Appointment of Conferees on HR 3230, Pay Our Guard and Reserve Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GARCIA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Arizona.

As a nation, we have a debt of gratitude to our veterans, a debt that will be very difficult to repay; but, nonetheless, we must make every effort to do so.

Mr. Speaker, I spent the last few weeks meeting with veterans in my district and getting firsthand accounts of their experiences at the hospital as well as its supporting clinics in south Florida.

While secret wait lists and months-long waits are inexcusable, it has become clear that the problems are much deeper than that. So many of my veterans felt that their concerns weren't being heard--and they were absolutely right. On top of the long waits for appointments with doctors, we heard about the need for better transportation, greater use of technology, reduced wait times and more convenient hours.

Just this week, we held our first working group meeting in my district with local veterans as well as the director of the hospital and his administrative staff. It is an important step to a dialogue that is sorely needed.

While we in Washington can wait and bicker about this issue and the ongoing relationship between us and the hospital system and the Veterans Administration, what there is no question about is that the time has come to solve this problem. We as a nation must renew our commitment to serve our veterans with the same dignity and respect with which they served us. It is the absolute least we can do. By instructing House conferees to accept the McCain-Sanders compromise, we can quickly get the bill to the President and get on with the business of ensuring every veteran gets the care and need they deserve.

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