[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 23 (Monday, February 2, 2026)]
[House]
[Pages H1929-H1930]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1650
VETERANS READINESS AND EMPLOYMENT IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2025
Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(H.R. 980) to amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain
improvements to the provision of on-campus educational and vocational
counseling by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other
purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 980
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 ``Veterans Readiness and
Employment Improvement Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF REQUIREMENT THAT ON-CAMPUS EDUCATIONAL
AND VOCATIONAL COUNSELING IS PROVIDED BY
CERTAIN DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
EMPLOYEES.
Section 3697B(a) of title 38, United States Code, is
amended by striking the second sentence.
SEC. 3. AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TO APPROVE
NON-DEGREE FLIGHT TRAINING COURSES AS PART OF
VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION PROGRAMS FOR CERTAIN
VETERANS WITH SERVICE-CONNECTED DISABILITIES.
(a) In General.--Section 3104(b) of title 38, United States
Code, is amended--
(1) by inserting ``(1)'' before ``A rehabilitation
program'';
(2) by striking ``To the maximum extent practicable'' and
inserting ``Except as provided under paragraph (2), to the
maximum extent practicable''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(2) Notwithstanding section 3680A(b) of this title, the
Secretary may approve a rehabilitation program for a veteran
under this chapter that includes the pursuit of a course of
flight training other than one given by an educational
institution of higher learning for credit toward a standard
college degree the veteran is seeking.''.
(b) Applicability.--The amendments made by subsection (a)
shall apply with respect to a rehabilitation program approved
on or after August 1, 2026.
SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TRAINING AND
REHABILITATION PROGRAMS FOR VETERANS WITH
SERVICE-CONNECTED DISABILITIES: OUTREACH
REQUIREMENT; EXTENSIONS.
(a) VRE Contact Information.--Section 3104 of title 38,
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
following new subsection:
``(f) The Secretary shall establish a dedicated telephone
number within the Education Call Center of the Department for
calls about services provided under this chapter. Each
regional office of the Department shall include, on the
website of the regional office, a name, telephone number, and
email address, through which veterans may receive information
about services provided under this chapter.''.
(b) Requests for Extensions of Programs: Timely
Consideration; Report.--
(1) In general.--Section 3105 of title 38, United States
Code, is amended, in subsection (c)--
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as
subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively;
(B) by inserting ``(1)'' before ``The Secretary''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(2) The Secretary shall approve or deny a request for an
extension under paragraph (1) not later than 30 days after
the date on which the veteran submits such request.''.
(2) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for five
years, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the
Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House of
Representatives an annual report on requests for extensions
under such subsection (c). Each such report shall include,
for the year preceding the date of the report--
(A) the number of veterans who requested such an extension;
(B) the number of such requests that were approved; and
(C) the number of such requests that were denied.
SEC. 5. EXTENSION OF CERTAIN LIMITS ON PAYMENTS OF PENSION.
Section 5503(d)(7) of title 38, United States Code, is
amended by striking ``January 31, 2033'' and inserting ``July
31, 2033''.
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. 980, as amended.
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. 980, as amended, offered
by my friend and colleague, Representative Derrick Van Orden of
Wisconsin.
This bill would make improvements to the VA's Veteran Readiness and
Employment, or VR&E, program.
Over the last 2 years, my committee has uncovered disastrous wait
times, fraud, waste, and abuse in the VA VR&E program. This bill would
move the program in the right direction by providing more transparency
on these failures.
Mr. Speaker, it is our duty to make sure that veterans who complete
this workforce program are earning more and are better off than they
were before entering the program.
VR&E currently does not track those results. In fact, the only thing
VR&E does track is the 45 percent of veterans who have completed
programs and simply reentered them later. There remains continued
fraud, waste, and abuse in the VR&E program, and the return on
investment for the veterans is unknown.
Mr. Speaker, in fact, it shows me that VR&E needs an overhaul. This
bill would reduce the bureaucracy and red tape that the VA has used in
the past and would modernize the requirements for the VetSuccess on
Campus officers, or VSOCs, by removing the master's degree requirement
to a bachelor's degree in the relevant field of study.
This bill would also include increasing oversight and transparency of
the VR&E program by implementing a call center specifically for the
VR&E program. For VR&E to work well, there must be transparency to
veterans who are using the program.
Finally, this bill would also allow veterans in the VR&E program to
pursue noncollege degrees, like flight training.
Mr. Speaker, this bill is a step in the right direction of putting
veterans first at the VA. I thank my friend and colleague,
Representative Van Orden, for sponsoring this bill to improve the VR&E
program.
I also thank the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Hamadeh) and the
gentleman from California (Mr. Obernolte) for championing the other
provisions of this language.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 980, as
amended, and 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. 980, the Veterans
Readiness and Employment Improvement Act of 2025, as amended.
Mr. Speaker, this legislation will remove the requirement that
Veteran Readiness and Employment, or VR&E, counselors staff the
VetSuccess on Campus, or VSOC, program. This change will put counselors
back into the severely understaffed VR&E program and will also allow
the future expansion of the VSOC program, which has been limited by the
availability of VR&E counselors.
Mr. Speaker, many colleges and universities and Members of Congress
are asking for VSOC staff on their campuses and in their district
because they have seen firsthand the impact a VSOC can have. By
expanding who can fill that role, we will give more student veterans
access to the program and help enable them to access their earned
benefits.
While I do have concerns that section 4 of the bill requires VA to
adjudicate extension requests within 30 days without addressing the
underlying issue of
[[Page H1930]]
staffing, I support the intent of timely decisions for our student
veterans.
Mr. Speaker, I do encourage all of my colleagues to join me in
supporting passage of this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Wisconsin (Mr. Van Orden), who is the chief sponsor of the bill.
Mr. VAN ORDEN. Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the Economic Opportunity
Subcommittee, it has been a great privilege to get important bills like
H.R. 913, the SAFE Veterans Act of 2025, and H.R. 1793, the Veterans
Readiness and Employment Transparency Act of 2025, over the finish
line.
I thank my friends, the gentleman from California (Mr. Obernolte) and
the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Hamadeh), for their work alongside me
to modernize the Veteran Readiness and Employment process. I also thank
the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano) and our Democratic
colleagues for understanding the importance of this program.
Mr. Speaker, this is a good VA education and job training program. It
works, but we have to continue to improve it.
Veterans currently have to wait up to 7 months to complete the VR&E
program intake and processing procedures. My bill, H.R. 980, the
Veterans Readiness and Employment Improvement Act, would update the
requirements for the VA's VetSuccess on Campus officers, or VSOCs, by
closing an unnecessary loophole that right now requires a master's
degree to qualify for these positions.
By closing this loophole and allowing VSOCs to serve more student
veterans on campus by simply requiring a bachelor's degree in the
relevant field of study will get these positions filled with solid
candidates who are able to serve veterans.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud that our Republican Conference continues to
address these issues to cut through the red tape and the bureaucracy of
the VA and focus on the veterans themselves and, with that, making the
entire government better. Removing the bureaucratic barrier and
allowing more veterans to be served on college campuses across the
country is in lockstep with that mission.
This bill would also establish a VR&E hotline that would allow
veterans to call and receive correct information without having to sit
on hold at a call center that may or may not be able to answer their
questions.
Student veterans across this country have asked for these
improvements, and I am happy to report that we hear our veterans, and
we are making the changes that will make their lives better.
There also continues to be a pilot shortage, and this bill would
allow veterans to help fill these critical gaps by allowing veterans to
use their VR&E benefits to attend flight school.
As a disabled veteran, I am proud to lead this legislation on behalf
of our veteran community.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support H.R. 980, as amended.
Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am
prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Obernolte), who has done a tremendous amount of work to
help with this bill.
Mr. OBERNOLTE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 980.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman and my friend and colleague from
Wisconsin (Mr. Van Orden) for including my bill, H.R. 913, the
Streamlining Aviation for Eligible Veterans Act, in the text of this
bill.
This bill will make meaningful improvements to the way that the VR&E
program serves our disabled veterans, and my section of the bill will
enable those veterans to use their VR&E benefits to pursue vocational
flight training.
Mr. Speaker, as you know, we have a nationwide pilot shortage, and
our veterans make excellent candidates for pilots, having been trained
in a highly technical environment and being trained to follow the rules
and being able to absorb all of the knowledge necessary to be an
exceptional pilot.
Mr. Speaker, there currently are impediments for VR&E benefits being
used in vocational flight training. These benefits are intended, as
currently written, to be used in programs that are degree granting. As
we all know, earning a college degree has nothing to do necessarily
with learning how to fly an aircraft.
This bill will improve that section by granting the VA the
flexibility to have veterans pursue vocational flight training outside
of degree-granting programs.
Mr. Speaker, that will not only incentivize our servicemen and -women
to become pilots and to embark on new careers, but it will also help to
solve the nationwide pilot shortage in our country. Most importantly,
it puts our veterans first.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 980.
{time} 1700
Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I have no more speakers. I am ready to close,
and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I yield myself the balance of my
time.
Mr. Speaker, I am glad to see that the House is moving this bill
forward today, and I hope for speedy passage through the Senate and to
the President to be signed into law.
I look at the many other good bills languishing in committee waiting
for us to take them up and move them to the floor like this one. If we
are to believe our own rhetoric, it shouldn't matter if a good idea is
from a Republican Member or a Democratic Member. If it helps veterans,
we should get it done.
I hope to see the chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs move
bills other than the ones sponsored by his members expected to be in
tight reelection races. I hope he returns to the traditional practice
of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs moving both Republican and
Democratic bills in great numbers. I see the smile across his nice
countenance, which to me is a sign of his assent and his geniality.
I encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 980, the Veterans
Readiness and Employment Improvement Act of 2025, as amended, and I
encourage my colleagues to vote for it. I hope very much that my
chairman will move other bills, as well.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BOST. Madam Speaker, oh, how I missed my colleagues last week.
Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Madam Speaker, once again, I encourage all Members to support this
legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Bice). 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. 980, as amended.
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. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
____________________