[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12659]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           CONSTITUTION WEEK

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from West 
Virginia (Mr. Jenkins) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JENKINS of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, September 17-23 is 
Constitution Week, where we celebrate the document and principles that 
are the foundation of this great Nation. Constitution Day on the 17th 
marks the ratification of this great document.
  The Constitution is the basis of our Nation. It is the reason we are 
here today. It lays out the fundamental principles and structures of 
our Nation and our government. And the Bill of Rights makes clear the 
rights we enjoy as Americans and the fact that the Federal Government 
cannot infringe on these rights. Every decision I make as a Member of 
Congress is informed by the words written in the pages of this 
Constitution.
  All over the world, our Constitution stands as a pillar of justice, 
freedom, and good governance. Other countries look to our Constitution 
for guidance as they write their own constitutions and establish their 
own democracies.
  As we celebrate Constitution Week, I also want to recognize the great 
work of the Daughters of the American Revolution, including the 
chapters in my district, for their efforts to educate America about 
this document and its history.
  We owe a debt of gratitude to our Founding Fathers in crafting this 
great document, a Constitution that has stood the test of time.


                           VA Accountability

  Mr. JENKINS of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, during two townhall 
meetings recently, I had the opportunity to hear from our veterans 
about the care they are receiving from VA hospitals. They want, they 
need--no, they deserve--a VA healthcare system that works for them, one 
that gives them timely care, one that treats our veterans with respect 
and one that holds VA bureaucrats accountable.
  I am proud to support H.R. 5620, a necessary step to getting the VA 
working again for our veterans. I will not stand for a system that 
rewards Washington bureaucrats for failing to do their job. There are a 
lot of good, caring people at the VA and their employees at our 
hospitals, and we need to make sure they have an environment and system 
where they can serve our veterans.

                              {time}  1030

  I stand with our veterans, and for the commonsense reforms to the 
problems that they are facing. I will continue to work to make sure the 
VA is held accountable; that veterans receive the best health care in 
the country--no, in the world--and that a broken system is fixed. Our 
veterans have sacrificed so much for us, and we must keep the promises 
we have made to them.

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