Frank Pallone

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. The answer is, no, if I could explain why just very briefly.

Mr. PALLONE. I've been trying to explain that the reason that the money is saved pursuant to this provision is because physician self- referrals inherently are not a good thing. We are trying to discourage it as much as possible and not having it be the case in the future. Now there are some hospitals that, as you said, historically had this configuration. But we don't want to encourage it. We want to discourage it. That's why we're saying that we'll have a standard with the 40 percent and the 2 percent and we'll even allow some of them to grow if they meet certain standards. But we're not looking to have this continue because it inherently is not a good thing.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. DeGette).

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve a point of order.

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

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I insist on my point of order. The gentleman is not confining his remarks to the point of order.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I just want to also thank the two sponsors of this legislation, Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Ramstad. If any of you had been in Trenton, New Jersey, the day when Mr. Kennedy held a hearing, to see the compassion that he brought to the hearing, to hear him tell his personal story, to see those who are advocates for the bill in my State to show up and basically explain why the type of discrimination that exists now with regard to mental health coverage should not continue. I think Mr. Kennedy said on the floor today that this is a civil rights issue, and that is true. People may doubt that a lot of discrimination continues to exist about mental illness, and certainly we have come a long way, there is no question about that, but the fact of the matter is that the discrimination continues. And although we have made some progress in terms of the Federal law, and even different States have passed legislation that is somewhat similar to this, the bottom line is that we don't have absolute equality or equity at this point, and we need to make sure that if there is going to be mental health coverage, it covers all types of mental health illnesses as well as substance addiction. In addition to that, we want to make sure that the same is true, whether you are in or out of the health care network. These two gentlemen, my colleagues Mr. Ramstad and Mr. Kennedy, have been working on this bill for such a long time, and it really is a tribute to them and to Paul Wellstone that we are about to pass this bill. We commit, myself and the other chairmen of our respective committees, that we will not only pass this, but we will make sure that we do a bill that we can conference between the two Houses and get it to the President and hopefully get him to sign it before the end of this session.

Mr. PALLONE. Yes, I continue to reserve my point of order.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time until the end of the debate.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I insist on my point of order. I raise a point of order that the motion to recommit contains nongermane instructions in violation of clause 7 of Rule XVI. The instructions in the motion to recommit address an unrelated matter within the jurisdiction of a committee not represented in the underlying bill.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Altmire).

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Murphy).

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Eshoo).

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to our distinguished majority leader, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I would yield 4\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Kennedy), the sponsor of this legislation, who has been out on the road, and such a champion. I can't imagine what else to say about all his work on this.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky).

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Baird).

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I would yield initially to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Langevin).

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the motion.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I reclaim my time and I want to thank the gentleman from Rhode Island for what he said. I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Stupak).

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, President Bush and congressional Republicans are playing politics with our national security. They're falsely claiming that the expiration of a temporary provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is endangering America and compromising our national security. If that is indeed the case, why did the President threaten to veto any extension of his own law? And why did every House Republican vote against a 21-day extension of the law earlier this month? If the expiration of this law would, indeed, endanger the American public as Republicans suggest, wouldn't House Republicans do everything in their power to actually keep the law in place? And despite all this fearmongering, House Republicans know that all of our electronic surveillance capabilities are still in place. Mr. Speaker, while the White House and congressional Republicans play games with our national security, congressional Democrats will continue to work to pass a final FISA bill that will give our intelligence community the tool it needs to protect our Nation while we also protect our citizens' civil liberties.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, President Bush and congressional Republicans are playing politics with our national security. After slowing down the process of withholding key documents in the Senate, President Bush and congressional Republicans are demanding the House take immediate action on a Senate FISA bill that just passed the Senate yesterday. The Protect America Act is a law that was pushed by the President, and yet today he says that he will oppose any attempts by Congress to extend that law for 3 additional weeks. The House has passed its own bill, the RESTORE Act, that will modernize FISA by giving the intelligence community the tools it needs to track terrorists while protecting the constitutional rights of innocent Americans. If Congress does not extend the Protect America Act, the intelligence community will still have all the tools it needs to continue current surveillance and begin new surveillance on any terrorist threat. Mr. Speaker, if the President was serious about our national security, he would stop playing politics over a very serious issue.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, one of the best ways to expand prosperity for more Americans is to make college more affordable. Today, an education at a private university is close to $50,000 a year, and things aren't much better at public universities where prices have shot up 40 percent above inflation in the last 7 years alone. This Democratic Congress has worked to eliminate some of the sticker shock. Last year we passed the College Cost Reduction Act of 2007, which was the single largest increase in college aid since the GI Bill. But we are not done. Today we will vote on the College Opportunity and Affordability Act, which will make college more affordable and accessible. The bill encourages colleges to rein in price increases and to provides consumers with helpful information so they can make the best decisions on which school to choose. The legislation also simplifies the Federal student aid application process, expands college access and support for low-income and minority students, and increases aid for our veterans and military families. Mr. Speaker, let's continue to strengthen our Nation's future by passing the College Opportunity and Affordability Act today.