On the recordOctober 3, 2013
I'm proud to represent 72,000 veterans in Florida's Second Congressional District. The bill that we will be voting on today is a bill that says, we support you, not just for what you need today, but we also support you for what you did in your past. What our veterans did in their past was join arms with fellow Americans and went to fight for a principle, a principle of no special treatment. They believed deeply in the Declaration of Independence that says we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. Mr. Speaker, I'm proud today to join arm-in-arm with our veterans to say we agree with that principle. It is time that we re-establish the deeply held belief that there is one standard that should apply to all Americans, not two standards, not a ruling class and then the majority of the Americans that have to serve them. There is but one standard. I applaud our veterans. I thank them for their sacrifice, and I believe that this bill, Honoring Our Promise to America's Veterans Act, is the only thing that is right and principled in this Chamber today. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' in just a few moments on this bill honoring our veterans.
