John Rice Carter: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in support of H.R. 3967, the Honoring our PACT Act.…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in support of H.R. 3967, the Honoring our PACT Act. However, I want to make sure that my colleagues across the aisle know how disappointed I am in these budget gimmicks that have become a part of this final legislation. As many of you are aware, I have the honor and privilege of representing the First Congressional District of Georgia. We have every branch of the military in our district. With every branch represented in my district, I take pride in my ability to serve and aid our men and women in uniform. I promised them I would vote for this bill. I am going to vote for this bill. But I do so begrudgingly, and the reason why is because I think it is despicable, Mr. Speaker, that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are using our veterans in order to gain the ability to use billions of dollars, almost $700 billion, on pet projects that they want to spend on. I think that is a slap in the face of our veterans. Our veterans did not sacrifice, did not serve, in order to bankrupt our country. But that is what our colleagues on the other side of the aisle want to do. Now, they deserve this. They need it. There is no question about that. Anyone who votes for it or against it agrees they need this, and we are going to make sure they get it.…”