Ciro Rodriguez

Mr. RODRIGUEZ

Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman very much for sharing that story. As we see, each Congressman that has come has shared a story from their constituents; and I want to thank them for that. As we start bringing closure, I want to make sure I recognize my fellow Congresswoman, the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Napolitano), who is joining us tonight.

Mr. RODRIGUEZ. I thank the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Sanchez) for joining us. We are pleased to be joined by several other Members. I want to ask them to go to the mikes as they get comfortable, and then later on we will be dialoguing as they come in. I want to ask both of them to join us as we bring closure to the comments of tonight. I thank them for coming out here tonight as we talk about the Patients' Bill of Rights and the impact and the importance of having access to the doctors of our choice, making sure that if the physician says that we need a specialist, that we do have a specialist. I thank the gentleman for being here.

Mr. RODRIGUEZ. The gentlewoman is right. I think one of the realities is that we need to make sure that everyone has the right to have access to health care. In so doing, she talks about the importance of those barriers and cultural competencies. If you are a woman, you might want to see a woman, depending on the type of illness. There is no doubt that in terms of feeling more comfortable, sometimes even a Hispanic might not make you feel comfortable. And so it is important that you see the doctor of your choice. Once again, she mentioned the issue of lawsuits. I think it is important that the judiciary is always the last resort. If you are doing the right thing, you should not be afraid of that. But when you do have people that are not physicians making the decisions whether you should see a specialist or not, then you need to be liable. I think it is important that the decision is based on money. What we found in Texas that has the same rights as we want to establish here, we have not seen the lawsuits. We have not seen the abuse. Where we have seen the abuse is where they feel they can do and undo as they please because of the fact that you cannot do anything about it. It reminds me of that story, of that person who finds themselves having to fight both the disease and the system. I want to thank the gentlewoman for joining me here tonight. We have a few more that have come over, a young lady that has also talked about coming and talking, so we will continue to do that. I do not know if she wanted to make any other comments.

Mr. RODRIGUEZ

Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise to ask all Members, both Republican and Democrats, to sign up on the discharge petition to make sure that our kids throughout this country have an opportunity to have a modernized classroom. Most of our schools throughout this country are 50 to 60 years old. If any of my colleagues live in a home like I live in, a home that is also 50 to 60 years old, where I had to go back and redo the wiring, we need to make sure the wiring for the technology is there in our schools. We need to make sure that those youngsters have access to good quality care and a good education. One of the realities is that as baby boomers, and we were the largest generation and these facilities were there for us to make sure that we had access to good education, now it is up to us to look and consider now the next largest generation, the baby echo, and make sure that those youngsters have access to good quality care and good quality education. In terms of the needs, as we look, we want to make sure that this is one of the main priorities throughout the country. I know we recognize that that is important, but we have not put the resources where they should be. So I ask that my colleagues sign up on the discharge petition and force the Congress to come up on this major piece of legislation.

Mr. RODRIGUEZ

Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of thousands of federal fire fighters and emergency response personnel nationwide who, at great risk to their own personal health and safety, protect America's defense, our veterans, Federal wildlands and national treasures. Although the majority of these important federal employees work for the Department of Defense, federal fire fighters are also employed by the Department of Veteran Affairs, and the United States Park Service. From first-response emergency care services on military installations around the world to front-line defense against raging forest fires here at home, we call on these brave men and women to protect our national interests. Yet under federal law, compensation and retirement benefits are not provided to federal employees who suffer from occupational illnesses unless they can specify the conditions of employment which caused their disease. This onerous requirement makes it nearly impossible for federal fire fighters, who suffer from occupational diseases, to receive fair and just compensation or retirement benefits. The bureaucratic nightmare they must endure is burdensome, unnecessary and, in many cases, overwhelming. It is ironic and unjust that the very people we call on to protect our federal interests are not afforded the very best in health care and retirement benefits our federal government has to offer. Today, Representatives Connie Morella (R-MD), Jo Ann Davis (R-VA), and Lois Capps (D-CA) joined me to introduce bipartisan legislation, the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act of 2001, which amends the Federal Employees Compensation Act to create a presumptive disability for fire fighters who become disabled by heart and lung disease, cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma, and infectious diseases like tuberculosis and hepatitis. Disabilities related to the cancers, heart, lung and infectious diseases enumerated in this important legislation would be considered job related for purposes of workers compensation and disability retirement-- entitling those affected to the health care coverage and retirement benefits they deserve. Too frequently, the poisonous gases, toxic byproducts, asbestos, and other hazardous substances with which federal firefighters and emergency response personnel come in contact, rob them of their health, livelihood, and professional careers. The federal government should not rob them of necessary benefits. The bipartisan effort behind the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act of 2001 marks a significant advancement for fire fighter health and safety. Federal firefighters deserve our highest commendation and it is time to do the right thing for these important federal employees. Thirty-eight states have already enacted a similar disability presumption law for federal firefighters' counterparts working in similar capacities on the state and local levels. The Federal Firefighters Fairness Act of 2001 is about parity for federal fire fighters; the same level of support provided to other important groups, such as teachers and police officers, should also be granted to these dedicated federal employees. Mr. Speaker, the job of fire fighting continues to be complex and dangerous. The nationwide increase in the use of hazardous materials and the recent rise in both natural and man-made disasters pose new threats to fire fighter health and safety. The Federal Fire Fighters Fairness Act of 2001 will help protect the lives of our fire fighters and it will provide them with a vehicle to secure their health and safety. I urge my colleagues to embrace this bipartisan effort and support the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act of 2001 on behalf of our nation's federal fire fighters and emergency response personnel.

Mr. RODRIGUEZ

Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, the President has released his long- awaited energy plan. The President has proposed nothing that deals with the immediate energy crisis in California and the Pacific Northwest, or the crisis that may be looming in the New England area or the rising gasoline prices. Instead, he said that the tax cut proposal will help consumers with the increased energy situation. However, these tax cut reductions will not take place until the year 2006. In addition, the tax cuts when you look at the 45 percent of the $1.6 trillion tax cut, will benefit 1 percent of the richest in the country. Middle America that makes $44,000 a year, 60 percent of Americans that make $44,000, are going to receive less than 13 percent of this tax cut. Mr. Speaker, so when we look at the President's proposal in energy, it does not take into consideration conservation activities that need to take place by all Americans, including the Federal Government; not to mention the fact that we need to make sure that as we look in terms of our energy situation, we plan for the future by investing in America. We believe that the balanced energy policy is ill advised, and we need to move forward on an energy plan that is concise and make sure that it is responsive to all Americans.

Mr. RODRIGUEZ

Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, President Bush has released his long- awaited energy plan and even with last minute changes it is as flawed and one-sided as anticipated. President Bush has proposed nothing to deal with the immediate energy crisis facing California and the Pacific Northwest and the looming crisis for New England and other parts of the country. The President has proposed nothing to deal with rising gasoline and energy prices. Instead, Bush has said that his tax cut proposal will help consumers with increased energy cost. However, his income tax reductions are not fully phased in until the year 2006. How will lower and middle class families afford rising energy prices for the next five years under President Bush's solution? In addition, 45% of his $1.6 trillion tax plan would benefit the wealthiest 1% of Americans. Middle class families making less than $44,000 would get only 13% of the benefits, about $11 per week in the year 2006 under the plan. We should not destroy our national parks, pristine federal lands, and the environment to provide a very limited amount of additional oil and gas. For example, opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, ``America's Serengeti'' to oil and gas exploration is a mistake. In addition, the President in proposing to rollback environmental and clean air regulations that could actually increase emissions of ozone causing pollutants. Conservation must be an integral part of any national energy plan but the President's plan proposed very little for energy efficiency or renewable energy. Democrats believe in a balanced energy policy that helps consumers by both increasing production and reducing energy demand. The federal government must become more energy efficient, invest in energy research, and ensure that energy markets are fair and competitive.

Mr. RODRIGUEZ

Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) for coming out here. We have gotten so much interest that we have a good number of people out here, so I want to take this opportunity to yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton).

Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California for her comments. There is no doubt this is an area and issue that confronts our community. The gentlewoman mentioned disproportionately how it hits the Hispanic population. There is no doubt that we represent 13 percent of the population, yet we represent more than 20 percent of the new cases. So I want to thank the gentlewoman for being here tonight. I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey), and I thank the gentlewoman for being here tonight.

Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, let me thank the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands. I know that from the Black Caucus the gentlewoman has been working diligently, and as chairman of the Hispanic Caucus on Health, I want to thank her specifically for the work that she has been doing on this issue and all issues on health, so I thank the gentlewoman. I look forward to continued dialogue. Let me just make a few comments. We have other fellow colleagues that are here with us today, but I want to take the opportunity to just say that it is hard for me to believe that it has been 20 years, and as the sign back here says, ``Twenty Years is Enough.'' Twenty years later, HIV/AIDS has taken the lives of close to 22 million people worldwide. It is hard for me to also believe that 15 years ago, I was in the Texas legislature listening to my fellow colleague denounce the spending money on AIDS prevention because of narrow bigotry. In essence, he would say, these people deserve it. I only mention that because thank God that we have really come a long way from that perspective, and I am proud to stand here today and see how far we have come, although we have a lot more to do. I would like to recognize the countless individuals and organizations that are out there working on issues such as research on AIDS trends that affects new drugs, the advocacy groups that are out there working, the advocacy groups that are working for children with AIDS, the foundation activities that are raising awareness in the area of AIDS, the key components and the global effort in the area of AIDS. The Hispanic Caucus, the Black Caucus and the Asian Pacific American Caucus are working together to find solutions to specific communities of color also. As chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Task Force on Health, I have had the opportunity to work with many of my friends and colleagues on efforts to increase resources for AIDS prevention, education, and treatment. It affects the lives of the rich, the poor, the famous, the not-so-famous, the blacks, the browns, the whites. It affects all of us. Let me take this opportunity, since we have some of our colleagues here today, to recognize them. We have two people from California, and I want to take the pleasure of recognizing the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Sanchez), who also sits with me on the Committee on Armed Services. I thank the gentlewoman for being here this evening, and I yield to the gentlewoman.

Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, today we mark the 20th year of the AIDS epidemic. On June 5, 1981, the Centers for Disease Control published a morbidity and mortality weekly report on the diseases which affect AIDS. I spoke at the rally this past Sunday. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen).

Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on the Special Orders of today.

Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, we are looking forward to working with the gentlewoman. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Houston, Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee). She is a dynamic person, always on the issues, and we thank her for being here tonight.

Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank very much the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee). I want to thank her also because I think she mentioned some real key issues. One of them deals with cultural sensitivity. I recall back when we had some testimony regarding AIDS, one of the things that was mentioned by one of the doctors was that she had a particular client that was told, and only knew Spanish, and was told that she was positive. She understood that as--(the gentleman from Texas spoke in Spanish). She went ahead and had children. One of her children would up with AIDS. The importance of cultural sensitivity and language understanding I think is key. I want to thank the gentlewoman from Texas for the other comments that she made. One of the key things I think that is important also is to understand that this is devastating throughout all our communities, not only in this country, but throughout the world when we look at sub- Sahara Africa, when we look at the province in China, when we look at Brazil, when we look at the border in Mexico. So it is a disease, it is a world disease. It is a disease that we need to go fight it wherever it is and that applies to all the infectious diseases, and that is very important. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) who is here with us, and we continue to get people that are coming in. I am real pleased to see the number.

Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, nobody knows this issue better than the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen), being a practitioner also. I want to thank her for her hard work.

Mr. RODRIGUEZ. I thank the gentlewoman from North Carolina for being here tonight, and I thank her for the words she has said. As she talked about the fact that we have reached a point where it impacts a whole bunch of other people, one of the worst statistics to see is that minority children make up an astonishing 82 percent of the new AIDS cases. These are our children that are being hard hit. I yield to the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen).

Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Reyes), who has been very instrumental in pushing for an additional $540 million, and I thank the gentleman for taking the leadership. Both the Hispanic and Black Caucus will be holding hearings next week on this issue, and we will continue to move forward. Mr. Speaker, tonight we have the distinct pleasure of having the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi). Today alone, over 100 colleagues joined the gentlewoman in her efforts to reintroduce the early treatment of HIV/AIDS. We know that too many underinsured and uninsured Americans do not have access to life-saving medications. We need to eliminate the barriers to early drug therapy for vulnerable populations, and this legislation would give the States the option to add HIV/AIDS to eligible categories for Medicaid coverage. It is a very important piece of legislation.

Mr. RODRIGUEZ. I want to thank the gentlewoman once again. It was real exciting to be out there with those marchers that came in on Sunday. It was a great opportunity to participate and to begin to bring to light the fact that we still continue to fight on this issue. The Center for Disease Control has estimated that we still have over 900,000 people in the United States that are infected with AIDS. I also want to take this opportunity to recognize one of my colleagues from Texas, the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and to thank him for his leadership in the caucus and for his being here tonight.

Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank very much the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee). Next, Mr. Speaker, I want to ask our District of Columbia representative (Ms. Norton) to come over. I had the pleasure of being with her on Sunday on the lawn where we had a march that came in. We had several hundred people that came in, and it was a pleasure there being with the gentlewoman. I know that we had a large number of people trying to bring the news about the fact that 20 years is enough, and so I thank her for being here tonight with us.

Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank all my colleagues who have participated. It is an issue on which we all need to take ownership. It is about all of us. It has an impact on all of us. It is throughout the world. If we have these kinds of dangerous, infectious diseases throughout the world, we need to go after them.

Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).

Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen) if she would like to make any closing remarks. Mrs. Christensen. Mr. Speaker, there is one area of the world which has been left out of this discussion tonight, and that is the Caribbean. It is second only to Sub-Saharan Africa in terms of the rates of HIV and AIDS. 35 percent of those infected are women compared to 23 percent in this country, and that number is rising. It is the leading cause of death between the ages of 15 and 44. Mr. Speaker, of the United States territories in the Caribbean, both the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico are in the top five in terms of incidence for AIDS. I want to make sure that the Caribbean is not left out of the discussion.

Mr. RODRIGUEZ

Mr. RODRIGUEZ. First of all, Mr. Speaker, once again let me thank the gentleman for his efforts in the area of health care. As the gentleman mentioned, the problem that we encounter now is with the uninsured, and that number continues to grow. We have over 44 million uninsured. I think that one of the dilemmas we face as we look throughout this country, there are hardworking people that are not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid, not old enough to qualify for Medicare, and yet find themselves working for small companies that do not give them an opportunity to have access to insurance coverage. And I can attest to the gentleman that if someone is not working for government or a major corporation, they do not have any access to health care. So that we have a real dilemma, because we do provide it for the indigent, we do provide it for the elderly to some extent, but when it comes to those working Americans out there trying to make ends meet, we have a difficulty in terms of providing access to health care. There is a real need for us to come to grips with that issue. We have not done that in the past, unfortunately, and we need to do so. We are hoping that the administration can start moving in this direction as they dialogued about the issue of health care during the campaign. We hope they will come up to meet those promises that they made on health care and the uninsured, not to mention those that are insured but who are what we call the underinsured, the ones that have access to some degree but yet do not have full coverage, such as prescription coverage. I know that the gentleman has covered the issue of prescription coverage, but I just want to keep mentioning it because we need to keep that issue on the forefront. It is an issue that continues to be one of the key issues in America and it is one of the problems that we were elected to respond to and we have not yet done so. We are hoping that we will begin to cover that. When we look at prescription coverage under Medicare, there is no doubt that when we devised Medicare, from the very beginning, that at that point they did not see the importance of prescription coverage. We know now that prescription coverage is key for access to good quality care. We know the importance of that, and so we need to look at that issue. And the responses that we have before us from the administration have not been adequate. There is only one State that has tried it, and it has not been that successful, and that is because our seniors are the ones that utilize prescriptions the most. That is where the private sector will make the less amount of profit in any area, and so it is an area where we all need to participate and make sure that we can help out when it comes to prescription coverage. It does not make any sense for us to make the diagnosis, to find out that they are in need, when we do not provide them the prescriptions that are needed to be able to cover some of those needs. The other thing that just does not make any sense is that we provide prescription coverage for Medicaid, for the indigent, yet we do not provide it for our seniors. So there is a real need for us to kind of come to grips on that issue of not only prescription coverage but the uninsured. I know there are a couple of proposals out there, and we are hoping that we can begin to go throughout the country to dialogue about the importance of health care in this country. The fact is, we still have a long way to go. We have not come to grips with these issues, and we need to get more pressure on the politicians up here to make some things happen. The only reason we had the Patients' Bill of Rights the last time, as the gentleman well knows, is because we decided to do a discharge petition that forced the Congress to have to deal with it. Because of that, I think we were able to make that happen, and we did pass a good bill. Unfortunately, it was killed during conference and so that did not materialize. So what is important now is that we have a new session, and we need to move forward in that area. So I just wanted to take this opportunity now to thank the gentleman for what he has been doing on health care. I will be talking later on on the issue of AIDS, and I look forward to the gentleman's participation in that area.

Mr. RODRIGUEZ

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

Mr. RODRIGUEZ

Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Colonel Russell B. Hall's twenty-six years of service in the United States Army. Col. Hall will be retiring this year and his extensive experience will be hard to replace. He currently serves as the Chief of the Resources Integration Office in the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Installations Management. Col. Hall also serves as the Executive of the Installation Program and Evaluation Group for the Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management. Colonel Russell B. Hall was born in Roswell, New Mexico on January 19, 1953. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Biology from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas and a Master's Degree in Operations Research from George Mason University. Colonel Hall was a Distinguished Military Graduate and received a Regular Army commission from the Reserve Officer Training Corps. His military education includes the Artillery Basic and Advance Courses, and the Command and General Staff College. He has held a wide variety of key command and staff positions before his current assignment as the Chief of the Resource Integration Office and Executive of the Installation Program Evaluation Group for the Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management. Other key assignments include duty as the Secretary of the General Staff of the 1st Cavalry Division; Executive Officer of the 3rd Battalion 82nd Field Artillery; Brigade Fire Support Officer, 2nd Brigade (Blackjack), Fort Hood, Texas, and Charlie Battery Commander 1st Battalion 77th Field Artillery, Executive Officer of the Training and Doctrine (TRADOC) Operations and Analysis Center, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He has served as the Commander of the 409th Base Support Battalion, Grafenwoehr and Vilseck, Germany. After command, Col. Hall completed his tour as the Deputy Director of Training in the Directorate of Training, USAREUR DCSOPS and Seventh Army Training Command. Col. Hall's awards and decorations include: The Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, the Saudi-Kuwait Liberation Medal, the Southwest Asia Medal with three Bronze Stars, the Army Service Ribbon and the Overseas Ribbon. He also wears Master Parachutist wings and the Ranger Tab. Colonel Hall is married to the former Alexia Rowe of Tulsa, Oklahoma. They have one child, a daughter, Rachel. Our nation owes a large debt to Col. Hall for his service and wishes him good luck with his future endeavors.