Political Quotes

“I don't have any additional speakers. I yield myself the balance of my time to close. Mr. Speaker, do you know what is a stubborn thing? Math. Math is a stubborn thing. As I have mentioned earlier, this bill falls short of supporting the full funding needs for the VA. It is very simple. The VA has told us that by March of 2025, which is only a few months away, they will need an additional $12 billion for veterans' healthcare. There is nothing mysterious about this. I am not that good at math, but the VA has reported that they are delivering more appointments to veterans than ever before, and that has something directly to do with why they need the additional resources. In fact, there have been 91 million appointments thus far in 2024, outpacing last year's total. The VA expects to see 127 million appointments by the end of this month. The VA has also reported that costs for drugs and prosthetic devices are higher due to market pressures. Additionally, community care costs will need to grow by 16.5 percent next year in order to deliver anticipated community care needs for veterans. Math is a difficult thing, apparently, for our friends on the other side of the aisle. Despite these warnings, my colleagues across the aisle have decided to ignore the VA, to obfuscate, to create smoke and mirrors. Mr.…”