Chip Pickering

Mr. PICKERING

Mr. PICKERING. Madam Speaker, I was unable to be present for rollcall vote No. 876 to H.R. 1852. I would have voted ``yes.''

Mr. PICKERING

Mr. PICKERING. Madam Speaker, on Rollcall vote 806 to strike section 726 from the bill relating to the importation of prescription drugs, I voted ``no''. I intended to vote ``aye''. My vote would not have changed the result, but I want this Record to reflect my intention.

Mr. PICKERING

Mr. PICKERING. Madam Speaker, today I want to recognize a Mississippian who has been a true champion for Head Start for over 40 years. This Friday, on April 27, 2007, the Winston County Complex Mississippi Action for Progress will celebrate the ``Mattie Cooper's Day.'' I join them in expressing my appreciation to Mattie for her love of Head Start. Her colleagues know her as a steadfast advocate with unwavering support for both the mission and the children of Head Start. Mattie Cooper knows Head Start. She started out as a teacher's assistant and progressed through the program. Currently she serves as the County Administrator for the Winston County Complex Mississippi Action for Progress, in Louisville, Mississippi. Her work is a calling, a mission, and she strives every day to make a difference in the lives of young Mississippians. Mattie Cooper started her career with the Wesley Education Association (WEA) in 1966. Recognizing her talents, they encouraged her to attend the Tuskegee Institute to obtain teacher certification. Following 5 years at Tuskegee, WEA asked her to participate in classes, workshops, seminars and conferences at various Mississippi universities to obtain her Social Worker's license. She earned her certification and WEA promoted her to Social Services Director. They also named her the Parent Involvement/Volunteer Coordinator. She continued her success in motivating the parents and community with phenomenal results. When Wesley Education Association joined the Mississippi Action for Progress (MAP), this new and stronger Head Start program promoted Mattie Cooper to Center Administrator. Quickly recognizing her talents and the potential of the Winston County Complex, MAP's executive director promoted Mattie to the highest position for the county: County Administrator. Mattie Cooper graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1992 and number one in her class with an associate's degree from Mary Holmes College. In 1962, she was valedictorian of her high school. In addition to Head Start, she serves her community and church. She maintains the integrity of elections and confidence of voters in our democratic system as a Winston County Election Commissioner. And for almost 40 years, she has served as secretary for the Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church in Louisville. Mattie's dedication to service begins at home. For almost 45 years, she has been a supportive wife to William Cooper. Together, they have a daughter Sharon Cooper Johnson who, with her husband Robert Johnson, Jr., is rearing a new generation of this family in Robert (Tre) Johnson, III. I have known Mattie Cooper for over a decade and she makes her dedication to Head Start and her community evident and a priority in all her work. I hope Congress joins me in honoring this Mississippi servant-leader and commending her work at enhancing her community, supporting her church, training the children of Winston County, and nurturing her family. She is a tremendous pillar of Louisville and deserves the honor given her this Friday.

Mr. PICKERING

Mr. PICKERING. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Stroke Treatment and Ongoing Prevention Act. As the original cosponsor of the STOP Stroke Act, I would like to extend a special thanks to my colleague and the bill's sponsor, Congresswoman Capps for her tireless efforts to move this important legislation. Despite significant advances in its diagnosis, treatment, and prevention, stroke remains the nation's number three killer and a leading cause of long-term disability. An estimated 700,000 U.S. residents have a new or recurrent stroke each year, and about 160,000 of them die, according to statistics compiled by the American Heart Association. On average, every 45 seconds, someone in the United States has a stroke, and someone dies of a stroke every 3 to 4 minutes. Stroke is the number four killer in my home state of Mississippi. In 2004, 1,651 people in Mississippi died of stroke. Mississippi ranks first in the nation for the highest death rate from heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases. Today 5.7 million Americans are stroke survivors. As many as 30 percent of them are permanently disabled, requiring extensive and costly care. It is expected that stroke will cost the nation $62.7 billion in 2007. Prompt treatment of patients experiencing stroke can save lives and reduce disability, yet thousands of stroke patients do not receive the care they need. Additionally, most Americans cannot identify the signs of stroke, and even emergency medical technicians are often not taught how to recognize and manage its symptoms. Even in hospitals, stroke patients often do not receive the care that could save their lives. Rapid administration of clot-dissolving drugs dramatically improves the outcome of stroke, yet fewer than 3 percent of stroke patients now receive such medication. The STOP Stroke Act is a first step toward removing these barriers to quality stroke care, thereby saving lives and reducing disability. The legislation addresses a number of significant hindrances to quality stroke care including low public awareness, lack of necessary infrastructure, low awareness among medical professionals, and lack of adequate data collection. The legislation will coordinate these various components. According to the American Heart Association, developing coordinated systems of care is essential to improving prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation for stroke patients. The STOP Stroke Act authorizes a national public information campaign to educate the public about stroke, including how to reduce risk, recognize the warning signs, and seek emergency treatment as soon as symptoms occur. This legislation also authorizes the Paul Coverdell Stroke Registry and Clearinghouse to collect data about the care of acute stroke patients and foster the development of effective stroke care systems. The clearinghouse will serve as a resource for States seeking to design and implement their own stroke care systems by collecting, analyzing and disseminating information on the efforts of other communities to establish similar systems. The STOP Stroke Act also provides grants for public and non-profit entities to develop and implement continuing education programs in the use of new diagnostic approaches, technologies, and therapies for the prevention and treatment of stroke. Stroke support can be delivered to smaller, underserved facilities by relying more heavily on innovative telemedicine approaches that overcome the boundaries of time and distance to help rural hospitals tap into otherwise unattainable resources. Finally, this bill authorizes a telehealth stroke treatment pilot project to support states' efforts to develop comprehensive networks to improve stroke prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation. These grants will allow states to identify stroke centers, improve communication networks that bring stroke care to rural areas, and decease response time. The time has come for a bill such as the STOP Stroke Act. In fact, the time is past due. We are in a situation where stroke rates are on the rise, and we must address the issues that are going to help us match resources with the growing need to prevent and treat this devastating illness. I look forward to working with my colleagues in both Chambers to promptly move this legislation that has actually passed previously in both the House and the Senate.

Mr. PICKERING

Mr. PICKERING. Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 118 I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''

Mr. PICKERING

Mr. PICKERING. Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to this resolution. As we look back through our Nation's history, and we look back at all the great chapters, there were moments, decisive, critical moments, where our Nation could have given up, or given in, could have withdrawn, could have surrendered, and those moments that make us most proud are those chapters in our history where we did not give up, retreat, surrender. If we had a mission, we completed it. If we look to Lincoln's message at one of those turning and tipping points in our history at Gettysburg, when this Nation was in the midst of its bloodiest civil war, Lincoln said, We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this Nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom. We have a new Nation trying to grasp its first breath of freedom, to form a more perfect union of freedom and equality and democracy. Lincoln's second inaugural address: With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness and the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the Nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. Today I took a couple on a tour of this great Capitol, and we walked into the Rotunda under the magnificent dome, the place where if you put the Statue of Liberty, it would still have room within that dome. The dome was finished and constructed during our Civil War. Abraham Lincoln was questioned during that time, Shall we devote our time and our resources and the labor to the completion of the dome, or should that go to the war effort? And Lincoln said, No, that is a symbol of our union, and we will complete the work of the dome. When Lee met Grant at Appomattox, it is said that Lee's first question to Grant was, Have they finished the dome yet? They had just finished it in the spring of 1865. Today that dome defines and symbolizes the strength of our Nation and of our democracy. Many in the world probably thought during that time that we would never survive, and the real question for many of us today as a Nation at war that is spiraling in civil war, can that civil war end? Can a nation be unified? Could the hatred and the violence be stopped and then reconciliation bring unity? There are many on the other side who believe that it is futile, that all civil wars will never end, that these ancient hatreds will not stop. But if we look to our recent history in Bosnia, there was a President of the other party who stood and said, We can intervene. We will give our military and our diplomatic resources to bring about an end to civil war. He was successful, and history judges him well for that. To be honest, many on this side of the aisle did not stand in support of that President at that time. But our Nation remembers and are glad that we had a leader who intervened and brought stability to a critical region of the world, and new democracies emerged. We started this effort together after 9/11. We all remember standing on the steps and singing ``God bless America.'' We can remember going to the cathedral, the National Cathedral, and praying for our guidance and for our unity. We authorized the war together. We adopted a policy of regime change together, overwhelmingly. And now, 4 years later, when it is difficult and grave doubts rise, will we give up, or will we complete the work and finish the work in which we can be proud? Lieutenant Joshua Trapp, who flies Apache helicopters in Iraq, deployed this spring after his marriage to Elizabeth of only 3 weeks. He now believes and hopes that he can complete his mission. I rise today in Joshua Trapp's name, and all of those other Mississippians who have given their lives, that their life may not have been in vain, and that their mission may be supported in this body in this time and this place and that it is a chapter we in this place will remember as we age and grow old that we did not walk away, retreat, surrender, but we finished the mission.

Mr. PICKERING

Mr. PICKERING. Mr. Speaker, Armando de la Cruz has been inducted into the Starkville Education Hall of Fame and was recognized for his education, community leadership, and national academic achievements at a recent event in Starkville. De la Cruz taught 15 different undergraduate and graduate courses at Mississippi State University for 30 years and remains professor emeritus of biological sciences at MSU. He has received 26 research and educational competitive grants, published four laboratory manuals, seven study guides and more than 100 research papers. He has earned 12 scholarships and fellowships including the Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowships and was presented with 15 professional awards at MSU. His research and teaching have taken him to about 70 countries but, his time and attention continued to focus on his local community where he founded the Sustainable Future Roundtable and wrote a column for the Starkville Daily News entitled ``Focus on the Environment.'' He has served on the Board of Directors for Helping Hands Ministries, the Red Cross, the Starkville Community Theater, and Habitat for Humanity. He served on the board and as president of the Starkville Area Arts Council in 2004, and served as chairman of the Cotton District Arts Festival in 2003 and 2004. He is the recipient of the Southwire Community Environmental Award in 1999 and the T.E. Veitch Community Service Award in 2004. I hope this Congress joins me in recognizing Armando de la Cruz as he adds the Starkville Education Hall of Fame membership to his long list of achievements and honors.

Mr. PICKERING

Mr. PICKERING. Mr. Speaker, an enduring member of Mississippi's healthcare community will soon be retiring from his position as Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health. Dr. Albert Randel Hendrix has contributed decades of time, energy, and passion into serving his community, State, and individuals with mental heath needs. Mississippi will miss his service. Dr. Randy Hendrix is a native Mississippian, born and educated in Panola County. He served in our armed forces in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970. Following his Army discharge, Dr. Hendrix returned to Mississippi to complete graduate studies at the University of Mississippi, where he completed his Master's Degree in 1971, and at the University of Southern Mississippi, where he completed his doctoral degree in 1979. Dr. Hendrix has completed the Executive Education Program at Duke University, the Executive Development Institute of the John C. Stennis Institute of Government at Mississippi State University, and the Certified Public Managers Program. He began his professional career with the Department of Mental Health at Ellisville State School in 1971. In 1975, Dr. Hendrix was appointed Director of the North Mississippi Regional Center in Oxford, Mississippi. At the age of 28, he was the youngest director of a major facility in the Nation. While in Oxford, he was also a professor of Special Education and an adjunct professor in Healthcare Administration at the University of Mississippi. In November of 1986, Dr. Hendrix assumed responsibilities as Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health, the State's largest agency. Dr. Hendrix is the longest serving Executive Director of Mental Health services in the Nation and will be retiring soon. During his career with the Department of Mental Health, Dr. Hendrix has served on many Boards and Commissions including Chairman of the Mississippi Developmental Disabilities Council, member on the Governor's Council on Aging, and is currently the chairman and longest serving member of the mississippi Board of Rehabilitative Services, past chairman and member of the State Interagency Coordinating Council for Children and Youth with Severe Emotional Problems, Member of the Mississippi Disability Resource Commission, Children's Trust Fund Advisory Council and Statewide CDC Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Planning Advisory Committee. He is a member and former officer of the Mississippi Chapter of the American Association on Mental Deficiency, Board Member of the Association of Mental Health Administrators since 1987, and has served as Executive Director for the Mississippi Arts Fair for the Handicapped since 1980. Dr. Hendrix was selected as State Administrator of the Year, Herman C. Glazier Award Winner in 1990, recipient of the Agency Leadership Award of the National Association of Superintendents of Public Residential Facilities for the Mentally Retarded in 1992, recipient of the Governor's Stennis Award for Excellence in Government in 1994, and selected for Honorary Membership in Pi Alpha Alpha in 1997. Dr. Hendrix is also a member of the Honorary Scholastic Organization of Phi Theta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, and Phi Delta Kappa. Dr. Hendrix and his wife, Sandy, are the parents of 4 children, Jo Ellen Hendrix Townsend, Sarah, Randel, and Sandra and the grandparents of Grace, Jessica and Jeffrey Townsend. For over 30 years, Dr. Hendrix has used his talent, knowledge, and skills to make Mississippi a better place and enhance the care of individuals with mental health concerns. We thank him for his service and know that even after his retirement, he will continue to be a pillar of his community and his State.

Mr. PICKERING

Mr. PICKERING. Mr. Speaker, as this Congress comes to an end, we see the closing of an era for News Channel 12 in Jackson, Mississippi. After 25 years in the business, Melanie Christopher--the cheerful and informative co-anchor of WJTV--will be retiring at the end of this year. She will be focusing more time and attention on her husband and family, but we, her viewers, will miss her. Melanie is one of Jackson's most respected and honored television journalists. This year, she was voted ``Newsperson of the Year'' by the Mississippi Associated Press, the first female journalist to earn this distinction. Her work has also won awards from the National Commission on Working Women, the Mississippi Association of Broadcasters, and the Associated Press. She has served as emcee of numerous fund raising events on WJTV over the years, including the Children's Miracle Network telecast to benefit Batson Hospital for Children in Jackson. In recent years, Melanie has been the face of health and medical reporting for WJTV as she informed viewers about the latest treatments, drugs, and how to improve their health. Melanie serves on the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan YMCA and MORA, the Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency. She also works with the March of Dimes, the Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children. She is also a board member of Ballet Mississippi and hosts ``The Learning Exchange'' four times a year on Mississippi ETV. Mr. Speaker, Melanie Christopher has long been a reliable, trustworthy source of news and information for Mississippians, and her dedication to the community has earned her well deserved honor. She has served in her role as journalist and kept the public trust in that institution. We will miss tuning in to see and hear her on WJTV, but I'm convinced she will continue to benefit her community and all of Mississippi for many years to come.

Mr. PICKERING

Mr. PICKERING. Mr. Speaker, I rise in proud support of this legislation. I want to thank you and your leadership; I want to thank Congressman Pallone, Congresswomen DeGette and Bono, all of the coalitions that have been great advocates for helping increase the research, the funding, the exploration, and the discovery of what we know today about autism. I want to thank my friend Rick Santorum and commend him for his dogged support and championing of this effort. And, I want to talk a little bit about today what we know about autism, how pervasive it is, how many children it affects, and what it means for us as a Nation and for our families. One in 166 children is diagnosed with autism. For boys, and I am the father of five sons, one in 104 boys is on the autism spectrum; 67 children per day are diagnosed. A new case is diagnosed almost every 20 minutes. More children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with AIDS, diabetes, or cancer combined. It is the fastest growing serious developmental disability in the U.S. and it costs our Nation over $90 billion per year and it is a figure expected to double over the next decade. Yet, autism receives less than 5 percent of the research funding available when it is one of the most prevalent diseases spreading across our country. But the good news is we are learning, we are discovering, we are understanding much better today. We are much better able to detect, understand, identify. It is much more possible to have early intervention and the therapies and the types of treatments that help young children maximize the gifts and the talents that they have. I want to say as someone who has met with many of the families, and all of our families have children that have been affected by this, I want to say it is not only a disability but it is also a gift. And it really is. For those of us who know and who have personal involvement, there are special angels among us with great tremendous gifts that come from autism. And what we want to do, what I want to do is to make sure that these gifts, these abilities that are special, unique, distinct, wonderful opportunities, to really maximize the things that children with autism can bring to all of us. And with this legislation today, I believe that we will maximize the understanding, we will maximize the gifts of our children who have autism, and we will make sure that their gifts are shared with the rest of the Nation and their contributions in science and math and reading and all the different areas where they may have gifts but also great struggles, that we can overcome those, that we can meet this challenge, and that the understanding of this disease and the treatments that are made available because of this legislation will make a difference in the lives of countless families and countless children. So I rise today in proud support. I want to thank all of those who made it possible and the Members who have worked. Chris Smith and the Autism Caucus deserve special praise for raising the awareness and building the coalitions within Congress and organizing the outside groups to make this day possible. I am proud that before we leave this Congress, we do not leave this job undone. And I thank Chairman Deal for all of his hard work in making this possible, and Chairman Barton, the ranking members, and all those who worked, especially our staff. May God bless this effort, and thank you very much.

Mr. PICKERING

Mr. PICKERING. Mr. Speaker, as we near the end of this session of Congress, I see the end of the loyal service of my legislative director and counsel, Mike Hurst. He leaves my office in October to become an Assistant United States Attorney in Mississippi. Today I make these remarks to honor Mike's service and to recognize the challenges we faced together as he now embarks on this new opportunity. It was August 2003 when Mike Hurst first joined my team. After graduating from Newton County Academy as the valedictorian in 1993, he attended East Central Community College on a basketball scholarship where he earned an Associates of Arts degree. He was the student body association president and ``Mr. ECCC.'' He went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science at Millsaps College in 1997 here he was recognized for his academic achievements and earned a law degree from George Washington University Law School in 2000. After working in the private sector for a few years at Troutman Sanders, Mike turned to public service as majority staff counsel for the House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on the Constitution. Mike joined my staff as legislative director and counsel and led my staff and committee work on telecommunications, transportation, and energy issues including the House-passed Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006 and Mississippi specific language in the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act of 2004. He served as my representative on the conference committees for the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users. Following Hurricane Katrina, he assisted me in drafting and passing into law--in less than a month--the Local Community Recovery Act of 2006. He also played an integral part in drafting the Housing Opportunities and Mitigating Emergencies Act of 2005, which served as the model for Mississippi's post-Katrina housing initiative implemented through community development block grants. Mike is a son of Newton County who grew up in what we affectionately call Hurstville, a ``suburb'' of the town of Hickory, population 512. His father Mike operates Mike Hurst Trucking and his mother Lucy is an assistant district engineer for the Mississippi Department of Transportation. I know they, along with his sister Aime'e Hurst Lang, are proud of Mike. Now Mike, his wife Celeste and their children Anna Reagan, Amelia, Asa with another on the way, have returned home to Mississippi. Our office will miss his experience, knowledge, and skills, but Mississippi and our Nation will continue to benefit from his service as an assistant United States attorney. Mike Hurst leaves a formative mark on the shape and operation of my office. We will miss his good nature, humor, and dedication to his work. But I thank him for his service to this office and to Mississippi.

Mr. PICKERING

Mr. PICKERING. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 444 I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. PICKERING

Mr. PICKERING. Mr. Speaker, we in this country, unfortunately, don't always do what's good for us. The benefits of a regular check up are well known, but for one reason or another millions of Americans will only visit their physician when they think something is serious enough that they feel they have no choice. I can only imagine how the reluctance to visit a doctor is exacerbated for the millions of people in the United States with chronic conditions--such as diabetes, congestive heart failure and arrhythmia--who need to see their physicians on a regular basis. The situation is even worse for seniors who have difficulties moving around or lack the means or resources to make frequent trips to the doctor. Government statistics show that maintaining mobility is a serious challenge for many seniors: Over 20 percent of people 65 and older have difficulty going outside the home; approximately 17 percent of men and 28 percent of women find it very difficult or are unable to walk just three city blocks; every 10 years after reaching the age of 65 the odds of losing mobility double. People who live in rural areas can face serious health care consequences because of the lack of easily accessible services. One out of every five Americans lives in rural areas; however, only one out of every 10 physicians practices in rural areas. Forty percent of our rural population lives in a medically underserved area, with access to care an average of 30 miles away. I'm proud to stand here as a lead sponsor of the Remote Monitoring Access Act of 2006 because I believe this legislation will promote technologies that have the potential to transform how health care providers and their patients--particularly seniors with chronic conditions--communicate and manage their conditions. Remote monitoring technologies collect, analyze and transmit vital patient information to health care providers hundreds of miles away, allowing physicians to manage a patient's condition in a more consistent and real-time fashion. This technology can not only improve the quality of care given to patients, it also reduces the need for frequent visits to the doctor's office, costly emergency room visits, and unnecessary hospitalizations. Remote monitoring technologies allow patients to be in constant contact with their doctors without leaving the comfort of their homes. For seniors who find travel difficult or hard to afford, this will provide welcome relief. Beyond improving quality of life, remote monitoring technologies also improve quality of care, as physicians will be able to more closely monitor their patients and, by receiving more up-to-date information, detect and treat their patients' conditions earlier. Remote monitoring technologies will bring 21st century health care to every individual regardless of their location, mobility, or age. The expertise of physicians and specialists and the resources of health care institutions will no longer be limited by geographic location but can be harnessed to help many more patients. Currently, Medicare payments are primarily provided for face-to-face meetings between physicians and patients. The current system offers no incentives for physicians to adopt remote monitoring technologies even though they may provide better clinical information and save physicians time. In addition, the payments often do not pay for the clinician time involved in non-face-to-face interactions that are necessary for interpreting and responding to data received via remote monitoring technologies. Consequently, the Medicare payments may not adequately reflect the value of patient management services involving remote monitoring technologies. The Remote Monitoring Access Act of 2006 will fix this gap in the Medicare payment system. This bipartisan legislation would provide reimbursement under the Medicare physician fee schedule for remote patient management services used to manage specific medical conditions such as diabetes, cardiac arrhythmia, congestive heart failure and sleep apnea, as well any other condition the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines appropriate. This bill also requires the HHS Secretary to develop standards of care and quality for the remote management services provided for each medical condition covered. Cardiac arrhythmia, or abnormal heart rhythm, is just one of the chronic conditions that can be better managed through remote monitoring technologies. Cardiac arrhythmias affect more than five million people nationwide, and result in more than 1.2 million hospitalizations and 400,000 deaths each year in the United States atrial fibrillation, the most common form of cardiac arrhythmia, is also a leading indicator of stroke, with about 15 percent (or 105,000) of strokes occurring in people with atrial fibrillation. The Remote Patient Monitoring Act will promote greater adoption and use of remote monitoring technologies so that patients suffering from cardiac arrhythmias, with their physicians, will be able to better manage this chronic condition. I would like to thank my colleagues, Representative Eshoo, Representative Hayworth, and Representative Tanner, for joining with me to support this important legislation. I look forward to working with other Members of the House to ensure passage of this measure which will help millions of patients in the United States have better access to the latest medical technology and information.

Mr. PICKERING

Mr. PICKERING. Mr. Speaker, today I want to recognize a Mississippian who has given a century of service to her family, friends and community. She and her husband, the Reverend Monroe J. Irving, reared ten children. She now has forty-two grandchildren, eighty-seven great- grandchildren, twenty-eight great-great-grandchildren, and one great- great-great-grandchild. Her family in quality and quantity has blessed southwest Mississippi. Lillie Beatrice Knight Irving was born on September 11, 1906 in Adams County, Mississippi. She studied at Wickland Elementary School, Brumfield High School, and Alcorn State University. She then gave back to the education community serving as a teacher for forty-six years at the Tate Baptist Church Public School, the Wickland Elementary Public School, Central Elementary School and Liddell Elementary School. She married Monroe Irving on January 17, 1933 and together they made a life of service to God and man. She served as the church clerk for thirty-three years and deaconess of Greater Mt. Bethel Baptist Church. Her service can be seen in the many awards and honors she has received from her church and community. But the real fruit of her life can be seen in how she cares for her fellow Mississippians through prayer and work and faith. Mr. Speaker, Lillie is thoughtful and careful to feed her mind, body and soul; keeping active and balancing a strong body and her strong faith. Her commitment to the Word of God and her saving Lord has given her purpose and her life's strength. She has a family with a wonderful reputation and she and they have been a blessing to her community, her friends and everyone she comes in contact with. I hope this Congress joins me in wishing her a very happy one-hundredth birthday and praying she has many years with the Mississippi she so loves and serves.

Mr. PICKERING

Mr. PICKERING. Mr. Speaker, today I want to recognize a Mississippian who has given a century of service to her family, friends and community. She has been a wife of sixty-six years, a mother of seven children, and wonderful Christian woman. Next month, she turns one- hundred years old, but the light in her eyes and the good works of her hands continue to love and bless her neighbors. Ruby Frances Myrick Wilson was born August 30, 1906 to James Wilson Myrick and Myrtle Rebecah Alderman Myrick. She studied at Otoe Elementary School, was in the first graduating class of Stringer High School in 1924, attended Mississippi Southern Teachers' College in Hattiesburg and Clarke College in Newton, as well as Southeastern Baptist College in Laurel. She took her teaching certificate and taught fourth grade at Polkville and third grade at Fellowship Community in Jasper County. She married a farmer named William Judson Wilson and reared seven children together for sixty-six years until his death. She is still actively engaged in housekeeping, cooking, gardening, reading and studying, quilting, sewing, and crafting. She cooks special dishes for shut-ins, church and community socials, and special needs diets. She creates gift baskets filled with her baked breads, cookies, relishes, preserves, and jellies. She cuts flowers from her garden to make arrangements for special occasions. She grows plants to put into decorated pots for gifts. The hallmark of Ruby's talents is quilting and she has made over a hundred for newly weds, graduates, babies, and crisis victims. Mr. Speaker, Ruby is thoughtful and careful to feed her mind, body and soul; keeping active and balancing a strong body and her strong faith. Her commitment to the Word of God and her saving Lord has given her purpose and her life's strength. I've known her family my whole life and she has been a blessing to them, her community, her friends and everyone she comes in contact with. I hope this Congress joins me in wishing her a very happy one-hundredth birthday and praying she has many years with the Mississippi she so loves and serves.

Mr. PICKERING

Mr. PICKERING. Mr. Speaker, today I want to share with this Congress the life and work of Nell Grissom at Wesley House in Meridian, Mississippi. She represents the best of Mississippi and demonstrates again and again, the power of faith, hope, and love. Nell was stricken with polio at the age of twelve and paralyzed from the neck down. Doctors said she would never walk or have children. For years she lived in a full-length steel brace from chin to hip. But she finished high school; she married, and has three children and two grandchildren. Faith, determination, and hard work gave her inner strength to match the steel of those braces. Strength to build, guide, and direct a mission that feeds, clothes, educates, counsels, reforms, and heals: touching over 33,000 people every year. In the mid-1960's, Wesley House Community Center in Meridian was about to close. Founded in 1904 by a group of churchwomen to bring hope into the lives of women and children living in poverty around a cotton mill, for sixty years, they held Bible classes and sewing lessons and distributed food and shoes and Christmas presents to the poor people in that neighborhood. Methodists operated Wesley House in a small frame cottage and staffed it with a missionary deaconess. By 1967, the church could no longer provide a deaconess and Nell Grissom, who was volunteer leader of the Youth Fellowship at Central Methodist Church, was asked to help keep the doors open until a qualified mission worker could be found. Now forty years later it is obvious to all that Nell Grissom was the mission worker they needed. Wesley House currently serves as the central hub for the regions Toys-for-Tots drive at Christmas. Nell Grissom has also turned Wesley House into a crisis center for local, regional, and state disasters. This past year Wesley House was instrumental in distributing aid to Hurricane Katrina victims. Years of service to thousands of people trapped in the vicious cycle of poverty, neglect, abuse, and crime, led Nell to open East Central Mississippi's first Sexual Assault Crisis Center in 1990. Almost overwhelmed by the response of hundreds of victims of sexual assault and abuse, Nell worked tirelessly. Counselors were employed and a volunteer crisis line response team was set up to counsel with victims at hospital emergency rooms and law enforcement facilities on a twenty- four hour basis. Nell's efforts have expanded the Sexual Assault Crisis Center and Children's Advocacy Center at Wesley House to include a traveling counselor serving victims in five counties and abuse prevention programs in the public schools. Moving beyond direct services to victims of sexual assault and abuse, Nell Grissom expanded the Wesley House victims rights programs to include services to families of victims of homicide and other crimes. For over forty years now, Nell Grissom has led countless volunteers to build an agency that gives victims productive futures. Helping victims of poverty and neglect before they become victims of crime is a major focus of Nell Grissom's life. Every day she and her co-workers are salvaging lives from the mean streets, instilling the virtues of work, faith, and morality in those most vulnerable of our citizens. Nell retires in August and ends this chapter in Wesley House's history, but she does so with sadness and with joy. Sadness that she will not be guiding the great services that Wesley House provides, and joy because she knows that God has used her to touch the lives of countless people. Mr. Speaker, Nell Grissom could have rested on her laurels and retired years ago, yet she has kept working for over forty years as she still works late into the evening at Wesley House helping just one more victim with one more problem. The impact of Nell Grissom's service is reflected in the countless people from all walks of life who can testify about the healing Nell Grissom has brought to their lives and their families. She has made her community, her state, and her country a better place through her efforts and I am proud to call her a daughter of Mississippi. 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BOROUGH OF KENHORST

Mr. PICKERING

Mr. PICKERING. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of very significant legislation. Too often in this place we are faced with dilemmas and difficult choices of trying to find savings that could diminish care, the quality of care, the availability, the accessibility of care. But this is actually an opportunity for us, in this Chamber, and as we go through the legislative process in the House and the Senate, to have significant savings to allow a stronger, more sustainable Medicare Medicaid health care system, that instead of reducing the quality of care, improves the quality of care, reduces errors and improves the efficiency of how health care is delivered. This is a great opportunity and it should be an opportunity of bipartisan support. I do believe that when we get to the final product, that when we finish the House and the Senate conference, that this is something where we can have broad consensus. We do not necessarily need partisan division on something that has such great promise and potential to save money, the resources that we so desperately need in our health care system, but, more importantly, to protect and promote and to heal the individuals and the lives across the country. Just coming out of Katrina, we have seen in hospitals and health clinics and community health centers across Mississippi, the loss of medical records. If we have electronic records in place, that will not happen in future storms. This is a critical protection to the records which are vital to the health care of our citizens. Those that are poor and low income, electronic records in community health centers and in Medicaid systems and in VA systems have seen and will see tremendous benefits. This is an area in health care policy where we should not be divided, where we should find agreement, and we should accomplish good things together. Mr. Chairman, I support this legislation, and thank you for your leadership on this issue.

Mr. PICKERING

Mr. PICKERING. Mr. Speaker, today, Mississippi pays her respect to a man whose career in journalism and media spanned seven decades: he was ``The Voice'' of the Ole Miss Rebels for 17 years, he counted sports legends and musical stars as his friends, and any elected official in Mississippi whom he called was certain to respond in person. Today, Meridian buries a great citizen of our State: Stan Torgerson. Stan passed away at Rush Hospital in Meridian on Monday night at the age of 82, still active in his lifelong media career. He told the Meridian Star last year, ``I will continue to work as long as I think I can be productive. I believe in work ethic. I work for three reasons: (1) It's fun; (2) I think I am reasonably good at it; and, (3) It gives me something to do that I enjoy doing. For me, it's not just a way of adding to my income. It's fun.'' Stan began his fun work after returning from service in the Navy during World War II. He became a sports broadcaster and disc jockey and moved into radio management. He worked markets in Memphis, Miami, and San Diego and purchased WQIC in Meridian in 1968. While in Memphis, Stan developed a friendship with Sam Phillips and pumped the Sun Records sound over the airwaves as he got to know personally the likes of Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. During his sports broadcasting he interviewed Babe Ruth, called games with Hank Aaron playing, and jointly called a game with Harry Caray. Stan used to say ``I like to watch the game on the radio. The pictures are better.'' For 17 years Stan called play-by-play for Ole Miss basketball; and did the same for 15 years for Ole Miss football. He called about 450 basketball games and 185 football games. As noted during WTOK's tributes to Stan, he was inducted into the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame and was recognized by the Jackson Touchdown Club as one of the Four Most Famous Voices in Mississippi Sports. He also received an Award of Merit from the Ole Miss Alumni Association. He served as an elector on the Heisman Trophy Committee and was appointed chairman of the Mississippi Heisman Trophy Committee in 1993 and served in that capacity for 12 years. In 2005, Stan was appointed by Governor Haley Barbour to a 6-year term on the Mississippi Athletic Commission. After retiring from his radio station, Stan went to work first as a sports stringer and later as a reporter for the Meridian Star. After several years in print, he moved to WTOK television in Meridian where he worked until his retirement last month. As a journalist Stan was known for hard and insightful questions, but delivered in a fair and honest manner. As a friend, I knew Stan as a man of wit and wisdom. Even in retirement, he continued writing his syndicated sports and culture columns and hosted a monthly wine tasting. Mr. Speaker, I hope this Congress joins me in remembering Stan Torgerson and expressing our sympathy to his wife of 59 years, Dorothy, and the families of his children Barbara and Larry Stan. For over half a century the airwaves of our country carried the sound of Stan's voice. It is silent now, but the memories will continue to be as vivid as those pictures he painted on the radio.

Mr. PICKERING

Mr. PICKERING. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PICKERING. I yield to the gentleman from Ohio.

Mr. PICKERING. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, my amendment will simply allow the flood insurance coverage to become effective immediately upon the purchase or transfer of real property for which coverage is provided without regard to the financial mechanism used to purchase such property. In sum, whether you buy using a loan as a mechanism of purchase or if you make a cash purchase of the property, what we discovered after Katrina is that some individuals had purchased a home using full payment, cash, and not using a loan, thinking that they would have the coverage of the flood insurance. They came to discover that unless it was through a loan mechanism, they would not be eligible for that coverage. So this simply closes the loophole that has been discovered in the aftermath of Katrina, without undoing the congressional intent of protecting against the fraud or the actions of people who just go out to buy coverage when a hurricane or a flood warning comes. It is only with the purchase and the transfer of property that they are able to purchase the flood insurance. But it makes the policy clear, whether you are buying with cash or by loan, you will be able to have the protection that you believe you have a right to and are entitled to and assume that you would have in the event of a disaster. I want to thank the committee for working with me and my staff as we close this loophole and would ask for their support as we go forward in this amendment. Again, I thank them for their cooperation as we went through the policy.

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

Mr. PICKERING

Mr. PICKERING. Mr. Speaker, today I ask Congress to join me in remembering and saluting the life and legacy of Major General Denver Brackeen: a soldier, a sportsman, an administrator, and a coach. Denver passed away at his home in Union, Mississippi on May 29, at the age of 75. Denver was born on February 10, 1931 in Hickory, Mississippi. At Hickory High School he twice achieved All-State honors for basketball, leading his Bulldogs to a 51-1 record his senior year. He went on to play basketball at East Central Community College and the University of Mississippi. At East Central he was selected the nation's most valuable player and earned All-American honors. At Ole Miss he received All- American honors from the Helms Athletic Foundation, was chosen most valuable player in the Southeastern Conference, twice named to All-SEC teams and selected as the most valuable player for the Southern states. Denver was drafted by the New York Knickerbockers but soon returned to East Central Community College to begin 28 years of service as coach, guidance counselor, admissions director, dean of students and academic dean. From 1955 to 1963 he coached East Central's basketball Warriors to a 137-52 record, with his final season finishing 22-3 after advancing to the state tournament semi-finals. In 1982, East Central chose Denver as their Alumnus of the Year and the College's physical education building bares his name. Denver was inducted into the NJCAA Men's Basketball Hall of Fame, the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and the University of Hall of Fame. Mississippi Governor Ronnie Musgrove appointed Denver to the State Board for Community and Junior Colleges. While amassing records and notability on the hardwood courts, and teaching and training a new generation of Mississippians, Denver also served his state and nation in the Mississippi National Guard including a stint in the Korean War. After years of exemplary service he was appointed Mississippi's Adjutant General and retired from military service with the rank of major general. Mr. Speaker, I hope this Congress joins me in remembering Major General Denver Brackeen's determined leadership and championship character. Mississippi will miss this cherished native son, as will his wife Charlotte and his surviving son Morgan, and his grandchildren Jonathan, Sable, Dillon and Ashlee.

Mr. PICKERING

Mr. PICKERING. Mr. Speaker, sixty-four years ago today, a twin-engine Navy PBY-5A amphibious reconnaissance aircraft departed the Naval Air Station on Kodiak Island, Alaska as part of the Kiska Blitz--the bombing of Japanese targets in Kiska Harbor at the western end of the Aleutian Islands. On board were Ensign Robert F. Keller, Aviation Machinist Mate First Class Leland L. Davis, Seaman Second Class Elwin Alford, Seaman Second Class Dee Hall, Aviation Machinist's Mate Second Class John H. Hathaway, Aviation Radioman Second Class Robert A. Smith, and Aviation Pilot Third Class Albert J. Gyorfi. Flying into a storm of inclement weather and enemy antiaircraft blasts, the plane was hit and crashed on the side of the Kiska Volcano. None of the crew survived. In August 1943, the United States successfully retook Kiska Island from the Japanese and the remains of seven men were found amid the wreckage at the crash site. They were buried in a common grave with a wooden marker reading ``SEVEN U.S.N. AIRMEN.'' After the war, the grave could not be located again. In 2002 a wildlife biologist working in the Alaska Maritime Wildlife Refuge found the wreckage, the grave was located and following positive genetic identification, the bodies were returned to their families. Last month, on May 10, these soldiers were buried at Arlington National Cemetery with Full Military Honors. I met the family of Elwin Alford and learned of their lives. Alford and his parents were from the Bogalusa, Louisiana--Sandy Hook, Mississippi area. Leland Davis was from Hinds County, Mississippi and his sister and brother finally have peace. Alford, Davis and their brothers-in-arms gave their lives over six decades ago and we still feel their legacy today. So many families lost their loved ones in the great crusade against German Fascism and Japanese Imperialism. And for many, closure comes very late. I want to take this opportunity to commend the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command. More than 78,000 Americans are unaccounted for from World War II, another 8,100 from the Korean War and 1,800 from the Vietnam War. But the Accounting Command continues to bring these heroes home and assist with closure for families still bearing the wounds of wars long completed. Mr. Speaker, today we have brave American men and women fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq and around the world against the forces of terror. In Mississippi, we lost another native son, a lion of liberty, just last week. I hope families know that six weeks from now, six months from now, or sixty-four years from now, those sacrifices will not be forgotten.

Mr. PICKERING

Mr. PICKERING. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman. Having received an MBA from a great institution in the State of Texas, Baylor, I was taught that competition drives deployment, innovation, investment. Why would the telephone companies have to go to both sides of the town? Because the cable companies are going with something called voiceover Internet, voice over cable systems, voice providers and other companies, into both sides of the town. And unless the telephone companies want to lose both sides of the town, they are going to have to go with video. So more video choice, more voice choice, more investment, more innovation, greater competition. And that is why we will see benefits on all parts, in all parts of our country, and all sides of our cities and communities. That is why this is a good bill. It makes a national framework, as it should do, as we go into an IP, Internet-based world. It is interstate. It is international. It should be done at the FCC, not in a patchwork of entities all across the country, slowing deployment and investment. I want to commend the great chairman from the Great State of Texas and the subcommittee chairman from Michigan, and I also want to thank our colleagues on the other side.