On the recordJune 22, 2021
I am proud to lend my voice in support of H.R. 983, the Preventing Crimes Against Veterans Act, and I congratulate the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Deutch) for his work, again, on an enormously commonsense bill. This is a commonsense and needed bipartisan fix to close a loophole in Federal law that allows con artists who make in-person pitches to defraud veterans of their well-earned benefits. The State of Texas is home to 1.5 million veterans, and the State of Texas operates a large network of nursing homes for veterans. All of us have heard stories in our offices, through our veterans' caseworker, of the horrible, horrible attacks on veterans because of the benefits they receive. Yes, financial attacks. And they are attacks. Unlike the battlefield, where they can defend themselves, these attacks, they cannot. Veterans at these homes and veterans seeking treatment at medical treatment facilities may be susceptible to the in-person grifters falsely claiming that they can facilitate the provisions of additional veterans' benefits. This bill would help hold scammers accountable and allow the Department of Justice to protect the integrity of veterans' benefits programs. Protecting veterans and their survivors from these types of in-person scams is particularly important, since so many depend on service-connected disability payments. As chair of the Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security Subcommittee, I am focused on addressing fraud and other veterans' issues.…
