[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 146 (Monday, September 15, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H8064-H8065]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1515

  Mr. COLE of Oklahoma. Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield such time as 
he might care to consume to my good friend from Georgia (Mr. Price).
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. I thank my friend from Oklahoma for his 
leadership on this and so many issues and for yielding me time.
  This is an important issue, an important bill. So many of us have 
worked with groups within our districts all across this Nation who have 
had family members volunteer, serve, defend our liberty and freedom 
around the world, many of them on multiple tours of duty. So helping 
the families and recognizing their sacrifices is extremely important. 
They fight to defend our liberty, they fight to defend our freedom, 
they fight to defend our way of life, and yes, they fight to defend our 
ability to stand on this floor and debate and deliberate the major 
issues of the day.
  Which is why it is with some significant regret that I discuss the 
issue that is the most important issue facing Americans today at home, 
and that is the issue of the economy and increasing gas prices and 
energy policy, and sadly say to my colleagues that the freedom and the 
liberty and the processes that our military men and women risk their 
lives to protect are sadly not being honored here on the floor of the 
House.
  We heard with great fanfare last week the Speaker and the Democrat 
leadership announce to the Nation that they had reached a compromise on 
energy policy, an issue that we have been, on my side of the aisle, 
demanding an appropriate deliberative process and a fair and open 
debate for these many months.
  But the Speaker announced they had reached a compromise. The problem, 
Mr. Speaker, as you well know is the compromise within their own minds, 
within their own caucus, which is why it saddens me to recognize that 
the men and women who are fighting to defend our freedom and our 
liberty and fighting for the ability of our democracy to long survive, 
and yet we have a process of democracy that's been so distorted it 
would not be recognized certainly by our Founding Fathers and likely 
not by any civics class across this Nation.
  Because the way in which this energy bill supposedly--I don't know 
who's seen it--supposedly will be brought to the floor in less than 24 
hours is through a closed process, through a secret process behind 
closed doors; not an open deliberative process, not a democratic 
process. Dare I say, Mr. Speaker, not an American process.
  This is an important bill to recognize the sacrifices of American 
families all across this Nation whose loved ones stand today and have 
continued to stand to fight for liberty and freedom. But it saddens me 
greatly, Mr. Speaker, to not have that process and that fight and that 
valor honored here on the floor of the House of Representatives in a 
way that recognizes the history of our Nation, the appropriateness of 
the deliberative process, the imperative of democracy, the recognition 
that each and every one of us represents the same number of Americans.
  So I support this bill, but I am so saddened and distressed by what 
appears to be a recurrent theme among this current leadership, and that 
is not to recognize the imperative of democracy and debate and 
deliberation in this, the greatest House, the people's House.


                Announcement By the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Expressions of approval or disapproval from 
the gallery are not allowed.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I represent Guam, a small little island in the Pacific 
where we have today more active National Guardsmen reservists serving 
in Afghanistan and Iraq per capita than any other State in the Union.
  Just last month I led a codel to Pakistan, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and 
Iraq and found 181 National Guardsmen and reservists from Guam deployed 
in Afghanistan serving in the most dangerous provinces in that country.
  I want to speak to this bill because on Guam, because of the numerous 
soldiers deployed all over the world today, the support group is 
exceptional, made up of family and friends. I have visited their 
headquarters, and it's made up of housewives, families, and friends all 
supporting our soldiers. And I want to go on record to say that I 
applaud our soldiers and families on Guam for their dedicated support 
and loyalty, and I go on record as supporting this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, at this time I have no further requests for time, and I 
am prepared to close after my colleague has yielded back his time.
  I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. COLE of Oklahoma. Mr. Speaker, I will try to be brief.
  I want to, again, commend my good friend from Guam and say in the 
opportunities we've had to travel abroad I notice how fervently she 
seeks out servicemen and women from her country and with what great 
warmth and gratitude she's always received. And it's a reminder of what 
an exceptional place she represents and what exceptional people have 
chosen her from amongst themselves to defend them here.
  I want to also express my personal appreciation for the types of 
groups, again, that were singled out in this resolution by our good 
friend, Ms. Sutton. Frankly, we all could sit here and name many, many 
groups in our respective districts that put American men and women in 
uniform ahead of everything else. I want to mention just one, if I 
might, Mr. Speaker.
  In my home State of Lawton, Oklahoma, is where Fort Sill is located. 
It's the home base of the field artillery. And Fort Sill has a very 
unique organization called literally the Armed Services YMCA of Lawton/
Fort Sill. It, for decades, has performed support services for family. 
Every year there is a huge breakfast and, frankly, a community drive to 
solicit private dollars to support its efforts to help men and women in 
uniform and service families.
  And I've heard repeatedly, as I go down to these, instances where 
families would show up from deployment desperately needing things; you 
know, perhaps young families not able to furnish the apartments they 
were in, needing support. That support's always given generously by 
fellow soldiers, but more importantly, even by the men and women of 
Lawton, Oklahoma.
  Again, I commend my colleagues for bringing this resolution. I urge 
its support.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I want to go on record to thank the co-
manager of the bill today, Mr. Cole, a good friend of mine whom I've 
traveled with on numerous occasions, and I truly appreciate the kind 
words that he has noted of Guam and, of course, his own State.
  And as he said, each Member going on these congressional delegation 
trips is always meeting with their troops, and this is one of the great 
pleasures, shall we say, of the trip, not only to investigate and see 
how we are doing and how our troops are treated, but to meet with 
troops from our district.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my 
gratitude to all the support groups, families, and friends of our men 
and women in the armed forces. By supporting those who support them, we 
honor the sacrifice and courage of our women who have served and are 
currently serving in our Armed Forces.
  Since September 2001, more than 1,700,000 members of the Armed Forces 
have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, and nearly 611,000 have 
been deployed more than once. More than 782,000 members of our Armed 
Forces deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan are parents. Sadly, nearly 
35,000 troops have been separated from their children for 4 or more 
deployments.
  Many of our men and women in the armed forces have given the ultimate 
sacrifice to secure the freedoms of others. As of May 3, 2008 over 
4,500 died and over 32,000 wounded while deployed in support of 
Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan).
  The members of our Armed Forces and their families deserve all the 
medical, financial,

[[Page H8065]]

education, and moral support that our Nation can provide. Our military 
support groups and organizations play a vital role in providing 
services to members of our Armed Forces and their families, including 
financial assistance, employment assistance, tax return preparation, 
counseling, prayer groups, and sending care packages.
  The resolution we considered today provides an opportunity for each 
of us, regardless of political views, religion, ethnicity, gender, or 
background to come together, and to recognize and honor our nation's 
heroes and those that support them and their families.
  Though we may be divided by our positions on the war in Iraq, we 
stand together to support our veterans. Our nation has a proud legacy 
of appreciation and commitment to the men and women who have worn the 
uniform in defense of this country. We must be united in seeing that 
every soldier, sailor, airman, and marine is welcomed back with all the 
care and compassion this grateful nation can bestow.
  All too many of our veterans are left without the help and support 
they need to transition from the horrors they bravely face on the front 
lines of battle to successful civilian life. According to the Veterans 
of all ages were homeless.
  The V.A. also reports 400 veterans of the wars in Iraq and 
Afghanistan alone have already become homeless, and this figure only 
takes into account those who have sought services from V.A.-sponsored 
programs. Experts have predicted that the trauma resulting from the 
extreme horrors of these modern wars could lead to a surge in homeless 
veterans in the coming years.
  I chose to celebrate one of our heroic daughters of Texas, Specialist 
Monica L. Brown of the United States Army with House Concurrent 
Resolution 320 for her efforts earlier this year.
  Spec. Brown was the first woman in Afghanistan and only the second 
female soldier since World War II to receive the Silver Star, the 
nation's third-highest medal for valor. This soldier from Lake Jackson, 
Texas was only 10-years-old, when on April 25, 2007, Specialist Brown 
as part of a four-vehicle convoy patrolling near Jani Kheil in the 
eastern province of Paktia that was attacked. She saw her fellow 
soldiers injured, she grabbed her aid bag and started running toward 
the burning vehicle as insurgents opened fire. All five wounded 
soldiers from her platoon scrambled out. Under this commotion, she 
assessed her patients and moved them to a safer location because they 
were still receiving incoming fire.
  The Pentagon's official policy is to prohibit women from serving in 
front-line combat roles in the infantry, armor or artillery, but the 
nature of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, with no real front lines, 
has seen women soldiers take part in close-quarters combat more than 
previous conflicts.
  According to the army four Army nurses in World War II were the first 
women to receive the Silver Star, though three nurses serving in World 
War I were awarded the medal posthumously in 2007. Sgt. Leigh Ann 
Hester, of Nashville, Tenn., was the first to receive the Silver Star 
in 2005 along with two fellow male soldiers for her gallantry during an 
insurgent ambush on a convoy in Iraq.
  Though I have opposed the war in Iraq from its inception, I remain 
absolutely committed to ensuring that we recognize, celebrate, and 
honor the service of our sons and daughters in and returning from, Iraq 
and Afghanistan.
  I am proud to support H. Res. 1200 by my colleague, Congresswoman 
Sutton. I firmly believe that we should celebrate and support our armed 
forces and their families, and I remain committed, as a Member of 
Congress, to both meeting the needs of veterans of previous wars, and 
to provide a fitting welcome home to those who are now serving. Current 
serving military personnel and veterans have kept their promise to 
serve our nation; they have willingly risked their lives to protect the 
country we all love. We must now ensure that we keep our promises to 
them.
  Currently, there are over 25 million veterans in the United States. 
Thee are more than 1,633,000 veterans living in Texas and more than 
32,000 veterans living in my Congressional district alone. I hope we 
will all take the time to show appreciation to those who have answered 
the call to duty. As Winston Churchill famously state, ``Never in the 
field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.''
  Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting our 
troops, their families, and those groups that are working to support 
them.
  Ms. BORDALLO. I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Guam (Ms. Bordallo) that the House suspend the rules 
and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1200, as amended.
  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. COLE of Oklahoma. 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.

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