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Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
As one of Riverside County's Representatives, a county that has the eighth-largest veterans' population in the Nation, I proudly rise today in support of H.R. 357, as amended. This bill is a far-ranging bill that seeks to improve the lives of our veterans.
H.R. 357 includes a number of measures that were considered by the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity and was reported favorably out of the Veterans' Affairs Committee last June.
I want to thank Chairman Miller of the full committee, and Chairman Flores of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, for their leadership. I especially enjoyed holding several field hearings last year with Chairman Flores in our respective districts.
The Veterans' Affairs Committee has traditionally been a bipartisan committee, and I am pleased to see that cooperation continue as both leaders helped bring this bill to the floor today.
In the area of education, H.R. 357 would require all public colleges and universities using the GI Bill to provide all veterans with instate tuition rates. Currently, veterans who have not established residency at the school of their choice must pay out-of-state tuition rates.
In order to fulfill their military obligations, servicemembers must uproot their families and periodically move around the country. This makes it difficult to establish residency for purposes of instate tuition rates when veterans seek to use their GI Bill benefits. By providing all veterans with instate tuition rates, H.R. 357 will make it easier for veterans to choose the educational institution that best serves their needs.
The new Transition Assistance Program includes a mandatory 5-day core program of instruction that all separating servicemembers are required to take. The education portion is an optional track available to all members but is not required. Some separating servicemembers may not have additional time to take an optional course.
H.R. 357 would move the education track to the mandatory portion for veterans seeking to use their GI Bill benefits, which will ensure that these veterans can make better choices regarding their education and assist them in making the most of their GI Bill benefits.
In addition, H.R. 357 also extends the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program for 2 months to better align the program with the traditional academic semester.
Now, in addition to these provisions, Mr. Speaker, I would like to highlight two sections which I have sponsored and which are included in H.R. 357. I believe these sections will also assist our veterans in terms of their education and in finding work after their separation from the military.
Section 6 is from the first bill I introduced, H.R. 844, the VetSuccess Enhancement Act. This provision would extend from 12 years to 17 years the eligibility period that veterans with service-connected disabilities have to enroll in VA vocational rehabilitation and employment programs.
Veterans with traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury often require years to complete rehabilitation and adjust to the new realities of day-to-day living. Only then can these veterans consider returning to work. This provision will provide these veterans with the additional time they need to seek vocational rehabilitative services.
Section 7 is from another bill I introduced, H.R. 1453, the Work-Study for Student Veterans Act. This section provides for a 5-year extension of the Veterans Work-Study program at the VA.
As an educator, I know how important these programs are to students to enable them to fit some part-time work into their academic term. The VA program pays veterans to perform a variety of tasks, including assisting other transitioning veterans by helping them with outreach.
By providing support in the college Office of Veterans' Affairs, these students help other veterans to navigate the VA system. It is an important program to veteran students in my district and to thousands of others in schools across the country.
The last provision that tackles transition issues would codify the major duties of the directors and assistant directors from the Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training Services.
At present, there is no standardization of the requirements and duties of these positions. H.R. 357 will provide more consistency in the services provided veterans by standardizing the responsibilities of these officials. In addition, codifying their duties will enable us to better track their funding, review their performance and hold everyone accountable to the same standard.
These are important changes to the educational benefits and transition services for our veterans and will better assist veterans in serving our communities and our Nation after they leave service.
Finally, in terms of fighting veteran homelessness and improving VA medical care, H.R. 357 would clarify that veterans who are homeless and participating in the HUD-VASH voucher program, and those who are transitioning from incarceration, are eligible for services under the Homeless Veteran Reintegration Program, or the HVRP. I am sure that all these veterans will find these services very beneficial as they look to begin the next chapter in their lives.
H.R. 357 would require the VA to more consistently report infectious diseases diagnosed at VA medical facilities to State authorities to increase the likelihood that infectious disease outbreaks that may occur are addressed sooner and more comprehensively.
Although we have expressed concerns over the enforcement mechanism included in this provision, we all can support the importance of comprehensive notification.
H.R. 357 also includes a provision that would protect a veteran's personal privacy by directing the VA to ensure that any visual recording made of a patient during treatment is carried out only with the full and informed consent of that patient.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, in closing, H.R. 357 makes important changes to the benefits and services we provide veterans and to the manner in which we provide them. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 357, as amended.
I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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