[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 119 (Wednesday, September 10, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H7122]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     WE MUST CARE FOR THE COMMANDOS

  (Ms. SANCHEZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, in June of this year, Congress approved 
legislation to finally pay a 30-year debt. The South Vietnamese Lost 
Army Commandos will finally have their United States Government 
contracts honored by the Pentagon for their years of service to the 
United States Army.
  But accepting their long overdue pay would mean the loss of something 
even more important for many of the commandos, their health care 
benefits. The medical problems resulting from years in torture require 
long-term health care, care they will not be able to receive if they 
accept their compensation.
  After years of torture by the North Vietnamese, the callousness of 
being declared dead by the United States Government, and years of 
anguish over not receiving their rightful compensation, these brave men 
are faced with another obstacle in their 30-year struggle. I urge my 
colleagues to support these men who fought and bled in Vietnam for the 
United States cause.
  As the House goes to conference on the Labor-HHS bill, I urge my 
colleagues to accept the Senate position exempting the commandos' 
compensation from Medicaid eligibility.

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