Veterans Rapid Retraining Assistance Program Restoration and Recovery Act of 2022

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 4089) to restore entitlement to educational assistance under Veterans Rapid Retraining Program in cases of a closure of an educational institution or a disapproval of a program of education, 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 to insert extraneous material on S. 4089.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 4089, the Veterans Rapid Retraining Assistance Program Restoration and Recovery Act.

This legislation was introduced by Senator Durbin and passed by unanimous consent in the Senate. I also thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Danny K. Davis) for introducing this legislation in the House.

Mr. Speaker, during the most difficult period of the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress and President Biden worked together to pass the American Rescue Plan into law, one of the most significant investments in American workers and the American economy since the New Deal.

The Veteran Rapid Retraining Assistance Program, which was included in the American Rescue Plan, created a new program to retrain and employ unemployed veterans.

Since passage, over 5,000 veterans have used this program, many to great

success. However, not every veteran has had the same experience. Some have been subject to school closures, which risk robbing them of this one-time benefit. For example, in Illinois, more than 300 veterans were scammed by a for-profit school that took their money and abruptly closed its doors.

This legislation restores these education benefits to veterans defrauded by schools and gives these veterans a second chance to gain new skills in a booming labor market.

I thank the Senate for getting this bill to us so quickly and Senator Durbin and Congressman Danny K. Davis for their leadership.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Danny K. Davis), my good friend who serves as a subcommittee chair on the Ways and Means Committee and is a member of the Oversight and Reform Committee.

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

Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to join me in passing this important legislation. I remind my colleagues that it was sent to us by the Senate by unanimous consent, and we can express that same sense of unanimity by allowing this bill to pass on suspension by voice vote. The Senate has indicated unanimity. As my colleagues well know, to even get to the floor requires a 60-vote super majority.

Mr. Speaker, I would say to my friend from Montana, the Big Sky State, have a big heart as well as be from the Big Sky State. To my colleague, the ranking member, I take to heart your consternation over a $6 million non-offsetted cost, but I will remind you of a $2 trillion tax cut which was not offset.

So we will wring our hands over $6 million for our veterans but yet, look the other way when $2.9 trillion is blithely moved through this Chamber with nary a hearing. I plead to a big heart in this institution that we may get through these votes quickly.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support S. 4089, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, I wish to submit to the Senate a budget scorekeeping report. The report, which covers fiscal year 2022, was prepared by my staff on the Budget Committee and the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 308(b) and in aid of section 311 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended. This information allows the Senate Budget Committee to determine if budgetary points of order lie against pending legislation.

The report shows the effect on spending and revenues of congressional action through September 15, 2022, as compared to the levels the Senate agreed to in the budget resolution for fiscal year 2022, S. Con. Res. 14. Since my last scorekeeping report on April 28, seven laws with significant budgetary effects have been signed by the President, and I have revised the levels in the budget resolution two times for legislation.

The Democratic staff of the Budget Committee prepared tables 1 and 2. Table 1 compares the mandatory spending of each authorizing committee against the enforceable allocations under section 302 of the Congressional Budget Act. It shows 10 of the 16 authorizing committees are in compliance with their allocations, either because no legislation with significant budgetary costs was enacted or the legislation qualified under the budget resolution for an allocation adjustment. Most of the spending above allowable levels is attributed to either the CHIPS Act of 2022 or the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022.

Table 2 shows the Senate pay-as-you-go--PAYGO--scorecard tallying enacted legislation with significant effects on mandatory spending and revenues. The scorecard shows a savings of $4.7 billion in 2022, a deficit of $174 billion over the 2022-2026 period, and a deficit of $528 billion over the 2022-2031 period. When compared to the allowable amounts on the PAYGO scorecard last adjusted on September 12, there is a deficit of $1.3 billion on the scorecard for 2022, $185 billion over the 2022-2026 period, and $667 billion over the 2022-2031 period.

In addition to these tables, I am submitting a letter from the Congressional Budget Office with further detail. For fiscal year 2022, current budgetary levels are within allowed amounts. Current law budget authority is $2.6 billion below the maximum allowed in the revised budget resolution, outlays are $17 billion below the allowed maximum, and revenues are $68 million above the allowed minimum. The tables also show that there has been no net change for Social Security.

I ask unanimous consent that the letter and accompanying tables from CBO be printed in the Congressional Record.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 4089, the Veterans Rapid Retraining Assistance Program Restoration and Recovery Act.

One of the few positive provisions that was enacted as part of the American Rescue Plan was the creation of the Veteran Rapid Retraining Assistance Program, or VRRAP. This program authorizes 1 year of GI Bill-style education benefits for training for an in-demand occupation for unemployed veterans.

VRRAP was originally authored during the peak of COVID veteran unemployment by our former colleague Dr. Phil Roe and Congressman Levin. I was pleased to introduce the bill this year and was glad that it was made part of the American Rescue Plan.

Under this program, eligible veterans only have one chance to participate in VRRAP. This became a problem for hundreds of students at Future Tech Career Institute in Chicago when the training provider lost their ability to administer GI Bill benefits earlier this year.

If those students had been using a traditional GI Bill program, they would be eligible to have their benefits restored to continue their studies at another school. However, with VRRAP, that was not possible.

This bill will fix that issue, authorizing VRRAP users to have another chance to use the program if their school closes or loses GI Bill approval in the middle of the semester.

While I am very supportive of the policy in this bill, I do have concerns about the cost. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated the cost of this bill to be at $6 million in mandatory costs over 10 years.

For whatever reason, the Senate chose not to offset these costs before passing this bill. This decision is, unfortunately, not surprising, as we have seen repeatedly that the Democrat majority in both the House and the Senate loves to ignore costs and increase spending.

Their overstimulation of the economy has led to soaring inflation and staggering price increases that Americans see every day. We must stop mortgaging our children's and grandchildren's futures. Our current level of spending is simply not sustainable.

That being said, I am not going to stand in the way of providing restored benefits to unemployed veterans who need our help in this struggling economy. That is why I am going to reluctantly support the passage of this bill today. However, I caution my friends that this practice of un-offset spending must end.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Veterans Rapid Retraining Assistance Program Restoration and Recovery Act. I introduced this bill with Senator Durbin and Representative Underwood to ensure veterans receive the rapid retraining benefits they earned.

I thank Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Takano and Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity Chairman Levin for their leadership in advancing this bill quickly to meet the urgent need of affected veterans.

I also thank the multiple veterans' advocates for their support for swift passage to assist affected students.

Veterans serving our country with honor have earned their rapid retraining assistance education benefits. The American Rescue Plan established these benefits, known as VRRAP, to help veterans gain new skills to meet the changing workforce demands during the pandemic.

Unfortunately, the Veterans Administration lacks the authority to restore benefits to veterans who attended institutions that closed or experienced a disapproval of educational programming.

This legislation emerged from casework in Illinois, where more than 300 Illinois veterans were scammed out of their benefits by an unaccredited for-profit institute.

I am indeed proud to work with Senator Durbin and Representative Underwood to restore these benefits to these Illinois veterans and protect any other veteran in similar circumstances.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this legislation. I urge my colleagues to support it, and I thank the Committee on Veterans' Affairs for bringing it to us so quickly.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 4089, which was introduced earlier today.

I further ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read three times.

I know of no further debate on the bill.

I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.