Building better opportunities for veterans

By U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman
R-Arkansas

There are currently 17 million veterans in the United States. Each one of them has answered the call, sacrificing their security, safety, and comfort to defend our nation’s freedom. This service deserves to be honored, and how we care for these military heroes during and after their service reflects that commitment.

In his 1983 radio address to the nation on Veterans Day, President Ronald Reagan concluded by saying, “Veterans know better than anyone else the price of freedom, for they've suffered the scars of war. We can offer them no better tribute than to protect what they have won for us. That is our duty. They have never let America down. We will not let them down.”

He’s exactly right. Our veterans are deserving of our continued support from the halls of Congress all the way to our own neighborhoods. This week, I had the opportunity to support our military heroes by cosponsoring a bill with my Democrat colleague from Washington, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, that works to ensure our veterans have greater access to affordable and reliable housing.

We’ve seen a direct correlation between veterans’ well-being and reliable housing. Unfortunately, we see how high barriers to entry like construction costs and interest rates stand in the way, leaving these military heroes with little opportunity to invest in their future as homeowners.

With that in mind, the Veteran Owner-Builders Rights Act was crafted to provide greater financial opportunities and flexibility for our military heroes. This bill introduces an innovative pilot program that works alongside the VA to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide direct, low-interest loans at a one percent rate that will help our veterans purchase land and build their own homes.

What’s more, this bill creates great wins for our domestic wood products supply chain. By requiring builders to utilize domestically sourced wood products like structural wood framing and non-structural components (cabinets, doors, and trim), we will be able to invest in an industry that contributes $609 billion annually to our GDP instead of relying on foreign imports for a resource we have in abundance right here at home.

This bill combines two of my deepest commitments as I serve the Fourth District – supporting the forestry industry and honoring our veterans. I am proud to have the opportunity to cosponsor such an important piece of legislation, and I will continue working toward crafting policy that supports commonsense solutions and cuts burdensome, bureaucratic red tape so that our domestic industries can thrive and our veteran community can succeed.