Political Quotes

“I thank the chairman for recognizing that Oakland, Maine, is a central Maine metropolis, and I thank the chairman for quickly bringing this very important bipartisan bill to the floor. I want to salute the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Young), the Congressman who has been in the lead with respect to this issue. Mr. Speaker, when I was a boy growing up in central Maine, our brave men and women in uniform who were returning from the battlefield in Vietnam were not treated well. I remember those days, and a lot of us also do. I believe our country, Mr. Speaker, has learned a lesson that that shall never happen again. Sadly, Mr. Speaker, today, 22 veterans commit suicide in our country every day, and the majority of those veterans have served in Vietnam. When one of our veterans, any veteran, is in trouble and they call the crisis hotline, we need to make sure that those phones are answered and the individuals on the other end, our heroes, are not hung up on, inadvertently or otherwise. We need to make sure we take care of our veterans. Mr. Speaker, in the State of Maine, we love our veterans. The character of our country is measured in great part by how we treat our veterans. I am thrilled to cosponsor this bill because it will help correct this issue. I would like to close, Mr.…”