Jim Baird: “I would like to point out two things: first of all, in response to my dear friend from Nebraska, when he mentioned that…”

“I would like to point out two things: first of all, in response to my dear friend from Nebraska, when he mentioned that the majority, or that this body, had passed or fixed concurrent receipt, he neglected to mention that was following a Democratic discharge petition that essentially shamed the majority into doing something that the administration had opposed, the Republican majority had opposed. They finally did it in the late term of the last Congress, just in time for an election; but they still did not put in a permanent fix for it. When the gentleman talked about the other things that the majority party has supposedly done for veterans, he neglected that just a couple of weeks ago, right here on this floor, the majority party rejected the gentleman from Mississippi's (Mr. Taylor) passionate request that we provide additional TRIO health care access to Guardsmen and Reservists. They rejected that. So to come here and say look at what all we have done for veterans is mighty hypocritical when you know the full record. Let me talk about what happened this past March. I have worked in VA hospitals as a clinical psychologist with returning veterans. We had Task Force Olympia coming back to my region, and I said we have got thousands of soldiers coming back and it is a logical, reasonable question to say do we have the resources in place to treat those soldiers and their families when they come back. I worked with the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms.…”