Preventing Crimes Against Veterans Act of 2019

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California for her leadership, and I thank

both the ranking member and the full committee chair. And I thank Mr. Deutch from Florida, for it looks like, in this instance, Florida and Texas and many other States certainly are--how should I say it?--in coalition with the number of veterans that we have and the stories that we have heard about fraudulent activities as it relates to our veterans.

I would think that all veterans want to do after battling on behalf of this Nation and securing this Nation is to come home to a safe and secure community and people who welcome them and treat them with the dignity that they deserve. Unfortunately, because veterans have resources through their veterans benefits, they are targeted by those who have no goodwill, but evil intent.

Currently, there are approximately 21 million veterans of the United States Armed Forces living in our country. It is estimated that about 30 percent of all Vietnam veterans have had post-traumatic stress disorder, and up to 20 percent of veterans serving in more recent conflicts in the Middle East are estimated to suffer from PTSD in a given year.

Given the extreme sacrifice of our veterans and the hardships many of them continue to face after their military service, it is our duty, to the best of our ability, to have an appropriate measure of compensation for them, particularly for those in need.

For instance, we provide disability payments to those with service- connected disabilities, pensions for veterans with limited income, education and training under the GI Bill, and various life insurance benefits.

Over 71,000 veterans live in my congressional district.

H.R. 450 provides law enforcement with another tool to bring to justice those who knowingly defraud a veteran of their benefits or engage in fraud in connection with obtaining veterans benefits.

Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, there are many of them. 476,515 veterans are living with PTSD and need their benefits.

Mr. Speaker, how many have come to us in our offices and indicated that, through a telemarketing scheme, they have given up their benefits or they have taken their benefits to invest or buy something that either is never seen or doesn't help them, and never is their money returning back to them.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida in particular for being sensitive enough to listen to his constituents. In listening to my constituents and solving cases in our offices, there are cases that come into our offices where veterans have had their benefits taken away or they wind up homeless because resources are taken away and they don't have the necessary resources.

This is a good, good step to acknowledge their service and how important they are; to stop those who think that they are easy prey from defrauding our veterans; and to make the right kind of legal traps, if you will, that law enforcement can place, not for veterans who have served us, but for those who wish to defraud them.

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the gentleman from Florida and ask my colleagues to support H.R. 450, the Preventing Crimes Against Veterans Act of 2019.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 450, the ``Preventing Crimes Against Veterans Act of 2017,'' which provides an additional tool to deter, detect, and punish fraudulent activity against veterans.

The Preventing Crimes Against Veterans Act of 2017 would make it unlawful to knowingly execute, or attempt to execute, any scheme or artifice to defraud an individual of veterans' benefits, or in connection with obtaining veterans benefits.

We honor our veterans' service and their sacrifices; it is important that we protect veterans from fraud and ensure the integrity of the system of benefits we provide for them.

Currently, there are approximately 21 million veterans of the United States Armed Forces living in our country.

It is estimated that about 30 percent of all Vietnam veterans have had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and up to 20 percent of veterans serving in more recent conflicts in the Middle East are estimated to suffer from PTSD in a given year.

Given the extreme sacrifice by our veterans and the hardships many of them continue to face after their military service, it is our duty to provide, to the best of our ability, an appropriate measure of compensation for them--particularly for those in need.

For instance, we provide disability payments to those with service- connected disabilities, pensions for veterans with limited incomes, education and training under the GI Bill, and various life insurance benefits.

Over 71,749 veterans reside in my 18th Congressional District and one of my top priorities is to fight for their benefits and to fight for the rights of our most patriotic Americans.

H.R. 450 provides law enforcement with another tool to bring to justice those who knowingly defraud a veteran of their benefits or engage in fraud in connection with obtaining veterans' benefits.

Mr. Speaker, 476,515 veterans are living with PTSD and need their benefits to obtain needed care for their disorder; it is criminal that some are left untreated.

Those who defraud veterans and the system of veterans' benefits harm the victims and diminish resources needed to pay the claims and fund the programs that are needed to help those who have served their country.

I urge all Members to join me in voting to pass H.R. 450.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 450) to amend title 18, United States Code, to provide an additional tool to prevent certain frauds against veterans, 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 materials on the bill under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to support H.R. 450, the Preventing Crimes Against Veterans Act of 2019, as amended, which would make it a crime to knowingly engage in any scheme to defraud a veteran of his or her veterans benefits.

This legislation provides an important, additional tool for Federal prosecutors to use to combat veterans benefits fraud.

Because we honor their service and because of the sacrifices our veterans have made for us, it is particularly important that we protect them from fraud and ensure the integrity of the system of benefits we provide for them.

Currently, there are about 21 million veterans of the U.S. military, men and women who selfishly serve our Nation. Unfortunately, many of our veterans, as a result of their service, have been scarred, whether physically, mentally, or both. Often, it is the scars that we cannot visually see that are the hardest to address.

There are well over 1 million American veterans with service- connected disabilities.

The suicide rate among veterans is 300 percent above the national average, and it is estimated that about 30 percent of all Vietnam veterans and 20 percent of veterans of the recent Middle East conflicts suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder in a given year.

In addition, veterans are more likely than nonveterans to become homeless. They comprise 17 percent of our homeless population. On any given night, an estimated 50,000 veterans are sleeping on American streets. That is just not right.

In recognition of the extreme sacrifice by our veterans and the hardships many of them continue to face after their military service, it is our duty to provide, to the best of our ability, an appropriate measure of compensation for them, particularly those in need.

This is the least we can do, and it is still not enough. There continue to be issues with the medical care we provide our veterans and problems about some benefits never being processed and paid because of the loss of claims by the Veterans Benefits Administration.

That is why we must prohibit any schemes that would defraud a veteran of their benefits. Under H.R. 450, anyone convicted of such crime could be fined, imprisoned, or subject to both penalties.

This bill is important because it fills in a gap in enforcement for the protection of veterans. Under current law, the VA allows agents or attorneys to assess a nominal fee to assist claimants who are appealing different aspects of their benefits.

It is illegal for a nonattorney or a person not registered as an agent to assist such claimants. However, if an unauthorized individual offers a veteran assistance in person, they cannot be prosecuted under current Federal law. The wire fraud statutes do not extend to such in- person contact.

Because of this, fraudsters routinely take advantage of this loophole. I am aware of at least one specific instance in which a bad actor visited an assisted living facility in Florida and asked the staff to round up all veterans for a seminar. He could not be prosecuted under the law as it stands today. This is unconscionable. We need this bill, because the example I just gave is not an isolated incident.

More broadly, those who defraud veterans or their surviving spouses or dependents endanger our system of veterans benefits not only by harming the victims, but also by diminishing resources required to pay the claims and fund the programs that are needed to help those who have served our country.

Mr. Speaker, I commend the bill's sponsors, Mr. Deutch and Mr. Meadows, for their hard work and bipartisan efforts to address this critical problem.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Deutch).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Mr. Speaker, we should do everything we can to protect our veterans who have given so much of themselves to our Nation.

Our veterans have laid their lives on the line. We owe them much, and we should repay our gratitude whenever we can. Certainly, helping to ensure that their veterans benefits are protected against fraud, as H.R. 450 would do, is one way of expressing our appreciation, and it is the right and the just thing to do. For these reasons, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from California for the time and for her support of this legislation, and I thank Mr. Collins from Georgia for his service and for his support of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of our Nation's veterans. Our veterans distinguish themselves in service to our country, but that distinction is too often recognized and preyed upon by scam artists.

H.R. 450, the Preventing Crimes Against Veterans Act, will close a loophole in our criminal law and will give Federal law enforcement the tools they need to crack down on financial fraud schemes that target our veterans.

My friend, veteran, and former Congressman Tom Rooney introduced this bill with me in the past two Congresses. It passed by a voice vote in the 115th Congress and passed unanimously 411-0 in the 114th.

It is time to pass it again and to finally make it law to help our veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I am grateful to Representative Meadows for continuing this important bipartisan work to protect America's veterans.

In a 2017 survey, AARP found that 78 percent of veterans receive scam pitches specifically targeted to their military service. They also found that 16 percent of veterans lost money to financial fraud over the past 5 years, double the rate of nonveterans.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Greg Dover of Palm Beach County Veterans Services, who sounded the alarm and helped fight for this important legislation.

I have heard too many stories from south Floridians--veterans, survivors, families, and their veterans service officers--who have been taken advantage of through so-called pension poaching scams that target the supplemental aid and attendance pension benefit.

In one case, a veteran responded to a solicitation with the hope of securing additional pension benefits. He was met with a high-pressure sales tactic in his own home. The sales representative tried to convince him to apply for benefits that he didn't want and that he wasn't eligible for.

In addition to filing an improper claim on the veteran's behalf, the scammer lied and told the veteran that he was required to enter into a long-term healthcare contract in order to receive the benefits.

Pension poachers comb through south Florida's senior communities to look for targets. They gather residents for high-pressure sales pitches to convince them to file inaccurate claims.

In one case, a scammer intentionally withheld spousal income from a veteran's application to illegally unlock additional benefits. The veteran paid excessive filing fees of over $600, but that wasn't the worst of it. The VA eventually learned about the additional unreported income. They learned that the veteran was not eligible, and they sought to claw back nearly $50,000 in overpayments.

By the time the veteran faced financial ruin, the scammer had disappeared and couldn't be found.

As our senior population continues to grow, aging veterans will require assistance with activities of daily living that the veterans aid and attendance benefit can provide. The application of financial eligibility requirements offers an opportunity for scam artists to take advantage of our most vulnerable American veterans with empty promises and hidden consequences.

Veterans don't have to face benefit hurdles alone, but they shouldn't be easy targets for criminals either.

This legislation will help law enforcement fight back against pension poachers and other scammers. It will root out scam operations. And it will protect our veterans from falling prey to these ploys.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to be there for our veterans, just as they have been there for us. Please vote ``yes'' on this important legislation.

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

Mr. Speaker, the bill before us today makes a small but significant change to the Federal fraud statutes to protect veterans from fraudsters who seek to steal their benefits. It does so by inserting a new provision into the criminal code to complement the mail and wire fraud statutes.

In recent years, there have been reports of criminals entering nursing homes in search of elderly veterans with the intent to defraud them of their Federal benefits. Like many crimes of fraud, Mr. Speaker, the worst part is that people often present themselves as helpful to the veteran. This is a truly heinous crime worthy of Congress' attention.

This legislation has passed this House twice by overwhelming margins, and it also incorporates technical assistance from the Department of Justice, ensuring it will be effective in practice.

This is a bill that is supported by many. My colleague, Mr. Meadows from North Carolina, has spoken eloquently about this, and we will be entering his message under general leave as well.

As a member of the Air Force Reserve and an Iraq veteran, Mr. Speaker, this issue is near and dear to my heart. I have introduced numerous pieces of legislation over the years to protect our veterans and to expedite the benefits process.

Our men and women in uniform have sacrificed much for us. They are entitled to our gratitude, our respect, and our protection.

As President Abraham Lincoln reminded us 156 years ago, it is our duty ``to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan.''

Mr. Speaker, there is nothing in my mind more heinous than someone who tries to defraud a veteran of what they have earned. This is something that we can all come around on. This is something we can all support.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I think this is something we can all get around. I think, again, when we deal with our veterans, I have made the comments many times before, not specifically in dealing with this fraud and dealing with the issues here that are just heinous--and anybody who would do this definitely would put themselves on the margins of society--but also on a broader picture with our veterans.

I think this scenario where we can all come together--I long for a time in which my constituents services folks back in Georgia, I long for a time when I listen to their report each week, and I want to come to a time when there are no veteran issues.

We should strive in our country to have a time in which no veteran should feel the need to have to go to their Congressman to get help. That is something that we can all shoot for. That is a worthy goal. I would love to have that time to let them help other people and not these men and women who have served us so proudly. Mr. Speaker, I know you would join me in that.

Mr. Speaker, I ask for support of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of a bill to provide real consequences against those who would seek to commit fraud at the expense of America's Veterans.

H.R 450, the Bipartisan ``Preventing Crimes Against Veterans Act,'' would close loopholes in existing laws and provide law enforcement with additional tools to crack down on fraud cases in connection with Veterans' benefits.

In recent history, financial predators have increasingly begun targeting America's veterans, particularly those in low income housing, looking to commit fraud and rob them of their federal benefits. Many of these fraudsters pose as federal caseworkers, offering to expedite Veterans' claims or assist them with unanswered questions--only to charge them exorbitant fees while providing little or no service in return.

Absolutely no veteran should be defrauded of their well-earned benefits, particularly those in need. Those who defraud veterans and their families of their benefits not only harm these victims, but they also diminish resources required to pay the claims and fund the programs needed to assist those who have served our Nation.

Mr. Speaker, Congress has both a responsibility and an obligation to step up and protect our Veterans against this activity.

Unfortunately, current law hamstrings prosecutors and allows for criminals engaging in this type of conduct to escape with minimal penalty.

H.R. 450 would make needed changes to that process. It would impose new penalties on fraudsters--including a fine, imprisonment of up to five years, or both. By attaching a criminal penalty to this behavior, the bill provides prosecutors with the tools to take adequate and appropriate legal action against those who seek to defraud veterans.

This is a common sense reform that would send a loud and clear message of support to those who have served our country so faithfully and protect them against any effort to rob them of their hard earned benefits.

Finally, I want to thank the gentleman from Florida, Ted Deutch, who is the lead Democratic cosponsor, for his leadership on this important measure.

I support this bill and I urge my colleagues to do the same.