[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 66 (Wednesday, May 12, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H2821]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTHY TROOPS ACT

  (Mr. BISHOP of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, as I speak today, more than 
170,000 of our servicemen and -women are serving in harm's way in Iraq 
and Afghanistan.

                              {time}  1030

  We are grateful for their service. We owe these brave men and women 
the best that we have to offer. At a minimum, we owe them what they 
were promised. I am talking about medical exams before and after we 
send them into combat.
  A 1997 law requires the DOD to perform comprehensive pre- and post-
deployment medical examinations on all deployed troops, including 
National Guard and Reservists. DOD has unilaterally decided to define 
these exams not as was intended, as a hand's-on examination by a 
doctor, but as a self-administered survey to determine if a service 
member is fit for combat or if he or she suffered as a result of war.
  It is beyond irresponsible to base the health of our troops on their 
individual ability to self-diagnose. Therefore, today, I am introducing 
legislation to require the Department of Defense to comply with the 
1997 law and guarantee each of our men and women will receive an actual 
clinical examination before and after they are deployed.
  Today, I request my colleagues to join me and support the Healthy 
Troops Act. We owe our troops that much.

                          ____________________