To make technical corrections to the Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 2004.

Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the Remote Sensing Applications Act of 2005.

I introduced this bill as H.R. 2426 in the 107th Congress, and the House passed it in 2002. The bill was introduced again in the 108th Congress as H.R. 1292, and passed the full Science Committee. In this Congress, I'm eager to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to see my legislation through to passage in both chambers.

I originally introduced this bill mainly to address a real problem we have in Colorado, the problem of excess growth and sprawl. My goal was to point to a way to utilize the resources of the Federal Government to help foster wise community planning and management at the local level. As a Member of the House Science Committee and the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, it made sense to me to look for ways to help communities grow in a smarter way through the use of technology.

I have reintroduced the bill in this Congress because I still believe we need to do more to promote geospatial technology. Geospatial data from satellites can produce very accurate maps that show information about vegetation, wildlife habitat, flood plains, transportation corridors, soil types, and many other things.

By giving State and local governments and communities greater access to geospatial data from commercial sources and Federal agencies such as NASA, I believe that the Federal Government can help bring valuable-- and powerful--informational planning resources to the table.

My bill would facilitate this transfer of information. The bill would establish in NASA a program of grants for competitively awarded pilot projects. The purpose would be to explore the integrated use of sources of remote sensing and other geospatial information to address State, local, regional, and tribal agency needs.

State and local governments and communities can use geospatial information in a variety of applications--in such areas as urban land- use planning, coastal zone management and erosion control, transportation corridors, environmental planning, and agricultural and forest management.

But another potential application that has garnered much recent attention is the use of geospatial technology to bolster our homeland security.

Emergency management has always been an important responsibility of State and local governments. But in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks, the scope of this responsibility has broadened. Geospatial technology can help States and localities identify the location, nature, and scope of potential vulnerabilities and the impact of potential hazards, as well as how to respond to events and recover from them.

Certainly it is important that we continue to add to our database of available geospatial information--more information is always better than less. But we also need to get maximum use of information we already have at hand. That is the need this bill would address.

State and local officials are becoming more familiar with the uses of geospatial technology for various planning purposes. However, there is a need for Federal agencies such as NASA, which has been pioneering the uses of satellite remote sensing technologies, to work with State and local organizations to demonstrate how remote sensing and other geospatial data can offer a cost effective planning and assessment tool.

I'm pleased there has been broad bipartisan cosponsorship of the bill and that it has earned the endorsement of a number of important national organizations. These supporters of my bill understand the importance of targeting geospatial information at the places where it will have the greatest impact--the local and regional levels.

The Remote Sensing Applications Act can help begin to bridge the gap between established and emerging technology solutions and the problems and challenges that State and local communities face regarding growth management, homeland security, forest fire management, and other issues.

Mr. Speaker, this bill will be welcomed by States and localities nationwide. I look forward to working with Members of the House, including my colleagues on the Science Committee, to move forward with this important initiative.

Mr. Speaker, Chapter 21 of title 38, United States Code, provides for grants to adapt or acquire suitable housing for certain severely disabled veterans, including veterans who are unable to ambulate without assistance. The maximum grant amount for a severely disabled veteran is $50,000.

Public Law 108-183 extended eligibility for the adaptive housing grant to severely disabled servicemembers who have not yet been processed for discharge from military service, but who will qualify for the benefit upon discharge due to the severity of their disabilities. Prior to Public Law 108-183, qualifying servicemembers were not allowed to apply for or receive the grant until they were actually discharged from military service.

Section 401 of S. 2486, Public Law 108-454, extends eligibility for specially adapted housing grants to veterans with permanent and total service-connected disabilities due to

the loss, or loss of use, of both arms at or above both elbows.

An inadvertent error occurred in the drafting of the Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 2004, which the Committee discovered too late to be corrected without jeopardizing passage of the same bill in both the House and Senate before adjournment. The error resulted in the omission of the change made by Public Law 108-183 for catastrophically disabled servicemembers. H.R. 1292 serves to correct that oversight.

Mr. Speaker, this is a necessary correction to ensure the Department of Veterans Affairs continues to assist those severely disabled servicemembers who require their homes be adapted to their disability. I urge my colleagues to support it.