Mexican tomato exporters are conducting unfair trade practices and dumping tomatoes into the U.S. market, despite the 2019 Tomato Suspension Agreement. This is forcing American tomato farmers out of business and destroying the domestic tomato industry. U.S....
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) office will host in-person and virtual Mobile Office Hours next week to assist constituents with federal casework issues in their respective local communities. These office hours offer constituents who do not live close to one of...
El senador estadounidense Marco Rubio (R-FL) habló con Nio Encendio de Maxima 92.5 de Tampa Bay, sobre cómo la inflación ha impactado a las familias, sobre las olas de migración ilegal, sobre el juicio político de Biden vs. el de Trump, sobre el canje de prisioneros...
This year alone, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has encountered an estimated 40,000 Chinese nationals along the U.S. northern and southern border. The Biden Administration has left the border wide open, allowing potential spies from the Chinese Communist...
Gotion, Inc., a Chinese company and U.S. subsidiary of Guoxuan High-Tech, announced a lithium battery plant in Illinois that is expected to open next year. This CCP-tied battery company is expected to benefit from green-energy tax breaks under the Democrats’ Inflation...
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) joined National Public Radio’s All Things Considered to discuss his plan to expand the child tax credit for working families. See below for the full transcript and listen to the edited interview here. On the connection between the child...
Washington, D.C. —The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a bipartisan companion bill to legislation introduced by Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) to prioritize veterans’ employment, transition, and education benefits at the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA). The Veterans’ Education, Transition, and Opportunity Prioritization Plan (VET OPP) Act of 2019 was introduced in the House of Representatives by Representatives Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) and Mike Levin (D-CA).
“Now that the House has passed the VET OPP Act that I introduced with Senator Hassan, I urge my Senate colleagues to take action on this important, bipartisan legislation to modernize the outdated structure of the VA,” Rubio said. “Our service men and women deserve a VA system that is fully equipped to help them lead economically prosperous lives post-service. The VET OPP Act will ensure the VA is adapting to the 21st century needs of our veterans.”
“Realigning the VA structure to have a dedicated administration to handle educational and employment services will help ensure that our veterans have the resources and support that they need to thrive in civilian life and contribute to our shared economic success,” Hassan said. “I applaud the House of Representatives for passing this bipartisan legislation, and I urge my Senate colleagues to follow their lead without delay.”
Currently, the Veterans Benefit Administration (VBA) is responsible for all Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits provided to veterans outside of health care and cemetery services. While VBA is tasked with implementing many different programs related to veterans education and employment, the majority of staff and resources are dedicated to the administration of disability compensation and pension claims. This has resulted in a lack of attention on the administration of other critical VBA benefits, such as the Forever GI Bill, Vocational Rehabilitation, Home Loan benefits, and VA’s portion of the Transition Assistance Program (TAP).
The VET OPP Act would address this issue by moving VA transition, education, and employment programs under a new, separate administration – the Economic Opportunity and Transition Administration. This fourth VA administration would be led by a new undersecretary and created using existing resources to avoid additional bureaucracy.