Bob Filner

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, on November 16th, 2010 I held a briefing on my bill H. Res. 1431, which urges the Obama administration to remove the main Iranian opposition group, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) from the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. This bill has been co-sponsored by 109 Members of the House of Representatives. In a letter to the Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on that same day, I was joined by my colleagues and brought the resolution to the attention of the Secretary and urged her to delist the PMOI. Below are the remarks that I made to the Members and Staff gathered at the briefing: We have introduced Resolution 1431, which calls upon the U.S. government, the President, the Secretary of State to remove the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran . . . from the State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations . . . Like other parliaments around the world, we in the United States Congress believe that this organization does not qualify to be on the FTO list both on legal and political grounds. Removing the MEK from the FTO list is not only the right thing to do but sends the right message to Iran. I would like to thank the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, Mrs. Rajavi, who has not only led this fight, but has also offered all kinds of assistance to the residents of Camp Ashraf.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I do want to assure the gentleman that, as he knows, we have had several roundtables. We call them roundtables rather than hearings, because we literally sit around the table and have discussions rather than just have people questioned. And we have had people from all over the country testify on this bill. We have sent the bill to every single veterans service organization, to everyone who has ever asked or complained about treatment as women veterans. We have had enormous input from around the country on this, probably more than any other bill that we have done. The bill has undergone a whole lot of changes and has responded to a lot of the input that we had, including from Members of the opposite party who have been at some of the roundtable discussions. It is time, Mr. Speaker, to move into the 21st century on this. The VA has been a male institution. We cannot keep waiting for change. It has to come. Women are performing an incredible, incredible role in the conflicts that we have ongoing. We should not say ``thank you'' by an unwelcome response to their coming to a VA facility. It's time that we had a Bill of Rights for women veterans. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5953, as amended. I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FILNER. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, this bill before us is an important piece of legislation, establishing a bill of rights on the one hand for women veterans, and on the other hand for injured and amputee veterans. This has been the subject of over a year of discussion in our committee and around the country with various groups and stakeholders to try and refine the legislation to one that everyone can support. Let me just speak on the first half, and that is women veterans. There are almost 2 million women veterans now, Mr. Speaker, and they are one of the fastest growing subgroups of veterans in our Nation. It is estimated that the number of female veterans who use the VA health care system will double, assuming that the current enrollment rates remain constant. The VA health care system, as we know it, was built to accommodate the war-related illnesses and injuries of male veterans. It's a male institution as it was created. In fact, many of the VA providers, many of the VA customers are veterans, have little or no exposure to women veterans. As women are serving in combat conditions alongside their male counterparts, it is important that the Department embrace and recognize the needs of all veterans, both men and women alike. Through hearings and roundtable discussions that we have held during this year, women veterans have come forward to share their personal stories. From their accounts, it is clear that while the VA has made some strides in caring for women veterans, significant gaps remain. The veterans testifying before the committee have shared stories of feeling unwelcomed, alienated, disrespected in some of our VA medical centers so that they are now reluctant to pursue the benefits and services that they have earned with service to their country. We have heard about women veterans walking into the lobby of a medical center and having catcalls come from all corners of that lobby. We have heard that a woman who had her arm amputated from battle in Fallujah, when she appeared before a doctor at her VA, the doctor thought she had cancer. He couldn't imagine her as having lost an arm due to combat conditions. We have had single women who have had to bring their children because they could not get child care, and doctors refusing to see them. We have got to change this institution to meet the needs, the real needs of the women veterans of our Nation. The VA must recognize and be equipped to treat the unique medical concerns that women veterans have. They must respect privacy concerns, eliminate cultural insensitivity that may otherwise bar women from accessing the VA health care system. In most of the VA medical centers they are not even changing in privacy curtains so that women may have that deserved privacy. We made a lot of progress this Congress in addressing the women veterans with the enactment of S. 1963, the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010. This bill, H.R. 5953, would bring the VA another step closer to providing equal care for women to their male counterparts. My bill would require the VA to display in all of its facilities the 24 fundamental principles governing the treatment of women veterans, as well as require VA to widely distribute the bill of rights to women veterans. Among the key principles of this bill of rights is the right to coordinated, comprehensive primary women's health care at every VA medical center, the right to receive care from clinicians who have special training and experience in women's health issues, and gender equity in accessing all clinical services. My hope is that this legislation will lead to bold changes that will effectively tackle the needs of our brave and honored women veterans. This bill, as amended, mandates also another bill of rights. Let me just say one last thing, though, on the women's bill of rights. There was some concern raised in recent days about the relationship to this bill and the rights conferred on women veterans, and therefore the bringing of abortion services into the VA medical facilities. This bill did not do that. It made no reference to all the laws on the books that prevent Federal facilities from doing that. But in a discussion with the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), who previously chaired this VA Committee, who is a leader of the so-called pro-life forces in this Congress, he said we can fix that for you. All you have to do is add a line that he gave us and we have put in this bill. So nobody need be concerned that this bill somehow overrides all previous laws and mandates abortion services in the VA clinics. It says and is included in this bill by manager's amendment that nothing in this act shall be construed to establish a right to any service excluded under 38 Code of Federal Regulations 17.38, as in effect on the date of the enactment of this act. Those are the regulations that ban abortions in Federal facilities. So just to make sure that people feel that they can vote for this without violating some other principles, this sentence is in there, and the gentleman from New Jersey feels that that adequately and definitively eliminates that problem that had been brought up in recent days. Let me if I may, Mr. Speaker, go on to the Injured and Amputee Bill of Rights. There are not many of us who have not heard of the horrific battleground stories experienced by our young men and women who have served in Operation New Dawn and Operation Enduring Freedom. These stories reveal a gruesome and difficult war in which servicemembers often sustain long-lasting emotional and physical injuries. Of these none is more disheartening than the amputations undergone by servicemembers as a direct result of the widespread use of roadside bombs, otherwise known as IEDs, Improvised Explosive Devices. This class of injuries, which has spiked significantly since the onset of Operation New Dawn, requires special consideration within the Department of Veterans Affairs. After returning home, these individuals must embark upon a long road to recovery that includes extensive rehabilitation and specialized treatment. This bill instructs the VA to inform veterans and educate employees at each VA prosthetics and orthotics clinic that there is an Injured and Amputee Veterans' Bill of Rights. The bill requires the VA to monitor and resolve complaints from injured and amputee veterans alleging mistreatment. I believe that this bill will do much to protect the rights of our injured and amputee veterans, as well as bolster the consistency of prosthetic and orthotic care throughout the VA health care system. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation. We have been working on these bills for a long, long time, and I am pleased that we have been allowed to bring these bills even in this lame duck session to allow the VA to move into the 21st century in terms of treatment of our women veterans and in treatment of our veterans who have undergone amputations. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 5953, as amended.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on House Resolution 1644.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1644) expressing support for designation of a ``National Veterans History Project Week''.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I have had the honor, privilege of chairing the Veterans' Affairs Committee for the last 4 years. The voters of this Nation have changed the party in charge, and so I think this will probably be my last day on the floor as the chairman. I just want to thank the veterans of this Nation from around the country and around the world. I have met with them. They have changed me as a person. I have learned incredible amounts from them. I have learned how much we have to do to fulfill our commitment to our Nation's veterans. I think we have done a lot in this committee for the last 4 years. Some of our staff is here, and I want to thank them because they have made it all possible. In fact, Mr. Speaker, we have a fellow from the Military Fellows Program who worked with us for a year that the Speaker set up for us to bring in the military folks from different services and from different occupations to both help us and to help them with a year on Capitol Hill. One of those is completing his year just about now, Ricco Player. We want to thank you, Ricco, for all of your work. As a marine, he is going to be deployed to Afghanistan after Christmas, so we wish him the best but we want to thank him for the work. He has taught us a lot, and hope that you will bring back some of our knowledge to your fellow marines. In the last 4 years, Mr. Speaker, we have added almost $25 billion to the health care needs of our veterans. That is over a 65 percent increase. That is unprecedented in the history of VA to have such an increase, and we needed to do that. We have literally hundreds of thousands of new veterans, many with brain injury, many with PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder. We have veterans from Vietnam War who are aging, and even earlier wars, obviously. So we have tremendous need, and we put in billions of dollars into especially mental health care of our Nation's veterans. We wrote a GI bill for the 21st century which matched the GI bill really from 1944, the original GI bill. I don't know about you, Mr. Speaker, but I'm here because of the GI Bill. My dad came back from the war. He got some education, and we were able to buy a house. We were middle class for the first time in our lives because of the GI Bill, like 8 million other families who took advantage of that. So we have brought those benefits in line to what it really costs to go to college. As you have seen today, we have worked on homeless veterans, and we have worked on women veterans. We have tried to improve access for rural veterans. We have done quite a bit. I am looking forward to working with our counterparts in the new Congress to continue the progress that we have made for veterans. We intend to cooperate fully. Mr. Roe has been very good to work with. I am not sure who the chairman will be from your side, but we have established, I think, good working relationships with nearly every member of your committee. So, as we conclude this bill, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank again the staff of our committee. I want to thank the staffs on both sides of the aisle for their work and for doing so much for veterans during the last 4 years. I would urge passage of the Kind bill, H. Res. 1644. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FILNER. I yield myself such time as I might consume. Mr. Speaker, this bill, H. Res. 1644, the National Veterans History Project Week, comes to us from our colleague from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind) to honor the lives of our Nation's veterans, and I thank him for introducing the resolution before us today. I would like to yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin for as much time as he may consume.

Mr. FILNER. I thank the gentleman. Thank you for your leadership, Mr. Kind. You have done an incredible job. I happen to be an historian myself. I have done a lot of work in oral history, and you described it so eloquently. I wish my father, who was in World War II, we could have taped before he died. Just a couple of weeks ago when I was back home, I met with a group of black soldiers who in 1946, 2 years before the Executive order that integrated our armed forces, the black soldiers had been approached by General Eisenhower to say hey, the Battle of the Bulge has taken so many of our infantrymen, who will volunteer to join the infantry, the white infantry? About 5,000 volunteered. To hear their stories, and I referred them. I said get right over to our project; we need to hear that because most of us don't know about that little history, and that is very inspiring to hear what they were able to do. Thank you for your leadership. I think, as you said, it is not only to maintain our own history, but to bridge the gap between generations. So I thank the gentleman once again. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FILNER. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, 2 weeks ago, as we all know, Americans came together to honor Veterans Day and pay tribute to the over 23 million veterans that have served our Nation. We have a proud legacy of appreciation and commitment to the men and women who have worn the uniform and have made great sacrifices. We know that we owe the security of this Nation to those who defended it. This resolution before us encourages Americans to demonstrate their support for veterans also. No other group of Americans has stood stronger and braver for our democracy than our troops and our veterans. I firmly believe that Veterans Day should not be observed for just one day a year but that our Nation's heroes must be celebrated, honored, and remembered for their service to our Nation the whole year through. So I encourage all Americans to reach out to veterans, thank them and their families for their amazing sacrifice, learn more about their great contribution to our Nation, and gain the wisdom of their personal stories of this Nation's history. This year, like the last, our country observed Veterans Day while engaged in conflicts abroad that required the dedication of our uniformed troops. Our thoughts remain with those who are in uniform engaged in conflicts abroad. We must be united in seeing that every soldier, sailor, airman, and marine is welcomed back with all the care and compassion that this grateful Nation can bestow. This democracy must stand together to support our veterans because our freedom and liberty depend on it. On Veterans Day and this whole year through, join me and take the time to show your gratitude to those who have answered the call to duty. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FILNER. I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H. Res. 1622.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, I urge my colleagues to unanimously support House Resolution 1622, and yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1622) honoring the historic contributions of veterans throughout all conflicts involving the United States.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 3219.

Mr. FILNER. I thank the gentlewoman. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FILNER. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I don't know that we'll be in session again before Veterans Day on November 11. This is a bill that will really raise the level of standards for all of our Nation's veterans; and we can look at it as, I think, a perfect gift that can be delivered on Veterans Day. So I ask my colleagues to unanimously support H.R. 3219. I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendments to the bill (H.R. 3219) to amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain improvements in the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs relating to insurance and health care, and for other purposes.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Berkley), who is a former member of our committee and whom we miss very, very, very much.

Mr. FILNER. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I just wanted to thank the gentlelady, frankly, for not only her persistence in this particular benefit that is so important but, as I understand it, the Las Vegas veterans hospital is under construction. You fought for that for more than a decade and it is finally going to be built. When does it open? I yield to the gentlewoman.

Mr. FILNER. We applaud again your persistence for that. We know the veterans in Las Vegas and surroundings are going to be well served.

Mr. FILNER. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I rise in strong support of what is now entitled the Veterans' Benefits Act of 2010, H.R. 3219, the title being amended in the Senate. This is an omnibus benefits bill jointly assembled by both the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs. It is comprehensive. It is bipartisan. It is bicameral. In fact, and we can rarely say this, Mr. Speaker, it has already been approved by the Senate by unanimous consent. The critical bill would greatly enhance, expand, and modernize many of the benefits afforded to our veterans, particularly disabled veterans, their families, and survivors. The provisions in this bill are the culminating result of numerous productive hearings and markups, meaningful oversight and bipartisan compromise, all to ensure that those who are willing to lay down their lives for our country and their families and survivors receive meaningful, world-class, 21st century benefits from their Nation. I want to thank the chairman of the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, John Hall of New York; Representative Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity; and their respective ranking members, Mr. Lamborn and Mr. Boozman, for shepherding many of these provisions through their committees. It will do a great deal of good for our veterans, their families, and survivors. For example, section 101 includes language originally sponsored by Congresswoman Herseth Sandlin of South Dakota that would reauthorize the recently expired VA work-study program and expand the type of work available for veterans participating in the program. In the last fiscal year of 2009, a little over 17,000 veterans participated in this important program. Section 102 incorporates legislation championed by Mrs. Kirkpatrick of Arizona, which would reauthorize the VA Veterans' Advisory Committee on Education. The committee would provide the VA Secretary with a knowledgeable group of experts to give feedback on existing education benefits and information on ways to improve current programs. Section 106 includes language championed by a new but very active member of our committee, Congressman Harry Teague of New Mexico. Congressman Teague's bipartisan work in advancing this pilot program, which seeks to employ our Nation's veterans while addressing the growing need for an energy-related workforce, is to be strongly commended. Mr. Teague also championed section 204, which would provide injured servicemembers returning to active duty a waiver for the VA's home loan funding fees, keeping it in line with the intent of the waiver, which is to assist our injured servicemembers and veterans. I applaud Congressman Teague for his leadership. Sections 201 and 202 include provisions championed by Congressman Boozman, which seek to reauthorize the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program and create a similar program to focus on homeless women veterans and homeless veterans with children. Sections 301 through 303 incorporate provisions that I and Congressman Connolly of Virginia have worked on during this Congress. These sections seek to strengthen the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act by permitting the cancellation of motor vehicle leases, prohibiting early termination penalties, and allowing servicemembers the option to cancel certain phone and service contracts. Sections 401, 402, 404, 405, and 407 represent the great work of Mr. Donnelly of Indiana; Mrs. Halvorson of Illinois; Mr. Buyer, who is retiring; Mrs. Kirkpatrick of Arizona; and Mr. Perriello. These provisions increase many of the outdated insurance policy amounts and terms for our veterans, many of whom are severely disabled or who have suffered traumatic injury. Sections 501, 502, and 503 represent burial and cemetery matters put forth by Ms. Berkley of Nevada, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, and Mr. Salazar of Colorado. Ms. Berkley and Mr. Salazar are both former members of our Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Ms. Berkley has been a longtime champion of increasing funeral benefits and plot allowances to reflect modern costs. Mr. Salazar has worked tirelessly to ensure that the veterans in the southern Colorado region would be served by a national cemetery. Now, both of these goals are set for enactment. Mr. Frank's provision is known as the Corey Shea Act and would allow parents of our fallen servicemembers to be laid to rest with their son or daughter if there are no other eligible survivors. The bill contains a host of upgraded benefits, including: Section 604, championed by Mr. Higgins of New York, which would allow our low-income pensioners to receive payments of up to $5,000 from States or municipalities without offset; Section 803 would provide greater automobile and adaptive equipment to veterans with severe burn injuries; Section 804 would increase the automobile allowance for disabled veterans from $11,000 to almost $19,000; and Sections 805 and 806 would allow the Institute of Medicine to take a closer look at those veterans who suffer from illnesses associated with service in the Persian Gulf wars. This bill enjoys resounding support from the veterans service organizations, including Gold Star Wives, Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Veterans of Foreign Wars, AMVETS, Blinded Veterans Association, the American Legion, and the Military Order of the Purple Heart. I thank all the Members of the House who have contributed to and worked on this comprehensive bill. On behalf of our 24 million veterans and their families and survivors and as chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I thank all of you for your input. Of course, none of this would have come to fruition without the hard work of our committee staff. I thank those on both sides of the aisle and their counterparts in the Senate. I want to especially thank the staff from the House Legislative Counsel and the Congressional Budget Office. Finally, I want to thank our staff director, Malcom Shorter; our staff director for disability, Kimberly Ross; and her colleague, Juan Lara, for their tireless work to see this great effort through to finality.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I acknowledge this month as Filipino American History Month. With passage of House Resolution 780 last year, the House of Representatives officially recognizes October as Filipino American History Month and I am proud to note its observance again this year. Filipino Americans have a longstanding history in the United States. In 1988, the Filipino American National Historical Society established this celebration to mark October 18, 1587, as the date when Filipinos first immigrated to the continental United States in Morro Bay, California. Filipino Americans are the second largest Asian American ethnic group in the United States and continue to play a prominent role in our country in all facets of public life. One of the largest Filipino American communities in the U.S. resides in my district and I am committed to such a vibrant community. Filipino Americans have long served in the U.S. Armed Forces, and as chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee I continue to honor the military service of Filipino American World War II veterans. The United States is a nation of immigrants and we celebrate the accomplishments of Americans of all backgrounds. From the military to health care, education, arts, business, sports, government, the sciences and countless other areas of endeavor, Filipino Americans have made and continue to make invaluable contributions to the United States. I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing this important celebration of Filipino American History Month.

Mr. FILNER

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