Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman from Colorado, and I want to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano), my colleague and the ranking member, for his work on this important issue as well. Mr. Speaker, I was disappointed to see that my amendment was not made in order. I would like to take this opportunity, really, to expand on something the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden) had to say. Congressman Takano and I had simply offered an amendment that would ensure we could improve the process for removing employees for misconduct or performance that warrants removal. It is reprehensible, and it ought to take action. This amendment that we introduced mirrored legislation introduced by our colleagues Senator Johnny Isakson and Senator Richard Blumenthal. They have developed, by contrast, a bipartisan bill, the Veterans First Act, which will be a critical step to achieving true accountability that the VA so desperately needs to be an efficient agency for the men and women who serve this Nation. It has more than 44 cosponsors, including Senator Boozman, Senator Blunt, Senator Rounds, Senator Daines. All have supported language that we merely requested be in the bill to improve accountability at the VA that is sorely needed, while also protecting--and we have heard this a lot from our colleagues on the other side--due process: the due process of the whistleblower, the due process of people who are employed in the Federal Government.…”