To name the Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in Miami, Florida, as the "Bruce W. Carter Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center".

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in support of H.R. 2818, as amended, the Veterans Epilepsy Treatment Act of 2008. It's a bill to amend title 38 of the United States Code to provide for the establishment of Epilepsy Centers of Excellence in the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

I would like to thank the Health Subcommittee chairman, Mike Michaud, and Ranking Member Jeff Miller for their work on the bill. They determined that existing six new centers spread throughout the country without utilizing the clinical and scientific expertise available within the VA's polytrauma rehabilitation centers was probably not the optimal approach. So working in a bipartisan manner, this legislation was amended to ensure that there will soon be five polytrauma rehabilitation centers.

We also need to recognize that we have many of these 89,000 veterans who live in rural areas and also will be traveling distances, we need to acknowledge, to these rehabilitation centers; so there is an energy cost issue, which we are going to address here in a moment.

The VA has a long history of providing specialized treatment and research on epilepsy. In 1972, recognizing that head trauma, whether mild or severe, is a risk factor for developing epilepsy, the VA created dedicated centers

to improve the quality of care for veterans who may develop posttraumatic epilepsy as a result of military service. Today the VA operates seven sites with advanced capabilities to monitor and perform epilepsy surgery.

There are, as I said earlier, approximately 89,000 veterans, many of whom also live in rural America, with epilepsy enrolled in the VA health care system. And with the prevalence of combat-related traumatic brain injury among our returning OEF and OIF servicemembers, it is important that the VA is a national leader in the prevention, treatment, and research on epilepsy.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Let me speak to a couple of matters relative here to the House in how we manage the House's business. First I will speak with regard to process.

We are bringing eight veterans bills to the floor all as individual bills. That is very concerning to me because these could have been placed all in one omnibus bill that we would then bring to the floor. It would create better management of the floor. So why is this brought as eight individual bills on suspension? My guess, Mr. Speaker, is that the House is now performing what I would call filling the time. Why are we filling time? Well, because this Congress isn't working on some of the most important issues facing this country.

We have about 35 legislative days left in this Congress. This Congress has not passed a single appropriations bill to run the government. This is a dysfunctional Congress, and we're failing to meet our responsibilities. So while we are not doing the responsibilities of the country, we have to fill time. So they turn to the Veterans' Affairs Committee and other committees and find what are all the bills that you've got out there that we can do on suspension, that we can do on the calendar? Let's fill the time. And that's what is happening here, and it's extremely bothersome to me.

Here the country is facing tremendous issues, whether it's the downturn of the economy, the issues relative to people leaving their homes. We have got an energy crisis with the challenge on how we're going to reduce our energy dependence on a lot of bad actors around the world. We have got the solvency of Medicare issue. We have got the Social Security issue. We have got the AMT patch. We have got immigration. No, this Congress, we're not going to work on those important issues, I guess must be the message that the country is receiving from our acts of today, because we're going to take up a lot of time here on the legislative calendar on eight individual veterans bills. Now, think about that. That's eight bills split up of 40 minutes on each bill. This is the House equivalent of dilatory tactics when it comes to working on what is important facing the country.

So I guess on the energy issue, I think my colleagues would immediately respond, well, my gosh, Steve, we just voted on price gouging. Okay. I think my Democrat colleagues think that to solve the energy crisis relative to the country, we are going to, let's see, tax the profits of oil companies. We're going to do price gouging legislation. Oh, there must be something going on out there in the futures market; so let's talk about speculators. Let's do nothing with regard to supply.

Now, I am in favor of these Centers of Excellence to advance and coordinate care for veterans with epilepsy. So why am I talking about these other issues? I'm talking about them because they are important issues also facing the country that this Congress is not addressing. And as we continue to work as a Congress to improve the quality of life for our veterans, we must examine the added burden that energy costs are placing upon those who served their country.

Americans are coping with increased energy prices, including veterans. Congress must act to decrease the energy costs. The energy bills we have been voting on in the House are fighting the smoke of the energy crisis in America, not fighting the fires. So my Democrat colleagues love to work on the demand side of the economic equation. Price is fundamental economics. You've got a supply and demand result in the increase in price.

We've got one of my colleagues here that wants a 50 cent consumption tax on gasoline. Why would they be proposing things like this? Well, you propose things like that because you want to compress demand on energy to change the American culture rather than opening up supplies.

Why is this such an important issue? It's an important issue because it impacts veterans. Energy price impacts veterans, and nationwide Americans are now spending nearly 4 percent of their aftertax income on gasoline.

So on this bill on epilepsy, we talked about the fact that we have got 89,000 veterans with epilepsy enrolled in the VA health care system. We now in this bill are saying that we are going to move them to the polytrauma centers. There are five polytrauma centers, which means that individuals to gain access to the polytrauma care centers now have to travel. How do they get there? They either get there through the airlines or through surface transportation. In order to do that, they're facing increased costs to the access of health care. That's why energy is also an important veterans issue.

We are importing over 60 percent of our oil from foreign countries, and as the price of gasoline increases, the cost of food, goods, and medical care go up. Veterans are being hit by increased prices at the pump, and Congress must make every effort to deal with the heart of the energy issue for every citizen and increase our energy supply. If we increase our supply, we will then decrease energy prices.

Many of America's veterans, as I said, live in rural areas, and they also then get hit the hardest by the increase in gasoline prices. While 4 percent may be the average amount Americans are paying, that figure has surpassed 13 percent in rural areas. Rural Americans are estimated to be paying now over $2,000 for gasoline this year, and this has a tremendous impact upon our--

Point of Order

I have the time, Mr. Speaker. I have not yielded for a point of order.

May I speak to the point of order?

Mr. Speaker, the bill before us creates these epileptic centers to be associated with the five polytrauma centers. In order for veterans to gain access to them, they have to be able to travel to get there. The increased price of energy is very important for veterans to be able to gain access to these centers.

It is pertinent, it is relevant, and it is material to this debate.

So have you overruled the chairman's point of order?

I ask for a ruling from the Chair.

I ask for a ruling from the Chair on the point of order.

I object.

Mr. Speaker, what I object to is the fact that the chairman of the committee must not care about the increased cost of energy prices on veterans in America. He must not care, Mr. Speaker, because he's so concerned that he wants to raise a point of order against me to silence the issue of the impact of energy prices at the VA on health care, on medical research?

Mr. Speaker, this is a very, very pertinent and important issue. The increased prices to the VA, a few years back we had an emergency supplemental, and part of that was because of the increase in energy costs to the VA. This is a pretty important issue.

So let me now embrace your counsel, Mr. Speaker, to me.

H.R. 2818, as amended, will improve the VA's research. Now why do I mention research? Well, because what we're doing here, we recognize the VA has a long history of providing specialized treatment and research on epilepsy. So now let's talk about the impact on energy prices on research. It's a proper nexus, would the Speaker not agree? The Speaker is stoic.

H.R. 2818, as amended, I believe it improves VA's research, but as we look at this, the research activities consume high amounts of energy, and these activities include using CT scans, MRIs, other medical imaging technology. We use medical testing and other laboratory devices. Research laboratories require high amounts of security to protect personal medical information on research subjects. Laboratory data may examine heating and cooling systems to control specimen temperatures to ensure viability in our research activities. All that requires energy and in fact energy prices will impact the delivery of care that we do at our epileptic centers.

Facility energy consumption also involves power to run computers, printers, scanners, copiers, shredders. Some of these research, medical research projects require specialized lighting and may occur after hours when VA physicians have time to work in their labs and analyze data when these systems would then be shut down.

From 2005 to 2007, the Department of Veterans Affairs' energy costs have increased by 20 percent. The VA's energy costs have increased 65 percent since the 2003 baseline set by Federal mandates in the OMB energy scorecard.

May I ask the Speaker how much time I have remaining.

The increasing cost of energy is affecting every sector of American life, including the services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs, which we are not immune to the effects of high fuel prices. Yet, our colleagues, it appears the chairman of the Veterans' Affairs committee, that is so upset now that I am talking about the increase in energy and its impact on the quality of care we can deliver in health care, are not providing the relief on energy costs. We should be looking at ways to reduce the energy burden on the VA.

So when I look at the energy baseline in 2003 in the VA on energy costs and its impact on how we can provide quality health care to our veterans, that baseline was $287.7 million. Today, that energy baseline--actually, my numbers are of 2007--was $475.5 billion. That is a 65 percent increase in VA utility expenses.

So with regard to the Speaker's counsel to me that I can talk about energy prices in the VA so long as there is a proper nexus, well, I think if we are talking about a 65 percent increase in fuel prices and its impact upon the VA and how we will be able to deliver not only quality research but also quality health care at our epileptic centers, I think is a pretty important issue.

With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

The gentlelady knows quite well, having been here a very long time, that the best way to utilize the floor time, which is extremely important on the important issues facing the country, is that we could have taken these eight veterans bills and consolidated them and brought them to the floor. That is not what we have done.

Half of the bills that we are talking about here today, Mr. Speaker, I say to the gentlelady, is that they are naming bills. They are naming bills. We could have managed the time of the floor much better.

So the gentlelady was absolutely correct. No one here should try to attempt to spin my remarks about filling time as if somehow veterans substantive legislation is not important. The fact that the time on the floor is what is extremely important.

We have 35 legislative days, approximately, to go. I know you're praising leadership, Ms. Brown, but this Congress, we have not done one appropriations bill to run this country. Mr. Speaker, I think that is correct. I think there are 12 legislative bills. We haven't done any of them. None of them have come to the House floor.

I yield to the gentlelady.

I reclaim my time. When the gentlelady brought up with regard to what you did when you were in charge--I will just share this with the gentlelady--the bills that have been brought to the floor here under suspension, in the past, for years now you and I have work together and served on the Veterans' Affairs Committee. Any time the bill would actually come to the floor, it was always by agreement between the ranking and the chairman and other members of interest, always by consensus and by agreement.

That is not what happened here today. That is not. We did that with regard to seven bills. At the last moment, another bill gets added. We had some general concerns with regard to the language in the bill. But, no, the chairman is going to have his way.

So I just share with the gentlelady that he wanted to roll the minority, no differently than how the Speaker has rolled the committee with regard to the GI Bill and others.

I wanted the gentlelady to know when you brought up the issue about, Well, here's what occurred when you were in charge, we had great deference to the Speaker and the access to the floor.

My point is that because this Congress has now chosen not to work on these very important issues facing the country, whether it's decreasing the energy prices, on immigration, solvency of Social Security, Medicare, all of these list of issues, we are not doing right now. So we need to be able to say, Okay, what are we going to do with our time. So we take the eight veterans bills that we have and split them each up individually, with 40 minutes on each bill.

I yield to the gentlelady.

I reclaim my time. If you want to honor the veteran, then help me help this Congress and the American people reduce energy prices that impact upon the VA and other departments of government, but in particular, our veterans today, this bill before us deals with the epilepsy centers. And in order for these patients to gain access to these epileptic centers, they are either going to have to fly or they have got to drive great distances to get there, and there is going to be a cost increase to do that.

So if we are facing now from 2003 to today a 65 percent increase in energy baseline at the Department of Veterans Affairs, carry that across all government. So, today we are going to honor the veterans? We can't do things in a vacuum, I would say, Mr. Speaker. We have to be holistic with regard to how we apply our policies that we do here in Congress.

So with regard to caring for the Nation's veterans, for which we all embrace, we can only do that if we can increase the quality of our health care; at the same time, increasing the access. If we don't work on the increase in energy prices, then it has a depression then upon the access to quality health care.

So we can invest all the moneys we like on improving the quality of care, but if we can't also get them access, then have we achieved the goal for which we desire?

Reclaiming my time, I appreciate that your own chairman did not object to your words. I voted for your Amtrak bill and I support the increase in our transportation, and I appreciate the deference of the chairman for not objecting to your words being outside of the nexus of the bill. I think they were inclusive of the nexus of the bill, Mr. Speaker, because it is about transportation and how our veterans gain access to the health care system. So I also appreciate the indulgence of the Chair by permitting the gentlewoman to speak and not silencing an individual Member's words on the House floor.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I want to thank the gentleman from Colorado. He is a very valuable member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee. He and I have traveled part of the world together and I have tremendous respect for him. He also knows the Veterans' Affairs Committee works best when it works in a bipartisan fashion. So I turn to my good friend and ask for that help and assistance and best counsel that he can give to the chairman to stop the divisiveness that occurs on the committee by the actions he has been taking.

With that, I embrace the gentleman from Colorado. The gentleman should also know if the House is not going to address the big energy issues that also face America, and in particular your State with regard to oil shale and being able to access important sources of oil for this country, then I have to be able to create the nexus, Mr. Chairman, where I can, to talk about the impact of energy on this country and the impact upon veterans in this country.

With that, I reserve my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2818, as amended, and, with that, I yield back.

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you for your leadership on the committee and your leadership for these veterans in this country. And to the ranking member, I know that he did not mean that the leadership of this House, that have devoted a block of time to talk about the veterans and their service to this country, is filling the time.

I want to thank the leadership, I want to thank the chairman, and I want to thank the Republicans on the committee because we have some issues that we want to talk about honoring veterans that have served this country. So I know he did not mean that talking about veterans, other than Memorial Day or Veterans Day, is filling our time. He didn't mean that, I know that.

So I want to rise in support of veterans-related bills being considered today, and I support all eight of them.

I am pleased to be a cosponsor of House Resolution 1231, supporting Vietnam Veterans Day. In my State of Florida, we have close to 600,000 thousand veterans in Florida, and I am pleased to be given the chance to serve their interests as a member for 16 years on the Veterans' Affairs Committee.

The Vietnam War was a very divisive time in our Nation's history, and I hope that all Americans, through this resolution, will be able to continue to help heal this Nation, and that the Vietnam vets, who so bravely served our country, will finally get the respect they have earned. Let me just say: Vietnam veterans bravely served this country finally get the respect they helped earn.

I am also pleased recently to visit Puerto Rico recently and tour the VA Medical Center in San Juan. I was very impressed with the people who work at that facility and with the people in the territory as a whole. The employees were very professional, and it is a credit to both Puerto Rico and to the VA.

I was also in Ponce, admiring the port there, in my other role as a member on the Transportation Committee, and was very impressed by the city and very pleased that the veterans there have access to the VA clinic.

I support H.R. 4289, to name the VA clinic in Ponce after Captain Rubio, who earned the Medal of Honor for his service protecting his comrades above and beyond the call of duty.

I also rise in support of H.R. 4918, to rename the Miami Veterans Medical Center after one of Florida's bravest servicemen, Private Bruce Wayne Carter, of the United States Marine Corps. His mother still lives in Jacksonville. Private First Class Carter was ordered to Vietnam in April, 1969, and served as a radio operator. When he was 19, and in an act of incredible altruism, he threw himself on an enemy grenade, absorbing the full extent of the blast to protect his fellow marines.

He gave his life in service to our country and to his fellow marines and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. I am pleased to join the entire Florida delegation in support of this legislation in honor of Bruce Carter.

Again, I want to thank the chairman, and I urge all of my colleagues to support all eight bills honoring veterans

on the floor of the House of Representatives today. And once again I want to thank the leadership for bringing these veterans bills up today.

Will you yield?

Sir, I understand what you're saying, but I don't know that it was any different when the Republicans were in charge. The appropriations bills, they are going through the process, they are going through the different hearings and the discussion. But today we have an opportunity to honor the veterans.

Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. Buyer, I think it is appropriate to take proper time to honor the veterans, and I am very happy that we are doing this today. The appropriation bills, as you know, will be coming up. These are the ``must'' bills that we have to pass. And so often, as you well know, we take them and we wrap them in a continuing resolution. Hopefully, we will pass several of those bills, but today it is time for us to honor the veterans.

We have passed, working together, the largest VA budget in the history of the United States.

Last week, just last week we passed the Amtrak bill, which is an opportunity that we can take people out of their cars and move them forward. I went from downtown Brussels to downtown Paris, 200 miles, 1 hour and 15 minutes. That is the future of this country. We are moving forward. And I know you voted for my Amtrak bill. That is a great step forward.

I thank Mr. Filner for this opportunity.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2818, the Veterans' Epilepsy Treatment Act, which establishes a national epilepsy network within the Veterans Affairs health care system.

I introduced H.R. 2818 on June 21, 2007, and now, 1 year later, I'm pleased it was reported out of the VA Committee by a voice vote.

The measure has the support and sponsorship of 135 Members of Congress. And I want to thank Chairman Filner, Subcommittee Chairman Michaud, Ranking Member Buyer, Mr. Miller from Florida, and their staff for the work they do on behalf of our Nation's veterans and for their work on H.R. 2818.

I also want to thank Majority Leader Hoyer for the interest he has taken in this bill, and Rick Palacio from his office.

H.R. 2818, the Veterans' Epilepsy Treatment Act, will establish five epilepsy treatment centers called Epilepsy Centers of Excellence which are going to be co-located at the VA polytrauma centers in Palo Alto, Minneapolis, San Antonio, Richmond and Tampa. These centers will care for veterans experiencing seizures, and especially those we predict will develop epilepsy as a result of suffering traumatic brain injury while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr. Speaker, we have a moral obligation to our service men and women who are defending our country overseas to help them when they return home. Our veterans health care system is the best in the world, and H.R. 2818 will make our system even stronger.

Today estimates show some 89,000 veterans have epilepsy and 42 percent of that number is service connected.

Epilepsy is often defined as two or more seizures, and during Vietnam, a number of men and women returned home with head wounds and head injuries. Of those who came home with these types of injuries, some 53 percent developed epilepsy within 15 years thereafter; 15 percent of those who developed epilepsy did so 5 years or more after their combat injuries.

For these service-connected injuries, the relative risk for developing epilepsy is 25 times higher than in the population as a whole. These statistics indicate the number of veterans who will develop epilepsy due to the extended combat in Iraq and Afghanistan is only going to rise. And with the IED injuries that our men and women have suffered, we know that that's going to occur. That is why we need expert clinical and research staff to work together to diagnose, care for, and research the long-term effects of epilepsy.

This bill takes those steps by creating a National Epilepsy Program through the establishment of five sophisticated centers for epilepsy care. In addition, each Veterans Integrated Service Network, or VISN, will have an epilepsy referral clinic and the VA's telehealth capacity will be expanded to track the neurological diagnostic tests of our rural veterans. These centers will develop and administer treatments and possibly cures for our veterans, allowing them to live their lives to the fullest.

It establishes a National Coordinator For Epilepsy within the VA system, and it will provide educational materials throughout the country to assist people in dealing with epilepsy or those who may come into contact with people with epilepsy.

Moreover, the body of knowledge developed through the research conducted by the VA will help our society as a whole. And I will admit to having a child with epilepsy, and, quite frankly, if, in fact, the research that's developed by the VA assists her, I will be very thankful for that on a personal basis.

The bill authorizes expenditures of $5 million per year for the years 2009-2013. A small price to diagnose, treat, and research epilepsy for those who have served us so valiantly all around the globe.

Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 2818, the Veterans Epilepsy Treatment Act. I want to thank the Epilepsy Foundation, the Brain Injury Association, the American Academy of Neurology, the Disabled American Veterans, the Paralyzed Veterans of America, the Blinded Veterans, and the Vietnam Vets of America for their support of this bill. Again, I want to thank the VA Committee for supporting this bill and voting it out by a voice vote.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2818) to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the establishment of Epilepsy Centers of Excellence in the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, in this Congress the new Members have taken a great leadership role on many matters, and especially those in the area of veterans affairs. One of those great new Members is Mr. Perlmutter of Colorado, and I yield to him as much time as he might consume to explain his bill which is on the floor today and will do so much for so many veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Point of order, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, clause 1 of rule XVII says: ``A member is required to confine himself or herself to the question under debate,'' which is the establishment of epilepsy centers in this country, ``and may not stray from the subject under discussion. If so, a Member may be subject to a point of order that his or her remarks are not relevant to the debate.''

And I raise that as a point of order, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, if I may say one more thing in support of my point of order.

Before I withdraw my point of order, I would like to point out that the definition of ``filling the time'' has just been shown by the ranking member.

Mr. Speaker, I ask to withdraw my point of order.

Before I yield to my colleague on the committee, I just want to point out to the 25 million veterans of our Nation, 100 million people who constitute their families, all of this Nation who cares about health care for our veterans, the benefits for our veterans, all of those who understand that this war is costing us enormous personal tragedies, brain injuries, amputations, psychological wounds, that we have millions of veterans from earlier wars who are suffering, need help from the VA. All of that health care, all of that concern for the VA has been called by my colleague, the ranking member from Indiana, ``filling the time.'' I am happy to fill the time with bills that refer to the health and well-being of all our veterans, whether from this war or from earlier wars.

I would yield such time as she may consume to a very important member of our committee for 16 years, the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Corrine Brown).

Would the gentleman yield?

Mr. Speaker, before I yield to the gentleman from Colorado, I heard the gentleman from Indiana object to the naming bills. I guess that would be a unanimous consent request to tell Mr. Hastings from Washington, Mr. Miller from Florida, Mr. Fortuno from Puerto Rico and Ms. Ros-Lehtinen from Florida that he doesn't want to hear their bills. That is what I heard.

I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Salazar).

I am the closing speaker on our side, Mr. Speaker, so I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, with all the huffing and puffing, I am glad the minority ranking member supports the bill. Let me remind people what this bill is all about. It is about our veterans. It is about our veterans.

A DOD study after Vietnam found in fact that 15 percent of veterans with severe traumatic brain injury, TBI, developed epilepsy soon after their injury. We know how many TBI victims we have from Iraq and Afghanistan. So as more and more veterans move from DOD health care to the VA health care system, the VA must be prepared to treat TBI and epilepsy.

The Epilepsy Centers of Excellence in this bill by Mr. Perlmutter of Colorado would function as centers of research on the diagnosis, treatment and long-term effects of epilepsy. It gives the VA the tools to provide to veterans with epilepsy the quality of care that they deserve.

I join my ranking member in urging my colleagues to support H.R. 2818, as amended.

General Leave

Mr. Speaker, I would ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 2818, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

I thank the chairman and the ranking member.

Mr. Speaker, I am so honored that we have this legislation before us. H.R. 4918 honors a brave soldier, a brave marine, who gave his life for our country. And this legislation to name the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center located in my hometown of Miami, Florida, as the ``Bruce W. Carter Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center'' is a great honor not just to the family and to the legacy that Bruce left, but also it honors the selfless sacrifice of all of our members and all of our veterans.

Bruce was born in New York, and he moved with his family to Texas, then Louisiana, and then they settled in South Florida. He attended Miami Springs Elementary School and then Miami Springs High School before enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps in Jacksonville, Florida. He was promoted to Private First Class January 1, 1969, and deployed to Vietnam in April of that year, serving as a radio operator with Hotel Company, 2nd battalion, 3rd Marines, 3rd Marine Division.

Sadly, his hopes, his dreams, his lifelong ambitions were brutally cut short in Vietnam. On August 7, 1969, in combat north of the Vandegrift base in the Quang Tri province, Private First Class Carter threw himself on an enemy grenade, giving his life in service to our country so that his fellow Marines could survive.

His sacrifice embodies the honor, the courage, and the commitment to freedom which is characteristic of both a hero and a United States Marine.

On September 19, 1971, at a ceremony attended by his mother, Georgianna ``Georgie'' Carter-Krell and other family members, Private First Class Carter was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his unwavering patriotism and sacrifice. For his valor Private First Class Carter has also received the Purple Heart, the Combat Action Ribbon, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal with one Bronze Star, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.

However, the legacy of Private First Class Bruce Carter's commitment to our Nation endures. It endures in his mother, Georgie, who has carried on her son's legacy through her leadership in an organization known as the Gold Star Mothers organization. Today Georgie is serving her second term as national president of Gold Star Mothers, an organization committed to paying tribute to the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of liberty.

I am privileged to represent the 18th Congressional District of Florida, hometown to many servicemen and women who have bravely defended our interests every day. My husband, Dexter, served our country in Vietnam as a U.S. Army ranger and was severely wounded in combat. My stepson Doug and his wife are captains in the U.S. Marine Corps, having served our country in Iraq. And I am deeply and personally interested in all of the affairs related to veterans to make sure that we honor them with the benefits that they so richly have earned through their sacrifice. They have served our country proudly, and they deserve to be treated with great respect.

Those who dedicated their lives to the service of others truly embody the heart and the spirit of all that is best in America. And that can truly be said of Private First Class Carter, of his dedication to freedom and of his fellow Marines, and it must never be lost in the dusty pages of our history book. Through the naming of this medical center, we will be remembering not just Bruce's sacrifice but the sacrifice and service of all of the brave men and women who proudly serve and wear our Nation's uniform.

I thank the chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee for this opportunity, and I especially want to thank the ranking member, my good friend from Indiana, for this time.