Political Quotes

“I thank Chairman Thornberry for his continued leadership in rebuilding and reforming the Department of Defense. Today I rise in strong support of H.R. 2810, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018. As a 32-year veteran of the Mississippi Army National Guard and two Iraq deployments, I know the national security challenges facing our country firsthand. This year's NDAA makes important strides toward achieving equipment and benefits parity for our armed services' Reserve component. The enemies of this country do not distinguish between the Active component and Reserve component of our military, and neither should we. I am happy to report that this year's NDAA increases the size of both our Active component and our Reserve component. It also increases benefits parity to our Reserve component soldiers by authorizing those deployed on title X orders to receive preactivation and postactivation TRICARE coverage when on 12304a and 12304b orders. Additionally, the FY18 NDAA will allow for procurement of much-needed equipment for our Reserve component. Finally, I would like to thank my subcommittee chairmen--Mr. Coffman, Mr. Wilson, and Mr. Turner--for their leadership and hard work through this process. Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation.”