VET TEC Enhancement Act of 2021

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2878) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a Native VetSuccess at Tribal Colleges and Universities Pilot Program, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material on H.R. 2878, as amended.

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

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to speak on H.R. 2878, as amended, the Native VetSuccess at Tribal Colleges and Universities Pilot Program Act, introduced by Congressman Gallego.

Started in 2009, the VetSuccess On Campus Program helps student veterans succeed and thrive through delivery of on-campus benefits, assistance, and counseling. This outreach is intended to help veterans complete their education and prepare them for jobs.

Since its inception, the program has expanded multiple times, and currently supports 104 schools across the country and is served by 87 VetSuccess counselors.

However, Tribal colleges and universities are not currently served by the VetSuccess program, creating a gap in access to the services and benefits our Native American veterans have earned.

Madam Speaker, Native veterans serve in the Armed Forces at five times the national average, and have served with distinction in every major conflict for over 200 years. Native Americans have the highest per capita involvement of any population in service in the U.S. military, yet these same communities that serve disproportionately in our military don't see the same resources delivered back to their communities.

Congressman Gallego's legislation begins to close this gap by creating the Native VetSuccess at Tribal Colleges and Universities Pilot Program Act at three sites around the Nation serving Tribal colleges.

But that is not all. This legislation also includes additional improvements that will deliver more benefits to all veterans using their earned educational benefits.

Included in this legislation is expanded housing benefits for veterans as they seek to finish programs of education; additional funding for high-technology education courses to serve more veterans during our economic rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic; and an extension of VA housing partnerships with local communities to house more veterans who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

Madam Speaker, I applaud Congressman Gallego, a veteran himself, for bringing this package to us, and I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting the Native VetSuccess at Tribal Colleges and Universities Pilot Program Act.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gallego), my good friend and an author of this legislation, H.R. 2878, and a member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Pappas), my good friend and chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from the State of Hawaii (Mr. Kahele).

Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers. In closing, I ask all my colleagues to join me in passing this important piece of legislation, H.R. 2878, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to highlight veterans bills before the House floor.

I appreciate the opportunity to first highlight legislation that Representative Pappas and I introduced, aimed at helping veteran homelessness.

H.R. 2878 and the Affordable Housing for Homeless Veterans Act of 2021 would increase the number of affordable housing options to help reduce the recent uptick in veteran homelessness due to the ongoing pandemic.

Our job on the House Veterans' Affairs Committee is to ensure that we are taking care of and doing right by our veterans. This legislation works to do just that. Curbing veterans' homelessness and ensuring our Nation's heroes are not without shelter for themselves and their families is a top priority for me. There are over 37,000 veterans experiencing homelessness in America. This is not acceptable for our veterans, and we must be part of the solution.

I was pleased to see the Department of VA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development align efforts to join forces to find ways to end veteran homelessness. One of the priorities mentioned by VA and HUD is increasing the supply and access to affordable housing.

My legislation reauthorizes and amends the program that allows the Secretary of VA to sell, lease, rent or donate a home which was acquired by VA because a veteran defaulted on their VA-guaranteed home loan to a public housing authority, grant and per diem provider, or a Supportive Services for Veterans Families service provider.

The public housing authority or providers could then use these homes to shelter other veterans and their families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

By reauthorizing this program and removing some burdensome regulations from the old program, the number of affordable housing options in higher cost areas will increase and provide relief to veterans who have limited affordable housing options.

I was pleased this legislation received bipartisan support from my colleagues on the committee, as well as many members not on the committee. This broad support shows a willingness by this House of Representatives to implement these impactful changes for our veterans across the country.

I also had the opportunity to speak with VA Secretary McDonough when he visited VA facilities in Kansas. I spoke to him about the Affordable Housing for Homeless Veterans Act, and he was encouraged about the work we were doing in the committee to help veterans. I look forward to my continued partnership with Secretary McDonough and the VA.

I also want to quickly highlight another piece of legislation I introduced along with Representative Lamb, the VA Equal Employment Counseling Modernization Act.

This legislation removes burdensome regulations by simply removing the cap on the number of full-time employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs who provide equal opportunity employment counseling. It is a small, incremental change, but changes like this help the VA get our veterans into jobs quickly and ensure we are giving them the best care and guidance possible.

I thank Chairman Takano and Ranking Member Bost for allowing me to speak on behalf of the Affordable Housing for Veterans Act. I look forward to passing these pieces of legislation and continuing to work with everyone to help veterans.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 2878, the Native VetSuccess at Tribal Colleges and Universities Pilot Program Act.

I thank Chair Takano for bringing this bill to the floor. I also thank my co-leads on this legislation: Representative Dusty Johnson, Representative Tom O'Halleran, and Representative Tom Cole.

Native Americans have served our country in every war since the American Revolution. To this day, Native Americans volunteer to serve at higher rates than any other demographic group. I, myself, served alongside Native American Marines in Iraq.

Indigenous peoples have a decorated history of service, yet Native veterans have less access to benefits than other groups of veterans. That must change.

Today, we consider a bill that will give Native veterans attending Tribal colleges and universities access to an already successful student veteran program, the VetSuccess on Campus Program.

The VetSuccess program helps student veterans graduate on time, successfully enter the workforce, and access VA benefits at over 100 colleges and universities. H.R. 2878 would extend this successful program to TCUs in a regional model to reach as many Native veterans as possible. There is no time to waste in passing this important legislation.

In addition to expanding the VetSuccess to Native veterans, H.R. 2878 includes emergency funds for veteran technology education courses, known as VET TEC. The VET TEC program was created to allow veterans to pursue vocational training for 21st century careers in high-tech fields like software development, programming, coding, media, and more.

During the pandemic, more veterans than ever are looking for training in high-skilled, high-tech careers, so much so that the VET TEC program has run out of money for this year already. That is why H.R. 2878 includes an immediate influx of funds for VET TEC so more veterans can receive this critical funding.

H.R. 2878 also includes a provision to fight veteran homelessness. The COVID-19 pandemic devastated our economy and healthcare system in general, disproportionately hurting veterans. We don't know yet the full impact of the pandemic on veteran homelessness, but we know veterans need our help immediately.

My bill will extend the authorization allowing the VA to partner with nonprofits, States, Tribes, and localities to help more veterans find both temporary shelter and permanent housing. This provision will save veterans' lives, period.

Finally, H.R. 2878 includes a provision to help student veterans keep their housing benefits in their final semester of education. Ensuring student veterans can remain housed for the duration of their education is essential to ensure that veterans graduate on time and can successfully enter the workforce.

Before I close, I want to especially thank Representatives Miller- Meeks, Levin, Mann, and Pappas for their work with me on this bipartisan bill.

Madam Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this legislation.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2878, as amended, the Native VetSuccess at Tribal Colleges and Universities Pilot Program Act.

This bill would direct the VA to carry out pilot programs on at least two Tribal colleges or university campuses.

During the pilot, a VetSuccess counselor would be assigned to these campuses to help eligible veterans navigate VA programs and benefits.

I support the underlying bill. I am also pleased that the bill, as amended, included many Republican provisions.

This bill includes the revised text of Congresswoman Miller-Meeks' bill, H.R. 2335, the VET TEC Enhancement Act of 2021. Her bill would increase funding for the popular VET TEC pilot program to ensure that funding does not run out before the end of the fiscal year. The bill also provides additional funding for those programs in fiscal year 2022 and 2023.

Madam Speaker, I am glad we authorized additional funds for this important program that is putting veterans back to work with a 70 percent placement rate. I think we would be hard-pressed to find another program with such a high rate of success.

This bill also includes the text of Congressman Mann's bill, H.R. 2419, the Affordable Housing for Homeless Veterans Act of 2021. Congressman Mann's provision would authorize the VA to sell, lease, rent or donate homes to homeless veterans providers.

These homes were acquired by the VA due to veterans defaulting on their VA-guaranteed home loans. This change would increase the stock of affordable housing that is available to house homeless veterans.

Finally, this bill would provide authorization for the VA to continue the practice of rounding out the semester for GI Bill students. This practice ensures that the students who are finishing their education early are able to take an additional class to receive their full housing stipend.

I am dismayed that, without this legislative fix, the Biden administration is poised to end the decades-long practice on August 1.

Madam Speaker, I thank Chairman Levin for working with us to ensure rounding out continues and students are not hurt by the VA's decision. I also thank Congresswoman Miller-Meeks and Congressman Mann for their hard work on both of these bills.

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to support this bill, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Iowa (Mrs. Miller-Meeks).

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Mann), my good friend.

Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague, Representative Bost, for yielding to me.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of Congressman Gallego's bipartisan Native VetSuccess at Tribal Colleges and Universities Pilot Program Act.

I am proud that this legislation was amended by the Veterans' Affairs Committee to include my bipartisan VET TEC Enhancement Act. This legislation, which I proudly introduced with a fellow veteran, Congressman Kahele, would increase the amount authorized to be appropriated for the Veteran Employment Through Technical Education Courses program.

VET TEC is a 5-year pilot program that allows eligible veterans to use GI Bill-style benefits to attend innovative job training programs to prepare them for future employment in the technology industry.

My bill to support our veterans would increase current funding for the VET TEC program from $45 million to $90 million per year to allow the VA to enroll more veterans in this popular program. This program ensures that our veterans have the tools they need to gain meaningful employment.

To date, over 1,800 veterans have completed the VET TEC program and found well-paying jobs with an average salary of $57,000 per year.

I have spoken to veterans' groups in my district and across the country, and there is overwhelming support for this commonsense program.

This is another highly successful avenue to assist veterans reentering the civilian workforce, and I am proud to see the House taking action to support our veterans.

In closing, I would like to thank Congressman Kahele for his partnership on this important issue, and Congressman Gallego for his support.

Madam Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support the bipartisan Native VetSuccess at Tribal Colleges and Universities Pilot Program Act.