Floor Statements

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5516, as amended, the VITAL Assessment Act.

This bill is sponsored by, as was said, our newest member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, Congressman Jake Ellzey. With this bill, he is fulfilling the promise he made on the campaign trail to put the needs of our fellow veterans front and center. His bill will make a number of improvements to the VA's Veterans Integration to Academic Learning, or the VITAL program.

VITAL provides mental health support to student veterans on college campuses. Preventing veteran suicide and supporting veterans as they transition out of the military are two of our committee's highest goals, and this bill would get us closer to realizing both of them.

I urge every Member to support H.R. 5516, as amended, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Ellzey), the main sponsor of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close. I encourage all of my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2433, the Burn Pit Registry Enhancement Act. This bill is cosponsored by Congressmen Raul Ruiz from California and Brad Wenstrup from Ohio. Dr. Ruiz and Dr. Wenstrup are co-chairs of the House Burn Pit Caucus. I thank them for their work on this bill and continued advocacy on behalf of the veterans exposed to burn pits.

Many servicemembers and veterans are grappling with serious health conditions that they believe are the result of the burn pit exposures. That is why Congress required VA to create an Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry in 2013.

The registry was intended to provide a forum for servicemembers and veterans to document their burn pit exposures and health status so that the VA could better target research and outreach. The registry continues to be an important tool for veterans worried about burn pit and other toxic or environmental exposures.

Last Congress, two important stakeholders, Burn Pits 360 and VFW, recommended family members be allowed to update the registry in the event of the death of a servicemember or veteran listed on it. This would ensure that the registry contains a more complete picture of the possible effects of burn pit exposure. This bill would do that.

When a servicemember or a veteran listed in the registry passes away, it would allow an immediate family member to report their death and cause of death to the registry.

As ranking member, improving the care and benefits provided to veterans who have experienced toxic exposure continues to be one of my top priorities. There have been bipartisan bills introduced in the House and Senate this Congress. One of those bills is my bill, the TEAM Act.

And last week, VA announced some new initiatives aimed at improving the presumptive process for toxic-exposed veterans. I still have many outstanding questions about that announcement, and am concerned by the stalled legislative efforts of the Democrat-controlled Congress.

Toxic-exposed veterans are sick and dying. We cannot let burn pits, PFAS, or particulate matters become this generation's Agent Orange. We cannot fail to take proactive action on behalf of the future generations of warfighters.

I hope that we can soon come together in the House and the Senate in a bipartisan manner to take meaningful, fiscally responsible, and scientifically sound action to address toxic exposures. In the meantime, I am pleased to support this bill today, and hope it has the support of all of my colleagues.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close. I encourage all of my colleagues to support this piece of legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4626, as amended, the VA Assessment by Independent Measures Act, or AIM Act.

The AIM Act is sponsored by my friend and fellow Marine Corps veteran, General Jack Bergman. General Bergman is the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Health, and I thank him for his dedication to ensuring that the VA is providing good care for each one of our Nation's veterans.

The AIM Act would require an independent assessment of the VA healthcare system once every decade, starting in the year 2025.

When the VA was in the midst of a nationwide access and accountability crisis in 2014, Congress passed the Choice Act to help right the ship. The Choice Act included a provision requiring an independent assessment of the VA healthcare system. That led to many of the reforms that are occurring across the VA system today. Establishing a mechanism for regular independent assessments will ensure that the VA continues to improve in the decades ahead.

I appreciate Chairman Takano and his staff for working with me and General Bergman while the AIM Act was pending in committee. I hope that this bill will have the same level of bipartisan support today.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bergman).

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5603, as amended, the Protections for Student Veterans Act.

This bill would protect student veterans who have to withdraw from a course of education under the GI Bill if they are called up for Active Duty or for training. This change would protect students from receiving a poor grade or an incomplete while they are doing their job to protect this country.

The change proposed in this bill is needed, and it has my full support.

I am also pleased that this bill, as amended, includes the text of Congressman Cawthorn's bill, H.R. 4874, the Fly Vets Act. His bill would close a longstanding loophole that allows public flight training schools to charge an unlimited amount in tuition and fees for GI Bill students.

This bill would allow students to utilize a revolutionary accelerated tuition and fee model that would provide twice the amount of tuition and fees per

month for 2 months of eligibility. This is commonsense legislation that would protect both the student veteran and the taxpayer.

I thank Congressman Cawthorn for his hard work on this bill. I also thank Congressmen Wenstrup and Levin for their work on this bill in previous Congresses. I hope that this year we can get this needed change across the finish line.

While we are talking about the GI Bill, I would like to take a few minutes to discuss another matter. At least at the start of the pandemic, we worked on a bipartisan effort to ensure that student veterans' GI Bill housing allowance payments are not cut when their in- person classes converted to online learning due to COVID-19. The current authorization expires on December 21, 2021.

Chairman Takano and Congressman Trone are advocating for a bill that extends this protection, but it is not paid for. Instead, it relies on emergency spending to cover the more than $200 million mandatory score associated with the bill. I believe that is too high of a cost to consider through emergency spending and must insist that we offset the extension.

To that end, I introduced a bill that would achieve the policy objective but pay for the cost of the bill with a regularly used offset.

My bill also includes changes that are needed to ensure that GI Bill students can attend foreign schools. It would also give U.S. schools time to comply with the new reporting requirements passed last Congress.

A coalition of 18 higher education groups has advocated for these changes for several months and support my proposal. They understand that if these changes are not made soon, many schools will be forced to stop accepting students who are using the GI Bill.

I understand the chairman has recently received a letter from the chancellor of the University of California at Riverside, who agrees that this proposal must be offset.

Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox wrote that by passing the bill without an offset, we would be ``no closer to a resolution on this critical issue.''

The letter goes on to say that passing a bill out of the House without an offset ``will jeopardize UCR's ability to continue to serve our veteran students.''

The chancellor also stated that this fall UC Riverside supported hundreds of military-connected students, including about 179 veterans who could be impacted by inaction.

Unless I am mistaken, UC Riverside is in Chairman Takano's district.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the letter from Chancellor Wilcox.

UC Riverside,

Office of the Chancellor,

Riverside, CA, November 12, 2021.

Hon. Mark Takano,

U.S. Representative,

Washington, DC.

Dear Representative Takano: I understand that you are

planning to bring H.R. 5545, the Responsible Education

Mitigating Options and Technical Extensions (REMOTE) Act, up

for a vote in the House next week. The bill includes critical

technical corrections to address unintended consequences

stemming from several provisions in the Isakson Roe Act and

the Training in High-Demand Roles to Improve Veteran

Employment (THRIVE) Act that went into effect on August 1,

2021. The bill would also extend certain COVID-related

flexibilities granted to the Secretary of the Department of

Veterans Affairs (VA) in the wake of the pandemic.

As the bill is currently written, however, it does not

include an offset for the approximately $200 million cost for

the extension of COVID-19 flexibilities. I am deeply

concerned that without the inclusion of an offset, the bill

will not be able to pass the Senate by unanimous consent and

we will be no closer to a resolution on this critical issue.

During the Fall of 2021, UC Riverside served 179 Veterans,

37 Reservists, 11 National Guard, and 15 Active Duty self-

identified members of the U.S. military branches. Designated

as a ``Military Spouse Friendly'' campus, UCR served over 350

dependents, and have utilized over $6M in Veterans benefits.

Without an offset for the extension of COVID-19

flexibilities, it will jeopardize UCR's ability to continue

to serve our Veteran Students, due to the compliance issues

that require fixes. I would also urge you to include language

to modify VA's current ``rounding out'' rule to ensure that

more veterans can maintain full-time benefits during the last

term of their program.

I respectfully request that your staff work to pass

bipartisan legislation next week that addresses these

concerns and can be quickly passed through both chambers and

signed into law.

Sincerely,

Kim A. Wilcox,

Chancellor.

At our full committee markup 2 weeks ago, I urged Chairman Takano to work with me and our Senate colleagues to find a way forward on the offset issue on a bipartisan basis.

However, last week I was told that Congressman Trone's bill would be on the slate of bills, but the cost would not be offset. I registered my concern and was glad to see that the un-offset bill will not be considered under suspension of the rules today.

I do understand, however, that the majority intends to take Congressman Trone's bill to the Rules Committee the week after next and pass it out of the House un-offset through a rule.

Let me be clear, I support the policy, but I believe the cost of the bill must be offset. Schools like UC Riverside clearly agree with me. Even if the Democrats are able to get Congressman Trone's un-offset bill through the House--and that is a big ``if''--I don't believe that they can pass it in the Senate by unanimous consent.

It is the responsibility of the leaders of our committee to solve this issue so that the bill can quickly make it to the President's desk. Although the chairman may not like it, my approach is the only way to get this done in time to help students in a fiscally responsible manner.

The higher education community has told us that this extension needs to be enacted by Thanksgiving. I think we can see that under the majority's current plan, the deadline will be missed. After Thanksgiving we have only 9 legislative days left before these protections expire. We are simply running out of time.

I do not have a preference for whether we take up my bill or amend Congressman Trone's bill to include the offset, but I urge the chairman to come back to reality and stop playing political games with it so that we can ensure that student veterans are protected in a fiscally sound manner.

At the very least, I would advise the chairman not to let this inaction impact thousands of student veterans across the country, including the 179 right there in his own district.

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

Mr. Speaker, paying for something and doing the job that we are supposed to be doing here is not political gamesmanship.

I said in my statement that I believe that we must continue to provide for these veterans, but it is our fiduciary duty to do it in the correct way. That is what I am asking for. I am also asking for it because that way we know it will move through the Senate and work in a bipartisan, bicameral manner to try to move it forward.

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

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to support the underlying bill that was discussed. I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 796, the Protecting Moms Who Served Act.

This bill would require VA to improve the care that is provided to veterans who are pregnant. More and more women are volunteering to serve in the military and seeking services from VA as veterans.

As they grow their families, VA must provide them with high-quality, easy-to-access, pre- and postpartum care.

Strengthening services to women veterans is one of my priorities as the lead Republican on this committee, and I am proud to help do that by supporting this bill today.

I thank Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth for sponsoring this bill on behalf of our fellow veterans. I urge my colleagues to support it today.

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

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this bill. I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4233, the Student Veterans Counseling Centers Eligibility Act.

This bill would allow student veterans to access readjustment counseling and peer support services at vet centers.

Student veterans have unique needs and stressors. This bill would help them get the support they require to thrive in school and in their post-military lives.

I am grateful to my good friend and committee colleague, Dr. Greg Murphy, for introducing this bill. I thank him for his leadership on behalf of student veterans, and I am confident this bill would benefit them for generations to come.

Mr. Speaker, I urge every one of my colleagues to support H.R. 4233 today.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Murphy), the sponsor of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 147, as amended, the BRAVE Act.

Every year, nearly 200,000 servicemen and -women transition out of Active Duty and into the civilian sector.

This bill would require the Department of Defense to provide information on apprenticeship programs to separating servicemembers who are practicing in the Transition Assistance Program.

The BRAVE Act would also require the Department of Labor to establish a website that includes information on national apprenticeships and those approved for the GI Bill benefits so it is readily available to the transitioning servicemembers.

Last month's unemployment numbers showed that while the unemployment rate for nonveterans decreased, the unemployment rate for veterans increased slightly. This is concerning, and I am hopeful that improving the way that we provide information to our veterans about available apprenticeships may provide veterans with more opportunity for great jobs.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support H.R. 147, as amended, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to support this

bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3730, to create a VA advisory committee on better serving veterans' needs in the territories. For a number of Congresses, Congresswoman Radewagen, Congresswoman Gonzalez-Colon, Congressman Sablan, and other delegates from the territories have honorably served their veterans and constituents.

Committee staff has traveled with many of our delegates and colleagues to the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and Puerto Rico. We have seen firsthand the disparities and the difficulties that their veterans face when trying to access healthcare and benefits from the VA.

The combination of limited transportation options, the lack of local resources, the overlapping Federal agency jurisdictions, and the complexities around VA care in neighboring foreign nations make the territories different from the rest of the Nation and difficult to work in.

Unfortunately, the challenges that the veterans in the territories face always seem to slide down to the bottom of VA's priority list.

While I am generally skeptical of new advisory committees, I believe the voices of the veterans in the territories are not being heard, and I share Congresswoman Radewagen's and Congressman Sablan's goal of elevating their needs.

For those reasons, I support the bill, and I encourage my colleagues to do the same.

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

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 1031, sponsored by Senator Raphael Warnock. I would also like to recognize Chairman Takano for leading this effort in the House.

As you all know, when the men and women of our military sign up to serve, we make a promise to care for them upon their separation, regardless of age, ethnicity, race, or gender.

The Veterans' Affairs Committee has heard concerns from veterans who say that they have been treated unfairly in the VA benefits system based on their minority status. However, we have no objective data to determine whether there is a bias against the minority groups in the VA through the claims process.

S. 1031 would help address this question by requiring a GAO study to determine whether any differences exist in the way the VA administrators compensate benefits based on the veteran's background. This report would provide Congress and VA with the information we need to determine what biases exist and, if so, how to address them.

I support S. 1031, and I hope that my colleagues will do the same.

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

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 894, the Hire Veteran Health Heroes Act of 2021. This bill was introduced by Senator Mike Braun of Indiana. The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Latta) introduced the House companion bill. I thank them both for their efforts on this excellent piece of legislation.

The Hire Veteran Health Heroes Act would help accomplish three important goals:

The first is supporting servicemembers as they transition out of the military.

The second is helping veterans find meaningful work in their civilian lives.

The third is ensuring that VA medical facilities are well staffed to provide timely, high-quality care to veterans.

This bill would require VA to work with DOD to identify separating servicemembers with backgrounds in healthcare, and it would require VA to refer those servicemembers who are interested in working in the VA

healthcare system to recruiters for possible placement in VA medical facilities with open positions.

Mr. Speaker, I am glad to support this bill today. I hope all of my colleagues will do the same on both sides of the aisle.

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

Mr. Speaker, I did have a speaker here that was en route, but I will close.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate this bill. I appreciate the people who worked on this bill, and I encourage all of my colleagues to support it.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3665, a bill to name the VA medical center in San Diego, California, the Jennifer Moreno VA Medical Center, and to support naming a component of such medical center in honor of Kathleen Bruyere.

Jennifer Moreno, a native of San Diego, California, received her initial commission in the United States Army as a Nurse Corps officer.

Jennifer was assigned to Madigan Army Medical Center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington. Jennifer served there as a clinical staff nurse in the medical-surgical unit and earned her certification as a medical-surgical registered nurse.

Following that assignment, Jennifer volunteered for and was selected into the Special Operations Command Cultural Support Team program.

Captain Moreno deployed to Afghanistan in June 2013 with the Army's 75th Ranger Regiment.

On October 6, 2013, Captain Moreno was attached to a U.S. Army Ranger unit on a night mission in the Zhari district in Kandahar province to capture a high-value target when four explosive devices were triggered.

Captain Moreno heard a call for help and did not hesitate to respond. As she made her way to help her fellow soldier, Captain Moreno triggered a fifth explosive and sadly became the first nurse Combat Support Team member to die in action.

Heroism obviously knows no gender.

It is only fitting that the San Diego VA Medical Center be renamed in Jennifer's honor.

This bill also honors Navy Captain Kathleen Mae Bruyere by naming a space within the San Diego VA Medical Center after her.

Captain Bruyere was a trailblazer who dedicated her career to advancing opportunities for servicewomen who played an instrumental role in revising restrictions that prevented women from serving on combat aircraft and ships.

Notably, Captain Bruyere helped conduct a study that led to 9,000 sea-duty and command jobs opening for women on 24 combatant ships.

And as is true for so many servicemembers, Kathleen's service did not end upon retirement from the military.

Until shortly before her death, Captain Bruyere was an active volunteer

at Miramar National Cemetery. While there, Captain Bruyere devoted almost 4,300 hours to help visitors locate their loved ones' graves and provided information about veterans' burial benefits.

By naming a dedicated space in the Jennifer Moreno VA Medical Center after Captain Bruyere today, we will further ensure that her influence and services are forever remembered.

Currently, of the 1,255 VA healthcare facilities, only two are named for women veterans. It is time to recognize the many contributions and the heroism of women who have served, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to support this legislation and for all that it stands for.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 1095, the Colonel John M. McHugh Tuition Fairness for Survivors Act of 2021. This bill would expand the in-State tuition requirements to dependents and survivors of eligible veterans through the Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance, or the DEA program.

The DEA program provides $1,224 a month in tax-free benefits directly to the eligible participants to help cover the costs of higher education or training.

Dependents are eligible for this program if the veteran died while on Active Duty, is a former prisoner of war, or has a permanent and total service-connected disability rating or dies from a service-connected disability.

By expanding the in-State tuition requirements, we will make it easier for DEA participants to complete their studies without additional debt.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that the bill is named in honor of Colonel John McHugh. Colonel McHugh was killed in action on May 18, 2010, by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan after serving his country for 24 years. This bill honors his sacrifice.

I thank Senator Moran, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, as well as Congressman Moore, for their hard work in crafting this commonsense piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support S. 1095, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Moore), my friend.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5671, as amended. This bill will authorize VA to give flu shots to certain nonveterans this flu season. Earlier this year, the chairman and I worked with the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs' colleagues to allow VA to vaccinate all veterans, as well as their spouses and certain caregivers against COVID-19.

The bill we are considering today would allow VA to provide flu vaccines to those individuals as well this flu season. Preventing a bad flu season this year is important for many reasons. It could help save lives, most importantly. It could help avoid adding further burden to the shoulders of the doctors and the nurses who have already sacrificed so much throughout this pandemic. It could also help ensure that COVID- 19 recovery efforts stay on track as we continue to try to get back to life as we knew it before March 2020.

This is an important public health initiative and I am glad to support it today. I hope this bill will have the support of all of my colleagues.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Gilbert George Prosek, a World War II hero who lost his life in the Pacific Theater in 1944. Gilbert was born October 1, 1921, to George and Theresa Prosek of Chester, IL. He was known to his friends and family as ``Gib,'' and he was familiar for his happy-go-lucky perspective on life. Gilbert lost his father when he was five years old, with he and his mother looking after one another until she remarried to Ben Sebastian. Gilbert had three half-sisters: Helen, Shirly, and Joyce. At 16 years old, Gilbert took a job at the Prim Hosiery Knitting Mill. He enlisted in the Marines at 21, in 1942. The last time most of Gilbert's family saw him was at his going away party, the day he left for basic training. After receiving a Private First Class ranking, Prosek was stationed on Cape Gloucester, New Britain Island. There, he made three charges across a stream to put an enemy gunman out of action and provide covering fire for another member out of his platoon. During this act of heroism, Gilbert's position was exposed and he lost his life. His family was awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty. Madam Speaker, please join me in honoring Gilbert George Prosek of Chester, IL, as we mark 100 years since his birth. On behalf of Southern Illinois, we thank him and his family for their selfless sacrifice in defense of our freedoms.

Mr. Speaker, the average cost of a gallon of gas in my hometown of Murphysboro, Illinois, is $3.60 and rising. That is not all. Tonight's temperatures will dip down to about 29 degrees in southern Illinois and families will be dialing up the thermostat.

Many of my constituents rely on propane to heat their homes during these colder months. According to the Energy Information Administration, midwestern families that use propane this winter can expect to pay as much as 54 percent more in their heating bills; potentially an additional $1,800 this winter.

Southern Illinois and southern Illinoisans are feeling that crunch. Yet, many of my Democrat colleagues only care about passing their socialist

spending spree with higher taxes on natural gas. As winter approaches, we can't allow them to leave our families out in the cold.