Political Quotes

“I come to the floor today to talk about an issue about which I am deeply concerned. While I certainly appreciate the work done by Congressman Ryan and Senator Murray on the recent budget agreement, in my view there is a provision in this agreement which makes it a deal breaker. That provision is, there is $6 billion taken from our current military retirees over the next 10 years from their cost-of-living increases to pay for this budget agreement. I do not believe we have to take from the backs of our men and women in uniform to pay for more spending. I believe there are other ways we can find $6 billion in the trillions and trillions we will spend over the next decade, rather than taking it from the men and women in uniform who have sacrificed the most for our country. What troubles me most about this particular provision of this budget agreement is our military retirees under the age of 62 were singled out. There are some changes to the contributions that Federal employees will have to make to their retirement, but those changes are only made prospectively to new hires. Our men and women in uniform were not grandfathered under this agreement. They are the only ones singled out under the agreement to have their benefits cut. What I find most appalling is the question we pressed and we pressed the Department of Defense for an answer to, and that is: What happens to our disabled veterans? Many of us have been to Walter Reed.…”