Recognizing National Nurses Week on May 6 through May 12, 2008.

Let me thank my colleague and friend of longstanding. I want to also thank the minority side for their assistance, and both Chairman Dingell and Ranking Member Barton.

As a registered nurse with a master's degree, it is a privilege and a delight to offer a resolution recognizing National Nurses Week which is May 6 through 12. I have two outstanding colleagues that we have found to have something in common, Congresswoman Lois Capps and Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy, who are also nurses and champions of this resolution and of the profession, and I thank them for their efforts to encourage more than 110 congressional colleagues to cosponsor this bill honoring nurses.

The Congressional Nursing Caucus was also helpful in promoting the legislation, and I appreciate Members' efforts to rally support for H. Res. 1086.

Nurses are a key component of our Nation's health care system. Whether on the battlefield or at sea, in a skilled nursing facility, in a hospital or even in a patient's own home, the care that a nurse provides is very valuable. Nurses are intelligent individuals who must often make quick decisions in an effort to save the life of a patient, even before the physician arrives. Nurses are recognized as the patient's primary advocate and every poll shows that nurses are always very trusted by the patients. They are tasked with closely monitoring even small changes in a patient's health. Nurses are tough, directed, decision-making people who work under stress and in difficult situations.

For 15 years I provided hands-on patient care as a psychiatric nurse at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Dallas. The work was challenging but fulfilling. That's why I still remain very interested in quality care for all of our veterans. Although more than 2.5 million nurses work in the United States, our Nation has suffered from a nursing shortage. Those currently in the profession are beginning to retire. There are fewer individuals entering the profession. The nursing shortage is unprecedented in its depth and duration, with a projection of over 1 million new and replacement nurses needed by 2016.

Nursing schools need help attracting well-prepared faculty to recruit the best and brightest into their educational programs. Loan forgiveness and educational incentive programs can help, but Congress must do more to encourage bright young minds toward nursing.

Nursing is a career that has been valued for a long time, and it is fitting to recognize the Navy Nurse Corps on its 100th anniversary this year. For nearly 100 years before Congress formally established the Navy Nurse Corps in 1908, women worked as nurses aboard Navy ships and in Navy hospitals. As early as the War of 1812, volunteers performed nursing duty in places that were often dangerous and required courage in the face of adversity. Members of the esteemed Navy Nurse Corps care for those brave men and women who fight for our freedoms. They contribute to relief efforts in all corners of the globe. They serve in lead roles as part of a unified health care team. The Navy Nurse Corps practices progressive patient care. It enjoys a rich heritage, accompanied by high-tech training. A registered nurse in the Navy is also a respected officer, serving in modern facilities at home, at sea, around the country and across the globe.

I am proud to especially recognize the Navy Nurse Corps for its centuries of outstanding service for our military men and women.

Today's resolution honors the good work that all nurses do.

(1) recognizes the significant contributions of nurses to the health care system of the United States;

(2) supports the goals and ideals of National Nurses Week as founded by the American Nurses Association; and

(3) encourages the people of this Nation to observe National Nurses Week with appropriate recognition, ceremonies, activities, and programs to demonstrate the importance of nurses to the everyday lives of patients.

Along with my many supportive colleagues, I want to thank the House leadership for bringing this important resolution to the floor. I urge its support.

Mr. Speaker, as a registered nurse with a Master's in Public Administration, it is a privilege and a delight to offer a resolution recognizing National Nurses Week, which is May 6th through the 12th.

My colleagues, Congresswoman Lois Capps and Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy, are also nurses and champions of this resolution, and of the profession.

I thank them for their efforts to encourage more than 110 Congressional colleagues to cosponsor this bill honoring nurses.

The Congressional Nursing Caucus was also helpful in promoting the legislation, and I appreciate Members' efforts to rally support for H. Res. 1086.

National Nurses Week is celebrated annually from May 6, also known as National Nurses Day, through May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.

Nurses are a key component of our Nation's health care system.

Whether on the battlefield or at sea, in a skilled nursing facility, in a hospital or even in a patient's own home, the care that a nurse provides is so very valuable.

Nurses are intelligent individuals who must often make quick decisions in an effort to save the life of a patient.

Nurses are recognized as the patient's primary advocate.

Nurses are tasked with closely monitoring even small changes in patients' health.

Nurses are tough. They often do their work under duress, and in difficult conditions.

For 15 years, I provided hands-on patient care as a psychiatric nurse.

The work was challenging and fulfilling.

Although more than 2.5 million nurses work in the United States, our Nation has suffered from a nursing shortage.

Those currently in the profession are beginning to retire. There are fewer individuals entering the profession.

The nursing shortage is unprecedented in its depth and duration, with a projection of over 1 million new and replacement nurses needed by 2016.

Nursing schools need help attracting well-prepared faculty to recruit the best and brightest into their educational programs.

Loan forgiveness and educational incentive programs can help, but Congress must do more to encourage bright young minds toward nursing.

Nursing is a career that has been valued for a long time, and it is fitting to recognize the Navy Nurse Corps on its 100th Anniversary this year.

For nearly 100 years before Congress formally established the Navy Nurse Corps in 1908, women worked as nurses aboard Navy ships and in Navy hospitals.

As early as the War of 1812, volunteers performed nursing duty in places that were often dangerous and required courage in the face of adversity.

Members of the esteemed Navy Nurse Corps care for those brave men and women who fight for our freedoms.

They contribute to relief efforts in all corners of the globe.

They serve in lead roles as part of a unified health-care team.

The Navy Nurse Corps practices progressive patient care.

It enjoys a rich heritage accompanied by high-tech training.

A registered nurse in the Navy is also a respected Officer, serving in modern facilities at home, at sea, around the country and across the globe.

I am proud to especially recognize the Navy Nurse Corps for its centuries of outstanding service for our military men and women.

Today's resolution honors the good work that all nurses do.

H. Res. 1086:

(1) recognizes the significant contributions of nurses to the health care system of the United States;

(2) supports the goals and ideals of National Nurses Week, as founded by the American Nurses Association; and

(3) encourages the people of this Nation to observe National Nurses Week with appropriate recognition, ceremonies, activities, and programs to demonstrate the importance of nurses to the everyday lives of patients.

Along with my many supportive colleagues, I want to thank the House leadership for bringing this important resolution to the Floor.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the resolution recognizing National Nurses Week on May 6th through May 12th (H. Res. 1086). This resolution pays tribute to the safe, high quality, and preventative health care that nurses provide.

I am pleased to honor the essential role that nurses play in providing quality health care across our Nation. Each of us remembers experiences when a loved one needed health care and a nurse was the first person by the patient's side providing care and comfort. We all benefit from the commitment nurses make to their profession despite extraordinary challenges they face every day.

Nurses are the health professionals on the front lines of caring for Americans both at home and abroad. Our Nation's soldiers on the front lines rely on nurses for lifesaving aid as they serve our country abroad. Back in the States, nurses play an important role as the primary point of contact between the patient and the world of healthcare providing critical medical care for the patient and assistance for their families.

Our Nation's health care system is complex and people with all types of needs are greatly served by caring, qualified, and professional nurses. They are integral to our Nation's health care delivery system. Nurses are advocates and health educators for patients, families, and communities. Nurses are also experienced researchers, and their work encompasses a wide scope of scientific inquiry including clinical research, health systems and outcomes research, and nursing education research.

Despite the excellent care that nurses provide, unfortunately, there is a shortage of nurses in our country which must be addressed. Minnesota--like much of the United States--is on the verge of a serious shortage of registered nurses and licensed practical nurses that affects patients, health care facilities, businesses, and the entire community. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) projects that the current 10 percent vacancy rate in registered nurses will grow to 36 percent by 2020, representing more than one million unfilled jobs.

In addition, there are less than 20,000 full time faculty to train nurses in this country, and nearly 2,000 full time faculty members leave their positions each year. Thus, we need to address the shortage of nurse faculty to help nursing schools expand student capacity and increase the nursing workforce. I was also pleased to support the Nurse Reinvestment Act which established a Nursing Faculty Loan Program and Nurse Service Scholarship program.

An aging workforce, stagnant graduation trends, and greater employment demand have left our Nation's hospitals critically understaffed. I believe we need measures to help address workforce issues to help retain nurses in the profession and allow nurses to be the professionals that they are. Providing individuals interested in nursing with the training and tools they need must be a top priority, and I will continue to support those efforts.

Nurses provide outstanding health care services in our community, and I look forward to continuing to support the work of nurses who devote themselves to making such a difference in our lives. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill to recognize National Nurses Week.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1086) recognizing National Nurses Week on May 6 through May 12, 2008.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 1086 recognizing today, May 6, through May 12 as National Nurses Week. As a cosponsor of this resolution, I am proud to lend my voice in support of our Nation's nurses.

Continuing in the illustrious tradition of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, nurses today continue to attend to our Armed Forces overseas. These brave men and women place themselves at risk in war zones, including the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, to tend to our injured soldiers. Besides tending to the wounded abroad, nurses are also on the front lines of our health care system here at home. Whether their primary function is to care for our aging population or to provide immediate aid to the sick and injured, our nurses provide quality patient care and support to keep our health care system running.

As the Nation continues to face a nursing shortage, with a projected 1 million new nurses needed by 2016, it is especially important that everyone is aware of the sacrifices nurses make on a daily basis for our country. We must continue to encourage more young people and those seeking a change in career to join the nursing profession.

The resolution before us encourages all Americans to observe this week as National Nurses Week by showing appropriate recognition to nurses and creating programs and activities during the week to demonstrate the importance of nurses.

I would like to thank my colleagues and former nurses, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy, and Congresswoman Lois Capps, for their leadership on this measure. Again, I reiterate, they are former nurses, although I don't know if you are ever a former nurse. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in support of the resolution and its adoption.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to my good friend and colleague from Texas, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, who literally I have served with since 1973 with just a little break in the service.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to a colleague on the Energy and Commerce Committee and a good friend, Congresswoman Lois Capps, and also a nurse.

I yield 3 minutes to our colleague from New York, Carolyn McCarthy.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to our fellow Energy and Commerce member, Congressman Towns from New York.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I join my colleague from Nebraska in encouraging all of our Members to support this resolution in recognition of National Nurses Week.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Lois Capps and Eddie Bernice Johnson for bringing this forward on H. Res. 1086, recognizing National Nurses Week.

I have spent over 30 years as a nurse, and it was mentioned earlier, someone said, Once a nurse. Well, let me say, Once a nurse, always a nurse. We carry our duties even here to the House of Representatives.

I sit on the Education Committee, and what I have been working on since I came here was making sure that our nurses get every opportunity to increase our numbers. As has been mentioned before by both of my colleagues, the nursing shortage in this country is of a crisis proportion. We see that our nurses today are a lot older; they're at the retirement age, and we must do everything that we can to make sure that we have our young people coming into a very, very rewarding career. Nursing can be demanding, it can be tiring, it can be physically draining; but it couldn't be a better career.

When I first joined nursing over 30 years ago, I worked in the intensive care unit, and I spent most of my life there and just to be able to help a patient in their greatest need but also to work with their families to comfort them as they saw their loved one going through a traumatic injury.

We need to make sure that this country has a supply of nurses continuously. We have many young people that want to go to nursing school, but what we have found over the years is we don't have enough professors to be able to teach them to be nurses. So in the Higher Education Act, there is going to be funding in there to make sure that those that want to go into a higher education to be able to teach nursing, it can work out for us.

When we look at the future, we're seeing today in our hospitals such a shortage of nurses that a lot of the nurses are doing a lot of overtime. When they take a day off, they're always called to come back in. That is not acceptable, mainly because you have to be totally alert at all times. And I certainly tip my hat to my fellow nurses that go through this every single day.

They stay in the profession because they love the profession. They stay in the profession because it is a calling. Not everyone can be a nurse. It is a calling. I salute those men and women that go into nursing, and I also salute the women and men that are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and taking their nursing care to the soldiers and giving them comfort when they need it. There is no greater, in my opinion, profession than to be a nurse.

With that being said, I hope my colleagues will support H. Res. 1086 and recognize National Nurses Week.