i thank dr. roe for his hard work. i thank tim walz and wish him well as he goes off to other things and chairman-elect takano, thank you for your good work on this bill. with that, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from california reserves. and the gentleman from tennessee. mr. roe: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time lide tyke -- i'd like to yield two minutes to my good friend from new york and fellow mevet education and work force committee, -- fellow member of the education and work force committee, ms. stefanik. ms. stefanik: mr. speaker, my legislation included in this package gives all military spouses, rarledless of which state they married in, -- regardless of which state they married in, an option. as a proud representative of fort drum and the navy nuclear site, i understand the challenges military families face and the sacrifices these families make to help protect our nation and safeguard our freedoms. military fa

i want to congratulate our esteemed chairman, dr. roe, to the subcommittee chairman, mr. bost, to the leadership in the va in two different administrations, to chairman isaacson and ranking member tester, our counterparts in the senate, and of course to the leadership at the vsos who are will to put aside quite a few concerns and differences at the start of this process to bring us altogether to the table to come to where we are today. i have some questions as well about the i.t. systems, but i will reserve those for later. because this is my last opportunity to publicly comment on this important reform, i'm going to end my remarks with two points. first with optimism. with optimism about how this makes more accurate and timely recommendations for veterans and the up precedented willingness that has been shown by all to communicate constantly and to work together in the service of the same goal, that is serving the veterans that we are sworn to serve in honor for what they have provided to this country. it has been a pleasure over the last two years to be on this committe

i was walking over here to the string just out my staff member said dr. roe wants to say something about confirmations. he's concerned it might embarrass you. that's damn nice of you. i did want to tell you that. and give them hell in the confirmation because it's ridiculous that the folks are not confirmed. the lesson want to say is bluewater. we just did live -- and of the ds those have been providing information after information at information on this issue. i'm going to tell you, if we are not willing to take up our veterans, we shouldn't be making them, , and upon what is, is wee got to get this done. the site is clear and i would say that i think maybe the folks in the legislative branch don't realize it, but we're different than the executive branch and we need to make the call. if you want to veto the danville, then let the executive branch feet away. in the meantime we need to take care of our veterans. secretary wilkie, thank you for being here. implementation of the mission act was going to finally transform the delivery help system for our na

ed: let's bring our panel for reaction dr. robert jeffress, of course, senior pastor at first baptist dallas, a fox news contributor dr. susan johnson cook. former ambassador at large for international religious freedom under the obama administration and muslim scholar dr. ahmed. we appreciate you all being here. i start with susan cook. what do you make of the dnc chair and his comment. >> i come from a history where the pulpit has been used for good. i was a practicing pastor international freedom religion ambassador. certainly the civil rights movement was birthed out of the pulpit. many churches made sure that there was justice and equality for our people. now, on the other side, some pulpits are being used not for good. if you are supporting the nra and other places that actually kill people while promoting gun use, we have had so many people die from gun violence. i have think you have to be very careful about the way the pulpit is used. ed: to suggest the nra is kill people. that is extreme statement. they are fighting