Bob Filner

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rush) for telling us what is going on in Chicago. It sounds like Chicagoans have learned the same lesson as San Diegans. This is not a crisis of supply and demand. This is not a crisis of environmental regulation or overregulation. This is a manipulation of the market by incredibly big firms and just a few of them who, whether it is gasoline or natural gas or electricity, have earned record, record profits from 500 percent to 1,000 percent per quarter higher than the previous quarter, while our people on fixed income, our small businesses, our big businesses are suffering, and the profits flow at the expense of our people. Mr. Speaker, the best metaphor I have heard on this issue was from a Republican colleague in California who had said what is happening here is as if you were scheduled for a life-and-death operation in a hospital at 3 p.m., and you were getting prepared for that operation, and at 5 to 3:00, the administrator to the hospital comes in and says now how much were you willing to pay for that oxygen.'' This is not a question of lack of supply. This is not a question of cost of production. This is a question of control of a basic commodity at the very moment that it is needed. If one is not moral and if one is interested only in gouging and if one does not care about the people involved, one can charge whatever the market will bear. We have also learned that the President's policy does nothing to help the situation. So I thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rush) for helping us here understand the issue. We are learning that the high prices are not the result of any market supply and demand curve. We are learning from the profit reports how much these multinational corporations are making. Now, the issue becomes what are we as a society, what are we as a Congress going to do about it. The President has not given us an answer. The President has what I call a faith-based energy policy. He is praying to the markets. But I say to the President, there is no market here. There is no competition. There is withholding of supply. There is manipulation of statistics. There is gaming the system, and we are suffering. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), another Member from the Chicago area who is with us to tell us about what is going on in the Midwest.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I want to continue with the California story and what our recommendations are to solving it, but I want our colleagues to know that this is not just a California problem. This is not just a western problem. This is a national problem. That is why only the Federal Government can step in. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Chicago, Illinois (Mr. Rush) would like to tell us what is happening in his home State and home city in Chicago. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rush)

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, we are going to spend the next hour or so speaking about the crisis in California and the West, and spreading to other parts of this country. Apparently, this Congress is going to adjourn tomorrow or the next day passing a tax cut for the wealthiest of Americans but refusing, refusing to do anything about the electricity crisis in California. We just heard how good the President's energy plan was. Yet, out of the 105 recommendations made by the President in his energy plan, not one, not one addresses the problems of California and the West. Those problems are severe. California's economy is teetering on the edge. If California's economy goes, so goes the rest of the Nation. What is the source of the problem in California and the West, and what actions should we take to solve it? That is what we want to spend some time tonight in dealing with, and we have colleagues who will testify that this issue is not just confined to California but to other parts of the West, the Midwest, and the eastern parts of our Nation. The roots of this crisis go back to last summer. California passed a deregulation law a couple of years ago. It put the path to deregulation that our utilities in the State would have to go. San Diego, California, which I represent, was the very first by the terms of the deregulation act to fully deregulate its wholesale and retail prices. I think San Diego was the first place in the Nation, certainly in the State of California, to fully deregulate in this way. We found out in retrospect that that deregulation law was badly flawed. It allowed deregulation of a basic commodity, the oxygen of our economy, when there was no market, no competitive market, to allow the reduction of rates that were promised by the law. Yet, we went ahead and deregulated, and boy, did we find out what a mistake it was. When my constituents in San Diego opened their bills last June, they were completely shocked to see that their prices had literally doubled. Even worse, the next month the prices had gone up another level, tripled from the original pre-deregulation rate. Now, if one was a senior on a fixed income paying $50 a month and the bill went to $150 or $200 without any explanation, without any reason, and without any end in sight for the increases, that person was panicky, wondering how they can air condition their apartment or heat it when necessary. If one was a small business and paying $800 a month for electricity and the bill went to $1,500 and then to $2,500, even $3,000, how could that business stay in business? How could they survive with those rates? Scores of my constituents had to close their doors in that first just 60 days of deregulation in San Diego. Now, San Diegans found out and learned pretty quickly what the reason was that this occurred. It was not any hotter a summer in 2000 than it was in 1999. Demand did not go up in California or in San Diego. The cost of producing a kilowatt of electricity, which is a couple of cents, did not increase. Yet, their prices tripled in 60 days. It was clear that there was a manipulation of the market; that the few companies who controlled electricity in California were jacking up the prices, gouging people, and taking enormous, enormous profits. Those profits, Mr. Speaker, have amounted to $20 billion over the last year in California. Now, all the politicians reacted to the panic, to constituents who came in and said they were going bankrupt. We looked death in the eye literally in San Diego last summer. We said that this price increase, these price increases, were caused by manipulation of the market by a whole number of means which we became aware of and submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC. FERC investigated what we had supplied them and they reported last November that, yes, we were right, the price was manipulated, the market was manipulated in San Diego, California, and the prices were unjust and unreasonable. That is the term in the law. Therefore, they were illegal. I believe, Mr. Speaker, that the true crisis in California started the day that that report was issued by FERC, when they admitted or they revealed that the prices were illegal, yet they did nothing to stop the wholesalers and generators who were charging these prices. What FERC said by not applying any sanctions to these wholesalers was ``Go and rob the State blind, because we are not going to do anything about it.'' Boy, did they ever. My friend, the gentleman from Sherman Oaks, California, the most well-named city in America, is here with me. We have representatives from Chicago and the Midwest. I hope the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman) will pick up the story of what occurred when they said, ``Go rob the State blind'' to the energy wholesalers, and what they did to the State of California in the year 2001.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. * * *

Mr. FILNER. * * *

Mr. FILNER. The gentleman is here. Would the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas) yield to talk about the bleeding in California?

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Inslee) showed the truth of this tax bill. The GOP majority, GOP, gas oil and pollution, is going to make sure that when we leave for our recess we have passed a tax bill 40 to 45 percent of which goes to the wealthiest 1 percent of our population. The people who live in my district in San Diego, California, will get very little out of this tax bill; and whatever they get, as the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Inslee) said, is going to go directly to Exxon or to Enron or to any one of those energy companies that is bleeding California dry. We are going to leave town with that tax bill, but we are going to leave town without doing anything for the people in San Diego or the rest of California or the rest of the West. The chairman of the committee is from California. He knows we are being bled dry. He knows we are paying $70 billion this year for electricity, whereas 2 years ago we paid $7 billion. The demand has not increased significantly. The costs have not increased significantly. Where is that 10-fold increase going? It is going into the 800 percent, 900 percent, 1,000 percent increase in profits by the major oil companies and the major electricity generators of this country, and yet this Congress is not going to act on the issues confronting California. The people of California ought to be telling the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, solve our crisis. Stop the bleeding in California. Give us a reasonable cost for electricity, and then we can go home and enjoy our vacations.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I just again want to register my opinion that this House should be taking up the crisis of electricity in California where my constituents are dying. Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.

Mr. FILNER. Yes.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I am sorry, how long is the motion that we are not wanting to read? How long is that reading?

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the right to object. Parliamentary Inquiry

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, the motion is to go to conference, because the tax bill has got to get out before Memorial Day. I wish the majority party, the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas), the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, would say we need to get out a bill to help California and the West before Memorial Day. Why are we rushing on this before Memorial Day when California is being bled dry? The gentleman from California (Chairman Thomas) knows what is going on in California. We are paying as a State now $3 million an hour for electricity. We are paying $70 million, sometimes $90 million a day, over $3 billion a month. No State, even if it is the sixth biggest economy in the world, can survive that kind of bleeding. Mr. Speaker, 65 percent of the business in San Diego County by a report that came out by the Chamber of Commerce, 65 percent of the small businesses in San Diego County are facing bankruptcy this year because of energy. They cannot survive given the costs of electricity. We have social service organizations for our children who we are not going to leave behind after the last vote closing up half the time because of the overhead in electricity. We have schools who cannot teach because of the overhead in electricity. We have libraries that cannot buy books because of the overhead in electricity. We are bleeding in California and in Oregon and in Washington and in New Mexico and Wyoming and Montana. In Rhode Island, I heard the prices have just doubled. We need to act as a Congress on this; yet, my colleagues want to rush through a tax bill by Memorial Day. Mr. Speaker, I think my colleagues ought to rush through by Memorial Day a bill to give us some relief in San Diego and California and the West. My colleagues are looking at me now as if they do not know what I am talking about. My colleagues are going to have the same prices and the same crisis very soon. We need to put cost-based rates on electricity in the West. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which is FERC in California, has said that they have found that these prices are illegal. They are illegal, Mr. Speaker, and yet we continue to have to pay them. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott) for his reservation. We ought to be acting on the crisis that exists in this Nation and not get out of here to save those who make a million or more a year on their tax bills for the coming year. Mr. Speaker, I ask the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas), chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, to do something for California.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, today I want to pay tribute to Pastor Alvin M. Petersen and to the legacy he built: the Lutheran Student Center at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln (UNL). Even though the University of Nebraska is not in my Congressional District and even though it is a long way from California, I want to honor Pastor Petersen, because he is the father of my Senior Legislative Assistant, a woman who has worked on my staff for almost twenty years. This coming June 9th and 10th, a celebration will be held in Lincoln, Nebraska to commemorate the 50th birthday of the Lutheran Student Center and the work of ``Pastor Pete'', as he has been called for decades by the university students. Also honored are his wife, Edel, also known as ``Mom Pete'', who was an integral part of the Center, and the three subsequent pastors: Bruce Berggren, Roger Sasse, and the current pastor, Larry Meyer, who completed his seminary internship serving under Pastor Pete. The Lutheran Campus Ministry at UNL was begun, with Pastor Pete at the helm, in 1940. Through his diligent efforts, money was raised to build the current building, which opened in 1951, in the center of the UNL campus. In 1958, a chapel was added to the original structure, and Mom Pete lovingly wove banners that still hang over the altar. The Lutheran Student Center provides worship services, a place for students to belong and to matter in a large university setting, and a training ground for future pastors. The Center has the largest Evangelical Lutheran Church of American (ELCA) worshipping community on any state university campus in the nation. The Sunday morning worship services and mid-week Vespers are at the heart of the ministry. Bible study, counseling, participation in the choir, fun and fellowship with movie nights, the spring break ski trip, retreats, volleyball and softball are all available to students. In the past five years, an extensive renovation project was undertaken to bring the building into the 21st century. After $400,000 was raised by Pastor Meyer, the current minister, so that there would be no debt, the Center has been updated, remodeled, and made completely accessible with the addition of an elevator. A new Outreach Program at Southeast Community College in Lincoln has begun, so that students at this community college also feel they are part of a campus ministry program. The building--the Lutheran Student Center--is the symbol and the physical setting for a ministry that cannot be measured in words. Many a lonesome freshman has found friendships at the Center. Many students with counseling needs, or doubts, or problems have found help at the Center. Many couples have met and married at the Center. Many a faith has been strengthened through worship at the Center. I am honored to pay tribute to the Lutheran Student Center and to a lifetime of work and love and concern by Pastor Pete--Pastor Alvin Petersen. One person truly can make a difference in this world!

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Volume Services as they are honored as the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL- CIO Spirit of Cooperation Award winner. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with workers, Volume Services, formally Service America, is a strong and courageous supporter of the labor movement. Under the leadership of Convention Center General Manager John Vingus, Volume Services has given numerous contributions to labor, including food for the SEIU 2028 janitors during their four-week strike last year. Vingus is a management trustee on health and welfare, pension, and labor union trust funds to help secure better benefits for union members and their families. He also sits on the Training Trust Fund as a management trustee. In addition, Vingus is a strong advocate for the Hotel Employee and Restaurant Employees hospitality training program. Volume Services contributes on an hourly basis to the fund and places people in a variety of union jobs. ``Volume Services is an advocate for employee rights,'' says Jef Eatchel, Business Manager for HERE Local 30. ``When they went to the Convention Center Board to bid on a service contract, they told the board that they were proud to be a union employer with medical benefits, stabilized wages, and retirement and urged the board to contract only with employers that meet those standards. Volume Services is definitely on our side.'' My congratulations goes to Volume Services for their significant contributions to the labor movement. They are truly deserving of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL-CIO Spirit of Cooperation Award.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Al Shur, as he is honored by the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL-CIO as Labor Leader of the Year. As the Business Manager of IBEW Local 569, Al Shur has proven his longstanding commitment to worker justice. Also a member of the Executive Boards of the Labor Council and the State Federation of Labor, Al has been instrumental in championing the causes of labor. Under his leadership, IBEW partnered with the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) to train high skilled workers through their apprenticeship program. Al's well-known advertising program, developed along with NECA, has raised the visibility and importance of unions in creating good family-supporting jobs. In addition, Al's guidance assisted in securing the Project Labor Agreement for the downtown ballpark. ``Al knows the true meaning of unity,'' says Secretary-Treasurer Jerry Butkiewicz. ``He continuously works to support other locals and to promote the labor movement.'' My congratulations go to Al Shur for these significant contributions. His dedication and commitment speak volumes about who Al is. I believe him to be highly deserving of the recognition as the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL-CIO, Labor Leader of the Year.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Bill Tweet, as he is honored by the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL-CIO with the Labor to Neighbor award. Actively committed to escalating labor's involvement in the community, Bill Tweet, Business Manager and Financial Secretary- Treasurer of Ironworkers Local 229, has consistently mobilized numerous volunteers for Labor to Neighbor campaigns. Through their annual Labor to Neighbor golf tournament, Bill and the Ironworkers have raised funds to educate union members about worker issues and political candidates sensitive to the needs of working families. Bill is also the President of the San Diego Building Trades Council. ``Bill has been a strong supporter of a united labor movement,'' says Mary Grillo, Executive Director of the Service Employees International Union, Local 2028. ``He works hard to bring local unions together to build labor's political power.'' My congratulations go to Bill Tweet for these significant contributions. I can personally attest to Bill's commitment, and believe him to be highly deserving of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL-CIO, Labor to Neighbor award.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Jerry Suppa, as he is honored by the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL-CIO with the Friend of the Labor Council award. Attorney Jerry Suppa has donated thousands of hours and provided critical leadership in creating the United Labor Foundation and purchasing the United Labor Center. ``For nearly twenty years, Jerry Suppa has given his time and energy to help working people, without adequate compensation,'' says Jerry Butkiewicz, who first met Suppa when he gave free workshops for the laid-off Cannery and General Dynamics workers when plants closed. ``Although he is not a labor lawyer, Jerry Suppa has a heart for working people.'' Today he continues to be the legal counsel for the United Labor Foundation, much of it pro bono. My congratulations go to Jerry Suppa for his significant contributions. I can attest to Jerry's dedication and believe him to be highly deserving of his recognition as the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL-CIO, Friend of the Labor Council award winner.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the work of the Director of the City of San Diego Metropolitan Wastewater Department (MWWD), Mr. Dave Schlesinger. Dave is retiring after more than a decade of service to the City of San Diego. During that time he was responsible for managing the planning, design and construction of facilities associated with the upgrade and expansion of the Metropolitan Sewerage System which provides wastewater treatment services to 1.9 million residents from the fifteen cities and districts in the greater San Diego area. As director of MWWD, Dave headed a team of more than 1,000 employees and full-time consultants, that are also responsible for wastewater collection services for the City of San Diego. The MWWD treats the wastewater generated in a 450-mile-square-mile area stretching from Del Mar to the North, Alpine and Lakeside to the East, and South to the Mexican border. I worked with Dave on a number of projects critical to San Diego. He was a key member of the team that successfully attained legislative approval of the so-called 301(h) waiver for the Point Loma waste treatment plant. This action saved literally billions of dollars for the taxpayers of San Diego. Without Dave's technical expertise and political acumen, we would not have been successful in this effort. Dave's talents were also critical to last year's Congressional approval of the Bajagua project to treat Mexican sewage. Dave helped to develop the innovative public-private partnership that promises to solve a 50-year-old problem plaguing San Diego. We always relied on Dave's ``sense of the possible''--both politically and technically--to get over the many obstacles we faced over several years. Dave is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland where he received a Bachelor of Science degree. He also holds a Masters degree in Civil Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. He is a registered professional engineer in the Civil Discipline. He has had nearly 30 years of experience in planning, engineering and construction project management and facilities management. Prior to his service with the City of San Diego, he served as a U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps officer for 25 years. He retired with the grade of Captain. Dave is a member of the Society of American Military Engineers, the National Society of Professional Engineers and the Navy League of the United States. He is also involved in numerous technical and professional societies in the San Diego area. The City of San Diego will greatly miss the services of Dave Schlesinger.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to me. Mr. Speaker, we have all been here this afternoon talking about honoring our World War II veterans, the greatest generation. We have all talked about how long it has taken to honor these veterans, how many have died, even in the planning process. Mr. Speaker, there is one group of veterans of World War II that has waited 55 years to be honored. This Congress can proceed to do so. The previous speaker, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman), and I have introduced legislation called the ``Filipino Veterans Equity Act.'' In 1941, this country drafted all of the regular and irregular forces of the Philippine army and guerilla units. They fought in World War II. They fought in World War II. They held up the advance of the Japanese army. They surrendered with our forces at Bataan, suffered through the Bataan Death March, bravely defended our last forces at Corregidor. They stopped the Japanese timetable for many, many months, allowed us to regroup, and allowed MacArthur time eventually to return and take back the Philippines. Yet, in 1946 this country, this Congress in 1946, decided to take away all the veterans' benefits that were promised to these brave heroes of World War II. It has been 55 years since that action was taken. It is time to restore the honor and dignity of the Filipino veterans. It is time to give them back the honor and the benefits that we promised but just took away. We talk today about honoring our World War II heroes. We talk today about the freedom that they have given us and our Nation. As we talk about the heroes that we are going to commemorate on the Mall, let us not forget the Filipinos who were drafted into our Armed Forces, fought, and died for this country's freedom, and had this Congress take away their benefits in 1946. Let the 107th Congress truly honor our veterans, restore their benefits, and pass the legislation, the Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2001.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, we now know what GOP means. It means gas, oil and petroleum. What is the administration's answer to the electricity crisis confronting the West and soon the rest of the Nation? Drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, cut research into renewable energy research, cut conservation programs. Mr. Speaker, that is not the answer for the western electricity crisis. We must conserve. We must move more into renewable sources. We must do more research. But most of all, we have to bring down the criminal prices that are being charged for wholesale electricity in California and the rest of the West. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, this Congress, this administration, must act now. It is the prices that are killing the California and western economy. It is the prices that are going to kill the rest of this Nation's economy. California is being bled dry by electricity wholesalers. We are being charged $2.5 billion a month for our electricity. This cannot stand. It is time for Congress, it is time for this administration to act. Let us get away from a gas, oil and petroleum policy for this administration.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, the veterans of this Nation ought to march on this Capitol in protest to this budget. I heard from a Member from the other side of the aisle that this budget over the next 10 years helps veterans. This does nothing of the sort. This budget barely keeps up with inflation. This does not honor our Nation's veterans. Our veterans are waiting 2 years to have their claims adjudicated. They are waiting months and months for appointments with doctors. Our research is lagging in all the diseases that have come out of the Gulf and Vietnam. Yet, this budget does not even keep up with inflation. Even the Republican Members of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs said this number is insufficient to keep up with the needs of the veterans. I challenge the Republican members of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs to vote no on this budget. They said in the committee that this number was insufficient. I want them to stand up for what they said to the veterans in committee and vote no on this budget. I might add that this budget took away a great victory in the Senate for our veterans, something called concurrent receipt where a veteran who had a pension and disability payments could get both. Now they have an offset, and this budget keeps that offset. It is a disgrace to the veterans of this Nation.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 99, due to official duties in my district related to California's electricity crisis, I missed this vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay.''

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 98, due to official duties in my district related to California's electricity crisis, I missed this vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I would bring my colleagues down to Earth after the last speaker. I rise today to speak about a bill to restore equity, equity, Mr. Speaker, to the survivors of our Nation's veterans. I call that bill the Military Survivors Equity Act, H.R. 1232. It is hard to believe that we continue to condone a system that penalizes the aging survivors, mostly widows, of the veterans of our Nation. But that is exactly what the Military Survivors Benefit Plan does. When a member of the military retires, he or she may join the Survivors Benefit Plan, known as SBP. After paying a premium for many, many years, the retiree expects that his or her spouse will receive, as is claimed in the literature, 55 percent of the retired military pay when that veteran dies. But it turns out, in a very painful realization, that this is not the case. Most of the survivors who receive SBP benefits are military widows. We may not realize it, but when these widows who are receiving SBP benefits turn 62, what is called a Social Security offset causes their benefits to be reduced from the 55 percent they thought they were getting to 35 percent of their husband's military retired pay. That is quite a shock for widows. This occurs even when the Social Security comes from the wife's employment. That is, they were entitled to the Social Security, the premium was paid for for their retirement, and yet, they offset one another. Let me tell Members what this means to a military widow. I have received a lot of letters on this topic from my constituents and from around the country. Here is what one of them says: My husband, who served in the Army for 20 years, was on Social Security disability because of heart problems and could no longer work. He died when I was 61. I received Social Security income plus my SBP. With those two incomes I was doing fine, paying my monthly bills and having enough left for groceries. But when I turned 62, I was notified that my SBP was reduced from $476 to $302. What a shock. That was my grocery money that they took away from me. Another letter said: While my husband was alive, we worked out a budget for me in case he died. I felt secure in the knowledge that he had provided for me by joining the Survivors Benefit Plan. I could not believe it when I learned I was not going to get the amount we were promised. I cannot believe that our government would do this to the widow of a veteran. Mr. Speaker, it is past time to change this misleading and unfair law. We must provide some equity to the survivor spouses of our military retirees. My bill would fix this problem by eliminating the callous and absurd reduction of benefits and give what is expected and what is deserved, 55 percent of the military retired pay. To put it simply: no offset; a simple solution to a difficult problem, but an equitable solution to a mean-spirited practice. Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me in cosponsoring H.R. 1232, the Military Survivors Equity Act. Let us do this for our veterans and for their widows, their surviving spouses. We are causing them great pain and anguish.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise with my colleagues in observance of the 86th anniversary of the Armenian genocide and to celebrate the victory of the Armenian spirit over an oppressor bent on their extinction. But, Mr. Speaker, I also rise to remind my colleagues of our obligation to the Armenian people. Before this House will be a bill to recognize the Armenian genocide, a bill that we, as Americans, as a people whose predecessors fought their own battle against an oppressive rule, have a responsibility to support. Can we claim to have earned our passage into the 21st century if we fail to recognize the atrocities of the last century? Progress is not earned by merely flipping the pages of a calendar. Progress is achieved when we are unafraid of the truth--of seeing the past for what it was, and to stand guard: ensuring that this hate-filled violence will not happen again on our watch. We owe this to the Armenians, but not just to the Armenians. We owe this to ourselves--and to our children. The generations that come after us will learn from us and use our actions as an example. If the 21st century marks anything, it should be that the echoes of past tragedies will not dissolve into obscurity. That we recognize the earlier failures of mankind and strive against their repetition. The Armenian people are no longer victims, but victors. It is our responsibility to see that their triumph is awarded its rightful place in our collective memory. And it is in this spirit that I stand here and celebrate the enduring legacy of the Armenians. But only in recognizing the Armenian genocide do we earn the right to stand here and share in their triumph.