the case with the Peltz family. Upon the death of Mr. Ernest Peltz, VA failed to pay the benefits he earned when his death occurred shortly after the benefits were awarded. This resulted in his family having to navigate grief, the cost of his care, and additional challenges posed by the bureaucracy simply because of the timing of his passing.

We have already asked so much of our veterans and their families. It is entirely unconscionable that while in the fog of grief, we ask them to navigate paperwork and uncertainty regarding benefits that were rightly earned just because the day their loved one died doesn't align well with VA's direct deposit schedule.

The Ernest Peltz Accrued Veterans Benefits Act will relieve families of that unnecessary burden during a complicated time. This bill states that if a veteran dies before they are awarded their pension benefit and they pass away before the benefit has been paid out, that the pension benefit is awarded to the veteran's living spouse, living children, dependent parents, or the estate of that veteran.

H.R. 3123 closes an opening that families have unfortunately been slipping through.

We know of one family that this has affected, but we don't know how many other families have been touched by a bureaucratic system that felt cold and uncaring.

I thank Representative Stefanik for her work in addressing this oversight. Much of the work we do on the Committee on Veterans' Affairs is centered on the promises that we make to veterans and their loved ones. This bill is just that, honoring not only a promise to our veterans, but also their families.

This pension benefit is not, nor was it ever, a handout. It was an earned benefit that Mr. Peltz secured through his service in World War II. I will continue to fight until every beneficiary gets the benefits that they earned, no matter how long that takes. We must continue to expand veterans' benefits for all those who have worn the uniform of this Nation.

Madam Speaker, I support this legislation and urge all my colleagues to do the same.

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Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time for closing.

I encourage my fellow colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 3123, the Ernest Peltz Accrued Veterans Benefits Act, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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