Veterans Appeals Improvement Act of 2011

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendments to the bill (H.R. 1627) to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for certain requirements for the placement of monuments in Arlington National Cemetery, and for other purposes.

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

General Leave

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members would have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and add any extraneous material on the bill under consideration

As the chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, I rise in support of the Senate amendments to H.R. 1627. This is a comprehensive, bipartisan, bicameral legislative package to provide for the needs of veterans, their families and survivors through improved health care, housing, education, and memorial services.

In addition, the Senate amendments to H.R. 1627 would improve the accountability and transparency of the Department of Veterans Affairs, ensuring that VA is responsible to those it serves, our American veterans.

As the title of this bill implies, this legislation would authorize VA health care services for veterans and their families for certain illnesses that manifested as a result of exposure to water contamination at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, during a 30-year span that ended in 1987.

I want to specifically acknowledge the efforts of retired Marine Master Sergeant Jerry Ensminger, whose dogged efforts to seek answers from the government and justice for the victims of the water contamination inspired this bill. In honor of Jerry's daughter, Janey, who died of leukemia at the age of 9 after time spent at Camp Lejeune when the water was contaminated, title I of this bill bears her name.

Finally, I thank Representative Brad Miller and Senator Richard Burr, the original sponsors of the Camp Lejeune legislation in the House and the Senate, for their leadership. And although this legislation represents a hard-fought victory, we must not forget those who are no longer with us to see it become law.

I think when Senator Burr said this, he said it best:

Unfortunately, many who were exposed have died as a result

and are not here to receive the care this bill can provide.

While I wish we could have accomplished this years ago, we

now have the opportunity to do the right thing for thousands

who were harmed during their service to our country.

And I couldn't agree more.

In addition to the veterans of Camp Lejeune, section 106 of this bill contains legislation the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Health, Ms. Buerkle, introduced, H.R. 2074, the Veterans Sexual Assault Prevention Act. The section and her bill, which passed the House last year, would address the serious failure of the Department of Veterans Affairs to prevent and report sexual assault incidents and corresponding flaws in the security of their facilities. It creates a fundamentally safer environment for our veterans and VA employees by requiring an accountable and comprehensive oversight system.

I want to express my personal appreciation to Ms. Buerkle for her advocacy on behalf of women and all of our veterans. In just 2 short years, she has proven herself to be a committed and strong voice for servicemembers and veterans, not only in the State of New York, but across this country.

Her considerable expertise as a nurse, a lawyer, and a mother of six was the reason I chose her to be the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Health, and I can tell you that in the roll that she has played, she has never wavered from doing what is right for all of our veterans.

The bill also includes several worthy legislative proposals to improve health care services brought forth from our Members on both sides of the aisle and in both Chambers, the House and in the Senate.

This bill also addresses several other areas where we will be able to expand and improve health care for veterans. It would allow for greater flexibility in VA payments to State veterans homes, break down barriers to care for veterans with traumatic brain injury, clarify the access rights of service dogs on VA property, and improve care for rural elderly and homeless veterans.

This bill also addresses several important matters related to veterans' housing. Because many of our returning wounded warriors need assistance modifying their residences to meet their needs, this bill would reauthorize and expand several provisions relating to the Specially Adapted Housing Grant Program.

These grants provide funding to eligible disabled veterans and servicemembers who adapt homes that they own or homes that they are currently living in to meet their daily needs. Adaptations can include grab bars in bathrooms, widening doorways for wheelchairs, or constructing a wheelchair ramp. These grants are imperative to affording veterans the level of independent living that they were accustomed to prior to their injury and that they may not be able to otherwise enjoy.

As many of us are aware, far too many of our veterans have found themselves on hard times and are homeless or are at risk for homelessness. To combat this problem, this bill would authorize funding for additional housing options for homeless veterans to help them gain stability and obtain access to other treatment and services that they may need from VA.

The next area of the bill would be in addressing education. We all know that we have provided a very generous benefit to the veterans in the post-9/11 GI Bill. The problem is that we have never really tracked the performance of the bill or if the benefits are effective in training veterans to be leaders of tomorrow. Therefore, this legislation would increase our oversight of post-9/11 educational benefits by requiring annual reports to Congress on the effectiveness of these benefits and how they're being utilized.

I want to thank my friend, Congressman Gus Bilirakis, for introducing this provision in H.R. 2274 and for his leadership on improving transparency for the post-9/11 GI Bill.

Another critical area addressed by this legislation is that of veteran benefits. Over the last 3 years, we've seen the disability claims backlog grow exponentially, with more than 900,000 claims now awaiting decisions. Fifty percent of those have been pending for a period of 125 days or more. Despite repeated promises from VA to break the backlog, it continues to grow.

Therefore, the provisions of this bill that address benefit matters will assist in processing claims more efficiently:

First, it would allow veterans to automatically waive regional office review of evidence submitted directly to the Board of Veterans Appeals for claims in appellate status;

Second, it would allow veterans in need of assistance with claims to have a signatory on their behalf assist them with the claims process;

Third, it would modernize VA's statutory duty to assist by authorizing electronic communications, potentially saving weeks in a claim's processing time;

Fourth, to alleviate the burdens of redundant paperwork, veterans would now be able to file jointly for Social Security and indemnity compensation;

Finally, to promote accountability of individual claims processors, VA would be required to present a plan in 6 months on how it will take corrective action when their employees need training to do their jobs well.

I want to thank my friend Mr. Runyan from New Jersey, the chairman of

the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, for his dedication to our Nation's veterans and for his focus on advancing legislation such as H.R. 2349, which will achieve measurable results in alleviating the backlog of claims.

While many of these provisions that I have discussed thus far have focused on our efforts to honor our commitment to the brave men and women who serve our Nation, including those transitioning from the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, we must also continue our commitment to our fallen heroes. Accordingly, this bill also sets out specific criteria that prohibit disruptions and protests of funerals of members of the Armed Forces at VA national cemeteries and at Arlington National Cemetery, including the imposition of criminal and civil liability for violations of these restrictions.

In addition, given the sacred nature of Arlington National Cemetery, a name synonymous with honoring American freedom, this legislation would codify a prohibition on the reservation of grave sites at Arlington National Cemetery, with very limited exceptions. I worked closely with Mr. Runyan on this prohibition to ensure that many future generations of American heroes will be buried and honored at Arlington National Cemetery. I want to thank him again for his leadership on this issue and for originally introducing H.R. 1484.

Similarly, I introduced the original measure on H.R. 1627, which would place restrictions on the type and placement of monuments at Arlington National Cemetery due to the fact that the cemetery, itself, is a monument. Arlington National Cemetery is a unique national treasure. It is for this reason that this legislation is necessary to ensure that the integrity of the cemetery is preserved both in its utilization of land with the placement of monuments and with its allocation of grave sites.

Finally, this comprehensive legislative package also contains several miscellaneous provisions affecting our Nation's veterans. Although these areas may not receive as much attention, such as health care or benefits, they are no less important to improving the lives of the veterans of this country.

I want to thank the ranking member, Mr. Filner, as well as the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Senator Murray and Senator Burr, for their insight and cooperation on advancing this compromise bill today.

I want to reiterate that this bill is paid for both in its mandatory and discretionary costs via offsets that have been used many times by this committee and that have historically been supported by both sides of the aisle.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert a floor colloquy between me and the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Michaud).

Once again, I thank all of the members of the committee, as well as the staffs of the House and the Senate on Veterans' Affairs, for their work on this bill, and I urge all Members to support the Senate amendments to H.R. 1627.

With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, the Committees have prepared an explanation of certain provisions contained in the amendment to H.R. 1627, as amended, to reflect a Compromise Agreement between the Committees. Differences between the provisions contained in the Compromise Agreement and the related provisions of the House Bills and the Senate Bills are noted in this document, except for clerical corrections, conforming changes made necessary by the Compromise Agreement, and minor drafting, technical, and clarifying changes. This Explanatory Statement is contained in the Congressional Record of July 18, 2012.

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield such time as she may consume to the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Health, the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Buerkle).

Mr. Speaker, how much time is remaining?

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield 2 minutes to the chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, Mr. Stutzman, from the great State of Indiana.

If I might inquire how many further requests for time the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Michaud) has.

I will reserve the balance of my time at this point.

Mr. Speaker, I have one other speaker that had a late train that I was trying to wait on, but apparently he is not going to be able to make it. So I am prepared to close after Mr. Michaud closes.

Mr. Speaker, if we could go ahead and do the colloquy at this time, that way we'll make sure it's in the Record.

I thank the gentleman for the question. It allows me to reassure those veterans and family members in the strongest terms possible that this language, which does

appear in section 1787(b)(3) of title 38 of the U.S. Code, absolutely does not--does not--require that any suit be filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act in order to secure this medical care as long as they meet the other requirements of the bill.

As you have noticed, that provision only requires exhaustion of ``reasonably available'' remedies. In the legislation, we are explicit that we want this care to be provided for family members even though at the present time, there is insufficient medical evidence to conclude that the illnesses or conditions listed in the bill are attributable to those exposures.

For this and other reasons surrounding litigation under the Federal Tort Claims Act, such an FTCA remedy can't be considered to be ``reasonably available.'' To require exhaustion under the Federal Tort Claims Act would go completely against the intent of this piece of legislation to make this medical care available to these family members for these conditions so long as VA is considered the final payer as far as other third-party health plans.

Mr. Speaker, I once again encourage all Members to support the Senate amendments to H.R. 1627, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, due to a family emergency, I was unable to participate in the following votes. If I had been present, I would have voted as follows:

May 26, 2011

Rollcall vote 375, on passage--H.R. 1540, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2012 for military activities of the Department of Defense and for military construction, to prescribe military personnel strengths for fiscal year 2012, and for other purposes--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 376, On Motion to Concur in the Senate Amendment to the House Amendment--S. 990, Small Business Additional Temporary Extension Act of 2011--I would have voted aye.

May 31, 2011

Rollcall vote 377, On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended--H.R. 1484, Veterans Appeal Improvement Act--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 378, On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass--S. 1082, Small Business Additional Temporary Extension Act--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 379, On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass--H.R. 1954, To Implement the President's request to increase the statutory limit on the public debt--I would have voted nay.

June 1, 2011

Rollcall vote 380, On Consideration of the Resolution--H. Res. 287, Providing for consideration of H.R. 2017, making appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2012, and for other purposes--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 381, On Ordering the Previous Question--H. Res. 287, Providing for consideration of H.R. 2017, making appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2012, and for other purposes--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 382, On Agreeing to the Resolution--H. Res. 287, Providing for consideration of H.R. 2017, making appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2012, and for other purposes--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 383, On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended--H.R. 802, To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a VetStar Award Program--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 384, On Agreeing to the LaTourette of Ohio Amendment-- H.R. 2017, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 385, On Agreeing to the Cicilline of Rhode Island Amendment--H.R. 2017, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012--I would have voted nay.

Rollcall vote 386, On Agreeing to the Royce of California Amendment-- H.R. 2017, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 387, On Agreeing to the Poe of Texas Amendment No. 8-- H.R. 2017, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 388, On Agreeing to the Cuellar of Texas Amendment-- H.R. 2017, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012--I would have voted nay.

June 2, 2011

Rollcall vote 389, On Agreeing to the Clarke of Michigan Amendment-- H.R. 2017, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 390, On Agreeing to the Sessions of Texas Amendment-- H.R. 2017, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 391, On Agreeing to the Lummis of Wyoming Amendment-- H.R. 2017, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 392, On Agreeing to the Carter of Texas Amendment No. 1--H.R. 2017, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 393, On Agreeing to the Price of North Carolina Amendment--H.R. 2017, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 394, On Agreeing to the Sherman of California Amendment--H.R. 2017,

Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 395, On Agreeing to the Gosar of Arizona Amendment-- H.R. 2017, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 396, On Agreeing to the Scalise of Louisiana Amendment--H.R. 2017, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 397, On Agreeing to the King of Iowa Amendment--H.R. 2017, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 398, On Agreeing to the Cravaack of Minnesota Amendment--H.R. 2017, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 399, On Agreeing to the Amash of Michigan Amendment No. 1--H.R. 2017, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 400, On Agreeing to the Amash of Michigan Amendment No. 2--H.R. 2017, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 401, On Agreeing to the Amash of Michigan Amendment No. 3--H.R. 2017, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 402, On Agreeing to the Rokita of Indiana Amendment No. 1--H.R. 2017, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 403, On Agreeing to the Rokita of Indiana Amendment No. 2--H.R. 2017, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 404, On Agreeing to the Cole of Oklahoma Amendment-- H.R. 2017, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 405, On Agreeing to the Gohmert of Texas Amendment-- H.R. 2017, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 406, On Agreeing to the Mica of Florida Amendment--H.R. 2017, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 407, On Agreeing to the Polis of Colorado Amendment-- H.R. 2017, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012--I would have voted nay.

Rollcall vote 408, On Motion to Recommit with Instructions--H.R. 2017, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012--I would have voted nay.

Rollcall vote 409, On Passage--H.R. 2017, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012--I would have voted aye.

June 3, 2011

Rollcall vote 410, On Agreeing to the Resolution--H. Res. 294, Providing for consideration of H. Res. 292 declaring that the President shall not deploy, establish, or maintain the presence of U.S. Armed Forces in Libya, and for consideration of H. Con. Res. 51 directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove the U.S. Armed Forces from Libya--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 411, On Agreeing to the Resolution--H. Res. 292, Declaring that the President shall not deploy, establish, or maintain the presence of units and members of the United States Armed Forces on the ground in Libya, and for other purposes--I would have voted aye.

Rollcall vote 412, On Agreeing to the Resolution--H. Con. Res. 51, Directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove the United States Armed Forces from Libya--I would have voted nay.

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

I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1627, as amended, the Honoring America's Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012. This bill represents the hard work of both Chambers and of both sides of the aisle.

I want to thank Chairman Miller and Ranking Member Filner, as well as Senator Murray and Senator Burr and all of my colleagues on the Veterans' Affairs Committees in both Chambers, for all of the work that went into crafting this legislation.

This bill provides health care benefits to veterans and family members who have suffered illnesses due to exposure to harmful chemicals through drinking contaminated water while stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

This bill also provides important improvements to enable the VA to better care for veterans living in rural areas. These veterans constitute 40 percent of the veterans who seek care at VA. These improvements include: waiving the collections of copayments for veterans who use telehealth or telemedicine services; authorizing VA to pay travel benefits to veterans seeking care at vet centers; requiring VA to establish and operate Centers of Excellence for rural health research, education, and clinical activities; finally, requiring VA to create a system for the consultation and assessment of mental health, traumatic brain injury, and other conditions through teleconsultation.

A provision I am particularly proud of will improve the care provided to our elderly veterans and to those who are 70-percent disabled or higher in our State veterans' nursing homes.

This bill makes improvements in the area of veterans' benefits and the claims process. One such improvement, a provision based on a measure introduced by Ranking Member Filner, enables a veteran or a family member, on an appeal, to waive the current requirement that new evidence be first considered by the VA. This provision would enable the Board of Veterans' Appeals to review evidence submitted directly to it instead of waiting for a redecision at the agency level.

This bill includes important housing provisions as well. One provision would help veterans with vision impairments and veterans residing temporarily in housing owned by a family member by aligning VA's definition of ``blindness'' with the definition of ``blindness'' under existing Federal laws.

This bill provides that the amount made available to veterans who receive a temporary residence adaptation grant is not counted against the maximum allowable under the Specially Adapted Housing program. Also, this bill makes permanent the authority of VA to guarantee adjustable rate and hybrid rate mortgages.

Mr. Speaker, I have only highlighted a few of the important parts of this bill that were found in H.R. 1627, as amended. I would encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this very important veterans' measure.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, at this time I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell).

(Mr. DINGELL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Miller).

I have one further request for time, and then I am prepared to close.

Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney).

Mr. Speaker, I am particularly pleased with this package because it also includes legislation that I have been working on for well over 2 years that will ensure that our severely disabled and elderly veterans are able to get the care they need. Specifically, my bill requires the VA to enter into contracts or provider agreements with State Veterans Nursing Homes in order to get the reimbursement that they adequately need to take care of our veterans.

Without this legislation, State Veterans Homes will not get reimbursed properly for the services they provide for our veterans. According to data from the National Association of State Veterans Homes, the average rate for care is roughly $359 per veteran per day, while VA only reimburses the homes $235 per day. This difference of $124 per day amounts to over $45,000 per year for each covered veteran. And with approximately 25,000 beds nationwide, the financial burden on State Veterans Homes could become crippling.

Passing this legislation into law will ensure that our State Veterans Homes are paid adequately for the services they provide and can continue to serve our veterans that are in need of those services.

I want to thank Chairman Miller and Ranking Member Filner for their support of this bill and for working to bring this legislation to the floor. Our veterans will be better off as a result.

I also would like to thank Chairwoman Buerkle for her efforts as well, working in a bipartisan manner, and staff on both the majority and minority sides for bringing this bill forward,

Mr. Speaker, I have a question for Mr. Miller. He had mentioned earlier about a colloquy. If those colloquies are entered separately, will that be made a part of the Record?

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my colleague about section 102 of the bill. That provides medical care for certain medical conditions for veterans and their families who lived at Camp Lejeune from 1957 through 1987.

There is one provision applicable to family members where VA would reimburse family members for health care services provided under this section but only after they exhaust reasonably available alternative reimbursements.

I want to ensure that this language is not read to mean that family members must actually file suit under the Federal Tort Claims Act or even come to end of litigation under a suit filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act to ensure the medical care offered by this provision. Can my colleague confirm this?

I thank the gentleman.

Mr. Speaker, with that, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted that we are finally addressing the problem before the House, and I rise in strong support of H.R. 1627, the Honoring America's Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act. This is long overdue.

The most noteworthy thing we can observe about the behavior of the military leadership is they have been uncooperative and have been most diligent in obfuscating the problem and seeing to it that the matter has been unduly dawdled over while our military personnel were both put at risk and placed in a position where their families also shared that risk and hazard. I want to thank Chairman Miller, Ranking Member Filner, the gentleman from North Carolina, Mr. Miller, and my dear friend, Mr. Michaud, for the things that they have done to see to it that finally justice is being done.

The victims of the Camp Lejeune contamination disaster have waited too long for justice for themselves and for their families. The passage of this legislation today is an important first step in moving forward and providing for the victims of what has been a long and ongoing tragedy. It is also evidence that there is still a great need for us to see to it that the military cooperates in these kinds of investigations and see to it that the military goes beyond that and that they conduct a cleanup of the military facilities where we send our military personnel and their families.

In 2004, I conducted a series of investigations into this and other contamination problems as the ranking member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. After meeting with the Marine Corps personnel and Master Sergeant Jerry Ensminger, whose daughter died of a rare form of leukemia at the age of 9, I must confess that I can come to no conclusion other than that that was caused by where her father had been serving and the fact that the military had not been diligent in cleaning up its messes.

These investigations revealed a great coverup and much foot dragging and obfuscation on the part of the Department of the Navy to properly deal with the consequences of the contamination. They also showed other failures by the Department of Defense in other places, including installations in far distant points of service like Japan.

With the passage of this bill, veterans of Camp Lejeune and their families who also served there are going to receive some measure of justice and help in addressing the problems they have because of where they were compelled to serve and because of lack of diligence on the part of the military to see that they were properly cared for. They will now be eligible, if they served between 1957 and 1987, to receive VA health benefits for illnesses connected with that contamination.

While the passage of this legislation is a success, we all know there's much more to be done. The veterans deserve the presumptions of the service connection in the bill to ensure that they receive important benefits to which they are due. That is simply a proper concern for our veterans and for their safety. They and their families should not be put at unnecessary risk by places that they serve solely by reason of the fact that they serve at a particular place and because of slothful, improper behavior by the Department of Defense higher-ups and because of coverups in which they did not cooperate in seeing to the proper safeguards of our Federal employees there and our military personnel who were serving there involuntarily as a part of their superb contribution to the safety of this Nation.

The fight continues, and I'm hopeful that we can continue to bring justice to the victims of Camp Lejeune, and to see to it that others of our military are not put at risk because of slothful, improper, and dilatory behavior by the Department of Defense.

I ask my colleagues here to understand our duty in seeing to it that the families of our military and our military personnel are not put at risk by where they serve or by indifferent and careless behavior of their government. The government has a duty not just to see to it that our military personnel are made whole, but they do have the duty to see to it that our military bases and military service are not put at risk by actions which make the points of service of our military unnecessarily risky because of contamination in the places where our military and their families live and work.

Here we have another high duty, and that is to see to it that the military personnel are kept safe with their families at their side as they serve in the military bases.

The Military leadership must recognize their responsibility not to put our soldiers, sailors and airmen at risk by reason of the places they serve. They confront enough risk from their duty, without careless and indifferent behavior of their superiors, who first disregard safety of the facilities, and then expand the risk by reason of cover ups and obfuscation of the facts and the need to clean up messes unnecessarily caused and improperly denied.

Mr. President, as chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I am pleased to speak in support of the Honoring America's Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012.

I thank my colleagues from the Veterans' Committee for their continuous support of our Nation's veterans--especially my ranking member Senator

Burr of North Carolina, for his steadfast advocacy of the government's responsibility to provide health care for the veterans and family members stationed at Camp Lejeune.

In addition, I thank Representatives Jeff Miller and Bob Filner, the chairman and ranking Member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, for their hard work in developing this bipartisan, bicameral, and fully paid-for legislation.

With the passage of the Honoring America's Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012, military families affected by contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, NC, would have the health care they need.

These families have waited for decades to get the assistance they need, and they should not be forced to wait any longer.

The legislation would also allow the VA to continue a number of programs that are so critical to helping veterans who have no place to call home.

Currently, the VA can only provide emergency shelter to veterans who are diagnosed with a serious mental illness. But we all know not all homeless veterans are mentally ill. Yet the VA is currently prevented from offering these critical services to all our veterans.

The Honoring America's Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012 would also make much needed improvements to the VA's housing programs by expanding the eligibility for the VA's specially adapted housing assistance grants.

These are some of the most disabled veterans in our Nation, and they deserve to be able to move about in their homes freely and safely.

This bill will also help more veterans use telehealth and telemedicine and allow veterans to receive travel assistance for visits to our vet centers. These provisions will especially help our veterans in rural and highly rural areas to access care from the VA.

It will also improve the way the VA reimburses State veterans homes for the care of elderly, seriously disabled veterans.

I know every Member of the Senate has at least one State veterans home in their State. Without this change, some of these homes may have to lay off staffers or be unable to accept more veterans, so it is a very important provision of the bill.

This legislation will also require important policy changes to protect veterans from sexual assault and other threats in the VA's inpatient mental health units and homeless programs.

Finally, we all know veterans continue to find themselves waiting entirely too long for a decision on their claims. This legislation will address the claims backlog by providing the VA with the ability to process appeals much more quickly and by supporting the VA's transformation to a paperless system. It will also make other needed improvements to the claims system, such as ensuring surviving spouses receive proper and timely benefit payments.

Above all, this bill fulfill's the responsibility this Nation has to provide care and service to our veterans and their families. In the case of those families who spent time at Camp Lejeune, this bill gives sick veterans and their families the benefit of the doubt their illness or condition was caused by the water at Camp Lejeune so they can finally get the health care they need.

This is something Congress has done before. When an illness or condition comes about after a veteran's service and any relationship between the veteran's current illness and their service is not readily apparent, the burden of proving the illness is a result of one's service can be insurmountable. In such circumstances, we have presumed a veteran's exposure caused their current condition and got them the help they needed. We have lived up to the responsibility we owed them, which is in the core of this bill.

Many veterans and their families are waiting for the passage of this bill. Our House colleagues are ready and willing to move this forward quickly as well. We did have one concern from the Senator from South Carolina, Mr. DeMint. We had a very productive conversation, and we now have that language resolved and have had a gentleman's agreement to move the bill forward today.

I wish to thank the Senator from South Carolina for his work and effort to get this bill passed. I know our veterans and families across the Nation are waiting.

I thank all our colleagues who have worked so hard on this very critical piece of legislation.

I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the Joint Explanatory Statement in relation to this bill.