Chairman Bost on H.R. 6047 to Expand VA Benefits for Gold Star Families & Severely Disabled Veterans

I rise today in support of H.R. 6047, as amended, the Sherry Briley and Eric Edmondson Veterans Benefit Expansion Act, introduced by my friend and fellow veteran, Representative Tom Barrett. I want to speak to you today about some of the great Americans this bill will impact. Sherry Briley is the survivor and spouse of Chief Warrant Officer 3, Donovan Bull Briley, an Army Special Operations pilot killed in 1993 in Somalia. Most Americans would be more familiar with the movie adaption of The Harrowing Day, the film Black Hawk Down, but for Sherry Briley, this was not Hollywood. This was her husband, the father of her five-year-old daughter, Donovan gave his life in defense of freedom, the type sacrifice we will commemorate on Memorial Day. This legislation would provide the first meaningful increase in survivor benefits for families like Briley's since 1993. Over 500,000 survivors like Sherry received dependency and indemnity compensation for VA, or DIC, is a monthly payment of $1,700 meant to help supplement lost income after a service member's death. It has only been adjusted for inflation over the last 30 years, but this bill would add an extra 1.5% to the DIC over the next two years. It also, I also want to discuss Sergeant Eric Edmondson. When Eric was 25, his vehicle was destroyed by an IED on the Syrian border. His spleen ruptured, his kneecap shattered, his spine fractured, and he sustained traumatic brain injury. For 30 minutes, Eric's heart stopped beating. Eric was transported to Walter Reed Army Medical Center to recover, but his injuries left him unable to walk or speak. For the past 20 years, his parents, Edgar and Bethany, and his wife, Stephanie, have been Eric's full-time caregivers, supporting Eric as they worked together to raise Eric's two kids. Despite these injuries, his family has empowered him to live a fuller life as possible, hunting, painting, spending time with his children, and going to church. As the Edmonds family recently wrote in an op-ed for Stars and Stripes, and I quote, two incomes vanish, the experience multiplies, the expenses multiply. When a service-connected injury permanently removes earning capacity, the math doesn't bend for patriotism, end quote. This bill recognizes that and would provide a $10,000 increase to the 7,000 severely disabled veterans like Eric, many of whom require 24-7, around-the-clock, professional medical care. Veterans like Eric receive the three highest tiers of disability compensation called R-1, R-2, and T. Many of these veterans will never work again and cannot perform basic tasks. Eric's family dedicate their lives making sure Eric, one of our nation's most wounded soldiers, continues living with dignity. Mr. Speaker, this bill is for families like the Briley's and the Edmondson's. As the families put it in their recent op-ed, the circumstances are different, but the consequences are the same, quote, the cost of military service does not end when the ceremony and the headlines fade. It echoes through decades, through college tuition bills, medical equipment invoices, mortgage payments, retirement plans that must be deferred or abandoned altogether, end quote. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous content that the text of the op-ed be entered into the record. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This bill would also expand VA home loan eligibility to members of the National Guard and Reserve who have at least 14 days of active duty service at a 1% higher rate. Today's Guard and Reserve deploy with active duty service members. They deserve a broader access to VA home ownership opportunities as well. Mr. Speaker, I also want to address the offset in this legislation because there has been a great deal of misinformation surrounding them. The fact is that House Republicans chose to follow the House rules and the law. We fully paid for the legislation so that we could get this bill done because promises made to the veterans should be promises Congress can keep and not show votes are fake outrage to get clicks and our votes. Now, let me be clear about what this bill will do. This bill will not eliminate or harm the VA home loan program. It would also not impose a loan fee on any disabled veteran. And it would not eliminate 0% down on a VA home loan. Instead, this bill contains two bipartisan offsets that would extend current home loan fees and would extend the current cap on certain veterans pensions who are in government-funded nursing care. It also increases the home loan funding fee that families would pay when refinancing by a small amount. During the 116th Congress, then-Chairman Takano supported and voted in favor of a similar funding fee proposal on refinancing of VA home loans. I find the arguments against our similar proposal today insincere. It reeks of the type of politics our veterans don't deserve. Mr. Speaker, I'm a veteran. If I thought that this bill would harm veterans, you can trust I would not bring the bill to the floor. But as the saying goes, don't take my word for it. Because over 22 veteran service organizations support this legislation as written. Let me repeat. The veterans groups like the VFW, the American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans, and many others support the bill. These organizations represent millions of veterans and military families. Support this legislation because they know these families cannot afford to wait another decade for Congress to act. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that a joint letter from 20 veterans organizations supporting the bill is included in the record. Thank you. And additionally, I ask unanimous consent to include in the record a joint letter from RAO, MCRA, and NGAS in support of expanding VA home loan programs to include Guard and Reserve members with 14 days of active duty. Thank you. Veterans deserve more than speeches. They deserve results. If you support these benefit increases, when you need a serious plan, you need a serious plan to pay for them. Because simply saying someone else will figure it out later, that's not real leadership. Speaker, this bill comes down to a simple question. When Americans send our soldiers off to war, the result sometimes is life-changing injuries, grieving spouses, full-time caregivers. Will this country stand behind them later in the years? Again, I ask my Democrat colleagues, if veteran groups support the bill, then why in the world don't you? Mr. Edgar Edmondson testified before the Veterans Affairs Committee, and he asked Congress to stop the politics and get this done. Mr. Speaker, families like the Edmondson and the Brileys deal with the reality most Americans never see. The Brileys answered the call to serve. The Edmondsons answered the call to serve. Now Congress must answer their call. This legislation, these families, and the thousands of families like them, we have your back. It is a distinct honor to advance this bill just before Memorial Day. Now I urge all members to support H.R. 6047 as amended. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.