Floor Statements

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my support for S. 2795.

Before I speak on the bill, I would like to note that September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. I remind everyone that help is available any time of day or night. If you are a veteran in crisis, or if you are concerned about a veteran, confidential help is available by calling 988 and selecting 1, or you can text 838255. You are not alone.

The House and Senate Committees on Veterans' Affairs have worked together in a bipartisan manner on S. 2795, which extends expiring authorities for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Senate passed this bill by unanimous consent, and I hope my colleagues will support it. This bill must be signed into law before Sunday so that important programs at VA do not lapse.

It is a bit ironic that we all recognize the need to pass this bill before Sunday because of how important VA programs are and that we work to extend them the same week that we are facing a

government shutdown that will shutter some important services at VA.

Nevertheless, this is a must-pass piece of legislation. Section 1 of the bill extends VA's authority to enlist medical professionals across State lines for the purposes of conducting disability medical exams on behalf of veterans.

When a veteran files a claim with VA for a service-connected disability, they are often required to receive an exam to document and substantiate their injury or illness and its severity. This exam requires a medical professional who is well-versed in the injuries and illnesses that are unique to the veterans population and in the forms VA requires to be submitted. It may be the case that a provider with this expertise is not reasonably near the veteran.

To alleviate this problem, Congress enabled VA to authorize certain medical professionals to practice across State lines. This vital authority has been used by VA and its contract examiners to tremendous effect, greatly reducing the potential wait time a veteran may face in scheduling their exam and also reducing the distance many veterans must travel to attend that exam.

Extending this authority means removing roadblocks to veterans accessing the care and benefits they have earned.

Section 2 of S. 2795 provides relief to veterans who are affected by the closure or disapproval of an educational institution.

Student veterans should not be the ones penalized when their school closes. While we can't give student veterans back their time when their higher education institution closes, at the very least we should give them back their GI eligibility. Section 2 of this legislation extends the relief established in the Isakson and Roe law for more than 2 years.

Our committee remains committed to making it straightforward for student veterans to get their benefits back when a school fails to uphold its promise. While it is important to make sure that the authority being extended in the legislation before us today does not lapse on Sunday, I note that a permanent solution authored by Representative Ramirez, H.R. 1767, the Bipartisan Student Veterans Benefit Restoration Act, has been favorably reported out of the committee and is widely supported by the veterans service organizations but is still awaiting a vote before the full House.

Representative Ramirez' bill would address the inequity in protections and relief for current and former student veterans who have lost their GI Bill benefits due to fraud when their benefits were not restored while their nonveteran classmates have had their student loans discharged.

It is inexplicable that, in our current system, these student veterans are still waiting for their relief and that Congress allows this inequity to persist.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the House to take up and pass H.R. 1767 as soon as possible. It would grant relief to thousands of student veterans who have lost their GI Bill benefits due to fraud and would finally ensure that GI Bill beneficiaries have the same protections as student loan borrowers.

Section 3 of the bill before us today will extend VA's authority to prepare for and respond to disasters and emergencies for the next 5 years.

This authority is commonly referred to as ``VA's Fourth Mission.'' The bill authorizes appropriations to carry out this authority.

Under its Fourth Mission, VA carries out several major responsibilities. First and foremost, it ensures VA medical facilities are prepared to protect veterans and staff during a public health emergency.

Second, under this authority, VA serves as a contingency backup to the Department of Defense medical system during a national emergency. VA can also provide support under this authority, such as staff or medical supplies, to assist civilian patients.

Finally, VA may furnish hospital care or medical services at its own facilities to nonveteran patients on a humanitarian basis during emergencies.

The COVID-19 emergency proved what a vital role VA's Fourth Mission authority plays in protecting public health, not just for veterans but for all Americans. I could not be prouder of how heroically the Department of Veterans Affairs carried out this mission during the height of the pandemic. VA not only sustained its own capacity to provide care to veterans and prevent the spread of the virus among its workforce, but it also provided critical care to civilians, serving as the backstop to the American healthcare system through Fourth Mission assignments in nearly every State and territory.

More than 6,000 VA employees volunteered to deploy to assist civilian or Tribal health systems. VA provided nearly 1.2 million pieces of PPE, such as masks, gloves, and gowns to non-VA facilities. VA admitted nearly 700 nonveterans for care at its medical facilities.

The difference VA made through its Fourth Mission authority cannot be overstated. Countless lives have been saved, and it is imperative that we extend this authority.

Finally, this bill includes a noncontroversial section regarding housing loan fees that provides an offset to the small cost of this bill.

Congress has extended these authorities countless times with the support of the VSO community, which ensures that this legislation does not increase the debt or deficit.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), my good friend who holds a seat on the House Budget Committee, Homeland Security Committee, and the House Judiciary Committee. She is indeed a staunch advocate for all of our military servicemembers and veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from Texas.

Mr. Speaker, how much time is remaining?

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

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

Mr. Speaker, it is important that we pass this legislation, but it is cold comfort when the operation of the entire government is hanging in the balance this week.

We aren't any closer to extending funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs, or any other Federal agencies that servicemembers and veterans depend on.

I think we all need to consider what a shutdown means for servicemembers and veterans. It will undermine the PACT Act by delaying the onboarding of much-needed veteran service representatives, and negatively impact customer service for veterans. The claims backlog will grow, delaying benefits and services.

Important research will come to a halt, including life-improving prosthetics research.

There will be no setting of headstones at veteran cemeteries.

Student veterans will have counseling appointments canceled.

Hiring and training of new employees will stop, creating delays that will last for months.

The Veterans Benefits Administration, the office that oversees student veteran benefits, veteran housing, pensions, and servicemember transition will have 40 percent of its staff furloughed.

At the Department of Defense, over 1 million soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, space guardians, and their families will go without pay.

Training will stop, impacting our long-term readiness and security.

Commissaries will be closed on many bases, making it harder to get basic essentials that military families need.

At the Department of Agriculture, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, commonly known as WIC food assistance, will be cut off. Nearly a quarter, 24 percent of the Active-Duty servicemembers and families are food insecure, and 9 percent of those families depend on WIC. You heard that right--9 percent of our military families depend on WIC.

How are our servicemembers supposed to focus on their job, which is inherently dangerous, or a deployment when they are worried if their family has enough to eat?

My colleagues may not think about these issues as they relate to veterans. They are too busy giving lip service to half-hearted attempts to cut the deficit

that they helped create rather than thinking about the actual consequences of their rhetoric.

There is growing evidence that both older and disabled veterans are suffering from food insecurity, as well as student veterans and Native veterans. The Rand Corporation released a study examining the issue of food insecurity among veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Rand report be included in the Record.

Mr. Speaker, food insecurity is linked to many poor outcomes for physical and mental health, including increased risk of suicide. Food insecure veterans have a 400 percent higher rate of suicidal ideation. Food insecure veterans with a diagnosed mental health issue have a 900 percent higher rate of suicidal ideation.

We, as Members of Congress, like to stand here on the floor of the House or in front of the press or at a Memorial Day parade in our districts saying that we are working every angle, trying with all our might to eliminate or at least bring down the rate of veteran suicide. But how we spend or don't spend taxpayer money reveals our true values.

When we are trying to do everything possible to address veteran suicide, these pernicious cuts around the edges are simply increasing risk for vulnerable Americans, and this includes veterans, servicemembers, and their families.

Maybe my colleagues don't want to think about the ugly truth of members of the military not getting paid. The ugly truth is that those who serve are being asked to go without. Is that fair?

As noted in a recent article in Task and Purpose, cost of living and food insecurity are ongoing concerns for military families and veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to include in the Record the Task and Purpose article titled ``More than a million veterans experience food insecurity.''

Mr. Speaker, the plain truth is that military families depend on programs like SNAP and WIC to make ends meet. I have been working with my Democratic colleagues over the last several months on ways to address the barriers faced by veterans to access important services like SNAP and housing vouchers. We should be focused on increasing access rather than looking to undermine or cut services for veterans.

The plain truth is just that the threat of a government shutdown, the uncertainty created by the House Republicans' inability to govern creates unknowns and stress for our servicemembers and families. We should be providing predictability and stability to those who serve. Instead, the Speaker can't even tell us what funding measures we will be voting on this week.

This looming shutdown is a self-inflicted wound by the House majority, who are choosing politics over the responsibilities of governance.

Mr. Speaker, the impact of this shutdown will be felt worldwide by military and veteran families.

Mr. Speaker, S. 2795 is a good bill and I urge its support by all my colleagues. It is impossible to pass this legislation, which we should do, without recognizing what House Republicans aren't doing.

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

Mr. Speaker, I remind my esteemed colleague and friend-- and I do believe the gentleman from Illinois is my friend--that we are about to tonight bring up, again, the rule for the Defense appropriations bill. This body failed to even pass a rule and to bring to the floor the Defense appropriations bill.

Barring an ability to fund a continuing resolution before October 1, which is this Sunday, we are facing our military servicemembers going without a paycheck. This is a very serious moment. As far as I know, none of the 12 appropriations bills have been agreed to and been sent to the President's desk.

The bill before us today, this moment, is a bipartisan, noncontroversial bill that needs to be signed by the President before Sunday. Time is of the essence, but we can't forget all the things that we are not accomplishing for veterans today, that we are not accomplishing for our servicemembers who are in harm's way.

Servicemembers, veterans, and their families deserve to have access to food, deserve to have access to housing, and deserve to have access to healthcare and mental health care. If we look at the reauthorization of the agriculture bill, it is atrocious what is done to all the nutrition programs that our veterans and our military families depend on.

Do not be fooled by the fact that we have passed a military construction bill that fully funds VA but has not yet been agreed to because of all of the poison pills that have been put into that bill. We stand here waiting to see if the House Republicans can fulfill the most basic role of Congress, which is to fund the government.

The brinksmanship of extremists in control of this Chamber is putting servicemember pay and the WIC program at risk. This situation is both unconscionable and was totally avoidable, yet we are here at the precipice.

Madam Speaker, again, I ask all my colleagues to join me in passing S. 2795. Fund the government. Feed veterans, feed servicemembers, and feed their families.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I am pleased that the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Bost), my friend and colleague, would like to feed cabbage to his hogs, but I want to feed America's veterans, America's military families, and America's servicemembers.

I ask all of my colleagues to join me in not only passing S. 2795, but we also need to fund the government, and we need to make sure that our military families, our veterans, and our servicemembers have enough to eat.

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

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

Madam Speaker, I rise to express my support for H.R. 3981, as amended, the Isakson-Roe Education Oversight Expansion Act.

Madam Speaker, before I came to Congress, I was a teacher. When I was entrusted with the gavel as chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee in 2019, one of my primary focuses was helping student veterans. Now, I serve as ranking member. However, I am incredibly proud of what our committee did during our 4 years in the majority.

In 2021, we passed a significant student-veteran focused law: Representative Mike Levin's Isakson-Roe Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act, named for former House and Senate chairmen Phil Roe and Johnny Isakson. That law was a massive leap forward in education quality and oversight for student veterans.

Representative McGarvey's legislation, H.R. 3981, builds upon the Isakson-Roe Act and further improves the system of oversight we established in the 2021 law. Now, schools will join the process of reporting violations, no longer waiting for State approving agencies or VA to uncover errors before it is too late.

The legislation before us also improves transparency for the risk- based surveys created by Isakson-Roe. VA started conducting these surveys in late 2022, but schools need to know how these surveys work so they can better deliver for our student veterans. The legislation improves schools' access to the risk-based survey database.

Madam Speaker, I support H.R. 3981, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. McGarvey), my good friend, who is a member of our Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity and also the sponsor of H.R. 3981.

Madam Speaker, I ask all my colleagues to join me in passing H.R. 3981, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise to express my support for H.R. 1530, as amended, the Veterans Benefits Improvement Act.

I thank the Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee Chairman Luttrell and Ranking Member Pappas for working in a bipartisan manner on the issues in this package. I commend Representatives Ciscomani and McGarvey for their contributions, as well.

Madam Speaker, this bill makes several important changes that will serve to help streamline the medical disability exam process for veterans.

It will also help strengthen recruitment, hiring, and retention at the Board of Veterans' Appeals by creating a new internship program for law students and will expand the reimbursement programs for current employees to include student loans, professional development activities, and bar dues.

This bill will also permanently expand the number of judges appointed to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, allowing the court to process cases faster and grant veterans and survivors the relief they deserve.

Madam Speaker, I support H.R. 1530, as amended, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Pappas), my good friend, the ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs' Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs.

Madam Speaker, I ask all of my colleagues to join me in passing H.R. 1530, as amended, the Veterans Benefits Improvement Act, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise to express my support for S. 112, a bipartisan bill sponsored by Senator Braun of Indiana.

This legislation aims to strengthen the Department of Veterans Affairs' administration of an existing program that provides healthcare benefits and compensation to children of Vietnam war veterans who were born with spina bifida. This bill is endorsed by the Vietnam Veterans of America.

Spina bifida is a birth defect that can cause paralysis, nerve damage, and bowel and bladder problems. Children born with spina bifida may receive benefits from VA if one of their biological parents is a veteran presumed to have been exposed to herbicides such as Agent Orange during the Vietnam war.

The program is jointly administered by the Veterans Benefits Administration, or VBA, and the Veterans Health Administration, or VHA. It provides a monetary allowance, healthcare coverage, and vocational training and rehabilitation. As of 2022, fewer than 1,000 beneficiaries were enrolled in the program.

According to a 2021 VA Office of Inspector General report examining the VA's administration of this program, VBA and VHA were not adequately communicating or sharing data on spina bifida program beneficiaries. This contributed to delays in some new beneficiaries being enrolled in healthcare and improper payments being sent to some beneficiaries after their deaths.

The inspector general also found the VA did not consistently conduct outreach to eligible and enrolled beneficiaries and did not provide effective case management services for the most seriously disabled beneficiaries. In some cases, VA's call center agents provided inaccurate information about the spina bifida program or could not direct callers to reliable sources of information.

S. 112 directs VA to establish an advisory council for the spina bifida program, which would be responsible for soliciting feedback from covered children and veterans about the program's effectiveness. This legislation also requires VA to establish care coordination teams, which will contact beneficiaries at least once every 180 days to ensure they are accessing needed care. Finally, S. 112 would require VA to report to Congress every 2 years on the number of covered children receiving benefits, the number of children receiving care coordination, and the outcome of the outreach conducted to these populations.

Madam Speaker, I support this important piece of legislation, and I ask all of my colleagues to join me in passing S. 112 to strengthen VA's benefits for children of Vietnam veterans born with spina bifida.

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

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

Madam Speaker, I rise to express my support for S. 475, a bill to designate the clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Gallup, New Mexico, as the Hiroshi ``Hershey'' Miyamura VA Clinic.

This bill honors a great American from the Greatest Generation. I thank Senator Heinrich for sponsoring this bill and Representative Leger Fernandez for offering the House companion.

Born in Gallup, New Mexico, the son of immigrants, Mr. Miyamura joined the Army in 1944. He was assigned to the now-storied 442nd Regimental Combat Team, although he arrived too late in Europe to see much action. However, his military service did not end with World War

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Leger Fernandez), my very good friend who serves on the House Rules Committee and House Committee on Natural Resources.

Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from New Mexico.

Madam Speaker, I ask all my colleagues to join me in passing S. 475, a bill to designate the clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Gallup, New Mexico, as the Hiroshi ``Hershey'' Miyamura VA Clinic.

Let me just add that I had three great uncles who served in the 442nd, a storied Regimental Combat Team. It is always a poignant story about their service, and I thank the chairman for offering his support in the commemoration of their service to our country.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the University of California Riverside School of Medicine.

Over the past 10 years, the UCR School of Medicine has become a crucible of knowledge, a sanctuary of healing, and a force against healthcare disparities.

It produces skilled physicians, fosters innovation, and engages our community. With six clinics throughout the region, the UCR School of Medicine brings medical attention to those in need across southern California.

In celebrating the UCR School of Medicine, I applaud their growth and progress over the last decade. As they turn the page to the next chapter, we anticipate even more remarkable achievements, bolder strides, and continued transformation of countless lives.

I congratulate the University of California Riverside School of Medicine on their 10-year journey. May its impact shape a healthier, brighter future for all.

Madam Chair, VA is required by law to transmit the names of the VA beneficiaries to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which prevents them from buying a firearm, but let me make one thing abundantly clear. Under no circumstances has VA ever confiscated anyone's firearms.

Seeking mental health care from the Veterans Health Administration will not result in a veteran's firearms being taken away. VA does not have legal authority to do so. Only under a discrete set of circumstances for a very discrete population does the Veterans Health Administration report veterans to NICS.

Madam Chair, the stigma around seeking mental health care at VA is a real one. It is also a multifaceted problem we are trying to tackle. Partisan stunts like this amendment make that fight more difficult because it leads to misinformation about the fiduciary program, a program meant to protect vulnerable veterans and beneficiaries.

We had a legislative hearing on Representative Bost's bill on this topic, and it was abundantly clear that there were problems with that bill. My colleagues are attempting to go this route, through the appropriations process, which is harmful because it strips money from VA for political purposes.

Madam Chair, when we discussed this bill last week in the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, we also learned of a great deal of concern about due process, but let me be clear on this point. There are already six avenues for review and relief that beneficiaries can use to challenge VA's determinations and remove their names from the NICS list. However, those avenues are not widely used.

In fact, I would challenge the chairman to show me where there is any veteran with standing that would even take this case to the Federal court to challenge the whole process at VA.

There are six avenues of review and relief. There is due process. What is the problem that this amendment is really trying to address?

As I said in committee, Madam Chair, no one on our side of the aisle asserts that the fiduciary program is infallible. No policy or program is. However, any change to a program or policy must be evidence based and data driven.

In the case of VA's fiduciary program, a program designed to protect the most vulnerable veterans from both financial and physical harm, we must be especially careful not to put more veterans at risk.

Democrats are more than willing to have a debate on the merits of this program under those parameters, but this amendment is purely a political exercise that only seeks to put more veterans at risk by perpetuating stigma around mental health care, and it undermines the VA's efforts at suicide prevention.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my support for S. 30, the Fiscal Year 2023 Veterans Affairs Major Medical Facility Authorization Act.

I thank the chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, Senator Tester, and Ranking Member Moran for introducing this important legislation.

Every year, the Department of Veterans Affairs submits an annual budget request to Congress. Our job is to authorize and appropriate the funding VA needs to care for America's veterans and their families.

More than 9 million veterans are enrolled in VA's healthcare system, utilizing roughly 1,300 healthcare facilities across the system. Within VA's budget request are funds to replace and modernize these medical facilities.

This year's major construction request totals just over $3.7 billion and will build a new healthcare center in El Paso, Texas; construct an outpatient clinic and a national cemetery in Alameda, California; erect a new medical facility in Louisville, Kentucky; and allow for seismic upgrades and specialty care improvements in Fort Harrison, Montana, among other things.

Mr. Speaker, funding VA infrastructure remains an important and critical issue. In recent years, the committee has highlighted VA's aging infrastructure and the critical need to address that issue. Delivering 21st century healthcare using outdated facilities is far from ideal and certainly not what our veterans deserve. If the VA is to be inclusive and treat all veterans who have served, we should not delay retrofitting facilities as we strive to meet the growing and ever-changing needs of our diverse veteran community.

Last year, we passed my Honoring our PACT Act, which will significantly expand eligibility and, consequently, utilization of VA healthcare in the coming years.

Just last week, NPR published a story highlighting, once again, a Medicare survey showing VA hospitals are outperforming private hospitals in all categories of patient satisfaction. Despite outdated, antiquated facilities, VA still provides exceptional care. Imagine the levels of care VA could achieve if it had all the needed resources.

In order to serve our veterans and provide them with the care they deserve and need, we must start making serious investments in our outdated infrastructure.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all my colleagues to join me in passing S. 30, the Fiscal Year 2023 Veterans Affairs Major Medical Facility Authorization Act, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my support for H.R. 3672, a bill that would honor the service and sacrifice of Private First Class Justin T. Paton, who was killed by enemy fire during combat operations 40 miles north of Baghdad in February 2007. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star for his contributions to our country while deployed.

Despite being only 24 years old when he died, Private First Class Paton nonetheless left his mark on the world. A native of the Indian River area, many in his community were struck by his character and leadership potential.

Shortly after word of his death spread throughout the Indian River community, Private First Class Paton's high school football coach noted that he was ``the kind of kid you hope your own son grows up to be.''

It seems fitting that a clinic where veterans receive the care they earned would be named after Private First Class Paton.

Before enlisting in the Army in 2005, he worked as a rehabilitation technician at Northern Michigan Hospital. The VA providers at the clinic that will bear his name will carry on Private First Class Paton's legacy of serving members of his community.

I thank my colleague, Representative Bergman, for introducing this legislation to recognize Private First Class Paton's heroic service to our Nation by designating the Indian River, Michigan, VA clinic as the ``Pfc. Justin T. Paton Department of Veterans Affairs Clinic.''

We shall never forget the sacrifices of young men and women like Private First Class Paton, who bravely raised their right hand and swore an oath to protect and defend our Nation.

This bill has letters of support from The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, and the members of the Michigan delegation.

Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 3672 and urge my colleagues to do the same. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all my colleagues to join me in passing H.R. 3672 to designate the clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Indian River, Michigan, as the ``Pfc. Justin T. Paton Department of Veterans Affairs Clinic.''

I thank my colleague, General Bergman, for bringing this legislation to the floor. It is always a poignant matter to consider the sacrifice of such a young American.

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

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to honor the director of Riverside County Department of Veterans' Services, Mr. Grant Gautsche, on the eve of his retirement from public service.

Grant, a United States Navy veteran himself, has selflessly attended to veterans throughout California's 39th Congressional District, as well as the entire County of Riverside and beyond for the past 25 years with esteemed honor.

Since beginning with the County of Riverside in 2014, Grant has served local veterans, their dependents, and their loved ones in obtaining the resources, guidance, and benefits entitled to them. He has worked closely with my district office, ensuring those who have bravely put their lives on the line receive the recognition and care they deserve.

Grant's hard work and devotion are a testament to the way we should all express gratitude to our Nation's veterans, and his retirement is well deserved.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this resolution to nullify the Biden administration's Federal student loan forgiveness rule. At a time when students need relief the most, Republicans are working to upend student loan forgiveness that started under Trump and now continues under President Biden for more than 40 million borrowers.

There was broad recognition during the pandemic that relief was desperately needed for businesses, families, and students. That is why Congress, and Republicans under Trump, voted to pass both the CARES Act and The HEROES Act, which provided not only student loan relief, but also loans to protect businesses from shuttering and direct support to families. These were forgivable loans that we gave the businesses.

We helped workers and small businesses alike during the height of the pandemic. Again, both President Trump and President Biden paused student loan payments. Under this CRA we are debating today, we would see a rollback on the loan payment pause through September 2022. This is unimaginable.

Do not be fooled by the faux populism of Republicans. They raised the debt ceiling three times to pay for their tax cuts for the wealthiest 1 percent in America. By contrast, President Biden's targeted student loan relief plan helps Americans earning less than $75,000 a year.

When Democrats were in the majority and on the hook for providing assistance, we rose to the occasion to help small businesses and employees alike. We did not renege on our support for businesses through the PPP loans. I see no reason why Republicans now insist on reneging on their support for students.

Why, for the love of God, do Republicans want to continue to punch down on American students and divide our country?

The Biden administration's student debt relief plan is not a bailout. It is a lifeline.

I implore my Republican colleagues in Congress to speak with borrowers in their own districts about this very issue. College debt has been weighing on borrowers across all demographics across the country, including in their own districts.

Mr. Speaker, this should not be a partisan issue, and I oppose the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Magaziner for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, it is a great honor for me to follow the Speaker Emerita and Ms. DeLauro in offering my words of farewell to my good friend, David Cicilline of Rhode Island.

I thank Mr. Pocan for allowing me to go first. It was very gracious to allow me this honor to follow two such great Members who felt compelled to come to the floor, to make sure that our friend, David Cicilline, knew how well he is thought of, what regard we hold him, what esteem we hold him in.

I wish I could recount everything and to touch upon all that David has brought forward into this institution, the ideas that he has carried through his legislation could really fill up this whole hour and that would be unfair to the other Members who also wish to come and bid him an honorable farewell, but let me focus on just a few things: One, it was a great honor to be on this floor the day after the Pulse Nightclub shootings and to see David, along with the iconic John Lewis and Katherine Clark, take action to not just be frustrated, but to get into some good trouble. I was thinking that this moment needed to be amplified and so I took out my cell phone and started to stream the events when all the television cameras were turned off, the lights were turned out, and it was an entire night of all of the members of the Democratic caucus expressing their frustration at not doing more than thoughts and prayers.

What happened at the Pulse Nightclub shootings touched the LGBTQ community, which David and I are members of, and I watched with great admiration at how David made sure to work with the Congressional Black Caucus to touch that sacred 1964 Civil Rights Act and to work with them to craft a bill that would add the words, ``gender identity and sexual orientation'' to that sacred document which protects so many classes of people in the United States and for which we still need to accomplish this act.

I am honored and touched that David will entrust the Equality Act in my hands to get it across the line. He can be sure that he will be on the invitation list in the front row when the President of the United States signs that bill into law.

Let me say as a final reflection that former Speaker Pelosi has always talked about this being the greatest intellectual resource, the Members, that is, the Members of this Congress are a huge intellectual resource. Let me say that no more is that exemplified than in the hearings that David Cicilline held on antitrust.

Antitrust is a complicated, dense topic. He spent months, actually years, pouring through the academic research and the views of law professors to understand antitrust law in our country, and he brought forward as witnesses the heads of Facebook and Google and contended with great economic forces in our country, but all in the service of making sure that average Americans have a chance at privacy, have a chance for competition; that not all the resources will get sucked up and not all the advantages are held by big corporate entities.

That intellectual resource, that ground work that he laid, I am confident is going to work itself through this Congress because both sides care, both Democrats and Republicans, care about this issue.

It was overshadowed by a much more attention-grabbing figure, and it was frustrating to me that more of America, more of the media could not pay attention to the important work that David Cicilline was doing.

Mr. Speaker, I could go on for a lot longer, but that would be unfair to all the others here who want to pay their respects to a tremendous Member of Congress. Instead, I say farewell to David and thank him for his service, and I will miss him in this body.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my bill, H.R. 366, the Korean American VALOR Act. I am proud to have sponsored this legislation which will provide eligibility for VA healthcare to veterans who served in the armed forces of the Republic of Korea, as allies of the United States during the Vietnam war, who have since become naturalized American citizens.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Korean-American alliance. Last month, during his visit to Washington, D.C., President Yoon Suk Yeol addressed a joint session of Congress and reflected on how our alliance has served to safeguard freedom and democracy throughout the world.

Following the Korean war, the United States and the Republic of Korea signed a Mutual Defense Treaty on October 1, 1953. It has been called an ``alliance forged in blood.'' In part, out of gratitude for the service and sacrifices made by Americans during the Korean war, the Republic of Korea has aided the United States in every war since the Vietnam war.

Between 1965 and 1973, South Korea sent more than 320,000 troops to fight alongside U.S. servicemembers in Vietnam, the largest contingent of any U.S. ally. More than 5,000 South Korean troops died in the Vietnam war, and at least 11,000 were injured.

An estimated 2,800 veterans who served in the armed forces of the Republic of Korea during the Vietnam

war and later became U.S. citizens are living today. My legislation would provide some measure of long-overdue parity for Korean-American Vietnam war veterans who, up to this point, have never been eligible for VA healthcare services.

Under this bill, the United States and the Republic of Korea will establish a reciprocal agreement. Korea will reimburse the United States for healthcare services VA furnishes to these Korean-American veterans. In exchange, the United States will reimburse Korea for healthcare it provides to veterans of the United States Armed Forces residing in Korea.

Such an arrangement is not new. Since 1958, through its Allied Beneficiary Program, VA has had the authority to treat veterans who have served in the armed forces of nations that were allied with the United States during World War I and World War II. These veterans did not need to be United States citizens, and VA has the authority to treat veterans of any combat era.

Now, VA furnishes this care through reciprocal agreements which have been established with the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and South Africa. In 1976, VA's Allied Beneficiary Program was extended to certain veterans who had served in the armed forces of Czechoslovakia or Poland during World War I or World War II who subsequently became U.S. citizens.

We recently observed the 50th anniversary of the date the last combat troops left Vietnam. It is far past time for our Nation to properly honor the service and sacrifice of South Koreans who served side by side with United States troops during the Vietnam war and have since become naturalized U.S. citizens. We must ensure they finally receive the same respect and consideration their counterparts from other allied nations have received for generations.

The needs of Korean-American veterans of the Vietnam war are no different from those of U.S.-born veterans. From Agent Orange exposure, to coping with complex injuries and mental illnesses, these veterans deserve the specialized care and services that only VA can provide. Many of them are entering their final years and should not have to wait any longer for this care.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 366, the Korean American VALOR Act.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from my home State of California. I am very confident this bill will become law, but we will need to make sure that we work together in a bipartisan way to make sure the reciprocal agreement finally gets put into effect.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), my good friend, who holds a seat on the House Budget Committee, Homeland Security Committee, and the House Judiciary Committee. She is indeed a staunch advocate for all our military servicemembers and veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from Texas.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers.

Again, I ask all my colleagues to join me in passing H.R. 366, the Korean American VALOR Act. Might I just add to the chairman's assertion that this is the perfect week to pass this bill. I have already mentioned the 70th anniversary of our historic alliance, but now as we in the Indo-Pacific must strengthen our alliance, I also want to add my congratulations to both the nations of Japan and the Republic of Korea for making great strides to improve their relationships and to afford us the opportunity in the trilateral alliance among the United States, Japan, and South Korea to become stronger allies.

This legislation, I believe, is part of the entire effort to become stronger allies with greater cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak on the VET-TEC Authorization Act of 2023, as amended. In 2020, when our country experienced record unemployment, VET-TEC was a bright spot of veteran employment.

To date, nearly 5,000 veterans have found employment from the program at a salary of over $65,000 a year.

Today, veterans are employed at record-high levels. The Biden economy has brought veteran unemployment to the lowest level ever on record. Let me say that again. The Biden economy has brought veteran unemployment to the lowest level ever on record.

The legislation before us adds 5 more years to the VET-TEC program, providing VA an additional $337 million to get more veterans hired in the high-technology field.

This program was created by Speaker McCarthy in the Forever GI Bill, and I respect the fact that it is a big priority for the Speaker and my friend Chairman Bost. While I support the legislation, I wish to share my concern about moving a bill with such a large cost

when we have so many provisions awaiting action by this Congress. The $413 million price tag of this bill dwarfs the costs of many of the bills we must pass to address veteran homelessness.

This is an expensive bill in a fiscally uncertain time. While we all appreciate veteran employment programs, veteran unemployment is the lowest ever on record. A VET-TEC extension is nice to have, but with veterans experiencing homelessness and food insecurity, there is action on those programs that we must have.

As ranking member of this committee, I have the responsibility of weighing priorities and choosing between worthy policies that help veterans. I know the chairman and his colleagues on our committee share my goal of ending veteran homelessness.

When we considered this legislation in our committee, I offered an amendment to this legislation to make permanent some basic authorities which lowered veteran homelessness by 11 percent during a public health emergency. This amendment cost only $6 million in mandatory spending.

Last year, the chairman himself made it clear: ``No veteran should be without a place to call home. I am glad that the most recent estimate showed fewer veterans living in homeless shelters last year. That is why we must continue our work to ensure that the rubber is meeting the road and every veteran has access to safe, stable housing and the help they need to thrive.''

Chairman Bost is correct. The work must continue. We must continue the ongoing work, which has already helped so many veterans and can help so many more.

The reason given for not moving this bill was that it implicates the Toxic Exposure Fund, or TEF. I understand the chairman is concerned about how the Congressional Budget Office scores bills with TEF implications. I am concerned too, and I have spoken extensively on this.

However, there has yet to be a solution proposed for the TEF that does not undermine its purpose, which is to protect funding for toxic- exposed veterans and acknowledge this as a cost of war.

In light of this, I am asking that we come together and work on mutual priorities so that we can responsibly and equitably pass legislation using the limited offsets available to us.

I think the chairman believes, as do I, that providing basic needs for homeless veterans deserves to be on that priority list.

Therefore, I ask my colleague, the chairman, if he will commit to bringing Representative Cherfilus-McCormick's bill, H.R. 645, to the floor without delay,

Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of a colloquy, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Bost), and ask if he will commit to this.

Mr. Speaker, I am reclaiming my time.

Mr. Speaker, I was waiting for the answer.

Mr. Speaker, I reclaim my time.

Mr. BOST: Mr. Speaker, I am committed to addressing the veterans homelessness.

Mr. Speaker, I am reclaiming my time.

I simply ask the gentleman whether he will work with us to bring Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick's bill to the floor. That is the question that I will yield for an answer.

Will the gentleman work with us?

I yield to the gentleman from Illinois.

Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time.

I am grateful that I hear some kernel that they will work with us in a bipartisan way. What does worry me is the gentleman mentioned over the next few months. I can maybe tolerate the next few months in terms of can we come to an agreement by the fall when the temperatures start to fall, but even the hot summers, in some parts of the country, would require us to work much more expeditiously.

These pandemic authorities that expanded our ability to help veterans who are homeless expired on May 11. For the last 11 days, VA and its community partners have operated with fewer authorities and less funding to help homeless veterans.

VA's ability to quickly bring a veteran in off the streets and get them the services they need to put them on their way to stable, permanent housing has been greatly diminished.

Prior to the pandemic, we were maintaining the status quo. The number of veterans experiencing homelessness had remained basically stagnant year after year for quite some time. For every veteran housed, another veteran would fall into homelessness.

During the pandemic we approached the homelessness crisis head on and with the urgency it has long deserved. It is incredible to me that we were able to reduce homelessness during COVID-19 by 11 percent. During the darkest days of that pandemic, VA actually reduced homelessness by 11 percent. It permanently housed over 40,000 veterans last year alone. We know these authorities accelerated VA's progress in ending veteran homelessness, and we can't lose that momentum.

I am pleased to hear the chairman wants to work together to extend these authorities and get homeless veterans into housing.

Mr. Speaker, I just say let's prioritize H.R. 645 in the coming days, not the coming months, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Khanna), my friend and colleague from my home State who serves on the Armed Services Committee and the Oversight Committee.

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

I commend General Bergman for the section of the VET-TEC bill which includes addressing this issue related to burials and the cost that the veteran's family has to bear, but I find it peculiar that the majority would take pains to include this legislation, which I have no quarrel with and support, but could not deal with and chose not to deal with the expiring authorities to deal with our homeless veterans.

Americans care deeply about the homeless veterans in our country and are offended that we would have anybody who wore the uniform of the United States be homeless.

There are elements of this bill that came up in markup. They brought the bill to the floor, the VET-TEC bill, which includes many elements, but they specifically chose to leave out addressing the expiring authorities that we have used to bring down homelessness by 11 percent. I am afraid we are going to lose momentum.

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

Mr. Speaker, I realize the chairman and all of us in the veteran space have had our differences with the way the Congressional Budget Office scores the TEF. However, I would assert that we cannot use that as an excuse for why we don't address veteran homelessness.

Mr. Speaker, the expansion of VET-TEC as a program is to the tune of nearly one-half billion dollars--$413 million--at a time when my colleagues on the other side are looking to make draconian cuts to the nondefense side of the ledger, which veterans do fall within. They are expanding a program that addresses veteran employment at a time when veteran unemployment is at its lowest.

What I want to compare is the $6 million to the nearly one-half billion dollars that the Republicans want to expand this program by. I, too, stand behind veteran employment programs and effective ones at that. However, should we be expanding it and authorizing for 5 years this program, VET-TEC, when we are allowing a $6 million program to care for homeless veterans, to get them off the streets, to expire?

It is a rather rich situation that my colleagues want to expand spending and spend more on a program whose urgency is really in question because the Biden economy, as I explained, has brought veteran unemployment to its lowest levels ever. They want to expand spending in that program by an enormous amount, yet they want to eliminate $6 million in authorizations to take care of our homeless veterans. This makes no sense at all to me.

I support the chairman's bill, but I hope he will work with us to solve this problem in a matter of days and not months.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my support for S. 777, the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2023.

As we do annually, today, we are taking up legislation to increase the amounts paid for wartime disability compensation, compensation for dependents, clothing allowance for certain disabled veterans, and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children.

Specifically, the bill requires VA to raise these benefit amounts by the same percentage as the cost-of-living increase provided to Social Security recipients, serving as a guarantee of quality of life for veterans and their families and ensuring that they will not experience a decline in earned benefits as economic conditions fluctuate.

The cost-of-living adjustment is a continued recognition by our grateful Nation of the service and sacrifice not just of those who have courageously worn our Nation's uniforms but those families who have supported them and also bear a great burden.

As ranking member of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, it is an honor for me to support this effort.

I will note, however, that particularly with respect to dependency and indemnity compensation, more needs to be done beyond the annual COLA to bring that program on par with other Federal survivors' benefits. It has lagged behind for far too long, which is a disservice to the survivors of our veterans. I hope this committee can see fit to advance that cause this Congress, as well.

Typically, we alternate primary sponsorship of this bill with the Senate, and this year it happens to be the Senate's turn. I acknowledge the Senate for promptly sending us their version.

I also commend the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs and extend my gratitude to Ranking Member Pappas and Chair Luttrell for their sponsorship of the House companion to this bill and for their unwavering support for our veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I wholeheartedly support S. 777, and I urge my colleagues to do the same. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Pappas), the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), my good friend who serves on the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all my colleagues to pass S. 777, Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2023, and I yield back the balance of my time.