BRAVE Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2109) to amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in awarding a contract for the procurement of goods or services, to give a preference to offerors that employ veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material on H.R. 2109.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2109, the Boosting Rates of American Veteran Employment Act, or BRAVE Act.

We know that overall veterans' unemployment rates are below the national average, and that includes a 3.5 percent rate for our younger post-9/11 veterans. However, this hides an alarming statistic: nearly one-third of veteran jobseekers are underemployed at a rate 15.6 percent higher than nonveteran jobseekers.

Both parties agree that men and women returning from our most recent conflicts deserve to come home to a reliable, good paying job. We owe them that.

We can start right here in the Federal Government. The VA establishes long-term contracts with private companies for medical equipment, construction supplies, services, and more.

Currently, the VA gives a preference for these contracts to veteran- owned small businesses.

The BRAVE Act would expand this contracting preference to allow the VA Secretary to give a preference to companies that actively employ veterans, a policy that would incentivize companies to hire more veterans, already a smart approach for companies, because veterans bring to a job the skills they earned and learned in their years of invaluable military training.

This bipartisan bill would not add any additional costs or burdens to the taxpayers. It allows for the debarment of any company that knowingly misrepresents its proportion of veteran employees in order to receive a contracting preference.

The BRAVE Act represents a win-win for the private sector, the Federal Government, and most importantly, veterans themselves.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Representative Rice for her hard work on this excellent bill, and Ranking Member Roe for beginning work on this bill last Congress. I urge my colleagues to support it today.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Miss Rice), my good friend, who is a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee and a member of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, and the sponsor of H.R. 2109.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support the legislation sponsored by Miss Rice, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2109, the Boosting Rates of American Veteran Employment Act, which I introduced along with Paul Cook from California.

The BRAVE Act is commonsense, bipartisan legislation that will authorize the VA Secretary to give preference to contractors with high concentrations of full-time veteran employees when awarding Federal contracts.

First, this bill will reward companies that actively hire and invest in veterans, companies that seek out veterans and give them opportunities to bring their unique skills and training

and experience to the civilian workforce.

Second, it will create an incentive for other companies to do the same, which in turn will help bring more veterans into the workforce, and with good-paying jobs at that, the types of opportunities that give veterans and their families the stability they need as they transition to civilian life.

Most importantly, as more and more companies hire more and more veterans, they will ultimately see that investing in veterans is just good for business. That is what the real incentive should be, not just an advantage in securing Federal contracts, but getting the benefit of employees who have worn the uniform, who have been trained by the greatest military in the world, and who have learned to get the job done no matter what the job is or how tough it may be.

What business wouldn't want to have employees like that?

Lastly, it bears emphasizing that this bill will cost taxpayers absolutely nothing.

We need more businesses in the private sector to recognize the value of investing in the men and women who have served our country.

To be clear, this isn't an act of charity. Veterans are not looking for a handout. They just need an opportunity to show what they can do. That is what this bill will help accomplish.

The BRAVE Act will help ensure that more veterans have those opportunities.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Takano and Ranking Member Roe for supporting this bill and for helping to bring it to the floor today.

This legislation passed unanimously in the last Congress, and I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to once again give it the bipartisan support it deserves.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2109, introduced by Representative Rice of New York.

Mr. Speaker, to improve employment opportunities for veterans and business opportunities for the companies that employ them, H.R. 2109 would authorize the Department of Veterans Affairs, VA, to consider the number of veterans who would be employed by a potential contractor and give the company that employs certain veterans credit for doing so during the contract approval process.

The bill would also allow VA to debar any contractor who willfully and intentionally misrepresents the number of veterans they employ.

Mr. Speaker, thanks to President Trump and Republican pro-growth policies, the veteran unemployment rate is at a near historic low of 2.7 percent.

I firmly believe that we should encourage businesses to provide job opportunities to veterans as well as provide VA with the authority to consider veteran hires when making contracting decisions. This legislation emphasizes that.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Rice for her work on this bill, which has my full support. I urge all my colleagues to support H.R. 2109.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I yield back the balance of my time.