Jodey Arrington: “How can a Texan respond to that in the 3 minutes that has been allotted to me? Mr. Speaker, I will say, with all…”

“How can a Texan respond to that in the 3 minutes that has been allotted to me? Mr. Speaker, I will say, with all sincerity, what an incredible man, what a great statesman and a leader for this country. For all things good about our veterans and the promises that we have made and the services that we render to them, Dr. Phil Roe, what a hero and what a great mentor to many of us. I join the many who have benefited from your friendship and leadership. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate Chairman Takano's friendship, and I thank him for his leadership and his love for our veterans. Our country's character, I think we would say, could be measured in a few ways. One of them is how we treat those who we send off to battle. In addition to being the right thing to do--that is, deliver on the promises we make to our veterans--it is also good national security policy. It is more than just recruiting the right people and providing the best training. If we are going to maintain the greatest fighting force in all the world, we need to make sure we do right by our Active Duty military men and women as they transition to civilian life and being veterans. Mr. Speaker, I want to focus on title IV of this piece of legislation. It is the Transition Assistance Improvement Act that I have worked on for a few years now. It is named after my dear friend from high school, Bill Mulder, Chief Petty Officer Navy SEAL Bill Mulder. I love saying his name. He is a warrior's warrior.…”