To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to furnish assistance for adaptations of residences of veterans in rehabilitation programs under chapter 31 of such title, and for other purposes.

Mr. President, I wish to submit to the Senate the budget scorekeeping report for June 2018. The report compares current-law levels of spending and revenues with the amounts the Senate agreed to in the budget resolution for fiscal year 2018, H. Con. Res. 71, and the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA18). This information is necessary for the Senate Budget Committee to determine whether budgetary points of order lie against pending legislation. The Republican staff of the Senate Budget Committee and the Congressional Budget Office, CBO, prepared this report pursuant to section 308(b) of the Congressional Budget Act, CBA.

This is my fourth scorekeeping report this year and the first since I filed new enforceable levels on May 7, pursuant to BBA18 requirements. My last filing can be found in the Congressional Record for April 12, 2018. The information included in this report is current through June 4, 2018.

Republican Budget Committee staff prepared Tables 1-6.

Table 1 gives the amount by which each Senate authorizing committee exceeds or is below its allocation for budget authority and outlays under the most recently adopted budget resolution and the Fiscal Year 2019 enforceable levels filing. This information is used for enforcing committee allocations pursuant to section 302 of the CBA. For this reporting period, 10 of the 16 authorizing committees are in compliance with their allocations. Two committee allocation violations were recorded since my last report. The first violation stems from passage of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, S. 2155, P.L. 115-174, which increased direct spending within the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee over the Fiscal Year 2019, Fiscal Year 2019-2023, and Fiscal Year 2019-2028 period. The second violation resulted from passage of the VA MISSION Act of 2018, S. 2372, which increased direct spending within the Veterans' Affairs Committee over all enforceable periods.

Tables 2-3 give the amount by which the Senate Committee on Appropriations is below or exceeds the statutory spending limits. This information is used to determine points of order related to the spending caps found in sections 312 and 314 of the CBA. Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2018, shown in table 2, are consistent with the statutory limits. Table 3 shows that the Appropriations Committee is currently compliant with spending limits for Fiscal Year 2019. As of this filing, subcommittees have only been charged with permanent and advanced appropriations that first become available in Fiscal Year 2019.

The Fiscal Year 2018 budget resolution contained points of order limiting the use of changes in mandatory programs in appropriations bills, CHIMPS. Tables 4, 5, and 6 track compliance with these points of order. Tables 4 and 6 show compliance with Fiscal Year 2018 limits for overall CHIMPS, $17 billion, and the Crime Victims Fund CHIMP, $11.2 billion, respectively. Table 5, which tracks the CHIMP limit of $15 billion for Fiscal Year 2019, shows the Appropriations Committee has not passed a bill with a CHIMP for Fiscal Year 2019. This information is used for determining points of order under sections 4102, overall limit, and 4103, Crime Victims Fund CHIMP, of H. Con. Res. 71.

In addition to the tables provided by Budget Committee Republican staff, I am submitting CBO tables, which I will use to enforce budget totals approved by Congress.

Because legislation can still be enacted that would have an effect on Fiscal Year 2018, CBO provided a report for both Fiscal Year 2018 and Fiscal Year 2019. This information is used to enforce aggregate spending and revenue levels in the budget resolution under section 311 of the CBA. CBO's estimates show that current-law levels of spending for Fiscal Year 2018 exceed the amounts in last year's budget resolution by $157.4 billion in budget authority and $106.3 billion in outlays. Revenues are $3.2 billion above the revenue floor for Fiscal Year 2018 set by the budget resolution. Social Security outlays are at the levels assumed by the resolution, while Social Security revenues are $446 million below the levels in the budget.

For Fiscal Year 2019, CBO estimates that current-law levels are below the Fiscal Year 2019 enforceable aggregates by $1,142.2 billion in budget authority and $646.1 billion in outlays. The allowable spending room will be reduced as appropriations bills are enacted. Revenues are $5 million below the level assumed for Fiscal Year 2019, a result of enacting S. 2155. Finally, Social Security outlays and revenues are at the levels assumed in the Fiscal Year 2019 enforcement filing.

CBO's report also provides information needed to enforce the Senate pay-as-you-go, PAYGO, rule. In my enforcement filing on May 7, I reset the Senate's PAYGO scorecard to zero for all enforceable periods. While two bills that increase the deficit have passed since the reset, only S. 2155's budgetary effects will be recorded, as the VA MISSION Act included a provision excluding its deficit increases, $4.5 billion, from the scorecard. As such, the PAYGO scorecard shows deficit increases in Fiscal Year 2019 of $22 million, $5 million revenue loss, $17 million outlay increase, over the Fiscal Year 2019-2023 period of $329 million, $47 million revenue loss, $282 million outlay increase, and over the Fiscal Year 2019-2028 period of $490 million, $108 million revenue loss, $382 million outlay increase. The Senate's PAYGO rule is enforced by section 4106 of H. Con. Res. 71.

Also included in this submission is a table tracking the Senate's budget enforcement activity on the floor since the May 7 enforcement filing. No points of order have been raised.

All years in the accompanying tables are fiscal years.

I ask unanimous consent that the accompanying tables be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I rise to submit to the Senate the budget scorekeeping report for July 2018. The report compares current-law levels of spending and revenues with the amounts the Senate agreed to in the budget resolution for fiscal year 2018, H. Con. Res. 71, and the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA18). This information is necessary for the Senate Budget Committee to determine whether budgetary points of order lie against pending legislation. The Republican staff of the Senate Budget Committee and the Congressional Budget Office, CBO, prepared this report pursuant to section 308(b) of the Congressional Budget Act (CBA).

This is the fifth scorekeeping report this year and the second since I filed new enforceable levels on May 7, pursuant to BBA18 requirements. My last filing can be found in the Congressional Record for June 6, 2018. The information included in this report is current through July 16, 2018.

Republican Budget Committee staff prepared Tables 1-6.

Table 1 gives the amount by which each Senate authorizing committee exceeds or is below its allocation for budget authority and outlays under the most recently adopted budget resolution and the fiscal year 2019 enforceable levels filing. This information is used for enforcing committee allocations pursuant to section 302 of the CBA. For this reporting period, 10 of the 16 authorizing committees are in compliance with their allocations.

During this reporting period, Congress cleared two pieces of legislation with significant budgetary effects scored to authorizing committees. The first bill was H.R. 770, the American Innovation $1 Coin Act. This measure requires the Secretary of the Treasury to mint, beginning in 2019, new $1 coins ``in recognition of American innovation and significant innovation and pioneering efforts of individuals or groups from each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the United States territories.'' CBO estimates that H.R. 770 would increase direct spending in the near term by $3 million but would be deficit- neutral over the entire budget window. This bill was charged to the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. The second bill was H.R. 5956, the Northern Mariana Islands U.S. Workforce Act of 2018. This bill modifies U.S. immigration policy regarding the Northern Mariana Islands, thereby reducing the number of people able to claim asylum and receive means-tested benefits. CBO estimates that this bill would save $3 million over the budget window. H.R. 5956 was charged to the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Tables 2-6 remain unchanged from my last filing.

In addition to the tables provided by Budget Committee Republican staff, I am submitting CBO tables, which I will use to enforce budget totals approved by Congress.

Because legislation can still be enacted that would have an effect on fiscal year 2018, CBO has provided a report both for fiscal year 2018 and fiscal year 2019. This information is used to enforce aggregate spending and revenue levels in the budget resolution under section 311 of the CBA. CBO's estimates show that current-law levels of spending for fiscal year 2018 exceed the amounts in H. Con. Res. 71 by $157.4 billion in budget authority and $106.3 billion in outlays. Revenues are $3.2 billion above the revenue floor for fiscal year 2018 set by the budget resolution. Social Security outlays are at the levels assumed by the resolution, while Social Security revenues are $446 million below the levels in the budget.

For fiscal year 2019, CBO estimates that current-law levels are below the fiscal year 2019 enforceable aggregates by $1,142.2 billion in budget authority and $646.1 billion in outlays. The allowable spending room will be reduced as appropriations bills are enacted. Revenues are $5 million below the level assumed for fiscal year 2019. Finally, Social Security outlays and revenues are at the levels assumed in the fiscal year 2019 enforcement filing.

CBO's report also provides information needed to enforce the Senate pay-as-you-go, PAYGO, rule. After accounting for enacted legislation during this reporting period, the PAYGO scorecard shows deficit increases in fiscal year 2019 of $25 million--$5 million revenue loss, $20 million outlay increase--over the fiscal year 2019-2023 period of $332 million--$47 million revenue loss, $285 million outlay increase-- and over the fiscal year 2019-2028 period of $487 million--$108 million revenue loss, $379 million outlay increase. The Senate's PAYGO rule is enforced by section 4106 of H. Con. Res. 71.

Included in this submission is a table tracking the Senate's budget enforcement activity on the floor since the May 7 enforcement filing. On June 18, 2018, Senator Bernard Sanders raised a Senate PAYGO point of order against H.R. 5515, the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019. That point of order was waived by a vote of 81-14. H.R. 5515 has yet to be enacted and is currently in conference.

All years in the accompanying tables are fiscal years.

I ask unanimous consent that the accompanying tables be printed in the Record.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss H.R. 3562 and ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this bipartisan, commonsense legislation to improve our services for those who have ``borne the battle": America's disabled veterans.

Currently, if a disabled veteran in VA's Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment program needs adaptations made to their home due to the limitations of their disability, then it is their vocational rehabilitation counselor, someone who has no experience or training in home construction, who makes such arrangements for these adaptations.

In addition to the lack of core competency in home adaptations, these counselors have experienced a significant and steady rise in their job counseling caseloads, so their focusing on this home construction takes away from their primary function as a vocational counselor. This has resulted in inefficiencies for disabled veterans who now have to wait in line, and it is costing taxpayers more money.

While these are master's degree-level counselors who provide great services to our veterans every single day, they do not have the expertise to understand how to build a wheelchair ramp, affix a grab bar to a wall, or implement other home adaptations. This bill would simply transfer these responsibility's to VA's Specially Adapted Housing program, where they deal with these kinds of construction projects every day.

This change is needed. It will save the taxpayers money, and, most importantly, it will help our disabled veterans immensely by ensuring that they have the right people on the job to address their service- connected disabilities in a timely fashion.

Mr. Speaker, as we head into Veterans Day this upcoming weekend, I just want to take a moment of personal privilege and say what an honor it has been to serve on the VA Committee and chair the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, and I want to thank, especially, the chairman for that opportunity. It is humbling to know that in some small way I can do my part on behalf of the people of west Texas to serve those who put their lives on the line for all of us.

Veterans represent the very best of what this country was built on: service before self. I say this because, at a time when our country's culture and political environment seems so divided, the one thing that continues to bring us together as Americans is our servicemembers and veterans.

When they raised their right hand and swore an oath to defend their fellow citizens, they did not care if we were from a red State or a blue State, Republican or Democrat. They did it for love of country and to protect not only their family and friends, but also the stranger whom they will never meet.

That is why I am also very proud that, when we consider veterans legislation as we are doing today and tomorrow, we are doing the two most important things expected by all Americans: working together to solve problems, and delivering on our promise to the American people. I believe that the cumulative effect of commonsense measures such as the bill that we are considering today are helping to deliver on those promises.

I want to thank Chairman Roe, again, and also House leadership on both sides for helping us bring this bill through our committee and to the floor.

Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, I would be remiss if I didn't also thank the leadership of my ranking member, friend, and fellow west Texan, Mr. Beto O'Rourke, in getting this bill introduced and to where it is today.

I know that our fellow Americans would strongly agree with me that our veterans, especially our disabled veterans, deserve the very best services their country can provide, and this bill is another step towards doing just that. I urge all my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, on November 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th, I was ill, so I was not present for the Roll Call votes held on those days. Had I been present, I would have voted:

``Aye'' on Roll Call 607, on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 3562, to amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to furnish assistance for adaptations of residences of veterans in rehabilitation programs under chapter 31 of such title, and for other purposes.

``Aye'' on Roll Call 608, on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 1066, the VA Management Alignment Act.

``No'' on Roll Call 609, on approving the journal.

``No'' on Roll Call 610, on ordering the previous question on H. Res. 607, providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 3043) Hydropower Policy Modernization Act and providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 3441) Save Local Business Act.

``No'' on Roll Call 611, on agreeing to H. Res. 607.

``No'' on Roll Call 612, on approving the journal.

``Yea'' on Roll Call 613, on the motion to recommit H.R. 3441, the Save Local Business Act.

``No'' on Roll Call 614, on passage of H.R. 3441. This bill would effectively eliminate joint employment from the National Labor Relations Act and Fair Labor Standards Act, blocking workers from holding a joint employer accountable for wage theft, equal pay violations, and other unfair labor practices. Today, many employers seek to avoid their legal obligations to ensure that workers receive the wages they are due and bargain in good faith, and H.R. 3441 would make it more difficult for workers to hold the joint employers who set many of the conditions of their work accountable.

``No'' on Roll Call 615, on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 3911, the Risk-Based Credit Examination Act. H.R. 3911 would weaken oversight of major credit rating agencies such as S&P and Moody's, which were at the center of the 2008 financial crisis, and create the possibility of credit rating agencies challenging the SEC in court if they felt the examinations were not ``appropriate''.

``No'' on Roll Call 616, on ordering the Previous Question on H. Res. 609, providing for consideration of H.R. 2201, the Micro Offering Safe Harbor Act.

``No'' on Roll Call 617, on passage of H. Res. 609.

``Yea'' on Roll Call 618, on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 4173, the Veterans Crisis Line Study Act.

``Yea'' on Roll Call 619, the Rush Amendment to H.R. 3043.

``No'' on Roll Call 620, on passage of H.R. 3043, the Hydropower Policy Modernization Act. I recognize the need and importance of modernizing the licensing process for hydropower projects to both power companies and the workers who build, operate, and maintain them. However, I have concerns that H.R.

3043 ignores constructive suggestions that would improve the licensing process while still maintaining environmental protections and will usurp the authorities of states, tribes, and federal natural resource agencies.

``Yea'' on Roll Call 621, on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 3705, the Veterans Fair Debt Notice Act.

``No'' on Roll Call 622, the Micro Offering Safe Harbor Act.

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

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3562 requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide funding for home adaptations for severely disabled veterans within the Vocational, Rehabilitation, and Employment, or VR&E, program.

Currently, VA provides severely disabled veterans assistance to lead a more independent life through the VR&E program, which can include help with adaptive housing. However, as their name suggests, VR&E counselors are primarily trained to provide vocational and employment assistance, and they do not necessarily have the expertise to provide the best guidance on adaptive housing.

The agents and contractors who are part of VA's Specially Adaptive Housing program, however, do have this expertise. The SAH program is specifically geared towards helping severely disabled veterans with adapting their homes to be equipped for independent living.

Therefore, in order to better serve severely disabled veterans, this bill authorizes the SAH program to provide assistance to home adaptations for

VR&E-eligible veterans. The amount of assistance would be capped at the same level of funding that is currently provided to SAH-eligible veterans.

This is a solution that puts the right VA employee in charge of assisting a disabled veteran to adapt their home. This will also reduce the workload on VR&E counselors, allowing them to spend more time helping veterans with employment services.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the passage of this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 3562, and I yield back the balance of my time.