Bob Filner

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. I would yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, we are at the conclusion of a set of eight pieces of legislation that will each one improve the quality of life for our Nation's veterans. Each one is a step forward to recognizing their service. We have thanked all the Members for working on this. I want to thank the staff on both sides of the aisle. When you have a collection of bills like this, it takes a lot of time, especially on a weekend, unfortunately, for them. So we thank all the staff--Republican and Democrat--for getting all of the reports and all of the work done for today's bills, which really contribute to the well-being of our veterans.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I would yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hare).

Mr. FILNER. I have no further speakers. Let me just say in conclusion, Mr. Speaker, that I think it's safe to say that for every single Member of this House, when they have town meetings with veterans, the single biggest complaint is the disability claims system. They've been waiting months, years even--decades--for decisions. This is an insult to their service. We have a long way to go in changing that. This bill is a big step toward erasing that incredible backlog. This situation is the biggest single factor that leads veterans to think that ``VA'' means veterans' adversary instead of veterans' advocate. So we have to change it. It is going to be changed as rapidly as we can, and I encourage all Members to support this bill. General Leave

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I would yield 2 minutes to our new Member from Indiana (Mr. Donnelly), another very active and committed member who is concerned about our veterans in America.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, this bill comes to us from the chairman of our Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee, a very active, committed, new Member, Mr. Hall from New York, and I would yield to him as much time as he may consume.

Mr. FILNER

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

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I would again ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 674.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 674) to amend title 38, United States Code, to repeal the provision of law requiring termination of the Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans as of December 31, 2009.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the next bill on our agenda was supposed to be a bill by Mr. Moran, who is managing the bills today. Due to some bureaucratic delays, we have not been able to put that bill on the floor, but I assure the gentleman from Kansas that we will. He has been a leader in rural health care to veterans. It is a problem that faces many of us all over the country, and we will address these issues that you have raised. I will yield to the gentleman from Kansas.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill before us, H.R. 6445, as amended, and yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FILNER. I would ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 6225, as amended.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I have said several times today that our new Members have been very aggressive and active in extending the rights and care for our Nation's veterans. The same is true for Mr. Patrick Murphy from Pennsylvania, a new Member, our only Iraqi veteran, in fact, serving in the Congress, and has dedicated a lot of time to making sure his comrades get the health care and attention and benefits that they need. I would yield to him 3 minutes.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I would yield 2 minutes to my colleague from San Diego, Congresswoman Susan Davis.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6225) to amend title 38, United States Code, relating to equitable relief with respect to a State or private employer, as amended.

Mr. FILNER. I thank the Speaker, and I want to thank my distinguished colleague, the chairwoman of our Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, Ms. Herseth Sandlin of South Dakota, for her bipartisan leadership in crafting this bill, Improving Servicemen's Civil Relief Act and USERRA Protections Act of 2008, to help protect our Nation's veterans. Congresswoman Susan Davis from my hometown of San Diego, Congressman Patrick Murphy who will be heard from soon from Pennsylvania, and Congressman John Carter from Texas also introduced language that is part of this legislation. When they are called to duty, our servicemembers across the Nation leave their loved ones, they leave school, they leave work behind. Unfortunately, as we have many examples today, some of these servicemembers find difficulty in spite of presumed law to get back their old job, to get back into their housing or their enrollment at an institute of higher education. We have to make sure that all these men and women who are called up for service who do their duty don't have to face these difficulties which many thought were protected in law. We must honor their sacrifice by providing them with adequate protections so that they may have peace of mind that their interests and their families' interests are protected while serving our Nation. This bill will protect these men and women by encouraging courts to use their full equity powers, including temporary or permanent injunctions, temporary restraining orders, and contempt orders, to protect the rights and benefits of these veterans. This section would amend title 38 by changing the ``may'' word to ``shall.'' Language that was authored by Congresswoman Susan Davis of California requires institutions of higher education to refund tuition for servicemembers who have not received academic credit, or allow servicemembers the opportunity to reenroll in the same academic status prior to their military service. The language also places a cap on the interest of student loans at 6 percent while the student is fulfilling military service. As we will hear, language was included by our new member, Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania, to allow servicemembers to terminate or suspend service contracts such as cell phone, housing, or utility contracts, due to a permanent station of change of station or deployment orders. And Congressman Carter of Texas included the allowance of the spouse of an active duty member to maintain the same State of residency as the servicemember for State taxation, and to allow the spouse to claim the same State as the servicemember in regards to State and property taxes, and voter registration. Mr. Speaker, we must honor our men and women who dutifully serve our Nation. When they leave home, they should not have to worry about receiving a negative academic status, paying for a service which they cannot use, or paying taxes in a State for this which they don't claim. They should be afforded the rights and benefits that they honorably are fighting for. I urge my colleagues to support the bill to protect these servicemembers and veterans. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, again, I want to thank Mr. Boozman, who worked so well with Ms. Herseth Sandlin on their committee. In the spirit that they worked together, we had contributions from older Members, younger Members, Republicans, Democrats in what is an extremely good bill. General Leave

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute. I want to thank Mr. Boozman, and he included parts of a bill from Ms. Herseth Sandlin and from Mr. Welch from Vermont, another new Member who has been a great participant in our deliberations. I would like to thank my distinguished colleague, Ranking Member John Boozman in the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, for his bipartisan efforts in crafting H.R. 6221, as amended, Improving Veterans' Opportunities in Education and Business Act. I also want to thank Subcommittee Chairwoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin and Congressman Peter Welch for introducing language included in this important legislation. Many of our veterans today are currently transitioning into the workforce or continuing their studies in higher education. Some of our disabled veterans own small businesses, while others are receiving training to pursue other careers. Our veterans deserve to receive the necessary resources to succeed in life after the military. We must work together to ensure that our Nation's heroes are equipped and provided the training they need for their future careers. H.R. 6221 would clarify a provision in current law that was intended to assist veterans in the Federal procurement process. This provision has been interpreted by the VA General Counsel that it does not apply to agents acting on behalf of the VA. H.R. 6221 would clarify congressional intent and require any entity that purchases goods and services on behalf of the VA to comply with the contracting goals and preferences for small businesses owned or controlled by veterans. Language introduced by Representative Stephanie Herseth Sandlin of South Dakota would authorize $10 million for VA to conduct a 5-year pilot program to expand the veterans' campus work study program. Eligible work-study may include positions in academic departments and student services, such as jobs in tutoring, research, career services, and campus orientation. Language was introduced by Representative Peter Welch of Vermont to authorize $60 million for the next 10 years to fund the Service Members' Occupational Conversion and Training Act, commonly called SMOCTA. SMOCTA is a successful training program that was instituted in the early 1990's and targeted to servicemembers leaving military service with few or no job skills to transition to the civilian marketplace. The program assists veterans in obtaining meaningful employment after their military service and is a timely program that would greatly assist today's returning veterans. Mr. Speaker, we must honor our men and women who dutifully serve our Nation. We must serve our disabled veteran small business owners and students with opportunities to succeed, and fund successful programs that develop job skills needed in today's workforce. Our servicemembers deserve the proper training and provisions that ensure a seamless transition into civilian life. I urge all my colleagues to join me in support of H.R. 6221, as amended. Since this bill is authored by Mr. Boozman, I will reserve the balance of my time to allow him to explain it.

Mr. FILNER. I would ask, Mr. Speaker, that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 6221, as amended.

Mr. FILNER. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6221) to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to include in each contract the Secretary enters for the acquisition of goods and services a provision that requires the contractee to comply with the contracting goals and preferences for small business concerns owned or controlled by veterans, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FILNER. I thank the gentleman.

Mr. FILNER. I would ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4255, as amended.