Brooks, in supporting h. R. 5509, a bill to name the department of Veterans Affairs temporary lodging facility in indianapolis, indiana, as the dr. Otis bowen veteran house. He was born near rochester, indiana and received his m. D. Agree from university of indiana medical school. During world war ii, he served in the u. S. Army medical corps from 194 to 1946 and with the in wave of allied troops japan in 1945 and discharged as a captain in 1946. Hen he returned home, he became a country doctor. After servi in the indiana legislature, he was elected the 44th governor of indiana and ultimately served as secretary of alth and Human Services under president reagan. Im very pleased to support this legislation and urge its passage. Mr. Speaker, reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlema reserves. The gentlewoman is recognized. Mrs. Brooks thank you, mr. Speaker. Id like to thank my dear friend and colleue from california, mr. Takano, fors those remarks. I now yield to the gentlelady from northern indiana, my dear friend who has also served on the Veterans Affairs committee, three minutes. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewan is recognized for three minutes. Thank you to the gentlelady for yielding me time. Im tilled to be here to this facility the dr. Otis brown veteran house. His nameame was doc and he was affectionately known. Mrs. Walorski i would be one person knocking on his door every so often just to see how he was doifpblg he had a wall of fame like no other in his house and i throved sit and listen to him hem gradted from Francisville High School and to this day, all those areas in those countries counties are proud he resided in those areas he receive his medical degree from i. U. In 1942, completed his sidency, joined the u. S. Medical army corps, part of the first wave of troops to storm the beaches in wod war ii he started a Family Practice in indiana. I 1952 , he began his career in public service, serving as marshallounty coroner in956 whene was elected to the Indiana House of representativesful he was elected gnchorn 1972, relected in 1976. In 1985, president reagan appoted him secretary of department of health and Human Services, the first medical doctor to serve in that role. Heasne they have most adored Public Servants in the state of indiana. After all his acomplishments and awards, he said his proudest achievement was delivering those 3,000 babies as a familycy igs physician in marshall county. I cant think of a more deservin person to name this bill after inch urgmy colleagues to support this bill d yield become. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady yields back. The gentlewoman from indiana reserves. The gentleman from california is recognized. Mr. Takano mr. Speaker, i have no other speakers at this time, agai i urge my colleagues to support h. R. 5509 and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the geleman yields back. The gentlewoman from indiana is recognized. Mrs. Brooks thank you, mr. Speaker. Before we nclude id like to take a moment to personally thank chairman miller for all hes done throughout his tenure in the house of representatives and in shepherding this bill and also would like thank his staff who have helped us bng this bill to the floor. Theeople of floridas first Congressional District couldnt have asked for a more dedicated Public Servant and the work hes done to advanc the rights and care of veterans is truly remarkable. Whether it was in the trenches of war for doc bowen, or in Political Office or in his Doctors Office he had a clear passion for serving others. However he reserved a place in his heart for his fellow veterans like chairman miller. Thats why its only apppriate that the house, the home that he built,hat heelped build for veterans and their families carry his name an serve as a permanent reminder of the character and fortitude of this legendary man. I ce again urge passageoday and yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields back. The question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h. R. 5509. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, 2 3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the tion to econsider is laid on the table. E speaker pro tempore the chair will eertai requests for oneminute speeches. For what purpose does the geleladyeek recognion . Roslehtinen i ask unnimous consent to address the hou for one minute. The eaker pro tempore the gentlady is recognizewithout objection. Ms. Roslehtinen this sunday, colomans in my Congressional District will go to thpolls to vote on the colombian farq deal, decidi wheth to hold this narcoterrorist organization known as the farc acuntable for its innumerable crimes comtted over more than 50 years. Yet in a deal brokered by the duplicitos castroegimethe farc members may soon get off scott free. No jail time, no compensation to the victims of their the family members of their victims. Farc members will even be allowed to run for office. Good grief. Th is a bad de, mr. Speaker. It should not be financed by american taxpas. The only thing farc and its criminal backs in havana are interested in, more opportunities to continue running drugs, lining thr ckets and destabilizing latin amrica. Colombians in my district can vote on the deal in either coral gables, high lea, or kendall as or as many hialea kendl as well as in oer places around thdirict. For more information they can contact the combianonsulate. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentlewoman from washington seek recognition . Without objection, the gentlewoman recognized for ne minute. Mr. Speaker, i rise today with a very heavy heart. On friday night, there s a tragic shooting at the cascade ml in burlington where i people were killed. E victims included a 16yearold canc survivor from Mount Vernon High School a dedicated Public Servant from arlington, and her 95yearold moer. A boeing employee from lake stevens and a macy cosmecs counter worker. Ms. Delbene s our Community Comes together in this difficult time, our regrieves for the victims, their families, and all those affecteby this traged , bee lwa remember days dodson, Chris Chuck Egan and shayl martin and i want to ank our local Law Enforcement for theirong hours searching for the shooter who was apprehended less than 24 hurs after the incident. There is no one law that will prevent everyingle instance of senseless violenc we must do more to end the tragic cyclef guniolence affecting our communities. Thank you and i yield back. The speakep tempore the gentlewoman yields back. For what purpose does the ntlem from pennsylvania seek rognition . I a unanimous consent to address the use for one minute and revise d extend m remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection the gentleman is cognized for one minute. Mr. Thompn thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, i rise today in recognition of the efforts of an erie countbased food ban to combat childhood hunger across the norwestern across northwestern pennsylvania, especially in several counties of pnsylvanias fifth ngressional district. 2011, the Second Harvest food Bank Launched its Backpack Program which enlists the help of vonteers to fill backpacks with enough meals and snacks to helpd children over the weends of eachcool jeer. Cool jeer. Over the la weekend, volunteers gathered supy backpacks to around 350 students in the Warren County school district. The packs are expected to lt those second and third grade students through the end othe year. In erie county, around 1,0 studes benefit from the progm in t erie county schoodistrict with meal beings distributed to children throhout s 15 Elementary Schools its unfortunate that a proam such as this is necessaut im proud there are fols inhe pennsylvania fifth congressnal district and the surrounding area who ar willing to he step up to the plate forids in need. Thank you, mr. Speer. I yield back t balance of time. The speer pro tempore the gentleman yields back. For what purpose does the geneman from california seek recoition . Without objection, the gentlen s recognized for one minute. Thank y, mr. Eaker. I rise to support the 260 min americansligibl to vote and recognize september7 as natiol Voter Registration day. Mr. Honda year is different with recent attacks on our democracy, unscrupulous actors seek to gn access to confidenti ansensitive information to distort the outcome of our lees. In arizona, the secretary of state took oline the Voter Registration database because of Credible Threats to the system. In illinois, 15 million records were recently exposed and 200,0 accessed by hackers. The rusian government hacked the democratic partys emails in an attempt to distort our election. Our elections sld be fr of eign iluence as representative of silicon vaey, i value technogy in our democracy. Thats why i introduced legislation to introduce vetting technology crical infraructure to give local offices the resources theyee to protect dmocracy. Onhis nabble voter registrati day, too much is on thein r us not tact. I yield ck. The speaker pro t for what purpose does the gentleman from kansas seek rognition . I ask unanimous cse to address the house for minute d revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objecti the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Speaker, as a proud jayhawk i rise today to recognizereat leaderor the state of kasas who has made a positive impact othe les of ny kanss. Last year, chancellor aylittl anouned her retirement and i wanted to recogne somef the jor accomplishments in her tenure at u. From day onshe set aggressiveoals through her bold aspiratns initiative to advance the university into the 21stcentury as a lder in education and research. It was a eat success,eading to k. U. Being desigted aa National Cancer institute d working toward a comprehensive cancer designatio the k. U. Alzheimers disease centereceived designation from the natiol institute on aging. As someone who utilized both studentans an pl grants i was appreciative oer vocal support for these programs to help every student hieve the dreams rerdless of income evel. Today on behalff the ites cogress would ke tohank chancellor graylittlr her service to our bod jayhawk mmunitynd wish hernd her family well in their next endeavors. The speaker p tempo the gentleman elds back. For what rpose does the gentleman fromalifornia seek recnition . Witht objection, the gentleman rognized for one minute. Hank you, mr. Spear. Im holding here in my hand a iband ven to me over this weekend here. It tezz 22 every day. It says 2 every day. Unfortunately, shamefullythis isn refenceo the number of veterans who cmit suide in this cntry. Mr. Lamfa for many reasons. Ne reason it shou not be is they couldnt gethroughn a telepho callsomeonet the v. A. Or theve given upope thatheyre going to have their needs met after promise made to them wasnt kept because they could not gwhat th needed fo their health care or other benefits that wasmised them as being members of our military. So my hat off to amvets and pee out there on social media, dediced to doing 2 pushups pusha day to get awareness up angst their friendsor theoss of day to suicide. Veteranper weve got to get our act gether hre, pass the legislation, make sure that they atleast wi getheir phone calls awered, especially in time of crisis like that when theyre contempling perhaps a icide. Mr. Speaker, this need tbe done soon and with the dedicion that they gin tos. Iie back the speaker po tempe the geneman ylds back. Are there further requests fo onenutepeechs . I, the chair lays before the house e foowing personal equests. E clerk leave of absence requested for mr. Georgia today, ms. Jackson lee of texas for today, ms. Matsui of california for today, and mr. Poe of texas for today and the balance of the week. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the requests are granted. Under this espeakers announced policy of january 6, 2015, the gentleman from nebraska, mr. Fortenberry, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of he majority leader. Thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a friend of mine, he works parttime in a Hardware Store and retired from several other careers, but continues to enjoy helping people in the Retail Service environment. And recently, he kindly gave me as we were talking about gardening some plants that he had grown. As i drove through his neighborhood looking for his house, i suspected his home was the one flying the large american flag. I knew that mike, my friend, had served in vietnam. But as we spent some time digging up the plants and visiting around his garden, i learned more about his harrowing experience as a marine. Mr. Speaker, mike was assigned to protect an area in the northern part of south vietnam. They were a pesky bunch, as mike put it and the north vietnamese d grew tired of the constant harranuing. Mikes squad was outnumbered and were hit pretty hard. A call went out for help but the first helicopter to arrive was blown apart. Mike sustained severe wounds, a bullet to the chest, collapsed his lung, slap nell tore through his leg and another bullet grazed his head. To breathe, mike had to keep clearing his throat with his finger to remove the gettysburg willing blood and to the point where he could no longer physically fight, he crawled to a secure place and propped himself on a sack. Mike told me he remembered two things. The wind blowing through his hair and his mother, who would tell her that he had died. Only three americans survived that battle. Fortunately another helicopter quickly landed and a corpsman came to mikes rescue, stabilized him and returned him to safety. And medical personnel nursed him back to health for which mike was always grateful. But something always nagged him. He never got a chance to thank the corpsman who risked his own life to safe him. On 2001, he went online and did research and found the man 30 years later and mike wrote to him and said, i have not forgotten you. Now, mr. Speaker, its not secret that our countrys economic, political and cultural settlement is straining under a number of very harsh realities. Concentration of economic and political power, coupled with signs of social collapse are contributing to a growing sense of vulnerability and anxiety in our society. Disorientingve and political season, terrorists attacks in san bernardino, orlando, minnesota and new york remind us reminded us of the grave threats to life and our cherished liberties. Take a moment, mr. Speaker, to notice how many citizens of nebraska and how Many Americans like mike fly our flag. It means something. The flag stands for an ideal, for a value, for the proposition that all persons have dignity and when that dignity is afeguarded, people can flourish, thats america. But i think more people need to hear, mr. Speaker, that weve not forgotten you. And fundamental questions right now before us are who are we as a nation, where are we going as a people. How will we find our greatness again . Yesterday, mr. Speaker, i had an extraordinary privilege and would like to share the story with you and the body. I was invited to attend a dedication of a new Veterans Memorial in a small town in the heart of the great plains north of lincoln, nebraska, where i live. This town is called wahoo and made famous because in the old David Letterman show he named it as the hometown office. Wah are oo is more than a hometown joke but where a community lives, works and has a deep sense of interconnect he hadness and wellbeing. A place of extraordinary greatness. And this small town about 500 ople from the entire count came and county gathered for the dedication of the new memorial honoring the 101 Service Members who have been killed from that small Farming Community and the surrounding areas. Soldiers, troops, military personnel from world war i to our present day. And all of their names were read n an honor roll, many having czech and german names which were part of the original settlement in that area as well as the swedish. When i approached the microphone to say a few words, i recalled a old movie to kill mockingbird. You will recall, the lawyer finch gives a defense for another man who was unjustly accused of a crime. The community from which that man had come had to sit in the upper balcony of the courtroom because of the prejudice of that time. Getting wyer finch was ready to leave, the reverend in the midst of that community and the gallery says to his young child, the lawyers young child, stand up. Your father is passing. That beautiful ceremony right there in the great plains started with a Public High School choir and the catholic High School Choir singing our national anthem. No one sat on a bench. No one took a knee. We all stood, because it was not about us. It was about them, the men and women before us living and dead who had answered the call to service. And whether they had cooked or cleaned or computed or were in the worst conceivable firefight, nonetheless, they said, i will serve. I will sacrifice for the meaning of our nation. We live in a time, mr. Speaker, when our world is screaming for meaning. What were really searching for is not an answer that can be found here in this body. We have an Important Role to debate the most pressing issues of the day, national security, Economic Security and cultural security. The most importances arent necessarily found down the street in the white house. Theyre not going to be answered necessarily in the great debate thats about to occur moments from now on the television. The answer is found in the debate about meaning itself. When we find