[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 215 (Friday, December 18, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1180-E1181]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  DEPENDABLE EMPLOYMENT AND LIVING IMPROVEMENTS FOR VETERANS ECONOMIC 
                              RECOVERY ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 16, 2020

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the Judiciary 
Committee and the Homeland Security Committee, and daughter-in-law of a 
beloved member of the Tuskegee Airmen who served our nation so 
heroically in World War II, I rise in strong support of the Senate 
Amendment to H.R. 7105, the ``Johnny D. Isakson and David P. Roe 
Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020,'' which 
keeps faith with what President Lincoln called our solemn obligation 
``to provide for them who have borne the battle, and their widow and 
their orphan.''
  I support this bipartisan omnibus legislation because it provides 
support for women veterans, expands benefits for homeless veterans, and 
ensures servicemembers and veterans impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic 
will be cared for properly and compassionately.
  Let me highlight some of the important elements of this most 
important legislation.
  Title V of the bill incorporates H.R. 7105, the Deborah Sampson Act, 
which the House passed on November 12, 2019, to address inequities and 
barriers that women veterans face when accessing VA care and benefits.
  Deborah Sampson Gannett was a Revolutionary War veteran who served in 
the Continental Army from 1781 to 1783 and was awarded a full military 
pension for her military service after years of petitioning Congress.
  Specifically the legislation creates a dedicated Office of Women's 
Health at VA, expands reintegration and readjustment group counseling 
retreats for women veterans and their family members, and bolsters call 
center services for women veterans.
  The bill eliminates barriers to care by staffing every VA health 
facility with a dedicated women's health primary care provider, 
training clinicians, and retrofitting VA facilities to enhance privacy 
and improve the environment of care for women veterans.
  In addition, the legislation bolsters supportive services by 
providing access to legal services for women veterans, expanding child 
care for veterans receiving VA health care, and requiring the 
Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report on VA's efforts to 
support homeless or at-risk women veterans.
  And importantly, the bill improves access to care and benefits for 
survivors of military sexual trauma (MST) by expanding MST counseling 
to former Guard and Reserve members, allowing VA to treat the physical 
health conditions of MST, and improving the claims process for MST 
survivors at the Veterans Benefits Administration.
  Also included in the omnibus package before are several important 
provisions that I strongly support, including provisions directing VA 
to continue providing the disability benefits questionnaires online, 
streamlining veterans' access to earned disability benefits.
  The bill lowers the age at which a surviving spouse may still receive 
dependency indemnity compensation benefits at the point of remarriage 
and increases VA's funding cap from $5 million to $10 million annually 
to better assist states, territories and tribal governments in covering 
the increasing costs of operating and maintaining state-run veteran 
cemeteries.
  I am very pleased that this eliminates copayments for Native American 
veterans accessing health care at VA and establishes an Advisory 
Committee on Tribal and Indian Affairs to advise the VA Secretary on 
matters relating to Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and Native 
American veterans.
  Mr. Speaker, this legislation requires VA to review the entire 
scheduling process--for both in-house and non-VA care--in order to 
increase veterans' access to timely health care and to remove barriers 
to VA funding for organizations in need of critical upgrades to keep 
homeless veterans safe from the coronavirus.
  Another important provision of the bill is the expansion of the 
Veteran Employment Through Technology Education Courses for Training 
Providers (VET TEC) program to help veterans and servicemembers 
transition to civilian life.
  In this time where the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the lives of 
so many Americans, this legislation ensures that servicemembers who 
contract COVID-19 while serving will be eligible for VA benefits and 
requires VA to take a more central and active role by developing a plan 
to address the financial exploitation of veterans.
  The legislation requires VA to establish a national protocol for 
administering medical exams for volunteer drivers providing 
transportation for veterans who are unable to safely get to and from 
their appointments.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, this legislation assists homeless veterans by 
improving VA's ability to award grant and per diem program funding to 
qualified providers of homelessness assistance services, expand HUD-
VASH vouchers to veterans with other than honorable discharges, provide 
legal services for homeless

[[Page E1181]]

veterans, and extend the coordination of case management services for 
homeless veterans.
  Elsewhere in the area of housing, the bill expands eligibility for VA 
Home Loan Guaranty Program to more members of the National Guard and 
Reserves, reduces the home loan funding fee for veterans impacted by 
disasters, and extends home loan funding fee rates through 2030.
  In a provision especially timely, the bill provides retraining 
Assistance for Veterans and provides the VA and Labor Secretaries 
access to the Federal directory of new hires to assist in veterans 
employment, expand the VET TEC training program for more veterans, 
extend the Off-Base Transition Training program, and direct VA to 
provide grants to community organizations for veteran transition 
assistance programs.
  Finally, the bill expands federal aid to counties for veterans' 
cemeteries; increases funds for State, county, and tribal veterans' 
cemeteries operating and maintenance expenses; and provides urns and 
commemorative plaques for deceased veterans.
  Mr. Speaker, I strongly support these bipartisan, common-sense 
reforms that would honor and provide for our veterans, who answered the 
call of their nation and were willing to risk and give all so that we 
can remain free.
  I urge all Members to join me in voting to pass Senate Amendment to 
H.R. 7105, the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health 
Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020.

                          ____________________