That is ridiculous. It is why groups like the VFW, the IAVA, and
others oppose this bill. It is why I think Democrats and Republicans
should oppose this bill on the floor today.
  For this reason and many others, at the appropriate time, I will
offer a motion to recommit this bill back to committee. If the House
Rules permitted, I would have offered the motion with an amendment to
this bill.
  The amendment would change the offsets used in the bill. Instead of
reducing the VA home loan benefit and cutting disability benefits for
sleep apnea and tinnitus, it takes unobligated, appropriated but not
committed, funding given to the DOD in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
and uses it as a pay-for.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 15 seconds to the
gentleman from Pennsylvania.
  Mr. DELUZIO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text
of my amendment into the Record immediately prior to the vote on the
motion to recommit.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. DELUZIO. Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me in voting
for the motion to recommit.
  Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Michigan (Mr. Barrett), my good friend from the Seventh District.
  Mr. BARRETT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Take Care of
America's Veterans Act.
  This package includes more than 60 bipartisan bills that modernize,
enhance, and reform the delivery of healthcare and benefits for the
entire veteran community.
  It also delivers numerous bills that veterans and VSOs across America
have been vocal about, like the Major Richard Star Act, the Love Lives
On Act, the ACCESS Act, the TAP Promotion and Expansion Act, and more.
  It also includes eight of my own specific bill priorities, including:
  The ASSIST Act and CRUISE Act, which will help disabled veterans and
businesses make necessary and timely modifications to vehicles,
ensuring that veterans have accessibility to move about.
  The Sharri Briley & Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act
will finally deliver the first notable increase in over 30 years to our
most severely disabled veterans and our Gold Star families who have
sacrificed so much.
  My Clear Communication for Veterans Claims Act and my Delivering
Digitally to Our Veterans Act, which will ensure that every veteran can
understand the messages and communications they receive from the VA in
a simplified manner and even opt in to get them electronically.
  My Veterans Community Care Scheduling Improvement Act, which will
make it easier for veterans to schedule medical appointments closer to
home and easier to access.
  The Acquisition Reform and Cost Assessment Act to strengthen
oversight of VA acquisitions with the ginormous contracts that they
often enter into.
  And, finally, my Home Affordability for Guard and Reserve Act to
empower more of our National Guard and reservists to take advantage of
the VA Home Loan Program. Today, they would wait 6 years to qualify for
the VA Home Loan Program. Under this bill, they will qualify once they
return home from their training and are in good standing with their
unit.
  Mr. Speaker, I worked hard on these bills for nearly 2 years, and
they and more than 50 other bipartisan bills just like them are all
major wins that will improve the lives of our Nation's heroes.
  I thank Chairman Bost for his work on this legislation, and I look
forward to the passage of this bill. I urge my colleagues to vote
``yes.''
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, there is overwhelming opposition to cutting
veterans' disability benefits to offset the cost of this bill.
  Major VSOs, like the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American
Veterans, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, along with numerous
others, all oppose this bill due to the offset.
  More importantly, veterans themselves are overwhelmingly opposed, as
well. Check out any online veteran forum, and you will find thousands
of comments from both veterans and Active-Duty servicemembers decrying
these proposed cuts.
  Veterans of all eras agree that their receipt of benefits should not
be predicated on cuts to benefits for another generation of veterans.
It is our job to listen to them. There are other ways to fund this
bill's provisions. We just need to have the political courage to stand
up and do what is right for our veterans.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
Menefee), my good friend who serves on the House Committee on Science,
Space, and Technology and the House Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform.
  Mr. MENEFEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to oppose H.R. 9237, which, if
we are being clear, cuts veterans' benefits.
  The President and my colleagues on the Republican side in Congress
have no problem sending our men and women off to war, but the real
measure of a nation is not just how it treats their servicemembers when
they are on Active Duty. It is how it treats them when they are no
longer dodging the bombs, the bullets, and the storms at sea and when
they are no longer serving in war.
  As a Congress, we have to do right by our veterans, and this bill
simply does not do it with $57 billion in cuts for disability benefits
for veterans. It raises home loan refinancing fees $4 billion on
veteran borrowers.
  Mr. Speaker, I am the son of two veterans, and we would have never
purchased our first home when I was in high school were it not for a VA
home assistance loan. That is to say not just for me but for so many
folks across the 18th Congressional District of Texas.
  I keep hearing my colleagues on the other side of the aisle saying
that we have to find money to offset to be able to pay for some of the
other benefits in this bill. Yet, if we are pinching pennies, let's
tell the President to end his war in Iran, which has cost taxpayers
billions and billions of dollars. It is time for this Congress to do
right by our veterans.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote
against H.R. 9237.
  Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Meuser), from the Ninth District.

                              {time}  1000

  Mr. MEUSER. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Bost for his leadership.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Take Care of America's
Veterans Act. Our veterans answered the call to serve, sacrificed on
behalf of this country, and defended the freedoms every American
enjoys.
  They have earned a Department of Veterans Affairs that delivers the
care, benefits, and support that they were promised without unnecessary
delays or bureaucratic obstacles, and that includes community care, Mr.
Speaker. That is one of the aversions and obstacles and reasons for
opposition because Democrats are pretty much against community care
initiatives.
  This bipartisan package brings together more than 60 commonsense
proposals that truly make this happen. And by the way, it is supported
by The American Legion, Military Officers Association of America,
Wounded Warrior Project, Elizabeth Dole Foundation, Korean War Veterans
Association, Vietnam Veterans of America, AMVETS, Gold Star Spouses of
America, and the list goes on.
  Very importantly, it includes the Major Richard Star Act. Voting
against this bill is voting against the Major Richard Star Act, which
ends the unfair wounded veterans tax for eligible combat-injured
retirees. These veterans were medically retired because their service
was cut short by injuries sustained defending our country. They should
not be forced to give up a portion of their military retirement pay
simply because they also receive VA disability compensation. This bill
corrects that injustice.
  It also strengthens access to community care, as mentioned, and
mental health treatment. It allows military widows to remarry and
maintain their benefits. It cuts through the VA red