Transportation for Heroes Act of 2013

Mr. Speaker, I believe, in the inner sanctum of my soul, that we are the home of the free because we are the land of the brave.

I salute those who are willing to serve their country, who are willing to go to distant places, and who don't always return home the way they left. I highly commend them, and I believe that those who serve us in our military, the men and women who serve us, should always be appreciated for their willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice.

I also believe, Mr. Speaker, that we spend a huge amount of money-- about $1 trillion in one circumstance--to put them in harm's way. I believe that if we can spend $1 trillion to put them in harm's way, we can spend whatever it takes when they return home to make sure they have got the best health care, they get the best housing, and that they get good jobs.

I also believe that we have a responsibility and an obligation in the Congress of the United States of America to make sure that their needs are met. This is why I have introduced certain pieces of legislation to deal with the issues that are confronted by our veterans.

I would like to mention a few pieces of this legislation today. And I rarely use the personal pronoun ``I,'' but in my business, if you don't use the personal pronoun, somebody else will.

I would like to talk about H.R. 384, Homes for Heroes. This piece of legislation would place a person in HUD, who would have the responsibility of filing a report with Congress annually on the status of veterans and who would be there to look out for veterans. There is currently a person there, but the person is not there in a legal capacity such that it would continue beyond this President or ad infinitum.

I also have sponsored H.R. 2362, Transportation for Heroes. We have veterans who need to get to jobs and who need to get to the VA who cannot afford public transportation. I believe that we need to make sure that they get the same opportunity to take a public transportation system, to utilize it, that persons who are senior citizens have and persons who are disabled have. We have to provide a means by which veterans can get to those places that can be a benefit to them.

This is why we have also sponsored H.R. 3876, Burial with Dignity for Heroes. This piece of legislation would allow those veterans who die in poverty, who have family members who are in poverty, who cannot afford to send them to a tribal cemetery once they die in some place that is distant from a tribal cemetery or a State facility--if you can't send them currently, you have to try to scrape the money up as best you can--I think this country ought to be grateful enough to make sure these veterans cannot only get to these places where they may be buried, but also they should get there and have

a casket or an urn. They should have the opportunity to be buried with dignity. No veteran should die in poverty and then find that they can't get a burial with dignity.

I also believe that we should have our veterans who are hurt after they leave the military be accorded the opportunity to have places to live such that they can access them easily and use them efficaciously. This is why we have filed the HAVEN Act, H.R. 3743. The HAVEN Act would accord $20 million--by the way, that we don't have; I believe that if we can spend money we don't have to put them in harm's way, we can spend money we don't have to take care of them when they get home--$20 million, $5 million a year, a pilot program to allow NGOs to match the $20 million and provide the type of facility that a veteran would need to move efficaciously, to move and have a great degree of functionality within his or her home. This is the kind of thing that a grateful nation ought to do. This piece of legislation is currently in the Senate defense authorization bill, and in that bill this legislation lies. But there is some question as to whether or not it will survive a conference committee. I pray and I hope for this piece of legislation, $20 million over 5 years to modify homes for disabled veterans, those who are hurt after they have left the military, to help them. There is already a program for those who are hurt while they are in the military. This is not duplicative. This does help veterans who need help.

I believe we are the land of the free because we are the home of the brave. I believe that if we are going to continue to be the land of the free, we must make sure we must protect those who are the brave.

God bless you.