Mike Levin: “This is an important bill. Many of us regret that it could not have been brought to this floor earlier without…”

“This is an important bill. Many of us regret that it could not have been brought to this floor earlier without provisions that were totally unrelated to its basic purpose. It is important because so many of our Reserve and Guard members today are overseas, along with others, and what this bill says very significantly is that all members of our Armed Forces should be treated with equity and treated with the utmost sensitivity and respect. The bill is important because we bring it up today at a significant moment. What it says, I think, for all of us, is this: Whatever the disagreements, and there have been and remain such as to the policies and approach of this administration, we here stand fully behind those men and women who are fighting in our armed services. So I hope that today we will join in support of this bill. It now has a single important purpose, and that is to say to our troops, here and abroad, we stand with you.”