Amended. Without objection. Mr. Bilirakis i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Bilirakis i rise today in support of h. R. 3705, the veterans fair debt notice act of 2017 introduced by representative pingree of maine. This bill would help ensure that beneficiaries who have received an overpayment from v. A. Clearly under v. A. s current practice, when the department determines that a beneficiary may have received an overpayment, it sends a letter to the beneficiary that explains why the debt was created and how the veteran can dispute or mitigate the debt. But if v. A. Doesnt have the veterans current address, the veteran may miss important dead linals. For example, if the beneficiary intends to request a full waiver of their debt, but does not request that waiver within 30 days of the date of the letter, v. A. May take action to withhold benefits until the waiver request is adjudicated. Sounds confusing, it certainly is. We cant have that for our veterans. Another issue is that some veterans find the language used in the letters to be unclear and confusing. Im sure thats true too. Its unfair, its only fair that the veteran understands why the department believes he or she owes the money. Its the least we could do. H. R. 3705 as amended would require v. A. To develop a new notification letter that explains in plain language how the alleged debt was created and what actions a veteran can take to dispute or mitigate the debt. In addition, the bill would direct v. A. To study and report to congress on its current Debt Collection process, including how many veterans are not receiving Debt Collection notices because of incorrect addresses. The report would also describe the v. A. The steps the v. A. Will take to reduce the number of incorrect addresses in the departments databases. With that, mr. Speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from florida reserves. The gentleman from minnesota is recognized. Mr. Walz thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield myself as much time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Walz and i feel like were on a roll, mr. Speaker. We should stay here all day. Bipartisan, commonsense legislation improving the lives of veterans. Kind of feels like what we came here for. And again, i rise in strong support of another one of those. H. R. 37035, as amend, the veterans fair debt notice act, introduced by the gentlelady from maine, ms. Pingree. Again, you heard it from the vice chairman, if a veteran incurs an overpayment in benefit, the v. A. Send out a series of letters knowifying him or her of this debt and the steps that can be taken to address the issue. The letter is time stamped when mailed and if what the v. A. Is asking for is not received within a specific timeline, the veteran loses the ability to take certain action toward addressing or disputing the debt. Many veterans come turnover one of our offices reporting never receiving these letters. I know all of us have heard that story. And these are people that i know and trust and it got sent to the wrong address, something happened, they never got it. Further, the letter the v. A. Is sending is full of complicated legal terms and citations of public law. We know these letters alarm, confuse veterans unnecessarily. I have personally had them come in, show them to me and as the Ranking Member of the v. A. Committee, and its a v. A. Letter, and i dont understand what theyre asking for in this. From a veteran who receives it out of nowhere. The bill before us today represents a real bipartisan effort to ensure that veterans get timely notice of overpayments or debt, and these notices are respectful, informative, helpful and collaborative. It does it in three ways. First h. R. 3705 as amended developthe secretary to a way to receiving notices. Imagine that in 2017. Second, it directs v. A. To conduct a study of the problem of veterans not receiving debt letters and to provide a description of the nonlegislative actions the secretary could take to reduce the number of incorrect addresses. Particularly by using other v. A. Databases. At this point in time i would also note we taking steps in our committee to make sure now when you leave the service, that were able to capture emails. Were able to capture alternate addresses to make sure, because a lot of times veterans are in transition, theyre moving those types of things theyre moving, those times of things are happening. Most importantly, the bill requires that in the future, debt notices provide a clear explanation, in understandable language, for why the debt is owed and what process options a veteran has available. C. B. O. Has estimated the cost of this measure to be insignificant. The approaches in the bill are the first steps to remedying a longstanding problem, make a positive change for thousands of veterans who receive overpayment notices. I want to thank dispayment Memorial Committee chairman, Elizabeth Esty for working together on this legislation, in addition to dr. Roe. And were also going to hear from the author of this piece of legislation. Certainly i encourage the support of h. R. 3705 and i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from minnesota reserves. The gentleman from florida is recognized. Mr. Bilirakis ill reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from florida reserves. Mr. Walz thank you, mr. Speaker. Its my pleasure now to yield four minutes to the gentlewoman, the author of this good, smart, overdue piece of legislation, the representive from maine, ms. Pingree. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from maine is recognized. Ms. Pingree thank you, mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Ranking Member for yielding me the time and for all those wonderful compliments. I dont know that ive had that ive ever had that said about a bill i submitted. As youve heard this bill offers a commonsense fix to the frustrations that veterans in my district and across the country have experienced with the v. A. s Debt Management system. Veterans in maine have called my office shocked to find out that they owe the v. A. Money. Some are confused by the letters they receive. Others are told by the v. A. That theyve missed important deadlines to dispute, to seek forgiveness, or to create a payment plan for the alleged debt. Regardless of whether the debt is real or a mistake by the v. A. , we shouldnt make it so hard for veterans to know their rights and obligations. Weve seen single moms who cant get a home loan and newly transitioned Service Members who struggle to reintegrate with their garnished pay. Recoup tax returns, and reduced disability payments. All because of a of assigned debts they knew nothing about after notifications got sent to the wrong place or, quote, lost in the mail. In response, h. R. 3705 directs the v. A. To work with veteran Service Organizations to develop a standard notification letter that is written in plain language. It also directs the v. A. To explore how to inform veterans of debts more quickly by sending notifications electronically, like an email, in addition to standard mail. And it requires the v. A. To study why so many veterans have not received notifications in the mail, as well as steps the v. A. Can take to improve its address database and cost using certified mail. I thank chairman roe and boast and Ranking Members walz and esty for bringing this legislation to the house floor and i urge its passage. Thank you, and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. The gentleman from minnesota is recognized. Mr. Walz were prepared to close. Mr. Bilirakis im prepared to close as well. I have no other speakers. Plead proceed. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. Mr. Walz thank you, mr. Speaker. I thank the gentlelady from maine. Good piece of legislation. As ive said, herb who serves in this house has everybody who serves in this house has received veterans in their office either carry being this letter or talking about a letter they never received. This makes it much better. It gives the benefit of the doubt back to the veteran. Makes it easier for them to get this solved in the right manner. Please join me in support of h. R. 3705 and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from minnesota yields. The gentleman from florida is recognized. Mr. Bilirakis thank you, mr. Speaker. Lets pass this good bill. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h. R. 3705, as amended. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, 2 3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rule mr. Bilirakis mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from florida. Mr. Bilirakis i request the yeas and nays. The speaker pro tempore the yeas and nays are requested. All those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. A sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this uestion will be postponed. For what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition . Mr. Bilirakis mr. Speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h. R. 3949 as amended. The clerk Union Calendar number 294, h. R. 3949, a bill to amend title 38, United States code, to provide for the designation of state approving agencies for multistate apprenticeship programs, for purposes of the Educational Assistance programs of the department of Veterans Affairs. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from florida, mr. Bilirakis, and the gentleman from minnesota, mr. Walz, each will control 20 minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from florida. Mr. Bilirakis thank you, mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on h. R. 3949 as amended. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Bilirakis thank you. Mr. Speaker, i yield myself as much time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Bilirakis mr. Speaker, i rise today in support of h. R. 3949, as amended. The veterans apprenticeship and labor opportunity reform act or valor act. Mr. Ill, introduced by khanna, mr. Arrington and mr. Orourke, would help streamline the approval of national atrenitiesship programs for apprenticeship programs for the use of g. I. Bill funds, which is very important. Once a national aprinciplitiesship is g. I. Billapproved, veterans are eligible for tiered payments that help them complete the program that leads to a successful career. This bill also helps eliminate an outofdate requirement that created unnecessary paperwork for a veteran to complete before they could get paid for work completed during the apprenticeship. Mr. Speaker, this is another commonsense, bipartisan bill that will help employers become approved under the g. I. Bill and ensures a student veterans placement in apprenticeship programs that lead to employment. With that, mr. Speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentleman from minnesota is recognized. Mr. Walz thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield myself as much time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Walz mr. Speaker, h. R. 3949 allows multistate apprenticeship programs to go through g. I. Bill approval in just the state theyre headquartered in. Streamlining the approval process so programs have a lower administrative hurdle to jump over before being able to provide training to veterans. Currently nonfederal apprenticeship programs that have locations in multiple states must go through the approval process with the state approving agency in each of the states where it operates, before it can be approved by g. I. Bill benefits in the state. In order to encourage more highquality apprenticeship programs to obtain approval for g. I. Bill benefits, so that they can serve more veterans, this bill would allow these multistate programs to simply seek approval from the stateapproving agency in the state where theyre headquartered. Once again, theyve atained the states approval, the program will be approved in all of the other states in which it operates. Were encouraging apprenticeships. Theyre a great way for our veterans to use their earned benefits to get into wellpaying, longterm careers. We should encourage more companies and industries to do that. This piece of legislation is smart and does that and in just a moment well hear from one of the authors of this explaining how it will do that. With that, i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentleman from florida. Mr. Bilirakis mr. Speaker, i yield three minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. Arrington. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas is recognized for three minutes. Mr. Arrington thank you, mr. Speaker. Today i rise in strong support of h. R. 3949, yet another piece of bipartisan, commonsense legislation. That will serve our veterans. And the transition from deployment to employment, apprenticeship programs have proven to be extremely successful. Roughly 20,000 veterans are actively training or participating in these programs and their Employment Outcomes are nothing short of impressive. According to v. A. Data, over 90 of veteran apprentices are employed after completing their programs. With an average starting wage of over d 60,000. 60,000. Apprentices see an increase in compensation over 300,000 as compared to their peers. These programs arent just a win for our veterans, theyre a win for taxpayers. Every dollar invested in apprenticeship programs seize a return in benefits of 35. While its clear to see the advantages of apprenticeship programs like, in many parts of the v. A. Like in many parts of the v. A. , this program is hampered by needless burden and bureaucracy. Currently private employers who offer these programs in more than one state have to register with each state individually. Burdened by the difficulty and trail of paperwork that this create, Many Employers only choose to participate in a limited way or just they dont offer them altogether. H. R. 3949, the veteran apprenticeship and labor opportunity reform or the valor act, authored by my good friend and colleague, congressman khanna, streamlined the registration process for employers, which in turn encourages them to participate and leads to more opportunities for our veterans. Given the tremendous sacrifice our veterans have made for our country, we should do everything we can to ensure that they have access to good jobs and the valor act, mr. Speaker, does just that. Id like to thank mr. Khanna again for his hard work and his leadership on this legislation and i urge all of my colleagues to support it. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from florida is recognized. Mr. Bilirakis i reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentleman from minnesota is recognized. Mr. Walz mr. Speaker, at this time its a real pleasure for me to yield three minutes to not just a national but a global voice on manufacturing, entrepreneurs and apprenticeships, one of the authors of this piece of legislation, the gentleman from california, mr. Khanna. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california is recognized. Mr. Khanna thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise in support of the bipartisan bill, h. R. 3949. I want to thank the Ranking Member. I was in his committee or in his office early on and he really gave a freshman member of congress the guidance on how to get this through. And i want to thank chairman arrington for coauthoring this legislation and for his leadership. Thank you, congressman bilirakis, for your kind words about the legislation. The legislation is very, very simple. Right now if youre a veteran and you want an apprenticeship, you want to offer a veteran an apprenticeship, you have to register in 50 different states. And as a result, Small Businesses or mediumsized businesses say, well, we cant do that. We cant fill out paperwork in 50 different states. So they dont offer these apprenticeships. Our bill says very simply, the only place that you should have to register is the state that youre headquartered and this is the type of commonsense legislation that isnt partisan. Its going to give more opportunities to the people who really have earned them by serving our country, veterans. I want to just recognize a few other people who have made this possible. Of course, chairman roe, whose leadership was critical in addition to chairman arrington, Ranking Member orourke and the staff, kathy yu, kelce baron and john clark. I want to particularly recognize the senate, aaron murphy and tony mcclain in senator testers office and a Companion Senate bill with senator cotton and senator tom tillis as well as their staff, jake bakely and bill. I realize theres one person more than members of congress or staff who often gets things to move in this committee and hats dr. Joe westcott, part of the National State association of approving agencies. Joe and i have become friends. Hes become a voice of innovation and really is the reason this bill has moved in the house and hopefully in the senate. With that i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california yields back. The gentleman from florida. Mr. Bilirakis i reserve. I am prepared to close as well so i reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from minnesota. Mr. Walz i want to thank the gentleman and his coauthors. Bringing innovation, coming to the Veterans Committee, looking at ways that we can process. Mline this i encourage my colleagues to support it and with that i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The gentleman from florida is recognized. Mr. Bilirakis yeah, i want to thank representative khanna and all of the sponsors, chairman arrington, as well, for recognizing the problem and solving it. So this is the way congress should work. So i encourage support for this particular bill, and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from florida yields back. The question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h. R. 3