21st Century Servicemembers Protection Act

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the 21st Century Servicemembers Protection Act and to address the problem that my buddy and fellow paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division brought to my attention, one that affects our deployed troops overseas when they return home.

Mr. Speaker, some cell phone companies and Internet service providers are not allowing deployed troops to suspend or terminate their contracts. Some troops, many troops, have had their credit reports damaged. We owe our brave troops better than this, and we need to do better for folks like Sergeant Patrick Campbell, who spent, on his first day back from deployment, 8 hours in a mall cell phone store the day he got back from Iraq trying to sort out his cell phone contract so he could call his loved ones and straighten out a wrongful credit report.

Mr. Speaker, our servicemen and -women must focus on completing their mission and returning home safely. They should not have to worry about creditors harassing their family or if a cell phone company is ruining their credit.

This bill also allows our heroes to keep their cell phone numbers so they can better reconnect with their loved ones once they return home. This is crucial when you look at one in five Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or TBI, traumatic brain injury, the two signature injuries of the Iraq and Afghanistan war.

Mr. Speaker, this is not a Democrat or a Republican issue. This is about doing what is right for our troops.

With that, I would like to thank Chairman Filner. I would like to thank Mr. Buyer. I would also like to thank Chairwoman Herseth Sandlin and Mr. Boozman for their leadership and bipartisan efforts on behalf of our veterans, and for including my bill in their legislation.

I am a proud Member of the 110th Congress, a Congress that worked in a bipartisan fashion for our veterans, the one that passed the largest increase in veterans benefits in the VA history; the one that passed the new GI bill for our troops, so they get 4 years of college education or technical school, and a Congress that now passes this great bill in the Halls of Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 6225.

I would like to thank Chairman Filner and Ranking Member Buyer as well as Chairwoman Herseth Sandlin and Ranking Member Boozman for their leadership on behalf of veterans and for including my bill, the 21st Century Servicemembers Protection Act, in this great legislation.

Mr. Speaker, my bill addresses a problem that a JAG attorney in the 101st Airborne brought to my attention soon after my election to Congress.

He alerted me to the disturbing fact that some of our troops have had their credit reports damaged during their deployments overseas.

They are having trouble suspending or breaking their contracts with cell phone companies or internet service providers--even if they present deployment orders.

In fact, the JAG attorney who called me was able to suspend one of his own contracts during his deployment, but to do so he was forced to pay a costly fee.

Looking into this further, I also discovered that some financial institutions are slow or unwilling to reduce servicemembers' interest rates during deployments . . . even though these creditors are already required to do so by law.

Mr. Speaker, we owe our brave troops, and their brave families better than this. While facing the strain of long deployments, they should not have to face repeated harassment by collection agencies.

As we continue to send a new generation into harm's way, it is our duty to protect these brave troops and do right by their families.

Our servicemen and women should be allowed to focus on completing their mission and returning home safely--they should not have to worry about creditors harassing their family, or if their cell phone company is ruining their credit.

Mr. Speaker, my portion of this bill expands the existing Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to cover 21st century service contracts such as cellular phones, utilities, cable television, and internet access.

Quite simply, my measure will allow troops with deployment orders to terminate or suspend their service contracts without fee or penalty and it will force creditors who knowingly or negligently fail to reduce interest rates to face penalties.

While I believe this to be a serious problem faced by our troops, most service providers take steps to allow servicemembers facing deployment or change of station to terminate or suspend service without penalty, and I appreciate the input I have received from a variety of industries on this bill.

Most companies have programs in place, and train their customer service representatives to deal appropriately with these situations. However, I recognize that mistakes do happen, especially in large companies with millions of customers and many thousands of employees.

My intention is not to use the most severe penalties available under this bill to punish occasional innocent mistakes. Instead, the penalties that are included in this bill should be applied proportionally with consideration given to the frequency, severity, and intent of the violation or violations.

In instances where a servicemember is only minimally inconvenienced, and the serviceprovider promptly rectifies the situation, no criminal penalty may be necessary at all. However, when the violations are intentional and repeated, the full penalty available should be applied.

Mr. Speaker, as a veteran of the United States Army and the war in Iraq, I know how important it is that our troops be able to focus on accomplishing their mission without worrying about credit trouble back at home.

This is not a Democratic or Republican issue. This is about doing what's right for our troops. With that, I would again like to thank Chairman Filner and Mr. Buyer for their leadership.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6225, as amended, the Injunctive Relief for Veterans Act of 2008. This bill as amended would amend title 38, United States Code, relating to equitable relief with respect to a State of private employer.

Mr. Speaker, once again, working in a bipartisan manner Chairwoman Herseth Sandlin of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity worked with me to pull together several fine bills into one cohesive package to provide new USERRA and SCRA protections to our military servicemembers and their spouses.

H.R. 6225 as amended incorporates provisions of H.R. 2910 introduced by Representative Susan Davis of California, H.R. 3298 introduced by Representative Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania, and H.R. 6070 introduced by Representative John Carter of Texas. And I appreciate their hard work in bringing to the committee such excellent bills.

This legislation would encourage the courts to utilize their equity powers when deemed appropriate in USERRA cases. During the full committee markup of this section of the legislation, Subcommittee Chairwoman Herseth Sandlin and Ranking Member Buyer had a very good colloquy on the intent of this section of the bill, to clarify that injunctive relief is available under the discretion of the judge hearing the facts, and that this section is not intended to create a new avenue of appeal in USERRA cases.

The bill, as amended, would also require colleges and universities to refund a student's tuition and fees for

unearned credit for the semester or quarter when they are called up for active duty, and allow these same students to re-enter the institution with identical and academic status that they had when they were activated to duty.

Finally, this bill would also extend Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protections to enable servicemembers with deployment orders to more easily terminate or suspend service contracts without fee or penalty for such services to include cellular phones, utilities, cable television or Internet access. It would also add penalties to those creditors under the SCRA who refuse to reduce interest rates, as currently required.

Additionally, H.R. 6225, as amended, would extend the same residency protections to military spouses as those granted to the military members for purposes of voting and paying taxes.

Mr. Speaker, I am re-emphasizing the Court's injunctive relief in USERRA cases requiring schools to refund tuition to those ordered to active duty, giving servicemembers the option of terminating certain service contracts, and making sure that military spouses are treated equitably for residency.

H.R. 6225, as amended, provides our men and women in our Armed Forces the protections they need to transition back to civilian life when their tour of duty is completed.

I congratulate Chairwoman Herseth Sandlin for once again doing yeoman work in crafting some very good bipartisan legislation. I support H.R. 6225, as amended, and I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I want to compliment Mr. Murphy for bringing forward this part of the legislation that is included in the bill. We appreciate you bringing it to our attention, and we appreciate your hard work in getting this done. The cell phone, the Internet, things like that that we take for granted truly are a hassle.

The other thing I want to compliment you on is listening to Sergeant Campbell. And so many times we hear of these instances and we don't follow up. So that really is important. So we thank you very much.

At this time, Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield as much time as he would like to Mr. Carter, the gentleman from Texas.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I might consume.

I want to thank Mr. Carter for bringing forward the legislation that he did that was included in this bill, the ability to designate a residency along with the husband, and not go through the hassle of having split residencies, which, again, it is little things like that as he alluded to, that truly are a hassle, and that the committee is working hard to address and trying to fix these things.

I also want to thank Mrs. Davis from California. Again, very much the same thing. You are working hard, you are in school and all of a sudden you get called up. You do your duty in a very glad way, to serve your country, but then you come back and you have got the hassle of half a semester that has to be dealt with. Most of the time the institutions are good about doing that, but they are not always, as we are hearing.

So I very heartily support this bill. I want to thank Ms. Herseth Sandlin and her staff. And I want to thank my staff for their hard work in getting it together.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6225) to amend title 38, United States Code, relating to equitable relief with respect to a State or private employer, as amended.

I thank the Speaker, and I want to thank my distinguished colleague, the chairwoman of our Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, Ms. Herseth Sandlin of South Dakota, for her bipartisan leadership in crafting this bill, Improving Servicemen's Civil Relief Act and USERRA Protections Act of 2008, to help protect our Nation's veterans. Congresswoman Susan Davis from my hometown of San Diego, Congressman Patrick Murphy who will be heard from soon from Pennsylvania, and Congressman John Carter from Texas also introduced language that is part of this legislation.

When they are called to duty, our servicemembers across the Nation leave their loved ones, they leave school, they leave work behind. Unfortunately, as we have many examples today, some of these servicemembers find difficulty in spite of presumed law to get back their old job, to get back into their housing or their enrollment at an institute of higher education. We have to make sure that all these men and women who are called up for service who do their duty don't have to face these difficulties which many thought were protected in law. We must honor their sacrifice by providing them with adequate protections so that they may have peace of mind that their interests and their families' interests are protected while serving our Nation.

This bill will protect these men and women by encouraging courts to use their full equity powers, including temporary or permanent injunctions, temporary restraining orders, and contempt orders, to protect the rights and benefits of these veterans. This section would amend title 38 by changing the ``may'' word to ``shall.''

Language that was authored by Congresswoman Susan Davis of California requires institutions of higher education to refund tuition for servicemembers who have not received academic credit, or allow servicemembers the opportunity to reenroll in the same academic status prior to their military service. The language also places a cap on the interest of student loans at 6 percent while the student is fulfilling military service.

As we will hear, language was included by our new member, Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania, to allow servicemembers to terminate or suspend service contracts such as cell phone, housing, or utility contracts, due to a permanent station of change of station or deployment orders. And Congressman Carter of Texas included the allowance of the spouse of an active duty member to maintain the same State of residency as the servicemember for State taxation, and to allow the spouse to claim the same State as the servicemember in regards to State and property taxes, and voter registration.

Mr. Speaker, we must honor our men and women who dutifully serve our Nation. When they leave home, they should not have to worry about receiving a negative academic status, paying for a service which they cannot use, or paying taxes in a State for this which they don't claim. They should be afforded the rights and benefits that they honorably are fighting for. I urge my colleagues to support the bill to protect these servicemembers and veterans.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have said several times today that our new Members have been very aggressive and active in extending the rights and care for our Nation's veterans. The same is true for Mr. Patrick Murphy from Pennsylvania, a new Member, our only Iraqi veteran, in fact, serving in the Congress, and has dedicated a lot of time to making sure his comrades get the health care and attention and benefits that they need.

I would yield to him 3 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I would yield 2 minutes to my colleague from San Diego, Congresswoman Susan Davis.

Mr. Speaker, again, I want to thank Mr. Boozman, who worked so well with Ms. Herseth Sandlin on their committee. In the spirit that they worked together, we had contributions from older Members, younger Members, Republicans, Democrats in what is an extremely good bill.

General Leave

I would ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 6225, as amended.

I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6225, as amended, the Injunctive Relief for Veterans Act of 2008. This bill would amend title 38, United States Code, with regard to equitable relief with respect to a State or private employer.

Mr. Speaker, I commend the Committee on Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity for its bipartisan efforts in bringing this bill before us. Subcommittee Chairwoman Herseth Sandlin and Subcommittee Ranking Member Boozman have brought together some good provisions from several bills to improve upon existing Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, USERRA, and Servicemember's Civil Relief Act, SCRA, protections for our military servicemembers and their spouses.

H.R. 6225, as amended, incorporates provisions of H.R. 2910, introduced by Representative Susan Davis of California; H.R. 3298, introduced by Representative Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania; and, H.R. 6070 introduced by Representative John R. Carter of Texas.

The intent of the legislation is to encourage courts to utilize equity powers in appropriate USERRA cases that come before them. During discussion of the bill that took place during the full Committee markup, Subcommittee Chairwoman Herseth Sandlin clarified that injunctive relief is available under the discretion of the judge hearing the facts at a preliminary hearing, and that this section is not intended to create a new avenue of appeal in USERRA cases.

The bill, as amended, would also require colleges and universities to provide refunds on tuition and fees for students who are called up for active duty, and it would allow such students to reenter the institution at the same educational and academic status that was held at the time of activation.

Mr. Speaker, this bill would extend SCRA protections to enable servicemembers with deployment orders to more easily terminate or suspend service contracts without fee or penalty for such services to include cellular phones, utilities, cable television, or internet access. It would also add penalties to those creditors under SCRA who refuse to reduce interest rates as currently required.

Additionally, H.R. 6225, as amended, would allow a military spouse to vote in the same location of Federal, State and local elections as the servicemember, and pay taxes in the same State as the servicemember.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 6225, as amended, provides members of the Armed Forces necessary protections that will enable them to make a seamless transition back to civilian life after their tour of duty is completed. These brave men and women put their lives on hold to ensure the freedom and safety of our Nation, and we owe it to them to provide relief when and where we can.

I support H.R. 6225, as amended, and I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

I thank my friend from Arkansas, the ranking member, Mr. Boozman. And I want to thank Ms. Herseth Sandlin for the work she did

incorporating into 6225, which I rise in support of, H.R. 6070, the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act.

I have a very similar story to the previous story. I had a spouse of a captain at Fort Hood come to me and say, you know, we have been transferred to the Pentagon. And my husband, he still votes, pays his taxes and everything else in Killeen, Texas. But I have been transferred with my husband up here to Virginia, and now I am having to register to vote in Virginia. My Congressman is from Virginia. I have to register my car titles and everything in Virginia, independently of my husband. I have to pay State income taxes in Virginia. And quite frankly, my husband serves in the Army, and we serve the military out of patriotism to our country, and we are proud to do it. But I make twice as much money as he does, and this is a burden upon me, taxwise and it is a burden on me with my family.

And I made the assumption that that was fixed, had been fixed a long time ago. So this, 6070, which is incorporated in 6225, allows the spouse to have the same benefits we have given to our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, that they can designate a residency and that remains their residency no matter where the military sends them.

My wife is from Holland, and she has a little saying in Dutch that she has got written on the wall. And it says, ``It's not the mountain you have to climb that gets you, it's the grain of sand in your shoe.'' And this is one of those grains of sand in the shoes of the spouses of our military which is an irritant to them that is easy for us to fix.

And I want to thank all those involved in allowing this to go forward. This will be something that seems small to some, but it is a big hurdle to the spouses of our military.