House Passes 9 Bipartisan Veterans Bills

Washington, D.C. - Today, Chairman Phil Roe, M.D. (R-Tenn.) released the following statement after the House passed 9 bipartisan veterans bills:

“I applaud the House for coming together to pass nine bipartisan veterans bills. This Congress, the House has sent more than 70 bills to the Senate for their consideration, and we have had over two dozen bipartisan, bicameral bills signed into law.

“The bills passed this week would increase benefits and support to our nation’s heroes while doubling down on our efforts to transform VA. These measures would improve servicemembers’ transition into civilian life, provide financial assistance for veterans who choose to live in medical foster homes, increase educational and economic opportunities for veterans and more. I am encouraged by the continued bipartisan commitment to veterans, and I thank my colleagues for their work on behalf of our nation’s heroes.”

The House passed the following bills:

H.R. 2409, to allow certain servicemembers to terminate their cable, satellite television and internet access service contracts while deployed

H.R. 2409 would extended existing federal protections to cable and satellite television services under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. Under this legislation, servicemembers would only need to provide notice and a copy of their active duty orders to cable and satellite providers to terminate their contracts without penalty.

H.R. 2787, the VET MD Act

The VET MD would direct the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out a three year pilot program beginning no later than August 15, 2020, in at least five regionally diverse VA medical centers to provide undergraduate students a clinical observation experience within VA.

H.R. 5538, The Reserve Component Vocational Rehabilitation Parity Act

The Reserve Component Vocational Rehabilitation Parity Act would add eligibility for Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) for active service under certain reserve orders.

H.R. 5649, the Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer William “Bill” Mulder (Ret.) Transition Improvements Act of 2018

The Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer William "Bill" Mulder (Ret.) Transition Improvement Act of 2018 would make improvements to the Transition Assistance Program and the overall transition process for servicemembers to include more of a focus on career opportunities and entrepreneurship.

H.R. 5864, The VA HELP Act

The VA Help Act would (1) require VA, within 180 days of enactment, to establish qualification standards and performance metrics for VHA HR positions and provide a report to Congress containing such standards and metrics; (2) require GAO to submit a report to the House and Senate Committees on Veterans’ Affairs containing a description of the implementation and an assessment of the quality of such standards and metrics.

H.R. 5882, The Gold Star Spouses Leasing Relief Act

The Gold Star Leasing Relief Act would allow surviving spouses to terminate residential leases at the time of a servicemember's death without penalty.

H.R. 5938, the Veterans Serving Veterans Act

The Veterans Serving Veterans Act would (1) require VA to identify the MOSs that correlate with open positions within VA, to coordinate with DoD to identify soon-to-be-separated servicemembers and to add those servicemembers’ MOSs and contact information to VA’s recruiting database with an opt-out option; (2) require VA to implement a program to recruit, train and certify former military medics as ICTs to work at VA medical facilities.

H.R. 5974, the VA COST SAVINGS Act

The VA Cost Savings Act would (1) require VA to identify VA facilities that would benefit from cost savings associated with the use of an on-site regulated medical waste treatment system over a five year period; (2) require VA to develop a uniform, regulated medical waste cost analysis model to be used to determine the cost savings associated with the use of an on-site regulated medical waste treatment system; (3) ensure that, at each VA facility identified as a facility that would benefit from an on-site regulated medical waste treatment system, these systems are purchased pursuant to the purchase agreement known as the “VHA Regulated Medical Waste On-Site Treatment Equipment Systems Blanket Purchase Agreement.”

H.R. 5693, Long-Term Care Veterans Choice Act

The Long Term Care Veterans Choice Act would authorize VA, during a three-year period beginning on October 1, 2019, to transfer upon request up to 900 veterans for whom the VA is required to provide nursing home care to a medical foster home that meets VA standards. Please note this legislation was combined with H.R. 5644 and passed the committee on Thursday, July 12, 2018.