[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6135-6136]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       WALTER REED AND NEED TO TAKE CARE OF OUR WOUNDED SOLDIERS

  (Mr. RODRIGUEZ asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, since The Washington Post broke the story 
on Building 18 at Walter Reed, we have heard similar stories of 
unacceptably bad conditions at other facilities around the country. 
While The Post should be commended for bringing the information to this 
Nation, it should

[[Page 6136]]

never have gotten to this point. Last week, we also learned that some 
Republican colleagues knew of these conditions and basically did 
nothing. This response of doing nothing is not acceptable.
  Rather than inquiring about such bad conditions and deciding to do 
something, they choose to brush it off and basically bring it under the 
table. And rather than finding out who was responsible for the housing 
of our troops that had mold, that had mice and cockroaches, the 
administration chose to look the other way.
  Doing nothing is not acceptable. Last week, the House Veterans' 
Affairs Committee, which I sit on, held hearings, and will continue to 
hold hearings, on the treatment of our wounded soldiers throughout this 
country. We want to see the widespread problems that exist corrected, 
and we recognize the seriousness. It is time for us to do the right 
thing for our soldiers.

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