Providing for Consideration of H.R. Veterans' Access to Child Care Act; Providing for Adoption of H. Res. Providing Amounts for the Expenses of the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis and the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress; and Providing for Consideration of Motions to Suspend the Rules

Floor Speech

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, let me say that the gentleman from New York is doing an excellent job. He has translated the great leadership of the New York legislature and brought it here to the House. We thank the gentleman for his service.

I have been affected by the gentleman from Georgia's comments. We have been on this floor together, and I know that we have a heart of service. As well--coming from Georgia, coming from Texas--we know veterans and we certainly know Active-Duty persons as well.

So I rise to support the policy underpinnings of this legislation that has been so well articulated by the gentleman from New York.

And it is important to note, just as background: When this government was wrongly shut down, we lost $11 billion, $3 billion that we will never see again and $8 billion that we may see again. But, in the course of that, all of us interacted with our veterans, many of them devastated because some of them were in positions that caused them to be furloughed. That means they were not getting a paycheck.

Some of them, of course, are disabled veterans or veterans who are engaged in the veterans' health system.

And we know that these veterans have pride. So this bill is an authorizing bill that affirms that pride, that allows veterans--many of them young veterans, having been in the Afghanistan war, having been in the Iraq war, having been in Syria--many of them young with young children, that they can go to get their medical care--that is well needed--by now having childcare during their medical care visits.

And I am glad the gentleman from New York made it clear over and over again that this is an authorizing bill. There is no need for paygo. There is no need for the offset. That will be handled. This is a policy point.

This is Democrats, hopefully joined by Republicans, to affirm our commitment to the service of veterans. But, as I do that, maybe the gentleman from Georgia would join me in reconsidering the new tax cuts by the GOP, which would cost $3.8 trillion to the deficit this second round and create $3.2 trillion in the Federal deficit over a decade.

Maybe my good friend will join me and indicate that our veterans are more important, that services to our families are more important, and, therefore, let's reconsider this deficit-busting GOP tax bill.

But as relates to this policy, I am grateful to the leadership of the Veterans' Affairs Committee. I thank the gentleman from New York in the Rules Committee for bringing forward this thoughtful, smart veterans bill. Remember, you have been hearing us talk about smart border security, and we are working on that right now to keep the government open, but this is a smart bill.

I have a veterans hospital in my area, formerly in my district, and I know how important Medicare is.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the rule, and I rise to support the underlying legislation, which is authorizing legislation to help veterans have childcare when they go to get their medical care.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia for his indulgence and his patience as I hopefully will get the training wheels off at one of these points, but I appreciate his comments.

I do want to note that this bill, the amendment which the gentleman speaks of, will not have been germane in the previous Congress either, and it was not ruled germane during the Rules Committee deliberations.

But, Mr. Speaker, I do want to thank all my colleagues for the words of support for H.R. 840, the Veterans' Access to Child Care Act. The Veterans' Access bill, I want to especially thank the sponsor, Congresswoman Julia Brownley and Chairman Mark Takano of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, as well as the ranking member, Mr. Roe, for their work in supporting our Nation's veterans.

I am proud that this rule provides for the consideration of so many diverse ideas, including minority and bipartisan amendments, something that would not be allowed in the previous Congress. I am proud we have taken this bipartisan approach, and I appreciate all the work that Chairman McGovern has done to make sure that that is part of the work that we do.

I urge a ``yes'' vote on the rule and a ``yes'' vote on the previous question.

The material previously referred to by Mr. Woodall is as follows:

At the end of the resolution, add the following:

Sec. 4. Notwithstanding any other provision of this resolution, the amendment printed in section 5 shall be in order as though printed as the last amendment in the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution if offered by Representative Bilirakis of Florida or a designee. That amendment shall be debatable for 10 minutes equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent.

Sec. 5. The amendment referred to in section 4 is as follows:

At the end, add the following: SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF REQUIREMENT TO COLLECT FEES FOR HOUSING LOANS GUARANTEED BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

Section 3729(b)(2) of title 38, United States Code, is amended by striking ``September 30, 2028'' each place it appears and inserting ``December 31, 2028''.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source