Date: 2008-09-24
Speaker: JOHN BOOZMAN (republican)
Chamber: H

as ranking member. Both of them together have a proven track record of working in a bipartisan manner to ensure that veterans who are leaving active duty have meaningful career opportunities and the skills needed to pursue those opportunities. Our Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs has also demonstrated its dedication to working on behalf of our Nations veterans. I want to thank Chairman HALL and Ranking Member LAMBORN for their hard work and bipartisanship in their efforts. Madam Speaker. S. 3023 incorporates over 60 veterans provisions that have passed either the House or the Senate. and thats what had to be negotiated here between the two bodies. Clearly. time doesnt permit me to expand on every one of these provisions. but Id like to highlight just a few. I am pleased that the Department of Labor will be required to collect data on the employment needs of Native Americans. The Department of Veterans Affairs will begin a 20year longitudinal study of veterans who participate in the VAs Vocational Rehabilitation Program. This measure would also increase the time to 20 years that spouses of deceased or 100 percent serviceconnected disabled veterans have to use their education benefits. There are provisions that extend the temporary increases in VAconforming loan limits in the stimulus act of 2011 and that reduce equity requirements for VAguaranteed refinancing loans. As well. there are provisions that renew the adjustable and hybrid adjustable loan programs for another 4 years. This bill expands the servicemember protections under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act in several ways. It also clarifies the VAs authority to purchase advertising as part of outreach efforts. Madam Speaker. for me. one of the most exciting parts of the bill would authorize a new program at the VA to promote the increased participation by disabled veterans in adaptive sports. That is what the chairman was referring to. The bill would direct the VA to expand its cooperative sports activities with the United States Paralympics. and it would authorize $8 million to be used for grants to support an integrated adaptive sports program managed by the United States Paralympics and by partners such as the Disabled Sports USA. Blaze Sport. the National Parks Recreation Association. the Paralyzed Veterans of America. and the Disabled American Veterans. I want to thank Chairman FILNER for his mutual interest in the disabled sports and for his efforts to ensure this bill was included. Chairman FILNER. .your leadership here. not only for the United States Olympic Committees being out in Chula Vista. is extremely important in making this a reality. So.I appreciate your support. not only of our Olympic Committee but also for the fact that this has become a reality. So. because of your leadership and for the fact that we were able to take our mutual interests and to bring them together to serve a greater need. I applaud your leadership. The United States Paralympic Team that competed in Beijing included 13 disabled veterans. several of whom were wounded in the war on terror. Now. a few years back. I visited Chula Vista. This was years back when the United States Olympic Committee had a very large board. and we had individuals who were really positioning to profitize off of the Olympic ideal. and it was very disturbing to me. We had a series of ethical blunders that occurred at the Olympic Committee. It was the Olympic Committees darkest hour. I came back to Congress. I met with Cliff Stearns at the time. who was on the Energy and Commerce Committee. He helped set a course for the reorganization of the United States Olympic Committee at a time when also then Senator MCCAIN took action in the Senate and when the Olympic Committee also then created its own task force. The Olympic Committee had reorganized itself. We went into the past Olympics. Everyone was pulling on the rope in the same direction. It was very exciting. I took that relationship that had developed with the United States Olympic Committee and brought them. to the VA to develop these sports programs. The whole intent of not only this legislation but of what Chairman FILNER is embracing is to use sports as a platform of healing. and I think that is extremely important. What we have done here is: As for these 13 disabled veterans who just returned from the Paralympic Games in Beijing. this group of wounded warriors produced four gold medals. three silver medals and three bronze medals. So Im pretty excited about these spectacular Americans. Its the wave of the future when disabled veterans who are competing with artificial limbs or with spinal cord dysfunctions will be commonplace. The program we are implementing here today will be the seed for the VA and for its partners to nurture and grow. So I want to thank Chairman FILNER for his leadership on this. This is so meaningful. I look forward next week to coming out to your district. Chairman FILNER. and to going out to Chula Vista. out to the U.S. Olympic Training Center with the Secretary of the VA. Hopefully. youll have an opportunity to be there. Im pretty excited about these sports programs. In Senate 3023. we will also enhance and improve veterans benefits and the system that administers them. Such revisions include measures to increase the accuracy and the timeliness of benefit claims decisions and to enhance the VAs use of information technology. It will also look at VA disability compensation to ensure due consideration is afforded to veterans for their lon of earnings and their quality of life. This is something that Senator BURR and I had introduced in a measure in response to not only the recommendations of the Disability Commission but also in response to the recommendations of the Presidential task force of Senator DOLE and former Secretary Shalala. The bill would also improve benefits for the survivors of deceased veterans. For instance. it would allow the substitution upon the death of a claimant for the purpose of acquiring benefits. That was Mr. LAMBORNs provision. The bill would also release survivors of deceased claimants of the frustration of the timeconsuming process of starting the entire claims process from square one. The bill would also create a VA Office of Survivors Assistance to ensure surviving dependents have access to benefits and to services and that such programs are responsive to the needs of survivors. With that. Madam Speaker. I would like to reserve the balance of my time.