E2478 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks December 7, 2005 planning stages of the Operation Iraqi Free- Forces of the . He joined the Ma- When they left the service 20 or more years dom in 2002. rine Corps in 1942 and served 30 months in later, they lived under a new set of rules. In On behalf of New York’s first congressional the South Pacific as a noncommissioned offi- short, the health care rug was pulled out from district and indeed a grateful nation, I thank Lt. cer. He received an appointment as a Second under them. Col. James Finkle for his service, congratulate Lieutenant in the National Guard in 1950. He On November 18, 2002, a Federal Appeals him for a distinguished career, and wish him was called to active duty in the Air Force in Court ruled that only Congress can authorize good health, continued success and a happy 1951. He served two tours in the Far East as the level of health care the government will retirement with his wife Louise and their chil- a fighter-bomber pilot during the . provide to military retirees; therefore, promises dren, Amanda and Eugene. In April 1967, Day was assigned to made by military recruiters or government offi- f the 31st Tac Fighter Wing at Tuy Hoa Air cials were not binding. On June 2, 2003, the Base, Republic of Vietnam. Shot down over Supreme Court declined to consider Col. REGARDING SUPPORT OF on August 26, 1967, he spent Day’s appeal of the ruling, putting an end to SUBSIDIZED GUARDIANSHIP 67 months as a . Colonel Day the law suit. was the only POW to escape from prison in Although the Appeals Court did not rule in HON. PATRICK J. KENNEDY North Vietnam and then to be recaptured by favor of the plaintiffs, the language of the OF RHODE ISLAND the Viet Cong in the South. He is also credited Court ruling was very clear that the plaintiffs IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES with living through the first ‘‘no chute’’ bailout had won a moral victory: from a burning jet fighter in England in 1955. Accordingly, we must affirm the district Wednesday, December 7, 2005 Colonel Day holds every significant combat court’s judgment and can do no more than Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island. Mr. Speak- award. He is the nation’s most highly deco- hope Congress will make good on the prom- ises recruiters made in good faith to plain- er, I would like to take the opportunity to ex- rated officer since General Douglass Mac- tiffs and others of the World War II and press my enthusiastic support of subsidized Arthur. He holds nearly seventy military deco- Korean War era—from 1941 to 1956, guardianship. I understand that many times rations and awards of which more than fifty when Congress enacted its first health grandparents or other relatives become the are for combat. Most notable are the Medal of care insurance act for military mem- primary caregivers to children who are not Honor, the Air Force Cross, the Distinguished bers, excluding older retirees. . . . able to live with their parents. This can be- Service Medal, the , the Legion of We cannot readily imagine more sympa- come a significant financial challenge and we Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air thetic plaintiffs than the retired officers of must offer these families more resources. In Medal with nine Oak Leaf Clusters, the Bronze the World War II and Korean War era in- my home state of Rhode Island, 4,176 grand- Star for Valor with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the volved in this case. They served their coun- parents were financially responsible for meet- Bronze Star, the with three Clus- try for at least 20 years with the under- ing their grandchild’s basic needs in 2003. ters and the POW ribbon. He wears twelve standing that when they retired they and Subsidized guardianship programs, which are Campaign Battle Stars. their dependents would receive full free increasingly used by states around the coun- So, Mr. Speaker, Col. Day’s long, distin- health care for life. The promise of such health care was made in good faith and re- try—including Rhode Island—allow children guished record shows that he was a fighter in lied upon. Again, however, because no au- living safely with relatives to exit formal foster the field defending his comrades and country thority existed to make such promises in the care and achieve legal permanence. That is and, I can attest, he has been just as deter- first place, and because Congress has never why I am proud to be a cosponsor of H.R. mined a fighter in the courtroom, too. He re- ratified or acquiesced to this promise, we 3380, The Guardianship Assistance Promotion cruited his own army of grassroots soldiers have no alternative but to uphold the judg- and Kinship Support Act, which would allow who, in town meetings and over the Internet, ment against the retirees’ breach-of-contract the use of federal funding to support sub- gathered together to exercise their constitu- claim. . . . sidized guardianship programs. Perhaps Congress will consider using its tional freedoms to fight for their rights, just as legal power to address the moral claims Today I offer my formal acknowledgement Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin raised by Schism and Reinlie on their own and deepest appreciation for the ongoing serv- Franklin and all the Founding Fathers imag- behalf, and indirectly for other affected re- ice of these caregivers to our country and our ined they would. tirees. nation’s most valuable asset, our children. The CAG suit filed in 1996 was based on Mr. Speaker, CAG and the nationwide f the fact that agents of the Federal Govern- grassroots group did in fact win a substantial ment—including military recruiters, active duty legislative victory. In 2000, Congress re- HONORING THE CLASS ACT GROUP members of the uniformed services, and other sponded to an intense national grassroots OF MILITARY RETIREES government officials—routinely promised that campaign waged by military retirees by enact- the government would provide lifetime health ing for Life (TFL), which provides HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN care to military retirees and their dependents health care to Medicare-eligible military retir- OF MARYLAND if they served a career of at least 20 years in ees (generally age 65 or older). TFL did not IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES uniformed service. go all the way to fulfill the government’s prom- The promise of lifetime care was made and Wednesday, December 7, 2005 ise of lifetime health care for our Nation’s war- fulfilled for generations, but until 1956 Con- riors, but it was a substantial step forward in Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, today is gress had never passed a statute that speci- that effort. the 64th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl fied what level of care would be provided. On The military retirees grassroots group also Harbor, the infamous day in 1941 that led us December 7, 1956 a new law took effect with actively encouraged Congress to address the into World War II. It is appropriate that I rise a provision that provided for health care at unfulfilled health care needs of many younger today to honor the military retirees’ grassroots military facilities on a ‘‘space available’’ basis. military retirees who find they are not well organization known as the Class Act Group. This new law had the practical effect of defin- served by the military health care system After nearly ten years of citizen advocacy, urg- ing and limiting the Federal Government’s known as Tricare Standard, a plan for retirees ing Congress to fully restore their promised commitment to military retiree health care, by who do not live near military bases that could military health care benefits, this noble group conditioning such care on space availability. otherwise provide their promised military of warriors has decided to call it a day and In other words, after 1956, health care that health care. close its offices. had been promised and routinely delivered for Mr. Speaker, the men and women at the CAG’s roots date back to July 16, 1996, years was no longer assured. As military core of the Class Act Group have grown old when attorney George E. Day filed a law suit bases began to close and downsize, the avail- serving their country. They were heroes in in Federal Court in Pensacola, Florida on be- ability of health care became more and more World War II, Korea and Vietnam. And they half of retired Air Force Colonels William O. limited. Subsequent laws completely removed were heroes in the courtroom and in the halls Schism and Robert Reinlie. The suit alleged Medicare-eligible military retirees from the mili- of government fighting for their rights. breach of contract with military retirees over tary health care system. They have fought the good fight, but as the age of 65 years by the failure of the U.S. The 1956 law ‘‘changed the rules in the good soldiers they know when it is time to re- to provide the military medical care it had middle of the game’’ for military retirees who group. Even with the advent of TFL these promised. entered the service prior to December 7, grassroots warriors kept fighting for full res- But George Day is not just any lawyer. Col. 1956. When they agreed to enter the service, toration of their promised health care. But they George ‘‘Bud’’ Day (Retired) is a veteran of they had promises—a verbal contract—of life- know that budget battles in Congress have more than 30 years service in the Armed time health care that routinely were fulfilled. gotten tougher, that new generations of

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