[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 84 (Monday, June 8, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H6287-H6289]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                              {time}  1530
                    WOUNDED VETERAN JOB SECURITY ACT

  Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 466) to amend title 38, United States Code, to prohibit 
discrimination and acts of reprisal against persons who receive 
treatment for illnesses, injuries, and disabilities incurred in or 
aggravated by service in the uniformed services, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 466

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 2. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Wounded Veteran Job Security 
     Act''.

     SEC. 3. RIGHTS OF PERSONS WHO RECEIVE TREATMENT FOR 
                   ILLNESSES, INJURIES, AND DISABILITIES INCURRED 
                   IN OR AGGRAVATED BY SERVICE IN THE UNIFORMED 
                   SERVICES.

       (a) Rights of Persons Who Receive Treatment.--
       (1) In general.--Subchapter II of chapter 43 of title 38, 
     United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
     following new section:

     ``Sec. 4320. Rights of persons absent from employment for 
       treatment of service-connected disabilities

       ``(a) Retention.--Subject to subsection (e), a person who 
     is absent from a position of employment by reason of the 
     receipt of medical treatment for a service-connected 
     disability is entitled to be retained by the person's 
     employer.
       ``(b) Seniority.--A person who is absent from employment by 
     reason of the receipt of medical treatment for a service-
     connected disability and who is entitled to be retained by 
     the person's employer under subsection (a) is entitled to the 
     seniority and other rights and benefits determined by 
     seniority that the person had on the date of the commencement 
     of such treatment plus the additional seniority and rights 
     and benefits that such person would have attained if the 
     person had remained continuously employed.
       ``(c) Benefits.--(1) A person who is absent from a position 
     of employment by reason of the receipt of medical treatment 
     for a service-connected disability and who is entitled to be 
     retained by the person's employer under subsection (a) shall 
     be--
       ``(A) deemed to be on furlough or leave of absence while 
     receiving such treatment; and
       ``(B) entitled to such other rights and benefits not 
     determined by seniority as are generally provided by the 
     employer of the person to employees having similar seniority, 
     status, and pay who are on furlough or leave of absence under 
     a contract, agreement, policy, practice, or plan in effect at 
     the commencement of such service or established while such 
     person is so absent.
       ``(2)(A) Subject to subparagraph (C), a person described in 
     subparagraph (B) is not entitled to rights and benefits under 
     paragraph (1)(B).
       ``(B) A person described in this subparagraph is a person 
     who--
       ``(i) is absent from a position of employment by reason of 
     the receipt of medical treatment for a service-connected 
     disability; and
       ``(ii) knowingly provides written notice of intent not to 
     return to a position of employment after receiving such 
     treatment.
       ``(C) For the purposes of this paragraph, the employer 
     shall have the burden of proving that a person knowingly 
     provided clear written notice of intent not to return to a 
     position of employment after being absent from employment by 
     reason of the receipt of medical treatment and, in doing so, 
     was aware of the specific rights and benefits to be lost 
     under subparagraph (A).
       ``(3) A person deemed to be on furlough or leave of absence 
     under this subsection while receiving medical treatment for a 
     service-connected disability shall not be entitled under this 
     subsection to any benefits to which the person would not 
     otherwise be entitled if the person had remained continuously 
     employed.
       ``(4) Such person may be required to pay the employee cost, 
     if any, of any funded benefit continued pursuant to paragraph 
     (1) to the extent other employees on furlough or leave of 
     absence are so required.
       ``(5) The entitlement of a person to coverage under a 
     health plan is provided for under section 4317 of this title.
       ``(d) Leave.--Any person who is absent from a position of 
     employment with an employer by reason of the receipt of 
     medical treatment for a service-connected disability shall be 
     permitted, upon request of that person, to use during the 
     period during which the person is so absent, any vacation, 
     annual, medical, or similar leave with pay accrued by the 
     person before the commencement of such period. No employer 
     may require any such person to use vacation, annual, family, 
     medical, or similar leave during such period.
       ``(e) Exceptions.--(1) An employer is not required to 
     comply with the requirements of this section if--
       ``(A) the employer's circumstances have so changed as to 
     make such compliance impossible or unreasonable;
       ``(B) such compliance would impose an undue hardship on the 
     employer; or
       ``(C) the employment from which the person is absent by 
     reason of the receipt of medical treatment is for a brief, 
     nonrecurrent period and there is no reasonable expectation 
     that such employment will continue indefinitely or for a 
     significant period.
       ``(2) In any proceeding involving an issue of whether (A) 
     any compliance referred to in paragraph (1) is impossible or 
     unreasonable because of a change in an employer's 
     circumstances, (B) such compliance would impose an undue 
     hardship on the employer, or (C) the employment referred to 
     in paragraph (1)(C) is for a brief, nonrecurrent period and 
     there is no reasonable expectation that such employment will 
     continue indefinitely or for a significant period, the 
     employer shall have the burden of proving the impossibility 
     or unreasonableness, undue hardship, or the brief or 
     nonrecurrent nature of the employment without a reasonable 
     expectation of continuing indefinitely or for a significant 
     period.''.
       (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the 
     beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the 
     item relating to section 4319 the following new item:

``4320. Rights of persons absent from employment for treatment of 
              service-connected disabilities.''.

       (b) Health Plan.--Section 4317 of title 38, United States 
     Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
     subsection:
       ``(c) This section shall apply with respect to a person who 
     is absent from a position of employment by reason of the 
     receipt of medical treatment for a service-connected 
     disability (other than a person described in section 
     4320(c)(2)(B) of this title) on the same basis as a person 
     who is absent from a position of employment by reason of 
     service in the uniformed services. In the case of a person 
     who is absent from a position of employment by reason of the 
     receipt of medical treatment for a service-connected 
     disability (other than a person described in section 
     4320(c)(2)(B) of this title), the period during which the 
     person is so absent shall be treated as a period of service 
     in the uniformed services for purposes of this section.''.
       (c) Prohibition of Discrimination and Acts of Reprisal.--
     Section 4311 of title 38, United States Code, is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a)--
       (A) by inserting after ``uniformed service'' the following: 
     ``, or who has an illness, injury, or disability determined 
     by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to have been incurred in 
     or aggravated by such service,''; and
       (B) by striking ``or obligation'' and inserting 
     ``obligation, or receipt of treatment for that illness, 
     injury, or disability''; and
       (2) in subsection (c)--
       (A) by striking ``or obligation for service'' the first 
     time it appears and inserting ``obligation for service, or 
     receipt of treatment for an illness, injury, or disability 
     determined by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to have been 
     incurred in or aggravated by service''; and
       (B) by striking ``or obligation for service'' the second 
     time it appears and inserting ``obligation for service, or 
     receipt of treatment''.
       (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall apply with respect to medical treatment received on or 
     after the date of the enactment of this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Filner) and the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Boozman) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from the great State of 
California.
  Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, as chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee in the 
House of Representatives, I have been honored to bring bill after bill 
that says ``thank you'' to our Nation's veterans, and this is another 
bill that will in fact do that, to say thank you to those who have 
served our Nation.
  My distinguished colleague from Texas, Mr. Doggett, has introduced 
H.R. 466, the Wounded Veteran Job Security Act. His steadfast 
commitment to our men and women in uniform and this Nation's veterans 
is to be commended.
  Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to Mr. Doggett to 
explain the bill.
  Mr. DOGGETT. Thank you very much, Chairman Filner, and thank you 
Ranking Member Boozman, for the leadership that each of you provides 
for those who have served our country.
  The return of a soldier or sailor to civilian life is a tradition as 
old as the Republic itself. Just outside this House Chamber in the 
great rotunda of the Capitol is a portrait of General George Washington 
resigning his command in the Continental Army at the close of the 
Revolution.
  In his farewell orders to his troops in November of 1783, he praised 
the brave men, retiring victorious from the field of war to the field 
of agriculture. He urged his soldiers to participate in ``all the 
blessings which have been obtained,'' and asked rhetorically, ``In

[[Page H6288]]

such a Republic, who will exclude them from the rights of Citizens and 
the fruits of their labor?''
  Washington reminded this Congress of its duty to support these new 
veterans, he said, ``so that the officers and soldiers may expect 
considerable assistance in recommencing the civil occupations.''
  Well, today, more than 34,000 of America's troops have been wounded 
as a result of their brave service in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Of these 
men and women, about 8,000 have suffered traumatic brain injuries and 
another 1,200 have undergone amputation of a limb.
  Battlefield injuries like this don't end on the battlefield, and as 
General Washington long ago confirmed, neither should our commitment to 
these wounded warriors. When it comes to recovery, the road back to 
civilian life can be long, and it can be difficult. Complications arise 
from amputations. They can force a veteran to return repeatedly to the 
Veterans Administration for medical care; or what begins as a migraine 
may turn out to be a traumatic brain injury requiring a battery of 
time-consuming tests.
  Even those veterans that live near a veterans facility find it 
difficult balancing their medical requirements with other demands on 
their time; and, of course, many veterans live far away and must travel 
a long distance, like a veteran in Luling, Texas, who must drive back 
and forth to the VA hospital in Temple in what may take 4 or 5 hours.
  But this is not the only long road that some veterans confront. This 
legislation is the result of problems that some Texas veterans brought 
to my attention. They said wounded veterans should not be fired after 
they exhaust their sick and vacation leave to receive care for injuries 
that a VA doctor says they need that they incurred while defending our 
country.
  I agree. And they said there ought to be a law supporting our 
veterans, and I felt confident when the Veterans' Affairs Committee and 
this Congress heard their plea, they would answer, as they have today.
  You see, Madam Speaker, some employers have policies limiting the 
amount of time that an employee can be out on sick leave. An employee 
that exceeds that limit may be terminated; and as the law is written 
today, this means an employer can legally terminate a veteran with a 
service-related disability for receiving the care that he or she so 
desperately needs.
  I stand here today to say that is not good enough. Our veterans 
should not have to choose between their lives and their livelihoods. No 
veteran should have to stand in front of their employer after suffering 
an injury while serving the Red, White and Blue and be told, you have a 
pink slip. I am sorry, you can't have a job. But the fact is that this 
has happened, and it has happened to some simple Texas veterans.
  In 1994, when the Congress passed and President Clinton signed the 
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act to clarify 
and strengthen the Veterans Reemployment Rights Statute, its first 
purpose was to encourage non-career service in the uniformed services 
by eliminating or minimizing the disadvantages to civilian careers and 
employment which can result from such service.
  Now that we are 15 years down the road, it is time to take decisive 
action to develop policies that evolve with the changing needs of our 
troops. That is what the Wounded Veteran Job Security Act that we 
consider today that I authored seeks to accomplish. It amends existing 
law to establish a right of veterans who receive treatment for illness, 
injuries and disabilities incurred or aggravated by uniform service to 
the United States to be retained by their employers.
  I appreciate the support of the American Legion, the Veterans of 
Foreign Wars, the Fleet Reserve Association, and the Disabled American 
Veterans, important organizations representing our veterans who have 
endorsed this legislation.
  This legislation requires employers to retain a person who is absent 
from work because they are receiving medical treatment for a service-
related injury or disability. It grants the servicemembers the same 
seniority and other rights and benefits that they had prior to 
receiving treatment, and it seeks to ensure that these servicemembers 
receive the same rights and benefits as other employers who are on 
furlough or leave of absence.
  Our service men and women selflessly put aside their civilian lives 
to step into uniform and serve the cause of freedom and stand up for 
all of us. Today, it is our responsibility to stand up for them.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation to ensure no 
American veteran ever has to choose between getting well and getting 
paid.
  I thank the leadership on the committee.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the manager's amendment to H.R. 
466. This bill would add protections against employment discrimination 
due to continued treatment for a service-connected disability to the 
Uniform Service Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, or USERRA; and 
that is the right thing to do.
  Those who are seriously injured serving in the Nation's military 
should not be disadvantaged in the workplace beyond what their injuries 
have already put upon them; and allowing a reasonable amount of time 
off from their jobs for continuing service-connected medical treatment 
is the least thing that we can do. I believe that including them in 
USERRA is appropriate because it leaves no doubt as to an employer's 
obligation to service-disabled employees.
  I extend my appreciation to the distinguished chairwoman, Ms. Herseth 
Sandlin, who has worked with us to improve the bill. Together we have 
clarified issues related to service-connected disability leave as well 
as other issues such as pension benefits and protections for businesses 
whose circumstances have changed so significantly that the application 
of these provisions would impose a serious burden on the employer.
  This is a very worthy bill, and we appreciate Mr. Doggett bringing it 
forward. I would urge my colleagues certainly to support it.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Broun).
  Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of veterans and military 
personnel in America. As one who believes in the Constitution under the 
original intent of the writers of that document and one who believes 
that most of what we do here in this House and in this Congress is 
unconstitutional, according to that original intent, supporting our 
veterans and our military personnel is absolutely critical for the 
national security of America.
  We are not doing what we are supposed to do for our veterans. We have 
broken promises over and over again. The veterans are not getting the 
benefits that they have been promised; and I think that is immoral and 
verges on criminal, because we have broken as a Federal Government the 
promises that we have made to the veterans and military personnel in 
America. We need to fulfill those promises. We need to do what we have 
said we would do for them, and that is to take care of them, to take 
care of their spouses. We need to do so for their lifetime.
  On the other hand, what we are doing here is we are going further and 
further down the road away from the Constitution and the original 
intent. We are stealing our grandchildren's future by spending more and 
more money that we don't have.
  It is right and good and proper for us to spend money on national 
defense and supporting our veterans. It is right and good and proper to 
spend money on military personnel, on the national defense, on homeland 
security. It is not right and proper for us to continue spending our 
grandchildren's future.
  The American people are going to have to stand up and say no to this 
robbing their future. They are going to have to contact their Members 
of Congress and say no to cap-and-trade, no to bailing out Big 
Business, no to doing all the things that we are doing over and over 
again here in this Congress. It is up to the American people to stand 
up and say no.
  I say yes to veterans, yes to the military, yes to strong national 
defense,

[[Page H6289]]

yes to good policies for the veterans, and no to this steamroll to 
socialism.
  Mr. FILNER. I am not sure whether the previous speaker supported or 
opposed the bill. I guess he opposes any help for health care for our 
citizens, any help for job security for our citizens, any help for the 
environmental protection of our citizens, any help for education for 
our citizens, any help for housing for our citizens. I still don't know 
where he stands on this bill.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Madam Speaker, having no more speakers on the bill, I 
would like to extend my appreciation once again to Mr. Doggett for 
bringing the bill forward, to Ms. Herseth Sandlin, Chairman Filner and 
Ranking Member Buyer for their support and everyone working together to 
improve the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act.
  Again, you know where I am at on this bill. I urge all of my 
colleagues to support H.R. 466, as amended.
  I yield back the balance of my time.


                             General Leave

  Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on H.R. 466, as amended.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. FILNER. I urge all of my colleagues to join us in reaffirming our 
Nation's commitment to care for our servicemembers, veterans and their 
dependents, unanimously supporting H.R. 466, as amended.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support 
of H.R. 466, the ``Wounded Veteran Job Security Act.'' I would like to 
thank my colleague Representative Lloyd Doggett for introducing this 
important piece of legislation, as well as the co-sponsors.
  I stand in support of this legislation because it will prevent 
employers from discriminating against disabled veterans, who have to 
take a leave of absence from their jobs to receive medical treatment 
for illnesses, injuries, and other disabilities that they incurred 
during their time in the armed services. This bill will also entitle a 
disabled veteran to use vacation, annual, medical, or similar leave 
with pay before the beginning of their treatment.
  Like all Americans, the 102,261 disabled veterans in the state of 
Georgia, rely upon the incomes that they earn from their jobs, because 
receiving disability payments alone is not enough. When veterans 
receive disability payments, the amount of their compensation is 
dependent upon the evaluation of the severity of their disabilities and 
then the severity of the injury is rated in increments of 10, ranging 
between 10 and 100 percent.
  As of the beginning of the 2009 fiscal year, the largest category of 
veterans was at the 10 percent disability rate. These 782,000 veterans 
of the 2.9 million in total receiving disability payments are only 
being paid approximately $123 per month which totals to $1,476 a year. 
Presently, it is impossible to make a living and support a family on 
this amount of money, especially in Georgia's Fourth Congressional 
District. In the Georgia Fourth Congressional District the average 
yearly household income is approximately $49,000. The termination of a 
veteran because of their need to obtain medical treatment for an injury 
or injuries incurred while they were in the armed services of their 
country is not fair. We owe these individuals a great deal. These 
veterans have given so much to the United States, and were willing to 
pay the ultimate sacrifice--their lives for freedom. The least we can 
do is protect their well being after their service.
  Mr. FILNER. I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Filner) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 466, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  The title was amended so as to read: ``A bill to amend title 38, 
United States Code, to provide for certain rights and benefits for 
persons who are absent from positions of employment to receive medical 
treatment for service-connected disabilities.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________