H374 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE January 15, 2009 

(Mr. SHERMAN addressed the House. 

His remarks will appear hereafter in 

the Extensions of Remarks.) 

f 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a 

previous order of the House, the gentleman from California (Mr. SCHIFF) is 

recognized for 5 minutes. 

(Mr. SCHIFF addressed the House. 

His remarks will appear hereafter in 

the Extensions of Remarks.) 

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HONORING THE LIFE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF DR. JOHN 

DIAMANDIS 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a 

previous order of the House, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. BILIRAKIS) is 

recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mr. BILIRAKIS. Madam Speaker, I 

rise today to recognize the extraordinary life and accomplishments of my 

dear friend, Dr. Themistocles ‘‘John’’ 

Diamandis, endearingly known as Dr. 

D. 

Dr. D was born on April 11, 1929, in 

Tarpon Springs General Hospital in 

Tarpon Springs, Florida. It was a foreshadowing that Dr. D started off life in 

that tiny, 12-bed hospital. He started 

off his medical career in 1961 at Tarpon 

Springs General Hospital, where he was 

one of three doctors on staff. He spent 

the next 47 years as a dedicated general 

practitioner there. 

He earned a pharmacy degree from 

the University of Florida in 1951. Prior 

to medical school, he worked as a pharmacist at Webb’s City in St. Petersburg, Florida. He earned a medical degree from the University of Miami in 

1958. While in medical school he 

worked at Walter Reed Army Medical 

Center and served his country in the 

Army during the Korean war. 

A proud member of the Tarpon 

Springs community Dr. D cared for 

generations of Tarponites, including 

the pioneers of the Tarpon Springs 

sponge industry. 

He started his career with his assistant, Cally Catroulis, who remained 

with him, amazingly, for 47 years, until 

his retirement. He opted not to hire 

nurses, preferring to spend as much 

time himself with each patient by taking, for instance, each blood pressure 

reading himself. While he often ran 

late having meaningful discussions 

with his patients, I can attest to that, 

others were happy to wait their turn 

for him, knowing that they would be 

the subject of his extra care and attention. 

Dr. D was always on call for his patients, day or night. He is known for 

making late night and weekend house 

calls. Before going to bed each night, 

he would check in on his patients at 

home or at the hospital, amazingly. He 

never failed to treat a sick person, and 

never asked if they had insurance. 

Sometimes he was paid only with a hot 

meal or a Greek pastry after a house 

call. 

As a matter of fact, Dr. D was a mentor to my brother, Dr. Emanuel Bilirakis. 

In addition to his tireless dedication 

to his patients, Dr. D has been an activist in his community, frequently 

speaking out on local, State and Federal issues, on issues near and dear to 

his heart such as affordable health 

care, lower taxes, and improved infrastructure. He also remained active in 

his church, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, and also various civic organizations such as AHEPA. 

Madam Speaker, Dr. D is a rare breed 

of physician and humanitarian. Many 

describe him as an old fashioned doctor, but his practice embodied all that 

was and is still good in medicine, the 

strength and importance of the relationship between a primary care doctor 

and his or her patients. 

That tiny hospital where he was born 

and started his medical career was the 

same one he retired from this past September of 2008. Now known as Helen 

Ellis Memorial Hospital, it has grown 

to a 168-bed facility with 356 staff physicians, a legacy of Dr. D. 

Madam Speaker, I can only think of 

one word to describe Dr. D—axios. 

I yield back the balance of my time. 

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APPOINTMENT OF MEMBER TO 

PERMANENT SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 11 of rule X, clause 11 of 

rule I, and the order of the House of 

January 6, 2009, the Chair announces 

the Speaker’s appointment of the following Member of the House to the 

Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence: 

Mr. ROGERS

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, Michigan 

WHO’S GOING TO SPEND THE 

MONEY? 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a 

previous order of the House, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. GOHMERT) is 

recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mr. GOHMERT. Madam Speaker, we 

took up the issue of the Troubled Asset 

Recovery, whatever TARP stands for. 

$350 billion has been thrown, as one 

man wished it to be, as he directed. 

There’s another $350 billion that has 

been allocated. Now, the question is, 

who’s going to spend it? 

Now, I’ve got a bill that I filed, it 

was, I think, the first bill laid down 

over here on the Clerk’s desk the 

minute after we were sworn in, and it’s 

a bill to allow the people that earned 

the money to spend it. The Treasury 

Secretary would have to put it in the 

general revenue and use that to cover 

any shortfalls from withholding not 

coming in. 

This isn’t some rebate where we 

spend millions to let people know you 

may get a rebate check, and then millions to process it, and then by and by, 

pie in the sky, they get a rebate check 

down the road for $300, $600. This is real 

money we’re talking about, in the account, in the hands of those who 

earned it as soon as they get their paycheck. If we pass this bill next Thursday that I’ve proposed, people on their 

Friday paychecks could have all of 

their Federal withholding in that 

check, all of their FICA withholding in 

that check. 

So anybody that’s working, performing services, including self-employed, they have a 2-month tax holiday. That money is immediately in 

their hands, in the economy, not some 

bureaucrat in Washington who is so arrogant that he thinks you couldn’t possibly know where to spend that money 

to help the economy and help yourself. 

So, we’ve asked, we surveyed people 

who have e-mailed in and asked, what 

would you—look at the withholding 

and see what, tell us what you would 

use your money for. Number 1 answer? 

Pay off credit cards, catch up on loans, 

including the mortgage. 

Well, Paulson’s out there spending 

hundreds of billions of dollars to try to 

loosen up lending so people can refinance and borrow more money to catch 

up on the mortgage they got behind on 

in the last year, many, back when gas 

prices were $4 a gallon. Let them catch 

up with their own money. They don’t 

need another loan. 

Others said they’d go out to eat. 

They’d stop, they’d use it for entertainment. Others said they’d invest it 

in their small business to develop it. 

Others said they’d invest it in the 

stock markets. That would help the 

market. 

Ten percent of those said they’d use 

it to buy a new home. That would help 

them with their down payment. 

There’s so much in the withholding. 

Others said they’d use it to buy a car. 

Some said they’d put it in savings. But 

that would give banks more money to 

make more loans, so that would be a 

good thing as well. 

Some got very specific. They said 

they’d buy farm supplies, help with 

their college education this year. Some 

said they’d buy insulation for their 

home to help on the energy bill. One 

said he’d buy a stove and an oven. Another said he’d use—well, there were 

many who said they’d repair and remodel their home. Others said they’d 

pay for medical procedures that they 

need. How about that? It’s not some 

guy in Washington paying. It’s the people that earned the money that would 

get to spend it. 

Another was going to put on a new 

roof for his home so his family would 

be dryer and warmer. The people that 

earned the money know what to do 

with it. 

It is the height of arrogance that in 

this body, we’d say, no, no, no, 

GOHMERT’s got this bill, H.R. 143, that 

lets the people that earned it have a 2- 

month tax holiday. We can’t do that. 

We can’t let that come to the floor for 

a vote. 

I proposed this amendment yesterday. Got shut out. They didn’t want it 

on the floor. Probably pass. People 

would be afraid to vote against the people. And that’s what that vote is. 


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