Political Quotes

“Mr. President, a lot of our colleagues have been coming down to the floor today and had come down yesterday to talk about two things that are actually very connected. The first is the VA MISSION bill, which we just passed, that is going to significantly transform how we treat our veterans and how we make sure our vets are getting the care they have earned and deserve. Also, appropriately, as that bill has just passed the Senate and is heading to the President's desk, we are talking about Memorial Day and the Memorial Day weekend that is fast approaching--a very important, sacred time for our country and, certainly, for my State, the great State of Alaska. What I would like to do is to talk a little bit about the bill and then reflect a little bit more on the importance of Memorial Day as we move forward into this weekend. One of the things we all do is, certainly, with regard to legislation like this is to look at the national implications. We also look at how our own constituents will be impacted and make sure their interests are served when there is broader, national legislation that we have been working on for months. Many of us had been working on this bill for almost a year. The Presiding Officer and I are on the Veterans' Affairs Committee, so we were very focused on it. In my State, we proudly claim more veterans per capita than in any State in the country, but we also have unique challenges. Alaska is a very, very big place.…”