Mike Bost

Mr. BOST

Mr. BOST. 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.

Mr. BOST. 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.

Mr. BOST. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on S. 475.

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

Mr. BOST. 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.

Mr. BOST

Mr. BOST. 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.

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

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

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

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

Mr. BOST. 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.

Mr. BOST. 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.

Mr. BOST. 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.

Mr. BOST

Mr. BOST. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on S. 112.

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

Mr. BOST. 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.

Mr. BOST. 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.

Mr. BOST

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

Mr. BOST. 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.

Mr. BOST. 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.

Mr. BOST. 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.

Mr. BOST. 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.

Mr. BOST

Mr. BOST. 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.

Mr. BOST. 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.

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