[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 141 (Tuesday, November 18, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H8041-H8042]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            VETERANS' ISSUES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Al Green) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I believe, in the inner sanctum 
of my soul, that we are the home of the free because we are the land of 
the brave.
  I salute those who are willing to serve their country, who are 
willing to go to distant places, and who don't always return home the 
way they left. I highly commend them, and I believe that those who 
serve us in our military, the men and women who serve us, should always 
be appreciated for their willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice.
  I also believe, Mr. Speaker, that we spend a huge amount of money--
about $1 trillion in one circumstance--to put them in harm's way. I 
believe that if we can spend $1 trillion to put them in harm's way, we 
can spend whatever it takes when they return home to make sure they 
have got the best health care, they get the best housing, and that they 
get good jobs.
  I also believe that we have a responsibility and an obligation in the 
Congress of the United States of America to make sure that their needs 
are met. This is why I have introduced certain pieces of legislation to 
deal with the issues that are confronted by our veterans.

                              {time}  1100

  I would like to mention a few pieces of this legislation today. And I 
rarely use the personal pronoun ``I,'' but in my business, if you don't 
use the personal pronoun, somebody else will.
  I would like to talk about H.R. 384, Homes for Heroes. This piece of 
legislation would place a person in HUD, who would have the 
responsibility of filing a report with Congress annually on the status 
of veterans and who would be there to look out for veterans. There is 
currently a person there, but the person is not there in a legal 
capacity such that it would continue beyond this President or ad 
infinitum.
  I also have sponsored H.R. 2362, Transportation for Heroes. We have 
veterans who need to get to jobs and who need to get to the VA who 
cannot afford public transportation. I believe that we need to make 
sure that they get the same opportunity to take a public transportation 
system, to utilize it, that persons who are senior citizens have and 
persons who are disabled have. We have to provide a means by which 
veterans can get to those places that can be a benefit to them.
  This is why we have also sponsored H.R. 3876, Burial with Dignity for 
Heroes. This piece of legislation would allow those veterans who die in 
poverty, who have family members who are in poverty, who cannot afford 
to send them to a tribal cemetery once they die in some place that is 
distant from a tribal cemetery or a State facility--if you can't send 
them currently, you have to try to scrape the money up as best you 
can--I think this country ought to be grateful enough to make sure 
these veterans cannot only get to these places where they may be 
buried, but also they should get there and have

[[Page H8042]]

a casket or an urn. They should have the opportunity to be buried with 
dignity. No veteran should die in poverty and then find that they can't 
get a burial with dignity.
  I also believe that we should have our veterans who are hurt after 
they leave the military be accorded the opportunity to have places to 
live such that they can access them easily and use them efficaciously. 
This is why we have filed the HAVEN Act, H.R. 3743. The HAVEN Act would 
accord $20 million--by the way, that we don't have; I believe that if 
we can spend money we don't have to put them in harm's way, we can 
spend money we don't have to take care of them when they get home--$20 
million, $5 million a year, a pilot program to allow NGOs to match the 
$20 million and provide the type of facility that a veteran would need 
to move efficaciously, to move and have a great degree of functionality 
within his or her home. This is the kind of thing that a grateful 
nation ought to do. This piece of legislation is currently in the 
Senate defense authorization bill, and in that bill this legislation 
lies. But there is some question as to whether or not it will survive a 
conference committee. I pray and I hope for this piece of legislation, 
$20 million over 5 years to modify homes for disabled veterans, those 
who are hurt after they have left the military, to help them. There is 
already a program for those who are hurt while they are in the 
military. This is not duplicative. This does help veterans who need 
help.
  I believe we are the land of the free because we are the home of the 
brave. I believe that if we are going to continue to be the land of the 
free, we must make sure we must protect those who are the brave.
  God bless you.

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