Mike Bost

Mr. BOST

Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 217, as amended. This bill was introduced by the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Bacon), my good friend and colleague. This bill would reauthorize the CHIP IN pilot program for another 5 years while expanding it nationwide. This pilot program has enabled public-private partnerships with VA to help fund the construction of projects for healthcare facilities. It is set to expire next year. In Omaha, Nebraska, VA and local partners used this authority to build an outpatient clinic 1 year ahead of schedule and $35 million under budget. They delivered to veterans in Nebraska a modern state-of- the-art facility. With this bill, we would move VA to pursue even more public-private partnerships across the country to build new facilities in communities where veterans need them the most. I thank my friend, Representative Bacon, for his work to bring the CHIP IN program to communities nationwide. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 217, as amended, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Bacon), the sponsor of this bill, who has lived and seen what it has done.

Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, once again, I encourage all of our Members to support H.R. 217, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BOST

Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1147) to amend title 38, United States Code, to establish the Veterans Advisory Committee on Equal Access, and for other purposes, as amended.

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

Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1147 offered by my colleague, Representative David Valadao of California. The bill would direct the Department of Veterans Affairs to establish a veterans advisory committee on equal access. The committee would advise the VA Secretary on how the Department can improve access to VA benefits, services, information, and facilities for individuals with disabilities. The committee would bring together veterans with disabilities, subject matter experts, VA employees, and representatives of veterans service organizations to make sure that the Secretary is getting the best advice from the right people. Mr. Speaker, it goes without saying that this is long overdue. Americans with disabilities are entitled to equal access to healthcare and benefits nationwide. That includes the VA. Congress made it clear, through the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws, that this is the case. While VA has made progress in recent years, the promise of equal access for individuals with disabilities has not been fully achieved. We know these accessibility gaps still exist, and I thank the VSO community for their work to shine a spotlight on these issues. The goal of this legislation is to eliminate accessibility gaps and achieve universal access for veterans living with disabilities, as they are entitled to by law. This is an important goal, and I believe the advisory committee is well justified. I also share many of my colleagues' concerns about the growth of advisory committees in the Federal Government. There are simply too many. That is why this legislation would direct VA to eliminate or consolidate an inactive advisory committee. I thank Representative Valadao for his commitment to resolving this issue. This bill passed the House unanimously last Congress, and there is no reason why it should not receive the same bipartisan support this Congress and be signed into law. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 1147, as amended, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Valadao), who is the sponsor of this bill.

Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I have no more speakers, and I am ready to close. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. BOST

Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1286) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to seek to enter into an agreement with a federally funded research and development center for an assessment of forms that the Secretary sends to claimants for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 1286, as amended.

Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1286, as amended. The bill was introduced by the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Bresnahan), my friend and colleague. This bill would require VA to contract with research entities to improve the forms that VA requires veterans and their families to fill out throughout the VA claims process. Incorrectly filling out these forms can force veterans to wait longer for a decision on their claim and cause veterans to receive wrongful denials of their claim. Veterans and their advocates have told Congress time and time again how disorganized and difficult these forms can be. As a veteran myself, it has been a challenge for me to complete these forms for my own disability claims. We must make VA's standard forms more understandable for veterans so they can more easily access their earned VA benefits. This bill would do just that. Representative Bresnahan's commonsense bill would ensure that Congress continues to push VA forward to better serve veterans, and I am proud to co-lead it. I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 1286, as amended, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Bresnahan), the sponsor of this bill and the Representative from Pennsylvania's Eighth District.

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

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

Mr. BOST

Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1815) to amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to take certain actions in the case of a default on a home loan guaranteed by the Secretary, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 1815, as amended.

Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1815, as amended, offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Van Orden), my friend and colleague. For the last year, House Republicans have raised concerns about the Biden administration's creation of a VA Servicing Purchase program, or the VASP program. Mr. Speaker, this Biden program was estimated to cost over $15 billion in tax dollars. It also puts the VA home loan program at risk for today and tomorrow's veterans. It was a bad program, and the Trump administration was right to stop it. However, I recognize that sometimes veterans and their families fall on hard times and veterans need a safety net. Mr. Van Orden's bill, H.R. 1815, as amended, is a fiscally responsible solution to enhance the VA home loan program and give veterans the assistance they might need if they are in home loan debt. The bill is the result of over a year of discussions between VSOs, veterans, the lenders, and Members to properly establish a partial claim program for veteran homeowners should they need it. The bill is the only fiscally responsible solution to a problem that Mr. Van Orden and I have been sounding the alarm on for over a year. Instead of the VA running rampant and creating a program without Congress' intent, establishing a partial claim program where elected officials have made changes to improve a government program is how the democracy should work. This bill would also require the VA to implement a strategic plan to ensure that veterans remain competitive in their home loan process. Finally, this bill includes the proper funding for the grant and per diem provisions we passed in the Dole Act last year to fix the Biden administration's mistake. Under my leadership, my committee will continue to honor its commitment to all veterans, including ensuring proper funding is provided to the GPD providers working to lift veterans out of homelessness. I thank everybody who has come together to get this bill to this place. I give special thanks to the Mortgage Bankers Association, Rocket Mortgage, the National Association of REALTORS, and the National Association of Mortgage Brokers for supporting this legislation and helping us get it to the finish line on behalf of our veterans and their families. I appreciate my Democrat colleagues for their bipartisan support of this legislation. With their support, I hope we can get a good bill passed to the Senate quickly and then to the President's desk very soon. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 1815, as amended, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the other side of the aisle highlighting the problem that veterans are facing today. Thank goodness we are working on a solution right here with H.R. 1815, and we are going to be voting on it today. Mr. Speaker, the VA's decision to phase out the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase program, or VASP program, was an important step by the Trump administration. This decision added billions of dollars to the VA budget without any assurance to the taxpayers that this was a good decision. Just last week, my office received information that, on top of paying $6.3 billion to purchase VA loans, VA also spent an additional $1.5 billion just to support their financing. The average amount that a veteran had to pay back of their mortgage was actually less than $25,000. Instead of solving the problem, VA chose to purchase the entire loan, costing an average of $321,000. In no way does it make sense to solve a $25,000 problem with a $321,000 solution. Only in government would you do that. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that this bill would have saved money by keeping the veterans out of foreclosure. They estimated earlier this Congress that the continuing of VASP would cost the taxpayers over half a billion dollars in the next decade. That is why, under my leadership, House Republicans have sounded the alarm on the Biden administration program and the risk it could bring to VA home loans. Mr. Speaker, I continue to urge support of H.R. 1815. It is a sensible bill. Representative Van Orden and I will continue working on a cure to this problem. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Van Orden).

Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I do think a response is necessary to clear up what was spoken of from the other side of the aisle. One is that the Veterans Home Loan program does not assume the entire loss of the existing program during VASP, but what it did is, because it is a loan guarantee, it was 25 percent. I think that needs to be clear for the record. This bill is the cure, I believe, for the problems that we are having right now. At least it gives off-step to secure these loans to make sure that as few as possible face foreclosure. It is a good bill. It is a good bill that will receive support from both sides of the aisle. The argument before was just that. It was an argument before. Mr. Speaker, I encourage all my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BOST

Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1823) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Comptroller General of the United States to report on certain funding shortfalls in the Department of Veterans Affairs, as amended.

Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 1823, as amended.

Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1823, as amended. This bill was introduced by my friend and colleague, Representative Jack Bergman. This bill will create good government accounting and reporting practices in handling of VA's multibillion-dollar budget. General Bergman introduced this bill in response to a disastrous miscalculation during the Biden administration, which led to a fake budget shortfall. Last July, VA informed Congress about a potential $15 billion shortfall. VA said it needed the money for unprecedented increases in benefits claims and healthcare services. This notice came after the Biden administration had already submitted its VA budget request. Mr. Speaker, it should go without saying that VA should have known its financial situation much earlier than the time they told us about the shortfall that ended up never existing. Now, according to VA Office of Inspector General, the miscalculations stem from a lack of oversight, accuracy, and communication. It is time to change that. If there is anything that we have learned, it is that we need our eyes on the VA budget and their reviews. I am proud to support General Bergman's bill to do exactly that. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1823, as amended, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bergman), the chief sponsor of this legislation.

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