Floor Statements

Mr. Chairman, I rise to offer amendment No. 3.

Mr. Chairman, career education programs--programs of less than 2 years that are designed to prepare students for direct entry into a specific profession--too often fail our student veterans. Many of these programs at for-profit schools leave our student veterans with unsustainable debt and worthless credentials.

My amendment would ensure that veterans' education benefits are only used for career education programs that qualify students to take an examination required for entry into an occupation or profession or provide them with certificates or licenses that meet State and industry requirements.

I have heard time and time again that a key for successful transition from Active Duty to veteran status is gainful employment. And that is why we must make sure that the education our veterans receive is truly helping them enter the workforce. Again, I urge all my colleagues to support this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Point of Order

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, my amendment would prevent Federal student aid for veterans, including post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, from being used by colleges for marketing and recruiting purposes.

A Senate Health Committee report showed that many for-profits used more than 22 percent of their revenue on marketing and recruiting but less than 18 percent on academic instruction. At the same time, many of these schools received more than 80 percent of their revenue from Federal student aid, including post-9/11 GI Bill benefits and other veterans' education benefits.

That's a lot of veteran's education assistance and taxpayer money going to for-profit schools to market to and recruit students. It has been well documented that some of these schools use overly aggressive, deceptive, and fraudulent practices to get students to attend their schools. Thirty-eight State attorneys general, the CFPB, the SEC, FDIC, and DOJ are all investigating the practices of for-profit colleges. We need to address this abuse of student veterans' and taxpayer dollars. I urge you all to support my amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Point of Order

Offered by: Mr. Takano

Amendment No. 2: At the end of the bill (before the short

title) insert the following:

Offered by: Mr. Takano

Amendment No. 3: At the end of the bill (before the short

title) insert the following:

Mr. Speaker, the Republican budget put together by Chairman Ryan is one of the world's worst vanity projects. It doesn't actually help the American people. It simply fulfills Mr. Ryan's ideological fantasies.

I want a budget that will grow our economy, create jobs, invest in the American people. Mr. Ryan wants a budget that will make Ayn Rand proud. I want a budget that improves our national education system. Mr. Ryan's budget will cut funding for nearly 8,000 schools. I want a budget that expands job training. Mr. Ryan's budget would deny 3.5 million Americans access to job training programs. I want a budget that keeps the promises to our seniors. Mr. Ryan's budget ends the guarantee of Medicare and turns it into a voucher system.

Mr. Speaker, the Ryan budget is an unmitigated disaster. I opposed it, and I know all my Democratic colleagues opposed it. This budget is at odds with what the American people need.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Marlan Bourns, a local Riverside County inventor and philanthropist who recently passed away at the age of 93.

Marlan and his wife Rosemary founded what was then known as Bourns Laboratories out of their garage in Michigan, but its quick growth propelled their relocation to my hometown of Riverside, California.

There, Mr. Bourns' business grew to becomes a significant contributor in the fields of engineering and technology. His inventions would be used by NASA, the medical device industry, telecommunication companies, and personal computer manufacturers.

His fair pay for employees and respectful treatment of them are several of the reasons why some stayed with the company for 50 years. He was able to pour much of his success back into the community through his generous endowment for the University of California at Riverside, which is now home to the Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering.

His friends and family will always remember a creative and inventive man who carried with him an incredibly gentle nature and giving spirit. He will be greatly missed.

Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

I am opposed in its current form.

Mr. Speaker, the Republicans need to get with the program. It is over. Their sorry attempts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act must come to an end. My Republican colleagues have become so desperate to repeal the Affordable Care Act that they are willing to pass legislation that would increase the deficit by $74 billion.

I am not sure if they are aware, but this is a bill that violates their own budget rules and what they claim to be the foundation of their political philosophy. But it is okay. I realize they may be caught up in their obsession to repeal the ACA. I am here to help my friends on the other side of the aisle.

My final amendment prohibits their bill from taking effect if it results in an increase in the deficit or if employers begin to reduce hours or wages for workers. My final amendment would also protect veterans from the harmful impact of this legislation, and would prohibit employers from raising premiums or denying coverage to women.

No longer is being a woman a preexisting condition. Before the Affordable Care Act, women paid 48 percent more for health insurance than men. Those days are over and done with. We should not go back to them.

Earlier this week, it was announced that more than 7 million Americans have signed up for private health coverage. That is in addition to the 3 million who are able to stay on their parents' plans until they are age 26 and the millions more who are receiving Medicaid for the first time.

But according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the bill before us today would cause 1 million workers to lose their employer-sponsored health coverage. A great number of Americans finally have access to affordable coverage. Now is not the time to take a step back. Here is proof. A resident in my district named Karrie Brooks wrote to me, saying:

The individual coverage that I could afford as a healthy

54-year-old woman has been $418 a month, with a $5,000

deductible. Yes, this would keep me from going under in an

emergency, but I avoided going to the doctor, mostly for the

fear that if I used the insurance my policy might be

canceled. I found myself skipping annual physicals and

mammograms, labs, et cetera, because of the $1,200 tab. I was

on a continual quest for something better and more secure.

She goes on to say:

Recently, Anthem let me know that I would have to change to

a compliant plan. The plan they suggested to me is similar to

what I had, but it will cost me $53 less a month. Yes, less.

Most important, I know I cannot be canceled.

I might mention that the annual physical exams, mammograms and other preventative services that Ms. Brooks once avoided are now provided at no cost to patients under all health plans.

The Affordable Care Act is a law that millions of Americans like Ms. Brooks have embraced and benefited from. Why would anyone want to take that away? Do we really want to go back to the days when insurance companies had free rein to do as they pleased? Do we really want to go back to the days when one illness or one accident could completely bankrupt your family? Do we really want to go back to the days when premiums skyrocketed year after year with no end in sight?

My Republican friends, this addiction to repealing the ACA is not doing anyone any good. We need an intervention here. This is a safe place. Stop standing on the wrong side of history. Let's move on. Let's accept that the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land and get back to being a productive legislative body.

I urge my colleagues to support this motion to recommit, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding time.

I rise today to stage an intervention, an intervention for Speaker Boehner and the House Republicans. Now, this intervention is not because they are wearing goofy hats or are spray tanning too much. This intervention is over their obsession with repealing or delaying the Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare.

Now, just this week, the open enrollment period ended, and it is estimated that more than 7 million Americans signed up for private health coverage through healthcare.gov or their State exchanges. That number does not include the millions of young adults who are staying on their parents' plans or those getting coverage through Medicaid for the first time. The open enrollment period was one of the final pieces of ObamaCare.

Now, millions of Americans finally have access to affordable coverage that can't be taken away just because they get sick. Despite that, Speaker Boehner and the House Republicans are committed to fighting a battle that they have lost and have scheduled the 52nd vote to repeal or delay ObamaCare.

The Affordable Care Act passed the House. It passed the Senate and was signed by the President and has been upheld by the Supreme Court. Despite millions of dollars being funneled into misleading ads that discouraged people from getting covered, this is a law that millions of Americans have embraced and have benefited from. We saw an incredible surge in the final days of open enrollment, with consumers reportedly lining up around the block at some sign-up centers.

But if you talk to Republicans, it is clear they are still in the first stage of denial, denial of the facts, denial of the benefits, denial that our health care system is finally doing what it is supposed to do for the first time in a long time. My Republican colleagues must

stop making excuses and blaming others. They have put themselves in this position.

Even in the first few days of the rollout, when the system was admittedly struggling, Republicans were predicting ObamaCare's complete and total failure. John Boehner called the initial numbers ``a symbol of the failure of the President's health care law.'' My colleague from California, Congressman Darrell Issa, said, ``It is time for the President to finally acknowledge ObamaCare isn't working and to delay the law.''

Funny how they believed the numbers then, because they seemingly have doubts about what is being reported now. According to Senator John Barrasso, the administration was ``cooking the books.''

To my Republican friends, I want to say: this is a safe place. We are here to help. Your addiction to repealing ObamaCare and peddling conspiracy theories about the law are not doing any good for yourselves or for the American people.

Stop standing on the wrong side of history. Let's move on. Let's accept that ObamaCare is the law of the land. Let's get back to being productive as a legislative body.

Well, it is a point of pride that even in my area of California, the Inland Empire, my county has met, has exceeded its enrollment goals under Covered California, and just a few days ago we had reached a million in California alone. It is because we have a State legislature and a Governor who cooperated from the beginning. I don't understand any Governor or any State legislature that would intentionally try to keep low-income people from getting coverage.

There has been so much distortion. And to my way of thinking, it is diabolical to spend money on distorting ads to confuse people intentionally, to get young people to not sign up for the law, to undermine the law in that way

Fortunately, I can tell you stories of someone who is under 30, one of those young invincibles, but who was wise enough to know that it made sense for a young person to sign up because it was so very affordable, and he convinced his employer that she needed to take a look at what the exchange had to offer.

As it turned out, he discovered he had a very serious condition, and he was one of those young people who discovered that they did need health insurance and that he was facing far larger bills than if he didn't have any coverage at all.

Forgive me. I may be speaking--I don't think what I am saying is an exaggeration, but I see that the denial of the expansion of Medicaid by some of these States is nothing less than a war on the poor. I don't know how else to say it.

Twenty-four percent of my congressional district were uninsured before the ACA. I have seen charts and maps of congressional districts color-coded, and I have seen many of those districts in Texas that are at the same level of uninsured as my congressional district.

In my congressional district, we benefit greatly from the expansion of our version of Medicaid, which is Medi-Cal. And the beauty is that the expiration is not to end it as of the 31st of March. People who qualify for Medi-Cal can continue to sign up for it year-round.

But to think that in Texas that it is not available to people who are low-income, to me, is unconscionable.

At least the folks in Texas, who can sign up with the Federal exchange, can get insurance if they are online, but it is unfortunate that those low-income Texans have no place to go.

I will just say to the folks in California, those low-income people who can still qualify for Medi-Cal, that you can still sign up. There is not a deadline for you. You are presumed qualified if you meet a certain income test. So the effects of the Affordable Care Act are still going to continue in my State for those who need health care the most and those who have heretofore not had access to medical care.

It has been a pleasure sharing this time with you on the floor, Representative Castro.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today, once again, to call for this body to bring H.R. 1010 to the floor and raise the Federal minimum wage.

My colleagues on the other side of the aisle will falsely claim that this will kill jobs. They misrepresent the findings of a recent CBO report. The important takeaway from that CBO report is that raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour will raise the wages of more than 16 million Americans and bring nearly 1 million Americans out of poverty.

In the 1990s, when the Clinton administration raised the minimum wage, the Republicans also argued that doing so would kill jobs, but the exact opposite happened. What we saw following the minimum wage increase in the 1990s was the greatest number of jobs created in a 4- year period.

A rising tide lifts all boats, Mr. Speaker. Let's raise the minimum wage. Let's grow our economy, and let's put people back to work.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Salvador Lara and Jesus Duran, two Inland Empire heroes who, after decades of being overlooked, will be awarded the Medal of Honor.

Salvador Lara served in World War II and, while in Italy in 1944, he ``aggressively led his rifle squad in neutralizing multiple enemy strong points. The next morning, as his company returned the attack, Lara sustained a severe leg wound but did not stop to receive aid.''

Jesus Duran served in Vietnam and saved several wounded Americans on a search-and-clear mission in 1969. According to his son, Chuy, ``His platoon was in a fight and a lot of guys were killed. He thought he was going to be left for dead, so he decided to take the M60 and unload.''

Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, these heroes are no longer with us and they will receive their Medals of Honor posthumously, but we must never forget their sacrifice, for it is because of their bravery that we are able to continue spreading freedom throughout the world.

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

As one of Riverside County's Representatives, a county that has the eighth-largest veterans' population in the Nation, I proudly rise today in support of H.R. 357, as amended. This bill is a far-ranging bill that seeks to improve the lives of our veterans.

H.R. 357 includes a number of measures that were considered by the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity and was reported favorably out of the Veterans' Affairs Committee last June.

I want to thank Chairman Miller of the full committee, and Chairman Flores of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, for their leadership. I especially enjoyed holding several field hearings last year with Chairman Flores in our respective districts.

The Veterans' Affairs Committee has traditionally been a bipartisan committee, and I am pleased to see that cooperation continue as both leaders helped bring this bill to the floor today.

In the area of education, H.R. 357 would require all public colleges and universities using the GI Bill to provide all veterans with instate tuition rates. Currently, veterans who have not established residency at the school of their choice must pay out-of-state tuition rates.

In order to fulfill their military obligations, servicemembers must uproot their families and periodically move around the country. This makes it difficult to establish residency for purposes of instate tuition rates when veterans seek to use their GI Bill benefits. By providing all veterans with instate tuition rates, H.R. 357 will make it easier for veterans to choose the educational institution that best serves their needs.

The new Transition Assistance Program includes a mandatory 5-day core program of instruction that all separating servicemembers are required to take. The education portion is an optional track available to all members but is not required. Some separating servicemembers may not have additional time to take an optional course.

H.R. 357 would move the education track to the mandatory portion for veterans seeking to use their GI Bill benefits, which will ensure that these veterans can make better choices regarding their education and assist them in making the most of their GI Bill benefits.

In addition, H.R. 357 also extends the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program for 2 months to better align the program with the traditional academic semester.

Now, in addition to these provisions, Mr. Speaker, I would like to highlight two sections which I have sponsored and which are included in H.R. 357. I believe these sections will also assist our veterans in terms of their education and in finding work after their separation from the military.

Section 6 is from the first bill I introduced, H.R. 844, the VetSuccess Enhancement Act. This provision would extend from 12 years to 17 years the eligibility period that veterans with service-connected disabilities have to enroll in VA vocational rehabilitation and employment programs.

Veterans with traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury often require years to complete rehabilitation and adjust to the new realities of day-to-day living. Only then can these veterans consider returning to work. This provision will provide these veterans with the additional time they need to seek vocational rehabilitative services.

Section 7 is from another bill I introduced, H.R. 1453, the Work- Study for Student Veterans Act. This section provides for a 5-year extension of the Veterans Work-Study program at the VA.

As an educator, I know how important these programs are to students to enable them to fit some part-time work into their academic term. The VA program pays veterans to perform a variety of tasks, including assisting other transitioning veterans by helping them with outreach.

By providing support in the college Office of Veterans' Affairs, these students help other veterans to navigate the VA system. It is an important program to veteran students in my district and to thousands of others in schools across the country.

The last provision that tackles transition issues would codify the major duties of the directors and assistant directors from the Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training Services.

At present, there is no standardization of the requirements and duties of these positions. H.R. 357 will provide more consistency in the services provided veterans by standardizing the responsibilities of these officials. In addition, codifying their duties will enable us to better track their funding, review their performance and hold everyone accountable to the same standard.

These are important changes to the educational benefits and transition services for our veterans and will better assist veterans in serving our communities and our Nation after they leave service.

Finally, in terms of fighting veteran homelessness and improving VA medical care, H.R. 357 would clarify that veterans who are homeless and participating in the HUD-VASH voucher program, and those who are transitioning from incarceration, are eligible for services under the Homeless Veteran Reintegration Program, or the HVRP. I am sure that all these veterans will find these services very beneficial as they look to begin the next chapter in their lives.

H.R. 357 would require the VA to more consistently report infectious diseases diagnosed at VA medical facilities to State authorities to increase the likelihood that infectious disease outbreaks that may occur are addressed sooner and more comprehensively.

Although we have expressed concerns over the enforcement mechanism included in this provision, we all can support the importance of comprehensive notification.

H.R. 357 also includes a provision that would protect a veteran's personal privacy by directing the VA to ensure that any visual recording made of a patient during treatment is carried out only with the full and informed consent of that patient.

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

Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Titus), who is also the ranking member of the Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs.

Mr. Speaker, at this time, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Doyle), a great champion of veterans and former member of this committee.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Does the gentleman from Florida have additional speakers?

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, H.R. 357 makes important changes to the benefits and services we provide veterans and to the manner in which we provide them. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 357, as amended.

I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

General Leave

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert my statement into the Record in support of extending unemployment insurance for 1.6 million Americans instead of this radical Republican assault on women's health care rights.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to bring up H.R. 3824 to end the Republicans' refusal to extend unemployment benefits that benefit over one-quarter of a million people in my home State of California.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to show my support for the reinstatement of emergency unemployment insurance for thousands of residents in the Inland Empire and millions of other Americans across the Nation. These Americans rely on these benefits so they can put food on their table, so they can pay for heat, and so they can continue their search for work.

Now, my friends on the other side of the aisle will have you believe that these millions of Americans are just too lazy to find work and that they are only interested in handouts. My Republican colleagues believe in making the long-term unemployed more desperate and that this desperation will be the necessary motivation for them to find work. Well, when has an unpaid gas bill ever created a job? When has forcing someone to go to sleep hungry ever created a job?

Let me remind my colleagues that the Great Recession was the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression and that there are still three people competing for every job opening. While our recovery is gaining momentum, it has been the wealthiest that have benefited the most, leaving far too many Americans behind.

Let's extend these emergency benefits for the long-term unemployed. Let's create jobs, not desperation.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that I observe the passing of Justice John Gabbert, who died Monday at the age of 104. A long-time Riverside resident, Justice Gabbert was a dedicated public servant, a key founder of UC Riverside, and a prominent leader in Riverside's expansion from a citrus-growing town into an urban center.

Justice Gabbert was 3 years old when his family moved to Riverside in 1912. After graduating from Poly High School, he stayed in the community to attend Riverside City College, where his interest in law was sparked by the infamous ``Chicken Coop Murders.''

In 1934, Gabbert received his law degree from UC Berkeley and returned to Riverside to serve as a county deputy district attorney. Subsequently, he worked in private practice as part of what is known as Best, Best and Krieger.

He also served as a member of the local school board. But John Gabbert is mostly known as a fine jurist. In 1949, he was appointed to be a superior court judge; and, finally, in 1970 he was appointed to be an associate justice of the Fourth District Court of Appeal.

Throughout his life, John Gabbert touched the lives of so many people. He will be greatly missed.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Maine, the ranking member, for yielding me this time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the Veterans Paralympic Act, a bipartisan piece of legislation that would extend the funding for adaptive sport programs for disabled veterans.

Through the Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Olympic Committee, this joint program has provided sports and other athletic activities that help speed up the rehabilitation process for our Nation's heroes. By extending the funding through 2018, and improving access to adaptive sports programs, this legislation would provide the greatest opportunity for rehabilitation through sports our veterans have ever had. The sacrifice of these heroes is immeasurable, and I believe that Congress should be doing all it can to help their rehabilitation process.

I thank the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Coffman) for introducing this bill, and I look forward to its passage.