Mark Takano

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7105, as amended, the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020. H.R. 7105, as amended, was introduced by Representative Mike Levin, chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, and the bill before us today contains several crucial improvements that will better the lives of veterans during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Mr. Speaker, the first title of this bill contains legislation from Representatives Levin, Underwood, Sablan, Brownley, Wexton, and Lee to improve the Forever GI Bill. These provisions will ensure that institutions of higher learning are more accountable to student veterans. These provisions will improve oversight of colleges and universities, provide more flexibility for veterans to use their benefits, and improve information sharing with students so that they can make a more informed decision on where to continue their education. Further, building off my Student Veterans Coronavirus Response Act from earlier in the year, this legislation includes immediate COVID-19- related relief, from Representative Cunningham, to student veterans. His legislation will extend housing benefits to student veterans, provide more flexibility when using their education benefits during the pandemic, and modernize apprenticeship programs to allow them to continue effectively during COVID-19. Mr. Speaker, to better serve those veterans who are experiencing homelessness, this legislation includes contributions from Representatives Panetta, Peters, Wild, Beatty, and Brownley to provide more veterans with access to the HUD-VASH program, including veterans with children and women veterans, and to provide legal services to homeless veterans. Recognition of service and sacrifice is a priority of mine, and I thank Representative Cox for his bill that awards benefits to military advisers who served in Vietnam immediately prior to the Vietnam war. This group of advisers faced hostilities in the years preceding the formal declaration of war in Vietnam, and some lost their lives. The Military Assistance Advisory Group will now have greater access to certain wartime benefits. Mr. Speaker, similarly, this legislation expands benefits for certain veterans, including Medal of Honor recipients. Thanks to Representative Lamb's legislation, those veterans and their survivors will now receive a greater amount of special pension. My priority next Congress is to bring more veterans with toxic exposures into VA and create an easier process to get these veterans benefits. One group I have heard a lot about is K-2 veterans, who served at Karshi-Khanabad Air Base in Uzbekistan. These servicemembers slept in tents above soil that glowed and oozed, and, unsurprisingly, many later fell ill. Mr. Speaker, I fully support inclusion of legislation that partners with the Centers for Disease Control to study these exposures and resulting health effects. For veterans who have passed away, burial benefits ease the burden on grieving families. This legislative package expands these benefits, creating greater access. Representative Delgado's legislation makes counties eligible for VA grants to build and operate veteran cemeteries, bringing a veteran's final resting place closer to home for rural communities. Representative Sablan's legislation works to expand those grants, which are also available to States, territories, and Tribal governments, to cover increasing costs of cemetery operations. This legislative package includes several provisions from numerous healthcare-related bills, and I will just take a minute to highlight a few. I am really delighted we are able to include Representative Gallego's Native American PACT Act, which prohibits VA from collecting copays from a veteran who is a member of an Indian Tribe. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 7105, as amended, also includes innovative ideas like Representative Kaptur's the Vet HP Act, which seeks to expose undergraduate students considering careers in medicine to directly experience VA's healthcare environment. In addition, this package includes language requiring State veterans homes to provide VA with reoccurring reports on COVID-19 cases and related issues in the facility. This is one more way that VA and Congress can ensure veterans in State veterans homes have the resources they need during this public health emergency. Mr. Speaker, I am especially pleased this end-of-year package includes the Deborah Sampson Act, introduced by Representative Julia Brownley, the chairwoman of the Veterans' Affairs Health Subcommittee. Title V is named after Deborah Sampson, a Revolutionary War veteran from Massachusetts who served in the Continental Army for 17 months and was wounded in battle more than once. Mr. Speaker, Deborah Sampson was neither the first nor the only woman to serve in the Continental Army, nor was she the first woman to be granted a pension by Congress, but she was the most persistent. Over 38 years, Congress granted her a pension, backpay; and, ultimately, her husband was granted a survivor's pension after her death. It is because of similar persistence by women warriors who followed in Deborah Sampson's footsteps that we are considering this legislation today. Among the numerous provisions included in this legislation--perhaps the most important--relate to eliminating sexual harassment and assault. Today, nearly one in four new recruits joining the military is a woman; and, as a result, women veterans are the fastest growing demographic in the veterans community, and VA must be prepared to welcome them. Unacceptably, at least one in four women veterans experience sexual and gender harassment at VA facilities. This must end. Mr. Speaker, last week, both the VA OIG and the Fort Hood Independent Review Committee issued reports that emphasized the need to do more to address the toxic culture that exists at the Department of Defense and at VA. No veteran, caregiver, employee, contractor, or other public visitor should experience sexual harassment or assault at VA. H.R. 7105, as amended, requires VA to develop a comprehensive policy that includes bystander intervention, mandatory reporting mechanisms for employees, confidential reporting mechanisms for veterans, and holds leadership accountable for addressing sexual harassment and assault at VA facilities. This bill also includes provisions put forward by Representative Pappas that require new rules for how VA collects debts owed by beneficiaries to avoid unnecessary harm to veteran credit ratings, as well as to prevent many overpayments from happening due to eligibility changes. Mr. Speaker, finally, the bill before us improves the protections offered by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act for veterans and their families. The included legislation from Representatives Bustos and Rose provides additional protections to ensure that veterans aren't disadvantaged by their service to our Nation and that they are allowed more flexibility and protections for their employment and leases. Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support H.R. 7105, as amended, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 2216) to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to formally recognize caregivers of veterans, notify veterans and caregivers of clinical determinations relating to eligibility for the family caregiver program, and temporarily extend benefits for veterans who are determined ineligible for the family caregiver program, and for other purposes.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to demand that my Republican colleagues put aside partisan politics and provide relief to the millions of Americans whose lives have been upended by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our country is facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, yet the Federal Government has failed to aid the families struggling to keep food on the table, the small businesses shutting their doors and laying off employees during the holiday season, and State and local governments trying to keep communities afloat. It has been 9 long months since we passed meaningful legislation to support our fellow Americans. This is a dangerously long time, and the pandemic has only gotten worse. It is our responsibility to meet the scale and scope of this pandemic and get people the help they have been desperately waiting for. We must work together and finally pass a relief bill immediately. Families cannot afford to wait another day.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Dr. Judy White on her retirement from the Riverside County Office of Education. Known as a history maker and stereotype breaker, Dr. White has been a distinguished educator for the past 40 years. Most recently, she served as the Riverside County Superintendent of Schools, where she led the county's 515 schools, ensuring that all 430,000 students in the county received the quality education they deserve. Dr. White has dedicated her career to bettering public education throughout the Inland Empire. She encouraged students to pursue their educational dreams, and she secured millions of dollars in funding to bridge the digital divide in our communities. There is no doubt that Dr. White has been an incredible asset to the students of Riverside County, and I am glad to have had the pleasure of working with her. She sets a high bar in everything she does, and I wish her a happy retirement and all the best in her future endeavors.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to congratulate a constituent, who is a dear friend of mine, Elliott Duchon, on a well-earned retirement from the Jurupa Unified School District. Mr. Duchon has served as the superintendent of JUSD for 16 years and a public school teacher for 43 years. He has dedicated his career to ensuring that our students receive a well-rounded, quality education. During Mr. Duchon's tenure, he oversaw the expansion of dual- immersion programs to develop bilingualism and biliteracy in English and Spanish, the creation of makerspaces and innovation centers to introduce students to career technical education and STEM education, and the growth of the Jurupa Adult School to open up learning opportunities to all. Mr. Duchon once said his greatest dream is for each and every student to have an equal opportunity to pursue higher education. It is safe to say that JUSD schools are better positioned to deliver on that dream because of the inspiring leadership of Mr. Duchon. He is also an active community member and volunteer, and a dedicated husband and father of three. I feel fortunate to have known him, and I am grateful for his commitment to our community. I am wishing him a very happy retirement.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material on S. 785.

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 785) to improve mental health care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be discharged from further consideration of the bill (H.R. 5023) to name the Department of Veterans Affairs community- based outpatient clinic in Youngstown, Ohio, as the ``Carl Nunziato VA Clinic'', and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table the bill (S. 1646) to designate the community-based outpatient clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs in St. Augustine, Florida, as the ``Leo C. Chase Jr. Department of Veterans Affairs Clinic'', and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on H.R. 3798, as amended.

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3798) to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for limitations on copayments for contraception furnished by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be discharged from further consideration of the bill (H.R. 1925) to designate the Manhattan Campus of the New York Harbor Health Care System of the Department of Veterans Affairs as the ``Margaret Cochran Corbin Campus of the New York Harbor Health Care System'', and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I thank the ranking member for his assistance and partnership in getting COMPACT to the finish line. I certainly thank Chairman Smith for his contribution. I agree with the chairman that the great outdoors--the tremendous resources that we have in our country of our national parks--should be made more available and accessible to our veterans who are suffering the unseen wounds of war. So I thank the gentleman so much for his contribution. Madam Speaker, I want to urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 8247. I want to thank the staff; my own staff director, Ray Kelley; and the tremendous expertise that we brought on and just the tremendous focus that they were able to achieve during the past 18 months. This is, indeed, a huge milestone today, to be standing here and to see H.R. 8247 be passed before the House today. Madam Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 8247, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Kelly) to speak on H.R. 8247.

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 8247, the Veterans Comprehensive Prevention, Access to Care, and Treatment Act, or Veterans COMPACT Act. While passing S. 785, the Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act can be viewed as a great success, no single piece of legislation can comprehensively prevent the tragedy of veteran suicide. We must continually find and work to address gaps in prevention and care for veterans, especially those at heightened risk for suicide, including women veterans, veterans who have recently separated from the military service, veterans who haven't used VA healthcare recently, and veterans in acute crisis. The COMPACT Act contains nine provisions to further enhance veteran's mental health and well-being and prevent deaths by suicide. Madam Speaker, the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs approaches suicide prevention legislation within the CDC's public health framework, emphasizing upstream prevention, targeted interventions for those veterans at higher risk, and emergency care for those in suicidal crisis. The COMPACT Act includes my provision to remove financial barriers and ensure that veterans in acute suicidal crisis or at imminent risk of self-harm will receive emergency stabilization care and never see a bill for it. COMPACT also offers two provisions designed to better understand the particular needs of women veterans by directing the VA to report on women veterans' healthcare usage and the specific program needs of women veterans experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity. It also includes two provisions aimed at including veterans' family members with veterans' permission in education programs to better support their veterans. When we take care of families, we also take care of veterans. Madam Speaker, this bill also mandates that VA report back to Congress on the details of Solid Start, a relatively new VA approach to contacting and supporting veterans who have recently separated from the military. This is a known high-risk period for suicide among veterans. COMPACT will ensure that veterans who haven't used VA healthcare recently get a reminder to come back in for VA services, so they don't inadvertently lose eligibility for some of those services. Because we know that VA police play important roles in keeping everyone safe on VA campuses, this bill requires new annual trainings to make sure that all VA police officers are familiar with mental health challenges and competent in crisis deescalation techniques. Madam Speaker, finally, the COMPACT Act sets up an interagency task force to look at increasing veterans' access to the outdoors and, in particular, use of our public lands for healing and recreation. I want to emphasize that the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs is always willing to work in a bipartisan and bicameral way to advance policies to support veterans. And to that end, we sought and incorporated feedback from stakeholders and we worked hard to find consensus with our House and Senate colleagues. Madam Speaker, even though the Department of Veterans Affairs declined to appear and testify before us in the House on this bill, we incorporated its last-minute technical suggestions in the spirit of collaboration. And because of their commitment to finding common ground and for working with the House to reach an agreed-upon bipartisan, bicameral piece of legislation, I want to thank Senators Moran and Tester, and Dr. Roe and their staffs for their tireless efforts in helping craft this bill. Because of their work, we are providing VA with additional tools and resources to reduce veteran suicide. We should be clear that while we will pass two important pieces of legislation today to address the tragedy of veteran suicide, this certainly does not mark the end of Congress' obligation. We can and we must do more. Madam Speaker, we must implement key recommendations from the White House PREVENTS task force related to lethal means safety and community provider training. We must increase VA's outreach to and care for minority and underserved veterans. We stand ready to move this negotiated bill forward and immediately get back to work. My hope is that the Senate stands ready as well. Politics must never come before the debt we owe our veterans. Before I say my final words in this opening piece about this legislation, I want to just again reiterate to our veterans out there who may be experiencing a crisis or who know a veteran who may be experiencing a crisis, to please call the Veterans Crisis Line at 1- 800-273-8255 and press 1. As Dr. Roe said earlier today, it is okay not to be okay. Again, 1-800-273-8255 and press 1, or text 838255. For deaf or hard of hearing, please call 1-800-799-4889. Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to join me in support of H.R. 8247, as amended, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material on H.R. 8247, as amended.

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 8247) to make certain improvements relating to the transition of individuals to services from the Department of Veterans Affairs, suicide prevention for veterans, and care and services for women veterans, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for his kind words and comments, and I appreciate his passion for our veterans. And I am very pleased that we can honor his friend by the naming of the bill. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Levin), my good friend and the chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, who is also the author of this impressive, comprehensive H.R. 7105.

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7105) to provide flexibility for the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in caring for homeless veterans during a covered public health emergency, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I, too, urge passage of this commonsense solution. I very much also appreciate the bipartisan agreement that we have reached that this is, indeed, a problem we should have fixed many years ago. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in passing H.R. 5245, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Pappas), my good friend, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, and also the author of this important piece of legislation.

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material on H.R. 5245, as amended.

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5245) to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for a bar on the recovery of certain payments or overpayments made by the Department of Veterans Affairs by reason of delays in processing of certain information, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be discharged from further consideration of the bill (H.R. 7347) to designate the medical center of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as the ``Lieutenant Colonel Charles S. Kettles Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center'', and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.