Brad Miller

Mr. Speaker, many of my Democratic colleagues today have criticized Republicans in Congress as do- nothings, but my own view is a little different.

It is certainly true that the Nation has real needs. Economists tell us that legislation held hostage here would create millions of jobs and put many Americans back to work. Instead of addressing those needs, Congress is just dysfunctional.

But considering what Republicans in Congress want to do, it is a great blessing that Congress has done next to nothing. They have repeatedly voted to repeal health care reform--33 times according to one count--as if denying health insurance for preexisting conditions would put Americans back to work.

They have voted to gut or eliminate the funding for Wall Street reform--putting us right back where we were 5 years ago with the Bush administration policies that created the painful downturn that we are now in--and at least 55 times voted to restrict women's reproductive rights and access to affordable health care, which included repeated attempts to eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood. It is hard to see that as a job creation agenda.

Mr. Speaker, better to do nothing than what they want to do.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Honoring America's Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act, which the House will consider later today, especially title I, the Janey Ensminger Act.

Title I and a similar House bill honor a 9-year-old girl who died from childhood leukemia, most likely because she was exposed to contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, when her mother was pregnant with her.

And by honoring Janey Ensminger, we honor those Americans who have shown remarkable determination to make their government do the right thing. They have struggled for more than a decade to learn exactly what chemicals were in the drinking water at Camp Lejeune, water that perhaps a million marines and their families were exposed to over a 30- year period, to learn the health effects of exposure to the contaminated drinking water, and to seek justice for those harmed.

They took on their own government, including the Marine Corps they had served and to which they are still loyal, but which has been shamefully reluctant to accept responsibility for the water contamination.

Janey's father, Jerry Ensminger, is a retired marine who lived with his family on base at Camp Lejeune for a time. Jerry watched his daughter become ill from leukemia, struggle with the disease, and eventually lose the struggle. Years after he watched his daughter die, Jerry learned of the water contamination at Camp Lejeune and has not rested since.

I first met Jerry 4 years ago when he testified powerfully on the Science and Technology Committee's Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, which I then chaired. Jerry worked shoulder to shoulder with others, including Tom Townsend, Mike Partain, Jim Fontella, the Byron family and William Hill against long odds.

The Janey Ensminger Act is the result of their remarkable efforts. They were always faithful to the cause of justice for those harmed by the contaminated drinking water.

The Janey Ensminger Act will require the VA to provide medical coverage for certain illnesses to veterans who served at Camp Lejeune between 1957 and 1987, and to their families. The VA will be the ``payer of last resort.'' Justice requires no less for the people harmed by the water contamination at Camp Lejeune.

The harm will never be fully made right. The bill will not help Janey or her father. But the Janey Ensminger Act acknowledges responsibility and provides needed treatment for many others.

The marines who have championed this legislation served our democracy when they wore our Nation's uniform, and they served our democracy by their determination to obtain justice for the people harmed by the toxic drinking water at Camp Lejeune.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of the Navy has known for 30 years that the drinking water at Camp Lejeune was contaminated. They've known for 20 years exactly what chemicals were in the water. The science may have been slow to develop on the effects of exposure to those chemicals, but they knew better than to say there was nothing to worry about, which is what they did.

The Navy concealed information from Marines and their families who drank the water, cooked with it, and bathed in it. They withheld information from the Centers for Disease Control and from Congress. And they have shamefully failed to take responsibility for the contaminated water.

Senator Burr and I introduced companion bills 2 years ago to provide treatment for certain diseases associated with exposure to the water. That legislation, the Janey Ensminger Act, is title I of this bill. Justice requires at least the benefits the Janey Ensminger Act provides.

I thank Chairman Miller and the Veterans' Affairs Committee for bringing this bill to the floor.