Phil Roe

Mr. ROE of Tennessee

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

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5538. Under current law, if a member of the Guard or Reserve is called to Active Duty under certain orders while receiving training through the Department of Veterans Affairs Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment program, the charges for that training are waived. However, those charges are not waived for members of the Guard or Reserve who are called up under orders regarding emergency response or augmentation of overseas combat forces. This creates a disparity. H.R. 5538 would address that disparity and level the playing field by waiving training charges for all servicemembers, regardless of which Active-Duty orders they are serving under. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5538) to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the inclusion of certain additional periods of active duty service for purposes of suspending charges to veterans' entitlement to educational assistance under the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs during periods of suspended participation in vocational rehabilitation programs.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5649, as amended, the Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer William ``Bill'' Mulder (Ret.) Transition Improvements Act of 2018. One of the most important things our government can do to help our Nation's servicemembers is to ensure that their transition from military to civilian life is as smooth and seamless as possible. We all know that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and I know that so many of the problems that veterans encounter later in life could have been mitigated if they had a more supportive and successful transition. I know that the goal of this bill, and of provisions that are aimed at improving the transition period in the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act, are to help servicemembers have as smooth a transition as possible to civilian life. I will allow Congressman Jodey Arrington of Texas, who is the sponsor of this bill, to go into the specifics of it in a moment. But before I do, I want to thank him, Congressman Beto O'Rourke of Texas, and all of the members of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity for taking the time earlier this session to sit down with stakeholders and really examine the transition process from the very beginning and look at the need for improvements. While this bill is a culmination of bipartisan review and work, it is only a step in the process to ensure a successful transition for all servicemembers. I know we will remain dedicated to making improvements to this process to reach this goal. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Brady for helping to expedite the consideration of the bill today, and I thank Congressman Arrington for his work. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. House of Representatives, Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Washington, DC, July 16, 2018. Hon. Kevin Brady, Chairman, House Ways and Means Committee, Washington, DC. Dear Mr. Chairman: On July 12, 2018, the Committee on Veterans' Affairs ordered reported H.R. 5649, as amended, the Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer William ``Bill'' Mulder (Ret.) Transition Improvement Act of 2018. The bill was referred to the House Veterans' Affairs Committee with additional referrals to the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Armed Services Committee. Based on our previous consultation, we intend to request H.R. 5649, as amended, be scheduled for floor consideration. To expedite floor consideration, I ask that you forego further consideration of H.R. 5649, as amended. This in no way affects your jurisdiction over the subject matter of the bill, and it will not serve as precedent for future referrals. In addition, should a conference on the bill be necessary, I would support your request to have the House Ways and Means Committee represented on the conference committee. Finally, I would be pleased to include this letter and any response in the bill report filed by the Committee on H.R. 5649, as amended, as well as in the Congressional Record during floor consideration to memorialize our understanding. Thank you for your consideration of my request. Sincerely, David P. Roe, M.D., Chairman.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5882, as amended, the Gold Star Spouses Leasing Relief Act. The death of a servicemember can have a profound impact on their loved ones. Our government should take every measure necessary to help family members through such a time of need. In recognition of that, the Gold Star Spouses Leasing Relief Act would amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, the SCRA, to allow a spouse of a servicemember who has died due to military service to break their residential lease without penalty within 1 year of the servicemember's death. Mr. Speaker, paying fees for breaking a lease should be the last thing on someone's mind when they are confronting life without their spouse. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the sponsor of this bill, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos of Illinois, for her commonsense solution to this problem. I also want to thank Ranking Member Walz and his staff for their suggestion to improve the bill by including in it a provision that would extend protection to surviving spouses of members of the National Guard and Reserve whose death occurred while on Active-Duty orders. We should recognize the service of all servicemembers on Active-Duty orders, and I am glad the amended version of this bill includes that provision. Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5938) to amend the VA Choice and Quality Employment Act to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a vacancy and recruitment database to facilitate the recruitment of certain members of the Armed Forces to satisfy the occupational needs of the Department of Veterans Affairs, to establish and implement a training and certification program for intermediate care technicians in that Department, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, once again, I encourage all Members to support H.R. 5938, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time

Mr. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I was thinking here, as we were listening to the testimony, when I went into the Army many, many years ago to go to Southeast Asia, there was no internet, there was no cable TV, and there were no cell phones, so it was pretty easy for me to leave then. There wasn't much to leave. But things have changed a lot since then. I encourage all Members to support H.R. 2409, as amended. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2409, as amended. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, SCRA, was enacted by Congress to protect Active Duty servicemembers and members of the National Guard and Reserve from financial charges and judicial obligations that could incur due to their military service. As most Americans know, cell phone companies charge early-termination fees if a user cancels an agreement for service with the carrier before their contract has expired. SCRA currently allows a servicemember who is ordered to move or deploy for longer than 90 days to cancel their cell phone contract without paying those fees. However, it does not explicitly protect servicemembers from having to pay early-termination fees for cable, satellite TV, or Internet access contracts. H.R. 2409, as amended, which is sponsored by Congressman Ryan Costello of Pennsylvania, would fix this inequity. I am grateful for his efforts in this bill to acknowledge that servicemembers would be given the same type of protections for cable, satellite TV, and Internet contracts as those already in place for cell phone devices. The bill would also extend those protections to surviving spouses of servicemembers who are killed while on Active Duty. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Costello for bringing this bill forward, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Costello), author of the bill and former member of the Committee on Veterans Affairs.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2409) to allow servicemembers to terminate their cable, satellite television, and Internet access service contracts while deployed, as amended.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2787) to establish in the Department of Veterans Affairs a pilot program instituting a clinical observation program for pre-med students preparing to attend medical school, as amended.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2787, as amended, the Veterans-Specific Education for Tomorrow's Health Professionals Act. The bill would create a pilot program to provide undergraduate students with a clinical observation experience at the Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers. The pilot would give prospective providers a window into the healthcare profession that would help inform their educational paths and careers. It would also provide them an early introduction to both the VA healthcare system and the medical conditions common among our Nation's veterans. VA has a number of recruitment and retention challenges, one of which is an aging workforce that is increasingly retirement eligible. Given that, it is imperative that VA take every available opportunity to engage young clinicians and make a concerted effort to attract them to a career serving veterans within the VA healthcare system. This bill is sponsored by the Congresswoman from Ohio, Marcy Kaptur, and I appreciate her efforts. I urge my colleagues to support this bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. In closing, I, too, came from rural America, and I, too, am a first- generation college graduate and had an opportunity to use the public education system to go to college and medical school. After that, then mentored and taught for over 25 years in medical school, so I had a chance to see young students, and I think this is a fantastic idea. I thank my colleagues on the other side of the aisle for bringing this forward. To bring a young person in who has never had a chance to be in that sort of environment and expose them to this, you don't know what sort of light bulb you are going to turn on in their head to encourage them and mentor them. And many of them will become passionate about medicine, nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, audiology, PTSD treatment. I could go on and on. I think this is a great idea. I strongly encourage all Members to support H.R. 2787, as amended. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers and am prepared to close, so I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record letters of support for H.R. 299 from the 10 veterans service organizations I mentioned earlier. Veterans of Foreign Wars of The United States, Kansas City, MO, May 7, 2018. Hon. Johnny Isakson, Chairman, Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Washington,

Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, the VA estimates that there are 6.6 million living Vietnam-era veterans; there are 58,220 who died in that war; and there only will be about 4.4 million remaining in just 10 short years. That means we will lose 2.2 million Vietnam-era veterans in the next 10 years, which is an average of about 523 Vietnam-era veterans per day. We must now act because, if we don't, blue water Navy veterans may not be around to receive the benefits they and their loved ones have been waiting on for so long. We owe it to the brave men and women veterans who served offshore during the Vietnam era to cease waiting on perfect science and provide compensation benefits for conditions they may have developed because of exposure to Agent Orange. I am not the only one who believes this. H.R. 299 has broad bipartisan support: 330 cosponsors. I think I can speak for all of us when I say that H.R. 299, as amended, does the right thing for our blue water Navy veterans. Mr. Speaker, this is personal for our Vietnam-era veterans like myself. I served and walked the territory not long after in Korea, over 40 years ago. We have done great work on the committee: We passed an accountability bill this year, a way to speed up disability claims. The Forever GI Bill funded the Veterans Choice Program. We just passed the VA MISSION Act, just a few of the things that our committee in a bipartisan way, has done. But there is a little inconvenience out there that we have 90,000 blue water Navy veterans who are being left behind--not after today. Mr. Speaker, I thank the other side of the aisle. We worked hand in hand. And I thank the staffs--I don't think they get enough credit--for the hard work that the staffs do behind the scenes. When we seem to find a blind alley and can't get to a conclusion, they continue to work in a bipartisan way to find a way to get to yes. I also thank all of the outside groups that kept this issue in front of us for decades. When I got the chairmanship a year and a half ago, I said one of the things that I will base my chairmanship on is if we can get this solved and do the right thing for our blue water Navy veterans. Today, we are going to do the right thing in this House and send it to the Senate, where they will do the right thing. Mr. Speaker, once again, I encourage all Members to support H.R. 299, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.