I wish to commend the distinguished Senator from Maine. She has articulately explained why we need to move forward, and I want to underscore something that she said. For 6 years now, the Senate has abdicated its responsibility to appropriate. We have left the prioritization of spending to faceless bureaucrats and faceless buildings in Washington, DC. The needs of our veterans and soldiers and our country have gone unheeded, while we in here have argued about things that are superfluous and actually unimportant. I came into this Chamber today and listened to the distinguished Senator from Nevada, the minority leader, make the following statement: He can't understand why the leader would bring forward a ``can't-pass'' piece of legislation and not go to something more important. I want the Senator from Nevada to go out to Walter Reed Hospital or to go to the hospital in Maine or the hospital in Arkansas and tell those soldiers, who sacrificed and risked their lives for us, that their needs for health care are not more important, or to tell Jim Webb, who was a Member of this Senate and passed the GI bill expansion a few years ago, that the educational benefits for dependents, children, wives, and others are not that important. Tell the people of the United States of America that those who protect us, those who have sacrificed, those at risk are not more important. There is nothing more important than our veterans and our military.…
Share
More from Johnny Isakson
I ask unanimous consent, for myself as chairman of the Select Committee on Ethics and for Senator Christopher A. Coons, vice chairman of the committee, that the annual report for the Select Committee on Ethics for calendar year 2018 be…
I yield back the remainder of our time and call the previous question. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Pursuant to rule XXII, the Chair lays before the Senate the pending cloture motion, which the clerk will state. The legislative clerk read as…
I am not saying it to be ugly. Facts are facts, and I am scared that a Freudian slip--which I am sure that probably was or something like that--might be something that causes us to get lost again. No. 1, I want to point out that in your…
we have a second to certify our growth in the VA by nominating James Byrne and approving his appointment. We have all worked hard to see that the VA is responsive. We get good news in the papers, not bad news. We are helping our veterans…





