[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 16 (Tuesday, February 15, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H604]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     STABBING VETERANS IN THE BACK

  (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, this is National Salute to 
Hospital Veterans Week, and just on Sunday I had the opportunity to 
visit my veterans hospital in our community in Houston, visiting 
veterans and speaking to them and thanking them for their service.
  Mr. Speaker, not one of them, not one of them had one moment of 
regret for the service to their Nation. That is why I stand here today 
to read the words of Al Marlowe, the 75-year-old, eighty district 
commander for 17 Houston-area American Legion posts: ``It's a stab in 
the back,'' he says. ``It's stab in the back,'' says Marlowe, 75, a 
Korean War veteran. ``This is what they do behind closed doors in 
Washington if you want the real truth.''
  It is a stab in the back because we have cut veterans benefits. We 
are asking them to enhance the copay of veterans who have served this 
country.

                              {time}  1915

  When they served, we promised them benefits for life. It seems a 
shame on this House if we cannot come together and establish priorities 
and begin to give back to veterans who have given to this Nation.
  This is a national salute to veterans who are hospitalized, Mr. 
Speaker, but there are many more veterans who come to outpatient 
clinics at veterans hospitals all over America. It is time to stop 
stabbing them in the back and provide them the lifetime benefit for 
serving this country.

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