Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding who has been such a champion of veterans.

Mr. Speaker, veterans care is in a state of crisis. As the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) pointed out earlier in the evening, veterans at the Portland VA Medical Center in Oregon have arrived at the short- stay unit only to see this sign which says, ``We regret to inform you that due to budget issues, we can no longer supply meals to patients. Please bring a meal from home if you are going to be in the short-stay unit. We apologize for any inconvenience.''

Well, this is not about the food. But it is about our health care for veterans. We have had to close beds because we are 150 people short at the VA hospital. This is no way to treat our heroes. The Portland VA does a wonderful job. It is not their fault. This is our responsibility.

I have been working on this issue for years calling for more funding for VA health care. If the leadership had allowed a vote on an amendment I tried to offer with the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Baird) to add $1.3 billion to the supplemental for VA health care, we would have dealt with this issue months ago. This did not have to happen. Not one soldier who puts his or her life on the line should have to worry about health care.

While I am glad that we are finally acknowledging the financial needs of the VA, I cannot help but be disappointed that even now, when we know they are desperate for additional funding, we are still not giving them all of the money they need to serve our veterans.

As a result of this budget shortfall, the Portland VA Medical Center is delaying all non-emergency surgery by at least six months. For example, veterans in need of knee replacement surgery won't be treated because of the budget shortfall. Recent visitors to the short care stay unit were surprised to see a handwritten sign declaring that ``due to budget issues, we can no longer supply meals to patients,'' and asking patients to bring a meal from home.

The facility is reducing staff as a cost-cutting measure and is now short at least 150 hospital staff, including nurses, physicians, and social workers. As a result of budget cuts for staffing, the VA has cut the number of medical

beds available to care for veterans. And for fiscal year 2005, the facility needed $13 million for medical and clinical equipment but only received $2 million.

But this should not come as a surprise to us. All you have to do is visit the VA health care facilities to see the overcrowded waiting rooms, the worn equipment, to know that they need additional funding. And we've been saying this for years.

Just this March, the Republican leadership of the House refused to allow us to debate and vote on an amendment that I tried to offer that would have added $1.3 billion to the Supplemental Appropriations bill specifically for Veterans Health Care. Had we been allowed to debate whether the VA needed supplemental funding in March, or any of the numerous other times that House Democrats have tried to raise the issue, we could have dealt with this problem long before it became a crisis.

Not one soldier who puts his or her life on the line should have to worry about getting health care when he or she returns from battle. But how are we supposed to provide adequate health care to these new veterans when we can't even meet the needs of our current veterans? Our veterans deserve better.

Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

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

Mr. Chairman, in my three decades of public service I do not think I have ever seen a problem as pervasive and damaging as Oregon's meth epidemic.

Meth is one of the fastest growing drug problems in the Nation. It is cheap, easy to make, and give addicts an intense, long-lasting high; but it destroys their brain, causes them to abuse and neglect their children, and leads to paranoid acts of violence.

Meth production is also a serious threat to public health and safety. In Oregon, experts have estimated that meth is tied to more than 75 percent of crime and meth labs produce toxic fumes that poison the air in our neighborhoods and put our citizens in danger.

The cleanup of abandoned meth labs costs local governments and private citizens tens of thousands of dollars to dispose of the toxic materials left behind. As I traveled around Oregon talking to policymakers and law enforcement leaders about the meth problem, I heard one message loud and clear: law enforcement simply lacks the resources needed to extinguish this meth wildfire.

In Oregon, we have seen many of the regional drug task forces fall apart due to lack of funding and most other anti-meth efforts have faced underfunding as well.

The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program provides State and local governments with enforcement that is critical to help our cities and towns fight meth abuse. It is particularly effective because the resources are targeted at those areas most adversely affected by drug trafficking. It allows communities to develop a comprehensive assault on meth and other illegal drugs, one that addresses law enforcement, prevention, and treatment and control of precursor chemicals.

Yet, in the FY 2006 Transportation, Treasury appropriations bill, the funding is level to this valuable program. I am offering an amendment that would provide a modest $9 million increase to the HIDTA program which will enable the Office of National Drug Control Policy to maintain full funding of all existing HIDTAs and also expand into new areas where necessary.

The HIDTA program not only helps law enforcement identify and dismantle labs but helps break the cycle of other crimes associated with meth use, crimes from domestic violence and child abuse to identity theft.

We must continue to support this valuable initiative so our communities have the resources they need to stop the spread of meth. I urge Members to support this amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder).

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Baird).

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

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote, and pending that, I make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the chairman's willingness to accept this amendment. I will be extremely brief.

Methamphetamine has traveled across this country. It is a huge problem. There are many children who are being referred to other people because of methamphetamine. In my State, 75 percent of the crime that is committed is because of methamphetamine.

We know that roughly 200 tons of pseudoephedrine is needed to produce all the meth sold in the United States. This pseudoephedrine from Mexico can produce half of our Nation's supply of this deadly drug. Again, we need to do everything we can to fight the spread of methamphetamine.

My amendment would provide the State Department with additional resources. With so much of meth in this country coming from Mexico, we must take action to stop the production and importation of this dangerous drug. As any cop in America will tell you, meth is destroying our communities. This should be one of the top foreign policy items on our bilateral agenda.

I thank the gentleman for accepting this amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I am pleased that elements of the amendment I had intended to offer were incorporated into the en bloc amendment offered by Chairman Regula.

As our troops return home from active duty service, a growing number of them are unable to return to the jobs they left behind. In the transition back to civilian life, they are encountering problems ranging from difficulties finding employment to being passed over for promotions to getting laid off under suspicious circumstances.

The Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS) provides these veterans with the resources and services they need to make the transition from military to civilian life. VETS provides veterans with valuable training and job placement services as well as protecting the employment and reemployment rights of veterans, Reservists and National Guard Members.

With the influx of returning soldiers, the Veterans Employment and Training Service

needs additional resources to meet the growing demands of our veterans. More and more veterans will be looking for employment, which means increased demands for both job training and placement services as well as assistance with any discrimination claims.

This amendment will address these issues by providing $5 million to the Veterans Employment and Training Service so they have the money they need to meet the needs of our returning troops.

Of this funding, $3 million will go to the Veterans Workforce Investment Program which provides employment services to recently separated and service-connected disabled veterans. This program is currently funded at $7.5 million, a $1 million cut from last year. At a time when more and more soldiers are returning home and looking for jobs, we need to be providing more funding for this vital initiative, not less.

It also includes $500,000 for the National Veterans Training Institute, which conducts specialized training for veterans' employment and training service providers.

The remaining $1.5 million would be used to educate both service members and employers about the employment rights of veterans, including their rights and responsibilities under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), which prohibits workforce discrimination based on military service.

America has a responsibility to those who risked their lives to secure our freedom. Particularly today, as more soldiers come home from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, we must make every effort to help veterans reintegrate into civilian life, and that means helping America's veterans get back to work.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 180, which supports initiatives by the national fire services to reduce fire fighter fatalities and injuries.

I want to congratulate the gentleman from Maryland, Mr. Hoyer, for introducing this important measure. Mr. Hoyer is a co-chair of the Fire Caucus and is a leading supporter of the fire services in Congress.

This resolution calls attention to the need to take action to reduce fire fighter deaths and injuries. It explicitly endorses the call from the major fire service organizations for a stand down to promote fire fighter safety.

The stand down would apply to every volunteer and career fire department in the Nation. It would require that each department suspend all non-emergency activities in order to concentrate on measures to raise awareness of safety issues and to institute steps to improve safety.

A growing perception of the need to take corrective action to improve safety was the motivation for a major summit meeting of the fire service community in March 2004. The summit developed 16 fire fighter life safety initiatives, which are listed in the resolution before the House.

Unfortunately, despite widespread dissemination and discussion of the initiatives, corrective action has been slow to develop, and the trend in loss of life in the fire services has not improved.

The stand down constitutes an action to try to change the culture, which is widely believed to be the key factor in bringing about constructive change.

The fire services perform a critical public safety role and all Americans respect the high level of devotion to duty and sacrifice that characterize fire service personnel. I applaud this resolution that seeks to reduce the loss of life and serious injury that too often occur to fire fighters during the performance of their hazardous duties.

Mr. Speaker, I comment this resolution to my colleagues and ask for their support in its passage by the House.

Since 1997, 29 Oregon firefighters have been listed in the Fallen Firefighter Memorial Database of the U.S. Fire Administration. They are:

Sanit Arovitx, Richard Hernandez and Kip Krigbaum (Columbia

Helicopters, USDA Fire Service contractor);

Randall E. Carpenter, Jeffrey E. Common and Robert Charles

Hanners (Coos Bay Fire and Rescue);

Paul E. Gibson, David Kelly Hammer, Jeffery D. Hengel,

Jesse D. James, Richard Burt Moore, II, Leland Price, Jr.,

Mark Robert Ransdell and Ricardo M. Ruiz (First Strike

Environmental, Roseburg, Oregon Department of Forestry

Contractor);

Robert Chisholm (Gearhart Volunteer Fire Department);

Jake Martindale, Zachary Zigich, Daniel Eric Rama,

Bartholomew Blake Bailey, and Retha Mae Shirley (Grayback

Forestry, Inc., USDA Forest Service Contractor);

Larry A. Brown (Kingsley Field Fire Department, Klamath

Falls);

John Robert Hazlett (Odell Fire District);

David Craig Mackey (Oregon Department of Forestry, Western

Lane District);

Lawrence J. Hoffman (Oregon Department of Forestry);

Thomas Howard Kistler (Polk County Fire District #1);

Gerald Meyers (Sumpter Fire Department);

Randall Harmon (Superior Helicopter, LLC, Grants Pass);

Richard Warren Black (Weyerhaeuser, Eugene Helicopter

Operation); and

Tony B. Chapin (Willamina Fire Department).

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Concurrent Resolution 180, which supports initiatives by the National Fire Service to reduce firefighter fatalities and injuries.

I want to congratulate the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) for introducing this important measure. The gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) is co-chair of the Fire Caucus and is a leading supporter of fire services in Congress and would be here now speaking except that he is in a markup on another legislation.

This concurrent resolution calls attention to the need to take action to reduce firefighter deaths and injury. It explicitly endorses a call from the major fire service organizations for a stand down to promote fire safety. The stand down would apply to every volunteer and career fire department in the Nation.

It would require that each department suspend all nonemergency activities in order to concentrate on measures to raise awareness of safety issues and to institute steps to improve safety.

A growing perception of the need to take corrective action to improve safety was the motivation for a major summit meeting of the fire service community in March 2004. The summit developed 16 firefighter life safety initiatives which are listed in the House resolution.

Unfortunately, despite widespread dissemination and discussion of the initiatives, corrective action has been slow to develop, and the trend in loss in life in the fire service has not improved. The stand down constitutes an action to try to change the culture, which is widely believed to be a key factor in bringing about constructive change.

The fire services perform a critical public safety role, and all Americans respect the high level of devotion to duty and sacrifice that characterize the service personnel. I applaud this resolution that seeks to reduce the loss of life and serious injury that too often occur to firefighters during the performance of their hazardous duties.

Mr. Speaker, I commend this resolution to my colleagues and ask for their support in its passage by the House. Our firefighters have done an incredible job of fire prevention and rescue, saving millions of lives. It is our turn to make sure that we help them by reducing loss of life and serious injury through this resolution.

If I may, I would just like to take a moment to read the names of those that have died in Oregon since 1997. There are 23 names: Randall E. Carpenter, Coos Bay Fire and Rescue; Jeffrey E. Common, Coos Bay Fire and Rescue; Chuck Hanners, Coos Bay Fire and Rescue; Paul E. Gibson, First Strike Environmental, Roseburg, Oregon; David Kelly Hammer, First Strike Environmental, Roseburg, Oregon; Jeffrey D. Hingel, First Strike Environmental, Roseburg; Jesse James, First Strike Environmental, Roseburg; Richard Burt ``Richie'' Moore, First Strike Environmental, Roseburg; Leland Price, First Strike Environmental, Roseburg, Oregon Department of Forestry Contractor; Mark

Robert Ransdell, First Strike Environmental, Roseburg, Oregon; Ricardo M. Ruiz, First Strike Environmental, Roseburg, Oregon; Robert Chisholm, Gearhart Volunteer Fire Department; Daniel Eric Rama, Grayback Forestry, Inc.; Bartholomew Blake Bailey, Grayback Forestry; Retha Mae Shirley, Grayback Forestry, Inc.; Larry A. Brown, Kingsley Field Fire Department, Klamath Falls; John Robert Hazlett, Odell Fire District; D. Craig Mackey, Oregon Department of Forestry; Lawrence J. ``Larry'' Hoffman, Oregon Department of Forestry; Thomas Howard Kistler, Polk County Fire District 1; Randall Harmon, Superior Helicopter, Grants Pass; George P. Converse, USDA Forest Service; Alan W. Wyatt, USDA Forest Service; and Richard W. Black, Weyerhaeuser, Eugene Helicopter Operation.

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

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

I read a list of 23 names from just those in Oregon, but that list could go on and on and on, depending on the State. I am hoping that through this resolution, although I am not foolish enough to believe that there will be no names, but I would sure like to see that reduced to as few as possible. They have done an incredible service to our country, to our communities, and I wish that for every profession we could look at a little bit later on and say, you have done this amazing job of prevention. Mr. Speaker, they are the ones that really make sure that every home, every business had a fire detector, and we think of the number of lives they have saved just by making sure we had that prevention piece. They have done it over and over and over again.

Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Boehlert) is right, they were volunteers, but they were professional. They were there training, they were there every night of the week training, they worked all day. Yet when a fire called, they came from wherever they were to make sure that they helped put out that fire and saved and rescued lives. I represent a district that has many rural communities and, again, we have many volunteer fire departments, but they are professional. I hope my colleagues would support this measure.

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

Mr. Speaker, this month, Stefan Kapsch will retire as a professor of political science at Reed College. Professor Kapsch came to Reed from the University of Pennsylvania in 1974. For thirty years, he has inspired Reed students with his passion for American politics, empirical methodology, and constitutional law.

Professor Kapsch's career is distinguished by an impressive record of civic engagement. For him, public policy analysis is not just an abstract subject for classroom discussion; it is a very real and ongoing pursuit. Professor Kapsch has been research director of the Oregon Commission on the Judicial Branch, executive director of the Oregon Prison Overcrowding Project and research partner in the SACSI Initiative of the National Institute of Justice, a project on youth gun violence in Portland. By his example, Professor Kapsch has taught generations of students that independent academic analysis is a necessary component of good policymaking.

Professor Kapsch has taken a special interest in the former Yugoslavia--and Slovenia in particular--where he was a Fulbright Fellow to the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Ljubljana in 1994-95. He has served as a voter registration supervisor for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which is charged with the conduct of elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina under the Dayton Accords. In 2002, Professor Kapsch was a Senior Fulbright Scholar at the Amerika Institut of Ludvig Maxmillians University in Munich.

Professor Kapsch will be remembered for his ability to bring even the most technical subjects to life through classroom discussions and seminars. He has earned a reputation among Reed students as the faculty's best storyteller, with an anecdote to illustrate every new principle introduced in class.

In his three decades at Reed, Professor Kapsch was a mentor, a confidant, and a friend to countless students and he will certainly be missed. But his retirement marks the start of a fresh chapter in his life, as he will spend more time brewing homemade beer, relaxing at the Oregon coast, restoring his 1952 Ford Pickup, and enjoying the company of his loving wife Shirley, his children and grandchildren.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a group of students from Grant Community Middle School in Salem, Oregon who were awarded a Presidential Environmental Youth Award. Since 1971, this award has recognized young people from across the United States who have demonstrated a commitment to the environment.

This group of thirty 6th grade students from Grant, whom I recently had the pleasure of meeting, has made a real impact in the effort to restore habitat for an endangered animal, the Fender's Blue Butterfly. As the Willamette Valley has been developed, the butterfly has lost its natural prairie habitat, and the Kincaid lupine plant, a major staple of the butterfly's diet, has nearly disappeared. The butterfly has become so rare that at one point it was believed to be extinct.

After learning about the Fender's Blue Butterfly, the class researched, created, and implemented a three-year program to help preserve this rare insect. The students worked with Marion County to convert Bonesteele Park into a native Willamette Valley prairie. Two years after the students began the project, Kincaid lupine plants began to grow and several of the endangered butterflies have been spotted in the area.

The students also sought to raise awareness among other young people about the importance of natural prairie habitat by holding a Celebrating Prairie Festival. Over 600 elementary school students attended the festival, which included a bilingual play in English and Spanish that explained the threats facing the Fender's blue butterflies.

I commend these students for their efforts. Their hard work and dedication made a real difference that will help preserve this butterfly for future generations.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time.

I agree with the statements made by my colleague from Montana, and I thank him for the leadership he has shown on this issue. Our amendment is very simple. It would allow country-of-origin labeling, better known as COOL, which was approved by a majority of this House in the last farm bill, to go forward this next year. We have got to stop yet another backdoor attempt to halt country-of-origin food labeling rules. Consumers deserve to know where their meat is produced and that it is safe, and farmers and ranchers deserve the fair deal provided by open and honest labeling.

The gentleman from Montana is up here today for the same reason I am. Like me, he represents an agricultural district and country-of-origin labeling is something that our farmers want. That is why country-of- origin labeling enjoys such broad support in the agriculture community. Our amendment is supported by the National Farmers Union and over 120 other organizations.

Over the last few days, I have received letters of encouragement from many Oregon farmers thanking me for helping to bring this amendment forward. Our farms grow the best produce and raise the best livestock in the world, and American consumers know this. Studies have shown that Americans want to buy American commodities and are even willing to pay a premium to do so. Our Nation's farmers and ranchers produce the best and safest commodities in the world and consumers deserve the chance to know where their food is born, raised, and processed.

Country-of-origin labeling provides U.S. agriculture producers the opportunity to promote their excellent products. The labeling law does not violate international trade agreements, would not drastically increase producer and consumer costs, does not require third-party documentation for trace-back or disadvantage any commodity. Thirty-five other countries require country-of-origin labeling, and COOL has already gone into effect for fish and shellfish. Labeling products is simply a promotional tool for U.S. producers and an information source for consumers.

For these reasons, we had country-of-origin labeling provisions added to the last farm bill. Country-of-origin labeling has been delayed for several years and has been studied to death. This provision in the agriculture appropriations bill continues that trend.

Country-of-origin labeling is good for American farmers and good for American consumers. I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to stand up for their constituents and vote for the Rehberg/ Hooley amendment.

Mr. Speaker, let us recognize the life and praise the sacrifice of an American Hero.

Just a few days ago, Sergeant Jacob Simpson was killed in action during a reconnaissance patrol in Iraq.

Jacob died as he lived--helping the people of Tikrit in their efforts to secure a peace, and realize their aspirations for a democratic society. Oregon mourns his passing. As a society we have too few of his character; we will all feel his loss for years to come.

Jacob was an exceptional young man who possessed a kind heart, an inquisitive mind, and a dedication to family and friends that was as uncommon as it was devout. After completing his general education studies, Jacob entered the United States Army to build a new life for himself. Sergeant Simpson was a proud, dedicated soldier; he was a team player, always willing to volunteer for an extra job, a hard assignment--but he was so much more.

He was a patriot--an earnest young man who believed citizenship meant responsibility. Jacob Simpson accepted the duty of being an American as freely as he did its freedoms. True to his nature, Sergeant Simpson used his time in uniform to adjust his focus, investigate his academic interests--to develop a plan for rest of his life. Jacob planned on attending college after his discharge.

But Jacob will never again enjoy the winds of the Columbia Gorge, the view of Mount Ashland, or the sounds of his guitar. He returned to Iraq for a second tour of duty well aware of the challenges, the risks, and dangers. He gave his last full measure of devotion keeping faith with his charge.

Jacob Simpson never faltered, never wavered, and never failed--he understood his duties and sacrificed everything he had, and everything he never would have, for the ideals of liberty. His courage is a lesson for us all.

In his brief twenty-four years, Jacob Simpson made a difference in the lives of thousands. With hope, determination, and uncommon valor-- Jacob helped blaze the trail for a new generation of lraqi's to have the right to choose a new destiny.

It is now up to us left behind, here--to ensure the life and death of Jacob Simpson is remembered--to keep its promise. Let us recommit ourselves to the tasks at hand. We must never forget.

Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

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

Mr. Chairman, the amendment I offer today is very simple. It would prevent any of the money in this bill from coming from increases in airline ticket taxes. This is an amendment to protect consumers, to protect our struggling aviation industry.

Earlier this year, the President's budget included a $1.5 billion increase in the aviation security passenger fee, using this to largely offset his $2.2 billion homeland security increase.

This increase, if enacted, would represent over a 50 percent increase in airline fees. Federal taxes and fees already account for as much as 40 percent of the price that consumers pay for their domestic ticket.

Given the current state of our aviation industry in this country, we should not further punish them with higher taxes. Our homeland security is our national security, and we should not foist the bill off on just a few people or single industry.

While the bill before us does not include language increasing the aviation security passenger fee, it does authorize the same level of funding as the President's budget, and there is no offset for the additional spending.

Mr. Chairman, I am concerned that increasing the aviation security passenger fee will negatively impact consumers and will saddle a struggling industry that is already in trouble with an additional $1.5 billion in taxes.

I encourage my colleagues to support my amendment.

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

Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Cox).

Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Thompson).

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

Mr. Chairman, just in closing let me say, homeland security, we all want to make sure that our country is as safe as possible. Homeland security is a responsibility of all of our citizens.

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

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts for yielding me this time. I would also like to thank the gentleman from Ohio (Chairman Oxley) for his work. In addition, I would like to thank the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus) whose bill we have before us today who has done a tremendous job and recognize his staff for all of their hard work.

The FDIC reform bill is truly a bipartisan piece of legislation that continues the bipartisan working style of the Committee on Financial Services that has allowed the committee to be extraordinarily productive.

The FDIC Reform Act of 2005 contains needed reforms that will bring the deposit insurance system into the 21st century by enhancing the value of our insured deposits, improving retirement security for all Americans, and ensuring that the value, cost, and benefit of deposit insurance is shared equally.

Most importantly, H.R. 1185 gives flexibility of the FDIC to manage the deposit insurance according to risk and economic conditions. No longer will we ask financial institutions to pay higher insurance premiums when banks can least afford to pay them and when funds are most needed for lending to jump-start our economic growth.

H.R. 1185 updates the deposit insurance coverage levels for the first time in 25 years. I agree with my ranking member who said we are making a much bigger deal out of the $30,000.

H.R. 1185 also updates deposit insurance coverage levels for the first time, as I said, in 25 years. It increases the maximum coverage from $100,000 to $130,000, doubles the amount of coverage for retirement funds to enhance the retirement security of our senior citizens and those planning for retirement, and indexes for inflation every 5 years as a way of preserving the value of the deposit insurance safety net. H.R. 1185 also increases coverage limits for in-state municipal deposits to $2 million or 80 percent of any deposits over $130,000, whichever is less.

By extending municipal deposit coverage, this bill not only protects taxpayers from potential consequences of a failure of local financial institutions but promotes community development by encouraging local government agencies to keep their funds on deposit with a local financial institution, thereby making the funds available for lending back to the community. So it makes a lot of sense when we look at our small local banks.

Finally, this bill takes the needed step of merging FDIC's Bank Insurance Fund and the Savings Association Insurance Fund, eliminating potential disparities in the premiums paid by banks and thrifts, and reducing the administrative burden of operating two separate insurance funds.

This legislation will give Americans an even more stable and secure insurance system for deposits in their banks, thrifts, and credit unions. These needed reforms will bring the deposit insurance system into the 21st century by enhancing the value of our insured deposits, improving retirement security for all Americans, and ensuring that the value, cost, and benefit of deposit insurance is shared equally.

I urge my colleagues to support the FDIC Reform Act of 2005.

Mr. Speaker, on April 28, 1989, the world observed the first Workers Memorial Day in honor of the 2 million people who die each year as a result of workplace injury or illness. Fifteen years later, we remember the Americans who died on the job this past year and recall the hard work that still needs to be done in the United States to keep our working men and women safe.

The date of April 28th was chosen in recognition of the anniversary of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1971. Since its creation, OSHA has helped reduce the rate of workplace death and injury through the work of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration. But over 6 million workers in the United States still become sick or injured each year as a result of their work.

To maintain a strong and healthy economy, America needs a safe and healthy workforce. Federal safety and health standards are vital, as is funding for job safety research.

Last year in Oregon, dozens of workers gave the ultimate sacrifice to their professions: their lives. I would like to honor their memory now by recognizing them:

Wendell S. Alden, Joshua I. Allen, Michael W. Barton,

Camilo U. Becerra-Corona, Daniel R. Becker, Joyce D. Boothe,

William R. Bronco, Daniel J. Buckley, Harriet T. Burk, Curtis

Claflin, Dean I. Corliss, Jaime M. Diaz, David L. Dunn,

Daniel W. Ealy, Paul D. Ferbrache II, Vernon L. Fraley,

Robert A. Friedman, Larry R. Fry, and Gary Fullerton.

Obdulia Garcia, George R. Green, Robert T. Green, Paul W.

Haley, David P. Henning, Carl B. Hestmark, Charles T. Hickey,

Hugh C. Holdt, John F. Janzen, Cody Jones, Aryck J. Kalinsky,

Cory R. Kepple, James Ladd, Paul Linck, Terence D. Little,

Bin Lui, John T. Lumsden, Steven J. Maine, Patricia M.

McVicker, Donald L. McCready, Douig K. McKay, Donald R.

Mobley, and Bret D. Montgomery.

Ronald A. Nissen, Mile Obredovic, Ernest Oleman, Grant

Overlock, Susanna Parish, llaben D. Patel, Skip Perry, Robert

L. Peterson, Drew M. Pierson, Herbert O. Pishion Jr., Rita R.

Pratt, Gary Richey, Teresa L. Rines, Juan C. Rios, Kenneth W.

Robinson, Ralph E. Robinson, Gerardo Robles-Tejeda, Jeffrey

L. Ross, and Billy J. Rucker.

Manfred Schiller, Russell H. Simpson, Ivan D. Smith, Robert

G. Smith, Angelica Solis-Molina, Kevin M. Southwick, Jeffrey

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the long and successful career of Portland State University softball coach Teri Mariani, which will come to a close on Sunday, April 24, 2005, as she coaches her final games at PSU.

It's been a long time, but I remember Teri from her days as an outstanding student and a fine athlete when I had the privilege to coach her in high school at St. Mary's Academy in the late '60s and early '70s. Back then, without the opportunities afforded by Title IX that are available today, the chance for young women to compete at any level were limited.

Still, Teri managed to shine. I remember taking a team, including a then-sophomore Teri, to play basketball in the Portland Recreational League. Teri, always serious in the classroom, was just as driven to succeed on the court. But that's the sort of dedication to excellence that Teri maintained as during her years at Portland State.

Since the 1970s, Teri has been a fixture on the Portland State campus--first as a stellar three-sport student-athlete, then as an administrator and, since 1977, as coach of the softball team.

Teri will leave Portland State with the school record for the most victories in any sport, 631, and a winning record in 10 of her last 16 seasons. Ranked 15th overall among all Division II coaches with 646 wins, Coach Mariani also successfully led the Vikings during their transition to the Division I level in the 1998 season.

During her career, the Vikings went to the NCAA playoffs nine times, and placed nationally four times, with a best finish of third in the nation in 1991. For her accomplishments, Teri was inducted into the Portland Metropolitan Softball Association Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.

In addition to coaching softball, Teri has been Associate Athletic Director, Interim Athletic Director, and twice the department's Senior Woman Administrator. She has not only coached young women and helped them succeed on the field, but has been a mentor to them as they pursed their education. Hundreds of young women have had their lives impacted in a positive way by Teri Mariani, and while I am sad to see her long tenure as coach come to an end, her contributions to the sport and the university will be felt far into the future.

Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to recommit.

I am, Mr. Speaker, in its present form.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer a motion to recommit that would provide $100 million in health and $50 million in job training transitional assistance to help active duty forces make the transition to the veterans benefits system.

The gentleman from Washington (Mr. Baird) and I have been working on this issue together and trying to add $1.3 billion for VA health care and reintegration services. While our amendment was ruled not in order, we now have a chance to ensure that this supplemental includes at least some funding for vital health and employment services.

America is currently asking more of its all-volunteer military force than it ever has before. Yet even as America prepares to continue its large and prolonged military campaign in Iraq, it has done very little to provide for the veterans of this war. Our obligation to support our troops does not end when they leave Iraq.

But how are we supposed to provide adequate health care to these new veterans when we did not even meet the needs of our current veterans? The fiscal year 2005 Omnibus was $1.3 billion short in the amount that then Secretary Principi, as well as the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, stated was needed to just maintain the current level of veterans health care.

We also need to make sure that our returning soldiers have the readjustment assistance they need, particularly for members of the Guard and Reserve. You have to understand, these members do not go back to a base, they go back to their home State and then are scattered throughout that State. Members of the National Guard returning home face immense challenges in transitioning out of active duty deployment and back to civilian life. While the State Guard offices are working to provide these returning soldiers with important information regarding their health care, employment assistance and other transitional services, they simply do not have the money they need to complete the education and counseling necessary for a smooth transition back to civilian life. I think our returning soldiers deserve better.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this motion to recommit and keep our promise to our Nation's veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey).

Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.