Political Quotes

“I appreciate the gentleman yielding. First, let me commend and pile on to the commendations that are so deserving by our colleagues and my good friends, Chairman Culberson and Ranking Member Bishop, on crafting a strong and bipartisan bill. Congress really can work together when we put our heads and our hearts together. Let me especially recognize their leadership in including language in the bill which will help many of our Nation's veterans transition into careers in civilian health care. The United States military has the best-trained medics and corpsmen in the world. In fact, the data substantiates that Special Forces medics greatly increase the chances of survival for those who suffer injuries on the battlefield. Despite this, former military medics have one of the highest unemployment rates among veterans because their extensive medical training in the military doesn't perfectly match qualifications in the civilian world. For example, Army Specialist Nick Colgin, whom President Obama applauded as an American hero for saving the life of a French soldier shot in Afghanistan, was somehow considered unqualified to be an emergency medical technician in Wyoming. This Military Construction-Veterans Affairs bill that we are considering can help fix this baffling disconnect. It includes language establishing a pilot program for veteran medics that will expand opportunities for physician assistant training at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.…”