Bob Filner

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. 1594.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, this bill is to name the VA Outpatient Clinic in Hermitage, Pennsylvania, after U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant Michael A. Marzano. It was brought to us by Congressman English and Congressman Altmire from Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1594, a bill to name the VA Outpatient Clinic in Hermitage, Pennsylvania, after U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant Michael A. Marzano. A native of Greenville, Pennsylvania, Sgt. Marzano courageously overcame a wrestling injury to his knee during his senior year of high school to realize his long held aspirations of becoming a United States Marine, four years after initially being denied entry for this reason. What tenacity! In fact when called up in 1999, having won several amateur titles, he was training as a boxer in preparation for competing in the 2000 Olympics. But he sacrificed it all for his country to serve as Marine. I think we can all agree that it takes a special kind of courage to volunteer one's self to serve in harm's way for the good of our Nation. Well, Sgt. Marzano volunteered twice to serve as a member of our military armed forces. For his last tour, Sgt. Marzano enlisted with a Marine Reserve unit with the specific intention of serving in Iraq. Duing his tour of duty in Iraq, Sgt. Marzano served in Iraq with Ohio's 3rd Battalion, 25th Regiment of the 4th Marine Division, and was a leader among his fellow Marines. According to one of the many veterans' organizations supporting the dedication of this VA clinic in his honor, ``he performed his duty with honor and heroism and was a shining example to his men, to the U.S. Marine Corps and to everyone who served and continues to serve our great country.'' On May 8th of 2005, Sgt. Marzano was part of a Quick Reaction Force serving in the city of Haditha in Al-Anbar province, Iraq. Sgt. Marzano and the members of his team were tasked with protecting the rest of the force as they battled several insurgents who had overrun a local hospital. The local hospital contained many workers and patients who were held captive as insurgents used them as human shields. Sgt. Marzano and his small group heroically kept the insurgents at bay providing the platoon the time they needed to engage the enemy and turn them back. Tragically, a suicide bomber driving in a vehicle borne with an improvised explosive device detonated in the area where Sgt. Marzano's quick reaction force was operating, killing Michael and three of his fellow service members. Because of the valiant actions and sacrifice of Sgt. Marzano, Lance Corporal Lance Graham, Sergeant Aaron Cepeda, and Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeffrey Wiener, the Marines were able to secure the area under siege and free the Iraqis trapped inside the hospital which had been set on fire by the explosion of the IED. No doubt, Sgt. Marzano is a true hero. His good nature, leadership- by-example and love- of-country demeanor, as well as many other fine attributes, are missed by many who knew him both inside and outside of the Marine Corps he so dearly loved. Sgt. Marzano's family has carried on his spirit of service by becoming actively involved in programs to benefit the men and women of our Nation's Armed Services, including the Packages From Home organization which sends care and comfort packages to American troops deployed around the globe. His mother, Margy Marzano, is known as one of its best volunteers. There is also a scholarship fund established in the name of Sgt. Marzano to assist high school athletes in the Mercer County area go to college. Dedication of this VA outpatient clinic as the `Michael A. Marzano Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic' would be a fitting tribute to the brave service of Sgt. Marzano. In making the ultimate sacrifice for our country, Sgt. Marzano's remarkable heroism was displayed on behalf of our country, and we must never forget his legacy. I thank my colleagues, Congressman English and Congressman Altmire for introducing this important legislation. I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Altmire).

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1594) to designate the Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic in Hermitage, Pennsylvania, as the Michael A. Marzano Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic.

Mr. FILNER

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

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise to offer my support for H.R. 5736, a bill to name the veterans clinic in Gadsden, Alabama, after Col. Ola Lee Mize. It is a great honor for me to stand here before you to talk about Col. Ola Lee Mize. He received the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during the Korean War, and he deserves our further recognition. The Medal of Honor is awarded in the name of Congress to a person who distinguished himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States. As a member of Company K, then Sergeant Mize courageously defended ``Outpost Harry'' near Surang-ni, Korea, on June 11 and June 12 in 1953. His deed was one of personal bravery. He clearly distinguished himself by exhibiting tremendous courage. He served our Nation by going beyond the call of duty while facing the enemy and was willing to risk his own life to protect the lives of others. Colonel Mize and his company faithfully defended a strategically valuable position when the enemy launched a heavy attack. Upon learning that a comrade on a friendly listening post had been wounded, he moved through the intense barrage accompanied by a medical aid man and rescued the wounded soldier. On returning to his main position, he established an effective defense system and inflicted heavy casualties against attacks from determined enemy assault forces which had penetrated into trenches within the outpost area. During his fearless actions, he was blown down by artillery and grenade blasts three times, but each time he dauntlessly returned to his position, tenaciously fighting and successfully repelling hostile attacks. When the enemy onslaughts ceased, he took his few men and moved from bunker to bunker, firing through apertures and throwing grenades at the foe, neutralizing their positions. When an enemy soldier stepped out behind a comrade, prepared to fire, Col. Mize killed him, saving the life of his fellow soldier. After rejoining the platoon, moving from man to man, distributing ammunition and shouting words of encouragement, he observed a friendly machine gun position overrun. He immediately fought his way to the position, killing ten enemies and dispersing the remainder. Fighting back to the command post and finding several friendly wounded there, he took a position to protect them. Later, securing a radio, he directed friendly artillery fire upon the attacking enemy's routes of approach. At dawn he helped regroup for a counterattack which successfully drove the enemy from that outpost. Col. Mize's valorous conduct and unflinching courage reflect lasting glory upon himself and upon the noble traditions of the military service. Besides having been awarded the Medal of Honor, Col. Mize has been awarded the Bronze Star, Good Conduct with Two Loops, National Defense Service, Korean Service with two Bronze Stars, and the United Nations Service. Today, by passing H.R. 5736, which would designate the outpatient clinic in Gadsden, Alabama as the Colonel Ola Lee Mize Veterans Clinic, we honor his bravery and courage and of course that of all soldiers. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Alabama, Robert Aderholt, for introducing this bill. And I urge the support of my colleagues. I would reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5736) to designate the Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic in Gadsden, Alabama, as the Colonel Ola Lee Mize Veterans Clinic.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. I just want to thank you not only for speaking out for rural veterans who, as you said, are not in your district, but in your State and in our Nation. But your bill that expanded opportunities for affordable housing for our veterans was also a great step forward, and we greatly admire your work here, although you've only been here a short time. Thank you so much. I yield back.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I would yield such time as he may consume to our great new Member, who worked on these issues for many years, not only as a Congressman, but as a staff member for Mr. Lane Evans, our former ranking member, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hare).

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield such time as he may consume to our hardworking Chair of our Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Hall).

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Salazar).

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I am glad my colleagues and I were able to work together to craft this important piece of legislation regarding our rural veterans. I want to thank the Subcommittee on Health chairman, Mr. Michaud of Maine, and Ranking Member Mr. Miller of Florida for the bipartisan leadership they demonstrated in working on this important bill. And, of course, the leadership on this bill has been for many years Mr. Moran of Kansas. As we all know, many rural veterans face significant challenges accessing veterans' health care services due to their geographical distance from VA facilities and limited transportation services. Some of these veterans must face commutes of several hours just to utilize some simple health care services. The Department of Veterans Affairs has acted to better provide health care service to rural veterans, and I appreciate the action they have taken in the past. However, more can and should be done to ensure that our rural veterans have adequate access to care for the services to which they are entitled. This bill, H.R. 1527, would supplement existing VA efforts by requiring the VA to conduct a 3-year demonstration project to allow rural veterans in four Veterans Integrated Service Networks to elect to receive covered services through non-VA providers. It would allow some rural veterans to receive health care locally, eliminating the frustration and hassle of a lengthy commute to the nearest VA medical center. So I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1527. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. FILNER. I urge my colleagues to unanimously support Mr. Moran's bill, H.R. 1527, as amended, as a great step forward for our country's heroes.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would also thank you for forging this legislation in a bipartisan way which you will hopefully have unanimous support with this Congress. This program we're trying to roll back I think is one of the most dangerous programs this administration has ever tried to put into effect. I represent the entire California-Mexico border. It is my district. I know what happens with these trucks at the border. We haven't dealt with issues of licensing of drivers, we haven't dealt with insurance or safety of the trucks, not even mentioning the jobs that are lost to American truckers. Let me just tell you two things very quickly about what goes on at the border. The Federal Motor Carrier Transportation Administration issues what it calls a tamperproof sticker, a green sticker to say that this truck is safe. I have been in Tijuana and I have seen these windshields which have the tamperproof sticker put on different trucks. So they haven't tampered with the sticker, but they put it on a different truck. I have seen papers that supposedly guarantee insurance of a truck. A company that owns 10 trucks will buy an insurance policy for one truck and pass that paper around to all of the other ones. They're very difficult to distinguish. They pass the muster at the border and they're free, under this program that we're trying to stop, to move around in our Nation without really having any choice. We could go on for hours on this. We have looked at all of these different aspects that the administration just refuses to look at. So, Mr. DeFazio, thank you for bringing this to us. We have got to stop this program. We've got to stop it now and save both jobs and lives of American truckers.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the sponsor of the House version of the bill, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez).

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this Veterans Compensation Cost-of- Living Adjustment Act of 2008, and I want to especially thank Congressman Ciro Rodriguez of Texas for his sponsorship of the House bill, which was H.R. 5826. I am pleased that we are here today working with the Senate to get the bill passed. After passage here today, the bill goes directly to the White House for the President's signature, and this will ensure that our veterans will not be delayed in getting their cost-of-living adjustment. Since 1976, Congress has passed a measure to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to increase the rates of basic compensation for disabled veterans and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation, referred to as DIC, to their survivors and dependents, along with other benefits, in order to keep pace with the rising cost of living. This disability COLA would become effective on December 1 of this year and will be equal to that provided on an annual basis to Social Security recipients. It will benefit over 3 million disabled veterans from the World War I era through the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan that VA estimates will be receiving this compensation in FY 09. It will also help over 300,000 of their survivors during the same period. Many of the 3.5 million recipients of these benefits depend upon these tax-free payments not only to provide for their own basic needs, but those of their spouses and their children and often parents as well. Without an annual COLA, these veterans and their families would see the value of their hard-earned benefits slowly erode. We would be derelict in our duty as a Congress if we failed to guarantee that those who sacrificed so much for this country received benefits and services that keep pace with their necessities. The veterans compensation COLA is included in the CBO baseline, which means in English that we have already paid for this COLA. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 2617) to increase, effective as of December 1, 2008, the rates of compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for the survivors of certain disabled veterans.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I would add to what the gentleman from Texas said. You know better than anybody the problems with the facilities in San Juan, Puerto Rico. This does a seismic correction for one of the major buildings on the order of $225 million, and establishes an outpatient clinic in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. So we are taking some steps, we have a long way to go, for our citizens there in Puerto Rico.

Mr. FILNER. I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislation days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 6832.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to one of the most passionate advocates for veterans in our country, Ms. Brown of Florida.

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

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to Mr. Rodriguez of Texas.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a long-time leader in the labor movement, Ed Smith. I am very proud and happy to join with the San Diego Labor Community in honoring Ed as the ``2008 Johns Retiree of the Year!'' Ed began working in small ``Mom and Pop'' grocery stores at the age of 13. By the age of 18, he was a full time journeyman grocery store clerk and a member of Local 1222, Retail Clerks, which is now known as U.F.C.W. 135. In December of 1966, he went to work for Coca-Cola Bottling Company of San Diego as a route sales driver and joined Teamster Local Union 683. While at Coke, he held various leadership positions. In May of 1977, he went to work for I.T.T. Continental Baking Company-Wonder Bread as a route sales driver. While at Wonder Bread, he assumed the role of shop steward and quickly became interested in worker's rights. In October 1991, he was appointed trustee to the Executive Board of Teamsters Local 683. In January of 1994, he was hired as a business agent and served in that capacity for 5\1/2\ years. Upon Rich Truffa's retirement in November of 1999, Ed was appointed secretary-treasury, a position he held until his retirement on January 1, 2005. Ed currently resides in San Diego with his wife, Linda. They have been married for 43 years, and have one daughter and two grandchildren, a 12-year old grandson, and an 8-year granddaughter. In his retirement, our Retiree of the Year, Ed Smith, continues to support and champion worker's rights and remains active in the labor community!