On the recordFebruary 27, 2014
Mr. President, as chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs' Committee, I want to thank many people for helping me bring forth the legislation we are going to be voting on this afternoon. I thank those people who have come down to the floor to speak on behalf of our veterans. That includes Majority Leader Reid, who has been so helpful throughout, Senators Murray, Blumenthal, Heinrich, Pryor, Durbin, Merkley, Walsh, Shaheen, and Casey. I suspect I have left out some Members. I thank my entire staff at the Veterans Affairs' Committee--Steve Robertson, Dahlia Melendrez, Travis Murphy, Kathryn Monet, Kathryn Van Haste, Elizabeth Austin, Carlos Fuentes, Ann Vallandingham, Rebecca Thoman, Jason Dean, Shannon Jackson, Shanna Lawrie, and Rafael Anderson--for their help on this effort. I thank the 28 cosponsors of this important legislation. I will not read their names. They know who they are, and I thank them very, very much. As I indicated earlier, this legislation is not Bernie Sanders' legislation. This is legislation that, by and large, comes from the hearts and souls of the veterans of this country. As chairman of the committee, I thought it was my obligation to listen to what the veterans of our country were saying about their problems and their needs and how we might go forward, and that is what I and others on the committee did. We listened.…





