[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 51 (Wednesday, March 25, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H3999-H4000]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        VETERANS' HEALTHCARE FACILITIES/COMMEMORATING EARTH HOUR

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today deeply concerned about 
yesterday's reports regarding nearly 10,000 of our Nation's veterans 
who may have been exposed to HIV and other communicable diseases at 
Veteran's Administration hospitals. Like those veterans and their 
families, I'm shocked and appalled that this could have happened. Our 
veterans deserve better.
  A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of meeting with the new VA 
Secretary, Eric Shinseki, at the North Chicago VA Hospital to discuss 
improving care for our veterans. We've heard a lot about change in the 
past several months. Well, we have the duty to change our VA health 
system so reports of occurrences like we heard earlier this week never 
happen again. This means taking a serious look at every option to 
improve our veterans' care.
  One option is right in my backyard. It is actually in my good friend 
from Illinois, Mrs. Halvorson's district. There's a hospital named 
Silver Cross that will be moving to a new location in 2012. The 
facility that they are leaving has an emergency room that was built in 
2006 and a specialty care wing that is less than 7 years old.
  Instead of being opportunistic and selling the facility to the 
highest bidder, the hospital formed a Healthy Community Commission, 
whose focus is to give back to the Will County community. Our veterans 
are at the top of their list, and I commend them for that.
  I look forward to working with Secretary Shinseki, Congresswoman 
Halvorson and Members of both sides of the aisle to explore this and 
other options to make sure that our veterans never again have to put up 
with inadequate care.
  And with that, Mr. Speaker, this Saturday, March 28, 2009, at 8:30 
p.m. millions of people around the world will join together to turn off 
their lights for 1 hour, Earth Hour, to raise awareness about climate 
change. Communities, individuals, businesses and organizations will 
turn off non-essential lighting and cast a virtual vote for global 
education, awareness and action on this important issue.
  Earth Hour began in 2007 in Sydney, Australia where more than 2.2 
million people turned off their lights. Last year, World Wildlife Fund 
took Earth Hour global and more than 50 million

[[Page H4000]]

people in more than 400 cities, on all seven continents participated, 
darkening some of the world's most famous skylines and icons, including 
the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Coliseum in 
Rome, and the Sears Tower in Chicago. Even Google's home page went dark 
for that day.
  This year, more than 1,700 cities in some 80 countries already have 
signed up to participate, with more joining each day. The event itself 
will begin in Fiji, cascading across the world with Hawaii as the final 
stop. In my district, three municipalities, Aurora, Naperville and 
Homer Glen, and numerous businesses have signed up to participate.
  We need to start addressing climate change now, and Earth Hour is one 
of the many steps that we can take to do just that. That's why I 
introduced House Resolution 268, with my good friend from Georgia, Mr. 
Barrow, to support these goals and ideas of Earth Hour. The resolution 
will help increase education, awareness and action on this important 
environmental issue.
  I encourage my colleagues to cosponsor House Resolution 268 and join 
in this inspiring and historical event.
  I will submit an article entitled, ``3,000 Vets Face HIV Risk After 
Unsterile Procedure,'' from the Associated Press, for the Record.

               [From the Associated Press, Mar. 24, 2009]

           3,000 Vets Face HIV Risk After Unsterile Procedure

       A Veterans Affairs hospital here has notified thousands of 
     patients that their colonoscopies were performed with 
     improperly sterilized equipment, officials said Monday.
       The hospital urged about 3,260 patients who had 
     colonoscopies between May 2004 and March 12 of this year to 
     get tests for HIV, hepatitis and other diseases.
       The VA insisted the risk of infection was minimal, saying 
     the tubing that was improperly cleaned didn't make contact 
     with patients.
       It was the second recent announcement of errors during 
     colonoscopies at VA facilities.
       ``The very notion that veterans have to contemplate this 
     new reality now before them and visit special care clinics to 
     undergo blood testing is stomach-turning,'' U.S. Rep. 
     Kendrick Meek, D-Fla., said in a letter Monday to the VA's 
     inspector general. ``This information is shocking.''
       Meek urged a door-to-door campaign to alert veterans of the 
     error.
       ``Although there is minimal risk, we feel that even a 
     slight risk is unacceptable to the veterans we care for,'' 
     said Susan Ward, a spokeswoman for the VA in Miami.
       Last month, 6,378 patients at a clinic in Murfreesboro, 
     Tenn., were told they may have been exposed to infectious 
     body fluids during colonoscopies.
       The VA said 1,800 veterans treated at an ear, nose and 
     throat clinic in Augusta, Ga., were also alerted they could 
     have been exposed to an infection due to improper 
     disinfection of an instrument, though officials said the risk 
     was ``extremely small.''
       The VA hasn't said whether it expects more facilities to 
     announce similar problems. though Meek cautioned the number 
     of affected people ``could quickly expand to include a much 
     larger pool of people.''
       ``That, somehow, these standard protocols were not followed 
     will undoubtedly leave our veterans with serious misgivings 
     about our VA system,'' he said.

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