John Culberson: “I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I want to say very briefly that one of the reasons we're trying…”

“I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I want to say very briefly that one of the reasons we're trying to move expeditiously on this is we want to make sure our men and women in uniform have everything they need as soon as possible. We're trying to get this bill through to ensure that we not only get it, but that we get it done in an expeditious fashion. We are waiting for an amendment to be completed drafting, but it's important, I think, to reemphasize, if I could, in the time I have remaining, the scale of the problem the Nation faces. This is not just a record deficit and record debt we face. It's actually a whole lot bigger than that. As we make sure that our men and women in uniform are taken care of with their housing, we've made sure that, for example, all the BEQs, the bachelor enlisted quarters, are fully funded; that the Army, the Navy, the Air Force is fully funded; our veterans are fully funded. We've had to do this in a way that is fiscally responsible because we are ever mindful of the scale of the problem the Nation faces financially. It is difficult to even begin to comprehend how huge the problem is that has been created by so many years of previous Congresses, of previous administrations, too many promises to too many people on too many occasions on money that was borrowed from future generations. The result has been that today, the unfunded liabilities facing the taxpayers of the Nation are about $49.6 trillion.…”