juvenile justice reform act of 2017. this legislation will help youth in the juvenile justice system get on the right path by focus programs on approaches that work using evidence-based strategies and proven track records. mr. mitchell: it strengths accountability and oversight to deliver proven outcome. it also gives communities greater flexibility to deliver services that meet the specific needs of youth in their communities. i'm proud to co-sponsor this legislation to help youth break from their troubled past and turn their lives arn and become an asset in their communities. i urge my colleagues to support the legislation, thank you, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota reserves his time. the gentleman from virginia. mr. scott: i'm pleased to yield three minutes to a strong supporter of at-risk youth, the gentlewoman from florida, mrs. wilson. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. wilson: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm pleased that the house today will vote to pass a bipartisan

re-authorization of h.r. 1809, the juvenile justice reform act. i strongly believe that this measure will not only help our nation's at-risk youth but will also vastly improve the juvenile justice system in each state. one area i was particularly interested in addressing in this bill is finding ways in which state--- faith-based practices that have been develop -- state-based practices in the school-to-prison pipeline can be improved. i added language to the bill that expands the definition of juvenile delinquency programs to include youth mentoring programs so those programs will have greater access to federal grant funding. . one of my life's missions has been to help build a permanent roadblock on the destructive and

demoralizing path that has entrapped so many boys and young men of color. and other at-risk youth. in fact, there are 50 ninth grade boys from the 5,000 role models of excellence project visiting washington today. if you see them in their red ties, give them a hug and tell them you love them. my experience as a teacher and principal has taught me the very real benefits of reaching children as early as possible and how with proper encouragement, support, and resources their young lives can be transformed so that they will make positive and productive choices. mr. speaker, i thank my colleagues on the education and work force committee for working very closely together in a bipartisan manner to vote to re-authorize the juvenile justice delinquency prevention act. i think we can all agree that this bill's pass ang will go a long way -- passage will go a long way towards assisting the

youth by giving them a second chance at success, as well as opportunities to be able to learn from their mistakes and move beyond those mistakes to get an education. build successful careers, and contribute to society. i especially commend chairman foxx and ranking member scott who i know care so much about this issue. i also applaud representative jason lewis of minnesota for your spirit. i encourage a yes vote on this bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia reserves his time. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. lewis: i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from virginia. mr. scott: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from california who has been working on juvenile justice issues since he was in the california legislature, los angeles city council, mr. cardenas. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized.

mr. cardenas: i want to take the opportunity to thank my colleague for all of his diligence and incredible effort to make sure that we are here today with the success of this passage of this important legislation. the-r the bill we're considering today, the -- the bill we're considering today is a bill that puts congress back in the driver's seat of evidence-based reform of our nation's juvenile justice system. for far too long congress has failed to re-authorize the landmark juvenile justice delinquency prevention act passed in 1974. the most important federal juvenile justice statute has expired for almost a decade. i came to congress to affect change at a national level to serve the people of my district and all of the people across this great country. congress has fallen behind the leadership and the progress of democratic and republican states alike and cities as well across the nation who have had to take

the lead without us. passing this bill is a step in the right direction and will demonstrate to states and cities across this great country that congress is listening. and acting. this bill addresses many of the issues that i have been working on in my career as a state legislator, city councilman, and now as a federal elected public servant. for instance, it helps cities and local organizations fund community-based gang spreengs and intervention programs. when i was on the los angeles city council, i made sure that organizations receiving taxpayer dollars from our city were actually achieving the results that they had promised. i'm pleased that this bill includes a strong emphasis on research and science and making sure that evidence-based programs are prioritized. it ensures that we're supporting programs and organizations that work, which will save the taxpayers billions of dollars in the short run and also hundreds

of billions of dollars in the long run. and also make our communities much, much safer. this bill supports programs that ensure youth have access to appropriate legal representation and programs to expand access. this bill supports programs designed to educate kids and their families about how they can go about ceiling and expunging their juvenile records and to help them do that along the way. this bill supports programs focused on girls in the juvenile justice system. and equally important this bill makes sure that all ethnicity is recorded so we can get a bert understanding of who is in our juvenile justice system and address any disparates if we -- disparity it is we find them. this will put us on a path that kids are not detained for an offense that would not be a crime if committed as an adult such as skipping school or running away from home. it's high time we re-authorize

the jjdpa and i hope my colleagues in the house and senate can come together to advance this critical update to our juvenile justice laws. it is our responsibility to lead. i urge my colleagues to be leaders by voting for this juvenile justice reform act of 2017, once again, it's long, long overdue. i yield back to my colleague. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia reserves his time. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. lewis: i yield one minute to the gentleman from florida. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> thank you, congressman lewis, and thank you for your work on this important legislation. i also thank the ranking member, mr. scott, who i had the pleasure of working with on it this same cause last year. and this year i'm proud to be a co-sponsor of this bifment mr. curbelo: a former member of the education and work force committee this was and remains one of my priorities as i believe this re-authorization can help us achieve our anti-poverty goals here in the u.s. house. the juvenile justice reform act of 2017 will help set kids up

for success that is long-term so they are not caught up in a system that puts them on a path where failure is inevitable. this bill includes reforms that will help juveniles transition out of the system through community-based services and education. it also ensures that stakeholders can offer their expertise in order to best serve this population, while also supporting prevention services to keep kids on the right track. another important thing to note is that this bill prioritizes evidence-based strategies to reduce juvenile delinquency directing necessary resources to what actually works. everyone deserves a chance to improve their circumstances. many kids who end up in the juvenile justice system are the most vulnerable in our communities. these kids and the stakeholders and policymakers who support them need the flexibility and tools to effectively serve them. i believe this legislation is a

step in the right direction and i encourage all of my colleagues to vote in favor of it. i appreciate the work that the education and work force committee has done to help at-risk youth get on a path to a brighter future. thank you. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota reserves his time. the gentleman from virginia. mr. scott: i'm prepared to close. mr. speaker, i want to thank again the gentleman from minnesota for his leadership. urge my colleagues to support the bill. and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. lewis: mr. speaker, i yield myself the remarnede of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lewis: thank you, mr. speaker. ensuring kids experiencing difficult life circumstances, avoiding a life of crime is a collaborative effort. i find it a privilege to stand with parents, teachers, law enforcement officers to ensure at-risk youth are able to get back on track and grow into productive members of society. the juvenile justice reform act

of 2017 makes commonsense reforms that move us in a positive direction. by proviggede support to kids who need help the most. i am pleased to help lead this bipartisan evident and i'd like to thank my colleague, representative scott, for the work he has done on this legislation. by working together here and in congress, we can ensure young people have the opportunities they need to turn their lives around and earn a lifetime of success. i thank my colleagues for their support of h.r. 1809. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. all time has expired. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 1809, as amended. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table.

for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky seek recognition? mr. guthrie: mr. speaker, morph that the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 1808, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 64, h.r. 1808, a bill to amend and approve the missing children's assistance act, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from kentucky, mr. guthrie, and the gentleman from connecticut, mr. courtney, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from kentucky. mr. guthrie: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and and include remarks

extraneous material on h.r. 1808. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. guthrie: mr. speaker, i rise today in strong support of h.r. 1808, the improving support for missing and exploited children act of 2017, and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. guthrie: thank you, mr. speaker. as a father can i not imagine the horror moms and dads in this country experience when they discover one of their children has been taken, abused, or exploited. sadly that's a nightmare for hundreds of thousands of parents in this contry. last -- country. last year alone there were more than 465,000 reports of missing children. those are just the cases that were reported. the well-being of america's children has long been a national priority. in 1984, congress established the missing and exploited children's program to help coordinate state and local efforts to recover children who are missing and better protect and support kids who are victims of abuse and exploitation.

as part of that program, we provide a grant that suesed to support the work of the national center for missing and exploited children known as nicmic. for more than 30 years it has worked to provide help to people across the country, partnering with parents, law enforcement, nonprofits, and other public and private entities. and efforts to recover, protect, and support missing and exploited children and their families. we're here today to ensure this important work continues. h.r. 1808 updates and streamlines the missing children's assistance act. making positive changes that will enable us to strengthen our efforts. this includes reforms encourage and increase public awareness of new and innovative ways to recover and protect missing and exploited children. the bill better frokets the growing number of children who go missing from state care or victims of sex trafficking. while also providing transparency surrounding recovery and prevention efforts. in recent years, some of the

advances in technology have, unfortunately, made it easier for individuals to be victimized and exploited. h.r. 1808 ensures the law aimed at recovering and protect exploited children is able to effectively identify and locate today's abductors and criminal offenders. many of whom are turning to more modern techniques to commit their disturbing crimes. the improving support for missing and exploited children act of 2017 delivers important reforms that will provide the tools needed to effectively serve vulnerable youth, help bring perpetrators to justice, and ensure taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly. i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 1808 and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from account k mr. courtney: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in strong support of h.r. 1808, to amend and improve the

missing children assistance act. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. courtney: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, again, it's an honor to stand with my friend, mr. guthrie, in bipartisan support for this legislation which, again, makes some important changes to the existing law for the certainty for missing and exploited children -- center for missing and exploited children, a program created in 1984. sadly, has not finished its mission. again the f.b.i. reports every year that there are roughly about 460,000 reports of missing children. despite the best efforts of ograms which nicmic have operated over the years, again, this is still a scourge which afflicts many families across the country. republican, democrat, rural, suburban, and urban areas. again this bill will basically update and modernize the language of the act to recognize there are new forms of threats and risks to minor children such as human trafficking and online

predators. so it does three essential things. number one, it incorporates new terminology to align the law with these new threats, which i mentioned above, and strengthens protection for children at rifpblgt number two, it clarifies that it's a nonprofit entity, which is an issue that has been ensnared in the courts. congress' enactment and passage of this bill will clarify this critical issue. and lastly, it clarifies that it's a resource that provides technical assistance not just to law enforcement, but to families, community groups, schools, and the public at-large. last year, congress passed public act 114-184 which president obama signed into law, a measure which i co-sponsored with mr. paulsen from minnesota. this bill gave state and local police another tool in terms of recovering missing children.

incredibly, the tax code prevented state and local law enforcement to getting access from tax returns from adults who actually had abducted children. incredibly, those adults were claiming these children who were in their custody, illegal custody as a tax credit and tax exemption but state and local officials were, again, barred by privacy provisions from the i.r.s. code from accessing that information. on the one hand, you had one arm of government looking for children and the other arm of government who knew exactly where they were based on the tax returns where they were. ncmic is in the process of disseminate the new tool which an audit of the i.r.s. demonstrated there are roughly 2,000 tax returns each year where adult individuals are actually claiming children as a tax deduction and obviously with their residence and eye departmentity included. again, that just is another

example where we need to update and modernize the law. my wife works at the children's edical center in hartford, connecticut. she helps children of sex abuse and trafficking and ncmec, constantly in that -- you know, really important work she does and her colleagues use ncmec as a way to try to assist law enforcement in terms of helping children who, again, are in these situations of human trafficking and have been victims of, again, online use of images which, again, is about as low depraved activity as -- that's out there right now. the work of this center i can atist from a personal level is extremely important. this legislation will, again, update, modernize and give tools to make sure that all of

the good guys out there, the folks -- the health care sector can help families in this terrible, horrific situation. again, i want to applied my colleague from kentucky for his great work as well as chairman foxx and ranking member scott for bringing this legislation forward. it passed unanimously in committee, and i strongly urge all my colleagues in the house to support this bill and would eserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from kentucky. mr. guthrie: i echo my support and enjoy working with my friend from connecticut and yield to the subcommittee chairman for the health subcommittee for the full committee, mr. walberg of michigan, one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. walberg: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the chairman for the opportunity to speak on this issue. mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 1808, the improving support for missing and exploited children act of 2017. for more than 30 years, the

national center for missing and exploited children, or ncmec, has operated a unique public-private partnership in order to build a national response to crimes affecting those we cherish most -- our children. i'm grateful that the bill maintains language that i supported which grants ncmec the authority to provide technical assistance to law enforcement agencies and first responders in identifying and recovering victims of child sex trafficking. during the committee's hearing in march, we heard from ncmec's director on how their ability to provide technical assistance has allowed them to work in tandem with law enforcement to recover numerous child sex trafficking victims. mr. speaker, we all look forward to the day when no children are ever taken and abused, and this bill helps ensure ncmec has the tools to get us one step closer to that goal. i appreciate the bipartisan effort on this, and i urge all

my colleagues to support this important legislation. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves his time. the gentleman from connecticut. mr. courtney: thank you, mr. speaker. it's my pleasure to yield three minutes to the delegate from the district of columbia, again, a city which has been challenged with this issue and i know she's doing great work nd, again, very powerful thoughts on this legislation. i yield three minutes to the delegate. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. norton: i thank my good friend for yielding me this time. and i am pleased to support this bipartisan bill, which you call the improving support for missing and exploited children act. i support it because it does exactly what its title says. it fills the gap in our prior legislation on missing and exploited children, and we need to look at such legislation

very often because of what we are learning about missing and exploited children. i particularly -- and many parts of this bill, all parts of this bill i support but i particularly support something we didn't have nearly as much knowledge of in the passage of the last bill, to improve the protection of children in state care. these are often foster children , children without parties. those are the children most susceptible to trafficking. i would certainly appreciate the efforts of the committee in making sure that provisions of the act that i believe got to you too late are included in the final house and senate bill. because they are entirely consistent with the bill on the floor. they come out of experience of the district of columbia.

the d.c. police began to do something which i urge all of you to do and that is to use social media to let people know that when there are missing children. ell, it unnerves -- it unnembd residents -- unnerved residents of the district of columbia until we didn't have more missing children than anyone else. we simply don't know enough. my provisions would have us collect subsets of data we don't collect today. for example, we found in the district that they were tweeting on social media more for missing girls of color than boys. we ought to have known that from national statistics. you don't know it because there are no national statistics on the subsets. my bill would collect and

publish demographic characteristics that simply are not published today on race, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity. and if you think of those categories, you understand why these may be the children in particular need of protection. there is no current comprehensive count of missing children in the united states, so our bill needs more work. we need to break down what niece subsets are so that jurisdictions like my own will know where to focus when we're focusing on american children. 'm pleased that the district oes not have more missing than others. the police department decided to go on social media.

we want to make sure that we cover all our children and that we do what this bill does. what are the gaps? where do we need to fill in? this is the first bill on missing children in a number of years. just make sure no children are left behind. i thank the gentleman for yielding. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from connecticut reserves his time. the gentleman from kentucky. mr. guthrie: mr. speaker, i want to yield one minute to the chairman of the v.a. committee, a member of the -- and work force committee, dr. roe from tennessee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. roe: i thank the chairman. i rise today in support of h.r. 1808, the improving support for missing and exploited children's act, which improves the missing children's assistance act. mr. speaker, this thursday is national missing children's day. i can't imagine the pain and suffering that occurs when a child goes missing. i'm a proud co-sponsor of this legislation and proud of the committee on education and work force for its work on this important issue.

this legislation strengthens existing efforts to help recover missing children and prevent more children from being victims of abuse and exploitation. this bill also includes a provision to incorporate developing technologies related to the reporting of child exploitation. this provision was the result of something shared by a constituent of mine, michael reed. his wife was a victim of abuse as a child and he's devoted his life to making sure other children have a voice and the ability to report the abuse that they are experiencing. i'm committed to ensuring that congress' working to protect these children. i want to thank both sides of the aisle on the education and work force. i encourage all of my colleagues to support this bill, and i yield back the balance of my time, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves his time. the gentleman from connecticut. mr. courtney: excuse me. thank you, mr. speaker. i'm pleased to yield to the ranking member on the education and work force committee, strong proponent of this legislation, mr. scott from virginia.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. scott wilson thank you, mr. speaker. i -- mr. scott: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. speaker, i rise in support f 1808, and this bill will strengthen the recovery and prevention efforts of missing and exploited children by renewing and updating the support for the national center for missing and exploited children, or ncmec. the terror experienced by parents of a missing child is unfathomable. both the parents and the children will experience pain, trauma, fear and uncertainty. this is why affected families need the full support of law enforcement, schools, businesses and other entities that may be able to assist in low indicate -- locating missing and exploited children. congress updated the role of ncmec, the organization is required at that time to coordinate with the interagency council on homelessness in

order to address the high number of sex trafficking victims who are homeless youth. now in 2017, congress is including several additional improvements as the bill heads to the senate, i will work with my colleagues in both chambers to improve the reporting of characteristics of children trafficked as it relates to the office of juvenile justices, incidents of missing children study. mr. speaker, despite the best efforts of ncmec, more than 10,000 children go missing each year, and scores of children are forced into sexual exploitation and trafficking. i'm hopeful the enactment of these initiatives will assist in the efforts to end exploitation and trafficking. i'm also hopeful that congress will empower the work of ncmec by appropriate funding in fiscal year 2018 and above. i urge my colleagues to support the bill and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from connecticut reserves his time. the gentleman from kentucky.

mr. guthrie: mr. speaker, i'd like to yield one minute to a member of the full ed and work force committee, to my friend from michigan, mr. mitchell. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mitchell: mr. speaker, i rise today in support of the improving support for missing and exploited act. my wife and i have six children. our youngest is just 7 years old. we would do anything to protect them. i can't even imagine the pain of having a child go missing, to learn they've been hurt or abused in any manner. tragic, this is a reality for far too many children and too many families in america. last year there are more than 465,000 of missing children in the united states. to put that number in perspective. about 700,000 people live in michigan's 10th congressional district, my home. one child going missing or being abused is too many. we must recognize the seriousness of this problem, and we must do everything we can to protect our children. this important bill will assist ncmec in locating missing children and identifying

abductors. it will help children from being the victim of exploitation online and increase the awareness of how to recover missing children. mr. speaker, today we come together to support america's children. i'm proud to be a sponsor of this legislation and urge my colleagues to support it. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves his time. the gentleman from connecticut. mr. courtney: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield to an outstanding member of the education and work force committee, the gentlewoman from north carolina, ms. adams, for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. adams: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank my colleague for yielding. i proudly stand today in support of h.r. 1808, improving support for missing and exploited children act. this bipartisan legislation reflects both democrats' and republicans' desire to protect our greatest asset, children. in north carolina, the trafficking of young women has become an epidemic. there were 181 human trafficking cases reported in north carolina in 2016.

charlotte was home to more than anywhere else. that figure gave us the dishonor of being ranked the top 10 states in the nation in the number of trafficking reports. and that doesn't even account for those children who have not yet been identified as victims of this shameful practice. in north carolina, lawmakers have sponsored efforts to establish pilot programs to help victims and train law enforcement to recognize the signs of trafficking. it's time congress does its part and pass h.r. 1808, to support states in their efforts. this bill would improve efforts by both law enforcement and the general public to combat trafficking, and it would enhance the identification and location of missing children and their abductors. it would protect children from eing victims to online predators, a promise when congress first passed the missing children's assistance act. and we vowed to assist the ncmec in protecting our missing

and vulnerable youth. i'm a parent. i'm a grandparent, mr. speaker, and i am a concerned member of my community and my district and my state have been torn apart by human trafficking. this is an opportunity for us to come together as americans and support an initiative that could save lives. i urge my colleagues to pass h.r. 1808 and prove we can all put politics aside when it comes to protecting our children. thank you and i yield back. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky. mr. guthrie: mr. speaker, i would like to yield three minutes to the distinguished chairwoman of the full committee and ed work force committee, my friend, dr. foxx. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank my colleague, mr. guthrie, for his great work on handling this bill today and on the bill itself. no child should live in fear, mr. speaker, and yet every year hundreds of thousands of children across the country are abducted, abused, or exploited. the safety of america's children has long been a national priority.

that's why i stand here today in strong support of h.r. 1808, the improving support for missing and exploited children act. in 1984, congress passed the missing children's assistance act and established a grant to enhance our country's efforts to find missing children and prevent child exploitation. for more than 30 years, the national center for missing and exploited children also known as ncmec has used a grant to coordinate a national response to crises and crimes affecting america's most vulnerable children. through unique public-private partnerships, they have worked with families, law enforcement, schools, community leaders, and nonprofits in its efforts to find children who are missing and protect youth who are victims sexual exploitation. the reforms and improving support for missing and exploited children act will ensure the vital work of recovering and supporting vulnerable youth is able to continue. reuniting more families with

their loved ones and helping victims receive the support they desperately need. this is a bill that delivers the reforms needed to save lives. i'm also proud to say it's a bill with strong bipartisan support. at the opening of ncmec former president rommed reagan said no single sector of our nation can solve the problem of missing and exploited children alone, but by working together, pooling our resources, and building on our strengths, we can accomplish great things. together we can turn the tide on these hateful crimes. together we can turn the tide, the work of our colleagues' representatives guthrie and courtny, have done to get this important bill to the house floor demonstrates the type of collaboration president reagan spoke of on that day at the opening of ncmec. and the improving support for missing and exploited children act isn't the only bill we have been able to reach across the aisle on and delivery forms that will help vulnerable youth. working together we're also advancing positive bipartisan

solutions in h.r. 1809, the juvenile justice reform act of 2017, this bill aims at assisting a different kind of vulnerable youth ensuring kids who find themselves in the juvenile justice system have an opportunity to turn their lives around and achieve success. every child deserves an opportunity to make a change for the better if that child has made a mistake. by working together to develop the juvenile justice reform act of 2017, my colleagues, representatives lewis and scott, have put forward a bill that will help ensure at-risk youth are afforded an opportunity to do just that. both of these bills renew the commitment we have made to help and protect our nation's most vulnerable children. all of these reforms will make a real difference in the lives of countless children, young adults, parents, and families across the country. i'm proud of the bipartisan work we have been able to accomplish. i want to thank representative

scott as well as representatives lewis, guthrie, and courtney for their leadership on these issues. i urge our fellow colleagues to support the improving support for missing and exploited children act. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves his time. the gentleman from connecticut. mr. courtney: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from kentucky. mr. guthrie: mr. speaker, i'd like recognize a good friend of mine who on his work on the ways and means committee has been focused on this issue and dedicated this issue, my good friend from minnesota, erik paulsen. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. paulsen: mr. speaker, i thank the gentleman for his work on this on a bipartisan basis with mr. court nifment i rise today in strong support of h.r. 1808, the improving support for mission and exploited children act. this important initiative, it builds on the bipartisan work we have already accomplished. to combat sex trafficking and child exploitation. since its creation in 1984, the national center for missing and exploited children has worked tirelessly to protect children

from being exploited, to reunite missing children with their families, and to provide resources and training to our law enforcement community to help assist in thevert. this legislation -- in this effort. this legislation today will assist the senter in strengthening its prevention and recovery programs. one of those programs is the cybertip line. since being launched in 1998 has received 12.7 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation. it's programs since being launc 1998 has received like this, mr speaker, that go a long way to helping us save lives and put an end to sexual exploitation and trafficking of children. i encourage all my colleagues to support this bipartisan bill. i yield back. thank the gentleman. the speaker pro tempore: gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentleman from account k mr. guthrie: prepared to close. mr. courtney: in summary we have based, very broad bipartisan chorus of voices in support of this legislation. again i like in committee hopefully all of us will stand

together to support this really important update making sure that families get all the help and law enforcement get all the help they need to eliminate the scourge of this problem. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from contract complfment guthrie: mr. speaker, i had an opportunity to visit the center. the building i got to visit there was full of men and women who show up every day who do exceptional work dealing with the disturbing issues. my hat's off to them. they deal with stuff that's not -- unimaginable to most of us and in a way that's dignified and a way that is well worthy of the effort that we're giving them to give more transparency and power them to help more. i appreciate working with my friend, mr. courtney. h.r. 1808 is a bipartisan proposal. i urge my colleagues to support the improving support for missing and exploited children act of 2017. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. all time has expired. the question is, will the house

suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 1808, as amended. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is -- table. -- is laid upon the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition? mr. roe: i call up h.r. 2288 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of he bill. does the gentleman move to suspend the rules and pass the bill? mr. roe: yes. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 22le 88, a bill to amend title 38 united states code to reform the rights and processes related to appeals of decisions regarding claims for benefits under the law administered by the secretary of

veterans affairs, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from tennessee, mr. roe, and the gentleman from minnesota, mr. walz, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from tennessee. mr. roe: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and and to heir remarks insert extraneous material in the record on h.r. 2288, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. roe: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman virginia tech. mr. roe: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to ask my colleagues to support h.r. 2288, as amended. first i want to thank the disabilities assistance and memorial affairs subcommittee chairman b.o.s. and ranking member esty for their hard work in bringing h.r. 2288 to the floor. i also want to thank every member of the veterans' affairs committee, both republican and democrat, who all are original co-sponsors of this bill. he committee's been working on

overhauling v.a.'s appeals process established in 1933. the problem is the current system is slow, couple ber some, frustrating, and full of bureaucratic red tape. as a result there are currently 470,000 veterans, many of whom may have been injured in the line of duty, who are waiting for a decision on their appeal. many of these folks have been waiting for more than five years. and veterans are filing more appeals every day. last year v.a. deputy secretary sloan testified that if congress doesn't pass reform soon by 2027, veterans may have to wait as long as 10 years to get a decision on their appeal. think about that. in 2027 men and women who served our nation may have to wait a decade to get a decision on their appeal. the veterans have bills to pay and families to support, even worse they may need medical

treatments so they can't get to the v.a. because their appeal hasn't been decided. mr. speaker, i had one of the dearest friends i had in my life died a little over two years ago waiting on a decision on an appeal. h.r. 2288 would help streamline v.a.'s appeals process while giving veterans more options in protecting their due process rights. this legislation includes a compromise agreement that was reached between v.a. and veteran service organizations which passed the house last congress as part of h.r. 5620. we have added a few improvements since last year. for example, we have expanded the bill to allow some veterans who currently having pending appeals to opt in to the new system. i really believe that the changes in this bill will make a difference and help expedite the process so that veterans can get a decision on their appeal and then get on with their lives. i'm going to pull out all stops to get this bill on the president's desk as soon as possible. we're asking -- we're talking with our colleagues in the

senate, including chairman isakson, ranking member and senator blumenthal to resolve a few minor differences between the house and senate version. the seener we get this bill passed, the sooner our nation's veterans will be able to get their decisions on a bill in a timely manner. veterans deserve no less. mr. speaker, i ask my colleagues to support h.r. 22le 88 as amended. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee reserves his time. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. walz: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. mr. speaker, i rise in strong support of the manager's amendment to h.r. 2288, the veterans appeal improvement and modernization asket 2017. this is truly proven to be a once in a generation opportunity to reform the disability claims process to the benefit of our nation's veterans. i want to specifically thank chairman roe for bringing this bill to the floor today and for ensuring that the entire process that got us here was open, fair,

bipartisan, and followed regular order. it is gratefully appreciated and i think we end up with a good piece of legislation because of his leadership. also want to recognize the efforts of our colleagues, the chairman of the disabilities assistance and memorial affairs subcommittee mr. bost, he's been an incredible position of the v.a. committee and dug his heels in and got us this far. and to his counterpart on our side of the aisle, ranking member esty, for exceptional work that they have done together to get this bill to the floor. i'd also like to thank our veterans service organizations. this is how i think the american people think legislation should be brought. on issues at hand, experts are brought n. representatives talk, the -- in, representatives talk, the expertise helps us work out the kinks, it's not perfect but the coalition got to us a point where i think many of us are comfortable moving forward. the bill is complicated. to those who still have concerns in the process, let us know. there is still work to be done. still working in the senate, but there is an openness that has been expressed through the

entire process. secretary shulkin and the v.a. leadership have been vital in thevert. they helped pull the stakeholders together, provide the technical expertise to help us understand what it takes. i want to recognize our foam colleague on the committee, deana titus, she'll speak later, but i think what's so important on veterans issues, members who come and go from the committee but their commitment to getting this right stays and her tenaciousness in the 114th congress laid the groundwork for this. in short, mr. speaker, as you heard the chairman say, there is 470,000 veterans. each one of them's an individual. each one of them is someone's friend, father, mother, sister, brother. it's time we peel back the layers of complicated rules governing the process, modernize it with new technology, and get the benefits delivered in a timely manner to those who earn them. i support the manager's amendment to h.r. 22888 and encourage my colleagues to do the same. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman fromtown tfpblet

mr. roe: at this time i'd like to yield two minutes to the chairman of the subcommittee, mr. bost of illinois. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. bost: i thank the speaker for yielding, chairman for yielding. mr. speaker, i rise today in support of my bipartisan legislation h.r. 2288. this the veterans appeals improvement and modernization act of 2017, as amended. this is a product of hard work between the departments of veterans affairs, veteran service organizations, committee staff and committee members. this bill gives veterans more options when pursuing the appeals claim by creating three pathways or lanes. lane one allows for the veteran to request that a new individual review their case without a hearing which will allow a fast response time from the v.a. on their appeal. lane two allows a veteran to request a hearing. lane three sends the appeal directly to the board of

veterans appeals. these three lanes, working together, will speed up the process for our veterans and ensure the appeals system works for them. an important compromise in this legislation also allows for veterans to keep the original effective date of their claim as long as they filed the necessary paperwork within one year of a v.a.'s decision. this is another way to ensure that the appeals system is working for the veterans. it's important that we do not leave any veteran behind. my colleagues and i have worked to ensure that some of the more than 470,000 veterans with a current appeal in the system will have the opportunity at certain points to opt into the new system. this will help the veterans who have been waiting for years to hear from the v.a. this bill also ensures transparency in the v.a.

implementation. this new system, by requiring rigorous reports from the department to ensure that all veterans are treated fairly. in closing, i especially want to recognize and thank the disability assistance and memorial affairs ranking member ms. esty for her hard work and help in crafting this legislation. i encourage all my colleagues to support h.r. 2288, as amended, and with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee reserves his time. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. walz: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i'd like to yield six minutes to my good friend, our ranking member of the disability assistance memorial affairs subcommittee, the gentlewoman from connecticut, ms. esty. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 2288, the appeals improvement and modernization act of 2017, as amended. first, i want to thank our

excellent chairman, dr. roe, and ranking member walz for their dedication and hard work. it's been a pleasure to work on this important legislation during my first term as ranking member of the veterans' disability, assistance and memorial affairs subcommittee. i want to give special thanks to my new friend, our subcommittee chairman, mr. bost, for his leadership on this issue and for ensuring that the legislative process was bipartisan at every turn. and i want to acknowledge and thank congresswoman dina tithe u.s. for her leadership on -- titus for her leadership on this issue as she helped pass similar legislation that formed the basis for our work in congress. mr. speaker, claims, appeals are backing up. veterans in connecticut and across the country are waiting far too long for the benefits they have earned through their hard service to this country. when a veteran asks my office

for help, it's frustrating and embarrassing to have to explain that the process could take more than five years. the backlog will only get worse if we do not reform the process. some veterans could be waiting as long as 10 years, as we heard from chairman roe and from ranking member walz if we don't reform things now. with the new process created under this bill, if it's properly implemented, many eterans would see a clearer, definitive appeals decision in as little as a year. i've seen in connecticut when an appeals is granted, it can change the way a veteran lives, but it is also proof to that veteran that their service is being honored and that's why it's so unacceptable that the current process is failing so many veterans. it forces them to navigate layers of red tape and duplicative review. the slow grinding of the appeals process chips away at

our veterans' faith that they will ever fairly be compensated for injuries they sustained in service to our country. our goal is to establish a new process that's simple, fair, transparent and wherever possible speedy. as we've heard, there are 470,000 -- yes, 470,000 veterans with disability appeals pending right now, and that is something we should be able to address, democrats and republicans, without regard to party. we owe a faster, better appeals process, not only to our veterans who have served but to those who wear the uniform right now. our men and women in uniform deserve to know that the benefits that they have been promised when they signed up will be there for them if god forbid something happens to them and they're injured in serving our country. i'd like to thank all the

veterans and veteran service organizations who share their ideas and their concerns with us as we worked hard to craft this legislation. voices from the veterans community were invaluable as we developed this bill and will be essential as we move forward to ensure that the new process works well, and i also want to thank the v.a. itself for having been such a good partner in this effort. it's important to remember that this is just the first step towards reforming the appeals process. if this bill is going to be successful, it will require a lot of work from our committee, from the v.a., oversight by congress and we must take care to ensure that legacy appeals do not get lost in the process. congress must also provide the resources necessary for the new appeals system to work well for our veterans. i want to thank, again,

chairman roe and ranking member walz for making reforming the appeals system a top priority for the committee this year and for their dedication to working together in a bipartisan way. i urge all my colleagues to support this important legislation and to commit to keep working together to get the job done. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota reserves his time. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. roe: thank you, mr. speaker. at this point i'd like to yield two minutes to an active member on the committee, dr. dunn, a veteran, to speak. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. dunn: i rise in support of veterans appeals improvement and modernization act of 2017. this will streamline the bureaucratic nightmare that is the disability appeals process. this bill breaks appeals down into three lanes, to expedite detigs significance making and improves the ability to update

condition. will show the crucial changes which are supported by both the v.f.w. and the american legion. our men and women in uniform served with the assurance they would be well treated when they came home. they earned and they deserve timely service from their government. instead, veterans wait years to hear from an out-of-date backlogged appeals system. sometimes that process takes five years. five years. that's an insult to their service, and it's an insult we cannot tolerate. our veterans fought for our country abroad. now it's our job to make sure they don't have another fight when they come home. i urge all of my colleagues to support this important legislation. thank you, mr. chair. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee reserves his time. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. walz: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time it's my pleasure to yield three minutes to my good friend and the vice

ranking member on the committee on veterans' affairs, mr. takano. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. takano: i thank my ranking member, mr. walz, for yielding me time. mr. speaker, i rise today in support of h.r. 2288, the veterans appeals improvement and modernization act of 2017. over the past five years, the number of pending appeals at the v.a. has skyrocketed by 40% and now sits at nearly half a million cases. the average processing time for an appeal is three years. republicans and democrats agree , v.a. agrees, veteran service organizations agree and most importantly veterans agree that we need to fix this broken process. i'm pleased that my colleagues on the committee have come together to develop a bipartisan solution that reduces the overly complicated appeals process, shortens the time a veteran will wait for a decision and preserves a veteran's full length of benefits if their appeal is

decided favorably. this legislation has taken a lot of time and effort. i applaud my colleagues, ms. titus and mr. miller for laying the groundwork in the last congress, and ms. esty and mr. bost for carrying this legislation into the 115th congress. i'm very, very proud of all the work done by the committee staff to bring this together, and i'm grateful to the dedicated v.s.o.'s and the v.a. for their input. this is a great example of how we can put aside our partisan differences and make our veterans' lives better. i support this bill and urge all of my colleagues to vote for it. thank you and i yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota reserves his time. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. roe: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i yield two minutes to a new member of our committee, the only representative from puerto

ico, ms. gonzalez colon. -- miss gonzalez colon. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. miss gonzalez colon: today i rise to support h.r. 2288, the veterans appeals improvement and modernization act. this bill will provide timely justice to the brave americans who gave their best in the name of democracy, freedom and the continuing greatness of our nation. as a sole representative of more than 93,000 registered veterans in puerto rico, i established a veterans affairs task force and one of the main complaints they have -- is about the veterans administration and the board of veterans appeals slow process of their claims. i believe every veteran organization hears similar

complaints. the statistics reveals a 5,000-case backlog for claims originally filed by puerto rican veterans. one such puerto rican claim has gone on for over 12 years. other claims for over five years. at this time on this date the veterans are still waiting for the boards of veterans appeals decisions. -- what our he veterans deserve. is bill will provide for a better system that will adjust to their needs. i thank you and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee reserves his time. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. walz: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to yield two minutes to my good friend and mo importantly a friend of all veterans, a new member of the veterans' committee, the gentleman from california, mr. correa.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. correa: mr. speaker, i want to thank them for allowing me to share my enthusiastic support for h.r. 2288. also want to thank mr. bost and ms. esty for their remarkable leadership in guiding this legislation to the floor and for taking the steps to finally fix the appeals process. i stand here today to support the veterans appeals improvement and modernization act. this legislation reforms the v.a. appeals process so that our veterans can begin to receive the benefits they have earned through their dedication to our country. veterans in california and all across america, including those in my district, currently face a backlog of sometimes more than five years to get their benefits. this is not acceptable, and that's why i am pleased to support this bipartisan legislation. a veteran who files a

disability claim for an injury they sustained during their military service is issued a v.a. rating decision which is either grants or denies a claim. if a veteran disagrees with the outcome, they may appeal the v.a.'s decision and then wait and wait and wait. this bill will improve the process by creating a multiple appeals stream which will accelerate the process. our veterans who suffered injury during their time in service can now be assured they will be one step closer to having their appeals cases reviewed and decided in a timely manner. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota reserves his time. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. roe: thank you, mr. speaker. i now yield two minutes to foormer member of our:, mr. -- former member of our committee, mr. costello of pennsylvania. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized.

mr. costello: thank you, mr. chair. this bill will improve the appeals process at the department of veterans affairs which is currently operating under a significant backlog. last session when i served on the v.a. committee, a major focus was reforming the appeals process to better serve veterans' appeals rights. my office has assisted hundreds of veterans, many of whom have struggled with the appeals process and several of whom have struggled with getting the care they need in a timely manner. . one individual my office worked with estimated the entire process from the time he first began seeking veterans benefits nell recent favorable decision from the board of appeals lasted 20 years. mr. speakering it is clear a solution is need -- mr. speaker, it is clear a solution is needed. this legislation would set out to improve the claims service -- process by providing veterans with three lanes, three choices

of how they want to proceed with the appeal. these include, one, having the original evidence reviewed again, or two, introducing new evidence and having another hearing, or three, sending it directly to the board of veterans appeal. the v.a.'s current five-year appeal wait time is not acceptable for our veterans. i'm proud to be a co-sponsor of this legislation which is an appropriate solution to this problem because it will help streamline many claims and also enable a more efficient administrative handling of those claims. i want to thank the leadership of chairman roe and those on the veterans affairs committee. i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 2288 and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania yields back. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. walz: at this time i'd like to yield as much time as she may consume to our good friend from nevada, former ranking member of theties ability assistance

foreign affairs subcommittee, someone who worked on this longer than anyone in the house, ms. titus. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for such time as she may consume. ms. titus: thank you very much. thank you, mr. walz, for your leadership, for bringing this bill, and for allowing me to stay involved even though i'm no longer on the committee. and likewise, thank you, dr. roe, for your work for veterans. i rise in strong support of h.r. 2288, the veterans appeals improvement and modernization act of 2017. fixing this was my top priority -- served d as the on the v.a. subcommittee. much of the focus was on the backlog which had just ballooned which caused many veterans to wait almost two years for an initial claim decision. after that backlog was addressed and reduced, the problem shifted

to the appeals process where todays as you have heard almost 470,000 veterans are currently waiting in an overburdened and overcomplicated system that was first developed in the 1930's and last updated in the 1980's. i regularly hear from my veteran constituents who are stuck in this appeals process about the need for reform. one veteran we are helping in las vegas has been working since august of 2013 to have his appeal adjudicated and another nevada veteran who, out of desperation, came to my office, took four years to complete his process. so obviously the current system is just unacceptable. and if we don't act, it's only going to get worse. we've heard statistics that show veterans may be waiting more than a decade to have their appeals ad jude kated. last year, working closely with the v.a., with the committee, and with many of our partners in

the v.s.o. community, i introduced legislation to address this outdated process. and i am very proud that my proposal is the basis for the legislation we're considered today. the changes that were made to that legislation are positive additions and i appreciate the work that chairman bost and ranking memberest have done to improve the -- ranking member esty have done to improve the bill. i encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to come together, to recognize, to help and assist our veterans to support this bill. then i want us to tell our friends in the senate, you've got to act quickly too. we've got to get this done. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. roe: i have no further speakers and i'm prepared to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is repair -- is prepared to close. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. walz: again, i i applaud all the work done on this, on behalf

of our veterans and those who are wait, thank you, professional staff on both sides of the aisle, thank you for doing that. i'd also like to thank this house for proving to the american people that we can work together for our common good, we can make improvements and we can move things along as they're meant to be. with that, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota yields back. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized to close debate on this bill. mr. roe: i too want to echo what mr. walz says, it's been a pleasure to work on this and what's been done in the previous congress. i think this is one of the most important bills we've voted on on the veterans affairs committee since i've been in congress. it's the thing we hear about, you hear about, mr. speaker, back home, are disability claims. i think this actually will speed up that process and adjudicate these claims. i want to thank both staffs and subcommittee chairs for their hard work and once again, i encourage all members to support h.r. 2288 as amended and i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee yields back the balance of his time. all time having expired on this bill, the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 2288 as amended? those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative -- the gentleman from tennessee is now recognized. mr. roe: i request the yeas and nays on this bill. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having risen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this uestion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition? mr. roe: i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 467. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of

the bill. the clerk: h.r. 467 a bill to direct the sec retear of veterans afairs to ensure that each medical facility of the department of veterans' affairs complies with requirements related to scheduling veterans for health care appointments to improve the uniform application of directives of the department and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from tennessee, mr. roe, and the gentleman from minnesota, mr. walz, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from tennessee. mr. roe: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. roe: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for such time. mr. roe: i rise in support of h.r. 467, a bill that would codify v.a.'s own directives for outpatient scheduling into law. in june of 2010, the veterans health administration issued titled,irective 2010-27

v.h.a. outpatient scheduling processes and procedure. this requires v.h.a. facility directors to annually certify their facility is in full compliance with the scheduling procedures outleaned in the directive. it's important to note that this directive was issued four years before the scheduling scandal at the phoenix v.a. broke with no less than 40 veterans dying while being kept on secret lists waiting for an appointment. i believe this direct i was a responsible way for v.a. to ensure that veterans were receiving the care they came to v.a. for and were not slipping through the crack. unfortunately , in may of 2013, then deppky undersecretary for health at v.a. waived this requirement for medical facility directors to adhere to the directive. as we now know, this waiver helped cover a practice of malfeasance within v.a. medical

facilities across the nation. as i mentioned before in 2014, the house committee on veterans afairs with my friend and former chairman, jeff, at the helm, scored problems. had this directive still been in place i honestly believe the scandal could have been prevented. it's incumbent upon us to ensure that these schedules processes do not and cannot be dismissed by v.a. bureaucrats ever again. i want to thank my good friend and former committee member representative jackie walorski from indiana for spon sr.ing this legislation. i urge all -- for sponsoring this legislation. i urge all my colleagues to support this legislation and i reserve the plans of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. walz: thank you, i yield myself such time as i may consume. i associate myself with the comments of chairman roe and support h.r. 467.

i would like to thank the gentlelady from indiana, mrs. walorski, for crafting this. she was a staunch and remains a staunch reporter of veterans, always advocating for that. taught me much including, i think, the definition of hoosier, i'm still a little confuse odden that one, but we're working it. by holding v.a. leadership accountability we can ensure the v.a. is accessible to all veterans. while v.a. made progress, we can't rest on our laurels. if one veteran's shelt compromised because he or she was unable to receive timely care, we've failed in you are mission. i ask my colleagues to stand in support of mrs. walorski's bill and yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. roe: i would like to yield to mr. bilirakis from florida. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. bilirakis: thank you very much. i appreciate mrs. walorski doing an outstanding job with this

bill. the chairman and ranking member are champions for veterans. again, i rise today in support of h.r. 467, the v.a. scheduling accountability act, because all veterans deserve timely access to quality health care. in 2014, the house veterans affairs committee uncovered the use of unauthorized waiting lists at the phoenix v.a. health care system in phoenix, arizona. as a result of these waiting lists, no less than 40 veterans died while waiting for care. this is unacceptable. it is heartbreaking and completely, as i said, completely unacceptable. these were our true american heroes and we cannot allow something like this to ever happen again. our investigations found that noncompliance with the v.a.'s scheduling policies was a widespread and systematic problem. this bill today requires that all v.a. medical center

directors certify each year that their facility is in compliance with scheduling directive. if a v.a. medical center is found noncompliant, h.r. 476 will hold those leaders accountable. our bill makes certain that those who failed in their duty to serve our veterans will not be receiving bonuses or awards any time soon. lack of oversight, lack of accountability, and lack of transparency lead -- really led to the 2014 wait times crisis. the v.a. scheduling accountability act would help ensure those mistakes are not repeated and improve access to timely care for our nation's heroes. and again, i want to thank the sponsor of the bill, mrs. walorski. it's one of the most important bills we'll pass this year in my opinion. i urge passage and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman from florida yields back. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. walz: i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. roe: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to yield five minutes to the sponsor of the bill, mrs. walorski a former member of the committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from indiana is recognized for five minutes. mrs. walorski: thank you, mr. speaker. i would also like to thank chairman roe, ranking member walz, what an honor to work with these two gentlemen on veterans' issues. i rise in support of my bill h.r. 467, the v.a. scheduling accountability act this commonsense legislation codifies an important measure of oversight and accountability at v.a. facilities to prevent scheduling manipulation or in vernacular, cooking the books, that's harmed veterans for so long. hearings held by the house v.a. committee an investigations by the v.a. inspector general and g.a.o. have confirmed many of the allegations of cooking books and falsified wait time data at v.a. facilities around the

country. they have a procedure for schedules appointments which includes 19 different items, such as ebb suring a patient's desired appointment is not altered and the staff is fully trained. the director requires -- the directors are required to certify compliance with these items every year. however it was uncovered that in may of 2013, a senior v.a. official waived the certification requirement that year, essentially putting the facilities on an honor system allowing them to self-certify. without this crucial accountability mechanism, bad tors were given free rein to ignore the scheduling practices. meanwhile, veterans faced significant delays in getting care they needed while in some extreme cases we heard veterans died. since that time, the v.a. has reinstated the certification requirements. however, serious problems remain as evidenced by a recent v.a. investigation of a clinic in my

own district that i requested after some brave individuals came forward with allegations of wrongdoing. the v.a. found the clinic scheduled appointments for veterans without the veteran's knowledge and canceled them on the day of the appointment to fill their schedule for that day. if the v.a. had conducted proper audits of that facility's scheduling practices last year that could have been prevented. they recommended a review of scheduling compliance for all facilities in the region. the v.a.'s continued inability to reform itself from within is the reason we need to pass this bill. this bill will require each facility director to annually certify compliance with the current scheduling directive or any successor directive that replace it and most importantly it'll prohibit any future waivers. the bill also provides accountability by making a director ineligible for salary bonuses if their facilities fail to certify compliance and it requires the v.a. to report to

congress a list of these facilities that are not in compliance. this ensure that congress is aware of noncompliant facilities. mr. speaker, our veterans risk life and limb for our freedom. too often, the v.a. has let them down. time to end the cooking of the ooks and the false wait-time data. and following scheduling rules is an important commonsense step to work for the veterans. support colleagues to h.r. 4 7 and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from indiana yields back. the gentleman continues to reserve. mr. roe: i'm prepared to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee is prepared to close. the gentleman from minnesota is

recognized to close. mr. walz: i thank the chairman for bringing this to the floor and i encourage my colleagues to support it. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. roe: i encourage all members to support this legislation and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee yields back. all time having expired on this bill, the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 467. hose in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the opinion of the chair -- mr. roe: request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee is now recognized. mr. roe: i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor will rise. and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the the yeas and nays

are ordered pursuant to clause 8, rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition? mr. roe: i move to suspend the ules and pass h.r. 1005. the clerk: h.r. 1005, a bill to amend title 38 united states code to improve the provision of adult health care services for veterans. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from tennessee, mr. rowe and the gentleman from minnesota, mr. walz, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from tennessee. mr. roe: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. roe: today, i rise in support of h.r. 1005 a bill to improve the provision of adult day health care services for veterans. last year, the department

testified 8.9 million veterans will be 65 years of age or older in 20717. given that, the need to ensure that veterans have ready access to a variety of long-term care services as support is increasingly component of the v.a.'s mission. current law requires v.a. to cover nursing home state care for any veteran in need of such care due to a service-sected sability or rating of 70% or more. the authority is incredibly important and helped our veterans to get nursing home care that they need. there is a need to offer long-term programs in noninstitutional settings that would allow aging veterans to receive needed services and support while remaining in their homes. to that end, this bill would

require to enter into an agreement to pay for adult day health care for a veteran who is not receiving nursing home care. it will provide veterans in need and supporting services with companionship, peer support, recreation and health care services. they also provided respite for caregivers by requiring v.a. to cover the cost of adult health care programs who would be otherwise qualified for v. h v.a. nursing care, this would expand access to this type of care which has been shown to maximize veteran's independence and quality of life and extend an aging veteran's ability to remain at home, which i think we would all want to do. this bill has the support of the national association of state veterans' homes, the american

legion, disabled veterans and veterans of foreign wars of the united states. i'm grateful to my friend, lee zeldin for sponsoring this legislation and bringing it to the house floor. i look forward to working with him and our colleagues in the senate to secure quick passage. i urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting h.r. 1005 and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee reserves. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. walz: i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise in strong support of congressman zeldin's bill, h.r. 1005. this legislation is a timely solution to a problem that affects many of our aging veteran population. nursing homes is a last resort. by allowing veterans to receive assistance at a nursing home and return to their homes, they will get the attention they need without sacrificing the family

support and independence they want. i ask my colleagues to support this really smart piece of legislation. with that, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota reserves. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. roe: i yield two minutes to a former member of our committee and sponsor of this legislation, mr. zeldin from new york. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. zeldin: i rise in support of h.r. 1005, a bill which would rovide no costs at state veterans' homes who veterans are 70% disabled. this is an extension of the health care and information technology act of 2006. which currently provides no cost to nursing home care at any state veterans' home to veterans who are 70% or more disabled. it provides comprehensive medical nursing and personal care services combined with engaging social activities for physically or cognitively

impaired adults. medical model offers a complete array of rehabilitative therapies including occupational, physical and speech therapies. nd spiritual and nutritional counseling. the program is designed to promote socialization and maximize the participant's independence while enhancing their quality of life. the program is staffed by a team of multi discipline area health care officials who evaluate each participant and customize a plan to their health and social needs. it is an alternative care setting that can allow some veterans who need long-term care services be in their homes. such veterans typically support for some but not all activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing or feeding. a spouse or other family member

may provide the veteran with much of their care, but they require additional support for some of the veteran a.d.l.'s. by filling these gaps, adult health care can allow veterans to remain in their homes for additional months and even years and lower the financial cost for caring for these heroes. it provides family care delivers support and relief and the programs can help caregivers to meet their professional and family obligations or provide a well-deserved respite while their loved ones are participating in the program. i thank the chairman and ranking member for their support. and i thank the house veterans' affairs committee, the great staff for recognizing the need for this critical legislation. this is piece of legislation and i encourage all of my colleagues to support and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. walz: i continue to reserve

the balance. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. roe: i would like to yield one minute to a former member of our committee, mr. costello. mr. costello: i rise in support of legislation that would assist veterans in pennsylvania's 6th congressional district who suffer from a service-connected disability. it would allow the department to work with state veterans' homes such as the southeastern veterans' center in my district in chester county, pennsylvania, to fund adult day health care for veterans who have a disability rating of 70% or more in the line of duty. making this program available that need help would help improve the lives of those who sacrificed so much as well as their families. our veterans and their loved ones deserve to receive high

quality health services with the freedom and flexibility to live independently and at home. i commend congressman zeldin for his leadership and all those on the veterans affairs committee and i'm proud to be a co-sponsor of this bill. and i urge my colleagues to support it. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. walz: i continue to reserve. mr. roe: i have no further speakers and am prepared to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota is recognized to close debate for the minority. mr. walz: i encourage my colleagues to pass h.r. 1005 and i yield back. mr. roe: i ask all members have five legislative days to include extraneous material. once i encourage all members to support this legislation. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. all time having now expired on

this bill, the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 1005. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended and the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek reck anything? mr. roe: i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1162. the clerk: h.r. 1162 a bill to direct the secretary of veterans affairs to carry out a pilot program to provide access to to etic e.e.g.-i.k.g. veterans. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from tennessee, mr. rowe and the gentleman from minnesota will each control 20 minutes. mr. roe: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include

extraneous material. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. . mr. roe: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for such time. mr. roe: i rise today in support of h.r. 1162, a bill to expand the use of e.e.g.-e.k.g. magnetic ressonance therapy to treat veterans with traumatic brain injury, military sexual trauma and opoid addiction at v.a. medical centers. a 2016 report found that mental health conditions and substance abuse among veterans is alarming high and steadily on the rise up rom 27% in 2001 to over 40% in 2014. perhaps even more alarling, the same show that v.a. increased its use of opoids by 259% over the same period to treat these

invisible wounds. m.r.t. is an emerging technology that has been used to treat over 400 veterans with the symptoms of their mental conditions. e.e.g.-e.k.g. technology to target the affected areas of the brain and provide stimulation to return to normal function. m.r.t. has been approved by the food and drugs administration to treat depression and a study found that veterans who underwent treatment reported an average of 47.4% reduction in symptoms severity. after four weeks of treatment, veteran participation saw a 64% reduction in symptom severity on average. the same study showed zero reports of worsening symptoms or adverse effects from the treatment. h.r. 1162 would create a one-year pilot at two v.a. facilities during which 50

veterans would be provided treatment for ptsd, military sexual trauma, chronic pain and opoid addiction. the secretary of the v.a. would issue a report of the efficacy of the pilot. and m.r.t. technology, we must act quickly to make this technology more available to veterans suffering from the invisible wounds of war. i thank my good friend, representative steve knight from california for sponsoring this legislation. i urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting h.r. 1162. and i reserve. . >> i rise in support of h.r. 1162.

the v.a. should continue to explore benefits of alternative treatments. medical providers must think uds the box and find effective ways to treat the veteran's experience. mr. walz: for this reason, i would ask my colleagues to support this important piece of legislation and start moving in a direction that serves our veterans to their best -- the best treatment for them. with that, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. row: at this time i'd like to yield three minutes to the sponsor of this bill, mr. knight of california. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is ecognized for three minutes. mr. knight spd today i rise in -- mr. knight: today i rise in support of the no hero left untreated act. i rise to stand with our veterans for whom the trauma from the battlefield does not always appear.

whether it's ptsd, chronic pain, or opioid addiction, the pilot program will provide innovative, individualized treatment for all too common diagnoses our veteran face today. mert is aic -- th the nonpharmaceutical and noninvasive procedure that has shown great promise. this bill requires the sec retear of veterans afairs to establish the pilot program, treat 50 veterans using m.r.t. and come with -- at two different v.a. locations and come back with a report. already at the brain cent for the california, 98% of veterans in recent tries experienced a 10-point change in their military checklist or pclm which ranges from 17 to 80678 the active duty military has already begun clinical trials using the

m.r.t. procedure at tinker air base, concluding that, quote, transcranial m.r.t. is a adjew vant treatment mo tall dito help treatments with ptsd. it reduced the average pclm score from 66 to 37. u.s. special operations command has founded -- funded their own trials using the brain treatment center's treatment modality and is conducting research in florida and at naval special warfare command in california. i ask for unanimous consent to enter for the record letters of support for h.r. 1162 from amvets, the veterans health council, the association of the united states navy, the patriot project, lines for life, the tional foundation, the institute for steadfast leadership and the west care foundation. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so order. mr. knight: in the time the

defense department maintains technological superiority over our adversaries in comment, we must continue to push the technological limit to treating our selfless service members once their duty is done. i'm optimistic that this pilot program for our veteran population will be a first of many that improve ours ability to heal wounded veterans. mr. speaker, i'll leave you with one last quote theasms amvets director stated in his letter of support, it is imperative that we as a nation look at new ways to help those who have stood up an waubed the walk and suffer the consequences day after day. i urge my colleagues to vote yes and i yield back the remainder of my time. sproim the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. >> i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves this ejult is recognized. >> i have no further speakers, i'm prepared to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is prepared to close the gentleman from minnesota is recognized to close debate. mr. walz: i'd like to thank the

gentleman for his innovative approach. i encourage my colleagues to join us in passing h r. 1162 and yield back the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back this egentleman from tennessee is recognized if close debate on the bill. mr. roe: i encourage all members to support this legislation and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 1162. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition? mr. roe: thank you, mr. speaker. i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1545. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1545, a bill to amend title 38 united states code to clarify the authority of the secretary of veterans afairs to disclose certain patient information to state-controlled

substance monitoring programs for for other program purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee mr. roe and the gentleman from minnesota, mr. walz, each will control 20 minutes this echair recognizes the gentleman from tennessee. mr. roe: thank youing mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, ordered. mr. roe: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. roe: i rise today in support of h.r. 1545, the v.a. prescription data accountability act of 2017. h.r. 1545 would require the department of veterans afairs to disclose information about any individual prescribed medication by a v.a. employee or a provider authorized by v.a. to a state prescription drug monitoring program to the extent necessary to prevent misuse and diversion of prescription medication. prescription drug monitoring programs are statewide electronic databases that

collect and distribute information on prescription medication to certain authorized individuals or entities. they're used to identify and address prescription drug abuse, addiction and diversion. while 90% of v.a.'s patient population are veterans, v.a. treats certain nonveterans, including active duty service members who receive v.a. care through sharing agreements with the department of defense, dependents, care givers of veterans and v.a. staff to name a few. current law authorizes v.a. to disclose information to prescription drug monitoring programs for veterans and depends on veterans only. v.a. is not authorized to disclose information for other patients. moreover, technological barriers prevent v.a. from transmitting dependent data to prescription drug monitoring programs. that means the prescription drug information for nonveterans, 10% of v.a.'s patient population, which translates to more than 700,000 veterans this fiscal ar, is not being shared with

prescription drug monitoring programs today. in light of ongoing concerns about the potential for misuse or diversion of prescription medication, particularly opioid medications it's imperative that v.a. share about all v.a. patient, veteran and nonveteran, the constituent prescription drug monitoring programs. it's a matter of public safety. h.r. 1545 is supported by the american lee le john, the paralyzed veterans of america, the veterans of foreign wars of the united states, and by the v.a. who testified before the subcommittee on health earlier this year that this authority would, quote, ensure that v.a. is able to fulfill its public health role in sharing vital clinical information to help guide treatment decisions, end quote. this bill is sponsored by congresswoman ann kuster, the ranking member of the subcommittee on oversight and investigations, joined by brad

wenstrup, chairman of the subcommittee on health, and congresswoman julia brownley the ranking member of the subcommittee on health. i'm grateful to all of them for sponsoring this legislation, it has my full support and i urge all of our colleagues to join me in supporting it. with that, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. 13r0eu7 the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. walz: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i might consume. i rise in strong support of h.r. 1545 offered by congresswoman cufter who is the ranking member for oversight and investigation subcommittee and is importantly a champion of policies that make sure the scourge of opiate addiction is addressed in this congress and is the leading expert on it this legislation would make significant progress toward curving substance abuse disorders in our veteran population. as you heard, currently a veteran will receive a prescription far controlled substance from a provider in the community and then receive a

prescription for the same substance from a v.a. provider without either provider's knowledge of what happened. congress has tried to remedy this problem but due to confusion within the v.a. was unscuffle. i believe congresswoman kuster's bill will cheer lineup -- clear up this problem and allow the v.a. to clear up substance abuse disorder instead of contributing to them. i support this legislation and encourage my colleagues to do the same. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. roe: i would like to yield one minute to mr. costello of pennsylvania. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. costello: i rise in support of the prescription data accountability act. we face a serious opioid epidemic in our communities across the nation and as we work to put forth solutions to this crisis, it is critical that we incorporate the veterans health administration into existing,

effective controlled substance monitoring programs. to ensure effective, accurate oversight of who was being prescribed controlled substances this legislation would require the v.a. to disclose information about all individuals, veteran or dependent, who receive such prescriptions from the v.h.a. in my home state of pennsylvania, we have an established comprehensive and effective prescription drug monitoring program. incorporating adecisional data from the v.a. is an appropriate step to utilize proven, existing networks to fight back against the opioid epidemic. i urge my colleagues to support this legislation and yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. walz: at this time, mr. speaker, it's my pleasure to yield three minutes to my good friend, the ranking member of the oversight investigation subcommittee and a critical partner in serving our veterans, the gentlewoman from new hampshire, ms. kuster. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is -- the gentlewoman from new hampshire is recognized. ms. kuster: thank you, mr.

speaker. i want to thank ranking member mr. walz and our chair dr. roe for their support of this bill. today i rise to speak on my bill h.r. 1545, the v.a. prescription accountability act. this bill demonstrates the pow over bipartisanship in this congress, especially on the house v.a. committee. i'd like to thank dr. wenstrup for his willingness to co-lead this bill with me and also general bergman and ms. brownley for co-sponsoring this commonsense legislation. this bill is common sense because it improves upon the prescription drug monitoring programs also known as pdmp's across this country. pdmp's are proven resources in combating our nation's opioid epidemic. pdmp's improve the public health and our general well being. in 2012, the v.a. was finally authorized to connect its patient population to state pdmp's but unfortunately an issue with the v.a.'s antiquated

computer systems meant that literally hundreds of thousands of nonveteran patients of the v.a. were left excluded from the data reported to pdmp's by the v.a. as ranking member of the house veterans oversight and investigation subcommittee, i'm all too familiar with the continued issues with computer systems across the entirety of the v.a. this issue underscores the need for the v.a. and this congress to ensure effective and rapid reform for the v.a.'s computer systems. when those systemic shortcomings potentially exacerbate the nation's opioid epidemic, i saw the importance to take action. through my bipartisan heroin task force, we in congress have learned the importance of ensuring prescription opioids are not misused. the consequences are truly dire. over 30,000 americans die in opioid related overdoses every

year. that number just continues to rise. this bill represents a small but practical step forward in addressing this crisis. i urge all of my colleagues to vote in favor of this low-cost bill. it will help ensure these important programs work as commended by closing the gap in prescription information and i urge my senate colleagues to quickly take up the bill and pass it in the senate as well. thank you for your opportunity to speak and i yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. roe: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. walz: i would like to yield three minutes to my good friend and the vice ranking member of the committee on veterans afairs a true champion of veterans affairs, mr. takano. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. takano: i thank the gentleman from minnesota for yielding. thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of my colleague from new hampshire, ms. kuster, and her bill to

improve information sharing between providers to ensure that they're able to follow safe prescribing practice -- practices. the v.a. prescription data accountability act helps close a loophole in statute that limits the data that the v.a. can share with prescription drug onitoring programs or pdmp's. they track the prescribing and dispensing of controlled substances to help find suspected fraud and intervene with patients who are at high risk for prescription drug abuse. ese data bases are only as useful as the information they collect. in 2011, the v.a. has been able to share prescription data with dmp's but if the veteran agrees. it has prevented the department

from sharing data from non-veteran patients with pdmp's. 10% of the v.a. patients are nonveterans, only about 700,000 patients each year. now the bill expands the authority of the v.a. to share all patient data with pdmp's. this will allow us to better monitor the use of prescription drugs and help combat the growing opoid epidemic. on average 650,000 opioids prescriptions are dispensed daily and 78 people die from related opioids overdoses. carefully tracking these drugs is helping us to stem the tide on this epidemic. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. roe: i continue to reserve my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from reserves. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. walz: i urge my colleagues to pass h.r. 1545 and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized to close debate. mr. roe: and over 31 years of practice of medicine i have seen great changes, many of them to the good. one of the things that has disturbed me greatly is the opioids epidemic we have in this country. i'm an obstetrician and delivered a lot of babies and it was a rare event that a baby was addicted to opioidses. and 10 years ago, a flull fledged epidemic and cares for nothing but opioids-addicted babies. in our state of tennessee, mr. speaker, we have had more people who died of prescription drug overdose deaths than car wrecks and exceeds many cancer deaths

in the country. this bill has my purpose support. and i certainly want to thank ms. kuster for her great work. we shared a trip to afghanistan as with mr. takano and talked about these things in great detail. and i want to thank her and the ranking member for their support in this. and i encourage all members to support this legislation and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee yields back. all time having expired on this bill, the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 1545. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition? mr. roe: i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1725 as

amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1725, a bill to amend title 38 united states code to improve the treatment of medical evidence provided by nondepartment of vet rans affairs in support of claims for disability compensation of the laws administered by the secretary of veterans affairs and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from tennessee, mr. rowe and the gentleman from minnesota, mr. walz will each control 20 minutes. it chair recognizes the gentleman from tennessee. mr. roe: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to insert extraneous material in the record on h.r. 1725 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. so ordered. mr. roe: thank you, mr. speaker. h.r. 1725 as amended was introduced by mr. walz and the ranking member of the veterans affairs committee.

this bill addresses a very serious issue. when a veteran files a claim for disability benefits, v.a. may need a medical opinion whether it is service connected and the extent of the disability. the problem is that v.a. schedules a medical disability examination when one might not need one. many times a veteran will submit evidence from a private doctor with enough information but we hear about cases where v.a. requires a v.a. examination. ordering examinations is a waste of time and resources. it takes doctors away from taking care of their patients and conducting other disability examinations. h.r. 1725 as amended would require v.a. to provide reports to congress about its use of private medical evidence. this information will be used to help us find ways to make the disability examination more efficient nor veterans.

i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 1725 as amended. with that, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee reserves. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. walz: i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise in support of this piece of legislation and i want to thank the chairman personally for bringing this forward and being eloquent in his words on what this did. it is appropriate that it is part of this block of legislation dealing with repeal reforms also. i would like to thank mr. denham, ms. mcsally, mr. costello, ms. kuster, mr. higgins and ms. shea-porter. this bill sought to change a current requirement stipulating that those willing to file must be conducted by the v.a. to allow veterans to see a local doctor. as the chairman pointed out, it

was to relieve the pressure on the v.a. while recognizing we have quality and trustworthy physicians in the private sector who could deliver some of these services. requiring the v.a. to accept evidence it would ease it in the rural communities and reduce the wait times and the back logs. the problem that we have been working on for many years. we introduced similar language in 2013, 2014 and 2015. i would like to thank fellow members and those who are no longer in congress for working towards this. and we are tightening the scope of this bill to address the cost that the congressional budget office scored it to. it requires an annual report how a veteran obtains private medical evidence. and it is my hope with this data we will build our case for mandating that the v.a. accept

all credible private medical evidence. we cannot be the perfect be the enemy of the good and need to gather this data as possible. they make it more convenient for veterans to get medical evidence. veterans will be able to complete their claims faster and start receiving the benefits they earn and the stress on 20 years of waiting, much of that time seeing private physicians and gathering evidence to support the very claim that's being denied, this piece of legislation should make sense. i thank everyone involved with this. and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota reserves. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. roe: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. walz: i urge my colleagues to support this piece of legislation, h.r. 1725 and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota yields back his time.

the gentleman from tennessee is recognized to close debate on the bill. mr. roe: i wholeheartedly endorse this bill. sergeant major walz speaks with great passion about it. and mayo clinic is in his district and i can't imagine that aevaluation that wouldn't be great for the v.a. i support this bill and urge all members to do so and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee yields back. all time having expired on this bill, the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 1725 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed. and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. without objection, the title is amended.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition? mr. roe: i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1329 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 83, a bill to increase effective as of december 1, 2017, the rates of compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indepartment compensation for the survivors of certain disabled veterans to amend title 38 united states code to the court of appeals to improve the processing of claims by the secretary of veterans affairs and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: purn to the rule, squasm tennessee, mr. rowe and the gentleman from minnesota, mr. walz, each will control 20 minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from tennessee. mr. roe: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five

legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material in the record on h.r. 1329 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. roe: thank you, mr. speaker. such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for such time. mr. roe: h.r. 1329 as amended is one of the most important bills that the house will take up this year. this bill will help ensure that the benefits paid to veterans who are disabled as a result of their military service do not lose value because of inflation. h.r. 1329 as amended authorizes a cost of living increase for veterans and their families next year as long as social security recipients receive an increase. we pass this bill every year and always enjoyed wide bipartisan support. this year's bill was introduced by the disability assistance and memorial affairs subcommittee chairman and ranking member. i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 1329 as amended and help

disabled veterans and their families keep up with the rate of inflation. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized for such time as he may consume. mr. walz: mr. speaker, i rise tore support h.r. 1329 as amended, the veterans cost of living adjustment act. and rates of compensation for veterans for service-connected disabilities and indepartment compensation for survivors. this adjustment is tied to the rates of increase in social security benefits. this is vital to the economic well-being and that support should never be eroded. i thank chairman roe for bringing the bill to us in a totally bipartisan process. and chairman boston and ranking member esty, their names are being brought up a lot today. it says something about it. they are tackling issues that have lasted years and bring up important issues that impact the

well-being of veterans. they did so in a bipartisan manner that i think serves the reputation of this house could sorely need more of it. with that, i reserve the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. roe: i yield two minutes to the chairman of the subcommittee, chairman boston. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. bost: i rise today in support of house resolution h.r. 1329, the veterans compensation cost of lick adjustment act of 2017. this bill should be a top priority for all of us this year. h.r. 1329 should ensure that the veterans receive a cost of lick increase next year if social security recipients get one. we know that the price keeps going up and veteran benefits don't keep pace, veterans and

their families will have a hard time paying for food, shelter and clothing. this bill is extremely important to our nation's veterans and i ask all members to support it. i want to thank the disability assistance and memorial affairs ranking member, ms. esty for her support of this legislation. i urge my colleagues also to support h.r. 1329. thank you, mr. chairman. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. walz: i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman continues to reserve. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. roe: i yield to the vice chairman of our committee, mr. bilirakis, for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. bilirakis: this truly is a bipartisan committee under the able leadership of our chairman roe and our ranking member, mr. walz. so again, i'm proud to serve on this committee. and i rise today in support of h.r.