Honoring the service of the Navy and Coast Guard veterans who served on the Landing Ship Tank (LST) amphibious landing craft during World War II, the Korean war, the Vietnam war, Operation Desert Storm, and global operations through 2002 and recognizing the essential role played by LST amphibious craft during these conflicts.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Indiana, who represents the home base of the USS LST Memorial Ship, the LST-325, for yielding me the time.

Madam Speaker, I could not be more proud to see this resolution come before the House today for consideration. The Navy and Coast Guard sailors and seamen who served on these LSTs are true American heroes. They fought for this country in some of the most decisive battles in our history, from the 1940s to the early 1990s, and they deserve to be recognized.

I am glad that the United States Congress will be going on record in commending these veterans for their service, and it's especially nice that this resolution comes up today before the LST veterans have their national convention in Washington, D.C. at the end of August.

I want to express special appreciation to Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton and to Ranking Member Duncan Hunter for moving this bill forward in order to honor these veterans and their service.

Madam Speaker, this resolution would not have happened without a number of veterans who have remained active in preserving the heritage of the LSTs. Peter Leasca from Worcester, Massachusetts deserves a lot of the credit. He has really educated me and a lot of my colleagues about what these ships meant to the Navy, what they meant to the Allies in World War II and what they meant and still mean to the people who served on them.

I also want to express my gratitude to Mike and Linda Gunjak, at the United States LST Association, and to Captain Bob Jornlin, at the USS LST Memorial Ship, for all of their help, support and guidance on this resolution.

A few years ago, in working with Congressman Ralph Hall, I was able to get language in a defense authorization bill that allowed the Government of Greece to transfer ownership of the USS LST-325 to the USS LST Memorial Ship, Inc., the nonprofit organization set up by LST veterans to bring the LST-325 home and to turn it into an operational memorial and living museum.

LST veterans went to Greece; they refurbished by the sweat of their own brow the LST-325, and sailed her home. Now it's here in the United States so that all Americans can learn about the essential role the LSTs played in our history and about the service and sacrifices made by their crews.

World War II naval historian Samuel Eliot Morison described the LST as the ``most useful all-around craft invented by the Navy,'' but a lot of people don't fully appreciate just how important the LSTs were to achieving victory in World War II, not only during the D-day invasion but also throughout the Pacific theater, including the liberation of the Philippines and the capture of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. They were reliable and flexible just like their crews, and the image of men and of equipment off-loading on the beaches of Normandy is burned into the imagination of the American people and of all World War II-era veterans.

After World War II, the LSTs were put to great use in the Korean War, in the Vietnam War and in other military conflicts, but they were also used to deliver humanitarian assistance, which helped to literally save the lives of thousands of people and win a lot of hearts and minds around the world for the United States. Beginning in World

War II, when the LSTs evacuated over 41,000 wounded men back across the English Channel from Normandy, to Operation Sea Angel in Bangladesh, the LSTs have also been a symbol of hope to those in grave need or peril.

On Easter Sunday morning in 1945, Peter Leasca was aboard LST-824, carrying men and armored vehicles onto the heavily defended beaches of Okinawa, just 340 miles from the Japanese mainland. He was a 20-year- old naval medical corpsman. He witnessed the fierce fighting from the Japanese holding the island. He saw a kamikaze pilot slam his plane into the battleship USS New Mexico, killing 30 sailors and setting the ship ablaze.

Now at the age of 83, this very special World War II veteran and his fellow LST veterans across the country are being recognized by a grateful Congress for their service and for the essential role the LSTs played so long ago.

I thank them for their service. I thank them for their sacrifice. I thank them for keeping this history alive. May God bless them all.

I would again like to thank my colleague from Indiana (Mr. Ellsworth) for his generosity in yielding me this time, for his leadership in this Congress and for his friendship.

[From the MetroWest Daily News, July 28, 2008]

Navy Veterans Tribute Bill Lands in Congress

(By Chris Bergeron)

On Easter Sunday morning, 1945, Peter Leasca rode aboard a

Landing Ship, Tank or LST carrying men and armored vehicles

onto the heavily defended beaches of Okinawa just 340 miles

from the Japanese mainland.

Throughout that day, the then-20-year-old naval medical

corpsman witnessed ``fierce fighting'' from Japanese

defenders and a Kamikaze slamming into the battleship USS New

Mexico, killing 30 sailors and setting it ablaze.

Four-and-a-half months later, Japan surrendered and a year

after that Leasca returned home, attended college, married

and raised four children while working as a stockbroker.

If all goes as planned, the 83-year-old veteran from

Worcester and his shrinking ``Band of Brothers'' who served

on amphibious vessels will be thanked by the U.S. government

for their service during World War II.

Recognition has been a long time coming.

Local World War II veterans, like Howard Rouse and Rosario

George Puliafico, who served aboard LSTs or similar craft,

are grateful for the belated recognition but hope the honors

extend to those in all branches who lost their lives

defending their country.

``LSTs and ships like them were the keys to victory. But a

lot of guys lost their lives,'' said Rouse, a Framingham

resident who retired after 40 years in broadcasting. ``I

think what they did shortened the war. I think they should be

recognized.''

With an estimated 1,025 World War II veterans dying every

day, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs, Leasca

is getting closer to winning his last battle to earn

recognition for the men who served aboard amphibious landing

craft.

``Guys like us are a vanishing group,'' said Leasca.

``We're in our twilight years.''

On the floor of the U.S. Congress, Rep. James McGovern will

call for a vote Wednesday, July 30 on a resolution he

authored with input from naval veterans to honor all who

served aboard amphibious landing craft in World War II,

Korea, Vietnam and Operation Desert Storm through 2002.

McGovern predicts the bill, House Resolution 1316, will

pass and be sent to the Senate and the President for

confirmation.

McGovern said veterans, like Leasca, Rouse and Puliafico,

``who served on these LSTs are true American heroes.''

``They fought for this country in some of the most decisive

battles in our history. And they deserve to be recognized,''

he said.

McGovern added the vote was scheduled for this month so it

would precede the LST veterans' annual convention in

Washington, D.C., in August.

He credited Leasca for ``really educating me'' and

congressional colleagues about the contributions and

sacrifices made by those who served aboard amphibious

vehicles. U.S. Rep. William Delahunt is also one of the

resolution's sponsors.

Decades after the war's end, Leasca fought a successful

rearguard action to honor his martial colleagues and return

to the U.S. the 64-year-old LST-325 from Greece, where it

served the Greek navy for 20 years.

For years he's been one of the most active members and

former president of the Amphibious Veterans of Massachusetts.

Leasca said the 328-foot-long LSTs lacked modern amenities

but inspired loyalty from the crews of about 120 men who

served aboard them.

Waxing nostalgically, he recalled living on his LST as it

wove the arduous voyage through the Panama Canal, into

submarine-infested waters and on to Hawaii.

``We went up and down, rocked left and right. Sometimes it

got pretty rough,'' Leasca remembered. ``It was a long voyage

like an ocean cruiser. I saw porpoises and sights I'd never

seen before.''

He pointed out the World War II naval historian Samuel

Eliot Morrison described LSTs as ``the most useful all-around

craft invented by the Navy.''

As time passes and veterans of amphibious craft fade away,

Leasca ``wants to do everything I can for the ungainly ships

and the men who sailed them into combat.

``I want to do something for all the vets of America,'' he

said. ``And I want to give recognition to a glamorous ship.

Too often, historians don't mention the LSTs. So we've got to

toot our own horn to get recognition.''

For more information about the Amphibious Veterans of

Massachusetts, visit www.amphibvetsofma.org. To read the text of House Resolution 1316 and to check on

its status, go to the Library Congress Web site, http:// thomas.loc.gov, and type in H. Res. 1316 in the search

engine.

Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise and report the bill back to the House with sundry amendments, with the recommendation that the amendments be agreed to and that the bill, as amended, do pass.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve a point of order on the gentleman's motion.

Yes, I do.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to rise in opposition first.

Mr. Speaker, we believe attaching nongermane amendments to this critical veterans' bill could jeopardize its passage by unnecessarily delaying it or even grinding debate completely to a halt. This is unacceptable. My colleagues, those aren't my words. Those are the words of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Let me agree with my distinguished colleague. And let me say, last night at about midnight I told this chamber that Mr. Lewis has been one of the champions throughout his public service career on behalf of our veterans and our troops. I meant it when I said it then, and I mean it when I say it again now.

But let me say, having said that, no one is perfect. And on this motion, I think Mr. Lewis is wrong. Seriously wrong.

I do agree with this point he made just a moment ago; there may be confusion on this bill. There may be, so let me clear up the confusion.

This is the 2009 fiscal year Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill. If there is any confusion as to whether this is the 2009 fiscal year energy bill, get that out of your minds right now.

This is a bill designed for the deadly serious purpose of honoring our veterans. Millions of them have put on our Nation's uniform and gone into harm's way in defense of your family and my family and the American family. This bill is deadly serious, because it provides training facilities and barracks for young men and women who are willing to go to Iraq and Afghanistan to answer their Nation's call of duty.

By making this motion, the gentleman knows, were it to pass, even though he knows also that it is nongermane, it would complicate this bill, it would slow down this bill, it could well kill this bill because of the honest differences on the energy issue.

Announcement By the Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. Speaker, if my colleagues don't want to listen to my words, let me offer them some other people's words.

``It is imperative this bill is not delayed by unrelated and unnecessary amendments.'' That came from AMVETS.

How about what the Disabled American Veterans said about this kind of measure. They said, ``This bill provides the means to serve and care for sick and disabled veterans, provide housing facilities for military families, and to fund the activities of several other agencies that affect veterans, a most generous and necessary act.'' They have gone on to say they do not want delay on this important bill.

I would like to finish my remarks. I respected the gentleman's right to his remarks.

Let me go to another statement made by the Disabled American Veterans. They say, ``It is our strongest recommendation that this bill be unfettered with nongermane amendments.''

My colleagues, we have a very simple choice at this moment. We can choose to stand with the Republican leadership that chose to add this partisan motion at the end of a long bipartisan process; or we can stand with millions of American veterans, as represented by the statements against this very kind of motion, by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Disabled American Veterans, and the AMVETS.

I don't know about some of my colleagues on the Republican side of the aisle, but as for me, that's an easy choice. I'm going to stand with America's veterans. I'm going to stand with our troops in harm's way who deserve the funding in this bill as soon as possible.

Out of respect to the gentleman, I will yield.

Reclaiming my time, Mr. Speaker, I think the views of the Disabled American Veterans, the VFW and the AMVETS are very clear. They didn't say they strongly oppose this kind of a motion; they vehemently oppose it, because it could harm millions of America's veterans.

So make your choice. You can choose to stick with the Republican leadership on a clearly partisan nongermane motion, or you can stand up for America's veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I make a point of order against the motion to recommit with instructions, because it includes legislation and is not in order under clause 2 of rule XXI.

Mr. Speaker, the gentleman's motion to instruct proposes legislation in an appropriations bill and would not be in order in the Committee of the Whole pursuant to clause 2 of rule XXI. I ask for a ruling from the Chair.

Mr. Speaker, I move to table the appeal of the ruling of the Chair.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this bill.

I'm pleased that for the second year in a row, the 110th Congress is providing the funding necessary to meet the housing requirements of our servicemembers and their families, as well as the money needed to care for our veterans.

Let me begin by thanking Chairman Edwards for including report language directing the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs to develop a plan to care for the veterans and military retirees in my district who would need health care services if Fort Monmouth's Patterson Army Health Clinic were to close in 2011. While I continue to oppose the decision to close Fort Monmouth and will continue to look for ways to reverse it, that decision is, for now, the law of the land. Accordingly, it is necessary to plan for meeting the medical needs of the many veterans and TRICARE beneficiaries in Central New Jersey in the event Fort Monmouth's medical facilities are closed. I'm pleased that the Committee is requiring that a report on how their needs will be met be delivered to Congress no later than January 30, 2009.

Overall, this bill would provide $40.7 billion for VA health programs, which is $3.1 billion over the current level. In addition to continuing to focus on providing adequate funding to treat veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, and traumatic brain injury, TBI, this bill would provide $400 million that was not requested by the President to start enrolling 10 percent of Priority 8 veterans in the VA medical system. The Priority 8 category is reserved for veterans whose injuries currently are not rated as service related and whose incomes are more than $24,644 if single or $29,576 for a veteran with a dependent. An estimated one half of all uninsured veterans are Priority 8, and Priority 8 veterans have not been enrolled since 2003 as part of an Administration effort to cut costs.

The bill also includes $200 million, which was not requested by the President, to improve access to care where Veterans Health Administration, VHA, services are not available. I am hopeful that this will assist both rural veterans seeking care and those living in urban or ex-urban communities that currently lack ready access to a VA community-based outpatient clinic.

The bill would provide $1.6 billion, $250 million more than last year, to provide veterans with more technologically advanced prostheses. The VA has a long and generally commendable track record in this area. However, I am pleased the committee recognizes the need for the VA to apply a greater emphasis on harnessing the latest technological breakthroughs to help give our wounded veterans the maximum possible personal mobility.

I am also grateful to the committee for providing $165 million for grants to States for the construction and renovation of extended care facilities. The President's proposed $80 million

cut to this account was, frankly, unconscionable. The VA grant program that serves the State-run extended care facilities is critical. Many New Jersey veterans have visited with me over the past several years and described in detail the kinds of air conditioning, heating, and other upgrades that are vital to facilities such as the one in Paramus, New Jersey. I consistently have supported proper funding for this account, and I thank the committee for meeting this important need.

Finally, for our active duty community, this bill would provide $336 million that President Bush failed to request to continue a quality of life initiative for troops and their families started in the Fiscal Year 2008 Supplemental Appropriations Act, H.R. 2642. The bill includes nearly $200 million for the Army and Marine Corps to improve the barracks that soldiers and Marines live in when they train. It also includes $136 million for medical military construction and planning activities to upgrade substandard medical treatment facilities. We have all seen the pictures and heard the stories about substandard living conditions for troops. I am pleased that the committee remains focused on fixing this problem as quickly as possible.

Mr. Chairman, this is a good bill that will help our active duty families and our veterans. I will vote for it and I urge my colleagues to do likewise.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1316) honoring the service of the Navy and Coast Guard veterans who served on the Landing Ship Tank (LST) amphibious landing craft during World War II, the Korean war, the Vietnam War, Operation Desert Storm, and global operations through 2002 and recognizing the essential role played by LST amphibious craft during these conflicts.

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

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume.

I rise in support of House Resolution 1316, which honors the service of the Navy and Coast Guard veterans who served on the Landing Ship Tank (LST) amphibious landing craft.

I want to thank the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) for bringing this important resolution before us. As an original cosponsor of the measure, I'm eager for its swift passage.

At this time, I'd like to yield such time as he may consume to the sponsor of House Resolution 1316, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern).

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

First I'd like to thank the gentlelady from Virginia for her leadership on this special legislation. I would also like to thank the gentleman from Massachusetts for introducing this House Resolution honoring the Landing Ship Tank, LST, not only for this resolution and his dedication to our veterans, but also for his dedicated service in bringing LST 325 back to the United States from Greece, which ended up landing in my hometown.

The LST, Madam Speaker, has a rich and shared history with my hometown of Evansville, Indiana. During World War II, a 45-acre shipyard along the Evansville riverfront produced LSTs. The peak years of production saw a workforce of over 19,000 workers, and they completed two LSTs per week. The Evansville Shipyard was the largest inland producer of the LST in the United States. And when all was said and done, 167 LSTs and 35 other vessels were built and then sent down the Ohio River and then out to sea.

Madam Speaker, I would like to briefly recount the heroic and inspiring story of the LST 325. The utility and reliability of LSTs and the strong bond developed by their crews has fostered a vibrant and active veterans' association. These brave men, proud of the service and the craft they served on, secured legislation for the refurbishment of LST 325 and for the ship's retransfer to the United States from Greece, where it had been since the early 1960s.

Having set sail from Greece on November 14, 2000, the LST 325 arrived in Mobile, Alabama, on January 10, 2001--to a great American fanfare I might add. In 2003, during a 10-day stop in Evansville, 35,000 people toured the LST 325. It was with great civic pride that Evansville became the official home port of the LST 325 on October 3, 2005. The LST 325 is now an operational museum and a memorial ship on the beautiful Evansville riverfront.

This effort would not have been possible if not for the efforts of Evansville's Mayor, Jonathan Weinzapfel, and city officials who worked closely with Captain Bob Jornlin and Mike Whicker with the USS LST 325 Memorial. The city and the LST 325 Memorial have formed a great partnership, and I'm proud of their efforts. Evansville will proudly host the LST Week 2008 on September 24 through September 27 of this year, 2008.

Madam Speaker, the Navy decommissioned the last LST, the USS Frederick (LST 1184) in October of 2002, but the heroic service of the LST crews and the brilliant record of their craft will not soon be forgotten.

I urge my colleagues to support House Resolution 1316.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

I am in its present form.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a motion to recommit. But I want to say first to my colleagues that one of the reasons for my rising with this motion is because there seems to be a good deal of confusion on the part of at least my constituency, and my colleagues' families and constituents at home may have the same kind of confusion.

It seems that my people believe that this President does want to lead to a comprehensive energy independence policy that would include the availability to States to drill off their continental shelf, et cetera, to give us an adequate supply of oil to assure our energy independence. And yet those same people believe that it is the President's Congress that is holding up such action. That is, many of them believe that the Congress, the House and the Senate, are controlled by his party. But that is not the case, and our people are confused. The Congress is controlled by the other party who are resisting those proposals that involve the ability to drill off the Outer Continental Shelf, to tap into shale, to develop a comprehensive policy that will lead to energy independence. My people are absolutely dying at the gas pump. Our small businesses are doing the same.

So I have a motion to recommit, Mr. Speaker, with the term, I might add, ``promptly'' in it to allow us to act immediately--I misread it. It is not promptly, it is ``forthwith.'' So it would be implemented immediately. I did that because my colleagues on the other side have been complaining about the word ``promptly.'' We want you to be able to act very quickly, not just strike this on a point of order, but allow the people's voices to be heard. Because I can tell you, when you go home, you are going to hear them if you strike this on a point of order. So back to the point, Mr. Speaker.

This motion would enact the American Energy Act, a comprehensive solution to the energy crisis that is causing families to pay $4 per gallon for gasoline. Adoption of this motion will increase the supply of American-made energy and will relieve those families, those businesses, and my constituents at the gas pump. It will improve conservation efficiency, it will promote new and expanded technologies. Most of all, it will reduce America's increasingly costly and dangerous dependence on foreign sources of energy.

The minute we send them a message that we are serious about home supply, prices will crash. I can guarantee you that.

We need to consider all solutions to achieve energy independence. I hope that as we prepare to head back to our districts for the month of August, we can go back to our constituents with the good news: We did something; rather than what this Congress has been doing in the past-- nothing.

I urge support for this motion to recommit.

I yield time to my leader from Ohio, Mr. John Boehner, the Republican leader.

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

Would the gentleman yield?

I consider that to be a great courtesy for your yielding.

I know that you know that I am the Member who carried the amendment that increased the mileage reimbursement for the veterans that is in this bill. I do know they had that problem, because all those veterans who you mentioned in those quotes are the same ones that are also paying $4 a gallon. They would love to have this bill reduce that burden.