Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, if I can add to that observation that was made by my good friend from the Sunshine State, the three of us had a wonderful opportunity to visit Israel together, along with several other members of our class and, of course, Steny Hoyer, who led the delegation in August of 2013. I was struck in our conversations with some of the members of the Israeli society how well those individuals who had served in the IDF and then matriculated into society were treated. Their service in the IDF was highly valued--not just via words, but through deeds--and it enabled them to really build a successful career. They were treated with reverence. Congressman Swalwell, one of the things that perhaps was most disconcerting about my first few years in this institution is there is a lot of rhetoric--I guess I shouldn't be surprised that this is a place where there is a lot of hot air often spewed--that is devoid of substance. And in the area of veterans, in particular, what we find is that there is a lot of talk about treating veterans appropriately in terms of the sacrifice that they have made, their service, but we haven't really filled in the blanks in terms of substance. One of the areas that clearly is problematic is the fact, though we are promising to enable them once they leave their service to assist with furthering their educational goals, we are not providing them with the financial assistance and the resources necessary to actually make that happen.…”