Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of Israel's right to defend its citizens from the terrorism and extremism of Hamas.

Our government has a responsibility to stand in solidarity with Israel as it endures a difficult moment in its history.

Imagine if an American town or city was hit by a barrage of rocket and mortar attacks? How would we respond? How would we react?

Just as America would not tolerate violence against its people, Israel should not have stand idly by and watch while rockets rain down on its citizens.

Israel has correctly taken steps that will ensure that terrorism against its nation will be punished with the hope that one day its nation can live in peace.

Fifteen Israelis have lost their lives since the beginning of Hamas's rocket and mortar attacks in late December.

While I deplore the cowardly attacks from Hamas against the Israeli people, I am aware of the suffering of Palestinian people living in the Gaza Strip.

Since the conflict began, hundreds of Palestinians civilians have lost their lives.

But make no mistake about it, this conflict was created by Hamas's unwavering commitment to violence against both Israelis and Palestinians.

Since coming to power in 2006, Hamas has done nothing but terrorize Israelis and intimidate the Palestinian people with its iron-fist militancy.

This terrorist organization openly recruits suicide bombers to launch attacks in Israel but in Arab nations as well.

Just last week, a female suicide bomber killed over 100 innocent Iraqi Muslims without causing the slightest outcry from Hamas.

In Gaza, where Hamas has ruled for several years, Palestinians are without decent schools, affordable healthcare and any semblance of a bright economic future.

This is because Hamas's mission is not to lift up Palestinians, it is to inflame passions and stir hatred against the State of Israel.

Hamas represents a great threat to international peace and to the stability of Israel and will continue to do so as long as it remains a significant force in the Middle East.

For too long Hamas has terrorized both Israelis and Palestinians alike. It falsely believes that it can use terrorism and intimidation to bully Israelis to the bargaining table.

Today, Madam Speaker, I join my colleague Congressman Langevin in this tribute to Senator Pell, the great statesman from Rhode Island. His name is well-known throughout this country, associated most notably with the Pell Grant, the grant that allows millions of young people in this country opportunity to get a higher education.

But Madam Speaker, we wanted to pay tribute to Senator Pell not only for what he did to open the doors for millions in this country for economic and educational opportunity, we wanted to pay tribute to him for all that he's done as a five-term Senator from Rhode Island and one of the most distinguished Senators ever to serve not only Rhode Island but this country.

He was the author of the Humanities Act, National Endowment for the Humanities, which allows the arts to be accessible to the average person as well.

He was really the founder and the person who really began the belief that we ought to work cooperatively around the world in terms of foreign policy. As the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, he was the one who led in diplomacy.

And my friends, he was far ahead of his time as an environmentalist as well.

Madam Speaker, we could talk about his policies and what they meant to our country, but to know him as a person is to really say the most about Senator Pell. He was the most self-effacing, genteel, kind- hearted man that you could ever know. And in a world of rough-and- tumble politics, it's hard to find a genuine person such as that. And for that reason, on a personal level I was honored to know him and serve with him and today join my colleague, Jim Langevin, in paying tribute to him.

Senator Pell left an extraordinary legacy that is appreciated by so many people around the world.

He spent his life in service to our country from his start in 1960 as a U.S. Senator from Rhode Island to his retirement in 1997, and in the years beyond in which he remained active in our State.

Our Nation has lost one of its most visionary and thoughtful legislative leaders, and his hallmark, the Pell Grant, exemplifies his efforts to promote education and opportunity for all Americans. So many families, though they may not know his name, were touched by the work and generous spirit of Senator Pell.

There are so many areas in which he led our country to the forefront such as oceanography, foreign policy, and college tuition assistance. His commitment to public service and his notable contributions to Rhode Island and our Nation continue to inspire people of all generations.

The magnitude and depth of his accomplishments may never be known because he let others take the credit and acclaim. His style was understated yet magnanimous and his work ushered in many essential policies that have shaped our world today.

Earlier this week, President Clinton, Vice President-elect Biden, Senator Kennedy, Senator Reed and many of his other friends from around the globe paid tribute to his work and celebrated his life.

He will be truly missed and my sympathies and prayers are with his family. He leaves behind his wife of 64 years, wonderful Nuala O'Donnell Pell; his son, Christopher T.H. Pell, of Newport; a daughter, Dallas Pell, of New York City; as well as five grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

But those of us who will miss him extends much farther. It is our country's sorrow to lose such a giant of the Senate and the Nation.

And with that, I would like to yield the floor to my colleague and friend from the Second Congressional District, Congressman Langevin.

Madam Speaker, recognizing the end of insurance discrimination towards the mentally ill and praising my colleague Jim Ramstad and Dave Wellstone, whose father is looking down on us today in praise of his son for all the hard work he did to see this day come to pass, I urge passage of this legislation.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1424, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.

While I do support the rescue package and commend Chairman Barney Frank for his work producing this legislation, I rise today to speak about the mental health parity bill which is included in this package.

For those of us in Congress who have been fighting to bring greater fairness and equity to our insurance laws, today is the culmination of a long struggle.

When we send this package to the President, we will be providing 113 million Americans the peace of mind that comes with knowing that your health insurance will be there when you need it--regardless of your diagnosis.

For far too long, health insurance companies have used the stigma of mental illness and substance abuse as an excuse to deny coverage for those biological disorders.

That ends today. The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 will finally outlaw the discrimination that is embedded in our laws and our policies.

The passage of this legislation is one more step in the long civil rights struggle to ensure that all Americans have the chance to reach their full potential.

There are too many people to thank individually, so I would like to focus on two.

For as long as I have been in Congress, Jim Ramstad has been a champion for those with mental illness and substance abuse disorders. His advocacy on this issue has been inspiring to millions of Americans, and to me personally.

He is a role model for me, both personally and professionally. This Congress could use far more members like Jim Ramstad, on both sides of the aisle. This body will miss him terribly when he retires at the end of this Congress.

The other person I would like to recognize is Dave Wellstone. As most everyone here knows, Senator Paul Wellstone was the original champion of mental health parity in the Senate.

When he passed away, many of us thought that the momentum he had created for this bill would go with him. But his son Dave picked up the torch and has carried it tirelessly to get us to this point.

Dave, I know your father is watching us today, and I cannot imagine the pride he must feel. Congratulations.

In closing, this legislation strikes a blow against the stigma and discrimination faced by those with mental illness. I urge all of my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, while Wall street teeters on the edge of collapse families have been in free-fall for months. As a nation, our economy is in trouble.

For the people of Rhode Island, who currently face 8.5 percent unemployment, this crisis demands immediate action. Over the past year, unemployment in the state has risen by three and a half percent.

Mr. Speaker, the economic recovery package before us today will help stem the slide of our economy into a deep recession while simultaneously making important investments in our future. My constituents in Rhode Island cannot afford another day without this critical legislation.

This bill will help get more Americans back to work right away by investing in our crumbling bridges and highways.

This bill will help local transit agencies, like those in my state, which currently face cost overruns and drastic reductions in service because of aging fleets and escalating gas prices.

This bill will make essential investments in our schools by providing funding to repair dilapidated buildings and make energy-saving renovations up front, so that less of our future education budget literally goes up in smoke.

Mr. Speaker, this legislation makes a number of other important investments, but I would like to call my colleagues attention to the help it offers to the most vulnerable among us. For Rhode Islanders and those across this country who are out of work, this bill extends unemployment benefits to keep families in their houses and to keep food on their tables.

Certainly, these are trying economic times for our country which require fundamental change. This legislation represents an important step toward policies which couple sound investment with true compassion.

For all American families struggling in these trying times, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6983, the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.

I would like to acknowledge the hard work of Chairmen Dingell, Rangel and Miller, as well as subcommittee Chairmen Stark, Pallone and Andrews, without whose unflagging commitment to this bill we would not be so close to sending it to the President's desk.

I would also like to thank Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and our majority leader, Steny Hoyer, and the whole Democratic leadership for their consistent support in making this bill a top priority.

I most would like to thank my good friend, Jim Ramstad. Jim is leaving this year, and there will be no greater testament to his devotion to those with mental illness and substance abuse disorders than to see this bill signed into law by President Bush this year.

Mr. Speaker, I have a letter in support of this bill from former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, who has been such a champion for this issue, and I will insert it into the Record.

Statement for the Record in Support of the Passage of The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 by Mrs. Rosalynn Carter, Former First Lady of the United States, Chairwoman, Carter Center's Mental Health Task Force, Atlanta,

Georgia

I am pleased to have the opportunity to express my strong

support for the passage of a critical health issue facing

millions of Americans: parity for the treatment of mental

illnesses and substance use disorders.

I have been working on mental health issues for more than

35 years. When I began no one understood the brain or how to

treat mental illnesses. Today everything has changed--except

stigma, of course, which holds back progress in the field.

Because of research and our new knowledge of the brain,

mental illnesses now can be diagnosed and treated

effectively, and the overwhelming majority of those affected

can lead normal lives--being contributing citizens in our

communities.

I join many individuals and hundreds of national

organizations calling for an end to the fundamental,

stigmatizing inequity of providing far more limited insurance

coverage for mental health care than for treatment of any

other illnesses. Again, I join

forces with my friend Betty Ford in urging action on this

important issue.

Jimmy and I founded The Carter Center 25 years ago, and I

have a very good mental health program there. Annually we

bring together leaders to take action on major mental health

issues of concern to the nation. We have focused many times

on stigma and discrimination and the importance of insuring

adequate, equitable coverage for people with mental

illnesses.

To me, it is unconscionable in our country and morally

unacceptable to treat 20 percent of our population (1 in

every 5 people in our country will experience a mental

illness this year) as though they were not worthy of care. We

preach human rights and civil rights and yet we let people

suffer because of an illness they didn't ask for and for

which there is sound treatment. Then we pay the price for

this folly in homelessness, lives lost, families torn apart,

loss of productivity, and the costs of treatment in our

prisons and jails.

I have always believed that if insurance covered mental

illnesses, it would be all right to have them. This may be

why the stigma has remained so pervasive--because these

illnesses are treated differently from other health

conditions.

All mental illnesses are potentially devastating. But today

living a life in recovery from a mental illness is not only

possible, but expected. We had an intern at The Carter Center

this spring, for example, who has obsessive compulsive

disorder and depression. While she was in high school, she

once spent two solid weeks in her house, unable to leave or

be with her friends. I am happy to say that she received

treatment, is a college graduate with Phi Beta Kappa honors,

and just got a job in Washington, DC. Without resources and

support, she could still be sick and shut in her home, which

is what happens to so many who do not get the help they need

because of lack of the ability to pay for services. We as a

country lose all the many contributions of these wonderful

people.

I have the pleasure of being friends with Tom Johnson, the

former publisher of the Los Angeles Times and former CEO of

CNN and a person who has struggled with depression. He has

been interested in the mental health benefits offered by

employers in Atlanta. He and two other prominent CEOs in the

Atlanta community--all of whom have suffered from severe

depression and are now great leaders--have had an enormous

impact on businesses in the area.

Through the research of people like Howard Goldman and

Richard Frank, we know that parity in insurance benefits for

behavioral health care has no significant increase in total

costs when coupled with management of care. We also know that

a number of enlightened companies such as AT&T, Delta Air

Lines, Eastman Kodak, General Motors, and IBM have provided

comprehensive coverage for their employees. (Report to the

Office of Personnel Management, by Washington Business Group

on Health)

Since the mental health commission we held during Jimmy's

presidency, there have been several major reports released

including the first Surgeon General's Report on Mental

Health, President Bush's New Freedom Commission on Mental

Health, and the Institute of Medicine included mental and

substance use conditions in its series of reports on the

quality of American health care. All of the reports reinforce

the statement that effective treatments are available, but

most people who need them do not get them.

The whole nation has learned a lot about the importance of

mental health issues through the events of Hurricane Katrina

and the needs of our returning soldiers and National Guard

troops. We support our troops in the field, and it is

critical that we continue to support them when they come

home.

Finally, I would like to comment on the number of states

that have moved ahead with parity. These have been long-

fought battles with some states managing wonderful successes.

It is so important that stronger state parity laws continue

to improve the lives of people with mental illness and

addiction. It is also critically important that plans not

override the intent of this legislation by discriminating

against those with certain diagnoses of mental illness and

addiction in their coverage. I am glad to see that this

legislation includes efforts to keep a close watch on this

issue. The intent of this law is fairness, not

discrimination.

After waiting for 15 years, we finally have mental health

and addiction parity legislation in sight. If this

legislation is passed, many of our citizens will be

healthier, and our nation will be stronger, more resilient,

and more productive.

On behalf of the millions of people affected by mental

illnesses, I applaud your efforts to pass the mental health

and addiction parity legislation. I know the work has been

hard, but the benefits to our nation will be enormous.

We are bringing to the floor today a bill that is fully paid for, bipartisan, bicameral and a compromise, a mental health parity bill that has long been coming to this floor. It is the result of extensive negotiations between the House, the Senate, and is supported by the chairmen of the relevant House committees and subcommittees, as well as Senators Kennedy, Enzi and Domenici.

We cannot afford one more day without parity, because each day five United States soldiers take their lives because of suicide. We cannot afford one more day without parity because each year $1.3 billion is lost because of those workdays due to mental disorders, more than arthritis, stroke, heart attack and cancer combined.

The World Health Organization in this chart shows you. It's hard for anyone to really understand until you see it in this chart.

If you look at the comparison in illnesses by lost days, burden of illness, mental illness is amongst the worst; sure, cancer; sure, arthritis; sure, heart disease, but these are illnesses that capture people usually at the end of life. Mental illnesses, addictive disorders, really paralyze people from their beginning of life throughout their life. That's why it's such a burden of illness in our society.

It catches us in the Justice Department. Drug-related crime in our country costs us $107 billion a year. We cannot afford not to have parity because 80 percent of our trauma admissions in our emergency rooms are alcohol and drug related. We cannot afford not to have parity, because by denying an individual's treatment to their diseases, we are denying them the opportunity to live out their full potential and live a full and fulfilling life.

Treatment works, as my good friend from Minnesota has said. It has worked for those who have had the opportunity to seek it.

If you are a Member of Congress, you have treatment opportunities. Like my friend from Minnesota said, he has had it; I have had it. Recovery is possible.

We need to end the stigma against those with mental illness, but it isn't going to happen until we first outlaw, outlaw, the embedded discrimination in our laws. That is what we are about to do today by passing this legislation. We simply cannot afford to wait one more day.

In fact, just today the Administration released a Statement of Administration Policy concerning an identical policy provision in the Senate tax extenders bill which reads, ``the Administration supports passage of mental health parity legislation included in the Senate amendments to H.R. 6049 that eliminates disparities between mental health benefits and medical and surgical benefits without significantly increasing health coverage costs.'' The mental health parity legislation that statement refers to is identical to the bill we are considering on the floor today.

In March, we passed H.R. 1424, the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act. At that time, some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle expressed a preference for the Senate mental health parity bill. I would urge those members to join with us now to pass this compromise bill.

Mr. Speaker, it is past time that we enact mental health parity into law.

Enacting mental health parity will affect nearly every individual in this country who has watched a friend or family member struggle with mental illness or addiction, or who has battled the disease themselves.

The bill we are passing today is one more step in the long struggle to ensure that all Americans have a chance to realize their dreams.

I ask all of my colleagues to join me in putting an end to the discrimination against mental illness. I urge a yes vote for H.R. 6983.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to express my sympathies to a wonderful Rhode Island family who has lost a devoted loved one: Captain Phil Ruhle of North Kingstown, Rhode Island.

Captain Ruhle was a life-long professional fisherman and the captain of the Sea Breeze that capsized off the coast of New Jersey last Wednesday night. He was the center of 5 generations of fishermen, including his grandfather, his father, his brother, his son, and grandson.

In recent years, Captain Ruhle took an active role in work to improve industry conditions for fishermen. He was even awarded NOAA's Environmental Hero Award in 2003 for his ``tireless efforts to preserve and protect our Nation's environment.'' Captain Ruhle was instrumental in developing the innovative ``Eliminator'' net, which will benefit fishermen and our environment for generations.

Captain Ruhle was valued as an intelligent and passionate advocate and adviser for fishermen across the country. His presence, especially his familiar voice, will be missed by his fellow fishermen, by Federal fishing regulators and by all who cared about the future of the fishing industry.

I share in the sorrow at the loss of Captain Ruhle with his wife Donna, his mother Gloria, his children Phil, Jr., Roger and Alicia, all his grandchildren and his many friends and colleagues. While this is a sad time for all of us, we take solace in knowing that Captain Ruhle lived his life to the fullest and left behind him a world which, because of his life, was kinder, more passionate and more generous.

I want to thank Chairman Chet Edwards and Ranking Member Zach Wamp for their incredible leadership on this legislation. And I'd like to take a moment, Mr. Chairman, to particularly say what an honor it is to serve under Chairman Edwards. And his particular leadership is due a great deal of appreciation, especially for what he does to champion the cause of veterans in this country. And I want to say what an honor it is to serve under his leadership in this committee.

I want to say, as Mr. Wamp did, that it is an honor, for those of us who never served in uniform, to be here and serving in a different uniform, in coat and tie, to be there to serve those who did go out there and put their lives on the line to serve our country, in a sense that we owe it to them and can have an opportunity to serve those veterans who have served our country so proudly. I take great pride in that.

I feel that this is an historic place in the Congress of the United States. I mean, this floor of the House is where Franklin Roosevelt announced that we would be declaring war, World War II. And we all read about the history of this country, when the country came together to fight wars on two sides of the world. And we read about those times in American history when all of America was joined together and sacrificing.

And the only difference between those times and now is that there seems to be a battle that's being fought by our men and women in uniform, but the sacrifice seems to be borne principally by those who are wearing the uniform, but not by the rest of America. It seems as though there is a bubble going on here where the rest of America is supposed to go on with their lives and the military is supposed to do the job, and yet the two should never meet. And I don't think that's the way America is supposed to work. I think, as a country, we're supposed to be there every step of the way with our troops.

And what I think this bill does is it begins to acknowledge that the rest of America needs to step up to the plate and make sure when our troops come home, that we know that they aren't forgotten, and that we're going to remember them long after they've come home and make sure that they get the homecoming that they deserve.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in enthusiastic support of the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs Appropriation Bill. It has been my great privileged to serve under the leadership of Chairman Chet Edwards and Ranking Member Zack Wamp as we have worked in a bipartisan way to support our military and honor America's commitment to our veterans.

I would like to take a moment, Mr. Chairman to honor the great service of the Chairman of the Military Construction Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee, Chet Edwards. There is no better champion for the veterans of our country and no better advocate for the needs of our service members than Chet Edwards. I applaud the Chairman for his earnest stewardship of our subcommittee.

Mr. Chairman, over the past year, I had the opportunity to travel the country to see with my own eyes the capabilities of our VA Hospitals, Medical Centers, Polytrauma Centers and Inpatient facilities and get a better perspective of the needs of patients, doctors, nurses, and hospital administrators. I met with many of our brave veterans who have made those enormous sacrifices for our nation. Needless to say, I was inspired by the courage of our wounded warriors.

The high degree of professionalism with which the Hospital staff conducted patient care was quite impressive and I have great confidence in the doctors and nurses who are doing their part in taking care of America's veterans.

Unfortunately, many of these great public servants are performing their jobs in antiquated facilities with substandard staffing requirements that make life difficult for doctors, but more importantly, diminish care for patients!

It was crystal clear to me that our VA Facilities need to do more to adapt to a new generation of American veterans who have come home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Specifically, the needs of our female veterans need immediate attention.

During my visit, I observed that our Veterans' Hospitals, many of which were built in the 1950s and 60s, were not built to accommodate the large number of female vets expected to enter the system. They lack the most rudimentary amenities like adequate female restrooms and hospital rooms to meet privacy needs.

Sadly, the VA is always playing a big game of ``catchup'' with respect to female vets. Instead of implementing a long term strategy designed to meet the needs of these service members, the VA would rather wait for another Walter Reed before changing the status-quo.

In mental health services, I was alarmed by the lack of full-time mental health professional at VA Hospitals.

For example, my visit to the Hines VA in Chicago last fall revealed that all of its psychiatrists were part-time employees. Frankly, I find that unacceptable.

In this subcommittee, we have taken steps to bolster funding for mental health services in the VA and built upon our great success in last year's MILCON/VA appropriations bill which saw the greatest increase in veterans health funding in the 77-year history of the VA.

We have also dedicated $24.8 billion for Military Construction to fully fund BRAC and increase the size of the Army and Marine Corps.

In Military Construction, this bill also includes:

--$336 million, which was not in the President's request, will go towards quality of life initiatives.

--$200 million for the Army and Marine Corps to improve their barracks so that our service members have decent places to call home.

The Veterans Health Administration estimates that in 2009 more than 5.8 million patients, including 333,275 veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. This is why we have funded the VHA at $40.8 billion, $1.6 billion over the request of President Bush and a 9 percent increase over 2008 levels.

According to a study by the Rand Corporation, more than 1 in 5 service men and women coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from a stress related mental illness. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is the signature wound of this war and I applaud my colleagues on this subcommittee for recognizing the seriousness of this issue and for their willingness to devote significant funding towards mental health care and research.

$3.8 billion in this bill is dedicated to specialty mental health services and $584 million to substance abuse programs in this bill.

In a time of great need for our veterans, this subcommittee came together to write a bipartisan bill. We solicited views from the other side of the aisle to put together a responsible, non-partisan bill that has only one objective: to most effectively meet the needs of our veterans and military families.

This is why I was appalled yesterday when I heard that President Bush announced that he would veto this legislation. The administration says we must spare no expense for our soldiers and Marines in the field, but when those servicemembers come home, this same President tells them that $3 billion for health care, family housing and medical research is too much.

To shortchange our veterans and military families, in a time of war, is morally wrong. We have no right to put fiscal responsibility on the backs of our Nation's veterans.

I would hope that we can quickly pass the Military Construction Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill so that the veterans I met across America can rest assured knowing the help is on the way.

Madam Speaker, this year we mark the 34th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, a day in which the freedoms and human rights of the island's Greek Cypriots were violated. 200,000 Greek Cypriots lost their homes and almost 5,000 were killed in the invasion. Today, 43,000 Turkish troops maintain an illegal occupation in gross violation of international laws. Amazingly, there are more Turkish military personnel on the tiny island than U.S. troops serving in Afghanistan. Since the beginning of the occupation, thousands of Cypriots have been killed and many families were torn apart as a result of the invasion. Religious artifacts, many dating back to the 8th Century, were stolen, desecrated or destroyed. It is our duty to remember this anniversary so that we can move forward in bringing a resolution to the Cyprus Problem.

In 1997, I had the opportunity to travel to Cyprus. I saw the barbed wire that divides free Cyprus from occupied Cyprus and hoped for a day when Cyprus would be unified. Turkey's violation of international law and the United Nations' peace treaties remains an injustice. Free Cyprus has been a crucial ally to the United States in the War on Terror and has provided million in economic aid to Turkish Cypriots. In Congress it is our responsibility to stand up for those Cypriots who have stood with us for so many years. It is our duty to speak for the hundreds of thousands of silenced Greek Cypriots who are threatened with oppression in Turkish occupied Cyprus. There is a reason to feel hopeful about a solution to the Cyprus Problem. Preliminary discussions have taken place between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders to hopefully lay the groundwork for official negotiations. It is my hope that Turkey allows these discussions to go on undisturbed and for the Turkish military to retreat back to its own nation. The next time I visit Cyprus, I want that barbed wire to be a distant memory. I want Cyprus to be free again. Together, with cooperation from the United States and the international community, we will see that day.

I just want to thank the gentleman for yielding. I wanted to mention the point about whether it didn't matter whether the big oil companies were really making a profit or not making a profit, whether they were using their profits right for good or not, or reinvestment or not.

I just want to make it really clear what they actually are doing, just to correct any misperceptions and to clarify what has already been said by my good friend, Mr. Ruppersberger, from Maryland.

Last year oil companies made 286 percent profit. Domestically, in this country, they cut capital reinvestment by 11 percent. So if you make money, usually, as a business, you reinvest in your capital and infrastructure so that you can go on and make more money.

This is a unique business. Not only do they take their profits, but they don't reinvest it in the business, even though they know they are coming to a point where they are going to be in a limited supply mode, or they should be thinking that somewhere down the line they might be. But of course, they don't care because they have an incentive to keep oil prices high right now.

So this notion that there is some incentive for them to go out there and take their profits and go explore, and that we shouldn't be harping on them for going out there and doing what they already are doing, they aren't doing it. That is why we are trying to make them do it, because they are not doing it.

This notion that they are already out there exploring all these things is nonsense. They cut their domestic exploration by 11 percent last year. That is nonsense that they have actually been out there exploring these leases.

How can you take home 286 percent profit and say that you made an honest attempt at finding oil in this country? You haven't made an honest attempt.

So the fact of the matter is, they are to blame when you take home that kind of money and you leave Americans out in the cold and you leave Americans high and dry because of these high gas prices. And that is where the blame should be is on big oil.

And the blame should be the administration. Where was Dick Cheney when he had his energy meeting at the beginning of the administration?

For all we know, Dick Cheney had a bunch of oilmen, along with the President, who is also an oilman, in a meeting and they said, let's think about how we are going to drive up the price of oil over the course of President Bush's presidency so that we all make millions and million of dollars, because certainly that is the way it has worked out. And Dick Cheney and President Bush, two oilmen, and all of their rich oilmen friends from Texas have certainly made millions and millions of dollars while they have been in office.

You cut the budget for conservation.

The President has an opportunity now to release the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. We have billions and billions of barrels of oil buried in this country that we have been burying for over 3 decades since the energy crisis in the 1970s in case of an emergency.

The President says this isn't an emergency. I don't know where he is living, but it is an emergency in my district. He should release 10 percent of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, burst the speculative bubble on oil, bring the prices down, bring relief to our consumers, and use the profits of that to help generate the proceeds to fuel the costs that are going to be incurred by investing in this renewable energy technology that the gentleman is speaking about, which, by the way, the Republicans completely cut the funding for every year that they ran this House. They cut this technology by 23 percent on average. And I am on the Appropriations Committee and I know that for a fact.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 40th Anniversary of the Special Olympics.

When the Special Olympics was founded in 1968, individuals with developmental disabilities were all too often separated from their families and segregated from their communities.

My aunt, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, was able to see the potential of individuals with intellectual disabilities through her sister, and my aunt, Rosemary.

She was confident in her, and other disabled individuals', ability to participate in a meaningful way in their communities.

By using sport as a vehicle and stage for demonstrating the dignity and capability of people with intellectual disabilities, Mrs. Shriver recognized the impact not only on the athletes themselves, but on the Nation.

Today, the Special Olympics serves more than 2.5 million athletes in 180 countries around the world.

Yet, the benefit of the Special Olympics to athletes, families, volunteers, and coaches cannot be adequately measured by statistics and numbers.

It can be best represented by the recognition of the potential of individuals with intellectual disabilities by our society.

Congratulations to the Special Olympics on almost 40 years of extraordinary service.

Mr. Chairman, I thank Chairman Grijalva for offering me the time, and Chairman Frank for sponsoring this legislation, H.R. 415, the Taunton River Wild and Scenic Act, and let me just say as a Member of Congress from an adjoining district in Rhode Island, I want to repudiate the comments to the effect that these urban rivers are not wild and scenic just because they are in an urban area.

We have the Blackstone River Valley Heritage Corridor which is the Woonasquatucket River which runs right into Providence, Rhode Island, and you have a very urban river. Well, I will tell you, it is right in downtown Providence. And every weekend you have roughly 250,000 people from my State descend on downtown Providence during the weekend in order to watch the water fire because it is one of the great activities along the riverfront that takes place that draws people down to the riverfront every weekend during the summer months, and the spring months and fall months.

We also have children from Central Falls and Providence who wouldn't otherwise know that they live near a river because most of it is overgrown and yet they live merely 20 yards from the river. And now a lot of that is being opened up and they are gaining access to it, and because of the Clean Water Act that was passed in the late 1970s, we are seeing some of the indigenous fish come back and we are able to see these children go out and go fishing on the river and be able to catch fish and go canoeing and see that they can enjoy the environment as well.

The fact of the matter is I for one cannot understand why just because a river is running through a city-like environment, why children and the people who live in that urban environment cannot enjoy that river any differently than someone who lives in a real suburban and rural area, and that is something I want to disabuse everyone from.

I certainly think that the people who live in our inner cities of America deserve just as much of an opportunity to go out and enjoy the water. Frankly, it is the only open space that many of them ever gain access to. When you look at Heritage Harbor that you have seen these pictures of where the battleship Massachusetts is, we have Boys & Girls Clubs and we have the Boy Scouts and so forth use that battleship Massachusetts every single weekend over the course of the summertime. They are down there in that battleship cove, and they come from Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

This is a very active park. I think this designation fits very handsomely into what the activities of that area are. We need to preserve that area, and I think it would be disastrous to have further development that would spoil what is going on there.

The urban centers of New England are coming back alive. We lost the

manufacturing. We've lost so many of the areas that were keeping the industrial revolution alive. What is bringing these areas back is the tourism and the creative arts. People want to come back to these areas for those reasons, and that's why we want to preserve them.

The last thing we want to do is destroy what we have here which is unique to New England and that is the aesthetic value of these communities by bringing in more new construction, and that's why we want to set back the clock and keep these communities the way they were when they were originally built.

So you're right, we want to keep them historically accurate, and that's why we want them preserved time immemorial and for our children and down the line.

So that's why I think the Coast Guard was right, the National Park Service was right, and I hope my colleagues join me and all of my colleagues in the surrounding area and every single community who has voted in favor of this designation from the surrounding area in supporting H.R. 415 and making this historic Taunton Wild and Scenic Rivers Act a reality.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6331, the Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act. This important bill includes mental health parity for Medicare beneficiaries. Currently, there is a discriminatory 50-percent copayment requirement for mental health services, while a 20-percent copayment exists for physical health care services under Medicare.

As the lead sponsor of H.R. 1424, the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act, I am fighting to enact mental health parity for individuals who receive their insurance in the private sector. Federal employees, including Members of Congress, have had equal access to mental health and addiction services since 2001 with little or no cost increase. It's time for the private sector and Medicare to join in this effort to protect the health of all Americans, regardless of age or diagnosis.

In my home State of Rhode Island, I spend countless hours in senior centers and high-rises talking to my constituents, and it's clear that there is an epidemic of undiagnosed and untreated mental illness among older Americans. In fact, as many as one-quarter of seniors have significant clinical depression. But the one thing we must remember is that depression does not have to be a byproduct of aging--it isn't ``normal'' to get depressed as you get older. Allowing mental illness to go untreated in our seniors is not only unethical, but it increases health care costs, especially for those seniors with depression who are unable to manage their chronic illnesses.

Tragically, only 3 percent of older adults with mental illness ever seek mental health treatment. Often, this is due to stigma. Stigma that is reinforced by our reimbursement structure that favors the treatment of our physical health over our mental health. H.R. 6331 ends this stigma by phasing in a 20-percent copayment for Medicare mental health services over 6 years. By ending arbitrary and discriminatory financial limits and making treatment more affordable, we can ensure that all seniors have access to mental health services. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6331.

I'd like to thank the chairman for yielding and thank him for his leadership on this subject.

In urban States such as mine in Rhode Island, we have more and more of our consumers getting caught in traffic jams. The air quality is increasingly poor, and still, people are having trouble affording to fill their gas tanks with gas. And this is a tsunami of problems, both with their paying for their gas, trying to get to work, and the traffic jams, and breathing in the poor air quality.

It seems to me adding this $1.5 billion for mass transit solves all three of these problems: One, it gets cars off the road; two, it allows us to get our air cleaned up; and three, it helps these consumers be able to save money that they would otherwise put into their gas tank. And in doing so, it reduces our demand on foreign oil.

So, really, to reference what some of my colleagues have said, this is part of the approach to this problem, and I think it's well worth our taking into account. That is why I support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6331, to extend my support along with Mental Health America for equal coverage for our seniors for mental health. This bill supports mental health parity, and that is why we should pass this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Merida Initiative to Combat Illicit Narcotics and Reduce Organized Crime Authorization Act in order to demonstrate my support for a more proactive approach to the problems of drug addiction and trafficking, weapons smuggling, and gang violence. Only through a re-envisioning of drug policy from the ground up can our Nation make new progress in combating illegal narcotics trafficking.

I am pleased to see that the Democratic leadership and Judiciary Committee have added revolutionary and evolutionary measures to fight these crimes. No longer will this Congress fight only the effects of the drug trade. Instead, we will work alongside our Central American and Mexican allies to fight its causes as well.

I strongly feel that with the passage of the Merida Initiative to Combat Illicit Narcotics and Reduce Organized Crime Authorization Act, we can begin to work alongside our southern allies to combat all levels of drug addiction and trafficking, from preventing youth involvement in these crimes to punishing those who foster them.

For example, with a new emphasis on evidence preservation, increased polygraph capabilities, and custody reform, our allies can streamline their policing efforts, allowing for a more focused campaign.

However, new enforcement capabilities are not enough. The bill's purpose is possible only with its inclusion of after-school programs and programs for at-risk and criminally-involved youth. Gang reeducation and training for CONADIC and other agency staff in best practices and outreach are essential to reducing demand. These programs are the harbingers of our message and the most potent enforcers of our goals.

We must no longer approach our war against illegal narcotics from a reactive standpoint, but must instead work closely with Mexican and Central American authorities to combat the spawning points of these tribulations. Through a more nuanced set of policies, our allies can begin to employ the same successful strategies in their states that we have been using here at home.