David Trone

Mr. TRONE

Mr. TRONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 3527) to amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to transfer the name of property of the Department of Veterans Affairs designated by law to other property of the Department.

Mr. TRONE. Mr. 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. 3527.

Mr. TRONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of S. 3527, a commonsense piece of legislation introduced by the chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, Jon Tester. The purpose of this bill is to ensure the Secretary has the authority to transfer the name of a facility to another physical property should VA decide it needs to relocate the facility. Such a relocation could occur if there is a need to increase clinic space or to move a facility closer to the veteran population. I hope my colleagues see the benefit of such authority and will join me in supporting this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TRONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask all of my colleagues to join me in passing S. 3527, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TRONE

Mr. TRONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Hawaii (Mr. Case), who serves on the Appropriations Committee and the Natural Resources Committee.

Mr. TRONE. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TRONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask all of my colleagues to join me in passing S. 1760, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TRONE

Mr. TRONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 2514) to rename the Provo Veterans Center in Orem, Utah, as the ``Col. Gail S. Halvorsen `Candy Bomber' Veterans Center''.

Mr. TRONE. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting S. 2514, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TRONE. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TRONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask all of my colleagues to join me in passing S. 2514, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TRONE

Mr. TRONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7500) to authorize major medical facility projects for the Department of Veterans Affairs for fiscal year 2022, and for other purposes.

Mr. TRONE. Mr. 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. 7500.

Mr. TRONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 7500, the Fiscal Year 2022 Veterans Affairs Major Medical Facility Authorization Act. I thank my colleague from Texas (Mr. Allred) for his work on this bill. I also thank the chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, Senator Tester, for introducing the Senate companion to this important legislation. Each year, the Department of Veterans Affairs submits an annual budget request to Congress, and it is our job to authorize and appropriate the funding the VA needs to care for America's veterans and their families. Within that larger funding request is the VA's request for funds to replace and modernize its medical facilities. This year's major construction requests total just over $3.4 billion. It will build a much-needed spinal cord injury center in Dallas, Texas; erect a new surgical intensive care unit and renovate operating rooms in Oklahoma City; construct a new critical care center in West Los Angeles; and allow for the seismic retrofit and renovation of buildings in Portland, Oregon, among other things. Mr. Speaker, this Congress, the committee has highlighted VA's aging infrastructure. During our oversight efforts, the committee has learned that in order to fully recapitalize the Department's portfolio, the VA would need roughly $90 billion. Delivering 21st century healthcare in buildings that were built during the latter half of the 19th century is far from ideal and certainly not what our veterans deserve. Given the severity of underfunding as it relates to the VA's capital assets, we cannot afford to wait until the AIR Commission provides recommendations to Congress and the White House, as my colleagues across the aisle would advocate for. Life-safety and seismic issues across the portfolio must be recognized now. Regular maintenance should not be delayed because of budgetary concerns, nor should we delay retrofitting facilities to meet the VA's fastest-growing population, women veterans, or delay addressing the lessons learned from this Nation's first pandemic in more than 100 years. If we are going to build back veterans' trust in the VA, we have to start making serious investments in the outdated infrastructure meant to serve them, and nearly three-fourths of Americans agree. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support and pass this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TRONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask all of my colleagues to join me in passing H.R. 7500. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TRONE

Mr. TRONE. Mr. 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. 6604, as amended.

Mr. TRONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I wish to speak in strong support of H.R. 6604, as amended, the Veterans Eligible to Transfer School (VETS) Credit Act. This bipartisan legislation is a product of work from the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Buchanan) and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Murphy) that, together, will make it easier for veterans and their dependents to use their earned benefits. Representative Buchanan's legislation would provide students that qualify a new provisional certificate of eligibility for benefits that may have been unfairly lost due to circumstances outside of their control. That means if a student veteran is left in the unfortunate situation where their school closes, they will be provided detailed information from the VA on how to reserve their benefits or have their benefits restored or transferred to a new institution. H.R. 6604, as amended, would also ensure that clerical errors don't rob veterans of transferring their benefits to a dependent. Under current law, if a servicemember accidentally makes a mistake on their paperwork, such as indicating an expiration date for the benefits, and the servicemember passes away before the benefits are used, there is no way for the paperwork to be changed to allow the dependent to use the benefits. This bill clarifies existing law and ensures that clerical errors do not prevent dependents from receiving educational assistance. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the hard work of the members of the committee on this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TRONE. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close.

Mr. TRONE

Mr. TRONE. Mr. 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. 5754.

Mr. TRONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5754, the Patient Advocate Tracker Act, sponsored by the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. McClain). This bill will require VA to create a system to allow veterans to electronically submit complaints about the delivery of VA healthcare services and to track the resolution of those complaints by local VA patient advocates through an online system in real time. VA's existing IT system only allows VA employees to track complaint resolution, but not patients. This bill has garnered the bipartisan support of an impressive 115 cosponsors since it was introduced 7 months ago. H.R. 5754 is also endorsed by numerous veterans service organizations, including the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and Student Veterans of America. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TRONE

Mr. TRONE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this bipartisan bill, S. 2687, the Strengthening Oversight for Veterans Act, introduced by Senator Tester. I thank Representative Rice and Delegate Radewagen for introducing the House companion to this bill. This bill seeks to strengthen the VA Office of the Inspector General by granting the office testimonial subpoena authority, an essential tool for conducting oversight. Too often, individuals with important information relevant to an investigation retire or move to a position in another agency, thereby evading OIG investigations. Currently, the inspector general cannot require testimony of these former employees. Questioning these individuals could shed light on wrongdoing or mismanagement that puts the care and safety of our veterans and their families at risk. This bill has bipartisan support in Congress as well as from Veterans of Foreign Wars, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and the Project on Government Oversight. Again, Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TRONE. Madam Speaker, I ask all of my colleagues to join me in passing S. 2687, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TRONE

Mr. TRONE. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material on H.R. 6376, as amended.

Mr. TRONE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I strongly support H.R. 6376, as amended, the Student Veteran Modernization Act, which would make much-needed improvements and modernizations to the VA work-study program. This legislation will create a pilot program to allow part-time student veterans to access VA work-study programs for the next 5 years, ensuring they can complete their certification or degree without taking on unmanageable amounts of student debt and still care for themselves and their families. I would prefer this be a permanent change in the law, but I understand the need to review these changes in a pilot program. I hope that when this pilot program concludes, and we have an idea of how many veterans were helped, Congress will make this change permanent. Currently, student veterans must maintain a full class load to be eligible for work-study, which is not feasible for many veterans who are balancing families or other work obligations. With this change, part-time student veterans will be able to earn a paycheck while also earning workforce skills. I thank Representative Axne for her hard work on the introduction of this bill. I also thank student veterans and the Department of Veteran Affairs for their feedback, which improved the bill and will bring more student veterans into the work-study program. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TRONE. Madam Speaker, I ask all my colleagues to join me and pass H.R. 6376, and I yield back the balance of my time.