Chris Smith: “I thank my good friend for yielding, and I thank the gentlewoman from Florida, Corrine Brown, for her courtesy. Mr.…”

“I thank my good friend for yielding, and I thank the gentlewoman from Florida, Corrine Brown, for her courtesy. Mr. Speaker, I served on the House Veterans' Affairs Committee for a quarter of a century, including stints as vice chairman and full committee chair. I believe that our Nation's veterans are fortunate to have a great champion with the gentleman from Florida, Chairman Miller, at the helm. Chairman Miller has led the committee with aggressive oversight and accountability of the often-troubled Department. He has shepherded numerous bills into law, including the VA Choice Program, which expands timely and local access to health care for veterans, and, working so closely in a bipartisan way with Ranking Member Brown, ensured that the VA has the resources and the authorities to meet evolving needs. The chairman always puts veterans and their dependents first. Chairman Miller has explained the bill. I will just take a brief moment to comment on title III. Title III reauthorizes a number of provisions from a law that I wrote back in 2001 known as the Homeless Veterans Comprehensive Assistance Act, or Public Law 107-95. That law established the grant programs that included female veterans, homeless veterans with special needs, children, serious mental illnesses, and incarcerated veterans. The act authorized dental care.…”