Dependable Employment and Living Improvements for Veterans Economic Recovery Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, how can a Texan respond to that in the 3 minutes that has been allotted to me?

Mr. Speaker, I will say, with all sincerity, what an incredible man, what a great statesman and a leader for this country. For all things good about our veterans and the promises that we have made and the services that we render to them, Dr. Phil Roe, what a hero and what a great mentor to many of us.

I join the many who have benefited from your friendship and leadership.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate Chairman Takano's friendship, and I thank him for his leadership and his love for our veterans. Our country's character, I think we would say, could be measured in a few ways. One of them is how we treat those who we send off to battle.

In addition to being the right thing to do--that is, deliver on the promises we make to our veterans--it is also good national security policy. It is more than just recruiting the right people and providing the best training. If we are going to maintain the greatest fighting force in all the world, we need to make sure we do right by our Active Duty military men and women as they transition to civilian life and being veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I want to focus on title IV of this piece of legislation. It is the Transition Assistance Improvement Act that I have worked on for a few years now. It is named after my dear friend from high school, Bill Mulder, Chief Petty Officer Navy SEAL Bill Mulder. I love saying his name.

He is a warrior's warrior. He, too, gave his life for this country. He suffered and struggled with the wounds of battle that you can't easily see. Let's put it that way.

I am so grateful to Chairman Takano and Chairman Roe, and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, especially Representative Mike Levin, for helping shepherd this along and honoring Bill Mulder and his family and, in doing so, passing this legislation that will engage our Active Duty military earlier in the process, before they venture out as civilians, to equip them and empower them with education and opportunities for employment and to connect them with their brothers and sisters, fellow veterans in the community.

All the component parts of this, I think, will end up with lives saved, less Bill Mulders, in terms of his final chapter, and less pain for wives of military personnel, like Sydney Mulder.

To Sydney, let me say thank you for your sacrifice.

To Bill's children, Nina, Jake, and Sam, thank you for what you guys represent in military families. Your dad is a true American hero. His legacy will not stop here. It will live on in you, and it will live on in the lives that it changes because of this piece of legislation.

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Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, thank you for indulging me.

God bless the Mulder family. God bless those who serve our great country.

I pray to God that this will help make an impact on the real lives of our veterans as they transition and maximize their greatest God-given potential as civilians once again. That is the way this ought to work, and I know that is our desire.

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