[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 20]
[House]
[Page 29584]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                    TRIBUTE TO OUR NATION'S VETERANS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. UDALL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the American 
men and women who have served in the Armed Forces. This Veterans Day we 
recognize the tremendous personal sacrifice made by those persons who 
answered the call of duty in order to defend and safeguard the 
democratic principles that we define in our Nation.
  We acknowledge today American veterans, and express our appreciation 
for the many personal contributions made by them as the defenders of 
America's freedom and protectors of democracy around the world. From 
their ranks come noble persons of virtually every ethnic and religious 
background, hailing from every State in the Union, all having at one 
point committed themselves to defending the freedoms we Americans hold 
dear.
  Millions of Americans have done their duty. They have done it quietly 
without fanfare, and never with enough recognition. They have kept our 
country free, and it is right that we remind ourselves of this every 
November 11.
  For the State of New Mexico, this day of observance is of special 
significance because even before achieving statehood, New Mexicans 
answered the call of duty by marching off to serve in distant and often 
hostile places.
  During the Civil War, New Mexicans bore arms to preserve a union they 
were not yet part of, engaging in battles in places like Valverde and 
Glorietta. Among the ranks of present-day veterans are New Mexicans who 
served in the first world war, who fought bravely in the trenches of 
Europe, and the many proud New Mexico veterans of World War II whose 
strength, in the words of Mr. Tennyson, ``once moved Earth and 
heaven,'' still share with us the character that led them to a crucial 
victory.
  Among them are the airmen, the soldiers and sailors and Marines that 
fought courageously across Europe, Africa, and the Pacific. They 
marched the long road to Bataan, stormed the beaches of Normandy, and 
eventually rolled on to victory in Europe and the Pacific, the entire 
time exemplifying uncommon valor and the unwavering commitment to their 
fellow man and the preservation of democracy. We honor them today and 
tomorrow, and we should honor them every day.
  I would especially like to talk about several New Mexico veterans 
that have made very many significant contributions. We still have 95 
living veterans from the Bataan Death March. We have the Navajo code 
talkers, who played a major role in our victory in World War II. We 
have many more New Mexicans who have served our country valiantly.
  We honor them by passing legislation which honors what they have done 
for us and what they have given to us, our freedom.
  This year the VA-HUD conference report provides for a $1.7 billion 
increase in funding for VA medical care. This is a 10 percent increase 
over last year's funding.
  We have also passed several other important pieces of legislation:
  H.R. 2116, the Veterans Millenium Health Care Act of 1999. This bill 
establishes a program of extended care services for veterans, and makes 
other improvements in health care programs of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs.
  H.R. 2180, the Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 1999, this bill 
provides a cost of living adjustment for disability compensation and 
pensions, restores eligibility for CHAMPVA medical care, education, and 
housing loans to surviving spouses who lost eligibility for these 
benefits as a result of remarriage; and finally, H.R. 1568, the 
Veterans Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development Act of 1999. 
This bill provides technical financial and procurement assistance to 
veteran-owned small businesses.
  Several of these bills came out of the committees I serve on, which I 
am proud to serve on, the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, the Committee 
on Small Business, which many times wants to work and help those 
businesses that have been started by veterans.
  So I am honored to serve on those two committees. I am honored that 
we have, in New Mexico, such fine veterans, and I just wanted to rise 
today and pay tribute to them.

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