Bob Filner

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Chairman, on rollcall 182, I was unable to vote because of pressing business with my constituents in my home district. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.'' Personal Explanation

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker and colleagues, last month news agencies around the world reported that more than 160 square miles of the Wilkins Shelf had broken away from the Antarctic coast. Americans are concerned that climate change may be happening faster than previously thought. We are growing increasingly concerned as we see before us the direct connection between climate change and our health. It is now indisputable that there is a direct connection between climate change and health. The scientific community has decisively stated that human beings are responsible for climate change and that the impacts of climate change will worsen as emissions continue to rise. We must support and promote policies that strengthen public health leadership and work force capacity to ensure the infrastructure is in place and ready to handle our future needs. The time has come to accept responsibility for how our lifestyles have contributed to climate change and vow to be part of the solution. We must work to learn more about how what happens in our home, community and workplace has global impact. There are many little things we all can do to make a big difference. We can: Prepare for climate change-related emergencies and be informed about the health impacts of climate change and regional climate change issues facing our community. Leave the car at home and use public transportation, carpool, walk, bike, or telecommute. Eat less meat and buy local produce from our community farmers market. Use recycled paper, print less, use energy saving computer settings and green our office. Seal and insulate our homes, reduce, reuse, recycle and use water efficiently. We should know that we are all in this together. For over a decade, the first full week in April has been National Public Health Week. 50,000 members of the American Public Health Association and its affiliates, across the Nation are speaking out this week on climate change and health. That's because when it comes to climate change, our health is in the balance.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker and colleagues, 20 years ago, on March 16, 1988, Saddam Hussein launched the largest chemical weapons attack ever used against civilians in the Kurdish town of Halabja. The deadly cocktail killed an estimated 5,000 residents. Saddam's regime held the gruesome distinction of being the first in history to attack its own population with poison gas. The brutal attack on Halabja was part of a larger campaign, Anfal, which means ``the Spoils,'' to annihilate the Kurds of Iraq. It has been estimated that between 50,000 and 200,000 Kurds were killed during Anfal. Many died in mass executions; thousands more were simply ``disappeared'' by the regime. Halabja symbolizes the suffering of the Kurdish people. The plight of Halabja's survivors continues today because of a lack of remediation. Little or no decontamination has been done and the health consequences of exposure to chemicals including mustard gas, sarin, tabun and VX continue to bring death and destruction to Halabja and surrounding villages. Children are born with deformities and cancers, and other diseases caused by genetic mutations are occurring at much higher rates than in other areas. The world has historically failed to recognize what happened at Halabja. As we reflect on the tragedy of Halabja, it is important to look to the future, and we must honor Halabja's victims and stand in solidarity with those who survive.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Madam Chairman, we have an administration that says support the troops, support the troops, support the troops. Then they give us the budget that cuts support for veterans over the next 5 years, year by year by year, and with a modest increase for health care that barely covers inflation. It cut every single account in the veterans budget, including construction, including research, all of the way through. So we restore, if I'm correct, Mr. Edwards, we restore all of those cuts. And for the seventh year in a row, the President said, Let's increase enrollment fees. Let's double the pharmaceutical copays, and we, for the seventh year in a row are saying ``no.'' But not only did they increase the fees, they made a calculation that several hundred thousand veterans would not be able to pay those fees and be thrown out of the health care system. That, in a time of war where we got our troops fighting, they're going to throw veterans out of the VA health care system. That is disgraceful, and we said ``no'' to that. And I thank the gentleman for making sure that we respected these warriors. It's part of the cost of war to treat the veterans correctly. Mr. Edwards and Mr. Spratt, you provided for those veterans. The whole country thanks you.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 33, I was away from the Capitol attending a function in my capacity as Chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.'' Stated against:

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 32, I was away from the Capitol attending a function in my capacity as Chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee. Had I been present, I would have voted `'yea.''

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 34, I was away from the Capitol attending a function in my capacity as Chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 31, I was away from the Capitol attending a function in my capacity as Chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 30, I was away from the Capitol attending a function in my capacity as Chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 29, I was away from the Capitol attending a function in my capacity as Chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 26, I was away due to a family emergency. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 25, I was away due to a family emergency. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 27, I was away due to a family emergency. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay.''

Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 28, I was away due to a family emergency. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 23, I was away due to a family emergency. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 24, I was away due to a family emergency. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, again, I thank Mr. Buyer for his comments. Putting this bill on the floor as quickly as we did shows what can happen when we work together. I'm looking forward to that mutual discussion of priorities. We are pledged to deal with this aging infrastructure of the VA. It has got to be remedied as quickly as possible, and we're both committed to working to do that. So I urge my colleagues to support S. 1396.

Mr. FILNER. Madam 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 S. 1396.

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

Mr. FILNER. I'm prepared to yield back when the gentleman from Indiana yields back.

Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 1396) to authorize a major medical facility project to modernize inpatient wards at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume. I want to thank all the Congress colleagues from Georgia, especially my Atlanta colleagues Mr. Johnson and Mr. Lewis, and especially the Senator from Georgia, Senator Isakson, for making sure this is on the floor today. The poor state of a lot of the infrastructure of the Veterans Affairs is well-known. Through what we call the CARES process, the Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services, the department found that the existing inpatient wards at the Atlanta VA Medical Center are far below community standards. This renovation project will go a long way to address the American with Disabilities Act accessibility requirements, the needs of women veterans, particularly as they relate to privacy issues, and the improvements in efficient functional design. These deficiency corrections are long overdue, and we think they will be met here. These infrastructure improvements to utility systems will include the plumbing, electrical, fire and safety concerns on the inpatient floors. With the ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, it is even more important that the VA is able to provide the best health care available in the most updated and modern facilities. In fiscal year 2005, this project received $20.5 million, and S. 1396 provides the reauthorization of this project to move forward. I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I want to thank the ranking member, Mr. Buyer, for his cooperation. I know that he has great respect for the CARES process and would like to consider all of the facilities in one construction bill. We are pledged to do that early next year, but I think this is an obvious need at this moment, and I look forward to working with the ranking member to make sure we meet the needs of VA infrastructure across the whole country, and we intend to work together and do that early next year. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce legislation to take reasonable steps to prevent avoidable disasters related to seismic activity in connection with the lease and development of non-excess property of military departments, H.R. 4719. In San Diego. California, the Department of the Navy is planning a mixed-use development along the downtown waterfront that will incorporate not only a new Navy headquarters, but also business, commercial, and housing elements. It has come to my attention that the land in question is within the Uniform Building Code, UBC, Seismic Zone 4. My bill requires the lease for this development to be revoked unless the Secretary of the Navy determines that seismic activity would not have any significant impact on any portion of the proposed development. My bill would also extend this requirement to other leases on which no substantial construction has already begun. In my view, it is only reasonable to require a scientific review of this issue before construction begins. Please support H.R. 4719.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker and colleagues, I rise today to speak about a bill that I have just introduced that recognizes and honors the service and sacrifice of many members of the United States Armed Forces who fought in Vietnam, H.R. 4720, the ``In Memory Medal for Forgotten Veterans Act''. Those so recognized are veterans who have died as a result of their service in the Vietnam War but who do not meet the criteria for inclusion on The Wall of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund has a program called ``In Memory'' which has raised money for a plaque that has been placed near The Wall. The plaque honors ``those who served in the Vietnam War and later died as a result of their service''. No names are on the plaque, but all names are kept in the ``In Memory Book'' at a kiosk near The Wall, and families can order a copy. My bill adds to this recognition by presenting the families of these veterans with a medal, to be known as the ``Jesus (Chuchi) Salgado Medal'' to be issued by the Secretary of Defense. Chuchi Salgado was an outstanding individual who lived in my Congressional district, whose exposure to Agent Orange ultimately led to his death. His relatives continue to live in my district. Because of the boundaries that have been set for the names to be placed on The Wall, Chuchi and many, many other Vietnam veterans are not honored in this manner. Now, with new veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan, we are all taking a second look and a closer look at how veterans from past wars have been treated. While we must care for the newer veterans, we must also take this opportunity to do right by veterans of Vietnam, along with other past wars and conflicts. I invite my colleagues to join with me in honoring these veterans. It is critical that we remember those who have fought so gallantly and sacrificed their lives for our freedom! Please join me in supporting H.R. 4720.