Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table the bill (H.R. 711) An Act to amend the West Los Angeles Leasing Act of 2016 to authorize the use of certain funds received pursuant to leases entered into under such Act, and for other purposes, with the Senate amendment thereto, and concur in the Senate amendment.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2093) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make all fact sheets of the Department of Veterans Affairs available in English, Spanish, and Tagalog, and other commonly spoken languages, and for other purposes.

Madam 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 H.R. 2093.

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

Madam Speaker, since 2001 the foreign-born share of the veteran population has steadily risen. Immigrants have served in the Armed Forces since the very beginning of our Nation, and they today make up 600,000 veterans. 1.9 million veterans are the U.S.-born children of immigrants. Together, the 2.5 million veterans of immigrant origin, by birth or parentage, account for 13 percent of all veterans living today.

Certain nationals of countries in free association with the United States--the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau--are eligible to serve the United States, and they do in numbers much larger than their counterparts stateside.

Half a million veterans live in Puerto Rico. There are 6,000 regular Philippine Scouts still alive and 15,000 U.S. veterans who live in the Philippines, half of whom rely on the VA clinic in Manila for their service-connected care.

Two-thirds of the veteran cohorts I just mentioned do not speak English at home. Many of them are aging and have to rely more and more on their families for care and to manage health decisions.

VA has scarce availability of veteran-facing materials in other languages, both online and in paper. Facilities are, for the most part, on their own to translate material that best serves their patients.

This extra burden was made clear to me during committee trips to Puerto Rico, where we heard from staff about the arduous work it took to have to translate everything from administrative staff training materials to hurricane brochures. Everything sent from VA Central Office in Washington, D.C., to Puerto Rico had to be redone so it could be usable and accessible to veterans and the staff who serve them.

The VA should be fully accessible to all veterans who need it, and that includes language accessibility. Mr. Jeffries' bill, H.R. 2093, the Veterans and Family Information Act, would require VA to do what it should have been doing for years, make its veteran-facing fact sheets and websites available in languages veterans and their families speak; specifically, the languages of Spanish, Tagalog, and the other top 10 spoken languages in the United States. It would also require VA to create a language access plan for the VA enterprise.

Now, this is a long overdue correction of VA's posture. If this pandemic has taught us anything, it is that clearly communicated public health information from our healthcare institutions is essential. VA must ensure that language proficiency is never a barrier to a veteran's care.

I therefore ask my colleagues to join me in supporting the Veterans and Family Information Act.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries), my good friend, the chairman of the Democratic Caucus and author of H.R. 2093.

Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I am very, very pleased to recommend to all of my colleagues to vote ``yes.'' This issue affects my own constituency where I know that we have veterans that have caregivers that may only speak, say, the language of Spanish, and so I am very convinced that this legislation will benefit all of our country, but especially my own district.

It is with that spirit that I recommend that we pass this important piece of legislation. I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 239) to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for limitations on copayments for contraception furnished by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.

Madam 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 H.R. 239.

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

Madam Speaker, contraception access is a crucial element of preventative healthcare and reduces the likelihood that a woman will live in poverty. Copay-free access to contraception is covered under every insurance program in this country, except at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

H.R. 239, the Equal Access to Contraception for Veterans Act, would eliminate copays on contraceptive items at the Department of Veterans Affairs. I thank Congresswoman Brownley for introducing this bill and for her efforts as chair of the Subcommittee on Health and the Women Veterans Task Force.

Contraception is already widely available at VA, and veterans enrolled at VA can obtain oral contraceptions, shots, skin patches, vaginal rings, and long-acting reversible contraceptives, such as implants or intrauterine devices. In addition, the VA pharmacy dispenses over-the-counter contraceptives, including condoms and emergency contraception.

Even a small copay can be insurmountable for a veteran struggling to make ends meet. Eliminating copays ensures parity with both Federal insurers and private insurers, as mandated under the Affordable Care Act. Most of all, it eliminates an unnecessary financial burden on our veterans.

Furthermore, we know also that every tax dollar spent on family planning, such as contraception, ultimately saves seven times that amount.

Passing this bill is an essential element of both meeting the health and economic well-being of our Nation's veterans.

This legislation has the support of the VA, broad VSO support, and passed on suspension last Congress.

Again, I thank Chairwoman Julia Brownley for her leadership on this issue, and I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 239.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Brownley), my good friend, the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Health, and also the author of this important legislation.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank Ranking Member Bost for pointing out that the previous ranking member and previous chairman of this committee, an OB/GYN, Representative Roe, stood in firm support of this legislation. I know him to also be someone of very firm pro-life convictions. I am very proud of the bipartisan support that has gathered around Ms. Brownley's legislation.

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

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1257) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a study on the effect of financial and credit counseling for homeless veterans and veterans experiencing housing instability, as amended.

Madam 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 H.R. 1257, as amended.

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

Madam Speaker, credit and financial counseling services remain a top 10 unmet need for veterans experiencing or who are at risk of homelessness.

This bill directs the VA to study the efficacy and barriers to credit and financial counseling for homeless and unstably housed veterans, and to provide recommendations for improvements to these services.

Under the Homeless Veterans CREDIT Act, the Secretary will work with outside organizations to review these barriers, and submit to Congress concrete steps we can take to expand credit access to veterans in need.

H.R. 1257, as amended, has the support of VA and key veteran service organizations, like the VFW, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and the

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone), my good friend, the author of this critical piece of legislation, and also the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Madam Speaker, we know that preventing homelessness is especially critical as we try to emerge out of this pandemic.

Madam Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support Chairman Pallone's bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2429) to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the staffing, transparency, and accountability of the law enforcement operations of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material on H.R. 2429.

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

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to support H.R. 2429, the VA Police Improvement and Accountability Act, introduced by former Committee on Veterans' Affairs member Representative Rice from New York.

This bipartisan legislation cosponsored by Representative Radewagen would improve the transparency and accountability of the VA police. Specifically, the legislation would require the VA police to publish online information about arrests and use of force, as well as establish a consistent way for the public to obtain more detailed information about those incidents.

Importantly, this bill would also require VA to have its police use body-worn cameras, publish guidance on the use of such cameras, improve tracking and analysis of arrests and other police actions, and develop a staffing plan that adequately supports every VA facility's needs. Together, these improvements will build accountability and trust between the VA police and anyone who walks through VA facility doors across the country.

H.R. 2429 was reported favorably by the committee, and I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting the VA Police Improvement and Accountability Act.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Miss Rice), my good friend, a former member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, and the lead Democratic cosponsor.

Madam Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support the bill of the gentlewoman from New York (Miss Rice).

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

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2726) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a plan to reduce the backlog of requests for information made to the Department of Veterans Affairs pursuant to section 552 of title 5, United States Code, and for other purposes.

Madam 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 H.R. 2726.

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

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to support H.R. 2726, the VA FOIA Reform Act of 2021, introduced by Representative Gallego, a member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

This bipartisan legislation is cosponsored by Representative Murphy from North Carolina and would modernize the Department of Veterans Affairs' Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, process to help VA meet statutory requirements and improve efficiency.

The FOIA process is essential for ensuring a transparent and accountable VA by allowing the public insight into the workings of a Department that serves millions of veterans each year. However, an enduring backlog of open requests and out-of-date technology have made it difficult for the Department to provide timely access to requested information.

Madam Speaker, this bill would require VA to establish a plan in order to meet all statutory FOIA requirements, identify its technology needs, and carry out this plan within 5 years.

Veterans and their families, employees, and the public who have made FOIA requests at VA have been kept waiting for too long. I hope this bill puts VA on a path to providing FOIA information in a timely manner.

Madam Speaker, H.R. 2726 was reported favorably by the committee, and I ask my colleagues to support the bill.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gallego), my good friend, author of H.R. 2726, and a member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Madam Speaker, I would like to close by saying I urge all of my colleagues to support the VA FOIA Reform Act of 2021. We need to make sure that our veterans and their families get information that they have requested from the VA in a timely manner.

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

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2545) to amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify the role of doctors of podiatric medicine in the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 2545.

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

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to support H.R. 2545 to amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify the role of doctors of podiatric medicine in the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.

H.R. 2545 is offered by former Veterans' Affairs Committee member, Dr. Brad Wenstrup. This legislation seeks to clarify a technical error affecting the Director of Podiatric Services which developed following the inclusion of Dr. Wenstrup's VA Provider Equity Act in the MISSION Act.

The renaming of the position to Podiatric Medical Director will create equity by allowing this position holder to be paid on par with their peers rather than below, which is currently the case.

If VA is to recruit top talent, we must ensure VA is able to offer competitive salaries whenever possible, that is why I support this legislation and I hope my colleagues will too.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers and I am prepared to close.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support the legislation and join me in passing H.R. 2545, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 293) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish qualifications for the human resources positions within the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 293.

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

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to support H.R. 293, the VA Hospitals Establishing Leadership Performance Act, introduced by our committee's ranking member, Mr. Bost.

This bill would require VA to establish qualifications and performance metrics for human resources positions within the Veterans Health Administration. This legislation follows a 2017 Government Accountability Office report that found human capital process deficiencies, such as a lack of performance metrics for certain positions.

GAO concluded that these deficiencies negatively affected VA's ability to serve veterans. The legislation does not specify what metrics VA must use, but leaves that determination up to VA. Instituting these human resource management improvements at VA is a commonsense, good-government step.

H.R. 293 was favorably reported by the committee, and I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting the VA Hospitals Establishing Leadership Performance Act.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I have no further questions, and I am prepared to close.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to join me in passing H.R. 293, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 290) to amend title 38, United States Code, to render an individual, who transfers certain educational assistance, to which the individual is entitled because of an agreement by such individual to serve in the Armed Forces, to a dependent of that individual, and who fails to complete such agreement, solely liable for the overpayment of such educational assistance, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 290, as amended.

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

Madam Speaker, the eligibility for veterans to transfer their earned educational benefits is limited based on service time and commitments to additional service time. Recently, there have been a number of cases where DOD erroneously calculated servicemembers' time in service, allowing the servicemember to transfer a benefit when they should not have, as in the case of Russell Dotson.

In Mr. Dotson's case, he was told by the Navy that he was able to transfer his benefit to his daughter. Unfortunately, the Navy was 6 days off in its calculation. That led to his daughter's GI Bill-covered tuition at DePaul University being cut off. Now, she and her father, a veteran who served 22 years and was honored for saving two lives in Afghanistan, are left having to repay more than $20,000.

As a result of these errors, the veteran and their dependent are saddled with a huge bill, that is overpayment, for the cost of erroneously billed educational costs. The debt levied on the dependent is costly and can ruin their credit before they enter the labor force, which could impact their housing and job opportunities.

H.R. 290, as amended, limits liabilities to ensure that there aren't surprise debts created by errors in paperwork. This legislation has been supported by VSOs such as the VFW, American Legion, and the Student Veterans of America.

Madam Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Bost for his work on this issue. I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 290, as amended, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I ask all of my colleagues to join me in passing H.R. 290, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York for his work. We are indeed friends. We both were teachers, Mr. Bowman a principal. We are educators at heart.

To recover from one of the worst economic crises we have faced as a Nation, we must invest in families, our care economy, and our Nation's childcare.

For most American families, quality childcare and preschool are

unaffordable. In Riverside County, where my district, the 41st District of California, is located, it is unavailable. My district is a childcare desert. My constituents do not have childcare locations available, even if eligible, to help them care for their children while they attend school or work.

It doesn't have to be this way, and it shouldn't be this way. In fact, we should use our path toward recovery as an opportunity to address the disparities communities like mine have been facing when it comes to affordable childcare options. The American Families Plan will secure universal access to preschool and will expand the supply of quality childcare options for all families.

Studies have proven that quality preschool will positively impact children's cognitive, behavioral, and social-emotional development that is critical for their long-term success and mental health. If we are serious about investing in our children's education, we must provide universal preschool and affordable childcare for every child in need.

Investing in preschool and affordable childcare will not only help our children, but will also greatly benefit our workforce. As more preschools and childcare centers are available, more families can get back to work without worrying about their child's well-being.

This is our opportunity to help struggling families and take bold action to create a just and equitable post-COVID economy. I urge my colleagues to invest in our care economy by supporting the American Families Plan Act.

We just can't go back to the way things were before. We have to be bold and act with urgency to give families and parents access to the resources they need to help our country bounce back stronger than ever before.

Let me just close with a short anecdote, a short story. This happened on the weekend, the Friday before the Memorial Day weekend. I, as chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, joined Secretary McDonough in a ceremony to honor our Nation's veterans at the Quantico cemetery. I met the commander of the base, who has responsibility not just for the Marine base that is there but also the FBI training center. There are a number of different facilities that are sort of associated with the base.

We just got in a chat, and I wasn't fishing for any sort of answers from him or any information. But I said: What has been your biggest challenge, in terms of reopening your base?

He said: Congressman, quite surprisingly to me, the biggest challenge has been childcare. That is what has held us back, and that has been my biggest challenge as a base commander.

I said: Do you think other base commanders across the country have had the same challenge?

He said: Yes.

This challenge of providing quality childcare and preschool is something that is really holding our road to recovery back, and it is slowing it down. The American Families Plan is a sound and substantive answer to meeting this challenge.

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to honor the service of Dr. Debra A. Draper, a Director of Health Care at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), on the occasion of her upcoming retirement. Dr. Draper spent 14 years of her career at GAO, primarily overseeing evaluations of federal health care services for veterans and military servicemembers. Dr. Draper brought with her to GAO more than 25 years of experience in health care administration, health services research, and health care consulting, as well as a Ph.D. in Health Services Organization and Research.

As she retires, Dr. Draper will leave a lasting legacy--not only at GAO, but at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and here in Congress. As Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I am especially grateful for the work Dr. Draper and her teams have done for this committee. As a Director at GAO, Dr. Draper has issued at least 80 written products, more than 45 of which were reports or written testimony prepared at the request or mandate of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Dr. Draper and her teams have made hundreds of recommendations to improve the delivery of health care services to our nation's veterans, the majority of which have been implemented.

Since 2010, Dr. Draper has testified at 12 hearings convened by the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs or its Subcommittees. She has been a trusted voice and provided meaningful insights on numerous issues within the Committee's jurisdiction. However, Dr. Draper's most significant contributions as a hearing witness have been on the topic of veterans' wait times for appointments at VA medical facilities, an issue that captured nationwide media attention in 2014. Dr. Draper's testimony and subsequent reports on this topic has been invaluable to helping the Committee understand VA's appointment scheduling processes and the lack of transparency in VA's reported wait times. Dr. Draper's body of work will continue to guide the Committee's oversight in this area, even after her retirement.

In 2015, GAO added VA health care to its biennial High Risk List, which focuses attention on federal programs and government operations that are most vulnerable to waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement. In designating VA health care as a high-risk area, GAO identified five areas of concern: (1) ambiguous policies and inconsistent processes; (2) inadequate oversight and accountability; (3) information technology challenges; (4) inadequate training for VA staff; and (5) unclear resource needs and allocation priorities. Since 2015, amid significant leadership instability at VA, Dr. Draper has diligently monitored the Department's response to GAO's high-risk designation, engaging in countless meetings with VA officials and providing ongoing feedback on the Department's plans for addressing GAO's five areas of concern. While VA still has a significant amount of work to do to meet GAO's criteria for removal from the High Risk List, Dr. Draper has established a solid foundation for evaluating VA's future progress.

Please join me in thanking Dr. Draper for her many years of dedicated GAO service, which will have a lasting impact on veterans, VA, and the Congress. Throughout her time at GAO, she has been a highly respected leader, supervisor, mentor, and colleague, and she will undoubtedly be missed by those who have worked closely with her. My House Committee on Veterans' Affairs colleagues and I, and our staffs, congratulate her and wish her well in her richly deserved retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to support Representative Bost's bipartisan legislation, the ``VA Transparency and Trust Act,'' or H.R. 2911, and for which Representative Pappas, Representative Mann, and I are original co-sponsors. This bill provides additional oversight for the funds Congress made available to VA through the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and the CARES Act in 2020, as well as the American Rescue Plan which we passed earlier this year.

The purpose of H.R. 2911 is to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress a detailed plan for obligating and expending coronavirus pandemic funding made available to the Department of Veterans Affairs by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security, or CARES Act, or the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. H.R. 2911 also requires the VA Office of Inspector General to report to Congress semi-annually on VA's actual expenditures and obligations, comparing it to their detailed plan, and on other subjects. Finally, H.R. 2911 requires the Comptroller General of the United States to report to Congress twice--in 2022 and 2024--

on VA's process for developing its funding request, among other subjects.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020, Congress has provided over $36 billion dollars in supplemental funding--that is, funds that are in addition to VA's annual budget--to fund various pandemic-related operations and programs at VA.

Specifically, Congress provided to VA:

$60 million in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act in March 2020 to support medical services and medical community care;

$19.5695 billion in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act in March 2020 to support medical services, community care, medical facilities, informational technology systems, general administration, and other purposes; and $16.694 billion in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 in January 2021 to support medical care and health needs, supply chain modernization, the VA Office of Inspector General, a COVID-19 veteran rapid retraining assistance program, and other purposes.

With these significant investments in VA operations and programs, legislation is needed to ensure that VA efficiently and effectively obligates and spends these funds to achieve Department goals. The legislation provides ongoing oversight opportunities for relevant Congressional committees until all funds have been expended and provides for the VA Office of Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office to provide intermittent reviews of VA's spending and allocation process, similar to prior reporting.

H.R. 2911 adds to the existing oversight on VA's spending. It will enable greater transparency for Congress and the public to ensure that these funds are spent wisely to support critical VA programs and services as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2704) to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the equal employment opportunity functions of Department of Veterans Affairs, 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 H.R. 2704.

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

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2704, sponsored by Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chair Pappas, takes important steps to address sexual harassment and discrimination at the VA.

This bipartisan legislation, the Improving VA Accountability to Prevent Sexual Harassment and Discrimination Act, would prioritize VA's tracking and responses to allegations.

For example, it requires VA's Equal Employment Opportunity Director to report directly to the Deputy Secretary. It also requires that any VA manager who receives a report of sexual or other harassment, or employment discrimination, report that complaint within 2 business days.

Among other important actions, this bill will also mandate additional training to identify and address sexual, and other types of harassment, and employment discrimination.

This legislation is based largely on the work of the Government Accountability Office, who testified in our committee during July of last year.

I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Pappas), my good friend, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, and also the author of this important piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all my colleagues to join me in passing this important piece of legislation, H.R. 2704, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2788) to amend title 38, United States Code, to eliminate the cap on full-time employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs who provide equal employment opportunity counseling.

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 H.R. 2788.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to support Representative Lamb's bipartisan legislation, the VA Equal Employment Opportunity Counselor Modernization Act, which is cosponsored by Representative Mann.

This bill would help the Department address diversity and equity issues within VA's workforce. It removes a portion of a 1997 law that limits the number of VA counselors who can advise employees on equal employment opportunity issues, provides alternative dispute resolution, and helps process formal complaints.

VA's workforce has roughly doubled in size since the 1997 law was enacted, and VA requested for the limit to be removed to allow the Department to hire additional counselors to support the needs of a large and still growing workforce.

Our Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee recently held a hearing to examine important steps to address workforce diversity and inclusion at VA. At this hearing, the subcommittee, once again, learned how important these counselors are. This bill builds off that oversight and will assist VA's efforts to support its workforce, which serves veterans every single day.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Lamb), my good friend and the author of this bipartisan legislation, H.R. 2788; and a member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Mr. Speaker, I, again, urge all of my colleagues to join me in

passing this important piece of legislation, H.R. 2788.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2911) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress a plan for obligating and expending Coronavirus pandemic funding made available to the Department of Veterans Affairs, 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 H.R. 2911.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to support Representative Bost's bipartisan legislation, the VA Transparency & Trust Act, for which Representative Pappas, Representative Mann, and I are original cosponsors.

This bill provides additional oversight for the funds Congress made available to the VA through the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and the CARES Act in 2020, as well as the American Rescue Plan, which we passed earlier this year.

In addition to requiring the VA to report biweekly on how it spends these supplemental funds, the bill mandates the VA Office of Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office to periodically report on VA's spending of these funds.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2911 adds to the existing oversight on VA's spending and will enable greater transparency for Congress and the public to ensure that these funds are spent efficiently and effectively to support critical VA programs and services as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Pappas), my good friend and the chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

Mr. Speaker, I also ask all my colleagues to join me in passing H.R. 2911, and I yield back the balance of my time.