Comprehensive Veterans Health and Benefits and Military Retirement Pay Restoration Act

Floor Speech

Madam President, I come to floor today as a cosponsor of the legislation that is being considered now in the Senate, the Comprehensive Veterans Health and Benefits and Military Retirement Pay Restoration Act of 2014.

The package of reforms included in this bill will help provide our Nation's veterans, to whom we owe so much, more job opportunities, greater health care access, improved educational programs, and increased oversight of the disability claims backlog, which is a real challenge that so many of our veterans are facing.

I thank the leadership of Senator Sanders, who chairs the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. This bill includes provisions that have been sponsored by both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate, which is why more than 20 veterans service organizations have endorsed the legislation, including the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Disabled American Veterans, and the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

As the heroes of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan return home, they deserve our utmost gratitude and appreciation. Many of our returning veterans served multiple tours of duty, sacrificing so much to protect this Nation. They deserve nothing less than access to the best health care, the best education, and the best opportunities for employment.

Medical care for injured servicemembers is at the heart of the VA's mission. We have a basic responsibility to care for the men and women injured while protecting this country. This legislation addresses one of the most common requests from our veterans: expanded access to the VA's dental care program.

I was meeting with some folks recently who told me one of the biggest reasons our men and women serving in the military on Active Duty are not able to be deployed overseas is because they do not have some of the basic dental care they need. Anyone who has suffered from dental issues knows it can be completely debilitating. So simply put: Veterans should not have to suffer because of a lack of capacity to support this basic medical need.

The bill also contains provisions that will help expand treatment options for young men and women who have sustained major injuries that may prevent them from starting a family. Starting a family is one of the most rewarding joys of life, and we should do everything possible to make sure our military men and women are able to overcome any reproductive challenges they may face.

Access to mental health care and counseling, both for our returning service men and women and their families, is also critically important. When our brave heroes deal with these kinds of health issues, their families are also affected. This legislation would expand mental health resources available to veterans and their family members.

One of the most significant reforms that is included in this legislation is moving the entire Department of Veterans Affairs to an advanced appropriations cycle. This means that Congress would pay the VA's bills 1 year in advance, making it absolutely certain there will be no gaps in funding for veterans programs.

Several years ago Congress moved the Veterans Health Administration to a 1-year advanced appropriation. The intent was to provide increased budget certainty and protection for the hospitals, community clinics, and other health care providers taking care of our wounded veterans. By funding the Veterans Health Administration in advance, Congress made sure that budget delays would no longer affect veterans health care.

But the rest of the Department of Veterans Affairs, including the Veterans Benefits Administration, does not receive that advanced appropriation. That means during last year's government shutdown veterans were at risk of not receiving their disability payments, and some personnel involved in decreasing the disability claims backlog were not working. Veterans should not have to wait longer or be put at risk of losing their benefits because of political disagreements here in Congress, and this bill will ensure that will not happen again in the future.

As I have talked with New Hampshire veterans over the past year, this advanced appropriations process has consistently been one of their top requests. I am very glad to see it is included.

The bill also takes important steps to help create job opportunities for veterans. It reauthorizes parts of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act, including a joint program between the VA and the Department of Labor which provides 12 months of training for high-demand occupations to unemployed veterans. So far, this program has provided job retraining benefits to more than 50,000 eligible veterans.

The legislation also includes programs which help veterans train for new careers and identify and apply for existing job openings. It will award grants for hiring veterans as first responders and would cut redtape for veterans seeking licenses for skills they have developed during their military service.

We should do all we can to get our veterans in the workforce. There are far too many veterans, particularly post-9/11 vets, who have not been able to get jobs and are experiencing so many of the unfortunate consequences of being out of the workforce.

This is why I have filed amendments to this bill which will create new tax incentives for businesses to hire veterans, and will make it more affordable and easier for veteran-owned small businesses to participate in Small Business Administration loan programs.

I have also filed amendments to address the backlog at the Board of Veterans Appeals, which is one of the really unfortunate situations we have for our veterans. We have veterans in New Hampshire who have been waiting up to 4 years to have their appeals heard before the board.

Finally, another amendment I filed to the bill is in memory of my friend Charlie Morgan. Charlie was a member of the New Hampshire National Guard 197th Fires Brigade. After the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, she became one of the first servicemembers in the country to come forward and talk about the challenges of keeping her family and her private life secret while she served in the military.

What also prompted Charlie to come forward was, in addition to those challenges, she was also dealing with breast cancer. Sadly, we lost Charlie last year to breast cancer. She was just 48 years old.

I met Charlie while she was serving as a chief warrant officer in the New Hampshire National Guard, but she had actually enlisted in the Army in 1982. After serving on active duty, Charlie joined the Kentucky National Guard in 1992, because that is where she was living then. But shortly after the 9/11 attacks, she joined the 197th Fires Brigade of the New Hampshire National Guard.

I have said it before and I will say it again today: There is a very special place in this Nation's history for those who step forward to defend this country and protect the very same freedoms denied to them out of uniform. Charlie Morgan never gave up the fight for her civil rights, and neither will we.

My amendment is cosponsored by Senators Mark Udall, Blumenthal, Gillibrand, and the Presiding Officer, Senator Baldwin. It ensures that all veterans and their families--no matter where they live, no matter their sexual orientation--get the benefits they have earned by putting their lives on the line for our country.

My bill passed the Veterans' Affairs Committee last July by a voice vote. I hope, first of all, we will get an amendment process on this veterans bill which allows me and so many of my colleagues to offer relevant amendments which I think would improve the bill we are hoping to consider. I hope my colleagues will support all of my amendments but particularly this important Charlie Morgan amendment because our veterans deserve nothing less.

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