On the recordOctober 1, 2013
It's with great emotion that I rise today. First of all, we're right in the midst of a government shutdown, and this is a terrible time. Second of all, this is my greatest hero's birthday; it was my father's birthday, October 1. My dad passed away about 5 years ago. He was part of the Greatest Generation, as denoted by Tom Brokaw. He fought bravely in New Guinea during World War II, and he represented his country proudly. My son-in-law is a captain in the Army. He's the father of my four grandchildren in Stuttgart, Germany. My nephew is an Army Ranger who has fought proudly in Afghanistan. It is for them that I rise today. Make no mistake, the other side today says that they want to support these things, but they don't. Why? Because it's political posturing. They don't want to mitigate the pain because that might somehow hurt their ability to try to extract whatever they can politically. Our constituents don't live in political rhetoric land. They live in the land where the rubber meets the road. Let's be really clear: You have an opportunity on the other side of the aisle to fund the veteran programs, and you're going to be held accountable for that. If you vote ``no,'' that's where the rubber meets the road. You'll be responsible for denying them these benefits.
