Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 2007
Floor Speech
VETERANS' BENEFITS IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - July 30, 2007)
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1315. I applaud my colleague, Congresswoman HERSETH SANDLIN, for her tireless work as Chair of the Economic Opportunity Subcommittee of the Veterans' Affairs Committee. She has put together an impressive package of benefits in this bill and as a veteran myself, I have to say I am incredibly proud to serve with the Congresswoman and am grateful for her unwavering support of veterans.
I am also proud that this bill includes the language from H.R. 1632, the Improving Veterans' Reemployment Act. Congressman DAVE REICHERT and I introduced this legislation to enact a small, technical fix that will improve the way the Federal Government deals with National Guard and Reserve reemployment complaints.
This legislation acts on the GAO's recommendations by requiring the federal agencies and departments that are involved with veterans' reemployment complaints to fully share their data. The bill also mandates that Congress receive all of this data in an aggregate report. This legislation offers a simple fix to a problem that has a negative effect on thousands of veterans returning home to their civilian jobs.
As a retired Command Sergeant Major in the Army National Guard, I have an intimate understanding of the veterans' reemployment issue. I deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom from 2003 to 2004 and was fortunate to have my job as a high school teacher waiting for me when I returned home. Unfortunately, the process was not as simple for every member of my unit and I have heard plenty of horror stories from both Guard members and Reservists who came home to a radically different job situation. Local businesses back home in Minnesota have done a tremendous job supporting the Guard and Reserves and bearing the financial burden of long deployments, but service members can still face problems when they return. Our bill goes a long way to improving the way the Federal Government deals with reemployment problems.
I urge my colleagues to support our legislation and the larger bill, H.R. 1315. Aside from the provisions of the legislation Congressman REICHERT and I authored, the Improving Veterans' Reemployment Act, H.R. 1315 includes many important provisions that improve benefits for veterans nationwide.
Source