Political Quotes

“I thank Chairman Isakson. Before I answer the question, I want to echo and say thank you very much for your leadership on this committee. It has been great to work with you. You have a reputation of being a man of honesty, integrity, and fair dealing, and you have once again lived up to that reputation. I could not ask for a better chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee than you. I very much appreciate the work you have done on this bill. I, too, want to thank Senators Rubio, Moran, Shaheen, Blumenthal, Angus King, Donnelly, Baldwin, and Duckworth. There are a number of folks on both sides of the aisle who have stepped up--some on the committee, some off the committee--who have done such a great job making sure we ended up here today. Chairman Isakson knows this. We got a bill over from the House, we sat down together, and we negotiated. We gave and took and massaged the bill. We ended up with a bill that probably Johnny would not have written and probably I wouldn't have written, but it is a bill that is going to work, and it is going to give the VA what they need to hold people accountable. I also echo what Johnny said. Veterans across this country are very happy with the care they get at the VA, and it is because of the great people on the ground within the VA, but every once in a while we get a bad apple, and the VA needs to be able to remove that bad apple because that bad apple reflects poorly on everybody within the VA.…”