Political Quotes

“I am going to talk a little bit about the bill that we have been debating here all week on the Senate floor, the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our PACT Act of 2022. Now, it is a very important bill. It is named after Sergeant First Class Robinson, an Ohio National Guard soldier who died in 2022 as a result of service-connected toxic exposure. This bill that we are going to be voting for final passage on tomorrow would deliver immediate access to healthcare for toxic-exposed veterans, direct the VA to evaluate diseases for presumption of service connection, and streamline the process for toxic-exposed veterans seeking disability compensation for their illness that they gained while serving overseas defending our Nation. I have supported the intent of this bill for years, and I intend to vote in favor of this bill tomorrow when it comes up for final passage. There is nothing, in my mind, that is more important than taking care of our veterans, but I do want to raise some concerns about how we got to this point, the process of this bill, which, in my view, undermined the likelihood of this massive new program being implemented in a way that benefits all American veterans so we can take care of all American veterans. Let me explain. Since my time here in the Senate, I have focused on these issues. I serve on the Veterans' Affairs Committee that was responsible, in large measure, for many aspects of this bill. I serve on the Armed Services Committee.…”