[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 99 (Tuesday, June 29, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5504-S5505]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
UNANIMOUS-CONSENT REQUEST--S. 1237
Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I thank the Republican leader.
I came to the floor last week and spoke in support of S. 1237, which
is the Homeless Veterans and Other Veterans Health Care Authorities Act
of 2010, an extremely important and timely bill that will help many
women, women with children, and men with children today who served our
country, who have come home and do not have the support and services
they need and end up homeless on our streets. So I come to the Senate
floor today to urge our colleagues to pass this bill quickly.
I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate
consideration of Calendar No. 360, S. 1237, the Homeless Veterans and
Other Veterans Health Care Authorities Act; that the committee-reported
substitute amendment be considered; that an Akaka amendment, which is
at the desk, be agreed to; the substitute amendment, as amended, be
agreed to; the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed; that
the committee-reported title amendment be agreed to; and that the
motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening
action or debate.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection?
Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, reserving the right to object, and I
will have to object on behalf of my colleague, Senator Coburn from
Oklahoma, he has some concerns about this legislation, particularly, as
he indicates in a letter I will ask to have printed in the Record, that
it be paid for up front so the promises to America's veterans are, in
fact, kept. So I object.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objection is heard.
Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the letter from Senator
Coburn to myself on this matter be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC, June 24, 2010.
Hon. Mitch McConnell,
Minority Leader, U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator McConnell: I am requesting that I be consulted
before the Senate enters into any unanimous-consent
agreements regarding S. 1237, the Homeless Veterans and Other
Veterans Health Care Authorities Act of 2010.
I strongly believe we must honor our commitment to our
nation's veterans as well as our taxpayers. This means we
must fulfill the promises made to veterans who made
sacrifices defending our freedom, but in a fiscally
responsible manner that doesn't bankrupt our country,
endangering those very freedoms for which they sacrificed.
This bill authorizes $3.4 billion in new spending over the
next five years. Yet, the legislation does not reduce
spending by other government programs to pay for this new
spending. At this time, when our nation is projected to add
more than a trillion dollars a year to our already
unsustainable $13 trillion national debt, it is irresponsible
to authorize any new spending that is not paid for because
the end result will either be a false promise to our veterans
or a lower standard of living for the children and
grandchildren of those veterans who will be burdened with the
debt.
I would like to pay for this legislation by reducing lower
priority and wasteful spending elsewhere in the government.
There are many options to do this, including:
Eliminating nonessential government travel which would save
$10 billion over ten years;
Reducing unnecessary printing costs of government documents
which would save $4.4 billion over ten years;
Disposing of unneeded and unused government property which
would collect up to $15 billion;
Eliminating bonuses to government contractors whose
projects are over budget or behind scheduled;
Collecting $3 billion in unpaid federal taxes from
government employees, including nearly $2.5 million owed by
Senate staff; and
Rescinding the $100 million increase Congress approved for
its own budget this year.
There are also hundreds of duplicative, outdated, and
wasteful programs that could be eliminated to pay for this
bill.
Several months ago, the Senate passed S. 1963, the
Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act, which
authorized $3.6 billion in new caregiver benefits for some
veterans. At that time, I warned that unless they bill was
paid for--which I offered amendments to do its--passage would
be ``an empty promise to veterans and benefits no one except
perhaps the career politicians who will claim credit for
doing something to help veterans without really having to
make any difficult choices.'' Unfortunately, I was right.
The same is likely to be true of this bill. It contains
billions of dollars of additional promises which are
unaffordable to taxpayers and uncertain for veterans in need.
Veterans and taxpayers should be weary of unpaid for,
election year promises made by Washington politicians. With
the percentage of Americans approving of Congress'
performance barely above single digits, more broken promises
and red ink will only bring greater disdain to this
institution.
I would, therefore, insist as a condition of my consent for
the passage of this bill that the new and expanded benefits
in this legislation be paid for upfront so the promises it
makes to veterans are kept.
Again, thank you for protecting my rights regarding S.
1237, the Homeless Veterans and Other Veterans Health Care
Authorities Act of 2010.
Sincerely,
Tom A. Coburn, M.D.
U.S. Senator.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Washington.
Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I again thank the Republican leader. I
know he is objecting on behalf of another Senator. I just wish to say
that this is such an important bill.
We had an amazing woman come and visit last week. Her name is
Natalie, and she has two young children. She is living in Issaquah, in
my home State of Washington. She has been through some very tough
times. She is a Navy veteran. She is a single mom. She came home from
serving our country and ended up without a place to live, and they are
now living on the streets. She, like any mom, wanted to do everything
she could to take care of her kids and provide them the kind of quality
of life every one of us does, but she could not find a stable job or
income and ended up on the streets.
Natalie became homeless in 2007 when she could not find work and had
to move out of the house she was staying in.
Natalie wanted nothing more than to provide her two children with the
stable and loving home every family deserves, so she fought to secure
transitional housing, and she was very fortunate to find a program
called Hopelink in Washington State that gave her the support she
needed to get back on her feet.
Natalie is now back in stable housing, taking care of her children
and advancing in her nursing career. She came to Washington, DC, last
Tuesday to help make sure no other family has to face the challenges
she overcame so bravely.
Unfortunately, not every family gets the support that Natalie's did.
Homeless women veterans and homeless veterans with children are two
terribly vulnerable groups that are growing by the day.
Back in my home State of Washington, veterans service organizations
and homeless providers have told me they are seeing more homeless
veterans coming for help than ever before.
And unfortunately, more and more of these veterans are women, have
young children, or both.
In fact, female veterans are between two and four times as likely to
be homeless as their civilian counterparts and they have unique needs
and often require specialized services.
[[Page S5505]]
That is why I introduced the Homeless Women Veterans and Homeless
Veterans with Children Act and it is why it's so important that we move
quickly to pass it.
My bill would take three big steps forward toward tackling the
serious problems facing this vulnerable group.
First of all, it would make more front-line homeless service
providers eligible to receive special needs grants.
This would help organizations in Washington State and across the
country help support families like Natalie's.
It would also expand special needs grants to cover homeless male
veterans with children as well as the dependents of homeless veterans
themselves.
And it would extend the Department of Labor's Homeless Veterans
Reintegration Program to provide: workforce training, job counseling,
child care services, and placement services to homeless women veterans
and homeless veterans with children,
It is so important that we not just provide immediate support but we
also make sure our veterans have the resources and support they need to
get back on their feet.
This is a very personal issue for me.
Growing up, I saw firsthand the many ways military service can affect
both veterans and their families.
My father served in World War II and was among the first soldiers to
land on Okinawa. He came home as a disabled veteran and was awarded the
Purple Heart.
Like many soldiers of his generation, my father did not talk about
his experiences during the war. In fact, we only really learned about
them by reading his journals after he passed away.
And I think that experience offers a larger lesson about veterans in
general. They are reluctant to call attention to their service, and
they are reluctant to ask for help.
That is why we have got to publicly recognize their sacrifices and
contributions.
It is up to us to make sure that they get the recognition they have
earned.
And it is up to us to guarantee they get the services and support
they deserve.
This bill passed through the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee with
strong bi-partisan support.
Because supporting our veterans should not be about politics, it
should be about what kind of country we want the United States to be.
And about what our priorities are as a nation.
That is why I am proud to stand here today: for Natalie, her
children, and families just like hers across the country.
At this time, with our economy struggling--it is a very tough time,
particularly for our veterans who are returning home--the most
vulnerable population today is our women because many of the
transitional housing and projects for our veterans don't have
facilities for women or for women with children or, as a matter of
fact, for men who are veterans coming home to young children.
So this is an extremely important piece of legislation. This had
bipartisan support coming out of our committee. I will keep coming to
the floor to ask for unanimous consent because I cannot go home and
look at someone who served our country with distinction and honor who
today is living on the street because the Senate is objecting. I will
just let my colleagues know I will keep working on this because it is
the right thing to do.
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