February 25, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 37 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session
All in House sectionPrev14 of 49Next
GOLD STAR SPOUSES AND SPOUSES OF INJURED SERVICEMEMBERS LEASING RELIEF EXPANSION ACT OF 2019; Congressional Record Vol. 166, No. 37
(House of Representatives - February 25, 2020)
Text available as:
Formatting necessary for an accurate reading of this text may be shown by tags (e.g., <DELETED> or <BOLD>) or may be missing from this TXT display. For complete and accurate display of this text, see the PDF.
[Pages H1174-H1175] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] GOLD STAR SPOUSES AND SPOUSES OF INJURED SERVICEMEMBERS LEASING RELIEF EXPANSION ACT OF 2019 Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2227) to amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to authorize spouses of servicemembers who incur a catastrophic injury or illness or die while in military service to terminate leases of premises and motor vehicles, and for other purposes, as amended. The Clerk read the title of the bill. The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 2227 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Gold Star Spouses and Spouses of Injured Servicemembers Leasing Relief Expansion Act of 2019''. SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF TERMINATION OF LEASES OF PREMISES AND MOTOR VEHICLES OF SERVICEMEMBERS WHO INCUR CATASTROPHIC INJURY OR ILLNESS OR DIE WHILE IN MILITARY SERVICE. (a) Catastrophic Injuries and Illnesses.--Paragraph (4) of section 305(a) of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. 3955(a)), as added by section 545 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116-92), is amended to read as follows: ``(4) Catastrophic injury or illness of lessee.-- ``(A) Termination.--If the lessee on a lease described in subsection (b) incurs a catastrophic injury or illness during a period of military service or while performing covered service, during the one-year period beginning on the date on which the lessee incurs such injury or illness-- ``(i) the lessee may terminate the lease; or ``(ii) in the case of a lessee who lacks the mental capacity to contract or to manage his or her own affairs (including disbursement of funds without limitation) due to such injury or illness, the spouse or dependent of the lessee may terminate the lease. ``(B) Definitions.--In this paragraph: ``(i) The term `catastrophic injury or illness' has the meaning given that term in section 439(g) of title 37, United States Code. ``(ii) The term `covered service' means full-time National Guard duty, active Guard and Reserve duty, or inactive-duty training (as such terms are defined in section 101(d) of title 10, United States Code)''. (b) Deaths.--Paragraph (3) of such section is amended by striking ``The spouse of the lessee'' and inserting ``The spouse or dependent of the lessee''. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano) and the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. David P. Roe) each will control 20 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California. General Leave Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material on H.R. 2227, as amended. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from California? There was no objection. Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2227, as amended, the Gold Star Spouses and Spouses of Injured Servicemembers Leasing Relief Expansion Act of 2019. This bill was introduced by Representative Cheri Bustos of Illinois. I thank her for her work with the committee. It expands on the work the committee did last Congress with Representative Bustos to improve the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. This bill ensures that active and reserve component servicemembers and their spouses or dependents who are catastrophically injured while in service to this Nation have the ability to break their home and vehicle leases up to a year after their injury so that the family can modify their living situation to what best suits their new needs. Servicemembers and families undergo difficult life transitions because of catastrophic injuries. Families should have the flexibility to be at their servicemember's side during recovery and the ability to easily move closer to family, friends, or other support networks. Families dealing with the catastrophic injury of their loved ones should not have to worry about leases and cancellation fees. Madam Speaker, this bill is an outgrowth of the bill Mrs. Bustos led last Congress and was the suggestion of the Paralyzed Veterans of America. It also clarifies similar legislation that passed in the National Defense Authorization Act last year. H.R. 2227, as amended, would make it clear that catastrophically disabled servicemembers who have the mental capacity to terminate a lease may do so. It is not only spouses and dependents who are protected by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. Madam Speaker, I thank Dr. Wenstrup, a former member of this committee, for his focus on the issue [[Page H1175]] and for working with Mrs. Bustos on this bill. I also thank the Paralyzed Veterans of America for highlighting the need to include catastrophically disabled veterans and families in our work to improve the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. Finally, I applaud the bipartisan work of Congressmen Levin and Bilirakis on this bill and their work on the Economic Opportunity Subcommittee. I encourage all of my colleagues to join me in voting for H.R. 2227, as amended. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, today I rise in support of H.R. 2227, as amended, the Gold Star Spouses and Spouses of Injured Servicemembers Leasing Relief Act of 2019. This bill would build upon legislation enacted last Congress and in the fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act to amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to allow a surviving spouse of a servicemember who died on active duty to terminate a property lease following the servicemember's death. This bill would expand that allowance to include motor vehicle leases and provide the same protection for spouses of servicemembers who are catastrophically injured in service. Madam Speaker, the last thing a husband or wife should have to worry about when their servicemember spouse dies or is grievously injured in service to our country are late fees or penalties for terminating a lease for a car or property. Ensuring that they don't have to is the very least we can do in exchange for their sacrifice. I thank my colleagues, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos from Illinois, my friend Dr. Brad Wenstrup from Ohio, a fellow veteran and former senior committee member, as well as all the other Members of Congress who worked so hard on this bill in order to clarify these protections for these most deserving men and women. I encourage and urge all my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 2227, as amended, Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers. I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Wenstrup), my good friend, and Iraq war veteran. I commend him on his work on this bill. Mr. WENSTRUP. Madam Speaker, it is a tragedy any time a United States servicemember is killed or gravely injured in the line of duty. Those events, however, don't happen in a vacuum. They have lasting impacts on that hero's family and their loved ones. That is why I rise in support of this bill, H.R. 2227, which I introduced with Representative Bustos. Our legislation would give spouses and dependents of servicemembers who are killed or catastrophically injured in the line of duty the flexibility to move closer to family and friends for support, because no one enduring that type of life-altering event should go through it alone. In 2018, Representative Bustos and I worked together to pass the Gold Star Spouses Leasing Relief Act and get it signed into law. It gave Gold Star spouses the ability to terminate their property leases without penalty if their servicemember was killed in the line of duty. We expanded those protections to include auto leases, as well, in last year's National Defense Authorization Act. Now, this bill builds upon the good work of those two efforts by extending those protections to dependents of servicemembers in addition to spouses. I thank Representative Bustos and the members of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs for their work in bringing this important bill to the floor. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2227. Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to support this bill. This takes me back to when I was in college in 1965, and my scout master was killed in Vietnam leaving behind four children. They were responsible for all these things with no resources, no money. I think our lives then were worth, at the most, if you bought extra insurance, $20,000, not much money. This is the right thing to do. I am sorry it took 50 years to get it done. I certainly appreciate all of my colleagues, especially my good friend Dr. Wenstrup and Representative Bustos who brought this to our attention and got it done. I encourage all my colleagues to support this bill Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. I associate myself with the remarks of the ranking member. A catastrophic medical condition associated with someone who has worn the uniform of our Nation in service of our Nation should not also be accompanied by his family or her family needing to worry about paying off a lease on a home or a car. The law of the United States should reflect the gratitude that the people have for a servicemember's service to our country. This is the right thing to do, and I encourage all of my colleagues to, again, join me in passing H.R. 2227, as amended. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2227, as amended. The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed. The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to clarify the authority of servicemembers who incur a catastrophic injury or illness while in military service to terminate leases of premises and motor vehicles, and for other purposes.''. A motion to reconsider was laid on the table. ____________________
All in House sectionPrev14 of 49Next