[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 23425]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       SERVICEMEMBERS AND VETERANS LEGAL PROTECTIONS ACT OF 2004

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. SUSAN A. DAVIS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, October 6, 2004

  Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to thank my 
colleagues for acting to protect the benefits of a vulnerable class of 
America's brave veterans.
  Over 100,000 of America's military veterans or their dependents are 
not able to manage their own finances because of physical or mental 
disabilities. In these cases, the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) 
appoints a family member, a guardian, or another person to act as a 
``fiduciary'' to protect and manage their monetary payments and VA 
benefits.
  Caring for a dependent veteran involves using the payments the VA 
sends each month to pay utility bills, buy food, and to meet the other 
needs on behalf of the veteran. It is a tremendous responsibility.
  Last year, during an oversight hearing into the VA's fiduciary 
program, I learned that some of these veterans are not always cared for 
by the appointed fiduciary.
  In fact, the Inspector General has found cases in which a fiduciary 
has withheld payments completely for several years--defrauding the 
veteran out of several thousand dollars.
  In my District Office in San Diego, my staff has tried to assist 
veterans who lost out on their payments only to learn that under 
current law, the VA does not have the authority to replace the benefits 
when misuse has occurred.
  Because it was our veterans suffering from the lack of oversight, I 
introduced the Veterans Fiduciary Act of 2004 or H.R. 4023 to provide 
veterans with protections similar to those recently enacted to protect 
Social Security beneficiaries. Surely our Nation's veterans also 
deserve the same protections as Social Security beneficiaries.
  H.R. 4032 gives veterans new avenues to recoup their losses if they 
fall victim to fraud. In addition, the VA will conduct more thorough 
background checks and will have new authority to take action against 
fiduciaries who are not fulfilling their obligations.
  I am pleased provisions of H.R. 4032 have been included in the 
servicemembers Legal Protection Act of 2004 or H.R. 4568. I urge my 
colleagues to support this legislation today.

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