mr. mckeon: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise with my chairman, mr. i rise with my chairman, the chairman of the arms services committee, i join with my colleagues from the foreign affairs committee, colleagues from the armed services committee, in opposition to this resolution. i am very disappointed that the house democratic leadership would allow this resolution to come to the floor at this time for a vote. one only has to look at the headlines to note that our military forces are making progress in their offensive against the taliban insurgents in helmand province. even as they face improvised explosive devices and a skeptical afghan population, the kucinich resolution does nothing to woodman's the efforts of our commanders and troops as they work side by side with their afghan and coalition partners. representative kucinich's representative is -- amendment would mandate to withdraw all of all combat troops from afghanistan by the end of 2010. why consider this resolution now? why second-guess the commander- in-chief says soon after the announceme

mr. mckeon, for four minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for four minutes. mr. mckeyon: -- mr. mckeon: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i rise in support of house resolution 4887, which would try to fix a significant flaw in the democratic health care reform bill by including the department of defense's tricare program in what is considered minimum essential coverage for the purposes of the individual mandate in the health care bill. mr. speaker, while i applaud chairman skelton for taking this step, i am deeply concerned and aware that it does not go far enough to protect tricare from the ravages of obamacare. the simple truth is the senate health care bill still leaves tricare, the world class health care program that takes care of 9.2 million of our men and women in uniform and their families, and retirees and their families, open to the whim of bureaucrats outside of the department of defense who may change the program as they see fit. is this what we want for the men and women who lay their lives on the line every day to protect this great nation? las

mr. mckeon and present that in their final report.his is a difficult issue but want your predecessors have had to deal with. a central argument of the proponents for the repeal of section 654 is that repeal is a military necessity because in time for, the military services need every willing and able person to serve. the discharge of more than 13,000 people because of section 654 since 1993 has hurt military readiness. your predecessor addressed this issue in july of 2005. and the fourth year of the global war on terrorism. when he testified before this committee, "this is not a significant factor in our attrition experience and the lost generally occurs early in somebody's service." i would like to hear from you whether you agree or disagree with that assessment and whether you agree with the advocates for repeal of section 654 that feel it is a military necessity. i would further like to hear with the discharge of personnel under section 654, especially during the time of war, has negatively impacted the readiness of our military se

mr. mckeon and present that in their final report. this is a difficult issue but want your predecessors have had to deal with. a central argument of the proponents for the repeal of section 654 is that repeal is a military necessity because in time for, the military services need every willing and able person to serve. the discharge of more than 13,000 people because of section 654 since 1993 has hurt military readiness. your predecessor addressed this issue in july of 2005. and the fourth year of the global war on terrorism. when he testified before this committee, "this is not a significant factor in our attrition experience and the lost generally occurs early in somebody's service." i would like to hear from you whether you agree or disagree with that assessment and whether you agree with the advocates for repeal of section 654 that feel it is a military necessity. i would further like to hear with the discharge of personnel under section 654, especially during the time of war, has negatively impacted the readiness of our military

mr. mckeon: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise with my chairman, mr. skelton, the gentleman from missouri, chairman of the armed services committee. i join with my colleagues from the foreign affairs committee, my colleagues from the armed services committee in opposition to this resolution. i'm very disappointed that the house democratic leadership would allow this resolution to come to the floor at this time for a vote. one only has to look at the headlines to know that our military forces are making progress in their offensive against the taliban insurgents in hellman province even as they face snipers, mines, improvised explosive devices. the kucinich resolution does nothing to advance the efforts of our military commanders and troops as they work side by side with their afghan and coalition partners. representative kucinich's resolution, if enacted into law, would mandate the withdrawal of all u.s. troops from afghanistan by the end of 2010. why consider this resolution now? why second guess the commander in chief and his commander so soon after t

mr. mckeon and present that in their final report. this is a difficult issue but want your predecessors have had to deal with. a central argument of the proponents for the repeal of section 654 is that repeal is a military necessity because in time for, the military services need every willing and able person to serve. the discharge of more than 13,000 people because of section 654 since 1993 has hurt military readiness. your predecessor addressed this issue in july of 2005. and the fourth year of the global war on terrorism. when he testified before this committee, "this is not a significant factor in our attrition experience and the lost generally occurs early in somebody's service." i would like to hear from you whether you agree or disagree with that assessment and whether you agree with the advocates for repeal of section 654 that feel it is a military necessity. i would further like to hear with the discharge of personnel under section 654, especially during the time of war, has negatively impacted the readiness of our military

mr. jones for your kind words of support. of my legislation, house resolution 747. thank you as well to chairman skelton and ranking member mckeon for bringing this legislation through the armed services committee to the house floor. madam speaker, h.res. 747 recognized the achievement of the united states military academy at west point for being named "forbes" magazine's best college in 2009. not best military academy, but best college overall. in fact the headline on the front of that issue of forbes said, why west point beats harvard. i think it's something that many of us don't realize that not only is the academy turning out exemplary officers who will serve this country with great creativity and loyalty and imagination and energy but they're turning out well-rounded students who know about a variety of very important subjects that are taught as well or better as at that school as at any public or private university in the country. i have the honor of representing west point in the 19th congressional district in new york and the 4,400 cadets who make up the student body at the united states military academy. i also have the

mr. speaker. i'm proud to rise in support of house resolution 1075, commending the agri-business development teams or a.d.t.'s, on their work. i want to thank chairman skelton along with ranking member mckeon as well ased rest of the missouri delegation for their support and efforts in helping the missouri a.d.t.'s. in addition i'd like to thank the senior senator from missouri for his support of the a.d.t. program from its very beginning. there are many people who have made efforts -- made the efforts of the a.d.t. a great success. first i want to commend colonel marty leopard, chief tony romano and the entire team of men and women dedicated to improve the situation in afghanistan. they have met a massive challenge with determination to see their goals achieved. the national guard's agri-business development teams started as a pilot program in missouri. the missouri team partnered with missouri farm bureau, university of missouri and lincoln university to draw a blueprint that is being followed by other army national guard units from around the united states. in addition, a.d.t.'s get resources and guidance from the national guard bureau, the united states department of agriculture and th