[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 37 (Tuesday, February 25, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H1174-H1175]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




GOLD STAR SPOUSES AND SPOUSES OF INJURED SERVICEMEMBERS LEASING RELIEF 
                         EXPANSION ACT OF 2019

  Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2227) to amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to 
authorize spouses of servicemembers who incur a catastrophic injury or 
illness or die while in military service to terminate leases of 
premises and motor vehicles, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2227

       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 ``Gold Star Spouses and 
     Spouses of Injured Servicemembers Leasing Relief Expansion 
     Act of 2019''.

     SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF TERMINATION OF LEASES OF PREMISES 
                   AND MOTOR VEHICLES OF SERVICEMEMBERS WHO INCUR 
                   CATASTROPHIC INJURY OR ILLNESS OR DIE WHILE IN 
                   MILITARY SERVICE.

       (a) Catastrophic Injuries and Illnesses.--Paragraph (4) of 
     section 305(a) of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 
     U.S.C. 3955(a)), as added by section 545 of the National 
     Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 
     116-92), is amended to read as follows:
       ``(4) Catastrophic injury or illness of lessee.--
       ``(A) Termination.--If the lessee on a lease described in 
     subsection (b) incurs a catastrophic injury or illness during 
     a period of military service or while performing covered 
     service, during the one-year period beginning on the date on 
     which the lessee incurs such injury or illness--
       ``(i) the lessee may terminate the lease; or
       ``(ii) in the case of a lessee who lacks the mental 
     capacity to contract or to manage his or her own affairs 
     (including disbursement of funds without limitation) due to 
     such injury or illness, the spouse or dependent of the lessee 
     may terminate the lease.
       ``(B) Definitions.--In this paragraph:
       ``(i) The term `catastrophic injury or illness' has the 
     meaning given that term in section 439(g) of title 37, United 
     States Code.
       ``(ii) The term `covered service' means full-time National 
     Guard duty, active Guard and Reserve duty, or inactive-duty 
     training (as such terms are defined in section 101(d) of 
     title 10, United States Code)''.
       (b) Deaths.--Paragraph (3) of such section is amended by 
     striking ``The spouse of the lessee'' and inserting ``The 
     spouse or dependent of the lessee''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Takano) and the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. David P. 
Roe) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. TAKANO. Madam 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. 2227, as amended.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2227, as amended, the Gold 
Star Spouses and Spouses of Injured Servicemembers Leasing Relief 
Expansion Act of 2019.
  This bill was introduced by Representative Cheri Bustos of Illinois. 
I thank her for her work with the committee. It expands on the work the 
committee did last Congress with Representative Bustos to improve the 
Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.
  This bill ensures that active and reserve component servicemembers 
and their spouses or dependents who are catastrophically injured while 
in service to this Nation have the ability to break their home and 
vehicle leases up to a year after their injury so that the family can 
modify their living situation to what best suits their new needs.
  Servicemembers and families undergo difficult life transitions 
because of catastrophic injuries. Families should have the flexibility 
to be at their servicemember's side during recovery and the ability to 
easily move closer to family, friends, or other support networks.
  Families dealing with the catastrophic injury of their loved ones 
should not have to worry about leases and cancellation fees.
  Madam Speaker, this bill is an outgrowth of the bill Mrs. Bustos led 
last Congress and was the suggestion of the Paralyzed Veterans of 
America. It also clarifies similar legislation that passed in the 
National Defense Authorization Act last year.
  H.R. 2227, as amended, would make it clear that catastrophically 
disabled servicemembers who have the mental capacity to terminate a 
lease may do so. It is not only spouses and dependents who are 
protected by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.
  Madam Speaker, I thank Dr. Wenstrup, a former member of this 
committee, for his focus on the issue

[[Page H1175]]

and for working with Mrs. Bustos on this bill. I also thank the 
Paralyzed Veterans of America for highlighting the need to include 
catastrophically disabled veterans and families in our work to improve 
the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.
  Finally, I applaud the bipartisan work of Congressmen Levin and 
Bilirakis on this bill and their work on the Economic Opportunity 
Subcommittee.
  I encourage all of my colleagues to join me in voting for H.R. 2227, 
as amended.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such 
time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, today I rise in support of H.R. 2227, as amended, the 
Gold Star Spouses and Spouses of Injured Servicemembers Leasing Relief 
Act of 2019.
  This bill would build upon legislation enacted last Congress and in 
the fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act to amend the 
Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to allow a surviving spouse of a 
servicemember who died on active duty to terminate a property lease 
following the servicemember's death.
  This bill would expand that allowance to include motor vehicle leases 
and provide the same protection for spouses of servicemembers who are 
catastrophically injured in service.
  Madam Speaker, the last thing a husband or wife should have to worry 
about when their servicemember spouse dies or is grievously injured in 
service to our country are late fees or penalties for terminating a 
lease for a car or property. Ensuring that they don't have to is the 
very least we can do in exchange for their sacrifice.
  I thank my colleagues, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos from Illinois, my 
friend Dr. Brad Wenstrup from Ohio, a fellow veteran and former senior 
committee member, as well as all the other Members of Congress who 
worked so hard on this bill in order to clarify these protections for 
these most deserving men and women.
  I encourage and urge all my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 
2227, as amended,
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers. I am prepared 
to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to 
the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Wenstrup), my good friend, and Iraq war 
veteran. I commend him on his work on this bill.
  Mr. WENSTRUP. Madam Speaker, it is a tragedy any time a United States 
servicemember is killed or gravely injured in the line of duty. Those 
events, however, don't happen in a vacuum. They have lasting impacts on 
that hero's family and their loved ones.
  That is why I rise in support of this bill, H.R. 2227, which I 
introduced with Representative Bustos. Our legislation would give 
spouses and dependents of servicemembers who are killed or 
catastrophically injured in the line of duty the flexibility to move 
closer to family and friends for support, because no one enduring that 
type of life-altering event should go through it alone.
  In 2018, Representative Bustos and I worked together to pass the Gold 
Star Spouses Leasing Relief Act and get it signed into law. It gave 
Gold Star spouses the ability to terminate their property leases 
without penalty if their servicemember was killed in the line of duty.
  We expanded those protections to include auto leases, as well, in 
last year's National Defense Authorization Act.

  Now, this bill builds upon the good work of those two efforts by 
extending those protections to dependents of servicemembers in addition 
to spouses.
  I thank Representative Bustos and the members of the House Committee 
on Veterans' Affairs for their work in bringing this important bill to 
the floor.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2227.
  Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the 
balance of my time.
  Madam Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to support this bill.
  This takes me back to when I was in college in 1965, and my scout 
master was killed in Vietnam leaving behind four children. They were 
responsible for all these things with no resources, no money. I think 
our lives then were worth, at the most, if you bought extra insurance, 
$20,000, not much money.
  This is the right thing to do. I am sorry it took 50 years to get it 
done. I certainly appreciate all of my colleagues, especially my good 
friend Dr. Wenstrup and Representative Bustos who brought this to our 
attention and got it done.
  I encourage all my colleagues to support this bill
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  I associate myself with the remarks of the ranking member. A 
catastrophic medical condition associated with someone who has worn the 
uniform of our Nation in service of our Nation should not also be 
accompanied by his family or her family needing to worry about paying 
off a lease on a home or a car.
  The law of the United States should reflect the gratitude that the 
people have for a servicemember's service to our country. This is the 
right thing to do, and I encourage all of my colleagues to, again, join 
me in passing H.R. 2227, as amended.
  Madam Speaker, 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. Takano) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 2227, 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 of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to amend 
the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to clarify the authority of 
servicemembers who incur a catastrophic injury or illness while in 
military service to terminate leases of premises and motor vehicles, 
and for other purposes.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________