[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 9840]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            VETERANS AFFAIRS

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, all over America today there are newspaper 
articles of hope--for example, in the Washington Post today, ``Veterans 
Affairs bills progressing quickly in Congress.'' It quotes me as saying 
it is something that needs to be done. ``It's urgent that we get this 
done to resolve some of the outstanding issues within the VA.''
  My friend the Republican leader, the senior Senator from Kentucky, 
``predicted that GOP senators will overwhelmingly support the bill.''
  This is what the article says about Mr. Miller from Florida, the 
House chairman:

       Miller signaled support for the Sanders-McCain bill, noting 
     that it largely mirrors a series of similar stand-alone 
     proposals the House approved in recent months.

  Each side has run what are called hotlines--meaning permission from 
Senators to move forward on this legislation--and we have been able to 
do that. It was my understanding late last evening that the junior 
Senator from Oklahoma has an amendment he feels should be offered. 
Fine. Let's bring that up, vote on it, and move on.
  This is a bill that needs to get done. Not only are the veterans 
elated to hear language like what I have just read but also people all 
over America because we support the veterans community.
  We have issues that are so deep and complex that we need to get to. 
Will this solve all the issues? Of course not. But because of the wars 
in Iraq and Afghanistan, we have 2 million new veterans who have a 
multitude of problems we have never had in other wars. So I certainly 
hope we can quickly arrange an opportunity to move forward on this 
legislation. I stand ready to work with my Democratic allies here and 
those in the minority to do everything we can to move forward on this 
legislation as quickly as possible.

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