Bob Filner

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time, and I would like to point out that as this body is preparing to adjourn for Veterans Day, despite some of the comments we have heard, this budget is not a good budget for our veterans and we are not honoring them as we come up to Veterans Day. I understand that the chairman of the committee and the ranking member have had a certain budget to deal with, and they have done the best they can. But this Congress just passed a bill which gave $25 billion in retroactive tax increases to the biggest corporations in this country. IBM will get a check for $2 billion, GE and Ford will get checks for between $1 billion and a $1.5 billion. And what did we do for veterans in this budget? Barely keeping up with inflation. Barely keeping up with inflation. At a time when the backlog of cases to be adjudicated accumulates at 10,000 a week, this budget will do nothing to clear up that backlog. This budget will not help us cure or find a treatment or a cause for Persian Gulf War illness. It does not take any of the 250,000 homeless off the streets. Mr. Speaker, it does not shorten the waiting time of months and months that our veterans have to wait for doctor's appointments. This does not honor our veterans, at a time not only when we are approaching Veterans' Day but when our men and women are at war and we will have more veterans and more service-connected problems. We are not sending a signal in the men and women engaged in the war against terrorism when we treat our veterans in this way. All of the veterans in this country came together to produce The Independent Budget, a budget by veterans for veterans. It outlined the needs that our veterans have. But what does this bill have, $2 billion less than what this calls for. The final conference report that we are voting on provides less money than either House provided in their resolution. How can a conference report come back with less than each House recommended? Mr. Speaker, those who are adept at these conference reports will have to explain that to me. We come back with $2 billion less than our veterans need, less than what each House called for, and yet we are about to go out on November 11 and November 12 and say to our veterans, we support them. We love them. Mr. Speaker, this conference report does not do the job that our veterans deserve and our new veterans are going to need. This budget again is a dishonor to our veterans as we approach Veterans' Day on November 11.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. When I fly to Washington from Lindberg Field in San Diego and I check in my bags, I see hardworking people trying to do their best for the American public. But they are paid the minimum wage. They get 2 days of training, and there is almost a 200 percent turnover per year at our airport in San Diego. Mr. Speaker, it is time to professionalize, it is time to stabilize, it is time to federalize that first line of defense for the traveling public. We would not contract out the defense of our border to the private sector. We are not going to contract out our national security. Let us not contract out the airline public safety. Mr. Speaker, it is time stabilize, it is time to professionalize, it is time to federalize our airline security workforce. Let us pass the Oberstar-Ganske substitute.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to make sure all of my colleagues understand the economic crisis that is occurring at the U.S.-Mexico border from San Diego, California, which I represent, all the way east of Brownsville, Texas. These border communities are in an economic crisis and need immediate help. After September 11 this country took all sorts of security measures designed to prevent terrorist acts again. All those measures were extremely necessary, important and supported by this body and by the American people. Yet some of those measures that we took had economic consequences which we did not foresee and which have to be taken care of in the months following September 11. For example, we grounded all general aviation. Many businesses went out of business in that sector of the economy. Now they are trying to get back on their feet. The border communities had been neglected in looking at the aftermath of September 11. We heightened security at the southern border, appropriately so. We started what is called a level one alert, to make sure no further terrorists could get into our country. That level one alert required much more search of cars, much more questioning of individuals, checking of IDs, all of which the American people support; but we did not add increased resources at the southern border to handle this increased level of security. So the waits at the border for legal crossers, those who are doing business, those who are going to school, those that live in this country and are U.S. citizens, perhaps, but live for whatever reason in Mexico, people who shop, people who work legally, the wait at the borders have been at least several hours, up to 4, sometimes up to 7 or 8 hours. The border wait can be 2 hours one day, 8 hours next day, an hour the next day. It is the uncertainty that prevents people who legally want to cross our southern borders, work here, shop here, they are prevented from doing so. In fact, in the biggest border crossing in the world, which is in my congressional district in San Ysidro, California, businesses have dropped anywhere from 50 to 90 percent. Many have gone out of business. Others are facing bankruptcy. If you go across the border to Calexico, California, or Nogales, Arizona, or El Paso, Texas, or Laredo or Brownsville, the situation is the same. The dropping of business is anywhere from 50 to 90 percent. These are small businesses. They cannot sustain this level of activity before they go out of business. We can cure this, Mr. Speaker. We can cure this with more resources. I have asked the Governor of California, my colleagues have asked their Governors, we asked the President of the United States to declare an economic state of emergency along the border so we can get in low- interest loans and economic help for these small businesses; but more important, we need to keep the lanes of traffic flowing and open. The district director in San Diego told me that if she had 20 more positions per shift, or a hundred more new positions, she could keep all 24 lanes of San Ysidro open 24 hours a day. What would that require? It would require $6 million, Mr. Speaker, $6 million. If that is multiplied out across the border, we mean maybe 20 to $25 million to make sure we kept the level one security and we keep that flow of legal traffic moving swiftly across the border. We need to put that 20 to $25 million in any supplemental bill that comes through this House, Mr. Speaker. We need to make sure that we can assure Americans that our borders are safe, that we do not put out of business all of the communities that live on that crossborder's legal trade. So, Mr. Speaker, I ask the Governors of the border States, and I ask the President of the United States to declare an economic state of emergency, and I ask this House to appropriate $20 million to $25 million for full staffing of the southern border checkpoints so that we can have both security and commerce.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans), for his long years of activity on behalf of the homeless veterans in this Nation, and the gentleman from New Jersey (Chairman Smith), who brings his passion to this activity; and when the gentleman from New Jersey (Chairman Smith) brings passion to any area, he succeeds. I thank the gentleman for bringing his intensity to this bill and to this issue. Mr. Speaker, it is disgraceful that in this Nation, 250,000 to 350,000 veterans are on the street every night; people who have served this country, men and women who have risked their lives here and abroad to give our Nation freedom, and yet, for a variety of reasons, they are homeless tonight. It is a disgrace that this Nation allows this to occur, and it is especially a disgrace that as we are moving more men and women into harm's way, as we fight this war of the 21st century, we have their forbears on the street and not able to participate fully in American life. We know we can change this situation. Many of my colleagues have been to what is referred to as stand-downs around the Nation. The first one happened in my hometown of San Diego in 1987 and I have been at every one of them since. The first 10 or so stand-downs that I went to were immensely moving. What we saw is that people who had been fearful and without any kind of roots in the community were able to come together, be together for 3 days, and the whole community was supporting them and brought in resources that allowed them to be human beings again, and it gave them the resources, in fact, to take and become part of society once more. There was legal advice. There was medical advice. There was job counseling. There were dentists. There were clothes. There was food. There was mental health counseling, drug abuse counseling. But, most of all, there was fellowship and comradeship, and the sense that these, our Nation's veterans, can be cared for once the community decided to do so. Well, I went to those stand-downs for a decade, moved by the results and moved by the stories that I heard, but then I said, we have learned from these stand-downs that we can solve the problem. For 3 days we have given these men and women something to hope for and something to share and a way out of their predicament, but what happens to the other 362 days? Why does this country not care for those veterans, our veterans, the other 362 days? I said, I am tired of going to stand- downs. What we have to do as a Nation is bring all of those programs together and deal with these heroes of our society. That is what the chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs is attempting to do with this bill, and that is what the ranking member, the gentleman from Illinois, (Mr. Evans), with his contributions and his original bill, have attempted to do. They have attempted to bring the different programs together that we know work around medical care, around housing, around job development, around substance abuse and alcohol counseling but, most of all, around the concept that this Nation is not going to let veterans languish on the streets of our country. We have had enough of this. As we are sending new folks into battle, and as we are creating new veterans, we cannot forget the quarter of a million, the 350,000 that are on the streets tonight. So this bill is a step, a major step, a big step in the direction of bringing those programs together and telling the Nation that we are going to get rid of this problem. I hope that this bill does not become just a bill that authorizes some programs, that this is a bill that is funded, fully funded to take care of people who have taken care of us. We can no longer tolerate this in America. I ask my colleagues not only to pass this bill, but to fight in the appropriations process for money and to take any step that must be taken after this to address the issues that we know have to be addressed. Mr. Speaker, this is not rocket science. We know what to do. We know how to bring the resources together. The community does that in San Diego and virtually in every major city and other small towns across this country during the stand-downs. Let us make this bill a stand-down for 365 days a year where veterans of our Nation, the heroes of our Nation, can get the help they need and return to our society as productive members. Once again, Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) and I thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans). We are going to take care of our heroes.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of the towns and cities along the southern border with Mexico in our Nation. These areas are dying economically and need our assistance now. In the wake of the events of September 11, this country has embarked upon unprecedented procedures to increase our domestic security, and those procedures are proper. We must have a new sense of preparedness; we must have a new sense of being on guard in this dangerous time of the 21st century. But as we increase our security efforts, we have not taken the steps to address the effects on our economy and on our quality of lives as we take those steps. Yes, we must be prepared and, yes, we have to take these security measures and, yes, we are going to have inconveniences that we have never experienced before, but let us think these out thoroughly and take the steps to increase our resources, if necessary, to make up for the problems caused by the increased security. We have grounded, for example, much of general aviation around this country, causing incredible hardships on one sector of our economy. We can think that through and change that situation. We bailed out the airlines, but all of the businesses and the economy related to airline flight, whether travel agencies or rental cars or hotels, and all the people associated with staffing those areas have been laid off, those businesses are in trouble, and yet, this Congress has taken no steps to help them. In an area where I know best because I represent the border district in San Diego, California, which borders with Mexico, towns and cities all along the Mexican border have taken a hit such as no other American community has taken because of the security measures. Yes, we have to protect our northern and southern borders from any infiltration by terrorists and, yes, we have to inspect all of the pedestrians and all the vehicles and all of the trucks that cross those borders, and we have to do it more thoroughly than we ever did before. But let us increase the resources to do it and not try to do it with fewer resources. For example, at the biggest border crossing in the world between 2 nations in my district of San Ysidro, California, where between 50,000 and 100,000 people cross per day, the wait at the border because of the new security checks has gone from a half-hour to 4 hours, to 5 hours, to 7 hours, 8 hours or more. In fact, nobody knows how long the wait will be as they start off for jobs legally, for education legally, for cross-border cultural activities legally. Nobody knows how long it is going to take to cross that border, whether we are talking about San Ysidro and Otay Mesa and Tecate and Calexico, California; and Nogales, Naco and Douglas, Arizona; and Brownsville, Harlingen, San Benito, McAllen, Pharr, Edinburg, Roma, Zapata, Rio Grande City, and El Paso, Texas. These areas depend economically on cross border traffic, cross border legal traffic. Legal traffic. People who have the proper documents to work and shop in our Nation. So businesses all along the border are suffering losses from 50 to 80 to 90 percent of their income. They are additional victims of September 11 and nobody seems to be worrying about them. Yes, increase the border security. Assure all Americans that no terrorists are crossing. But let us increase the resources. I have been told by the Director of the INS in San Diego that if she had 20 more inspectors per shift, that is 100 more positions in San Diego, which would cost roughly $5 million or $6 million, she can reduce the border wait from 6 hours to 20 minutes and assure us of the level 1 security that this country demands and our citizens want. We can do the security and we can keep a reasonable flow across that border if we give some resources to the INS and to the Customs Service. I have asked the Governor of California, and my colleagues have asked the Governors of their border States, to declare a state of emergency to bring attention to this economic disaster area. We have asked the President of the United States to declare a national state of emergency. Let us get help now to the border communities. We can have security and economic activity at the same time.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker and colleagues, I rise today to honor not only a great baseball player but also a great citizen of San Diego. Tony Gwynn epitomizes excellence on and off the field of play. On the field he has awards and accolades most players can only dream about: the highest batting average among active players, over 3,000 hits, 8 batting titles, and 5 gold gloves. Off the field, he has given back to his beloved community, San Diego. Tony and his wife, Alicia, established the Tony and Alicia Gwynn Foundation in 1994 to fund deserving local charitable organizations. He is also a leading participant in the Padres Scholars program that provides $125,000 per year in college scholarships for San Diego middle school students. He is active in various other philanthropic organizations, including the Police Athletic League, Casa de Amparo, the New Haven Home and the Epilepsy Society of San Diego. For his work, Tony was named the 1999 Roberto Clemente Man of the Year, given annually to the Major League Baseball player who combines extraordinary skills on the baseball field while being devoted to his community. Tony Gwynn will continue giving back to the only community he has ever played baseball for by returning to his alma mater, San Diego State University, to become its baseball coach following the 2002 college season. There he will teach young players the intricacies of the game he has helped shape. It's been a joy to watch Tony Gwynn play the game--and I join his friends and family and wish him luck with the beginning of his coaching career. Everybody knows he will be a success because he does not know the meaning of the word failure.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, we do have a national emergency. We do have an industry that we need to be working in America. But those emergencies should not be an excuse to stampede the democratic process, to rush through a bill which has not been considered duly, prohibits amendments, prohibits the process from taking place. I object to a process when we do have the time. The markets will not open until Monday morning. We have time to look at this. As John Sweeney says, who is the president of the AFL-CIO, ``If Members of Congress fail to include relief to workers in the airline bailout bill, it will be an unconscionable, divisive and economically irresponsible omission.'' He writes, ``Over the past ten days, our Nation has been reminded again and again by the grim and inspiring images of rescue and relief workers that it is working people who are the first to step up to respond to their neighbors, their community and their country. And it is workers and their families who are taking a direct and immediate hit from the terrorist attacks and the resulting airline crisis. A hit that will have a rippling, destabilizing effect on the economy unless it is addressed. ``Over the past week, the AFL-CIO, airline unions and congressional leaders have invested a huge amount of work into developing a worker relief package that includes unemployment, job training and health benefit protections to workers laid off as a result of the financial crisis in the airline industry. Extensive work has also gone into developing additional assistance to workers throughout the economy and that package must be acted upon soon. ``But now, Members of Congress appear poised to stiff airline industry workers in the bailout bill, even as they award protections to airline executives for their golden parachutes. ``Any Member of either party who casts a vote to leave workers out of the relief bill will be voting to betray American workers in the bipartisan spirit of our last ten days.'' That is a letter that John Sweeney wrote to the Members of Congress. Mr. Speaker, I would add that we have time to right this wrong. Let us do it please. The letter referred to is as follows: American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations statement by afl-cio president john j. sweeney regarding congressional decision on worker relief package--airline bailout bill september 21, 2001 If members of Congress fail to include relief to workers in the airline bailout bill, it will be an unconscionable, divisive and economically irresponsible omission. Over the past 10 days, our nation has been reminded again and again by the grim and inspiring images of rescue and relief workers that it is working people who are the first to step up to respond to their neighbors, their community and their country. And it is workers and their families who are taking a direct and immediate hit from the terrorist attacks and the resulting airline crisis--a hit that will also have a rippling, destabilizing effect on the economy unless it is addressed. Over the past week, the AFL-CIO, airline unions and congressional leaders have invested a huge amount of work into developing a worker relief package that includes unemployment, job training and health benefits protections to workers laid off as a result of the financial crisis in the airline industry. Extensive work has also gone into developing additional assistance to workers throughout the economy and that package must be acted up soon. But now, members of Congress appear poised to stiff airline industry workers in the bailout bill--even as they award protections to airline executives for their golden parachutes. Any member of either party who casts a vote to leave workers out of the relief bill will be voting to betray American workers and the bipartisan spirit of the last week. announcement by the speaker pro tempore

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker and colleagues, I rise today to recognize Phil Saal, as he is honored by the San Diego Labor Community at the 19th Annual John S. Lyons Memorial Banquet with the 2001 ``Labor Leader of the Year'' Award. Phil Saal was born and raised in Goshen, Indiana, a small Amish- Mennonite community where he graduated from Goshen High School in 1961. After attending a trade school in Chicago he decided to move to San Diego and join the U.S. Navy. Phil was honorably discharged after his service to our Nation, which included three tours in Vietnam. Phil began working for United Parcel Service (UPS) in 1966 and became a member of Teamsters Local 542. He served as a Shop Steward for his union over the next twenty years at UPS. In 1986, Phil went to work as a full time Business Agent for Teamster Local 542, and during the next nine years, Phil administered and negotiated its contracts, with his primary responsibility being the UPS contract. In August 1995, Phil became the Secretary-Treasurer of Teamster Local 542, representing over 5,000 members, and since this time he has organized twenty-one new companies with nearly 800 new members. Phil now serves as a Trustee of Teamsters Joint Council 42, Health and Welfare Trusts, Pension Trusts, and as an Executive Board Member of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council. Actively committed to labor's involvement in our communities, Phil continues efforts to establish a scholarship fund for children of Teamsters Local 542's members, which will enable them to continue their education in college or trade school. My congratulations go to Phil Saal for his significant contributions to organized labor and our community. Phil's commitment to Labor speaks for itself: he is highly deserving of the 2001 JOHNS ``Labor Leader of the Year'' Award.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, and colleagues, I rise today to recognize Hal Jensen, as he is honored by the San Diego Labor Community at the 19th Annual John S. Lyons Memorial Banquet with the 2001 ``JOHNS Fellowship'' Award. Hal was born in Canada in 1936 and later gained U.S. citizenship. As a member of the Mormon Church, he served a mission to Africa from 1955 to 1958, and upon his return was married to Rebecca Campbell Jensen. Hal attended Brigham Young University where he received the ``Outstanding Student'' award and earned degrees in Finance and Economics. He then went on to attend Stanford University School of Law. After school, Hal went to work for IBM and led the team which developed IBM's banking system. Upon leaving IBM, he founded his own computer company, Computer Planning Corporation (CPC). Among its many accomplishments, CPC developed the first real-time business system. CPC was acquired by TRACOR, Inc., and after serving as a board member for TRACOR, Hal left to form the Industrial Development Corporation, which remains his flagship company. Hal got involved in real estate, and in 1978, helped found Palomar Grading and Paving, Inc. It is one of the largest operations of its kind, and employs many skilled tradesmen and women. Beyond success in the business world, Hal has remained committed to helping people in need. In 1980, aware that Native Americans face enormous challenges in their own country, he developed programs to assist Native American businessmen and help reservations with economic self-sufficiency. Hal joined the Board of American Indian Services, which provides over 1200 college scholarships each year to Native Americans, and serves as Chair of its California Chapter and its Economic Development Committee. Hal's achievements are both extraordinary and broad. He has chaired the Navajo Nation National Advisory Board and has participated in the drafting and amending of tribal constitutions. He is a member of the Haskell University Advisory Board. He served as Chairman of the I-15 Design review Board, and has been commended on a number of occasions by Israeli institutions for his good work. My congratulations go to Hal Jensen for his significant contributions to our community, our nation and the world. Hal's commitment to all of humanity is evident by his actions, and I am pleased that he is the recipient of the 2001 ``JOHNS Fellowship'' Award.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, this rule does nothing to bring down the obscenely high prices that we have been paying for electricity in California and the rest of the West Coast for the last year. It does nothing. We are being gouged, and the Republicans refuse to do anything. If we were paying the price for bread that we are paying for electricity, we would be paying $19.99 for this loaf of bread. In fact, the price went up to $190 at some points during the last year. And what does this bill do for us in California and the rest of the coast? Nothing but crumbs. We get crumbs out of this bill. I will tell Members, many of my constituents have gone out of business during the last year in San Diego and the rest of the West Coast. Sixty-five percent of my constituents face bankruptcy in the next year if the prices do not go down. With this bill, my small business people are toast. Defeat this rule, defeat this bill. Let us have a real energy policy.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Chairman, I keep hearing about competition, laws of supply and demand. There is a manipulated market in California controlled by a cartel of energy wholesalers. Let me tell my colleagues what is happening in San Diego. We are paying 10 times, sometimes 100 times what we did a year ago. If we were paying the same costs for electricity as we are paying for bread, we would be paying $19.99 for a loaf of bread; in fact, up to $199 sometimes in the last year. What do they give us in this bill for California? They give us crumbs. All we get are some crumbs for California. Scores of small business people in my district have gone out of business, and according to a report by the Chamber of Commerce, 65 percent of small businesses in our county face bankruptcy this year, Mr. Chairman. If this bill passes without this amendment, my small businesses are toast. They are toast, Mr. Chairman. Help California. Pass this amendment.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, the Republican energy bill on the floor today does nothing about the prices, the obscene prices, that we are still paying for electricity in California and the West. If we had to pay for a loaf of bread what we are paying for energy today, we would be paying the equivalent of $19.99 for this loaf of bread. At times, we have been paying almost $200. What does this energy bill do for us on the West Coast? Absolutely nothing. It may give us just a few crumbs, and I will tell this body that 65 percent of my small businesses face bankruptcy because of the high prices. When this bill passes, all of my small businesses will be toast.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Chair and the ranking member for bringing us H.R. 2540, the Veterans Benefit Act. I would like to briefly call attention to another provision which will provide fairness for our Nation's veterans. The VA currently holds about 4,000 national life insurance and U.S. Government life insurance policies valued at about $23 million on which payment has not been made. Why is this? Because the VA has been unable to locate the person identified as the beneficiary following the death of the veteran. I introduced recently a bill, H.R. 2222, regarding this problem, and I am pleased that this provision to permit the VA to pay an alternate beneficiary, if the primary beneficiary cannot be located within 3 years of the death of the insured veteran, has been included in H.R. 2540. I know this provision will benefit the families of many, many, many veterans. I also support the expanded definition which will allow Gulf War veterans to obtain service-connected compensation for chronic multisymptom illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome. Like the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Reyes) before me, I am upset that the provisions must be delayed until April 1, 2002. Once again, the reason for this is because this Congress enacted a tax plan first, before the budget. So we have to live within the context of a budget which was greatly restricted and restrained to us. So having spent this surplus, we are unable to promptly pay our debt to our Nation's Gulf War veterans. I find this deplorable, but we are under these congressional rules. Of course, because this bill improves benefits for our veterans, I urge my colleagues to vote for H.R. 2540. I thank the chairman for another strong bill.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Chairman, I wish to be heard on the point of order.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Chairman, reserving the right to object, I had assumed that this was in title I, and there are about 6 or 7 amendments remaining in title I that I assume the unanimous consent allowed to occur. Did the maker of the motion assume that?

Mr. FILNER. Okay. But other amendments to title I would be in order?

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Chairman, I withdraw my reservation of objection.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Chairman, I make this amendment which is embodied in bipartisan legislation by a large group of Members of this body, including the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman), who wrote the maiden legislation; the gentleman from California (Mr. Cunningham), who has been a strong supporter of this legislation; the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott), who is with us today; and the gentlewoman from Hawaii (Mrs. Mink), who spoke earlier; and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi); the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Millender-McDonald); the gentleman from California (Mr. Farr); and others who have contributed to this legislation. Mr. Chairman, 55 years ago this Congress committed a terrible injustice. After World War II, after the victory that occurred, of course first in Europe and then in the Pacific, those who were drafted into the U.S. Army from our Philippines protectorate were unceremoniously deprived of the benefits that were promised and earned as veterans of the United States. In 1946 the then Congress rescinded all the benefits that had accrued to our Filipine allies. There was no doubt of the contributions that the Filipinos made. Side by side with Americans, they held onto the Philippines and held up the Japanese advance for many, many, many months beyond what the Japanese had expected, and thus allowed the United States, at a terrible time in 1941, to prepare for the war. These Filipinos fought at Bataan, where their resistance took many, many months. When they were finally captured, Americans and Filipinos were led on the famous death march, where hundreds and hundreds died on the march and later in the prison camps in which they were held. They fought bravely at Corregidor, and again the Japanese were held up much longer than they had expected before they conquered the Philippines. Along with Americans who were in the Philippines, their guerrilla forces harassed for many, many months until MacArthur was able to return. When MacArthur returned and landed at Leyte and then was able eventually, of course, to defeat the Japanese, he attributed a good part of his victory to his Filipino allies. President Roosevelt had drafted all the units of the Philippine Army, all of the members of the Commonwealth Army, all of the so-called scouts, the Old Scouts, New Scouts, all of the guerrilla units into the American Armed Forces. The implication was that they would be treated as American soldiers, and therefore, American veterans. But after the war was over, the Philippines did achieve independence and this Congress said, ``Thank you, but no thank you. Your new government can take care of you, and everything we promised, we rescind.'' I thought that was a terrible injustice, Mr. Chairman. The injustice burns very deeply into the remaining veterans who are alive, barely 75,000 from over a quarter of a million or 300,000 who had fought in the war. They are in their seventies and eighties. What they want most before they die is the dignity and honor that would come from being American veterans. This amendment I have before us is a step toward that where we provide them a very modest sum of money, $30 million, to be eligible for health care benefits, as any other U.S. veteran. I think this is the least of what we can do for these allies who did so much for us in World War II. Mr. Chairman, because this has not been accepted earlier in authorization, I designate this as an emergency because it is an emergency. It is an emergency because our morality as a nation needs to be corrected, but more important, these gentlemen are about to die. Let us reward these folks finally with the honor and dignity that they deserve as our allies in World War II. (Mr. GILMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Chairman, I do. I understand the Chairman's reservation. He gives the impression that anything that constitutes legislation or emergency is somehow beyond the rules of this House, and yet in this bill there are dozens, I would think, maybe hundreds, I do not know, nobody can tell me, of provisions that are not authorized in legislation. In fact, we have a $1.3 billion emergency designation in the bill. So to make the point that this is legislation and it is emergency, we all agree, but this has been done in this bill, in this Congress, many, many, many, many times for billions and billions and billions of dollars. I would just ask, on behalf of the 60,000 Filipino veterans that are left alive, that the gentleman does not insist on the point of order.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Chairman, I understand the technical basis for the point of order. I know the commitment that the Chair has for veterans, and I ask the gentleman to see beyond the technicalities. The gentleman knows his bill contains legislation that has not come before this House. He knows his bill contains emergency funds. Mr. Chairman, this is not asking for any radical kind of move for this House. This is asking to make the commitment to our Nation's veterans that we have in our budget, the ability to do.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman would yield, I thought that this would allow that to occur, and then all of the other ones at the end of title I.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of my colleague's amendment which would restore the purchasing power of the GI bill. I was encouraged earlier this session by the House's passage of H.R. 1291, the 21st Century Montgomery GI Bill Enhancement Act, which provided a modest and much needed increase to the GI bill's monthly benefits. At a time when drastic tax cuts have overshadowed our nation's priorities, it was refreshing that the House took up legislation that improved education benefits for service men and women. Educational benefits are the military's best recruiting tool, and the GI bill must be modernized to meet today's demands. However, while this measure provides a stronger education package to the men and women who choose to serve our country in uniform, I regret that we could not have achieved more. Ultimately, unfortunately, the cost of this legislation was considered too prohibitive after the Administrations $1.35 billion tax cut. Tax cuts precluded Mr. Evans the ranking member, from offering his amendment during subcommittee mark-up of H.R. 1291, which was abruptly canceled. H.R. 320, the Montgomery GI Bill Improvements Act, which Mr. Evans intended to offer as an amendment, would have significantly improved educational benefits for veterans by covering the full cost of tuition, fees, books and supplies as well as provide a subsistence allowance for those who enlist or reenlist for four years. Mr. Filner's amendment mirrors the objectives of H.R. 320 and would give the Montgomery GI bill a much needed boost and move us closer to offering a competitive education package for the men and women who served our country with their military service. Point of Order

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I have a series of amendments with regard to the Veterans Administration budget. The chairman of the subcommittee and the ranking member know that all of the Members of this body hold the view that their commitment to veterans cannot be challenged, nor can the commitment of our chair and ranking members of the authorizing committee. Yet because of the budget situation we are in and notwithstanding improvements to the veterans budget over the last couple of years, the veterans budget is still grossly underfunded. As we like to say on the Democratic side at the Veterans Committee, we do not have a surplus unless we have paid our bills. We have not paid our bills to our Nation's veterans. We have not kept our commitment. We have not honored our contract. My amendments try to put the money that would indicate our commitment back into this budget. I have the money designated as an emergency because, under the rules of House, otherwise I would have to take offsets to those agencies within this particular bill. I do not want to play off housing or environment or science against the needs of our veterans. I will state that there is an emergency out there, Mr. Chairman. We have veterans who are waiting months and months and months, sometimes years for the adjudication of their claims. We have veterans waiting 5, 6, 8 months to see a doctor. We have veterans with hepatitis C, recently diagnosed, having emerged after 20 years, a fatal disease that we do not have sufficient understanding of or resources to treat. We are condemning our veterans to die. We have not figured out how to provide long-range care. We have not done what we should have for the homeless veterans, 500,000 of whom are on the street tonight. We do not put sufficient money into medical research. Eleven or 12 years after the Gulf War, we do not have any understanding of or treatment for Persian Gulf War illness. Hundreds of thousands of veterans are suffering from that. Mr. Chairman, we have the resources in our society to say to those who are under the GI bill for education, let us make that GI bill really effective. Mr. Principi, who is now the Veterans Administration Secretary, wrote a report before he became Secretary when he was chairman of the so- called Transition Commission; and he proposed that the Montgomery GI bill for education fully fund education, tuition and fees at college, plus books, plus expenses, plus a stipend of roughly $1,000 a month. That would make that benefit real. That would give the veterans what they earned, and that would be a great recruitment tool for our forces. Yet, what do we do now? We give a $500 or $600 a month stipend. Most veterans cannot use that because it is insufficient. So I am asking in my amendments for what we just owe our veterans and what we have the money for. Our budget is based on the fact that we just passed the tax cut this year of about $2 trillion over the next decade. That leaves us without paying our debt to our veterans. How do I know how much money is needed? The Chair of the committee is often saying, no matter what money we give, everybody wants more. I will tell my colleagues, all the veterans' service organizations of our country got together and produced something called the independent budget. It is a very analytical and professional job. It does not just say, give me more money because I am a veteran. It says, put in this much money to the veterans' benefit administration so we can reduce the waiting times for adjudication to 30 days. It says, put in the amount of money we need so we do not have to wait 6 months for doctors. It says, put in the money for research so we can deal with Persian Gulf War illness and we can deal with post-traumatic stress syndrome. The veterans know what we need and we know we are not giving it to them, Mr. Chairman. We had on the floor earlier statements from the committee and from the authorizing committee that says we are doing everything we can for our veterans. I would challenge those colleagues to go with me to any town meeting anywhere in America and say to our veterans, we are doing what we should be doing for you. They would not be given a very good reception. Mr. Chairman, I ask for an additional $1.7 billion for the health care of our veterans. The billion dollars that the Chair refers to that increased this year does not even keep up with inflation. We have got to at least keep up with inflation and move forward on a whole variety of efforts. I have asked for money to make sure that veterans who are exposed to hepatitis C, probably a fatal disease, get the treatment and care that they need. I have asked that we fully fund the Montgomery GI bill at the level that is asked for in legislation that the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans) has introduced. I ask for research money to make sure that the VA, which has been in the forefront of research on a whole variety of things, a national resource that has been kept us and this Nation in the forefront of medical research. We can keep those efforts in an excellent capacity. We can give the veterans the benefits they deserve. As our veterans are older, long- term care becomes more important. The aging of our population requires more resources and a different kind of attention. And whether we are talking about the Persian Gulf illnesses, PTSD, Parkinson's disease, mental health illnesses, spinal cord injuries or heart disease, these are areas where we can give our veterans the treatment and care and attention they deserve. So if we are to keep the promises that we made to our Nation's veterans, we should provide a budget that will address these needs. Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support these amendments, to allow the designation of an emergency, to really show the veterans, the country which has produced this incredible surplus, they gave us this country and we owe it to them. I know my colleague will ask for a point of order based on the fact that these are emergency designations. Come on, let us treat our veterans as real colleagues. Let us say it is an emergency. Let us give them the attention they need.