Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, the American people have begun to receive their recovery rebate checks. Families will use this assistance to deal with the rising cost of food, of gas, and for just hard times in general. So Congress did the right thing when we wrote those checks. But if we want to give our economy another boost, there is one check that we should not write, and that's the check we will soon be asked to write for the continued occupation of Iraq.

This occupation has already cost taxpayers over $1 trillion in direct and indirect costs. And Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, has calculated that the cost could soar, could, probably will soar to $3 trillion or more. Think what that money could do for our economy if we invested it wisely in job training, education, health care, child care, green technology, and so many other critically important domestic needs.

Some believe that the occupation of Iraq is more important than all of these other needs combined. They believe that the billions of dollars we're spending in Iraq are making things better. The President actually told us recently that normalcy is returning back to Iraq. But Iraq cannot be returning to normalcy when the fighting and dying continues without any letup.

Over 3,000 Iraqi civilians and 170 of our brave troops have been killed so far this year: 3,000; 170. Over 1,100 of our troops have been wounded. Mr. Speaker, does that sound like normalcy to anyone? It doesn't to me. I can't say it, actually.

Iraq cannot be returning to normalcy when over 5 million of its citizens remain refugees. That number equals more than 20 percent of the entire Iraqi population at the beginning of our invasion in the year 2003.

Iraq cannot be returning to normalcy when tens of thousands of armed military contractors roam its streets terrifying the people and accountable to no one.

Iraq can't be returning to normalcy when we're planning for a 50-year foreign occupation, and some voices, in fact, are even calling for a 100-year occupation.

And Iraq cannot be returning to normalcy when fear and destruction continue to grip its people. The International Herald Tribune described the Iraqi people's nightmare in an article published on April 23. It said, ``A simple decision to run an errand or choose an alternate route to work takes on life-altering consequences as the car bombs, stray bullets, rockets, and mortars claim those who merely happen by.''

So, Mr. Speaker, as the war carries into its 6th year, nearly every family is touched by the death of a member of a close friend.

Iraq can only become normal again when it gets its sovereignty back. It can only become normal when it has the chance to rebuild and heal in peace, and that can only happen when we responsibly redeploy our troops and then lead a regional and international effort to bring social, economic, and political reconciliation to that devastated country.

So when we review supplemental funding like we will tomorrow, let's insist on a bill that fully funds the safe withdrawal of our troops but does not include one more cent for an occupation that isn't making us or the Iraqi people any safer.

Mr. Speaker, recovery rebate checks are great, but blank checks for the occupation of Iraq must stop.

Madam Speaker, the civil war in Iraq has devastated the colleges and the universities in that country. It is estimated that thousands of students and professors have been forced to flee the violence, cutting short their studies and their academic careers.

A humanitarian organization called the Iraqi Student Project is trying to help. It's working with 15 American universities to identify quality Iraqi students and provide them with a tuition-free education here in the United States. The project, which was created by two Americans based in the Middle East, is modeled on the Bosnian Student Project of the 1990s, a project that brought approximately 150 Bosnian students to American colleges.

This Friday, Madam Speaker, I will have the honor of delivering the commencement address at the graduation ceremonies for Dominican University's graduate students. I'm proud to say that Dominican University in my district is one of the institutions working with the Iraqi Student Project. Dominican anticipates admitting two Iraqi students in September and waiving their tuition. Upon graduation, it is hoped that the students will return to Iraq to help that devastated country rebuild.

In the coming days, this House will have the chance to show that we, too, have the right priorities. We will be considering the 21st Century GI Bill. This is a bipartisan proposal that would provide a college education to our brave troops when they return from the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

After World War II, Madam Speaker, the GI Bill sent millions of veterans to college. Everyone agrees it was one of the best investments our country has ever made. It fueled the post-war economic boom, vastly expanded our country's middle class, and made good of our Nation's solemn promise to care for our veterans.

But today, the GI Bill covers just half of the average cost of a college education. The proposed legislation would provide coverage for the full costs of going to a public university, and it would help with the cost of attending private university.

The need for this bill is great. It will help make the transition back to civilian life easier for our veterans and for their families. Many of those who have already returned home are unemployed or underemployed. They need a college education to help them succeed in the workplace, and our Nation, we need them to succeed to keep our economy strong.

But surprise, surprise. The administration doesn't share this view. Secretary of Defense Gates has expressed opposition to expanding education benefits. He has said that it would cause retention problems in the military because it would encourage troops to leave the service. I believe, Madam Speaker, that our troops have already done quite enough to help the military achieve its retention goals. Many of our troops have served two, three, and four tours of duty, and the number of troops who have been forced to stay in the service involuntarily through the Pentagon's Stop-Loss policies is actually rising in spite of the Army's promise to cut the number.

Our troops have done all that we have asked of them. They've done it again and again and again. It is true that the occupation of Iraq has stretched our military to the breaking point, but the solution to the problem is to end the occupation, not to ask our brave troops to give up their futures and not to ask them to give up a chance to get a college education.

The 21st Century GI Bill is the right thing to do for our veterans and the smart thing to do for our country. It's a win-win, and it has strong bipartisan support, and it will leave no veteran behind.

Madam Speaker, on May 6, 2008, I was unavoidably detained and was not able to record my votes for rollcall No. 253 and No. 255.

Had I been present I would have voted: rollcall No. 253--``yes''-- Honoring the memory of Dith Pran by remembering his life's work and continuing to acknowledge and remember the victims of genocides that have taken place around the globe; rollcall No. 255--``no''--On Motion to Adjourn.

Madam Speaker, I rise today on the anniversary of the passage of H. Res. 376, a resolution recognizing the work of our Nation's classified school employees and their continuing contributions to education and to the students of our Nation.

By passing H. Res. 376, the House recognized the National Classified School Employee of the Year and urged the Department of Education, all States, State education agencies, local education agencies, community colleges, and members of the public to join in this observance. H. Res. 376 congratulated all classified school employees across the Nation for their ongoing contributions to education, and for the key role they play in promoting and ensuring student achievement, student safety, and well-being.

I look forward to working with the National Association of Classified School Employees and other education groups to continue to honor the important work of school classified employees.

Madam Speaker, it is with great sadness that I rise today to recognize the passing of one of our notable local officials and a pioneer in public service, former Santa Rosa Mayor Nanci Burton. Mayor Burton died of cancer last month, at the age of 65, leaving a legacy of goodwill and good works throughout the area.

Nanci was the second woman to serve on the Santa Rosa City Council when she won her first election in 1984. She was elected mayor in 1986 and again in 1991. She once said she entered public life at a time when women were asked such questions as, ``Sweetheart, do you really understand how a business operates?'' As the bookkeeper for her husband's business, she could answer with an honest and resounding, ``Yes.''

Nanci started her two decades of public service on the Santa Rosa planning commission and other boards. She believed that if you want change, you have to get involved.

``She was a fierce advocate for the city, the neighborhoods and all its citizens,'' said Dan Galvin, a friend who served on her first election campaign. ``She left her mark on projects and causes throughout the city.''

Nanci was not only effective, with an impressive resume of accomplishments, but she was fun. ``What many people will remember most about Burton,'' notes the Press Democrat editorial, ``was her spirited participation in the job at hand, her hometown pride, the joy she took in her children and grandchildren--and her infectious laugh, which livened many dull meetings.''

Madam Speaker, Nanci Burton was a treasure to the city of Santa Rosa and its surrounding areas. She will be greatly missed.

Madam Speaker, April 28, 2008, was Workers Memorial Day. The day is dedicated to remembering those who have lost their lives or have been injured as a result of unsafe health and safety conditions. However, it is also a day for us to recommit to the fight for safer working conditions for all who go to work every day.

On April 23, 2008, the Workforce Protections Subcommittee, which I chair, held a hearing on strengthening OSHA enforcement at companies with multistate facilities. Specifically, we examined the tragedies that have occurred at the Cintas industrial plants across the country and focused on the heartbreaking and preventable death of Eleazar Torres-Gomez, a 46-year-old washroom employee in Cintas's Tulsa, Oklahoma plant. His son, Emmanuel Torres, testified at the hearing about his father and his senseless death.

OSHA has fined Cintas $2.78 million for the tragedy in Tulsa, the largest OSHA fine ever assessed in the service sector. And Cintas has also been cited by OSHA for hazards at a handful of their other facilities in Columbus, Ohio, Central Islip, New York, and Mobile, Alabama.

However, as Randy Rabinowitz, one of our witnesses, testified, OSHA fails to address these hazards on a ``company-wide'' basis. In addition, she said that: ``these large companies have the organizational resources to make health and safety improvements.'' Sadly, many companies choose not to make such improvements.

What we discovered at the hearing is that Cintas as a company has failed to address deadly hazards that it was aware of, and OSHA has failed to adequately enforce safe working conditions beyond the facility level until after a terrible tragedy occurs.

The subcommittee will be following up our hearing with actions to ensure that no other families have to go through what the Torres-Gomez family did. We must end these tragic and preventable accidents.

Madam Speaker, we have been waiting for this day for over a decade. Finally we are here, and we are about to pass H.R. 493, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act that we called GINA which was first introduced by Representative Slaughter in 1995 and which was approved by the Senate last week.

It has been a long road, but the main sponsors of the legislation, Representative Slaughter and Representative Biggert have persevered, and I congratulate them both.

I am proud to be an original cosponsor of GINA which will prohibit employers from using genetic information to discriminate against workers, and will also prohibit health insurers from using such information to raise premiums or to deny coverage.

We know that many States, including my home State of California, prohibits employers and health insurers from discriminating on the basis of genetic information, and that is good, but these laws vary widely.

So it is important for the Federal Government, as it has with title VII and the Americans with Disabilities Act, ADA, to step forward to establish a national policy, making it clear that discriminating against workers and others based on genetic information is unacceptable.

Madam Speaker, this bill also contains the provisions of H.R. 2637, the Child Labor Protection Act of 2007. It was a bill I introduced last year that passed the House in June of 2007.

The provisions in H.R. 2637 will increase civil penalties from $11,000 to $50,000 for violations that cause the death or serious injury of a child worker, as if there is any penalty high enough to make up for a child.

The legislation, though, provides that a penalty can be doubled when the violation causing death or injury is repeated or willful. The child labor bill was a narrowly drafted bipartisan effort. It is a good foundation for future action on child labor laws.

So I am delighted that part of GINA includes my legislation, legislation that can be used to offset the costs of GINA.

We are living, Madam Speaker, in an exciting age. We have just begun to tap the potential of genetic testing. This bill adds the protection that is needed so this research can go forward and be used wisely.

Mr. Speaker, today marks a tragic anniversary. Five years ago President Bush delivered his infamous ``Mission Accomplished'' speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.

Across this country, Americans are holding rallies and vigils to mark this occasion. And members of the International Longshoremen and Warehouse Unions are giving up a day's pay and they are marching in the streets to show their opposition to the failed policies of the Bush administration and of the cost of those policies.

We all remember that the President put on a green flight suit and white helmet and arrived in the copilot seat of a Navy Viking jet. Then he stood at a podium beneath a big ``Mission Accomplished'' banner and he spoke.

He said the search for weapons of mass destruction had already begun, and he declared that ``major combat operations in Iraq have ended.''

Obviously, the American people didn't get the real facts that day, Mr. Speaker. So here's what should have been said. He should have said: ``My fellow Americans, our soldiers have performed with great skill and courage. But, frankly, the administration doesn't have a clue what to do next.''

It didn't have a plan for the occupation. It didn't have an exit strategy. And the people who actually understand the history and culture of Iraq were warning us that there were going to be insurgencies and civil war. He should have said: ``Major combat operations have not ended--they have just begun.''

Today I joined with my Out-of-Iraq Caucus colleagues, Maxine Waters and Barbara Lee, to send a Dear Colleague Letter that describes the terrible human cost of the bungling in Iraq. It shows that over 96 percent of all American deaths in Iraq and over 98 percent of all casualties have taken place since the ``Mission Accomplished'' speech.

But you don't have to look, Mr. Speaker, at the cumulative devastation of the past 5 years to know that the occupation is a disaster. Just look at what happened in April, April of 2008, last month: Fifty American soldiers died, the highest number in 7 months. Thousands of innocent civilians were killed or injured in the bloody battle at Sadr City which continues to rage. The Pentagon was forced to extend the ``stop-loss'' policy because our military is stretched to its limits.

And as the administration acknowledged that al Qaeda is growing stronger in its safe havens in Pakistan, the drumbeat for war against Iran grew louder.

Here at home, the occupation continues to be a factor in driving gas prices higher. The Iraq recession continues in full swing. And every week, billions of dollars continue to be spent on military operations in Iraq that are desperately needed for domestic programs right here.

Sheer incompetence has surely been one reason for this. But the most important reason for our failure in Iraq is the fatally flawed national security policy. It has been a policy marked by arrogance, by the belief that America can go it alone and has the right to strike anywhere and anytime it pleases. And by the idea that military power alone can assure our security.

I hope we will use this ``Mission Accomplished'' anniversary date in a positive way so we can learn the lessons of the past 5 years and dedicate ourselves to a new foreign policy that will serve us much better. This new policy must be based on diplomacy; international cooperation; the rule of law; rejection of the doctrine of preemption and the use of torture; and, a commitment to helping other nations of the world to build a better life for their citizens.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, on this ``Mission Accomplished'' day, we must ask ourselves: What is America's mission? The American people believe that our mission is to stand up for the values of democracy, for human rights, and for peace. Those are the values that the dock workers are standing up for today. Those are the values that have been ignored and predictably resulted in disastrous results.

This past Monday was Workers Memorial Day. Workers Memorial Day is the day when we remember those who have lost their lives or have been injured as a result of unsafe health and safety conditions in the workplace. On Workers Memorial Day we also recommit to the fight for safe working conditions for every single worker in America.

So, Madam Chairwoman, it's fitting that today we are considering H.R. 5522, the Worker Protection Against Combustible Dust Explosions and Fires Act, which was introduced by Chairman Miller and Representative Barrow, a bill that requires OSHA to develop a standard for combustible dust. I am proud to be a cosponsor of that bill, and I want to commend Chairman Miller and Representative Barrow because they introduced it.

Like other Members of Congress, I was absolutely shocked and saddened by the combustible dust explosion at the Imperial Sugar Company in Port Wentworth, Georgia, which resulted in 13 deaths and 60 injuries. My heart goes out to the families of those who died, and my hopes and prayers, all of our hopes and prayers are with those workers who were seriously injured. The survivors have a tough road ahead of them.

Unfortunately, Madam Chairwoman, this explosion, like so many other workplace incidents that have occurred lately, could have been prevented. That is the most important part of it. It didn't need to happen. Lives were senselessly lost, and more workers remain in critical condition.

That is why immediately after the explosion, Chairman Miller and I sent a letter to OSHA demanding that the agency begin work on a standard for combustible dust. Such a standard was recommended not last year, but longer than that ago, a year and a half ago, at least, by the Chemical Safety Board. That is an independent Federal agency charged with investigating chemical accidents. But OSHA has failed to act on this recommendation, and unfortunately, but not surprisingly, OSHA has failed to respond to our letter in a timely manner.

So that is why we in Congress need to act, and we need to act now. We must act just as we did when we passed H.R. 2693, the Popcorn Lung Disease Prevention Act. That was legislation that requires OSHA to issue an emergency temporary standard to regulate workers' exposure to diacetyl, a chemical used in butter flavoring for microwave popcorn and other food products, a chemical that was killing and injuring workers.

I wish that we could trust OSHA under this administration to do the job that was laid out for them. But we cannot. So that is why I urge my colleagues to pass H.R. 5522. Take care of our workers.

Mr. Speaker, today I joined Representatives Maxine Waters, Barbara Lee, and Alcee Hastings in hosting a remarkable photo exhibit reception focusing on the appalling refugee situation resulting from the occupation of Iraq.

Renowned photographer, Gabriela Bulisova, traveled to Syria to document the plight of the millions of

Iraqis who have been forced from their homes and from their homelands. The photos show the tragic human side of the international refugee crisis, and in the faces of the children, you see confusion and fear. How do you explain to a child why he must leave his home, her friends, his school? How do you explain where her father is, or why his neighborhood is riddled with concrete and burned-out hulls of cars?

Nearly 5 million Iraqis have become refugees because of the occupation and civil war ravaging their nation. International relief organizations believe that 2 million of those 5 million refugees have fled their own nations and have sought safe haven in surrounding countries including Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.

The photos in the exhibit were taken in Damascus. They are a glimpse into the lives of the all-too-often nameless and faceless. How can we even think about what it means to have 5 million people without a permanent home? It would be the same as if the entire population of the State of Kentucky or Colorado or Minnesota was suddenly evacuated from its State. No homes, no jobs. A detachment from everything we take for granted: income, schooling, access to financial savings, being close to one's family doctor. Some people even lose the very land upon which their homes are built.

The United States State Department made a commitment to assist in the voluntary resettlement, but despite a promise to take in 7,000 refugees in fiscal year 2007, only 1,600 were admitted into our country. In the last 6 months, State has only permitted an average of 400 people a month. At this pace, we're going to miss the target by a huge amount again.

We owe the Iraqi people more, Mr. Speaker. Certainly more than broken promises and despair. We cannot solely rely on the good graces of Iraq's neighbors or the assistance of the United Nations. This is a problem that we started, and it is our moral obligation to help resolve it.

The U.S., the United States of America, must end the occupation of Iraq and focus on the real needs of the Iraqi people. If we took even a fraction of what we are paying to occupy a nation in the middle of a civil war and put it towards the refugee crisis, we could change millions of lives and offer real hope for their future.

Next week or the week after, the House may consider the Iraq spending bill. Instead of extending the administration's occupation of Iraq, let's reaffirm our commitment to the Iraqi people through humanitarian assistance. Let's bring our troops and military contractors home, and let's help Iraq begin to heal.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on House Resolution 1073 and House Resolution 49.

Madam Speaker, I rise to announce that Representative Chris Shays of Connecticut and I have introduced an important bipartisan bill in the House today that can help bring desperately needed reconciliation to the people of Iraq. The bill is called the International Partnership for Reconciliation in Iraq. By the standards of the Federal Government, it is a tiny outfit. But few government agencies have delivered more bang for their buck or done so much with so few people.

The USIP Institute has an impressive track record of conflict management and peace building in the Balkans, the Philippines, Nigeria, the Sudan, Rwanda and other parts of the world, including Iraq.

This bill is vitally important, because, as Ambassador Ryan Crocker has said, ``reconciliation is perhaps the most critical challenge that Iraq faces right now.'' Our bill would encourage reconciliation by supporting the work of a remarkable but unheralded organization called the United States Institute of Peace.

The Institute was established by Congress 24 years ago today. It has 142 employees and a budget of $32 million. It has been successful because it is unique. There is no other organization like it. It is a center and a clearinghouse for best practices in preventing and dealing with conflict. Its staff includes many of the world's top experts in conflict resolution and peacebuilding. These incredibly dedicated experts travel to some of the world's most violent places to facilitate reconciliation efforts on the ground.

And the Institute is impartial, it is nonideological. Its only axe to grind is peace. That is why USIP has gained the respect and trust in all sides in conflict. In fact, you can say the Institute is one of the world's top brand names when it comes to making peace.

In Iraq, the Institute has been working to inspire reconciliation at the regional, at the national, and at the community levels. It has been particularly effective in the city of Mahmoudiya, which has been called the Triangle of Death. There, it has worked to bring Sunni and Shiite factions together. Its work has been so effective that the U.S. Army's provincial reconstruction teams have asked the Institute to help with reconciliation efforts in other parts of Iraq. Not bad for an organization whose annual budget is less than what we spend in Iraq every 3 hours.

There is an excellent article on the Institute's work, Madam Speaker, in the current issue of the National Journal, and I urge all my colleagues to read it.

The bill that Representative Shays and I introduced today would provide assistance to the Institute to do the

following in Iraq: Prevent violent conflict, promote post-conflict stability and development, increase conflict management capacity, promote tolerance and forgiveness, and facilitate regional dialogue.

We believe that the Institute's work will also encourage nations from outside the region to get involved. Reconciliation in Iraq has become something like the weather: Everyone here in Washington talks about it, but no one can really do anything about it. We just sort of sit around and wait for the Iraqi government to meet their reconciliation benchmarks. Then, when they don't, we make speeches.

This bill is an opportunity to do something about reconciliation by supporting an organization that knows how to get the job done. And this bill we can all get behind, because no matter where we stand on the Iraq issue we all support reconciliation.

I am proud to join with Representative Shays in asking all of our colleagues in the House on both sides of the aisle to cosponsor this critically important bipartisan bill.

Mr. Speaker, China is facing growing criticism for its record on human rights. It has been condemned for its recent crackdown on Tibet, its oppression of dissidents at home, and its support for the regime in Sudan that is responsible for the genocide in Darfur.

Russia is another country that has received justifiable criticism for cracking down on freedom. President Putin has rolled back many of the democratic gains Russia made after the Cold War. And the recent elections in Russia were a sham, clearly rigged to favor Putin's candidate.

Because of all of this, you would think that the people of the world would have a much higher opinion of the United States, the world's greatest democracy, than they would have of anti-democratic China and Russia. But that just isn't the case. Incredibly, according to the most recent annual survey of international attitudes, America is viewed more negatively around the world than China and Russia.

The Study of World Opinion was conducted by the BBC World Survey. According to the BBC, America's image abroad plummeted after our invasion of Iraq in the year 2003, and continued to decline in the following years.

The latest survey, which was released on April 1, however, has shown some good news. America's image is a little better than it was last year. But it is not because the world has suddenly changed its opinion about the Bush administration and its policies in Iraq.

The director of the survey was quoted as saying, ``It may be that, as

the U.S. approaches a new presidential election, views of the U.S. are being mitigated by hope that a new administration will move away from foreign policies that have been so unpopular in the world.''

Mr. Speaker, what the world thinks of America matters. And it is not just because we want to win popularity contests. It is far more serious than that. Our ability to lead the world is badly damaged when our reputation is in tatters. We cannot lead the world in the fight against terrorism when so many people in the world, even our best friends, believe that we are a threat to peace ourselves. We cannot lead the world in the fight against the many other global problems, including poverty, disease, climate change, and the lack of educational opportunity when we have lost our moral authority and credibility.

When you go to war under false pretenses, devastate a nation that never attacked you, and condone torture, you don't make America stronger, you make America weaker, because you undermine values that are the real source of our strength. America's great values are democracy, the rule of law, peace, and compassion for the people of the world. Our occupation of Iraq has trampled on all of these values. The veto of Congress' effort to outlaw waterboarding is just the latest example of what I am talking about.

And what was gained by trashing our values? Nothing. A report written by the National Defense University, the Pentagon's premier military educational institute, called our occupation of Iraq a major debacle.

Mr. Speaker, 92 Members of the House have written to the President to tell him that we will fully fund the responsible redeployment of our troops out of Iraq, but we will not approve another penny to support the disastrous policy of open-ended occupation.

After more than 5 years of occupation, it is time for us to redeem America's reputation, restore our values, rebuild Iraq, and lead the world in the fight for peace once again.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5613, the Protecting the Medicaid Safety Net Act. This important bill would place a moratorium on seven harmful medicaid regulations. Medicaid provides valuable services to some of our nation's neediest children and families and these regulations would severely impact state budgets and ability to continue to offer the same level of services. If these regulations are implemented, California could lose up to $12.5 billion in Federal Medicaid funds over the next 5 years. In a growing recession, this is the last thing we should be doing. Instead, we should be helping states help those who need access to the medicaid services.

To succeed, every child needs access to the best opportunities. A quality education can help these children succeed, but too many children come to school with other issues that need to be addressed: They haven't had breakfast or a meal since the before the weekend, they have been sick and need medication but lack health insurance, or they need some kind of additional help and therapy because of disabilities. These children depend upon the coordination of the state and schools to connect children to these services.

A school nurse can help connect a student and his or her family to Medicaid services and help him or her through the enrollment process to ensure that the student can receive asthma medication, eyeglasses, preventative care, or emergency healthcare to come to school and focus on learning. One of these regulations would cease the Federal Government's reimbursement to States for this service. Less outreach will mean fewer children will receive Medicaid services. As we move deeper into an economic recession, more families may lose jobs and health insurance. More children will need access to Medicaid, not less. Schools are a great place to find these children and walk their families through the process to enroll in Medicaid to ensure no child will go without important medical care.

Under the Individuals With Disability Act (IDEA), schools are required to provide specialized services to students with disabilities, such as speech and physical therapy. The schools have been allowed to be reimbursed by Medicaid for the cost in transporting the students to these various services. One of the new regulations would eliminate this reimbursement. This would be a terrible burden upon these schools that are already short on funds. We need to help schools get students the education and services they need, not make it more difficult for schools to help these students.

These are just two of the seven Medicaid regulations that will do more harm than good and two examples of why we need to pass H.R. 5613 and place a moratorium on these regulations for the time being. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5613.

Mr. Speaker, those who support our occupation of Iraq often justify it by saying that there will be a terrible humanitarian crisis if our troops leave. They must have missed the memo about the humanitarian crisis that already exists in Iraq. And they must be blind to the humanitarian crisis that goes on every day right here in America because of the occupation.

Last week, the Rand Corporation issued a shocking report which measured the crisis at home. The report found that 300,000 troops who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression; that's about 20 percent of all the troops who have been deployed. The numbers are truly staggering, but when you add all the family members who are affected, you realize that we will never be able to calculate the full human toll of the Iraq invasion.

Mr. Speaker, the study was the first complete analysis of PTSD and depression problems. It should have been conducted by our government, our government, which, by the way, has the greatest responsibility for the care of our veterans, but it wasn't. It was conducted by the Rand Corporation, a private, nonprofit organization. The codirector of the report said one of the reasons that RAND did the study was because the Pentagon didn't, and they wanted to have the numbers. It is outrageous that our own Department of Defense didn't know how many of our veterans were suffering from PTSD and from major depression. How did our government expect to address this health crises if it didn't know the full extent of it?

This is another example, Mr. Speaker, of the administration failing our troops. But it's hardly the only example. Over 125,000 veterans of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan are on disability for hearing loss and other hearing problems. One of the chief reasons is the Pentagon's failure to fully anticipate the problem of road-side bombs. The blasts from these bombs cause violent changes in air pressure that can rupture the eardrum and break bones inside the ear.

And most tragically, we are learning that the government may be trying to cover up the problem of suicide among veterans. In a trial that opened yesterday, two organizations are suing the Department of Veterans Affairs for failing to provide adequate care to prevent suicides among veterans. An e-mail written by the head of the Mental Health Services for the VA was shown at that very trial. The e-mail referred to approximately 1,000 veterans under the VA's care who attempt suicide every month. And the memo said, ``Shhhh! Is this something we should carefully address ourselves in some order of press release before someone stumbles on it?'' This is incredible. The Veterans Administration is trying to figure out whether to hide the truth from the American people about the extent of the suicide problem among our veterans. What a disgrace.

Mr. Speaker, we have a solemn duty to care for our veterans, to honor them for their sacrifice, and the best way to honor those who have been injured is to make certain that more aren't injured. That means we must responsibly redeploy our troops out of Iraq. And it means we must get on with the task of helping the people of Iraq to rebuild their lives and their country, and healing the wounds of our veterans right here at home. The administration will not do it. It is up to Congress to do it.

We owe it to our veterans, to the American people, to the Iraqi people. And Mr. Speaker, we owe it to ourselves.