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Hello!
As your representative, I wanted to make sure you knew about the bill just passed by Congress to help veterans get the benefits and care they deserve.
Congress passes sweeping veterans’ bill, headed to WH
This is a historic week for our nation’s veterans.
Congress just sent the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020 to President Trump’s desk for signature.
This piece of legislation invests in the GI Bill and economic opportunities for veterans, improves care and reduces barriers for women veterans, expands resources for veterans hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, and more.
"Fitting that this bill heads to the president's desk today"
In December 2019, Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA) retired from his role as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs after 20-years of dedicated service. At the end of this month, Dr. Phil Roe (R-TN), Ranking Member – and former Chairman – of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, will be retiring after a decade of distinguished service in the House of Representatives.
It has been one of the greatest honors of my life to serve our nation’s heroes under Senator Isakson and Dr. Roe’s leadership. So it is only fitting that this bill heads to the president's desk today.
And I’m proud to have contributed to this important piece of legislation.
Four bills introduced/co-introduced by Rep. Banks included in package
Among the numerous provisions in the package to help veterans get the benefits and care they deserve, four bills I introduced or co-introduced were included in this package. Those include:
1. H.R. 697 - Authorizes VA to pay the cost of transporting the remains of deceased veterans to a state or tribal veterans cemetery in which a deceased veteran is eligible to be buried and to which the Secretary has made a grant under section 2408 of title 38.
2. H.R. 698 - Requires the VA Secretary to report to Congress on the corrective measures taken by VA to address concerns identified on the high risk list published by the Government Accountability Office. The high risk list is a list of programs that are vulnerable to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement or that need transformation.
3. H.R. 7105 - Authorizes use of the VA's Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem (GPD) Program dollars to provide food, communications equipment, transportation, and basic supplies to homeless veterans and authorizes a 3x increase in GPD payment amounts to providers for domiciliary care during the pandemic.
4. H.R. 7009 – Authorizes colleges and universities located outside the United States to participate in the VA Yellow Ribbon Program. This program helps pay higher education costs for student veterans that exceed the amount covered by the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
I wish Senator Isakson and Dr. Roe a happy and fulfilled retirement and look forward to President Trump signing this legacy legislation into law for our veterans!
You can learn more about the additional provisions in this bill by visiting veterans.house.gov here.
Thanks for letting me fill you in.
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Jim Banks
Member of Congress
Indiana’s Third District |