Providing Certain Burial Benefits for Spouses and Children of Veterans Who Are Buried in Tribal Cemeteries
Floor Speech
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Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the House amendment to S. 2248, the Veterans Benefit and Transition Act.
I am proud of the work Chairman Roe and the rest of our committee did to pass the multiple historic pieces of legislation over the course of this Congress, including the Forever GI Bill and the VA MISSION Act.
Despite all the progress we have made, there is still more work to be done. I look forward to working on these issues for our heroes.
This legislative package contains many commonsense, zero-cost bills we passed in the House over the past year but have stalled in the Senate. But I know there is an agreement in the Senate, and we are going to get this done before the end of the year.
I am especially proud that this package contains a provision that includes my bill, H.R. 4830, the SIT-REP Act, which will hold student veterans harmless from bureaucratic red tape and delays at higher education institutions and at the VA. This legislation prevents educational institutions from imposing a fee on student veterans or denying their access to education when tuition payments are delayed by bureaucracy, no fault of the veteran.
In our subcommittee hearings on the implementation of the Forever GI Bill, we heard many concerns about delays and processing of tuition payments between schools and the VA. I also had roundtables in my district and heard the same concerns, Mr. Speaker.
This fall semester, IT failures and delay at the VA led to an artificially created backlog, adding a significant amount of stress to our heroes who rely on their monthly stipends and tuition benefits. In some cases, delays meant the schools putting a hold on a student's account or forcing the student to begin payment of tuition and fees on a payment plan until they receive the money from the VA.
It is unacceptable. We cannot allow this type of uncertainty for our Nation's heroes, Mr. Speaker, and my SIT-REP bill protects these veterans from additional penalties from schools. It is not the veterans' fault, and they should not be punished for the actions of others. It is as simple as that.
I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this commonsense, bipartisan legislative package which contains many additional provisions to help our veterans, such as a study on community-based transition assistance programs, a report on the feasibility of expanding access to dental care for veterans at the VA, and the expansion of eligibility under the Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Program.
I hope the Senate takes this up quickly, and I know they will. I want them to pass the Veterans Benefit and Transition Act of 2018 so we can send it to the President's desk before the year's end.
Mr. Speaker, the chairman did an outstanding job as chairman, and my friend Ranking Member Walz did as well on behalf of our heroes.
I thank Mr. Takano and congratulate him on being the next chairman of the committee. I look forward to working with him.
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