[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 62 (Monday, April 7, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H1433-H1435]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PRIORITIZING VETERANS' SURVIVORS ACT
Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(H.R. 1228) to amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify the
organization of the Office of Survivors Assistance of the Department of
Veterans Affairs.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 1228
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 ``Prioritizing Veterans'
Survivors Act''.
[[Page H1434]]
SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF ORGANIZATION OF THE OFFICE OF
SURVIVORS ASSISTANCE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
VETERANS AFFAIRS.
Section 321(a) of title 38, United States Code, is amended
by striking ``in the Department'' and inserting ``in the
Office of the Secretary''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Bost) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois.
General Leave
Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on
H.R. 1228.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Illinois?
There was no objection.
Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1228, offered by my
friend and colleague Representative Ciscomani of Arizona.
This bill would ensure that VA prioritizes its care, services, and
benefits for surviving family members of veterans as much as VA does
for veterans.
This bill would do so by requiring that the VA Office of Survivors
Assistance conducts its mission within the Office of the VA Secretary.
In 2008, Congress created the Office of Survivors Assistance to serve
as the Secretary's principal adviser and resource on all VA benefits
and services for veterans' surviving loved ones.
However, the Biden-Harris administration moved this office from the
Secretary's office to the Veterans Benefits Administration Pension and
Fiduciary Service.
This decision to hide the Office of Survivors Assistance near the
bottom of the VA organizational chart reflected the Biden-Harris
administration's lack of commitment to the surviving loved ones of our
veterans.
During the Biden-Harris administration, the Office of Survivors
Assistance did not have a direct line to the Secretary on the care,
services, and benefits offered by the VA offices, including those
outside the VBA's Pension and Fiduciary Services that they did in the
original bill of 2008.
Mr. Ciscomani's bill will correct the Biden-Harris administration's
disservice to survivors and would ensure survivors have a seat at the
table again.
The current administration supports this bill and is therefore as
committed as I am to ensuring that the needs of the veterans' surviving
families are prioritized by the VA.
Now, I am proud to co-lead this bill with Representative Ciscomani on
behalf of the surviving families of our Nation's heroes, and I urge my
colleagues to support H.R. 1228.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my support for H.R. 1228, the
Prioritizing Veterans' Survivors Act.
The bill requires the VA to move the Office of Survivors Assistance,
or OSA, to a position directly reporting to the Office of the VA
Secretary.
The Office of Survivors Assistance was established by statute in 2008
to serve as a resource regarding all benefits and services furnished by
the Department to survivors and dependents of deceased veterans and
members of the Armed Forces.
OSA also serves as a principal adviser to the Secretary and promotes
the use of VA benefits, programs, and services to survivors. VA moved
the supervision of OSA from the Office of Outreach, Transition and
Economic Development to VBA's Pension and Fiduciary Service.
The VA made this move with the idea that it would increase emphasis
on the office and oversight of OSA as VBA has more capacity to properly
oversee the function.
However, the survivors' community has been critical of this move,
characterizing it as a downgrade of the function and a diminishing of
the importance of survivors in the VA's mission. H.R. 1228 is
responsive to those concerns.
Now, historically, there has been a lack of resources dedicated to
the mission of serving survivors. For example, there are only four
employees in the Office of Survivors Assistance to serve over 450,000
potentially eligible beneficiaries. By the way, Secretary Collins
actually fired one of those four people.
We also see a lack of awareness of who is part of the survivors'
community, where the community is, and a lack of direct and targeted
outreach. That is why I am deeply concerned by all of the DOGE cuts to
the VA's outreach efforts.
Overall, we have seen an underutilization of survivors' benefits, so
we must do whatever we can to remedy that situation. This bill is a
small but important step in that process.
I would be remiss, however, if I didn't also point to other
legislation that we can and should be taking up to improve benefits for
survivors. I have introduced H.R. 2278, the Survivor Benefits Delivery
Improvement Act, a bill that puts new tools in the VA's hands to aid in
reaching survivors where they are and better inform them of the
benefits they have earned.
We have Members, like Representative Julia Brownley, who have
introduced legislation to extend CHAMPVA eligibility. Representative
Jahana Hayes has introduced legislation to raise the levels of
Dependency and Indemnity Compensation benefits to be on par with other
Federal survivors' programs.
We have Republican Members like Richard Hudson, who has introduced
the Love Lives On Act, with Veterans' Affairs Committee member
Representative Kelly Morrison, that would repeal the ridiculous
penalties survivors face when they choose to remarry.
My hope is that we can consider those bills soon.
In the meantime, however, I do support this bill, and I encourage my
colleagues to support it, as well.
I extend a special thanks to the survivors who may be listening today
and those who are with us only in spirit. Your stories demonstrate
bravery and courage, and you deserve every ounce of our effort in
creating a VA that is welcoming and accessible, and every dollar of
benefits we can muster on your behalf.
Mr. Speaker, I support this legislation, and I ask my colleagues to
do the same.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Ciscomani).
Mr. CISCOMANI. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Bost for yielding me
time today to speak in support of my bill, H.R. 1228, the Prioritizing
Veterans' Survivors Act.
Since being elected, I have heard from military servicemembers and
surviving family members about their struggles accessing VA benefits.
In my district, I started a Veterans Advisory Council, and we often
discuss this very topic to find ways to better this situation. I am
always looking to ensure that Department of Veterans Affairs leaders
hear the concerns of veterans' loved ones.
From its creation, the Office of Survivors Assistance, OSA, was meant
to serve as the principal adviser to the VA Secretary on all survivors'
benefits and services, as well, including medical care and burial
benefits.
When the VA placed OSA within the Veterans Benefits Administration,
they deprioritized survivors' policies and skirted Congress' intent
when it created this office.
My bill would fix this by requiring OSA to operate within the
Secretary's office, thereby prioritizing advocacy and services for
servicemembers' and veterans' surviving spouses and families, as well.
I will highlight the comment of a member of my Veterans Advisory
Council, Ms. Jane Strain, a surviving spouse and an Army veteran
herself. She said: Surviving spouses and families who cared for
children, moved many times during a military career, compromised their
own careers, and maintained their homelife while the servicemember was
deployed have earned and deserve attention when the spouse has passed.
Placing the OSA directly under the Secretary will help to recognize the
importance of this population.
Mr. Speaker, I was proud to work alongside Chairman Bost on this to
ensure survivors have a seat at the table.
[[Page H1435]]
I urge my colleagues to support and pass this commonsense legislation
again in the 119th Congress as it did without objection last Congress.
Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I will return back to the issue of VASP and read aloud a
letter that I am circulating to my colleagues for a signature to the
Secretary, and it begins with:
``Dear Secretary Collins: On April 3, 2025, you abruptly announced
the closure of the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase program (VASP),
leaving tens of thousands of veterans at risk of foreclosure. These
actions were taken unilaterally, leaving veterans, veterans service
organizations, and mortgage services unsure how the closure would be
administered, and what would happen to veterans that are already
reeling from this administration's assault on veterans and our economy.
We write today to urge you to immediately reverse this decision, and
avoid foreclosing on veterans who simply wish to keep paying their
mortgage and keep their home.
``Since the inception of the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase
program (VASP) in May 2024, over 17,000 veterans have been able to
avoid foreclosure and remain in their homes.''
This represents 0.46 percent of the 3.7 million total loans under the
VA home loan program.
``VASP was established as a last resort option within VA's Home
Retention Waterfall to help veterans impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
During this emergency, Congress and the VA rightfully allowed borrowers
to request forbearance and allowed missed payments to be added to the
end of the loan term.
``Upon expiration of this pandemic program, VA used this authority to
end borrowers' ability to push missed payments to the end of the loan
term and created VASP to help up to 80,000 veterans at risk of
foreclosure. Now VA is taking a misstep that will push thousands of
veterans into foreclosure. This is cruel, wrong, and runs counter to
the benefits earned by the veterans as led by the VA Loan Guaranty
Office, which always seeks to use foreclosures as an absolute last
resort.
``Furthermore, with the rising costs of housing and overall
inflation, VA must ask itself: Is it more cost effective to allow
veterans to lose their homes or help them? VA leaders, veterans service
organizations, and housing organizations have all recently shared with
Congress their concerns about ending VASP too soon. All have testified
that VASP is the only program of its kind that currently exists as the
last resort for veterans facing foreclosure.
``Critics of VASP, who believe the program will incentivize veterans
to purposely default on their loans to get a lower mortgage rate,
grossly misunderstand and mischaracterize the sacrifices veterans and
their loved ones have made in service to our Nation. The VA
should learn from its past, when in the 1990s, GAO found that VA-
insured homes foreclosed upon was the most expensive option, costing VA
an average of $25,387, which is the equivalent of $65,038 today. While
past policies have assumed that veterans have been financially
irresponsible for assuming mortgages they can't afford, today's
financial and housing market puts veterans at risk of losing their
homes in a much more vulnerable situation.
``Even a straightforward solution, such as forcing veterans to sell
their homes to cover their arrears, would not leave the veteran better
off precisely because the cost of housing has increased dramatically in
the past 5 years. Until better policy solutions are in place that
provide for stronger underwriting, ending the VASP program abruptly
will only harm veterans and their families.
``Congress, VA, and other stakeholders must work together to offer
practical, cost-effective solutions that better serve veterans. Our
veterans earned their home loan guarantee benefit, and they deserve a
viable option to get back on track with payments and keep their homes.
``Secretary Collins, you have repeatedly stated that the mission of
VA is to serve veterans and that no benefits would be cut. We call on
you now to follow your words.''
{time} 1645
Mr. Speaker, in closing, I ask all of my colleagues to join me in
passing H.R. 1228, the Prioritizing Veterans' Survivors Act, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, very clearly, I say to our veterans and the
taxpayers that a partial claim bill would cure the problems that
veterans are having with their home loans. If the ranking member and
the other side of the aisle will work together with us, with the
partial claim program, we can actually do that.
By going down the path that he has just said--he says he is for the
veterans. Apparently, he is only for the veterans today because the
veterans of tomorrow will not have the program because it will break
the bank.
This is actually sensible. It is a way that we can do this. We can
make sure our veterans are taken care of. We need to pass the bill that
we were just discussing, which is H.R. 1228.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all of my colleagues to support this bill. I yield
back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Bost) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 1228.
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. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not
present.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.
____________________