Floor Statements

Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. Chairman, before I begin, I want to thank Mr. Barney Frank, chairman of the committee, and Maxine Waters and other members of the Committee on Financial Services for doing such a fine job in crafting this bill.

I rise in support of H.R. 1227, the Gulf Coast Housing Recovery Act. I truly believe this bill is a tremendous victory for the gulf coast that was affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I once again want to commend my colleagues.

Before I start talking about my amendment, let me talk about what happened during the hurricane because I saw something during Hurricane Katrina that I have never seen in the 25 years I have been an elected official and certainly the 15 years I have been a Member of Congress. I saw something in the government that I have never seen before. I saw a government that was not just incompetent, but I saw a government that did not care about its people. I thought I was in a third world, and I have got to take a moment to commend my community because we all watched it on television and were horrified. We came together.

I represent the Jacksonville area, and we came together as a community and we sent over 16 tractor-trailers full of goods and services to New Orleans. We came together as a community. It was the business community. It was Democrats; it was Republicans. It was students, and we filled those tractor-trailers and sent them in there until the government could kick in.

What we saw was a government that was not capable of responding. Well, when you look at the top 20 positions, and one police officer told me that you don't put people in positions over disasters that have public relations backgrounds. You make them ambassadors. But you put people in to head up disasters that are life and death to your communities that have the background and experience to do the job. That certainly was not the position of FEMA or Homeland Security. I want to put that on the table before I begin.

Now, this particular amendment would allow that residents returning would have the opportunity to include their utility bill into the payment for their rent. This is something that was taking place prior to, and this would be something that would be permitted under my amendment.

Many public housing residents are being forced into deeper debt because of utility bills. Public housing residents that lived in the areas of Rita and Katrina had their monthly rent included in their utilities. Currently, their vouchers do not include utilities, and many public housing residents are forced to make tough choices.

I have three such examples. Bobby Jennings lived in C.J. Peete for 34 years prior to Katrina. She paid income-based rent in the amount of $167 per month, which included utilities. Now she lives in another part and she pays $1,050 in rent which is not covered by her rent voucher, and she must pay $429 per month out of pocket. Well, her average income, she is a senior citizen on a fixed income, is $655 per month. So $300 per month she has to come up with.

And that is the same for Mrs. Gloria Williams who was paying $185 per month. Now she pays $1,128 per month and she must come up with $406 per month.

The last person is Mrs. Wright. She lived in public housing for over 20 years. She was paying the amount of $290 per month. She is in Houston, Texas. She now pays $625 a month, and she has to come up with an average of $250 a month for utilities. So utilities impose a disproportionate burden for the poor. And for the average American, utility bills only comprise 6 to 10 percent of household income. In this area it is 32 to 53 percent. Those receiving vouchers have already demonstrated their great need for assistance, and they are being shortchanged. We can't allow this to continue, and we must provide proper funding to those receiving this voucher.

This amendment would ensure that utilities are part of the housing voucher for residents returning to New Orleans. The Congressional Budget Office said that it would have no direct impact as far as spending is concerned.

I urge the adoption of this amendment to help people like Mrs. Jennings, Mrs. Williams and Mrs. Wright receive the assistance they greatly deserve.

I yield to the gentlewoman from California.

I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts.

Thank you.

As you said, I have been to New Orleans and the region, really, some eight times. I tell them they've got a Member-at-large in me because I feel a great passion because you saw an example of a government that did not work, but I hate to say is not working and still is not working. Eighteen months later, we have a government, and you can say it's the local government, you can say it's the State government, but I am saying the Federal

Government, shame on all of us because the people don't care why it's not working. The point is the government is not working for them.

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

Will the gentlewoman yield?

That is correct. Before the hurricane, the utilities were a part of their vouchers, yes, ma'am.

That is correct.

Let me clarify my statement.

Let me clarify my statement.

First of all, let me say that during the time of the hurricane, what I saw was a government that didn't care. It wasn't working. Everybody in the whole country, in fact, in the whole world saw that. It was a real serious indictment on the Bush administration that was in charge.

But I said since that time people have blamed the local government, the State government and the Federal Government. Yes, we have done our part, but perhaps we could have done a better job in spelling out how that money is to be used, because regardless of how much money we have appropriated, and we have appropriated and we have done a good job with that, the money has not gotten down to the people that we intended for it to get to.

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

Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Before I decide whether to withdraw my amendment, I have some questions for Ms. Waters about the present status of the deadlines that are in the bill, and maybe she can clarify it for me. I have a concern that we have certain dates and deadlines in this bill. And, of course, this bill, when it passes the House, has to go to the Senate, and we have certain deadlines in that bill, and then the President has to sign it. I am concerned that when it is signed, that the residents won't have an adequate amount of time to respond.

As you well know, in the hearing that took place 18 months ago, HUD and Public Housing said of the residents that they had surveyed that they had only contacted about 25 percent. And so I want to make sure that those people are not disadvantaged and we are all on the same page. We all care about the same people.

Can you clarify for me the status of that situation?

I yield to the gentlewoman from California.

I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts.

Mr. Frank, I have an additional question for you, then, before I withdraw

this amendment, and that pertains to the Road Home program.

Are you prepared to answer questions about that program?

My question, and it is from going down to New Orleans and talking to the residents, their concern is that, as someone said earlier, we have appropriated billions of dollars for that area. I want to know to this date how much money has been spent on the Road Home program; how much money has been expended for administrative costs; and then, what kind of fees have been attached?

I have one last question on this program before I withdraw my amendment.

My understanding is if a person lives in their house and is eligible for $50,000, that we can charge fees up to $30,000 if that person is not coming back to the New Orleans area.

I am going to withdraw my amendment at this time, Mr. Chairman. I will be talking to both Chairs of the committee.

I want to let you know that I sincerely thank both of you for the leadership that you have shown in this area. And just remember, they do have a Member-at-large.

Thirty percent of money. In addition, my understanding is that, for example, if that person didn't have insurance, and even though the insurance told them that they were not in the area, and they have that in writing, they weren't in the flood area, they were penalized 30 percent. So that is $30,000. So then a person could end up with $20,000 for their home, and they cannot rebuild with that.

I want to thank both of you.

I rise in support of H.R. 1227, the Gulf Coast Housing Recovery Act. I truly believe this bill is a tremendous victory for the Gulf Coast and those affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I commend my colleague Congressman Barney Frank, Congresswoman Maxine Waters and the other Members of the Committee on Financial Services for the fine job crafting this bill.

I also rise in support of my amendment that would give Katrina public housing residents more time to return home.

Eighteen months after Hurricane Katrina, more than 4,000 families have not returned to New Orleans because most public housing remains closed. Public housing residents want to return and rebuild their city and their lives. If Congress is serious about the slogan ``Bring New Orleans Back,'' HUD and HANO must re-open public housing and make repairs, where necessary. Everyone should be permitted to return--not just the rich.

HUD and HANO have been doing everything they can to make sure public housing residents don't return. HUD planned to demolish 5,000 units with no clear plan or timeline for bringing back these families. These public housing developments are some of the most durable housing in New Orleans. Given the solid infrastructure of these buildings and the minor damage incurred, it is clear that renovation is more cost- effective than demolition. Instead of families moving back into their affordable housing units to get back to work, and help rebuild their lives, their communities, and their city, HUD contributes to the dearth of affordable housing in New Orleans, and keeps these families displaced and scattered across the country with no hope of returning.

HUD has dropped the ball on keeping contact with displaced families. At a February 22, 2007 field hearing in New Orleans for the House Committee on Financial Services, Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, Chairman C. Donald Babers of the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) told the subcommittee that out of 978 residents they recently tried to contact, they only made contact with about 237 residents. Mr. Babers said that they were unable to reach about 740 residents. Given that HUD and HANO only one month ago could not reach over 75 percent of the displaced public housing residents, Congress must ensure that residents do not lose the opportunity to move back to their homes simply because HANO and HUD cannot find them in a timely manner.

Residents want to come home to be closer to their families and neighbors, to return to jobs or get new jobs in the reconstruction industry. HUD reported in October 2006 that an estimated 65-70 percent of families want to return to New Orleans. Congress must give these families every chance to come home.

My amendment provides two deadlines of August 1, 2007 and October 1, 2007 for residents to declare their intent to return. The reoccupancy deadlines are October 1, 2007 and December 1, 2007. It also extends assistance to those who ask for help with early termination of leases.

I urge my colleagues to adopt this amendment so that we can Bring New Orleans Back.

Mr. Chairman, I withdraw my amendment.

I want to thank Chairman Oberstar and Mr. Mica and Mr. Duncan and Chairwoman Johnson and Mr. Pascrell for their hard work in bringing this bill to the floor; and I want to congratulate my good friend, Eddie Bernice Johnsonn, for bringing her first bill to the floor this week as chairwoman of the Water Resources Subcommittee.

I am so pleased that our committee, with the guidance of our transportation guru, Mr. Oberstar, will be making access to a safe wastewater infrastructure and a clean water supply a top priority.

There are places in my district and in the State of Florida where the sewer and water system are as bad as some

systems that I have seen in Third World countries. Let me repeat. There are places in my district that remind me of being in a Third World country when it comes to water and sewer, and this infrastructure is what separates us from those countries. This is why cleaning up these systems is so important and why this legislation is so necessary.

This bill provides $1.8 billion over 5 years to municipalities and States to improve and prevent sewer overflow by improving the aging and obsolete sewer systems that plague many towns and cities. These improvements will not just protect the environment but will improve overall public health.

One of the greatest things about serving on the Transportation Committee is that our committee actually puts people to work in good- paying jobs that benefit the public. We all talk a lot on this floor about supporting hardworking Americans, but some people don't believe that those workers deserve fair wages for their hard work. This is why it is so important that we support Davis-Bacon and ensure that everyone who works hard can experience the American Dream.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with an apology. Last week, I was in the grocery store in Jacksonville, Florida. A veteran working part time told me about a friend who was at Walter Reed, and he had pictures showing the problems that were occurring there. He walked me to the car and said that there was no way he would ever vote again for a Republican after seeing what the pictures showed.

I couldn't believe what he was describing to me of a military facility. And I told him, ``You can't believe everything that you see on the Internet.'' The next day, the very next day, the story was in the Washington Post. I am going back to that grocery store to personally apologize to that veteran. The fact that an active duty soldier was treated this way is inconceivable.

I did not vote for this war. The military is doing the job they were sent to do. There was a flaw in the mission from the beginning, and the flaw lies with us. American soldiers have performed admirably under trying conditions, conditions they were not trained for and conditions they should not be in. We won the war but lost the occupation. Our soldiers deserve better when they get back.

We can send 484 tons of money, $12 billion, to Iraq for who knows what, but when it comes to the well-being of those soldiers, there is no money. According to the VA, it will cost $1.7 billion to include all veterans in the VA health care system.

What are the priorities of this administration? There are all kinds of justifications, all kinds of sanctimony, frightening the American people into supporting a $600 billion war in Iraq. We have a $3 trillion budget, and we are sending nearly $1 trillion to a country of 28 million people.

We are building an embassy in Baghdad of 104 acres. This is six times larger than the United Nations compound in New York and two-thirds the acreage of Washington's National Mall. The embassy compound, 21 buildings on 104 acres, is the size of Vatican City and will be the largest in the world. It will employ over 5,500 people. The embassy will cost over $1 billion. This is the priority of this Bush administration.

My colleagues, this war needs to come to an end. The American people want the troops home. This was the message sent loud and clear to the Bush administration during the November elections. Yet for some reason, they just don't get the message. Nearly 70 percent of the American people want us out of Iraq, and 100 percent deplore the treatment the administration is giving the veterans at the time of their most urgent need.

I will go back to Jacksonville and apologize to this veteran. I will be able to look him in the eye and say that this will not stand. We will make sure our soldiers come back to the best care this great Nation can provide.

I am reminded, in closing, of the words of the first President of the United States, George Washington, whose words are worth repeating at this time:

``The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional as to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their country.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the resolution which requires our support for our brave troops and the American military, yet also expresses disapproval of President Bush's decision to deploy additional troops to the area.

My colleagues, the most serious vote any Member of Congress will ever take will be to send men and women to war. I support the troops 100 percent. Yet when you have your head in the lion's mouth, how do you get it out?

I did not vote for the war when it came before the House of Representatives back in 2002. I never supported

this war. Yet, I do not blame my colleagues who did because their vote was based on false, twisted information provided by President Bush. From the very beginning of this conflict, President Bush has intentionally misled the American public by supplying them with false grounds for going to war, and now he is inventing reasons for us to stay there.

As President Bush begins to lay out his case for expanding this terrible war into Iran, we see the false rhetoric, the same war drumbeats in the background, drumming up support for the attack on Iran. Since we have never found a link between al Qaeda and Iraq, we are trying to hide our failure to control the civil war in Iraq by blaming Iran for supplying weapons to Iraqi insurgents. There is no proof and no one is certain this is under the direction of the Iranian leadership. Again, the President is telling the American people this is true, but why should we believe him? I know what the Bush administration is capable of doing. They will use any means necessary to achieve their ends, even if it means doctoring up the information supplied to Congress and to the international community to wage a war over oil.

They have provided all the justifications, all the sanctimony, frightening the American people into supporting a $600 billion war in Iraq, supposedly to deter terror, but in reality it is having the opposite effect. My colleagues, this war needs to come to an end. The American people want the troops home. This was the message sent loud and clear to the Bush administration during the November elections. Yet they for some reason just didn't get the message. Nearly 70 percent of the American people want us out of Iraq. Yet, President Bush continues to ignore that. We have already spent over half a trillion dollars over there. Let me repeat. $600 billion. There was even a period between 2003 and 2004 when our military was carrying huge wraps of $100 bills over to Iraq.

Look at this cruise ship. I want you to imagine a cruise ship full of $100 bills. We sent it over to Iraq. Now, let me tell you something, folks. A billion dollars is even a lot of money here in Washington. $100 bills, a billion dollars. Let me tell you what that would pay for our veterans. $1.7 billion would fund over 1.5 million veterans in category 8 that we are not funding today. Let me repeat. Over 1.5 million veterans we could serve if we could recoup just $1 billion, and we have sent over about $9 billion that we cannot account for.

Folks, I am going to give the Bush administration an F, and I am going to give the past Congress an F for giving him a blank check.

We all have the opportunity to have a serious vote for our troops and a vote for the American people. I say vote ``yes'' on the resolution.

Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Madam Speaker, I rise today to discuss legislation I introduced, in support of the Community Oriented Policing Services in the Department of Justice and the Weed and Seed program, led by the United States Attorney's Offices.

These two programs are the bedrock of community involvement in ending the cycle of violence that plagues our cities.

Weed and Seed is an innovative, comprehensive, multi-agency approach to law enforcement, crime prevention, and community revitalization.

It is a strategy that aims to prevent, control, and reduce violent crime, drug abuse, and gang activity.

The U.S. Attorney's Office plays a leadership role in organizing local officials, community representatives, and other key stakeholders.

Frankly, I am pleased the highest federal prosecutor in the region is getting involved with the community he or she is prosecuting. These United States Attorneys work hard and do not want to see people in the system.

Every Weed and Seed site is required to establish a Safe Haven, a multi-service center where many youth- and adult-oriented services are delivered. These are often housed in a school or community center.

The main goal of Weed and Seed is promoting the long-term health of communities.

However, the funding for this worthy program has hit some rough spots in recent years.

Funding for the program increased every year from its inception in 1993.

In 2005, $62 million was appropriated. However, requested funding in subsequent years fell to $50 million in 2006 and $49 million in 2007. This is a program that works.

We must continue the funding. Our cities need it. Our children need it.

My resolution also discusses the positive aspects of the COPS Program.

The community-oriented policing component bridges the ``weeding'' and ``seeding'' elements of the Weed and Seed strategy.

I think we all can agree that community-based strategies for solving crime problems brings a sense of responsibility within the community and help develop cooperative relationships between the police and residents.

Also, community policing embraces the two key concepts of community engagement and problem solving.

Having the community involved is the most important aspect to preventing crime and removing our kids from the vicious cycle of violence.

When everyone gets involved, we all benefit.

The COPS Program has been an overwhelming success.

COPS has funded more than 118,400 police officers and sheriff's deputies.

COPS has funded more than 6,454 school resource officers and trained more than 9,158 school resource officers and school administrators.

COPS has funded large and small jurisdictions, in fact 87% of COPS grantees serve populations of less than 50,000.

That is a community benefiting from Cops on the beat.

However, this president does not see fit to fund this program. In fact, the Bush Administration has not funded the COPS program for the last few years.

We can do better, and this resolution is a good beginning.

Thank you so much for your leadership, Congressman from Miami, my good friend.

Let me just say I just finished with Gator Radio, and they asked me the question, What is the role of Congress, what can we do about stopping the President from expanding the war? And I was just on the radio talking to the community and I have gotten some call back, what can we do as a Congress?

I tell people all the time I did not vote for the war, but I support the troops. And you have got your head in the lion's mouth. How do you get it out? And the question is what can we do as a Congress to stop the expansion? Because I think the speech that the President gave about expanding it to 20,000 troops, that is not what he was saying. I think he was saying that he doesn't need to come to this Congress to decide that he is going into Iran or that he is going into other places, and so there is clearly an expansion of the war. And what is our role as Members of Congress when the President of the United States does not respect the Congress and does not feel that we are coequal branches and that he does not have to come to us to get permission to expand this war? The students want to know. I want to know what to tell them.

You know, we had a closed-door briefing yesterday, and the important point that I made is that every Member, all 435 Members of this House of Representatives have the responsibility for the security of this country. And I think we have more of a responsibility than just to give this President a blank check. And I think we owe it to this country to make sure we get more of some kind of response other than we are just expanding, and not really deal with us in a very constructive way.

The second point, and I have just got two quick points, and I have a plane to catch. On the area of health care, the President talked about health care, and I am one Member that would vote for it. I believe we should have universal health care. But you have to, always dealing with this administration, it is always in the details. Now he is talking about taking money from public hospitals. And when we say public hospitals, you have got one, I have got Shands, but you have got Jackson Memorial. Taking money from public hospitals, that is unacceptable. That is the only safety net that we have. And so that is one proposal that shouldn't arrive here, but when it does, it should be dead on arrival.

And the last point, I was disappointed, and I guess everybody in the gulf region was disappointed, there was no discussion about the gulf region, none whatsoever. Nothing about Katrina. Now, the American people, they saw something with Katrina that they didn't like. Not only did they see a government that was inept, uncaring, but incompetent, and yet nothing.

I talked to an 82-year-old lady on Thursday who 3 months before Katrina, she paid off her house. Paid off her house 3 months before Katrina. To this day she is homeless and hasen't received a penny from all of the dollars that we have appropriated. Now, we have a responsibility to this lady just like we do, we are insisting, that we put almost $500 billion in Iraq and said that, oh, they don't have to pay it back. But every dime that we put into New Orleans, we are going to say they have got to pay it back. I am sure it doesn't have anything to do that they are people of color.

But I have got to say we have got our challenges. I want to thank all of you 30-something-plus for your leadership on the floor and keeping these issues before the American people.

Well, obviously we have a couple of Gators here on the floor, and like I said, I just talked to the Gator network. And so it has nothing to do with age, it has to do with maturity on the issues. And I want to thank you all for bringing these issues before the American people.

Thank you. And as far as veterans are concerned, I am the second person on the committee, and I have been here for over 14 years, and I have been on that committee because I think it is so important that people that give their most, that we have got to make sure that we pay them back. And I am concerned that in the past under this administration, that is where we have cut. We have cut veterans programs, and they are coming back, and they need everything. I have gone out to Bethesda, and I am planning that we all go out there to Bethesda, and every veteran in every room needed casework and assistance.

So, basically we are not doing our duty, not taking care of those men and women when they come back wounded after giving their all for this country. We have got a responsibility in the Constitution, coequal branches. This is the people's House, and we should speak up and make sure that we fund programs that will benefit those veterans. Thank you again for your leadership.

Madam Speaker, I rise today regarding the President's folly in Iraq.

Folly is not the right word. Better words would be disaster, catastrophe, tragedy. The folly is the new embassy the United States is building in Baghdad.

The embassy complex--21 buildings on 104 acres, is the size of Vatican City and will be the largest in the world. It will employ over 5500 people.

Currently, there are 1,000 people who work in the U.S. Embassy in Iraq.

However, only 33 are Arabic speakers and Only six speak the language fluently.

The Iraq Study Group said that ``our efforts in Iraq, military and civilian, are handicapped by Americans' lack of knowledge of language and cultural understanding.''

``In a conflict that demands effective and efficient communication with Iraqis, we are often at a disadvantage.''

The U.S. government should give ``the highest possible priority to professional language proficiency and cultural training'' for officials headed to Iraq.

Who do we send?

Over twenty thousand new military personnel.

The embassy's 104 acres is six times larger than the United Nations compound in New York and two-thirds the acreage of Washington' s National Mall.

The embassy will cost over 1 billion, One billion, dollars.

It will be self-sufficient, designed to function in the midst of Baghdad power outages, water shortages and continuing turmoil.

It will have its own water wells, electricity plant and wastewater treatment facility, ``systems to allow 100 percent independence from city utilities.''

It includes two major diplomatic office buildings, homes for the ambassador and his deputy, and six apartment buildings for staff.

The compound will also offer a swimming pool, gym, commissary, food court and American Club, all housed in a recreation building.

Security, overseen by U.S. Marines, will be extraordinary: setbacks and perimeter no-go areas that will be especially deep, structures reinforced to 2.5-times the standard, and five high-security entrances, plus an emergency entrance-exit.

The extraordinary security designed into this embassy shows how insecure our personnel are considered to be by the government.

The President's Iraq policy has made us less safe and must be changed.

Get our troops out now.

Mr. Speaker, last August I held six (6) Town Hall Meetings throughout my district on the new Medicare Part D Prescription Drug program, and I would encourage my colleagues to do the same. Not only did it give my constituents a chance to get help and get their questions answered, it gave me an opportunity to really find out how the new program is working.

I've been an elected official for 25 years, and I have never seen a program that penalizes somebody for the rest of their life if they didn't sign up right away.

This current Medicare Part D bill was written by and for the Insurance and Pharmaceutical industry without the needs of our seniors in mind.

This bill allows the private drug plans to take drugs off their approved list, and even charge more for drugs throughout the year, while seniors are locked in and cannot change plans until the next year.

Incredibly, the Republican Leadership wrote a bill that specifically prevents the Secretary of Health and Human Services from negotiating the price of drugs. Even though both the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of DoD are negotiating their drug prices right now.

Could you imagine if we told Wal-Mart that they couldn't get a reduced price by buying in bulk? Every member of the Republican Party would be on this floor screaming bloody murder, but when it's needed drugs for our senior citizens, there is deafening silence.

This is another perfect example of the Republicans talking out of both sides of their mouth. They stand on the floor every day demanding that we save the taxpayers money, but when we try to do that with the companies that fill their campaign coffers, they say we are hurting business. But the real truth is that the drug companies are making record profits while seniors and taxpayers are paying higher drug prices.

And one of the most troubling aspects of this bill and one that most people don't know about is the ``donuthole'' where no coverage is provided after you spend $2,250 until your costs reach $5,100. That's $3000 in out of pocket costs that few if any of our seniors can afford.

I encourage my colleagues to do the right thing for our parents and grandparents and allow the secretary to negotiate bulk prices for these needed drugs.

Mr. Speaker, I have waited a long time for this day. This is a great day. It is a day that the American people have been waiting for a very long time.

Helping the poor is a theme that is stressed throughout the Bible, but it is our responsibility as Members of Congress to help raise the standard.

I am so pleased today that we are going to have an opportunity to have a clean vote on raising the minimum wage for the first time in 10 years.

You know, the sad thing is that a CEO before 12:00 earns more money than a person on minimum wage will earn all year long. In talking to some of the CEOs about it, they mention, maybe we are trying to help students or part-time workers. The truth of the fact is, we are raising the minimum wage. We are providing an additional $4,400 per year for a struggling family to make ends meet and keep up with the rising cost of living.

This bill is not about students and part-time workers. No, it is about the nearly 13 million full-time workers, many with families to care for, who earn the minimum wage. In my State of Florida, the increase would directly benefit over 200,000 workers and have a positive effect on over a half million people.

Today is a great day for America and for the American worker. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this bill. I hope the Senate passes this version as soon as possible so that we can provide immediate relief to our Nation's workers.

Mr. Speaker, a St. Pete headline says: ``Gator Nation: It's A Great Time to be a Gator.'' The Gainesville Sun boasts: ``Gators Made Most of Their Chances.'' The Miami Herald states: ``Gators are First on the Court and First on the Field.'' The Florida Times Union reads: ``The Gators Stand Tall and Deliver; Florida Totally Dominates Ohio in Claiming the National Championship.''

Go Gators!

The BCS Championship game between the University of Florida Gators and the Ohio State University Buckeyes last night was a clash of the titans and history in the making.

My alma mater, the University of Florida, became the first school in NCAA history to hold national titles in football and men's basketball at the same time. Only six Division I schools have ever won a football and men's basketball national championship since 1936, and never in the same year.

Thanks to Head Coach Urban Meyer, the Florida coaching staff, and the outstanding Gator football team, we finished the season with a 13-1 record.

I want to congratulate the University of Florida for not only being the best athletic school in the country but also the best in academia.

The Gators, through persistent offense and an overwhelming defense, defeated the Ohio State University Buckeyes 41-14. They earned 21 first downs, 370 total yards, and did not turn the ball over on offense. The defense held the opponents to only eight first downs, 82 total yards, and sacked the quarterback five times, for 51 yards.

No doubt about it, the best team won the National Championship. Go Gators!

I just want to once again thank the Gators; and as we speak, I want you to know that they are arriving in Gainesville and we want to extend our wholehearted congratulations to the coaching staff and to the faculty and staff.

I also have a yell, one that I remember, and we used to do it when I was a student at the University of Florida. It was: One, two, three, four, five, them there Gators don't take no jive.

And they did it last night. Go Gators!

Mr. Speaker, I want to send my thoughts and prayers to the family of Yvonne Scarlett-Golden, the first black Mayor of Daytona Beach. She had been a very, very close friend of mine for many years, and she will be dearly missed by the community of Daytona Beach and the State of Florida.

I will always remember her for her persistence, her spirited willpower and determination, as well as her extreme dedication to public service. Her admirers and supporters included not just the African American community, but also by those with financial influence in the area. In particular, I will always remember her ``respect'' campaign, wherein she attempted to tranquilize the somewhat disorderly behavior of the city's special events.

Even though she entered politics somewhat late in life, at all times she devoted her energy to her native city of Daytona Beach. Ironically, this was the same city that disallowed her to go to the beaches because of strict segregation laws. Yet with the inspiration and tutelage of one of our nation's most famous civil rights leaders and founder of Bethune Cookman College, Ms. Mary McLeod-Bethune, who also hails from the city of Daytona, Ms. Scarlett- Golden learned the essence of public service.

Yvonne Scarlett-Golden went on to graduate from Bethune-Cookman College in 1950, where she received academic honors as well as special distinctions for performing as an outstanding athlete. It was in the halls and lecture rooms of this college where she became profoundly influenced by the teachings and philosophy of Ms. McLeod-Bethune. She went on to utilize these teachings in her career as an educator and as an elected official.

Ms. Scarlett-Golden will always serve as an inspiration not only to the local black community in Volusia County, but to African Americans throughout the State of Florida.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Berkley).

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

Mr. Speaker, I also want to thank the gentlelady. Having visited her area, I understand the fast growth that she is experiencing with VA and her veterans. So I strongly support a new facility in her area, and will talk in a few minutes about the needs of the veterans in Central Florida for over 25 years.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Veterans Benefit Health Care and Information Technology Act of 2006. This bill, as its title suggests, authorizes new benefits and health care programs for veterans. The bill authorizes needed construction of VA medical facilities and leases for VA clinics across the Nation. The bill also addresses significant vulnerabilities in VA's information technology security.

I am proud that working with the gentleman from Indiana, Mr. Buyer, the chairman of our committee, and our colleagues in the Senate, Chairman

Craig and Ranking Member Akaka, we have been able to draft a solid veterans bill before we recess.

Mental health: I have been a firm advocate that we must do more to help veterans with mental health concerns and their families. The legislation we consider today has many important mental health provisions which will expand VA capacities to address the mental health concerns of veterans.

One example, the bill authorizes the VA to have marriage and family therapists and the other mental health professionals. Today we are sending a clear signal that we want to help the families of veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder stay strong, stay resilient and stay together.

This bill requires the VA to ensure that each community-based outreach clinic has the capacity to provide mental health services. This bill requires the VA to increase the number of vet centers able to use telemedicine to provide counseling for veterans. This is especially important for veterans living in rural areas. This bill requires VA to increase the outreach service of vet centers.

Passing this legislation is an important first step, but we must be vigilant to be sure that VA implements the law as we intended them.

Long-term care: In just a few years, VA estimates that there will be 1.3 million veterans who will be 85 years old and older. Because of their age, these men and women will most likely need long-term nursing care or other assistance. This bill requires VA to develop and publish a comprehensive plan for the long-term care of veterans.

Since 1888, State veterans homes have played an important role to provide care for our Nation's disabled veterans. This bill enhances this important Federal and State partnership by ensuring that medication is provided at no cost to veterans with a 50 percent or more service-connected disability. This bill also increases veterans reimbursement for the cost of care for veterans with significant service-connected disabilities.

Rural care: We all have heard of the frustration and challenges rural veterans face in trying to access medical care from the VA. This legislation helps focus VA efforts on addressing the needs of veterans in rural areas. The bill establishes a VA Office of Rural Health Care and requires the director of the new office to develop a plan to improve rural veterans access to VA care.

Outreach to recent veterans. This bill also requires the VA to conduct an extensive outreach program to veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and have returned home to rural communities.

This provision is proactive and presses VA to reach out to veterans and build on the strengths of our small towns and communities.

Construction. This omnibus measure also authorizes VA major facility construction projects and leases. It has been some time now since Congress acted to address the health care infrastructure of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

At this time, I want to mention the facility in Orlando, which has been in the pipeline and gone through the process for over 25 years, and that is one reason why I am extremely pleased that we are bringing this bill up today. The veterans in our area that have come from all over the country can no longer wait for a facility, and I am very pleased that the facility in Orlando and the facility not just in Orlando but in Florida and all over the country, including New Orleans whose facility was destroyed, and other places will get the authorization that it needs to move forward.

While I am proud that we are moving forward on important veterans legislation, I remain deeply frustrated and concerned that it still appears that we are still ending this congressional session leaving veterans without a funding bill. Even with a continuing resolution, we are undermining VA's health care system and shortchanging veterans. At the medical center level, a delay in the fiscal year 2007 funding translates into delays in hiring nurses and other hospital staff. It means staff work longer hours and are stretched thin. It means quality of care is put at risk. It means longer waiting lines for veterans.

This failure to pass a budget is a clear illustration of the need for mandatory or assured funding of VA health care, and I firmly support it. In the next Congress, we need to look seriously at alternate ways to assure adequate funding for veterans health care.

Needed action. This bill is a good bill, but even this hefty omnibus bill leaves some of our work incomplete.

I believe that we owe it to our newest veterans to modernize the GI bill, especially including meaningful benefits for the Guard and Reserve.

We must increase VA's capacity to meet the rehabilitation and long- term care needs of veterans with traumatic brain injuries.

We must continue to monitor and strengthen VA's capacity to help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health concerns.

As we work to address the emerging issues of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, we must also continue to press VA to meet the health care needs of veterans exposed to Agent Orange and veterans struggling with a range of Gulf War illnesses.

Today's bill permanently authorizes VA's homeless grant and per diem program, which I think is very important because I know that we have all looked in our area and seen the homelessness. We know that one- third of those homeless are veterans, and so this bill helps homeless grants and per diem programs. This is a good program. We must help it grow to address more than a fraction of the homeless veterans on the streets. This is really unacceptable.

We need to work together in the next Congress to acknowledge where there are problems in the VA system and fix them.

Finally, I want to thank all of the VA staff on both the Republican and Democratic side for their dedication and hard work, and I know they have worked into the night for the last two nights to serve our Nation's veterans. I personally appreciate the work that they have done, and I appreciate the work that the leadership has done. I think it is a good bill. It is a good start, and I urge my colleagues to support it

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney), my classmate.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests

for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall Nos. 536 and 537, had I been present, I would have voted ``no'' on 536 and ``yes'' on 537.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank you for your leadership on this matter.

The people on the other side of the aisle, Republicans, always want to talk about the Bible, and you know, the Bible said the poor will always be with us. But our jobs as Members of Congress is to help raise the standard.

A few months ago, I voted against raising the minimum wage. Well, why would I vote against raising the minimum wage? Because I do not think there is anybody in this body supports raising the minimum wage more than I do.

Well, it was a poison pill. It was a kiss of death because what the Republicans did, they tied raising the minimum wage to passing an estate tax. I mean, that would have taken trillions of dollars out of the budget just to help what I call their rich friends.

The Republicans have practiced over and over again what I call reverse Robin Hood, robbing from the poor and working people to give tax breaks to their friends.

So now they put the minimum wage on the floor, but tied it to an estate tax that would have taken thousands and thousands of dollars out of the budget. Yes, we have not dealt with the agenda of the American people.

In closing, the Bible says the poor will always be with us, but our job is to help raise the standard. Give us a clean bill on this floor on minimum wage, and let us vote to help the American people.