Encouraging the connecting of members of the Armed Forces in the United States to support structures necessary to transition from the battlefield.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my support for H. Res. 848, encouraging the connecting of members of the Armed Forces in the United States to support structures necessary to transition from the battlefield.

While I support this resolution and urge my colleagues to vote in support of it, I must register my disappointment that this is one of only two veteran- or servicemember-related measures that House leadership has chosen to work on this week, the week following Veterans Day.

The resolution asks members of the public to join Congress in thanking and supporting servicemembers in their transition out of the military into civilian life. That is worthwhile, but it does not come with any concrete action.

Our committee has favorably reported several bills to help our most vulnerable veterans. Those bills are waiting for action and have been for months now. If we really wanted to honor servicemembers and veterans, we would be voting on those bills this week.

Mr. Speaker, we know that homeless veterans are eight times more likely to die by suicide, so we urgently need to get homeless veterans housed before the coldest and cruelest months of the year come upon us. Every day we fail to act, more disabled and elderly veterans are forced into the care of nursing homes and other institutional long-term care settings, even though they would prefer to be taken care of at home surrounded by their loved ones.

Let me also point out that while I find it telling that while jurisdiction over this resolution about servicemember transition lies primarily with the House Armed Services Committee, the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs is here managing floor time. I am glad for this because our committee has been pushing to take primary oversight responsibility for the administration of the TAP program for years.

We hear from countless veterans that the administration of TAP by DOD falls flat. DOD is focused on readiness and making sure that servicemembers are focused on their mission of protecting our country, as they should be. Nevertheless, the bookend to that mission is helping servicemembers find success as civilians.

Because DOD has not focused on that transition, too many servicemembers separate from the military without a full picture of the earned benefits available to them as veterans, and it leaves them more vulnerable at an already stressful time.

I believe that it would make more sense for us to have primary jurisdiction over the TAP program to make sure the transition from the military to civilian life is as smooth as possible. We work with VA on healthcare and benefits delivery every single day, and we are better positioned than the Armed Services Committee to ensure veterans understand what life will look like out of the military.

Mr. Speaker, I am glad to see House leadership acknowledging our leadership role in the transition of servicemembers. I will continue to advocate that TAP be included as primarily within the Veterans' Affairs Committee's jurisdiction in the future.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Van Orden for introducing this resolution, and I hope we can continue working together on continued improvements to the TAP program.

I urge this House to bring up additional veterans bills. We should not only thank veterans and servicemembers for their service. We should be backing up those thank-yous with action.

As we face yet another threat of a shutdown, I hope this Congress can stop operating from the brink and begin to do the work that is demanded of us. It is what we owe to veterans, and we should not abide by reneging on our promises.

Mr. Speaker, I support H. Res. 848, but let's act on more than the words of a resolution. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. What I would like to do on the floor today is not more bickering and arguing. It is a plea. It is a plea to the Speaker and the leadership of this House to bring the home act to the floor. It is a Republican bill. It is a bipartisan bill. We can do more than this resolution. With all due credit to my colleague from Wisconsin for this resolution, we can do more than words on a resolution. We can take action.

We can help veterans who are going to be forced out of aging at home and into a nursing home. We can help those veterans stay in their homes with the legislation offered by my colleague from California, Julia Brownley, the Elizabeth Dole act.

Mr. Speaker, let me respond to my colleague, the chairman. I did not bring up the issue of the lost time with a Speakerless House. I would reject the suggestion that the 21 days we lost of floor time was because Democrats voted to do what they would normally do, which is they vote for their own nominee for Speaker.

I am not even arguing about lost time. I am arguing that we do have time that could be better used.

Instead of endless 2-minute votes on amendments that both sides have voted against stacked on top of each other, we could have used that time to bring the HOME Act to the floor. We could have used that time to bring the Elizabeth Dole Home Care Act to the floor.

Both bills are bipartisan. Both bills have wide support by the veterans service organization community. I just say to the chairman-- and I know the chairman himself has urged the Speaker to do this--my question is, even with all of these useless votes on amendments, we had time this week. We had enough time to bring those bills to the floor. Let's bring them to the floor immediately. We need to get veterans housed before the winter sets in.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to vote in favor of the resolution, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all my colleagues to join me in supporting the resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 848) encouraging the connecting of members of the Armed Forces in the United States to support structures necessary to transition from the battlefield.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on H. Res. 848.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 848, and I thank my fellow veteran, Representative Van Orden, for his leadership on this resolution.

As the chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I believe that we should celebrate the service of our veterans every day, not just like we did this weekend for Veterans Day. Every day, I am grateful to our veterans for their service to our country.

That is why this resolution is so important. Too many of our veterans are suffering in silence. Too many of our veterans are struggling to find their way. We owe it to them to do our part and reach out to let them know they are not alone.

This resolution encourages all Americans to connect with the persons in their lives who have served and offer a listening ear. Representative Van Orden's resolution implores all Americans to help servicemembers and veterans find solutions and treatment for the wounds of battle that may not be visible. This resolution also highlights the importance of taking care of our brothers and sisters in arms before, during, and after their service.

Mr. Speaker, I am grateful to my colleague for introducing it, and I urge all Members to support it.

To any veteran who may be watching, please reach out to talk. Hope and help are available by dialing 988 and pressing 1. We need you, and we want to help you.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, while I understand the concerns of the minority, I would remind the minority that both sides of the aisle on this committee are committed to this legislation. The Colmery Act and reducing veteran homelessness is a priority for us, and now that the House is back in business, I hope to see it on the floor very soon.

Mr. Speaker, if 208 Democrats had put their country first and not voted for the chaos of the 3 weeks of being without a Speaker, then maybe they have a complaint. Nonetheless, now, because of that chaos, maybe we would have already had these things picked up. I disagreed.

I look forward to working with both leadership and the minority to pass it out of the House with bipartisan support.

Mr. Speaker, I also respectfully remind the ranking member that Speaker McCarthy's proposal to increase the grant per diem rate during the COVID pandemic would have helped address this problem. However, Democrats, who were in the majority at the time, made us reduce the rate and put veterans homelessness providers in the situation we are in today with GPD. Rates are not in line with rising inflation.

We have been very successful in making smart investments in the VA program in recent years to reduce veteran homelessness. I agree with the minority that now is not the time to take our foot off the gas. I will agree with them on that.

Important legislation, such as Representative Chavez-DeRemer's bill, is one of the best ways to build our success and get veterans housed, which is why we are not going to stop improving these programs now.

Mr. Speaker, at this time, I will get back to the resolution we have in front of us.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Van Orden), who is the sponsor of this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, the ranking member knows that H.R. 542, the Elizabeth Dole Home Care Act of 2023 has my full support, but in spite of the incredible efforts to get a realistic CBO

score, the bill still comes with a cost and the cost is one that we need to resolve, along with the Toxic Exposure Fund, or the TEF issue.

We are working closely with our Senate counterparts to get this bill and several other high-priority pieces of legislation through both Chambers by the end of the year, and you know that I support them.

Mr. Speaker, let me talk about the resolution that is in front of us. I do know and understand that this is an excellent bill, and I encourage all Members to support this resolution.

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