Political Quotes

“Thank you, Chairman McKeon and Ranking Member Smith, for your leadership. Mr. Speaker, the National Defense Authorization Act provides our warfighters, veterans, and military families the support they need, deserve, and have earned. Specifically, this year's legislation includes over 30 reforms related to combating criminal sexual assault in the military. Reforms initiated by Congressman Mike Turner and Congresswoman Niki Tsongas include stripping commanders of their authority to dismiss a guilty finding; significantly limiting commanders' ability to modify court-martial sentences; establishing minimum sentences for sexual assault-related offenses; reforming the article 32 process to protect the victim. Other provisions would reaffirm our commitment to the Reserves by requiring minimum notification before deployment; require the Secretary to improve the Integrated Disability Evaluation System; and reauthorize many special pays and bonuses for our servicemembers. This bill does not include the administration's request for military retirees to pay more in fees. From the beginning, the military personnel provisions have been a bipartisan process. I want to commend the ranking member, Congresswoman Susan Davis of California.…”