Bob Filner

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, as the Senior Democrat on the Benefits Subcommittee of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, I want to express my strong support for the legislation before the House today. S. 1402 as amended by the Senate, presents an agreement that every Member of the House can support. It is a strong reaffirmation of our commitment to the men and women who have stood in our defense. Our nation's veterans would benefit greatly from this well-crafted and meaningful legislation. I urge my fellow colleagues to join me in my support for this legislation and to vote in favor of its final passage. I want to take a moment to thank the Chairman of the Benefits Subcommittee, Jack Quinn; the Chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, Bob Stump, and the Ranking Democratic Member of the Committee, Lane Evans, for their collective leadership on the many important issues affecting our men and women in uniform. I have enjoyed working with each of them on the bill that is before the House today, and also with the other members of the Committee. I also want to thank our colleagues in the Senate for their significant efforts in this area. Senator Arlen Specter and Senator Jay Rockefeller, Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, have put forth the cooperative effort that is essential to reaching a good agreement. Madam Speaker, I am pleased that the agreement we are considering makes some significant improvements to veterans' education benefits. Education benefits are a prime focus of this legislation. I have always been a strong believer that higher education is a positive agent of change. I came to Congress from the higher education community, and I have witnessed first hand the great things a higher education can do for our veterans. From that experience, and from my years on the Veterans Affairs Committee, I have concluded there is no better way to empower the men and women who have served in America's defense. Educating these brave men and women is undoubtedly the best way for us to ensure they join the ranks of a thriving civilian workforce. Under the agreement, the basic educational benefit for veterans will increase under the MGIB program from $552 per month to $650 per month for a three-year term of enlistment and $528 per month for a two-year term of enlistment. This represents an 18 percent increase in the basic MGIB education readjustment benefit for veterans. As my colleagues know, I believe the MGIB benefit should be increased more than has been proposed in this agreement. The increase it does provide, however, is a strong and positive step toward achieving the goal of providing a more meaningful education benefit for our nation's veterans than is currently available. The agreement also provides for an increase to MGIB education benefits for eligible survivors and dependents. These benefits would be increased from $485 per month to $588 per month for full-time students. These increases would be effective as of November 1, 2000, with future annual cost-of-living increases effective October 1, 2001. I am very pleased that the agreement provides for a cost-of-living increase for survivors and dependents. Moreover, the election period and effective date for the award of survivors' and dependents' benefits under MGIB have been corrected under this agreement, allowing for retroactive payments for benefits that should have been awarded but were not, due to long waiting times for VA adjudication. Also in the agreement is a provision that would allow those veteran students whose academic calendars include long intervals between terms, semesters or quarters to continue to receive their educational assistance benefits during such periods in order to prevent financial hardship. Of immediate concern to the Benefits Subcommittee has been the ineffectiveness of the MGIB as a readjustment benefit for servicemembers making the transition from military service to a civilian society and workforce. While costs of higher education have soared, nearly doubling since 1980, GI Bill benefits have not kept pace. One of the most noteworthy provisions in this agreement would allow for an increased MGIB education assistance for particularly determined active duty servicemembers. Under the agreement, servicemembers who have elected to participate in the MGIB program by contributing their initial $1,200 pay reduction would be afforded the opportunity to take advantage of enhanced MGIB benefits by making an additional contribution of up to $600. In return, that servicemember would be eligible for up to $5,400 in additional MGIB education assistance. Thanks in large part to the leadership of my friend Jack Quinn, the Chairman of the Benefits Subcommittee, there is a provision in this legislation that would make available MGIB education benefits to be used for up to $2,000 in fees for civilian occupational licensing or certification examinations. The Subcommittee has held extensive hearings on this complex topic and I am glad to see that the agreement includes this important provision. It will make an immediate, positive impact on thousands of servicemembers who return to the civilian workforce every year. The agreement also allows survivors and dependents to use their MGIB benefits for preparatory courses. The brave men and women who serve in America's Armed Forces deserve, and have indeed earned, far better than the inadequate educational assistant program now available to them. I am very pleased that the agreement includes such momentum toward getting veterans' education benefits back to the stature and effectiveness they were meant to have all along. Another significant accomplishment coming out of this agreement would be to finally allow for more equitable burial benefits for our Filipino veterans of World War II. Today, an estimated 17,000 Filipino veterans are citizens of the United States. Most of these are veterans of World War II, over 1,200 of who receive VA compensation for service-connected disabilities. Under current federal law, certain Filipino veterans of World War II are not eligible for burial in VA national cemeteries. Moreover, survivors of eligible Filipino veterans currently receive funeral expenses and burial plot allowances at one-half the rates paid to survivors of U.S. veterans. The agreement would provide for the eligibility of certain Filipino veterans of World War II for burial in a VA national cemetery if, at the time of death, that veteran is a naturalized citizen and resident of the United States. In addition, the agreement would authorize payment of full-rate funeral expenses and plot allowances to survivors of eligible Filipino veterans of World War II. An aging World War II veteran population has caused an unprecedented demand for military funeral honors over recent years, and this demand will continue. As the military seeks to meet these demands through its use of reservists, increasing numbers of civilian employees will be called away from their jobs temporarily to perform funeral honors duty. Importantly, the agreement includes a provision that would amend the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) to expressly require employers to give reservists an authorized leave of absence for performing funeral honors duty. Finally, I want to stress the importance of the agreement's provision regarding equity in pay for VA dentists. I introduced last fall H.R. 2660, which I entitled, ``Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is, the VA Dentist Equity Act,'' in response to a variety of concerns of VA dentists. Almost 70 percent of VA dentists will be eligible for retirement in the next three years. On top of this troubling fact, VA dentists are paid less than their DOD counterparts, dentists in academia or dentists in private practice. In fact, they make almost one-third less than dentists working in these settings. So I am very glad that the agreement includes a provision to enable VA to recruit and retain new dentists into the system now and in the future. As amended, S. 1402 represents good public policy for America's veterans. I believe strongly that every one of my colleagues here today would do well by their veterans at home by voting in favor of this bill.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, I thank the Chairman, Mr. Stump and the Ranking Member of the Full Committee, Mr. Evans for their hard work in bringing the Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000, H.R. 4864 as amended, before us today. Following the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims decision in Morton v. West thousands of veterans throughout this country received letters from VA telling them that their claims for disability benefits were ``not well-grounded.'' In many cases, the notices were incomprehensible to veterans. Veterans were told that they had to submit evidence of a ``nexus'' between their military service and current disability before VA would provide them any help at all. Claims of combat injured veterans were denied before records of military service were obtained. In our subcommittee hearing on Mr. Evan's bill we heard eloquent testimony about the seriousness of the problem. Veterans with claims for service-connected disabilities which were noted in their service medical records had those claims rejected as ``not well-grounded.'' Veterans being treated by VA physicians were denied VA medical opinions concerning the relationship between their disability and their military service and were thus unable to provide ``nexus'' statements VA required without purchasing medical opinions at their own expense. Vietnam veterans with conditions presumed under law to be service- connected as a result of Agent Orange exposure had claims rejected as not well-grounded. Medal of Honor winners and former Prisoners of War had their claims rejected. This bill will rectify those errors. In addition, the bill contains very specific notice requirements. Even as a former college professor, I have found notices sent to veterans who contact my office, both here and in San Diego, to be virtually incomprehensible. The compromise bill passed by the Senate requires VA to inform veterans when additional information is needed. If VA is unable to obtain records identified by the claimant, VA is required to notify the claimant that the records were not obtained, describe the efforts made to obtain the records and describe the action to be taken by the Secretary. These provisions were inserted to assure that veterans are able to make informed decisions concerning their claims. I expect VA to provide this information in simple, plain, understandable English. By passing H.R. 4864, this House agreed that veterans and other claimants have a right to have their claims fully developed and properly evaluated. The Senate has now agreed. By passing this bill Congress will send a strong message to the VA and our Nation's veterans concerning our government's obligation to care for him who has borne the battle. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, I would like to thank Chairman Stump, Ranking Member Evans and Mr. Quinn, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Benefits for once again assuring our country's veterans and their survivors that the value of their VA benefits will not be eroded by increases in the cost of living. This measure is important to the continued financial well-being of our disabled veterans and their survivors. H.R. 4850 will provide a cost-of-living increase comparable to the increase received by Social Security beneficiaries. Our veterans and their families deserve no less. I urge all members to support this bill.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. We have heard several reasons for supporting this bill, including the pay raise for our armed forces and the health care for our retirees. I want to add one more reason to vote for this bill, and that is because of the provisions which enact an important agreement to save the drinking water for 25 million citizens in the Southwest United States. These provisions would move the largest uranium mine tailings pile that has ever threatened a drinking water supply in the U.S. The dangerous radioactive waste currently sits only 750 feet away from the Colorado River near Moab, Utah, where it threatens the drinking water of one-seventh of the United States, including people who live in Las Vegas, Arizona, and the Southern California urban areas of Los Angeles and, of course, the city I represent, San Diego. I want to thank my colleagues, the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller) and the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Cannon), for their leadership in moving this pile, which is as big as 118 football fields, rather than what was previously suggested, which was capping it in place. We have all fought for 3 years to prevent the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from doing just that, capping the pile, because that would ensure that the poisonous waste would continue to leach into the Colorado River for almost 300 years. This bill gives jurisdiction to move the pile to the Department of Energy, which has the expertise and experience to relocate it to a secure, permanent, location, safely away from the Colorado River. I want to congratulate all those who have worked so hard to cement this agreement into law instead of allowing the capping of this huge pile of nuclear radioactive waste where it would nearly forever pollute the Southwest's drinking water. I urge the passage of this bill.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, as our colleagues are going off to their home districts for the weekend, I want to remind them all of the crisis that is going on in my district in San Diego, California. They are the first city in California and, perhaps, the first in the Nation that has experienced full deregulation of its electricity prices. The cost of electricity to the average consumer, small business person, big business person has doubled, tripled in 3 or 4 months alone. I want to remind my colleagues about what is going on in San Diego because San Diego is the harbinger of things to come for the rest of California and possibly the Nation. We are the poster children for what happens when deregulation of a basic commodity like electricity takes place in a monopoly situation. Those who control the commodity can charge whatever price they can get. In fact, deregulation and the restructuring of the electricity industry is so flawed in California that electricity producers are allowed to charge wholesale prices four to five times higher than they were just a year ago. This is criminal, Mr. Speaker, and I use the word advisably. Energy producers are making obscene profits on the back of our senior citizens, our schools, our hospitals, our libraries, our businesses. Our whole economy in California is threatened. The electricity generators and marketeers have just in the last 4 months alone sucked almost $5 billion, that is billion with a ``B,'' from our State economy, more than $450 million from San Diego alone. Now these generators claim that the high rates are simply the result of supply and demand forces in a marketplace. That is nonsense, Mr. Speaker. The facts are that Southern California has been using less energy than last year, but wholesale prices have gone up from highs of $50 per megawatt in 1999 to $300 and $500 and even higher at the sharpest spikes in the year 2000. The energy producers have figured out how to manipulate the market and set artificially high wholesale prices. They withhold power until the last minute. They launder power throughout out-of-state companies, they overload transmission lines, all to cause prices to rise to unprecedented levels and to raise their obscene profits. They already have killed off many small businesses in San Diego, caused unbearable suffering among those on fixed income, and robbed our whole community possibly of our future. I have introduced a bill, H.R. 5131, the HELP San Diego Act, which means Halt Electrical Price gouging in San Diego, with bipartisan support of the gentlemen from California (Mr. Hunter and Mr. Bilbray), my San Diego colleagues. Because although the State legislature has removed the gun from our head in capping retail prices, those prices are merely deferred for the next couple of years. Those bills will become due, and those debts will have to be paid. 5131 says that the wholesale generators and marketeers of electricity should pay that bill. They should refund the overcharges that they have made over the last 4 or 5 months. Now, as I said, this bill has bipartisan support. Yet the Republican leadership of this House will not schedule on the agenda a bill that is necessary to save the economy of San Diego. I call on the Republican leadership of this House to help San Diego, to put that bill on the agenda with bipartisan support, so we can, in fact, make sure that the future of San Diego's economy is secure. I have also introduced a bill today that we call the POWER Act. Quite simply, the POWER Act protects our communities by imposing 100 percent excise tax on windfall profits that are the rule of market manipulation and price fixing. If we cannot pass H.R. 5131, which directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to roll back the wholesale price and refund the overcharge to consumers, the POWER Act says that 100 percent tax on windfall profits shall be assessed. This does not affect legitimate profits. It does not jeopardize any electrical producer. But it protects our senior citizens, our children, our small businesses, and our economy from the predatory actions of some unscrupulous companies that are taking advantage of their monopoly on the production of this vital and indispensable resource. I ask my colleagues, as they return to their districts, to keep a close eye on San Diego. We need your help in this last week of Congress. We need to pass H.R. 5131, a bipartisan bill to roll back wholesale prices in the western electric market, and to refund the consumers the obscene overcharging and profiteering they have been subject to. I hope this Congress can act and act quickly. We must help San Diego.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 514, I was inadvertently detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay.''

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 86 years of service given to the San Diego community by the Neighborhood House Association and at the same time the 35th anniversary of Head Start, both nationwide and at this location. Neighborhood House is a multipurpose social service agency whose goal is to improve the quality of life of the people served. It is one of the largest nonprofit organizations in San Diego, reaching more than 300,000 San Diego residents with its programs. Since Dr. Howard Carey assumed leadership as president and chief executive officer in 1972, Neighborhood House has grown from a budget of $400,000 and a staff of 35 to the current budget of approximately $50 million with 800 employees. Among the most important of the services of Neighborhood House is Head Start, and the 35th anniversary of Head Start is being recognized at a Gala 2000 event by the Neighborhood House Association on November 17, 2000. As we all know, Head Start is the most successful federally funded program for children that has been created. It has touched the lives of tens of thousands of low-income preschool children and their families. The Neighborhood House Head Start serves 7,000 preschoolers and their families in 77 centers, the largest San Diego Head Start program. And plans are in place to provide for over 11,000 children to be reached in over 130 centers. Mr. Speaker, Head Start and the Neighborhood House are in the business of helping people to help themselves. They strive for permanent changes, and long-term self-sufficiency is their goal. On the occasion of the Neighborhood House Association's Gala 2000, I am honored to congratulate both Head Start and the Neighborhood House for their many contributions to the children and families of San Diego.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, due to the death of my father, I did not attend the session of June 28, 2000 and June 29, 2000. Had I been present, I would have voted as follows on the roll call votes indicated: #352--yes, #353--yes, #354--yes, #355--no, #356--yes, #357--no, #359--no, #360--no, #361--no, #362--no, #363--yes, #364--no, #365--yes, #366--no, #367--no, #368--no, #369--no, #370--no, #372--yes.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I represent San Diego, California, which is undergoing a tremendous crisis in terms of the price that we pay for electricity. In the last 3 months, prices have doubled and tripled. And while we have a short-term cap on those prices, we are looking to Congress to bring down the wholesale price of electricity and bring down the rates to consumers and small businesses. Tonight, I want to speak about the long-range issue of energy and how that affects San Diego and the rest of our Nation. We all know that oil, natural gas, and home heating fuel prices are at a 10-year high. American consumers are facing record increases in domestic energy costs. This past summer households have been hit by soaring electricity rates in California, and motorists have faced astronomical gasoline price hikes. Now, in the coming winter months, high energy prices will affect households throughout the country. The economic consequences are all too evident to individual consumers both at home and overseas. In Europe we see gasoline shortages, panic buying, and massive protests over rising prices. Furthermore, the impact does not stop with the individual consumer; the whole Nation bears the consequences. A surge in the price of energy can derail the economic expansion that we have worked so hard to achieve and maintain. I think we know that energy supplies and prices are indeed cyclical. We have been lulled into inaction by the long downside half of that cycle. Oil and gas have been in adequate supply and the moderate energy prices have made us forget the upside of that cycle. The energy crises of the 1970s and 1980s are forgotten history. Consequently, we have failed to implement policies to increase our energy supplies and to promote stable prices. We have steadily grown more dependent on conventional and imported energy. Congress has done very little to protect the Nation from the inevitable upswing in that cycle. In particular, we have failed to support the development of alternative energy resources. In terms of domestic resource potential, wind energy is the most overlooked fuel source in this Nation. This resource is available in almost every State and can be utilized for electric generation more quickly than any other energy resource. Although California has been a leader, other States, such as Wyoming, Wisconsin, Vermont, Texas, Pennsylvania, Oregon, New York, Minnesota and Iowa, are beginning to utilize their wind energy resources. The use of wind power for electric generation is slowly growing. Compared with the tax incentives for conventional nuclear energy, Federal tax support for renewable energy resources, such as wind, is relatively small. Aside from accelerated depreciation, which is shared by other fast-evolving technologies, wind facilities now qualify only for a temporary Federal production tax credit. This credit helps provide a price floor, but if the price of wind-generated electricity rises above a certain benchmark, the tax credit phases out and this credit took effect in 1994. It was originally decided to sunset this credit in June of 1999. But several years after the credit was enacted, Congress considered repealing it when energy prices were at an all-time low. Fortunately, Congress retained the credit and later extended it until 2002. Despite waivering congressional policy, the credit has promoted use of domestic wind energy resources and has promoted technological development. An uncertain credit and a temporary extension, however, does not support long-term planning, development and construction of electric generation projects. The experience with another credit program proves my point. Between 1986 and 1992, when the section 48 solar and geothermal credit was finally made permanent, Congress extended this credit in 1-, 2-, and 3-year increments. Sizable projects could not be undertaken because of the short eligibility period; and small short- term projects that were attempted had to be rushed to completion at great cost to meet the qualification deadline. For both policy and practical reasons, the wind production credit should be made permanent, like the credit for solar and geothermal resources. Our long-time reliance on conventional fuels has created a mindset which ignores alternatives. Mr. Speaker, the resulting institutional practices resist the use of nonconventional energy resources. Power management, transmission, and pricing practices need to adjust to the requirement of utilizing a new alternative resource. With the threat of another energy crisis looming in the future, Congress needs to reassess and redirect our national energy programs. To spur that analysis and redirection, I have introduced today the Wind for Electricity Act to specifically promote the development of wind energy resources in this Nation. I know that San Diego is looking to this Congress for short-term relief from the high prices of electricity and to long-term alternative energy resources. I hope we all act soon.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor my colleagues for taking a step forward and unanimously passing H.R. 5062, an important step toward restoring fairness to families split apart by 1996 legislation that was billed in this House as immigration reform. I encourage the Senate to quickly follow the House of Representatives' lead. We must stop deporting hard-working legal immigrants, Mr. Speaker, who are raising stable families only because they committed a minor infraction years and years ago. We must stop hauling away parents away in the middle of the night in front of their children, and we must stop denying these people now in detention the most basic constitutional rights that we in America believe everyone should have. These practices, Mr. Speaker, are the direct result of the 1996 so- called immigration reform law. The 1996 law removed the authority of immigration judges to take into account a person's contributions to our society as well as their misdeeds. It removed Federal judges' oversight of the immigration process. It allowed Immigration and Naturalization Service deportation officials to pick up someone after they applied for citizenship, put them in detention in the middle of the night without their relatives knowing where they were, and hold them without bail. H.R. 5062 will stop these immoral practices. It will restore judicial oversight of these matters that involve long-term legal permanent residents who paid their debt to our society, in many cases on this a short probation or a suspended sentence, only to have the 1996 law reclassify their misdeed as an aggravated felony. H.R. 5062 stops this. It restores justice and fairness to immigration proceedings. Many, many families in my district applaud this action. For example, it would help Aida. Her father had always been a good provider, but was picked up by the INS, handcuffed in front of his family, and deported. Now the family, which had been paying taxes, had to move into reliance on welfare. Aida's father can now apply to come back into the country and have a judge review his case under our recent action. Mr. Speaker, this is America where actions have consequences but where we have a system of checks and balances to ensure that no branch of the Government can run roughshod over our rights. So to my colleagues in the Senate, I urge quick passage of H.R. 5062. It would rollback the un-American provisions of the 1996 law by eliminating most of the so-called retroactivity provisions so minor crimes from decades ago are not counted against those who are in this country legally. It allows those who have been deported to appeal to return to the United States. H.R. 5062 is a real positive step forward. It will help hundreds if not thousands of families in my own district and around the Nation. We need to restore fairness so that our pledge of allegiance truly means with liberty and justice for all.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, to me, the real heroes in our country today are those people who go to work every day, play by the rules, provide for their loving families and contribute back to their communities. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor one such American hero, Mr. Gail Edwards, on the occasion of his retirement, after nearly 35 years as a pilot with Trans World Airlines. Gail is what I think we would call an ideal American, a man whose life and career have made us all proud. He was born on July 16, 1935 and grew up in Indiana with his mother, Dorris Wannetta Edwards, and his father Harold Perry Edwards, and his brother Victor Royce Edwards. He was the first of his family to graduate from college, and he received his degree from Indiana University in 1957. He joined the United States Air Force immediately after college, fulfilling his lifelong dream of flying. As a child, he had spent many hours building model airplanes and hanging them around his room. He volunteered to fly volunteer airlift missions to Vietnam during the Vietnam War and then served in Air National Guard for many years after the war, retiring as a Full Bird Colonel, Vice Wing Commander, Tactical Airlift Wing, and received 2 Air Force commendation medals. Years later, when the Nation was in the Gulf War conflict, he volunteered again. He ran into the commanding general of the California Air National Guard and said, ``Call me if you need a grizzly gray- haired old man to fly a 130.'' They both smiled, and Gail knew he was not going to get a call. But they also both knew, if he did get a call, he would say, ``You bet.'' Gail loved the Air Force for opening up vast vistas for him. He believed the Air Force was a Godsend. He loved every minute of it. While on duty in England and Japan, Gail met and married Kathleen Riley, an English, speech and drama teacher on the American Air Force bases in 1962. When he left the Air Force in 1966, he went to work for TWA and has been a pilot for that airline for nearly 35 years. He has said that the Air Force taught him to fly and allowed him to experience the world, but TWA gave him the opportunity to share it with his family and all the other passengers. Gail lives with his wife of 38 years in Redondo Beach, California. His children are Kimberly Ellen Edwards, one of San Diego's best television journalists, and Jonathan Kyle Edwards of Scottsdale. He enjoyed working for TWA and, even more, he loved serving his country. He is extremely patriotic, just the kind of citizen we all want to know and to be. He has volunteered with the United Methodist Church, Little League, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Indian Guides, and Indian Maidens. He built playhouses for his children and helped them with their homework. But first and foremost, Gail is an American and a pilot. He loves his family, he loves his job, and he loves his country. I am honored to have this opportunity to recognize a real American hero, Gail Edwards, and to thank him for his service to TWA and to his Nation.

Mr. FILNER

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

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Gail M. Edwards on the occasion of his retirement, after nearly thirty-five years as a pilot with Trans World Airlines (TWA). Gail is an ideal American and a man whose life and career have made us proud. He was born on July 16, 1935 and grew up in Indiana with his mother, Dorris Wannetta Edwards, his father, Harold Perry Edwards, and his brother, Victor Royce Edwards. He was the first of his family to graduate from college, and he received his degree from Indiana University in 1957. He joined the United States Air Force immediately after college, fulfilling his lifelong goal of flying. As a child, he had spent many hours building model airplanes and hanging them around his room. He volunteered to fly volunteer airlift missions to Vietnam during the Vietnam War and then served in the Air National Guard for many years after the war, retiring as a Full Bird Colonel, Vice Wing Commander, Tactical Airlift Wing. He received two Air Force Commendation Medals. Years later, when the nation was in the Gulf War conflict, he volunteered again. He ran into the Commanding General of the California Air National Guard and said, ``Call me if you need a grizzly, gray- haired old man to fly a 130.'' They both smiled and Gail knew he wasn't going to get a call, but they also both knew if he did get a call, he would say, ``You bet!'' Gail loved the Air Force for opening up vast vistas for him. He believed the Air Force was a ``God-send.'' He loved every minute of it. While on duty in England and Japan, Gail met and married Kathleen Riley, an English/Speech/Drama teacher on American Airforce bases, in 1962. Leaving the Air Force in January, 1966, he went to work for TWA and has been a pilot for TWA for nearly thirty-five years. He has said that after the Air Force taught him to fly and allowed him to experience the world, TWA gave him the opportunity to share it with his family and all the other passengers. Gail lives with his wife of 38 years in Redondo Beach, California. His children are Kimberly Ellen Edwards (32) of San Diego and Jonathan Kyle Edwards (28) of Scottsdale. He enjoyed working for TWA, and even more, he loved serving his country. He is extremely patriotic, just the kind of citizen we all want to be. He has volunteered with the United Methodist church, Little League, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Indian Guides, and Indian Maidens. He built play houses for his children and helped them with their homework. But first and foremost, Gail is an American and a pilot. He loves his family, he loves his job, and he loves his country. I am honored to have this opportunity to recognize Gail Edwards and to thank him for his service to TWA and to his nation.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans) for yielding me the time. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5109. I want to thank the chairman, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Stamp); the ranking member, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans); the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Health; and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Gutierrez), the ranking member of that subcommittee, for developing a true bipartisan proposal to address some of the pay inequities that were brought to the attention of our Committee on Veterans' Affairs. In response to some of these concerns, I introduced last fall H.R. 2660, which I entitled Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is, the VA Dentist Equity Act, in response to a variety of concerns of VA dentists. This spring, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns) conducted a hearing of the Subcommittee on Health where we heard stirring testimony from dentists who have devoted their careers to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Members representing the National Association of VA Physicians and Dentists, the American Dental Association, the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons raised concerns about the precipitous decline in recent years in the number of dentists practicing in the VA, and raised concerns about VA's ability to recruit new dentists into the system now and in the future. These concerns are based on the facts that the dental workforce in VA is rapidly declining. Only 4 years ago, the VA had more than 900 dentists. Now we have less than 800, and in individual sites the changes have been even more pronounced. In testimony to the subcommittee, the National Association of VA Physicians and Dentists discussed general practice dentists at one facility in the Northeast dropping from 8 to only 2 positions. Now we know that almost 70 percent of VA dentists are eligible for retirement in the next 3 years and that VA dentists are paid less than defense dentists, dentists in academia or dentists in private practice. In fact, they make almost one-third less than dentists working in these settings. So I am very glad that H.R. 5109 includes many of the provisions that were in my earlier bill and will include the recruitment and retention of VA dentists. I want to say for our legislative record that although there is a range of salaries that are printed for dentists that will give them some equity with regard to physicians, we hear concerns in specific medical centers that the top of that range for dentists is never fully utilized. I think it is fair to say that our committee expects that the full range, especially the top range, when eligible, of the salary schedules that are in H.R. 5109, be utilized by individual medical centers. Now I do have one disappointment in this bill, that despite a strong sentiment in the full Committee on Veterans' Affairs to move a chiropractic health care benefit amendment in this bill, we are apparently unable to reach an agreement to introduce direct access, full scope of practice chiropractic care into the VA health care system in this year. Chiropractic is the fastest growing and second largest primary health care profession. Chiropractors are a highly trained and licensed professional health care workforce. It is time to put VA health care on a par with other government health care programs and recognize chiropractic as a vital component of our health care system. In fact, we said that a year ago in our millennium health care bill. These are technical corrections to that bill. A year ago, we asked the VA to develop a chiropractic plan within 90 days to give chiropractic services to our veterans. The VA did not do this. I met with the Assistant Secretary for health after the 90 days were up, with various representatives of the National Chiropractic Associations. We stressed to the Assistant Secretary how important it was to act on this; and we got, frankly, bureaucratic inertia, bureaucratic resistance, and literally very little was done by a year later when we have the corrections for VA on the millennium health care bill. I know this is not a simple issue, and I know the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns) is as vitally concerned about this as I am; and he has promised, as I understand, to have hearings on this issue within our coming sessions, and I hope that we put a chiropractic health care provision that is meaningful at the top of our committee's agenda next year so that our veterans can have direct access to this important benefit as quickly as possible. I certainly will be working toward that goal. I look forward to working with members of the committee. The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans) has been a strong proponent of chiropractic care. The gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Buyer) on our committee has also put in a provision in the defense authorization bill that moves the Defense Department more toward this. I hope that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs working with our members and the VA health care division will cooperate as we move to our full benefits to our veterans. I thank the chairman of the Subcommittee on Health for this wonderful bill.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time, and I also rise in support of H.R. 5062. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. McCollum) for offering this legislation; the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith), the chairman of the subcommittee for bringing it to us; and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), the chairman of the full committee; and their counterparts, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers), the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank), and the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) for working so hard on this bill. All of them have graciously given me time to point out the situation that this has caused in San Diego, California, where we have hundreds of families affected by the legislation that was passed in 1996. Like my colleagues, I rise to say that we must stop deporting hard- working legal immigrants only because they committed a minor infraction years or even decades ago. We must stop hauling parents away in the middle of the night in front of their children and denying these people, now in detention, the most basic constitutional rights that we in America believe everyone should have. That is exactly what the 1996 law did. It redefined the term aggravated felony to cover virtually every crime ever committed. It was retroactive, covering misdemeanor crimes decades ago, and denied basic constitutional protections, such as bail and visitation rights. I repeat, we are talking about legal immigrants, immigrants residing in this country in legal fashion, who have paid their debt, if appropriate, to our society. So we are now rolling back several of the provisions of the 1996 law and allowing those who have been deported to appeal to return to the United States. This is a great and positive step. It will mean much to hundreds and hundreds of families in San Diego, California, and it means a lot to all Americans that we are restoring liberty and justice for all. I urge everyone to support this legislation.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of California's admission to the Union, I rise to bring attention to the 50th Congressional District of California--an urban district in southern San Diego County and the southernmost district in California, bordering Mexico. I am proud that it is one of the most ethnically diverse congressional districts in the nation. No racial or ethnic group is in the majority: we have 45 percent Latino residents, 25 percent Anglo, 15 percent African-American, and 15 percent Asian-American. Our residents include veterans, seniors, and working families. We are concerned that our children receive a quality education, that all our families have access to high-quality, affordable health care, that we invest our budget surplus to strengthen Social Security and Medicare, and that we fight to keep the promises that were made to our veterans. The southernmost neighborhood in my district, San Ysidro, California, is situated on the Mexican border and is the busiest border crossing between any two nations in the world! The proximity of Mexico provides both challenges and opportunities for my district--but we revel in the excitement of a truly binational community. To the east is Otay Mesa, primarily an industrial area with an expanding large-scale manufacturing base. Farther north are the cities of Chula Vista and National City, home to many residential areas and hundreds and hundreds of small businesses. One of the county's largest developments, Eastlake, is rapidly growing to the east of Chula Vista-- and Bonita, a neighborhood of middle-class homes in an unincorporated community of the county, is nearby. At the northern border of the 50th district is the central portion of the city of San Diego, just south and east of downtown, with many neighborhoods that are experiencing gentrification by ``urban pioneers'' moving back from the suburbs. All in all, the people of the 50th congressional district represent the best of America. Industrious and ambitious, striving for a good life for our children and grandchildren, we work and play together in a largely harmonious blend of race, ethnicity, and religion. We believe in the American dream. I am proud to represent these fine men, women and children, and I am working hard in Congress to ensure the best for their future.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I just returned from San Diego where earlier this week hearings were held by the Committee on Commerce Subcommittee on Power and Energy yesterday by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on the electricity crisis that is facing San Diego where, in the last 2 or 3 months, prices have doubled and tripled for the average consumer, people have gone out of business not able to pay their bills, a tremendous drain on our economy threatening recession for our whole area. It became clear in those hearings that this crisis was not brought about by any problem with the supply and demand, as some people charged, but was pure manipulation of the market by a few profit hungry power merchants who provide and generate the electricity for the western market. Three hundred fifty million dollars was sucked out of the San Diego economy in the last 3 months, $2 billion out of the California economy. I have legislation, Mr. Speaker, to make sure that the victims of this incredible price gouging disaster are not the consumers and small business people of California but those who have made the ill-gotten gains. Please pass H.R. 5131 to help San Diego.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, Tuesday, September 12, 2000, I was testifying before the Federal Electricity Regulatory Commission, which held a hearing in San Diego, CA, regarding our electricity rate crisis. Had I been able to be present for Rollcalls, I would have voted as follows: Rollcall No. 460--``yea'', Rollcall No. 461--``yea'', Rollcall No. 462--``yea'', Rollcall No. 463--``yea'', Rollcall No. 464--``yea''.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule I, I demand a vote on agreeing to the Speaker's approval of the Journal.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker I rise in support of H.R. 3378, a bill providing the best chance for a comprehensive solution to the problem of Mexican sewage flowing in to the U.S. and our waters. I introduced H.R. 3378, the Tijuana River Valley Estuary and Beach Sewage Cleanup Act, along with my colleague, Mr. Bilbray, to end a problem that has plagued the San Diego area for decades. No other district has endured raw sewage from Mexico flowing unabated in their riverbeds and beaches. By treating Mexican sewage in Mexico, this bill advances a common- sense solution to the problem of international sewage along the border between the United States. This is a win-win solution for both countries. The growing amount of sewage currently left untreated by Mexico and flowing into the U.S. would be treated--a win for both countries. And the treated sewage--which belongs to Mexico to begin with--could be reused in Mexican industrial and agricultural endeavors. Current plans--those short-sighted plans supported by both the EPA and International Boundary Water Commission (IBWC)--call for treating less than half of the sewage that fouls our beaches and estuaries. It has taken these bureaucracies 10 years to prepare to build a secondary treatment arm of the International Wastewater Treatment (the IWTP). In that time, the sewage flows have more than doubled, yet they continue to fight for a plan that will not solve the problem. The problem in beach pollution now is not the quality of the outfall coming from the International Wastewater Treatment Plant, but a growing quantity of sewage that Tijuana can't handle. The plan that Mr. Bilbray and I are advancing in H.R. 3378 would take care of the growing quantity of sewage as well as the sewage now being treated at the IWTP. Instead of spending money on an impartial solution, it would quickly provide a comprehensive solution to the problem. This is an acute problem. An official of the Surfrider foundation said, ``I'm surfing in sewage.'' He put it a little less delicately-- and it is not a very genteel situation in my District when sewage washes up on the beach, flows down our rivers and canyons and fouls the water where our children should be able to swim worry-free. A solution to not surfing in sewage? Build enough sewage treatment to handle the problem. That's what our bill would do. It says we will pursue a plan that can easily treat 50 million gallons of sewage each day--and perhaps even more. The plan makes even more sense when you know that the Mexican sewage will be reclaimed and reused by industrial and agricultural users in Mexico to help cover the cost. That way, all the hazardous and unhealthy sewage that now flows into our ocean without proper treatment will be cleaned--and much of it reused so that it never gets to the ocean. We may owe that to our surfers--but we definitely owe that to our children. I ask you to support this bill so that this innovative plan to protect the health and safety of San Diegans can move forward.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me. Mr. Speaker, I just briefly want to respond to the gentleman from Orange County, California (Mr. Rohrabacher). I invite him to visit San Diego. It is misplaced to blame the San Diego crisis on environmental regulations. Yes, we need more capacity as the environment grows. Yes, we need environmentally sensitive generating capacity. And, yes, we need alternative sources of energy. There is plenty of sun in San Diego. But this crisis is not one of supply and demand. This crisis had to do with monopoly pricing and manipulation of the market. The price had nothing to do with when the load was at peak or when supply was needed. It had to do with the people who controlled it and what price they could get.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mr. Herb King who is being honored on September 8th at the California Gay Veterans Memorial Dinner as the winner of the Sheila Kuehl Leadership Award. Herb is a long-time friend. He was born in September, 1918 and graduated from the Boston Latin School, the oldest public school in the United States. He attended the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in June, 1940 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology and Public Health. He went on active duty as a reserve Army Second Lieutenant in October of 1940. When Pearl Harbor was attacked the following December, he volunteered for field duty, served in the North African and Italian campaigns, and reached the rank of Major and a Battalion Commander. At the Quartermaster Subsistence Research Laboratory in Chicago, Herb developed the formula for a concentrated ration that was designated as the ``K'' Ration, based on his last name. After World War II, he became an industrial engineer in the food industry, designing food processing plants. He retired over 20 years ago. Herb has been on the executive board of the California Democratic Party, twice a delegate to the Democratic. National Convention, a member of the Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Veterans of America since it was founded in 1990, and a founding member and participant of the Federation of Gay Games. He was one of four gay and lesbian veterans who participated in a nation-wide bus tour in 1993, promoting equal rights for gays and lesbians in military service. Herb currently writes a regular column for the San Diego Gay and Lesbian Times and is a member of the San Diego Gay and Lesbian Band. The Sheila Kuehl Leadership Award that Herb is receiving is named for California State Assemblymember Sheila Kuehl. The proceeds from this Memorial Dinner will be dedicated to building California's first Lesbian Gay and Bisexual Veterans Memorial in Palm Springs. As a Member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, I am pleased to recognize Herb King for his military service to our nation and for his friendship and support.

Mr. FILNER

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to tell my colleagues about a tragic situation going on in San Diego, California. Like all of my colleagues, I went home at the beginning of August for a work period in our district, but what I found in San Diego was a disaster, and not a natural disaster but a man-made disaster, a disaster made by a few companies who are willing to put the whole quality of life of San Diegoans at risk for their own profit; a disaster that did not affect only a few people, but affected all of the residents of San Diego County, 2\1/2\ million people. What was the basis of this disaster? San Diego is the first area in California to fully deregulate the electrical utility industry, to fully deregulate, which means that San Diegans pay the market price for electricity. The market price is determined by the few generators of electricity who control the power grid into San Diego. So what was the result of this deregulation, a deregulation which was supposed to bring competition and lower the cost? It doubled and then tripled the cost of electricity in just 3 months. In just 3 months, if they were a resident in San Diego County, their bill went up from $45 to $50 to $100 one month and $150 the next month. If they were a small business struggling to get by, their $800 bill went up to $1,500 in one month and then went up to $2,500 the next month. How could they stay in business with those increases in prices? Hospitals, libraries, youth centers, schools, the military, all of their budgets thrown into turmoil. And what was the reaction of people? Rebellion. Many people just tore up their bills. Elected bodies in San Diego County said they are not going to pay the doubled or tripled price, they are going to pay only what they paid the year before, because they knew their costs were not determined by a supply-and-demand function but by price gouging and manipulation of the market. Rallies were held. Demonstrations took place. Political figures at the city, county, State level tried to begin to solve this problem. The State legislature acted earlier this week by putting a cap on the retail price of electricity, a cap on the retail price. But what the State legislature did was merely put a Band-Aid on a bleeding city. Because that price was just deferred to a later time. It was not refunded. It was deferred. And the people who would have to pay that price were not the folks who gouged San Diegans to begin with, but the actual consumers who were the victims of this price gouging. We must go beyond what the State of California's legislature did. The Federal Government must act and can act. The wholesale price of electricity can be set by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. And this Congress should direct that commission, known as FERC, to in fact roll back the wholesale price of electricity to the price that was paid before deregulation in which people had made profits and good profits at that price; and yet they were charging and are now charging prices double, triple, quadruple, five times what they were before deregulation. I have a bill, my colleagues, called the Help San Diego Act: Halt Electricity Price Gouging in San Diego and Halt it Now. The people in San Diego cannot survive the doubled and tripled prices of electricity rates. Small businesses are going under. Seniors are having to make choices between using their air conditioning or paying for their food or medical prescriptions. I ask my colleagues to look closely at San Diego, a little dot on the southwest corner of our Nation, because we are the poster children for the future. The rest of the State of California will soon be deregulated. Many of my colleagues in their States have deregulation bills in their legislatures. This House has deregulation bills in front of it. This deregulation cannot work, my colleagues, when a basic commodity is controlled by a few monopoly corporations. The San Diego example makes it clear the consumer must be protected if this kind of policy is going to be pursued. Deregulation in California took place without consumer protection. It took place in an atmosphere of monopoly control of a basic commodity. My city was in danger of dying economically. We have stopped it temporarily with State legislative action. But the Federal Government must act now. FERC must roll back the wholesale price of electricity retroactively. The people, the companies, who forced these unconscionable rates on the citizens of San Diego should pay the price and not the consumers, the victims themselves. My colleagues, look closely at San Diego. Your city may be next.