Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the 183d anniversary of Greek Independence Day. Nearly two centuries ago, a small band of dedicated patriots rose up to end four centuries of oppression and foreign domination of their homeland. The great Greek thinker Herodotus once wrote ``Great deeds are usually wrought at great risks.'' Today, Greeks worldwide join in celebration of this great deed and honor the bravery and self-sacrifice of this small band of heroes.

Twenty-five hundred years ago, the birth of democracy in Greece ushered in one of the golden ages of world history. The ancient Athenians created a civilization unparalleled in its original thinking and in its contributions to Western thought. They created a culture which not only valued human life and dignity, but saw the dawn of a new era in political and social thought and artistic and scientific innovation.

Thomas Jefferson called ancient Greece ``the light which led ourselves out of Gothic darkness.'' In fact, our founding fathers drew heavily on the political experience and thinking of the ancient Greeks. Many of these great philosophers are honored in the House chamber, their faces adorning the walls above the visitors gallery. If ancient Greece's greatest accomplishment is the establishment of democratic government, then its greatest legacy is the enshrining of these principles in American law and the founding of our Constitution.

Barely a generation after our own struggle for independence, Greek patriots turned to the American Revolution for inspiration in their struggle for liberty. They saw in the success of our Republic the hope for their own future. Many Americans fought alongside the Greeks, and this Congress sent supplies to aid the patriots in their quest for freedom.

My grandmother comes from the Greek town of Soliniki. Although her family was forced to flee, they maintained their Greek roots. I was raised in a household that celebrated both our Judaism and our Hellenic background. Last year, I was fortunate enough to return to my family's ancestral home and bring back a small jar of soil. It brightened my mother's final days to finally see and touch the soil of her ancestors.

Last year, when I visited Greece, I was impressed by the graciousness and hospitality of the Greek people, which made me even more proud of my Greek ancestry. America has cultural roots in the classical history of Greece, and I believe our shared heritage can draw us closer together on bridging the boundaries between East and West.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong and unwavering support of Israel, this Nation's strongest ally and the only democracy in the Middle East. The first duty of any Nation is to protect its citizens. Israel is in a fight for its very survival. It longs for peace. It has no partner for peace.

Out of desperation, Israel has been forced to identify those who are planning and coordinating terrorist attacks against its citizens, against innocent women and children. And because Arafat will not end the terrorism, will not rein in the terrorists, Israel has been forced to act.

Over the past three decades, Sheik Yassin has led the terrorist group Hamas as it launched one bloody attack after another. Hundreds of Israelis are dead, over three dozen Americans are dead, and over 2,000 innocent people have sustained wounds that they will never recover from. These facts are not in dispute.

It is time for the double standard to end. Israel's action against Yassin is no different from America's hunt to destroy Osama bin Laden. We are halfway around the world searching for the man who masterminded the 9/11 attack on our Nation. The world will rejoice when Osama bin Laden is gone. Israel suffers the same on almost a daily basis.

Let us not confuse the perpetrators of terrorism with the victims. Israel's actions are appropriate, justifiable and their duty, safeguarding innocent lives, has been done.

I would like to thank the gentleman from South Carolina for his leadership in this extraordinary quest to balance the budget and provide the surpluses that this Nation so sorely needs. I would like to thank the gentleman for allowing me to speak tonight on an issue that I care greatly about.

I voted for the first Bush tax cuts, and I voted consistently to cut estate taxes and to eliminate the marriage penalty tax, so I do not think anybody could accuse me of being a wild-eyed tax and spend liberal, but I do understand fiscal responsibility and I understand what is important to the people I represent.

Our President speaks of his commitment to education and his dedication to our seniors and veterans and his support for improving health care, but when it comes to providing the funding needed to match this rhetoric, I am afraid this President refuses to put his money where his mouth is. In fact, our President cuts nearly all domestic programs after the year 2005. He cuts education and training programs, health care and environmental protection programs, and veterans programs as well, all of which are vitally important to the millions of Americans all across our vast country.

One item in this year's budget that escaped without any cuts is the Yucca Mountain project. Despite hundreds of unanswered scientific questions, multiple lawsuits now pending in Federal court and troubling homeland security issues, the President has budgeted nearly $900 million for this white elephant, an increase of more than 50 percent.

Since September 11, we are living in a far more dangerous world, yet the administration refuses to acknowledge the very real terrorist threat that will be unleashed if thousands of shipments of nuclear waste are allowed to cross the Nation on their way to the State of Nevada. One terrorist attack on a shipment of high level nuclear waste could unleash the most deadly substance known to man, threatening lives and causing billions of dollars in environmental damage. The funding that is now being wasted on this giant hole in the middle of the Nevada desert should be used in ways that benefit America's families, not in the profits of the nuclear energy industry.

Why not pour these hundreds of millions of dollars into providing educational programs for our students, greater access to health care, benefits for our veterans and into efforts to make our Nation energy independent? Or to restore the $850 million in funding for homeland security activities that has been left out of the Republican budget?

In times of war, America has made promises to our veterans that we failed to fulfill in times of peace. As our troops fight in Iraq and Afghanistan and in countries across the globe, President Bush is refusing to ensure quality health care and pensions and benefits for our veterans. The Republicans provided $1.3 billion less in funding than recommended by our VA Secretary for Health Care Programs, including cuts to long-term care that will affect over 8,000 former service members.

In Las Vegas, aging veterans need more care than their families can possibly provide, and they turn to the VA long-term care facilities to provide the necessary health care services. These brave men and women, who fought for and protected our Nation, must know that they can count on the VA to assist them with the care they have earned through their military service.

Our veterans deserve better than having to worry that the budget cuts at the VA will deny them the high-quality health care they were promised when they left military duty. We must send them a message that we are indebted to their sacrifices and that we remain committed to our promises and to increasing these levels of funding to keep pace with the demand in Las Vegas and nationwide.

Another area, Madam Speaker, of the budget that is of vital importance to my district is funding for dropout prevention programs. Nevada has one of the highest dropout rates in this Nation. School officials in Nevada are working diligently to develop and implement programs to keep our kids in school, but they lack the funding and the resources at the local level.

I do not have to tell the gentleman that students that do not earn a diploma, that do not graduate from high school, will make far less in the workplace than their counterparts, and they are at a high risk of incarceration, far higher than those who do graduate high school. Sadly, the President's budget for fiscal year 2005 completely eliminates all Federal funding for dropout prevention efforts in Nevada and nationwide.

Like many other States, Nevada is facing a health care crisis. The exploding growth of Nevada has put a strain on our health care system. Working families in my State are struggling to make ends meet, and many are scared to death of the financial burden they face as a result of having no health insurance should they require medical treatment.

The Bush budget does nothing, nothing, to help these families access health care or obtain insurance coverage. Instead, it hands almost $46 million over to the HMOs, cuts training

for nurses by 60 percent and slashes Medicaid.

Not only does the Bush budget ignore the realities of the uninsured, the President has also proposed shifting the cost of Medicaid onto the States. Most of our States are already facing a fiscal crisis. In the State of Nevada, we raised taxes to an unprecedented level. In Nevada, this shift that the President is suggesting will result in those most in need of assistance, children, the disabled and working families being cut from the rolls or having their benefits slashed unmercifully.

The President's budget represents far more than just numbers on a page. It is a commitment to meeting the needs of our Nation, our communities and those that we elected to serve in this United States Congress. The Bush budget fails to meet the needs of our veterans, our students, our teachers and our seniors.

Rather than invest in dropout prevention, long-term care for our veterans or protecting the Medicare system, this budget increases funding for Yucca Mountain at the expense of those who will suffer as a result of these misplaced priorities.

I would urge all of my colleagues to vote for the Democratic alternative. It makes sense, it is balanced, it is smart and it puts our Nation's citizens at the forefront when it comes to priorities.

I thank the gentleman for letting me share the problems that the people in my community are experiencing and that will only be exacerbated by the President's budget.

Mr. Speaker, last week, with the passing of Governor Mike O'Callaghan at the age of 74, Nevada lost a giant who helped shape our State's history, Las Vegas lost one of its most compassionate and articulate voices, and I lost a friend and someone who was like a second father to me.

When I first met Mike, I was a 19-year-old college student in Las Vegas. At that time, I was student body president of UNLV, and for whatever reason, Mike O'Callaghan saw something in me that I did not even see in myself. He became my mentor and a trusted friend. Of all the giants in the State of Nevada, he was head and shoulders above them all, and I have never known a finer man in my life.

Born Donal O'Callaghan on September 10, 1929 in La Crosse, Wisconsin, Governor Mike, as he was affectionately known by all that knew him, was a member of the greatest generation. Raised on a farm during the Great Depression, he joined the Marines at 16 and served with the Pacific Fleet as an anti-aircraft gunner from 1946 to 1948. After ending his active duty in 1948, Mike served in the Marine Corps Reserve until 1950. And then he joined the Air Force as an intelligence operator and was assigned to the Aleutian Islands. In 1952, he joined the Army infantry so that he could serve his Nation in Korea. It was during this conflict he earned a Silver Star, a Purple Heart, and a Bronze Star with a V for valor.

According to an official Army account from February 1953, and I quote, ``While his company was being subjected to a barrage of heavy artillery from Chinese Communist forces during a night attack, Sergeant O'Callaghan was informed that men on an outguard post had been cut off by this enemy action. Immediately, he voluntarily exposed himself to enemy fire, located the men, and brought them, together with a wounded member, safely back to the trenches.''

After taking a direct hit in the leg by a mortar round, Mike made a tourniquet out of telephone wire and continued to direct the firefight for the next 3 hours. As a result of these wounds, his left leg was amputated below the knee.

After military service, Mike attended the University of Idaho, and in 1956 he graduated among its top 10 graduates. He then moved to a small community in Nevada by the name of Henderson where he taught high school economics and history and coached boxing. It was as a teacher and a coach that Mike came to know a young man named Harry Reid, who now serves as a distinguished senior Senator from the State of Nevada and that body's assistant minority leader.

Mike also served as Las Vegas' chief probation officer and as director of Nevada's Health and Welfare Department. Later that year, he moved to Washington, D.C. to serve as Job Corps Conservation Centers program management director, a position he held until 1966.

Despite being labeled the underdog, Mike ran for Governor of Nevada in 1970. His hard work and record of service ultimately propelled him to an unexpected victory. Four years later, he earned the respect and admiration of even those who did not give him a chance the first time and he rode a wave of popularity to the polls and was reelected to a second term. He remains to this day the choice of many Nevadans who, when asked, will say he was our Nation's and our State's greatest Governor.

Throughout his 8 years in office, he was a hands-on leader and a relentless champion for those he served. He was known to make surprise visits to prisons, mental hospitals, and other State-run institutions, and could often be seen eating in the cafeteria so he would know firsthand what life was like for those in those facilities.

As Governor, he fought for fair housing, civil rights, disadvantaged children, prison reform, and to protect the unique beauty of Lake Tahoe and aid for workers injured on the job.

After his career in public service, he went on to become executive editor of the Las Vegas Sun, where he used his column to draw attention to a wide array of causes and concerns that he continued to care about long after leaving office.

Mike was a deeply, deeply religious man, who attended church on a daily basis. He was known as much for his works of charity as he was for his political victories. If you were a millionaire or if you were homeless, Mike treated you with the same dignity and respect. He was legendary for his efforts on behalf of those who were down on their luck.

He also shared a deep interest in international affairs. He made countless trips to Israel to support the Israeli defense force. He was called upon to visit Central America to promote democracy and worked for fair elections in the nation of Nicaragua. He repeated his role in northern Iraq in 1992, helping observe free elections for the Kurds in that divided nation.

While he will be remembered for his lasting contributions as Governor and coach and newspaper executive, his greatest legacy was his family: his wife of nearly 50 years, Carolyn; his five children, Michael, Mary, Teresa, Brian, and Timothy; and his 15 grandchildren.

There are literally thousands of Nevadans and people around the world whose lives have been touched by this extraordinary man. He was one of my best friends, one of my closest friends. I will miss him as if he were my father, and I share the loss with his family.

While Mike will long be remembered for his lasting contributions as a Governor, teacher, coach and newspaper executive, perhaps his greatest legacy is the O'Callaghan family, which includes Mike's wife of nearly 50 years Carolyn, his five children Michael, Mary, Teresa, Brian and Timothy and his grandchildren.

There are literally the thousands of people in Nevada and around the world whose lives were touched in different ways by the efforts of Mike O'Callaghan.

As communities across southern Nevada mourned the loss of this great figure last week, endless personal stories about Mike and his many deeds filled memorial services, the airwaves and the pages of the newspaper. So many stories and so many lives, all touched by this humble, hard working, hard-nosed man with a heart of gold.

The State of Nevada is a far better place because of Mike O'Callaghan and he will forever be remembered as a man whose life was defined by his service to our Nation, his devotion to his family and friends, his rock solid religious beliefs, his steady leadership as Governor and his love of the underdog.

As one newspaper columnist put it, ``Mike O'Callaghan believed heart and soul in the family of man. He has gone away, but we'll hear his voice for a long time to come.''

While another wrote: ``Although the word `hero' is tossed about lightly these days, I can honestly say that Mike O'Callaghan is the only true hero I've ever met, and I count myself fortunate for the honor.''

I also count myself among those lucky enough to have known and loved this great man and to have had the honor to call him my friend. Mike, you will be missed, but you will never be forgotten.

Mr. Speaker, this past weekend a Palestinian terrorist invaded Israel and detonated a suicide bomb on a bus in downtown Jerusalem. Eight innocent civilians lost their lives, and 50 more were wounded in the latest act of senseless violence perpetrated by the Palestinian terrorists against Israel.

Since September 2000, there have been over 20,000 terrorist attacks against Israel. Because of the unwillingness of the Palestinian leadership to prevent the violence, Israel has become a nation under siege.

In order to protect itself and its innocent citizens, Israel is constructing a security fence. Rather than stopping the violence so that there would be no need for a security fence, the Palestinians have chosen to go to the United Nations and ask the International Court of Justice to intervene.

Mr. Speaker, I am introducing a resolution today with my colleague the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence) asking that this process be stopped and that the Palestinians start negotiating in good faith with the Israelis so that there would be no need for a security fence in that region.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the memory of an outstanding Nevadan who dedicated her life to the highest ideals of civic life. Virginia Demmler, served the causes of justice and equality throughout her more than 20 years as a resident of Nevada, providing boundless energy, tireless work and inspiring leadership for Washoe County's Democratic Party and other civic organizations.

At the recent memorial service that celebrated Virginia's life, former United States Senator Richard Bryan described her as ``the essence of a citizen activist, totally selfless and committed.'' Virginia was recognized at ``the heart of the Democratic Party of Washoe County,'' by Mary Connelly, State Director for United States Senator Harry Reid.

Virginia Demmler's service as Chairman of the County Party as its Executive Director set the standard for principled, effective activism. Washoe County's Democrats have appropriately marked their respect for Virginia's legacy by naming their annual Honor Roll Dinner the Virginia Demmler Honor Roll Dinner, where hundreds of her fellow citizens will attend in tribute to her.

As a young woman I became involved in politics and public service in Las Vegas, hundreds of miles from Reno. But Virginia reached out to me to provide guidance and vision that helped chart my course to achieve elected office and to serve all Nevadans with the passion and principle epitomized. I hope my service measures up to her example.

Virginia never shied away from helping a good cause. From Common Cause, to Planned Parenthood, to the American Civil Liberties Union, she served with distinction and was always there for people in need, to right a wrong, and to help build a better state.

Nevada is a better place, and her citizens enriched, because of the life of Virginia Demmler.

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) for giving me the opportunity to speak and share my thoughts with my colleagues, and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) for being stellar on this issue.

I rise today, Madam Speaker, in strong support of House Resolution 453, condemning the terrorist attacks in Istanbul, Turkey, on November 15 of this year and expressing my sincerest condolences to the victims and their families.

This past Saturday, as they gathered together to observe the holy Sabbath, two explosions devastated the Jewish community in Istanbul, Turkey. The first occurred at the city's largest synagogue and symbolic center to the city's 25,000-member Jewish community and the second at Beth Israel synagogue about three miles away.

More than 20 people lost their lives and more than 300 were injured as terrorism, yet again, tore the fabric of civilized society and shattered innocent lives. Most of those killed in the blasts, ironically, were Muslim Turks who lived or worked near the synagogues who were passing by when the bombs exploded. This is not the first time that al-Qaeda has targeted the Jewish institutions. In 2002, they killed 12 people in an attack at a synagogue in Tunisia.

The Turkish Government immediately condemned the terrorist attacks in the strongest possible terms and I am pleased that the Turkish people have reacted in strong solidarity with the Nation's small and long- established Jewish community.

Madam Speaker, as a youngster growing up in Las Vegas, I belonged to the Jewish youth groups, and occasionally the Anti-Defamation League would bring in films of the liberation of the concentration camps in World War II. I cannot minimize the impact of those films and their impact on my life then and now. And I would sit there and watch the films and ask myself how could one human being do such a horrific thing to another, and how is it that more people throughout the world did not stand up and vilify this horrific act.

I am here in the United States of America because my grandparents walked across Europe in order to come to this country to escape the persecution that 6 million of my fellow Jews were unable to escape in World War II. For me to have the opportunity to be on the floor of the House of Representatives and not condemn this horrific act of terrorism would be a shame and an insult to not only the 20 people that lost their lives recently in Istanbul, but the millions of other people across the world, Jewish and not Jewish, who have lost their lives senselessly and needlessly to terrorists.

I call upon my colleagues to join us, and vote for this resolution taking a strong stance against bigotry and intolerance, racism and anti-Semitism, violence and terrorism. These are very difficult and challenging times that we are living through. But it is incumbent upon all Americans, we in the House of Representatives leading the way, to stand up and condemn this sort of activity before it becomes pervasive and matter of fact.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for his leadership in this issue.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this legislation which contains so many worthwhile VA medical construction projects across the country, including a medical complex in southern Nevada. I would like to thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), the Committee on Veterans' Affairs chairman, and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans), the ranking member, for working closely with me and other members on this important measure.

Southern Nevada's veterans population is one of the fastest growing in the United States. The VA predicts that the number of annual visits by veterans in the Las Vegas Valley to their primary health care clinic will rise from 200,000 to more than a half a million by 2010. That is a mere 7 years from now, and the number of hospital beds needed to serve the veterans in my community will increase by 50 percent.

The VA is already struggling to address and meet the current demands on the VA health care structure in the Las Vegas valley. Last year, 1,500 southern Nevada veterans were sent to neighboring States because we could not provide the needed services locally. This is a terrible burden on those veterans and their families. They should not have to travel hundreds of miles across the country for needed care.

In addition, due to the decrepit conditions and structural deficiencies, the VA evacuated the Addelier D. Guy VA Clinic in Las Vegas after only 5 years in operation, forcing veterans to rely on a string of temporary clinics scattered across the Las Vegas Valley. I cannot tell my colleagues what a travesty it is when I see 80-year-old veterans waiting for a shuttle in 110 degree temperature in the middle of Las Vegas summers, waiting for a shuttle to pick them up to take them from one location to another for their health care needs. It is a horrible sight to see and must be corrected as quickly as possible.

In short, southern Nevada is facing a veterans health care crisis. Recently, the Department of Veterans' Affairs released the CARES document which proposes $4.6 billion worth of VA construction projects across the country. The CARES initiative directs funding to construct new facilities in areas where veterans populations are growing such as the Las Vegas Valley. Because of the explosive growth in the number of veterans living in and around Las Vegas, the CARES initiative calls for the construction of a full-scale medical facility, including a full- service patient care hospital and outpatient clinic and a comprehensive long-term care nursing facility of which we have none of those.

To fully understand the current health and medical care needs of the 5 million veterans and veteran services that will be needed in the next 20 years, the CARES Commission evaluated the plan and heard testimony in 38 public hearings across the country, including Las Vegas, from veterans, Members of Congress, VA employees, local government officials and veteran service groups. I commend the work of the CARES Commission. This process was done with our veterans squarely in mind, focused not only on those areas that have multiple facilities but also on the fastest growing regions, like southern Nevada, which lack the facilities needed to keep pace with the sudden influx of veterans from other areas of the country. Any plan to address shortcomings in veterans' care must reflect the need to expand services in areas where our veterans live.

This bill that I speak of, and that we are here today to discuss, authorizes the Secretary of the VA to provide $25 million to carry out the advance planning of a full-scale VA medical complex in Las Vegas, Nevada, as outlined through the draft of the CARES plan. This authorization is the first step in addressing the health care crisis of the veterans in southern Nevada.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. I cannot tell my colleagues how important it is to the veterans across the country.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks about premium support provisions in this conference report that will undermine the Medicare system on which older women depend.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I rise in strong support of S. 1824.

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

Mr. Speaker, this is an energy bill that will do nothing to help the families living in southern Nevada with the cost of their power. Whatever good provisions may be in the bill are buried under billions of dollars in subsides for the nuclear industry.

I am appalled that this Nation would spend one cent more on nuclear energy when there is no safe way to ship and no safe way to store radioactive nuclear waste. There is also no provision in this legislation to address this Nation's dependence on foreign oil. We will be importing just as much oil if this bill passes as we are today. And we will continue our unholy alliance with Middle East countries that export terrorism and finance terrorists.

Finally, I am disappointed that the overwhelming majority of tax incentives in this bill are reserved for nuclear, coal, oil and natural gas. This subsides come at the expense of renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and geothermal that must be a major component of any long-term energy policy for this Nation if this Nation is to ever be energy independent.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose this rule, oppose the legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to funding for the Yucca Mountain project in the energy and water appropriations conference report which allocates $580 million for the Yucca Mountain project and nuclear waste disposal. This is an increase of almost 30 percent above current spending levels. Appropriating such a significant increase of funds for a project which is riddled with problems is unconscionable.

I would like to bring to our attention numerous developments that cloud the

future of the Yucca Mountain project. These issues raise major concerns regarding the wisdom of continuing this dangerous folly. Proponents of Yucca Mountain claim that a central site would reduce security concerns at the Nation's 131 nuclear reactor sites. That is preposterous. Even if Yucca Mountain opens, every nuclear reactor in operation will continue to store nuclear waste on site. Instead of eliminating potential terrorist targets, we will be creating a new target, this time in the State of Nevada.

Nuclear waste shipped to Yucca Mountain will pass through 45 States and the District of Columbia, traveling on roads and railroad tracks located next to 50 million people over the course of the next 24 years. Residents of cities such as Chicago, Atlanta, St. Louis, and Salt Lake City could see multiple shipments of this deadly nuclear waste pass through their backyards daily.

The United States Air Force has stated that the Yucca Mountain repository will interfere with training at the Nellis Air Force Base. This would negatively impact military preparedness at one of the Nation's most important training facilities. It is almost unimaginable that we would consider a plan that would limit the ability to train America's combat pilots.

Just last month, the independent Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board found that the canisters that will store high-level waste at Yucca Mountain are likely to corrode and leak, resulting in the release of radioactive nuclear materials that will contaminate nearby water supplies.

Instead of dumping money into the ill-conceived Yucca Mountain project, we should invest in the development of clean energy sources, such as renewable energy. By boosting renewable energy, we are working to bring down energy costs, create a consistent and reliable source of energy, improve the environment and public health, and reduce our vulnerability to terrorists around the world.

We must look far ahead when considering the future of energy. That future is in reliable, renewable energy, not nuclear power. I urge my colleagues to consider the consequences of this project. This Congress will rue the day it got into bed with the nuclear industry. The people of the State of Nevada already do.

Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to instruct.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this motion to instruct.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise to offer a motion to instruct the conferees on the Medicare Prescription Drug Bill to provide a much needed payment update to physicians for the next 2 years.

I represent Las Vegas, which is home to the fastest growing seniors population in the United States. In my community, we are facing a health care crisis. The rapid growth of southern Nevada has put a strain on the health care system, and many doctors face a tough choice when it comes to treating Medicare patients because reimbursements are not keeping up with the costs of practicing medicine. In addition to staffing costs and utilities and rent, malpractice insurance for doctors in my community has skyrocketed anywhere from 150 to 400 percent.

We rely on our doctors to treat more than 150,000 seniors under the local Medicare system; but with the cost of doing business so high and the demands for their services at a premium, in many instances our doctors cannot afford to see new Medicare patients. We used to talk about the quality of health care, but the situation is becoming so bad that we are no longer talking about the level of treatment the patient receives, but whether or not they will receive any treatment at all.

My community is struggling to attract enough medical professionals to address the health care needs of our ever-expanding population. But how can we expect more doctors to see more Medicare patients if we continue to cut payments to doctors under Medicare? If we do not act soon, there will be another 4.5 percent reduction in reimbursements to physicians who are treating those who depend on their physicians' care the most, our seniors.

If we allow this to happen, the result will be a loss of $17 million in payments to physicians in my State of Nevada alone. The time is long past due that we increase these payments which have limited medical providers from expanding the number of patients receiving care. I have heard from doctors in Las Vegas who say they want to treat Medicare patients, but they are being forced to choose between taking on new Medicare patients or keeping the lights on in their offices and their practices solvent.

According to the AMA, since 1991 the cost of practicing medicine has gone up by more than 33 percent, but payments have grown less than 10 percent. For years doctors have provided important tests for seniors for cholesterol, depression, blood pressure, vision, and hearing impairment without any reimbursements from Medicare.

Medicare reimbursements for primary care are inadequate, and in January they will be too low for many doctors to continue to serve Medicare patients. Just last year, doctors' payments were cut by 5.4 percent; and if we allow them to be cut once again, this will be the fifth reduction since 1991 and would place doctors' reimbursements 8 percent below 2001 levels. It does not make any sense to be cutting payments to doctors when the

costs of practicing medicine are on the rise.

Our doctors simply cannot afford to take any more cuts. Already one- quarter of the family physicians across the Nation are saying they can not accept any new Medicare patients. Who knows how many more will choose to do the same in January when they are told their reimbursements have been slashed once again?

As a Nation we must provide our doctors with the means to treat and provide health care to our citizens. This motion would instruct the conferees to protect the language in the House version of the Prescription Drug Bill that would reverse the cut to our physicians while providing a 1.5 percent increase in payments for the next 2 years. To fund the increase in payments to our doctors, this motion strikes funding for privatization provisions in the Prescription Drug Bill.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimated that under a privatized Medicare, premiums would skyrocket for the seniors who choose to stay in traditional Medicare. I am concerned that by increasing the premiums of traditional Medicare, many patients would be forced into HMOs and other private plans. This 1.5 percent increase will give doctors nationwide enough to continue to treat seniors on Medicare, and it will give Congress time to develop and permanently fix this flawed system that shortchanges doctors and continues to restrict the ability of seniors to access health care services.

I ask my colleagues to work with me to fix the Medicare physician reimbursements formula which currently threatens to destabilize the Medicare program. Seniors rely on their doctors and the medicines they need to stay healthy. Seniors have waited too long for a prescription drug benefit in Medicare and relief from high prescription drug costs. We must work together for a drug benefit that prevents seniors from risking their health by cutting pills in half or having to choose between paying for medicine and paying for their rent, their electricity or even the purchase of their food.

For 4 decades this Nation promised that Medicare would provide health care for all seniors. It is a program that ensures these hardworking older Americans who have paid taxes and have paid into the system will have health care coverage.

I urge my colleagues to vote for this motion to allow our constituents to continue to choose what doctors they see, what hospitals they are treated in, and to continue to access the highest quality of care.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 10 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Kennedy).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Kennedy).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey).

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

I am absolutely astounded by the continued nonsensical talk about bipartisanship when the Democrats were not even allowed in the room when the decisions were made, when consumer groups were excluded, when there was absolutely no interaction of bipartisanship on this bill, and I dare say that we have not even seen the legislation yet in its completed form because it has

yet to come from the House leadership so all of us can review this. So this bipartisan discussion is nonsense.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio) to enlighten all of us.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 45 seconds to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Delahunt).

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

I have always believed in providing a prescription medication benefit under the Medicare system. It makes no sense to me that we have a Medicare system that allows seniors to see a doctor, the doctor prescribes the least expensive, most cost-effective way of dealing with illness, which is prescription medication. Many of the seniors in my district and throughout the United States cannot afford the prescription medication that the doctor prescribes. Being a doctor's wife and having a stepdaughter who is a third-year medical student, I do not need to be lectured by the other side of how the effect of these Medicare reimbursements are affecting doctors because I know firsthand and personal what it is doing. I know that the doctors are suffering and that there is a real crisis in health care and that our doctors need to be appropriately reimbursed for the Medicare patients that they see.

But what I am opposed to is privatizing the Medicare system, and

that is what this legislation does. Make no mistake about it, this legislation, rather than being a prescription drug plan, rather than being a Medicare reimbursement plan for doctors, what this is is the first step in privatizing Medicare, and that would be a disaster for our seniors.

I urge my colleagues to vote for this motion. My motion addresses the concern of the doctors across the country and ensures that Medicare patients can have access to their doctors by providing these doctors with a 1.5 percent increase in physician payments over the next 2 years. I ask my colleagues to protect our citizens and not have them investing in risky and untested privatization schemes and to put the necessary funding in the prescription drug bill to fairly reimburse our doctors who administer the necessary care to Medicare patients. Instead of putting the Medicare system in jeopardy, we should protect our constituents' access to care. This motion fixes this problem for another 2 years, but I implore my colleagues that in the future we must work together to address a permanent fix for the formula.

I urge my colleagues to support our doctors and their patients and vote ``yes'' on this motion to instruct.

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

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, as a cochairman of the Older Americans Caucus, I rise tonight in support of the gentleman from Rhode Island's (Mr.

Kennedy) motion to instruct the conferees of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill to provide full funding for vital seniors' nutrition programs.

Over the next 5 years, the number of Americans eligible to take part in programs under the Older Americans Act will rise by 25 percent as the Baby Boom generation reaches retirement age. As the number of seniors in the United States grows, it is vitally important that nutrition programs are fully funded.

In my home State of Nevada, over 20,000 seniors are served millions of meals annually at the senior centers, schools, and in their own homes. In just the past 5 years, the Meals on Wheels program in southern Nevada, which has the Nation's fastest growing seniors population, has grown from serving 350 homebound clients to over 1,000 today.

As the senior population rapidly grows, the senior services in Las Vegas are striving to keep up with the expanding demand. The Meals on Wheels program in southern Nevada continues to develop innovative ways to handle the growth and widen their service base to more seniors. For instance, one driver delivers a week's worth of frozen meals once a week to a seniors' home in Las Vegas instead of one hot meal a day.

For a senior who is disabled or lives alone, a hot meal delivered to their home or served in a local senior center is invaluable to their well-being and may be the only way that the older Americans are assured that they receive the nutrition that they need to stay healthy. This is especially true for those seniors living under the poverty level. In 2002 the national average of seniors living in poverty was 10 percent. I am sorry to say that in my district 14.6 percent of the seniors are living below the poverty level. For these seniors, assistance in getting healthy meals is critical to their health and their well-being.

Not only are seniors grateful for the comfort of a hot meal, but a study of the Elderly Nutrition Program found that senior participants have a higher daily intake of key nutrients that seniors who do not participate in the nutrition programs have. Funding Meals on Wheels and other programs not only ensures adequate nutrition but also provides an important link to supportive in-home and community-based services and empowers seniors to remain self-sufficient in their own homes. The drivers for Meals on Wheels in southern Nevada, all of whom are retired seniors themselves, not only provide meals but are a critical link to the community for many of the seniors that they serve.

I want to thank the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Kennedy) for his leadership in offering this motion and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula) for his support. I urge my colleagues to support full funding for the Nation's senior nutrition programs as a way to ensure the good health and a better quality of life for seniors in Nevada and nationwide.

Mr. Speaker, under rule XXII, clause 7(c), I hereby announce my intention to offer a motion to instruct on H.R. 1, the prescription drug bill.

The form of the motion is as follows:

I move that the managers on the part of the House at the

conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the

Senate amendment to the bill, H.R. 1, be instructed as

follows:

(1) To reject the provisions of subtitle C of title II of

the House bill.

(2) To reject the provisions of section 231 of the Senate

amendment.

(3) Within the scope of conference, to increase payments

for physician services by an amount equal to the amount of

savings attributable to the rejection of the aforementioned

provisions.

(4) To insist upon section 601 of the House bill.