Servicemembers' Cellular Phone Contract Fairness Act of 2007

Madam President, this week I introduced two bills to assist members of the armed services and veterans. S. 1314, the Veterans Outreach Improvement Act, will help to ensure that all of our veterans know about Federal benefits to which they may be entitled by improving outreach programs conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs. S. 1313, the Servicemembers' Cellular Phone Contract Fairness Act, will ensure that deployed servicemembers are not subjected to unfair penalties for cancelling their cell phone contracts.

I would also like to thank my good friend, the junior Senator from Hawaii, for holding a hearing yesterday that considered both of these bills along with many other important pieces of legislation to improve the treatment of veterans, servicemembers and their families. Senator Akaka is a strong leader on these vitally important issues as chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee and I commend him on his efforts and look forward to working with him to enact veterans' benefits legislation that includes my two proposals.

I am pleased to be joined in the effort to improve outreach by the Department of Veterans Affairs by the Senator from North Carolina, Mr. Burr. I introduced identical legislation in the 108th and 109th Congresses. I am also pleased to note that there is a companion bill in the House, H.R. 67, sponsored by Representative McIntyre. On Tuesday, the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance

and Memorial Affairs approved the bill by a voice vote.

I was extremely troubled by revelations of gaps in care as servicemembers transition to the VA that emerged as a result of investigations of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. I appreciate the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs' attempts to remedy these gaps, but more work remains to be done. It can be extremely difficult for veterans to navigate the VA's health care and benefits systems. This bill will increase congressional oversight of the VA's outreach activities and authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to work with States to perform outreach.

Several years ago, the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs, WDVA, launched a statewide program called ``I Owe You.'' Under the direction of Secretary Ray Boland, the program encourages veterans to apply, or to re-apply, for benefits that they earned from their service in the U.S. military.

As part of this program, WDVA has sponsored several events around Wisconsin called ``Supermarkets of Veterans Benefits'' at which veterans can begin the process of learning whether they qualify for Federal benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs, VA. These events, which are based on a similar program in Georgia, supplement the work of Wisconsin's County Veterans Service Officers and veterans service organizations by helping our veterans to reconnect with the VA and to learn more about services and benefits for which they may be eligible. More than 11,000 veterans and their families have attended the supermarkets, which include information booths with representatives from WDVA, VA, and veterans service organizations, as well as a variety of Federal, State, and local agencies. I was proud to have members of my staff speak with veterans and their families at a number of these events. These events have helped veterans and their families to learn about numerous topics, including health care, how to file a disability claim, and preregistration for internment in veterans cemeteries.

The Institute for Government Innovation at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government recognized the ``I Owe You'' program by naming it a semi-finalist for the 2002 Innovations in American Government Award. The program was also featured in the March/April 2003 issue of Disabled American Veterans Magazine.

The State of Wisconsin is performing a service that is clearly the obligation of the VA. These are Federal benefits that we owe to our veterans and it is the Federal Government's responsibility to make sure that they receive them. The VA has a statutory obligation to perform outreach, and current budget pressures should not be used as an excuse to halt or reduce these efforts.

The legislation that I introduced was spurred by the overwhelming response to the WDVA's ``I Owe You'' program and the supermarkets of veterans benefits. If more than 11,000 Wisconsin veterans are unaware of benefits that may be owed to them, it is troubling to think how many veterans around our country are also unaware of them. We can and should do better for our veterans, who selflessly served our country and protected the freedoms that we all cherish. And it is important to address gaps in the VA's outreach program as we welcome home and prepare to enroll into the VA system the tens of thousands of dedicated military personnel who are serving in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other places around the globe.

In order to help to facilitate consistent implementation of VA's outreach responsibilities around the country, my bill would create a statutory definition of the term ``outreach.''

My bill also would help to improve outreach activities performed by the VA in three ways. First, it would create separate funding line items for outreach activities within the budgets of the VA and its agencies, the Veterans Health Administration, the Veterans Benefits Administration, and the National Cemetery Administration. Currently funding for outreach is taken from the general operating expenses for these agencies. These important programs should have a dedicated funding source instead of being forced to compete for scarce funding with other crucial VA programs.

I have long supported efforts to adequately fund VA programs. We can and should do more to provide the funding necessary to ensure that our brave veterans are getting the health care and other benefits that they have earned in a timely manner and without having to travel long distances or wait more than a year to see a doctor or to have a claim processed.

Secondly, the bill would create an intra-agency structure to require the Office of the Secretary, the Office of Public Affairs, the VBA, the VHA, and the NCA to coordinate outreach activities. By working more closely together, the VA components would be able to consolidate their efforts, share proven outreach mechanisms, and avoid duplication of effort that could waste scarce funding.

Finally, the bill would ensure that the VA can enter into cooperative agreements with State Departments of Veterans Affairs regarding outreach activities and would give the VA grantmaking authority to award funds to State Departments of Veterans Affairs for outreach activities such as the WDVA's ``I Owe You Program.'' Grants that are awarded to State departments under this program could be used to enhance outreach activities and to improve activities relating to veterans claims processing, which is a key component of the VA benefits process. State departments that receive grants under this program may choose to award portions of their grants to local governments, other public entities, or private or nonprofit organizations that engage in veterans outreach activities.

I am pleased that this bill has the support of a number of organizations that are committed to improving the lives of our Nation's veterans, including the American Legion; Veterans of Foreign Wars; Paralyzed Veterans of America; Vietnam Veterans of America; Wounded Warrior Project; and National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs.

The second bill that I introduced seeks to make life a little easier for our servicemembers and their families when they are called up to duty or transferred. We all recognize the heroic service the men and women in our armed services provide the Nation each day. So when I heard stories about servicemembers and their families in Wisconsin having trouble canceling their cell phone contracts after being called up, I looked for a way to help. With the prospect of a combat assignment, the last thing our men and women in uniform should have to worry about are early termination fees or being forced to pay for a service they cannot use. I tried to have this provision adopted as an amendment to the Defense authorization bill last June and, while I was unsuccessful, I will continue to push for the adoption of this commonsense measure.

These problems with canceling cellular phone service have not been just isolated incidents. In fact, the issue has been raised by the Wisconsin National Guard. I will ask that the full testimony of 1LT Melissa Inlow of the Wisconsin Army National Guard at a hearing on a Wisconsin State Assembly bill in April be made part of the Record.

I just want to highlight one part of that testimony that makes the point that this is a real issue facing our servicemembers. She testified: ``It's becoming increasingly difficult to get cell phone service providers to suspend the contract. Even with suspension the soldiers are still paying up to $25 a month for a service they cannot reap the benefits of. These fees can accumulate to more than the termination fee which on average is $200.'' First Lieutenant Inlow went on to specifically recommend that the Servicemembers' Civil Relief Act be amended to include a section on cellular phones.

First Lieutenant Inlow and the Wisconsin National Guard are not alone in this opinion either. The National Guard Association of the United States, the Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States, and the Military Officers Association of America have supported my proposal since the original amendment was offered last June. I was glad to add the support of the Paralyzed Veterans of America, the Disabled Veterans of America, the American Legion, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars to this list when they expressed support at a recent Veterans Affairs hearing. This

practically universal support among the current armed services and the veterans communities clearly show that this commonsense provision should be enacted.

It is common now for cellular phone contracts to require a contract term of up to 2 years. Along with these long contracts, there are often early termination fees of several hundred dollars. When National Guard members are called up to active duty or soldiers are transferred overseas or to a base that isn't covered by their current provider, they often face the prospect of either paying these significant fees or paying monthly fees for the remainder of the contract for a service they cannot use. While many servicemembers and their families have been able to work with telecommunications companies to eventually get the early termination fee canceled, the account suspended, or the fees reduced, they have enough to deal with after being called up that they should not have this added burden as well.

My legislation proposes that we bring these cellular phone contracts in line with what we have already done for residential and automotive leases in the Servicemembers' Civil Relief Act--let the servicemembers cancel the contract. Under my proposal, if servicemembers are called up for more than 90 days, transferred overseas, or transferred to a U.S. duty station where they could not continue their service at the same rate, they could cancel their contract without a termination fee.

While my legislation helps to prevent servicemembers from being financially punished for volunteering to protect this country, I have also tried to make sure that the telecommunications providers are treated fairly as well. That is why I have included a provision that would allow the providers to request the return of cell phones provided as part of the contract. If the company requests the return under this provision, it would also have to give the servicemember the option of paying a prorated amount for the cell phone should he or she wish to keep it. Moreover, if the provider and servicemember mutually agree to suspend instead of terminate the contract, the bill makes sure that the reactivation fee is waived.

Several States, including Wisconsin, have already given servicemembers this protection. While these State laws are positive steps, a national law will make sure all servicemembers are afforded this protection and give the industry a baseline standard.

While this is a modest addition to the rights of servicemembers, it is important that we remove as many unfair burdens facing this country's men and women in uniform as we can. I hope my colleagues will share this view and quickly adopt this nonpartisan proposal.

Both of these two bills I introduced earlier in the week and that were considered in yesterday's Veteran's Affairs Committee hearing have widespread support. I hope this support will translate into the Veterans Affairs Committee including them as part of its package of veterans' benefits legislation later this year. I again, want to thank Chairman Akaka and the Veterans Affairs Committee for considering my bills to improve outreach activities and allow servicemembers to cancel cellular phone contracts in yesterday's hearing.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the aforementioned testimony of 1LT Melissa Inlow be printed in the Record.