Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Maxwell Kennedy, my cousin, for his stewardship in the opening of the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools Complex in Los Angeles, California on September 13, 2010. Named after U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Maxwell's father and my uncle, the schools are devoted to social justice. Maxwell's work on behalf of the young people of Los Angeles is simply remarkable.

On September 13, the six pilot schools that make up the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools Complex began instructing students in grades kindergarten through 12th on its campus located in the Pico-Union/Korea Town neighborhood of Los Angeles. The schools are located on the site of the former Ambassador Hotel and because of the historic nature of the site, there were legal challenges to converting the site to a school. Community members and organizations, including RFK-12, came together to advocate for a local school. In 2005, the Los Angeles Unified School District School Board and Superintendent Roy Romer appointed the Robert F. Kennedy Commission to provide recommendations on how to memorialize Senator Kennedy's life. The commission was chaired by former California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso, and included a number of civic leaders.

The Commission's major recommendation called for a social justice theme to permeate the curriculum, extending from kindergarten through high school that would reflect Senator Kennedy's commitment throughout his public life.

The schools activities include: the creation of a foundation guided by an Advisory Committee that will help to fund social-justice related activities and act as a resource for the schools on establishing relationships with community service groups outside the school locally and in the larger world, a speakers program, a fellows program that will bring emerging and established leaders to the school, and the creation of a public park recalling the inspirational speeches by the Senator and others.

The pilot schools are innovative small schools that have charter-like autonomy over their budget, curriculum and assessment, governance, schedule and staffing, but are part of the public school system.

Maxwell has been instrumental in the improvement of public education in Los Angeles. I wish him all the best as he continues his important work on behalf of young people. He will continue to carry my own admiration, and that of all who have had the privilege to work with him.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith, my aunt, upon being chosen as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom to be presented by President Obama at a ceremony in early 2011. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the country's highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made great contributions to U.S. security or world peace, or made other cultural or significant accomplishments. Aunt Jean's work with the arts and those with disabilities is simply unmatched.

In 1974, Aunt Jean founded VSA, a non-profit, international organization affiliated with the John F. Kennedy Center that promotes the artistic talents of children, youth and adults with disabilities. VSA also provides education opportunities for people with disabilities and increases access to the arts for all. With 52 international affiliates and a network of nationwide affiliates, VSA is changing perceptions about people with disabilities around the world. Each year, 7 million people of all ages and abilities participate in VSA programs, which cover all artistic genres.

For 46 years, Aunt Jean has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation, which provides grants to promote awareness and advocacy in the field of intellectual disabilities. Her book, Chronicles of Courage: Very Special Artists, written in collaboration with George Plimpton, was published by Random House in April 1993.

President Clinton named Aunt Jean U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, where she played a pivotal role in the peace process from 1993 to 1998. She is the youngest daughter of Joseph and Rose Kennedy, my grandparents, and is the Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Kennedy Center.

I wish Aunt Jean all the best as she continues her important work on behalf of those with disabilities. She will continue to carry my own admiration, and that of all who have had the privilege to work with her.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Timothy Shriver, my cousin, for his stewardship in leading the world's most formative human rights organization. Tim is the Chairman of the Board of Directors and the Chief Executive Officer of the Special Olympics. In this capacity, Tim serves 3.1 million Special Olympics athletes and their families in 175 countries. His work for those with disabilities is simply unmatched.

After taking the helm at Special Olympics in 1996, Cousin Tim launched the organization's most ambitious growth agenda, leading to the recruitment of more than 2 million new athletes around the world. He has worked with the leaders of China to initiate a thriving Special Olympics Program in their country, highlighted by their hosting the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai. He has also worked with world leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton, George Bush, Bertie Ahern, Rafiq Hariri, Thabo Weld, Julius Nyerere, Hosni Mubarak and Shimon Peres to advance the growth of the Special Olympics mission and vision while challenging nations to adopt more supportive and just policies. He has spearheaded programs in developing or war- torn countries such as Afghanistan, Bosnia, Herzegovina and Iraq.

Tim has also created exciting new Special Olympics initiatives in athlete leadership, cross-cultural research, health, education and family support. Among them, Special Olympics Healthy Athletes has become the world's largest public health screening and education program for people with intellectual disabilities, and Special Olympics Get Into It, together with Unified Sports, promotes inclusion and acceptance around the world.

In addition, he has worked to garner more legislative attention and government support for issues of concern to the Special Olympics community, testifying before the U.S. Congress on numerous occasions.

As part of his passion for promoting the gifts of the forgotten, Tim has harnessed the power of Hollywood to share the stories of inspiration and change, co-producing DreamWorks Studios' 1997 release, ``Amistad,'' and Disney. Studios' 2000 release, ``The Loretta Claiborne Story.'' He is Executive Producer of ``The Ringer,'' a Family Brothers' film, and also has produced or co-produced shows for ABC, TNT and NBC networks, and made broadcast appearances on ``The Today Show,'' CNN, MTV and Nickelodeon's ``World of Difference.''

Before joining Special Olympics, Tim was and remains a leading educator focusing on the social and emotional factors in learning. He has worked in substance abuse prevention, violence, dropout prevention and teen pregnancy prevention. He created the New Haven Public Schools' Social Development Project, now considered the leading school-based prevention effort in the United States, and co-founded the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), the leading research organization in the United States in the field of social and emotional learning. Tim currently chairs CASEL.

Tim earned his undergraduate degree from Yale University, a Master's degree in Religion and Religious Education from Catholic University, and a Doctorate in Education from the University of Connecticut. He is the recipient of numerous honors, including honorary degrees from Loyola University, New England College and Albertus Magnus College; the Medal of the City of Athens, Greece; the Order de Manuel Amador Guerrera of the Republic of Panama; the 1995 Connecticut Citizen of the Year; the Surgeon General's Medallion; and the 2007 Lions Humanitarian Award. He has authored articles in many leading publications including ``The New York Times,'' ``The Washington Post'' and ``Commonweal.''

Tim has helped transform Special Olympics into a movement that focuses on respect, acceptance and inclusion for individuals with intellectual disabilities in all corners of the globe. I wish Tim all the best as he continues his important work on behalf of those with disabilities. He will continue to carry my own admiration, and that of all who have had the privilege to work with him.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Sergeant Michael F. Paranzino, from Middletown, Rhode Island, who lost his life on November 5, 2010, of injuries sustained while serving his country in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Sergeant Paranzino was the loving husband of Lindsey (Christopher) Paranzino and the proud tither of Maxton and Logan of Fort Drum, New York. He was assigned as a cavalry scout to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division.

Born in Newport, Rhode Island on December 4, 1987, Sergeant Paranzino was the son of Francis ``Butch'' and Melane C. Paranzino and the brother of Daniel F. Paranzino of Middletown, Rhode Island. He was a 2006 graduate of Middletown High School. While he was a student at Middletown High School, he made trips to Nicaragua in January of 2005 and 2006 with the Northeast Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity to provide humanitarian support to the disadvantaged and poor in Catarina and Nandasmo, Nicaragua. These trips provided life-expanding experiences for Sergeant Paranzino and were the precursor to many of the values he believed in along with the leadership skills that he displayed as an Army Sergeant.

A year after his graduation from Middletown High School, Sergeant Paranzino enlisted in the Army and was a cavalry scout with the 1st Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment. After his basic training he was stationed at Fort Drum, New York in 2008 and was deployed to the Middle East as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom just a few months later. In 2010 Sergeant Paranzino was sent to Afghanistan to support Operation Enduring Freedom. He was recognized with more than 10 decorations for his military service just after three-plus years, including the Army Achievement Medal, the Meritorious Unit Commendation, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Ribbon, the NATO Medal and the Combat Action Badge.

Today, as we celebrate the life and accomplishments of this exceptional Rhode Islander, my thoughts and prayers are with Sergeant Paranzino's family and friends.

We are all deeply indebted to Sergeant Paranzino for his service and his sacrifice.

Madam Speaker, I regret that I was unable to participate in a series of votes on the floor of the House of Representatives today.

Had I been present to vote on rollcall No. 578, on the motion to agree to the Senate amendment to H.R. 1722, I would have voted ``aye'' on the question.

Had I been present to vote on rollcall No. 579, on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to H.R. 6419, I would have voted ``aye'' on the question.

Madam Speaker, I regret that I was unable to participate in a series of votes on the floor of the House of Representatives on Tuesday, November, 16, 2010.

Had I been present to vote on rollcall No. 569, on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 716, I would have voted ``aye'' on the question.

Had I been present to vote on rollcall No. 570, on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 1475, I would have voted ``aye'' on the question.

Had I been present to vote on rollcall No. 571, on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 1428, I would have voted ``aye'' on the question.

Madam Speaker, I regret that I was unable to participate in a series of votes on the floor of the House of Representatives today.

Had I been present to vote on rollcall No. 566, on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to S. 3689, I would have voted ``aye'' on the question.

Had I been present to vote on rollcall No. 567, on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 1713, I would have voted ``aye'' on the question.

Had I been present to vote on rollcall No. 568, on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Con. Res. 328, I would have voted ``aye'' on the question.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of H. Res. 716, a resolution recognizing the crucial services provided through the Rape Treatment Center, RTC, at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and to honor Gail Abarbanel, the founder and director of the RTC.

The Rape Treatment Center, RTC, is nationally recognized for its exemplary treatment, education, and prevention programs, and has provided expert care for over 35,000 sexual assault victims. According to the latest statistics, one person is sexually assaulted in the United States every 2\1/2\ minutes. While an attack can occur in an instant, the social and emotional trauma can last a lifetime. The RTC, and the work of Gail Abarbanel, provide crucial insight to understanding that sexual assault victims suffer long after the assault has occurred. Her work and the work of the Center helps these individuals fully recover, addressing the social, emotional and physical pain resulting from such violence.

In many states DNA evidence processing suffers delays of up to 6 months to a year, hampering investigations and jeopardizing public safety. These untested rape kits represent lost justice for the victims who reported their rape to the police, and consented to the 4-to-6 hour rape kit collection process.

In response to the delays suffered by victims in her own state, Ms. Abarbanel created a pilot program called the Fast Track Forensics Program, FTF. Through the FTF Program, the RTC has partnered with California's state DNA laboratory for immediate processing and then possible identification within the state and Federal DNA offender databases. This has resulted in processing that takes approximately 4 days.

I encourage my colleagues to join me today in commending the important work of Gail Abarbanel and the Rape Treatment Center, along with emphasizing the need to eliminate the delays in testing rape kits through innovative programs such as the FTF Program.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Captain Ron Smith, United States Navy, upon his retirement. His remarkable Navy medical career will end on October 8, 2010 but the fine innovations and the legacy of his work in the areas of psychiatry and addiction treatment will continue.

In short, his contributions to the field of political psychology, specifically Psychoanalysis and Alcoholism, are unmatched.

Upon graduation from Amarillo High School, Dr. Smith enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He was soon after appointed to the United States Naval Academy, graduating with the class of 1966. He attended the University of Texas Medical School and completed an Internal Medicine residency at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine and Naval Hospital San Diego. Dr. Smith was the first physician trained in critical care medicine by the U.S. Navy, completing his fellowship at the University of Southern California Center for the Critically Ill in Los Angeles in 1976. He soon became one of the first physicians involved in Navy Alcohol treatment and with Captain Joe Pursch was instrumental in the founding of the Betty Ford Center.

He left the Navy in 1978 and as a civilian Dr. Smith founded the emergency medicine residency program at Loma Linda University Medical School. During this time, he and his brother Richard Smith worked together to start the Winners Foundation which offered free substance abuse treatment at Santa Anita and other race tracks in the Thoroughbred Racing industry throughout the world. His interest in addiction and recovery led to an interest in the psychological growth during the middle and mature years of life, which led him to complete his psychiatry training at Loma Linda, where he also taught emergency and critical care medicine.

He returned to active duty in 1992 as a psychoanalyst and contributed as medical consultant for the Honorable Jim Ramstad for the Ramstad- Wellstone bill which was eventually passed in 2008 as the Parity Act. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to accompany Dr. Smith in his capacity as an Emergency Physician on one of Senator Arlen Specter's world-wide congressional delegations. Senator Specter enabled Dr. Smith to meet many world leaders and contribute significantly as a political psychologist.

Dr. Ronald Smith is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Psychiatry, and Addiction Medicine. He completed his psychoanalytic training at the Southern California Psychoanalytic Institute in Beverly Hills, California and has a Doctorate in Philosophy of Psychoanalysis. Since 2002, lie has been annually recognized by the Consumer's Research Council as one of America's Top Psychiatrists in Psychoanalysis and Alcoholism.

Ron is married to Dr. Anita Alexandra Gadhia Smith, an accomplished author and practicing psychologist in Washington, D.C. They have three children and six grandchildren.

I wish Dr. Smith all the best as he continues his work in private practice and in his lobbying efforts for the treatment of our homeless and mentally ill in hospitals instead of jails, and for the decriminalization of addiction. He will continue to carry my own admiration, and that of all who have had the privilege to serve with him.

I do not plan to take that time except that, because I am retiring this year, I will take every bit of time I can get as an outgoing Member to still speak on anything. It's just an inside joke for those of us who have been accustomed to being listened to for a long time. I am sure it's not going to hold true once I leave Congress.

Madam Speaker, one thing we all need to listen to is our hearts when it comes to treating each other as we, ourselves, would want to be treated. When we think of something like this resolution and what it means to record history, we record history so that we learn from those aspects of history we do not want to repeat and by acknowledging the people who need to be acknowledged as amazing Americans, as this bill does.

They had the fortitude to fight, as all brave Americans have who serve our Armed Forces, whether in peacetime or wartime, never knowing whether their lives are going to be called to be donated to this country. Every single servicemember may be called to make the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their country when they sign up and serve our country, never knowing.

But in this case, we had a group of Americans who signed up to fight for freedom when their own was being challenged here at home.

It's reminiscent of the stories of the Buffalo Soldiers in World War II, African Americans who were being denied the very rights that they were fighting to protect and uphold around the world, and they were doing so on behalf of a country that had refused to treat them as coequals.

In this case, Asian Americans, Japanese Americans who, because of the perception of who they were as Americans simply by what they look like, were being judged as whether they were American enough. Why is that important for us to remember today? Well, because last time I checked, we have Arab Americans right now making the ultimate sacrifice in the war against terrorism, Arab Americans who are being stigmatized, stereotyped, and wholesale bigotry against anybody of a different faith or ethnicity, somehow they are judged to be less American in their opportunities. And basically the requirement that they be treated the same as every other American, those rights are being challenged. And in spite of that, they are still out there defending our country.

Native Americans, who have been denied in one of the great shames on this country's history of the way our country treated its indigenous peoples who serve at greater numbers on behalf of this country than any other group in this country, Native Americans, and it is quite extraordinary when we think about heroes to think about those who are not only willing to lay their life on the line for freedom and this country, but are willing to do so in spite of the fact that they are being denied the very same rights that they are fighting

for here in America. That is why they deserve gold medals, because they fought two fights. They fought the fight for liberty around the world, and they fought the fight against bigotry that is denying them those same freedoms here at home.

And why else do we remember this? Because we're talking about the fact that no matter what you look like, we are all Americans, because that's America. We're the greatest country on the face of the Earth. Why? Because there's no other country in the world that has peoples from every other part of the world, and yet we're still divided by race, by color, and by creed by those who would like to foment fear and prejudice and use that as electoral victories, using the oldest wedge issue that we have ever known, and that's fear of difference, when actually the strength of our country is our diversity as a Nation.

My uncle, President Kennedy, in giving the National Civil Rights Address, first of any American President in American history, said it's a moral question at its base. Who amongst us would be willing to change the color of their skin? Who amongst us would be willing to change the color of their skin and abide by the counsels of patience and delay in terms of civil rights? Well, you know, if you're white and you're accepted as looking like an American, this might not seem like a big issue to you. But think about trading the color of your skin for a day and living like Americans who are Latino in a culture like today that stigmatizes people with brown skin as somehow less than Americans because maybe they got here illegally just because of the perception of the color of their skin. Set aside the fact that in my area of the country the biggest illegal immigration are people that look like me, with red hair and freckles on their face; that's the biggest illegal immigration, Irish overstays. It's an interesting battle that's been the battle for the heart and the soul of America since the beginning of time.

I propose that the final question of our time for our veterans is whether we are going to abide by the counsels of patience and delay in setting our veterans free from their war injuries. Because how many of us suffering at home now from traumatic brain injury and PTSD would be willing, because the Congress is not ready to put the money into biomedical research that it needs to because they say that's not government's job to do medical research; that's someone else's. I don't know whose job it is, but if I'm a veteran coming back from fighting for this country and I'm trapped behind the enemy lines of stigma and shame, trapped behind the enemy lines of indifference because you can't see my wound--my wound is an invisible wound; it's brain injury--think about what it must be like for them to know that our country has the wherewithal to save those with TBI and rescue them from being prisoners of their war injury if we put the money behind it, if we match our action with our rhetoric. We're not going to leave those veterans behind, okay. Then let's do something that makes sure we don't. Let's invest in the kinds of stem cell research, the kinds of genetic biomarkers that are going to allow us to make sure that they are going to be saved from enemy territory, prisoners of their war injuries.

You could say, oh, well, it's going to take 10 years before we are able to repair spinal cord tissue and allow those veterans to stand up out of their wheelchair because they were paralyzed. Well, if you're 25 years old, I should hope that they get an indication from this Congress, from this country, from this President that we are in it to win it when it comes to saving them, because you know what? We would put our full might of military power to go get them if they were held by al Qaeda. Why aren't we doing the same when it comes to them being held hostage by their TBI and PTSD?

If we think of each other as human beings and advancing the great cause, or the fact that we all breathe the same air, drink the same water, live on the same planet, want the same things for all of our families, why would we ever treat each other differently, discriminate against one another, when it's the very strength of our country?

These Japanese Americans, they fought the roughest fights. They were put in the biggest harm's way, just like the Buffalo Soldiers were in the European theater as well. Why? They wanted to take it on to demonstrate they weren't about to be cowering in the fear of those with bigotry in their hearts.

Let's pass this legislation and set all Americans free, because we're all human beings, all Americans, irrespective of color, creed, or the way we look.

Madam Speaker, I regret that I was unable to participate in a series of votes on the floor of the House of Representatives today.

Had I been present to vote on rollcall No. 529, on agreeing to the Holden amendment to H.R. 4785--Rural Energy Savings Program Act, I would have voted ``aye'' on the question.

Had I been present to vote on rollcall No. 530, on the passage of H.R. 4785--Rural Energy Savings Program Act, I would have voted ``aye'' on the motion.

Had I been present to vote on rollcall No. 531 on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 1613--Expressing condolences to and solidarity with the people of Pakistan in the aftermath of the devastating floods that began July 22, 2010, I would have voted ``aye'' on the question.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I want to acknowledge the gentlelady from Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn) for her comments. You know, history is so important because it teaches us about the future. And we might think this is a 90-year-old piece of history dug up out of the past that we are just reflecting on. But we all know right now that it wasn't until this last three cycles that we had the election of the first woman Speaker of the House in the history of this great democracy, arguably one of the most powerful offices in the Constitution, leading the House of Representatives, Speaker Nancy Pelosi. And that one of the first items she had to take on as a Speaker was the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Equal Pay Act. So you know, we are talking about 90 years ago, and yet up until this day we are still fighting about whether women ought to get equal pay for equal work. That was not something that was a fait accompli in terms of a bill that would have been passed.

But it just shows you we think we live in times where all of the great battles in the history of civil rights are behind us because they happened, oh, during the 1960s, or they happened back in the early 1920s, or they happened way back then. You know what? They're happening now.

We had an historic election in 2008, the election of the first African American President of the United States. When I go to my schools around my district, majority-minority, they finally say, ``We belong in America.'' Because just as it was empowering for women to finally know they had a legal seat at the table, it wasn't just the legalese that mattered, it was the spirit of the law. And what matters is the

message that it sends to all of our people that this is a country that's in constant dynamic motion in terms of always trying to improve itself, expand the circle of opportunity for people who have been previously shunted aside in our country. And I think that it's a wonderful opportunity today to celebrate what makes us the greatest country on the face of the earth.

We might not always get it right, but we're going to get it right because we're a country that moves forward, that has progress, that's constantly striving to make it better. People put us down all over the world. They put us down here all over our own country. We're the greatest country in the world. We're the model where everywhere people want to come here because of things like we're celebrating today. Because you know what? For most people in the world the notion of a political right is a foreign notion. The notion of equal rights is a foreign notion. Human dignity, human rights are foreign notions.

We may not always get it right, but we ultimately will get it if we stick to it, and we remember things like this as guideposts as to how we need to continue the constant fight to move our country ever forward in the promise that Dr. King laid out in his ``I Have a Dream'' speech that we could all be treated as we ourselves would want to be treated someday. You know, because there but for the grace of God go each and every one of us. It's a human dignity issue.

One of the false things that keep us behind in life, perceptions, those are irrelevant when we talk about things like this because we finally recognize what makes our country great is we are not going to segregate, we are not going to discriminate. We are going to elevate every human being no matter their gender, their color, their creed, their disability or ability, for that matter.

This is a country that's about everybody. As this President said last week, it's not us versus them. In this country it's all us, Barack Obama, President of the United States, and, boy, is he right. Girl, is he right.

Thank God in America it doesn't matter if you are shut out because someday, because of our Constitution in this great country, we might be able to get a way in for everybody if they have something going against them. And the women fought the fight, African Americans, minorities, people with physical disabilities through the ADA. It's a constant fight. Everybody owes a debt of gratitude to everyone else for making our country a freer, more equal place for all people to live.

Will the gentleman yield?

I just want to take this opportunity to thank you for your work on making sure that those who are American citizens, over 4\1/2\ million Americans are Americans but don't enjoy the full rights of Americans because of where they live, on an island called Puerto Rico, where people think that you need a passport to get there. It is an American territory. And by virtue of being a territory, people on Puerto Rico do not have full voting rights power.

And your work not just on this, what may be considered a ceremonial thing, but your work to ensure this country fulfills its obligations to treat all Americans with full liberty and their enfranchisement granted under the Constitution is so much something I think needs to be acknowledged. It's great to swear people in, but let's make sure we also guarantee those rights that we already guaranteed Americans, like the 4 million Americans in Puerto Rico or those who live here in the District of Columbia or in any of the territories around the world that are of American domain.

I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time, and I thank Mr. Coble for his bill.

Service dogs, yes, they do a lot of really important functions, among which is to provide service and support for our veterans. We just expanded last year the definition of those eligible for service dogs to those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder because these animals know when these veterans are in crisis and they can help get them out of the house, they can help them not only see when they can't see, as we commonly associate service dogs to be sight for the blind, but now these service dogs are doing a lot of things in addition to helping in our law enforcement.

I love the term ``to detect,'' to search and rescue. I only wish our country had that attitude when it came to our Nation's heroes who are suffering from these neurological disorders of blindness, of TBI, of post-traumatic stress, because they need more than just service dogs. They need us to go in there and unlock the mysteries that are keeping them held hostage to the disability of their service to our country. The constant IED attacks and concussions on the brain that are going to cause a permanent, unless we step in and save them, permanent disability for these veterans.

We have an opportunity. We talked about civil rights, voting rights. This is the biggest civil rights fight for our day and generation, those with neurological disorders, for those suffering in their minds. We don't see it, and so we don't take it seriously. The fact is they need someone to come in and set them free from being prisoners of their war injuries. We need to be the first responders in the next couple of years, dedicate ourselves to saying while combat operations are over in Iraq, the war hasn't ended for these veterans. It is just beginning as they face the disabilities that they have incurred, suffering by their sacrifice to our country.

So we talk about how great service dogs are in so many respects. Let's put those service dogs out of business. Let's restore the eyesight of our veterans. The biggest TBI, traumatic brain injury, is lost eyesight. The biggest TBI confusion, loss of memory, loss of ability to go outside. These dogs are bringing them out into the real world. Let's not allow us to be having to rely on others to support these veterans. Let's restore their brain capacities by investing in stem cell research. Let's restore their functions by making sure that we invest in all of the genetic trip wire identifications so they don't have to get Alzheimer's 20 years prior to the average American, which is what all neuroscientists say these veterans are going to be facing if we don't step in soon. They don't have to get Parkinson's disease because we are not doing anything.

Let's get in there, and in the words of my uncle, President Kennedy, when we talked about civil rights, he said, Who amongst us would be willing to abide by the counsels of patience and delay, and trade the color of their skin for someone else's, and abide by those laws back in the 1960s?

Well, now, who amongst us would trade places with these suffering TBI victims, these veterans, and say we can't do better to bring you home, not only in body when you get home from your war serving our country, but in mind? Because we know the suicide rates are off the charts, unacceptable. We know that what they are facing is unacceptable, and we need to be the ones who come in and shed some light on their lives so they don't have to rely on service dogs.

We don't have to rely on anything else but their potential to live their own independent lives free for themselves, without any dependence on anybody else, and we can do that if we put our commitment out there, professing like we did today that we care about our first responders. Hey, let's put it into action and invest in these things that will bring our veterans home, not only in body but in mind.

In the meantime, we can make sure they have service dogs, for which this Congress provided $5 million to expand the definition of those who are suffering from other neurological disorders other than eyesight loss. That's a good thing, but let's not make it the answer, the Band- Aid. Let's get to the real solution and save these veterans from being held hostage to their terminal situations, which would not be terminal if we would dedicate ourselves to intervening and intervening soon on their behalf.

I thank my colleagues for letting me explain myself with respect to these service dogs, because they do a lot of good things, but we need to make sure our people are also given some support and independence by their not having to rely on dogs in the future.

For those of you who may be watching on your C-SPAN at home, you may wonder how it is that everything just has to be broken down Republican versus Democrat, right versus left. I think there is one special interest group in our country that there shouldn't be any disagreement about, it's a good special interest. And that's our Nation's veterans.

We are consumed right now with a lot of problems our country has. But perhaps the families that's facing the greatest challenges right now are the families that have already borne the biggest sacrifice so that we could have elections today in my State and other States across the country and we could have an election this November.

We are very good in this country at getting down on ourselves, berating our political system, saying it's no good. After you hear a colleague of mine like that talk about China, I think people get the picture of the fact we've got it pretty good in this country. For all intents and purposes it's not perfect, but as Winston Churchill said, ``Democracy's the worst form of government except for all the others.'' Most places of the world people don't have rights of any kind even to lobby, a lobbyist, or a special interest. They just don't have rights.

What makes our country so great and what we stand for as a people so great is that we can speak our mind. We can come to the floor and talk, just as my colleague did, about the one child per family policy in China. We can talk about the economy, as my other colleagues did before that.

But let's just stop for a second and understand one thing. We would not have an economy if terrorists were in our malls today blowing up backpacks. Because of our veterans, our soldiers who have borne the battle, those terrorists, in large part due to their work, have been kept over there as opposed to coming here. Yes, that's cost us a lot of money as a country to fight those wars.

But the cost, the indelible costs of this war is on those veterans who have suffered what many people would like to think, because there are no cures, no interventions, no treatments, permanent chronic damage as a result of the physical torment their bodies, their brains took serving our country.

I am here to say good news. Good news is that if this country comes to our veterans' side and decides not just to talk a good game about supporting our veterans, but actually that we're going to do whatever it takes to save those veterans, because we constantly say, oh, the war is over, oh, the combat operations are over.

We are bringing them home safely. Try telling that to a veteran with traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress. The combat operations as we know them may have been concluded officially, but their war is just beginning, their war against the disabling symptoms of their service, of the casualties of their experience, fighting for us, saving our country, saving this world from more 9/11s.

So what's our attitude going to be? Are we going to come to their rescue, or are we just going to talk a good game? Within the next couple of years we can come in with new cell recuperation, through stem cell research, restore and repair damaged brains, with the knowledge that we have of genetics. We can help avert all kinds of the other challenges they are going to face higher risks for because of their exposure to all of these conflicts on our behalf. They are going to be high risk.

We can turn all those trip wires off with the research we can do now, not in 2 years from now, not in 4 years from now, not in any period of time. Because if you are one of those veterans and you have come home and you are suffering, you are saying to yourself, how long is it going to take before I get relief, before someone comes in and saves me as a prisoner of my war injury.

We shouldn't make them wait any longer than is necessary to get to the cures and the answers that are going to set them free.