[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 116 (Thursday, July 23, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S5478]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                    SUPPORTING OUR NATION'S VETERANS

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, we can tell a lot about how a Senator feels 
about our veterans by seeing how they vote on issues dealing with 
veterans. We can tell a lot about a Senator by how he or she treats our 
Nation's veterans. Are they committed to giving our veterans the care 
and help they deserve and need or do they see American servicemembers 
as political footballs to be used for partisan fights?
  I was disappointed yesterday to see my Republican colleagues try to 
actually manipulate a good veterans bill, a noble bill, and it was done 
for political purposes.
  The senior Senator from Washington, who has worked so hard on 
veterans issues for years now in the Senate, crafted a bipartisan piece 
of legislation to help veterans to do a number of things--basically, to 
help with their families. It is a tragic reality that thousands of 
veterans and servicemembers struggle with issues related to 
reproductive health, including fertility, some as a result of injuries 
sustained in combat. Senator Murray's bill would give the Veterans' 
Administration the resources it needs to attend to our veterans' 
reproductive health. The legislation would also help facilitate 
adoptive services for wounded veterans who want a family of their own.
  Senator Murray's bill was to be marked up. That means it would be 
finalized in committee before it was reported from that committee to 
the floor. That is one of the opportunities we have to get legislation 
on the floor. But in a cynical, duplicitous move, a handful of 
Republicans on that committee were determined to manipulate the 
legislation. Instead of working with Senator Murray and others on the 
committee to pass a good bill as is, the junior Senator from North 
Carolina and other Republicans tried to attach so-called poison pill 
amendments to the bill. Senator Murray, to her credit, saw immediately 
what this charade was all about as a political stunt and requested that 
the chairman pull her bill from consideration, which did happen. The 
Senator from Washington didn't want a good, bipartisan bill hijacked by 
a few Republicans looking to get their names on FOX television.
  This episode says a lot about today's Republican Party. This is an 
attack on families, it is an attack on the health of women, and it is 
an attack on our veterans.
  Every servicemember who puts on the uniform of the United States 
armed services deserves everything we can give them because they take 
an oath to defend our Nation. It is not a pledge taken lightly by these 
men and women who serve. They understand what is being asked of them. 
They know that at any given time they may have to sacrifice everything 
for this country.
  We here in the Senate take a similar oath when we are sworn in to 
office, but we also make an unspoken, yet equally solemn, vow--to do 
everything in our power to support these veterans. We aren't called 
upon to make the ultimate sacrifices they are, but we have to recognize 
that they need our help. That means we do anything we can to give them 
the care they deserve. That means we always put their well-being above 
partisan politics.
  The Republicans in this ploy yesterday put FOX News ahead of the 
welfare of the veterans community. This is, in fact, a reality. It is 
too bad for the veterans community.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Rounds). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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