Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, today I acknowledge a great friend of labor, Art Cantu--

named the 2005 Labor Leader of the Year. Art is currently the Secretary-Treasurer and Principal Executive Officer of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 36, which represents Building Material, Construction, Industrial, Professional and Technical Employees.

Art is a native San Diegan and graduated from Chula Vista High School in 1975. Art also attended San Diego City College where he completed the Business and Labor Studies Program.

Art began his career working at Nabisco Company for Teamsters Local 316 in Syracuse, New York in May of 1976. In December 1977, he transferred to Local 36 and began driving for Oberg Construction and later at Bechtel Power Corporation at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station and then moved to Hubbard Construction Company. In January 1990, Art began working at Teamsters Local 36 as an Organizer and Business Agent, and in May of 1995 was elected as the Recording Secretary on the Executive Board of Teamsters Local 36. In August of 2000, Art was appointed Secretary-Treasurer. He has since been re- elected twice.

Art serves as co-chair for San Diego County Teamsters Construction Trust for Health and Welfare, Pension, Vacation and Training Trusts, as well as Alternate Trustee of the San Diego County Teamsters Employers- Insurance Trust Fund. Art currently serves on the Advisory Committee of the Industrial Relations Research Association (IRRA), and the Executive Board of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council as well as being the Treasurer and Executive Board member of The San Diego County Building and Construction Trades Council. His newest position is with the San Diego County Chamber of Commerce Transportation Sub-committee.

Art also serves as the Recording Secretary of the California Teamsters Hispanic Caucus and the Executive Director of the National Teamsters Hispanic Caucus. Art is extremely proud of organizing the Annual Teamsters Hispanic Golf Tournament held at Torrey Pines every year. The event has raised over $300,000 in scholarships for the sons and daughters of Teamsters. Since 2000, Art and Kris Hartnett have co- chaired the John S. Lyons Memorial Banquet which has raised over $1.2 million.

Art currently resides in Carmel Mountain Ranch in San Diego. Art has 2 sons, Art Jr., 26, and Wesley, 24. Art Jr. currently works in Seattle, Washington and is a software engineer for Marchex Corporation. Wes works for the City of Santa Monica in the Engineering Department. Art's proudest moment was seeing Art Jr. graduate from Berkeley and Stanford and Wes from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Art enjoys golf, tennis and traveling.

I am proud to salute Art Cantu--Labor Leader of the Year.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 461, on H.R. 3669, I was in route to my Congressional District on official business. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 462, on H.R. 3668, I was in route to my Congressional District on official business. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 463, on H. Res. 428, I was in route to my Congressional District on official business. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 464, on H. Res. 427, I was in route to my Congressional District on official business. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act with Congressman Bennie Thompson. As a former ``Freedom Rider'' in Mississippi during the 1960s, I have seen first hand the need for this bill.

While most are familiar with the recent prosecution of Edgar Ray Killen his participation in the slayings of Civil Rights workers James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman, there are many other cases that aren't as well known or remain unsolved, like Emmett Till. These cases need to be investigated.

We as a Congress have a moral obligation to bring justice to the families of these victims. Furthermore, as a society based on laws, we have a responsibility to ensure that criminals don't go unpunished.

This bill creates a special section within the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice to focus specifically on unsolved pre-1970 Civil Rights' homicides. In addition, the bill authorizes up to $5 million annually for this new section, which will provide States assistance with prosecuting Civil Rights era cases that have grown cold over time.

Unlike many other endeavors that have come before this House to address past racial injustice, this bill goes beyond mere rhetoric and ``lip service'' and provides an avenue to actually address Civil Rights' crimes.

Our country has come a long way since the 1960s. For example, seven states, since 1989, have reexamined 29 killings from the Civil Rights era, leading to 27 arrests and 22 convictions. However, as most are aware, there are still many unsolved homicides from that time period. And, while we can't go back in time, we can acknowledge our past transgressions and do our best to work towards correcting them.

``Justice delayed'' is better than ``Justice denied''!

Mr. Speaker, the Republic Leadership has insisted on bringing the proposed Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) before the House tonight. CAFTA tacitly endorses labor and environmental conditions in Central America that would be illegal in the U.S.

CAFTA allows goods produced under these conditions to unfairly compete with the Imperial County sugar growers, of my district. If we pass this agreement, American farmers and ranchers that comply with U.S. environmental and labor standards will be at a grave disadvantage in the global economy.

My district which encompasses the border of California and Mexico, has felt the negative impact from the failure of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). My district has seen NAFTA's promises broken, translating free trade into poverty; increasing social inequality; and creating severe environmental degradation.

The current CAFTA proposal would expand on NAFTA's failures, and send the wrong message: labor and environmental standards are not as important as producing cheap goods under horrible labor conditions.

At the minimum CAFTA should call for basic labor standards including child labor protections, and environmental standards. Make no mistake about it, CAFTA is not about national security, it's about the exploitation of cheap labor!

Madam Speaker, I, too, rise to speak about improvements in insurance for veterans and their families.

This bill, H.R. 3200, will permanently, as we have heard, increase the amount of Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance from $250,000 to $400,000 if a servicemember is killed in the line of duty.

It would also provide the same permanent increase in the Veterans' Group Life Insurance program. These changes, of course, make the insurance more in line with today's economy, and we all should support the passage of H.R. 3200.

But I think there are other changes beyond what is in this bill that we also should take before this Congress ends. These changes would, first of all, affect the Service-Disabled Veterans Insurance, the SDVI program. When this insurance program began in 1951, the premiums were based on a 1940 mortality rate. Current standard life insurance policies have premiums based on a 2001 mortality rate, except for this program, which still charges premiums based on a table that is 60 years out of date, which results in higher premiums.

The Independent Budget, that document prepared and endorsed by many veterans service organizations, has recommended that the mortality table be updated. I have introduced a bill, H.R. 2747, the Disabled Veterans Life Insurance Enhancement Act, that would make this important change and decrease this premium payment for disabled veterans.

A second part of my bill affects the mortgage life insurance for severely disabled veterans. Currently this insurance covers only about 55 percent of outstanding mortgage balances. We know how the cost of housing has skyrocketed in most areas of our Nation. In May of 2001, an evaluation by the Department of Veterans Affairs recommended increased coverage. And my bill, H.R. 2747, implements these recommendations by increasing the maximum which would be expected to cover 94 percent of mortgage balances.

Finally, military families are currently provided with $10,000 of life insurance for each child when the servicemember is covered by the program. Some military families have been denied this benefit because their child was stillborn. My bill, H.R. 2747, would extend the $10,000 benefit to those families to help pay for funeral and burial expenses. I note that the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee has taken up this issue in their June 23 hearing.

Let us begin to update and fix the insurance for our servicemembers and our veterans by passing the bill before us, H.R. 3200. But I also encourage my colleagues to cosponsor and support my insurance bill, H.R. 2747, which expands what we are doing here today to additional insurance provisions and programs to support all of our Nation's veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin for yielding me this time and for his leadership on behalf of our Nation's veterans, leadership which has sorely been lacking in this House.

This administration and this Congress has insulted our veterans community repeatedly in the last few months, insults which I hope we will remedy with today's motion. The head of the Office of Management and Budget actually had the nerve to testify before the Committee on the Budget that over the last 3 years the Veterans Administration had received $.5 billion more than it actually needed, more than it actually needed, when we have waiting lists which the gentleman outlined, when we have nursing and medical vacancies, when we have maintenance backlogs, when we have people waiting a year for an appointment for a dentist, and months and months for surgeries that are needed. OMB told the veterans that we have more than what was needed!

Then the Secretary of our Veterans Administration testified before committees of this Congress that we got it wrong because we had a bad mathematical model. We had a mathematical model that did not take into account the fact that there was a war going on and thousands of troops were coming back with significant injuries and with post-traumatic stress disorder. We did not know a war was going on, so we underfunded the VA. That is an insult to our Nation's veterans, that we did not know a war was going on, and we did not provide the money. Many are suffering today as a result of that decision.

And, Mr. Speaker, when we had a chance to help the veterans before our last recess, the chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs said, we can only give $975 million, that that was the right number, while the Senate did $1.5 billion, which we are now instructing our House to accept today.

We could have had this money flowing to our veterans' centers weeks ago. This could have been signed by the President several weeks ago, yet in my hometown of San Diego, we have 1,000 people on a waiting list just to have their first appointment. We have maintenance backlogs and nursing shortages, and we cannot get them the money because we did not have the right numbers, said the veterans chairman.

Well, we had the right number all along, my colleagues. The Independent Budget, a professional document prepared by our veterans' service organizations, had the numbers exactly right. The mathematical model could have been tested against this, and we could have had the proper support for our Nation's veterans. So everybody who talked about our Nation's veterans when we had Memorial Day, when we had our July 4th celebrations, and we will hear it on November 11th as we have heard today, that we all support our veterans. Well, let us show it by the proper votes!

The Democrats in this Congress have tried at every level, on the Committee on the Budget, on the Committee on Appropriations, in the Senate, in the House, and we tried on the floor of this House to give the Independent Budget numbers the force of law, but we were voted down on pure party-line votes. So I hear that everybody supports our veterans, but when the votes come, the majority party is not supporting our Nation's veterans.

Let us pass this instruction motion. Let us honor our veterans and give the veterans the support they need, especially when they come home from war.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I thank my friend from North Carolina for managing this bill. We refer to him as the maitre d' of marinas in the House, so I thank the gentleman from North Carolina.

Mr. Speaker, there are 12,000 marinas in the United States providing safe harbor for millions of recreational vessels that operate on the lakes and navigable waters of the United States. This includes boat yards, yacht clubs, and public and private moorings across our country. Marinas in the United States provide employment for more than 140,000 of our citizens. But perhaps most importantly, marinas provide a means for millions of Americans to relax and enjoy themselves boating.

National Marina Day is a time to celebrate the history of marinas and boating and to look to the future of this vibrant industry. National Marina Day activities across the United States will include environmental demonstrations, youth center events, fishing rodeos, boating safety demonstrations, and marina open houses. This day is going to be celebrated from Maine to Florida; from Maryland to my hometown of San Diego, California.

Marina owners are working closely, also, with the United States Coast Guard to step up vigilance at their facilities to improve security on our waterways. This includes being on the watch for any suspicious activities; attempts to gain access to vehicles without proper identification; looking out for any fixtures attached to structures; keeping an eye out for unusual diving operations; and watching out for vehicles and vessels in unusual locations.

Mr. Speaker, it is fitting and appropriate for the House of Representatives to recognize the ongoing contribution of marina operators in the United States to our economy, our security, our environment, and most of all for providing us with a way of enjoying a day on the beautiful waterways of the United States.

I urge my colleagues to join us in supporting H. Res. 308 which recognizes our support for the goals of National Marina Day on August 13, 2005.

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

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson) for her leadership and the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan), the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young), and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar). I also want to thank the staff on both sides, but the staff on our side has kept us well informed of the progress of the bill, worked with us on the projects that we needed; and I greatly appreciate the work that they have all done on this.

I support the underlying bill. I am looking forward to the manager's amendment from the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young). Many of us throughout the Nation have projects in here. I just want to stress a couple that are important to my own constituents in Imperial and San Diego counties in California.

The New River in my district starts in Mexico, flows into the Salton Sea, one of the biggest bodies of water in the United States which I share with the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Bono). This river, the New River, has been described as the world's most polluted river. Due to grossly inadequate sewage treatment and solid waste facilities in Mexico, raw sewage, industrial waste, and garbage, up to 50 million gallons a day, are constantly released into the New River.

It violates every water quality standard we have. Plants and animals cannot survive in the New River, and it threatens the health and safety of the residents of my district. It also runs through the Imperial County farmlands that supply many of our Nation's winter crops. By supplying the funds to treat and clean up this river in this bill, we are assuring the health and well-being of the food that we feed to the children of our Nation.

The New River also runs through the city of Brawley, California, which has its own water quality problems. The city's proximity to the United States-Mexico border makes both their air and water vulnerable to pollution that comes up from Mexico. This legislation will provide funds to the Brawley area to improve the conditions in their water.

Finally, WRDA provides the appropriate funding level to San Diego County for the removal of non-native exotic species from the drinking water in the Sweetwater Reservoir. My constituents, like everyone throughout the country, deserve clean water. This legislation provides them with the resources to make this a reality.

As our speakers have said, this is a bipartisan, well-written bill which will not only help in creating jobs across the Nation, but will help provide safe and clean water for our future. So please join me in supporting this bill and the manager's amendment. We are truly voting to ensure America's future.

Mr. Speaker, this morning in ``CQ Today'' we see: ``Shortfall in Veterans Funds Widened.''

The chairman of our committee says, well, we have to find the right number somewhere; we have to find the right number.

Well, I tell you, we had a process where we had the right number. The veterans service organizations through this Independent Budget said exactly what was needed and what we should have both for this year and for the coming year. But did we listen to them? No.

The Democrats on the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, the Democrats on this floor tried to amend the appropriations bills so we would get the money that veterans need. They were voted down by a strict party-line vote: all the Democrats voting for the veterans, all the Republicans voting against.

We are at war, Mr. Speaker. The way that we win a war is to make sure that the troops when they come home have sufficient funding for health care. I have a thousand veterans on the waiting list at my veterans hospital in San Diego. The brave young men and women who are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan will have a high probability of having post- traumatic stress disorder, PTSD.

Will they get the treatment they need? No. Will they have to wait a year for a dental appointment? Yes.

Let us support our troops by supporting them when they come home with proper VA health care funding.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time and for her leadership on veterans' issues.

I too rise in support of H.R. 1220, the Veterans' Compensation Cost- of-Living Adjustment Act, and I would just like to speak briefly about two provisions in it.

This bill will, in December, provide a cost-of-living adjustment to the disability compensation received by our Nation's veterans, and to compensation received by their widows. A transitional benefit to widows with minor children, who will receive an extra $250 per month for 2 years, is specifically included in this cost-of-living increase.

The compensation that veterans and their widows receive does not adequately compensate them for their losses, but we hope it will ease their burden and let them know our Nation is grateful. It is important this compensation keep abreast of the rising cost of living.

Another provision of the bill establishes, subject to appropriations, a Parkinson's Disease Research Educational and Clinical Center in six VA health care facilities, with appropriate geographical distribution of these centers. These centers would cooperate with an accredited medical school, one that provides education and training in neurology and attracts the participation of scientists who are capable of ingenuity and creativity in their research efforts.

The centers would provide the opportunity for VA clinicians to more fully understand Parkinson's Disease and collaborate on innovative treatments. The findings would be shared with facilities without research centers in order to ensure access to state-of-the-art information through our VA health care system. I am especially supportive of the provision which would advance our knowledge of Parkinson's Disease and would provide new treatments to those who are suffering.

So let us support H.R. 1220, but let us not get too self- congratulatory about this bill. It is a necessary bill. It is already provided for in the appropriations process, but the amount of money we are talking about in this bill is very, very small compared to the shortfall in the health care budget of the VA that we have been informed about by our new Secretary of VA.

Mr. Speaker, we are being irresponsible by not approving an adequate health care budget for our veterans. While today we approve the Disability Compensation COLA, we are still leaving our veterans health care short by billions of dollars, both in this year's and next year's budget.

And for those who say, well, we did not know about it, or it was a bad mathematical model that was used, these are rather ridiculous statements. The Independent Budget, which has been formulated by our veterans' service organizations in a very professional, a very detailed way, forecast the exact amount that we would need in the health care budget. While the chairman of our committee is going around searching for a right number, the number was right here in the independent budget.

And, in fact, Mr. Speaker, the Democrats in this House tried to get this budget number into our budget. But were we allowed to? No, we were not allowed to vote on it in our committee. We were not allowed to vote on it on the floor. There were attempts to do that by the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards) and the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Hooley). I had an amendment on the floor to put the required money in the budget that we were lacking for our veterans, and I was ruled out of order. Out of order to help our veterans? I will tell you what was out of order, and that was the process that the majority party set up.

Mr. Speaker, I have a thousand veterans in San Diego, California, who are on a waiting list to get into the VA health system. Does that sound like we were adequately funding our health care? We will have thousands of returning Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, many with PTSD, post- traumatic stress disorder, who will not be able to get the required counseling at our VA centers. They will have to wait a year for a dental appointment. Is this supporting our troops? Is this showing how much we care about them?

Mr. Speaker, the way to show that we support our troops is to treat them well when they return home. We already have unsettling reports of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. We have reports of veterans who suffer from PTSD probably, who are committing domestic violence, who have not gotten help from the VA and who may be on the streets already. We know what happens to the troops when they do not get the proper help. Half of the homeless on the streets today are Vietnam vets.

That is a tragedy, that is a disgrace, and an incredible immoral act that we have allowed this country to commit, to put our veterans on the streets. But the same thing is going to happen again. The same thing is going to happen again if we do not adequately fund this budget.

This House voted a week ago to put $900 million into this year's budget. The Senate appropriated 1.5 billion. And the Veteran's Committee chairman said, oh, I do not know how they got their number. Well, that is the right number. We should vote for the Senate number. We can get this passed for veterans immediately, and then we can fix the 2006 budget in our regular appropriations process.

Mr. Speaker, when the President says support our troops, support our troops, support our troops, and then does not provide the adequate funding when those troops come home, we are not doing the job that we should be doing to thank the veterans for their service. It is time to adequately fund the health care budget. It is time to listen to the Independent Budget. It is time for the chairman to listen to those who have been saying this for years. It is time to show proper respect for the veterans who have given us our freedom today.

Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 363, on H. Con. Res. 168, I was in my Congressional District on official business. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 364, on H. Res. 333, I was in my Congressional District on official business. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''