Floor Statements

Madam Speaker and colleagues, I rise today to speak about a bill that I have introduced to better the lives of our Nation's disabled veterans.

H.R. 4071, the Disabled Veterans Right to Commissaries and Space Available Travel Act, will extend commissary and exchange store privileges to service-disabled veterans with a rating of 30 percent or more and to their families. Congress must do all we reasonably can for the men and women who have become disabled in their service to our Nation. Our disabled veterans are important members of the greater military family, and they should be treated as such with every available opportunity.

This bill will also authorize transportation on military aircraft on a space-available basis to service-disabled veterans with a rating of 50 percent or more. Currently, members and retirees of the uniformed services and the reserves may travel free on Department of Defense (DoD) aircraft when space is available. This benefit is allowed when it does not interfere with military missions, and it recognizes that military careers are filled with rigorous duty.

But present policies do not extend this benefit to our disabled veterans. What more rigorous duty can be imagined than to become disabled in the service of our country? Why has the DoD chosen not to recognize the brave men and women who sacrificed their health and well- being while serving in uniform? This DoD policy needs to be corrected.

Space-available travel for these disabled veterans would cost the federal government nothing and would not interfere with active-duty personnel. Current military is always given priority, and H.R. 4071 would do nothing to change that. What my bill will do is allow seats that would otherwise go unused to be occupied by men and women who have been disabled when serving their Nation.

This bill is the right step to take for our disabled veterans! They have sacrificed their health and well-being for their country, and they have earned the right to these privileges. Please support H.R. 4071 and work with me for its passage.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 513) to amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to enhance the protection of credit ratings of active duty military personnel who are activated for military service, as amended.

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

As we approach Veterans Day in another week, it is important that we, as Members of the House, not just give our speeches and ride in the parades on Veterans Day but we actually do things that will help our veterans, say thank you for their service, and make sure they get the benefits that are due them when they return home, and that they also avoid pitfalls that come about because they are serving their Nation abroad. There are many examples of this, and we are going to correct a few today.

The first and most important, I think, is to assure that when our service men and women are abroad, when they are in active duty, that they do not face credit problems as a result of that duty if they miss some payments on bills back home. Our colleague, Mr. Brady from Philadelphia, chairman also of our House Administration Committee, has looked at this problem and has come up with a solution.

Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong support of H.R. 513, as amended.

I would like to thank my distinguished colleague, Congressman Robert Brady of Pennsylvania, for crafting this important bill to help protect our Nations veterans. I'd also like to thank the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity Chairwoman, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, and Ranking Member John Boozman for the strong bipartisan leadership they demonstrated in working on this legislation.

When called to duty, servicemembers across our Nation leave their loved ones, school, and work behind.

Unfortunately as we are witnessing today, some of these servicemembers are returning to letters of delinquency from credit lenders and credit bureaus due to their extended military service abroad.

Mr. Speaker, we must honor our servicemembers' sacrifice by providing them with the resources and financial security needed to protect what they have left behind, so that they may have the peace of mind that their financial interests are protected while serving our Nation.

Mr. Speaker, as you know, a credit score impacts all aspects of your life. It represents you as a consumer and indicates to the potential lender if you are trustworthy of repaying your debt. It also determines whether you will qualify for a good interest for a home loan, buying a car, or even school loans.

H.R. 513, as amended, would protect these men and women while they are at war, by providing an explanation in their credit report. This explanation would be generated by a consumer reporting agency, and delivered in conjunction with a consumer report or credit score.

It will indicate in the consumer report, or credit score, that the consumer was adversely affected during a period in which the servicemember was on active duty outside the continental United States in support of a contingency operation.

To qualify, a person would have to be a member of the National Guard or Reserve, have the account open prior to deployment, and served a specifying period of service of no less than 180 days. By including a military service deployment explanation, any person who requests the credit score or consumer report of the servicemember will be informed of a potential reason of non-payment or missed payments.

Currently, there is no credit protection offered to the men and women in the National Guard and Reserve.

Furthermore, this legislation alleviates the servicemembers' concerns over negative financial implications of their deployment.

Regardless of your view on the war, we all stand united in caring for our veterans. I urge all my colleagues to join me in support of H.R. 513, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Brady) to explain how this bill will help our active duty forces when they return home.

(Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

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

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

Mr. Speaker, this war in Iraq has involved our National Guard and Reserve units to an extent that has never before been the case. And many of our laws simply do not reflect the new force structure that you see in Iraq. And that is what we, as a committee, are working to change. For example, the National Guard and Reserve units, even if they are in active duty, as they are in Iraq, are not eligible for the same benefits from the GI Bill as our active duty troops. We are going to change that. We are going to change a number of things. And I thank Mr. Brady, the gentleman from Philadelphia, for making sure that the Guard and Reserve groups have the protections in law that our active duty troops already have. We must protect their jobs, their credit ratings, and their quality of life as they are away from home in active duty supporting our Nation.

The laws have not kept up with this force structure. This is one of the ways that we're going to change that. So we're going to make sure that when they come home, they are recognized and not penalized for their active duty.

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 H.R. 513, as amended.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 770) expressing support for designation of a National Veterans History Project Week to encourage public participation in a nationwide project that collects and preserves the stories of the men and women who served our nation in times of war and conflict.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the author of this legislation, the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Porter), who will speak on his resolution in a few minutes.

I want to point out that Abraham Lincoln, during his address at Gettysburg, said that ``the world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.'' In that spirit, and to make sure that people will long remember what was done, Congress created the Veterans History Project in the year 2000 with unanimous support from this body.

The Project directed the Library of Congress to establish a national archives for the collection and preservation of videotaped oral histories of our veterans, as well as the copying of letters written during their time of service and diaries they kept. So there is a national repository of this very important part of our Nation's history. This worthwhile investment of time and resources is a gift that can be given for generations and centuries to come. The goal of the project is to capture the personal stories of our Nation's heroes so our children and their children can more fully understand the history of this century.

For a lot of reasons, we find that our Nation's heroes, when they come back from combat, do not even let their families know exactly what happened. They feel like they were just doing their job or don't want to bring up some memories, and so those stories will go with them to their grave. But with this project, we can tap into the stories of more than 24 million veterans who are still alive today, including 3 million from World War II, who are leaving us at the rate of more than 1,000 per day.

It is important that these stories are told, and more important that these stories are told from the mouths of those that were on the front lines and participated firsthand as history was made.

This oral history project requires the cooperation of volunteers across the country to get not only the veterans to come forward to offer their stories, but also the family members and friends to capture their accounts.

So, H. Res. 770 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. It also encourages local, State and national organizations to participate in support of the effort to document, preserve and honor the service of American wartime heroes.

As chairman of the Veterans' Committee in the House of Representatives, I have had the opportunity and the honor to hear the many accounts from these veterans. I hear the sense of pride that comes along with the duty of defending this country. I know that my father served in World War II, but I never fully got the stories, I don't think, that he had in his memory, and I wish we had captured before he died.

So, I encourage all Americans to reach out to their veterans, thank them and their families for their amazing sacrifice, learn more about their great contributions to our Nation, and gain the wisdom of their personal stories of our Nation's history. Each and every one of us should learn more about the American Folk Life Center at the Library of Congress because their staff is always glad to work with researchers and volunteers to expand their library of these stories.

Volunteers and participants become historians themselves. They can collect audio and video recordings, create a collection of recordings to be available for public use, or collect written materials relevant to personal histories of war veterans.

So, on this Veterans Day, let us, again, do more than just give speeches and ride in parades. Let's join and take the time to show the gratitude that we have to these veterans by asking them to relate their stories for the preservation of history.

Mr. Speaker, I would reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Porter) for bringing us this resolution. As an historian myself who has worked with oral histories, I know how important it is professionally and, as he said, also personally. So I urge everyone to support this bill.

General Leave

Mr. Speaker, I also 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. Res. 770.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 60) expressing support for the goals of Veterans Educate Today's Students (VETS) Day, and for other purposes.

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

Again, I am proud to bring to the floor another motion, another resolution, another action that will help us understand and better appreciate the contributions of our veterans from many wars. I want to thank Congressman Frank Pallone from New Jersey, who offers this resolution, and it will recognize our Nation's veterans for their sacrifice to our country.

Currently, brave men and women who are fighting in missions throughout the world, including in Iraq and Afghanistan, do not have an exact avenue to let us know what has occurred or let us know how to appreciate or spread that appreciation to others in our society. This resolution will provide an avenue to educate our children about the sacrifice our servicemembers and their families are making.

Veterans Educate Today's Students Day will designate November 10 as VETS Day that would call for teachers, civic leaders, and veterans to carry out programs to educate children about the service of our Nation's veterans and their sacrifice. VETS Day is a day students can be taught to appreciate that because of our Nation's veterans we are able to enjoy the many freedoms that we take for granted. VETS Day should be the day we highlight veterans' service, American freedoms and pass on to our children our American ideals. This is why I urge all my colleagues to join me in support of H. Con. Res. 60.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am honored to yield such time as he may consume to the author of this resolution, a man who fights for veterans in his district and around the Nation, Mr. Pallone from New Jersey.

Mr. Speaker, again I want to thank Mr. Pallone for authoring this resolution. I know many of us who give speeches on Memorial Day and on Veterans Day note always that there are not many youth in the audience. And to bring these stories to our students, to our youth, is extremely important.

I ask unanimous support of this resolution.

General Leave

Mr. Speaker, I would also ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in way to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on House Concurrent Resolution 60.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 744) recognizing the contributions of Native American veterans and calling upon the President to issue a proclamation urging the people of the United States to observe a day in honor of Native American veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution to recognize our Native American veterans who have served and continue to serve this Nation with honor and with pride. I represent a county in California, San Diego, that has one of the largest numbers of Native American tribes in our Nation, and I have heard many of their stories. We know that Native Americans have participated with distinction in U.S. military actions for more than 200 years. Their courage, determination, and fighting spirit are well documented throughout our history.

It is well recognized, also, that Native Americans have the highest record of service per capita when compared to other ethnic groups. Presently, there are almost 200,000 Native American military veterans alive today. At least 18,000 of the 22,000 Native Americans currently in uniform have been deployed at least once to Iraq or Afghanistan as of July of this year.

Native Americans who volunteer for military service aspire to uphold their proud cultural tradition. This warrior tradition is a willingness to engage the enemy in battle. This characteristic has been clearly demonstrated by the courageous deeds of our Native Americans in combat. Five Native Americans have been among those soldiers who distinguished themselves by receiving the military's highest award, the Medal of Honor. This medal is given for military heroism ``above and beyond the call of duty.'' These warriors exhibited extraordinary bravery in the face of the enemy and, in two cases, made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

This House, led by the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, had the enormous privilege of naming two Veterans Affairs Medical Centers in honor of these heroes just last June. Charles George was a member of the Cherokee tribe from North Carolina and private first class in Korea when he was killed on November 30 of 1952. During battle, George threw himself upon a grenade and smothered it with his body. In doing so, he sacrificed his own life, but saved the lives of his comrades.

Ernest Childers was a member of the Creek Tribe from Oklahoma and a First Lieutenant with the 45th Infantry Division. He received a Medal of Honor for heroic action in 1943 when, up against machine gun fire, he and eight men charged the enemy. Although suffering a broken foot in this assault, Childers ordered covering fire and advanced up the hill, single-handedly killing the snipers, silencing two machine gun nests, and capturing an enemy mortar observer.

The warrior tradition is exemplified by strength, honor, pride, devotion and wisdom. These qualities are a perfect fit with our Nation's proud military traditions.

I urge the people of our Nation, I urge the Members of this Congress, to make sure we have a day honoring our proud and brave Native American veterans.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the Record on H. Res. 744.

Under clause 3 of rule XII, private bills and resolutions of the following titles were introduced and severally referred, as follows:

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I represent the southern part of the City of San Diego where we had thousands of evacuees, hundreds of homes lost, a really terrifying situation for many people. Of course, getting back on their feet will be a major, major challenge. But what we saw, as we have heard from my colleagues, is cooperation, cooperation from all levels of government, from the cities, the fire districts, county, State, Federal, and also international, which no one has mentioned up to this point. I watched as 60 firefighters, bomberos as we call them, from Tijuana, in Mexico, came to help and were a part of the team as we fought the Harris fire in southern San Diego. I think that was a very important contribution.

I had the opportunity to talk to the President as we flew to the fires. He understood that he needed to be visible very early, which was very hopeful, and that FEMA had to be proactive and not just reactive. The blue shirts of FEMA were on the job and visible everywhere, and their local assistance centers were set up very much earlier than in any previous disaster, I think. And that gave hope to many people. Those assistance centers, again, before even many of the evacuees had been allowed to return home were there and helping people.

We saw the hope on people's faces as they saw this cooperation in getting help from everywhere. And although they face a very difficult time, they do have hope. It was the volunteers, of course, our firefighters and our officers, police officers and other first responders, but the volunteers came from all over. Some of them had evacuated their own homes. Some of them lost their own homes. Teachers and others were there to help the children while away the time and even learn while they were there, people who brought food, people who brought clothing and psychological help, massages and medical help. So all of these people were involved. It was an incredible sight to behold as we went to Qualcomm Stadium or any of the evacuation centers around the county. You saw everybody pitching in. It was that coming together in San Diego that will give hope to the people who face challenges in the future and that got us through this very terrifying time.

I thank the House for this resolution in support of the people of California.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 1002, I was not present because I was helping my constituents cope with the fire crisis in San Diego, CA.

Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 1003, I was not present because I was helping my constituents cope with the fire crisis in San Diego, CA.

Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 1004, I was not present because I was helping my constituents cope with the fire crisis in San Diego, CA.

Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 1005, I was not present because I was helping my constituents cope with the fire crisis in San Diego, CA. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 1006, I was not present because I was helping my constituents cope with the fire crisis in San Diego, CA.

Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 1007, I was not present because I was helping my constituents cope with the fire crisis in San Diego, CA. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Stated against:

Mr. McCarthy of California. Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 1007, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay.''

Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 1008, I was not present because I was helping my constituents cope with the fire crisis in San Diego, CA. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay.''

Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 1009, I was not present because I was helping my constituents cope with the fire crisis in San Diego, CA. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Madam Speaker, and colleagues, I rise today to speak about a bill that I have just introduced, ``Providing Military Honors For Our Nation's Heroes Act'' (H.R. 3954), to reimburse expenses of volunteers who provide military funeral honors at veterans' funerals.

Because thousands of servicemembers are deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan while thousands of World War II and Korean War veterans die each day, there is simply not enough military to provide a proper 7- person honors detail for these funerals. Some families of veterans have had to ``make do'' with a CD playing taps. I am saddened by this outrageous situation and determined to provide proper military funeral honors for all families who request them.

This bill will allow reimbursement to volunteers from members of veterans' service organizations (VSOs) and other organizations approved by the Secretary of the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA). Transportation costs and other expenses, such as cleaning uniforms, incurred in providing funeral honors details will be reimbursed. A second change will allow reimbursement to details that are requested by funeral homes and the VA, as well as the Department of Defense, the current practice.

Currently, members of VSOs and other volunteers can assist the military by providing a color guard, pallbearers, a bugler or firing party, but the law does not address ceremonies in which VSOs render honors without military representation. My bill will allow volunteers to be reimbursed even when no military person is a part of the honor guard. This change will increase the number of honors details available to families. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 327) to amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop and implement a comprehensive program designed to reduce the incidence of suicide among veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 5 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, before I introduce the author of the legislation, I just want to say in introduction, unfortunately, suicide prevention has become a major part of our responsibilities to both active duty and our veterans.

It is a terrible statistic, Mr. Speaker, but as many Vietnam veterans have now committed suicide as died in the original war. That is over 58,000. We have to do as a Nation a better job. The Army just announced recently that the suicide rate among active duty and recently discharged has now reached Vietnam proportions. So we have to do a far better job and we intend to do that.

The author of the original legislation, Mr. Boswell from Iowa, saw this very clearly and introduced this bill.

Mr. Speaker, one of the top priorities of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs in this Congress is to address the needs of our returning servicemembers. The House passed H.R. 327, the Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act, on March 21st of this year. I'm pleased the Senate also made it a priority to act on this important legislation. I believe the bill shows a clear compromise in our efforts to provide help to those in need.

One of the most pressing issues facing our men and women is mental health care. I believe that if we send our men and women off to war, we must, as a nation, do all we can to address their health care needs when they return. We cannot ask them to fight and then forget them when they return from battle. Veterans suffer a higher risk of suicide than the general population. The stress of combat, combined with the stigma that exists for servicemembers and veterans seeking mental health care services can have disastrous consequences.

We must do everything possible to improve the VA's mental health services, and its ability to detect, and help, those veterans most at risk. H.R. 327 will provide the important tools to assist the VA in strengthening suicide prevention, education, and awareness programs within the VA by mandating a comprehensive program for suicide prevention among veterans.

I thank my colleague Mr. Boswell for introducing this bill, and I thank my colleagues for their support.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Boswell).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hare).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Berkley).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to Mr. Walz of Minnesota.

Other Members from the State of Iowa want to express support for the Iowa family that helped inspire this legislation. I would yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Braley).

(Mr. BRALEY of Iowa asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield 2 minutes to another gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Loebsack) to add his support.

We have no further speakers except my closing, if the gentleman would like to close.

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 H.R. 327, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mr. Boswell for his ongoing support.

As a Nation, in the name of Joshua Omvig and for his family and for all the families who have suffered from suicide, we have got to do a better job as a Nation. We have just got to do a better job. We know what will happen if we fail.

Vietnam veterans have paid a heavy price for our refusal to look at mental health as important as physical health, for our refusal to look into the souls of our young veterans and recognize that they are crying out for help.

So we have to get this right, and this is a good step in doing it.

Again, I thank Mr. Boswell and all the Iowa Representatives for taking a tragedy that befell Joshua Omvig and his family and turning it into a positive that will help all of us in America achieve better health care for our veterans.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 327.

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

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