Chip Roy: “I thank the ranking member for yielding. As a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee and as someone who represents…”

“I thank the ranking member for yielding. As a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee and as someone who represents San Antonio, an inordinate number of veterans, Joint Base San Antonio, Army Futures Command, I regret to rise in opposition to the legislation before us. I respect the enormous amount of work that has gone into this legislation by the committee staff, by the ranking member, by the chairman, by the Senate. Obviously, it is an important issue, and it is critical. I have many friends here, particularly veterans, who support this measure, and I understand why. Every single one of us wants to make sure that we take care of this issue, and frankly, it has been way too long in getting to it. I agree with that completely. But, unfortunately, I cannot support this bill because this bill spends about $285 billion that we don't have. {time} 1415 We have to address the issue in this body of spending money we don't have. The chairman said: Well, why don't you raise it on other issues? I raised it on every single issue. I raised it on a $2 million bill about 30 minutes ago on the floor. At some point, we have to pay for the stuff that we are spending it on or the very things that these veterans sacrificed for will be made completely and utterly worthless.…”