Thank you for holding this hearing and providing me the opportunity to present testimony in support of H.R. 3483, the Veterans Education Equity Act of 2011, introduced by the Honorable G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina.

This inequity has caused many veterans to drop out of college, transfer, or assume tremendous financial burdens to attend school.

We owe our veterans every opportunity to get a quality education and enter the workforce with the tools needed to compete.

H.R. 3483, the Veterans' Education Equity Act, addresses this problem by granting veterans equal benefits to attend any public or private institution.

Due to the leadership of North Carolina Congressman G.K. Butterfield, H.R. 3483 will allow the affected veteran population to receive the greater of (1) actual net costs for in-state tuition or (2) $17,500 for the academic year beginning…

By providing up to $17,500 for all veterans regardless of the institution they opt to attend, this measure remedies this issue.

Today, I rise to congratulate Cassius S. Williams, a dear friend, who is the recipient of North Carolina State University's Watauga Medal Award. Each year, NC State honors alumni for outstanding contributions to the university by bestowing…

That is unfair, Mr. Chairman.

Prescription drug diversion is an ever-growing problem in our country.

It is unconscionable that since 1990, the deaths resulting from an overdose of prescription drugs have risen.

The regulation of medicine is done at the state level. It is not done at the Federal level, and we have to provide the training, the technical assistance, the start-up money for the computer systems, and the assistance to law enforcement.