PASSED: Servicemember Residence Protection Act

This week, the House took an important step to protect America's heroes by unanimously passing my bill, the Servicemember Residence Protection Act.

It's simple: if you're deployed serving the United States of America, you shouldn't have to worry about someone moving into your home and claiming "squatters' rights." Unfortunately, that's been the reality for service members across the country. Depending on the state, squatters can try to take ownership of a property if it's unoccupied for any period of time. For service members-who can be away for months at a time-that's a real risk.

My bill fixes that. It amends the Servicemembers' Civil Relief Actto make sure so-called squatters' rights laws do not apply to the homes of our men and women in uniform. After getting home from a deployment, no service member should have to fight legal battles just to get back into their own home. Our troops face enough challenges overseas and during transitions-fending off squatters should not be on the list.

Now that the bill unanimously passed on the House floor, it heads to the Senate. I'll keep fighting until it becomes law and the men and women in uniform receive the peace of mind they deserve.