[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 10]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 13792]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          PERSONAL EXPLANATION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. SUZANNE BONAMICI

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 27, 2016

  Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, I was unable to be in Washington, D.C. on 
September 20, 2016 because I was attending a memorial service and I 
missed votes in the House. If I had been present, I would have voted in 
favor of H.R. 670, the Special Needs Trust Fairness and Medicaid 
Improvement Act, H.R. 5785, a bill to amendment title 5, United States 
Code, to provide for an annuity supplement for certain air traffic 
controllers, and H.R. 5690, the GAO Access and Oversight Act.
  H.R. 670 makes an important update to Medicaid to allow individuals 
with disabilities to set up their own special-needs trusts that are not 
counted as part of their assets when determining Medicaid eligibility. 
This will allow individuals to access Medicaid services without having 
to go through a lengthy process and get a court order to set up a 
special-needs trust. I support this update to make it easier for 
individuals to access critical medical services.
  H.R. 5785 makes it easier for retired federal air traffic controllers 
to train the next generation of this important workforce. Under current 
law, retired air traffic controllers cannot earn more than $15,720 
annually as instructors and still receive their Federal Employees' 
Retirement System retirement benefits. This bill waives the salary cap 
for former air traffic controllers so they can be instructors without 
compromising their retirement benefits. I am pleased that the House 
passed this important update so that the next generation of controllers 
can be trained by qualified and experienced instructors.
  H.R. 5690 makes it easier for the Government Accountability Office to 
access certain federal records regarding individuals' employment status 
for the purposes of determining eligibility for assistance programs 
such as the National Directory of New Hires, Supplemental Nutrition 
Assistance Program, and the Earned Income Tax Credit. This bill 
clarifies current law so that GAO can access this information from 
Health and Human Services, which oversees the database. If I had been 
present, I would have supported the bill.

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