[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 105 (Tuesday, June 24, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H5970-H5972]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  MICHAEL BILIRAKIS DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS SPINAL CORD INJURY 
                                 CENTER

  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4264) to name the Department of Veterans Affairs spinal cord 
injury center in Tampa, Florida, as the ``Michael Bilirakis Department 
of Veterans Affairs Spinal Cord Injury Center''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4264

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. NAME OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS SPINAL CORD 
                   INJURY CENTER, TAMPA, FLORIDA.

       The spinal cord injury center located at the James A. Haley 
     Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Tampa, 
     Florida, shall after the date of the enactment of this Act be 
     known and designated as the ``Michael Bilirakis Department of 
     Veterans Affairs Spinal Cord Injury Center''. Any reference 
     to such center in any law, regulation, map, document, record, 
     or other paper of the United States shall be considered to be 
     a reference to the ``Michael Bilirakis Department of Veterans 
     Affairs Spinal Cord Injury Center''.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Filner) and the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Buyer) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer my support to name the 
VA Spinal Cord Injury Center in Tampa, Florida, after our former 
colleague, Michael Bilirakis, and I thank Mr. Miller for bringing us 
this important resolution.
  One of the virtues, I guess--although some people advise against 
this--of naming a facility after someone who's living and who's a 
former colleague is that we remember him. It's not a historical kind of 
moment. We have known Michael for many, many, many years in this House, 
and his efforts, of course, brought this particular center into being. 
And it's fitting that we recognize his efforts.
  But he was responsible for a great many things. His background was in 
the Air Force where he served for 4 years. He left for the Congress in 
1982, served here for 24 years, retired at the end of the last 
Congress, and we miss his advocacy for veterans. Although, his son, 
Gus, has taken his place and is a member of our Veterans' Affairs 
Committee and I'm sure will achieve greatness in terms of his advocacy 
for veterans, also.
  I just have to say personally about Mr. Bilirakis, if he is 
listening. Mike Bilirakis was a little old fashioned. He believed in 
civility, that, in fact, we should relate to each other as human 
beings. We could differ on issues, but we have to speak with respect 
and complete integrity in the way we deal with each other.
  I will tell you that he was not always happy with some of my 
statements in my years on the Veterans' Affairs Committee, but he would 
not just let them go. He came up to me and explained why he thought I 
should take a different tone.

                              {time}  1900

  And he convinced me that working with the other party, working 
together on the committee, in fact, you can achieve much more. He 
really became the conscience of the Veterans' Affairs Committee. I 
think he made that committee far more civil, and we miss him, of 
course, today.
  I admired and watched him for many, many years deal with the issue 
that not too many people understood, it was called ``concurrent 
receipt,'' that those who were retirees from our Armed Forces but who 
also were disabled from their time in the service would get both 
payments because they earned them both; and yet the law had offset 
them, and so the disabled veteran was actually paying for his 
disability.
  Michael Bilirakis fought tirelessly to get rid of that offset, to 
have, in fact, concurrent receipt. He was able to achieve his goal for 
about half of the veterans. We're going to continue his work. And I 
know Gus is taking the lead to make sure we get full concurrent receipt 
and really honor him not only in the naming of this center, but in 
finally achieving that goal for really millions of veterans.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4264, a bill to 
name the Department of Veterans Affairs Spinal Cord Injury Center in 
Tampa, Florida, as the ``Michael Bilirakis Department of Veterans 
Affairs Spinal Cord Injury Center.''
  Mr. Michael Bilirakis served in the United States Air Force from 1951 
to 1955 and served Florida's Ninth District as Congressman for 24 
years, from 1983 to 2007. As a veteran, Mike wanted to be a strong 
veterans' advocate in Congress, and specifically requested to be 
appointed to a seat on the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
  Those of us who served with Mike on the committee well remember his 
hard work on what the chairman just spoke about, the issue of 
concurrent receipt. Since his first introduction of the legislation in 
the 99th Congress to eliminate the offset of the military pension

[[Page H5971]]

in order to receive the VA disability compensation, Mike consistently 
worked each Congress to have this legislation passed, including 
reintroducing the bill each consecutive Congress in which he had 
served.
  When I served on the House Armed Services Committee as chairman of 
Military Personnel in the late 1990s, I went to Mr. Bilirakis and 
informed him that I had $25 million, and I wanted to address the issue 
of concurrent receipt. And what we did was we first took that $25 
million and we said we're going to take care of those 100 percent 
combat-disabled veterans. And Mike and I felt pretty good about what we 
had done. We had moved incrementally, but we were going to take on this 
issue. Boy, did we find out that in the very next Congress we were 
being attacked. Here we thought we were doing great things on behalf of 
the veterans' community, and then Mr. Bilirakis and I then began to be 
attacked by all these other veterans who did not receive the benefits 
of concurrent receipt. Here we thought we were trying to do that which 
was best, open up the issue of concurrent receipt, address the 100 
percent combat-disabled veterans, and then all of a sudden Michael 
Bilirakis and I were being attacked because we didn't do it for 
everyone. And Mike always took on these issues with great humor, self-
deprecating humor, and for that I have great respect for him.
  He also fought for the Survivor Benefit Plan and improvements for the 
widows of military retirees, dependency and indemnity compensation and 
survivors' benefits, veterans' equitable resource allocation, benefits 
and health care for former prisoners of war, hospice care for veterans, 
as well as the designation of the National Women Veterans Recognition 
Week.
  Additionally, Congressman Michael Bilirakis sought and obtained 
funding for the following projects to serve veterans within his 
congressional district in the State of Florida. The Port Richey 
Outpatient Clinic, the Spinal Cord Injury Center at the James Haley VA 
Medical Center. We have the Florida National Cemetery, the Land O'Lakes 
Nursing Home, and the Sub-Regional Veterans Office in Tampa, Florida. 
Among his top priorities was obtaining the funding and resources for 
the Spinal Cord Injury Center located at the VA Medical Center in 
Tampa, Florida.
  Mr. Speaker, for all of his outstanding work on behalf of our 
Nation's veterans, it is most appropriate today that we consider this 
legislation to name the Spinal Cord Injury Center after Michael 
Bilirakis.
  I had the opportunity to tour this facility. And I welcome all of my 
colleagues, if you ever have the chance to be in Tampa, to visit the 
polytrauma center; go by this spinal cord facility. It is one of the 
most remarkable facilities that we have in the country in which we care 
for these veterans. And it's only fitting, since Mike worked so hard on 
this particular facility, that it be named in his honor.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Miller) may consume, the ranking member of the Health 
Subcommittee.
  Mr. MILLER of Florida. I thank the ranking member for yielding the 
time.
  As you already know, for 24 years Mike Bilirakis served as a staunch 
advocate for veterans, not only on the floor of this House, but in the 
committee room, serving on the Veterans' Affairs Committee, including 
vice-chairman of the full committee. Mike strongly promoted equitable 
and improved benefits for all of our Nation's veterans and their 
families as well.
  One of his signature efforts has already been talked about today, and 
that was concurrent receipt, H.R. 303. We all remember that very well 
because that was his signature bill that he pushed on the floor of this 
House. But his work was not just there. I mean, he was instrumental in 
seeing that the Department of Veterans Affairs took care of surviving 
spouses, as the ranking member just said, through the Survivor Benefit 
Plan. He reassured veterans everywhere that they were not forgotten. 
And as chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and investigations, he 
made sure that the VA carried out its mission through its 
responsibilities.
  Another one of the key accomplishments of Mike's during his tenure 
was funding for the Spinal Cord Injury Center at the James Haley VA 
Medical Center. For 12 years, Mike worked tirelessly to see this center 
come to reality, and I think it's fitting that it be named after 
Congressman Bilirakis.
  When the center opened in February of 2002, some 7,000 veterans from 
that area finally had a place that they could specifically go that was 
suited for their needs that they had, those unique needs. So Mr. 
Speaker, it is only fitting that this facility, providing 
groundbreaking research such as this one, be named after a person who 
gave everything that he had to see that veterans receive the care and 
attention that they deserve.
  Veterans always knew they had a voice in Michael Bilirakis. Many of 
us got to serve with him very proudly here in Congress and applauded 
his enthusiasm. So it's my pleasure to stand today in support of this 
piece of legislation.
  Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I now yield such time as he may consume to 
Gus Bilirakis of Florida, the son of Michael Bilirakis.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4264 to 
name the Department of Veterans Affairs Spinal Cord Injury Center at 
the James Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa, Florida, after my father, 
former Congressman Michael Bilirakis.
  I would like to thank Mr. Miller for introducing this legislation, my 
colleagues from Florida for their support, and you, Mr. Speaker, as 
well as Chairman Filner and Ranking Member Buyer for their leadership. 
I appreciate all of their hard work in recognizing my father's 
dedication to providing our veterans suffering from spinal cord 
injuries with a much needed state-of-the-art facility.
  As a veteran himself, my father came to Washington in 1982 to be a 
strong advocate for our Nation's veterans in the halls of Congress. He 
served as a member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs during 
all of his 12 terms in office. During the last 6 years of his career, 
he served as vice-chairman of the full committee. He also founded the 
Military Veterans Caucus in the 108th Congress.
  Through his work on the committee, my father sought to recognize the 
great contributions of our Nation's veterans and the sacrifices made by 
their families. He consistently fought to ensure that veterans received 
the benefits and services that they earned through their military 
service. In fact, he often said that veterans' benefits were our one 
true ``entitlement'' because individuals had to earn their benefits by 
wearing our Nation's military uniform. It took 12 years to secure the 
funding, but the construction of the new Tampa SCI Center was one of my 
father's most important achievements in Congress.
  There are over 3,000 veterans suffering from spinal cord injury 
disabilities living within the Tampa VA spinal cord injury service 
area, as well as another 3,000 to 4,000 veterans with spinal cord 
dysfunctions living in the region. Before the construction of this 
facility, the Tampa SCI Unit occupied space originally designed for 
psychiatric patients and was not well suited for the unique needs of 
SCI patients. My father made getting this spinal cord treatment center 
one of his top priorities while in Congress. As a matter of fact, he 
has dedicated his life to veterans; he is still working for veterans.
  In total, he secured $44 million for the construction of this 
facility, which serves as a much needed addition to the James Haley VA 
Medical Center. Since opening in February of 2002, it has provided 
essential services to local veterans suffering from these debilitating 
injuries.
  My father will be so proud--and I appreciate all of you, my 
colleagues--and honored; he would be honored to have his name attached 
to the Spinal Cord Injury Center that he worked so hard to establish 
while in Congress. His leadership and his advocacy on behalf of 
veterans' issues continues today, as I said, and this bill brings the 
deserved recognition for one of his great accomplishments and his 
devoted mission to support our Nation's brave men and women.
  Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time I have 
remaining.

[[Page H5972]]

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Indiana has 11\1/2\ 
minutes.
  Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as she may consume to 
Dr. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. I thank the gentleman from Indiana, the ranking 
member of Veterans' Affairs, for this time.
  I am so honored to be here tonight congratulating our good friend, 
Mr. Miller of Florida, for this bill, and Congressman Bilirakis, 
another Florida colleague, for speaking on this bill as well.
  I rise in strong support of House Resolution 4264 to rightfully name 
the Department of Veterans Affairs Spinal Cord Injury Center in Tampa, 
Florida as the ``Michael Bilirakis Department of Veterans Affairs 
Spinal Cord Injury Center.''
  I had the honor and the pleasure of serving with Congressman Mike 
Bilirakis here in the House for almost 17 years. He was a colleague, a 
statesman, a fellow Floridian. Mike was and continues to be a strong 
voice for our country's men and women proudly serving our country. He 
was also an advocate for Florida's environment, including the 
protection of our pristine coastlines. But his time here in the House 
was truly defined by his supreme dedication to veterans, serving on the 
House Committee on Veterans' Affairs for his entire tenure in the U.S. 
House.
  After 24 years in Congress, this fine public servant retired in 2006. 
However, we all have the wonderful pleasure to serve with his son, Gus 
Bilirakis, and I'm honored to serve with Gus on our Foreign Affairs 
Committee. We're delighted to see him follow in his father's footsteps 
in his passion for our veterans.
  Naming this Department of Veterans Affairs after Congressman Mike 
Bilirakis is certainly a sound tribute to a man who gave so much to his 
community, to our brave service men and women, and indeed, to our 
country.
  I urge all Members to vote in favor of this resolution that 
rightfully honors a man such as Congressman Mike Bilirakis, a friend to 
all, and especially to our veterans.
  Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, our good friend, Michael Bilirakis, and his 
wife, Evelyn, I'm sure are listening right now. And to my good friend 
Michael, I know this is a little uncomfortable listening to your 
colleagues say nice things about you while you're alive, so I thank the 
chairman for doing this bill.
  And we recognize you, Michael Bilirakis, because your presence here 
was significant. You heard a very personal admission on behalf of the 
chairman. And I think all of us on the committee could say the very 
same thing that the chairman had said. Michael was very good at keeping 
and maintaining civility, and it's about who he was as a person.
  I also had the opportunity to serve with him on the powerful House 
Energy and Commerce Committee. And we honor his work, not only on 
behalf of America's veterans, but I also remember his work on the 
Health Subcommittee. It worked out very well, his knowledge of Energy 
and Commerce along with his work on the Health Subcommittee on the 
House Veterans' Affairs Committee. And he was able to integrate his 
work with Health and Human Services and NIH and research and met with 
the VA and research. Your work is highly recognized and remembered by 
the House.
  But I also know that, Michael, if you were still here, you would be 
just as concerned as I am with regard to the high cost of energy 
because you voted on a lot of efforts to bring down energy prices for 
all Americans, which include our veterans.

                              {time}  1915

  So with that I urge all my colleagues to support the legislation 
before us in naming this spinal cord facility on behalf of Michael 
Bilirakis.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. FILNER. To the now Congressman Bilirakis, you honor your father 
with your work on the committee and your advocacy, and we look forward 
to many years of that.
  And, of course, Mr. Speaker, this is not an obituary. Mike Bilirakis 
is very much alive and working for veterans still. His work on the 
Commission for the Future of America's Veterans is important. It's 
going to be very timely. It's going to be significant. And I hope we 
all listen to what he says in his new role on that commission.
  And, Michael, if you're watching, I don't always meet your ideal of 
civility, but I remember your teaching. I remember your example every 
day.


                             General Leave

  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on H.R. 4264.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 
4264, legislation to designate the ``Michael Bilirakis Department of 
Veterans Affairs Spinal Cord Injury Center'' at the James A. Haley 
Hospital in Tampa.
  First, I want to commend my colleague from Florida, Jeff Miller, a 
distinguished member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, for 
introducing this legislation to honor our former colleague and my 
friend Mike Bilirakis.
  There is no member of this House who devoted more of his time and 
energy to improve the quality of care for our Nation's veterans than 
Mike Bilirakis. Long a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, he 
made the establishment of the Spinal Cord Injury Unit at Tampa one of 
his highest legislative priorities.
  As a result of these efforts, we have at Tampa the finest center of 
its kind anywhere in our Nation taking care of seriously injured 
veterans. We are thankful that Mike had the foresight to pursue this 
project as it has become a critical center in taking care of returning 
heroes from the war against terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  Naming the Spinal Cord Injury Center for Mike Bilirakis will be a 
lasting tribute to a man who never forgot our Nation's commitment to 
our veterans. It is also a special honor to a member of this House who 
did not seek acclaim or recognition. He just worked hard every day for 
the people of his district and for the veterans who wore the uniform.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to join in approving this 
legislation to honor one of this House's quiet heroes who is a champion 
of those who bore the uniform in the past, do so now, and will into the 
future.
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to unanimously support 
the bill.
  I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of 
my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Filner) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 4264.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

                          ____________________