Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 299, as amended, the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act. It has taken years of dedicated advocacy and bipartisanship to get us here today. I would especially like to recognize Ranking Member Walz, who could not be here today but was a driving force behind this legislation. H.R. 299 is an important step toward rectifying a longstanding injustice for veterans who were made sick from exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam more than 50 years ago. Passage of this legislation will extend eligibility to 90,000 veterans who served in Vietnam and may have been exposed to this dangerous chemical. Some thought this day would never come for the blue water Navy veterans. Finding over $1 billion in the Federal budget is not an easy task. Many people even said it was impossible. I thank the chairman for sitting down with the veteran service organizations, working with staff, and agreeing to find an alternative funding source to right this wrong. I am proud that this committee was able to, once again, reach a bipartisan agreement to move forward with legislation that does what is right for our Nation's veterans. While there was disagreement about the pay-for in the past, the solution in this bill is fair. It does not cut benefits for one group of veterans to pay for the benefits of others.…”