[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 153 (Thursday, September 13, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H8251-H8254]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        SUICIDE PREVENTION MONTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Mast). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 3, 2017, the gentlewoman from Arizona (Ms. Sinema) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Ms. SINEMA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of our country's 
veterans, who make great sacrifices to keep America safe.
  When they return home from service, it is our responsibility to 
ensure they receive the care and support of a grateful Nation. For far 
too many veterans, that responsibility is not fulfilled. The 
government's failure has tragic consequences for those struggling with 
mental health illnesses.
  September is Suicide Prevention Month. Americans across the country 
take time to raise awareness about the tragedy of suicide. We lose an 
estimated 20 veterans to suicide each day, and that is unacceptable.
  Every year since I have been in Congress, we have brought together 
Republicans and Democrats to draw attention to veteran suicide and send 
a clear message that this epidemic must end.
  Honoring our commitment to veterans is not a partisan issue. We know 
the only way to achieve real, lasting change for our Nation's bravest 
men and women is to bring both parties together to solve this problem.

  Today, Members from both sides of the aisle have joined me to bring 
awareness to veteran suicide and we are working together to find 
solutions. I know we can make bipartisan progress, because we have done 
it before. We have shown it is possible for both parties to work 
together to improve veterans' mental healthcare.
  After hearing the tragic story of a young Arizona veteran who lost 
his life to suicide in 2013, my team worked across the aisle to pass a 
bill that improved lifesaving VA mental health services for veterans 
with classified experience. It took 3 years of hard work, but our bill 
is now law, and it helps veterans successfully transition to civilian 
life.
  It is important progress, but there is still so much work left to do.
  We must serve our bravest men and women, just as they have served us.
  We challenge the VA, the Department of Defense, and our fellow 
lawmakers to join us in confronting the tragedy of veteran suicide. We 
must do more to honor our commitment to American's veterans.
  Today and every day, we stand with military families who have lost a 
loved one to the tragedy of suicide, and we say to you, your family's 
sacrifice will not be forgotten. We will not stop until every veteran 
receives the care that he or she needs.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Fitzpatrick), my friend and colleague, and I am grateful to be joined 
this afternoon in this Special Order for his comments.
  Mr. FITZPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak of a solemn 
topic, one of utmost importance for sure, and I want to thank my 
colleague and my friend, Kyrsten Sinema from Arizona, and for all the 
work that she is doing for the veterans' community and for hosting this 
Special Order.
  Mr. Speaker, our Nation's veterans are our finest citizens, to whom 
we owe the most. Their sacrifice in defense of freedom allows us to 
stand here today in this chamber, a testament to our values and a 
symbol of hope.
  All too often, we see our Nation's veterans struggle upon their 
return home. Issues with depression, substance abuse, and post-
traumatic stress disorder serve as constant reminders of the price they 
paid to protect our way of life.

                              {time}  1630

  Tragically, we have seen a rising percentage of these heroes 
resorting to taking their own lives. This is beyond unacceptable and 
statistics paint a grim picture of this epidemic.
  Between 2005 and 2015, Mr. Speaker, suicide rates for all veterans 
increased by 25 percent--25 percent between 2005 and 2015. 
Additionally, veterans account for nearly 15 percent of suicides in 
U.S. adults.
  Mr. Speaker, we can do better, and we must do better. I am proud to 
stand here today with my colleagues in solidarity against veteran 
suicide. I am thankful for the establishment of the third Veterans 
Crisis Line call center to provide guidance, support, and critical 
resources to those in need. While steps are being taken to prevent 
veteran suicide, we still have a long way to go because one hero's 
death is one too many.
  As Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema had pointed out, Mr. Speaker, 
September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, but this 
issue will continue to transcend any time frame. For those who 
sacrificed for us, we owe them and will continue to fight to eradicate 
this public health crisis of veteran suicide.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to, once again, thank Congresswoman Sinema for 
hosting this Special Order.
  Ms. SINEMA. Mr. Speaker, for many veterans, the return to civilian 
life can feel overwhelming. Ensuring enough community support and 
mental health resources are available is essential.
  We recently heard from Andrew, who lives in Chandler, Arizona. He 
joined the Marine Corps at 17 years old when he said he was ``full of 
motivation and excitement'' to serve. ``I wanted to do my part to 
protect America,'' Andrew said.
  As an antitank assaultman, Andrew fought beside incredible marines in 
Iraq, and when he finally returned

[[Page H8252]]

home, he said he returned with memories of death. Andrew leaned on 
loved ones and his faith to pull him out of his darkness.
  Ever since, he has continued his healing journey by serving his 
fellow veterans. He presses forward with the values instilled on him by 
the Marine Corps: honor, courage, and commitment.
  Responsibility to care for our veterans belongs to all of us. That is 
why we are working with those who interact with veterans each and every 
day: letter carriers, librarians, grocery store clerks, and academic 
advisers. We are giving community members the tools they need to 
support veterans every day right where they live and work. We are also 
working to increase the number of peer supports available to veterans.
  There are veterans like Andrew who used their experiences, struggles, 
and accomplishments to help fellow veterans successfully navigate the 
transition to civilian live.
  Mr. Speaker, I am grateful to have a colleague and friend of mine 
joining us in this Special Order this evening.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New Hampshire (Ms. 
Kuster), my friend.
  Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Congresswoman 
for yielding and for hosting this Special Order on this important 
issue.
  Every single day, we ask the men and women who serve our Nation in 
uniform to make incredible sacrifices on behalf of our Nation, and they 
never fail to deliver for us.
  These brave Americans and their families know the true meaning of 
service, but that service often comes at a price. Our men and women in 
uniform, our veterans, cannot be cast aside once they have returned 
home. The prevalence of suicide among servicemembers and veterans is a 
stain on our collective conscience.
  Servicemembers throughout the history of our country have had 
harrowing experiences in their service to defend this country and 
protect our way of life.
  But it has only been recently that the scope of the trauma of war has 
been truly understood. Since the time of Abraham Lincoln, we, as a 
country, have made a solemn vow to care for those who have borne the 
battle, a vow that has made caring for veterans one of the few 
bipartisan issues in this era of divisiveness in Washington.
  Today, we must ensure that our solemn promise to veterans extends to 
effective mental healthcare. No veteran should ever have to wait for 
this type of care, which can be just as crucial for recovery as 
physical health services.
  My father, Malcolm McLane, flew fighter planes during World War II. 
He was shot down in the Battle of the Bulge, and spent 6 months in a 
German POW camp. When I was a child, he rarely spoke about his 
experiences during the war, but now, in hindsight, I believe that he 
was experiencing what we now know to be PTSD.
  We understand so much more today about the brain and the impact of 
trauma that so many of our servicemembers endure, and it is critical 
that the VA and our society use that knowledge to improve care for 
veterans when they return home.
  We must ensure that the unseen wounds of war receive the attention 
they deserve. Many of us today voted to fund veterans' mental health 
and suicide prevention programs. And while it is commendable that 
Congress is taking important steps to address this issue, much more 
needs to be done to ensure that no veteran is left behind.
  As a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, I fight for the men 
and women who fight for us. During National Suicide Awareness 
Prevention Month, we should all pledge to work together to ensure that 
no veteran ever has trouble accessing the mental health services that 
he or she needs and deserves.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Arizona, Kyrsten 
Sinema, for her commitment to this issue. She was very effective in the 
testimony that she brought to the Veterans' Affairs Committee, and I 
appreciate her perseverance.
  Ms. SINEMA. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Mast), my friend and colleague. I thank the Congressman so much for the 
work that he has done to join us today. I appreciate it.

  Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I guess I found in my time that suicide is an 
epidemic of purpose, and worth, and value.
  I come to this line of thought because I have had countless veterans 
call me; reach out to my office; find me on Facebook; find me on some 
other form of social media; had a member of their family call my office 
or reach out, a mother, or a spouse, and talk about the fact that their 
veteran wants to take their life.
  And in seeing that play out time and time again, I realize each and 
every time that somebody is out there searching for their value in 
their life. They are searching for where is their value? Where is their 
worth to the rest of the world? And for me, that helps me to recognize 
that this can be prevented.
  I think veterans face this challenge in a unique way and in an 
elevated way, not because the challenge of war or recovering from 
injury is something that cannot be overcome. I think most of us end up 
finding in our lives that when we have overcome something incredibly 
difficult, those are the most memorable and purposeful moments of our 
life.
  No person, veteran included, should have to believe that their 
greatest contribution to the world, or to their Nation, or to their 
family, or their community is something that is behind them.
  That is something that is especially difficult for a veteran to 
overcome because their worth, and their value, and their work every 
single day was tied directly to serving all of those things at the 
highest possible level, serving their brothers and their sisters to 
their left and right, knowing that on any given day, they might have 
the opportunity to save a life, to save the life of one of their 
closest friends that they could ever have in life, a friend that would 
be willing to do absolutely everything for them, to include sacrificing 
their own life for that friend of them.
  It is hard to replicate, maybe impossible to replicate, that purpose, 
and that worth, and that value. And I believe that it is in that that 
we find such a challenge to overcome suicide with our veterans because 
of everything that they have already given this country, and the drive, 
and the determination, and the will, and the intestinal fortitude 
inside of our veterans to want to go out there and find the next 
greatest thing in life, the next greatest way to serve.
  That is the difficult challenge that we find ourselves trying to 
overcome. In having so many veterans reach out to me, I have learned 
this about veteran suicide. Each of them who were prevented from taking 
their life have said that there was nothing I could do, if somebody 
else didn't reach out to them. Because I could have not known anybody 
else that they could have told, that they didn't tell, they wouldn't 
have known.
  It is in that that I believe it is important that we as veterans make 
a commitment to one another about being there for one another; about 
the fact that we had an oath that we never leave a fallen comrade. We 
always used to say, we always place the mission first, and that mission 
doesn't end when we take off that uniform. That mission, that 
commitment to one another, has to continue.
  As veterans, we make it a point to put the most important things that 
we care about in word, in verse, things that we memorize. Whether it is 
the Soldier's Creed, or the Ranger Creed, or the Special Forces Creed, 
or some other ethos that we recognize as part of our service. We put it 
in words and we speak about it, and we say it time, and time, and time 
again.
  And that is why I believe that it is important that we as veterans 
make known in word our commitment to one another; that we are never 
going to let one of our brothers or sisters be left behind; that our 
commitment to one another never ends; that we are never going to allow 
one of them to bring harm to themselves; that our love for each other 
never ends.
  That willingness of what we would go out there and do for one another 
on the battlefield has no time limit on it, has no fuse. It will never 
be a wick that burns down. That has to be our commitment to one 
another, to demonstrate that kind of love and caring for each other as 
veterans. It is the only solution that I have been able to

[[Page H8253]]

find in my life toward helping with this one veteran, one person at a 
time, one commitment at a time, a commitment that never ends, and a 
commitment that has no limits to it.
  I believe all of our veterans want that and are capable of that, and 
I am proud of every one of them for that commitment that I know they 
have inside of them.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Arizona (Ms. Sinema) for 
holding this Special Order.
  Ms. SINEMA. Mr. Speaker, I want to take a moment to thank my 
colleague and friend, Congressman Mast. While he spoke very eloquently 
about his fellow veterans, and commitment to service, and leaving no 
man behind, he is very humble, and didn't share all of his own 
experiences.
  Congressman Mast served as a staff sergeant in the United States Army 
and has earned a Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and many other awards for 
his bravery during battle. And when Congressman Mast joined Congress, I 
will never forget the first time we had a few moments to spend 
together, and I asked him about his own experiences in the military and 
since then, and the change that happened in his life after he was 
injured in battle defending our country.
  I will never forget Congressman Mast's response, which is one of such 
strength and character, and, I believe, provides such inspiration to 
other men and women in our country, both those in uniform and those who 
have returned to civilian life as veterans.
  I want to thank him for his service and for his incredible dedication 
to helping his fellow men and women who have returned home from battle 
as well.
  Earlier in our Special Order, I mentioned the story of a young 
veteran in my district. His name was Sergeant Daniel Somers. Sergeant 
Somers was an Army veteran of two tours in Iraq. He served on Task 
Force Lightning, an intelligence unit. He ran over 400 combat missions 
as a machine gunner in the turret of a Humvee. Part of his role 
required him to interrogate dozens of terror suspects. His work was 
deemed classified.
  Like many veterans, Daniel was haunted by the war when he returned 
home. He suffered from flashbacks, nightmares, depression, and 
additional symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, made worse by a 
traumatic brain injury. Daniel needed help.
  He and his family asked for help, but, unfortunately, the VA enrolled 
Sergeant Somers in group therapy sessions, which he could not attend 
for fear of disclosing classified information.

                              {time}  1645

  Despite requests for individualized counseling, or some other 
reasonable accommodation to allow Sergeant Somers to receive 
appropriate care for his PTSD, the VA delayed providing Sergeant Somers 
with support and appropriate care.
  Like many, Sergeant Somers' isolation got worse when he transitioned 
to civilian life. He tried to provide for his family, but he was unable 
to work due to his disability.
  Sergeant Somers struggled with the VA bureaucracy. His disability 
appeal had been pending for more than 2 years in the system without 
resolution. Sergeant Somers did not get the help he needed in time.
  On June 10, 2013, Sergeant Somers wrote a letter to his family. I 
share a part of his letter every year here on the floor, in memory of 
Daniel's pain and in love for his family. In this letter, Daniel said: 
``I am not getting better, I am not going to get better, and I will 
most certainly deteriorate further as time goes on.''
  He goes on to say: ``I am left with basically nothing. Too trapped in 
a war to be at peace, too damaged to be at war. Abandoned by those who 
would take the easy route, and a liability to those who stick it out--
and thus deserve better. So you see, not only am I better off dead, but 
the world is better without me in it.
  ``This is what brought me to my actual final mission.''
  No one who returns home from serving our country should ever feel 
like he or she has nowhere to turn, which is why I am committed to 
continuing to work on both sides of the aisle to ensure that no veteran 
ever feels trapped like Sergeant Somers did and that all of our 
veterans have access to appropriate mental healthcare.
  But Sergeant Somers' story is too familiar to many military families. 
His parents, Howard and Jean, were devastated by the loss of their son, 
but they bravely shared Sergeant Somers' story and created a mission of 
their own.
  Their mission is to ensure that their son's memory brought to light 
America's deadliest war: the 20 veterans that we lose every day to 
suicide.
  Many of my colleagues here in Washington have met with Howard and 
Jean. They are working with Congress and the VA to share their 
experiences with the VA healthcare system and find ways to improve care 
for veterans and their families.
  We worked very closely with Howard and Jean to develop and sign into 
law the Sergeant Daniel Somers Classified Veterans Access to Care Act. 
This is a law that ensures that veterans like Daniel, who have had 
classified or sensitive experiences, can access appropriate mental 
health services at the VA.
  Our law directs the Secretary of the VA to establish standards and 
procedures to ensure that any veteran who participated in classified 
missions or served in a sensitive setting may access mental healthcare 
that fully accommodates his or her obligation to not improperly 
disclose classified information.
  The law also directs the Secretary to disseminate guidance to 
employees of the Veterans Health Administration, including mental 
health professionals, on standards and procedures about how to best 
engage veterans during the course of mental health treatment with 
respect to classified information.
  Finally, our law directs the Secretary to allow veterans with 
classified experiences to self-identify, so they can quickly receive 
care in an appropriate setting.
  But that victory is just one small step forward. We still have so 
much work left to do.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues for joining us this evening to 
talk about the scourge of veteran suicide. This is our sixth year of 
hosting this Special Order in a bipartisan way together. I look forward 
to the year when we do not need this Special Order because we have 
ended the crisis of veteran suicide in our country.
  Until such time, I pledge to continue working with my colleagues to 
not just tell the stories of veterans who are struggling, veterans who 
have made it, or veterans we have lost, but to celebrate our victory of 
overcoming this crisis and ending this scourge.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from 
Arkansas (Mr. Hill), my friend, who is going to share some of his 
thoughts and close out our Special Order hour. I thank Congressman Hill 
for joining us this evening.
  Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Arizona (Ms. 
Sinema), my good friend, for yielding. She and I have the pleasure of 
serving on the House Financial Services Committee together and 
cooperating on many legislative measures and regulatory measures that 
benefit our economy, so I thank her for that work. I greatly appreciate 
her stepping up and reaching out across the aisle on the subject of 
suicide, particularly during Suicide Prevention Month, and letting all 
of us have an opportunity to share our perspective on this national 
tragedy.
  Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. 
There is an average of 123 suicides per day. What could be more tragic 
than that?
  Yet, I don't see nearly the people on the floor tonight that there 
should be, because this affects all our districts so tragically. One in 
five are suffering with some form of mental illness in our country, a 
problem that has disrupted so many families, caused too much violence 
and pain, and caused far too many lives. Representative Sinema and I 
talk about this every time the subject comes up.

  When I was a high school senior, I can't remember a friend that was a 
victim of suicide. But, Mr. Speaker, my kids just turned 19 and 21, and 
within 4 or 5 years of their ages, I can think of six families who have 
lost a child to suicide--different reasons, same tragedy. So our 
families are hurting from the scourge of suicide.

[[Page H8254]]

  In Congress, this is an area where we work together, the 21st Century 
Cures Act, where we attacked the first comprehensive approach to mental 
illness treatment in decades, where we say we want people with mental 
illness and who need treatment to get it. We worked together most 
recently on the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention Act for American veterans, 
and the National Suicide Hotline Improvement Act--small steps, but 
concrete steps that call attention to suicide, particularly in our 
veterans community.
  The VA is helping on this issue and marked Suicide Prevention Month 
with its Be There campaign. This campaign highlights the risk factors 
and warning signs for suicide, provides information about VA mental 
health and suicide prevention resources, and helps individuals and 
organizations start the conversation around veteran mental health in 
their communities.
  Our VA employees must have the necessary resources to offer guidance 
to veterans while providing essential suicide prevention services.
  This is a together thing. This is an ``all of us in this together'' 
thing.
  Mr. Speaker, I have a chair in my front office in my district office 
in Little Rock that was hand-painted to raise money for suicide 
awareness and suicide prevention. On that chair, it says: ``We Are The 
22.'' This is a nonprofit organization in my community started by 
veterans helping veterans, because it is not an ``us and they'' thing. 
It is an ``us'' thing. It is a ``we'' thing.
  We are all in this together. We are the 22, the number that we have 
as the estimate of veterans who are taking their own lives.
  So I want to echo the Speaker pro tempore this afternoon, a 
distinguished American and distinguished veteran and brave, heroic 
representative of our Armed Forces, our patriots, the people who defend 
our liberties, when he said we don't leave people behind. We don't 
leave a sailor, a marine, or a soldier on the battlefield. We bring 
them home.
  Just last week, we honored John McCain on the floor of this House. 
And Sam Johnson, leaving the House this year--Representative Schweikert 
was there--he was in the Hanoi Hilton with John McCain. We don't leave 
a man or woman behind on the battlefield. But when they come home, we 
equally should not leave them behind.
  I really commend the Speaker's comments that the mission is not over. 
All of us have that partnership and sense of duty to carry that mission 
forward on the home front when we are out of harm's way and out of 
theater.
  To me, it is that buddy system that we all learn, whether it is in 
boot camp or swim team, you team up; you check in on each other; you 
don't leave people alone. That is the secret, I think, to preventing 
suicide.
  I lost a good friend of mine, a fraternity brother, a partner in a 
law firm in Houston, Texas. He never once intimated to his wife, to his 
children, or to his law partners that anything was wrong, and they got 
the call that he had been found.
  Check in: How are you doing?
  So we are the 22. We are on the buddy system. We don't leave our 
warriors behind. The mission continues here. All those things are true.
  I carry in my wallet, Mr. Speaker, the veterans crisis hotline as a 
reminder to me that we want our veterans to reach out if there is a 
moment of crisis.
  If somebody is watching this or hearing the words of brave Brian 
Mast, or the emotional content and leadership of Representative Kyrsten 
Sinema from Arizona, and you are having that moment now as a veteran, I 
urge you to call 1-800-273-8255 for yourself, for a friend, for a 
neighbor.
  We, in Congress, are fighting to make sure that that veterans hotline 
is a value, that it is answered, and that we are part of that thin 
thread of connectivity between all of us that keeps us right on the 
moment.
  Mr. Speaker, I see my friend from Arizona is here. It was a pleasure 
to have both of my friends from Arizona talk about their senior Senator 
last week, John McCain, and what he meant to each of us and what he has 
meant to our country.
  Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to yield to the gentleman from Arizona 
(Mr. Schweikert), my friend, now on the House Ways and Means Committee, 
formerly of the best committee in the House, the House Financial 
Services Committee.
  Mr. SCHWEIKERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Hill for yielding. And to 
the gentlewoman from Arizona, I thank her for doing this every year.
  This is one of those moments where you are walking toward the 
microphone because we just got out of votes in Ways and Means, and you 
are sort of discussing in your head whether you ultimately tell the 
personal story. I have two I want to share.
  My reason for doing this is, if someone is watching, we have someone 
in our life, and you are having self-destructive thoughts, please, 
please reach out, get the help, and understand the devastation that 
happens and the pain that happens when someone takes their life.
  My two stories. When I very first got elected in the Phoenix-
Scottsdale area, one of the very first constituent meetings I had was 
with a mom. Her son had been part of the Phoenix VA. She always felt 
that the prescriptions he was given put him into an emotional spiral.
  They kept trying to get him mental health services. They felt all 
that he was receiving was more prescriptions and a future date for 
mental health services. And he took his life.
  That mother, the pain, the tears, the crushing blow, what the loss of 
her son's life meant to that family.
  I believe now, a few years later, the Phoenix VA is better. They have 
learned a lot, they understand how to be almost a quick reaction force 
in helping an individual. But we need to make sure these things never 
happen again.
  Now for the personal one that I have never told in public.

                              {time}  1700

  I was born in an unwed mothers' home in L.A. I was adopted. It turns 
out the gentleman who adopted me had multiple sclerosis. But he was a 
veteran, and he was receiving his medical treatments from VA.
  This is a long, long time ago, but this is about the pain that comes 
when a veteran takes his or her life.
  Because of the pharmaceuticals he was given, the lack of emotional 
counseling, and the failure to properly diagnose his disease, he put 
himself in a car in a garage, turned on the motor, and took his life. 
That was my dad.
  Some time later, my mother remarried Mr. Schweikert. I got readopted, 
and I was blessed to grow up in a wonderful household that had brought 
me to Arizona.
  Many years later when I was a young adult, my mom sat me down and 
told me the story. You could tell there was still that burning hole in 
her heart of finding her husband, my dad, dead in that car, having 
taken his own life, believing it was the failure of the very services 
he was receiving from the VA.
  Now it is decades later, and I believe we have learned a lot. This 
body has tried as hard as it can to get their heads around: Are we 
allowing too many pharmaceuticals to be prescribed? Are we not 
providing emotional services? Do we need to put resources into having 
that communal get-together, the quick reaction force?
  I believe it is getting better.
  But understand the pain that Mom shared with me when I was first 
elected about the loss of her son. Even these many, many years later, 
it is still part of our family's legacy of that pain. If this body can 
do anything, if we can find ways to make that pain come to an end, then 
we will have done something very honorable and very powerful.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Hill for yielding to me.
  Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Arizona for 
participating, and I thank his colleague, Representative Sinema, for 
her heartfelt tribute that she has carried on since she has been in the 
House to bring attention to suicide prevention.
  I also commend the House for the efforts that it has taken on mental 
health and on suicide prevention, particularly for our veterans.
  Ms. SINEMA. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________