[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 114 (Monday, July 27, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H8818-H8819]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  DISABLED VETERANS HOME IMPROVEMENT AND STRUCTURAL ALTERATION GRANT 
                          INCREASE ACT OF 2009

  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 1293) to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for 
an increase in the amount payable by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
to veterans for improvements and structural alterations furnished as 
part of home health services.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1293

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Disabled Veterans Home 
     Improvement and Structural Alteration Grant Increase Act of 
     2009''.

     SEC. 2. INCREASE IN AMOUNT AVAILABLE TO DISABLED VETERANS FOR 
                   IMPROVEMENTS AND STRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS 
                   FURNISHED AS PART OF HOME HEALTH SERVICES.

       (a) Increase.--Section 1717(a)(2) of title 38, United 
     States Code, is amended--
       (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``$4,100'' and 
     inserting ``$6,800''; and
       (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``$1,200'' and 
     inserting ``$2,000''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) 
     shall apply with respect to a veteran who first applies for 
     benefits under section 1717(a)(2) of title 38, United States 
     Code, on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
       (c) Applicability.--A veteran who exhausts such veteran's 
     eligibility for benefits under section 1717(a)(2) of title 
     38, United States Code, before the date of the enactment of 
     this Act, is not entitled to additional benefits under such 
     section by reason of the amendments made by subsection (a).

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Filner) and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the ranking member of our 
committee, Mr. Buyer of Indiana, for introducing this bill.
  In the past, many of our veterans have returned from combat with 
life-changing injuries and illnesses. Congress saw fit to provide 
special adaptive grants to help them improve their quality of life. 
Today, another generation of servicemembers is returning from the wars 
in Iraq and Afghanistan with even more egregious life-changing injuries 
and illnesses due to the development of better equipment and body armor 
that keeps them alive, albeit seriously injured.
  The bill provides for a long overdue increase in the amount payable 
to veterans for improvements and structural alterations to their homes. 
This amount, Mr. Speaker, has not been increased for 17 years. The bill 
would increase the grant amounts from $4,100 to $6,800 for veterans 
with a service-connected disability and from $1,200 to $2,000 for 
veterans with nonservice-connected disability. Importantly, Home 
Improvement and Structural Alteration grants, called HISA, are the only 
grants available to nonservice-connected veterans and those conditions.
  HISA grants can be used in conjunction with other adaptive housing 
grants offered through the Veterans Benefits Administration to help 
cover some of the additional costs a veteran may be facing when 
building or adapting a home to meet his or her unique needs. We owe it 
to our veterans to keep pace with the many different needs and 
challenges that they face on a daily basis. Seventeen years is a long 
time to wait.
  I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1293.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1293, the Disabled 
Veterans Home Improvement and Structural Alteration Grant Increase Act 
of 2009.
  H.R. 1293 is a bill that our ranking member, Mr. Buyer, introduced to 
increase the authorized amount of a Home Improvement and Structural 
Alteration, or, as commonly referred to as HISA, grant that VA provides 
as part of home health services. Mr. Speaker, it is an important 
benefit that is available to veterans with service-connected and 
nonservice-connected disabilities who simply require home adaptations 
to continue treatment for their disability in their home, and I am 
proud to be an original cosponsor of this bill.
  The HISA grant is used for such things as widening doors--something 
simple that will have a great impact for these veterans--lowering 
kitchen and bathroom counters and sinks,

[[Page H8819]]

making simple handrails and wall switches and window controls easy and 
accessible to these folks so they can operate, and installing elevators 
and stair lifts, which will help many of the veterans who are in 
wheelchairs.
  This grant is distinct from the specifically adapted housing grants 
that are also available to service-connected disabled veterans. The 
HISA grant can also be used in addition to these grants.
  Unfortunately, the HISA grant ceiling has not been raised in 17 
years; yet the cost of home modification, as we all know, has increased 
over the years.
  In addition, there is a new generation of veterans from Operation 
Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom returning home with 
serious combat injuries.
  VA reports that the number of service-connected veterans using the 
HISA grants grew by almost 20 percent from fiscal year 2000 to 2008, 
and VA expects that the trend will continue to increase at the average 
of 1\1/2\ percent per year.

                              {time}  1430

  Under current law the maximum HISA grant is $4,100 for service-
connected veterans and $1,200 for nonservice-connected veterans. H.R. 
1293 would simply raise the amounts to $6,800 for service-connected 
veterans and $2,000 for nonservice-connected veterans. The proposed 
increase would account for inflation and simply provide a reasonable 
amount for the type of home modifications Congress intended the program 
to provide for these service-connected veterans.
  H.R. 1293 is a bipartisan bill that is supported by the VA and the 
Veterans Service Organizations, and I urge my colleagues to support the 
bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega), a great supporter of 
veterans in our Nation.
  (Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. I certainly want to thank the chairman of our House 
Veterans' Affairs Committee, the gentleman from California, Chairman 
Filner, and my good friend from Florida on the other side for aisle for 
their management. And I also commend the ranking member of the 
Veterans' Affairs Committee, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Buyer), 
for his sponsorship of this important bill.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1293 would increase the amount authorized by the 
Department of Veterans Affairs under the Health Improvement and 
Structural Alterations, HISA, from $4,100 to $6,800 for improvements 
and structural alterations for homes of veterans with service-related 
disabilities of 50 percent or more, and from $1,200 to $2,000 for 
veterans with service-connected disabilities less than 50 percent.
  Mr. Speaker, HISA continues to provide for our veterans necessary 
funding for structural and home improvements such as widening doors; 
putting in handrails or special lighting; making kitchens, bathrooms, 
windows, electrical outlets and switches more accessible; and building 
ramps or improving entrance paths and driveways. These structural and 
home improvements are needed to meet the needs of our disabled 
veterans.
  HISA was created in 1973 out of concern for disabled veterans 
returning to their homes without proper accommodations. In 1976 there 
was a ceiling placed, and veterans with service-connected disabilities 
were receiving $2,500 and veterans with nonservice-related disabilities 
received only $600. In 1992, public law increased the lifetime benefit 
limit from $2,500 to $4,100 for service-connected veterans and from 
$600 to $1,200 to nonservice-connected veterans.
  Today the ceiling has been in the process for 17 years even though 
the costs for home modifications have increased tremendously. No one 
deserves to prolong their suffering. I believe that this must be 
addressed to show our continued appreciation for their service and all 
the accommodations to serve their disabilities should be made.
  Mr. Speaker, with the new generation of soldiers returning from 
Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, this increase 
is significantly necessary. Our servicemembers have served our country 
at its time of greatest need and have protected our Nation's best 
interests, and I believe we should take care of their needs and 
interests when they return home.
  This legislation is necessary, and I urge my colleagues to support 
this bill.
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I would like to take the 
opportunity to thank the chairman and ranking member of the 
Subcommittee on Health, Mike Michaud of Maine and Henry Brown of South 
Carolina, for their quick consideration of this legislation. I would 
also like to express my gratitude to the chairman, Mr. Filner, and 
Ranking Member Buyer for moving this bill to the floor so quickly.
  I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1293.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.


                             General Leave

  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on H.R. 1293.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1293, the Disabled 
Veterans Home Improvement and Structural Alteration Grant Increase Act 
of 2009.
  H.R. 1293 is a bill I introduced to increase the amount payable to a 
disabled veteran under the Department of Veterans Affairs, VA, Home 
Improvement and Structural Alteration Program.
  Known as the HISA grant, this is a significant benefit that provides 
seriously disabled veterans the ability to make home alterations to 
receive in-home medical care.
  Congress first authorized VA to establish the HISA program as part of 
outpatient care for home health services in 1973. The benefit is paid 
from the medical care appropriation and is available to both veterans 
with service-connected and non-service connected disabilities. A 
service-connected veteran can receive a HISA grant in addition to other 
home adaptations grants available through the Veterans Benefits 
Administration.
  We have been engaged in the Global War on Terror for nearly eight 
years and are seeing an increasing number of servicemembers returning 
from Iraq and Afghanistan utilizing VA health care.
  Last year, a joint Department of Defense, DOD, and VA Inspectors 
Generals review of the care transition process for injured OEF/OIF 
service members found that continuity of care was hindered by the 
inability of an injured active duty service member to obtain a HISA 
grant prior to discharge. Responding to this need, we enacted Public 
Law 110-289 to allow VA to provide such grants to eligible service 
members prior to their discharge from military service.
  However, we did not raise the amount of the grant which is currently 
$4,100 for service-connected veterans and $1,200 for non-service 
connected veterans. In fact, the ceiling has not been raised since 
1992.
  H.R. 1293 would raise the maximum amount of a HISA grant to $6,800 
for service-connected veterans and $2,000 for non-service connected 
veterans. The proposed increase reflects an additional 3 percent for 
each year since 1992 to account for inflation and the increased cost of 
making home improvements--a long overdue 66 percent increase.
  It is important that we make sure that VA benefits, such as the HISA 
grant stay relevant and adequately meet the needs of today's veterans.
  I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1293. It is a good bill that 
shares bipartisan support.
  Mr. FILNER. I urge my colleagues to unanimously support the bill, and 
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. 1293.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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