Political Quotes

“Madam President, last week, I was pleased to join my colleague from West Virginia, Senator Joe Manchin, in introducing the Advancing Uniform Transportation Opportunities for Veterans Act, better known as the AUTO for Veterans Act. I am pleased that Senators Boozman, Hassan, and Blunt have joined as original cosponsors. Our bill would lessen the financial burden on severely disabled veterans who require special adaptive equipment to drive a motor vehicle. It would do so by increasing access to the Department of Veterans Affairs automobile grant program. The VA currently provides eligible veterans with a one-time grant of approximately $21,400 to be used to purchase a new or used automobile and necessary adaptive equipment, such as specialized pedals and switches. This grant is often used in conjunction with the VA's special adaptive equipment grants, which help our veterans purchase additional adaptive equipment, such as powered lifts, for example, for an existing automobile to make it safe and feasible for a veteran with disabilities. Although veterans can receive multiple special adaptive equipment grants over the course of their lives, for some reason they are limited to just a single automobile grant. The current limitation fails to take into account that a veteran is likely to need more than one vehicle in his or her lifetime.…”