David Thomas: “I think what we owe the American people, the veterans, the military retirees, is the truth, and I have not heard much of…”

“I think what we owe the American people, the veterans, the military retirees, is the truth, and I have not heard much of that here tonight. The idea that military retirees, if the Taylor amendment passes, can now go to military hospitals, and if you are Medicare-eligible, receive care, is simply not true. It was not true yesterday. It is not true today. It is not going to be true tomorrow. I heard a lot of people saying we promised the military and that we ought to deliver on the promise. What is being proposed does not deliver on the promise. If we heard the gentleman from Oklahoma, if we really truly want to provide healthcare to all Americans and most especially veterans and military retirees, we ought to make sure they have the ability to get it where they are able to get it, as close to them as possible; not at isolated locations called military hospitals. The whole approach of trying to say one does not have to change, notwithstanding the fact that they are a widow and they have moved away from the area that their husband served his military service in, that they have to locate a particular physical place for them to get the benefit that we promised, is 19th Century thinking. It is worse than 19th Century thinking. It is telling people we are going to deliver a hope and a promise and, in fact, shatter a belief once again.”