David Price: “I thank my colleague for yielding and for his leadership in offering this motion to instruct conferees. Mr. Speaker, our…”

“I thank my colleague for yielding and for his leadership in offering this motion to instruct conferees. Mr. Speaker, our Nation has a sacred obligation to provide for those who served and sacrificed for this country. Just as the military leaves no soldier behind on the battlefield, we must leave no veteran behind when they return home, and yet, Mr. Speaker, as too many veterans and their families can attest, our collective efforts often fall short. The recent revelations of deceptive and dishonest scheduling practices at the Phoenix VA and elsewhere throughout the country have underscored a much more ominous reality: serious structural systemic problems at the VA that must be addressed immediately. We clearly have work to do. As a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee responsible for funding military construction projects and the Department of Veterans Affairs, my colleagues and I have fought for years to ensure that the Department has the resources it needs to provide for our Nation's veterans. While money alone is not a guarantor of timely access to quality care, a Department tasked with as monumental an undertaking as providing for millions of veterans, generations of veterans--from World War II to the current conflict in Afghanistan--must be ably prepared and equipped from the inside out, from top to bottom, with the resources it needs to get the job done. Financial resources must translate into human resources.…”