On the recordJune 18, 2014
Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman. Today, I rise in support of going to a conference committee with the Senate on VA reform. I am pleased that the Senate has followed our lead in swiftly passing legislation that will help the thousands of veterans waiting for care in a dysfunctional VA system. While I don't agree with everything in the Senate bill, we all agree that our veterans deserve better than the VA has been giving them. Today, Congress will renew its commitment, on a bipartisan basis, to overhauling the VA and working to give our veterans the care they have earned. I was a surgeon at the VA for 20 years treating our veterans, and today I am grateful for the opportunity to continue that care by working to get a VA reform bill to the President's desk. The bottom line is this: we cannot allow the VA to continue operating as a failed, bloated bureaucracy. I believe we can give the VA the tools to be smarter, leaner, and much more responsive to the needs of our veterans. As a father of a veteran, I am dedicated to making this a reality. The time for excuses is over, the time for action is now. Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
