Issue Position: Veterans

Issue Position

As an Air Force veteran myself, I have an appreciation for our veterans and the sacrifices they have made and continue to make to ensure our freedom. I have been a leading advocate for increasing funding for the VA. For years, I pushed for establishing a VA cemetery in the Jacksonville area, and my proposal was finally enacted, with a new VA cemetery set to open in 2009. I have also actively supported the VA's Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) plan, which calls for a new Regional Health Care Facility in Marion County and expansion of the VA Hospital in Gainesville. I am proud to report significant progress has been made in this area, and groundbreaking ceremonies have been planned for The Villages VA Outpatient Clinic in Summerfield, FL on June 16th and the Malcolm Randall VA Hospital Bed Tower in Gainesville, FL on July 19th. These are projects I have been working on for years, and I look forward to finally seeing them come to fruition.

Currently, I serve as the Deputy Ranking Republican Member of the house Veterans Affairs Committee. Previously, I was Chairman of the Veterans Health Subcommittee from 1997 to 2000, and I was Vice Chairman from 2001 to 2005. I am proud of the following legislative achievements:

* In 1999 my Veterans Millennium Heath Care & Benefits Act (H.R. 2116) was signed into law

* Those health provisions have improved access to long-term care for disabled veterans and expanded the VA's obligation to provide alternatives to nursing home care

* In 2000 the provisions from the Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel Act that I authored (H.R. 5109) were combined with other veteran legislation and enacted as S. 1402

* The health-care personnel provisions contained in that Act guarantees annual pay raises for VA nurses; revises and increases the rates of special pay for VA dentists; and includes pharmacists among those exempt from special salary caps

* In September 2005 the House passed my resolution commemorating the 60th Anniversary of V-J Day

* I succeeded in getting VA health clinics placed in Ocala and Leesburg

During the first session of this 110th Congress, I introduced H.R. 3646, the Veteran Effective Training Job Opportunities and Benefits Study Act, or the "VET JOBS" Act of 2007. I am proud to have authored this important piece of legislation which directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Labor to post on the VA website the results of a joint study on the greatest employment needs in various job markets across the country. Often, when our brave service men and women return from combat they are forced to train for entirely new careers, and unfortunately, sometimes there is a void of information on labor market conditions that causes veterans to train for jobs that don't exist in their communities. My bill will allow veterans to easily access a list of the jobs that are most in demand in and around a specified zip code, thus allowing them to use their federal job training more effectively. The Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity recently held a hearing on my VET JOBS bill, and I hope to see it passed this year.

I am a long-standing leader in advocating and voting for generous funding for veterans' earned benefits, particularly in the area of education. I am therefore proud to be a cosponsor of a bill that comprehensively updates and reforms the outdated Montgomery G.I. Bill. H.R. 5740, the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008, has garnered substantial bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate, and I am a firm believer that this bill deserves to be considered independently on the House floor. In particular, H.R. 5740 extends educational benefits to all members of the military who have served on active duty since September 11, 2001. This includes both Reservists and the National Guard. Furthermore, this bill allows veterans to use their educational benefits for up to 15 years after they leave active duty. H.R. 5740 also provides payments to cover the most expensive in-state public school, thus allowing veterans who are pursuing an approved program of education to receive payments covering the cost of the program they are enrolled in. Through this bill, the government will match, dollar for dollar, any additional voluntary contributions from academic institutions whose tuition is more expensive than the maximum educational assistance provided for in-state public schools.

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