Joe Cunningham: “First of all, there are no better committees that one can serve on than the authorization or appropriations defense…”

“First of all, there are no better committees that one can serve on than the authorization or appropriations defense committee. Once we get to the floor, that is different, because there are those people that do not support national security. Mr. Chairman, I want to talk about the health care issue. And if the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor) and the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton) would listen, this is important. The subvention bill is my bill, my original bill. I put it through to get 100 percent of coverage for the subvention that the gentleman from Mississippi wants to do. But I want to tell my colleagues that, even though it is my bill, and I have the most to gain, I would love to have the veterans saying, 'Duke Cunningham's bill is out there and it is 100 percent,' it has its limitations. If someone lives close to a hospital, then subvention is good, but it is just a Band-Aid. I put it in because we were not doing enough for our veterans and we could not get movement. Tri-Care is the same thing. We could go ahead and make that 100 percent right now, but I want to take care of those veterans that are in the rural areas who do not have access to Tri-Care or subvention. If we do this, we could mess up the whole program and what we are trying to do to help veterans. Do not demagogue the issue with the Democrat leadership. And those people that support what the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor) is doing are mistaken.”