Political Quotes

“I thank Mr. Bost for yielding me the time. I am always proud to stand on this floor and talk about the men and women who serve our country. And it is our country. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition today to H.R. 1836, the Guard and Reserve GI Bill Parity Act of 2021. And it kind of saddens me that I have to rise in opposition because while this bill, well-intentioned, is unfortunately potentially prone to unintended consequences on the overall readiness of our Armed Forces, Active Reserve and Guard. But first I must note that these issues could have been brought to light earlier had this piece of legislation gone through regular order, received proper consideration across all the normal things that we historically have done. It received no legislative hearings, foregoing the opportunity to receive input from key stakeholders, veteran service organizations, new committee members on both sides of the aisle, and even the Biden administration. Without that engagement, we are just left with a bill that in its current form, which would count guard and reservists Federal Active- Duty service days towards GI eligibility, including for training. And there is a very subtle difference. In fact, it is a very exact difference in law between Active Duty for training and Active Duty. I spent much of my 40-year Marine Corps career in the Reserve component.…”