Free Veterans from Fees Act

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Michigan for yielding me this time.

Mr. Speaker, I was an original cosponsor with my good friend and colleague, Mr. Steube from Florida, of H.R. 1029, the Free Veterans from Fees Act.

H.R. 1029 would waive application fees for special use permits for Honor Flights and Gold Star Family events and other veterans demonstrations and special events at our Nation's war memorials. It is the right thing to do, to try to reduce the cost for a lot of these important commemorative occasions happening right here in our Nation's Capital.

Throughout the years, I have had the privilege of being able to attend many of the Freedom Honor Flights that emanated from my hometown in La Crosse, Wisconsin. They are joyous occasions, with much celebration honoring the service and sacrifice of our veterans, celebrating their achievements, but more importantly, allowing them, many for the very last time, to be able to hop on a plane, come to Washington, and pay their respects at the memorials of conflicts that they were involved in and for the fallen comrades who didn't come home.

Oftentimes, on the way home--I know this is true for our La Crosse Honor Flights--there is a mail call where the relatives of these veterans, family members, write letters of thanks to them as they are coming home. When they arrive, it is a huge celebration of music and thanking them for their service and sacrifice. It is a great thing to behold.

The thought that the cost of this is compounded with unnecessary application fees in order to attend these events at our war memorials is something we can rectify, and that is exactly what we are doing under H.R. 1029, along with Gold Star events that occur here and other veterans' events.

I also am the original author of the Veterans History Project, trying to record our veterans' stories before they pass away, archiving it at the Library of Congress, so that we never forget the service and sacrifice that came before us.

We are trying to capture many of these veterans coming to our Nation's Capital--again, many for the very last time--to have them share their story of what it was like to serve our country during times of conflict and peace. So it has been a great avenue in order to reach out and expand the number of oral histories that we have collected at the Library of Congress, close to 120,000 veterans' stories so far and counting.

So if this is a way for us to reduce cost, to ease the burden, to make it easier for veterans to come here, a chance for us to reach out to them, asking them to share their memories of what it was like to serve our Nation, then that is a good thing for us to do.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1029, and I thank my colleague from Florida (Mr. Steube) for partnering with me on this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1029) to Waive the application fee for any special use permit for veterans' special events at war memorials on land administered by the National Park Service in the District of Columbia and its environs, and for other purposes.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1029, the Free Veterans from Fees Act, introduced by my colleague, Representative Greg Steube.

This bill would honor the sacrifices made by our veterans and Gold Star families by waiving application fees for veterans' special events at war memorials on land administered by the National Park Service in our Nation's Capital.

Although the National Park Service has a longstanding practice of waiving application fees for special use permits for most veterans' events at war memorials, veterans' organizations have often had to pay administrative fees and associated costs to obtain permits for events, such as honor buses.

By codifying a version of this practice in law, we can ensure that veterans and the Gold Star families are not required to pay when visiting the national war memorials that were built to commemorate their bravery and sacrifices and our country's fallen heroes.

I would like to thank Representative Steube for introducing this important legislation, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind).

Mr. Speaker, we have heard all the reasons why this bill matters. We even did an Honor Flight with the Rosies from Michigan, which was memorable.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1029, offered by Congressman Steube of Florida, would waive the application fee associated with special use permits for any veterans' demonstrations or special events at war memorials located on Federal land.

Each year, hundreds of veterans' groups and Gold Star families visit our national war memorials in Washington, D.C. This is done through arranged visits sponsored by veterans' organizations. To obtain a permit for any special events they hold, these veterans' groups may be required to pay administrative fees and other processing costs to the National Park Service. The Free Veterans from Fees Act waives these special use permit fees for veterans' groups so that they may hold their demonstrations and special events at war memorials administered by the National Park Service in the District of Columbia free of charge.

The last thing veterans and their families should worry about is paying administrative fees when visiting memorials and monuments built in their honor. These brave men and women fought to defend our Nation, and we should honor their sacrifices by making it as simple as possible for them to visit these sites.

I commend Congressman Steube for his work on this bill, I urge adoption of the measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, this is a great bill to honor our heroes and to say thank you in another way. I urge a ``yes'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 316.

Members Recorded Pursuant to House Resolution 8, 117th Congress

Barragan (Beyer)

Cartwright (Doyle, Michael F.)

Casten (Foster)

Cooper (Clark (MA))

Costa (Cuellar)

DeFazio (Brown)

DeSaulnier (Beyer)

DesJarlais (Fleischmann)

Fallon (Nehls)

Garcia (TX) (Escobar)

Hice (GA) (Greene (GA))

Keating (Clark (MA))

Kind (Connolly)

Kirkpatrick (Stanton)

Lawson (FL) (Evans)

Meng (Jeffries)

Moore (WI) (Beyer)

Moulton (Norcross)

Napolitano (Correa)

Ocasio-Cortez (Pressley)

Payne (Pallone)

Porter (Wexton)

Rodgers (WA) (Joyce (PA))

Rogers (KY) (Fleischmann)

Rush (Underwood)

Ryan (Kildee)

Sires (Pallone)

Thompson (CA) (Speier)

Wasserman Schultz (Soto)

Wilson (FL) (Hayes)

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