filner? >> thank you, mr. hanson. not easy to talk about your own life here. but in your written testimony you do mention certain things you think the va could do to serve you and your comrades better. can you go over those a little besides the one you just mentioned to the chairman? >> yes, sir. i felt that very often it was just kind of like i was a number -- another number in a revolving door. i never felt there was much of an actual care whereas when i eventually did go to minnesota teen challenge i felt there was an actual effort for me to get help to get better, not because it was their job, because it was something they were passionate about. and that was a big part of it for me. and another big part of it was i was able to go to the va medical center to get help once a week but then i was removed. i didn't have to be the marine, combat veteran every time i went back to get help. i wasn't around a lot of veterans and i can understand that there is a certain benefit to it but there is also a benefit to not being with all the people that know what i went

they said is sooif, however it comes after the usda announce they will let them opt out of using the filner school lunches as of next year. >> getting a jolt of energy can land you in the emergency room or kill you. a 14-year-old girl died from the heart attack that doctors say was caused by caffeine toxicity after she thank two energy drinks. they are seeing more than a,000% increase in visits involving energy drinks since 2 thousa002. >> it's difficult to justify a case for children and young adults to be using the substances right now. >> after years of studies calling for the fda to regulate the drinks, they adopted voluntary policies pertaining to energy drink labels and marketing to children. >> a reason for young people to get out and tell their parents that video games are good for you, especially in the career department. if you haven't played draw something yet, it's the number one free paid ap. the company that makes it was bought by zynga for the price of $200 million. there is good money in games it seems. >> per here comes the biggest story of the day. imagine the empire state

filner. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for taking the leadership on this subject. of course, we have all raised serious concerns over many years about the backlog of claims and there are now a record number of service men and women returning home with scars from the war. now is simply not the time to delay their benefits. the report you mentioned that was released last year by the va inspector general focusing on the delay of our service members getting an appointment for medical exam in order to process their claim for compensation is just one more example of how the va seems to be failing our veterans. that system has many obstacles for our warriors by putting them through numerous medical exams for each individual ailment for which they are filing a claim. the va i think could easily streamline this process and allow the veteran to receive one complete medical exam to expedite the claims process, alleviate the stress on our veterans, and save our veterans and taxpayers money. you mentioned the recent decision by the ninth circuit court of appeals in veterans for

changed and the people who changed that, the civil rights workers, the marchers, the sit-in, bob filner was a freedom rider, a congressperson, those people made the promise that was given fulfilled. it's still work. i introduced and this house passed in 2007 the apology for the slavery of jim crow. it took until 2007 for this house to pass it and i appreciate the fact that when i did introduce it and passed that there were two republican sponsored but there were just two republican sponsors. this year i have h.res. 3866 that recognizes all civil rights workers with a congressional gold medal. i'm sorry to say to this date there is not a single republican sponsor. there should be. civil rights is republican as it is democrat. the party of lincoln as the party of kennedy provided civil rights, and in 1965 when that voting rights act passed, there were people like dierkson who cast important votes. i urge my colleagues to support this resolution and to support h.res. 3688 and honor the civil rights workers who had to fight their country for their rights and privileges. i yield back the bal

congressman bob filner who spent several months in jail after his efforts of the freedom rider and he takes great pride being invited back. congresswoman eleanor holmes norton who was an organizer of the student nonviolent coordinated committee, and congresswoman terri sewell, who, along with congresswoman roby, co-sponsor of this legislation, as congresswoman sewell is from selma and her family opened their home to travelers on the 1965 march from selma to montgomery. sure, there are more, but all of these people played a role. john lewis, of course, an icon in our country for his leadership at that time. these members of congress and these american heroes made history. they also made progress for our country. i urge my colleagues to join in supporting this legislation to ensure that our history and our -- and the heroes, that that history lives on long after we are gone. with that, madam speaker -- mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from georgia reserves. the gentleman from cal