there are a lot of recovering addicts and we should show more compassion. and trump actually awarded a drug addict the medal of freedom, rush limbaugh was convicted of being a drug addict. he was also stealing doctor's prescriptions to get more drugs and trump game him -- gave him the middle of freedom -- freedom. i do not see the hoop law. he made mistakes and he is recovering and i hope joe biden pardons if he is convicted. have a great weekend america. host: eileen is the last call for the program. the house is about to gavel in. thank you to everybody who called in. we will see you tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern time. here is house. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

er.p wl be chairl b oeredy ourguthaairas t stucie florida.thplai let us p r reds yrs yav ided t and women in this om. say th y.e y and we thk u for t ared prayer a tnk you forour vornd bssing that ho clearly rested onon. i pray that the men and women in this room will tune their hearts

and minds towards heaven, protect them, lord. speak to them. encourage them and give them wisdom in every decision they make. may they always look to you for guidance as they make decisions that impact every american. i pray for unity today, lord. both in this room and outside this room. that from eve■ corner of this country, people will unify around the truth of your rd peo. and we continue words that have been long echoed in this room. god bless america. in the name of jesus we pray. amen. the speaker: amen. the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house her approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1 the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from ohio, mr. fulcher. i'm sorry. idaho. not ohio. mr. fulcher: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states

of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker: without objection, the gentleman from florida is recognized for one minute. mr. mast: mr. speaker, i would like to thank my pastor, pastor travis o'neal for coming to open the prayer this morning. he makes sure there's a home and a place for people to find the lord, to grow in their walk with the lord, to make discies. i thank the pastor for his prayer and i ask that we hee the words that he said to us this morning, that we seek the lord's counsel. i ask that his prayer be

granted. that the lord's hand guide us in our work here and most of all, i ask that the lord fulfill what the pastor prayed for which is god bless the united states of america. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain up to five further requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from iowa seek recognition? without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, as a 24-year army veteran, i rise today in honor of the 80th anniversary of d-day, a day etched in the anals of american valor and sacrifice. it was on the shores of normandy that our brave troops with hearts full of patriotism and determination stormed the beaches to confront tyranny head-on. mrs. miller-meeks: let us remember those courageous souls

who gave everything for the cause of freedom.■ their unwavering spirit unbodies the very essence of what it means to be an american. as we reflect on this day, let us reignite the flames of patriotism within our hearts. let us stand united in our commitment to uphold the principles of liberty and justice which they have fought so gallantly. today we honor their legacy by reafirping our dedication -- reaffirming our dedication to the ideals that made america great. let us pledge to never falter in always remember the sacrifices made on that day. god bless america and may we forever cherish the memory of our heroes. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from massachusetts seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to honor the life of brian joel

adzig who passed away in 2024 after a hard-fought battle with cancer. brian was an extraordinary individual whose life exemplified resilience, love and an unwavering dedication towards work, country and family. brian was motivated and worked hard to make a difference in this world. joining the utah national guard in 2009 and the massachusetts national guard in 2022. brian excelled in the field of loss prevention and became a loss prevention manager at t.j.x., a role that he cherished. he loved motorcycles, hiking, fishing and playing with his dogs. as he found joy in the simplicity of life and enjoyed sharing it with his wife, heather, and his two beautiful children. he reminds us that even in the face of adversity, we can still leave an enduring mark in our lives and in this world. brian, a soldier, a leader, a

friend, a father, and most of all, a hero to all whose lives he impacted for the better. mr. keating: mr. speaker, i'm proud to honor the life of brian a dzig and i ask my colleagues join in acknowledging his commitment in serving our community and our country. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? mr. thompson: request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for o mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize national trail day and the amazing trails across my district. the pine creek trail is hailed as one of the best 10 places to take a bike tour. the allegheny river and samuel justice trails pass through counties and runs through the heart of the oil heritage region. the great path was once the route used by native american

tribes and is in armstrong county. the red bank valley rail trail was named the pennsylvania trail of the year in 2020 and crosses through armstrong, clarion and jefferson counties. transversing clarion, elk forest and mckeon counties is the knocks and cane trail. this is full of scenic trailways in and around the bridge state park to clarion junction. part of the rail trail is the mount joliet bridge trail which was recently awarded pennsylvania's trail of the year in 2023. mr. speaker, this national trail ■j■day, i encourage you to get outside and explore the trails in your area. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i rise to ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute.

>> mr. speaker, i rise today in celebration of immigrant heritage month. a time to recognize and appreciate the immigrant experience and their contributions they have made to our country. we want to also recognize individuals with temporary t.p.. t.p.s. provides temporary protection from deportation and work authorization for thoseretr home countries due to extenuating circumstances. t.p.s. protects immigrants like ann a-rodry guess. anna is a janitor in houston who fled a civil war, a civil war in el salvador, and has lived in houston for more than 20 years. thanks to t.p.s., she has spent 20 years making meaningful grear good of houston and our nation. that's why my bill, the american

dream and promise act, includes t.p.s. holders because this is the country that they know and they call home. mr. speaker, i am the grandchild of immigrants. i stand with immigrants. ms. garcia: i see the contribution that they make to this country every single day across america. we must put people over politics. immigrants over ignorance. and protect these american families by expanding t.p.s. and passing bills like my american dream and promise act. to give immigrants and dreamers the right to be here. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from idaho seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. while the crisis at our southern border continues to worsen due to president biden's blatant disregard for u.s. immigration laws, customs and border

protection officers are now seeing a spike in activity at our northern border. last month 16,750 illegal illegl immigrants werentered at our northern border. an over 1,000% increase compared to april of 2021. mr. fulcher: that's just what we know of. krrmt b.p. report -- c.b.p. reports most of these individuals are attempting to evade apprehension, unlike at the southern border where groups know they'll be released directly into the u.s. our national security is in shambles as this crisis continues to escalate with no end in sight. unlike president biden, i will not stand by and allow known gang members, terrorists and foreign aggressors to waltz into our country through our northern border and idaho. i will continue to fight to secure our border and i urge my colleagues to do the same. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york seek recognition?

ms. velazquez: to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. velazquez: mr. speaker, today i rise to recognize june as immigrant heritage month. this month we celebrate the invaluable contributions of immigrants and the positive impact that they have on our country. in that spirit, i would like to share the story of one of my constituents. injury ald is -- jera -- gerald is a temporary status recipient from haiti. gerald was in florida on a business trip when he learned that his home country had been devastated by the catastrophic earthquake and he would be unable to return home safely. however, with his t.p.s. status, he has been able to lead from work in the u.s. and support his family in haiti. gerald is a 32-bh member who

works as a security officer and wheelchair attendant at laguardia international airport and on the weekends serves as a martial arts instructor with a dream to one day have his own studio. t.p.s. has allowed gerald to contribute so much to our community. t.p.s. holders like gerald across the country contribute someon to the u.s. economy. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. ms. velazquez: gerald, this immigrant heritage month, i want to recognize the contributions of immigrants like gerald to communities across the country. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. davis: mr. speaker, the sound of freedom is roaring at see more johnson air force base in wayne county, north carolina. this past week i visited the

base with my colleagues and the mayor of the it was a pleasure -- mayor. it was a pleasure meeting the new wing commander. we had an extensive discussion regarding divestment, the new air task force, and upgrading the combat range. it's crucial to recognize that seymorye johnson plays a vital role in eastern north carolina's economy, which is economicly disdressed. it's imperative that we prioritize our national security interests and protect this community. i support the national defense authorization act, including a provision requiring the air force to contract with the department of defense and conduct an assessment and report back to congress. the air force must prioritize transparency and accountability to the wayne county residents. the speaker pro tempore: foreld what purpose does the gentleman from new mexic recognition?

mr. vasquez: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. vasquez: mr. speaker, i rise today to honor samantha who died tragically in an automobile accident on march 1. if you met samantha, you'd know she was extraordinary. sam was clever, vivacious and kind. she moved with energy, purpose and a little bounce. she spoke with insight, clarity and an uncanny confidence. at 14 years old, sam had remarkable promise. she was first in her class, fluent in three languages, a dedicated volleyball player, active in numerous clubs, and founder of the mock trial club. more importantly, sam was a good person of great faith who brought light to any situation. sam's good energy, light and purpose spreads throughout her community. her friends and family, including her sister, kathryn, and her mother, lori, who are

here with us today, feel comfort and delight in the echo of sam's wild and joyful laughter. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 269, the medicare declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for further consideration of h.r. 8580, would the gentleman from indiana, mr. yakym, kindly take the chair. the chair: the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for further consideration of h.r. 8580 which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: a bill making appropriations for military construction, the department of veterans affairs, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2025, and for other purposes.

th when the committee of the whole house rose on tuesday, number 42, printed in part b of house report 118-535, offered by the gentleman from texas, mr. self, has been disposed of. it is now in order to consider amendment number 43 printed in on 118-535. for what purpose does the gentleman from mr. schweikert: i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 43, printed in part b of house po offered by mr. schweikert of arizona. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 1269, the gentleman from arizona, mr. schweikert, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona mr. schweikert: thank mr. chairman. mr. chairman, and one of my favorite ranking members. part of what we are trying to

accomplish here, we are going to have two amendments basically in different categories doing this, is if we look over some of the g.a.o. reports from the last couple years, some of the issues we have had in claims, payment processing. if we actually look at the last g.a.o. line items, long-term services support we think there is about -- g.a.o. thought there was about $38 billion in questionable issues. we come down on even some of the pension processing, about $10 billion in question. so we are in the age of a miracle of technology. we also know when we read over some of the reports coming out of the v.a. there's issues on trying to hire staff. trying to hire staff that's qualified. the ability, amount of claims and data and those things that have come n all we are trying to

do here -- come in. all we are trying to do here is push the direction of using the technology that's now amongst us. many of us will refer to a.i., but it's in some ways, it's bigger than that. it's an algorithm, the a.i., the ability to use data to mine through here's where things aren't working the way it should. here's where we are missing. here's where there's fraud. the first amendment is on to dite claims. if you have claims and they are fitting certain formats, the fact of the matter is you should be able to go through them at an incredibly rapid rate with an incredibly level of high accuracy if you adopt the technology. our argument is getting the technology right is moral. it's also fiscally really sensible. with that i reserve. the chair: the gentleman reserves. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from florida seek recognition? ms. wasserman schultz: mr. chairman, to rise in

opposition to the amendment, although i do not oppose it. the chair: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. wasserman schultz: thank you, mr. chairman. this amendment is noncontroversial. i appreciate the gentleman from arizona's kind words and feel the same. i am not opposed to it. it supports artificial intelligence technologies to expedite -- technologies to expedite v.a. claims. anything we can do to expedite them is worthwhile. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlewoman yields. the gentleman from arizona is recognized mr. schweikert: mr. chairman, maybe■v■i for 40 seconds or so would the gentlewoman from florida enter into a colloquy with me. you have a much higher degree of expertise, both of you do, in regards to v.a. issues. i do taxes and medicare financing. one of the reasons we were hopeful on this is because we -- it's sort of a closed ecosystem. it gifts us the -- gives us the

chance as we learned with pilot programs to use that as a we know the rules here, saying, here's a chance to do sort of the test. the pilot program if it works with the v.a. hopefully our future is moving into other parts of the government. am i being unrealistic? ms. wasserman schultz: using artificial intelligence and anything we can do to efficiently and effectively make sure we can assist the v.a. in processing claims is a good thing. we are likely at the nascent stage to use that kind of technology. as this is an increased-decrease amendment, it gives you an opportunity to come here and talk about the importance of making sure, highlighting the needs to expedite claims, which are improving. thankfully we are in a much better in terms of the backlog. i know secretary mcdonough is focused on making sure we continue to do that. having your■n advocacy on the

floor today is helpful in spotlighting the issue and making shower we can advance at a more rapid rate. mr. schweikert: i appreciate the gentlewoman tolerating me to engage in that. with that i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from arizona, so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. the gentlewoman from florida -- the gentleman from florida is recognized. >> i demand a recorded vote. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from arizona will be postponed. it is now in order it consider numbered 44 considered in part b of house report 118-535. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? mr. schweikert: i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 44, printed in part b of house report number 118-535.

offered by mr. schweikert of arizona. the chair: pursuant to house resolutioneman from arizona, mr. schweikert, and a member opposed, each will controlr recognizes the gentleman from arizona. mr. schweikert: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, ranking member. this is court of the derivative of the previous amendment. the was to speed up and expedite claims. this one is now to sort of crawl through. if you geek out like i do on how the artificial intelligence crawls through data stacks and can identify outliers or patterns, this one is sort utilizing that same data to streamline oversight. to reduce fraud. to basically identify where you have areas that say, hey, this doesn't look right. why is there a difference between different parts of the v.a., or different parts of the

country? so this is actually also the amendment is specifically sort of focused on the financial management. one is moving claims and helping veterans be able to see what their benefits are and moving it faster. this one looks at the books. we have to have a moment of honesty. if you basically take the number of veterans that use the v.a. and divide it by the spending, you are consider around $38 per veteran that uses the facilities. that is an outlier in any category of health care. could this help what we are doing well, but also where there is outliers. in some ways this was a way of sort of helping me deal with -- was uncomfortable with the costs per delivery, but i couldn't identify what was wrong. this should help g.a.o. and

other experts identify simply, hey, the v.a.'s doing this great. but we have an issue here. and i'm hoping this technology brings that to the surface w that i reserve. the chair: the gentleman reserves. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from florida seek recognition? ms. wasserman schultz: i rise to claim time in opposition he although i am not opposed. the chair: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. wasserman schultz: this amendment is noncontroversial. i am not opposed to it. it supports artificial intelligence to assist the v.a. in its management systems. we do not oppose it. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlewoman yields. the gentleman from arizona is recognized. mr. schweikert: mr. chairman and to the members here, i appreciate the kind words. we?= are sort of in the edge ofa revolution of being able to understand these massive data sets. if we do this well, maybe the constant conversation we have

here between the left and right, the spending, there is not enough money issues. are we about to sort of step up and start to embrace the technology that may make what we do, what we are responsible for, better, faster, cheaper. maybe in some ways because of that efficiency more moral. with that i yield back, mr. chairman. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from arizona. so many as are in favor say those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? mr. rutherford: i demand a roll call vote. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from arizona will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from -- the gentlewoman from florida seek recognition? ms. wasserman schultz: i rise as the designee of the the gentlewoman from connecticut and move to strike the last word. the chair: the gentlewoman is recognized for five minutes.

ms. wasserman schultz: i yield to the gentlewoman from from mass marks the distinguished minority whip, ms. clark. the chair: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. clark: i thank the gentlelady for yielding. this month marks two years since extreme maga republicans dismantled roe v. wade. subjecting american women to reproductive oppression not seen for half a century. but for the other side of the aisle, it's still not enough. in texas they unlashed bounty hunters on pregnant women. in ohio, they prosecuted a woman for having a miscarriage. in alabama, they shut down fertility t■vreatments. today in the united states capital, they have chosen their next target, our veterans. today they are telling two million women veterans that if they need an abortion to save their life, the v.a. should turn

them away. that maga ideology matters more than our veterans' health, their freedom, even their survival. there was a time in this chamber country's flag and the patriots who serve under it. but in this version of the republican party, extremism has displaced■% patriotism. they are so consumed by fanaticism that they would high jack our v.a. budget and threaten the very women who defended their freedom to speak in this chamber. high colleagues -- my colleagues should be ashamed to play a part in this attack on our nation's heroes. what a crane abandonment of oath and country. i yield back. e chair: the gentlewoman yields. ms. wasserman schultz: i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlelady from flashings yields. it is in order to consider amendment number 45 printed in

part b of house report 118-535. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? mr. self: i rise -- mr. chair, i rise as a designee of the gentleman from texas. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 45, printed in part b of house report 118-535, offered by mr. steube of florida. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 1269, the gentleman from florida, mr. tubey, and a member opposed, will each control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida. mr. steube: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise to urge support for congressman self's amendment. which will prohibit the funds from this bill to be used to give critical skills incentive or c.s.i. bonuses to senior executives at the v.a. central office. recently the v.a. office of the investigatoreneral released a report that found that the v.h.a. and v.b.a. improperly awarded over $10 million of these bonuses to senior bureaucrats in the v.a. central office. what's worse, is that this was

no technical glitch or error. this was a strategic move by the undersecretaries of health and benefits to line the pockets of d.c. bureaucrats. just this week we held a hearing in the house veterans' affairs committee where second mcdonough tried to explain their actions. however, their actions are inexcusable. meanwhile, this is face to rank-and-file v.a. employees. such as a nurse who has a quality visit. or a caseworker assist ago veteran with a claim. who work their tails off to serve our heroes. i served in the u.s. military, one of the guiding principles is leaders eat last. clearly here the leaders eight first. this is with a i sponsored the amendment which prohibits the v.a. from using these bonuses to line the pockets of their bureaucratic friends. i yield back the balance of my time. .. the chair: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from florida seek recognition?

ms. wasserman schultz: i rise to claim time in opposition to the gentleman's amendment. the chair: the gentleman is recognized -- the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. wasserman schultz: let me first make clear because i believe the gentleman from florida misspoke, because this amendment prohibits incentive bonus payments to anyone in the senior executive service in the entire v.a. not just the central office. so let's be clear what this amendment does. it goes much further than the gentleman described. and the v.a. has acknowledged that they made a mistake in issuing bonus payments to certain employees in the v.a. central office and ty've taken steps to address this error and recoup these funds. in fact, 92% of these funds have already been recouped. and the remaining will likely be recovered soon. this issue is on its way to being resolved. it is an administrative mistake. and this amendment is completely unnecessary and takes a sledgehammer where a chisel would be more appropriate. this amendment would go further

by disincentivizing dedicated public servants from serving the v.a. by preventing any merit-based bonuses. not just for the central office, as the gentleman from florida described. we should be investing in ways to attract talent to the v.a. and this amendment takes us backwards. humans make mistakes. that's the reality and i think all of us would acknowledge that we've made some mistakes in our lives. sometimes big ones. but we shouldn't be cutting off our nose to spite our faces by taking away merit-based bonuses for the entire senior executive service at the v.a. going forward. i mean, really? how are we -- we already have a recruitment and retention problem. and we have trouble attracting people to top quality talent, to dete their lives to public service and their careers to public service. do we thinkhat taking away any opportunity for abonus is goingt

situation? this is like outrageous overkill. when the v.a. has already addressed this and this is an irresponsible amendment that i urge members to oppose because we would be hurting our own ability to retain and recruit top-quality talent at the v.a. people make mistakes. this is administratively being taken care o we need to just mae that we can move on and not seek out a problem in -- and face a solution in search of a problem. i reserve. mr. steube: v.a. money and the money that's appropriated by this body for taxpayers should go to the service of our veterans and not to millions of dollars in bonuses for senior bureaucrats. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields. the gentlewoman from florida is recognized. ms. wasserman schultz: i think if you took a look at the

expenditures made by many members of congress in our offices, you would see that we use, responsibly, some of our funding to provide bonuses for the svice of our own employees. that happens all across the federal government. just like it does across the private sector. only a lot less signi understandably because public service is a noble profession, icse to engage in, but we want to make sure that we attract top talent to public service. and eliminating the ability for the entire v.a. to provide that kind of merit-based bonus is irresponsible and it will make it less likely that we have the top quality talent willing to make the sacrifice to come and serve our veterans at the v.a. why would we do that? that makes no sense. this was an error, it's being corrected. it's almost completely corrected

and unfortunately the gentleman from florida and the sponsor of this amendment are going way too far and hurting our ability to make sure that we can take care of our veterans with the top talent that they deserve. and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlewoman yields. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from florida. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from florida seek recognition? -- the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> mr. chair, i deplanned a recorded vote -- demand a recorded vote. the chair: further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from florida will be postponed. it is now in order to consider amendment number 46 printed in part b of house report 118-535. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? mr. steube: mr. chair, i have an anticipated a -- amendment at the de amendment number 46 -- the clerk: amendment number 46

offered by mr. steube of florida. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 1269, the gentleman from florida, mr. diswreub, and -- steube, and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida. mr. steube: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in support of my amendment that would prohibit the department of veterans affairs from using any funds under this bill to process medical claims for immigration and customs enforcement. in december of last year, i led a letter to the v.a. along with 23 other republican members after receiving reports that the v.a. had contracted with i.c.e. to process medical claims for illegal aliens. in i.c.e. custody. considering the record numbers of illegal aliens streaming across our border thanks to the biden administration's reckless policies, we were concerned that the v.a. personnel were being taken away from their mission to serb our veterans -- serve our veterans. i'm pleased that the underlying bill prohibits giving v.a. benefits to illegal aliens however my amendment is necessary to ensure v.a. resources are focused solely on veterans since the current

interagency arrangement allows the v.a. to provide this service to i.c.e. the v.a. exists to serve american veterans. for far too long the v.a. has fallen short in its mission and, i quote, to fulfill president lincoln's promise to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his for fan, by serving -- his orphan. veterans continue to have unacceptable wait times. in particular the v.a.'s disability backlog has been a source of significant frustration in the veteran community. after several years under the trump administration in which the backlog was consistently under 100,000 claims, the backlog has nearly tripled under the biden administration to 278,000 as of last week. this is an abject failure and our veterans deserve better from the v.a. despite the longstanding issues with its claims backlog and customer service issues, v.a. serving claims forg

government-funded health care for illegal immigrant, not veterans. v.a. resources should be used solely for veterans and their survivors. the v.a. to provide services to our veterans, not illegal immigrants. our veterans serve our country and it is high time that our government start serving them. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida reserves. you are -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from -- the chair: the gentleman from florida reserves. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from f.r.a. seek recognition? -- the gentlewoman from florida seek recognition? ms. wasserman schultz: the v.a. provides a purely administrative function for immigration and customs enforcement to process medical claims. moreover, i.c.e. pays for these services. not the v.a. there are no funds in this bill to prohibit being spent. i.c.e. pays v.a. to process their medical claims. this is an amendment that doesn't even apply to funding in our bill. this amendment is misplaced and it conflaits the services that

the v.a. actually provides with the larger issue of immigration because, you know, our friends on the other side of the aisle never miss an opportunity to bash immigrants who are just trying to make a better way of life for themselves and their families and it's once again injecting unnecessary policy debates into a historically bipartisan bill. another poison pill culture war rider. whatever your position is on immigration, this amendment does not belong in the milcon v.a. bill and does nothing to move us forward towards better health care and services for our veterans. the reality is that if the gentleman's amendmt passes, then i.c.e. would have to stand up an entirely separate process that would have to be set up to process these claims because the claims have to get processed, if v.a. didn't manage it for them. that would be incredibly expensive, if isically irresponsible , fiscally irresponsible and makes no sense. but yet again, we shouldn't miss

an opportunity bash veterans. i urge my colleagues to oppose the amendment, particularly because this amendment purports to prohibit funds from being spent that you can't spend because they're not in this bill. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves -- the chair: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. steube: the gentlelady just admitted that the v.a.'s administratively using resources to help illegal immigrants. i think the.'s mission, being a veteran myself, should be to support veterans, not illegal immigrants. and any resources that we have, in my first congress i served on the v.a. committee and you heard type and time again, despite adding more and more money to the v.a. because they can't deal with the backlogs, they need more funds to do that, then why are we using resources that are at the v.a. to assist illegal immigrants and the processing at i.c.e.? i think that's completely unconscionable, not only as a veteran but as somebody that served this country. i think if the people in my district certainly knew that money that was appropriated to the v.a., that those people are

using those resources to help illegal immigrants through i. kremplet -- i.c.e., would be completely objectionable to everybody in my district and i would ask all of the meers of this body to support this great amendment and i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yieldss recognized. ms. wasserman schultz: thank you, mr. chairman. perhaps the gentleman has selective hearing. because there are no funds being spent by the v.a. to process these claims. because i.c.e. from their budget pays the v.a. to process the claims. there are no resources that are extend pended by the v.a. -- that are expended by the v.a. because the funding comes from i.c.e.'s budget. so this amendment is inapplicable to this bill and is just a culture war opportunity to bash immigrants. it's irresponsible and it's also fiscally irresponsible because the claims from i.c.e. have to get processed and they would have to stand up an entirely separate claims processing

system in order to get those claims processed. this saves money and does not take any funding away from processing claims for our veterans. with that, i yield back the balance of my time. in opposition the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from florida. those inavsed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. >> mr. chair, i move that the committee do now rise. the chair: the question is on the motion that the committee rise. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. accordingly, the committee rises.

the speaker pro tempore: mr. chairman. the chair: mr. speaker, the committee having had under consideration h.r. 8508 directs -- 8580 directs me to report it has come to nos remain title of the resolution thereon. the speaker pro tempore: the chair of the committee reports that the committee has had under consideration h.r. 8580 and has to come no -- has come to no resolution thereon. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule, is the house declares the -- claire declares the house in -- chair declares the house in recess for

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