Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the passage of my bipartisan bill, the VA COMPETES Act and what this means for veterans in my district and across the country. My bill improves care for veterans by finally allowing the VA to pay doctors the salaries that they deserve. It is no secret that the VA has struggled to hire and retain healthcare staff, and low salaries are a big piece of that. When the VA is understaffed, our veterans are the ones who suffer. Last year, when the Stockton VA Clinic went from eight primary care physicians to just four, wait times skyrocketed to over 100 days. Our veterans couldn't get appointments, prescriptions filled, or access to the basic care that they needed. I am proud to have worked with our local clinic staff in the VA to fix this issue, bringing wait times down to just 16 days. My bill is going to help ensure that no other clinic experiences a shortage like we did last year. Mr. Speaker, I am so proud to be part of the solution and thank everyone who made this possible. ____________________”