Senate Proceeding on Apr 21st, 2008 :: 0:37:50 to 0:44:52
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0:28:56 to 0:37:50( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Richard Burr

0:37:24 to 0:37:50( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Burr: will vote in, hopefully, the majority way that the number one priority is our men and women in uniform when they come home. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from hawaii. mr. akaka:

0:37:50 to 0:38:14( Edit History Discussion )

Daniel Akaka: mr. president, i'm here to urge my colleagues to support consideration of s. 1315 as reportd reported by the committee on veterans affair. the act is a comprehensive bill that would improve benefits and

0:37:57 to 0:44:52( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Daniel Akaka

0:38:14 to 0:38:32( Edit History Discussion )

Daniel Akaka: services for veterans -- both young and old -- and it should be debated and voted on. i'm so glad to be here with my friend and ranking member, the senator who has been very passionate about this

0:38:32 to 0:38:53( Edit History Discussion )

Daniel Akaka: bill. i was glad to hear what he had to say about the bill the i'm here to urge my colleagues to consider voting for this cloture. mr. president, i believe that a brief recap of how we came to seek

0:38:53 to 0:39:09( Edit History Discussion )

Daniel Akaka: cloture on this veterans' bill would be helpful in assisting my colleagues in the deliberation on cloture. let me go back to last june in 2007. a committee held at that time a markup during which

0:39:09 to 0:39:26( Edit History Discussion )

Daniel Akaka: the then ranking member, the senator from idaho, offered an amendment that would have modified a provision of the bill relating to filipino veterans of world war ii that would have reduced the amount of pension

0:39:26 to 0:39:42( Edit History Discussion )

Daniel Akaka: that filipino veterans residing in the philippines would receive. i stressed that the amendment was no too eliminate pension benefits for those veterans from the bill entirely, to is merely to reduce

0:39:42 to 0:39:59( Edit History Discussion )

Daniel Akaka: the benefit in line with what the senator from i'd he viewed as appropriate. i disagreed with his assessment and we debated the issue. ultimately in committee his amendment was not adopted. as

0:39:59 to 0:40:15( Edit History Discussion )

Daniel Akaka: that markup concluded, the senator from idaho noted that he intended to bring this amendment regarding the pension issue to the floor during consideration of s. 1315, a step i certainly understood and

0:40:15 to 0:40:28( Edit History Discussion )

Daniel Akaka: accepted. the report on s. 1315 was filed in august. i expected that i would come to the -- that it would come to the floor in september. hour, there was an unexpected -- however, there was an unexpected

0:40:28 to 0:40:45( Edit History Discussion )

Daniel Akaka: change in the republican's leadership in early september with the senator from idaho being replaced by the senator from north carolina. i did not push for the consideration of s. 1315 while the new ranking

0:40:45 to 0:41:04( Edit History Discussion )

Daniel Akaka: member took over the responsibilities of the position. when, in october, committee staff began, at my direction, to seek agreement for the bill to be brought to the floor, those efforts were not

0:41:04 to 0:41:25( Edit History Discussion )

Daniel Akaka: successful. later, in the fall, despite the suggestion that there was need for debate, the former ranking member curiously objected to my concept to debate the bill. i wrote to my colleague in an

0:41:25 to 0:41:39( Edit History Discussion )

Daniel Akaka: attempt to find a middle ground between the level of pension benefits in the bill as reported and the level that he had thought -- he had sought during the june markup. on december 13, 2007. i received

0:41:39 to 0:41:56( Edit History Discussion )

Daniel Akaka: a letter from the former ranking member that indicated that he did not feel that we were very far apart from finding a compromise in the bill and he looked forward to working with me to gain final

0:41:56 to 0:42:13( Edit History Discussion )

Daniel Akaka: passage. however, my optimism was short-lived. on that same day, the majority staff received a counteroffer from the minority staff on behalf of the committee's new ranking member, the senator from

0:42:13 to 0:42:30( Edit History Discussion )

Daniel Akaka: north carolina, which proposed to entirely eliminate pension benefits for filipino veterans residing in the philippines from the bill. shortly thereafter, i was surprised to learn that this counteroffer

0:42:30 to 0:42:49( Edit History Discussion )

Daniel Akaka: was embraced by the committee's former ranking member, rendering his offer to negotiate null and void. additional efforts earlier this year to find a compromise or, at a minimum, to enter into an

0:42:49 to 0:43:05( Edit History Discussion )

Daniel Akaka: agreement for debate remain, again, rejected. now, after over seven months of obstruction in bringing this bill to the floor, we have to resort to a cloture vote on the motion to proceed to the bill.

0:43:05 to 0:43:25( Edit History Discussion )

Daniel Akaka: and action -- an action unprecedented in the history of the veterans affairs committee. i am dismayed that, along with the filipino veterans provisions included in the bill, a number of other worthy provisions

0:43:25 to 0:43:42( Edit History Discussion )

Daniel Akaka: have not been enactd because of obstruction by the minority. mr. president, among other things, s. 1315, as reported, would establish a new program of insurance for service-connected veterans, expand

0:43:42 to 0:44:02( Edit History Discussion )

Daniel Akaka: elgibility for retroactive benefits from traumatic injury coverage under the service members group life insurance program, increase the maximum amount o veterans mortgage life insurance that a service-connected

0:44:02 to 0:44:18( Edit History Discussion )

Daniel Akaka: disabled veteran may purchase, recognize that individuals with severe burn injuries need specially adaptive housing benefits and extend for two years the monthly educational assistance allowance for apprenticeship

0:44:18 to 0:44:36( Edit History Discussion )

Daniel Akaka: or other on the job training. mr. president, this is by no means a comp hencive recitation of the -- comprehensive recitation of the eight titles and 38 provisions in the omnibus legislation. however,

0:44:36 to 0:44:52( Edit History Discussion )

Daniel Akaka: i hope it gives our colleagues an overview of the types of bishops of benefits that people stand to gain by this legislation. mr. president, i ask our colleagues to vote in favor of cloture so as

0:44:52 to 0:45:04( Edit History Discussion )

Jon Kyl: to bring this measure to the floor.| mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. kyl: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican whip. keel mr. kyl: thank you, mr. president. it's been commonplace

0:44:52 to 0:52:20( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Jon Kyl