Transcripts For CSPAN U.S. House Of Representatives U.S. Hou

The secretary madam speaker. Im directed by the president of the United States to deliver to the house of representatives messages in writing. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the chair will postponefurther proceedings to suspend the rules on which the the yeas and nays are ordered or votes objected to. The house will resume proceedings on the postponed questions at a later time. For what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition . Mr. Takano i move the house suspend the rules and pass h. R. 4625 as amended. The speaker pro tempore the clerk will report the title the clerk a bill to amend title 38, United States code, to require that educational institutions abide by certain principles as a condition of approval for purposes of the Educational Assistance programs of the department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from california, mr. Takano, and the gentleman from tennessee, mr. Roe, each will control 20 minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from california. Mr. Takano madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which trone their remarks and to insert extraneous material on h. R. 4625, as amended. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Takano thank you, madam speaker. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Takano thank you, madam speaker. I yield myself such time as i may consume. Madam speaker, i rise in support of h. R. 4625, as amended, to protect the protect the g. I. Bill act. In 2009, before the passage of the post9 11 veterans Education Assistance improvements act of 2010, the post9 11 g. I. Bill, the department of Veterans Affairs supplied educational benefits to over 14,000 veterans and paid schools over 36 million in educational benefits. Now v. A. Provides educational benefits to over 600,000 veterans and pays institutions of Higher Learning over 11 billion to cover the tuition fees tuition, fees and books for veterans on an annual basis. The inceded increased ducational benefits and the benefits from the bills has made pursuing an education a viable path for many veterans across the country. Schools across this country have embraced the influx of students to their campuses with open arms, and in return veterans have brought their knowledge, experience and ideas into the classroom and eventually the workplace. Since 2010, most institutions of Higher Learning have provided student veterans with a means to upward economic mobility through traditional education and vocational training. However, a small number of predatory schools have sought to expand their coughers by targeting veterans coffers by targeting veterans for their educational benefits, providing subpar educations in return. Not only do veterans lose precious time and benefits from being misled by these malicious actors, but it also costs taxpayers millions of dollars each year. Which is why we must pass the protect the g. I. Bill act today. The protect the g. I. Bill act would hold all schools to standards set forth by the principles of excellence outlined in executive order 13607. By codifying the principles of excellence, we are ensuring that schools can no longer misrepresent their student outcomes, job placement rates, and graduation rirnlts when marketing to veterans requirements when marketing to veterans and members of the military. The protect the g. I. Bill act also ensures that schools are up front and honest regarding the cost of attendance, Scholarships Available for veterans before they take loans, and whether additional training is needed after graduation to pass statebased licensure or certification tests. This will allow veterans to make informed choices about the schools they want to attend to start their new careers, and ensure that institutions are more accountable to veterans. This legislation also includes congressman bilirakis student veteran empowerment act, congresswoman susie lees forever g. I. Bill class evaluation act, congresswoman davis reserve and guard g. I. Bill housing fairness act, and congressman fosters g. I. Bill education fairness act. This Bipartisan Legislation empowers states approving states approving agencies to conduct targeted riskbased surveys, eliminates waste in the post9 11 g. I. Bill program, ensures that spouses of Service Members in the reserves and guard are not penalized when Service Members are called to duty, and clarifies that Service Members can transfer their education benefits to stepchildren, foster and adopted children and other minor dependents. As amended, the protect the g. I. Bill act also protects veterans by stopping them from incurring debt from post9 11 g. I. Bill overpayments. According to a g. A. O. Report in fiscal year 2014, the v. A. Approximately 10. 8 billion in Education Assistance through the post9 11 g. I. Bill. And made approximately 416 million in overpayments to veterans at about 6,000 schools. Approximately one in four veterans received an overpayment in fiscal year 2014. Now, saddling veterans with unexpected debt is an injustice that we cannot perpetuate. This bill delays payments to schools, mandates that veterans confirm their enrollment each month and prohibits late payment charges to students who are receiving g. I. Bill benefits. The protect the g. I. Bill act would also allow more veterans to restore their educational benefits in cases where schools they attend close, are disapproved by a state approving agency, or are discontinued for other reasons outside of their control. Current law only allows veterans to restore their education benefits if they attend schools that close or are disapproved by state pproving agencies and if these veterans do not transfer any credits to another school or institution. This requires these veterans to restart their education, to to ore the restore the benefits, which could erode their motivation and cost taxpayers more money. There is no reason that veterans should be forced to repeat basic classes or core credits in order to regain their educational benefits. This bill allows veterans to restore their education benefits while transferring up to 12 credits to another school. The expansion of eligibility in this bill is retroactive and will allow thousands of veterans to recover their educational benefits upon the enactment of this much had been muchneeded bill. Bill. Speaker, if madam speaker, if our goal as a legislative body is to improve veterans economic opportunities, and end veteran homelessness, we must empower veterans to develop new and marketable skill sets in Community Colleges, universities and trade schools. We must also be good if you douchearies of taxpayer fiduciaries of taxpayer funds by providing adequate oversight of institutions who seek to collect funds from veteran educational benefits, which is why i support this bill. This bill also has the support of the student veterans of america, and veterans education success. I want to thank representative levin for his hard work on this excellent bill and i would like to thank representative bilirakis, representative lee, representative davis, and representative foster for their contributions to this bill, and i urge my colleagues to support it. Thank you, madam speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california reserves. The chair recognizes the gentleman from tennessee. Mr. Roe thank you, madam speaker. I yield myself as much time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Roe thank you, madam speaker. Madam today speaker. I rise today in support of h. R. 4625, as amended, the protect the g. I. Bill act. Earlier this year, we celebrated the 75th anniversary of the original world war ii g. I. Bill that helped launch the modern middle class. In the past 75 years, the g. I. Bill has helped millions of transitioning Services Member Service Members get the training and education they need to be successful and help grow our economy. I use the g. I. Bill myself eyesed the g. I. Bill myself when i used the g. I. Bill myself when i got out of the military. Part of our role is to protect the g. I. Bills important legacy and ensure its incredible benefits that g. I. Bill provides for millions of generations to come. The protect the g. I. Bill act would advance that goal by putting important protections in place to help student veterans make the right choice when using the g. I. Benefits by helping regulators flag and, if necessary, remove bad schools and programs from being eligible for the g. I. Bill. This bill would double down on our support for veterans whose schools are closed by restoring the p entitlement if the student is unable to transfer their credits to another institution. I thank my friend and Gus Bilirakis from florida for his hard work on this bill. Gus is the ranking membeon the subcommittee of Economic Opportunity and this bill includes the text of his bill. R. 4085 and builds off of his work in the 113th congress. I would like to thank the student veterans of america, the veterans of foreign war and veterans education in helping craft this legislation. Their expert advice is critical to ensure to preserve the legacy of the g. I. Bill. I reserve the balance of my tile. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from tennessee reserves. The gentleman from california is recognized. Mr. Takano at this time, i would like to yield three minutes to my good friend, the gentleman from illinois, mr. Foster. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Foster i thank the gentleman for yielding. I would like to thank the chairman and Ranking Member and members of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs of their steadfast commitment to the men and women of Armed Services for their work on the protect the g. I. Bill act. Included in this bill is legislation of mine that also i ave been working on with representative mrs. Mcmorris rodgers to remedy the bureaucratic oversight affecting military families. Under current law, the department of defense includes \cxds wardswards and foster children in definition of eligible child who is authorized to use their parents unused education benefits. The department of veteran affairs does not. Unfortunately this misalignment has led to a nightmare to Service Members and their families. This issue came to my attention sergeant nt first angela des shared the story. They are not alone. To date, nearly 100 \cxds wardswards and foster children were initially approved by the department of defense for the transfer of g. I. Education benefits and money was paid out to their schools. In midsmessfer, the department of veteran affairs revoked their benefits and students and families were notified they would have to repay their education expenses. They face crippling debts. They are faced with outstanding bills. In many cases, the students had to drop out of school. Children of the men and women who serve honorably should not be denied the benefits they were promised because of bureaucratic oversight. They have honored the promise they made to serve our country and we need to honor the promises we make to them. This legislation would correct this discrepancy and would prevent this situation from happening in the future. Doing so would allow foster children like christopher who were approved only to have benefits revoked to receive the Education Funding they were promised. I urge my colleagues to vote yes on this critical piece of legislation. Thank you. And i yield back. Mr. Takano i reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california reserves. The gentleman from tennessee is recognized. Mr. Roe i would like to yield four minutes to Gus Bilirakis of florida, a tireless working member of the veteran affairs committee, he works hard on pt sd. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Bilirakis thank you, mr. Ranking member. Of course, mr. Chairman, i appreciate you working with us on this very good bill and also chairman levin, who is not here at the time, but he does an outstanding job and i look forward to working with him on many more bills. As Ranking Member roe just mentioned, one of the most important jobs of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs is defending and protecting programs like the g. I. Bill that continue to provide lifechanging education and training benefits to our nation veterans and Service Members. Im proud the provisions in h. R. 625 wol continue this goal and a byproduct of the several bipartisan hearings that i have led with chairman levin, to improve oversight of the g. I. Bill. Im also pleased that this package includes all the provisions from my bill h. R. 4085, the student veteran empowerment act. Bill is designed to improve oversight of the g. I. Program by v. A. And stateapproving agencies and most importantly, extend the restoration of entitlement for students impacted by school closures. This last section extends benefits we originally provided to a limited number of students in the forever g. I. Bill to all students and extends to all students, thats important. It is critical to ensure that a students entitlement is not lost when a School Closes or is disapproved before the student completes their education. My provisions in this bill would make important structural improvements regarding the g. I. Bill oversight and accountability. These changes are important so we can do all we can to prevent Unnecessary School closures and ensure that a students benefits are used on training and Education Programs that will set up for, again, set up the veteran for longterm economic success. Again, like dr. Roe, i want to thank the veteran Service Associations for their advice and suggestions, especially the veterans education success. I also want to thank the bills sponsor, as i said before, chairman of the Economic Opportunity subcommittee, my friend, mike levin from california. It has been my pleasure as a Ranking Member to work with him on this bill. And on other issues that come before our subcommittee. He is a thoughtful legislator and i thank him for including the provisions of my bill in this legislation before us. So i urge passage of this great bill, h. R. 4625. And i yield back. Thank you, madam chair, i appreciate it. Mr. Roe i reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from tennessee reserves. The chair recognizes the gentleman from california. Mr. Takano thank you, madam speaker. Let me just say that this bill, the protect the g. I. Bill act, contains so many elements offered by both sides of the aisle and i have to just point out for the record, the coincidence of having the interest of foster children being protected by a man named bill foster. There is not enough people in here to get that joke. But i thought that that was worth pointing out. I also want to say that in the language in this bill also contains enhancements to the thorities of stateapproving agencies. E of the broken parts of our of how our schools, our forprofit schools, all schools get their programs approved is because our stateapproving agencies lack sufficient authority to intervene when they know that a certain forprofit operation, which has had a shady open inis about to ever their state. This legislation would allow a stateapproving agency to act bad acting profit, forprofit school is actually charged, formally charged. With that, madam speaker, i have no further speakers and am prepared to close. And i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california reserves. The chair recognizes the gentleman from tennessee. Mr. Roe i have no further witnesses. And i am ready to close. I want to say that this bill is indicative of how when we work together, we can solve problems. You heard various issues from various sides are brought to bear and work in the committee and subcommittee to solve these problems for constituents all across the country. With that, i encourage all members to support this bill. And i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The chair recognizes the gentleman from california. Mr. Takano madam speaker, i urge all of my colleagues to join me in passing h. R. 4625. Both sides of the aisle worked carefully together and we are i am pleased to recommend we pass this bill on suspension. So i yield the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h. R. 4625 as amended. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, 2 3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid n the table. For what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition . Mr. Takano madam speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h. R. 4477 as amended. The speaker pro tempore the clerk will report the title of the bill. The clerk h. R. 4477, a bill to direct the secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to congress a plan to address certain highrisk areas identified by the comptroller general of the United States regarding the department of Veterans Affairs on the high risk list of Government Accountability office and for other purposes. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from california, mr. Takano, and the gentleman from tennessee, mr. Roe, each will control 20 minutes. The chair recognizes mr. Takano. Mr. Takano i ask unanimous consent that all members may have fiv