Political Quotes

“I thank the subcommittee chairman and the ranking member for the time. More importantly, I thank both of them and their respective staffs for the bipartisan and continuously exceptional effort to serve our veterans. I thank them for the opportunity to move this forward. Mr. Speaker, this bill has passed the House multiple times over the last 8 years. It is very simple. It is less than 150 words, and it is very rare in that it costs nothing, but I would argue that it is very important. The men and women of the Reserve component, as you so eloquently heard by my colleagues who spoke prior, take the exact same oath of office and are held to the exact same standards as the Active component. They sacrifice their time and energy. They stand at the ready if called upon, whether it is assisting flood victims in Minnesota, fighting wildfires across the Western United States, or fighting overseas in the protection of our freedoms. For those who have completed 20 years or more in the Guard or Reserve but who have not served a qualifying period of Title X Active Duty, we honor their service with health care benefits and monetary benefits, with one notable exception--they must call themselves ``military retirees'' and not ``veterans.'' As the gentleman from Pennsylvania noted, I think most Americans, when I talk to them, are unaware of this. Once they find out, they are appalled that we don't do it. This bill closes the loophole.…”