Last week, the House of Representatives voted on three veterans-related bills. Together, these bills aim to improve the assistance we offer our veterans and to successfully employ more of our service members after they leave our Armed Forces. The men and women who serve our country in uniform deserve the best for their selfless service, and I am proud to have supported all three bills.

The first bill the House passed was the WINGMAN Act. This legislation would enable veterans to authorize congressional staffers handling their casework, like those in my district offices, to access their benefits claims information to resolve that casework more quickly. If the veteran consented, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) would provide the staffer with read-only access to information such as medical, compensation and pension records in the Veterans Benefits Administration's databases. These congressional staffers would be required to complete the same certification process through the VA that is required of agents and attorneys to have access to its claims record system. My staff resolved over 300 veterans-related cases in 2016. While my caseworkers have already proven to be highly effective, the WINGMAN Act offers them another tool in assisting veterans by improving timeliness and reducing backlog.

The second piece of legislation was the BRAVE Act. This act would permit the VA to give preference to government contractors who employ veterans full-time when awarding procurement contracts. It would also enable the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to appropriately sanction any contractors who, in an effort to secure a government contract, falsify the number of veterans they employ. It is our hope the BRAVE Act will boost employment among veterans and encourage companies to retain them for the long term.

The House also passed the HIRE Vets Act. Under this bill, the Department of Labor would be directed to establish a new HIRE Vets Medallion Program. This program is meant to recognize private and public companies that go above and beyond to recruit and employ veterans and allow Americans to easily identify companies who employ a substantial number of veterans.

In addition to supporting these important pieces of legislation, I also organized a veterans' mobile office hours held at Shreve American Legion Post 67 on Wednesday, February 22nd. The event brought together representatives from multiple organizations that assist veterans in the 16th District. The Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affair Medical Center was there to answer health care questions and help veterans determine their eligibility for health care benefits through the VA. The Cleveland Veterans Affairs Region Office was also there to speak with veterans about the status of their claims and to assist in filing new claims.

Additionally, representatives from the National Cemetery Administration and Wayne County Veterans' Service Commission were in attendance to discuss national cemetery questions and questions over county and state benefits, respectively. My veterans' staffers were also on hand to promote the Veterans' History Project, a program that works to record and preserve the experiences of our veterans in the Library of Congress before they are lost to time.

Our service members exemplify the best qualities of Americans. Therefore, it is important that we, who are forever indebted to them for their sacrifice, do our best to provide them with the assistance they need. As a member of Congress, I am privileged to work on behalf of these fine men and women, and I thank them for their service and pledge to promote legislation that benefits them.