Hearing of the Economic Opportunity Subcommittee of the House Veterans' Committee - Legislative Hearing on H.R. 4115, H.R. 4740, H.R. 3860, H.R. 5747

Statement

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this legislative hearing today.

I know that the end of the second session is quickly approaching, so I am glad that we are taking this opportunity to review important legislation that will be beneficial to veterans.

The bills included in today's hearing seek to improve employment opportunities for veterans and enhance protections under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. The four bills included in today's hearing will provide for employment and training, help veterans return to work, help veterans refinance their mortgage, and improve protections against foreclosures for veterans.

I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Rep. Cummings for the inclusion of his bill, H.R. 5747, the Military Family Home Protection Act in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013. This bill has been passed by the House of Representatives with 299 votes in support.

As you are aware the Committee Democratic staff and your staff worked closely through that process. I also would like to thank the Chairman of the Full Committee and his staff for including this important legislation in today's hearing. It's good to know we can work together in the spirit of bipartisanship to provide housing protections to servicemembers, veterans, and their families.

Mr. Chairman since the end of the second session is fast approaching, I hope we can make the most of our time. Some other bills that I suggest we review include the Veterans Work Study Opportunities Act, The Ensuring Quality for Education Act, the Wounded Veteran Job Security Act, the REVAMP with Community Colleges Act, and the Military and Veterans Education Protection Act, as well as my Veterans' Job Corps Act.

I do not expect us to agree on all bills but I would respectively recommend, Mr. Chairman, that we take the opportunity to review more bills at each of our legislative hearings. This in turn would give us more choices for legislative markups.

Thank you Mr. Chairman and I yield back.

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