To amend title 38, United States Code, to recognize the service in the reserve components of certain persons by honoring them with status as veterans under law.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3787) to amend title 38, United States Code, to deem certain service in the reserve components as active service for purposes of laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 3787, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, today there are over a million men and women serving in our country in the National Guard and Reserves performing a wide variety of duties from combat operations around the world to responding to natural disasters at home. Members in the National Guard serve two commanders--the President, if called upon to join active duty components of the armed services, and the Governor of their State. Because of this, they were some of the first on the scene to bring calm following Hurricane Katrina. And during the recent British Petroleum oil spill in the gulf, over 1,600 members of National Guard units from four States were mobilized to protect our treasured coastline.

At age 60, members of the Guard with 20 years of service qualify for benefits similar to military retirees but cannot be designated as veterans of the armed services. As such, these so-called gray-area retirees cannot call themselves veterans even for honorary purposes. As such, they are not saluted during veterans' tributes and don't enjoy other ceremonial veterans' honors.

This bill would allow the members of the Reserve component the honor of calling themselves veterans. Specifically, this bill would establish members of the National Guard who are eligible for a non-regular retirement, but who were never called to active duty during their careers, to be called veterans for honorary purposes.

The chief sponsor of this bill is Representative Walz from Minnesota. He served 24 years in the National Guard, rising to the rank of Command Sergeant Major; and in fact is the highest ranking enlisted man ever elected to this Congress. When he was called to active duty for the period required to earn him full veteran status, he realized that many of his brothers and sisters at arms were denied that honor.

This legislation is supported by members of the Military Coalition and the National Military Veterans Alliance, which together represent several million active duty servicemembers, veterans, and their families. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 3787.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise also in support of H.R. 3787, as amended, introduced by my good friend, the former Command Sergeant Major Tim Walz of the Minnesota National Guard. I know where he wanted to go with this legislation. I think what he has done is really struck the right compromise. I discussed this even at the time in the committee. We don't like to think of America as a coalition government, but in fact that's what we are. We are States out there for which we all have to recognize the constitutions of each of the States and we are bound together by a U.S. Constitution. Different States have their own militia but at the same time they're also under the United States Code, and can be called upon. When they're called upon to serve in Federal status, in particular serving the Nation at war for a period of greater than 180 days or are injured on active duty, they gain access to not only being called a veteran but also to veterans' benefits.

But this is a pretty good title. It is an honorary title with regard to those who served greater than 20 years in the National Guard and they had not been called to active duty for an extended period of time, which would make them eligible for VA benefits under the statute. So I think what the gentleman from Minnesota has tried to do is to strike the appropriate balance, and I believe that he has found it.

I urge all Members to support H.R. 3787, as amended. I congratulate the former Sergeant Major on a job well done.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3787, which I joined my colleague the gentleman from Minnesota in introducing. Our military increasingly depends on the National Guard and Reserve to keep our country safe. Men and women who served our country faithfully for decades deserve full recognition as veterans, even if they were never deployed. The legislation would extend full veteran status under federal law to retired members of the Guard and Reserve. Current law does not consider Guard and Reserve members to be veterans unless they were deployed for more than 30 days. The policy excludes many soldiers in the Guard and Reserve who, while never deployed for long periods of time, carried out critical support roles during times of war and peace, engaged in frequent and often dangerous training exercises, and stood ready to risk their lives to protect our nation during military careers that spanned decades. This legislation recognizes the service and sacrifice of National Guard and Reserve retirees and grants them the full honor of being called veterans that they have earned. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, which is a matter of honor and fairness to our citizen soldiers.