Western Sahara and Abraham Accords
Floor Speech
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Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, tonight I am pleased to speak as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs on the work we have accomplished with our colleagues in the House to deliver today meaningful benefits and reforms for our Nation's veterans and to recognize the decades of service of two of our departing colleagues who are dedicated to the well-being of our veterans.
Today the House passed the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020. This legislation is the culmination of more than 2 years of bipartisan work, with input from all of our veteran service organizations, dozens of Senators and Members of the House of Representatives, our partners at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the leadership of the former Senate and House VA Committee chairmen, Senator Isakson and Congressman Roe.
Among its many provisions, this legislation invests in the education and employment of veterans to make certain they have the tools necessary to achieve success after service through expanded opportunities to use their earned benefits for longer periods of time and more opportunities for job training.
This bill will also give the VA the tools necessary to serve veterans at risk of homelessness in a more meaningful way during the pandemic and require the VA to provide greater oversight and support to our State veterans' homes.
It also includes provisions from the Deborah Sampson Act, a landmark bill that makes clear women who serve their country in the Armed Forces must have a VA that is as effective for them as it is for the men who also have served.
As I mentioned, this bill is named after two public servants. Johnny Isakson was my predecessor as chairman, and I have worked hard to follow his example of bipartisanship in working with our VA Committee ranking member, Senator Jon Tester. Legislation like this bill is the result of many months of work by members of our staff, stemming from a desire from both sides of the aisle to better serve our Nation's veterans. The important relationships that exist between Senators, our House colleagues, and our staff members result in a bipartisan solution like the one that passed the House today and that passed the Senate just a few days before.
I would also like to thank Dr. Phil Roe. I served with him in the House of Representatives. He is the current House Veterans' Affairs Committee ranking member and its former chairman. I thank him for his partnership and his friendship as we worked together to serve veterans, since we both served on that committee in the House together.
The VA is making positive, measurable changes to better serve our veterans, and Congressman Roe and Senator Isakson deserve credit not only for being a big part of that change but also for being an example for the rest of us as to how we can work across the aisle and across the Capitol to improve the lives of our country's veterans and all of our fellow citizens.
I would also like to recognize Congressman Roe's counterpart, House VA Committee Chairman Takano, for seeing this bill to completion in the House of Representatives today.
I would like to thank my counterpart in the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, Ranking Member Jon Tester, the Senator from Montana, for his hard work this past year in helping to lead our committee's efforts to do the right thing for our Nation's veterans. This bill is a testament to his dedication to serving our veterans and to his staff's tireless work on veterans' behalf.
One more thank-you certainly rests with our SVAC members for providing so many legislative solutions to issues that we have heard from the VA, from our VSOs and from veterans in each of our home States. I know that making certain our veterans continue to receive care and benefits was foremost in their minds during this pandemic, and I would like to thank Senators Boozman, Cassidy, Rounds, Tillis, Sullivan, Blackburn, Cramer, Loeffler, and each of our Democratic colleagues on the committee for their contribution to this landmark legislation.
Our veteran service organizations often speak for veterans who cannot speak for themselves, and they help Members of this body understand the issues and concerns that veterans may be facing across the country in addition to our own home States. I thank all of the VSOs that have worked on this bill, for many years in many cases, meeting with me and with our committee staff, explaining issues and working closely with us to make certain we find the right solutions for our Nation's veterans. I hope each VSO--veteran service organization--and its members will benefit from this legislation following the President's signature. I hope they will benefit for decades to come.
Finally, I want to thank our team at the Senate VA Committee for everything they have put into this legislation.
Thank you to Senator Tester's staff for all of your thoughtful work drafting the language to help address real issues that impact real veterans.
Thank you to my VA staff, who have put in the work conducting oversight and responding to casework so we can understand the needs of veterans in Kansas and across the country and make meaningful, lasting changes so they may experience the American dream that they once fought so hard to secure for each of us.
Thank you to Chelsey Ladd, Victoria Lee, Scott Nulty, Kevin Ryan, Thomas Wilson, Michele Payne, Barry Walker, Pauline Schmitt, Thomas Coleman, Asher Allman, Jake Vance, Mark Crowley, Brian Newbold, Lindsay Dearing, Emily Blair, Kelsey Baron, Tiffanii Woolfolk, and David Shearman.
Finally, I want to recognize my staff director, Caroline Canfield, who is ending her service with my office and with the Senate at the end of this month. She has served as a tremendous asset. She is a tremendous asset and a force multiplier as my military legislative assistant, as my lead appropriations staffer, and now as my VA Committee staff director.
Our Nation's veterans and our military members are better off because of the work she has done throughout her career and because of her tenacious ``never take no for an answer'' approach to doing all things right.
Caroline, you will be missed, but you are always part of the team. You deserve our gratitude for what you have accomplished on behalf of our Nation's military men and women and on behalf of our veterans.
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