{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.brown.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/brown-highlights-passage-of-comprehensive-bill-to-serve-veterans-and-their-families", "Brown Highlights Passage of Comprehensive Bill to Serve Veterans and Their Families", "2016-12-14", "2016", "2016-12", "Democrat", "House", "OH", "Sherrod Brown", "B000944", "www.brown.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Brown was Joined by Widow of Air Force Captain from Clermont County Who Will Benefit from Brown\u2019s Legislation to Extend Educational Benefits for Surviving Spouses of Servicemembers\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWednesday, December 14, 2016\n            \n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) \u2013 a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans\u2019 Affairs \u2013 today highlighted comprehensive legislation that would expand veterans\u2019 services and family member benefits. The Jeff Miller and Richard Blumenthal Veterans Health Care and Benefits Act passed in the Senate on Saturday and now heads to President Barack Obama to be signed into law.\r\nThe bill includes key provisions of the Veterans First Act, which Brown cosponsored. The bill would help address the appeals backlog by temporarily expanding the number of judges on the\u00a0U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims from seven to nine, enhance veterans\u2019 homelessness benefits, and expand toxic exposure research for veterans and descendants.\r\n\u201cOnce this is signed into law, we will be one step closer to making sure that families who have sacrificed so much for our nation get the benefits they deserve. No veteran should face living on the street or trouble accessing benefits they earned \u2013 and we\u2019re addressing all of these issues with this bill,\u201d said Brown. \u201cThis bipartisan bill will grant veterans and their families expanded benefits and ensure that the VA has the resources to provide veterans with the highest quality of care. And importantly \u2013 it will help cut the backlog on veterans\u2019 claims.\u201d\r\nThe bill also includes a provision authored by Brown to ensure that surviving spouses of servicemembers have enough time to use their educational benefits. The Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship provides Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to the surviving spouses and children of servicemembers who have died in the line of duty while on active duty after September 10, 2001. However, when Congress expanded Fry Scholarship eligibility to spouses in the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014, a 15-year limitation was put on these benefits. The provision Brown secured in the bill passed on Saturday will extend the period of eligibility for the Fry Scholarship to spouses of servicemembers killed between 9/11/2001 and 12/31/2005 so that they will have enough time to fully utilize the benefit.\r\nDuring a news conference call today, Brown was joined by Melissa Twine, an Air Force veteran from Batavia whose husband, Captain Philip B. Twine, died serving in the Air Force. She discussed how Brown\u2019s provision in the bill will ensure that she and other surviving spouses are able to use educational benefits that allow them to support their families.\r\n\u201cMy husband, Captain Philip B. Twine, was a Logistics Officer in the Air Force when he died at the age of 34 in 2002. We had three children and I was eight months pregnant with our fourth child when Phil died,\u201d said Twine. \u201cAfter my husband\u2019s death, I became the primary breadwinner \u2013 a single parent of four \u2013 including being the caregiver for our child with autism spectrum disability. Prior to Philip\u2019s death, I completed my undergrad in Biology at the University of Cincinnati.\u00a0Our plan was that I would obtain my Master\u2019s degree next. Those plans changed when our world changed on August 7, 2002.\u00a0I had to put this goal on pause for many years while I raised my family as a single parent. It was especially difficult with a newborn and a child with a disability. I am now in a place where fulfilling my goal of higher education is possible. I am very grateful to now be afforded the necessary time to utilize the Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship. \u00a0This educational opportunity means the world to me and others in my situation.\u201d\r\nAdditionally, the Jeff Miller and Richard Blumenthal Veterans Health Care and Benefits Act includes a variation of the Veteran Housing Stability Act of 2015, which Brown cosponsored.\u00a0The bill would increase veterans\u2019 access to permanent housing options by increasing outreach to landlords to encourage renting to veterans; expanding the definition of \u201chomeless veteran,\u201d so more veterans, including those facing domestic abuse, can access housing assistance; and requiring a report on the efficacy of VA programs to improve retention of housing by veterans who are at risk of becoming homeless. \r\n\u00a0\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.brown.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/brown-highlights-passage-of-comprehensive-bill-to-serve-veterans-and-their-families"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.1279659122228622, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}