Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I rise in support of this amendment by Mr. Roy. This amendment prohibits any of the funding appropriated from being used to modify or remove any VA display of the original mission statement. As you may know, the original mission statement came from President Lincoln's promise: ``To fulfill President Lincoln's promise `to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan,' by serving and honoring the men and women who are America's veterans.'' They want to change it to a gender-neutral version: ``To fulfill President Lincoln's promise to care for those who have served in our Nation's military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors.'' We believe that that is a bridge too far, that we have changed the original mission statement too much. The original mission statement is posted in roughly 50 percent of all VA facilities, and now the VA has been replacing them over the last couple of months. It is unclear which displays have been changed and which have been replaced. The Trump administration resisted calls to change the motto and put an additional 140 plaques in national cemeteries bearing Lincoln's quote. Legislation changing the motto passed by voice in committee and on the House floor in the 116th Congress. We should not use tax dollars to allow the administration to unilaterally change the VA's historic motto and to erase the words of President Lincoln in order to appease the radical left.…”