Veteran Spouses Equal Treatment Act

I thank the gentlewoman from Arizona for yielding to me and for all her hard work on behalf of our veterans.

Mr. Speaker, as the ranking member of the Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee, I rise in support of S. 2258, the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act.

Unlike Social Security COLA increases, Congress must act each year to provide veterans with the COLA increase that they earned and deserved.

I was proud to introduce the corresponding legislation in the House with our subcommittee chairman, Jon Runyan. Together, we also introduced legislation to make this yearly adjustment automatic.

So today, the House will pass a number of bills that are designed to meet the bipartisan goal of ensuring our Nation's heroes receive all the benefits they have earned. But there is an important bill that has been blocked from consideration in the House. That bill is H.R. 2529, the Veteran Spouses Equal Treatment Act, which would provide all married veterans and their families access to Federal benefits that they deserve.

Last week in the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, only one Republican had the courage to vote to provide access to VA benefits to legally married, same-sex couples, regardless of where they live, couples who received the benefits while they were in the military but lost them upon becoming veterans if they reside in certain States.

We heard all types of pitiful excuses. We heard that it was unconstitutional for Congress to force States to adopt Federal directives. That is ridiculous and intellectually dishonest. In fact, this House voted unanimously earlier this year to mandate that States provide instate tuition for veterans, a bill authored by the very Member who made the specious states' rights argument against H.R. 2529. And if you can even believe it, we heard process arguments as an excuse for not doing the right thing. I would remind my colleagues that they are the ones who make the process.

So when we vote today to adjust the COLA, remember that this increase is meaningless to thousands of our Nation's heroes in States like Texas, Florida, and North Carolina. They will not be receiving the benefits they earned and deserve. It is shameful and it is unfair.

So, Mr. Speaker, while I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2258, I would remind them of these facts and implore the Republican leadership to do the right thing and bring H.R. 2529 to the floor for a vote so all veterans will get the benefits they earned and deserve.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 2258) to provide for an increase, effective December 1, 2014, in the rates of compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for the survivors of certain disabled veterans, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on

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

As a senior member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I rise today in favor of S. 2258, the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of- Living Adjustment Act of 2014.

Mr. Speaker, it is timely that we consider this legislation today, having just observed last week the 13th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks on our homeland, the catalyst for our efforts to fight terrorism.

Many of those who have sacrificed so much in recent and past conflicts aimed to protect America from harm are in continued and increased need. This is critical legislation that authorizes a cost-of- living adjustment for disabled veterans receiving disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs and other compensation for survivors of veterans who have died as a result of their services to our country.

The amount of the payment increases will be determined by the Consumer Price Index, which controls the cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security payments as well.

I would like to thank Congressman Runyan of New Jersey, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs within the Committee on Veterans Affairs, for introducing H.R. 4095, a companion bill to this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers at this time, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I too urge all Members to support S. 2258, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, last week the Senate passed S. 2258, the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2014, which provides that veterans receive a cost-of-living adjustment beginning in December. Today, the House

can also act to ensure veterans continue to receive the support they deserve.

This is a bill that we must pass every year in order to ensure that the benefits we pay our veterans do not lose purchasing power because of inflation. Today we have the opportunity to pass this measure and send it to the President's desk.

This bill directs the VA to increase the rates of veterans' disability compensation, provide additional compensation for disabled veterans with dependents, ensure certain disabled veterans receive a clothing allowance, and increase dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children. These adjustments would be made effective December 1, 2014, and match the increase in Social Security benefits.

S. 2258 will assist the estimated 4.5 million veterans and survivors who receive these monthly benefits and often depend upon these payments to make ends meet. For some, it is their only source of income.

Without this annual COLA increase, veterans, their families and survivors, would see the value of their hard-earned benefits slowly erode. Providing for this cost-of-living increase is another important thing Congress can do to help veterans and their families that have already sacrificed so much for us.

I urge my colleagues to support S. 2258, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Titus).

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

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support S. 2258 and send this important bill to the President today.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, today is the 1-year anniversary of the historic decision to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act. We celebrate the progress we have made for LGBT equality; but, more importantly, we must recommit to ending the injustice that remains.

An announcement last week by the administration regarding ongoing efforts to extend Federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples in the wake of that Windsor decision clarifies what I have long suspected.

Unless Congress acts, legally married same-sex servicemembers, veterans, and their spouses will continue to face discrimination when accessing their benefits from the VA.

That is why, nearly a year ago, I introduced H.R. 2529, the Veteran Spouses Equal Treatment Act. This bipartisan legislation ensures that no

veterans or their families are denied benefits they deserve, regardless of where they live.

Members of the military do not serve in defense of the rights and freedoms of a particular State, but rather of the United States.

My colleagues have a choice to stand with our veterans and their families or stand silent while they continue to face discrimination by the very government they fought to defend.

Mr. Speaker, thank you, Chairman Miller, for your work to bring this legislation to the floor of the House that is so important to so many veterans depending on VA compensation.

This legislation affects the benefits of all veterans, by raising the compensation they receive to allow them to continue to buy the products they need to live.

It is important to pass this clean bill to make sure that those who have sacrificed to protect the freedoms we hold most dear do not suffer in these tough economic times.

In the words of the first President of the United States, George Washington:

``The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional as to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their country.''