Issue Position: Veterans Issues

Issue Position

San Diego has the largest concentration of veterans in the country, nearly 250,000 according the US Census Bureau. It is extremely important for our country to honor their legacy of service by providing the benefits we promised them, and the families that support them, when they return home and make the often difficult transition back to civilian life.

Veterans Focused Bills Rep. Peters has Introduced:

H.R. 1714 -- Shelter our Servicemembers Act, which aims to provide elderly homeless veterans with housing and wraparound services through a pilot program.

H.R. 2056 -- Veterans Employment Transition Act, which provides employers with a tax credit for hiring recently discharged veterans and eases the certification process for veterans to use the specialized employment skills they have.

Caucus Memberships:

Scott is a member of the following veterans & military related caucuses:

Navy & Marine Corps Caucus
Military Veterans Caucus
Caucus of Engaging Community Support of Veterans
Caucus on Women in the Military
Military Family Caucus
Military Mental Health & Suicide Prevention Caucus
Military Sexual Assault Prevention Caucus
United Services Organization (USO) Caucus
Defense Communittees Caucus
National Guard & Reserve Caucus
Special Operations Caucus

Preserving Benefits

* To address the backlog that is plaguing our VA and delaying the benefits our servicemembers deserve, Scott coauthored a letter to President Obama, urging him to take direct action to address the problem.

* He cosponsored a bill protecting veterans' pensions by exempting reimbursements of certain medical expenses from determinations of annual income with respect to pensions for veterans and their families.

* He also cosponsored and voted for a bill to provide a permanent annual cost-of-living adjustment to the amounts paid for disability compensation and for dependency and indemnity compensation.

* To ensure fair treatment for survivors of servicemembers, Scott cosponsored the Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act, which would end the "widow's tax" and repeal the SBP-DIC offset.

* And for our disabled veterans, he cosponsored two important pieces of legislation -- one that allows receipt of both military retired pay and veterans' disability compensation for any service-connected disability and one that allows full concurrent receipt of Combat-Related Special Compensation and Concurrent Retirement and Disability Payments.

Honoring Our Veterans

* Scott believes those who have fought honorably for our country deserve recognition. He cosponsored and voted to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the First Special Service Force for its service during World War II and cosponsored bills that would award Gold Medals to Filipino veterans of World War II and to the World War II members of the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders for outstanding heroism and valor; to posthumously award a Gold Medal to two former Navy SEALs who sacrificed their lives on September 11, 2012; and posthumously award the Medal of Honor to Sergeant Rafael Peralta. He also is cosponsor of a bill that would establish March 30, 2013, as Welcome Home, Vietnam Veterans Day.

* Scott also voted to allow the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund to acknowledge donor contributions by displaying, inside the center, an appropriate statement or credit, exempting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial from the prohibition against donor recognition at DC federal memorials. And he cosponsored a bill introduced by Rep. Duncan Hunter that would allow for the religious symbol of his/her choosing to be displayed on the war memorial honoring the respective servicemember.

* He also coauthored a letter to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, commending him for granting a waiver so a veteran's same-sex spouse can be laid alongside her at a national cemetery and encouraging him to continue efforts to extend this right to all LGBT veterans.

* And to protect the honor of those who have served and are currently serving, Scott voted to penalize individuals who misrepresent their service with the intent of profiting personally or financially.

Ensuring Employment

* Scott introduced a bill -- the VETs Act -- that would extend and make permanent the work opportunity credit to recently discharged veterans; improve the coordination of veteran job training services between the Department of Labor, the VA, and Department of Defense; and require transparency for executive departments in meeting the government-wide goals for contracting with small business owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans.

* Scott also voted to enhance the Veterans Affairs on-the-job and apprenticeship training programs and authored a letter to the House Appropriations Committee asking that Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment & Training Service be fully funded through Fiscal Year 2014.

Providing Housing

* Acknowledging that we have to do more to protect one of our most vulnerable population of veterans -- our seniors -- Scott introduced the Shelter Our Servicemembers Act, a grant program to provide elderly homeless veterans permanent, nontransitional housing and the stability they need to be able to take advantage of the wraparound healthcare and social services.

* He also cosponsored the Homes for Heroes Act of 2013 to ensure veterans fair access to low-income housing and homeless assistance programs.

Educating

* Scott cosponsored a bill that would ensure all veterans who attend college on the Post-9/11 GI Bill are allowed to do so at in-state tuition rates.

* And to make it easier for veterans who want to take classes at multiple community college campuses within the same system, Scott cosponsored a bill requiring educational institutions that participate in veterans educational assistance programs to report enrollment and any updates on interruption or termination of the education.

* He also is cosponsor of a bill that would equalize veterans' tuition and fee benefits under the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill so that those wanting to receive a quality education receive the same benefits whether they choose private or public school.

Health Care

* Scott cosponsored the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act, granting presumptive Agent Orange exposure status to U.S. servicemembers who served in territorial seas of Vietnam during the war.

* To ease and facilitate an expedited passenger screening program for servicemembers who are severely injured or disabled servicemembers, along with their families, Scott voted to require the TSA to develop and implement processes addressing the needs of this population.

* And he cosponsored a resolution naming May as Mental Health Awareness Month to bring attention to the special needs of our servicemembers who return home from overseas.

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