Mr. Speaker, I would like to quickly thank Chairman Miller and Chairman Lamborn for their continued leadership at the House Veterans' Affairs Committee. Mr. Speaker, I rise before you to honor a great man who served this Nation and its…

Lorillard tobacco has never marketed or sold its products to youth.

Although we have cut smoking rates in this country by half, today, we face a new threat--the rise of e-cigarettes.

I want to thank the Chairman for his kind remarks and also my colleagues.

There is little to no evidence to support these claims.

Nicotine is addictive. It affects brain development.

E-cigarettes are being marketed to children today just as cigarettes were 50 years ago.

These products are designed to appeal to youth, more accessible to youth, and are explicitly marketed to youth.

I don't believe there is a case to be made for e-cigarettes being sold to children.

But while we are seeing a decline in cigarette smoking among youth, we are seeing a rapid rise in youth use of and experimentation with e-cigarettes.

The cigarette is one of them.

I think it's hard to believe. Look at the numbers here. E-cigarette use among nation's kids is on the rise.

When cigarette companies used these marketing practices, they were extraordinarily successful in increasing the number of kids who smoke.

People smoke for the nicotine and they die from the tar;

I want to commend the professionalism of our men and women in uniform who worked alongside law enforcement and intelligence counterparts to ensure that this man will be brought to justice.

The aggressive moves by Russia in Ukraine recall the importance of U.S. security commitments to our allies, partners, and friends.

I am concerned that the Department of Defense cannot continue to count on tens of billions of extra dollars arriving each year outside of the budget process.

The shocking events in Iraq this past week demonstrate the threats posed by continuing chaos in Syria which has given rise to dangerous new extremist groups.