mr. mcdermott: mr. speaker, i rise in strong support of h.r. 1194, a bill that would reinstate authority within the department of health and human services to allow up to 10 states and native american tribes a year to conduct demonstration projects that test ways to improve child welfare programs. i want to thank the chairman of the human resources committee, mr. davis, for following in the tradition of the previous chairman, mr. linder. he was the one who worked with us last year in putting this through and it's good to have that same thing going through. this is a rare bill, it's hallucinately -- actually a bipartisan bill. this bill reinstates the waiver authority to allow the states and tribes to implement and evaluate innovations, to improve outcomes for at-risk families and children. the legislation is cost-neutral and renews waiver authority over the next six years. 23 states and jurisdictions received waivers under the previous authority which began in 1997 and ended in 2006. although the author

mr. mcdermott: mr. speaker, i rise today to honor lee jones who passed away on the 23rd of april after many years of remarkable service to his country and to other veterans. lee jones was born in crockett, texas, september 24, 1942 and entered the u.s. army in 1963. he served in vietnam as squad leader in 1965 and 1966. he fought in multiple engagements in vietnam including the first battle of trang valley, a bally that was recounted in the best selling book as well as in a hollywood movie, "we were soldiers." we consider this to be the prime source of the ptsd that inflicted him for the rest of his life. he recently died of physical health problems connected to his service in vietnam. the recognition of his military service, he was awarded the infantry medal. upon leaving the military in 1966, he received a b.a. in bellingham, washington. he went on to serve veterans as a counselor at the seattle vietnam veterans center created with other veteran centers by the act of congress in 1979. lee directed the

mr. mcdermott: this bill is making that problem worse. therefore, it's bad for grandma and everybody else. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from georgia. mr. gingre i move to strike the last word. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. gingrey: i thank the chairwoman. sitting in my office listening to this debate, i can't help but feel like this is a bunch of demagoguery on the part of our colleagues on the democratic side of the aisle. i take this opportunity to oppose an amendment, but more importantly to ask my colleagues to stop this demagoguery in regard to throwing grandma under thbus in reference to the medicare program and what our side of the aisle has proposed in the republican budget. you know, the average age of this body is 58 years old. almost all of us are grandma and grandpa, and you're running these ads all across the nation, i guess particularly in new york 26, showing a reasonable facsimile of our fantastic chairman of the budget committee pushing grandma in a wheelchair o

mr. mcdermott: this bill is making that problem worse. therefore, it's bad for grandma and everybody else. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from georgia. mr. gingrey: i move to strike the last word. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. gingrey: i thank the chairwoman. sitting in my office listening to this debate, i can't help but feel like this is a bunch of demagoguery on the part of our colleagues on the democratic side of the aisle. i take this opportunity to oppose an amendment, but more importantly to ask my colleagues to stop this demagoguery in regard to throwing grandma under the bus in reference to the medicare program and what our side of the aisle has proposed in the republican budget. you know, the average age of this body is 58 years old. almost all of us are grandma and grandpa, and you're running these ads all across the nation, i guess particularly in new york 26, showing a reasonable facsimile of our fantastic chairman of the budget committee pushing grandma in a wheelcha