Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 2795) to amend title 38, United States Code, to extend and modify certain authorities and requirements relating 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 on

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 2795, a bill that extends VA's expiring authorities.

The Veterans' Affairs Committee works on an extender bill every year. This year, it was introduced by my friends, Senators Tester and Moran.

The 2023 extender bill does three things.

It would extend VA's participation in the National Disaster Medical System for 5 years. VA has a mission to protect veterans and staff and support public health during disasters or emergencies.

Second, the bill would also allow medical professionals who are contracted to perform veterans' disability exams to continue practicing across State lines. Now, VA depends on the contractors to perform most of the disability exams, and the contractors depend on this authority. This bill would continue the authority for 2 more years.

Finally, the bill would continue to protect student veterans if their school closed or gets disapproved under the GI Bill. It would also allow the Secretary to restore the entitlement to education benefits for 2 more years.

I support this legislation because it gives VA important tools to take care of all of our veterans. Without extending these authorities, serious impacts to operations might mean VA's ability to protect Americans during disasters would be limited, veterans' claims for disability compensation would grind to a halt, and student veterans would be left out in the cold if they attended a college that closed due to fraud or mismanagement. We can't let that happen.

I once again thank Senators Tester and Moran for working on this legislation in the Senate, and I also thank Dr. Murphy for his work to lead and champion the legislation here in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support S. 2795, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Murphy), the author on our side of this Chamber for this piece of legislation.

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

Mr. Speaker, many people know that I was in the State legislature prior to coming to Congress, I was a foreleader there and I knew and could identify when, for some reason, whether it is leadership on one side of the aisle or the other side of the aisle, who wants to drag the debate out. So I am going to do whatever I can to help them out here.

Some things that were claimed here--I think it is amazing that the claims that actually cause fear through our Nation and through people who are providing services--we are going to try to work every way we can not to have a shutdown, but we have a responsibility, and that responsibility is to pass a budget.

That is not what we were supposed to be debating here at this time, but I am glad to do that. If you remember when we were working on the cap, where we would increase the cap, I think the other side of the aisle said we were going to cut benefits for veterans. Veterans were scared all over the United States because they claimed we were going to cut benefits for veterans.

Oh, and what happened?

I told that--not only I as chair, but the Speaker and others--we are not cutting benefits for veterans. Okay.

Let's see what actually--if the shutdown occurs, what actually is still covered at the VA? I think it is very important that the American people know.

Healthcare will not be cut. It won't even slow down. Compensation and pension benefits and processing of claims on appeals, they will still be done. The Veterans Crisis Line, it is most important, and I know both myself and the ranking member know it is vitally important to make sure that those veterans--the veteran numbers right now are 17 per day that are committing suicide--we want to make sure that is open.

Housing benefits for the homeless, open. National cemeteries and burial services and benefits, still going to be done. Essential IT functions, network data centers, cybersecurity operations, are still all going to be done with VA. The Office of General Counsel is still going to operate.

The financial accounting and debt management center, maintenance and management of VA facilities, VA customer service operations, workforce management for electronic health records, the modernization office, VA appeal court operations, small and disadvantaged veterans business support operations--all not cut. Why?

Because we have been working already with the Secretary of the VA to make sure those services remain in place.

Are there certain things that will slow down, paperwork and things like that? I hope we don't go into the shutdown, but those essential services we are going to make sure are provided for our veterans. Why?

Because our veterans deserve it.

We want to make sure that we don't have fearmongering and concern in that way.

I think there are people that should be concerned about a shutdown. I am concerned about a shutdown. That is why we are going to be--and this is very important for the American people to know--I know for a fact that I am possibly going to be offering an amendment tonight somewhere around 1 o'clock in the morning.

We are going to work through the day and through the night. We are going to do it all this week to try to take care of the business of this Nation. People should feel secure that we are.

That is not why we were here today. We wanted to talk about this bill and the importance of it. Why?

Because these are essential services we must also pass by the end of the month. As you can see, we are going to continue to do the work. We are going to continue to work in this way, and I hope in a bipartisan manner that we are.

We can go out and do press conferences and stand on this floor and claim, oh, this isn't getting done or that isn't getting done. I understand that. I have been around this process a long time. But understand, we are here to do our job and we are going to do our job.

There are 435 Members in this Chamber, and all of them have opinions and all of them have ideas.

You know what? We are doing a thing called regular order because many people called for that.

You know what? There are two things in this life you should not watch being made because it ruins the taste of both--sausage and law. Now we are making law. We are coming together and running our heads together and arguing and debating.

We are debating on our side of the aisle with our own colleagues, we are debating on that side of the aisle with their colleagues, and we are debating together to come up with the answers that we need to for this Nation to do it right.

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

Madam Speaker, may I request the time remaining for each side?

Madam Speaker, I am so proud to be on this floor and for what we do for the people, but it is interesting to watch the debates that occur on this floor sometimes to try to stretch, as I said, and draw things out.

I actually had the opportunity earlier this afternoon during 5-minute speeches to talk about a friend of mine from the Illinois State legislature who did this very, very well. He was a floor leader in the State of Illinois. His name was William ``Bill'' Black. Bill was a great orator, and he could talk on every issue.

I explained during that time that because he was an educator and then the president of a community college, when he became a legislator, he knew how to explain the issues exactly the way they needed to be explained so that whether you were a scholar or just an average person on the street, you could understand what was going on.

Basically, he used a good southern Illinois term that said he would put the cabbage down where the hogs could eat it. Let me tell you, that is what I would like to do.

As we have listened here, going off and leaving the bill we were actually debating on, we have talked about everything that is going on around here. I said earlier that it will continue to go on. Why? Because we have been elected by the people to work through this process. We are going to work through this process.

I hope that there is not a shutdown. If there is a shutdown, is this the first time we have shut down? No, it is not. What we have to know is that we want to make sure we are getting it right. The American people want us to get it right.

What legislators discover once we are here, with the 435 districts, what is happening in the ranking member's district, quite often his people feel different than the people of the Illinois 12th District, which I represent. They feel different because they come from different cultures. It is our job to try to come up with something that is balanced and that can actually operate this Nation the way we need to have it operated.

Let me also say this: We also know that we can do a whole lot of things at the same time. Right now we are working on appropriation bills, and my colleague from the other side of the aisle said that we have not passed an appropriation bill. Well, we actually had one appropriation bill out, and there wasn't a single Democrat vote on it. It is kind of interesting to watch on this floor when somebody claims you haven't done anything. However, not a single vote came in from that side of the aisle. As we are moving forward, though, we do have the 12 budget bills to move.

Now, will there be a CR? I don't know. Let me tell you the first thing we are going to do is we are going to move rules because that is what we do. We are going to move the rule, and we are going to have debates. I thank the members of the Rules Committee who worked all weekend long to try to make sure that through this process they are crossing the T's and dotting the I's.

As I said in a speech on this floor earlier today, every comma, every dot, and every word matters. Every comma, every dot, and every word matters. Why? It matters because it is going to affect generations to come. It will affect people next week, next year, and 10 years down the road.

What we do here is serious business. I am getting concerned sometimes that the only thing people want to see is the rhetoric back and forth when they don't understand how much time we do

spend working across the aisle together to having successful pieces of legislation that actually get things done.

We both knew, the Senate knew, with Senator Moran and Senator Tester, that this piece of legislation that we are working on today needed to be moved by the last of this month or these services would fail. Rightfully so, in a bipartisan manner, we have and we will move this tonight, and it will move on to the President so those vital services are not removed or even say a flaw in them where a problem could happen. Remember, all I said about the words and the dots and the commas: They aren't just words; they affect people's lives. That is why we have got to get it right, and we are going to work to get it right.

Madam Speaker, I am ready to close, but I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank him for the spirited debate. Once again, that is the rhetoric I was talking about, to think that people on this side of the aisle don't want to take care of our veterans and feed our veterans, don't want to make sure that SNAP programs are passed and that those people in need are taken care of, that is the rhetoric we have got to stop.

In this particular bill, this bill actually does provide and make sure that we can carry on these three areas of service in the VA that are vitally important. We want to make sure that our colleagues on both sides of the aisle support this legislation. I will encourage mine. I just heard the ranking member support and encourage his Members to support this legislation as well.

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

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

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

Mr. Chair, I rise in support of my amendment to restrict the Secretary of Agriculture from using taxpayer dollars to purchase electric vehicles.

The American people have had enough of the Green New Deal mandates. Families and farmers in my district, who fear the steady march of Big Government, know that it is just the beginning before Big Government makes it harder to purchase the vehicles you want to drive and that you have to drive to operate your farms and businesses.

I have talked to car dealers in my district that are having a hard time even moving electric vehicles off the lot. No one wants to buy them. Not only do electric vehicles cost more than gas-powered vehicles, but they also make us more dependent on global adversaries for the lithium batteries it takes to run them.

Americans should not be forced to heel under the Biden administration's push for this radical agenda.

There are better solutions. For instance, biofuels offer a tremendous energy opportunity for our country that supports our farmers in the fields and the consumers at the pump with cleaner and cheaper fuel.

The USDA should be supporting and uplifting American farmers, not selling them out to please environmental activists. My amendment shows that the people's House will hold the Biden administration accountable to the people.

Mr. Chair, I urge support of my amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, first off, I have actually met with members of the Auto Dealers Association who have tremendous amounts of EVs sitting on their lots that they can't sell. Yet, we continue to push from the Federal Government and from the Biden administration to try to push that.

I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Harris).

Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Stauber).

Mr. Chairman, let me explain this. As I said, auto dealers themselves, since we put this in place, cannot sell these vehicles. No one wants them even if the government is trying to force us to take them.

They are offering tax incentives. They are offering everything that you think would drive somebody to purchase a vehicle they don't want.

We, as United States citizens, and my constituents and your constituents, Mr. Chair, know and understand that we are consumers. We kind of like this freedom thing we have in this Nation. We want to make sure that that freedom works for us.

I am going to tell you, it is vitally important that our farmers have vehicles that are affordable, that are reliable, and that they can do the job of providing the food, fiber, and all of the things that we require from our farmers to make sure that we can feed the world.

Mr. Chairman, if we continue down this path, it doesn't allow them to do that. I encourage all the Members to support this amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Captain Eleanor LeBeau Cooke.

To friends and family, she was known as Ellie, the fifth of eight children of David and Victoria LeBeau. She graduated from Althoff Catholic High School in 2012 before attending Murray State University in Kentucky.

In 2018, she answered the call of service and joined the Marine Corps and became an Osprey pilot. It was in the Marines where she met her beloved husband, Chase.

Ellie received the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon. In March

of this year, she was promoted to captain.

Three weeks ago, Ellie lost her life in a V-22 Osprey crash on a training mission off the coast of Australia. Two of her fellow marines also passed away.

Her family and her home community in St. Clair County mourn her loss, as do countless other southern Illinoisans. She was special. As her obituary noted, ``There was just something about Ellie.''

Our prayers go out to Chase and to the entire LeBeau and Cooke families at this very difficult time.

Semper Fidelis, Captain Eleanor LeBeau Cooke. Your impact on our Nation will be remembered.

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

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3981) to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the methods by which the Secretary of Veterans Affairs conducts oversight of certain educational institutions, and for other purposes, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 3981, as amended.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3981, as amended. This bill makes improvements to protect veterans while they are using their GI Bill.

Specifically, this bill would require schools to self-report adverse actions to their State approving agency in addition to the VA within 30 days.

State approving agencies are required to approve and review schools and training programs for the GI Bill. This bill would also require VA to create a risk-based survey database within 180 days.

Congress has been waiting for the VA to implement this database for a long time. This proposal would make it clear to the VA that Congress still intends for this database to be implemented.

I appreciate the bipartisan work that has been done at the committee level to ensure that this bill supports veterans while also not increasing government spending.

I thank Mr. McGarvey for his work in introducing this proposal, and I urge all my colleagues to support H.R. 3981, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I encourage the Members on our side the aisle and all of our colleagues to support this good piece of legislation, 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. 1530) to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the requirement to publish disability benefit questionnaire forms of Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 1530, as amended.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1530, as amended, offered by my friend from Texas and our Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs chairman, Representative Luttrell.

I also congratulate Representative Luttrell on this bill as it is his first one to come before the floor since coming to Congress.

Now, this bill would make vitally important improvements to the VA's disability claims process for veterans applying for benefits, and I am grateful to my fellow veteran for his work on it.

It is no secret that the VA disability claims process is lengthy and difficult, but Mr. Luttrell's bill is the right solution to modernize the process, an example of which would be the requirement for VA to publish disability benefits questionnaire forms on the VA's website to ease access between veterans and providers completing disability claims.

This is a commonsense change that honestly we should have done a long time ago. This bill also includes Representative Ciscomani's legislation to create a new internship program at the Board of Veterans' Appeals. This program would offer certain incentives to legal interns to get them into VA and fighting for veterans while also addressing hiring and retention challenges at the board head on.

Lastly, this bill includes Representative Self's proposal to make sure that the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims has enough judges to process the backlog of appeals and expected growth since the passage of the PACT Act last year.

These commonsense solutions should help us make the claims process a little easier to navigate for veterans and their families. It would also provide the courts with the additional resources we know they need to manage the workload coming in from the board.

Once again, I thank Representative Luttrell, Mr. Self, and Mr. Ciscomani for their work on this legislation.

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

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Luttrell), the chairman of the DAMA Subcommittee.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Self).

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Ciscomani).

Madam Speaker, I encourage all Members to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 112) to amend title 38, United States Code, to strengthen benefits for children of Vietnam veterans born with spina bifida, 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 on

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of Senator Braun of Indiana's bill, S. 112, which strengthens the spina bifida program at VA.

Children who are born to veterans exposed to Agent Orange and other herbicides have a higher risk of being born with this condition. Their condition can range from mild to severe, but children faced with this lifelong impact of spina bifida have many special needs.

Under current law, the VA Spina Bifida Health Care Benefits Program provides monetary and healthcare benefits to select children of Vietnam-era veterans and veterans of covered service in Korea or Thailand.

Senator Braun's commonsense legislation would improve the current program by establishing care and coordination teams for these children to ensure they have the care and support and continued connections that they need for their entire lives.

Additionally, this bill would require VA to create an advisory council on healthcare and benefits for children living with spina bifida. This council would solicit feedback on healthcare, job training, and monetary benefits to ensure that these children have access to leading therapies and medical research.

For a lot of veterans' families, I know this legislation would make a real difference in their daily lives.

I thank Representative Baird for his work on this issue and for introducing the House companion to this bill, H.R. 3888.

I know these Members have heard from Hoosiers about this problem for many years, and I appreciate their efforts to help their constituents and other families.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting S. 112 today, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I encourage all Members to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 475) to designate the clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Gallup, New Mexico, as the Hiroshi ``Hershey'' Miyamura VA Clinic.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of a bill designating the Department of Veterans Affairs clinic in Gallup, New Mexico, as the Hiroshi ``Hershey'' Miyamura VA Clinic.

Hiroshi Miyamura was born in Gallup, New Mexico, the son of a Japanese immigrant. He received the nickname ``Hershey'' from his fourth grade teacher, who could not pronounce his first name correctly. I know how that happens.

He joined the U.S. Army during the final days of World War II, served as a machine gunner in the storied 442nd Infantry Regiment. Following the war, he remained in the Army Reserve.

At the onset of the Korean war, ``Hershey'' was recalled to Active Duty and, once again, sent to the front lines. He earned the Medal of Honor for his actions during a firefight that occurred overnight from April 24 to April 25, 1951.

Overwhelmed by the enemy forces, Corporal Miyamura covered the safe withdrawal of his entire company, despite being wounded himself. Unfortunately, he was captured immediately after his heroic actions. He was held as a prisoner of war for 28 months and released on August 20, 1953, a month after the end of the Korean war.

In October of that year, President Eisenhower presented the Medal of Honor to Staff Sergeant Miyamura.

After his honorable discharged, he returned to his community in Gallup, New Mexico, where he became an automobile mechanic and service station owner. More importantly, he remained active supporting his fellow veterans and inspiring young people with his patriotism and continued service.

Hiroshi Miyamura is an inspiring American hero. He was born to immigrants, rose to the call of a Nation, put himself before others in combat, and served as a valuable member of society afterwards.

This bill ensures his sacrifice and legacy will always be remembered.

Madam Speaker, I thank the sponsor of this bill, Senator Heinrich, as well as the entire New Mexico delegation, for recognizing this American hero. I urge all my colleagues to support S. 475.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I, once again, encourage Members to support this legislation. This is truly a piece of legislation that helps the community know and understand how a gallant hero served this Nation. A Congressional Medal of Honor is the highest award. It is not given lightly. For a person who truly did face a time when persecution happened to his people but still served this Nation, it is a true honor that we need to bestow on him.

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

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

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

Madam Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment to

Madam Chair, I thank Representatives Rosendale, Hudson, DesJarlais, Self, Cammack, Higgins, Ogles, Miller, Boebert, Van Orden, and Kiggans for joining me on this amendment.

Madam Chair, I encourage all of my colleagues to support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

I am glad that was brought up, the claim that the bureaucrats do not do this. It is only the bureaucrats that recommend to the NICS list, and then the Department of Justice does this. They take away a right of a veteran where any other citizen in this United States would have to go before a court of law where they would be found to be a danger to themselves or others.

Yet, our VA, under the interpretation that they have made of an existing law, has decided that they will have a bureaucrat, without due process, take away the rights of our veterans. It is as simple as that.

When I came here to this House, I found this out. As a veteran, I was appalled. What bothers me more than anything is the number of veterans across the central part of this United States who choose not to seek VA help for the fear that they would lose that Second Amendment right. They fought for that right and every other right under this Constitution.

This needs to be straightened out. It is not gun control. It is not any issue like that. This is a veterans rights issue.

Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I will answer two quick questions.

The fact is that, no, the VA employee does not take the Second Amendment right and possess the guns. The Department of Justice does. They give the name to the Department of Justice.

Two, when the statement was made that I have a bill to try to deal with this, the ranking member was totally correct. I do because I am going to do everything I can to make sure that the rights of our veterans are not taken away.

It is time for us to stand up for our veterans and protect the constitutional rights that they fought to protect. No veteran should lose their Second Amendment right without due process of law.

Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to the amendment.

I have serious concerns about the existing congestion and limited resources at DCA at this time.

An additional 14 flights--7 slots, but 14 flights--certainly stretch resources even further. Over the last 16 months, DCA has had the fifth most ground delay and stop counts in the country. The runway at DCA is also the busiest runway in the entire country.

I understand wanting additional flights to DCA, but I am concerned that the amount of space and time in the day is limited. I have serious concerns about how it will negatively affect my constituents.

Finally, I also am disappointed that there is no requirement that, before any additional flights, the Secretary must certify that they wouldn't reduce services to small and medium hub airports, strain the current landside and airside capacity at Reagan National Airport, and, as a result, increase travel time.

Mr. Chair, I stand in opposition.

Mr. Speaker, I grew up in a family trucking business, a company that I worked with for years, and I spent my years driving over the road. I knew the challenges our truck drivers faced: Time pressures, lack of sleep, and nowhere to stop for the night.

When I came to Congress, I joined the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and made it a top priority to expand access for safe truck parking.

Now, I knew we had a threat to public safety when exhausted truck drivers pushed that extra mile just to end up sleeping on the highway shoulder on an off-ramp because there is not enough space in our rest areas. Critics who didn't understand the issue said it wasn't a priority, and they asked why they should care.

Well, early yesterday morning, a Greyhound bus traveling from Indianapolis to St. Louis veered into the shoulder of an off-ramp in Madison County, Illinois. Parked on the off-ramp were three tractor trailers and the drivers resting inside.

Three passengers on the bus were killed. Over a dozen were injured. It is a tragedy that didn't have to happen.

I have introduced legislation to direct existing Federal funding to build more truck parking spaces. I am hopeful that we get the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act signed into law. Let's act before we have another tragedy.

My prayers are with the families and the victims of this accident.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Stotlar Pharmacy of Pinckneyville, Illinois, for its over 90 years of service to Perry County residents. This is a true American success story: a family owned and operated small business in the heart of one of the region's best small cities.

Stotlar Pharmacy was founded in 1932 by Joe Stotlar. At the time of its founding, the Stotlar Pharmacy not only filled prescriptions, but had a soda fountain, sold toiletries, gifts, film, cameras, similar to what many would consider an ``old time'' drug store.

In the 1960s, the pharmacy saw many changes, which included moving across the street from their original location, and now offering pharmacy services, delivery, and a gift shop.

Joe Stotlar's sons, Jim and Gene, were physicians with offices close by as they assisted in overseeing the store after their father. The family tradition continues today with Joe's grandchildren: Bill, Barbara, Tom, and Rich. His grandchildren are now serving as the proud owners and managers of Stotlar Pharmacy.

Joe's family remembers him as a very good businessman who was willing to help out anyone in their time of need. With all the Stotlar family has given to our community, I am proud to now give them the recognition they deserve.

Mr. Speaker, please join me in recognizing the Stotlar Pharmacy for all they do to keep Southern Illinoisans happy and healthy. We are fortunate to have such strong family businesses in Southern Illinois, something that should inspire the next generation of community leaders to come.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 30) to authorize major medical facility projects for the Department of Veterans Affairs for fiscal year 2023, 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 on

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 30. This bill would authorize VA major medical facility construction projects in California, New York, Texas, Montana, Kentucky, and Oregon.

As chairman, I have committed time and time again to provide the necessary funding that ensures our Nation's veterans receive the quality care they deserve.

It is well known that the VA healthcare system has serious infrastructure issues and needs critical renovations. Authorizing these projects will help the thousands of veterans who live in these six States have better access to care in modern settings.

I appreciate Senator Tester and Senator Moran for their work introducing this important bill. I also thank Representative Chavez- DeRemer for introducing a similar bill in the House. It has my full support today.

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

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all Members to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (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''.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3672, a bill 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.''

Justin Paton was born on July Fourth, 1982, in Emmet County, Michigan. He joined the U.S. Army in 2005 and deployed to Iraq in October 2006, assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division based out of Fort Hood, Texas.

While deployed to Iraq in 2007, his unit came in contact with the enemy just north of Baghdad, with small arms fire being exchanged. While in this firefight, Private First Class Paton was hit by an Iraqi sniper and did not survive his wounds. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star. He bravely answered the Nation's call when it came, like many others before him and so many after.

Naming the VA clinic in his hometown, which he so loved, is an honor that would be a fitting remembrance of Private First Class Paton's life and sacrifice.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bergman), the sponsor of this legislation and also a very good friend.

Mr. Speaker, once again, I encourage all Members to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 366) to amend title 38, United States Code, to treat certain individuals who served in Vietnam as a member of the armed forces of the Republic of Korea as a veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States for purposes of the provision of health care by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 366.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of Ranking Member Takano's bill, H.R. 366, the Korean American VALOR Act.

This bill would allow Korean veterans who served during the Vietnam war and later became American citizens to be eligible for VA healthcare. VA has been providing healthcare services to ally veterans through government agreements since World War I. These Korean-American veterans deserve the same opportunity.

Korean-American veterans share similar needs with the veterans they served alongside with in Vietnam. They suffer from PTSD and Agent Orange exposure, among other injuries and illnesses. These veterans have earned access to proper care through the VA. Ranking Member Takano's bill will do exactly that.

Mr. Speaker, as you know, this year marks the 70th anniversary of the vitally important alliance between the U.S. and the Republic of Korea. As such, this bill is a fitting tribute to thank the Korean-American veterans for their service. I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 366.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Kim).

Mr. Speaker, we do need to remember that this is a perfect week to do this when Memorial Day is coming up, and we are honored to make sure that these veterans are recognized in the way they should be and that they do receive healthcare.

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

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all Members to support this legislation.

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