Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today as the ranking member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, as the co-chair of the National Guard and Reserve Components Caucus, as the co-chair of the Congressional Veterans Jobs Caucus, and probably more importantly, as a retired enlisted soldier to bring to your attention a number of provisions in the GOP tax bill that will negatively impact the men and women currently serving and transitioning from the United States military. Mr. Speaker, I want to be clear. Tax reform is a laudable goal. It would have been nice had we actually done it, had we actually had debates, had we actually had witnesses. Zero, zero, zero. What we have is a closed-door bill brought forward and forced upon the House. In my opinion, trying to think that the American people would not watch what happens here is pretty risky. These are folks in the military who risked everything to give us the right to debate things here. We should at least probably debate their future in an open manner. I hope we will strongly consider, Mr. Speaker, each of these following provisions in this bill that will put the prosperity of America's heroes at risk. As the legislation is written, this tax plan includes provisions that will specifically harm members and veterans to help pay for tax cuts for corporations and the ultrawealthy. How can you justify giving a tax cut for carrying interest, but not for carrying a rucksack? That is what that vote will be today. Be very clear about this.…”