Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember the victims of the Rwanda Genocide and to ask my colleagues to join me in commemorating the twenty-year anniversary of this horrific period in our human history.

Over the course of just ninety days in 1994, extremists in the Rwandan government executed a highly organized plan to exterminate the country's entire Tutsi minority population.

Sadly, they very nearly succeeded.

Nearly one million Rwandans were killed in this horrendous conflict, and it is estimated that over three-fourths of all Tutsis living in Rwanda in 1994 were killed before the end of the summer.

In 2010 and 2011, I traveled to Rwanda while researching my doctoral dissertation on the Rwandan Genocide.

I met the prosecutors in Arusha, Tanzania, where the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda was headquartered, as well as the archivists and researchers engaged in preserving its history.

Their stories remind us all why we must recommit to ending genocide.

Today, on the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Rwanda Genocide, I ask that my colleagues join me and the people of Rwanda in honoring the victims.

May we learn from the Rwandan Genocide, and may we ensure that such atrocities are never again permitted to take place.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to join me in supporting the bipartisan Strengthening Healthcare Options for Vulnerable Populations Act.

This legislation, which I will introduce today, extends the authorization of Medicare Advantage Dual Special Needs Plans, D-SNPs, and makes necessary improvements to this valuable program for vulnerable seniors.

Special Needs Plans, or SNPs, are a type of Medicare Advantage Plan with membership limited to a specific population with specific diseases or characteristics, and tailored benefits, provider choices, and drug formularies developed to best meet the needs of the group they serve.

Dual Special Needs Plans, or D-SNPs, are plans developed for individuals who are both Medicare and Medicaid eligible. The Medicare dual eligible population is low-income and more likely to have complex and costly healthcare needs. Nationally, it costs $300 billion to care for this population. D-SNPs are driving improved care outcomes and greater efficiency eliminating redundancies between the two programs.

There are 125,000 dual eligible individuals in Arizona and nine million nationally. More than half of the dual eligibles in my state are enrolled in a D-SNP.

D-SNPs in Arizona are well-run and have demonstrated success: 31 percent lower rate of hospitalization; 43 percent lower rate of days in hospital; 9 percent lower emergency use; 21 percent lower readmission rate; 3 percent higher preventive care services.

But D-SNPs are not just about controlling cost and improving healthcare delivery for a vulnerable population. D-SNPs, because of their innovative and targeted services, are a valuable option for seniors trying to live with dignity or people with disabilities trying to live fuller lives.

Bonnie Grant is in her 60s and lives in south Phoenix. Through her D- SNP, she has access to a transportation called Van Go. Bonnie uses the service to go shopping and other places ``instead of being stuck at home.'' She said that it helps because ``instead of being holed up in your home,'' she can be engaged in the community and enjoy her life.

The Van Go benefit is the type of creative service offered by D-SNPs that improve the wellbeing of enrollees.

Joseph Ford lives in suburban Phoenix. He was disabled in a car accident. The hands-on managed care he receives through his D-SNPs, including in-home visits, allows Mr. Ford to stay in his home and live a fuller life. Keeping individuals like Mr. Ford in their homes instead of institutional care facilities is better for the beneficiary and a significant cost savings to the Medicaid and Medicare programs.

We need creative and commonsense solutions to control the cost and improve the quality of services provided to this vulnerable population, which includes seniors and single working mothers. That is what D-SNPs are doing and that is why we introduce this bill today.

The Strengthening Healthcare Options for Vulnerable Populations Act will allow seniors to have greater choice, help drive down cost and improve outcomes.

First, this bill extends authorization for D-SNPs and requires that plans fully integrate Medicare and Medicaid services, while providing states with flexibility to make the plans work for their citizens. This long term authorization will create stability in the SNP program, thereby allowing states, the federal government and the private sector to begin to develop consistent strategies for addressing care for dual eligibles. Beneficiaries will also know that the plan they have chosen will not be taken away.

Second, the bill directs CMS in coordination with State Medicaid Directors to develop a clearly defined role for state Medicaid agencies in contracting and oversight of integrated D-SNPs.

Third, the legislation follows the recommendation of National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD) to designate the Medicare- Medicaid Coordinating Office within CMS as the dedicated point of contact to assist states with ongoing D-SNP administration issues, including eliminating redundancies and improving coordination of Medicare and Medicaid services and streamlining the flow of information to beneficiaries. The bill would also allow HHS to adjust Medicare's processes, timelines and requirements to improve the seamless delivery of patient-centered services across the care continuum.

Fourth, the bill provides additional protections to beneficiaries by requiring CMS, in coordination with states, to establish a streamlined dispute resolution process and by requiring Medicare to continue to provide coverage during the dispute process.

Lastly, our legislation improves the Medicare Advantage star ratings program to better evaluate and incentivize D-SNP performance. The bill directs CMS to take the necessary steps to recognize and incentivize performance by plans who serve more difficult or complex populations like the dual population.

Ensuring that vulnerable seniors continue to have access to these valuable plans is an important part of ensuring that they can live out their golden years with dignity.

The Strengthening Healthcare Options for Vulnerable Populations Act extends an important program for one of Arizona's most vulnerable populations. This bill ensures that seniors and others in these plans will be able to keep the managed care services they have selected. This bill provides states with greater flexibility to control cost and provide improved services. Finally, this bill can help control cost for a very expensive population nationally while at the same time improving healthcare outcomes.

I urge my colleagues to join me in cosponsoring this important legislation.

Thank you, Congressman Murphy, for hosting this Special Order so that we can stand up and speak out for seniors in our districts. We are here today because CMS, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has proposed cuts to Medicare Advantage.

Next week, CMS will publish its final rule. I urge CMS to not cut Medicare Advantage. These cuts will decrease choice, create uncertainty, and undermine access to care for our seniors.

I oppose these cuts. Like Mr. Murphy and many of our colleagues participating in this Special Order, I have repeatedly called on the Federal Government to reconsider its proposal and make no further cuts to Medicare Advantage.

Medicare Advantage is a popular and effective alternative to traditional fee-for-service Medicare, especially in Arizona, where statewide, 38 percent of Medicare-eligible beneficiaries choose a Medicare Advantage plan. In my district, nearly 43 percent of Medicare- eligible beneficiaries choose a Medicare Advantage plan.

Medicare Advantage plans consistently receive high customer satisfaction ratings and are helping to control cost, drive innovation, and improve health outcomes for beneficiaries. I keep saying ``beneficiaries.'' But what I should say is, our parents, our grandparents, and our loved ones. These plans provide affordable, high- quality care for our loved ones.

Bonnie Grant, a proud Arizonan in my district, is in her sixties and lives in Phoenix. Through her Medicare Advantage plan, she has access to a transportation system called Van Go. Bonnie uses the service to go shopping and to go other places ``instead of being stuck at home.'' She said that it helps because ``instead of being holed up in your home,'' she can be engaged in the community and enjoy her life. The Van Go benefit is the type of creative service offered by Medicare Advantage plans that improves the well-being of enrollees.

Joseph Ford, another constituent, lives in suburban Phoenix. He was disabled in a car accident. The hands-on managed care he receives through his Medicare Advantage plan, including in-home visits, allows Mr. Ford to stay in his home and live a fuller life. Keeping individuals like Mr. Ford in his home instead of in institutional care facilities is better for the beneficiary and presents a significant cost savings to the Medicaid and Medicare programs.

I am concerned that the proposed payment reductions for 2015 will undermine the choices made by my fellow Arizonans, by Ms. Grant, by Mr. Ford, and by others in my congressional district by causing our loved ones to lose needed services and to experience increases in premiums. These cuts could also have the unintended and costly consequence of putting our seniors at risk of being placed in institutions, rather than staying in their homes.

Instead of cutting funding for these popular plans, we should work together to find reasonable solutions that drive down cost, increase choice, address waste, fraud, and abuse, spur innovation, and ultimately improve the quality of life provided to our seniors.

Again, I urge CMS to maintain payment levels for Medicare Advantage so that our loved ones do not experience increased out-of-pocket costs, negative disruptions, or confusion in 2015.

Thank you, Congressman Murphy, for working with me on this important issue and for hosting this Special Order today.

Thank you to the gentleman from Pennsylvania for hosting that bipartisan Special Order.

Unfortunately, these days in Washington there are too few issues that bring Republicans and Democrats together to find reasonable solutions to

the challenges facing our country, but supporting the National Guard is one issue that certainly brings us together, which is why I appreciate the opportunity to join my colleagues today.

The United States needs a fully functional and operational National Guard. The active military and the National Guard may have different attributes, but they train and certify to the same standards, and Guard units and personnel can function interchangeably with their Active Duty brothers and sisters.

We rely on the National Guard to protect our country overseas and here at home. Arizona has a proud tradition of service, and we are proud of our fellow Arizonans who become citizen soldiers.

Since September 11, over 12,000 members of the Arizona National Guard have deployed, and we have 150 members currently mobilized.

Not only does the Arizona National Guard deploy overseas, it has a critical mission here at home: responding to natural disasters, improving border security, and performing counterdrug operations.

The Arizona National Guard is also leading the way in helping our citizen soldiers and their families balance the challenges of service with civilian life.

Under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Denise Sweeney, Director of Arizona's National Guard Total Force Team, the Be Resilient Program is promoting mission readiness and retention by increasing the resilience of each servicemember and their family.

The Total Force Team focuses on integrating and coordinating the efforts of all resilience and support programs for Arizona National Guard members and their families, and it leverages public-private partnership to engage the broader community.

This program is strengthening servicemembers and their families and is another example of why the Arizona National Guard is so important to our State and why the National Guard deserves our full support.

I support a defense budget that responsibly uses taxpayer dollars and keeps our country safe and secure. I have serious concerns that the proposed cuts to our National and Reserve component would undermine the ability of Arizona's National Guard to perform its critical missions.

Substantially reducing the size of National Guard, and in particular, removing all helicopter attack aviation, could hurt Arizona and our national security. You can't build emergency response, combat, and leadership capabilities overnight. We will continue to call on our National Guard in times of need. We should make sure they have all the training, tools, and force strength to answer that call.

As a member of a military family, I understand that these citizen soldiers and their families make great sacrifices in order to serve our country. We should stand up and support these brave and committed men and women, and give them the tools that they need to keep us safe.

Thank you, Colonel Perry, for hosting this time. I look forward to working with my colleagues on this important issue more.

Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

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

My amendment would strike language that expands eligibility for the National Priorities List in section 204, which is overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency.

My amendment also reinstates language that directs listings of the ``highest priority facilities'' for cleanup and guarantees that State- recommended sites receive priority.

In 2003, an agreement was finalized to provide much-needed cleanup to the North Indian Bend Wash site in my district. The site, formerly used for industrial production and manufacturing, now spans several housing developments in which thousands of Arizona families, students and seniors reside.

Since then, Federal, State, and local stakeholders have worked together to put a 25-year plan in place to address soil and water contamination at this site, but those plans have not gone uninterrupted. In January of 2008, more than 3.5 million gallons of contaminated water were mistakenly delivered from this site to homes in Paradise Valley, and in July of that same year, irrigation water used from this site triggered a study at an elementary school in my district to determine if the school grounds had been contaminated.

The North Indian Bend Wash site is one of many sites across the country listed under the National Priorities List, which provides much- needed funding to assist States with cleanup efforts.

In keeping with the mission of the National Priorities List, which is to protect public health, my amendment protects funding for important cleanup projects, like the North Indian Bend Wash, that are taking place in hundreds of communities across the country.

The underlying bill would expand eligibility for the National Priorities List, stretching its mission beyond its current financial means without providing additional funding to accommodate this expansion. My amendment prevents this unfunded expansion.

In times of financial shortfall, we should ensure that we efficiently and responsibly use taxpayers dollars to prioritize projects by need and maximize our impact on improving public health. While I agree that providing more robust State input is essential to crafting better environmental policy, H.R. 2279 would actually repeal language that requires the administration to prioritize the most urgent and impactful State projects for cleanup.

I also believe that striking the ``highest priority facilities'' language, as called for in the underlying bill, may have the unintended consequence of diminishing the statutory role that States would have in determining the EPA's cleanup priorities. The underlying bill strikes the only clause in the current law that explicitly protects states' rights with NPL. Without this language, it is possible that the underlying bill could result in the EPA's placing certain projects that States have requested at the bottom of its funding priorities on the NPL while still following the law. My amendment reinstates this language, directing the EPA to make tough choices that necessarily respect the interests of our States.

We all share the desire to work towards commonsense, reasonable solutions, using tax dollars wisely, facilitating job growth and improving public health. This amendment provides a meaningful fix to the underlying bill by preventing an unfunded expansion of the NPL and directing the administration to make tough choices that respect the rights of States. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this amendment.

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

Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney), my colleague.

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

I share the desire of my Republican colleagues to increase the input provided by and the role of States in listing facilities on the National Priorities List, but by adding more sites to an already overwhelmed program, we may diminish the effectiveness of this important program.

I am also concerned that the underlying bill, by striking the current statutory language that directs the EPA to give State-recommended sites priority, could have the unintended consequence of decreasing the role of States in this process. For these reasons, Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support the amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 9, had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Amendment No. 2 Offered by Mr. Tonko

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask that my colleagues join me in celebrating Oskar Knoblauch's 2013 Characters Unite Award honorable mention. This award is presented by the USA Network to those who have made considerable achievements improving civil and human rights within their communities.

Mr. Knoblauch's story is nothing short of incredible. As an adolescent, he was a victim of the holocaust. Relying on relationships and intellect, he and his siblings survived the horrors of this abominable era. Today Mr. Knoblauch has overcome the scars of his past and is using them to encourage tolerance and fight prejudice. He travels the country to give presentations, and has written a novel about his ordeal for those he cannot reach through speeches. Oskar Knoblauch has dedicated himself to preventing the same evils that he experienced.

My constituent, Mr. Knoblauch, is an outstanding example of character, service, and triumph. It is my utmost privilege to represent him in Congress. I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Oskar Knoblauch on this exceptional honor and in supporting him in his continuing efforts to increase respect and understanding across our nation and around the world.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask that my colleagues join me in celebrating Keogh Health Connection's Tenth Anniversary. This milestone represents a decade of excellence in connecting Arizona's uninsured population with affordable health care.

Keogh Health Connection was established in 2003, inspired by the passion for service held by its founders, Karlene and Kevin Keogh. This couple recognized that the available healthcare resources can only help those in need when people know how to access them. Through working with families and individuals on a case by case basis, and making referrals to an increasing number of partner organizations, this non-profit has shown tremendous growth over the past decade. It has served over 200,000 residents of Maricopa County, a number of which are in my district.

By taking action to fill a critical need in its community, Keogh Health Connection is truly commendable. I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating this organization and its staff on reaching 10 years of service, and in wishing them many more successful years to come.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask that my colleagues join me in honoring Rita Brock-Perini on her induction into the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame. This accolade is reserved for the men and women in community who have unceasingly served their country after the conclusion of their active duty.

Capt. Brock-Perini epitomizes what this honor stands for. After being raised in a formerly rural region of Arizona as one of ten children, she pursued higher education in nursing at St. Joseph's School of Nursing and Arizona State University. During the Vietnam War, she answered her nation's call for service and enlisted in the Air Force Nurse Corp until 1971. Afterwards, she investigated medical fraud for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services until her retirement in 2003. Today, Capt. Brock-Perini has continued her career in service in a plethora of ways. She is a commissioner on the Phoenix Military Veterans Commission, the Vice President of the Veterans Medical Leadership Council, and a judge advocate for the American Legion. Additionally, she has worked with NPR and the Veterans History Project to share her unique story with generations to come.

From these accomplishments, it is clear that Rita Brock-Perini has dedicated her life to superior citizenship. I am privileged to represent her in congress. I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating her on her induction to the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame, and in thanking her for all she has done for her country and fellow veterans.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 590, had I been present, I would have voted, ``no.''

Mr. Speaker, October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

My first real job back in 1993 was at a domestic violence shelter. I was in college studying to become a social worker. During my time at the shelter, I helped women and children at our shelter escape the cycle of abuse. Some women came through our doors again and again before finally getting free.

That is why I worked hard to pass the Violence Against Women Act for these very families. Yet too often, women in our country escape their abusers for only a short time. Some abusers track down women and children in order to keep the cycle of abuse going.

VAWA helps these families stay safe from their abusers, like Jane, who lives in Phoenix with her three kids. Jane and her kids fled their home State and moved to Arizona to escape their abuser. He had been chasing Jane and the kids for years, following them from home to shelter to their next home. Jane couldn't get away from him. When she came to Arizona, Arizona's Address Confidentiality Program provided her with an alternative address to use legally instead of her real address. It prevented her abuser from finding her. Thanks to VAWA Jane is safe.

Mr. Speaker, I hope we will all double down to end domestic violence in this country.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask that my colleagues join me in honoring Mark E. Lopes for his nomination to the position of United States Executive Director of the Inter-American Development Bank. If confirmed, he will be one of 14 members on the board of executive directors and will represent the United States in all aspects of overseeing the conduct of the bank.

Mr. Lopes, an Arizona native, has a distinguished and varied career in public service that makes him eminently qualified to carry out this role. He served as a Peace Corp volunteer in Paraguay and then worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as a Presidential Management Fellow. He spent the next portion of his career as a staffer on the House Appropriations State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee, and as the Senior Policy Advisor on the Senate Foreign Relations Development and Foreign Assistance Subcommittee. He later returned to USAID, and has risen to the position of Deputy Assistant Administrator of the Latin American and Caribbean Bureau.

These accomplishments clearly demonstrate Mr. Lopes' passion, sacrifice, and dedication. He is the epitome of expertise in International Development and it is my privilege to represent him in Congress. I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Mark E. Lopes on this momentous career achievement.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask that my colleagues join me in congratulating Harold ``HB'' Branch III on receiving the inaugural Universal Learning Centre Courage in Learning Award. This honor is given to an individual who has overcome adversity through the utilization of education.

For Mr. Branch, this honor is well deserved. Overcoming childhood tragedy, abandonment, and poverty, he rose to receive national and international recognition for his written poetry and performance. He has also achieved notable success in public speaking and business training. Today, he serves at-risk youth of Arizona through his organization, HomeBase Poetry. This foundation gives youth a creative outlet to develop academically, socially, and professionally. I admire the efforts of Mr. Branch to help our youth grow and succeed. In doing so, he has helped lift up our communities and cultivate artistic talent.

Mr. Branch is a true inspiration and a model of excellence in service. It is my privilege to represent him in Congress. I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Harold ``HB'' Branch III on winning the 2013 Courage in Learning Award, and on the remarkable life achievements this award represents.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask that my colleagues join me in celebrating Professor Alberto Rios, Arizona's debut Poet Laureate. He will serve a two-year term in this venerable position. His duties include annual public readings and a major literary project aimed to educate the public about poetry.

The Arizona Commission of the Arts selected Professor Rios because of his remarkable credentials. For nearly 40 years, Mr. Rios has preserved the culture and history of our great state through writing and community outreach. He has achieved recognition on both a local and national level. In his three decades of teaching at Arizona State University, Mr. Rios attained the status of Regents Professor--the highest distinction for a faculty member. As my colleague, I applaud his work in helping to make ASU a preeminent institution for higher education. As a devotee of the arts, I thank him for everything he has done to promote and advance artistic expression. Through his life's work, Professor Rios has helped enrich communities throughout Arizona.

Professor Alberto Rios represents the best in arts, culture and service to the public. It is my privilege to represent him in Congress. I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Professor Alberto Rios on this exceptional honor and in wishing him the utmost success in his upcoming term as Poet Laureate of Arizona.

Mr. Speaker, a government shutdown is an abandonment of Congress' duty, and it's irresponsible. We must focus solely on creating a commonsense solution that ends this shutdown.

I believe Members of Congress need to talk to and listen to one another, even when we don't agree. I listen to my Republican colleagues and, while I don't agree with them all the time, I'm open to hearing their ideas because this country deserves a Congress that finds commonsense solutions.

I voted, over the past week, to keep the process moving forward, but the process and Washington are clearly broken. Nine months of cynical posturing has led to this shutdown, which is hurting hardworking Arizonans in my district.

Mr. Speaker, there is no more time for games or gimmicks. We have to find a reasonable, bipartisan solution. We cannot end this shutdown without House Democrats and Republicans voting together.

Let's get to work now.

Mr. Speaker, September is Suicide Prevention Month, a time for our Nation to raise awareness about the persistent scourge of suicide.

Tens of thousands of Americans die each year purposefully by their own actions. They are our neighbors and our friends, they are our sons and our daughters, and too often they are the men and women who have served our country honorably in the United States military. An estimated 22 veterans commit suicide every day in our country. That is one life lost every 65 minutes.

We have assembled today's Special Order to accomplish three things:

First, we seek to demonstrate our continuing support for the individuals, organizations, and agencies whose efforts in addressing this preventable epidemic continue in the face of difficulty.

Second, we are here to challenge the VA, the Department of Defense, and our fellow lawmakers to do more. The number of veteran deaths by suicide is increasing, despite current efforts. Clearly, what we are doing now isn't working. We are failing in our obligation to do right by those who have served so honorably.

And finally, we send a message to military families who have experienced this tragedy. To grieving families across America, know that your family's loss isn't forgotten. We are working to stop this epidemic and prevent future suicides. We work for the memory of your loved ones and for the prevention of future losses.

My colleagues here today believe, as I believe, that no one who comes home after serving our country should ever feel they have nowhere to turn. Sadly, many of our young vets feel just that.

Earlier this year, a young veteran in my district committed suicide. Daniel Somers was an Army veteran of two tours in Iraq. He served on Task Force Lightning, an intelligence unit. He ran over 400 combat missions as a machine gunner in the turret of a Humvee. Part of his role required him to interrogate dozens of terror suspects, and his work was deemed classified.

Like many veterans, Daniel was haunted by the war when he returned. He suffered from flashbacks, nightmares, depression, and additional symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, made worse by a traumatic brain injury. Daniel needed help. He and his family asked for help the best way they knew how.

Unfortunately, the VA enrolled Daniel in group therapy sessions instead of connecting him with a private counselor or therapist where he would be able to talk confidentially about his experiences. He attended the VA group sessions even though he knew--due to the classified nature of his work--that he could not fully share what gave him nightmares.

Like many, Daniel's isolation got worse when he transitioned home to civilian life. He tried to provide for his family, but he was unable to work due to his disability.

Daniel struggled with the VA bureaucracy. His disability appeal had been pending for over 2 years in the system without any resolution. Daniel didn't get the help he needed in time. On June 10 of 2013, Daniel wrote a letter to his family.

It begins:

I am sorry that it has come to this. The fact is, for as

long as I can remember, my motivation for getting up every

day has been so that you would not have to bury me. As things

have continued to get worse, it has become clear that this

alone is not a sufficient reason to carry on. The fact is, I

am not getting better; I am not going to get better; and I

will most certainly deteriorate further as time goes on. From

a logical standpoint, it is better to simply end things

quickly and let any repercussions from that play out in the

short term rather than to drag things out into the long term.

He goes on to say:

I am left with basically nothing. Too trapped in a war to

be at peace, too damaged to be at war, abandoned by those who

would take the easy route and a liability to those who stick

it out--and, thus, deserve better. So, you see, not only am I

better off dead, but the world is better without me in it.

This is what brought me to my actual final mission.

Daniel's parents, Howard and Jean, were devastated; but in the midst of their pain, they bravely shared Daniel's story and created a mission of their own. Their mission is to ensure that Daniel's story brings to light America's deadliest war--the 22 veterans that we lose every day to suicide.

I am grateful to Howard and Jean for their courage and their strength, but we cannot leave this great task to Howard and Jean alone. The rest of the country must stand and join Howard and Jean in their work to prevent suicide. Each of us can do something to raise awareness, to be that light for a struggling veteran in our communities. Businesses can display signs like this one to let veterans know that help is always available, and mental health professionals can volunteer with organizations like Give an Hour to provide free counseling to veterans and their families. We can all learn to recognize the signs of crisis by visiting veteranscrisisline.net and then reaching out to the vets in our lives.

Here in Congress, we, too, can do more. We need a VA that provides real and meaningful help to veterans in need. We who enjoy freedom every day, thanks to the sacrifices of our military servicemembers, must all step up to end the epidemic of veterans' suicide.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Michigan, Congressman Dan Benishek.

Thank you, Congressman Benishek. I appreciate your words very much.

Our next speaker who will join us this afternoon is my colleague from Florida, Congressman Patrick Murphy. I yield to him.

Thank you, Mr. Murphy.

I yield to another colleague from the great State of Florida, Mr. Ted Yoho.

Thank you, Mr. Yoho.

Next, I yield to the distinguished Congresswoman from Illinois, a proud veteran herself, Representative Tammy Duckworth.

Thank you, Representative Duckworth.

I yield to another fine colleague from the great State of Illinois, Representative Rodney Davis.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to my colleague from the great State of California, Susan Davis.

Thank you so much, Congresswoman Davis.

I yield to my colleague from Washington State, Congressman Jim McDermott.

Thank you, Congressman.

I yield to my distinguished colleague from California, Congressman Tony Cardenas.

Thank you, Representative Cardenas.

I now yield to my friend and colleague from southern Arizona, Congressman Ron Barber.

Thank you so much, Congressman Barber.

I now yield to my colleague from Nevada, Congresswoman Dina Titus.

Thank you so much, Congresswoman Titus.

I now yield to my colleague from Pennsylvania, Congressman Matthew Cartwright.

Thank you, Representative Cartwright.

I now yield to my colleague from New York (Mr. Owens).

Thank you so much, Congressman Owens.

I now yield to the gentlewoman from New Hampshire (Ms. Kuster).

Mr. Speaker, I yield to my colleague from Illinois (Mr. Enyart).

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