Veterans Transition Improvement Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 899) to amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that the requirements that new Federal employees who are veterans with service- connected disabilities are provided leave for purposes of undergoing medical treatment for such disabilities apply to certain employees of the Veterans Health Administration, and for other purposes, as amended.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 899, the Veterans Providing Healthcare Transition Improvement Act introduced by the junior Senator from Hawaii.

S. 899 is the Senate version of H.R. 2648 introduced by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Stivers). In 2015, Congress enacted the Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act. The Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act provides 104 hours of paid sick leave to newly employed veterans with a service- connected disability rating of 30 percent or more.

The sick leave is used to attend medical treatment related to the service-connected disability and must be used within 12 months of beginning employment. The law, however, did not explicitly apply to veterans hired into certain medical occupations at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

When the VA has applied the provisions of the act to these occupations, this bill would ensure new veterans hired in these positions continue to receive paid sick leave to treat their service- connected disability.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Stivers) for sponsoring the House version of this bill and for his dedication to caring for our Nation's veterans. I would also like to thank Chairman David Roe and his staff at the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs for working with us to bring this bill to the floor.

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

House of Representatives,

Committee on Veterans Affairs,

Washington, DC, June 19, 2018.

Hon. Trey Gowdy,

Chairman, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,

Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. Chairman: I am writing to you concerning H.R.

2648, the ``Veterans Transition Improvement Act,'' and its

Senate companion, S. 899. There are provisions in the

legislation that fall within the jurisdiction of the

Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

In the interest of permitting your committee to proceed

expeditiously to floor consideration of this legislation, I

am willing to waive this committee's right to sequential

referral. I do so with the understanding that by waiving

consideration of the bills, the Committee on Veterans'

Affairs does not waive any future jurisdictional claim over

the subject matters contained in the bills which fall within

its jurisdiction. I also request that you urge the Speaker to

name members of this committee to any conference committee

which is named to consider such provisions.

Please place this letter into the committee report on H.R.

2648 and into the Congressional Record during consideration

of this legislation on the House floor.

Sincerely,

David P. Roe, M.D.,

Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Stivers), the champion of this bill and the sponsor of its House companion.

Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 899, the Veterans Providing Healthcare Transition Improvement Act.

I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano), for helping me, being the lead Democrat on this. This is bipartisan and bicameral legislation. Senator Hirono is the sponsor in the Senate. We are the sponsors in the House.

But, Mr. Speaker, it is great to have a veteran in the chair today. Mr. Speaker, as a brigadier general in the Ohio Army National Guard, I know firsthand the incredible sacrifices that our veterans have made in the service of our country. We owe it to them to provide them time when they come home to deal with the things they need to work on, their medical and other conditions.

In 2015, the Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act was signed into law, which was great. It gave sick leave to people that are newly hired Federal employees, rather than waiting on that leave to accrue, if they had a disability rating, a service-connected disability rating of 30 percent of more. Unfortunately, that bill did not extend those benefits to title 38 employees.

Those are VA employees, like physicians, physician assistants, registered nurses, chiropractors, podiatrists, optometrists, and dentists. They are healthcare providers themselves. It is no small number of employees. In fact, as we sit here, there are over 14,000 vacancies in title 38 jobs. That means up to 14,000 people can benefit from this bill.

Again, it is bipartisan. It is a simple change that allows these title 38 veteran employees to get leave to deal with their wounded warrior conditions rather than waiting for that leave to accrue over time. It is a bipartisan bill. I thank Mr. Takano for that.

A lot of veteran organizations have supported it: the National Association of VA Physicians and Dentists, the Nurses Organization of Veterans Affairs, the American Legion, the VFW, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Disabled American Veterans, Association of the United States Navy, American Federation of Government Employees, National Federation of Federal Employees, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, AMVETS, and the Federal Managers Association.

I thank the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the gentleman from North Carolina, the gentleman from Maryland, and the chairman from South Carolina for their hard work on this. I also want to thank the Veterans' Affairs Committee and the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Roe) for their expertise as they worked through this bill. I thank the sponsors of the Senate legislation, and I thank Representative Takano for joining me in this important effort.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense, bipartisan legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 899, the Veterans Providing Healthcare Transition Improvement Act, which extends paid sick leave benefits for veteran employees with service-connected disabilities in their first year of work at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

As the lead Democrat on this bill, I thank my colleague Representative Steve Stivers from Ohio for his bipartisan leadership on this issue. And let me hasten to add, I do enjoy the work that we do together as founders and co-chairs of the bipartisan Congressional Maker Caucus, bringing to the attention of the Congress advanced manufacturing technologies.

But back to the issue at hand.

Mr. Speaker, I also thank Senator Mazie Hirono for taking the lead on this important issue in the Senate.

Veterans who choose to provide their medical skills and expertise to serve other veterans at the Department of Veterans Affairs should not have to take a leave of absence to receive the care that they need. By improving the Wounded Warrior Federal Leave Act to extend benefits to wounded warriors working at the VA, we will help veterans who need to take time off to get their own medical care.

This will also help in hiring and recruiting what are known as title 38 employees at the VA. This group of employees includes physicians, physician assistants, registered nurses, chiropractors, podiatrists, optometrists, and dentists.

According to 2018 data from the Veterans Health Administration, there are over 14,000 title 38 vacancies nationwide. We must make it a priority to fill these vacancies to ensure that the VA is well staffed and capable of providing veterans with the services that they need. Extending benefits to title 38 employees at the VA can help with the recruitment and hiring of veterans who want to continue helping other veterans.

Veterans working at the VA already make incredible sacrifices to help their fellow veterans. Their paychecks should not be one of them. This is why I urge my colleagues to stand with our veterans and support this legislation.

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

I want to thank Representatives Stivers and Takano for their sponsorship of this much needed bipartisan bill, which would expand, as you heard, coverage of Representative Stephen Lynch's Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act to newly hired healthcare veterans at the Veterans Health Administration.

Approximately one-third of VA's new hires are veterans. It is no surprise that veterans who leave military service want to continue to serve this country and the American people. We are grateful that these brave men and women, many of whom are wounded themselves, choose to devote their civilian careers to taking care of their fellow wounded warriors.

The bill would provide newly hired doctors, nurses, physician assistants, dentists, optometrists, and chiropractors at the VHA who have service-connected disabilities with 104 hours of sick leave during their first year of employment to take care of their medical conditions.

This is a very good bill that I urge my colleagues to support, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano), one of the sponsors of this very, very important bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the passage of S. 899, and I yield back the balance of my time.