John Culberson: “I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I want to say very briefly, again, truly how much I appreciate…”

“I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I want to say very briefly, again, truly how much I appreciate working with all the members of this committee, including the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Dicks) and the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Bishop). All of us have worked with one goal in mind, and that is to ensure the peace of mind of our men and women in uniform and our retired military members, to ensure that no matter where they go, no matter what they're doing, they don't have a worry in the world. We want to make sure they are taken care of. And we've done so in a way that is fiscally responsible. We've done so in a way ever mindful of the record debt, the record deficit, of the inability of many of the projects the VA has worked on before getting done on time or, frankly, even getting started, making sure that disability claims are paid on time. We are also presenting the bill tonight, Mr. Chairman, giving any Member of the House an opportunity to come down and file an amendment and be heard in an open and transparent way, something that we in the new majority committed to do, that every American would have an opportunity to read the bill online at least 72 hours in advance. It is vitally important that we, doing the Nation's business, do so in a way that's absolutely transparent and open and straightforward, especially when it comes to supporting our men and women in uniform.…”