Steve Buyer

When you compare this year's budget compared to what the President sent you, did the President reduce his VA research budget?

I think the President gets himself in this oxymoron about paid volunteers. He ought to get away from the word ``volunteers'' in the AmeriCorps program and just sign up and said, yes, he believes in service and we want to pay these…

I had to come to the House floor. I had to come here because it is obvious that there are truths, there are nontruths. I believe there are unequivocal statements of fact and there are truths that are self-evident. I now understand that the…

Mr. Chairman, I have enjoyed the substance of this debate. I would like to comment to the ranking member when he made mention that people have the capacity to evolve and that the human condition can change. I agree. What we are trying to…

Mr. Chairman, two comments I want to make. One other individual I want to give special recognition to is Dr. Ron Blanc, now the Surgeon General of the Army. If there was an individual early on that was a good listener, it was Dr. Blanc. I…

I would ask of him to never refer to this as a gulf war syndrome. A syndrome infers a sole source causation. I would ask for the gentleman to always refer to this as the gulf war illnesses, because in fact it is multifaceted.

Being very pragmatic, following the gentleman's thought process, why did we give inoculations to over 10,000 soldiers in the Persian Gulf actually for botulism and then require all soldiers in the gulf to receive two shots of anthrax if…

Over the past three decades, the availability of abortion services at military medical facilities has been subjected to numerous changes and interpretations. In January of 1993, President Clinton signed an Executive Order directing the…

Mr. Speaker, the topic I would like to talk about today is on STEP 21. The main point is specifically that local governments and the metropolitan planning organizations do in fact support STEP 21. I want to give a special recognition and…

Veterans' preference and its implementation in the Federal work force are issues that cause me great concern. We need effective and comprehensive enforcement of preference laws and regulations. Federal agencies have long abused veterans…

I come to the House floor; I do not come here often, but I come with very deep concern. A majority of the majority party Members of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary sent a letter to the U.S. Attorney General…

when a young man or woman joins our military, they make a commitment to support and defend our Constitution. At that same time, our Government assumes a sacred commitment to care for those personnel throughout their service. I am appalled…

the matter before us today is a perfect example of how this institution can work effectively and in a bipartisan manner to combat bad policy. I am grateful to Mr. Ewing, Mr. Poshard, and Mr. Barcia for their strong support and diligent…

Mr. Speaker, in the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, Congress abolished parole in the Federal system, and decided to phase out the Parole Commission. In 1990, Congress extended the time line for this phaseout by an additional 5 years…

I do not have to be shot by a bullet to understand pain. A man can be compassionate, can have sincerity, can love. I find it offensive that anyone can allege that judicial rulings based on one's gender are somehow what is wrong. I find it…

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3676, the Carjacking Corrections Act, amends section 2119(2) of title 18, United States Code, to clarify that rape constitutes a serious bodily injury for the purposes of the penalty enhancement provided in the Federal…

Mr. Speaker, this bill represents the culmination of years of hard work on behalf of the most pressing issues facing the Department of Veterans Affairs, that being eligibility reform. Anyone who has been to a VA hospital knows how…

just to respond to my colleague from Virginia, I lay the blame for a lot of this at the feet of a culture within the bureaucracy, whether it is a political appointee or not a political appointee. That is what this bill is trying to get at…

the bill before us today is long overdue. I am delighted that this legislation has not only passed two House committees but will pass the full House of Representatives today. There have been times that I never thought we would be able to…

This bill contains several notable provisions that will enhance a wide variety of benefits and will spend about $229 million over the next 6 years to increase veterans benefits. The remaining $56 million will go to deficit reduction. I…

permit me to be theological and philosophical, for a moment. I believe that as a people, as a people, as a God-fearing people, at times, that there are what are viewed, what I believe are called depraved judgments by people in our society…

Mr. Chairman, I have to rise in opposition to the Markey amendment here tonight. I did take special interest, though, when the gentleman from New Jersey, Mr. Pallone, spoke, when I noticed and it first came to my attention that the…

I am curious. Did not Carol Browner and the EPA come before the gentleman and ask for an increase in funding, and now the gentleman is telling us they are spending dollars, taxpayer dollars, on coloring books?

I applaud the gentleman from Wisconsin for his efforts to save money, but he has chosen the wrong target. There have been no hearings or an in-depth analysis of the effects of closing the university. In fact, the GAO report, which he just…

the Federal debt is over $5 trillion. Interest alone on the Federal debt this year will cost $2,340 for every household in Indiana's Fifth Congressional District. The Federal Government will spend more than $4.3 billion each day this year…