Sheila Jackson Lee: “I thank the gentleman from California, particularly for his extended leadership and work on behalf of the Nation's…”

“I thank the gentleman from California, particularly for his extended leadership and work on behalf of the Nation's veterans. I thank our manager, who is leading on the majority. This is an important and bipartisan effort to ensure the promise that we make to the men and women of the United States military that ultimately serve--and I always use this term--particularly, for those who have come from the city of Houston, and Texas, and then for the Nation. These men and women put on the uniform unselfishly. They are ready to serve. They own up to their responsibilities. They are going away from their families, and they come back and are in need of important services. This bill is important because it extends from 3 to 5 years the authority for additional licensed healthcare professionals to perform medical disability examinations as part of an existing VA pilot program related to the use of contract physicians for disability examinations. If you do casework in your district, you are well aware of the challenges of our veterans in getting assessed for disability. Some feel unfairly treated and analyzed for the percentages that they get. This is certainly extremely important with 18.5 million veterans in the United States, and with 1.5 million of them from my own State of Texas.…”