Political Quotes

“I thank the Chair. It is a great honor for me to help cosponsor this particular piece of legislation. The truth is that the TRICARE system, which covers over 6 million Americans and over 300,000 North Carolinians is broken and it needs to be fixed. Senator Hutchison's amendment goes a long way toward addressing the problems of the TRICARE system. It begins by setting minimum standards which the system clearly needs. What I would like to do is talk just briefly today about why this is so important to Americans, and why it is so important to the people of North Carolina. And there are three or four examples that I think show that very clearly. We have had lots of correspondence, lots of calls about problems with the TRICARE system. Comdr. Ronald Smith, who is from the Greensboro area in North Carolina, Guilford County, which is one of the most populous counties in North Carolina, tells us stories about the fact that in Greensboro there is no primary care provider who is willing to provide medical care for his soldiers and their dependents.”