Louie Gohmert: “as always, it is such an honor to be part of this body when you know the sacrifices that have been made by so many just…”

“as always, it is such an honor to be part of this body when you know the sacrifices that have been made by so many just to allow us to be here at this time in history. There is a defense bill that we will be talking about some in the next 60 minutes, but in leading up to that, I wanted to address a bill that was on the suspension calendar earlier this week and was pulled from the suspension calendar, and I have been told it probably will be coming up very soon. Like so many things that have been done in this body that has unintended consequences, the Second Chance Act is very well intentioned. As a former judge, I know well that we have got to do a better job of rehabilitating, of educating, with drug treatment and alcohol treatment for those that are incarcerated in our prisons. There is just no question that we should do a better job with those things. Unfortunately, this well-meaning bill, the Second Chance Act, goes so far beyond what is helpful. This bill will provide more benefits to felons than are available to those risking their lives in the service of our United States military. For example, this bill apparently will provide over $360 million. I say apparently will provide over that amount, because one provision says 'such sums as may be necessary.' There is no way to know how much money that may be. But, in any event, this bill, for example, seems to leave medical care potentially unending after confinement.”