It’s been a busy week up in DC. The House passed close to thirty pieces of legislation – the vast majority of it with overwhelming bipartisan, and in some cases unanimous, support. Below are a few particular highlights (that I’m guessing you probably didn’t hear about in the news).

And before anybody asks, I have no idea if the Senate will move on any of it…  

First, here is some legislation that the House passed that specifically affects veterans and military families:

H.R. 5948 – Veterans Fiduciary Reform Act of 2012

(Sponsored by Rep. Bill Johnson / Committee on Veterans Affairs)

I’ll start with this because this bill is actually pretty close to my heart – for two reasons: One, the backlog in our part of Florida for fiduciary appointments was outrageous. Some months back, I got in touch with the Secretary of the VA and we managed to get some additional caseworkers assigned to the state to start reducing the backlog. This bill actually takes fiduciary improvements a step further in making sure that we’ve got appropriate background checks for potential fiduciaries and addresses some Power of Attorney issues.

It’s also important to me because the bill included a proposal that I worked with the committee on to ensure that veterans receive a proper burial. This was a response to the revelation that a WWII veteran had been buried in a cardboard box at the National Cemetery in Bushnell. We’re making sure that never happens again.

H.R. 5044 - Andrew P. Carpenter Tax Act, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Scott DesJarlais / Ways and Means Committee)

Andrew Carpenter was a Marine killed in Afghanistan in February of 2011.  Four years prior, his parents were cosigners on his student loans from a private lender.  The lender forgave the loan, but the family was required to pay federal taxes on the amount forgiven, which is considered gross taxable income under current law. 

This legislation would change that (and do so retroactively), so that the families of soldiers killed in the line of duty aren’t taxed on forgiven student loan debt.

H.R. 6361 - Vulnerable Veterans Housing Reform Act of 2012, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Joe Heck / Financial Services Committee)

This bill would exclude in-home aid and attendance care benefits paid to severely disabled veterans for their service connected disabilities from the income calculation the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) uses to determine housing assistance qualifications.

H.R. 4124 – Veteran Emergency Medical Technician Support Act, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Adam Kinzinger / Energy and Commerce Committee)

This bill would streamline requirements for states that have a shortage of EMTs to make it easier for veterans who received EMT training in the military to get in to those jobs.

The House also addressed the following (since I’m guessing the news didn’t tell you about these either…):

H.R. 3783 - Countering Iran in the Western Hemisphere Act of 2012, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Jeff Duncan / Foreign Affairs Committee)

Iran is pursuing cooperation with Latin American countries by signing economic and security agreements in order to create a network of diplomatic and economic relationships to lessen the blow of international sanctions and oppose Western attempts to constrict its ambitions.

This bill requires an updated threat assessment on that issue.

H.R. 4212 - Contaminated Drywall Safety Act of 2012, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Scott Rigell / Energy and Commerce Committee)

The bill demands that the US Secretary of State pushes China at the highest levels to remedy the devastating situation American homeowners (many in Florida) have been facing due to toxic drywall from Chinese companies. It also treats contaminated drywall as a banned hazardous substance under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act.

H.R. 6296 - Disaster Loan Fairness Act of 2012, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Lou Barletta / Small Business Committee)

H.R. 6296 would lower the interest rates on disaster loans issued by the Small Business Administration following presidentially declared disaster areas. The bill would apply retroactively to January 1, 2011, and would sunset in four years. The cost of this legislation was fully offset.

H.R. 5912 - To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to prohibit the use of public funds for political party conventions, and to provide for the return of previously distributed funds for deficit reduction, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Tom Cole / House Administration Committee)

Pretty self-explanatory.

H.R. 6368 - Border Security Information Improvement Act of 2012 (Sponsored by Rep. Quico Canseco / Judiciary Committee)

This is an oversight bill that would seek to increase the ability of federal law enforcement agencies to track, investigate and report on cross-border violence by requiring the Department of Justice, in consultation with the Department of Homeland Security, to provide a report to Congress on the Departments’ ability to track, investigate and quantify cross-border violence along the Southwest Border and provide recommendations to Congress on how to accurately track, investigate, and quantify cross-border violence.

And finally, something my Chief-of-Staff proposed a long time ago and I’m happy to see finally get passed through the House:

H.R. 3099 - Buffett Rule Act of 2011, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Steve Scalise / Ways and Means Committee)

This bill would create a line on Americans’ tax returns that allows them to donate as much additional tax money as they would like to the U.S. Treasury, in the event they feel like they aren’t “paying their fair share”.

It’s named after the President’s “Buffet Rule” proposal (which it turned out, would only cover about one-tenth of one percent of government spending over ten years).

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please let me know. Thanks for your time.