Floor Statements

I am leaving this body here in the next 6 months. Now, one side is saying this is all about protecting jobs, about protecting teachers, firefighters, police officers. That's great spin. I'm going home. This is about protecting the ignominious conduct and behavior of legislators that didn't do their job and they're too frightened right now, 84 days before an election. They don't want to increase taxes, they don't want to cut spending, and they don't want to monetize the debt.

So what do they do? They turn to the Federal Government and have us monetize the debt, issue bonds, have China do it so they don't have to make tough judgments.

This is the bailout. This is another bailout. Folks, we cannot continue to do this. We talk about what type of Nation we want to pass on to our children. Let's not do this. I am distressed about it.

When we passed the SCHIP as a body and came together, we said that we would do so and make eligibility at 133 percent of poverty. Then what happened? A lot of these States thought that the good economic times would never end, and so they mushroomed the eligibility.

Two States are the worst offenders: New York and New Jersey. Instead of 133 percent, they are at 400 and 350 percent respectively, eligibility to poverty.

Oh, no, no; they don't want to make the tough decisions. Guess what; not only do the State legislators not want to make tough decisions, this Congress also doesn't want to make tough decisions. That is why we are facing almost a $1.5 trillion annual budget deficit.

America, please, please, wake up, and remember in November.

Thank you very much.

I want to associate myself with the remarks of the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Crenshaw).

When the majority went to this process to be restrictive here on the floor with regard to amendments on appropriations, that was really a dark day for liberty, and it's really very, very unfortunate. And I understand the Speaker wants to rule the House with a mighty hand and is utilizing the Rules Committee to make Congress an undemocratic institution. The American people are watching. They know that there's something going on in Washington, DC, that's not right. They don't completely understand all this process, but something they do know and understand and that's freedom and that's liberty.

So we're charged with this responsibility to care for those who wear the uniform who now have been injured not only in the workplace but also on the battlefield. But when it comes time then for us to have an open discussion and debate on how best to do that, freedoms are denied. Pretty weird, pretty strange, very peculiar.

As the ranking member of the Veterans Affairs Committee, I have three amendments that were made in order, but there are also two amendments that were not made in order. The first amendment that was not made in order would have transferred $230 million from the information technology system account to fund improvements in various other programs. In 2010, the VA conducted a major review of its major IT initiatives. Of over 300 programs that were reviewed, about 100 are still active or are in planning and about 100 are still being reviewed and about the other hundred have been stopped permanently or have been paused.

This amendment would have taken the $230 million in savings from this review and put $120 million toward deficit reduction and use the remaining $100 million to increase the following VA accounts: medical and prosthetic research by $50 million to fund further research into new innovative treatments, such as the hyperbaric oxygen therapy for TBI; prosthetic devices for female amputees who often have difficulties with the fit and size of the traditional prosthesis tailored to the male physique; and helmets that measure the G-force impact and protect our servicemembers from these blast injuries.

Also, with regard to the VBA general operating account, increase it by $2 million for VA to conduct an authorized longitudinal study for the VRE participants to assess the effectiveness of the program. Also, then increase the VHA medical services account by $48 million; $30 million to improve VA's suicide prevention programs, including $100 million for the national broadcast suicide prevention advertising campaign; $10 million for the VA to improve its services for homeless women veterans and homeless veterans with children; and $8 million for innovative treatments for TBI and mental health.

Does that sound radical? That was made not in order. It is hard. That was not made in order. And so, okay, why? I don't know. The Rules Committee didn't give me an answer. That should have been made in order. That's something that should have been discussed.

We have had a challenge here with regard to the IT systems at the VA, and I leave here in 6 months and the appropriators and the authorizers are going to have a real challenge here, especially as you go forward.

Now, fortunately once we centralize the IT architecture you've got a really good--Roger Baker as the chief information officer, very talented individual, doing assessments. The Secretary's Shinseki. He gets it, he understands it. He's doing this review. But when you take down projects, and we've got those moneys, we can make judgments and choices with regard to how to use some of those dollars, and that's what we sought to do here, and that amendment should, in fact, have

been made in order, and it's really unfortunate.

There is another amendment, and I know, Mr. Speaker, my good friend, Chairman Edwards, had some concerns about one of the amendments that, in fact, was made in order, and I understand, and we can have a colloquy and we can get into that because I know you agree with what we're doing. Mr. Speaker, I believe that Chairman Edwards agrees with the initiatives in working with--I guess we can call them green initiatives, green management initiatives, but it's the renewable energy portfolio that's being done down at the VA.

And it's really this advance appropriation is making it hard on how we move moneys between accounts, at the same time, what type of amendments can be brought to the floor. I mean, I tried to do this a couple of years ago, and the parliamentarian knocked an amendment out. And so I wanted to raise this issue on the floor that we have about 60 projects out there, around $162 million, and we've got to figure out how to best fund these, and I will get into that with the Speaker later.

My intention is not to offer that amendment that has been authorized to offer, and I will work this out with Chairman Edwards. But I'm going to ask to oppose the rule, even though I compliment the good work the committee has done. But we need an open process.

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment to H.R. 5822. This amendment would fence off $10 million in the VA's general operating expenses account.

The goal of the VA's vocational rehabilitation and employment program is to put disabled veterans back to work or, for the most severely disabled, to live as independently as possible.

VA's counselors currently have an average caseload of over 130 disabled veterans. Because of the heavy workload which includes a significant amount of case management and regular interaction with their clients, the time to actually enter vocational training is nearly six months. That is on top of the average of the 6 months it takes to receive a disability rating needed to even become eligible for this benefit.

The $10 million included in this amendment would fund one hundred additional professional level staff and will be a small step towards reducing the caseload to a more manageable average of 100 per counselor thereby shortening the time it takes to begin training. For many veterans and servicemembers VR&E training is the bridge to meaningful and productive employment.

I urge all members to vote in favor of my amendment to H.R. 5822.

I yield to the gentleman from Texas.

I yield back the balance of my time.

I have an amendment at the desk.

I ask unanimous consent to modify my amendment.

I will proceed on the modified amendment.

After discussion with Chairman Edwards and with the ranking member, Mr. Crenshaw, we've all agreed to a better way forward on the amendment. So I appreciate your efforts on the modification.

Accordingly, what we're seeking to do here is overcome some challenges that we have with regard to the advance appropriation and how dollars can be dedicated to particular uses. So the Appropriations Committee has worked with me, and for that I am deeply appreciative.

I want to express my thanks to Chairman Edwards and to Mr. Crenshaw. Both of you have been very good friends. I respect your leadership, and I appreciate your good faith in working with myself and my staff.

Over the years, the 18 years I've been here, the years I've been privileged to work in leadership as chairman and as ranking member, I have respected the interoperability and cooperation between the Appropriations staff and the authorizers. It has worked really, really well. At times they can disagree, but they can professionally work it out. I've been impressed by that, and it has continued.

So I want to thank you for that. And this is a prime example. This is one of them whereby I look back to 2008 when we wanted to do these renewable energy projects, and you were challenged at the time because the Speaker didn't want renewable projects in the bill, but you agreed that this was something that we needed to do and tried to figure out how we're going to do it.

So I recognize it couldn't be done at the time, but it was something that you also embraced and supported. And I went on down the street like I said I was going to do, and we did 16 of these renewable energy projects. Then we come back in 2009, you and I do a colloquy, and we're $147 million already down the road. That's how far we're into this now, Chairman Edwards and Mr. Crenshaw, and this is a good thing.

The VA, such a very large enterprise, large consumer of energy and being the second largest department here of government, what you're doing here in this green management and renewable energy, geothermal, wind, solar, this is smart. It really is. It's smart what you're doing. So I really want to thank you for doing this.

We've got more projects identified. They're around 60. These moneys will allow the VA to stay on track on their timelines, and I really appreciate your working with me to do this.

I yield to the gentleman from Texas.

Reclaiming my time, I also want to extend my appreciation to Secretary Shinseki for his work and the previous Secretary.

I yield back the balance of my time.

I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment to H.R. 5822, as reported.

This amendment would provide $10 million in VA general operating expense funding for the VA-US Paralympic Adaptive Sports Grant Program.

Madam Chairwoman, several years ago I had the opportunity to visit the U.S. Olympic Training Center in San Diego. From that moment we then set the course to restructure the United States Olympic Committee. Once we did that, by the relationships that developed, by the reorganization of the Olympic Committee, we then became a Nation at war. I then sought to leverage these relationships with the VA and their sports programs.

I looked at this and how we can use sports as a platform for healing, and you know, when I looked back on this, yes, you know, we moved out and we embraced it. I started at the top and probably should have started at the bottom. I started where I started and it was with the Olympics, the Olympic Committee. Not everyone is an Olympian. That's the reality of this. Not everyone was blessed with an Olympic body or the mind or the will. But it's how do we, as a Nation, use sports as a platform for healing? And most of our warriors are athletes. And so when they get injured, how do we inspire them?

Now, when we brought the Olympic Committee and the sports programs from the VA together, we were able to leverage that whereby our military athletes then could actually have an avenue to be part of the Olympic team. And that has, in fact, happened and has been done.

Last year--and I want to thank Chairman Edwards--he supported the $10 million that went into this adaptive sports program.

The Olympic committee helps with this grant program now to take the same ideal, the Olympic ideal, and move it out to all the communities across the country. And so an individual who may not be an Olympian can be an Olympian of their own community, can actually compete. It is that competition--it's not the winning. It's have you improved yourself, have you bettered your time, and making someone feel good about that, this Adaptive Sports program, whereby it's done at the local level and then builds up is really good, and this is a very good program. We're in our infancy, and I want to thank the chairman and for supporting this last time.

So the concept I think is pretty simple. I do have some pictures here I'd like to share with everyone. This is a picture of disabled veterans and servicemembers running the 100 meter dash at the Warrior Games in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and this was in May of this year. And when you see this running the 100 meter dash, you know we've got a mixture here. This gentleman lost--this is a below the ankle, here is a below the knee amputation, and this is a double amputation, and they're sprinting the 100 meter dash. Think about the inspiration that they have. I mean, these warrior athletes are truly remarkable.

I want to show you another photo of a double amputee. This Olympian right here during the winter games, this is Heath Calhoun, a Paralympian, and this was in Vancouver in March of this year. Mr. Calhoun is an Army Ranger. He was wounded when a rocket-propelled grenade hit his Humvee while he was serving in Iraq. He lost both legs as a result of that attack. His grandfather served in World War II, his father served in Vietnam, and he then sought to serve his country and lost both legs. He dedicated himself then to overcome this challenge and made the United States Olympic team and competed in Vancouver.

So these Olympians also then mentor and aspire others into the Adaptive Sports Grant Program. So this is remarkable. This is building off the Olympic ideal to really help our warriors, and we're achieving the goal, and that is to use sports as a platform for healing.

So $10 million can be a lot of money, but talking about what we get out of this, the intangibles that we can get out of this, when these men and women that go through this feel so good about themselves and take their bodies to new levels, guess what? They feel good about their families, they feel good about their jobs, and our goal here is to make sure that they can live as full a life as they possibly can.

That's what we want to do.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 1516 which recognizes the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II and honors the service and sacrifices made by the members of our Armed Forces and their families, as well as those serving in combat operations today.

Madam Speaker, September 2nd marks the conclusion of one of the most devastating confrontations in the world's history. On that day, 65 years ago, the Japanese offered their surrender on the deck of the U.S.S. Missouri; ending World War II and marking the defeat of foreign tyranny and aggression. It was a momentous day in America's history, not only were the Allies successful in defeating the Axis powers, but it defined America in a new light, launching a much larger role for our nation on the world stage.

Our nation's victory on September 2, 1945 came at a great cost. World War II was one of the most violent and deadly conflicts in our nation's history, claiming the lives of 405 thousand American men and women from all walks of life and every corner of the country. 16 million Americans came together to serve for a common good, joining our nation's fight to protect democracy and promote justice, changing the course of history forever. Their sacrifices for future generations are their everlasting legacy.

Our men and women in uniform also prevailed because of the valiant efforts of millions of Americans on the home front who steadfastly worked in war industries to produce and create the munitions, the ships, and the aircraft necessary for the war effort. There are few other times, if any, in our nation's history in which so many Americans bonded together and worked toward a common purpose with such strength and resolve.

Madam Speaker, each day over 1,000 veterans from this ``greatest generation'' pass from our midst and it is indeed appropriate that we honor their service and sacrifice today. Their labors have led to great wealth and prosperity for our country and allowed America to continue to be a beacon of justice and democracy for all people across the globe.

I thank my colleagues Mr. Skelton and Mr. McKeon for introducing this resolution, and I urge all my colleagues to support its passage.

Madam Speaker, I come before you today to offer a resolution that honors a group of fine Americans, the Patriot Guard Riders. Established in November of 2005, the Patriot Guard Riders were created to counter protesters of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who sought to disrupt the funerals of our heroes who died serving our country. Today, the

Patriot Guard Riders are over 190,000 members strong and they dedicate themselves to a mission of preventing interruptions at funerals honoring those servicemen and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice protecting our nation.

To date, the Patriot Guard Riders have participated in over 17,000 missions honoring our heroes around the country. They have also distinguished themselves in countless other ways, to include the establishment of the Fallen Warrior Scholarship Fund for U.S. military family members, visiting veteran's hospitals, and giving financial assistance to the families of our fallen heroes.

Madam Speaker, as we approach this Independence Day, it is appropriate to recognize these great Americans who have dedicated themselves to protecting the solemnity of the final farewells of those who died while serving to preserve the liberties that we exercise here in this House today. It is the actions of patriots like these, those who readily stand to support our fallen heroes, that help make this nation great.

Madam Speaker, today, I am introducing H.R. 5641, a bill to allow the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to enter into contracts with adult foster homes to provide life-long care to veterans unable to live independently.

Adult foster homes are designed to provide non-institutional long- term care to veterans who prefer a more personalized, familial setting than traditional nursing homes are able to provide.

VA has been helping to place veterans in adult foster homes since 2002 and over time more than 600 veterans in need have paid to receive such care. As we speak, 219 veterans are living in these special homes.

The need for long term care is increasing as veterans from past conflicts get older, and it will continue to grow as wounded warriors return home from Iraq and Afghanistan with severe injuries that require life-long assistance. While nursing homes will always be a valuable tool for providing lasting care, for some the individualized, home-like atmosphere of an adult foster home is a much more attractive alternative than the prospect of moving into a traditional nursing home.

The advantages of adult foster homes are clear. Veterans who opt for foster home care will move into a home owned or rented by their chosen foster home caregiver. The caregiver--who has passed a VA screening, federal background check, and home inspection and agreed to undergo annual training--resides with the veteran and provides them with 24- hour supervision and personalized care. For as long as that veteran resides in the home, VA adult foster home coordinators and members of a VA Home Care Team will make both announced and unannounced visits at least three times every month to ensure the veteran is safe and the home and caregiver are in compliance with VA's high quality standards.

Additionally, the Home Care Team will provide veterans with comprehensive, interdisciplinary primary care and provide the caregivers with supportive education and training.

Many veterans who choose to reside in an adult foster home would otherwise be in need of nursing home care and would qualify for VA benefits to receive it. However, because VA is not authorized to provide veterans with assisted living benefits, these veterans must pay for the care they receive in adult foster homes out of their own pockets.

Twenty four percent of veterans who have received care in a Medical Foster Home qualify for VA's highest priority group due to having disabilities rated 50% or more service connected or having otherwise been found unemployable due to service connected conditions. Given that many of the veterans who are benefitting from this individualized, non- institutional care are disabled, afflicted with chronic disease, often elderly, and frequently 70% or more service connected, placing the entire cost burden for adult foster homes on their backs is no way to thank them for their valiant years in service. What's more, it creates an inequity of benefits between those who can afford to pay for such care and those that cannot.

The legislation I am introducing today would give VA the authority to enter into a contract with a certified adult foster home to pay for care for certain veterans already eligible for VA paid nursing home care. By doing so, it would ensure more veterans have the option to choose a treatment setting that best suits their needs free of financial constraints.

Our veterans in need of life-long care have earned the right to decide which long-term care environment would make them feel most at home. And, I encourage my colleagues to join with me in cosponsoring this legislation to make that decision easier.

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

(Mr. BUYER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Today, I rise in support of H.R. 4505 to enable State homes to furnish nursing home care to parents any of whose children died while serving in the Armed Forces.

This legislation was introduced by my good friend and colleague from Texas, Mac Thornberry.

The loss of a child is a heartbreaking tragedy for any parent. When that loss occurs in defense of American freedom and democracy, we as a grateful and compassionate nation, must do all that we can to ease their pain and provide for their needs.

The State Veterans Home program is a partnership between the VA and the States to provide a broad range of long-term nursing home care for our veterans in need of such care.

Although admission to a State Home is determined by each individual state, each Home is required to maintain a residency of at least seventy-five percent veterans. Non-veterans may be admitted to a State Home if they meet certain criteria. Under current law, eligible non- veterans are veteran's spouses, widows, and Gold Star parents who have lost all of their children in military service.

H.R. 4505 would allow Gold Star parents who have lost a child but not necessarily all of their children to service in the Armed Forces eligibility for admission to a State Home. This is a simple change, and simply the right thing to do.

I want to thank Mac for recognizing this gap and taking the initiative to introduce legislation to correct the oversight and improve services for a parent who suffered the loss of a child in service to our country.

It is important to note that this bill would not result in any additional cost to the VA. And, most importantly, would not in any way impact the space available to veterans in State Veterans Homes.

Our highest admiration and respect should always lie with our servicemembers and veterans who knowingly and willingly put their lives on the line to protect our freedoms. And, we must also acknowledge and honor their beloved family members who also sacrifice in service to our country.

H.R. 4505 is supported by the Gold Star Wives of America, other major Veterans Service Organizations, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

I urge each and every one of my colleagues to join me in supporting

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman for bringing this, and I also thank the gentleman for his leadership on the House Armed Services Committee. You are filling a gap here. This is supported by the Gold Star wives, along with other major veterans service organizations.

I urge all my colleagues to join me in support of H.R. 4505.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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

(Mr. BUYER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, Congressman McNerney, for introducing the legislation. I ask my colleagues to support H.R. 1446.

Today, I rise in support of H. Res. 1446, a bill to recognize the residents of the city of Tracy, California, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the city's incorporation, for their century of dedicated service to the United States.

In 1869 the Central Pacific Railroad (now Southern Pacific) completed a rail line through the area which is now Tracy. The result of the new rail line was the founding of Tracy on September 8, 1878, named for Lathrop J. Tracy, a grain merchant and railroad director.

Tracy was incorporated in 1910 and it grew rapidly. Although railroad operations began to decline in the 1950s, Tracy continued to prosper as an agricultural area. Today, the city seal reflects this history of railroads and agriculture.

The city of Tracy has a long history of serving our nation's military during war and peacetime. During World War II, Camp Tracy played a role in the intelligence operations which contributed to the war effort. It is now the home

to the Defense Distribution Depot San Joaquin, which serves as a vital distribution center for materials and supplies for the U.S. Armed Forces.

Even today, the city of Tracy continues to support our men and women of the Armed Services and our veterans. SSG Rachelle Renaud, a Tracy native, is one of 100 Army athletes competing at the inaugural Warrior Games at the U.S. Olympic Committee's Colorado Springs, CO, training facility. A veteran of two deployments to Iraq with the 720th Military Police Battalion, she endured severe back pain that led to a double lumbar fusion on her spine. She hasn't regained the feeling in her left leg, but still has the spirit to compete and overcome her injuries. She will be participating in the standing shotput, individual and relay swimming events, cycling, and shooting.

It is through the support of local communities like Tracy that our men and women in uniform find the strength and determination to continue on the tasks ahead.

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague, Congressman McNerney for introducing this legislation, and Chairman Filner for bringing it to the floor so expeditiously. I urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 1446.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, at this point I would like to yield such time as he may consume to the author of this legislation, H.R. 1228, Dr. Boozman of Arkansas. He was former chairman and now ranking member of the Economic Opportunity Subcommittee of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

(Mr. BUYER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

I thank the gentleman for bringing this.

I also want to recognize Hoosiers who also shared danger of combat above the rice paddies and the forests of the Mekong Delta; those who served with HAL-3 from Indiana: J. Howard Cook, Rick Hodge, Melvin Howell, Thomas H. Jackson, Robert L. Redman, and Jay Wakeland.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of House Resolution 1228, Honoring the Veterans of Helicopter Attack Light Squadron Three and Their Families and want to express my appreciation to Dr. Boozman for introducing this resolution.

This weekend, we celebrate the 234th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Over the years, our freedoms and the interests of the United States have been defended by over 40 million men and women and of those, over 1 million have died and 1.6 million have been wounded. I find it ironic that something as beautiful as freedom must be maintained by something as horrible as war.

Within those millions, there is a small group of Navy veterans who hold a unique place in the Navy's history. Those are the veterans of Helicopter Attack Squadron Three, better known as the HAL-3 Seawolves, the only active duty attack helicopter squadron in the Navy's history.

Using hand-me-down Army UH-1B gunships, Seawolf pilots and gunners provided air cover for Navy and Army brown water units in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. From the squadron's commissioning in 1967 to its decommissioning in 1972, nearly 3,000 sailors wore the black beret of HAL-3, and 44 of those courageous combat veterans are listed among the dead on the Vietnam War Memorial here in Washington. Another 156 were awarded the Purple Heart for their wounds.

These veterans came from every state and every socio-economic background. Most were in their late teens and twenties. Among the officers, most wore the silver bars of a lieutenant junior grade. Most of the enlisted men were airmen and junior petty officers. They were lead by a core of officers and Chief Petty Officers who cared for them, trained them, and shared the dangers of combat above the rice paddies and forests of the Mekong Delta. The sailors who provided maintenance and administrative support to the flight crews were essential to keeping the helicopters flying and are equally worthy of our recognition.

I would especially like to recognize several Hoosiers who served in HAL-3: J. Howard Cook, Rick Hodge, Melvin Howell, Thomas H. Jackson, Robert L. Redman, Jay Wakeland.

Madam Speaker, House Resolution honors the service of all the veterans of HAL-3 and the families of these veterans for their support. We also express our condolences to the families of those 44 who gave the full measure of devotion and finally recognize the Seawolves' unique place in Naval Aviation.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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

(Mr. BUYER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

I would like to thank Mr. Teague for bringing this legislation and thank Mr. Filner for bringing it to the floor.

Any time I get to read the history and hear the stories of such extraordinary Americans, it's only fitting that we can actually place their name on such buildings that are going to be able to care for so many people. This is a very fitting memorial to his service to country.

Today, I rise in support of H.R. 4307, a bill to rename the Artesia Community Outpatient Clinic after Alejandro Renteria Ruiz, a much decorated World War II veteran who served in the Pacific theater and is a recipient of the Medal of Honor.

Ruiz received the Medal of Honor during the World War II conquest of the Japanese island of Okinawa on April 28, 1945. Master Sgt. Ruiz summoned the courage to charge a Japanese pillbox under a hail of machine gun fire and was able to neutralize it. He singlehandedly saved the lives of his 165th infantry comrades and eliminated an obstacle that would have checked his unit's advance. When his comrades recommended him for the Medal of Honor, Ruiz did not want to hear their accolades, instead choosing to focus on daily battles in Okinawa. Such courage and humility makes for an extraordinary person and soldier.

Ruiz is a hero who continued to serve his nation in the military, serving in the Korean War and retiring as a Master Sergeant in the mid 1960s. He lived at the Veterans Home in Yountville, Calif., near Napa and recently passed away on November 20th, 2009.

Ruiz frequently attended veteran reunions once he retired from the military, as well as Veteran Commemorate Conventions to honor his comrades. At these conventions, he stressed the importance of Japanese and American cooperation and understanding. Even though he had fought the Japanese during the war, he agreed that today America and Japan are friends and allies and fervently upheld a message of peace.

Ruiz is also among forty-three men of Hispanic heritage who have been awarded the Medal of Honor. His story should inspire every American.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4307. Passage of this bill is an appropriate way to honor a great American. I thank Mr. Teague for introducing this bill, and Chairman Filner for moving this bill to the floor for consideration.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Likewise, I rise to honor and pay respects to the life and career of the distinguished Hoosier, Coach John Wooden.

He was born October 14, 1910, in the small town of Hall, Indiana. Coach Wooden was raised on a family farm that had neither running water nor electricity, and money was often in short supply. He played basketball with his brothers in a barn using a tomato basket and a makeshift ball consisting of old rags. Later in life, he would credit his success to the hard work and discipline he learned growing up on the small family farm.

At the age of 14, his family moved to the town of Martinsville, Indiana, where he led the local high school basketball team for 3 consecutive years, winning the State championship in 1927. For his efforts, he was selected three-time All-State.

After graduating high school in 1928, John Wooden attended Purdue University, where he helped the Boilermakers as team captain to the 1932 national championship. He was named All-Big Ten, All-Midwestern conference while at Purdue. He also was the first player ever to be named three-time consensus All-American guard.

His nickname was the ``Indiana Rubber Man'' for his hard play on the basketball court.

When John Wooden graduated from Purdue in 1932, he began not only then as a professional basketball player, but then he sought teaching and coaching by accepting a job as an athletic director, a basketball coach, and English teacher at Dayton High School in Dayton, Kentucky. The first year at Dayton was Coach Wooden's only losing season as a high school coach.

In 1934, Wooden and his wife, Nellie, then moved to South Bend, Indiana, where he accepted another coaching and teaching position at South Bend Central High School. Overall, in 11 years of coaching high school, his record was an incredible 218 wins and only 42 losses.

In 1942, the United States entered World War II, and, like many others of his generation, Coach Wooden answered the call to serve his country, serving as a lieutenant in the Navy as a physical education instructor.

After completing his military service, John Wooden quickly found work at what is now known as Indiana State University. He coached basketball at the school and resumed his string of winning seasons.

In 1948, Coach Wooden then moved to UCLA that offered him the head coaching position. And the rest is history, as described by Mr. Waxman.

Coach Wooden will be remembered as an exceptional basketball player, an inspiring coach, and a mentor to many, many people. According to Bill Walton, UCLA's three-time All-American center during the 1970s, ``He taught us how to focus on one primary objective: Be the best in whatever endeavor you undertake. Don't worry about the score. Don't worry about the image. Don't worry about the opponent. It sounds easy, but it's actually very difficult.''

``It sounds easy, but it's actually very difficult. Coach Wooden

showed us how to accomplish it,'' end quote.

Today, the highest award in college basketball is named the Wooden Award, which honors the Nation's best player in both men's and women's college basketball.

John Wooden coached, taught, and lived with honor. He was a very special human being. And this is a Hoosier of which many of us are distinguishedly proud about. I know, California, you also love to claim him. I think all of America can claim him. He is a distinguished gentleman.

I want to congratulate both of you on a job well done on your bill.

To my friend Ike Skelton, Ike, I support the policy that you came up with years ago when I first came to Congress 18 years ago--the DOD's Don't Ask, Don't Tell--and we should not be repealing it.

In a unified voice, all of the service chiefs have asked us to give them time to properly seek out the right answers on how to move forward regarding a major policy shift that will affect every soldier, sailor, airman, and marine.

Mr. Chairman, our heroes are performing valiantly in a two-front war. Now is not the time for Congress to be voting on an amendment to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Now is the time to strengthen our resolve to support our servicemen and -women and to help them fight and defeat terrorism around the world.

Now, the Constitution permits Congress to discriminate. We actually are designated with the power to raise and support armies, to provide and maintain a Navy, and to make the rules for government regulation for land and naval forces. There is nothing in the Constitution that guarantees a citizen the right to serve in the Armed Forces. As a matter of fact, pursuant to the powers conferred by section 8 of Article I of the Constitution, it lies within the discretion of Congress to establish qualifications for and conditions for service in the Armed Forces. You can't be too tall. You can't be too short. You can't be overweight. I mean, we make these decisions. Why?

The purpose of the military is to kill and break things. Unit cohesion is pretty important. The conduct of military operations requires the members of the Armed Forces to make extraordinary sacrifices, including the ultimate sacrifice, in order to provide for the common defense of this Nation. Success in combat requires military units that are characterized by high morale, good order and discipline and unit cohesion.

One of the most critical elements in combat capability is unit cohesion defined at the small unit level, which is the bonds of trust among individual servicemembers that make the combat effectiveness of our military unit greater than the sum of the combat effectiveness of the individual unit members, themselves.

Military life is fundamentally different from civilian life in that the extraordinary responsibilities of the Armed Forces, the unique conditions of military service, and the critical role of unit cohesion require that the military community, while subject to civilian control, exist in a specialized society. The military society is characterized by its own laws, rules, customs, and traditions, including numerous restrictions on personal behavior that would not be acceptable in civilian society.

The standards of conduct for members of the Armed Forces regulate a member's life for 24 hours each day, beginning at the moment the member enters military status and not ending until that person is discharged or otherwise separated from the Armed Forces. Those standards of conduct, including the Uniform Code of Military

Justice, apply to a member of the Armed Forces at all times if the member has military status, whether or not the individual is on base or not or in uniform or not.

The pervasive application of the standards of conduct is necessary because members of the Armed Forces must be ready at all times for worldwide deployment to a combat environment. The worldwide deployment of the United States military forces, the international responsibilities of the United States and the potential for involvement of the Armed Forces in actual combat routinely make it necessary for members of the Armed Forces involuntarily to accept living conditions and work conditions that are often spartan, primitive and that are characterized by forced intimacy with little or no privacy.

The prohibition against homosexual conduct is a longstanding element of military law that continues to be necessary in unique circumstances of the military service. Tolerance does not require a moral equivalency.

Do not repeal this.

I have heard it all. To say that competition causes wasteful use of taxpayers' money is a perfidious argument. Are you kidding me?

I defended Connecticut when it came to Electric Boat. You came to the floor and you argued about competition, competition against Newport News. I am glad we did, now that we have got welding problems with those submarines.

Now you think sole source and competition is bad? Are you kidding me, Mr. Chairman? Do not be dishonest. Let's be honest about the debate, all right? Let's defend our industrial base. That is what is extremely important. Let's also protect the Transatlantic Alliance.

I want to thank Ike Skelton for, years ago, his thoughtful considerations to make this policy the law. And we should not be changing this policy. It is very clear that homosexuality is incompatible with military service. The purpose of the military: We kill and break things. We inculcate young men and women with values, and those values are extremely important.

Now there are some that are trying to make this argument somehow that tolerance requires a moral equivalency. It does not when it comes to homosexuality. If in fact military is the inculcation of values, to say that we're going to say that sodomy now should be repealed from the Uniform Code of Military Justice is wrong.

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

I rise in support of H.R. 1017, as amended, the Chiropractic Care Available to All Veterans Act, to amend the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Programs Enhancement Act of 2001 and title 38 United States Code to require the provision of chiropractic care and services to veterans at all Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers and to expand such care and services.

Musculoskeletal injuries cause problems not only for veterans of past conflicts, but are also one of the leading health concerns for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. This committee has a long history of taking action to ensure that the VA provides quality and accessible chiropractic care, and I would like to thank the chairman for introducing legislation once again.

I also want to thank my good friend and colleague from Kansas, Jerry Moran, for his strong advocacy of the need to provide quality chiropractic care within the VA. It was legislation that Jerry Moran introduced in the 108th Congress that initially provided the VA with the authority to hire and employ chiropractors.

The VA provides chiropractic care at 32 VA medical centers using hired or contracted staff. Chiropractic services are also available to veterans who live in areas distant from facilities through its fee basis program, which uses local non-VA providers.

Given the prevalence of back, neck, and joint pain in the veteran population, there is a need to expand access to chiropractic care within the VA medical facilities. This bill would do that by mandating such care at 75 VA medical centers by the end of next year and at each VA medical center by the end of 2013. However, I want to point out that it is also important that the VA continues to ensure chiropractic care remains available as an option through the VA's fee basis program.

Oftentimes, the fee basis program is needed or would benefit the health status of an eligible veteran. For instance, multiple treatments with some frequency may be required to receive the full benefits of chiropractic care. If a veteran lives some distance from a VA medical center requiring that veteran to make multiple trips, it creates an undue travel burden. In such cases, the use of the VA's fee basis program is in the best interest of the veteran. Therefore, it must always remain a mechanism for accessing care to ensure system-wide availability regardless of whether a VA medical center has a chiropractor on staff.

As always, I believe it is our duty to do all we can to help our veteran warriors heal from the injuries incurred through service to our Nation. Providing them with readily-accessible, widely-available, and highly skilled chiropractic care I believe will go a long way towards increasing the health and well-being of our veteran population. As such, I encourage all my colleagues to join with me in supporting H.R. 1017, as amended.

I would also like to extend special recognition to Chairman Michaud and Ranking Member Broun of the Health Subcommittee for their work on this bill and that of the staff.

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

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

I rise in support of H.R. 1017, as amended, the Chiropractic Care Available to All Veterans Act, to amend the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Programs Enhancement Act of 2001 and title 38 United States Code to require the provision of chiropractic care and services to veterans at all Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers and to expand such care and services.

Musculoskeletal injuries cause problems not only for veterans of past conflicts, but are also one of the leading health concerns for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. This committee has a long history of taking action to ensure that the VA provides quality and accessible chiropractic care, and I would like to thank the chairman for introducing legislation once again.

I also want to thank my good friend and colleague from Kansas, Jerry Moran, for his strong advocacy of the need to provide quality chiropractic care within the VA. It was legislation that Jerry Moran introduced in the 108th Congress that initially provided the VA with the authority to hire and employ chiropractors.

The VA provides chiropractic care at 32 VA medical centers using hired or contracted staff. Chiropractic services are also available to veterans who live in areas distant from facilities through its fee basis program, which uses local non-VA providers.

Given the prevalence of back, neck, and joint pain in the veteran population, there is a need to expand access to chiropractic care within the VA medical facilities. This bill would do that by mandating such care at 75 VA medical centers by the end of next year and at each VA medical center by the end of 2013. However, I want to point out that it is also important that the VA continues to ensure chiropractic care remains available as an option through the VA's fee basis program.

Oftentimes, the fee basis program is needed or would benefit the health status of an eligible veteran. For instance, multiple treatments with some frequency may be required to receive the full benefits of chiropractic care. If a veteran lives some distance from a VA medical center requiring that veteran to make multiple trips, it creates an undue travel burden. In such cases, the use of the VA's fee basis program is in the best interest of the veteran. Therefore, it must always remain a mechanism for accessing care to ensure system-wide availability regardless of whether a VA medical center has a chiropractor on staff.

As always, I believe it is our duty to do all we can to help our veteran warriors heal from the injuries incurred through service to our Nation. Providing them with readily-accessible, widely-available, and highly skilled chiropractic care I believe will go a long way towards increasing the health and well-being of our veteran population. As such, I encourage all my colleagues to join with me in supporting H.R. 1017, as amended.

I would also like to extend special recognition to Chairman Michaud and Ranking Member Brown of the Health Subcommittee for their work on this bill and that of the staff.