Political Quotes

“I come today to address an unintended inclusion in the compromise deal that was worked out by the bipartisan budget conference and that was overwhelmingly passed in the House of Representatives earlier last week. As a long-time champion myself of our Nation's veterans and military families, I want to make absolutely sure today that they know a provision included in this deal which mistakenly included disabled retirees and survivors for changes in pension growth will be addressed in short order following passage of this bill. In fact, I am going to be joining with the Senators from Georgia and others after passage of this bill to make that technical correction in a stand-alone bill. I think all of us know our disabled veterans have made tremendous sacrifices for our Nation and deserve the peace of mind that their benefits will not be adjusted under this compromise legislation. They deserve to know also that government shutdowns and the constant crises that have unfortunately impacted wait times for our veterans' benefits, further growth in the disability backlog, and even jeopardizing their monthly checks should be a thing of the past. That is what is at the heart of this bill. We are working to ensure the uncertainty and fear these veterans and military families faced last October is taken off the table for at least 2 years. We are working to ensure the government they fought for functions in a way that delivers on the promise we owe all of them.…”