Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2781, the Ensuring Veteran Enterprise Participation in Strategic Sourcing Act. It is a bill that the kind gentleman from Florida and I have sponsored so that it is easier for the Department of Veterans Affairs to contract with the very veterans whom they serve. As a veteran and someone who has worked with veterans, I understand the challenges our servicemembers can face when they transition from military to civilian life. That is why we in Congress are working to serve those who served us by opening every opportunity for our veterans to thrive and contribute not just to our communities, but to our country. Throughout the United States, there are many quality veteran and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses that sell office and janitorial supplies or provide building maintenance services. Those businesses and the government would mutually benefit if the businesses seeking Federal contracts were given a fair chance to compete. But as it stands now, veteran and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses are losing out on such opportunities because of an unintentional loophole when the VA contracts with the General Services Administration, the GSA, for office and janitorial services, equipment, and supplies. Now, that loophole opened up last year when the VA implemented the Kingdomware Supreme Court ruling.…”