Jason Altmire

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. Today I rise to congratulate the West Virginia University Mountaineers for their amazing win in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl. Four short weeks ago, West Virginia University captured its third consecutive bowl victory and cemented their third consecutive top 10 finish. They defeated the University of Oklahoma Sooners 48-28. College football fans throughout the Nation were treated to an exceptional college football game. I want to extend my congratulations to West Virginia head coach Bill Stewart, athletic director Ed Pastilong, West Virginia University president Mike Garrison, and West Virginia's student athletes for winning the Fiesta Bowl. I also want to extend my congratulations to the Oklahoma Sooners and their student athletes for a great season. Oklahoma won the Big 12 championship game and had an 11-2 regular season record. The WVU Mountaineers were pregame underdogs against No. 3 ranked Oklahoma, whose defense had previously allowed only 92 yards a game. The exceptional play of Mountaineer quarterback Pat White, the Fiesta Bowl offensive MVP, helped the Mountaineers produce 525 yards of total offense. Reed Williams, the Mountaineer linebacker and Fiesta Bowl defensive MVP, helped his teammates hold the Sooners to only six points in the first half and a total of 28 points for the game. Mr. Speaker, once again I congratulate the West Virginia Mountaineers for their success. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. Madam Speaker, we are increasingly concerned about the downturn in our economy. The declining stock market, weak dollar, high gas prices and home heating costs, and stagnant wages have caused financial insecurity for families across America. Unemployment is now at a 2-year high, and personal debts are at an all-time high. More and more families are being squeezed financially, making it harder for them to afford basic health coverage. The SCHIP bill we are considering today affects 10 million children living in families that work hard and play by the rules but can't afford health care for their kids. We in Congress continue to work in a bipartisan manner to stimulate the economy and help American families threatened by this recession. I can think of no better way than to vote today to override the President's SCHIP veto. Failure to do this will lead to an increase in the number of children living in America without health care.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. Madam Speaker, last month the House and the Senate passed the Military Reservist and Veterans Small Business Reauthorization and Opportunity Act to expand business opportunities for veterans and Reservists. And after Senate action, today we will vote again to pass this legislation that I introduced to ensure veterans and Reservists are afforded every opportunity for economic success at home given their sacrifices abroad. Starting and maintaining a small business can be challenging for anyone, and unfortunately veterans often face unique obstacles as a result of their military service. The unemployment rate among veterans is more than twice that of the national average, and nearly 40 percent of Reservists lose income when they are deployed. While Congress has taken action to provide Federal agencies with resources to encourage entrepreneurial opportunities for veterans, I believe that more can still be done to relieve the burden that is placed on small business owners during and after deployment. At a time when our veteran population continues to grow, it is more important than ever for us to afford our brave men and women in uniform every opportunity for success. The Military Reservist and Veterans Small Business Reauthorization and Opportunity Act provides the SBA's Office of Veterans Business Development with the resources necessary to expand entrepreneurial opportunities for veterans and Reservists and improve existing programs to help keep small businesses afloat while their members are deployed. The amendment we will consider today makes minor changes to the bill we passed in December, but the intent remains the same. This legislation increases funding for the SBA's Office of Veterans Business Development, improves programs designed to help relieve the burden placed on small business owners during and after deployments, facilitates the coordination of all Federal agencies to focus attention on expanding opportunities for veteran-owned businesses, makes the SBA Advisory Committee on Veterans Business Affairs permanent, and increases the number of veterans business outreach centers across the country. Madam Speaker, there is no question that veterans have a unique ability to thrive as entrepreneurs. They have the skill and the drive necessary to run successful businesses. But more must be done to help them fulfill their goals and their needs. I strongly support this legislation, which I introduced, and I ask my colleagues for their support of the Military Reservist and Veterans Small Business Reauthorization and Opportunity Act, and urge the Senate to quickly take up and pass this important legislation. Lastly, Madam Speaker, I would thank the gentleman from Florida, my good friend, Mr. Buchanan; the ranking member, Mr. Chabot, for their help in working through these issues. And hopefully now, with the work of the chairwoman, we can have a bill that can pass both Chambers and move to the President's desk.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. Madam Speaker, as Congress resumes this week, our priority must be to work in a bipartisan fashion to address our struggling economy. There is no way to sugarcoat this economy. Over the past 12 months, wages have fallen, forcing hardworking middle-class families to work harder for less. As a result, family debt is at an all-time high and household debt averages an average 133 percent of disposable income. Last year, families were spending 14.5 percent of their disposable income to service their own debt, and middle-class families are having a harder and harder time just making ends meet. Democrats want to work with President Bush to create a bipartisan economic plan that is timely, targeted, and temporary. Economic experts say this is the best way to stimulate the economy. Last Friday, congressional leaders sent a letter to President Bush asking him to come to the table so that a bipartisan plan can be reached. Madam Speaker, the American people need our help during this uncertain economic time. We cannot wait any longer to help this economy, and the only way it can be done is if we work together.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. I've heard all five.

Mr. ALTMIRE. I appreciate the gentleman from Florida taking the lead in putting this hour together tonight. Starting tomorrow, I am going to go around my district and talk about what we have done in this Congress. For me, this is an exciting time. As a freshman Member of Congress wrapping up our first year, the gentleman is correct, we have some enormous achievements to talk about. Right from the very first day, something that we talked about last night, we did reform of the ethics process here in the House of Representatives, including PAYGO budget scoring. PAYGO is something that business owners across the country know, and every person that runs their household knows. It is what you do with your own home checkbook. You have to have money on one side of the equation to spend it on the other. If you want to decrease revenues or increase spending, you have to have an offset. That is something that we did on the very first day. That used to be the case in the House of Representatives. It was put into place in 1990, as the gentleman certainly knows. It led to the record surpluses of the 1990s when we had four consecutive budget surpluses following the all-time record deficits of the 1980s. Unfortunately, when this administration took office in 2001, they did away with PAYGO and the Republican Congress at that time agreed that PAYGO shouldn't be expanded and reauthorized. And as a result, we now have had seven consecutive budget deficits, deficits that are forecast as far as the eye can see. The most troubling part of those deficits is when we are borrowing against our children and grandchildren, putting our increased spending on the credit card and letting them take care of it later, the most troubling part is who is holding this debt that we are creating. And the gentleman from Florida was very articulate when he talked about the foreign-held debt and that this administration in the first 6 years added more foreign-held debt to this country than his 42 predecessors combined in 230 years. So we have an administration that has no standing to lecture us, this new Congress, on fiscal responsibility coming as the all-time highest spending administration and record deficits. So what we did on the very first day was put in place PAYGO budget scoring. We took a vote today, our last day, on the alternative minimum tax. And a lot of Members on the other side of the aisle talked about the fact that this is the first bill of this new Congress that did not comply with PAYGO scoring because we had to lower taxes for 23 million Americans because those are Americans that would have seen an increase in their taxes had this Congress not taken clear and decisive action today. And we did it. One of the things about this job which I am finding out as a new freshman, and the gentleman from Florida and the gentleman from Ohio have known for a long time, you have to make tough choices. One of the choices we had to make today was the Senate sent us a bill that I wasn't entirely happy with. I didn't like the fact that the other body made a decision not to comply with pay-as-you-go. I had a choice to make, and I chose to lower taxes for 23 million Americans, 70,000 in the district in western Pennsylvania that I represent. Now we will have to pay for that in the future, and hopefully we will do that as one of the first orders of business when we come back after the holiday break. But I am proud of the accomplishments of this Congress. I am proud of the fact that we can go home and talk about raising the minimum wage for the first time in 10 years. Is there any other segment of our society that can say that they haven't seen even a cost-of-living adjustment, even a minor increase in their pay in the last 10 years? I don't think there is. So, for the first, time we raised the minimum wage. We have an energy bill to talk about. The first time in 30 years that we have increased the mileage standards, the average mile-per-gallon standards of the fleet serving this country, foreign and domestic automobiles. That is a major accomplishment. Something that hasn't been done in three decades. We can talk about these accomplishments, and I want to yield some time to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) because I know he is chomping at the bit to talk about his experiences this past year.

Mr. ALTMIRE. I just want to say very quickly, Mr. Murphy's not here, our fifth partner here, but the three, the gentlewoman from Florida, the gentleman from Ohio, the other gentleman from Florida have done a magnificent job over the years of carrying the 30-Somethings and getting the message out at a time when it was very difficult to do so. And now, luckily, times have changed, and now the Democrats are in the majority, and it's a little bit easier to control the agenda and talk about issues and move forward. I just want to say what an honor it is for me to have been a part of the 30-Something Working Group, and I know Mr. Murphy would say the same, that we were very familiar with the group and had seen you in action for many years, but as we are now the last group to speak on the last day of the first session of the 110th Congress, I didn't want to let the moment go by and say it's great for me. And I love especially the geographic diversity that we have where Ms. Wasserman Schultz and Mr. Meek have their districts next to each other in south Florida and Mr. Ryan and myself have our districts next to each other on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. So we have fun with that from time to time for sports analogies and weather and so forth, but it really is an honor for me to be here, the same media market.

Mr. ALTMIRE. Thank you. And we're going to redirect that $14 billion into research and development of alternative fuels, alternative energy, which gets us off of the foreign oil which is what the President talked about doing. It lessens our dependence on foreign oil, and it helps the environment by having clean-burning fuels and renewable energy, all of those things that everybody talks about, and we paid for it; $14 billion directly paid for by those subsidies. Now, in the other body, unfortunately, we fell one vote short. They had 59 votes. That's much more than a majority, but the rules are a little bit different in the other body, and they need 60 votes now to move on legislation, which is a subject for another day, the fact that that rule is there. But the point is, that's what it means to pay as you go. We're doing very good things. When they cost money, unlike previous Congresses, we're paying for it up front in a budget neutral way. So I will yield back to the gentlewoman from Florida. And I think the gentleman from Florida, who controls the time, is looking to wrap up here shortly. Is that correct?

Mr. ALTMIRE. If I could tie this all together, what we're talking about with pay-as-you-go, and the gentlewoman talks about the energy bill. And the gentleman from Ohio talked about the College Cost Reduction Act dealing with student loans. Let's tie this together. What does it mean to pay as you go, to pay for what you're doing? Well, with the College Cost Reduction Act we did things that are going to substantially improve the lives of middle-class Americans all across this country. They're going to make a real difference for families in America. We cut in half the interest rates on student loans from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent, which, by itself, if we did nothing else, would save the average student on student loans in this country over $4,400 over the lifetime of their loan. But we didn't just stop there. We increased Pell Grants, the staple of student support in this country, to $5,400, the largest increase in the history of that program. And we capped at 15 percent of discretionary income the amount that the borrower, after they graduate, would be required to be burdened with debt to repay their student loan. These are things that are going to make a big difference. But they cost money. It had a $20 billion price tag, which is a substantial amount of money. And unlike previous Congresses, instead of charging it to the credit card and saying, Nicky Ryan, you're going to have to pay for this in 30 or 40 years, for the rest of your life, this is something that you, as an individual, we're going to take the initiative as a Congress and we're going to pay for this up front. And what did we do? We went to the big banks and the lenders who've turned a hefty profit on the backs of students and parents in this country for years and have done quite well with these student loan programs and we've said it's time to pay your fair share. And we took the subsidies from the big banks and the lenders and redirected every penny of them into the student loan programs to help students and parents in this country. Similarly, with the energy bill, we had the $14 billion subsidies that were going to the big oil and gas industry at a time when they were making all-time record profits. They're doing quite well. I don't think anybody can argue that the oil and gas industry is suffering right now. They're doing very well. So we said, we're going to take away those subsidies at this time when you're making all-time record profits.

Mr. ALTMIRE. Trillion.

Mr. ALTMIRE. On the subject of investments, that is something that had not been done in this Congress. We talked about the 6 years prior to the new Democratic Congress taking over, one of the things that had been unresolved was a water resources development bill, which is the critical infrastructure needs across this country, the most obvious of which is the gulf coast in Louisiana and Mississippi, what happened with Hurricane Katrina and the unmet investment since that time. But all across this country, including in my district, we had severe flooding in western Pennsylvania in 2004 and again this summer. And we continue to have this discussion, and I am sure you have the same thing in Florida, that after the fact we come in and say, Why wasn't something done to prevent this? Why didn't we improve, in the case of western Pennsylvania, the locks and dams and the critical infrastructure that needs to be done to prevent the floods? Why didn't we bring in the Corps of Engineers and do the research and do the construction necessary to prevent the disaster from happening in the first place? Well, that hadn't been done. The water resources development bill, WRDA, the WRDA bill hadn't been done. In 2-year increments, it is supposed to be reauthorized. They hadn't done it in 7. So what did we do when we came into this new Congress? We made the difficult decisions and did the water resources bill. And as a result, $90 million in infrastructure investment is going to go into western Pennsylvania and fix this problem that I discussed in my district. I know there is money going into the Florida districts that Mr. Meek and Ms. Wasserman Schultz represent, and I am sure Mr. Ryan has some need in his district. But the critical investment in infrastructure is something that had been ignored for so long in this country. We are dealing with it. We made the difficult decisions and passed the bill, and we overrode the President's veto on it. I do hear in my district frustration: Why aren't you taking on the President and why don't you do more to overturn his decisions? Well, we have divided government, and under the Constitution, in many cases the President, the executive, has the upper hand, especially in foreign policy. He has vetoed a number of things. He has vetoed the children's health bill twice. Unfortunately, we lack the votes by a small margin to override those vetoes. He vetoed some of our appropriations bills. Multiple vetoes that we have come close to overriding on. On the water resources bill, overwhelming bipartisan support to do the critical infrastructure investment that will prevent the flooding and that will prevent disasters in this country. I am proud of that accomplishment. That is something that hadn't been done.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. Madam Speaker, pursuant to Senate Concurrent Resolution 61, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. Before the gentleman gets into the energy bill, Mr. Speaker, and we do have a lot to talk about because that's an historic vote that is going to change this country in the long term for the better, I did want to follow up on what the gentleman talked about earlier and was finishing his remarks that about the legacy that this Congress over the past 6 years has left for our children and our grandchildren, the legacy of debt. And I want to take a little walk down memory lane, and we have talked about this before, to think about what happened in the last 4 years of President Clinton's administration, where we had 4 consecutive years of budget surplus, a surplus that was forecast as far as the eye can see. In 10 years the estimated $5.5 trillion surplus, according to CBO, from 2001 through 2010, that was the estimated surplus dollars that we were going to have. And you will recall back in the 2000 election between Governor Bush and Vice President Gore, what was the debate? The debate was what are we going to do with this surplus? We had this enormous surplus, $5.5 trillion. Are we going to pay down the debt? Are we going to shore up Social Security? Are we going to do tax cuts? Are we going to create new programs? Everyone had an idea. You know what? We're not having that debate anymore because instead of having 10 years of budget surpluses, we have had 7 consecutive years of budget deficits, and those deficits are now forecast as far as the eye can see. And to make matters worse, the 10-year projection from 2001 to 2010 because of this administration is a $3.5 trillion deficit, $3.5 trillion dollars in the red. So that's a swing of almost $9 trillion. And I would suggest to my colleagues if you had said to an economist in 2001 at the beginning of this administration's first term, if you had said, how could you possibly come up with the scenario where we would have a $9 trillion swing from positive to negative in the projection of having a surplus to a deficit? Is that even possible? And any economist you ask would say, no, it would be impossible to mismanage the economy to such an extent over just 7 years that you would have a $9 trillion swing. So I sat and listened to the group that came before us, a group that lectured us on fiscal responsibility.

Mr. ALTMIRE. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman allowing me to speak out of turn. I have the high order of being asked to do the Speaker pro tempore duties beginning in a few minutes here, and I do greatly appreciate our friend and colleague, Mr. Ellison from Minnesota, for covering for me while I give these remarks, and then I am going to take the chair. The gentleman hit it right on the head. We would not be having this discussion were it not for this Congress on the very first day we were in session adding transparency to the earmark process. In the past we couldn't have this discussion because earmarks were put in in the dark of night. Earmarks were not identified by sponsor. Earmarks were put in at each stage of the process unidentified. You didn't know where they came from. You didn't know the details of the earmarks. Now we are able to have a discussion, and every Member of Congress who has an earmark in the bill that we are going to pass this week and send to the President has the responsibility to justify those earmarks. And if the gentleman wants to justify his earmark for cold weather clothing, he's able to do so.

Mr. ALTMIRE. That is absolutely correct. And you wouldn't be able to look at the final product, at the bill, and look at every single earmark in there. I think they said there were 9,000 earmarks in the omnibus bill that we were passing today compared to 16,000 total earmarks that were in the last Republican budget that was passed. I believe that was fiscal year 2006. And I am going to talk about why fiscal year 2007 didn't have any earmarks. But fiscal year 2006 had 16,000 earmarks unidentified. We couldn't have this discussion. We couldn't come to the floor and talk about who put in these earmarks, who has to justify the merits of those earmarks. But we can have that discussion today because this Congress, on the very first day in session, one of the very first things we did, one of the very first votes that Mr. Murphy, Mr. Ellison, and myself cast as Members of Congress was to add transparency to the process, to shine the spotlight and add sunshine to the earmark process. So now we know. And I am more than willing to justify the money that I am sending back to my district to help stimulate the economy and create jobs in western Pennsylvania. I would assume that the speakers who came before us are willing to justify their earmarks in there. But don't come down to the floor and lecture us on whether or not there should be earmarks in the process. And if the gentleman would just allow me to finish, because I do have to take the chair, and again I thank Mr. Ellison. In FY 2007, I think I said 2005 and 2006, FY 2007, the Republicans who controlled this House at the end of 2006 were unable to complete their work on nine of the 11 appropriations bills. Now, we heard some rhetoric in the group that came before us, and we've heard for the past several weeks, even months, about how we are not doing our duty because we're putting all these bills into an omnibus bill and sending it to the President before the end of the year. I want to take a walk down memory lane on this, too. One of the other first votes that Mr. Murphy, Mr. Ellison and myself took, our freshman class, was resolving those nine appropriation bills from last year that the Congress left to us. And that happened because after the elections that Congress said, You know what? We're taking our ball and going home. Forget it. We're not going to complete these nine bills. We're going to leave it for the next Congress. And that next Congress was this Congress. It was the Democratic-controlled Congress. And we finished all nine appropriations bills in a month. And those nine appropriations bills funding us right now, the current operations of the government, contain no earmarks, zero. So we went from 16,000 earmarks the year before last to zero for those nine of 11 appropriations bills that we have today. So, yes, the omnibus bill that we are passing this week does contain earmarks, but let's not forget the fact that the current year's budget, which we passed in this Congress, had no earmarks. And we were stuck with that right from the start, specifically because the previous Congress failed their job and left it for us to resolve. And at this point, I will yield to the gentleman from Connecticut.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. Mr. Speaker, today the House will take a huge step towards addressing one of the great injustices affecting our brave men and women in uniform. With today's passage of the Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act, we will once and for all end the practice of denying combat- injured service men and women their enlistment bonuses that they were promised, that they deserve, and that they have earned. It defies belief that some of America's combat-wounded veterans were actually sent a bill to repay their enlistment bonuses after they were injured, or that the Pentagon would stop making payments if the bonuses were paid in installments. The American people were justifiably outraged when this situation came to light. And today Congress is going to do something about it by passing the Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act. Hopefully, this bill will soon be signed into law and we can demonstrate for our brave men and women in uniform that this Congress will support our troops with our actions, not just our words.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the bill we are debating today, H.R. 3793, the Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act, which I introduced. This legislation will ensure that from this point forward, every combat-wounded veteran injured in Afghanistan or Iraq receives their full enlistment or reenlistment bonus. No longer will American servicemen and women who have served our country so bravely and honorably and have been injured in service to our country, no longer will they be served with a bill to repay their enlistment bonus, and no longer will those heroic men and women suffer the indignity of having their prorated bonus payments cut off if those payments are to be made in installments. Instead, my bill, which we are debating today, says that the full amounts due under the agreements and contracts that apply to a service combat disability be paid within 90 days of the separation of the servicemember. This legislation also applies to the family members and estates of servicemen and women who are killed in combat. This issue first came to my attention over the summer while reviewing the Dole-Shalala Commission Report, an independent panel put into place in the spring to investigate the disgraceful situation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The Commission uncovered instances of our wounded warriors being denied their bonuses after being injured in combat. And after studying this issue in more detail and learning of other documented instances of this injustice, on October 10, I introduced a Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act, which is now before us. In the weeks after I introduced the bill, we continued to hear multiple reports of cases around the country where servicemen and women had been denied bonuses, including the high-profile case involving Private Jordan Fox from my home area of western Pennsylvania. It has become clear that these were not just isolated examples, but instead, some of the hundreds and perhaps thousands of examples of veterans being asked to return their bonuses or be denied the remaining portion of their bonuses after being injured in service to our country. And while some have made an issue of the expense of paying back these bonuses, let me be clear: There is no group that should stand ahead of our Nation's veterans when it comes time to making Federal funding decisions. Some may argue that because these servicemen and women were injured that they were unable to fulfill their contractual obligations and therefore should be denied the remainder of their bonuses. I want to be equally clear on this point. Members of our Armed Forces have made every conceivable sacrifice for our country, and those who have been injured in service to our country have more than fulfilled the obligations of their service contract. Paying them the bonuses that they have fought for and that they have earned is the very least we can do to repay them for their bravery and their sacrifice. Finally, I want to make clear that this is a bipartisan bill with more than 270 cosponsors. I want to thank my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, dozens of which have cosponsored this bill and some of whom will speak in favor of it today. I especially want to thank my colleagues, Mr. Stearns from Florida and Mr. Jones from North Carolina, the lead Republican sponsors of this bill. They joined me in support of this bill before it became a high-profile issue, and I thank them for their leadership. I also want to single out two of my Democratic colleagues, my lead Democratic cosponsor, Congressman Patrick Murphy from my home State of Pennsylvania, an Iraq war veteran himself, and Congressman Bart Stupak of Michigan who has fought as hard as any Member of this House for the right of veterans to keep their enlistment bonus. Most importantly, I want to thank Chairman Ike Skelton for his willingness to help bring this bill to the floor. Chairman Skelton's amendment has made this a better bill, and I thank him for his support and his continued leadership as chairman of the Armed Services Committee. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in voting for the Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act before us today. I am sure that all my colleagues in the House would agree that we in Congress must support our troops with our actions and not just with our words. This bill will ensure that every military veteran gets the bonuses they deserve. During this holiday season when our thoughts and prayers are with the brave servicemen and women serving overseas and their families here at home, I can think of no greater tribute we can provide.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. Madam Speaker, a recent poll shows that the economy is now priority number one for the American people. With home prices continuing to fall and costs continuing to rise on everything from health care to college tuition, American families are becoming more and more pessimistic about our economy. And it's not surprising that this poll showed that the American people trust Democrats more than Republicans to handle this issue by an 18-point margin. Since taking office earlier this year, the Democratic majority in this House has passed several pieces of legislation to assist working families during this uncertain economy. We increased the minimum wage for the first time in a decade, cut loan interest rates in half, and just last week we passed an energy bill that addresses skyrocketing gas prices and will save American families up to $1,000 per year at the pump. Madam Speaker, this Democratic Congress will continue to work on public policy measures that help American families make ends meet during this difficult economic time.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Florida, and I thank the chairman for his leadership, as well as Ranking Member Hunter. I wanted to talk specifically for a couple of minutes about two provisions that this bill includes that I introduced. One of them involves a bill, H.R. 1944, dealing with traumatic brain injury, which is the signature injury of the war in Afghanistan and Iraq. What this legislation that we are voting on today says is that the Department of Veterans Affairs will treat traumatic brain injury and do screenings and treatments in a way that is much more put together than has been done in the past. It is going to create a national registry, it is going to create a long-term system for traumatic brain injury screening and treatment, and it is going to create a coordinated network throughout the Nation that is going to help our brave men and women that are affected by TBI. Secondly, I also introduced an amendment during consideration of this bill dealing with family and medical leave. What this legislation does is allow family members of our brave men and women serving in the Guard and Reserve to use Family and Medical Leave Act time to see off, to see the deployment, or to see the members return when they come back, and to use that, importantly, to deal with economic issues and get the household economics in order. This bill is going to dramatically impact people's lives, and I am proud to have played a very small part in it. But I do want to thank the chairman and the ranking member for their leadership. Madam Speaker, I also thank the gentlewoman from Florida for allowing me the time to speak today.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. Mr. Speaker, I want to highlight two specific provisions that are included in this landmark legislation that we are discussing today. This bill contains legislation that I, along with Congressman Tom Udall, offered as an amendment during initial House consideration of this bill. It will allow military families to use family and medical leave time to manage issues such as child care and financial planning that arise as a result of the deployment of an immediate family member. This bill also contains the language from my bill, H.R. 1944, that requires the VA to operate a comprehensive program of long-term care for rehabilitation of traumatic brain injury, which has become the signature injury of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It also creates and maintains a TBI veterans health registry. These provisions will directly impact and improve the lives of our brave men and women in uniform and their families. I am proud that they have been included in this bill.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. I thank the Chair and the ranking member for their continued leadership on these issues, and I especially want to thank my good friend from Florida, Mr. Buchanan. It was a pleasure working with him to craft this legislation. He was an equal partner in putting this bill on the floor today, and I want to recognize his leadership as well. Madam Speaker, with nearly 25 million veterans and over 1 million Reservists in the United States, there is a need, and a growing need, for an increased commitment by the government to assist veterans and Reservists both during and after their service to our Nation. As more and more servicemembers return to civilian life after their deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, the opportunities and economic benefits that the Federal Government can provide will become even more critical, especially for businesses that are owned and operated by veterans. The brave men and women that put their lives on hold to defend our Nation should not have to sacrifice their jobs and their livelihoods. Starting and maintaining a small business presents challenges for anyone, and, unfortunately, veterans often face unique barriers as a result of their military service. The unemployment rate among veterans is double the overall national unemployment rate, and over half of all self-employed Reservists experience significant income loss when they are called to duty. Over the past 3 years, we have watched as the number of returning veterans and Reservists has increased, and that number is only going to continue to grow. While Congress has passed legislation and provided Federal agencies with some of the resources necessary to provide entrepreneurial opportunities for veterans, I believe that more can be done to relieve the burden that is placed on small business owners during and after their deployment. To ensure that the Federal Government is there to assist our country's servicemembers, I have introduced the bill that we are debating here today, the Military Reservist and Veteran Small Business Reauthorization and Opportunity Act. This legislation will support and expand entrepreneurial opportunities for veterans and Reservists to ensure that their livelihoods are not compromised because of their military service. My bill increases funding for the Small Business Administration's Office of Veteran Business Development to $4.4 million and facilitates the coordination of all Federal agencies to focus attention on increasing the success rate of and opportunities for veteran-owned small businesses. This legislation will make the Advisory Committee on Veterans Business Affairs permanent, strengthening the focus and input advisory committees can provide to the Federal Government to ensure continued commitment to our Nation's veterans. The Advisory Committee has been an important source of information for the Federal Government. By making the committee permanent, we can continue to improve the support provided to veteran and Reservist small business owners. We will also increase the number of Veteran Business Outreach Centers across the country and identify areas that are in need of additional assistance to ensure that veterans and Reservists in every region are able to keep their businesses afloat. Through grants of up to $300,000 per year made to Small Business Development Centers, this bill will establish the Reservist Enterprise Transition and Sustainability program to provide one-on-one counseling on management, financing, procurement and regulatory assistance to small business owners to help our returning service men and women successfully transition to civilian life. Finally, my legislation makes much-needed improvements to the Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan program by requiring the SBA to extend the application deadline, raise the maximum loan amount and create a pre-consideration process for small businesses applying for assistance during military deployment. This is important, because currently Reservists can apply for a loan only after deployment, when their businesses are already in the red. A pre- deployment loan would be helpful to many small business owners during active duty when the funding is most critical. Madam Speaker, there is no question that veterans have a unique ability to thrive as entrepreneurs. They have the leadership skills and work ethic necessary to run a small business and a successful business. But we must do more to help veteran entrepreneurs fully meet their needs and overcome the unique challenges that they face. I believe that we owe no greater debt than to our brave men and women in uniform, and it is essential that they are afforded every opportunity for economic success at home, especially given their sacrifices for us abroad. I strongly support the Military Reservist and Veteran Small Business Reauthorization and Opportunity Act, and I ask my colleagues to support this important legislation.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. Madam Speaker, the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill passed by Congress reinvests in our Nation's future in a fiscally responsible way, and it is fully paid for with no deficit spending. The President vetoed this bill because he apparently believes that a better course of action would be to deliver massive cuts in critical domestic priorities, such as funding community health centers and medical research grants through the National Institutes of Health. The Labor-HHS-Education bill vetoed by the President strengthens education by training 51,000 more teachers, and helps 173,000 more dislocated workers with job training and employment. And again, unlike the budget-busting funding bills that were passed by previous Congresses and signed by this President, this bill is fully paid for and does not add one penny to the Federal deficit. Madam Speaker, we must override the President's veto and pass this fiscally responsible bill.

Mr. ALTMIRE

Mr. ALTMIRE. Yes, I would.

Mr. ALTMIRE. Thanks to all my colleagues who participated tonight. Thanks, especially, Mr. Speaker for the time allotted to us. Please, to continue the discussion, anyone can go to www.speaker.gov and go to the 30-Something Working Group and we can continue this discussion by e- mail. I thank the Speaker.

Mr. ALTMIRE. That is a perfect segue for what I wanted to get into right now, and we are going to, I think, conclude on this topic because this is certainly the most important issue facing the country today is the war in Iraq. I think anybody would agree. What this House did today is, as the gentleman from Florida talked about, try to get a handle on this situation and try to put a plan in place where none exists today on what our mission is going to be in Iraq. I was going to talk a little bit about what we did today in the House, what the bill said, and I will turn it over to Ms. Wasserman Schultz to go into a little bit more detail. H.R. 4156 requires the redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq to begin within 30 days of enactment with a target for completion of December 15, 2008. It requires transition in the mission of U.S. forces in Iraq from primarily combat to force protection and diplomatic protection, limited support to Iraqi security forces and targeted counterterrorism operations. The bill prohibits deployment of any U.S. troops not fully equipped and trained. Is there anybody who can disagree with that? Waivable with a presidential national security certification. So it gives the President the ability to waive that requirement if he feels it is necessary. It extends to all U.S. Government agencies and personnel the limitations of the Army Field Manual on permissible interrogation techniques. That means no torture, something that this House has voted on in the past. It is in the Army manual today. It just says you have to abide by what is in the Army Field Manual as it is currently written. And finally, as we discussed, it provides $50 billion to meet the needs of the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan but defers the consideration of the remainder of the President's nearly $200 billion request. So this is a responsible course of action. The House passed it today. I will yield to the gentlewoman from Florida at this point to give her views on this issue.