[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 18]
[House]
[Pages 24342-24345]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  PERMANENT AUTHORITY FOR EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 
       FORCES FROM PAYING SUBSISTENCE CHARGES WHILE HOSPITALIZED

  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2998) to amend title 10, United States Code, to exempt 
certain members of the Armed Forces from the requirement to pay 
subsistence charges while hospitalized, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2998

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

     SECTION 1. PERMANENT AUTHORITY FOR EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN 
                   MEMBERS OF THE UNIFORMED SERVICES FROM 
                   REQUIREMENT TO PAY SUBSISTENCE CHARGES WHILE 
                   HOSPITALIZED.

       Subsection (c) of section 1075 of title 10, United States 
     Code (as added by section 8146(a)(2) of the Department of 
     Defense Appropriations Act, 2004 (Public Law 108-87)), is 
     repealed.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. McHugh) and the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Snyder) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York (Mr. McHugh).


                             General Leave

  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
on H.R. 2998, the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, we are here today through the attention, diligence, and 
concern of a single individual, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young). 
The very effective and very dedicated chairman of the Committee on 
Appropriations has brought this, I think, very not just unnecessary but 
distasteful provision in our laws to our attention, and we are here 
today under the gentleman's leadership to reverse that.
  This is a great example of what we do not know can hurt us, a 
provision that I do not believe that many Members were aware even 
existed; but again through the gentleman's attention and devotion, we 
are about to resolve and correct it.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2998, a bill introduced 
by the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Mr. Young, to exempt 
service members receiving medical treatment in military hospitals for 
combat wounds from being charged for the cost of their meals while 
hospitalized.
  I would like to commend the gentleman from Florida for bringing this 
bill to the attention of the House. I think it is important that my 
colleagues understand the personal side of this story because it is so 
characteristic of Chairman Young.
  The need for this legislation became apparent to the Chairman during 
a visit that he and his lovely wife Beverly made to Walter Reed Army 
Medical Center and Bethesda Naval Hospital to provide comfort and 
support to the personnel wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, and their 
families. While visiting with one of the wounded, he was made aware of 
a legal requirement for hospitalized service members to repay their 
basic allowance for subsistence to compensate the government for the 
meals they received.
  What Chairman Young immediately recognized was that the authors of 
the law requiring this payment did not contemplate that service members 
wounded in combat would be subjected to the same requirement right 
along with the member who had received routine treatment. He understood 
that America would not want its combat wounded to be confronted with a 
food bill when they departed the hospital.
  It is the Chairman's nature to look after the welfare of our fighting 
men and women and to correct injustice when he encounters it. In 
looking out for the troops, he was also looking out for each member of 
this House. He knew that the right thing to do was to ensure that those 
wounded in combat or combat-like activities must not be bothered with a 
bill for their meals. For that, all the members of the House owe the 
Chairman a debt of gratitude.
  The Chairman first took out his check book and personally paid the 
bill for the service member who had brought this issue to his 
attention. He then took action to include a provision in the Defense 
Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2004 to ensure that an immediate 
fix was put into place. I am proud to say that today we will follow 
Chairman Young's leadership and make that temporary fix a permanent 
change to the law.
  Again, I commend Chairman Young for this bill and thank him for his 
diligence in protecting the interests of our service members.
  I urge my colleagues to vote yes on H.R. 2998.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Young), the author and the motivator behind this very worthy piece of 
legislation.
  Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding 
me this time, and I appreciate the gentleman for bringing this very 
important bill to the floor, especially under suspension of the rules.
  The gentleman from New York (Mr. McHugh) is a very dedicated 
supporter of our military and is an important member of the Committee 
on Armed Services. And as chairman of the subcommittee, he does an 
important job. I know of no one who is more committed to the members of 
our military than the gentleman from New York (Mr. McHugh) and the 
gentleman from California (Chairman Hunter).
  What we are talking about today has to do with soldiers wounded on 
the battlefield in a military hospital recovering from those wounds who 
are charged $8.10 a day for the food they consume while they are in the 
hospital recovering from wounds received on the battlefield. When I 
learned about that, I have to tell Members, I could not believe it. So 
I did a little research, and my research told me this is true. This is 
the case; this is in the law.

[[Page 24343]]

  I spoke to the administrators and commanders of the military 
hospitals at Walter Reed Army Hospital, at the National Naval Medical 
Center at Bethesda, at the Hospital at Landstuhl, Germany, and they all 
said, yes, we have to do this, it is in the law, but it is more trouble 
than it is worth. They said they are actually embarrassed when they 
have to hand a soldier, when he left their hospital a bill for the food 
that he or she consumed while in that hospital recovering from wounds 
received on the battlefield. That is not right. That is outrageous.
  So I introduced H.R. 2998 to repeal that law. Actually, while we were 
moving the defense appropriations bill, I was able to include that bill 
in the defense appropriations bill which was signed into law on 
September 30.

                              {time}  1415

  So immediately the problem was fixed but was only fixed for a year 
because appropriations bills only last for a year. So I asked the 
gentleman from California (Chairman Hunter) and the gentleman from New 
York (Chairman McHugh) if they would report this bill to the floor so 
that we could have a vote on it. I asked for a vote because so many of 
our colleagues, when they learned of this, were just as outraged as I 
was, and they asked that we have a vote. So we will ask for a vote on 
this bill because so many of our Members want to vote for this bill. 
Nearly 300 of our colleagues, Mr. Speaker, have co-sponsored this 
legislation.
  This is something that really needs to be fixed. It was fixed for 1 
year, but this fix makes it permanent. This repealed the law 
permanently, and we will not be embarrassed again by handing a soldier 
who is leaving in a wheelchair with both legs amputated or an arm 
amputated or vision totally destroyed or handicapped for life and we 
are not going to insult them by asking them to pay $8.10 a day for the 
food that they consumed while in that military hospital.
  I thank the gentleman very much for bringing this very important bill 
to the floor.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2998, legislation I 
introduced to permanently repeal an outrageous law that requires our 
combat wounded military to pay for their food while hospitalized 
recovering from their wounds.
  I want to thank my friend and colleague, the Chairman of the House 
Armed Services Committee, Mr. Hunter, and the Chairman of the Total 
Force Subcommittee, Mr. McHugh, and all the members of the Committee 
for their support of my legislation and their willingness to expedite 
its consideration by the House. There are no greater friends to our 
troops in the field then Chairmen Hunter and McHugh and the members of 
their Committees.
  This is a law that has been on the books since 1958 for hospitalized 
officers and since 1981 for enlisted personnel. I only learned about it 
late this summer from my wife Beverly, who spends considerable time 
visiting with injured soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen, and Coast 
Guardsmen at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the National Naval 
Medical Center in Bethesda. A family member of a Marine reservist who 
had to have a part of his foot amputated brought it to her attention.
  This law is a serious affront to those injured in battle. Upon being 
discharged from the hospital, our enlisted personnel and officers are 
actually served with a bill to pay for their ``subsistence'' while in 
the hospital. The current daily rate for these charges is $8.10. For 
those who pass through more than one hospital on their way to recovery, 
they are served with multiple bills.
  We learned about this from our visits with Staff Sergeant William L. 
Murwin, who spent 26 days in the hospital recovering from injuries 
incurred in Iraq. Sergeant Murwin is a reservist in the Marine Corps 
who was injured when a 10-year-old Iraqi dropped a grenade in the 
HUMVEE he was driving. As a result of the explosion, Sergeant Murwin is 
a partial amputee, having lost a large part of his foot.
  Upon his discharge July 18th to return home to Nevada and his job as 
a sheriff's deputy, Sergeant Murwin was handed a bill from the hospital 
for $210.60 to pay for his food and subsistence. Beverly and I paid 
this bill for Sergeant Murwin because we consider it an injustice to 
ask those who have served us so courageously in Afghanistan and Iraq to 
pay for their food while hospitalized.
  Legislation I introduced on September 4th, and which is cosponsored 
by 256 of my colleagues, amends current law to prohibit service members 
injured in combat or training from being billed for the food while 
hospitalized. It has been endorsed by a wide range of veterans service 
organizations including The Air Force Sergeants Association, AMVETS, 
the Association of the United States Army, The Enlisted Association of 
the National Guard, The Fleet Reserve Association, The Military 
Officers Association of America, The Military Order of the Purple 
Heart, The Naval Reserve Association, and The Reserve Officers 
Association of the United States, among others.
  Upon learning about these hospital charges, I researched the issue 
and found that Congress initiated the system of charging for 
subsistence costs for officers who were hospitalized in 1958 under 
Public Law 85-861. The 97th Congress amended this law in 1981 with 
Public Law 97-22 to include enlisted service members. Although I can 
find no one who claims responsibility for this legislation, I have 
found in the five weeks since introducing my legislation overwhelming 
support for its immediate repeal.
  To end this injustice to our injured troops, I included my 
legislation in the conference report on the Fiscal Year 2004 Defense 
Appropriations Bill, which the House and Senate approved last month and 
President Bush signed into law on September 30th. Being that it was 
included in an appropriations bill, that provision only extends through 
Fiscal Year 2004. The legislation we consider today will make the 
repeal permanent.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a long overdue correction to our statutes. No 
one wants to see these men and women have to write a check for their 
hospital stay, least of all the staff of our Nation's military 
hospitals. I have personally talked with the senior staff at our major 
military hospitals both here and in Germany and they all support this 
legislation and say that not only is the collection of these checks an 
insult to our troops but it is more of an administrative burden than it 
is worth.
  We all agree that we should be honoring and thanking those in uniform 
for their service to the cause of peace and freedom, not billing them 
for their food. And we should be doing all we can to help them recover 
from their injuries, not ask them to write a check to the U.S. 
Government upon their discharge from the hospital to begin their period 
of convalescence.
  It is my hope that my colleagues in the House will join in supporting 
this legislation today as a fitting tribute to all those who serve so 
valiantly and unfortunately have returned home injured, missing limbs, 
and in many cases being permanently disabled. It is the least we can do 
for our Nation's keepers of peace and defenders of freedom.
  Mr. SNYDER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member of the Total Force 
Subcommittee, who is always a gentleman and very cooperative.
  I have a prepared statement that I will enter in its entirety into 
the Record, but I wanted everyone for the record to know and to reflect 
on the reality, and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) is far too 
modest and far too much of a gentleman to point it out. He said it came 
to his attention. It did come to his attention.
  What he did not mention, and I am not surprised that he did not 
mention, is that this gentleman, I think in part because he is a Member 
of Congress but I know mostly because he is such a deep, concerned and 
caring individual, in tandem with his lovely wife, Beverly, who is also 
deeply concerned and has headed up a program that is concerned about 
our veterans and about our men and women in uniform, have for years now 
paid visits to those brave men and women who have been wounded in 
service to this country. In fact, I learned about some of the wounded 
from the 10th Mountain Division, a division that I proudly represent 
from northern New York, who were in treatment at Walter Reed from the 
gentleman from Florida's (Chairman Young) visitation there.
  For years he and his wife have quietly gone there, giving aid and 
comfort to individuals just to let them know that others care. And how 
it came to his attention is that, number one, in visiting with one of 
these young heroes, he heard about their being wounded and then heard 
about the bill that this young hero was presented with.
  What he also did not happen to mention either was the fact that the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) was

[[Page 24344]]

so offended and outraged, as well he might have been, that he and his 
wife wrote a check out of their personal funds for several hundred 
dollars to pay for that young man's bill for the food that he received 
while he was trying to recover from what was a partial amputation from 
his battlefield wounds.
  This is a reflection of this man, who all of us have the honor and 
opportunity to serve with him understand so clearly is a caring, 
concerned individual and the kind of individual, as his partner is as 
well, Beverly, whom we are proud to call a colleague and honored and 
deeply appreciative of the fact that we can call him friend.
  So this was not just something that came in a letter. It was not just 
something on a chance visit that he happened to hear about. This was a 
continuing pilgrimage by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) and his 
wife, Beverly, to visit our wounded as they have done repeatedly year 
in and year out, not for pride or glory, not to put out press releases, 
but because they care. I think it is important for the record to show 
that, what an honorable man this individual is and how he and his wife 
brought this incredibly wrong provision to our attention.
  I again thank the gentleman from Arkansas for that opportunity for me 
to say at this moment those comments in respect and admiration of the 
sponsor of this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SNYDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I, too, salute the gentleman from Florida (Chairman Young) for his 
work on this bill.
  I was recently, several weeks ago, out at Bethesda Hospital visiting 
some of our wounded there but also some young Marines who got malaria 
while they were in Sierra Leone. I worked in Sierra Leone in the past 
myself as a doctor years ago and have an interest in malaria. I ran 
into the gentleman from Florida's (Chairman Young) wife out there 
during her good work in the halls of Bethesda Hospital, so I know he 
and she are both very much in touch with our men and women in the 
military who end up in the hospital.
  I think the point has been well made that what may look good on paper 
in terms of accounting, that if we have military people getting a 
subsistent amount of money each month to help cover room and board and 
if they are in a place where they are getting free room and board, then 
let us do a deduction because they are getting that free room and board 
for that time where they are in a government facility. It makes no 
sense, though, in terms of public policy, when that facility is a 
hospital; and we all know that when we have someone in a hospital. We 
all know that when we have someone in a hospital, the family incurs 
additional expenses from phone calls and travel and transportation and 
running to the pharmacy to pick up shampoo that they forgot and all 
those kinds of things; and for these folks in the future that we are 
going to prevent this from happening to, they do not need that kind of 
hassle.
  So I applaud the gentleman from Florida (Chairman Young) for bringing 
this bill forward today.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. 
Moore).
  Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. 
Snyder) for yielding me this time.
  I rise today also to express my deepest gratitude to our military 
personnel, but I am frustrated by the way our government and our 
country treats our military personnel, as was pointed out by the 
gentleman from Florida (Chairman Young) and the extraordinary work that 
he and his wife have done, and I want to thank him and commend him for 
the great bill that he has here on the House floor.
  No factory worker or teacher is required to pay for any part of the 
recovery should they be injured on the job. However, if a serviceman is 
injured while defending our country in combat, in service to our 
country, they are forced to pay a part of their hospital stay, as 
reflected in the gentleman from Florida's (Chairman Young) bill, and 
this should be corrected immediately. I am glad to see broad bipartisan 
support for this legislation, and I hope that our House passes this as 
quickly as possible.
  I also want to bring one more, I think, concern to the attention of 
the people and our Congress, and that is what I introduced, House 
Resolution 387, a bipartisan House resolution to support our military 
personnel by covering their travel costs to return our troops home to 
their families and loved ones. People who have been in Afghanistan and 
Iraq and who have 2 weeks R&R, rest and recuperation, to visit with 
their families and loved ones are brought to the ports, to the borders 
of our country, and then from there, Mr. Speaker, they are forced, if 
they want to go on home, to pay their own way. I think this should be 
corrected, and we have 98 co-sponsors on this House resolution which 
would aim to correct this.
  Our current policy leaves troops stranded or forced to pay their way 
for connecting flights, and I think we can and should correct this. Our 
government should pay all travel and transportation costs, and we 
should honor our troops who defend and protect us by seeing this is 
done.
  Mr. SNYDER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to a gentleman from the 
great State of Nevada (Mr. Porter), who has the opportunity to 
represent the hero that I mentioned that the gentleman from Florida 
(Chairman Young) and his wife encountered, a brave young man now 
struggling with his recovery.
  Mr. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York for 
yielding me this time, and I thank the gentleman Florida (Mr. Young) 
for introducing this legislation.
  Staff Sergeant Murwin, whose plight inspired the gentleman from 
Florida (Chairman Young) to introduce this bill, is a fellow Nevadan 
and wounded combat veteran. His courage in serving his country and 
looking out for the interests of his fellow combat wounded veterans is 
commendable. I must say it is absolutely shameful that Sergeant Murwin 
and soldiers like him were forced to pay for the privilege of trying to 
recover while their lives were in turmoil or in a hospital.
  A few months ago, I joined with other Members of Congress as we 
visited Walter Reed Army Hospital and Bethesda Naval Hospital and had a 
chance to see firsthand the honor, the pride, and the pain of our 
fellow men and women in uniform. These men and women had limbs missing. 
One gentleman was run over by a tank. But, also, one young man had a 
flag attached to his lapel, a tattered small American flag that he wore 
to remember his fellow soldiers that were still at war.
  Mr. Speaker, these men and women have given enough in the name of 
freedom and democracy. It is shameful that they were forced to pay on 
top of all that they had given of their lives. I am glad today that we 
have righted something that was very, very wrong.
  Mr. SNYDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Kleczka).
  Mr. KLECZKA. Mr. Speaker, I also rise in strong support of the 
legislation. To charge these veterans for meals I think is quite 
absurd; and I want to congratulate the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Young), the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations for bringing 
this product forward. But I have to point out to my colleagues that we 
are not finishing the job today with this bill, and I would hope the 
chairman would help us in bringing to the floor before we adjourn 
another piece of legislation to correct an inequity. That is, when we 
bring our Iraqi veterans home for leave, we dump them in Baltimore.
  I was flying out of National Airport about a week ago, and two 
veterans were there waiting for a plane. So I went to talk to them, and 
one was a regular Army personnel and the other was an Air Guard 
personnel, and I questioned them. I said, ``Are you flying home on 
leave?''
  They said, ``Yes.''
  I said, ``Did they fly you into National and you are taking your 
connection flight?''

[[Page 24345]]

  They said, ``No, we took a bus up from Baltimore so, on our own dime, 
we could fly home for a short period of time to be reunited with the 
families.''
  I think if we have billions of dollars to rebuild Iraq, to provide 
for zip codes there and garbage trucks and uniforms for their army, I 
think we can have the American taxpayers send these young men and women 
back home to the loving arms of their families in their hometowns, not 
in Baltimore.
  So, hopefully, we can have that product come before us before we 
adjourn and make sure these folks are flown right home so they can 
spend their time with their families and not waiting for buses and 
other airplanes on their own dime.
  Mr. SNYDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I once again want to thank the gentleman from Florida (Chairman 
Young) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. McHugh) for their work on 
this bill. I look forward to seeing this become a permanent portion of 
the law and deal with this problem once and for all.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Once again, let me thank the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Snyder), my 
partner on the Total Force Subcommittee, for his leadership and 
assistance but most of all again the gentleman from Florida (Chairman 
Young) for his leadership, his insight, and his continuing concern.
  This is something that we need to fix; and, fortunately, because of 
the efforts of the gentleman from Florida (Chairman Young), we have the 
opportunity to do it today. I certainly urge all of our colleagues to 
join us in supporting this very worthy measure.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simpson). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. McHugh) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2998, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  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.

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