On the recordMarch 20, 2010
As we revisit this event, we are correcting an egregious wrong that was done by oversight to not fully cover our veterans and those on active duty and their families. The fact that TRICARE would not fall into the so-called minimally accepted coverage leads me back to the false standard that was set in the beginning on this bill in the first place. I was, among other things in the military, an assault helicopter pilot. One of the things that we learned as young aviators is that accidents normally didn't happen because of one big thing. Normally an accident would happen, and several of my close friends paid the ultimate price in this, was because several little things would begin to pile up, small events, things unseen. The faster the environment began to process, the more they would pile up, and eventually they became uncontrollable. Not noticing power, not noticing air speed, not noticing their rate of descent, their altitude, their visual references, lots of things can come into play. The bottom line is we are doing the same thing now, except we are doing it with one of the largest and most sweeping bills in the history of this country. We are rushing headlong without even a week; 72 hours for a bill this big, give me a break. Let's think about the reality of what we are doing, rushing headlong to do the largest transfer of power to the executive branch in the history of the United States. This is about turning us into a different Nation.
