Discussion · House of Representatives
Mike Bost Republican
“I want the House to pass this bill. It expands benefits for combat-injured veterans, severely disabled veterans, and their surviving spouses. It makes it easier for veterans to get healthcare in their local communities and updates job training. To pay for these benefits, it updates how disability pay is calculated for sleep apnea and ringing in the ears. Current veterans will not lose their payments, and the money saved will go right back to helping other veterans.”
“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of my bill, H.R. 9237, the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act. As a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, for me, this bill is personal. When a young man or woman raises their right hand and agrees to serve this country, America makes a promise. That promise does not end when a servicemember is wounded. It is my goal--and the goal of my friend, Senator Jerry Moran--to deliver on that promise. This bill would be one of the most comprehensive veteran packages considered by Congress in a decade. This bill includes more than 60 bipartisan provisions that would improve healthcare, benefits, operations, and accountability across the VA. Mr. Speaker, I would like to tell you more about some of those important provisions. One is the Major Richard Star Act. For decades, medically retired, combat-injured veterans have had their military retirement offset dollar-for-dollar by their VA disability. While some disabled veterans who served 20 years receive both, there are tens of thousands of combat-injured veterans who currently do not. Many combat- injured veterans would have served longer if their injuries had not taken that opportunity from them. H.R. 9237 would help end that injustice. It would end that offset for combat-injured veterans, allowing them to receive both benefits up to what a 20-year retiree with the same disabilities would receive. Members on both sides of the aisle and veterans service organizations support this and have for years. A press release, a handshake, or a discharge petition does not end the wounded warrior tax. This bill will. The Love Lives On Act is another important provision included in this bill. Currently, surviving spouses lose their benefits if they remarry before age 55, but those benefits were earned by their spouse’s sacrifice for this country. The Love Lives On Act would allow surviving spouses to remarry at any age. Another important provision in this bill is the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act. This bill would provide long-awaited increases to catastrophically disabled veterans and surviving spouses. Eric was 25 years old when an IED left him with a fractured spine and a traumatic brain injury. H.R. 9237 would increase benefits for catastrophically disabled veterans like Eric by $10,000 a year. It would also increase benefits for surviving spouses. These American families have not seen a meaningful increase in decades. Mr. Speaker, this bill also includes the Veterans’ ACCESS Act. Veterans should be able to access healthcare in their own communities. Too many veterans still face delays, confusion, and barriers when trying to use VA community care. This bill would also improve mental health care and community-based suicide prevention. A veteran’s healthcare should be driven by the veteran’s needs, not by government control. H.R. 9237 would improve education benefits and vocational training to help veterans transition into civilian life. It would modernize the VA’s claims and appeals process so veterans have a system that works for them. It would streamline the way VA handles construction, leasing, contracting, IT, and finances. The Take Care of America’s Veterans Act would expand benefits and push VA to do better. Mr. Speaker, I also want to address how this bill is funded, as I have heard a lot of misinformation about this point. H.R. 9237 would codify VA’s own pending regulation on how to evaluate sleep apnea and tinnitus’ effect on a veteran’s workplace earnings. This regulation was proposed by the Biden-era VA in 2022, created by VA’s team of doctors and researchers. It was part of VA’s efforts to modernize its disability rating schedule created in the 1940s. President Biden’s Under Secretary for Benefits, Josh Jacobs, testified in favor of these changes at his confirmation hearing. Earlier this year, VA’s executive director of compensation confirmed plans to finalize these changes this year. These are not new ideas, and there is nothing unprecedented about this. This bill would not eliminate disability ratings for sleep apnea or tinnitus. It would not automatically reduce any veteran’s current disability rating. Future veterans with sleep apnea will still get treatment through VA healthcare, but if a CPAP eliminates your symptoms, VA would compensate you less. Currently, the amount of compensation for sleep apnea is often more than the amount that a veteran receives if they lose a limb. This change is just common sense. It is why VA has worked hard to propose changes like these, which reflect modern medicine. For tinnitus, VA has found it is best understood as a symptom of another condition such as hearing loss or TBI. Under the proposed change, tinnitus would still be rated as part of another underlying condition. This is not about denying these conditions exist. Let’s be clear. This is not cutting benefits. No one will lose their benefits who are receiving them. It is about making sure the VA rating schedule follows modern science and using those savings to fund the expansion of benefits and other VA programs. Mr. Speaker, if we don’t pass H.R. 9237 today, VA can make these rating changes as planned but the savings would go back to one place: Big Government. I want those savings to go instead into the pockets and the benefits for millions of veterans and their families. Mr. Speaker, as a United States Marine Corps veteran, you can bet your bottom dollar that I believe that this bill would not harm a single veteran, and I would not bring it forward to this floor if I thought it would. Veterans do not need a bill that makes Members feel good for a day and then dies in the Senate. They need legislation that can pass. Mr. Speaker, veterans groups agree. I include in the Record a letter from 20 different veterans organizations in support of this legislation.”
Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of my bill, H.R. 9237, the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act. As a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, for me, this bill is personal. When a young man or woman raises their right hand and agrees to serve this country, America makes a promise. That promise does not end when a servicemember is wounded. It is my goal--and the goal of my friend, Senator Jerry Moran--to deliver on that promise. This bill would be one of the most comprehensive veteran packages considered by Congress in a decade. This bill includes more than 60 bipartisan provisions that would improve healthcare, benefits, operations, and accountability across the VA. Mr. Speaker, I would like to tell you more about some of those important provisions. One is the Major Richard Star Act. For decades, medically retired, combat-injured veterans have had their military retirement offset dollar-for-dollar by their VA disability. While some disabled veterans who served 20 years receive both, there are tens of thousands of combat-injured veterans who currently do not. Many combat- injured veterans would have served longer if their injuries had not taken that opportunity from them. H.R. 9237 would help end that injustice. It would end that offset for combat-injured veterans, allowing them to receive both benefits up to what a 20-year retiree with the same disabilities would receive. Members on both sides of the aisle and veterans service organizations support this and have for years. A press release, a handshake, or a discharge petition does not end the wounded warrior tax. This bill will. The Love Lives On Act is another important provision included in this bill. Currently, surviving spouses lose their benefits if they remarry before age 55, but those benefits were earned by their spouse’s sacrifice for this country. The Love Lives On Act would allow surviving spouses to remarry at any age. Another important provision in this bill is the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act. This bill would provide long-awaited increases to catastrophically disabled veterans and surviving spouses. Eric was 25 years old when an IED left him with a fractured spine and a traumatic brain injury. H.R. 9237 would increase benefits for catastrophically disabled veterans like Eric by $10,000 a year. It would also increase benefits for surviving spouses. These American families have not seen a meaningful increase in decades. Mr. Speaker, this bill also includes the Veterans’ ACCESS Act. Veterans should be able to access healthcare in their own communities. Too many veterans still face delays, confusion, and barriers when trying to use VA community care. This bill would also improve mental health care and community-based suicide prevention. A veteran’s healthcare should be driven by the veteran’s needs, not by government control. H.R. 9237 would improve education benefits and vocational training to help veterans transition into civilian life. It would modernize the VA’s claims and appeals process so veterans have a system that works for them. It would streamline the way VA handles construction, leasing, contracting, IT, and finances. The Take Care of America’s Veterans Act would expand benefits and push VA to do better. Mr. Speaker, I also want to address how this bill is funded, as I have heard a lot of misinformation about this point. H.R. 9237 would codify VA’s own pending regulation on how to evaluate sleep apnea and tinnitus’ effect on a veteran’s workplace earnings. This regulation was proposed by the Biden-era VA in 2022, created by VA’s team of doctors and researchers. It was part of VA’s efforts to modernize its disability rating schedule created in the 1940s. President Biden’s Under Secretary for Benefits, Josh Jacobs, testified in favor of these changes at his confirmation hearing. Earlier this year, VA’s executive director of compensation confirmed plans to finalize these changes this year. These are not new ideas, and there is nothing unprecedented about this. This bill would not eliminate disability ratings for sleep apnea or tinnitus. It would not automatically reduce any veteran’s current disability rating. Future veterans with sleep apnea will still get treatment through VA healthcare, but if a CPAP eliminates your symptoms, VA would compensate you less. Currently, the amount of compensation for sleep apnea is often more than the amount that a veteran receives if they lose a limb. This change is just common sense. It is why VA has worked hard to propose changes like these, which reflect modern medicine. For tinnitus, VA has found it is best understood as a symptom of another condition such as hearing loss or TBI. Under the proposed change, tinnitus would still be rated as part of another underlying condition. This is not about denying these conditions exist. Let’s be clear. This is not cutting benefits. No one will lose their benefits who are receiving them. It is about making sure the VA rating schedule follows modern science and using those savings to fund the expansion of benefits and other VA programs. Mr. Speaker, if we don’t pass H.R. 9237 today, VA can make these rating changes as planned but the savings would go back to one place: Big Government. I want those savings to go instead into the pockets and the benefits for millions of veterans and their families. Mr. Speaker, as a United States Marine Corps veteran, you can bet your bottom dollar that I believe that this bill would not harm a single veteran, and I would not bring it forward to this floor if I thought it would. Veterans do not need a bill that makes Members feel good for a day and then dies in the Senate. They need legislation that can pass. Mr. Speaker, veterans groups agree. I include in the Record a letter from 20 different veterans organizations in support of this legislation.