Bob Filner

Mr. FILNER

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

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

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez).

Mr. FILNER. I would yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Al Green).

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Again, I want to thank Mr. Moran for his leadership over so many years on these issues and I just want to make a couple of points in closing. Next year when we come back, Mr. Moran, I hope that we could even refine what you have done here a little further. You have made a very important leap forward in dealing with our rural veterans, and you have used the mileage as the distinguishing characteristic. In part of my district, for example, in Imperial County, California, our veterans are within probably this 120 miles, and yet it is not just the distance, it is the isolation. There is a mountain between two counties in my district. It is not easy to cross over that. So the mileage is not just the only factor. We have got to get some measure of isolation, I would think. In addition, that county is a very poor county. Many of our veterans do not even have cars. They have to rely on what you so appropriately mentioned, and that is the volunteer efforts of some van drivers. But they are not always there, and they are not always on the day that is needed. So, without cars and being particularly isolated, I think we have to refine that definition of the highly rural veteran. Let me make just one more point. What you have done here, Mr. Moran, is very specifically designate criteria for which people are eligible to go outside the VA system. I think you have done that very appropriately, and we have been fighting for that for many years. The Presidential candidate on the Republican side, Mr. McCain, takes that too many steps further. He has advocated a credit card for every veteran to use in any facility. I think that is the wrong approach. I had the honor over the last month, Mr. Speaker, of going to the national conventions of the Disabled American Veterans, of the American Legion, of the Jewish War Veterans, of the Military Order of the Purple Heart; and I would say unanimously they objected to this so-called credit card for veterans. It supposedly is to increase access, but I think its effect would be to undermine the whole VA health care system. So while we can I think make sure that access is guaranteed for people in some very specific situations, like the bill that Mr. Moran has before us, I think we have to keep the integrity of the VA system by not allowing that credit card proposal of Mr. McCain to go forward. Having said that, Mr. Speaker, I would 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. 1527, as amended.

Mr. FILNER. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1527) to amend title 38, United States Code, to allow highly rural veterans enrolled in the health system of the Department of Veterans Affairs to receive covered health services through providers other than those of the Department, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. FILNER

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, 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 move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6832) to authorize major medical facility projects and major medical facility leases for the Department of Veterans Affairs for fiscal year 2009, to extend certain authorities of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a longtime leader in the labor movement, Joe Powell. Joe is the business manager/financial secretary of the Sheet Metal Workers' Local 206 representing approximately 1,300 members. As business manager, Joe serves as the chairman of the committee which negotiates wages, hours, and conditions of employment. As financial secretary, Joe assumes full responsibility and liability to the local union and the Sheet Metal Workers' International Association for all monies received and recorded. AdditionaIly, Joe serves in numerous capacities with other Local 206 affiliates such as the trustee for the Sheet Metal Workers' Trust Fund, chairman of the San Diego Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee, JATC, executive board member for the AFL-CIO Labor Council, co-chairman for the Local 206 401(a) plan and executive board member of the San Diego Building and Construction Trades Council. Joe showed his desire to participate in the advancement of his union's labor movement in 1994 when he was elected conductor for Sheet Metal Workers' Local 206. He served in this position until 1997 when he ran for and was elected as a trustee of the Sheet Metal Workers' Local 206. Joe served as a trustee until 2000 and in July 2000, he was elected as business representative of his local. From 2000 to 2004, Joe was responsible for the dispatching and drug testing of members and handling any grievances that may arise. From 2004 to the present, Joe Powell has served as business manager and financial secretary-treasurer of Local 206. Advancement in education has also been a priority to Joe as he has completed numerous courses and training that has greatly aided his career development. In addition to completing his 4-year apprenticeship training and becoming a certified instructor in CPR and first-aid training, he attended the National Labor CoIlege at the George Meaney Center where he received the bachelor's degree in labor studies. Joe has been a resident of Alpine, California, his entire life along with his wife and daughter. His wife and family have been very supportive of his career choices. I am very proud to join with the San Diego labor community in honoring Joe Powell as the 2008 Labor Leader of the Year.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. I see our Speaker on the floor. The only one I think who knows more about this issue than me is Speaker Pelosi, who has dealt with this in the 20 years that she has been in the Congress. I would ask the chairman to yield to her.

Mr. FILNER. I, too, want to thank the Speaker for her commitment over a long period of time to not only the Filipino veterans, but all veterans. Your comments tonight, Mr. Edwards, were very moving. They show complete understanding of the issue. I have confidence that, working together and with the support of the Speaker, we will be able to deal with this issue.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Chairman, I would ask unanimous consent to withdraw the amendment.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Chairman, as the chairman of the Authorizing Committee, the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, I want to thank Chairman Edwards, Chairman Obey, and his ranking members, for giving us this bill and a whole series of bills that preceded this since our party has taken over the majority of this body. Not only have we for the first time with fiscal years 2008 and 2009 exceeded the budget requests in the so-called independent budget, which is put together by veterans' groups for veterans, and for the first time we exceeded them 2 years in a row. Not only that, but with the fiscal year 2007, which we had to pick up, and several supplemental bills which we had to pass, we have added, in my calculation, over $17 million worth of new money for the health care of our veterans, which is an unprecedented 40 percent increase since Chairman Edwards and Chairman Obey have been chairmen of those committees. That is incredible. We have put resources in place to do the job for our veterans, but the Veterans Administration doesn't always do what we intend, or do it with the efficiency that we would like. Many of you have heard the horror stories of young people going to medical centers, asking for PTSD help, post-traumatic stress disorder, being told that they can't get an appointment for 5 or 6 weeks, going home and committing suicide. We have had the Secretary of the VA tell me, when I said, Aren't a thousand suicide attempts per month by our veterans a concern? He said, No. It's consistent with the literature. We have had a Secretary, Under Secretary of Defense say that 300,000 PTSD victims of our forces in Iraq and 320,000 victims of brain injury were not a problem because those were just symptoms of those injuries. They didn't really exhibit full-blown PTSD or full-blown traumatic brain injury and therefore they weren't concerned about it. So their concern, Mr. Chairman, has not always equaled our commitment here. My two amendments would try to have dealt with that in a way that I hope and I know the chairman will work with me in the future. Do you know that tens of thousands of our young people leave Iraq and Afghanistan, whether they are in the active duty or the Reserves or the National Guard, without any evaluation by medical personnel for either PTSD or brain injury? We have to do something about that, Mr. Chairman. I have proposed, and we will work with you as we authorize what I am calling a Hero's Homecoming camp, to say that every soldier with his or her company, with his or her family, will be evaluated by medical personnel for brain injury and PTSD, and before they are discharged from the service. I had asked for $10 million to cooperate with the DOD to do that. In addition, one of the chief weaknesses of the Veterans Administration is they don't like outside help. They don't ask for community support. All over this country, people want to help our troops. So I have asked at some point for $250 million for community grants to help our soldiers in their own communities who have mental health and other injuries for their treatment and rehabilitation. This is something I think we have to do, Mr. Chairman. I know you agree with me in principle. I know this is not the time and place to debate that or put that in the bill. Your commitment to our soldiers, sailors airmen, and marines is well known. Just putting that out there, that we have to do this community support, mandatory evaluations, that I know that we can work together. I will withdraw the amendment.

Mr. FILNER. I will yield to you first.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to consider my amendments 18 and 19 en bloc for the purpose of debate.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Chairman, I would ask unanimous consent to withdraw the amendments en bloc.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman for allowing me to take a few minutes on this amendment. As we are very much concerned with our Iraqi and Afghanistan young men and women who are returning with grave injuries, we cannot forget our older veterans and the justices that we have to make up for. We can go back to World War II where we have atomic veterans who have not yet received compensation for being in testing areas without being told. We have merchant mariners who never got benefits of our GI Bill, who are in their eighties and we need to say thank you to. We have a group of veterans who were drafted into the Army in 1941, all the Filipinos who were in the Filipino army and various units and various irregular areas defending that territory. That was a territory of ours. And we drafted all the soldiers into our Army with the promise that they would have benefits later. Those Filipino soldiers, over a quarter million of them, held up the Japanese advance for weeks and weeks and weeks beyond their scheduled advance. It allowed us back home to prepare better and for MacArthur to return. And though the Japanese overran the Philippines in the terrible battles of Corregidor and the famous death march of Bataan, the surviving soldiers were able to harass the Japanese through guerilla work, and they were not strong enough to resist MacArthur when he returned. In fact, it was the Filipinos, bravely alongside their American counterparts, who helped to win the war in the Pacific. After the war was over, after we had won in both the Atlantic and Pacific, the Philippines were granted their independence, and the Congress of 1946 said, You got your independence. You take care of your veterans. Yes, you saved America, but that is your problem, not ours anymore. Although President Truman signed the legislation which embodied that in law, he said, We must repair this important travesty. We promised those veterans full benefits. We have taken them away. We have to go and give them back. That was 62 years ago, Mr. Chairman, and that travesty still burns in the hearts of the Filipinos who are alive, and their family members. The amendment I have in front of the body says that, basically, We are sorry, but thank you. It provides a pension for those brave Filipino veterans. This is a moral necessity for America to close the chapter on World War II. This is a moral necessity for this Congress to make up for a mistake that was made 62 years ago. I know many Members of this body agree with remedying this moral disaster, and yet we have had problems of how we pay for that and how we somehow use the budget to make sure that we are helping these deserving veterans, while not taking away from our brave young men and women from either World War II, Vietnam, Korea, the Persian Gulf war 1 or the present conflicts. So, Mr. Chairman, I am trying to figure out a way to do that. I know the vast majority of this body agrees with me, and I look forward to working with you to find a way to do that. I know there are other speakers on this amendment. I would hope that we have a colloquy with the chairman on his time in a few minutes. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. I would ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 5892, as amended.

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

Mr. FILNER. I have no further speakers. Let me just say in conclusion, Mr. Speaker, that I think it's safe to say that for every single Member of this House, when they have town meetings with veterans, the single biggest complaint is the disability claims system. They've been waiting months, years even--decades--for decisions. This is an insult to their service. We have a long way to go in changing that. This bill is a big step toward erasing that incredible backlog. This situation is the biggest single factor that leads veterans to think that ``VA'' means veterans' adversary instead of veterans' advocate. So we have to change it. It is going to be changed as rapidly as we can, and I encourage all Members to support this bill. General Leave

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I would yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hare).