Steve Buyer

Mr. BUYER

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I would ask all colleagues to support H.R. 4918, a bill to name the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Miami, Florida, as the ``Bruce W. Carter Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center.'' I want to thank my colleague Dr. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Miami, Florida, for introducing the bill. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to Dr. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida to speak on the bill.

Mr. BUYER

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I now yield such time as he may consume to Gus Bilirakis of Florida, the son of Michael Bilirakis.

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time I have remaining.

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, our good friend, Michael Bilirakis, and his wife, Evelyn, I'm sure are listening right now. And to my good friend Michael, I know this is a little uncomfortable listening to your colleagues say nice things about you while you're alive, so I thank the chairman for doing this bill. And we recognize you, Michael Bilirakis, because your presence here was significant. You heard a very personal admission on behalf of the chairman. And I think all of us on the committee could say the very same thing that the chairman had said. Michael was very good at keeping and maintaining civility, and it's about who he was as a person. I also had the opportunity to serve with him on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee. And we honor his work, not only on behalf of America's veterans, but I also remember his work on the Health Subcommittee. It worked out very well, his knowledge of Energy and Commerce along with his work on the Health Subcommittee on the House Veterans' Affairs Committee. And he was able to integrate his work with Health and Human Services and NIH and research and met with the VA and research. Your work is highly recognized and remembered by the House. But I also know that, Michael, if you were still here, you would be just as concerned as I am with regard to the high cost of energy because you voted on a lot of efforts to bring down energy prices for all Americans, which include our veterans. So with that I urge all my colleagues to support the legislation before us in naming this spinal cord facility on behalf of Michael Bilirakis. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Miller) may consume, the ranking member of the Health Subcommittee.

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4264, a bill to name the Department of Veterans Affairs Spinal Cord Injury Center in Tampa, Florida, as the ``Michael Bilirakis Department of Veterans Affairs Spinal Cord Injury Center.'' Mr. Michael Bilirakis served in the United States Air Force from 1951 to 1955 and served Florida's Ninth District as Congressman for 24 years, from 1983 to 2007. As a veteran, Mike wanted to be a strong veterans' advocate in Congress, and specifically requested to be appointed to a seat on the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Those of us who served with Mike on the committee well remember his hard work on what the chairman just spoke about, the issue of concurrent receipt. Since his first introduction of the legislation in the 99th Congress to eliminate the offset of the military pension in order to receive the VA disability compensation, Mike consistently worked each Congress to have this legislation passed, including reintroducing the bill each consecutive Congress in which he had served. When I served on the House Armed Services Committee as chairman of Military Personnel in the late 1990s, I went to Mr. Bilirakis and informed him that I had $25 million, and I wanted to address the issue of concurrent receipt. And what we did was we first took that $25 million and we said we're going to take care of those 100 percent combat-disabled veterans. And Mike and I felt pretty good about what we had done. We had moved incrementally, but we were going to take on this issue. Boy, did we find out that in the very next Congress we were being attacked. Here we thought we were doing great things on behalf of the veterans' community, and then Mr. Bilirakis and I then began to be attacked by all these other veterans who did not receive the benefits of concurrent receipt. Here we thought we were trying to do that which was best, open up the issue of concurrent receipt, address the 100 percent combat-disabled veterans, and then all of a sudden Michael Bilirakis and I were being attacked because we didn't do it for everyone. And Mike always took on these issues with great humor, self- deprecating humor, and for that I have great respect for him. He also fought for the Survivor Benefit Plan and improvements for the widows of military retirees, dependency and indemnity compensation and survivors' benefits, veterans' equitable resource allocation, benefits and health care for former prisoners of war, hospice care for veterans, as well as the designation of the National Women Veterans Recognition Week. Additionally, Congressman Michael Bilirakis sought and obtained funding for the following projects to serve veterans within his congressional district in the State of Florida. The Port Richey Outpatient Clinic, the Spinal Cord Injury Center at the James Haley VA Medical Center. We have the Florida National Cemetery, the Land O'Lakes Nursing Home, and the Sub-Regional Veterans Office in Tampa, Florida. Among his top priorities was obtaining the funding and resources for the Spinal Cord Injury Center located at the VA Medical Center in Tampa, Florida. Mr. Speaker, for all of his outstanding work on behalf of our Nation's veterans, it is most appropriate today that we consider this legislation to name the Spinal Cord Injury Center after Michael Bilirakis. I had the opportunity to tour this facility. And I welcome all of my colleagues, if you ever have the chance to be in Tampa, to visit the polytrauma center; go by this spinal cord facility. It is one of the most remarkable facilities that we have in the country in which we care for these veterans. And it's only fitting, since Mike worked so hard on this particular facility, that it be named in his honor. With that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BUYER

Mr. BUYER. The increasing cost of energy is affecting every sector of American life, including the services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs, which we are not immune to the effects of high fuel prices. Yet, our colleagues, it appears the chairman of the Veterans' Affairs committee, that is so upset now that I am talking about the increase in energy and its impact on the quality of care we can deliver in health care, are not providing the relief on energy costs. We should be looking at ways to reduce the energy burden on the VA. So when I look at the energy baseline in 2003 in the VA on energy costs and its impact on how we can provide quality health care to our veterans, that baseline was $287.7 million. Today, that energy baseline--actually, my numbers are of 2007--was $475.5 billion. That is a 65 percent increase in VA utility expenses. So with regard to the Speaker's counsel to me that I can talk about energy prices in the VA so long as there is a proper nexus, well, I think if we are talking about a 65 percent increase in fuel prices and its impact upon the VA and how we will be able to deliver not only quality research but also quality health care at our epileptic centers, I think is a pretty important issue. With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BUYER. The gentlelady knows quite well, having been here a very long time, that the best way to utilize the floor time, which is extremely important on the important issues facing the country, is that we could have taken these eight veterans bills and consolidated them and brought them to the floor. That is not what we have done. Half of the bills that we are talking about here today, Mr. Speaker, I say to the gentlelady, is that they are naming bills. They are naming bills. We could have managed the time of the floor much better. So the gentlelady was absolutely correct. No one here should try to attempt to spin my remarks about filling time as if somehow veterans substantive legislation is not important. The fact that the time on the floor is what is extremely important. We have 35 legislative days, approximately, to go. I know you're praising leadership, Ms. Brown, but this Congress, we have not done one appropriations bill to run this country. Mr. Speaker, I think that is correct. I think there are 12 legislative bills. We haven't done any of them. None of them have come to the House floor.

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, what I object to is the fact that the chairman of the committee must not care about the increased cost of energy prices on veterans in America. He must not care, Mr. Speaker, because he's so concerned that he wants to raise a point of order against me to silence the issue of the impact of energy prices at the VA on health care, on medical research? Mr. Speaker, this is a very, very pertinent and important issue. The increased prices to the VA, a few years back we had an emergency supplemental, and part of that was because of the increase in energy costs to the VA. This is a pretty important issue. So let me now embrace your counsel, Mr. Speaker, to me. H.R. 2818, as amended, will improve the VA's research. Now why do I mention research? Well, because what we're doing here, we recognize the VA has a long history of providing specialized treatment and research on epilepsy. So now let's talk about the impact on energy prices on research. It's a proper nexus, would the Speaker not agree? The Speaker is stoic. H.R. 2818, as amended, I believe it improves VA's research, but as we look at this, the research activities consume high amounts of energy, and these activities include using CT scans, MRIs, other medical imaging technology. We use medical testing and other laboratory devices. Research laboratories require high amounts of security to protect personal medical information on research subjects. Laboratory data may examine heating and cooling systems to control specimen temperatures to ensure viability in our research activities. All that requires energy and in fact energy prices will impact the delivery of care that we do at our epileptic centers. Facility energy consumption also involves power to run computers, printers, scanners, copiers, shredders. Some of these research, medical research projects require specialized lighting and may occur after hours when VA physicians have time to work in their labs and analyze data when these systems would then be shut down. From 2005 to 2007, the Department of Veterans Affairs' energy costs have increased by 20 percent. The VA's energy costs have increased 65 percent since the 2003 baseline set by Federal mandates in the OMB energy scorecard. May I ask the Speaker how much time I have remaining.

Mr. BUYER. I yield to the gentlelady.

Mr. BUYER. I reclaim my time. When the gentlelady brought up with regard to what you did when you were in charge--I will just share this with the gentlelady--the bills that have been brought to the floor here under suspension, in the past, for years now you and I have work together and served on the Veterans' Affairs Committee. Any time the bill would actually come to the floor, it was always by agreement between the ranking and the chairman and other members of interest, always by consensus and by agreement. That is not what happened here today. That is not. We did that with regard to seven bills. At the last moment, another bill gets added. We had some general concerns with regard to the language in the bill. But, no, the chairman is going to have his way. So I just share with the gentlelady that he wanted to roll the minority, no differently than how the Speaker has rolled the committee with regard to the GI Bill and others.

Mr. BUYER. May I speak to the point of order?

Mr. BUYER. My point is that because this Congress has now chosen not to work on these very important issues facing the country, whether it's decreasing the energy prices, on immigration, solvency of Social Security, Medicare, all of these list of issues, we are not doing right now. So we need to be able to say, Okay, what are we going to do with our time. So we take the eight veterans bills that we have and split them each up individually, with 40 minutes on each bill. I yield to the gentlelady.

Mr. BUYER. I object.

Mr. BUYER. I object.

Mr. BUYER. I wanted the gentlelady to know when you brought up the issue about, Well, here's what occurred when you were in charge, we had great deference to the Speaker and the access to the floor.

Mr. BUYER. I ask for a ruling from the Chair on the point of order.

Mr. BUYER

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I have some questions on my time. I would like to inquire of the gentleman regarding his intent on the drafting of the resolution. In particular, the first and second clauses of the resolution. The first clause, ``Whereas, millions of veterans returning home from World War II looked to the guarantee of educational, medical, housing, and other basic benefits provided by the GI Bill''; and, ``Whereas, these benefits were denied.'' As it's drafted, it basically says here are the benefits they looked forward to. And then we say, ``these benefits were denied'' and then ``in large part, to Americans of Mexican descent.'' So in the whereas clause we are saying that here are benefits that millions of veterans coming back from World War II looked forward to, then in the drafting it says, oh, by the way, ``Whereas, these benefits were denied, in large part to Americans of Mexican descent and other Hispanics throughout the United States.'' Now there are other individuals, other forms of odious discrimination of various kinds encountered by veterans, whether they be African American, whether they are women, individuals are Puerto Rican. There could have been many other forms of discrimination and bigotry in which people were subjected to in our country, not only back then but even probably of today. What I was hoping we could do is that we are actually voting on a resolution on the floor, that this drafting is kind of awkward. I was hoping that we could try to correct that. What I wanted to do is yield to the gentleman so he can tell us about his intent with regard to the legislation. I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, the chairman and I both have been to Harlingen, we have been in Deep South, Texas. We understand your challenges. We have also met with many of your comrades down there, who have tremendous enthusiasm for our country. I appreciate your explanation with regard to the ``whereas'' clauses, that these were the foundation of the GI Forum. I just wanted to make sure that we did not have the implication as a policy record of discrimination by the VA. That in fact there were forms of discrimination by individuals, but our country, who was then run by Presidents Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson, never would have in fact embraced any form of this policy.

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 1291 recognizes the contributions of the American GI Forum on its 60th anniversary. Mr. Speaker, the work of the founder of the American GI Forum, Dr. Hector Garcia, is one that shows the determination of the American spirit. Serving during World War II as an infantryman, as a combat engineer, and a medical doctor, he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with six battle stars and achieved the rank of major. Upon his return from the war, he worked to encourage other Mexican Americans to educate themselves in the Democratic principles, and founded the American GI Forum in 1948 to fight for equal treatment for Mexican American veterans, including proper medical treatment and educational benefits. In reviewing the current legislative priorities for the American GI Forum, it is evident their efforts have continued to instill in the Hispanic/Latino community the desire to achieve through liberty. Mr. Speaker, there is one clarification that I think should be made regarding the resolution whereas clauses, and I will take these up in a moment here with the author of the bill. In particular, the whereas clause reads, ``Whereas, millions of veterans returning home from World War II look to the guarantee of educational, medical, housing, and other basic benefits by the GI Bill,'' and, ``Whereas, these benefits were denied in large part to Americans of Mexican descent and other Hispanics throughout the United States.'' By having these two statements like this in the whereas clause, this statement implies systematic denial of benefits as a matter of policy by the VA. Individual accounts of bigotry most likely did in fact occur, but I have great concerns with regard to the drafting of the bill. I was very disappointed that the chairman would not work with the minority on the drafting of this bill. Those of us who wear and have worn the uniform, we embrace the ideals that veterans benefits are to be extended without regard to race, color, or creed. As I said, I will have some questions of Mr. Rodriguez regarding the clarification of his intent on the whereas clauses. Mr. Speaker, the work of the veterans service organizations like the American GI Forum advocates for veterans and assists those of us in Congress and particularly on the committee of Veterans' Affairs to formulate policy that will help guide our country in respect to veterans' affairs. I commend the American GI Forum's work these past 60 years. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BUYER. Okay. I appreciate the gentleman clarifying the intent with regard to the ``whereas'' clauses. With that, I urge my colleagues to adopt the resolution before the House, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BUYER

Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4289, a bill to name the Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic in Ponce, Puerto Rico, as the ``Euripides Rubio Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic.'' I commend my colleague Mr. Fortuno of Puerto Rico for introducing the bill. I cannot improve upon the words of Chairman Filner. I urge my colleagues to support this bill and honor the extraordinary valor of Captain Euripides Rubio. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. General Leave