C. Young

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. First, I would like to say that I understand the sincerity of the gentleman's presentation. It is very much like a number of other amendments that we have had. Mr. Chairman, in Afghanistan, we are in a very critical position. I think it's important that we allow the military commanders--those who are commanding our troops, those who are leading our troops into combat--to tell us how we achieve our goal and then how we depart from Afghanistan. We need their advice. I will tell you that I have been to Afghanistan, but I've seen more of the war at the hospital at Walter Reed in Bethesda. I've seen too many young folks--men and women--who are quadruple amputees, triple amputees, and who have more serious mental issues and traumatic brain injuries. From my weekly visits there, I can tell you that this is a mean, mean, nasty war with a mean, mean, nasty enemy. We have got to let, not politics, but the wisdom, the vision, the knowledge, the advice of our military commanders in the field who are responsible for this operation make our decisions. Their advice is not compatible with this amendment, so I do strongly oppose it. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, the Stearns' amendment would prohibit funds from being used to implement an enrollment fee for the TRICARE for Life program. The Department of Defense does not currently have the authority to establish such a fee, but did submit a legislative proposal to do so. The House-passed National Defense Authorization Act chose not to adopt the legislative request that would give the Department this authority. While this Defense Appropriations bill does not have jurisdiction on TRICARE issues, we support strongly what Mr. Stearns intends to do, so we accept the amendment.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. I yield to the gentleman.

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

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order on the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, reserving the right to object. I would say to the gentleman from Pennsylvania that what he wants to do, I want to share with him and to help him do that. I had to, under the rules, reserve the point of order, but I would hope that the gentleman would let us be part of this effort to accomplish what it is he wants to do within the rules. I withdraw my reservation on his request to withdraw.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I will not oppose this amendment because I want to make sure that the Defense Department does not hire bad contractors. And I agree with Mr. Kucinich strongly on this issue. The only comment that I would make is we've just seen this amendment just a few minutes ago, and we have not really had time to analyze it, so if we could make any further explanation. But I'm not going to oppose the amendment. I suspect it's going to pass. It probably should because none of us want the Defense Department to hire bad contractors. Good job, Mr. Kucinich. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order on the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I make a point of order against the amendment because it proposes to change existing law and constitutes legislation in an appropriation bill and therefore violates clause 2 of rule XXI. The rule states in pertinent part: An amendment to a general appropriation bill shall not be in order if changing existing law. The amendment requires a new determination. I ask for a ruling from the Chair.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. The former chairman of this subcommittee is absolutely correct. Current strains on our military and fiscal resources are causing unprecedented challenges in maintaining a viable, cost-effective military health care system. He has probably heard me discuss this more than he has wanted to over the years, but it is a serious, important issue. It is essential that new, innovative approaches be more quickly included in military medical practice.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Again, I just want to thank the gentleman for highlighting this issue today. Obviously, I plan to continue to work with him in order to do the best we can to make this happen.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Thank you for yielding, and I wanted to say the same thing. Mr. Lewis chaired this subcommittee, as well as the full committee. He did an outstanding job. Many innovations came about during his 6 years as chairman of this subcommittee. He is with us today, and he will continue to be with us. The House is losing another great talent, another great dedicated public official. I thank you for calling attention to his service.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise and report the bill back to the House with sundry amendments, with the recommendation that the amendments be agreed to and that the bill, as amended, do pass.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. We are having a little trouble hearing at the table here.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, reserving the right to object-- and I won't object--I will say this is a little unusual for us to agree to do this. But in this one case, we will agree to it and let the gentleman present his amendment. I believe in as much openness as we possibly can provide for all of our Members, but we just can't make a habit of going back once the bill has been read, once the regular order has been followed. But in this case, we will yield. I withdraw my reservation, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Frelinghuysen), who is an extremely important member of this subcommittee and also represents this subcommittee with the Intelligence Committee.