Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, we have heard plenty of questionable statements today from Members about misrepresentation of intelligence and alleged use of military force, without enough information to back up that action. As a former member of the Committee on Intelligence, I would remind Members about one particular incident and the, quote, ``depth of intelligence'' supporting that action.

Not long ago the United States, on the order of the Commander in Chief launched a cruise missile attack against a pharmaceutical plant in Sudan, destroying the facility and taking human life. At the time, the action was justified by the President and his administration on the grounds that the al-Shifa plant was involved in the production of chemical weapons and had ties to Iraq and possibly al Qaeda which had just bombed two U.S. embassies in Africa.

What was the administration's basis for making these claims? What was the entire intelligence record that backed up this military action? This represents the entire intelligence on the al-Shifa plant. Yes, the entirety of the intelligence record connecting the al-Shifa plant to chemical weapons production was this, a single soil sample collected by a friend of a friend of a source. That is it.

The Intelligence Community did not know who actually owned the plant or have any other clear and convincing evidence to connect al-Shifa to weapons of mass destruction production; all it had was a bit of dirt and many unanswered question.

Yes, the information gaps were emphatically stated in the intelligence record of the day. None of these caveats were expressed by the President or his administration, and I believe the President picked this target himself. Now, I could name the President and the precise day in August 1998 and the attacks, and what else was happening that day; but rather than dwell on that, I would like to ask my colleagues on the other side: Where was their outrage in 1998? The information that this President used to inform his policy decision and act militarily against Hussein was voluminous, consistent, and as sound as it could be.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the members of the American Legion Family of Hudson post #48 in New Hampshire. The American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary, Junior Auxiliary, and Sons of the American Legion successfully hosted their Sixth Annual Halloween Haunted House to raise money for the community and to collect non- perishable items for local food baskets. Numerous volunteers bonded together over the course of 800 hours in efforts to successfully horrify all of the 787 ``victims'' who turned out for the event. Those who dared to enter were also able to munch on snacks and sample a taste of the witch's brew.

Proceeds for the Haunted House exceeded $1,500 and will go directly back into the community for a variety of programs, ranging from scholarships for local students to cleaning area highways. They were also able to collect over 200 non-perishable items that will be distributed in food baskets for those less fortunate. Although the evening was cloaked in fright and horror, the kindness and thoughtfulness of a caring community shone through.

I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the Hudson American Legion Family. Their dedication and devotion to helping their community is an example we can all be proud of.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize a constituent of mine, Ms. Patricia E. Clark, and commend her on her diligent and faithful 50- year-long service to the Federal Government.

Ms. Clark began her government career with the Department of the Navy, Washington, DC, in April 1954. Nine years later, in April 1963, she transferred to the Federal Aviation Administration and started work at the Boston Air Traffic Control Center, located in Nashua, New Hampshire, on the day it opened. She has worked at Boston Center continuously since that time. Currently she is the lead Aviation Assistant and works directly for the Air Traffic Manager.

Her outstanding work ethic and dedication to the FAA has earned Patty awards from the FAA Administrator, the Director of Air Traffic, and the Regional Air Traffic Division Manager. For the past 41 years, Patricia Clark has been an integral member of the Boston Center team.

I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Ms. Patricia E. Clark for her devoted service. Her dedication and commitment continues to provide safe and efficient air traffic service to the United States.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a loyal member of my staff, Sally Tibbetts, as she leaves Washington for warmer climates and to pay tribute to her dedication and commitment before this body of Congress.

Sally has been on my staff since 1997 and has performed ably and consistently during her time with me. As a public spokesperson before the media and countless community organizations, I could have had no better assistant to help positively present my agenda on behalf of all New Hampshire's citizens.

Her distinguished record as a journalist and Press Secretary for Congressman Bill Zeliff (NH-01) before joining my staff demonstrated her talent. On behalf of New Hampshire's Second District, her work and success with media outlets as diverse as the Manchester Union Leader and Concord Monitor; Milford Cabinet and Keene Sentinel; WMUR and NH Public Television; and WOKQ, WEVO, and WZID have proven her skill.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to pay tribute to Sally's service to New Hampshire and the nation. I am extremely honored to consider her and her husband Gary as friends and wish them the best of luck in their new lives far--but not far in spirit--from the Granite State.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) for recognizing me and for making it possible along with my friend, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Ballance) to have the opportunity to bring this bill to the floor.

As the gentleman said at the end of his speech just previously, Governor Hugh Gregg died on September 24th of this year after a brief illness, and brief it was, because just prior to that illness, the city of Nashua, which is the largest city in my district, celebrated its 150th anniversary. And guess who walked at the front of the line in a top hat and tuxedo with a cane but Hugh Gregg, the grand marshall of the parade. Governor Hugh Gregg celebrating the city that he loved and lived in his entire life.

Indeed, he served our country during World War II, not once, but twice. He served in the Korean War. He served on the Nashua City Council. He became its mayor, and he was elected Governor of the State of New Hampshire in his early thirties, the year I was born.

Hugh Gregg also took on big projects. He was not one to think about things pragmatically or think about things in any small way.

During my political career, he achieved two major accomplishments. First, he sought out to establish a museum of political history in New Hampshire. It is no secret that New Hampshire is the first part of the Nation's primary and always will be. Hugh Gregg wanted to make sure that the political history of the State, going back as far as anybody cared to, was properly recorded. And as time went on, candidates running for office would have a place to repose their memorabilia and great events and so forth. He published no less than three books on the subject of New Hampshire political history, the latest with our Secretary of State, Bill Gardner. Hugh Gregg is responsible for the establishment of this institution, which will live on in perpetuity.

The second big project he took on was an effort to try to prove that New Hampshire was the birthplace of the Republican party and not Ripon, Wisconsin, as it has been previously thought. No offense to our distinguished presiding officer here today, but he turned out to be right about that. He made extensive research and determined that the records of the party originated in Exeter, New Hampshire, and he established a society called the Amos Tuck Society.

Indeed, Mr. Speaker, Hugh Gregg was not only Governor, mayor of Nashua, father of U.S. Senator Judd Gregg and Cy Gregg, long-time husband of Catherine Gregg, a great political crusader for many different causes, not all of which were necessarily associated with Republicans, but were really focussed on the good of the State of New Hampshire and the good of the lives of the people around him. The efforts he made on behalf of others, not only in the area of politics, but in charity through the Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center which is one of the Nation's leading centers for the treatment of those brain-injured and developmentally-disabled individuals established by his father but nurtured and expanded significantly by him.

He served on a number of different boards, serving on the board of the Fleet Bank, at that time Indian Head Bank. He was involved in businesses all over the place.

Hugh Gregg was a man of courage. He was a man that some might say was tactless on occasion. I know, as Governor of the State of New Hampshire, on a couple of occasions he was known to become frustrated with people he came in contact with, and he had a habit of taking scissors and snipping their ties off just to get their attention and, indeed, it did.

Hugh Gregg campaigned with me during one of my many campaigns in the Nashua Recycling Center. We were trying to meet people there, of course. He was in his early eighties or late seventies. He said, You go over there and work over there in recycling, where they bring in bottles and cans. That is a nice clean thing for you to do. I will go over and carry the garbage because nobody is going to tell a 75-year- old man that they do not like him for carrying their garbage over to the garbage area.

Hugh Gregg was the kind of man that was full of energy, full of enthusiasm and full of compassion and a commitment to the folks around him in the city of Nashua and the State of New Hampshire. He will be sorely missed by all of us. I think this is a wonderful opportunity to name the Nashua Post Office after this great American citizen.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the memory of Mrs. Sarah Josepha Hale of Newport, New Hampshire, a community I represent in Congress. As November approaches, I am reminded of Mrs. Hale's outstanding contributions to American society and literary culture, including her lasting legacy as initial sponsor of our national Thanksgiving Day.

Mrs. Hale overcame 19th century social adversity to become the first female editorialist in American History. During her tenure as editor of the American Ladies Magazine and later Godey's Ladies Magazine, Mrs. Hale acted as an advocate for women's right to equality of education, property, and wages. She was also a successful novelist and poet, penning the classic ``Mary Had a Little Lamb,'' as well as a devoted single mother of five children.

During the Civil War, Mrs. Hale took an active role as an advocate for the creation of a ``Day of National Thanksgiving.'' Knowing that President Washington had originally called for a Thanksgiving Day in 1789, she pressed for its reinstatement as a day for all Americans to come together and celebrate as a nation. Following the horrors exhibited at the Battle of Gettysburg, President Lincoln chose to accept her suggestion, and proclaimed the last Thursday in November of each year a day of national celebration.

In this, the 140th year since the Thanksgiving Holiday was established, please let the record reflect our commemoration of Mrs. Hale's achievements. In a period of crucial national challenges, her life of personal service should be a model for all citizens seeking to make positive contributions to our great society, and I am proud to represent her legacy here in Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I was regrettably absent on October 7, 2003, and consequently missed recorded votes numbered 532, 533, 534. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'', ``nay'', and ``yea'' respectively on these votes.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman, the chairman of the Committee on Armed Services, for yielding me this time, and I greatly appreciate his accommodation of this piece of legislation, which is, interestingly enough, identical word for word to a similar bill that was introduced on July 16, 1957, by my father when he was serving in the same capacity I am serving in today.

The reason for that is that Billy Mitchell was my mother's uncle. As a young child, I grew up in a household where his name came up often, and he was used as an example of the benefits and actions that could occur if you were courageous and you took chances for the good of your country. Clearly, Billy Mitchell was one of these individuals.

He was a very small, rather diminutive fellow, about five-one or five-two. He always dressed to the nines, with all of his uniforms, and he carried a swager stick. What he did not have in stature, he made up for in his presentation. And my mother was much the same way, very small but carried a pretty heavy stick.

Billy Mitchell really brought to this country or to the military in this country not only the concept of air power and its importance and significance, which he battled for tirelessly, but he also brought to the fledgling air corps at that time the idea that pilots were going to be brave and courageous and take enormous chances and that they were going to be proud of it. He would show up to fly in uniforms that he created himself, which were a combination of a military uniform and outfits for riding horses, with high boots and so forth, and some of this stuff still exists today in the Air Force. The right stuff, the whole concept of an Air Force pilot, an ace, being brave and courageous and going right to the limit came from Billy Mitchell.

He did, indeed, live three lives in the course of the 56 years he was alive, and he stepped on a lot of toes. He had tremendous courage. He had tremendous initiative. He understood where the military was going in this country, but he lacked tact. There was no question about that. He had the ability to say the wrong things to the wrong people at the wrong time on occasion, including the President of the United States, Calvin Coolidge, and a lot of other higher-ups in the military. The result was that, because of his outspokenness about where he thought America air power should be, he was court-martialed.

The chairman has brought to our attention the fact that a good 15 years before Pearl Harbor occurred he predicted almost to the day and the hour when the Japanese would attack. Nobody listened to him. And there is no

better example of that than, if I can quote from the ``Billy Mitchell Affair,'' and this is Franklin Delano Roosevelt as President in 1944, FDR says, ``If back in 1940 I had said to the Chiefs of Staff of the Army or the Navy, `Our next war is going to be in the Aleutians and down in the Southwest Pacific,' they would have all laughed at me. They are the experts at that sort of thing. I am not an expert, said the President. I am just an ordinary American. We can see now that Americans were caught unprepared because we ordinary human beings followed the best advice we had at the time.''

It was as if Billy Mitchell had never existed. The reality was he was a visionary in the military, and we have such visionaries today as well. I hope as policymakers here in Congress, we allow these individuals to have the ability to speak their mind and to lead our country, not follow. That is why I am here today supporting the bill that will restore General Billy Mitchell to the rank of major general, a bill that was not supported by the military back in 1957; but thanks to the leadership of the gentleman from California (Chairman Hunter) we have this bill before us. I urge Congress to pass it and send it to the Senate.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Steve Barron, a teacher at Claremont Middle School in New Hampshire. He passed away this summer, but has left behind a deep impression on his students. Because I cannot improve upon the sentiments expressed by one of his former students, Robin Lasko, I will simply include her letter to me and close by saying he will be missed.

Dear Charlie Bass: On the night of July 25, 2003, one of

the finest educators the state of New Hampshire has ever seen

passed away. His name was Steve Barron, a seventh grade

social studies teacher.

My name is Robin Lasko, and in the fall of 2003 I will

become a junior at Stevens High School. Mr. Barron was my

homeroom teacher in seventh grade. He will always be

remembered for the things he taught me, things that books

could never show. He taught me to have compassion for the

earth, and to care even when no one else does. He taught me

that being accepted by the public eye was not the only thing

that mattered in life, and he taught me to think of the

consequences of everything I do.

The first day of seventh grade, I walked into Mr. Barron's

classroom and was very intimidated. My first thought was that

I was

going to have to sit in this room everyday and listen to some

old man talk about which countries lie on which longitudes. I

soon found that I could not wait for my social studies class

everyday. Mr. Barron did not only teach us the physical

features of our world, but he showed us the culture, and the

many different ways of life. Mr. Barron had a love for

culture. He loved diversity and I am so very thankful that he

passed a little of that on to me. To show how much he loved

diversity I would have to know him like the back of my hand,

but I don't. I do know a little about Steve Barron though, I

know that he taught in an inner city school in New York City,

and that he also lived in the Arctic Regions of Alaska, and

if that is not a love for diversity, then I do not know what

is.

Every year when it was time to do fundraisers, Mr. Barron

always used the same two companies, one of them was called

Humanities, and this company took a portion of their profit

and gave it to an endangered animals foundation. Mr. Barron

was a ``devoted environmentalist''. This was one way of

showing that he cared about our planet. Another way was as

part of our classroom grades we had to bring in plastic bags

or some other form of recycling every week. He was helping

the earth any way that he could. These two things are only a

part of the great man that Steve Barron was.

I feel that Steve Barron should be Honored and Recognized

as the wonderful educator and person that he was.

Steve Barron was born on August 22, 1943 in Brooklyn, New

York. He was the loving husband to Linda (Kupiec) Barron for

29 years. He and Linda had two daughters, Jenny and Jenine.

On July 25, 2003 Steven E. Barron died of Non-Hodgkin's

Lymphoma. In an ending to this letter I would like to quote

the motto that Mr. Barron lived by, ``The choices we make

dictate the lives we lead.''

Sincerely,

Robin L. Lasko.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this bill. I am against taxation of the Internet. There is no question about that. What concerns me is the fact that this legislation eliminates the grandfather clause of those nine States that currently collect a communications tax.

In my State of New Hampshire we have a 7 percent tax on access for intrastate communications, not interstate but intrastate. It does not matter whether it is fax, Internet communications, any other mechanism.

What this bill does is eliminate the ability of the State of New Hampshire and eight other States to collect revenue on what is justifiably a State-centered tax.

Now, we do not regulate sales taxes or State income taxes, what they should do. There is a provision in this bill that would allow sales taxes to be collected but New Hampshire does not have a sales tax. So we get hit twice through the passage of this.

Mr. Speaker, the Senate bill has a 3-year extension of this moratorium and there is no such extension in the House. Ultimately what this bill does is it creates $100 million unfunded Federal mandate to States.

I am not for taxation of the Internet, but what the bill is doing is it is proposing to affect tax policy within States and their ability to tax within their open telecommunications system. And, as I said a minute ago, it is an unfunded Federal mandate.

I hope that the Committee on the Judiciary will look carefully at what the Senate has done with this 3-year extension and will include that 3-year extension in the House version of the bill.

It is a solution that is bad for New Hampshire and it is unfair. I plan to vote against this bill and I urge my colleagues in the States of Texas, Connecticut, Ohio, Wisconsin, Tennessee, North Dakota, South Dakota, New Mexico and Washington, those States that will be losing revenue on this with no balancing make-up from the Federal Government, to join me in opposition to this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the Nashua Lions Club in recognition of their 80th anniversary on September 22 of this year.

Eighty-six years ago, insurance executive Melvin Jones and his fellow business associates gathered and formed Lions International. Originally, the Lions International was formed to perform humanitarian service. In 1925, Helen Keller spoke at one of their conventions where she challenged Lions International to become her ``Knights of the Blind in the crusade against darkness.'' From this time, Lions clubs have been actively involved in service to the blind and visually impaired.

In the fall of 1923, a similar group of Nashua business leaders gathered at the old YMCA and were chartered as the Nashua Lions Club. The men and women of the Nashua Lions have since heeded the call of Helen Keller and have lived by the Lions motto ``We Serve.''

This year marks an important milestone for the Nashua Lions Club. For the past 80 years, the Nashua Lions has served the greater Nashua community by raising over $1 million that has gone to purchase eye examinations, eye glasses, eye surgery, and hearing aids for needy children and adults.

But the true measure of their impact on Nashua is not in the dollars they have raised, but in the many lives they have touched.

During the last year and with the help of the New KidSight camera, the Nashua Lions have tested more children between the ages of 3 months and 4 years than any club in the entire state.

In the early 1950s, the Nashua Lions led by former Mayor Mario Vagge built the Friendship Club--a place for handicapped Nashua residents to go and socialize. The club is still in use today and has been a home away from home for many, including the famous author Richard Chaput of Nashua.

Whether working with school nurses, local hospitals, Lions Camp Pride, Camp Carefree, or the Lions Haunted House, the Nashua Lions have responded to Helen Keller's call to service.

In addition to their numerous community and charity efforts, the Nashua Lions have also provided leadership to the entire Lions International Organization. During their 80 year history, Nashua has had three district Governors: Clifford Sloan, Joseph Bielawski, and most recently Edward Lecius.

Mr. Speaker, the Nashua Lions are a true example of America's volunteer spirit. Their leadership, compassion, and hard work have helped make the Gate City a wonderful place to live, work, and raise a family. It is with great pleasure that I rise to express my thanks and congratulations for their 80 years of devoted services to their community and state.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the motion to instruct. Clearly the Northeast is deeply affected by this blackout, and there are provisions in the energy bill that is currently in conference that need to be included and will be included. We have had 2 days of hearings and there has been one clear message, and that is, if there is any message, that we need mandatory reliability standards, and as the Chairman just said, they are in the energy bill.

What is going on now is an effort to totally eviscerate the energy bill in the name of this one particular provision.

I voted against the energy bill on the floor of the House, but there have been changes worked on and made in conference that may make this bill considerably more attractive to Members like me, and I think it is mistaken, premature, and misguided to vote for a motion that entirely eviscerates this effort to develop a national energy strategy in the name of preserving a provision that is already in the bill. This is not the time for this motion. Vote it down.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey) for yielding me time. I agree and I appreciate the fact that the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh) has to make funding priorities in these difficult times. However, what this amendment seeks to do is to return funding or raise funding to what the President's request was for this program.

I certainly support NASA in such respects, but this Project Prometheus is still going to receive a 30 percent increase after the money is removed for Superfund clean-up. And what the project basically is is an effort to study 3 moons of Jupiter. Even NASA space science chief Ed Weiler told Science Magazine in late March of this year that ``Prometheus is more vision than reality'' and the entire effort must cost between 8 and 9 billion over the next 10 years.

Now I am not here to bash NASA or Project Prometheus, but it is an issue

of priorities. Now, of the 10 sites that will not be addressed this year because of this reduction in funding, three of them are in New England and one of them is in Merimack, New Hampshire, and it is an extremely dangerous area which is emitting all sorts of noxious chemicals which need to be addressed immediately.

I hope that this Congress and this Committee on Appropriations will seriously consider this small reallocation which will address a problem 10 different places around the country facing very significant issues now.

Project Prometheus is a project that is going on for a long time. The moons of Jupiter are going nowhere, but the people who live around these Superfund sites are people that are affected and potentially affected by this issue every single day. I urge the Congress to adopt this amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the men and women of the New Hampshire enforcement community who have gone beyond the call of duty and exemplified themselves through distinctive service to the citizens of New Hampshire.

In 1998, my friend and colleague and now Senator, John Sununu, and I first established the New Hampshire Congressional Law Enforcement Awards at the request of current and retired New Hampshire law enforcement personnel. These awards honor the men and women of New Hampshire whose service and professionalism is truly heroic and extraordinary. This Sunday, July 27, a ceremony will be held at the New Hampshire Police Standards and Training facility in Concord to honor the 54 recipients of this year's awards.

Nominations for the award are based on exceptional achievement in any police endeavor, including: extraordinary valor; crime prevention; drug control and prevention; investigative work; community policing; community service; traffic safety; search and rescue; and juvenile training, programs. Individual officers are nominated for the award by citizens, an officer's department, his or her co-workers, a city or town official, or a government agency. All duty-sworn officers of the law, including local, county, State, and Federal law enforcement agencies--and professionals from other States who distinguish themselves in serving the people of New Hampshire--are eligible.

The awards honor law enforcement personnel in one of five separate categories: Career Service Award, Unit Citation Award, Dedication and Professionalism Award, Above and Beyond the Call of Duty Award, and Associate Service Award.

The men and women of law enforcement work every day to protect the interests of our communities, families, and children. As the first responders to emergency situations in New Hampshire, these brave men and women often put their lives on the line to protect the greater good of the community. These awards have been a fitting tribute to our officers and a reminder to all of us of the important role they play in our lives and in our communities.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I offer our appreciation for the service and the dedication of our law enforcement personnel. I congratulate the following recipients of the 2003 New Hampshire Congressional Law Enforcement Awards, and thank the people with whom they work and the citizens they serve for nominating such outstanding individuals:

Career Service Award: Sheriff Walter A. Morse, Hillsborough

County Sheriffs Department; Sheriff Robert ``Butch'' Loven,

Coos County Sheriff's Department.

Unit Citation Award: Detective Stephen J. Arnold,

Portsmouth Police Department; Detective Mark D. Newport,

Portsmouth Police Department; Sergeant Michael J. Ronchi,

Portsmouth Police Department; Special Agent Norman J. Houle,

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; Special Agent Edward F.

Bals, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; Special Agent

Steven C. Story, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration;

Special Agent Glen C. Coletti, U.S. Drug Enforcement

Administration; Deputy April A. Clarizia, Essex Country, MA,

Sheriff's Department; Deputy Tessa M. St. Cyr, Essex Country,

MA, Sheriff's Department; Special Agent John A. Mercer, U.S.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; Special Agent

Timothy J. Wyse, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and

Firearms.

Above and Beyond the Call of Duty: Trooper Thomas Lencki,

New Hampshire State Police; Officer Jeffrey Buskey,

Sandbornton Police Department; Officer William H. Wright,

Belmont Police Department; Officer

Mike Cote, Gorham Police Department; Officer Jefferey

Pangburn, Nashua Police Department; Officer John Newell,

Nashua Police Department; Officer John Murphy, Nashua Police

Department; Officer Kerry Baxter, Nashua Police Department;

Officer Michael Sullivan, Nashua Police Department; Officer

Anthony Pivero, Nashua Police Department; Sergeant Michael

Smith, Hudson Police Department; Officer Michael Niven,

Hudson Police Department; Sergeant John Galvin, Hampton

Police Department; Sergeant Joe Galvin, Hampton Police

Department; Officer Steven Henderson, Hampton Police

Department; Officer John Donaldson, Hampton Police

Department; Officer Charles Karpenko, Hampton Police

Department; Conservation Officer Brian Abrams, New Hampshire

Fish & Game; Conservation Officer Sam Sprague, New Hampshire

Fish & Game; Officer Matt Larochelle, Manchester Police

Department; Sergeant Timothy Goulden, Nashua Police

Department; Officer Mark Fidler, Nashua Police Department;

Officer Matthew McNulty, Nashua Police Department; Officer

Daniel Donahue, Nashua Police Department.

Dedication and Professionalism: Officer Christopher

Hutcheson, Manchester Police Department; Sergeant Bob

Therrien, Lebanon Police Department; Sergeant Franklin W.

Knowles, Hampton Police Department; Officer William Cronin,

Hampton Police Department; Officer Scott Bates, Hampton

Police Department; Officer Robert Sparkes, Hampton Police

Department.

Associate Service Award: Chief Warrant Officer 3 Peter

Cartmel, New Hampshire Army National Guard; Chief Warrant

Officer 5 Bruce Gokey, New Hampshire Army National Guard;

Staff Sergeant James Ward, New Hampshire Army National Guard;

Sergeant Andrew Shannon, New Hampshire Army National Guard.

Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, I am extremely pleased to have had the opportunity to develop a strong Medicare modernization package that will significantly improve this critical government program.

The seniors of New Hampshire have long clamored for a prescription drug benefit under Medicare, as is the case in the rest of the nation. I am pleased to represent those same seniors today as we pass this bill and take one giant step closer toward our goal of creating a new and voluntary prescription drug benefit that makes lifesaving medications more accessible.

This benefit is the product of years of research, study, testimony, and compromise. I have no doubt whatsoever that each of us might wish for a slightly different version of this bill. We represent different regions with different demographics.

And, I am sure we all wish lifesaving drugs were more affordable for our families, friends, and constituents. The goal is formulating a fiscally responsible plan that will remain solvent in years to come, is easily accessible, and increasingly beneficial to seniors of all regions and means, was a daunting one.

Yet, the bill makes a number of Medicare improvements for care providers in New Hampshire. This proposal represents one of the most generous rural packages ever contemplated by the House. Notably, after several years of efforts on the part of the rural medical community, uniform standards for Medicare reimbursements will be established for rural and small urban facilities.

Beginning October 1, Medicare reimbursements to rural areas would finally mirror those for large urban ones. Having lamented for a

number of years over the inequity of this provision within the Medicare reimbursement system, I am particularly pleased that this is being addressed in the bill.

A drug benefit for seniors and a rejuvenation of the Medicare system are essential to seniors and their caretakers. The delivery of medical care has changed enormously since this program was first conceived, and the program ought to be modernized to reflect the increases in medical technology and the utilization of a wide range of care options.

As I have noted many times, no plan can be as all-encompassing and immediately satisfying as we might prefer. However, this bill puts the framework in place for a system that can be adjusted and improved upon over time and will directly and immediately help the population most in need.

I applaud all Members of the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Members of the Ways and Means Committee for the joint work on this essential legislation. It is my hope that upon completion of our floor vote today, we will see this measure moved forward immediately to conference with the Senate.