Mark Takano: “I would remind my colleague from the State of Illinois that this bill more than adequately went through regular order.…”

“I would remind my colleague from the State of Illinois that this bill more than adequately went through regular order. We held a legislative hearing in April of 2021. The bill has garnered 218 cosponsors of our colleagues, each of whom has presumably reviewed the bill before they joined as cosponsors. We put the bill through a regular markup, and I have been in regular consultation with the Secretary of the VA about this bill. And most recently, the White House has issued a Statement of Administration Policy in support of the bill. So to say that this bill is being rammed through at the 11th hour is patently untrue and not accurate. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Higgins), my good friend and cosponsor of this bill. He serves on the Budget Committee and is a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means.”