[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 9 (Wednesday, February 2, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H338]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   OUSTER OF VETERANS COMMITTEE CHAIR

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Strickland) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STRICKLAND. Mr. Speaker, on January 3 of this year, 10 national 
veterans organizations wrote a letter to Speaker Hastert. Those 10 
organizations were the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, 
the Military Order of the Purple Heart, the Paralyzed Veterans of 
America, the Vietnam Veterans of America, the Disabled Veterans, the 
AMVETS, the Blinded Veterans Association, the Jewish War Veterans, and 
the Noncommissioned Officers.
  Why did these 10 groups write a letter to Speaker Hastert? They wrote 
this letter because they were concerned that rumors were spreading 
throughout this Chamber and across Capitol Hill that the chairman of 
the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, a Republican, the chairman of 
the Committee on Veterans' Affairs that had been there for 4 years, 
this man had served on the Committee on Veterans' Affairs for 24 years, 
the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), the rumor was spreading that 
Chairman Smith was going to be replaced as the Chair of the VA 
Committee and that someone else would be put in that position.
  These veterans groups were terribly concerned because, as they said 
in the letter, the Nation's leading veterans organizations representing 
over 5 million members are writing to ``urge that Congressman Chris 
Smith remain chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.''

                              {time}  1530

  They also said in the letter, ``Over the past 4 years, Chairman 
Smith's national reputation as the foremost congressional expert and 
advocate on veterans' issues has continued to grow.'' They further said 
in their letter, ``In our view, it would be a tragedy if Chris Smith 
left the chairmanship'' of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
  The Speaker of this House and the leadership of this House ignored 
all of these 10 national veterans organizations, and they not only 
removed the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) as the chairman of 
the Committee on Veterans' Affairs; they removed him from the committee 
entirely, a committee that he had served on for 24 years. Why did they 
do this? They did it because the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) 
is an advocate for veterans. He had the gall to speak up and to speak 
out and say we should do what we have promised to do and provide our 
veterans with the health care they need. And the leadership of this 
House would not tolerate that kind of insubordination. So this good man 
was stripped of the Chair's position and removed from the committee.
  Let me say something about the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), 
the person. In my judgment, he is the most pro-life advocate in this 
House of Representatives. I do not agree with the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Smith) on every issue, but I can tell the Members that he 
is a true conservative. He is an advocate for the unborn. He is an 
advocate for human rights not only here in this country but around the 
world. And if this Republican leadership would do this to their own, 
one can only imagine how they may respond to others who would challenge 
anything the leadership may want them to do.
  We are elected to come here by about 630,000 people. At least I think 
I have 631,000 constituents in my district of Ohio. We are elected to 
come here as independently elected representatives of the people that 
vote for us, and our responsibility is to speak up and to speak out. 
Benjamin Franklin has said, If you act like sheep, the wolves will eat 
you. And I would just like to say to my Republican colleagues who sat 
by and let the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) be treated the way 
he was treated by their leadership, if they can do it to the gentleman 
from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), they can do it to any one of them. And if 
they act like sheep, if they go along to get along or to protect 
themselves or to keep from being punished by their leadership, they 
will lose the ability to be an effective advocate for the people who 
sent them here to represent them.




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