Vic Snyder

Mr. SNYDER

Mr. SNYDER. Physicians have figured out more and more, number one, that this Nation wants us to do something about health care. And I always tell my doctor friends, we can either do it with you, or we can do it to you. And most doctors have figured out they would like to have it done with them. The other thing, though, is, and I have clearly seen this change in the time I have been in medicine, doctors have figured out that the programs that help people are the programs that help doctors. So they are here to help make those programs better. Now, we may have philosophical differences about how to get there and how to pay for it, but we recognize that there is a role for government in trying to make sure that whatever that number is, 47 million, 48 million people who don't have health insurance over a year's time actually are able to participate in this system that we call American health care. I want to ask about another topic, Mr. Pallone, medical research. We had a pretty good run there for a time under the leadership of Speaker Gingrich and President Clinton in terms of increasing the research dollars available for NIH. My own view of the last administration over the last 8 years has been very poor with regard to research, all kinds of research. There are, and I am talking now specifically about medical research, medical research funds in a variety of different budgets, from the military budget, veterans budget, NIH, agriculture budget, Department of Agriculture, they have research. Well, this is another place that is part of the kind of quality care we want for all of us. We need to be investing in that kind of research, because the reality is medical jobs are good jobs. In fact, when you look at the numbers, as people have been losing jobs, the thing that stands out the most in terms of who is gaining right now is health care. It is kind of counter-cyclical. There are medical jobs out there that don't get filled that people will look at. Now, we need to do I think a better job of helping nursing home aides get paid and all. But there is a tremendous opportunity to create the kind of technology and new jobs and new treatments that this country can be selling all over the world, and we need to be the leaders in a lot of these things. I think the whole issue of stem cells has gotten a lot of attention. Regardless of where you come down philosophically on the issue of stem- cell research, there is a ton of things out there that would benefit from more research dollars, and it has to be part of this picture, too. You mentioned the comparative effectiveness. That is probably too fancy a name. It kind of got bad-mouthed in some of the media when that bill came out. The reality is, why wouldn't we want to see what works the best for the least amount of cost? We would do that as a family. If I go in to my doctor and he said, here is my prescription, it is $180. And I say, well, is there anything better? Oh, yeah, there is a generic. It is like $14. Why don't I take the generic for $14? I mean, why not go for something that would work as well, perhaps even better, but be dramatically less expensive? I mean, we all are responsible as a country for these health care plans and making sure we pay for things. And somehow the idea that we would actually want to pay attention to what things cost and what works and what doesn't work, and are we prescribing things that we don't really need? I mean, that is just common sense, and I think families want that. They don't want us to prescribe things that are not effective or there could be something cheaper that would work just as well. So I think that is part of this picture. Maybe I am making the universe bigger than it needs to as we are talking about health care and health care coverage, but it is all part of this investment in our future. And medical researchers will do better with a health information technology system. Those people who are responsible for paying the bills, who are processing claims will do better if that health IT system is more efficient. All this stuff builds on each other. Ultimately, we want to lead to better coverage for the best price that we can give.

Mr. SNYDER. It is interesting, we have a good number of physicians in the House now.

Mr. SNYDER. This will be a true confession here tonight about a mistake that I made practicing medicine one time. It was about 15 years ago, I had a young boy, I think he was about 7 or 8, kind of a quiet boy, brought in by his grandmother. And he was there for a cold or something. I dealt with his cold or ear infection. Then his grandmother started talking about some behavioral stuff he was having. We talked about it for a few minutes, and I didn't have much to offer. It was like about 2 months later I was reading an article about Tourette's syndrome. And I thought, That's what that little boy had. Well, the clinic I worked at had a wall about as big as the wall behind the Speaker here tonight that was all handwritten medical records. One of my nurses aids and I--we did it on Saturday because we were slow enough when we worked on Saturday, we could do this--we began systematically going through every one of those handwritten charts to see if we could find that little boy because I was going to call his family and say, Hey, I think I figured what you were talking about with this little boy. The reality is in Tourette's syndrome a lot of time they are underdiagnosed and, unfortunately for the family, it takes a while to sort it out sometimes. We never did find that chart even though we systematically went through every handwritten chart. Well, if we had had a computer system we would have been able to pull up the names of appointments seen in the last period of time or probably could have pulled it up by approximate birth date. There's so many tools that a good health information technology system gives you for the benefit of patients. Efficiency of doctors, more prompt payment of doctors, less mistakes, but ultimately it is for the benefit of patients; and I think that is what you were talking about, looking ahead to doing things differently, doing things better. It is not just figuring out how to pay for the kind of care we are getting now, but it is better care in the future as part of this. And I think that is important.

Mr. SNYDER. I think this issue of the health information technology is really important. I notice that since the bill passed and the bill has been increasingly studied by people in the press and policymakers, that the health IT part, the health information technology piece of that bill, is starting to get a lot more attention. There's been articles in the papers in the last couple of days. Wal- Mart is starting to look at doing some things. The challenge--I mean, I'm somebody who most of my career was working for doctors who had small practices. And so there have been hospitals that have moved in this direction, large practices have moved in the direction of having a modern electronic medical record. The problem has been that most doctors are in small offices of maybe one to five or six people. When the studies have been done about what does it take for that kind of an office to move to an electronic medical record, the kind that most patients will want, it takes several months from the time they start until it's where they want to be. It takes several months to get back to that same level of efficiency as seeing patients; the installation, learning the new ways of doing things, just figuring out how to do things. Now everyone recognizes, even the ones who don't have it, that ultimately it makes it more efficient, it's safer for their patient, safer for them because no doctors want to make mistakes, nurses don't want to make mistakes. There's nothing worse than having to have a clerk sit there and Xeroxing medical records off because you have got a patient that you have had for 40 years that's moving across the country. You can do it electronically and it just moves things. I think the money that is in this bill is really going to motivate both physicians, physicians' offices, the folks that manage their practices, but also those kinds of business people out there who say, Wait a minute. Here's a chance to move America forward, to invest in our health care infrastructure and, by the way, create some new jobs, make some money for my business, and do some good things for the American people in anticipation of these changes that I hope will come in our health care system as part of President Obama's proposals. So I think that is very exciting. I was talking to one of my Republican doctor friends who voted against the bill. I certainly understand his reasons for voting against the economic recovery bill. But I said, I want to know, what do you think about the health information technology piece? He said, Oh, I like that. He might quibble with little details of it. But we have liked the bill before, as doctors. The problem has been for the last several years is finding the money to pay for it, and the opportunity came along through the stimulus package. And I think this is a real opportunity to be a good investment in the change that our health care system needs. So I find that very exciting. I want to say a point about prevention. And I recognize that I am probably in the minority on this view. My own view is that we ought to not sell preventive measures, which I think are so important, but I think we ought to not sell them or oversell them as ways to save dramatic amounts of money. My own view is that prevention is a quality of life issue. If I can work with a patient when they're 25 years old to get them to stop smoking, I know, I know their quality of life is going to be better. I know there are diseases they are not going to get when they quit smoking or if they never start smoking because of good health education programs when they're 16, 17, and 18. Now, where I have a problem with this prevention-saves-money argument is if somebody lives to be 90, I know at some point they are going to need health care. But, God bless them, that is a good problem to have. I would so much rather deal with the infirmities of a 90-year old than the emphysema and COPD and heart disease of a 45-year old who smoked for 25 years, since they were 20. So I have a little different view on that. I think you can find arguments on both sides. But I don't think that we should ever be defensive about saying, You know, some preventive things cost money. But the quality of life, if you can keep a family from losing a family member from cancer, if you can cut down the number of kids that go to emergency rooms because their parents smoke, or whatever it is, it's a quality of life issue, and that can really turn into additional years of life and the pursuit of happiness for that family in this great country. So I'm pleased that prevention is part of this.

Mr. SNYDER. It's particularly a poignant issue for you and me, Mr. Pallone, as we get older, because a lot of our doctors are going to be retiring and we are expecting these generations coming to take care of this big swell of the aging population as the Baby Boomers retire. So it's really important. We are not going to get to where we want to go though in this process of doing health care reform and trying to find ways to save money, which we all want to do, if we don't recognize the cost of medical education.

Mr. SNYDER. I took my little boy to the State Fair in Arkansas this year. Me and my littles boys. Anyway, we're walking down the Midway and a couple were coming the other way in the crowd there, and he was a paraplegic in a wheelchair. And he stopped me. A very polite young man. And he obviously had had some significant health issues that he was dealing with--had been dealing with. But he said, Man, is there anything you can do to help me with this. And he had an obvious need for dental work. But here's a man you would think would be in the system somehow--our system. But it just pointed out once again the inadequacy of the coverage in the country that can do the best job of solving his problem if we get him to the right person. I want to bring up another issue, and I think it's one that you have had an interest in, too, and it's the issue of medical education. I think it's one that we will need to pay attention to as we go through the very important democratic process of looking at changing our health care system. We need to be sure that we recognize at our hospitals that are involved in medical education that it is more inefficient and more expensive to teach while you're doing something. It is much quicker for a doctor, an experienced doctor, to come in and see the patient and get on to the next patient. We have to recognize that there are additional costs for our teaching institutions. We make allowances for that through some of our government health care programs, probably not as well as we could or should, but it's certainly something that we need to watch to be sure that our teaching institutions, whether it's for nursing or doctors, that we recognize that there is an extra expense and inefficiency for them to provide the kind of quality teaching that takes additional time to sit down, not with the patient, but with the student.

Mr. SNYDER. I have seen that myself as a family practice doctor. I never owned a clinic, I worked at other people's clinics and met some wonderful people. But health care providers are business people too. They have got to pay their employees. Some health care programs don't reimburse as well as they would like. Some clinics are in places that they may end up giving free care or have a group of patients that are not able to pay so well, and so it's like any business. It can be a strain to find the money for health care. It's one of the challenges we have to have. You mentioned the economic issue, the one of our ability to compete internationally. I think that's an important one. I want to also mention the national security issue, and I don't think this one has gotten as much attention as it probably deserves. We have had a lot of discussions about, you know, mental health coverage for our young men and women that come back that we think needed their families. The reality is we are expecting the military health care plan, or military health care programs and the VA health care programs to solve a national problem, which is we do not have a good network of mental health care in any of our States, particularly rural areas. But it's just difficult to find the kinds of providers you want for that kind of care. I want to go before they go over. We had an issue, when we first started mobilizing our troops to go to Iraq and Afghanistan. When we were mobilizing our reserve component forces, about one-third of our troops were on some kind of a medical hold. Now, a lot of it was for dental, a lot of it could be taken care of reasonably quickly. But the reality was, we had a situation. These are men and women who have been going on their weekends once a month for their training. They go every 2 weeks in the summer and yet they are showing up on mobilization orders. We are finding out that they were not, under military standards, medically fit to be mobilized. I think for a lot of us that were on the Armed Services Committee, that was a bit of a wake- up call too. Because one of the issues for dental, although I was in medical and not dental school, I actually think my teeth are part of the body and should not be divorced from the whole system, because we know it has tremendous ramifications on the overall health. Dental health is part of this overall picture. And here we have a situation where you make a pretty good argument, our national security efforts were slowed down and more inefficient because of the kind of health care plans that we have. Now, having good health insurance doesn't necessarily get everybody to the dentist, but I guarantee you, if you don't have good health insurance or dental insurance you are much more likely not to get preventive care. So that's an issue too.

Mr. SNYDER. Thank you, Mr. Pallone. Here we are in Washington DC, the Nation's Capital and there is a good number of people tonight celebrating St. Patrick's Day. And for us, for you and I, it has come down to wearing green ties on the floor of the House tonight talking about health care. But I was in my office, and I heard you talking, and I appreciate all the work you have done through so many years now talking about this issue. I just want to share two or three stories, if I might, and they are somewhat personal stories. As you know, 3 months ago my wife had three babies, three baby boys, Wyatt, Sullivan and Aubrey, in addition to our 2-year-old boy, Penn Snyder. Then shortly after the delivery, about a week later, my wife ended up in the coronary care unit and had an extended hospitalization of about 11 days. So I remember going back home one day, running back from the hospital and talking to one of my neighbors. She said, ``How is everything going?'' And I said, ``Well, two-thirds of our family of six is in the intensive care unit,'' because I had three babies in the neonatal care unit and my wife in the coronary care unit. I thought, okay, that's quite a burden for a family. But my wife has insurance, she is a Methodist minister, she has good insurance through where she has worked. You and I are Federal employees, and we have insurance. We pay for our insurance like all Federal employees do. We have good insurance. And one of the things I did not worry about during that period was who was going to pay the horrendous cost of the incredibly good care that we can get in this country. So all evening my wife has been sending me pictures of our four boys out on the lawn wearing green outfits with shamrocks on them, I guess just to brag about how nice the weather is in Arkansas this evening. But it brought home, here we are 3 months out and everybody is doing great and she is doing well. Last week, I met with a young women that I think if anyone in Congress would meet with, we would say she is just a gifted young woman, a medical student in her mid-20s, in her final year of medical school making decisions about where she is going to do her residency. We got to talking about some of the issues of medical students like they have got too much debt. We are expecting them to pay for all this in medical school on their own. They are ending up with tremendous six-figure debt coming out of medical school. They don't get paid a lot as residents. But in the course of the discussion it came out that while she was a medical student she was diagnosed with insulin-dependent diabetes and, of course, she is in a medical school. She knows where good resources are. She is at the best resource in Arkansas, except the health insurance that she has, by being a student, doesn't cover the cost of an insulin pump. So she doesn't have it, and five shots a day doesn't give her the kind of control that we know helps prevent long-term problems. So here is this wonderful young woman, gifted young woman. She is our future, she is going to be taking care of you and I. And yet we, as a country, are not taking good care of her, even though she is in one of the medical centers of the world. So I contrasted what happened with my family and me, and we do have health insurance, with what happens with a person who has health insurance, but it's just not the kind of coverage that they need. So I applaud you tonight for talking about this topic. I hope that we will make the kind of progress that you have been yearning for probably a couple of decades. In the olden days, I was a family doctor before coming to this job here, and I always remind myself, people always come to me and say, oh, you are a doctor, you understand all this about health policy. I said, no, I used to do sprained ankles, nosebleeds and urinary tract infections. Health policy is that kind of mysterious nebulous world that many, many people don't understand. We are health care providers, we are patients, we are family, we are business people who try to go provide for our employees. But we have this opportunity right now for all of us, whether we are providers or patients or business people or legislators or business people, to get up to speed on these topics. Because I think there is a real opportunity, with the mood of the country, with the international challenges we face from our economic competitors, that don't have the same kind of health care plan that we do and with the commitment of President Obama and his administration to do something. I also think this really needs to be worked through with all components of our country. We talk about being across the aisle. Across the aisle is fine, but we need the business community and the providers and the hospitals and the insurance companies and patients and providers and all the advocacy groups and the research advocates to come together as best we can. This is not going to be a 435-0 vote on whatever we do, but as best we can to listen to each other and move ahead. I think you gave an excellent outline on the kinds of issues that we need to be talking about. But I believe that it is a very doable challenge that we have. I commend you for talking about this this evening.

Mr. SNYDER

Mr. SNYDER. Proudly today, Madam Speaker, the House of Representatives solutes another great American, acknowledging the contributions of a remarkable man to our great country. Entertainers reflect the rich history of America, and their stories, their personal stories, tell our story. No more worthy among these is Arkansas native Louis Jordan, a musician, songwriter, entertainer, and even movie performer. Nothing could stifle this remarkably talented man, not racial bigotry or upbringing a century ago in rural Arkansas. Louis Jordan was born July 8, 1908, in Brinkley, Arkansas, and in the late 1920s he attended Arkansas Baptist College where I live, in Little Rock, Arkansas, and majored in music. He became a songwriter, performer, and movie actor. He actively recorded for the Armed Forces Radio Service and the V-Disc program during World War II, and one of his songs recorded during this period, ``G.I. Jive,'' was number one on both the R&B and Pop charts. He appeared in soundies, which were short musical films in the 1940s displayed on coin-operated film jukeboxes, and played cameo roles in movies like ``Follow the Boys'' and ``Swing Parade'' of 1946. Previous speakers have acknowledged some of his remarkable accomplishments: the ``Saturday Night Fish Fry'' recording of 1949, which many say was the first rock and roll song; his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland in 1987; and in 2004 being named one of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time by Rolling Stone Magazine. I am pleased that the House today will pass this resolution, but in some ways we don't get the full flavor of his accomplishments and the richness of the heritage of what he did without talking specifically about these songs. Let me go through the list of hits briefly here today. His career began in the early days of World War II, some dark years for America. The 1942 hits included ``I'm Gonna Leave You on the Outskirts of Town'' and ``What's the Use of Getting Sober (When You Gonna Get Drunk Again).'' In 1943: ``The Chicks I Pick are Slender and Tender and Tall,'' ``Five Guys Named Moe,'' ``That'll Just 'Bout Knock Me Out,'' ``Ration Blues.'' In 1944: ``G.I. Jive,'' ``Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby.'' In 1945: ``Mop! Mop!,'' ``You Can't Get That No More,'' ``Caldonia,'' ``Somebody Done Changed the Lock on My Door,'' ``My Baby Said Yes.'' And then truly the remarkable year of 1946 in which he had 13 hits: ``Buzz Me''; ``Don't Worry 'Bout That Mule''; ``Salt Pork, West Virginia''; ``Reconversion Blues''; ``Beware (Brother, Beware)''; ``Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin'''; ``Stone Cold Dead in the Market (He Had it Coming)''; ``Petootie Pie''; ``Choo Choo Ch'Boogie''; ``That Chick's Too Young to Fry''; ``Ain't That Just Like a Woman (They'll Do It Every Time)''; ``Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens''; ``Let the Good Times Roll.'' And then on to 1947: ``Texas and Pacific''; ``I Like 'Em Fat Like That''; ``Open the Door, Richard!''; ``Jack, You're Dead''; ``I Know What You're Puttin' Down''; ``Boogie Woogie Blue Plate''; ``Early in the Mornin'''; ``Look Out.'' In 1948: ``Barnyard Boogie''; ``How Long Must I Wait for You''; ``Reet, Petite and Gone''; ``Run Joe''; ``All for the Love of Lil''; ``Pinetop's Boogie Woogie''; ``Don't Burn the Candle at Both Ends''; ``We Can't Agree''; ``Daddy-O''; ``Pettin' and Pokin'.'' In 1949: ``Roamin' Blues''; ``You Broke Your Promise''; ``Cole Slaw (Sorghum Switch)''; ``Every Man to His Own Profession''; ``Baby, It's Cold Outside''; ``Beans and Corn Bread''; ``Saturday Night Fish Fry.'' In 1950, four hits: ``School Days, ``Blue Light Boogie,'' ``I'll Never Be Free,'' ``Tamburitza Boogie.'' And in 1951: ``Lemonade,'' ``Tear Drops from My Eyes,'' ``Weak Minded Blues.'' Those song titles from the remarkable career of hits of Louis Jordan give you a flavor for the kinds of songs, the kind of music, the richness of American heritage. This was really brought home to me when I was getting signatures to sign onto this bill, and one of the first people I talked to was one of our colleagues Congressman Steve Israel from New York, a long way from rural Arkansas, and he immediately told me--he signed on--that he had seen ``Five Guys Named Moe'' in New York three times. He started singing the songs and knew the lyrics of many of these songs, even though Louis Jordan died over 30 years ago. I appreciate the efforts by the majority and minority today to bring this bill to the floor, and today we salute a remarkable American: Louis Jordan.

Mr. SNYDER

Mr. SNYDER. Power, Mr. Chairman, is the goal of a good defense bill for this country. Every nation wants to be powerful enough to keep safe. Not every dispute, however, is resolved by military power, not every hope for the future is achieved by military power. Power is more than just military power. It's economic, diplomatic, the moral authority that a nation has. Secretary Robert Gates, our Secretary of Defense, has done, I think, two very admirable things as Secretary of Defense. One, he has restored the confidence in the decision-making process in the Pentagon. Second, he has pointed to the broad aspects of power for this country. We are all very familiar with his speech to Kansas State back in November of last year, in which he called for dramatic increases, not in the Defense Department, but dramatic increases in the State Department, dramatic increases in budget, dramatic increases in staff. He called for the staff and funding for the USAID, the Agency for International Development. Mr. Skelton arranged for Secretary Gates and Secretary Rice to testify before our full Armed Services Committee on the importance of interagency communication and collaboration, not just within the Pentagon, but between the State Department and the Defense and USAID and the other agencies in the government because it is important to our national defense, to our overall concept of power, not just military power. Well, this bill contains some provisions that deal with some of these issues. First of all, some time ago this body, the House, passed H.R. 1084, Representative Sam Farr's bill, that came out of the Foreign Affairs Committee. It deals with the whole issue of establishing a Civilian Reserve Board to deal with the fact that we sometimes need civilian employees to go into areas of instability and even of war. But we haven't been able to have the kind of personnel we wanted and the numbers in the time that we need. So we passed this bill, but it's been hung up in the Senate by one Senator. So just by unanimous agreement of the Democrats and Republicans on the Armed Services Committee and with the consent and advocacy of Mr. Berman, that was included as part of this bill, unchanged from how it was passed before, and so it will now have a second chance to go to the Senate and be passed. I am also looking forward to the fact that tomorrow, Mr. Skelton, along with Mr. Berman and Ms. Lowey, will be introducing an amendment that will establish a standing advisory panel on improving integration between the Department of Defense, Department of State, and the United States Agency for International Development on matters of national security. I will always remember one of my constituents, a veterinarian from Arkansas, who served in both Afghanistan and then a year in Iraq. She sent me an e-mail about halfway through her year in Iraq, in which she said, and we were talking about this issue of interagency cooperation, she said, I sometimes think and feel that the differences in divisions between the agencies of the United States Government are greater than the differences between us and the Iraqis. That is saying something in terms of inhibiting our ability to have the kind of national defense we want. So I applaud Mr. Berman and Mr. Skelton and Ms. Lowey for doing this amendment. This bill is about military families, it's about our men and women in uniform. We do a lot of things in this bill for military families in great detail. But it's also time for this country, and I hope it will occur in our Presidential debate that will be going on over the next several months, but it certainly needs to occur in this Congress and in our committee. It's time to step back and look at the big picture. What should the grand national security strategy involving all components of our power, and all the threats out there, what should the grand strategy be for this country to face and achieve over the next 5 years and 10 years and 15 and 20 years. Chairman Skelton and I and Subcommittee Chairman Akin and I have been talking about these issues and hope to start some efforts to look at these big pictures. Finally, I want to commend both Chairman Skelton, but the three Republican Members that are leaving us. Duncan Hunter, who, when former Chairman Floyd Spence was ill, stepped in as the acting chairman with a great generous spirit and in a very graceful manner to take over for our beloved and ailing Floyd Spence, and then also serve with distinction as chairman, and perhaps partly because of his fine military service as a young man. Mr. Everett, we will be missing his contributions. I finally want to say a word about Jim Saxton of New Jersey because I was his ranking member when I think it was Speaker Hastert established a panel on terrorism. Before there was ever a September 11, 2001, Jim Saxton was leading a series of classified briefings and hearings on the threat of terrorism and the threat of al Qaeda, long before any of us learned to pronounce the phrase ``al Qaeda,'' and I commend him for the work that he has done. I would just say that I think this is a great bill and applaud the work.

Mr. SNYDER

Mr. SNYDER. Mr. Speaker, people in Arkansas want to be safe and they want to feel safe. Everyone in America wants to be safe and have a strong national defense. National security means a strong military. National security also means that all the tools in our tool box must be available, including the capacity and availability of the civilian side of our government. Mr. Farr has been leading this charge, along with Mr. Saxton, and I appreciate the great work of Mr. Berman stepping into his new role, to bring forth this issue that all the tools of U.S. strength must be available. As Mrs. Davis was pointing out, we have a lot of work to do beyond this bill in terms of the coordination of all our different agencies. I was talking to one of my constituents who is a civilian working in Iraq, and she said, You know, I sometimes think the differences in conflicts between the agencies of the U.S. Government are greater than the differences between us and the Iraqis. I think that really brings home the issues and challenges that we have. But this bill today is a great step towards making sure that we have all the tools in our tool box that we need for our national security, and I applaud its passage today.

Mr. SNYDER

Mr. SNYDER. Penn, my 18-month-old little boy, thanks to his mother's teachings, can now do the official signs for touchdown, illegal procedure, blocking the back, and of course his favorite, Who is number one? The Arkansas Razorbacks. I say thanks to his mother because, while she is now a full-time Methodist minister, I am convinced for several decades of her life the Holy Trinity was the Father, the Son and the Holy ``Coach,'' with the coach, of course, being Frank Broyles of the Arkansas Razorbacks. Coach Broyles' career is coming to an end at the end of this month as both a great coach and an outstanding athletic director. He has also been very active and may have visited with Members here in the Congress about his work on behalf of Alzheimer's research and the treatment with respect and dignity of Alzheimer's patients. We wish Coach Broyles well as his career is ending, although it wouldn't surprise me that another college might try to pick him up.

Mr. SNYDER

Mr. SNYDER. Mr. Speaker, prayers and praise for our men and women in uniform do not fulfill our responsibilities to provide for the common defense. Every military family deserves the support of every American, and we act today in this Defense bill to provide that support. No Defense bill is perfect. No Defense bill finishes the work. But this Congress comes together today in a bipartisan manner with a good bill. Three quick points. First of all, I want to thank Mr. Skelton and Mr. Hunter for their leadership and the work that they have done on this year's Defense bill. I also want to acknowledge the presence of Mr. Saxton, who has announced his retirement and is in his last term and is providing leadership today, as he often does, of this committee. Second, I am very pleased to see the improvements in the GI Bill for our Reserve component members. It has been grossly unfair that some of our Reserve component members have not been able to get GI Bill benefits when they have left the service. And, third, thanks to Mr. McHugh and Mrs. Davis and others, we have very good provisions in this bill, the so-called Wounded Warrior provisions, that will make life easier for those of our men and women in uniform who are hurt or become ill overseas.

Mr. SNYDER

Mr. SNYDER. Madam Speaker, proclamations and commemorations are a wonderful part of the job that we are honored to have. Elevation of certain historic events so that they are remembered and respected, particularly by our young people, is so important. No one in Arkansas is unaware of the significance of the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School in 1957. No one in America should be unaware of the courage of the Little Rock Nine. That courage is celebrated in one of the two commemorative coins that are part of the U.S. Mint collection this year. Now, I come here this morning to let you know if you don't have your order in by December 14, which is the end of this week, you won't be able to order the coins from usmint.gov, or call 1-800-USA MINT. For you folks on the Hill, the Mint is having their annual Holiday Hill coin sale in Rayburn 2220, where you can buy this coin, and also the wonderful coin sponsored by the late Representative Jo Ann Davis honoring the 400th anniversary of Jamestown. Usmint.gov, and you, too, can send these as great holiday gifts.

Mr. SNYDER

Mr. SNYDER. Mr. Speaker, passion for collecting things as children is something that we have all gone through. Each of us has perhaps collected coins or stamps. Not everyone collects stamps, not everyone collects coins, not everyone collects insects; but all of us appreciate the value of courage. And I rise tonight, Mr. Speaker, to talk about a coin that is now available for sale on the usmint.gov Web site, the commemorative coin honoring the bravery and courage and great public service of the Little Rock Nine, the nine African American students that desegregated Little Rock Central High School in 1957. This year is the 50th anniversary of their service. This side of the coin depicts a group of school children going to school with no other purpose than to get educated and act like kids. We sometimes forget that the Little Rock Nine 50 years ago were kids. They were children, demonstrating great bravery in trying to overcome the obstacles imposed by adults. And the coin on this side says ``Liberty.'' The nine stars are to represent the Little Rock Nine. And it says: ``Desegregation in Education, 2007, In God We Trust.'' The reverse side of this coin, it is a $1 coin, depicts Little Rock Central High School itself. It is still considered one of the Nation's most beautiful high schools. As you know, Mr. Speaker, each year the Congress may authorize two commemorative coins. One of the coins that we authorize for sale during calendar year 2007 is this coin honoring the 50th anniversary of the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School. The other one was by the late Representative Jo Ann Davis of Virginia honoring the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, our beloved colleague Jo Ann Davis, who recently passed away. Both coins tell a wonderful story. I encourage the Members and encourage the public to go to the usmint.gov Web site and consider purchasing these coins as holiday presents, as a way to pass on the legacy of the story of the bravery of these nine students desegregating Little Rock Central High School. One of the reasons I am interested in these coins being purchased at the usmint.gov Web site is because $10 of every coin purchased goes to support telling that story of Little Rock Central High School. It is now a national historic site. The school is still functioning, one of the great robust high schools in Arkansas. There is a national park visitors center there. The gas station that was there in 1957 has been restored across the street. So many ways to this story, but they can always use more money. There have been about 160,000 or so of these coins sold, and $10 of every coin goes to help tell this story. And this is a beautiful coin. When you see the coin itself, it's just exquisite in the detail. It is a silver dollar and they make wonderful presents. But, more importantly, they make a wonderful way of telling the legacy and telling the story of the bravery and courage of these nine children that are now adults, in their 60s, who overcame the prejudices that involved segregation of schools in 1957.

Mr. SNYDER

Mr. SNYDER. Madam Speaker, a couple of years ago, at a time when the House was in session through the weekend, a group of us lonely, forlorn Members during the Christmas season on a Sunday morning ended up in the pews of the Capitol Hill United Methodist Church to be greeted warmly by our guest chaplain today, Rev. Ginger Gaines-Cirelli, and her husband. It was the only time I've heard a sermon in which the phrase, during the Christmas season, ``preggers by God'' was used. We were delighted by her sermon, delighted by her warmth, and she is here with us today. She is a graduate of Southwestern University of Georgetown, Texas, received her master of divinity from Yale Divinity School. She has done church work all of her professional life. Her previous head pastoring job was in Rockville, Maryland. And she has now, for 7 years, with her husband, been the head pastor of the Capitol Hill United Methodist Church. We are very fortunate today to have Rev. Ginger Gaines-Cirelli as our guest pastor.

Mr. SNYDER

Mr. SNYDER. Mr. Speaker, public attention 50 years ago, in 1957, was on Little Rock, Arkansas. Everyone in the United States knew of the events that were going on at Little Rock Central High School and in the streets surrounding Little Rock Central High School. Now this year we celebrate the courage of the Little Rock Nine. Now this year, 2007, we commemorate those events, the desegregation of September 25, 1957, very much aware of the work that we have to do in race relations. As part of the honoring of these events and the honoring of the courage of the brave Little Rock Nine, this Congress passed a commemorative coin bill. We authorize two commemorative coins each year. The commemorative coin I want to show the Members, it is a beautiful coin. Now, the real coin is not this big. It's a silver dollar. It is a commemorative coin. While it is legal tender, you would not want to use it for legal tender because it costs substantially more than a dollar. This is the one side. Each star honors one of the Little Rock Nine, the nine stars. And these footprints show young people going to school with no other desire than to get an education. And it says: ``Desegregation in Education, 2007, In God We Trust.'' On the other side of the coin is the Little Rock Central High School itself, one of the most beautiful high schools in the United States, and it is noted there: ``Little Rock Central High School.'' Now, the reason I show this coin to the Members on the floor tonight is this coin is currently available for sale at the U.S. Mint, usmint.gov. And for those of you who need some help, go to usmint.gov and then go to the section that says ``Coins and Medals'' and click on that and click on ``Commemoratives,'' and you can find out how to order this beautiful coin. Also available at usmint.gov is the other 2007 coin that was brought by the late Representative Jo Ann Davis, a much beloved Member of this body who recently passed away. That coin honors the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown in 1607. So we have two wonderful commemorative coins: this one honoring the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School by the Little Rock Nine in 1957 and the 400th anniversary of Jamestown. Now, what many people may not realize is $10 of every sale of each coin goes to support these historic sites, and that is why I am down here tonight, Mr. Speaker, encouraging people to go to usmint.gov and order these coins to tell the legacy, to pass a legacy on, to tell the stories. They make wonderful holiday gifts this year, but they also just make wonderful gifts from people to younger people to remember the legacy and the courage of the Little Rock Nine, usmint.gov. I also want to acknowledge this evening in Little Rock, Arkansas, the presence of Kevin Klose, the present president of National Public Radio. Right now he is at a reception at the home of Don and Suzanne Hamilton in Little Rock, Arkansas. They are my neighbors across the street. They are great members of the Friends of KLRE/KUAR. Unfortunately, I can't be there. I believe my wife is ill and can't be there. But I wish them well and welcome Kevin Klose to Arkansas.

Mr. SNYDER

Mr. SNYDER. Mr. Speaker, people in Arkansas who knew of Judge Richard Arnold admired and respected his great legal mind, his integrity, and his remarkable attributes as a human being. Everyone who personally knew him liked him. Not even those who disagreed with him found fault with his judicial demeanor nor his legal analysis. Now we have an opportunity to honor this great man. Tomorrow in Little Rock will be the formal dedication of the Richard Sheppard Arnold United States Courthouse, a wonderful new facility. Not only will this building be a great site for justice in central Arkansas, but it will be a lasting tribute to Judge Arnold. And on this day also we honor his wonderful wife, Kay Kelley Arnold, who will be in attendance at tomorrow's dedication.

Mr. SNYDER

Mr. SNYDER. Madam Speaker, pending before the House today is H. Res. 436, recognizing the 100th anniversary of the University of Central Arkansas. Every citizen of Conway, Arkansas, and Faulkner County, Arkansas, takes great pride in the long history of contribution of UCA to our Nation. Noteworthy in this year of celebration is the fact that UCA currently has more than 100 undergraduate courses of study, 33 master degree programs, and three doctoral programs. Noteworthy also is the fact that UCA currently serves over 12,300 students from all 75 counties in Arkansas, from 35 States, and over 55 countries. Over 52,000 students have graduated from UCA throughout its history, including 1,008 in the spring of 2007. UCA established one of the Nation's first honors colleges. The history of UCA is an interesting one. On May 14, 1907, State Senator Otis sponsored legislation establishing the Arkansas State Normal School. Many of UCA's buildings were built during the Great Depression. After the United States entered World War II, the administration of UCA offered the military its physical plant to assist in the training of military personnel. The president of UCA, Dr. Nolen Irby, and chairman of the UCA board visited Washington and made the offer, and the military agreed. Soon after the offer was accepted, UCA, at that time being called the Arkansas State Teachers College, became home to temporary branches of the Army Reserves, the Naval Cadets, and the Army Air Reserve. And for a short time, the headquarters of the Arkansas National Guard Unit, the 153rd Infantry, was housed on its campus. The Naval cadets and Army Air Reservists were trained in courses related to aviation and took their flying instruction at the local airport. The largest contingent on campus was the Women's Army Corps Branch No. 3. WAC Branch No. 3 was home to 1,800 women between March of 1943 and March 1944. It was one of seven temporary WAC branches in the Nation. The WACs were trained to take the place of a male who was in a noncombat position. They were housed in Bernard Hall and would arrive in classes every 6 to 8 weeks in groups of varying numbers. The first classes were the largest and numbered close to 300. Toward the end of their training in the winter of 1943 and 1944, each class numbered less than 100. There were so many military personnel on the campus of Arkansas State Teachers College in 1943 and 1944 that the Governor of the State, Homer Adkins, wanted to change the name of Arkansas State Teachers College to MacArthur Military College. However, the president of the campus, Dr. Nolen Irby, convinced Governor Adkins that the military personnel on campus would be temporary and the college would return to normal when the war was over. While all of the military units mentioned above were training on the Arkansas State Teachers College campus, the college continued to serve as an institution of higher education and educate those students enrolled in classes. Apparently, Arkansas State Teachers College did its job well in educating military personnel. Out of 85 colleges in the Nation engaged in war-training programs, Arkansas State Teachers College ranked seventh overall. In aviation, aerology and ship recognition, ASTC was first in the Nation, and third in the Nation in navigation. Some of the distinguished alumni that have graduated from UCA: Dr. Wesley Burks was the 2005 UCA Distinguished Alumnus. He is now professor and head of the Division of Allergy and Immunology in the Department of Pediatrics at Duke University Medical School; Ray Simon, the 2006 UCA Distinguished Alumnus, is the current Deputy Secretary of Education and plays a pivotal role overseeing and managing the development of policies, recommendations and initiatives that help define a broad, coherent vision for achieving the President's educational priorities, especially No Child Left Behind; Bill Stiritz, the 2004 Distinguished Alumnus, was the CEO of Ralston Purina Company from 1982 to 1997 and is still on their board; Monte Coleman, the Distinguished Alumnus of 1999, was a football walk-on in 1975 because of very little high school ball due to an injury and went on to play 16 seasons with the Washington Redskins and was a pivotal part of three of the Redskins' Super Bowl victories. In 1996, a distinguished alumnus was Scotty Pippin. He actually graduated in December 2001. He was one of the most versatile and talented players in basketball and was a big part of the Chicago Bulls' six NBA championship teams in the 1990s. I also want to recognize the current president, Lu Hardin, for all the work that he is currently doing to make UCA one of the great, great institutions currently in higher education in the United States, and we all look forward to the 200th anniversary, 100 years from now.

Mr. SNYDER

Mr. SNYDER. Mr. Speaker, pending before this body June 5, 1941, Mr. Speaker, was a debate on the war in Europe. Everyone listened as Representative John Elliott of Mississippi delivered yet another unfortunate anti-Semitic diatribe. Not even the events of Hitler's rise to power stopped him. Not even knowing there were six Jewish Members of the House stopped him. When he was done, New York Congressman Mike Edelstein jumped to his feet and responded to this diatribe of anti-Semitism and he said the following words: ``I deplore the idea that men in this House attempt to use the Jews as their scapegoat. I say it is unfair and I say it is un- American. All men are created equal, regardless of race, creed or color, and whether a man be Jew or Gentile, he may think what he deems fit.'' Those were the words of Mike Edelstein, June 5, 1941. He left this podium, went into the Speaker's Lobby and died of a heart attack, and I wanted to recognize this on the anniversary of his passing.

Mr. SNYDER

Mr. SNYDER. Madam Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to my colleague the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Davis).

Mr. SNYDER

Mr. SNYDER. Madam Chairman, let me begin by thanking Chairman Ike Skelton for the work that he has done on this bill. As we can tell by the tone already, there has been a strong spirit of bipartisanship in putting this bill together. Both Ranking Member Duncan Hunter and Chairman Ike Skelton have worked very closely together to make this the kind of bill we want in time of war. And, Ike, I just want to say Susie would be proud of the work that you have done on this bill. I also want to thank my colleague, John McHugh, the Congressman from New York, for the work that he has done and continues to do year after year. And as many of you know, his district includes Fort Drum that has done more than its fair share of sacrifice in this war in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the war on terrorism. And, finally, a note about the staff. We all can talk about working together in a bipartisan manner, but for us it might mean just shaking hands as we go up and down the aisles. For the staff it is day in and day out, and I think they have done a great job of working together and trying to understand each other's concerns as this bill has come together; and I think the product reflects their great, great work. As somebody who spent 12 months and 20 days in Vietnam a long, long time ago at a time then also of a great foreign policy debate in our country, what I see in this body and in America today is something that a lot of us felt was lacking those 35 or 40 years ago. There is just this strong love of our troops and their families by the American people and by this Congress. And we recognize the need for a strong, well-trained, well-equipped military. And we have never forgotten the importance of families, the importance of families to our men and women in uniform. I think of one of my employees, who spent a year in Iraq, and he told me when he came home the first time for R&R and he had two young children, he came off the plane and he had about a 150-yard walk down the aisle there in the airport, and he could not stop himself. He ran that last 150 yards so he could see his children that he had not seen in several months. And yet we know the sacrifices that our families bear. So because of that, I think we have a lot of good things in this bill, whether it is dealing with medical care, TRICARE, the GI bill. I think it is a good, strong, bipartisan bill, and I appreciate all the work that the staff and Members have done.

Mr. SNYDER

Mr. SNYDER. Personally, Mr. Speaker, I wish this resolution of disapproval articulated our disapproval of the administration's failure to accomplish certain chores in preparation for our fine troops undertaking this new mission under General Petraeus. Everyone, including the President, now acknowledges mistakes over the past 4 years, but those well-documented errors are not the mistakes I am talking about. Now, today, mistakes are being made. Now, today, high-ranking officials in the administration fall short in their performance. Why, after 4 years of the Iraq war, is the Secretary of State unable to get the appropriate reconstruction, economic development, and other necessary personnel to Iraq? Why did the State Department recently have to request the Defense Department to help fill in these necessary positions? Why have the efforts of political reconciliation been so ineffective? Why has the American diplomatic effort in the region been so ineffective? Where are the trained police and judges who will need to deal with all the detainees to be arrested in Baghdad? Why aren't an adequate number of property detention facilities not available for these future detainees that are sure to come from an aggressive effort to decrease the violence in Baghdad? General Petraeus, clearly one of America's finest military leaders, during his recent opening statement before the Senate Armed Services Committee, felt an obligation to plead for the help and commitment from other U.S. government agencies commensurate with what our troops give 24 hours a day, day after day, week after week, month after month. I have had references being made to Winston Churchill, but I remind those speakers who make such comparisons that we are not a parliamentary system. If we were, the Secretary of State and other high-ranking officials would be gone because of their failures. We are, thankfully, the American system; and in our responsibility to support our troops, we know we must not just equip and train them. We know that all agencies of American government, the nonmilitary agencies, must pull their load if our fine troops are to be successful. So we now have a situation where our new commander on the ground, General Petraeus, says he needs the additional troops. On the other hand, he says he needs all the other agencies of government to step forward with, in his words, ``an enormous commitment.'' It is clear this commitment of other agencies is not yet being made. Regardless of the result of this vote today, our troops will still be in Iraq needing the commitment of all government agencies. The House leadership has stated that this resolution today is the first step of other legislation to come. This other legislation to come must address the issues of the shortcomings of other agencies of U.S. government, the nonmilitary agencies of U.S. government. Our troops deserve the help.

Mr. SNYDER

Mr. SNYDER. People throughout America, Madam Speaker, celebrate our heroes of the Civil Rights Movement. Every American knows of the great contributions of Martin Luther King. No Arkansan celebrates these heroes without celebrating the Little Rock Nine. No Arkansan remembers these heroes without remember Daisy Bates. I recently introduced a bill to remember another noteworthy Arkansan who is not as well known as he deserves to be, Scipio A. Jones. Scipio A. Jones contributed to moving Arkansas and our Nation forward, and I am pleased that earlier today the House adopted this measure, H.R. 433, to designate the facility at 1700 Main Street in Little Rock as the Scipio A. Jones Post Office Building. His is the life of which movies should be made, Madam Speaker. Scipio Africanus Jones was born a slave in Dallas County, Arkansas in 1863. He moved to Little Rock, Arkansas in the 1880s, took preparatory courses at Philander Smith College and graduated from North Little Rock's Bethel University, now Shorter College, with a Bachelor's Degree in 1887. Jones apprenticed to practicing attorneys and was accepted into the Arkansas Bar in 1889. He was admitted to the Supreme Court of Arkansas in 1900, to the U.S. District Court for the Western Division of the Eastern District of Arkansas and the U.S. Circuit Court for Arkansas in 1901, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1905 and the U.S. Court of Appeals in 1914. In 1915 and 1924, Jones was appointed as a special judge to preside over cases when the regular judge had been incapacitated. He was the National Attorney General for the Mosaic Templars of America, an international fraternal organization headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas which provided services to African Americans in an era when discrimination resulted in few basic services being readily available. The location of the Post Office we will designate is less than a mile away from the Mosaic Templars headquarters. On a visit to Little Rock, Arkansas by Treasury Secretary W.G. McAdoo during World War I, Scipio A. Jones personally wrote a check to purchase $50,000 worth of Liberty bonds to support the Allied cause in World War I, and soon thereafter raised another $50,000 for this effort. He was honored by President Woodrow Wilson, who appointed him to the National Advisory Board to the Liberty Bond effort. He opposed and helped defeat grandfather clause legislation that some southerners were seeking to add to the Arkansas Constitution to disenfranchise and prevent African American voter participation. In the aftermath of the Elaine Massacre of 1919, which resulted in the deaths of five Caucasians and an estimated 856 African Americans, Scipio A. Jones garnered national attention with the successful defense of 12 sharecroppers who had been condemned to death and by securing the release of nearly 100 other Elaine defendants who had been sent to prison. The legal work of Jones ultimately resulted in the case of Moore v. Dempsey being argued before the United States Supreme Court, which found that mob-dominated trials were a violation of the due process clause of the 14th amendment to the Constitution. He was widely respected by people of all races in the central Arkansas community. He died on March 28, 1943 and is buried at Haven of Rest Cemetery in Little Rock. I am pleased that this designation will acknowledge the lifelong service of Scipio A. Jones as a civic leader, talented lawyer, skillful jurist and civil rights leader and for his remarkable courage and notable contributions to the advancement of social justice. I would like to thank Chairman Waxman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee for bringing H.R. 433 to the floor, and Denise Wilson of that committee for assistance in moving it forward. I also thank Representative Lynch and Representative Shays for the kind words they offered during debate on the bill today, as well as James Savage, of my staff, for his work on this legislation.

Mr. SNYDER

Mr. SNYDER. Mr. Speaker, press statements by the chairman imply that section 1036(C) accomplishes something for veterans with disabilities, but this one-sentence provision says nothing about veterans. Even though the Paralyzed Veterans of America did a visit to the island and concluded Santa Rosa Island is not appropriate for hunting for people with disabilities, the provision stayed in the defense bill. No language in section 1036(C) does anything to offset the high fees associated with individuals hunting this privately owned herd. No language in section 1036(C) affects the responsibilities of the owner of the deer and elk to have them removed by the timelines set forth in the court settlements. This provision should not have been inserted in this bill, but it is clear from the plain language of this one sentence that it only impacts one alternative method for removal of the herds, not the 2011 deadline for removal of all the deer and elk.