Nathan Deal

Mr. DEAL of Georgia

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton). (Mr. BARTON of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Barrett).

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Hastings).

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. I thank the Speaker. And I would ask the gentleman, we have numerous speakers, if there is a possibility of yielding time at some point, we would request it.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. I thank the gentleman. At this point I would yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Blunt).

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Coble).

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert).

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from North Carolina (Mrs. Myrick).

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Shadegg).

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Wicker).

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. I thank the gentleman for his courtesy. I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Whitfield).

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Carter).

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to one of our colleagues from Iowa (Mr. King).

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Buyer).

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Latham).

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. I would say to my colleague, Mr. Lewis, I am prepared to close if you would like to.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I want to thank my colleague, Mr. Lewis, for his graciousness, for his assistance in bringing this resolution to the floor, and to express my appreciation to all of our colleagues who have spoken here today. Their eloquence, I hope, conveys to Gloria and to the family the esteem with which we held Charlie Norwood. Truly the gentleman from Georgia and the blue searsucker suit is going to really be missed here, but his legacy will live on. It is the responsibility of each of us to make sure that we have the same degree of commitment and passion as Charlie Norwood did. He set a great example we will all endeavor to follow.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on the resolution just adopted.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose this resolution, and I readily admit that I don't know for sure what the best policy is in this fight against radical Islamic groups. With all due respect, I don't think any other Member of this body does either. Much of what we have heard this week are words based on emotions, and not facts. In the midst of such uncertainty, I do believe there are certain opinions that are factually sound. Number one, the greatest weapon our enemy has is the loss of resolve on the part of the American people. Two, what this Congress does significantly affects that resolve of the American people. Three, this resolution is a major signal that America has lost its resolve. If we succumb to an attitude of defeat, then defeat is what will occur. I will simply ask, if we don't want to engage radical Islam in Iraq, then where? If we don't want to engage radical Islam now, then when? If we cannot answer these questions, be assured that our enemy will provide us with the answers. I am not willing to vote for a resolution that I believe does just that. It is true that the Iraqis must truly step forward and want to govern themselves. President Bush has set out markers by which they will be measured. We should hold them to these reasonable standards. Tonight I stand with our troops, and I thank them and their families for their service.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman. On behalf of my colleagues from the State of Georgia, it is with great sadness that I announce that our colleague Charlie Norwood passed away at approximately 12:45 today. Charlie was a great Member of this body and a friend to all. Mr. Speaker, I would ask that this body observe a moment of silence in his memory. Amen.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which spent hundreds of hours passing and dealing with hearings relating to this prescription drug benefit under Medicare part D, I rise in opposition to H.R. 4. I think it is hastily considered legislation that has been brought without the opportunity to evaluate several important ingredients, one being its impact on our local community pharmacists and their ability to provide access to citizens in our community. One aspect of the current prohibition against the government negotiating is that it also prohibits the government from negotiating pharmacist fees. This reimbursement that they receive often comes in the form of dispensing fees which they use to help pay for their services in filling the prescriptions, of course. And I believe they are vital to the operation of local pharmacies because they help cover all of their costs associated with performing their duties. Yet, this legislation provides no protection for the nearly 2,000 pharmacies in my State, or over 50,000 across the country. The independent actuaries at CMS have already indicated that the Secretary will have limited ability to negotiate drug prices without the authority to establish formularies, an authority which is explicitly prohibited in this bill. Therefore, as the government seeks to fulfill the mandate of H.R. 4, to negotiate lower prices on drugs, I believe they will be forced to save in other areas, specifically cutting dispensing fees to pharmacists. Without guaranteed dispensing fees for the pharmacists, many local pharmacists are going to have to leave the Medicare drug program, or the government's negotiations may lead to seniors being forced to fill some of their prescriptions by mail order and being unable to use their local pharmacist. At the least, these pharmacists will feel an unnecessary squeeze from this Democratic meddling into a successful program that has saved seniors millions of dollars and with which most of them are overwhelmingly happy. I recognize that there are certain pharmacy groups that have supported this measure, but I believe that their letters of support do not address the real basic concern, and that is, the fact that dispensing fees may be the part that is in jeopardy. For example, if the government has negotiated a set price for all programs, how is program A going to differentiate itself in premium from the program of company B? I believe that it is going to squeeze the dispensing fee, and the pharmacist is the only one left in the middle to be squeezed. I would say, for the sake of our seniors and their access to their local pharmacists and for those pharmacists who want to stay in business and be a part of this program, I would urge support of the Republican motion to recommit which takes steps to protect the local pharmacist and receive a fair dispensing fee.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. I thank the gentleman and also for his years of dedicated service to this institution. He will truly be missed. Mr. Speaker, regrettably I rise to oppose this legislation, in particular the portion that would grant permanent trade relationship with Vietnam. I do so for one very particular reason. According to the National League of POW/MIA families, there are currently 1,798 personnel missing, still missing, from a Vietnam war that ended about 35 years ago. These families have continued to meet with resistance from the communist Vietnamese Government and have failed to allow them to adequately search for their loved ones. Yet today, this legislation will reward that country and that government. I believe that is unacceptable. I think we should be talking about how to reward Vietnam for its good conduct if they were to cooperate fully with the efforts to recover these individuals. We have within the Department of Defense an office that is called the Defense POW Missing Personnel Office, whose sole purpose is to help account for these missing personnel that we lost during that conflict. Yet of the hundreds of individuals that accompanied President Bush on his visit to Vietnam last month, the director of that organization was excluded from the visit. What does this say to the Vietnamese Government? I think it says we are not serious about the issue. Today, I think we can honestly say that if we intend to honor those who gave their lives and their sacrifice for our country, we should be willing to confront the Government of Vietnam concerning these missing POW/MIAs. Until Vietnam fully cooperates in that effort with these families to recover their loved ones, I cannot support the normalization on a permanent basis of trade relations with that country, and I would urge my colleagues to do likewise.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, as a journalism major, John W. Jacobs, Jr., understands that a person's life is like a newspaper. From the announcement of birth, an event over which we have no control, to the obituary notice, which we will never read, events fill the pages of our lives, and it is how we respond to or create those events that will determine if our life's story is worth reading or remembering. For John W. Jacobs, Jr., most of his life has evolved in Gainesville, Georgia, where he was born on November 28, 1922. He graduated from high school there and attended Riverside Military Academy for a year before venturing west to the University of Missouri to attend the prestigious journalism school. The outbreak of World War II interrupted his education and he soon found himself on the battlefields of Europe in one of the most important battles of the war, the Battle of the Bulge, where he was awarded two Silver Stars. When the war concluded, he finished his college degree and returned to his hometown where he began his career in communications by selling ads for a local newspaper. He soon joined some of his veteran friends and formed the radio station WDUN. In the years that followed, he formed, bought and sold a newspaper, a cable television system and an FM radio station. Today, his company, Jacobs Media, owns three radio stations, an on-line local newspaper, and a travel agency. He and his son and daughter are the sole shareholders. If that was all that John Jacobs, Jr., had done with his life and talents, it would be an impressive story worthy of an extensive spread in the business section of any newspaper. But that is only part of the story, for John understood that business success must be coupled with personal service if anyone is going to be inspired by the story of your life. And it is in this arena where the real story of John Jacobs can be found. He has served as President of the Greater Hall County Chamber of Commerce on two separate occasions, President of the Gainesville Jaycees, Exalted Ruler of the Elks Lodge, local President and Governor of the Georgia District of Kiwanis, President of the Georgia Association of Broadcasters and the Georgia Cable Television Association. In addition, John has been active in Grace Episcopal Church, serving as Warden and Vestryman, chairman of Building Funds and Day Reader. John recognized that Brenau University was one of the jewels in his hometown and he has served on its Board of Trustees since 1958 and as Chairman of the Board for 23 years. For his long service and charitable support, he has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree and the Business and Communications Building has been named in his honor. He has also served as an active Trustee at Riverside Military Academy since 1975. It is no wonder that in 2000 Georgia Trend Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential Georgians, and that the City of Gainesville presented him with a Distinguished Citizen Award at its 180th Birthday Celebration. Since 2003 his primary involvement has been with the Northeast Georgia History Center and the completion of An American Freedom Garden which pays tribute to veterans and their gift of freedom. This year he will complete 2\1/2\ years as President of that organization. John's wife Martha Rand Jacobs, and their children, Elizabeth Carswell, and Jay Jacobs, and their seven grandchildren have set an example for service for all of us. John W. Jacobs, Jr. has filled the pages of his life with excitement, successes and service, and every day he is writing a new paragraph. He is an outstanding example of a purpose driven life, and he is a great encourager for all who would follow in his path.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous material.