ms. kuster: thank you. we need to expand trade adjustment assistance and invest in work force development, like the 2.5 million dollar department of labor grant recently awarded to nashua community college. this funding will help teach students the kills needed for advanced manufacturing careers so that a graduate with a two-year associate's degree can leave school and walk into a good job that pays $45,000 a year. we need to pass long-term re-authorization of the export-import bank, to help companies like boyle energy in concord, new hampshire, ship american-made products around the world. these are the policies that will promote new manufacturing jobs, and they deserve bipartisan support. unfortunately, the bill before us today is not a commonsense bipartisan proposal for strengthening manufacturing. instead, it would tie the hands of our public health officials and make it harder to advance life-saving rules to protect our air and our long-term pollution. that's why i'm offering my amendment, which would

ms. kuster: sadly, more than 100,000 children are waiting for permanent families and have waited for years in foster care. every year, dozens age out of the system without ever finding a permanent home. as an adoption attorney for 25 years, i know firsthand how important it is to adopt and provide a stable environment for children. every child deserves loving parents and adoption is a great way to unite a child who needs a home with a loving family. yesterday i was proud that the new hampshire bureau of community and family support services celebrated national adoption day with families and community leaders to share positive adoption stories and draw attention to children in new hampshire waiting to find permanent loving homes. the families that we are celebrating on national adoption day and national adoption month are true heroes. they are opening their hearts and embarking on the ultimate journey of love and commitment. and as a member of both the bipartisan congressional caucus on adoption and on foster youth, i will continue to work with my colleagues to help create a better foundati

ms. kuster. >> thank you, mr. chairman, thank you very much for being with us today. i wanted just a quick story that a member of my staff who is a veteran received his card last week and we were all very excited. we walked through the letter i just erans received want to make sure in terms of the volume of calls and questions because it was great to receive the card and it was nice to celebrate that for veterans day, but it was very clear that the card wasn't going to do anything until you went through the steps of eligibility and making sure you're authorized to use the card. so number one i worry a little bit about veterans that somehow think the card has some magic to it and they go to a private provider and then end up with a big bill they didn't expect. number two, the question that was raised in a memo provided us by the staff about the co-pays and deductibles and is there sufficient communication for the veteran to understand that they may end up with a financial obligation that they would not have had if they had been seen through the v.a. and i have another