U.S. Senate
There is nothing on this week's Senate schedule as far as planned
votes or committee hearings related to veterans or military families.
U.S. House
***** At some point this week, the House of Representatives will vote
on S. 693, the National POW/MIA Flag Act, originally introduced by
Sen. Warren (D-MA). The legislation would require the POW/MIA Flag to
be displayed whenever the American flag is displayed on prominent
federal properties, including the U.S. Capitol, the White House, the
World War II Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial, every national cemetery, the buildings containing
the official offices of the Secretaries of State, Defense, and
Veterans Affairs, the office of the Director of the Selective Service
System, each major military installation (as designated by the
Secretary of Defense), each Department of Veterans Affairs medical
center, and each United States Postal Service post office. The Senate
unanimously passed S.693 on May 2, 2019.
***** Last week, the House of Representatives passed the following bills:
H.R. 95, the Homeless Veteran Families Act. This bill would authorize
VA to pay a partial per diem to VA’s Homeless Grant Per Diem service
providers supporting our nation’s homeless veterans with children. It
passed 408-0.
H.R. 2385, a bill to permit the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to
establish a grant program to conduct cemetery research and produce
educational materials for the Veterans Legacy Program (by Rep. Lamb).
This bill permits the Secretary of VA to use grants rather than
federal contracts to fund cemetery research programs and produce
educational materials as part of the Veterans Legacy Program. It
passed 409-1.
H.R. 1199, the VA Website Accessibility Act. This bill directs the
Secretary of VA to conduct a study regarding the accessibility of VA
websites to individuals with disabilities and its compliance under
current federal law. It passed by simple voice vote.
***** Also, the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee will hold a
subcommittee hearing this Wednesday on the topic of "Protecting
Benefits for All Service members.”