Expressing support for designation of a "National Veterans History Project Week".

Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend and colleague from California for yielding me this time and for his support of H. Res. 1644.

Mr. Speaker, as the author of the Veterans History Project, I rise in strong support of this resolution before us this evening. The Veterans History Project, however, isn't new. It's been in existence for 10 years. We celebrated its 10-year anniversary just this year.

Simply put, it's the last task of a grateful Nation to our veterans to ask them to help us preserve an important part of American history-- what it was like for them to serve our Nation during times of conflict and times of peace. And since the creation of the Veterans History Project, we have close to 80,000 veterans' stories that have been recorded, collected, and are now being archived in probably the best place in the entire world where it can and should be archived--out of our own Library of Congress here in Washington, D.C.

The genesis of the Veterans History Project occurred over a Father's Day weekend back home in my city of La Crosse, Wisconsin. I was sitting around the picnic table with my father, who is a Korea generation veteran, Elroy, and his brother, my uncle, Don Kind, who was with a bomber crew in the Pacific during the Second World War, and they started sharing with me their experience in serving our Nation. And I told them to wait. Since my two little boys were toddlers at the time and couldn't understand or wouldn't understand what they were saying, I ran into the house, grabbed the family video camera, set it up on the picnic table, and then asked them to continue talking about their experience serving our Nation. And I got to thinking, given the advent of modern technology today, how accessible it is for most families, most people, we should be doing this nationwide, and that was the basis of the Veterans History Project.

Today, it is the largest oral history collection in the United States, and I believe it's the world's largest oral history collection. I want to commend the leadership of the Library of Congress, under Colonel Bob Patrick, who heads up the Veterans History Project and his 25-person staff there, but also especially our own Librarian of Congress, Dr. Jim Billington, for his leadership on this as well.

What I've discovered throughout the years in conducting many of the interviews myself and reading many of the transcripts of the Veterans History Project is a common theme that runs through most of the stories. First, most of the veterans don't feel they did anything special. They were only doing their duty. They were answering the call to service. And secondly, one of the great motivators in having them do that, especially at times of conflict, was not letting their colleagues down serving next to them. And yet these are ordinary Americans from all walks of life, from every corner of America who went on to do extraordinary things, and each of them had a role to play at times of conflict, at times of peace.

Sometimes it's difficult asking our veterans to come forward and share their stories because they don't feel like they have much to contribute or anything significant, but each of them do in their own way.

And I also want to thank the tremendous support and contribution of so many organizations and entities around the country that have been helping to get the word out that this Veterans History Project, in fact, exists, from the VFW and American Legion halls through the Nation, AARP has been a major sponsor of this legislation, to countless social and community organizations in all of our towns and communities. And that has been one of the great challenges, because the clock is ticking and time is of the essence.

We are losing close to 1,700 veterans a day, mainly of the World War II and Korea generation who are passing away. And if we don't go and talk to them and record their stories, they take with them an important part of American history--their service to our Nation. And that's why the Library of Congress, again, has been working furiously to try to get the word out about the existence of this project, and they have done a commendable job in doing it.

That's why I think this resolution is necessary to have Congress consider designating a week for the Veterans History Project which would help us get information out to even more people. And it's as simple as a person just approaching their own family member, friend, neighbor, loved one in their life and asking them to share their story and then setting up that family video camera across the kitchen table and letting them go. It could be a 10-minute interview; it could be 2 hours, depending on how much the veteran wants to share. And that's what makes these stories so remarkable.

I had an at-risk high school back in La Crosse, Wisconsin, who has taken the lead for a number of years of those students that are actually going out making contact and interviewing these veterans. Many of these kids are at risk of dropping out. They're not the greatest performers in school, and yet this is a project that has caused the history to come alive in their own lives. They have to do a little bit of research, some background on the veterans and the time period in which they're going to conduct the interview, and then it gives them a chance to connect with the veterans in their own community. It's been a great bridge between the older and younger generation.

And I asked one of the students who got done interviewing a veteran, who participated in it, what he thought of it. And he said, you know, I've never been a great student. I don't like doing a lot of reading. History bores me to death. But by doing this project, I felt as if I was doing my own small contribution to preserving American history.

That's what this is about. It's about preserving these stories so future generations never forget. And if I had a nickel every time a family member or acquaintance or some stranger walked up to me said, Gee, I wish I had talked to my father or mother or grandfather or grandmother before they had passed away, I would probably be the richest person in the whole world right now. There is a lot of regret out there. But it doesn't have to be that way with the help and cooperation of so many people throughout the Nation.

I've been especially pleased with the strong bipartisan support that this and previous Congresses have shown toward the Veterans History Project, but there's still so much work that needs to be done, especially now with so many of our veterans returning home from conflicts overseas, whether it's Iraq, Afghanistan or wherever our troops are serving us throughout the globe.

So I would encourage my colleagues to support this resolution, to support the Veterans History Project overall, help get the word out. And for those who are looking for more information about what this is and how they can participate, they can go to the Library of Congress Web site, loc.gov, and read and download the information, or they can contact any one of our congressional or Senate offices or get in touch with a veterans service organization right in their own community who would have this information readily available.

In 10 years, there are close to 80,000 stories.

And one final note, I also want to thank and commend the National Court Reporters Association. My wife, who happens to be a court reporter, very early on in the creation of this project approached them to see if they could volunteer their time in transcribing a lot of these video interviews so there is a written record of it, too. Many of them throughout the Nation have stepped up and have donated countless volunteer hours in transcribing these videotapes, so there is a written record.

The library now is creating books and documentaries based on these interviews. Historians have a place to go and receive original historical research for books and articles that they are writing. It has really turned into a treasure trove of information, and again an important part of American history, what it was like for our veterans to serve our Nation during times of peace and also during times of war.

I encourage my colleagues to support the resolution. I want to thank Chairman Filner for his support of the resolution, and the gentleman from Tennessee, and encourage its passage.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1644) expressing support for designation of a ``National Veterans History Project Week''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on House Resolution 1644.

I yield myself such time as I might consume.

Mr. Speaker, this bill, H. Res. 1644, the National Veterans History Project Week, comes to us from our colleague from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind) to honor the lives of our Nation's veterans, and I thank him for introducing the resolution before us today.

I would like to yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin for as much time as he may consume.

I thank the gentleman. Thank you for your leadership, Mr. Kind. You have done an incredible job. I happen to be an historian myself. I have done a lot of work in oral history, and you described it so eloquently. I wish my father, who was in World War II, we could have taped before he died.

Just a couple of weeks ago when I was back home, I met with a group of black soldiers who in 1946, 2 years before the Executive order that integrated our armed forces, the black soldiers had been approached by General Eisenhower to say hey, the Battle of the Bulge has taken so many of our infantrymen, who will volunteer to join the infantry, the white infantry? About 5,000 volunteered. To hear their stories, and I referred them. I said get right over to our project; we need to hear that because most of us don't know about that little history, and that is very inspiring to hear what they were able to do.

Thank you for your leadership. I think, as you said, it is not only to maintain our own history, but to bridge the gap between generations. So I thank the gentleman once again.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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

I have had the honor, privilege of chairing the Veterans' Affairs Committee for the last 4 years. The voters of this Nation have changed the party in charge, and so I think this will probably be my last day on the floor as the chairman. I just want to thank the veterans of this Nation from around the country and around the world. I have met with them. They have changed me as a person. I have learned incredible amounts from them. I have learned how much we have to do to fulfill our commitment to our Nation's veterans.

I think we have done a lot in this committee for the last 4 years. Some of our staff is here, and I want to thank them because they have made it all possible. In fact, Mr. Speaker, we have a fellow from the Military Fellows Program who worked with us for a year that the Speaker set up for us to bring in the military folks from different services and from different occupations to both help us and to help them with a year on Capitol Hill. One of those is completing his year just about now, Ricco Player. We want to thank you, Ricco, for all of your work. As a marine, he is going to be deployed to Afghanistan after Christmas, so we wish him the best but we want to thank him for the work. He has taught us a lot, and hope that you will bring back some of our knowledge to your fellow marines.

In the last 4 years, Mr. Speaker, we have added almost $25 billion to the health care needs of our veterans. That is over a 65 percent increase. That is unprecedented in the history of VA to have such an increase, and we needed to do that. We have literally hundreds of thousands of new veterans, many with brain injury, many with PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder. We have veterans from Vietnam War who are aging, and even earlier wars, obviously. So we have tremendous need, and we put in billions of dollars into especially mental health care of our Nation's veterans.

We wrote a GI bill for the 21st century which matched the GI bill really from 1944, the original GI bill.

I don't know about you, Mr. Speaker, but I'm here because of the GI Bill. My dad came back from the war. He got some education, and we were able to buy a house. We were middle class for the first time in our lives because of the GI Bill, like 8 million other families who took advantage of that.

So we have brought those benefits in line to what it really costs to go to college. As you have seen today, we have worked on homeless veterans, and we have worked on women veterans. We have tried to improve access for rural veterans. We have done quite a bit.

I am looking forward to working with our counterparts in the new Congress to continue the progress that we have made for veterans. We intend to cooperate fully. Mr. Roe has been very good to work with.

I am not sure who the chairman will be from your side, but we have established, I think, good working relationships with nearly every member of your committee.

So, as we conclude this bill, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank again the staff of our committee. I want to thank the staffs on both sides of the aisle for their work and for doing so much for veterans during the last 4 years.

I would urge passage of the Kind bill, H. Res. 1644.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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

I rise in support of House Resolution 1644, a bill expressing the support of the House of Representatives for the designation of a National Veterans History Week.

On October 27, 2000, Public Law 106-380 was signed by President William Jefferson Clinton to establish the Veterans History Project. The legislation before us supports the designation of a National Veterans History Project Week, recognizes National Veterans Awareness Week, and calls on the people of the United States to interview at least one veteran in their families or communities according to guidelines provided by the Veterans History Project, and encourages local, State and national organizations along with Federal, State, city and county governmental institutions to participate in support of the effort to document, preserve, and honor the service of United States wartime veterans.

The Veterans History Project is maintained by the American Folklife Center in the Library of Congress. It collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war.

The collection features firsthand accounts of U.S. veterans who served in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War from 1990-1995, or Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts, 2001 to present.

It also contains the accounts of U.S. citizen civilians who actively supported war efforts such as war industry workers, USO workers, flight instructors, medical volunteers, defense contractors, and so on. Citizens can participate by obtaining a field kit from the Library of Congress which contains the tools necessary to conduct interviews or help veterans with the interview process.

Several Members of Congress have already participated in interviews relating to their military service. I am one of them. Other Members are Cliff Stearns, the deputy ranking member of the committee, who reported his experience as an Air Force captain during the Vietnam War; and Ranking Republican Steve Buyer , who recorded his experiences during the Persian Gulf War in Iraq.

Again, I urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 1644, and just to thank the gentleman. We had the Traveling Vietnam Wall in my hometown of Johnson City, Tennessee, a little over a year, a year and a half ago. We had thousands of people come by. I was able to participate myself as a veteran. We got hundreds of stories from during the Vietnam War.

In a small church in Sevierville, Tennessee, a small Baptist church, 15 young men went off to World War II and three did not return. I asked them to record this history for their church and for their community.

My history professor in college, Dr. Preston Hubbard, wrote a book ``Apocalypse Undone,'' recounting his capture in the Philippines, the Death March, and time as a slave laborer in Japan for 4 years, an incredible account.

I spoke recently to a 96-year-old veteran at the Mountain Home VA Medical Center in Johnson City about his experience before there was World War II when the U-boats wolf pack were sinking our ships taking supplies to England. He flew missions to bomb those before there was a war. I looked at his record and that part was inked out. That is a history that would have been lost without this.

My own father-in-law flew combat missions in Burma supporting Merrill's Marauders during World War II.

I was in a Hardees one morning campaigning, shaking hands. I sat down to talk to two gentlemen, and who did I talk to but two veterans who had survived the Battle of the Bulge, and they shared their stories with me.

One veteran in the same county the very same day had won a Silver Star after having a severe head injury. And I asked him how he was doing. He said he was cutting back on his farming a little bit; he was 87 years old. That is the generation that built this Nation. To lose those histories, and I agree with you completely, how many times have we heard, I wish I had taken a note of it, I talked to someone who served and gotten their story.

It is not all, most of us veterans won't share everything we did. I want to make that clear, too, for the House tonight. There are some things that probably just need to be left unsaid. But those stories have meant a lot to me and my family, and I would encourage now that we have an opportunity for all veterans who can and are able to and are willing to, to share these stories and document them. They are very important, because as was stated, we are losing 1,500 to 1,700 World War II veterans per day.

I strongly encourage my colleagues to vote for this resolution.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 1644. This resolution expresses support for the designation of a National Veterans History Project week, recognizing a truly incredible program that honors our veterans.

The National Veterans History project collects the personal narratives and mementos of our veterans, in order to preserve a rich history of the brave men and women who have so honorably served our country. The project--administered by the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress--allows veterans and interested parties to register and acquire a free field kit to participate.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of a project that has already collected more than 70,000 oral histories--ensuring the preservation of these stories for generations to come. This educational project provides people of all ages the opportunity to learn an important history of the meanings of service, sacrifice, and democracy--directly from many of those who have honored those values.

I am honored that so many veterans of the 13th district of Ohio have shared their incredible stories with me--all of which are deserving of being shared with the world. Our support for the National Veterans History project will help make that happen.