Business meeting to consider pending legislation.

Committee will come to order. Good afternoon. We are awaiting two additional members of the committee to have a quorum, but in order to give you some entertainment while you're waiting, I have, pardon me, Senator Cramer. I know. We'll begin our opening remarks and have that part of the process completed. This markup, this meeting of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs will come to order. As specified in the notice provided committee members, we have 24 pieces of pending legislation on our agenda today. These bills are sponsored by senators from both parties and represent a number of bipartisan priorities. One of those bills that I'm pleased to sponsor is Senate Bill 410, the Love Lives On Act. The Love Lives On Act will allow surviving spouses of fallen service members to retain certain survivor benefits if they remarry before age of 55. Military service, as we know, is family service, and no one knows that more clearly than a survivor does. I note this today because several members of our committee are currently attending the dignified transfer of fallen service members at Dover Air Force Base. Our thoughts are with the survivors of those fallen heroes, and we advance these bills out of this committee today to make sure that service members, veterans, and their families receive the benefits and services they deserve. I am grateful to Ranking Member Blumenthal for working with me to advance these bills on our agenda, to advance them out of committee today with bipartisan support, and to the VA and our veteran service organization partners for their work and support. I recognize that many of these bills may have significant costs associated with them. As we get final scores from Congressional Budget Office following today's markup, I remain committed to working with members of this committee identifying appropriate offsets before moving these bills to the Senate floor. It's been our practice of this committee for quite a while that we have advanced bills out of the committee but have not brought them to the Senate floor without solving the offset issue. With that, I yield to the ranking member for any opening comments.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to second your reference to the bipartisanship of today's package. Almost every member of this committee has had a part in one way or another in one or more of these bills. So I want to thank the entire committee's membership. I want to say a particular thanks to Senator Murray, who's worked with me on the Molly Loomis Research for Descendants of Toxic Exposed Veterans, which requires research on the health effects on descendants of toxic exposed veterans. I think the more we know about the impact of toxins on our veterans, whether it's on bases in this country or on battlefields abroad, the more we appreciate how these invisible wounds of war take their toll, and we need to do even more to keep faith with them. This set of bills will expand veterans' access to prosthetics, automobile adaptive enhancements, burial benefits, and opioid rescue medications, among many others. They're going to provide additional education benefits to Purple Heart veterans as well as guardsmen and reservists. I could go on, but I want to emphasize the importance of one measure that we are not considering today, which is the Major Richard Star Act. I've been to the floor now twice to seek unanimous consent for the Major Richard Star Act, which basically does justice and fairness to veterans who are eligible and should receive both retirement benefits and disability compensation. And I know the majority of this committee, I'm tempted to say every member of this committee, supports the Major Richard Star Act, and I'm hopeful that we can get it through before too long. Mr. Chairman, thank you for your cooperation as always, and thank you all.

Senator Blumenthal, thank you for those remarks, for working together, and I too am anxious for the Richard Star Act to be considered. We will now consider the bills that are before us. We are still awaiting, subject to a quorum, we're still awaiting for one more senator. Those bills will include the committee resolution on lease authorizations, Senate Bill 342 committee print, Senate Bill 410, Senate Bill 649 committee print, Senate Bill 1116 committee print, Senate Bill 1657, Senate Bill 1665 committee print, Senate Bill 1726 committee print, Senate Bill 1868 committee print, Senate Bill 2061 committee print, and Senate Bill 2220 committee print. Senate Bill 2264 committee print, Senate Bill 2309 committee print, Senate Bill 2328 committee print, Senate Bill 2333 committee print, Senate Bill 2397 committee print, Senate Bill 2683 committee print, Senate Bill 2807 committee print, Senate Bill 2981, Senate Bill 3033 committee print, Senate Bill 3119, Senate Bill 3138 committee print, Senate Bill 3303 committee print, and Senate Bill 3758 committee print. We have a quorum. Is there any debate on these bills? Anyone seek recognition? Seeing none, I move the committee report, excuse me, I move that the committee order to report favorably the en bloc bills. So moved. All in favor say aye. [Chorus of ayes.] All opposed say no. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it, and the motion is agreed to.

Mr. Chairman. Senator Blumenthal. I just want to record no votes on S. 1868, Critical Access for Veterans Care Act, on behalf of Senators Hirono and Sanders.

So ordered. That concludes our business today. I ask unanimous consent that in preparing the agenda items for reporting, committee staff be authorized to make any required clerical, technical, and conforming changes, including changes necessary to conform to the Budget Act. Without objection, so ordered. With that, the meeting is adjourned.