Carol Shea-Porter: “I thank the chairman for his legislation. As a member of the Armed Services Committee, I'm proud to be an original…”

“I thank the chairman for his legislation. As a member of the Armed Services Committee, I'm proud to be an original cosponsor. Mr. Speaker, we have a solemn responsibility to provide our servicemembers with the care and the services that they are due. They risk their lives in service to our Nation, and it's imperative that we keep our promises to them. This is not a Democratic or Republican responsibility, and as an advocate for the members of our military and their families--and I might add, as a former military spouse myself--it's troubling for me that throughout the debate on health care reform that TRICARE would be included as one of the topics of the various misinformation campaigns. This bill will ensure that those members of our armed services can keep their TRICARE coverage. I'm proud to have stood in support of our servicemembers in the Armed Services Committee, preventing increases in TRICARE copays, for example. I'm pleased that the chairman, through this legislation, has given us all the opportunity to reaffirm not only the importance of TRICARE, but that, under our health reform legislation, these benefits will remain as they are.”