Patrick Kennedy

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Madam Chairman, I find it very ironic from the other side that they are so outraged about these cuts. This is an account within the Department of Labor that has seen a 33 percent increase over the last several Congresses, a 33 percent increase within this specific account of the Department of Labor. Now let's put that in perspective to what the Republicans put into other accounts within the Department of Labor. I seem to recall the International Child Labor Inspection in the last several Congresses was cut repeatedly over the last several Congresses, up to 87 percent. This is the International Labor Organization's duty to oversee child labor standards to ensure that our competitors are not using children in the conduct of labor when competing with us and our manufacturing process. Yet it was good enough for us to cut 87 percent of the inspection for child labor, but good enough for us to increase the 33 percent. Now we hear a complaint that somehow it's not good enough for us to just, since the account has done very well, to just keep it as it's going. Now there is a big outrage about this. I might add, where was the outrage when the 12 percent cut was for the wage and hour department? Where was that? I didn't hear any outrage. Where was the outrage for the compliance for the contractors? I didn't hear any outrage for that. It's just interesting, when we hear these complaints about where the cuts are, let's find out where the priorities really are. I think we are hearing them. They are not with the children and child labor. They are not with the workers and the wage and hour inspections, and they are not with the contractors and making sure that they are protected on the job. They are here going after, once again, people who are trying to earn a living. I think that's a very clear set of priorities in this Department of Labor account.

Mr. KENNEDY. Madam Chairman, I want to rise and congratulate the gentleman from Wisconsin, Chairman Obey, as well as Ranking Member Walsh for their good work on this bill. This bill, Madam Chairman, does a great deal in rejecting the President's cuts that would have provided $7.6 billion below last year's level in programs vital to protecting our Nation's health and education system. This bill today, instead, provides a 3 percent increase over last year in areas such as family intervention, early learning, education and health care access. Let me tell you what that means. That means that we can help make a difference in averting the kinds of problems that will come later on, because now we will invest in prevention. Programs such as the SAMHSA, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration program, and Starting Early Starting Smart, which invests in family intervention, are so crucial. We know from the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study that the Kaiser Foundation did that families that are in crisis produce children that are at higher risk for not only delinquency but for drug abuse, for HIV, and for greater health care problems. In this bill, we provide funds to go towards those families so that we can reach those parents. If we reach those parents, we reach those children. That, my friends, is what real family values are all about; it is reaching out to the families in this country in order to reach the children of this country. If we reach these children, they will be able to grow and prosper, and we as a Nation will be even stronger for it. Madam Chairman, I thank the chairman for the work that he has done in helping to build a stronger safety net for the children of this country. It will make our country an even stronger place for all of us to live.

Mr. KENNEDY. Let me just say to the gentleman from Florida, I find it curious that he says he is standing up for workers, because he must not recall his party gutting workers' overtime pay. I don't know whether he recalls that his party was for flex time. Make sure every worker out there understands the Republican Party passed flex time. That means that your overtime pay, America, is gone. They passed it. They are not for working people. They said, if you work overtime, that it wasn't counting as overtime pay, and that that overtime pay towards your pension didn't get calculated to your overtime pension. So don't say you are on the side of workers. I suppose that when you were for OSHA reform, that you are for workers, right? Reform in your view meant inspection was voluntary. That's really standing up for workers, making it so that the employer, all they had to do is, you know, check their own book to say whether they were protecting workers' heads or not from scaffolding or for those chemical plants that you mentioned, whether they were safe or not. They didn't have to worry about covering their tracks. They didn't have any tracks to cover any more under your bill for OSHA reform. As far as other bills, NLRB, forget it. You guys threw that out the window with the TEAM Act. There is no negotiating for unions. So don't stand up here and talk about how you guys like to protect workers under this phony premise that you want to see more transparency and compliance. That's just a lot of hogwash. In terms of international labor standards, if you don't understand the connection between slave labor abroad and workers here at home, I am sorry, you don't understand globalization.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. If the gentleman doesn't understand, through the Chairman, doesn't understand the comparison between children working overseas, fighting, working to try to manufacture products that are going to compete against our unionized workers here at home or our manufacturer workers, whether they are unionized or not, if he doesn't understand that they are competing against one another, I can't explain it to them. If he can't understand and grasp that it's in our interest to make sure that our competitors don't use children that are being paid pennies on the dollar while our moms and pops are having to compete against them with minimum wage standards, I can't explain it to him. If he doesn't understand that, it's hard for me to give him an economics lesson that they are competing in a global economy that has transparency of products thanks to these trade agreements.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation calling for the safe and responsible redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq. Make no mistake about it: The administration's incompetence in planning and executing the post-war occupation has brought us to this point. It is now Congress's responsibility to stand up for the majority of American voices who seek an end to this war. This bill provides for a redeployment of our troops not only so that they will be safe, but also so they will be focused on securing our Nation, not caught in the crossfire of a sectarian civil war in Iraq. We must provide for our men and women in uniform and their families. Some assert with no basis that the war in Iraq has made us safer when, in fact, the opposite is true. I am deeply troubled by today's report from the National Counterterrorism Center which states that al- Qaeda is stronger now than at any point since 9/11. Terrorist cells capitalized on our preoccupations in Iraq to reestablish a presence in the Middle East and beyond. For years, the Administration has stubbornly insisted that Iraq is the central front of the War on Terrorism, but today's report clearly indicates just how damaging this war has been to our national security. The President's progress report on Iraq issued today shows unsatisfactory improvement of security benchmarks. The report predicts a rise in insurgent violence in the coming months and an increased effort to disrupt life for Iraqis. In addition, there appears to be no improvement in eliminating the sectarian influences that have infiltrated Iraqi security forces. This is not acceptable. The administration has not delivered on its promises in Iraq and now we must move forward to establish a new direction. It simply is not fair to ask our soldiers and marines to continue to police someone else's civil war. It is especially irresponsible when considering the mountains of evidence from our own intelligence agencies pronouncing that this conflict cannot be solved by our military might alone. We must refocus our attention on the true threats to our Nation and our citizens. Americans owe a debt of gratitude to our troops and their families for the sacrifices they have made during this difficult time. Servicemembers have had to endure difficult assignments and failed civilian leadership; but they have done so with honor and dignity. We must not forget the families who had to go without their loved ones for months at a time; the missed birthdays, baseball games, long nights away. Mr. Speaker, the time for talking has ended; we must act, without delay, to redeploy our brave troops out of Iraq.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for young people. Too many people are waiting in our juvenile detention facilities all across America. It is causing a disruption in education all across this country. We need more child and adolescent mental health professionals if we are going to have an education system, and I thank the gentleman for helping us get more of those professionals in the field so we can move forward with their education.

Mr. KENNEDY. I thank the chairman of the committee. I'd like to thank Chairman Miller for his leadership in bringing to the floor the largest single investment in college financial aid since the GI Bill. The bill we are considering here increases the maximum Pell Grant by $500. It will cut the interest rate on student loans in half. It provides loan forgiveness for college graduates that agree to teach in high-need areas and who agree to go into public service professions. It accomplishes all of that, and yet here is the best part: this bill saves the American taxpayers $750 million. By reducing the excessive subsidies that Congress has lavished on private lenders, lenders that we have seen in the news this year have acted unscrupulously time and again, Chairman Miller has more than paid for the investments he is making in our students. I know that my constituents in Rhode Island who take out Federal students loans will appreciate the $4,420 in savings this bill provides to them. And I also know that the rest of my constituents will appreciate the fact that this increase in student aid does not cost them one extra dime. When Democrats took control in Congress, we promised to cut student loan interest rates in half, while at the same time proceeding in a fiscally responsible fashion. Today, we are fulfilling that promise. I will be proud to vote in favor of this bill, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. KENNEDY. I yield to the gentleman from California.

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. Speaker, I rise for a colloquy with the gentleman from California. As I understand, an important provision in this bill is a loan forgiveness program for individuals serving in high-need professions. One of those is child and adolescent mental health professionals. Do I understand the chairman in helping me secure this program in the overall bill so that we can bring more professionals into this area?

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. Speaker, our troops are returning from all over the world having suffered from many wounds, but many of the wounds that they're suffering from are not visible to the naked eye. Those wounds are psychological wounds. And tragically, our veterans system is not equipped, as we've seen this last week from a series by the Washington Post, to address many of those concerns. Our Nation needs to be better prepared to address the psychological and emotional wounds that our veterans are facing. And tragically, this country has not come to grips with the mental health crisis that even our own citizens face. This Congress needs to address this problem. It needs to address it within the Veterans Administration, and it needs to address it for this country by passing mental health parity and by making sure that we address PTSD for our veterans, making sure we have oversight of the VA, and making sure that they address the needs of our veterans, both visible and invisible wounds of our Nation's veterans.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. Chairman, I don't want anyone to mistake, after hearing the previous debate or any one of these amendments, what the big picture is here today. The success story today, the take-away message today is that this bill is the biggest increase in veterans health care in the history of the veterans health care system, the biggest increase in the 77-year history of the veterans health care system; and it has happened under the chairmanship of Chet Edwards. Every amendment here is talking about nickels and dimes compared to the overwhelming increase in billions of dollars, billions of dollars that are going into this veterans health care system that has never seen such an infusion of dollars. We're not talking about a little bit of money here, a little bit of money there, and that's often what ends up happening. We're talking about money for this program or that program. We are talking about billions of dollars that have never been even seen in this kind of fashion in any kind of veterans health care program before. And so what we are doing here is raising the bar for generations to come because what we're doing now is layering the bar up. So from now on, the floor is 20 stories higher than it was the day before. And from now on, whenever another veterans budget comes up, it is going to start from the top floor and move even higher. I want everyone to know that this is a monumental day. This budget exceeds even the proposed budget of all the veteran service organizations, even the VFW, the American Legion, the Paralyzed Veterans of America; this is even more than they have asked for. And I want to say on behalf of the mental health needs of our veterans, we are doing all that we need to do and more to try to make sure that their needs are met. And we should do so, because the suffering that these veterans have had to undergo as a result of this war has been unbearable. And we, as a Nation, owe it to make sure that not only do their outward physical wounds get met and treated, but their inward psychological wounds get tended to as well. And this bill does that. I want to thank the chairman for his work to make sure that not only their outward wounds, but their inward wounds get addressed as well. And I commend him for his leadership. He ought to feel very proud to be chairman on such an historic bill such as this, and I thank him for his leadership.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. Speaker, I have and will always support our troops. I have grieved with their families when they have fallen in battle. I have visited them in the hospitals and watched as they recover from some of the most devastating injuries any human could endure. As a member of the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee, I joined my colleagues earlier this week in passing the largest increase in veterans' health care funding in 77 years. I want our soldiers and marines in Iraq and Afghanistan to never doubt that their country values their sacrifices and will always be there for them and their families, whether in battle or when they come home. This bill, however, does not honor nor protect our troops. Without accountability and a clear change in policy, this bill simply becomes another blank check for President Bush to continue waging this war without regard to reality or the demands of the American people. The Congress has an obligation to provide our troops with the funding they need to succeed, but it is under no obligation to support a policy that leaves our troops trapped in the cross fire of a civil war. This Administration's disregard for the reality in Iraq, for what a clear majority of Americans now demand, and what is in the best interest of our long-term national security has gone on for too long. This is a vote to make clear that the Congress will not sit idly by as more American soldiers and marines are sucked into the quagmire of Iraq. It is long since past time to begin bringing our troops home. American blood cannot be a substitute for Iraqi political will. The Administration's mishandling of the war in Iraq has brought us to this point, and the Administration's determination to save face at all costs has again denied our troops a policy that takes full measure of the sacrifices they have made. I cast this vote with a heavy heart. The White House has been playing a reckless game of ``chicken'' when it comes to our troops, but neither the Congress nor the White House will ever bear the true burden. Our troops and their families shoulder the true grief and pain of suffering. The Administration has been served notice. It's my hope that this is only the beginning of Congressional efforts to force the Administration to face reality.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. Speaker, setting new records in the United States is generally associated with achievements and innovation. Unfortunately, this week our Nation hit a new record that most consumers are not celebrating. Gasoline prices were reported to reach nationwide averages of $3.20 or higher. It is not hard to understand these prices if you look at the Republican-controlled Congress' Energy Policy Act of 2005, which provided billions of dollars to the oil and gas companies while spending only pennies on renewable efforts for fuel that would allow us to get ourselves off the dependency on foreign oil. As Americans, we do not have a history of shying away from a challenge, and there is no reason to step down from the challenge that is ahead of us because of these Republicans. I think we can do better, and our history as Americans show that we will do better if we have the right leadership. I urge my colleagues to support the Federal Price Gouging Protection Act because it fulfills America's promise to do what Americans can do if they put their mind to it, and that is to do better and get off this dependency on foreign oil.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. If the gentleman would yield and answer how it would raise the cost to veterans and explain how it would, that would be helpful.

Mr. KENNEDY. According to whom?

Mr. KENNEDY. Well, I am sure the pharmaceutical industry would tell you that because they have a lot to lose by expanding it.

Mr. KENNEDY. Madam Chair, I want to acknowledge Chairman Skelton and Ranking Member Hunter for their good work on this bill. This authorization has very strong provisions on mental health, a number of them addressing the stigma issues regarding mental health, identifying the reintegration needs of our Reservists. Our Reservists make up nearly half of those fighting on behalf of the war on terror. Mental health nurse practitioners: It establishes a nurse practitioner graduate education program in the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences program that includes psychiatric mental health practices. It has mental health counselors who can now be reimbursed by TRICARE for services provided to our troops and their families. These counselors are cost-effective and ready to serve the families of our servicemembers as well as our servicemembers themselves. Also, we have the Mental Health Initiative that will coordinate the Department of Defense's research and development programs and provide opportunities for researchers to better improve identification and diagnosis of mental health problems. Finally, we have the Psychological Kevlar, which will help us begin to prevent the post-traumatic stress disorder problems that we are seeing many of our soldiers come back from Iraq suffering from. It is important that we include in our basic training, before our soldiers go abroad, not only physical resiliency and training but mental resiliency and training, so that they are as prepared to defend themselves mentally as they are physically before it is too late, before they suffer the terrible psychological wounds that yield them so disabled in many respects after the war, when it is too late. Finally, Madam Chairman, this bill includes provisions that will take account of measuring the quality and satisfaction of our military men and women in our military hospitals. We cannot wait for more of the kinds of Walter Reed anecdotal stories to rise to the surface before we begin to measure the quality and satisfaction in our military hospitals, and I am pleased to see this amendment adopted in the bill. The authorization has very strong mental health provisions that will help address the stigma our troops confront in seeking mental health care, increase the number of mental health professionals to serve the mental health needs of our troops and their families, and advance research developed from the nation's academic and medical base to better improve DoD's mental health research and treatment programs. Addressing stigma issues among reservists: The Secretary of Defense will establish a working group to identify the reintegration needs of our reservists. The working group will examine different programs operated by different services, States, and commands to help reservists. From there, it can identify best practices and develop plans to incorporate these practices across the military. Mental health nurse practitioners: The establishment of a nurse practitioner graduate education program at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences. The program's specialties would include psychiatric mental health practice. Mental health counselors: Mental health counselors can now be reimbursed by TRICARE for services provided to our troops and their families. The counselors are a cost-effective force ready to serve and help our service-members and their families. Military mental health initiative: This initiative would coordinate the Department of Defense's mental health research and development programs and provide an opportunity for researchers to better improve the identification diagnosis, and treatment of mental health issues. This plan will help incorporate evidence-based preventive and early intervention strategies into pre-deployment training, combat theater operations, and post-deployment service to strengthen our warfighters' psychological resiliency. Introducing our soldiers to mental health care only after they have been exposed to combat is far too late. We need to familiarize our soldiers and their families with how to recognize and deal with the symptoms of combat stress and trauma--and the benefits of mental health care--from early on in their military career. Our soldiers are trained from the moment they enter basic training or boot camp on how to physically protect themselves from harm. We need to ensure that they are just as well trained in protecting themselves psychologically as well.

Mr. KENNEDY. Madam Chair, when speaking about mental health, we should be speaking about it in terms of a positive. That is what makes us stronger. I think when the gentleman says that when we speak about mental health, we want to be careful so as not to make people feel like they are victims, looks at it in a negative way. Frankly, I am proud that at John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg the Green Berets have insisted that they have psychiatrists on call 24 hours, 7 days a week, not because they are the weakest branch of the military, but because they are the strongest and they want to remain the strongest. And they know that if they are to remain the strongest, they don't want to be thinking about anything else in their mind when they use their sharpshooter and they are called to duty for this country, where they are going to parachute in and use their technical expertise they have been trained to do. They know that they want to be able to do that job sufficiently, and that is why they have had this important mental health allowed for them, and that is why I think it is so important to have these facilities available for them.

Mr. KENNEDY. Madam Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Missouri and the gentleman from California. My amendment simply requires the Department of Defense to examine a process by which they would further add for the collection of data by which our servicemembers could rely on an apples-to-apples comparison of our military health care system, so that they could get a proper evaluation of the status of our health care system, so that we could avoid the kinds of anecdotal stories that we found out through the Walter Reed scandal. We shouldn't be finding this out through stories. We ought to be able to find this out through the garnering of data. And this is one of the ways that we seek to do so. By garnering this information just like we would through our regular health care system, we should do so through our military health care system, and that is what this amendment would do.

Mr. KENNEDY. I support the gentleman's amendment, and I would just point out if this country has learned anything from the last 6 years, it has learned that there must be checks and balances in our government. We have a war that has been proclaimed based upon lies. We have had a war that has been proclaimed based upon faulty intelligence. And we have had a war that has been proclaimed upon intelligence that has been manufactured. Now we have a public that has repeatedly felt that it has been lied to, and that they want to be heard by their Congress. All we are asking in this amendment is that their Congress have a chance to voice their own through the Representative's opinion before a Commander in Chief throws this country back into another war headlong without the American people having a voice in it.

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. Chairman, I think this amendment ought to be called the ``George W. Bush Amendment,'' because if it were any other President, I don't think we would have to worry about this. But this President has so undermined the confidence of the institution of the Presidency, it has brought this amendment to the floor; because I think this President has so jeopardized the confidence in the Presidency of the United States that the people, after the experience of this President, have become so distrustful that this President is going to drag them into another war under unwarranted circumstances that they would support an amendment like the one of the gentleman from New Jersey. And that is why I would call it the ``George W. Bush Amendment,'' for no other reason than it is because of George W. Bush that this amendment seems to be necessary.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Madam Speaker, yesterday, mothers from across the Nation were besieged with flowers, candy, homemade cards, and gifts in celebration of Mother's Day. As we all take a moment to honor the women in our lives, it is important for Congress to do the same. For the past several years, the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act has been stalled in the Congress. This critical legislation would authorize a research program at the National Institutes of Health to study the potential links between breast cancer and the environment. It would also include consumer advocates in the peer review and programmatic review process. While it is generally believed that the environment plays some role in the development of breast cancer, the extent of that role remains a mystery. Less than 30 percent of breast cancers are explained by known risk factors, which means that up to 70 percent of those who suffer are still searching for answers. As with other cancers, if we know what causes it, we can do so much more to prevent it from ever occurring. On this Mother's Day, let's pass the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act for our moms, for our daughters and future moms-to-be, and for everyone who has ever been touched by a loved one with breast cancer. It is time to celebrate the women in our lives with more than pink flowers and pajamas; it is time to celebrate them with the honor and commitment to medical research that will soon save their lives.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Madam Speaker, on the evening of May 2, 2007 I missed nine Rollcall votes. I respectfully request the opportunity to record my position on these Rollcall votes. It was my intention to vote: No on recorded vote 287 Sullivan Amendment to the Honda Amendment. Yes on recorded vote 288 Honda Amendment. No on recorded vote 289 Campbell Amendment number 5. No on recorded vote 290 Campbell Amendment number 4. No on recorded vote 291 Garrett Amendment number 11. No on recorded vote 292 Flake Amendment. Yes on recorded vote 293 Matsui Amendment. No on recorded vote 294 Price Amendment. Yes on recorded vote 295 Final Passage of H.R. 1867.

Mr. KENNEDY

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. Speaker, the President is making a terrible and costly mistake by vetoing the war funding bill and rejecting the clear desire of Congress and the country for a swift redeployment of U.S. ground forces from Iraq. The veto and the insistence on staying the course is not a mistake simply because it ignores public opinion; we wouldn't want a Commander- in-Chief to be simply a weather vane. And it is not a mistake just because our courageous troops and military families are exhausted from bearing the full weight of sacrifice themselves. We know they are prepared to pay any price for American security, which is why we owe them such a debt of gratitude. No, the President's veto is a grave mistake because refusing to change course in Iraq is compromising U.S. security. Administration rhetoric notwithstanding, policing the civil war in Iraq does not bring us closer to defeating the global network of extremists who wish to harm us. To the contrary, in order to improve national security and best address our other strategic interests around the world and here at home, we must dramatically change our current direction in Iraq. Our men and women in uniform have always served our country courageously and performed brilliantly. But asking them to stand between warring factions is not only unfair, it is counterproductive. Redeployment from Iraq will enhance our security by allowing us to properly address other potential challenges around the world from Afghanistan, North Korea, and Iran to Latin America, the Horn of Africa, and the greater Middle East. In particular, it will allow us to put our attention back on Afghanistan and the fight against a resurgent al Qaeda and Taliban, the enemies who actually did engineer 9/11. Bringing troops home also allows us to resolve the concerns about the readiness of our Armed Forces, which have been strained to the breaking point because of this Administration's careless management of the war in Iraq. Only by extricating ourselves from the mess of Iraq can we begin moving our country back to a common-sense policy of strength through leadership. Every day our military is in Iraq our standing in the international community erodes further. Already we've seen respect for the United States plunge from record highs after 9/11 to record lows now. This loss of moral authority compromises our ability to lead multinational efforts to fight national security threats from terrorism and nuclear proliferation to global warming and drug trafficking. Our continuing military involvement in Iraq carries these steep costs with little prospect of benefit. Only the Iraqis can bring about the needed reconciliation in their country. Their political leaders must take the difficult political steps needed to cease the violence in their country, by building coalitions among competing sects, ensuring minority rights, balancing power between provincial and central governments, and sharing oil revenues among all regions in Iraq. We simply cannot do this work for them. By setting a deliberate timetable for redeployment, we force the Iraqi political leaders to acknowledge and accept that they are the ones who must take steps to bring about an end of the sectarian violence. Bad things may happen when our Armed Forces leave Iraq if the Iraqis cannot or will not choose reconciliation over conflict. But that will be true if we leave at the end of this year, the end of next year, or in 2015. Delaying redeployment simply delays the Iraqis' moment of responsibility. Our strong leaders of the last century, like Presidents Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, and Reagan, recognized that while American military might was important, American values were our greatest strength. Just as we rallied the world in the Second World War and defeated the Soviets in the Cold War on the strength of our Nation's democratic ideals, ultimate victory against this generation of enemies will similarly be won in the minds of millions around the world, not on the battlefield in Iraq or anywhere else. Indeed, that long-term victory is impossible while we are in the middle of Iraq's civil war. There is no easy solution to the problems in Iraq, but it would be irresponsible to push a difficult decision off to another day, another Congress, or another President. We must stand firm and hold the Iraqi leaders responsible for their country. It is time for the United States to turn its attention to its broader global security and redeploy from Iraq.

Mr. KENNEDY

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