jackson the motion to consider is laid on the table our members will take their conversations off the floor rise to a point of personal privilege under rule nine gentleman is recognized for one hour  many of whom i have offended to the president his family to the troops that may have found in my remarks as were suggested in the motion that we just voted on  and i do apologize and i for this reason i think that we have a serious issue before us the issue of providing medical care to children the issue of what we do about  a war that we're divided about and i hope that with this apology i will become as significant as i should be and that we can return to the the gentleman from mississippi right madam speaker to suspend the rules and pass the bill h r one five five to prevent homegrown terrorism and for other purposes as a method the clerk purports the title of the bill h r nine hundred fifty times a bill to prevent homegrown terrorism and for other purposes persona to the world the gentleman from mississippi mr thompson and the gentleman from members will take their conversations off the floor members at the rear of the chamber will take their conversations off the floor chair recognizes the gentleman from mississippi thank you madam speaker madam speaker action animals consent that all members have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this bill and the violent radicalization of homegrown terrorism for vention act two thousand and seven in may six men were arrested for allegedly plotting to attack fort dix three of those men were united states citizen the other three had been in the united states since they were small children then again in june another for me and were charged with plotting to attack j f k airport by blowing up jet fuel tank from the comfort of his parents home in north carolina some may say these incidents are isolated cases but out of the believe that they are indicative of a growing trend of homegrown terrorism in this country homegrown terrorists no longer need to travel to afghanistan or pakistan to get support and training they can simply go on the internet to file to find violent propaganda and others who share their violent ideology legislation and for championing this calls the centerpiece of this deal is the creation of a national commission it is a step in the right direction national commissions have a long and successful history in this country one hundred sixty four recommendations all have been adopted in whole or in part by the congress and the federal go another commission the national commission on terrorism which operated in the early one thousand nine hundred eighty s was on the cutting edge of the terrorism debate that commission provided the nation with a blueprint of how to address the threat of terrorism long before september eleventh attack and the more recent nine eleven commission set legislative and administrative response to the september eleventh attacks that commission's recommendations were the bedrock of legislation that was enacted into law this summer the commission established in h one nine five five will help deal on the work of past commissions and help our nation come up with strategies for new threats the bill also requires our government to reach out to other nations that have experienced homegrown terrorism learning from other nations about what works and what doesn't will better position us to prevent the spread of violent ideology in our country to be allowed so creates a sense of excellence to conduct research that is desperately needed in determining the root called the violent radicalization at the same same time h r one man five five also protect civil rights and liberties of u s citizens the b is mindful of americans right to free speech freedom of association and freedom to worship h r one nine five five make certain that individual exercising these rights within lawful parameters are not singled out i wish my colleagues to support this important homeland security bill and actually i'm to vote in favor of passage of this important legislation madam speaker i was it about my time and i'm in research and i'm from terrorism prevention act of two thousand and seven as the ranking member on the homeland security subcommittee on intelligence i'd like to command first of all especially chairwoman jane harman who has a chairman says mr thompson really done a lot of work in this area and has been at the forefront of our intelligence community and working to protect our nation i also want to thank the full committee chairman mr thompson for all his hard work and our ranking member mr peter king who could not be here today this truly has been a bipartisan effort is one of those issues that all of us in this body recognize as so critical to the protection of our citizens in our country this legislation is focused on addressing the issue of radicalization and homegrown terrorism while terrorist recruitment and radical radicalization is a worldwide problem that must be combated globally the united states cannot afford to simply focus on eliminating terrorists abroad it is essential that we fully understand the future and the nature of the threat here in the united states from homegrown radicals in the national intelligence estimate on the terrorist threat to the u s homeland released in july of this year the director of national intelligence and the national intelligence coun assess quote the spread of radical internet sites increasingly aggressive anti u s rhetoric and actions and a growing number of radical self generating cells in western countries indicate that the radical and violent segment of the west muslims population is expanding including in the united states the arrest and prosecution by u s law of force one of a small number of violent islamic extremists inside the united states who are becoming more connected ideologically virtually and or in a physical sense to the global external missed movement points to the possibility that others may become sufficiently radicalized that they will be you the use of violence here as legitimate and quote because of the freedoms of our society and the interconnected world we live in radical ideas spread easily these ideas can come from overseas or from within the united states they can come from within prisons inside of isolated religious or ethnic enclaves and on the internet these ideas reach people in the privacy of their homes via the internet and can be similarly assessed by vulnerable individuals in schools libraries libraries and university unfortunately our freedoms are being abused by individuals whose sole purpose is to destroy our way of life while we have not seen radicalization to the extent witnessed in other west western countries like the united kingdom we have seen homegrown terrorists cells prisoners and sacramento a state prison plotted to attack tuition and u s military targets radicalized individuals plotted to destroy fuel tanks at j f k airport in new york and aim to create carnage at fort dix in new jersey while clearly law enforcement and intelligence efforts are key to intercepting interdicting these ideas and thoughts and these efforts in our country we need a strategy to ensure that violent radical ideologies are contained because of the nature of this threat it is essential that we understand why individuals become radicalized and what we can do to prevent radical ideologies from taking hold and spreading here in the united states h hundred fifty five establishes a national commission on the prevention of violent radical radicalization and ideologically based violence the commission incorporates aspects of h r sixty ninety five the prevent act which i  earlier this year the purpose of this national commission would be to proactively get ahead of the radicalization problem so that as a nation we can combat these radical ideologies before they become widespread within our borders in addition hundred fifty five includes provisions to help us learn from our international partners on how they are trying to prevent radicalization in their own countries this issue is not new to many countries throughout the world such as the united kingdom i believe it is critical for us to work with our international partners and learn from their past successes and failures lastly this legislation includes provisions and ensure privacy and civil rights are protected for all american citizens again i would like to commend chairman harman chairman thompson for working with me and and mr king on this legislation i urge all my colleagues to support this bill and i reserve the balance of my time reichard for his generous remarks madam speaker on nine eleven we were attacked by foreigners who had come to this country legally the next time and sadly i believe there will be a next time my assumption is many who attack us will already be here and some will be us citizens homegrown terror is a phenomenon many countries are rambling to understand including the british as they are under major threat from it there's a peculiar kind with a large pakistani population that is not well assimilated but america has a problem too unique in nature and we fail to understand it at our peril far from being immune to the danger of homegrown terror think timothy mcveigh or theodore kaczynski the threat today is infinitely greater and more likely to be influenced by events in the middle east or by the larger struggle against radical islam what causes an individual or group to first coalesce around a set of radical principles or a charismatic leader activities permitted by our bill of rights but subsequently to embrace a violent agenda intended to inflict maximum pain and disruption on his neighbors potential treason is not well understood in recent testimony before intelligence subcommittee some common traits and characteristics emerged said rand corporation's bruce jenkins quote it is the same age group that is susceptible to being recruited into gangs these are young men who are going through identity crises looking to define themselves if you have a narrative that exalts violence that attempts to project that violence as a personal obligation that offers the tantalizing prospect of clandestine a d identity all of those are appealing to that specific age group unquote combine that personal adolescent upheaval with the explosion of information technologies and communications tools tools which american kids are using to broadcast messages from al qaeda as chairman thompson just said and there is a road map to terror a retail outlet for anger and warped aspirations link that intend with a train terrorist operative who has actual capability and a made in the usa suicide bomber is born madam speaker h r nine hundred fifty five was carefully constructed by dave reichert and me as ranking member and chairman of the homeland security intelligence subcommittee the bill passed out of subcommittee and full committee unanimously this bill has strong bipartisan origins and as one who believes that this body best work is done on a bipartisan basis i think this bill is a testament to the not a silver bullet the legislation will help the nation develop a better understanding of the forces that lead to homegrown terrorism and the steps we can take to stop it madam speaker free speech a spouse in even very radical beliefs is protected by our constitution but violent behavior is not our plan must be to intervene before a person crosses that line separating radical views from violent behavior to understand the forces that work on the individual and the community to create an environment that discourages disillusionment and alienation that instills in young people a sense of belonging and a faith and faith in the future the legislation before us today offers that opportunity it is i would suggest that key to prevention if we fail to recognized three minutes i think gentlemen for the time i madam speaker according to the f b i testimony before our house committee on homeland security quote the european and american experience shows that prisons are venue's where extremists have radicalized and recruited among the inmate population in quote now this is not just a theoretical concern we all remember the case of richard reid apprehended while attempting to detonate a bomb on a u s bound commercial flight in december two thousand and one well that same mr reid is believed to have been radicalized by an e mail while incarcerated in britain in two thousand five we learned of the california prison based case of the quote assembly of authentic islam and quote these individuals were involved in almost a dozen armed gas station robberies in the los angeles area with the goal of financing terrorist operations they were indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to levy war against the u s government through terrorism and in april of this year and a hearing that we held out in torrance california sergeant larry mead of the gang intelligence unit los angeles county sheriff's department testified that analysis shows that radicalization and recruitment in u s prisons is still an ongoing concern similarly in a recent report the n y p d noted that prisons are an excellent breeding ground for radicalization the key to the success of stopping the spread of radical is identifying how radicalization begins and eliminating its breeding grounds we know we have difficulty with this phenomena in our prisons but we don't know enough about it we need to have collaboration between the federal prison system authorities and the state prison this system authorities and within the prison system of forty's themselves we need to bring together the best thinkers on this the best people who have experience in dealing with this already at the ground level and in fact this bill does that radicalization is not that well understood and through this bill we will take an in depth look at how it occurs the commission provided for in h five would give our government an in depth multi disciplinary look at radicalization and why is that important because no one has the single answer on this yes we have the background of prisons as the general background and look at the radicalization in prisons but how does it occur why does it occur and why are we seeing a rise in this at this particular time when it is perhaps most dangerous to the american people radical islam and its advocates around the world are a threat to america but we have to understand we might develop a threat within the united states as evidence already by certain actions that have occurred and therefore i would suggest that we vote yes on one hundred fifty five so we can get the facts upon which we can plan for prevention not just taking care of the problem after it occurs can i mean for me thank you madam speak carolyn harman for this legislation and for our friends across the aisle you know as a freshman that's very instructive to watch we can do in a bipartisan manner to protect this country i do appreciate that a lesson not lost on me certainly this this past may sixth the specte terrorists were charged with conspiring to attack fort dix their goal was to bring about significant destruction of mass casualties that critical military base these six men live less than an hour away from my home and trained right in the pocono mountains of the northeast pennsylvania in june of this year four men were charged with plotting to attack civil aviation by blowing up jet fuel pipelines that serve j f k in both cases the qs individuals planned plotted and attempted to perpetrate their crimes on american soil more troubling is that according to media reports neither cell received any assistance or had any contact with al qaeda or any other overseas terrorist group these two recent events demonstrate the troubling presence of homegrown terrorism in the united states members of such groups are indistinguishable from traditional terrorists and that they are radicalized and sympathize with the al  however that said they undertake their terrorist plots without training or support from a central foreign terrorist group given the civil rights and liberties protections that we enjoy as all americans the federal government must be creative in its approach to combat homegrown terrorism h r nine hundred fifty five the violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism prevention act of two thousand and seven protect the civil rights and civil liberties of americans and lawful permanent residents while providing solutions for preventing future violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism the yet creates a national commission to examine the causes of violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism the commission will be tasked with proposing concrete recommendations and legislat strategies for mitigating these types of domestically noot nurtured threats the act also establishes centers for excellence for the prevention of radicalization that will study the social criminal political psychological and economic roots of the problem additionally it will provide homeland security officials across the government with suggestions for preventing future radicalization and homegrown terrorism it requires that homeland security officials to thoroughly examine the chair a smile privilege to yield three minutes to the distinguished gentleman from pennsylvania and also the ranking member of their emergency committee and preparedness and response and subcommittee of successes in the war against violent extremism the plot to kill soldiers at fort dix the attempt to disrupt the kennedy airport pipeline system in last year's conspiracy to bring down the u s u k transatlantic flights were all disrupted by good intelligence efforts and as a result lives were saved but we cannot rest on our laurels after all is still a kind of stated goal to kill four million americans and to bring the united states to its knees and to impose a system the radical violent islamism upon the middle east and in fact the rest the world we need to protect ourselves from this threat to do everything we can in order to make sure that there are no future terrorist attacks on the homeland and that and that violent rattle because ation and homegrown terrorism mentioned act will help us and certainly in this effort this bill's effectiveness is enhanced by the fact it was put together in the spirit of bipartisanship much to the credit of the chairman harman earlier this year the ranking member the homeland security committees intelligence information sharing terrorism risk assessment without opposition in august also this bill is a subject of numerous hearings actually hearings much to the credit of both of them this bill can help us to stop the spread of violent radicalization has helped terrorist groups to grow their rank and file membership it creates a ten member national commission modeled after nine eleven commission which will study radicalization and come up with recommendations for defusing its power and preventing it spread establishes a university based center of excellence that will study this phenomena in depth and encourages international cooperation to stop the spread of this violent extremism it authorizes the department of homeland security to work with nations such as the u k and israel countries that have had a lot of experience and success and dealing with violent extremism within their borders and to develop the best practices methodology that can be used to help prevent radicalization and to thwart ideologically based violence and that members will join me in supporting the bipartisan legislation in protecting us against the spread of violent extremism and making us is making us safer here and in this country thank you you know you back enemy of fact gentleman from mississippi thank you very much and speak to me i inquire as to how much time on both gentlemen from mississippi has eight minutes remaining gentleman from washington has nine minutes thank you very much madam speaker i yield two minutes to the gentleman from colorado most promoted colorado's recognize for two minutes thank you madam speaker thank you chairman thompson and i want to thank ms harman and mr reichert for conducting a number of hearings across the country to really focus our attention on what could be a very big problem if we don't get in touch with it right now as the global war on terror continues america dedicates much of its resources to tracking foreign terrorists at home and abroad but in recent years we have seen a rise in the number of u s born criminals inspired by but not necessarily affiliated with groups like al qaeda and we've had from ms harmon and from mr reichert and mr lundgren as well as a list of a number of incidents that we've seen recently it is vital that our nation do what it can to understand the growing threat of homegrown terrorists and what we can do to prevent it the homegrown terrorism and violent radical radicalization act finally focuses attention on this matter the bill establishes a national center of excellence to bring in the top minds in the world to explore the causes of radicalisation the legislation also enhances our international cooperation so we may learn from our allies who have extensive experience with homegrown terrorism but the centerpiece of this legislation is the establishment of a national commission to to report to congress the causes and preventive measures that we can take the commission consists of academics religious experts counter intelligence officials prison administrators and many others with a the experience provided for this important and i must make it clear this bill has strict oversight of the privacy officers within the department of homeland security to ensure it respects personal and religious freedom as americans it is very difficult to understand why one of our citizens would want to terrorize his neighbors and countrymen but it is a question we must face in order to protect our security this bill tackles this head on and i would like to thank our chairman and ranking member for bringing this bill forward and i yield back from washington thank you madam speaker and it's my pleasure to yield two minutes to the gentle lady from florida terrorism prevention act of two thousand and seven this very important bill will weigh a key role in protecting our homeland as events abroad have taught us all too frequently home grown extremists and terrorists pose a serious and deadly threat to the general population the recent attacks in great britain as well as the foiled plot in germany proves that we must prevent the spread of violent radicalization within our own borders they do it there we certainly need to do more here here at home our intelligence and law enforcement officials have done an exceptional job of keeping america safe from such threats over the last year and a half we've seen plots against the sears tower in chicago fort dix in new jersey and j f k airport for oil where by our nation's vigilant network of law enforcement and intelligence personnel the bill before us will serve to strengthen those homeland defense efforts by preventing ideological ideology yes that promote violence and terrorism from taking root in american soil we know that al spread their evil philosophy everywhere even into the minds of our u s citizens to combat radical muslim extremists seize ceaseless efforts at expansion this bipartisan bill will create a commission to study violent radicalization and work with all levels of government both here and abroad to examine strategies to deal with this from them and this bill has an estimated cost of approximately twenty million dollars this number pales in comparison to the cost in human suffering and economic devastation a homegrown terrorist attack might bring as americans we with lemus never give up would it's my pleasure to yield to three minutes to the gentleman from connecticut who has member of the full committee homeland security committee mr shays  so well on a bipartisan basis this legislation which creates a ten member national commission modeled after nine eleven commission to study violent radicalization and ideologically based terrorism in these united  states before september eleventh we had the heart rudman commission the bremmer commission the gilmore commission and they all told us collectively the same basic point that we have a terrorist threat and we need to recognize that threat that we need a strategy to deal with that threat and that we need to reorganize our government to implement that strategy then came september eleventh and we did wake up somewhat we reorganized our government in the department of homeland security we passed the patriot act we reorganized trying teligent agencies and we have reformed the fires a lot but that's still a battle that we're working with but the nine eleven commission i think did something very brave they didn't say we're confronting tears and they said we're confronting islamist terrorists who would do us harm i think it's absolutely essential that we pass this legislation to begin to know the effects of this radical approach that is seeping out throughout the entire world and working its way into the united states and i believe with all my heart and soul that we have a level of recognition of the threat that pales in comparison to what the true threat is i think this legislation will help awaken us a bit and help awaken others within our country that we have a threat that we need to deal with we have a lot of issues that are important for our country to deal with but everything pales in comparison and to our homeland security our security as a people and i urge passage of this go three minutes to the gentleman from georgia where as a member of the full committee homeland security mr brown sentiments recognized for three minutes the american population a radicalization that has far reaching devastating implications on september eleventh two thousand and one the world saw firsthand the damage that islamic extremists can do to the american people as we look within our own population there are individuals who promote ideologies add ideologies under the guise of religion political and social benefits that is diametrically opposed to the american values and liberties that we hold so dear ideologies of any count religious or otherwise that are based on violence intolerance and hatred have no place in america in the past eighteen months the united states law enforcement intelligence agencies have stopped numerous individuals and groups that promote radical political religious or social police from carrying out terrorist attacks on american soul after one would like to know how these individuals operating and how they are funded or foreign entities providing the funding for their activities or these individuals who promote radical political ideology i have a problem with that word ideologies registered as foreign agents perhaps we need to re examine the foreign agents registration act of one nine hundred thirty eight we need to be more proactive and strike at the roots of the problem the bill that we're discussing today h r one nonfat that is proactive instead of reactive britain spain france and most recently germany and denmark have all suffered the deadly effects of a small radical last population that often use religion as an excuse to engage in violence and murder united states thanks in large part to its alert citizenry and professional law enforcement agencies has prevented the successful execution of several recent domestic terror threats in new york chicago florida and elsewhere studying the causes of radicalization and ideologically based violence will better inform all of us how we can prevent tour terrorists from spreading their messages of hate the violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism prevention act is the work of a solid bipartisan cooperation at the subcommittee and full committee levels such cooperation is readily apparent as  current building clues major aspects of h r sixty ninety five congressman reichardt prevent act which was designed establish a national commission on radicalization the nonpartisan commission invasion by representative reichardt and harman will be dedicated to comprehensively examining the phenomenon of violent radicalization so that we might better understand its root cause of the united states are as my colleagues to support this important timely bipartisan piece of legislation  alive just assure the chairman i'll just take a brief amount of that i want to note for the body that this is been an excellent debate we are bipartisan we are unanimous everyone understands the problem and everyone wants to solve the problem it is extremely refreshing and i have thoroughly enjoyed this debate i only want to make two additional points number one our bill was sequentially referred to the judiciary committee and the judiciary committee agreed to report it to the floor and for it to be brought up on the consent calendar i would especially like to thank chairman conyers for his cooperation and note that our staff our excellent staff was the one that really worked on this agreement  second comment is that a companion bill to this the identical text has been introduced in the senate to the government affairs committee which is the committee of jurisdiction there and i would hope that following passage here should we be able to pass it today there would be prompt action in the other body and we would have a lot of send to the president to sign this fall in conclusion this is a good process and i think an excellent result and it will make america more safe i yield back the balance of my time gentleman from washington thank you madam speaker we have no additional speakers but i reserve the right my balance gentleman the gentleman from mississippi has the right to close and i it is important for the american people to know and understand and realize there really is truly a threat here within the borders of the united states of america and how important it is for all of us together to work together because we are americans working together to keep this country say protect the freedoms that we have all enjoyed for me fifty seven years of enjoying the freedoms of this blessed country and i want the same things for my children and my grandchildren i want them to enjoy the same freedoms that i've had the opportunities to enjoy in order for us to do that both sides of the aisle have to work closely together to make sure that we pass the laws the legislation that will accomplish that great feat  reminding the american people what has happened in the past eighteen months in this country a sears tower in chicago in zero six new york new jersey path tunnel in july of zero six coghlan area shopping mall banned terrorist acts that have been prevented and we need to continue that effort passing this legislation will accomplish that i yield back the balance of my time and from mississippi thank you very much madam speaker in closing madam speaker  colleagues to join me in support of h r one nine five five this vital legislation will put our nation on the path to addressing an emerging threat grown terrorism there is general agreement that the threat of foreign based terrorist groups is real we as a nation have dedicated a great deal of resources to global counterterrorism however in some corners there's been a kind of mindset about homeland security that believes we will be safe if we get the terrorists there before they get us here it's a kind of mindset that it ignores the fact that there are some would be terrorists who are born here raised educated here and only have lived here in the united states for those of us who love this nation it is not a can of thing that we want to acknowledge but we must enactment of h r one  five will put us on a course to understanding homegrown terrorism and coming up with strategies to reduce this major threat to the homeland madam speaker i also would like to pay tribute to the chairwoman of the committee for showing this passage as well as a ranking member of the committee but i'd also like to acknowledge that ranking member king who had an unfortunate death in this family is not here  he has been a source of support for this legislation and his help get us to this point and i would like to acknowledge that for the record madam speaker how its passage of this legislation affirmative the rules are real twenty in the chairs prior announcement further proceedings on this motion will be postpone gentleman from mississippi madam speaker i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h r one six eight zero to authorize the secretary of homeland security to regulate the sale of ammonium nitrate to prevent and deter the twenty minutes the gentleman recognize the chair recognizes the gentleman from giuseppe and the speaker action animists consent that all members have five legislative days within which to working on this bill in a bipartisan way for two congresses now we all know the devastating impact that fertilizer bombs can have twelve years ago domestic terrorists use an ammonium nitrate based bomb to blow up the marrow of federal building in oklahoma city that blast had a force equal to that of four thousand pounds of t n t it keil one hundred sixty eight people since that time ammoni nitrate based bombs have repeatedly been used throughout the world in two thousand and two a group linked to al qaeda detonated a bomb outside a nightclub in bali indonesia killing two hundred in two people in two thousand and three and allocate assailant instant will kill fifty seven people in two separate explosions last year canadian authorities arrested seventeen people in toronto for plotting to attack targets with ammonium nitrate based bombs this threat is real madam speaker to do nothing about it is unacceptable however i have always believed that we must act in a thoughtful manner that recognizes the importance of ammonium nitrate in our agricultural sector and i'm proud of the work that the committee on homeland security has done the committee has worked hard to ensure that h r sixteen eighty strikes t right balance between ensuring access to monium nitrate for farmers and making it difficult for terrorists to obtain specifically this bill to rex d h as in consultation with state agricultural advance and that name address telephone number and registration number of the purchaser be recorded the tracking and registration functions are not new phenomena of the agriculture and fertilizer industry and some states have been engaged in voluntary programs to monitor the sale of ammonium nitrate for some time and in fact madam speaker a handful of states including new york california new jersey nevada oklahoma missouri south carolina maryland michigan and iowa have enacted laws regulating the sale of ammonium nitrate based fertilizer the time has come to put federal rules in place to ensure that terrorists cannot cross state lines to buy monium nitrate without being registered are checked against the terrorist watch list madam speaker am proud to say that our committee has work industry stakeholders in the agricultural industry on this legislation we consulted state and local farm bureau fertilizer manufacturers and retail outlets and mining and explosives makers is reassuring to know that we could all come together to come up with a reasonable approach to regulating ammonium nitrate i have somewhat of a vested interest in getting this right madam speaker plant in my district that tara yes to state a plant has been in operation for more than fifty years the terra plant is a major economic engine in our local economy providing good paying jobs and stable jobs for that community the tariff facility and many others like it across the country are committed to safeguarding ammonium nitrate but they cannot do it alone the federal government needs to show some leadership been able to come up with an approach to tighten control of ammonium nitrate allow it to remain accessible for crop nutritional purposes this legislation is another of our own going homeland security the alfred mara building in one thousand nine hundred five this legislation is needed to protect americans from those who seek to utilize this dangerous chemical and terrorist attacks but as the chairman said we must balance this threat to our nation security with the need for ammonium nitrate to remain accessible because it is a highly effective agricultural fertilizer and has other legitimate uses in industries like mining legislation before us creates a system of regulation so that ammonium nitrate is available for legitimate use but does not fall into terrorist hands a system that keeps us safe but does not burden farmers i believe this legislation strikes that balance we originally took up this legislation in the hundred ninth congress and we approved it in the committee on homeland security the hundred ninth congress ended before this legislation could be considered on the house floor so i'm happy to see this legislation before us again in the one hundred tenth congress and i thank the chairman for bringing it to us at this time h r six hundred eighty is a bipartisan bill we worked with our colleagues across the aisle to strengthen the prevention of terrorism component of this bill by insisting on a right registration requirement for those who purchase ammonium nitrate rather than just those who sell it we were happy to see the committee except three republican amendments to this bill i introduced an amendment which requires the department of homeland security to check the name of applicants for ammonium nitrate registration numbers against terrorism a terrorist watch list this will prevent suspected terrorist from acquiring this deadly material and will alert law enforcement authorities of potential plots under way another republican amendment provides civil liability protection for the sellers of ammonium nitrate in the event they refused to sell ammonium nitrate to suspect purchasers or make reports to law enforcement about suspect purchases no seller of ammonium nitrate should be afraid to deny sale of this dangerous material out of fear of legal action ammonium nitrate is a legitimate chemical to fertilizer crops but it's availability accessibility ease of bomb making cost and history of prior use make it an obvious material for large explosives that could be employed employed in terrorist attacks we need only to look back in recent history to understand that ammonium nitrate can be the terrorist tool of choice you know kind of bombings of u s embassies in kenya and tanzania in  november two thousand and three scores of individuals killed when terrorists detonated monium nitrate bombs in istanbul in march two thousand and five british and a terror police seized a half ton of monium nitrate from suspects accused of being affiliated with islamic terrorists later that month over three thousand pounds of ammonium nitrate was stolen by armed terrorists in thailand the arrest last summer june two thousand and six of seventeen in canada on charges that they were planning on using ammonium nitrate to make an extremely powerful bomb al qaeda has an internet hit on how to make ammonium nitrate bomb and an a b c news team last fall demonstrated how easy it might be to acquire ammonium nitrate with just three hundred dollars a b c and turns managed to purchase a thousand pounds of money in nitrate in two days in farm supply stores from north carolina to the district of columbia no one questioned why they needed ammonium nitrate and no one asked for their identification and that ammonium nitrate was stored in a public storage facility just a few miles from where we stand here today these events have demonstrated vulnerabilities that put us in the crosshairs of the terrorist sites right where we live work and travel here in the u s a few of our states including california have already begun to implement laws to secure the handling of ammonium nitrate the chemical and farming industry developed important protections in their respective industries to keep this substance out of the hands of terrorists these are important efforts but it creates a patchwork where terrorists all appear a terrorist has to do is to to build a ammonium nitrate bomb is to travel from new york to pennsylvania to acquire congress needs to step in to set a national policy this legislation does just that it sets a floor across the nation so that ammonium nitrate is used as intended that is to grow our nation's crops not to create the next oklahoma city bombing we believe fair and proportionate regulations will allow mon nitrate to continue to be available to legitimate users who are not a security concern while at the same time preventing a deterring exact acquisition by those who wish to do us harm by supporting h r sixteen eighty we will take another step in upholding our responsibility to promoter from colorado jones right next for three minutes thank you mr speaker thank you mr chairman and i rise today in strong support of house bill sixteen eighty the secure handling of ammonium nitrate act on many of the seven hundred twenty eight farms in my district and those throughout the country hardworking farmers rely on ammonium nitrate as a trusted fertilizer that can produce more nutrients the natural fertilisers but by its very chemical nature ammonium nitrate is also a substance that if mixed with certain fuels can be used as a powerful explosive the oklahoma city bombing of one thousand nine hundred five is perhaps the most notable and frightening example of ammonium nitrate potential therefore we must do all we can to prevent criminals and murderers from obtaining this legal substance while maintaining easy access for our nation's farmers the secure handling of ammonium nitrate act creates a national registry to monitor the purchase and sale of ammonium nitrate it further matches the names of applying farmers against the terrorist screening database so we can keep ammonium nitrate out of terrorist hands in particular i'm pleased to have worked with mr longer in and with others throughout the committee to crap an expedited appeals process for farmers who have been or adversely affected by the name check process that the department of homeland security must either approve or deny an application within three days and if someone is denied a registration number under the program they may appeal and get a resolution from the government within three days the provision ensures that farmers who are misidentified do not jeopardize their livelihoods due to a governmental mistake this is a commonsense bill that guarantees that ammonium nitrate in our country is being used for legitimate agricultural purposes and not for harm i urge my colleagues to adopt this bill and i yield back the balance of my time speaker if there is an example of how legislation should be crafted the secure handling ammonium nitrate act of two thousand and seven is it this is a great bill that will help to improve our homeland security and if it should succeed on the floor today its passage will be a tribute to the spirit of bipartisanship is alive and well in the homeland security committee and that is that that has been carefully cultivated under the leadership of that committee's chairman john from mississippi mr thompson is ranking member mr king and certainly mr longer and my immediate left to all work very hard work in that bipartisan environment on the committee the bill started out one hundred ninth congress where it was introduced by former congressman curt weldon of pennsylvania unfortunately while it it passed in the homeland security committee it was never addressed in the full house fortunately in two thousand and seven chairman thompson recognize the importance of this legislation helped revive the bill in the new congress both sides work together make sure that the bill accomplish its objective to keep the monium nitrate out of the hands of the timothy mcveigh and the other would be terrorists of the world while making sure that legitimate end users of the substance and agricultural production were not inconvenienced and in lock amendment offered by chairman thompson for example removed a requirement that farmers and others registered with department of homeland or with departments own homeland security so long as they never come into possession of the of the ammonium nitrate in addition to protecting the rights of legitimate end users the chairman also helped make sure that the final legislative product had input from both sides of the aisle three key republican amendments were added to the bill during committee markup as a result first offered by my colleague from california mr longer and directed the applications by those seeking to distribute or utilize ammonium nitrate be checked against terror watch  list with an expedited appeals process to handle any case any cases of mistaken hits ranking member king also offered an amendment that would protect legitimate distributors of ammonium nitrate if they act in good faith when they refuse to sell to a suspicious purchaser or if they notify the department of that that would be purchasers of suspicious behavior find the congresswoman brown waite offered an amendment that would help to streamline record keeping requirements for agricultural retail outlets these limits of all served strength in the bill the need for this legislation is clear ammonium nitrate has been the explosive material of choice in a number of acts and attempted acts of terrorism including the one nine hundred ninety five bombing of the of the murrah federal building in oklahoma city which killed one hundred  sixty eight innocent men women and children the one thousand nine hundred attacks on the u s embassies in kenya and tanzania the toronto based bomb plot thwarted by the royal canadian mounted police in june of two thousand and six and of course most recently the attempts by a terrorist group in london to detonate explosive charges throughout the united kingdom i hope the house will see fit to join me in supporting this effective legislation and very by it's a very bipartisan piece of legislation again and i thank my colleague from california  california the speaker let me just to use the balance of my time to say that i thank the chairman for the work that he's done on this bring to this floor at this time so we can complete action with the senate and get it to the president's desk to be signed i would also like to mention the ranking member of the full committee mr king who could not be here because he is still returning from the funeral for his mother who passed away this past week i mr king has done tremendous work on this particularly the amendment for liability protection for the sellers of ammonium nitrate if they did act in good faith to protect the american people mr king has done yeoman work in this regard on this and other bills and i hope that we would recognize that at this time again mr speaker this is an example of a bipartisan approach to an issue that affects all americans democrat republican independent whatever it is of the utmost importance and once again i think all the members democrat and republican who worked on this and i thank my chairman for bringing this to the floor and allowing us to vote on this time and i would ask for members to have full support for this bill and with that i yield back it will put safeguards in place to keep ammonium nitrate out of the hands of terrorists while suring that farmers can still access it ammonium nitrate fertilizer is a popular fertilizer because it is relatively inexpensive and highly effective in two thousand and five alone one point four million short terms tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer was used to direct application to farmers toward ensuring that our nation is more secure against the threat of import improvised explosive devices i too would like to acknowledge the work of the minority   at an earlier comment i referred to ranking member king's unfortunate tragedy in his family and why he was not here so i'd like to join with the comments of mr longer in that respect mr speaker our it's my colleagues to join me in passing this critical homeland security legislation john many years back the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h r one six eight zero as amended those in favor say aye those opposed no you being the chair two thirds being the firmer the rules are suspended in the bill is passed without objection a motion reconsider is laid upon the table without objection the title is amended what purpose does the gentleman from new york clashed with the speaker move that the house suspend the rules and passed the bill h r twenty eight sixty eight as amended where can we put the title of the bill which are truly sixty eight a bill to eliminate the exemption from state children thank you mr speaker i have been amazed advocate of making sure that america maintains its global competitive edge whether it's in business or human development america must stay at the forefront of innovation productivities in expertise no matter how economically militarily or culturally strong a nation has become it will certainly begin if the kleine when it rests on laurels of its past accomplishments and ceases to stay ahead of the comp of the competition h r twenty eight sixty eight was introduced by me and my good friend and colleague from new york the office sela toward the goal of maintaining america's competitive business advantage although mr facade and i may be going after two thirds of the aisle we stand in the same space when it comes to our support for american businesses and american markets recently mayor michael bloomberg of new york city and senator charles schumer commissioned a study on sustaining new york's and the u s global financial services leadership and the executive summary of that study it states and i quote the u s financial markets with new york at the center are still the world's largest and among the most important by many measures the united states is home to more of the world's top by natural services institutions than any other country six of the top ten financial institutions by market capitalization are based in the new york area and u s based firm still head the global investment banking revenue rankings in terms of global financial start the united states remains the largest market well ahead of europe japan and the rest of asia although the financial stock in other regions is now growing faster than it is here in the united states the united states generates more revenues from financial services than any other region but once again the rest of the world is challenging that leadership and a hotly contested investment banking in sales and trading markets to sum up that paragraph with a phrase that satchel paige is known for don't look back someone might be gaining on you to further quote the study the study says and i quote the choice of venue for i p o s offers the most dramatic illustration of the interplay between these factors the world's corporations no longer turn primarily to stock exchanges in the united states such as the new york stock exchange or nasdaq to raise capital internationally it can tell you to say the i p o market office other examples of jurisdictional average working against the united states with a very small cap companies and the united states increasingly favoring london's our terms of investment market over nasdaq and i here the american stock exchange and american private equity firms are choosing to list on european exchanges unquote and the study leading financial services executives who were interviewed indicated that the legal environment and regulatory framework in particular were critical to potential issuers considering whether to enter the us markets the ever mentation of sawbones oxley was part of the united states regulatory framework that was cited as a concern for issuers and considering the markets in which they would listen this is why earlier this year i introduced age of fifteen zero eight the complete act of two thousand and seven to improve the implementation of section four zero four of sorbets oxley my office has worked closely with the p c a o b and the f c c to review and discuss their regulatory reforms of socks and we hope it will improve the implementation of the law to work and toward continuing my efforts to improve our regulatory environment h r twenty eight sixty eight will make a technical change to the one thousand nine hundred six national securities market improves act that would allow the american stock exchange and nasdaq to offer a t a two level listing if they so choose this would allow these exchanges to compete more directly with the london alternative investment market and at the end the toronto stock exchange it will help us keep our competitive advantage and lead mr speaker i would also like to thank chairman frank frank for moving this bill through the committee and i'd also like to give special thanks to my co sponsor missed the facade for the work of his office particularly capital and in make this country even better and stronger and of course we share the common purpose of representing the greatest city in the world that's new york which has always been and shall continue to be the financial capital of the world i'd also like to thank  chairman of the committee mr frank and especially the ranking member mr baucus for bringing this bill to the floor again without whom this would not be possible over the past year or more there's been a new and rightly please focus on the competit competitiveness of the united states capital markets as emerging international markets continue to grow the natural historical attraction to the u s capital markets has given way to the considerations of a broader scale in short the us is no longer the only game in town over the past several years as my good friend mr meek says in the case that several reports have been published that argue the regulatory and legal environment in the u s service a negative considerations when market participants choose where to raise capital or headquarter of global business with new markets popping up across the globe investors and businesses now have options more options and increasingly we're seeing them choose alternatives to the us such as hong kong singapore and london we've seen an increasing number of u s companies in particular small companies raise capital on foreign exchanges in particular london's alternative an investment market or as is known commonly aim clearly united states remote remains the global financial leader and overall i believe we can be optimistic about the future growth and success of the american capital markets however in a constantly evolving and ever innovative global marketplace we cannot take our leadership for granted nor ignore indicators that the u s competitive edge is diminishing as lawmakers we have a critical responsibility to ensure the u s remains at the forefront of the financial markets strong capital markets are not a success realized by wall street investment bankers exclusively strong markets means jobs economic growth and retirement security for people across the united states we cannot control the evolution of overseas markets or their ability to compete in a global marketplace nor should we want to what we can control however is our ability to respond to adapt to changing circumstances with innovation and flexibility that will allow our markets and mass market makers to maintain their competitive edge this bill the small cap competitive listening act is an important and reasonable step towards achieving that goal in order to compete in an increasingly lobel and highly competitive marketplace exchanges both domestic and international have developed additional listing tears with lower listing standards to expand opportunities for smaller companies particularly for small cap companies an opportunity to list on a developmental tier is an important component to their ability to raise the capital necessary to grow their business and to continue to innovate in one nine hundred ninety six congress passed the national securities market improvement act an effort to streamline the regulatory process and eliminate duplications common sense this act include an important provision that a grant the preemption from state securities regulation to t national exchanges the new york stock exchange nasdaq and the american stock exchange because these listings were national in scope on the major u s exchanges congress deferred regulation to the federal government through the securities and exchange commission however as the market evolved that legislation has created a legislative barrier to the establishment of developmental tears or national exchanges because developmental tiers of less stringent listening standards securities offered on those exchanges should in fact be subject to state regulatory oversight in addition to the f c c oversight the legislation provides the national exchanges a legislative pathway that currently exist for both regional domestic exchanges and foreign exchanges to offer a marketplace for small cap companies by allowing the national exchange to establish this new tier it will grant small cap companies a new alternative to london's a market and so on the marketplaces that may be less regulated and less transparent the legislation were but represents sound policy puts all  domestic exchanges on equal footing and removes a roadblock to progress in addition the bill represents an important approach to addressing americans competitiveness it grants the exchanges flexibility to develop new offerings without creating a regulatory race to the bottom these new tears would be subject to state securities regulation and any proposed new listing standard would be subject to oversight approval from the f c c additionally investor protections or pilled as a public public company small cap companies seeking to list on developmental too will be required to comply fully with us securities law let me just say in closing i'm mr speaker in i want to thank mr meeks you know we here in congress regardless of our party affiliation or where we're from kno that this country is the engine of the world and we want to keep it such we understand that financial markets in particular the securities industry is a vital component of our national economy and how it results it's not just about wall street is mention many of us whether you're from queens or brooklyn or staten island many of our constituents benefit from a vibrant financial service industry much of that tax revenue disproportionately in new york city goes to fund schools and parks  roads and this is just a small way in which we can maintain that competitive edge give entrepreneurs and small companies the opportunity to access our capital markets put us on equal footing to compete with london zain and other emerging markets changes across the world and understand that the american people the american business man and woman can compete with anyone if given the tools and and the barriers are diminished so with that i'd like to reserve the balance of my time jim of new york  of america has always been it's small businesses and so we have these firms we want them to invest and grow their businesses right here in the united states of america it makes great sense because as they are investing in expand their businesses it creates jobs for americans and when you look at the services the financial services in particular that's where the jobs are being created that's what we're the most competitive and that's what we've got to stay and keep our competitive edge it makes great sense for us to make sure that tomorrow continues to be the great day for our in our financial services industry because it is the key to the economic security as well as of the jobs of tomorrow for many of our young people so mr speaker i urge all of my colleagues united states code to direct the secretary of veterans affairs to develop and implement a comprehensive program designed to reduce the incidence of suicide among veterans issues the rules the gentleman from california mr filner on the gentleman from  which control twenty minutes to chair with nice gentleman from california mr speaker i would yield myself five minutes and before introduce the the author of the of the legislation i just want to say in introduction unfortunately suicide prevention has become a major part of our responsibilities to both active duty and our veterans it's a terrible statistic mr chairman i'm sorry mr speaker but as many vietnam veterans have now committed suicide as died in the original war that's over fifty eight thousand we have to do as a nation a better job the army just announced recently that the suicide rate amongst active duty and recently discharged has now reached vietnam proportions so we have to do a far better job and we intend to do that and the the author of the original legislation mr boswell from iowa saw this very clearly introduce this bill and i would like to yield the remainder of my time to the gentleman  after a very tragic thing and josh from vague returning after eleven month tour and a good young fellow volunteer fire department going to center place reserves and he was concerned about safety of others but because of the situation he took his life i can't help but be thoughtful of eleanor's mother she'd like to have more training knew there was a problem so terrified the foetid his dad but she was with josh we went out to his pickup truck that day to go to work trying to talk to him trying to help and he took his in doing something for others and so out of that came what is now known as h r three twenty seven it's pretty simple to prove early detection for instance of suicide among veterans provide those veterans with the assistance they need which was not there for joshua it's also requires a veterans administration develop a comprehensive program to address the rate of suicide among veterans but also underscores the importance for further research peer counseling family education will would that same time they found the courage the strength to want to help others want to reach out and want to do anything they can possibly do to prevent this to happening to another individual to thank mr boswell for his hard work in bringing this forward h r three twenty seven was originally passed by the house unanimously unanimously in march the legislation was slightly modified by the senate to ensure that referrals for mental health counseling and treatment considered the request of the veteran concerned preventing suicide among our veterans is a top priority of this congress in the nation the veterans health administration estimates that are there are one thousand size per year among veterans receiving v a health care and as many as five thousand per year among all living veterans these are alarming says stick to stix h r three twenty seven has amended establishes requirements for a multi multi faceted v a s'sa'id prevention plan that strengthens early detection measures staff education initiatives and counseling and treatment assistance to to reach out and help at risk veterans to prevent suicides among those who have suffered bravely served our nation there has already begun to implant implement a national suicide prevention lifeline as required by this legislation the hotline became operational in july of this year veterans experienced thoughts of suicide can can call one eight hundred two seven three talk eighty two fifty five for help the first collar courting the v a i was received on july twenty fifth since that time and through september first as a result of calls to the s'sa'id prevention hotline three hundred forty six scholars were far to the isis side prevention coordinator and there were fifty six rescues mr speaker r three twenty seven is amended is important legislation their response to the need to strengthen suicide prevention education awareness programs within the v a i urge my colleagues to support h r three twenty seven as amended think the speaker i rise today in strong support of h r three twenty seven the joshua on the veteran suicide prevention act i'd like to express my heartfelt appreciation to the family of joshua both for their to pass this legislation and for their son's brave service to our nation too many soldiers are returning from the battlefield with hidden injuries occur already into the department of defense sixty thousand troops have been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries sadly only a small number of our veterans receive or seek the help that they need as are three twenty seven strengthens cooperation between departments of defense and veterans affairs it creates a comprehensive program to screen veterans for mental health and suicide risk factors and increases training for suicide prevention this bill is a first step in ensuring that we treat the psychological wounds of our troops by proving mental health coordination and our reach to veterans i urge all my colleagues to join me in voting for h r three twenty seven thank you mr speaker i yield back the balance my time addresses a glaring need for mental health support after department of veterans affairs medical personnel easily a dinner fire and treat physical injuries related to combat however more difficult to identify are those brave men and women that bear the mental scars of war post traumatic stress disorder is a very real and potentially deadly condition if not properly treated the reality is we as a nation ask a great deal of the men and women who serve in our armed forces they deal with extreme conditions heavy body armor and separation from their families in addition the soldiers are constantly looking over their shoulders not knowing when or where the next attack our i e d will come from many times they witness first in the deaths of those they serve beside under these extreme conditions it is no wonder that those who have served so bravely come home and find it very difficult to put these experiences behind them p t s d is gaining more and more attention and rightfully so as a member of the house veterans affairs committee we are seeing more service members returning home with these types of stress disorders if not properly treated those suffering from p t s d may turn to drugs or alcohol to cope or some may even take their life that's why they just ome with suicide prevention is to such an important piece of legislation it ensures that when a veteran is having trouble with any mental illness they have a place to turn it in sure is that each v a medical facility there's a designated suicide prevention counselor who will engage in community outreach to veterans and improve the condition the coordination of mental health services the bill also makes available a mental health care twenty four hours a day seven days a week there's also a toll free hotline for veterans staffed by appropriate mental health personnel in conclusion mr speaker h r three twenty seven provides the necessary service to our nation's veterans and i would urge all of my colleagues to support this measure thank you and i yield back the balance of my term someone yells back jim from california seven the joshua on the veterans suicide prevention act i listen to what mr boswell had to say when he is the i'm sponsor of the bill and i heard him in committee and i heard him again on the floor and i just appreciate so much the fact that he has brought this to congress's attention and a special thank you to josh to his family his parents i'm not sure if my child had committed suicide after his service in iraq that i would have the strength to not only go on as they have but to try to bring a p t s d to the attention of the american people and actually do something about it i want to share with you why this is important for me and why i'm supporting it more than sixteen hundred nevada veterans have returned from serving in iraq and afghanistan many of these brave men and women suffer from p t s d nationally one in five veterans returning from iraq and afghanistan are suffering from p t s d thirty five percent have been diagnosed with some sort of mental disorder it's vital that our veterans receive the help they need to deal with this condition a few years ago  constituent of mine lance corporal justin bailey returned from iraq with some physical injuries as well as a diagnosis of p t s d he struggled with addiction to legal prescriptions and illegal drugs after checking with his parents and in consultation with those parents he checked himself in to the west l a v a facility where he was given five additional description drugs including method don without proper oversight the next day the man was dead i can't understand it's incomprehensible to me why a facility would give anyone us with this substance abuse problem a thirty day supply of medication unsupervised under a self medication policy this devastating loss of life could of and should have been prevented this is systemic in in our v a system and that's why this problem gentleman i called this grandmother and parum nevada her grandson who lived with her and there's a small little town outside of las vegas he came home from his first tour of duty in iraq and he was messed up mentally he was suffering from p t s d it was apparent to anybody that spoke to me didn't want to go back you failed he couldn't handle it he was emotionally and physically drained and he begged not to go back what the military's response is they gave him prozac because he was depressed and they sent him back to the front lines in iraq and the day that he got back to iraq he blew his brains out that's a very difficult thing to come to grips with if you're the grandmother of a grandson that begged you not to let him go back to iraq we have problems with p t s d it's imperative that we provide adequate mental health services for those who have and are currently sacrificing for our great nation this bill takes a step in the right direction in providing our veterans with the health care that they have earned and i yield back the balance of my time  thank you mr speaker and thank you to chairman filner for for his strong support of this piece of legislation and to all members of the committee mr bozeman has been a strong supporter of our veterans and i appreciate this the support for this piece of legislation ms boswell so clearly illustrated the need for this piece of legislation and i urge my colleagues to to stand in support of this compromise that has come back from the senate and thank senator harkin for moving it towards us as i spoke on this bill in this piece of legislation in march the numbers show that veterans suicide mental health issues are urgent issues that requires congress's a media attention although veterans make up ten percent of our population one in five people who commit suicide in the united states as a veteran a full thirty five percent of our veterans returning from iraq are seeking counseling for mental health issues within the first year p t s d is fast becoming a signature injury of the wars in iraq and afghanistan and the veterans affairs committee have seen in countless hearing that the need to expand care is there h r three twenty seven will meet this need by directing the department of veterans affairs to offer mental health screening to veterans providing education of v a staff contractors and medical personnel and making available twenty four hour mental health care for veterans who are at risk we will alleviate some of these hardships i urge my colleagues to support this legislation because of the critical service it will provide although we often have bitter debates in this house and are deeply divided over issues like the war in iraq there is one issue that we all agree on and has the potential to unite us and this nation and that's the care for our veterans no one in this body questions the incredible sacrifice each of the veterans has made on behalf of the united states and no one questions the responsibility that we have in congress to provide them with the resources and the help necessary to live healthy and prosperous lives with this legislation one hundred tenth congress will iowa family that helped inspire this legislation i would yield two minutes to the gentleman from iowa mr objections thank you mr chairman for the opportunity to address this very important issue and i want to congratulate and thank my colleague and friend congressman boswell for his persistence in seeing this bill through to its conclusion and again thank the ranking member for the bipartisan support for this bill one of the most moving experience of i've had in this body is standing on the floor when we first spoke about this bill and heard overwhelming support and great personal testimony from people on both sides of the aisle i want to put a human face on the bill we're talking about this is joshua on vague and these are his parents randy and elena vic i've known randy and ellen for almost twenty years they're warm caring decent iowans who love their son and who are with us here in spirit as this bill makes its final journey through congress on its way to the white house joshua was a brave young man who served in a military police unit in davenport iowa which is in the first district that i happen to represent and joshua's face has become a national face for the issue and the crisis that brings us here today people who deal with post traumatic stress disorder especially p t s d involving veterans will tell you this is the hidden combat wound when these veterans return with p t s d they can be walking on the streets of your city your town your community and you will not know that they are suffering because of the nature of the disease what's even more significant is that people suffering from p t s d are frequently the last people to know they've got a problem and that's why this bill is so important so that people coming back and and veterans who are suffering from p the resources the early screening and the early prevention and intervention necessary to make a difference in their lives and to save the next joshua on vig who faces this struggle without the necessary resources and support i'm proud to be part of this overwhelming bipartisan effort in the house of representatives to take care of our wounded veterans our aging veterans and our new veterans coming back from iraq and afghanistan you've heard the statistics about the overwhelming nature of this three twenty seven the joshua big suicide prevention act this bill was one of the very first bills that i co sponsored as a new member of congress and i did so because i believe we have a moral obligation to care for those who have worn our country's uniform indeed just yesterday early yesterday i visited the mental health unit at our military hospital in landstuhl germany the incidence of suicide among our veterans nation's veterans is indeed staggering in fact it has reached the highest rate in twenty eight years and we've already heard about joshua on the himself one of iowa's own by directing the v a to implement screening counseling and other mental health services for we returning veterans this legislation will reach those who are in most need of our help i urge the passage of this legislation and i urge the president to quickly sign it into law so that these vital mental health services can reach our nation's veterans and i better and i yield back the remainder of my time are continued to reserve we have no further speakers except my closing if you would like to close john of market so thank you mr speaker again i want to thank congressman boswell for his hard work in bringing this for chairman filner ranking member of the year mission to show mr miller all of them for reaching a compromise with the senate as we go forward on this i think this is a great example that out of a terrible tragedy that something good can happen and you know we've heard the story of this young guy and because of his tragedy because of that family's tragedy hopefully putting programs like this in place we will help other families other individuals other servicemen not go through this and prevent future tragedies so again i urge my colleagues to vote yes and urge the president to sign this and so that we can go for  from suicide we have got to do a better job as a nation we have just got to do a better job we know what will happen if we fail vietnam veterans have paid a heavy price for our refusal to look at mental health as important as physical help for refusal to look into the souls of our young veterans and recognize that they are crying out for help so we have to get this right and this is a good step in doing that again i thank mr boswell and all the iowa representatives for taking a tragedy that befell joshua began his family and turning it into a positive that will help all of us in america achieve a better health care for our veterans i would urge my colleagues to support h r three to seven and you'll back the balance of my time some years back all norwood i just want to say that we all love him as a member i did know mr kingston as this incredible career in the united states army in the dental corps but i let you go through that but it was a very incredible story of his his devotion to our nation and we saw his heart and soul here he always wanted to take care of veterans and i am pleased to  of our colleagues who was taken from us all to son charles charlie whitlow norwood jr was born on july twenty seventh one thousand nine hundred one the georgia night of charlie norwood attended georgia southern university in statesboro beginning with an assignment in the u s army dental corps at sandia army base in albuquerque new mexico in one thousand nine hundred sixty eight he was transferred to the medical battalion of the hundred seventy third airborne brigade in vietnam and served z english at bonsai during his tour he participated in experimental military dental practices that are now standard procedure for the armed services in recognition of the service under combat conditions nor what it was awarded the combat medal badge and two bronze stars after his discharge in one thousand nine hundred sixty nine he remained a member of the american legion the veterans of foreign wars and the military order of the world wars until his death mr speaker charlie norwood served with us as a member of congress from january fourth one thousand ninety five until his untimely death on february thirteenth two thousand and seven during his congressional greer nor would work to pass a patients bill of rights aimed at giving people better access to health care and greater ability to sue insurers and spend his life supporting the overall well being of veterans he was quick to protect tri care benefits and he co sponsored legislation to military survivor benefit plan inequities and improve military pyros he was a tireless advocate for our men and women in uniform and for our nation's veterans this legislation has the support of the state veterans service organizations as well as the entire georgia delegation in the senate a companion bill has been introduced has ten twenty six which has a co sponsorship about the georgia things that charlie loved dearly he loved veterans he loved augusta georgia and he loved medicine and doctors giving medicine and taking care of patients probably the only things he loved more his lord lord and savior jesus christ his wife gloria and their family and indeed the united states of america charley was a happy warrior we all know charlie and whether you agreed with him or disagreed with him he always smiled and he always expected you to push back he never would resent your off position to any philosophical point whatsoever and that was a double edged sword he was a republicans republican that times but i can say this if it meant doing something he believed in he would oppose the republican party we all remember the norwood dingell bill which charlie championed it was part of the patient bill of rights and that was a bill which was largely not supported by the republican party and yet charlie just charged away and said we're to do this because it's the right thing in the earn the respect of both sides of the aisle by handle and that and i remember him relating the story to me when the president the united states called him and said charlie what can i do to get you to back off this bill a little bit and give us some flexibility in believes that mispresent not a thing but if you don't know charlie and you know the president that conversation probably has been cleaned up a little bit but the whole time you could see both of them kidding back and forth because that was the there and introduce you you know they're not going to take to easily and we're going to made about seven thirty in the morning at a local restaurant a little little diner that you know is the epitome of what you always see on t v and i got there just a few minutes late and i thought oh man charlie has been surrounded by these farmers for a while now and i've been bearish him but come in light and they're looking at this augusta city slicker they've never met before and i walked in and it was like interrupt in some else's family reunion charlie was sitting at a table surrounded by farmers surrounded by these rural folks while charlie spun one yarn after another about what was wrong in washington they say they loved him and i'd hardly even got a place at the table sort of no d my head and said charlie you take it from here and said to my can still former constituents you guys are in very very good hands i remember one commercial that charlie had and i had been elected the term before charlie so i you know had a little bit to say here and there and charlie actually had never been in elected office many of us had served in the georgia general assembly together and charlie ran an ad that said i'm gonna do what i can for you try to do my best but i'll tell you this if you're the if you're from the tenth district of georgia i don't care who you are i'm going to do anything i can to help you and so i said i must say it was charlie now look if somebody has broken the law you don't want to make that statement out there that you can help anybody for anything he said no i will and that's the way i feel people understood that about charlie norwood he was a fighter for them he was a fighter for the cause and he literally did mean it if you if i can help you i'm going to do what i can for you i see i have some we're about out of time on my half of the the program here but what i wanted to do is submit some things for the record about charlie and mr bozeman has outlined a lot of his his military career but it is substantial he was a fighter over and over again for the veterans and again he would be with the republican party or with the democrat party if it was in the best interests of the veterans and that's what so good to have such strong bipartisan support for this legislation today so we want to say charlie we love you gloria and all the family we certainly love you as well and support you and it's going to be a proud day when we get this building renamed and with that i yield the balance of my time and i ask congressman kingston from savannah i want to tell the congressman that there is no city slickers in augusta georgia augusta native there probably not innings of manner either maybe the problem is all in the atlanta area but mr speaker i do of course rise today strong support of h r eighteen zero eight to designate department of veterans affairs medical center and augusta georgia my hometown as the charlie norwood department of veterans affairs medical center i am proud to stand here today  because charlie norwood was a great american alleged country and found any way he could to serve but also because i had the honor and the privilege to serve with him to personally know charlie and account he as one of my close friends charlie has already been said i'm just proud to reap repeat a lot of this but charlie was a native son of georgia growing up in valdosta he graduated from georgia southern university in statesboro and after earning his doctorate in dentistry from georgetown operating military procedure for the armed forces he was one of the first dentist to operate in the active combat zone in vietnam in recognition for his service in vietnam charlie was awarded the combat medical badge and two bro stars and after vietnam charlie was assigned to the dental corps at fort gordon the army base just outside of augusta and from then on charlie glory and his family made their home in augusta georgia hundred four charlie became the first republican to represent georgia's tenth congressional district since reconstruction this landmark election gave us a leader who are mostly paul for immigration reform including mr speaker the clear act to eliminate the sanctuary cities and the patients bill of rights i'll never forget that i was the practice of medicine in marietta georgia when charlie brought forth that bill about ten years ago and did such a great job with ryan in the managed care and he's always for smaller more fiscally conservative government during this time charlie never forgot his fellow veterans he remained an active member of the american legion the veterans of foreign wars and the military of world wars and throughout the brac process charlie's constituents in augusta could risk easy knowing that charlie was there fighting for fort gordon and that gusta area of veterans affairs medical center mr speaker charlie norwood was a strong american to spend his life fighting for his country both at home and abroad and for this reason i can think of no one more fitting after which to name the department of veterans affairs medical center in augusta and our  better tribute than to name the veterans affairs center in it one freedom away in the gusta the charlie norwood medical center congressman norwood was a strong advocate for veterans he was a veteran himself  was very active in health care issues in veterans health care issues on the house floor and this is a fitting tribute to his service in the congress in his service to the country when he was in the military and served so  subjection thank you so much misspeak or not thank my colleague for yelling i'm so please join my colleagues in support of this resolution charlie norwood congressman norwood was a dear friend to me and he was a friend to this body it's wonderful that we have this opportunity to recognize and honor him here today and forever with the commemoration and renaming of this veteran's facility congressman norwood spent his entire life helping others after serving valiantly in defense of our nation in vietnam he returned home to service community in augusta georgia as a dentist and for twelve years he was a faithful servant to the people of georgia as a member of congress and all of this service with his wife gloria close biocide indispensably in congress charlie norwood was a passionate supporter of our military and our veterans and he never forgot for who he was to work in wash his constituents his leadership on veterans issues and a broader conservative vision for america are deeply missed any want to new charlie knew that he was as tough as they come and he always stood on principle his legacy in the house of representatives what they want of integrity vigor and loyalty it's fitting that we don't moralize his life with this tribute today thank you charlie he was a tireless advocate for veterans for this district for the entire state of georgia charlie and i shared the love of hunting and fishing when i was an active member of safari club international i used to come to washington lobby for hundreds rights and owner's rights charlie was always very supportive and very helpful i have enormous respect for his unwavering commitment to his principles throughout charlie's illness i pray that god would healing his passing was a great to us all i hope that dedicating this facility will be a comfort to the norwood family in fall that they have been through i have tremendous appreciation for charlie's wife gloria for the unwavering support that she gave to charlie without her help he could not have accomplished so many wonderful things and touched so many people's lives charlie gave a lifetime of public service to the people of this nation after giving so much to his country it is only fitting that we honor the speaker not thank the gentleman for yielding you've already heard the accolades about charlie's service as a decorated dentist in the vietnam era and in vietnam in country i didn't know charlie till he came to congress but he and i became very close friends we worked together on energy and commerce committee he was always dedicated to the things that he thought was for the best especially for our veterans for those who served their country and who  sacrificed for our country he was always somebody that you knew exactly where he stood and he wasn't always partisan in where he stood he simply took positions based on what he thought was right and in the words of charl to the gentleman from georgia mr i thank the gentleman for yielding i was a friend of charlie's for over thirty years we met in the early seventy's when he was a president of georgia dental association i was a practicing dentist and a young state legislator charlie never ever was a neutral and he rarely ever backed up he was full go ahead a great story about him in the army was he the way they were doing business moving denser forward firebases and his commander called him and said i want to daily report what you ideas when he got involved shortly thereafter in the georgia dental association he did the same thing he just took charge of became its president traveled all over the state of georgia fighting for important things for patients welfare his important bill to him i didn't agree with him on the bill but he didn't slow down at all and the fact the house and senate did not sign the patients bill of rights did not mean it wasn't important the changes that brought in the relationship between h m o s and patients are there today because of the pressure of that legislation and will be there forever charlie was a remarkable human being and one who i've loved for a very long time and up and ask for the support on the renaming of this veteran center in augusta for congressman charlie norwood i told charlie one time i said charlie you're my foxhole buddy and he said  what do you mean by that and i said well i know that you're going to keep my back covered and that you're going to be with me if you tell me that you're with me until i get out of the foxhole or until they drag our dead bodies out and that's the kind of guy was if he told you he was with you than he was with you and that's the type of thing that he exerted towards the veterans of this country is that he was with the veterans and i don't think there could be any greater honor on that veterans building in augusta than charlie norwood sniping to let the veterans know and understand that he has always been with them that he went through many adversities with his hell a long time of trying to get over an illness and they may be up for some of the things but charlie norwood was always there for him and i just think it's a great honor that that this body is voted in will continue to vote to make that the charlie norwood veteran's administration thank you some years back to california continue to reserve general from arkansas i think we have one more speaker mr mr speaker ok in closing again i we've all heard what a great asset charlie norwood was this body not only in helping us as members but in all the the many many ways that he served this country he and his wife gloria who also serve this in a way of helping junior members was as i came on board my wife in particular again we're very very revise and extend their remarks include extraneous material on h r eighteen zero eight without objection and i just heard from charlie any i think you know he said his typical way you know i wish all those guys and said things about me would have voted for my patients bill of rights naming a v a facility after this hero and a strong veterans advocate is certainly a proper honor for an honorable soldier and for a congressman we all love the speaker i have no vote for the request for time i would yield to my distinguished colleague from wisconsin mr kagan to speak about the bill which he has authored to name the outpatient clinic in the in green bay wisconsin after this great hero challenge re mr speaker thank you for this opportunity to speak in support of h r two for oh wait it build the name the department of veterans affairs community based outpatient clinic in green bay for milo see him her brown county wisconsin's most highly decorated veteran of world war two recipient of the distinguished service cross second only to the medal of honor the bronze star and numerous other commendations having cared for thousands of veterans as their physician and now as their elected representative i would also like to thank the members of the leadership and the members of the veterans affairs committee who worked hard to bring this legislation to the floor today especially  filner thank you and thank you as well to ambassador mark green for beginning this good work we need to remember miles to him for he was a hero his bravery his dedication to others and his selflessness to serve to guide all of us today milo served in one of the best trained units in the u s army delete five fifty first parachute infantry battalion it was a unit where courage was common yet even in this company against a german tank column in belgium during the battle of the bulge in that chaotic battle milo and a colleague were separated from their convoy with a truckload of ammunition they were near the belgian town of leone when their truck slid off the road into a ditch milo was left behind to guard the truck until a tow truck could return he had instructions to destroy it if the germans arrived he turned down opportunities to leave when he heard an armed column of panzer tanks approaching he burned the truck and retreated into the local city over the course the next two days and two nights milo waged a one man battle a one man guerrilla war against the town's nazi  occupiers he destroyed tanks he destroyed trucks he stormed a machine gun position and gaijin hand to hand fighting with enemy troops when he was not protecting the townspeople leo milo would sneak out of town to war approaching troops allied troops that the enemy was nearby he saved many american soldiers lives one evening a freezing evening the townspeople came to him and asked if he would go to church and protect them the people wanted to go to church and he could not understand why well it happened to be christmas eve they reminded him and he stood outside armed only with a pistol to protect them on christmas eve as the people they own celebrated he stood guard as he stands guard now on christmas morning milo received his present when allied forces began their counterattack and surrounded the town milo didn't stop sprang into action against a german artillery hidden in a barn and eighteen nazis surrounded him when milo finally met the allied troops they were almost there they almost mistook him for a german spy they couldn't believe that a single soldier could hold them off from this town and couldn't understand how a single american soldier could bring so many troops into being captives for these deeds private hampton or was awarded this service cross the after action report on private hefner's deeds ends with these words and i quote his gallantry intrepidity and extraordinary heroism while operating within the very limits of the german units without being ordered to do so and when withdrawal could have been accomplished with honor and safety reflect the highest standards and ideals of the military service and favorably demonstrated to the citizens of leone the courage and during of the american soldier close close after the war milo him or preferred not to talk about his experiences this was common for many soldiers in world war two his own children did not know of any of what i just spoke about until his funeral when milo's comrades stepped forward to speak of their cherished comrade despite his silence myler remained a committed patriot and dedicated to the men he served over the years between the war and his hundred five mile oa tended the funerals of over nine hundred veterans in brown county wisconsin he used his dress uniform so frequently that he wore it out as a mark of respect and thanks local veterans organizations paid to have it restored by naming this temporary community outpatient clinic building in green bay after milo helped her we are paying respect to one of wisconsin's great heroes i would like to thank milo helped our children jackie wayne gerry and milo for their help and also his friend bernie dupree of green bay who brought this request to my attention and worked tirelessly over the years to make mr speaker mr speaker h r twenty four away a bill to designate the v a outpatient clinic in green bay wisconsin as the mylo here for our department of veterans affairs outpatient clinic would honor an individual whose demeanor during combat and world war two example five is the concept of the army of one in one hundred forty four private first class if not were stranded in the small belgium village of laying on after his truck was separated for from his convoy and slid off the road while in hiding in line on private first class here from her found that the village had been overrun by german troops he persuaded of the next four days and nights to singlehandedly wage war against an entire german armored column consisting of tanks numerous heavy gun emplacements and hundreds of soldiers during this period of time private first class  numerous american and british troops from the non who otherwise would have been slaughtered by the germans occupying the town he repeatedly refused to be evacuated on these occasions staying to destroy additional german equipment killing german soldiers in direct combat and protecting the citizens of the occupied town mr speaker on christmas eve british forces dislodged the german forces using information collected by  over seventy two hours on his fate under constant threat and harassment from enemy forces private first class he if not retired to house all he had earlier defended for all of these accomplishments he was awarded the distinguished service hundred seventy three after the war private first class who have never attended the funerals of many veteran comrades as possible reports indicated that he participated in the burial of some nine hundred fellow comrades in arms over the years since world war to attending in full dress uniform honoring their service and repeatedly repeatedly demonstrating his love for our nation by showing the brave veterans of brown county the dignity and respect and a great hero for wisconsin i wish your guys from green bay whether they be quarterbacks or our heroes could we could pronounce their names but we thank you for telling us the story of m i rise in strong support of this bill which condemns the action that result in damage to our vietnam veterans memorial we all know that this memorial recognizes and honors the men and women who are veterans of our nation who served in one of america's most divisive wards the memorial grew out of a need to try to heal the nation's wounds as america struggled to reconcile its different moral political points of view on this war in fact the moral conceived and designed to make no political statement about the war it was designed to bring us together it was a designed as a place where everyone regardless of the notion of their opinion of the war could come together remember and honor those who served and those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service of their country i think all of us wherever we were during that terrible divisive time feels a peace and feels a relationship to those people who served our nation the memorial as we know as i said as pave the way towards reconciliation and healing a process that still continues that's why mr speaker i think we were all so disturbed when he heard of the senseless act of vandalism that happened earlier this year someone walked along that morrill with some type of oil applying it secretly on the wall as they walked by the unknown oil is done real damage to the polished granite surface but it did more than damage the wall mr speaker it damaged the respect we have for our nation's veterans and their sacrifice damaging the healing process and takes us as a nation back to a time when we did not honor or take care of our returning vietnam veterans takes us back to a time when many people in this country confuse the war and the warrior if you did not like the war you said the heck with the warrior that was a bit a deep mistake on our part mr chairman a tragic mistake and one as a nation we still suffer from today we did not provide these veterans the care they needed we didn't welcome them back with honor and dignity and respect and we're paying a price today more than half of the homeless on the streets throughout america tonight homeless are vietnam vets over two hundred thousand others still suffer from post traumatic stress disorder substance abuse other ailments and as i said earlier as many vietnam veterans have now committed suicide as died in the original war we as a nation have to rectify rectify this wrong we have to take care and provide the health care the treatment the support that our vietnam veterans deserve and need we have to say that we are sorry for the treatment that they received when they came home and honor these courageous men and women for their sacrifice to this nation anything that's attracts from this healing process and outrage the honor and memory of that of these brave veterans who fought and died for our country and that is exactly what the census needless act of vandalism that was perpetrated on the vietnam veterans memorial does it rub salt into the wounds of our veterans that are still healing in dishonors those that deserve nothing less than our nation's honor and gratitude so mr speaker through this resolution we condemn this act we condemn those who are responsible for the oil is not just a stain on a piece of granite is a stain on the fabric of our nation a nation still healing from a divisive war but a nation that honors the sacrifices of its soldiers and veterans my  who designed the memorial said this memorial is for all those who have died and for us to remember them mr speaker let us remember their patriotism valor and let us condemn the discordant acts of those who seek to tarnish them now these are the b thank you mr speaker i rise today in strong support of a tryst six id which condemns the actions of september seventh two thousand and seven resulting in damage to the vietnam veterans war memorial mr speaker the vietnam veterans war memorial commonly referred to as the wall serves as a memorial to the two million seven hundred thousand men and women in the united states armed forces the shard in vietnam it is a memorial that has many different name nice to those who lived through that era and as an especially poignant reminder of the cost of that war and the ultimate sacrifice made in any conflict americans come from all across the country each year to reflect on the sacrifices of the six fifty eight thousand two hundred fifty six names inscribed on the one hundred forty panels of black granite whether it is a family member looking for the name of a loved one or a comrade in arms honoring a foxhole buddy or a young child searching for the name of a relative they never knew every american who visits the wall leaves a changed person it is fitting that the memorial for a most divisive war has become a place of solace and coming together mr speaker regardless of who is responsible for the recent attack on the vietnam wall that cowardly act was an affront to every american it in a parent act of vandalism fourteen panels where the faced with a light oily substance that damage nine's panels and paving stones of the vietnam veterans memorial while i'm thankful that it appears that the substance was removed and the memorial has been restored to its pristine condition i believe it is important for us in congress to show congress's support for one of our nation's most sacred sites mr speaker ause sarge my colleagues to join me between november seventh through november for the november tenth to read some of the fifty eight thousand two hundred  fifty six names on the visit that vietnam veterans memorial this will be only be the fourth time this rating as occurred here in washington and it coincides with the twenty fifth anniversary of the vietnam veterans memorial i thank the memorial i was outraged outraged as a bit on veteran as many of you are in this chamber many of our colleagues for me twenty years plus i know firsthand a lot of us do the sacrifice of service members and their families make and this from world is more than just honor their brave men and women who gave their lives for a nation it also served reminder to all americans the price of freedom the vietnam veterans memorial service or resting place for our brother who were unable to come home and i'll bet some of the rest of us i have wondered how come our names wasn't on that wall and we know it could have been for somebody to d is just unacceptable i hope the park service will be able to find these criminals and swifter bring them to justice like you have a special thanks to all of our troops and all those of them who have given the ultimate sacrifice we cannot forget them with a just legislation today it is one more example what congress has done fulfill our nation's obligation just service members their families and all veterans i'm proud to stand here to co sponsor this bill and i encourage the house to pass a tress six memorial i just didn't really know what to think about it wasn't a front page item it was a back page item but to me it seemed like a just a shock so i went down to the park to take a look at it and as i walked along there and i know some others have done this too you could see where this substance had a big cast what looked like a shadow across the names that were printed on portions of this wall and it brought back to me a memory of the time when the traveling wall came to the town i'm from in round rock texas and back in texas and was put up out in the park and i went out there with one of my good friends and one of the lawyers that worked in my court who was a true vietnam veteran him and a hero and we walked up to approach that wall and it was sitting up on a hill in our park and he got about seventy five or fifty yards from the wall and you stop and i said mike you're going up there he said not right now and then he stood there and stared at that wall and cried and it took him a long time before you approach that wall because as he said there were too many names on that wall that he missed and loved that wall means that kind of thing to our vietnam veterans and for someone to go out and deface the honor of these fallen heroes whose names are still carved on that wall is intolerable to hope the park service find these people and prosecute to the full extent the law because this is a shame it's not only a shame to our national our national monument which is against the law but it is a shame to our national honor that this happened and that's why i brought this bill forward i will note that there are others who feel the same way and many of them here today and i'm thankful for him the gathering of eagles and am that posted a five thousand dollar reward to try to find out who did this to facing the wall that's how much it means to them this act of valor that elizabeth cannot be tolerated should not be tolerated and it should be passing this resolution we will reaffirm to our veterans who fought the war in vietnam that they did it with honor they it with principle and we respect their them as are warriors who did their job and should have been treated accordingly with honor when they came home we need to continue to honor our vietnam vets that's why i feel this resolution  pains of the past defacing the wall is the ultimate act of cowardice why anyone would want to destroy a sacred monument in washington d c is beyond me even though i did two tours in vietnam i spent most of my time in captivity i didn't get to know a lot of the brave men and women who died next and those who had their names etched into the shani marble dark wall but i did get to know a great american very  well is name is ron stores a lieutenant colonel in the air force and a federal fellow fighter pilot originally from new york ron was shot down on april twenty eighth one thousand nine hundred sixty five i was shot down barely a year later on april sixteenth one thousand nine hundred sixty six because our captors tried to blame a handful of us for overthrowing the vietnamese government they labeled us diehards they threw eleven of us in solitary confinement an adjacent sales of the eleven of us only ten came home our captors killed ron stars after he went on a hunger strike breaks my heart to think that someone would i deeply hope and pray the loved ones of those men and women memorialized on the wall know we remember their selfless family members and thank them for their dedicated service and ultimate sacrifice these men and women listed on the wall all demonstrate why america is the land of the free and the home of the brave these valiant lawyers fought to protect and defend this great nation and we should not allow someone to tarnish their good names and we must condemn this vandalism thank you both speaker i thank the gentleman for yielding i like my colleagues have come here today to condemn in the strongest possible terms the actions which damaged the vietnam veterans memorial and as always when i'm in the same room with my colleague mr johnson from texas i am humbled to be in the presence of a real hero of the vietnam war and i don't know that i can add to the passion into the caring that he has already conveyed for us but i just have to say that i can't remember being so outraged by such a cowardly act of visitors from around the world to come to visit the moral are moved by the simple but powerful image of the etched granite wall for those of us who served in vietnam however the names on the wall hold an even stronger significance those names bolster our sometimes failing memories of the friends and comrades who didn't return with us it is with these memories in mind that i express my complete my total utter outrage at this recent desecration the person or persons who did this have violated a sacred trust and i consider their actions deplorable their cowardice yes their cowardice stands in sharp contrast to the bravery and valor of those for whom this memorial was erected and as we as a country will simply not tolerate such behavior just as we honor and pay tribute to those who served and sacrificed so much so too must we condemn we as a congress we as a people we as a nation those would denigrate that sacrifice through such cowardly actions if there are those who applaud or somehow justify this desecration i would all or mind them of the hypocrisy of their beliefs and their actions our freedom was won and maintained by brave men and women such as those honored on this wall and we should all hold them reverently in our hearts mr speaker i want to thank my colleague mr carr for bringing this important resolution to the floor for the chairman of the ranking member of the committee for bringing to the floor i encourage my colleagues to support this bill let's support it unanimously and with that i yield back the balance of my time to california continue to serve minutes to the gentle lady from florida miss brown light tony jones right now spittoons i think the gentleman mr speaker i rise to join my colleagues today to condemn in the harshest terms possible the vandalism that scarred the vietnam veterans memorial a few weeks ago my district in florida is thrown to the second most veterans of any member of this body with more than a hundred five thousand veterans and their dependents residing there and also serve on the house veterans affairs committee so many brave soldiers marines navy men airmen who fought with bravery over in the southeast to stop the spread of communism in to protect american interests live in my district for those brave troops throughout our great nation who perished in the line of fire their names are forever marked on the vietnam veterans war memorial here washington d c that anyone would deface the wall and desecrate the memory of these fine soldiers is the earned anyone's comprehension as someone who grew up in the vietnam era and someone whose brother and cousin and other family members served honorably and painfully came home safely i know firsthand the sacrifices that these soldiers made physically and emotionally during their periods of service while thousands of our troops perished in the jungles of vietnam and had their names inscribed on the wall tens of thousands more came home to their families and their loved ones these are the people who deserve to be the most outraged by the vandalism that took place the families friends and fellow soldiers of the deceased who make pilgrimages to the wall to pay respects and honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our great nation i commend judge carter for bringing this resolution to the floor today and i think him for doing his part to honor the memory of those who fought and died in vietnam we all hope that the individuals who perpetrated this crime will be caught and prosecuted to the full extent of the law and that clearly something like this would never happen minutes i could gentleman for yielding general westmoreland said that i do not believe that the man who served in uniform and vietnam had been given the credit they rightfully deserve it was a difficult war against an unorthodox anaemic i agree  general westmoreland especially in a lot of those recent events when last month the non veterans were dishonored when outlaw bandoliers desecrated the memorial on thank my colleague judge carter for in addition this resolution that  deplores this despicable act i'm glad to be a co sponsor of it it has also been said that in this war vietnam war all gave some and some gave all and the vietnam veterans war memorial list the names of over fifty eight thousand americans who gave all for their country and of course the men and women who sacrificed their lives in vietnam deserve better than what happened to the memorial that honors them the thugs who desecrated the wall ought to be tracked down and brought to justice because justice is the one thing we should always find i certainly know what i would do to him with our still on the bench and i'm sure judge carter would like to do the same if he caught him be that as it may they should be brought before the bar of justice many of the friends that i grew up with in texas served in vietnam and there are five of their names still on that wall we can honor them today by passing this resolution and demanding justice it's been said that in the vietnam war it cost our troops everything and it cost the american public almost nothing and it's time for the american public by standing up for this resolution to stand up for our troops and honor their memory in vietnam and  all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks include extraneous material nature as six eighty objections again i thank mr carter i think all the members who spoke on this legislation is important bill but i must say that we ought to go further than this resolution mr post said voting for this resolution these were standing up for our troops well i just  spoke recently to the annual convention of the vietnam veterans of america i'll tell you what they define a standing up for our troops and they'll be legislation income embodying all this it would mean that we would look at the two hundred thousand vietnam vets who are on the street homeless tonight and solve that moral blot on our record most of us go to stand downs every year where we the whole community comes that around for three days and provide security and comfort medical attention dental health legal assistance clothes for the homeless vets in that community community comes together and has a holistic approach a drug and alcohol abuse and job counseling so we know what to do for those three days but the last five or eight are standing on that i've addressed i said you know i'm tired of coming down to ems we should have stand down three hundred sixty five days a year that's what the veterans administration ought to do with one hundred billion dollar budget almost you would think we could take care of the vietnam vets who are not  wall or are not on the wall but are homeless that would be standing up for the troops in addition many of them in fighting for decades to get compensation for an agent orange  compensation there's still too many areas that are not awarded a claim at this stage i go i talk to miss johnson later about this i would say all these agent orange and claims if they have medical backing and help by a veteran service or officer are presumptive and have him stop fighting after all these decades and get the care and attention that they need  will tell you i have a i have just got a list of five hundred veterans from one state vietnam vets who got parkinson's disease in their early fifty's that's way earlier than an in the average should they should have so it's a it's obviously  vietnam that was a problem yet the law says there is no proof that agent orange caused parkinson's or lou gehrig's disease and so they are shut out that's a shame they served us we should serve them let's grant all these agent orange claims and we ought to according to the the represents this convention give the status of mandatory or short funding to the health care our veterans right now and health care in our budget is called discretionary we fight over it every year democrats republicans house senate v a committee vs everybody we should not play politics with veterans health care and we should have a guaranteed mandatory budget those are the things that would really tell our vietnam vets that we care about them so let's pass this resolution but wall is as we heard today so warton to our memories to our healing to those brave men who fought for us but let's go further and really give the vietnam vets a thank you and pass legislation that will not only end homelessness and grant perhaps to jump california us mr speaker i move to suspend the rules and agree to the bill h r as to thirty seven club for the title of the resolution house resolution two thirty seven resolution supporting it encouraging greater support for veterans day each to this resolution in support of our veterans and i stayed in support of our veterans as a veteran myself with served in both the hundred first and eighty second airborne division i am proud to stand with our brave men and women today there over twenty three million veterans living in the united states one hundred sixty five thousand in iraq and afghanistan in my district we have over thirty two thousand veterans there are also many veterans who serve in congress and i want to thank those members who have served this country and i salute each and every one of the members who have served our country to my fellow veterans i commend you for your service when our troops commit to serve our country they make a promise to serve and to protect this country we also have a moral responsibility to protect the returning veterans and their families veterans returning from iraq and afghanistan must receive the best treatment sadly for the last few years i don't believe that our government has held its end of the bargain the condition at walter reed shows us that in many cases our veterans are not receiving the care they deserve this resolution reminds us that veterans day is not just a day for our school or work this is a special day of reflection to honor those who have defended our country who have defended our country i visited israel a few years ago there i learned how truly they respect and honor veterans in that country israel calls for one minute of silence across the whole country the countries emergency siren goes off the ten a m and all t v and radio stations are also interrupt sounding the alert everyone then stops wherever they are whatever they are doing working driving anything else and stand in silence of those heroes who have served their country that's pain respect my resolution also encourages schools and i state encourages schools to educate our young people about the contributions of our veterans to this country because they ultimately have made the sacrifice and the freedoms that they have to be in school and to be all that they want to be this year as chair of the congressional hispanic caucus i work closely with hispanic veterans and the medal of honor veterans winners in world war two to today the stories of courage and sacrifices i've heard from them were nothing short of amazing they deserve to be recognized and tank as well as every veteran who have served our country i also believe a special tank is necessary to the veteran the military families that are left behind and too often we forget about the families and veterans who are left behind they have sacrificed so much for their loved ones and for america for america that we stand up with america that we've always been with you are the support system in the backbone for all of these veterans on november the eleventh on veterans day do not forget those who are the true heroes of this country reflect on the true meaning of veterans day and i state reflect on the true meaning of veteran day and remember the sacrifices made by so many proud american sons and daughters that will honor on that day i urge my colleagues to support this resolution that turns day is great pleasure in arjun my colleagues to support house resolution two thirty seven r g all of america to make a special effort to honor america's veterans on november eleventh introduced by a veteran of of the vietnam war the honorable joe baka this resolution reminds each of us of the debt we owe to those who sacrifices have made america the bacon of freedom throughout the world america's holidays remind us of important events and parsons in our nation's history it is significant that veterans are honored with two how the eyes that recognize the important role of those who wear the uniform veterans have assaulted heavily defended beaches jump from aircraft under heavy fire shivered in photos and fox cells slog through malaria ridden jungles and injured horrible abuses as prisoners of war veterans has survived incredible hardships they have suffered wounds in far too many have paid the ultimate price of freedom they have often experienced long separations from their families and they serve in the outpost of freedoms while their federal service fellow citizens enjoy the fruits of everyday life in america each of them from the army or marine in free and frontier human on patrol to the sailor deep in the bowels of an aircraft carrier to the airman miles above the ground sets an example for the rest of us mr speaker i think it's important to recall how veterans came to hundred twenty one and on the world war one american soldier was buried in arlington national cemetery this side on a hillside overlooking the potomac river in the city of washington became the focal point of memorial guests yours all took place on november eleventh giving universal recognition to the celebrated ending of world war one fighting at eleven am november eleventh one thousand nine hundred the eleventh hour of the organized national veterans day which included a pariah and other festivities donar all veterans event was held on november eleventh then designated armistice day later u s representative edward grace of kansas proposed a bill that would change armistice day to veterans day in one nine hundred fifty four counters passed the bill that president eisenhower signed proclaiming november eleventh as veterans day greyman wakes receive the presidential citizens medal from president reagan in the event for one hundred eighty two weeks local parade and ceremonies are now an annual event celebrated nationwide revolution resolutions is worthy of unanimous support from my colleagues as mr filner said in the previous bill we need to go farther because speaker there is no better way to honor our veterans on veterans day than to ensure funding for their medical care and other benefits that is why i call my friends on the other side of the aisle to appoint conferees for the military construction and v a appropriations bill we are almost a month into the new fiscal year and there is no practical reason that this bill cannot pass and become law it won't be long before this apparent political ploy will begin to fact the care our nation's wars are c let's appoint events this day and these last several months be appreciated very much and as veterans we know the sacrifice that our service members pay each day where they are currently deployed in iraq or afghanistan careers or of they might be around the world sho planes well while those are all impressive none are more impressive than our brave men and women uniform and i think the fact i know they are greatest military asset to men and women who serve our nation are the best educated train and equip fighting force in the world because of this i am proud to stand with my colleague mr baka and all the rest of you to encourage communities and schools around the country to recognize your contributions veterans of the major our country and our history often said we will say it again a grateful nation will always remember those who sacrificed so much in preserving our freedom if we are to continue having the very best of our nation serve we must continue to give them assurances that their service will not be forgotten ladies recognize for two minutes thank you mr speaker i rise today in strong support of the resolution offered by representative bach of california i applaud him for bringing this resolution to the floor today and i'm very proud to support his efforts with a district with so many veterans i can honestly stand here today and tell you that veteran's day in my district is on par with the love of god mom and apple pie almost every town and municipality in the eight counties that make up my congressional district they go goes out of their way to hold a public event celebrating the accomplishments of our nation's veterans traveling around my district i've met literally thousands of men and some women who recount their stories of military service with pride and with joy they tell of the bravery of their comrades of the sacrifices to protect the innocent and the weak and the memories of those killed in action the resolution before us house resolution two thirty seven is a good sense of the house that encourages the celebration of veterans day veterans day is not just another day to go to the mall or look for veteran's day sales but rather to honor those who have served our country these brave soldiers fought for our freedoms and the liberties of our nation around the world including france england poland vietnam korea kuwait iraq and afghanistan the actions of the american military throughout the history of our nation have helped advance the cause of freedom around the globe and protect citizens from attack from foreign powers and today from attacks from terrorists mr speaker i courage every american to adopt the spirit of this resolution in celebrating that are in this day and show our veterans how much we appreciate their sacrifice and the time served may god bless our soldiers in a veterans and i yield back the balance of my time then lady i would reserve the welcome i would reserve and my time and reserves gentleman from arkansas thank you mr speaker in closing again i i encourage everyone certainly where we're all anxiously awaiting legislative days in which to revise extend remarks include explain its material nature as two three seven without objection mr speaker this is an important resolution and we've heard many reasons why and i thank mr baucus for bringing this resolution to the floor but after we give our speeches on veterans day after we've given all the tributes let's come back and do some real work that we have to do to really honor a veterans i agree with the gentleman from arkansas let's pass that appropriations bill if you add the money that's in the appropriations bill for zero eight with the continuing resolution we did earlier this year and they supplemental resolution we did earlier we've added more than thirteen billion dollars for the health care of our veterans for this year over last year that's a thirty percent increase that is unprecedented in the history of the v a and will put in place all the programs that many of us want in know that they are needed and deserved and earned but let's go further than that let's pass together a g i bill for the twenty first century a bill that not only increases the benefits to a realistic fashion for education and home loans but brings in the guard and reserve units to be eligible for g i bill they are doing half the fighting in iraq and yet don't have full benefits when they return home so let us include the guard and reserve and let us include an absolute right for mental health to be treated we cannot neglect mental health p t s d post traumatic stress disorder  and all those who all those who suffer from that while we can deal with the visible wounds a lot easier we cannot forget the invisible ones let us work together to end that atrocious claims backlog over six hundred thousand claims for disability compensation are pending at the v a people have died while waiting for their claim to be adjudicated others have lost their home because they didn't have the income we can cut through that the iraq not just add as the budget has a thousand more people but really look at a whole new way an advert not an adversarial way of dealing with  the claims for disability we can do that to for too many people v a means veterans adversary v a should mean veterans advocate and we can do that let make sure that every young man and woman that comes back from iraq and afghanistan is diagnosed for both traumatic brain injury and p t s d post traumatic stress disorder we're going to let tens of thousands of young men and women out of the service without adequately understanding these rooms some of whom are some of who symptoms are invisible for some time they are ticking time bombs that are coming back to society that create enormous problems for social structure so let's diagnose it let's treat it early let's bring the family in let's make sure that we have treated the mental illness that is so prominent in a war like this that we are unfortunately pursuing less and homelessness for our veterans in america we can do this i mean this is not rocket science we know what it takes we've all as i said earlier been to stand down so we know how to bring the community together to give homeless veterans the support they need to reintegrate and i tell you we're already seeing the problems that we saw in vietnam we have suicide rates of our current vets that are at the highest rate since vietnam we have homeless the iraqi vets on the street so let us not make the same mistake again that we did in vietnam but let us remember where we have both new veterans and older veterans we have to serve both this nation can do it and we should do it and working together we will do it mr speaker you back to bounce and i thought the gentleman the gentleman yields back to the chair would remind all persons in the gallery that they are here as guests of the house and that any manifestation of approval or disapproval of the proceedings or any audible conversation is in violation of the rules of the house the question is whether the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution two thirty seven those in favor say aye those opposed no in the opinion of the chair two thirds being in the affirmative the rules of the house are suspended and the resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table the gentleman from texas rise mr speaker mr speaker i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h r thirty nine twenty seven the higher education extensive act of two thousand and seven this is the third extension of a day the clerk will repeat their report the title of the bill h r thirty nine twenty seven a bill to temporarily extend the programs under the higher education act of nine hundred sixty five and for other purposes pursuant to the rule the gentleman from texas mr you know so and the gentleman from florida mr keller will each control twenty minutes the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas mr speaker i request five legislative days during which members may insert material relevant h r three nine two seven into the record without objection unanimous consent to revise and extend so without objection i l myself us much time a sigh may consume the gentleman is recognized i rise in strong support r thirty nine twenty seven a bill to extend the higher education act through april the thirtieth two thousand and eight this bill is very straightforward it simply extends the current programs authorized under the higher education act until april the thirtieth two thousand and eight giving us the time to fully consider and complete the reauthorization mr speaker we are making progress with bipartisan support and the president's signature we are making a historic investment in student financial aid in the college cost reduction and access act we have also laid the groundwork to reauthorize the other core higher education programs including teacher preparation developing and strengthening institutions college readiness and outreach programs international education programs graduate education and many others the higher education act was due to be reauthorized during the hundred eighth congress it was not completed the one hundred ninth congress also failed to reauthorize the this act given the length of time that has elapsed between when the higher education act should have been and today we believed that it was critical that the hundred tenth congress and the stakeholders in the higher education come in nitty take a fresh look at the law and the recommendations to improve it we have held a series of congressional hearings covering the core issues of access of affordability and college preparation of teacher preparation an institutional capacity we put out a call for recommendations and received over eighty five responses from individuals and organizations from across the nation i looking forward to working with all my colleagues to produce a strong reauthorization that will earn broad support i would also like to thank congressman mckeon the ranking member of the full committee and i'd like to thank congressman rick keller the ranking member of the subcommittee on higher education lifelong learning and competitiveness and also i wish to thank chairman george miller for working together with all of us to expedite this extension mr speaker i urge all my colleagues to support this legislation h r thirty nine twenty seven and i reserve the balance of my time the gentleman reserves gentleman from florida thank you mr speaker and i owe myself as much time as i may consume someone has recognized mr speaker i rise in support of h r thirty nine twenty seven a measure to extend programs under the higher education act which are set to expire at the end of this month for an additional six months this is a clean extension this will simply change the date required to reauthorize this law from october thirty one two thousand and seven until april thirty two thousand and eight i think my committee colleagues chairman miller chairman ina hosa and ranking member mckeon for their work on this bill as well as their consistent efforts on behalf of our nation's students and their families mr speaker while i support the expired in two thousand and four we need to work in a bipartisan way to finally reauthorize the higher education act republicans on the house education committee recently took a positive step in this direction by introducing r thirty seven forty six the college access and opportunity act of two thousand and seven this bill is an updated version of h r six o nine the higher education reauthorization bill that passed the house last congress but was not taken up by the senate h r thirty seven forty six would strengthen the pell grant program by providing for year round pell grants and it would address college affordability by providing transparency in college costs among other things i hope that we will move forward with the higher education act reauthorization in a bipartisan and thoughtful manner i look forward to working with ranking member mckeon and chairman miller and in a host and all of my colleagues on the education labor committee and completing our work in the coming months in the meantime however i urge my colleagues to join with me in supporting this extension and i reserve the balance of my time the gentleman reserves gentleman from texas mr speaker as my colleague r pointed out the last reauthorization took place back in one thousand nine hundred eighty eight and if we are able to get it done this year it will have been almost ten years since that reauthorization and for me having served eleven years in congress i've had quite a learning curve and i have learned the importance by listening to the presidents and chancellors of many of the institution sense of higher learning and realize the importance of us getting this job done this this session it's extremely important because we are trying to raise the number of students who will be college ready and we must have programs that are going to fill the need that we have in our country for teachers for scientists for mathematicians for all of the different fields that are necessary for our country to enjoy its prosperity i am working hard with my my colleague rick keller so that the higher education act is completed on a timely basis and one that is going to service for the next six years and with that i reserve the balance of my time and would like to ask mr keller if he has some other speakers gentlemen reserves someone from florida mr speaker i have no other speakers i'm prepared to close time mr speaker i just want to urge all of my colleagues to vote yes on h r thirty nine twenty seven we believe that a college education opportunity is the passport out of poverty for so many  have any additional speakers and if my colleague of color does not have any others i will yield back gentleman yield back all times expired the question is will the house spend the rules and agree to h thirty nine twenty seven those in favor signify by saying i those opposed no without the eyes have it the rules are suspect and the bill in the period in the chair two thirds being in the affirmative the rules are suspended the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table i want to clause eight of rule twenty proceed ings will resume on motions to suspend the rules previously postpone votes will be taken in the following order concurring to the senate amendment to h r three twenty five will be taken tomorrow the first electronic vote will be conducted as a fifteen minute vote and the remaining electronic votes will be conducted as five minute bode's the unfinished  on the motion of the gentleman from california mr filner to suspend the rules and concur in the senate amendments to h r three twenty seven on which the yankees and nays were ordered the clerk will report the title of the r three twenty seven and act to amend title thirty eight united states code to direct the secretary of veterans affairs to to develop and implement a comprehensive program designed to reduce the incidence of suicide among veterans the question is will the house suspend the rules and concur with the senate amendments members will record their vote by electronic device this will be a fifteen minute vote