Phil Roe

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close. Mr. Speaker, I want to take a couple of minutes of personal privilege before I do close. This will be the last couple of days I am here on the House floor, and I would like to thank the constituents of the First Congressional District of Tennessee who have supported me overwhelmingly for the past 12 years. I cannot thank you enough. I have made so many great friends as I have traveled those 12 counties in rural east Tennessee, and I couldn't be prouder of them. Certainly, my prayers are with them now during this COVID epidemic. This was a year like no one ever expected, Mr. Speaker. I think we will all look back years from now, and history will judge us on how we did now. I want to thank my family and friends that I have had. I would not be here without them. During this past 12 years, I have had, obviously, some personal issues. My wife died of cancer during the 12 years I was here. I lost a very dear personal friend not 6 weeks after that. My mother died a year after that. And a year after that, I was diagnosed with cancer myself, and I am a cancer survivor. I want to thank the people in this body and in this House for the personal support that they gave me and uplifted me, the Congressional Prayer Breakfast, and just many friends, as Mr. Biggs talked about, that would stop and speak to you and lift you up. I don't think people see that. I want to thank my staff. I have had an incredible staff since I have been here. I am amazed at the insight and work that these young people do on both sides of the aisle. It is just amazing. We would not get this legislation completed. You see this big, thick binder right here. It is these staff members that put this together, do the hard work, and bring us together. And I can't thank them enough. And my colleagues: I have met and made some amazing friends that will last a lifetime here. I remember, and I will pass this along, an old coach told me this once. We were at a Boy Scout camp and I was a counselor there. One of the scouts ran up and said: ``Coach, Coach, we have a problem down at shower house number 2.'' And he said: ``What is it?'' The scout said: ``Well, the toilet is stopped up.'' And the coach, I will never forget this, he said: ``We don't have problems here. We have opportunities.'' So, basically, we have had a lot of opportunities, I have, since I have been here. I have been able to serve on some committees, the Veterans' Affairs Committee, which I have been a member since day one; the Education and Labor Committee, which I had the privilege of serving as the chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions. I served a term on the Agriculture Committee. I served on the Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans. I have co- chaired the GOP Doctors Caucus for the past several terms. Mr. Speaker, I mean this sincerely. No one person does any of these things. It does take a team effort. And that team effort, you heard it today, you heard both sides of the aisle contribute to this piece of legislation that we just passed by voice vote. We were able to pass in a bipartisan way the MISSION Act, which will fundamentally change--it is a very complex act that will fundamentally change how veterans get their care and improve the quality of care for our veterans. The Forever GI Bill--Mr. Speaker, when I got out of the Army in 1975, I was able to use the GI Bill, and I know it paid me $300 a month for 2 years. It sunsetted at 10 years. This Congress fully paid for that. These young people now, these men and women who have served this country, can use that benefit the rest of their lives and that benefit can be transferred. It is an incredible help to families now with the high cost of education. We had an SGR, the sustainable growth rate repeal, and Medicare reform, the Medicare wage index reform. We passed the National Desert Storm and Desert Shield War Memorial Act. With Whip Hoyer, we passed an EpiPen bill so that they can be put it schools around the country. And I can tell you, after that happened, in my own district about 3 years ago, a student had an anaphylactic reaction. She did not know she had a problem. And a life was saved because of that. I think if I did anything in Congress--and I want to thank Mr. Hoyer for his help with that. We have another asthma bill that is getting hot lined in the Senate, to show you can do bipartisan work across the aisle. That is just a few of the things that we were able to succeed and do. These are, again, not done by any one person. They are done as a team. And I want to thank everyone who helped make my time here in Congress successful. I can tell you, it is one of the great privileges of my life to serve in the House of Representatives, in the greatest deliberative body in the world, the United States Congress. It is an honor I will never forget, Mr. Speaker. I will finish by saying that I encourage my colleagues to support this bill and, graciously, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Biggs), my good friend, who is the House sponsor of this legislation.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 2216, the TEAM Veteran Caregivers Act. Just as our Nation's veterans are heroes, so are their caregivers. When a servicemember or veteran is seriously injured in service to our country, their family caregiver serves as an irreplaceable source of support and care during recovery and beyond. They are just as vital a part of the veteran's care team as the veteran's doctors and nurses. They deserve respect, recognition, and support for all the work they do for their veteran loved ones and the personal sacrifices that work requires of them. Since the Department of Veterans Affairs' family caregiver program was created by Congress in 2012, caregiver support services--including a monthly stipend, respite care, training, and healthcare, if needed-- have been offered to eligible caregivers of post-9/11 veterans. We expanded the family caregiver program to include caregivers of pre-9/11 veterans in the MISSION Act 2 years ago, and those caregivers began receiving benefits through the program in October. Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss if I didn't say the Dole Foundation and Senator Dole had a great influence on this. Along with expanding the family caregiver program to caregivers of veterans of all eras, VA also made several programmatic changes, which I hope will ensure the program works better for every single veteran and caregiver in need of it. However, it may also result in some caregivers who were formerly eligible for the program to no longer be eligible for it because their veteran loved one had sufficiently recovered as to no longer require the same level of caregiving services. To help individuals under those circumstances, this bill would require the VA to notify veterans and caregivers of medical decisions and determinations that may affect their eligibility for the family caregiver program and to extend the caregiver benefits on a temporary basis to those who are deemed ineligible for the program, ensuring that they have time to adjust to life without the support it provides them. It would also require VA to list the names of caregivers in veterans' electronic health records to ease communication between providers and caregivers. Mr. Speaker, I am grateful to Senator Gary Peters from Michigan and Senator Marsha Blackburn, my fellow Tennessean, for introducing this bill, as well as Congressman Andy Biggs from Arizona for sponsoring the House companion to it. I thank each of them for their leadership on this issue and their commitment to caring for caregivers. Mr. Speaker, I will be proudly supporting this bill today, and I urge all of my colleagues to join me. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Arrington), who served on the Veterans' Affairs Committee and the Ways and Means Committee. He has been a tireless advocate for veterans during that time. Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, there would not be a Texas if it were not for Tennessee.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Kentucky.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Barr), my good friend, my neighbor just north of me in Kentucky, and a very, very prominent member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Bost), my good friend and new ranking member on the Veterans' Affairs Committee. I have been in Mr. Bost's district many times. I know his passion. He is a former marine. I guess once a marine, always a marine, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 7105, the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020. This legislation is a culmination of 2 years of bipartisan work by the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees. It contains provisions that will provide veterans and their families with improved access to care, compensation, education, housing, and burial benefits that they have earned and will result in a Department of Veterans Affairs that is better able to meet their needs. I am proud that one of my last votes in Congress will be in support of this bill. I am also humbled that it bears my name and that of my friend, former Senator Johnny Isakson from Georgia. It was a pleasure to work with Senator Isakson as the chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee before his retirement last year. Our shared passion for serving our fellow veterans led to the creation and passage of landmark veterans' legislation, including the MISSION Act, the Forever GI Bill, the Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act, and the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act. I am honored to share this recognition with him, and I thank our colleagues for recognizing our work in this way. It would take more time than I have to list every worthy proposal in this bill and thank every lawmaker, Republican and Democrat alike, who sponsored them. The many provisions included in this omnibus bill will support veterans and families from the time they transition out of the military to the time they are interred in a VA, State, Tribal, or private cemetery and at multiple critical touchpoints in between. For transitioning veterans, it will authorize a review of the Transition Assistance Program, or TAP; allow TAP to be provided at off- base locations; and support community organizations that are supporting servicemembers as they transition. For student veterans, it will expand the Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship program to student veterans working on their medical degrees; require schools to provide all student veterans with in-state tuition, regardless of when they left Active Duty; make improvements and increase funding for the VET TEC pilot program to connect veterans with careers in the technology industry; strengthen oversight of schools that use the GI Bill; expand the restoration of benefits to students whose schools close in the middle of a term; and ensure that more servicemembers and veterans can take advantage of the improved benefits available through the Post-9/11 GI Bill. For veterans with service-connected disabilities, it will ensure that claims for disability compensation include pertinent information from veterans' private providers by requiring the VA to reinstate public- facing Disability Benefits Questionnaires, or DBQs, and issue a report detailing whether an alternative disability exam process would better serve veterans and, if so, implement it. For women veterans, it will ensure that the VA healthcare system is more prepared for and responsive to their needs and help it instill a culture that is more welcoming, inclusive, and safe. For veterans who have experienced military sexual trauma, it will streamline benefits and make it easier to get the care and compensation they deserve. For veterans struggling with homelessness or housing insecurity, it will increase funding for transitional housing providers; improve case management services in the HUD-VASH voucher program; provide additional funding and flexibility to allow service providers to care for those with children and meet rising demands associated with COVID-19; authorize grant funding for legal services; and support those leaving the criminal justice system. For veterans worried about their finances, it will address a major root cause of veteran debt by allowing veterans to remove dependents from the eBenefits system. For veterans concerned about the general management and operation of the Department of Veterans Affairs, it will improve VA's work with Congress and the Government Accountability Office to address high-risk service lines and improve VA's overall efficiency and effectiveness; and strengthen financial management across the Department, which is more important now than ever before as VA's budget approaches $250 billion a year and total liabilities surpass $4 trillion. For veterans who are providing critical care and support during the COVID-19 pandemic, it will provide a time-limited presumption of exposure to help streamline benefits for those who develop long-term disabilities associated with exposure to COVID-19 as a result of their service during this unforgettable moment in history. For veterans at the end of their lives, it will create a single burial benefit for non-service-connected veterans by raising the cost of the non-service-connected burial allowance to match the allowance for veterans who pass away in a VA facility; allow VA to pay for certain burial transportation costs for families who choose to lay their loved ones to rest in a State or Tribal veterans cemetery; and permit VA to replace a veteran's VA-furnished headstone in a private cemetery to add memorial inscriptions for eligible family members. Finally, for veterans' survivors, it will extend GI Bill survivor benefits to the families of servicemembers who died of a service- connected injury while in the Reserves, and it will address an inequity in Federal benefits for surviving spouses by allowing them to retain their eligibility for VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation if they remarry after the age of 55. I can go on and on; but, suffice to say, there is something in this bill for just about every one of our Nation's veterans and their loved ones. I am very grateful to every Senator and Member of Congress who has introduced one of the various pieces of legislation in this package, including Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy of California; my good friend and incoming Ranking Member Mike Bost from Illinois; Congressman Gus Bilirakis from Florida; General Jack Bergman from Michigan; Congressman Jim Banks from Indiana; Congressman Andy Barr from Kentucky, Congressman Adam Kinzinger from Illinois; Congressman Doug LaMalfa from California; and Congressman Jodey Arrington from Texas. This bill would not have been possible without the hard work, dedication, and support of numerous individuals and organizations, including VA; our partners in the veteran service organization community; the Women Veterans Task Force; committee members from both sides of the aisle, particularly the chairs and ranking members of our Subcommittees on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, on Economic Opportunity, on Health, and on Oversight and Investigations; our colleagues on the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee; and last, but certainly not least, my good friends and fellow Veterans' Affairs Committee leaders: Chairman Takano, Chairman Moran, and Ranking Member Tester. Serving in the United States Army, Second Infantry Division, as I did, was a defining moment in my life. Helping to serve my fellow veterans in Congress these past 12 years along such an esteemed group of lawmakers who I am proud to call friends has been a honor of a lifetime. The 116th Congress has been one for the history books in more than one way. I hope that it will end on a high note today by passing this important bill and providing that, despite all of the challenges before us at this particular moment in time, Congress can still come together on a bipartisan basis to enact meaningful legislation on behalf of some of our most deserving constituents, the men and women who have so bravely defended our freedoms and the families and caregivers who support them. Mr. Speaker, I urge every one of my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill today, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bergman), my good friend who represents the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I think General Bergman is the highest ranking officer who has served in the U.S. Congress, a marine.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close. Mr. Speaker, it is obvious today, with the minority leader, the Speaker, and numerous, numerous distinguished Members coming to speak, the importance of this. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Takano for his work on this. I thank all the Members who, in a bipartisan way, brought this extremely important bill to fruition. I certainly appreciate the honor of having this bill named after Senator Isakson and myself, and I encourage my colleagues to support this bill. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of a giant in northeast Tennessee and my friend, Frederick ``Pal'' Barger, Jr., who passed away recently at the age of 90. Pal's impact on our community was tremendous. Pal is best known for Pal's Sudden Service, a drive-through restaurant with rapid service, great food, and affordable prices. In 2001, Pal's became the first restaurant to receive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the Nation's highest Presidential honor for performance excellence. Pal is one of northeast Tennessee's best success stories. Pal's commitment to excellence didn't stop at the drive-through window. He received recognition throughout his life for his kindness, generosity, and unwavering dedication to help our region prosper. I am especially grateful for Pal's contributions to his alma mater, East Tennessee State University, which have greatly impacted so many of our region's current and future leaders. Mr. Speaker, it is my honor to recognize the life of Pal Barger for his tremendous impact on our community.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to this bill. This bill would shift the constitutional power to coin money and regulate its value from Congress to the executive branch. While I applaud the effort to give the Mint flexibility to reduce costs, this bill has the unintended effect of relinquishing Congress' constitutional power to coin money to the executive branch. We see this shift of power all the time in this body. It is the prerogative of Congress to regulate the country's coinage. Let's vote to maintain this prerogative. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose suspending the rules and passing H.R. 7995.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, today, I rise in support of H.R. 2468, the School-Based Allergies and Asthma Management Program Act, a bill I have been proud to work on with my friend, Leader Hoyer, that will help students with asthma excel in an asthma-friendly learning environment. Madam Speaker, I will say that I had the privilege of visiting Mr. Walden's district a few years ago when we were working on the VA MISSION Act, and he explained to me that his congressional district had more square miles than the State of Tennessee. I didn't believe that, but it happens to be true. It has more square miles. And that one statement really helped me in composing that bill. I also thank Leader Hoyer--when he mentioned that in 2013, we didn't know each other very well then, but we got to know each other. And that bill, the EpiPen bill it is called, passed. And in my own community, just a community about 20 miles north of me, not 2, 3 years ago, a middle school student, who didn't know she had allergies, had anaphylaxis, and because the EpiPen was available, because of Mr. Hoyer's work and others, that child survived. I also thank Mr. Pallone and Mr. Walden. Remember the incredible arguments we had about the cost of the EpiPen? I travel with one all the time because I am more concerned about an allergy of some kind when I travel. They always ask on airplanes: ``Is there a doctor here?'' I am always with one. And you all helped push the price of that down-- your work on that did--from $600, which was absurd for an EpiPen. And you know, Mr. Hoyer, with your daughter, I don't care how much money you have, that is a lot of money to pay. And you have to have two of them, not one. So that price has dropped dramatically because I think a lot of the work this Congress has done. Last week marked the beginning of fall, as we all know. And for many of us, the cooler weather means the return to football and a new school year--different school year, but back. For millions of other Americans living with asthma, seasonal allergies, and other respiratory diseases, these changes of temperature mean difficulty breathing. There are roughly 6 million school-aged children in the U.S. currently living with asthma. This is one of the leading causes of absenteeism. In fact, according to the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program, parents have reported that students collectively miss 14 million days of school every year due to asthma alone. While asthma poses serious health risks, it can be effectively managed with proper education, planning, and treatment, and does not have to negatively impact a child's access to education. The Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services both recommend that schools have comprehensive management programs in place to support children with lower airway disorders like asthma and keep these disorders under control while they are at school. Unfortunately, most schools do not have such programs in place. And that is why our bill, the School-Based Allergies and Asthma Management Program uses a proven model to encourage States to ensure schools are prepared to help children suffering from asthma. The two most important strategies for preparing schools are implementing management plans and ensuring that school staff members are prepared to assist children experiencing an attack. Our bill encourages States to do just that. This type of preparation and management in schools will not only improve a child's health but also ensure that students are able to focus on learning. No student should be at risk in a school because of a failure for them to manage a respiratory disorder. The good news is that together, we can fix this. The start of the new school year serves as a valuable reminder of the work that still needs to be done, and I look forward to passing this bipartisan legislation today and getting it one step closer to the President's desk so that students with asthma and allergies can focus on their education. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their very, very kind comments, and I encourage support of this bill.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I very, very much appreciate the incredibly kind words. Some of those stories are probably even true that I tell. Mr. Speaker, I would take a point of personal privilege before I close. This will probably be the last time I am down here to speak on the House floor as the ranking member of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs before this Congress adjourns in January. Mr. Speaker, what an honor and privilege it has been. And you cannot be successful--and I think the chairman will also emphasize this-- without an incredible staff. I have been so blessed with very, very, very competent people on both sides of the aisle. And it has been fun working with Ray and the gentleman's staff, and I thank him for that. They have always been respectful, and I have appreciated that. Mr. Speaker, you know it is probably time to retire from Congress when you have delivered one of your staff members, which I have, that is on our side. Mr. Speaker, it is not about us. It is about the veterans that we serve--all of us in this incredible body. How many times in your life do you get an opportunity to really do good for people? I will tell you what has influenced me. I grew up in a military town, Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Clarksville, Tennessee, where the 101st Airborne is. My scoutmaster, First Sergeant Thomas E. Thayer, was killed in 1965 in Vietnam. He left four children. I saw what it did to that family. I have never forgotten that. After my service was over--I served in Korea in 1973-1974 in the Second Infantry Division--I came back home, saw what happened to our Nation's veterans, how they were treated. That has changed. I am thankful that this country no longer treats the veterans like they did my Vietnam brothers and sisters who served. We had the opportunity in this committee, in a bipartisan way, as I said, to make a difference. In the last Congress, we passed the Accountability and Whistleblower Protection bill; the Appeals Modernization that has helped so many people; the Forever GI Bill, and I used the GI bill when I got out of the military, and it helped me as a young family, and I know how it transformed this country after World War II; the MISSION Act, and I could go on and on--the bills we passed yesterday and the bills we passed today, and we will pass Congresswoman Brownley's bill in just a moment here. I got an email last week. We get these all the time. We talked about the blue water Navy for, I don't know, 10 years, I guess. I get this email from a widow, who is a veteran, whose husband died in his late forties with complications of Agent Orange. He served on a service ship outside Vietnam that offloaded Agent Orange. Finally, after all these years and the work, Mr. Speaker, we got this passed in February, I think, of 2019. She got backpay and a stipend for her and her family for the service that her husband had done. She was a veteran who had served, too, but not there. I thank the entire body for doing that because you made a difference in this veteran's life. Mr. Speaker, I, again, thank the body, the committee, all the people who have worked, and I certainly want to support Ms. Brownley's bill and her kind words--I much appreciate that--and I encourage all Members to vote for this. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in support of H.R. 3798, as amended, the Equal Access to Contraception for Veterans Act. This bill is sponsored by Congresswoman Julia Brownley from California. Congresswoman Brownley is the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Health and the bipartisan Women's Veterans Task Force, and I am grateful for her hard work and steadfast commitment to improving care for all the men and women who have served our Nation in uniform. The Equal Access to Contraception Act would prevent the Department of Veterans Affairs from charging copayments for contraceptive items and services that veterans receive in the VA. This would create parity between the VA healthcare system and the rest of the healthcare industry, which already exempts prescriptions for contraception from cost-sharing requirements. Prior to coming to Congress, I spent 30 years in private practice as a board-certified OB/GYN physician, so I know firsthand the importance of reproductive care and regular access to contraception. I am proud to sponsor this bill today to increase access to contraception for the growing number of women who are volunteering for the military and enrolling in the VA healthcare system following their brave service. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. In closing, first of all, I want to thank the chairman for his persistence in getting this bill done and including Congressman Smith. It is wonderful. I was out at Walter Reed a number of years ago. They were talking about PTSD, and I asked them: Well, do they like to fish? Would that help? Chris said: Sure. I said: Well, I have got some of the best trout streams in the world in my district. They said: Well, are they going to catch any fish? I said: They also have a fish hatchery in my district, and I guarantee they are going to catch fish. We had a wonderful event, and it does help. There is no question about it. I was just thinking, when Congressman Smith said that, almost every weekend, I am on the Appalachian Trail, which is very near my home, or other hiking trails with fellow vets out hiking. It is exactly as he described. It is therapeutic. I would encourage everyone to do it, especially now that we can begin to get out in this pandemic. I know that has kept a lot of people in their homes where they can't get out and they feel trapped. Again, reach out. Again, I thank the chairman for his work on making this an important issue of the committee this year, and I appreciate his leadership on that. Madam Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith). My friend is the previous chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee and a great advocate of our Nation's heroes.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I yield myself the balance of my time. This is a bill that contains a lot of effort, as you can see, from both sides of the aisle, both Republicans and Democrats, and as Mr. Arrington said, trying to do the right thing for our Nation's heroes. I remember in 2008 when I was a candidate for Congress, the HUD-VASH voucher program was rolled out. I didn't really understand it. It is a program that helps homeless veterans. And when I got into Congress, I remember General Shinseki, who was the Secretary at that time, stated that during the housing crisis there were over 100,000 homeless veterans in America, the wealthiest country in the world. I found that shameful. His goal was to eliminate homelessness among veterans in the next 6 years. He didn't achieve that goal, but it was a worthy goal. That number now is under 40,000, less than that. And, hopefully, with this bill that has help for families and children in it, that we can get these veterans off the street, and into productive lives. You can see in part of the bill that Congressman Levin, myself, and leader McCarthy supported, it takes veterans who have lost their jobs and gets them skills that they can transition into this new economy post-pandemic, and has money to take care of their families. I know the transition assistance program that was mentioned. I know when I got out of the military, the only thing I was worried about was the gate of the fort I was in hitting me on the backside on the way out. That is how much help I got at the end of Vietnam. Nobody really said: What are you going to do next? They just said: You are out of here. We had this little helmet, I remember, when I was in service, with two feet coming out from under it. And that meant you were short. You had less than 100 days left in-country. Well, today, we are doing a much better job with our transitioning, and we are starting to think, when these young people go into the military to serve our country and our Nation and protect us, what are you going to do when you transition out? In other words, when you go in, start thinking about what you are going to do when your military career is over. This bill will help us get to that. I am very proud to encourage all of my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.