A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a VetStar Award Program.

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. 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.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass

the bill (H.R. 802) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a VetStar Award Program, as amended.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 802, as amended, a bill introduced by Ranking Mr. Filner to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a ``VetStar Award Program.''

Mr. Speaker, the VetStar Award Program would recognize private sector businesses which excel in promoting the hiring of veterans.

In the tough economy that we're in, unemployment among veterans is too high. According to the Department of Labor, 11 percent of veterans from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan were unemployed during the month of April. I'm confident that you and all of the Members would agree that we need to use every tool at our disposal to bring that number down.

Our Nation's veterans bring a unique set of qualifications and skills to any job. And while many in the private sector understand their value, more must be done. H.R. 802, as amended, would recognize businesses who have done their part and promoted veterans for employment. This is a great no-cost way of recognizing those employers who have already stepped up to the plate and helped our veterans.

I want to thank the ranking member, Mr. Filner, for this bill and urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 802, as amended.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield as much time as he may consume to the chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, Mr. Stutzman from the great State of Indiana.

Again, I thank the ranking member for bringing this bill to the floor. I would add that tomorrow morning the full committee will be having a hearing at 10 a.m. entitled: ``Putting American Veterans Back to Work.''

I would also please ask my friend, the ranking member, not to give all of the good ideas to the White House because you and I are going to be working together on a summit that will bring together those individuals who are wanting good employees to hire and highlight the veterans community to them for employment in their companies.

General Leave

Once again, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend and add any extraneous material on H.R. 802, as amended.

I encourage all Members to support H.R. 802, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

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

Again, I want to thank the chair of our VA Committee for the incredible cooperative effort we have devoted so far in this Congress. He mentioned on the last bill that we are united to try to find a way to cut through these intolerable and inexcusable delays in the disability claims process. And we are working together as a top priority to make sure that those who have served this Nation have a job when they get back because that, of course, leads to everything else good in our society. A good job is what is needed, and we are united in saying to our veterans this is going to be our top priority.

What we have done here in H.R. 802 is again a small step which will highlight efforts and create an incentive for businesses to hire veterans by directing the VA to develop a very low-cost annual award program to recognize businesses who contribute to veterans' employment, the award to be displayed by business owners as a recognition of the business owner's commitment to the veteran community.

I think the First Lady and the Second Lady of this country are doing much to promote what our Nation is doing for families of veterans. The White House might convene a summit of those who are both helping and will pledge to help hire veterans and highlight this issue more for all Americans.

This bill would authorize the VA to advertise the program in the national media and allow the public to be educated on those businesses that support the employment of veterans.

Again, I thank the chairman for scheduling the bill. It's part of our Memorial Day tribute to our veterans. I ask that our colleagues support the legislation.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I would again urge support of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

I thank the chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 802, as amended, as this bill would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to establish an award program to recognize businesses that excel in hiring veterans.

We all know the unemployment problems facing many of our veterans. Our youngest groups of veterans have the highest unemployment rates among all the veterans, while older veterans between the ages of 35 and 64 make up two-thirds of the unemployed veteran population.

As we look for ways to increase veteran employment rates, it is absolutely appropriate that we honor those businesses that make the effort to hire veterans and to emphasize and to recognize their efforts. This award not only highlights employers who currently hire veterans, but it is my hope that it will also serve as an incentive for other employers to hire more veterans as well.

At the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity legislative hearing on the bill, some witnesses suggested that the program would be appropriately sponsored by the Veterans Employment and Training Service. While not required by the bill, I hope that the VA will consult with the Department of Labor during the selection process.

I can tell you as a small business owner and one that highly values the service of our veterans to our country, I believe that this is a wonderful measure to recognize those businesses that not only go out of their way but make it a priority to hire veterans to work at their businesses.

So, Mr. Speaker, highlighting businesses for their support of veterans seeking employment is the right thing to do, and I urge my colleagues to support Ranking Member Mr. Filner's bill, and I appreciate him bringing the bill forward.