Political Quotes

“I rise to support the Veterans Health Care, Capital Asset and Business Improvement Act of 2003. I want to start out by thanking the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) again for his willingness to work closely with me and the Democratic members of the committee to develop this as a final package. Credit goes to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Simmons) and the ranking member, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez), for moving these measures to the floor today. The bill anticipates the final approval of the CARES plan, identifying Congress's priorities requiring notification of major initiatives that come before the plan. I will continue to work behind the curtain and in front of the public to get this legislation passed. The bill memorializes two great friends of mine: Bob Stump, who was an advocate for veterans throughout his career. We truly miss him not being on the committee anymore. He was a great American, and we salute his courage in standing up for what he believed in. Also, Jesse Brown, a veterans advocate as well, the former Secretary of Veterans Affairs for veterans. And we recognize these contributions of these two veterans with the passage of this bill. This is a laudable effort for improving services for elderly and mentally-ill veterans. It strives to make VA the first choice. I am proud of the committee's work.”