Floor Statements

Mr. Chairman, I object.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize and honor the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 70 for receiving

the Volunteer Dedication Award given by The San Diego-Imperial Counties, AFL-CIO.

NALC Branch 70 was chartered in 1970, and has had a tradition of volunteering for charities, food drives, and legislative actions.

Unfortunately, due to the Hatch Act of 1939, the working letter carrier was prevented from taking any significant volunteer role in partisan political campaigns until 1993 when the Hatch Act was reformed.

NALC Branch 70, the United States Postal Service (USPS), along with the help of many other unions work together every year (on the 2nd Saturday of May) to collect food from our customers for those in our communities who are in need. This year will mark the 15th anniversary of the NALC Food Drive.

In 1982 the NALC Branch 70 and the USPS established a national program called Carrier Alert, of which Branch 70 is a member. This program, in simple terms, allows elderly and disabled customers to sign up for special attention from their letter carriers. When letter carriers suspect there is trouble they report it. One phone call could save a life; and in fact, lives have been saved through this program. The neighborhood letter carrier is always eager to help monitor the well-being of their customers. It is what letter carriers across the Nation do every day, with or without a formal program.

NALC Branch 70 and the USPS once a year also work with the Lions Club International by collecting eye glasses which are used to distribute to the poor throughout the world and was awarded the International Order of The Lion in 2005 by the Lions Club.

NALC Branch 70 understands it is not just about working together to help their own union, but working together with others so that everyone can have a better life. This is why the NALC Branch 70 is such a proud and distinguished member of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the Stater Bros. Markets chain for receiving the ``Spirit of Cooperation Award'' recently presented by the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council,

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Ed Mattas, who is being honored with the ``Community Service Award'' by The San Diego- Imperial Counties Labor Council of the AFL-CIO.

After graduating from Kearney High School in San Diego, California, Ed started his Union career with Hazard Products in 1981. When Hazard closed their manufacturing plant in 1985, he moved on to RCP Block and Brick. While at RCP Block and Brick, Ed served as the Shop Steward.

Ed was then elected as Trustee to Teamsters Local 36 in 2001 and was appointed Vice President in 2006. He was hired as the Training Director for the San Diego County Construction Teamsters in 2002. Along with the job came a tractor trailer that is funded by Teamsters Locals 36, 481, 542, and 683. These Locals have made it easy for him to make the Teamster truck available for volunteer projects whenever possible.

Ed and his students have helped in many events in San Diego and Southern California. These events include the Postal Food Drive, the Christmas food and toy distribution, providing the hauling for the Trail of Hope Charity to the Apache Indians, many projects in assisting the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum in Campo, and helping to transfer food from the San Diego Food Bank to many needy organizations.

Ed Mattas truly has been an inspiration to all of San Diego.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Nico Ferraro, who is being honored as the ``Labor Leader of the Year'' by The San Diego- Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL-CIO.

Nico was initiated into the union on June 15, 1971, and knew it was for him. He went on to serve a five-year steamfitter apprenticeship with the United Local 638 in New York City.

His urge to travel and see the country continually took him to several western states until he eventually landed in San Diego. Nico's political activism caught the attention of Local 230's officers and he was elected to the Executive Board in 1989. In 1992, he was elected as the Pipefitter Business Representative and served in that capacity until his appointment to Business Manager in 1997.

As Local 230's Business Manager, Nico represents the various divisions of the 1600 member local union in many ways. He is a Trustee to the pension and welfare funds, the Secretary to the Joint Apprenticeship Committee, President of the Southern California Pipe Trades District Council #16, President of the San Diego Building Trades, a member of the Board of Directors of the National City Park Apartments' 460 unit complex, built and managed by the Building Trades since 1968, and an Executive Board member to the Central Labor Council. One of Nico's proudest positions was serving on the Board of Directors of the Construction Tech Academy from 2002 to 2006. The academy is a uniquely designed High School dedicated to Construction, Architecture, and Engineering. The San Diego Building Trades honored Nico as the John Lyons Labor Leader of the Year in 2000.

In his role as Business Manager, Nico is focused on organizing, training, and political action. He is dedicated to improving the wages, pension and working conditions of his membership and demonstrating to all of San Diego the benefits of union membership. He has spoken on the record before the Industrial Welfare Commission.

Nico is involved in all aspects of the Labor movement. He has had numerous pro-union letters to various editors of San Diego newspapers published. To enhance his career as a union officer, Nico enrolled in the Labor Studies Program at San Diego City College. He completed the program in 1994 and continued his studies, earning a Business and Labor Studies Degree and graduating with honors in June 2000.

California Governor Gray Davis further honored Nico by appointing him to the Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Board, where he was asked to determine the wages, work hours and working conditions for the mining, drilling and construction industries.

Nico Ferraro truly has been an inspiration to all of San Diego.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce a resolution (H. Res. 444) supporting the goals and ideals of National Aviation Maintenance Technician Day.

This resolution is intended to honor the invaluable contributions of Charles Edward Taylor, the father of aviation maintenance, and to recognize the essential role of aviation maintenance technicians in ensuring the safety and security of civil and military aircraft.

As you may know, Charles Edward Taylor, who built and maintained the engine that was used to power the Wright brothers' first controlled flying machine, was born on May 24, 1868.

Forty-five U.S. States have already declared May 24 to be Aviation Maintenance Technician Day within their jurisdictions. My resolution is intended to support these efforts, and honor aviation maintenance technicians, including Charles Edward Taylor.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Safety, Efficiency and Accountability in Transportation Projects through Public Inspection Act of 2007 (H.R. 2485).

This bill would require public employees to perform the inspection and related essential public functions on all state and local transportation projects. My bill is intended to ensure that public safety is protected, transportation funds are not wasted and projects are delivered in a timely manner.

On transportation projects, the construction inspector is the eyes, ears and voice of the public. Inspectors ensure that construction and seismic standards are met, that projects meet safety requirements and that the materials used will stand the test of time. In short, inspectors are there to ensure that the motoring public gets what they pay for and public safety and the public interest are protected.

When the construction inspection function is outsourced to a private company, there is no longer a representative of the public on the job site. In this circumstance, one private company is charged with the task of inspecting the work of another private company. This creates multiple conflicts for the private inspector. First, the private inspectors' primary obligation and responsibility is not to the public, but to the success and profitability of his company. Because the private construction company whose work they are inspecting on one project may be a business partner on a future project, private inspectors may also feel pressure from the private contractor to take steps that ensure larger profits for both firms. I am concerned that these conflicts have led private inspectors to cut corners and overlook problems that threaten public safety, increase costs and delay projects.

There are many examples in which public safety has been threatened by the use of private inspectors, including Boston's ``Big Dig'' (where a concrete slab from a tunnel ceiling fell and killed a woman), the L.A. Redline subway (Hollywood Blvd. collapsed), the 8-805 Interchange in San Diego (10,000 defective welds on a seismic retrofit), the Connecticut I-84 project (hundreds of drains that lead nowhere).

Contracting out public inspection work also does not save money. Defective work requires extensive repairs, and inevitably, the taxpayer gets stuck with the bill. Comparative studies

have also found that contracting-out engineering, design, and inspection costs more than to do this work in-house, and none of these studies found that consultant engineers were less expensive. Factors that contribute to consultants' excessive costs include the lack of competitive bidding, cost-plus provisions in contracts, salary differentials between the private and public sectors, profit margins of from 10 percent to 15 percent, and additional costs connected with selecting and supervising consultants.

Failure to have public construction inspectors has also delayed projects in the past and will undoubtedly do so in the future. One such example is the privately inspected $12 million carpool bridge connecting the San Diego (405) and the Costa Mesa (55) Freeways. The project was to have been completed in April 2003. However, work was halted in August 2002 when chunks of concrete were falling from the structure and many cracks were noticed. Contractor and private inspector errors were later discovered and the carpool ramp did not open until January 2005.

The public and the Federal Government understand what's at stake. In a 2006 California public opinion poll, 71 percent of those surveyed said they want State engineers to inspect the construction of State highways; only 20 percent found private firms acceptable for the task. David M. Walker, the Comptroller General of the United States, said in a recent interview: ``There's something civil servants have that the private sector doesn't, and that is the duty of loyalty to the greater good--the duty of loyalty to the collective best interest of all rather than the interest of a few. Companies have duties of loyalty to their shareholders, not to the country.''

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 392) urging Americans and people of all nationalities to visit the American Cemeteries, Memorials and Markers.

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

Mr. Speaker, we are about to take up a package of seven bills that have come to the floor from the Veterans Committee, a committee which I am very proud of that has worked together over the first 4 or 5 months of this session to keep our contract with our Nation's veterans. And there is no better time than just before Memorial Day to say thank you. Memorial Day celebrates those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our Nation's freedom. We are here on the floor today to say thank you to those, and to those who are still deployed, and to veterans from past wars.

In the recent election, Mr. Speaker, the Democrats promised to do more for our Nation's veterans. We said we had a President who was saying, support the troops, support the troops, support the troops; but when they came home, where was that support? Walter Reed ripped off the veil of our incompetency of dealing with veterans and showed that so many were not getting the care they were promised and people thought they were getting.

We have had story after story in the Nation's press about how returning veterans with PTSD or brain injury have not been getting the care which this Nation has promised at the highest quality medical system in the world. So we have to do better.

We have a system that is really about to break and collapse. What we saw as the majority party is that the first thing that had to be done was give the VA the resources to carry out the job; secondly, we had to have accountability for the spending of those resources.

Well, in the first three spending bills that went through this House, we were able to add $13 billion for the health care of our veterans. That is an unprecedented increase from one year to the next, an increase of 30 percent in the health care budget.

We have put in the resources to clean up the backlog of claims for disability pensions that have built up to 600,000. We have put in the money to open up new Centers of Excellence for traumatic brain injury, to finally give the mental health care that the tens of thousands of veterans who are coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan need.

We call it PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, but virtually every soldier subject to at least five blasts that would give them brain injury, seeing their buddies shot and killed in front of them, maybe having to kill even by accident some innocent people in Iraq, they come back with tremendous mental issues. They have to be worked out. They need medical care, and too many have been falling through the cracks.

So we have said we will provide the resources to make sure that does not occur. We have provided the resources to meet these needs. Now we have to have accountability for their spending. The Veterans' Affairs Committee of this Congress has pledged to do that.

So we have a collection of bills on the floor this afternoon to say thank you to our Nation's veterans, thank you for your efforts in this war, thank you for your efforts in past wars, and we honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice on Memorial Day.

This resolution before us now, H. Res. 392, comes to us under the leadership of the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Lamborn), and I thank him for his activity on the Veterans' Affairs Committee. This resolution encourages people to visit the cemeteries, memorials, and markers overseen by the American Battle Monuments Commission. I am sure many people who hear this say, what is the American Battle Monuments Commission?

In 1923, Congress created the Battle Monuments Commission to control the construction of military cemeteries, monuments and markers erected to honor American servicemembers killed on foreign soil. Host countries provide the necessary lands for these sites to the United States in perpetuity and free of charge.

The Commission cares for 24 military cemeteries and 25 memorials, monuments and markers in 15 nations around the world. These sites serve as the final resting places for almost 125,000 Americans who fought in the Mexican-American War through World War I and II. The Commission takes special care that all cemeteries under its supervision are maintained to the highest standard attainable.

The Battle Monuments Commission extends an open invitation to all to visit these splendid shrines and go beyond the most well known, like Normandy, and venture into others. Each site has its own sense of history, sacrifice and beauty; each offers a different and unique experience. No two have the same garden or architecture. Perhaps only the spiritual qualities are similar.

In less than a month from now, on June 6, the Battle Monuments Commission will commemorate the 63rd anniversary of the D-Day landing by opening a new Normandy American Cemetery Visitor Center. Under construction since 2002, the center will tell the story of the American servicemembers memorialized at Normandy.

I encourage everyone to visit this new D-Day center and any of the other sites under the jurisdiction of the Commission.

Overseas American cemeteries are lasting reminders of America's willingness to come to the defense of others. These tangible symbols of American values endure long after the fighting is over.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Lamborn for bringing this resolution to us.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers.

Mr. Speaker, this is not a germane issue, and I will stick to dealing with the bills on the floor.

Mr. Speaker, parliamentary inquiry.

Does the yieldee have to make time for an extraneous comment from the yielder?

Is the yieldee required to give time to the yielder for a matter that has nothing to do with the matter under discussion?

So are they through with their time? Have they yielded back the balance of their time?

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H. Res. 392.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join Mr. Lamborn and me to unanimously support H. Res. 392. I have no further requests for time, and I yield back my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 67) to amend title 38, United

States Code, to improve the outreach activities of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes, as amended.

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

This bill comes to us from the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. McIntyre), and we thank him for his leadership on veterans outreach.

If I had to sum up this bill in one phrase, I would say that it allows local organizations to provide more bang for the buck by having greater resources at the local level.

This bill requires the VA to partner with State and local governments, through grant opportunities, to reach out to veterans and their families to ensure receipt of benefit for which they are eligible and assist them in completing their benefits claims.

As we have seen from recent news reports all over the country, we still have veterans slipping through the cracks of this system. They are either unaware of their veterans benefits or are having difficulty getting those benefits processed.

This bill establishes a grant program for the VA to provide to States' outreach activities, cooperative relationships and benefit claims development. The grant program allows State veterans agencies to award a portion of the grants to local governments for outreach purposes.

In addition, the grant allows funding for education and training of State and local government employees for accreditation to provide outreach services. It may also be used to establish a local government veterans service program.

The bill prohibits any portion of the grant to be used by the State for administrative purposes and requires the VA to allocate grants based on veteran populations.

The bill limits grant use by States to less than 50 percent of the cost of State and local government outreach activities and prohibits grant funds from supplanting State and local funds for such activities.

H.R. 67 authorizes $25 million annually, in fact $1 per veteran in our Nation, to improve outreach to veterans and remove some of the significant obstacles veterans must overcome to access their benefits. This is particularly true in rural areas, which Mr. McIntyre represents. The bill also contains performance measures to ensure that grant recipients are properly fulfilling the requirements of the program.

The bill is supported by the American Legion, Military Officers Association, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Paralyzed Veterans of America, National County Veteran Service Officers, National Organization of Veterans Advocates, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the author of the legislation, Mr. McIntyre, such time as he may consume.

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. 67, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to unanimously support this bill.

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 pass the bill (H.R. 1660) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a national cemetery for veterans in the southern Colorado region, as amended.

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

I am pleased to bring to the floor a bipartisan bill authored by Congressman Salazar of Colorado with Congressman Lamborn of Colorado. It establishes a veterans cemetery in El Paso County, Colorado.

Southern Colorado, which includes El Paso, Colorado, and the city of Colorado Springs, has the second highest concentration of veterans living in the United States. Currently those veterans and their families who wish either to visit a veterans cemetery or have their loved ones interred must travel into the Denver metropolitan area to Fort Logan National Cemetery.

Not only is this an undue burden, but the Fort Logan cemetery is running out of room. To alleviate this problem, H.R. 1660 directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a national cemetery for veterans in El Paso County, Colorado. This was a fitting tribute to those Americans who have served our Nation with honor. The veterans national cemeteries of the United States demonstrate the desire of a grateful Nation to appropriately commemorate those who have served in the Armed Forces.

Since 1862, close to 3 million burials have been made in the VA national cemeteries. The National Cemetery Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs manages 125 of these cemeteries nationwide for our veterans. Of these, 58 of them are no longer accepting interments. Thus, the

need to build new cemeteries is quite urgent.

As we lose more and more of our greatest generation of veterans and face the increasing prospects of additional fatalities of Iraq, this country, at the very least, needs to ensure that veterans are provided a dignified, accessible and well-maintained final resting spot. This bill would go a long way in making that happen.

It is supported by the Military Order of the Purple Heart, American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans and Paralyzed Veterans of America.

I was proud to see the bipartisan approach taken by two members of our committee, Mr. Salazar and Mr. Lamborn, to make sure that this bill got through the committee. They both worked cooperatively and tirelessly to get this bill to the floor today.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the coauthor of the bill, Mr. Salazar of Colorado, as much time as he may consume.

Mr. Speaker, we have criteria, as the gentleman stated, in the VA; and, if the need requires, we will establish the criteria for Members' requests.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to another gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Perlmutter) such time as he may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 1660, as amended.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 612) to amend title 38, United States Code, to extend the period of eligibility for health care for combat service in the Persian Gulf War or future hostilities from two years to five years after discharge or release, as amended.

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

Mr. Speaker, not all of the returning veterans from the OEF/OIF suffer from obvious wounds. Those who suffer from an external injury are readily identified and receive immediate care for that injury. However, many of our returning veterans, and on this I include, Mr. Speaker, Guard and Reserve units who have been ordered to combat, are coming back with injuries that are not external. They are hidden wounds of the war, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, forms of brain injury, which may not be evident without further diagnosis, which may not be evident to the soldier or to the doctor looking at him.

Unlike the physical wounds, mental wounds are not easily identified and may go undetected. PTSD is a mental health condition that is triggered by a traumatic event which causes an intense fear and/or helplessness. Some of the symptoms for this condition include reexperiencing the trauma through nightmares, obsessive thoughts, flashbacks. We know that this condition may not reveal itself for many months or maybe for years after experiencing the event.

We listened to veterans, veteran service organizations, family members, and we heard them say that their returning veterans needed more time to access the VA health care system when they came home from war.

Conditions like PTSD and traumatic brain injury are the driving force behind this bill, the Returning Servicemember VA Healthcare Insurance Act of 2007. It extends from 2 years to 5 years following discharge or release the eligibility period for veterans. And, as I said, we include Guard and Reserve units all those who served in combat during or after the Persian Gulf War are eligible to receive hospital care,

medical services, or nursing home care provided by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. It provides for an additional 3 years of eligibility for veterans discharged more than 5 years before the enactment of this act who may not have enrolled in the VA health care system.

This system is recognized throughout the country, and indeed the world, as providing safe quality health care to our veterans. Two years was simply not enough time for returning OEF/OIF veterans to utilize this very important benefit. We are fixing that with this piece of legislation. It is a bill that will have a profound effect most immediately on our veterans returning from war. I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the ranking member for his helpful amendment to this bill. As I said earlier, this is a very important bill to thousands and thousands of returning veterans. They have basically unfettered access to one of the best health care systems in the world without going through a lot of red tape, without going through a lot of paperwork to prove that they are eligible. They will have 5 years.

And it is most important for our Reserve and Guard units, who are not eligible for the benefit structure of the VA system. They are not eligible for most of the benefits of the GI bill. And we are trying to make an effort to bring them in under the VA benefits under what we call ``total force structure.''

So this bill is important to thousands of people, those that are coming back from the Marines or Army and those that are in the Guard and Reserve units. All of them now will have 5 years where these hidden injuries, brain injury, or post-traumatic stress disorder may become evident, and they may seek help. Now they will be able to do it without any of the bureaucratic entanglements. And I think this will have a remarkable impact on the lives of our Nation's veterans.

And I will tell you, as George Washington said more than 200 years ago, ``The morale of our fighting troops is dependent, most of all, on how they feel they're going to be treated when they come home.'' When they know they will have 5 years to come to the VA, they will know that a Nation is caring for them and is responsive to their needs.

I would ask, Mr. Speaker, 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. 612, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to unanimously support this bill, and 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 pass the bill (H.R. 1470) to amend the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Programs Enhancement Act of 2001 to require the provision of chiropractic care and services to veterans at all Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers.

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

We are continuing with a packet of seven bills from the Veterans' Affairs Committee that is really a thank-you in prelude to Memorial Day, a thank-you to our Nation's veterans. Memorial Day is a tribute to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

What we are saying is we're honoring them and all our veterans who are living with us in the United States. And as I said earlier, no matter where we are on the current debate on the war in Iraq, we are united in saying that every young woman, every young man who returns from that battle gets all the care, the attention, the love, the honor, the dignity that a grateful Nation can bestow. And that's what we are saying in these bills today.

We have already passed a bill which extends from 2 years to 5 years the ability of any returning servicemember in combat to access the VA health care system. Two years was not sufficient for those who might have brain injuries, who might have PTSD, posttraumatic stress disorder. These are, in many cases, hidden diseases. You don't know that you have it. A doctor may not diagnose it at first, and so as time goes by, you may feel the need to access the VA health care system. So we have extended that from 2 years to 5 years.

In addition, we have passed a new outreach program to meet especially the needs of rural veterans, and we will continue this package in the hour ahead.

Veterans returning home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan should be able to depend on medical services that they want being available in the system of health care that was built to take care of them and their unique needs.

For those returning veterans seeking care in a VA health care system, we know that the most common health problems are under the category of musculoskeletal ailments, principally joint and back disorders. We hear a lot about brain injury and PTSD, and those we have to give a lot of resources to, but 42 percent of veterans coming to the health care system have been presented to the VA with the needs of joint and back disorders.

This bill, the Chiropractic Care Available to All Veterans Act, requires

that chiropractic services be made available in not fewer than 75 VA medical centers by the end of December 2009 and all the health care centers by the end of 2011.

Undoubtedly the returning servicemembers will be able to benefit from this care. I speak from experience as I have had chiropractic care a good part of my life. I am confident that with expansion of these services within VA, many veterans will be able to find relief from their pain.

Since the creation of the VA health care system, the Nation's doctors of chiropractic have been kept outside and all but prevented from providing proven, cost-effective and needed care to veterans. So we are grateful that access is becoming wider and wider.

The support for VA chiropractic service is bipartisan. Former Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony Principi released a policy directive before his departure several years ago regarding the true and full integration of chiropractic care in the VA.

Secretary Nicholson and I have developed a solid working relationship, and chiropractic care is an area where we will be working closely together. Both Republican and Democratic Members have supported the inclusion of chiropractic care in the VA.

I have worked very closely with chiropractic patients, particularly our veterans, as well as with various associations dedicated to the profession such as the American Chiropractic Association.

Veterans are returning home from combat expecting to receive needed services. Let us not disappoint them. Expansion of chiropractic services is the right thing to do, and it is the least we can do for our returning heroes.

I urge support of H.R. 1470.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from South Dakota (Ms. Herseth Sandlin).

Mr. Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. Speaker, is it a requirement that committees have to file reports with legislation that is very straightforward?

I thank you, and I hope the ranking member heard that.

Mr. Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. Speaker, am I required to engage in political debate with the ranking member when we are discussing a bill very important to veterans?

I would inform the ranking member that I am not going to respond to political debate.

It's your time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as she may need to the gentlelady from Florida (Ms. Corrine Brown), who has now for 15 years fought side by side with me on behalf of our Nation's veterans. She is a fighter, and we are proud of her. You have the floor, Ms. Brown.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 1470.

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 pass the bill (H.R. 2199) to amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide certain improvements in the treatment of individuals with traumatic brain injuries, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 3 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I would point out this is one of the most important bills on the floor today or at any time. It's called the Traumatic Brain Injury Health Enhancement and Long-Term Support Act of 2007.

The wounded from wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are returning with multiple injuries due to the use of improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. This often results in servicemembers and veterans needing polytrauma care, and has caused an increase in veterans with brain injury, or TBI.

We are going to have tens of thousands of these young men and women with these injuries. Among veterans and servicemembers that return from OEF and OIF and treated at Walter Reed for injuries of any type, approximately 65 percent have TBI or a comorbid, as they call it, diagnosis. Survivors of TBI experience physical, cognitive, emotional and community integration issues. Because of their injury, their capacity and initiative to seek appropriate care on their own is diminished.

We are also faced with thousands of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with milder cases of brain injury. This milder case often is missed and goes untreated, and symptoms may often mirror that of PTSD. Indeed, according to the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, in prior military conflicts, TBI was present in up to 14 to 20 percent of surviving casualties. The numbers for operations in OEF/OIF are predicted to go much, much higher.

We must ensure that the health care and services that meet the needs of returning servicemembers are available and accessible, while never forgetting the needs of veterans from previous conflicts. This bill provides for mandatory screening of veterans for traumatic brain injury. It requires the Secretary to establish a comprehensive program of long-term care, of postacute traumatic brain injury rehabilitation at four geographically disbursed polytrauma network sites. It provides for the establishment of TBI transition offices at each Department polytrauma network site to coordinate health care and services to veterans who suffer from moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries. It requires the Secretary to establish a registry of those who served in Iraq who exhibit symptoms associated with TBI.

This legislation establishes centers for TBI research, education and clinical activities, and requires the Secretary to establish a committee on the care of veterans with TBI. In addition to the provisions that address health care, research and treatment for veterans, this legislation also provides for veterans who reside in rural areas.

Mr. Speaker, it is a very important bill. We will hear soon from Mr. Michaud, the chairman of our Health Subcommittee, who was the primary author of this, who has been a leader to make sure that we serve the veterans who come back with these incredible injuries, that they receive the proper care that they need.

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

Mr. Speaker, I recognize the chairman of our subcommittee who has taken such a great leadership role on these issues, the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Michaud) for 4 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/4\ minutes to the chairwoman of our Economic Opportunity Subcommittee, the gentlelady from South Dakota, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin.

Mr. Speaker, we have had many people contribute to this legislation, as Mr. Michaud said. I would like to recognize a great new Member from Indiana who has worked hard on this legislation, Mr. Donnelly, for 2 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield 2 minutes to another hard-working new member from our committee, the gentleman from California (Mr. McNerney).

Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield 2 minutes to another hard-working new member of our committee, the highest-enlisted man ever to be elected to Congress, Command Sergeant Major Tim Walz from Minnesota.

Mr. Speaker, how much time do we have left?

I would now recognize another great new Member from Pennsylvania (Mr. Altmire) for 2 minutes. He has taken the lead on dealing with traumatic brain injury.

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to yield 2 minutes to the fighting gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell), who we like to call an honorary member of the Veterans' Committee since he fights so hard for veterans and is cochair of the Traumatic Brain Injury Caucus in the Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to yield 2 minutes to another great new Member fighting for veterans, Congressman Welch from Vermont.

Mr. Speaker, let me just conclude by saying like everything else about this war, the administration did not prepare either for the fighting, the aftermath, or the treatment of the

veterans coming back. We simply left thousands of our veterans without adequate resources to treat these brain injuries or PTSD or other issues that arise. No matter what denial that comes from the minority party, no matter what denial comes from the administration, we have not prepared for adequate treatment of these veterans. We are passing legislation today to do that, and we will not deny that there will be thousands and thousands of brain-injured veterans. We should bring them home now and we should treat them well when they get back.

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 pass the bill (H.R. 2239) to amend title 38, United States Code, to expand eligibility for vocational rehabilitation benefits administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, as amended.

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

This bill, the Early Access to Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Benefits Act, was authored by my good friend from Arkansas (Mr. Boozman), and we appreciate his efforts over many years on behalf of our veterans. I was glad that we could get this bill to the floor today. It is the last of seven that say thank you to our Nation's veterans as we come up on Memorial Day.

This would extend vocational rehabilitation and employment benefits to members of the Armed Forces who are

determined to have a disability incurred while on active duty of at least 10 percent and likely to be discharged from service due to that disability. The servicemembers would still have to qualify under usual vocational rehabilitation and employment criteria of at least 20 percent, with an employment handicap of 10 percent with a serious employment handicap.

H.R. 2239 will help veterans begin their rehab earlier and will be very beneficial to those veterans in extended convalescence which could be over a year. This is the ideal time, as veterans will still be on active duty, continuing to receive their military pay, making it easier to support his or her family. One of the factors that leads to servicemembers dropping out of vocational rehabilitation and employment is the need to support their families.

Due to the severity of the injury or injuries, most veterans will be expected to experience a drop in pay once they are discharged. However, if a veteran begins their rehab immediately, they may be able to enter the job market much earlier.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2239. It is an important bill. This is the least we can do for these brave men and women. It will ease the transition from the military to civilian employment market. And, again, I thank Mr. Boozman for his leadership on this issue.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the dynamic chair of our Economic Opportunity Subcommittee, the gentlewoman from South Dakota (Ms. Herseth Sandlin).

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

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 both H.R. 2199 and H.R. 2239, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, we have come to the end of a day of thanks to our Nation's veterans. We have seven bills, all of which will go to really improve our services, our health care, our sense of commitment to our Nation's veterans. We have had seven good bills today, and I think they will all be approved by this body.

I was a professor of European history before I became a Congressman, and I used to talk about the Roman world. And there was this famous Roman senator named Cato. And Cato would end all his speeches, no matter on what subject, which they might be about the sewer system of Rome or they might be about gladiator games or war against the Parthians or whoever, but he would always end his speech, no matter what the thing was, and everybody would expect it and he sort of became the laughingstock of the senate because they would know he would end all his speeches with ``and we must destroy Carthage.'' And nobody paid any attention to his speeches because they were all waiting for that conclusion no matter on what subject.

So with that little history lesson, I urge my colleagues to unanimously support H.R. 2239.

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

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

I thank the chairman not only for his kind words, but for bringing this resolution to us on National Maritime Day, and for his making the connection between what we are doing today and the historical record that we as a Nation, I think, have to recognize and correct.

This resolution, H. Res. 413, does recognize the heroic and brave service of the Merchant Marine veterans who have gone unheralded by this country for far too long. Of course, this is the best time to do this, on National Maritime Day, which was first celebrated in

1933. It is intended to recognize the invaluable role that the maritime industry in general and the Merchant Marine in particular served to our Nation's economy and to our security.

Throughout our Nation's history, the Merchant Marine has played a crucial part in ensuring our freedom and security during war and in transporting our commerce during peace.

This day was conceptualized by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a former Assistant Secretary of the Navy, who firmly believed, as we continue to, that the Nation needed a strong Merchant Marine to serve as an auxiliary to our naval and other military forces during war. In fact, the Merchant Marine has participated in every war since serving as the Nation's first Navy, helping George Washington's Continental Army defeat the British.

After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, 29 Merchant Marine Academy cadets operated a fleet of boats in New York Harbor, transporting the firefighters and other emergency equipment workers and medical supplies.

It is interesting to note that the United States Merchant Marine Academy is the only one of our five military academies that will send its cadets into war; and, in fact, we have lost 142 of those cadets since World War II.

Today, more than 8,000 merchant mariners serve in the Military Sealift Command, most working in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

I thank my colleague for bringing up the situation of our World War II veterans. As he said, it is too late to give them education benefits. But I have a bill, H.R. 23, that says we want to give you a belated thank you with a payment for the last years of their life, most of whom are over 80 right now.

During World War II, these merchant mariners traversed the dangerous U-boat-laden waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific, faced down fierce air attacks from kamikaze planes, and were instrumental in every theater of war by carrying 95 percent of all tank supplies and troops during the Great War. As a result, they suffered, as was pointed out, the highest casualty rate of any of the military branches.

It is indisputable that the allied forces would not have been able to begin, sustain, or finish World War II without their valiant and selfless service.

When I first heard of the plight of the merchant mariners of World War II, I could not believe the treatment that they have received. They did not receive any recognition as veterans that they deserved, or the benefits of the GI bill which they had earned. And their fight for equality continued for over 40 years, when they finally attained veteran status after a lengthy court battle. By then, over 125,000 of them had died.

I actually had the privilege of receiving the heart-wrenching testimony during a hearing before the Veterans' Affairs Committee from one of the named parties in that suit, in the 1980s, a merchant mariner named Stanley Willner. He was captured, interned, beaten, starved, and tortured as a POW for 3 years. He actually was one of the unfortunate group of Allied Forces who was forced to build the infamous bridge on the River Kwai.

Upon release, he weighed a mere 74 pounds. When he returned home, even his wife couldn't recognize him. Well, neither did his country. The brave merchant mariner received just 2 weeks of medical care and little else for his incredible service and sacrifice. What a travesty of justice.

Mr. Speaker, there are many more stories like this that tell about the merchant mariners of World War II, of opportunities lost and dreams foreclosed. It is long overdue that we treat these veterans the same as we try to do with all other veterans: Do our best to make them whole again.

As such, in recognition of the 74th anniversary of National Maritime Day, I invite all of the country and my colleagues to join me in recognizing the brave men and women of the sea who, like the Merchant Marine veterans of World War II, serve selflessly to ensure our Nation's continued safety and prosperity by voting in favor of this resolution, and then taking action, hopefully in a few weeks, where we give a belated ``thank you'' to the merchant mariners of World War II and pass H.R. 23.