E 890 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks May 1, 1995 He adds, ‘‘I couldn’t say for sure that I’m ‘‘Because I believe in the bill and I’m sup- valor, and determination, the deep concern going to be here for my niece’s bar mitzvah, porting my son,’’ she said. most of us feel for one another in this country. which will be in three years. I’d say it’s even Many parents would say, ‘‘It’s bad enough I am particularly proud of the extraordinary re- that he’s gay. Why does he have to be public money. But we don’t know what will be de- sponse of the Department of Veterans' Affairs veloped, so there’s always hope. As long as about it? The last thing I want is to be pub- you’re breathing, there’s hope.’’ lic.’’ [VA] employees in Oklahoma City. Most of you He grew up in a middle-class family. Gray said, ‘‘I’m his mother. I love him read in the April 23, 1995, edition of the As a teenager, he realized he was gay—and with all my heart and soul. I don’t think Washington Post the remarkable account of that he felt isolated. there’s anything wrong with him. I don’t the brave actions of the VA staff who were in ‘‘Teenagers especially want to fit in, and, think he’s ‘sick.’ I have become educated and the Federal Building at the time of the explo- when you’re gay, when you’re lesbian, you wiser, hopefully, to understand that a cer- sion. I will not soon forget the description of don’t fit in. So then I threw my energy into tain percentage of the population, from the beginning of time, is born gay. What’s the Paul Heath, a VA counseling psychologist, other causes. I was very involved with B’nai who, having escaped the collapsed building, B’rith youth . . . I worked very hard on big deal?’’ Jewish causes, on Israel.’’ Not that it was easy for her to accept ini- returned to his ruined office with a stretcher to He was a student at Cranston West and he tially. She said when she first heard Marc’s rescue his badly-injured colleague. For the was still in the closet: news, she spent a day in bed with a headache, benefit of my colleagues who did not have an ‘‘I knew a couple of gay people at my high and her daughter, three years older than the opportunity to read the Post article, a copy fol- school. They were constantly tormented and son, phoned. lows: harassed. So the messages I received ‘‘My daughter Robin called me and said, throughout all of society were, ‘This is very ‘Mom, what’s the matter?’ ’’ [The Washington Post, April 23, 1995] ‘‘I said, ‘It’s Marc.’ ’’ bad.’ So I kept it hidden, as most gay kids PELTED WITH GLASS, BURIED BY WALLS, THIS ‘‘She said—in a frantic voice suggesting a do.’’ OFFICE OF EIGHT PULLED THROUGH Then he went to college in New Jersey: fear of something like cancer— ‘What?’ ’’ ‘‘One night, when I enrolled at Rutgers ‘‘Marc told me he’s gay.’’ (By William Booth) The daughter, relieved it was only that, University, my freshman year, a snowy De- OKLAHOMA CITY.—They began an extraor- cember night, I got up my courage and I said, ‘‘Thank God.’’ dinary day as the most ordinary of people. went to a meeting that was advertised in the That helped, Gray said. On Wednesday morning at 9, they sat at Now Marc, with AIDS, does face a grim fu- school newspaper for the Homophile League, their computers or leaned on their desks in ture. But Gray was upbeat. which is a very antiquated term, but this the Department of Veterans Affairs’ small ‘‘He’s very good,’’ she said. ‘‘He takes very was back in 1976, and I expected to find the office on the fifth floor of the Alfred P. good care of himself. monsters that society told me would be Murrah Federal Building. There were eight And, with medical technology, I think he’s there, and what I found were wounderful, of them that morning, people similar to hun- going to be here a long, long time. I truly be- supportive, warm, welcoming people and I re- dreds of thousands of federal employees lieve that.’’ alized then I wasn’t some terrible person.’’ across the nation. Now the House debate began and droned Now it was Christmas vacation: ‘‘Just the most normal day,’’ rehabilita- on—with exquisite odes to equality and dig- ‘‘I wanted to share the joy that I was feel- tion specialist Diane Dooley would recall nity, but also with ugly, arrogant talk of ing with my parents. I was finally able to be later. ‘‘That’s how the day started, just the gays and their so-called lifestyle that is, in comfortable with who I was, and I shared same old, same old.’’ some eyes, such an abomination before God. that information with them. Their reaction But not for long. In the time it might have Paige told me had a headache. ‘‘I don’t was shock, disappointment.’’ taken to retrieve a file, the office was ripped know if it’s from this or the AZT I took a Did they send him to a psychiatrist? in half by a massive explosion from a car couple of hours ago.’’ ‘‘No, because I wouldn’t have gone to a bomb set off just outside the building’s front He sat with a House seating diagram, with psychiatrist. There was nothing wrong with entrance. Those inside were buried by an av- notations of the expected vote lineup, which me . . . It took me about six years of tor- alanche of debris or swept away in a blast of was thought to be very close. ment, really, to come to this position, so I flying glass. And then the actual tally came—passage wasn’t going back and I wasn’t going to feel In the torrent, they lost fingers and eyes by a surprisingly comfortable 57 to 41. badly about myself ever again on this issue.’’ and ears. Their bones were broken and twist- Thrilled, he turned to me and said, ‘‘Wow!’’ Eventually, he says, his parents came ed. Some even lost their sense of where and As they made their way out of the gallery, around, ‘‘because they loved me, whoever I who they were, becoming white ghosts cov- he and his mother kissed. was.’’ ered in dust and blood, wandering in shock Paige often speaks in schools and in tem- f through a building filled with the dead. ples, including Barrington’s Temple Later, at least one of them would wonder Habonim, where I first encountered him. He EXEMPLARY VA EMPLOYEES why he was not more brave; another would says his Jewishness played a large role in claim they were not heroes. All of them shaping his gay activism: HON. G.V. (SONNY) MONTGOMERY wept. But all of them survived the bomb that ‘‘Growing up, my parents instilled in both OF MISSISSIPPI went off at 9:04 a.m. my sister and myself a strong sense of Jew- IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ‘‘We were so lucky,’’ said Jim Guthrie. ‘‘I ish identity, and also we learned about the know if things had just been a little bit dif- injustices that were brought upon the Jewish Monday, May 1, 1995 ferent, that we could all be buried out there people throughout the ages, particularly, of Mr. MONTGOMERY. Mr. Speaker, our in the rubble.’’ course, only 50 years ago, when 25, 30 percent human vocabulary does not contain the words The VA office was not unlike the 14 other of the world’s Jewry was eliminated from the to accurately describe the horror, the sadness, agencies’ offices in the building. Each was planet. I have seen what the seeds of hatred, filled with bureaucrats, secretaries, clients— bigotry can do.’’ the profound feelings of grief and loss we perhaps 800 people in all that morning, now He no longer works—he was in the fashion have all experienced since the April 19th grimly divided between the survivors and the industry and, for awhile, in the state Depart- bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Build- dead. Although its occupants were more for- ment of Administration—but he’s still out ing. This monstrous actÐtargeted at our tunate than many others, the story of the speaking, often on AIDS prevention. young innocents, at the elderly seeking their VA office is in many ways the story of them This past Tuesday, he was buttonholing Social Security benefits, at disabled veterans all. legislators, and on Wednesday, the day of the checking on their vocational rehabilitation or The eight VA employees pushed papers but House vote, he was at the State House again compensation benefits, at the hundreds of they also pushed disabled veterans, helping to take in the scene. them get jobs and benefits. They thought of Outside the House entrance, we happened Federal employees laboring conscientiously to themselves as a family: They told jokes, upon Linc Almond, a backer of the bill. ‘‘I serve their fellow citizensÐepitomized man's they made calls, and they filled file cabinets want to thank you very much for your sup- inhumanity to man. In response, we want to with stories of veterans getting ahead in life port,’’ Paige said. In fact, he had some news reach out to the injured and to the families of or spiraling ever downward. Of the eight for the governor. When Almond was barraged those who are missing or dead, and speak the workers, five were veterans themselves. by anti-gay-rights calls on a recent Steve words that will relieve their suffering. Knowing They called themselves by alphabet let- Kass WHJJ talk show, Paige’s was the only this is impossible we nonetheless struggle to ters, as federal employees so often do—CPs supportive call that got through. share with these blameless victims our con- and VRSs and LVERs: Counseling Psycholo- We went up to a House gallery and there gists and Veteran Rehabilitation Specialists was Eileen Gray, Paige’s 66-year-old mother, cern for them and the pain we feel on their be- and Local Veteran Employment Representa- sporting a button that said, ‘‘I’m straight. half. tives. On Wednesday morning, they were dis- But not narrow.’’ In contrast to the ugliness of the bombing, cussing their QRs, or Quality Reviews. They I took her aside for a moment and asked countless men and women in Oklahoma City were busy, one recalled without irony, why she was there. epitomize, by their selfless heroism, courage, ‘‘reinventing government.’’ May 1, 1995 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E 891 Guthrie, a contracting officer’s representa- the roof was about to collapse,’’ Guthrie Later, an old high school classmate whose tive, stopped by the office to work on secur- said. He heard the second explosion and cov- wife worked for HUD asked for his help in ing a dental contract for disabled veterans in ered his ears. searching for her. ‘‘I asked him where his nearby Lawton. He considers himself a hard ‘‘The smoke and dust, it was almost imme- wife worked, what side of the building, and worker and a trouble-shooter, who does all diate,’’ he said. ‘‘I couldn’t breathe. I kept when he told me. I knew he’d never find her. the ‘‘crappy little jobs’’ that need doing. looking for pockets of air. We were choking That floor was gone,’’ Heath said. Long and lean, divorced with kids and living and coughing.’’ Diane Dooley is home now with a smashed in nearby Muskogee, where the central office Armstrong followed Guthrie down the wrist, which probably will require bone is located, Guthrie, 44, is a former Marine, same stairs Dooley had used to escape mo- grafts. Martin Cash is still in Presbyterian who spent 13 months ducking rockets in Da ments before, but they moved slowly, feeling Hospital, and it looks as if he may lose an Nang, Vietnam, an experience he does not their way in complete darkness. They finally eye. Stan Ronbaun remains at St. Anthony’s dwell on. ‘‘I don’t like pity parties,’’ he says. emerged into the light in the back of the Hospital and may also lose an eye. The rest The explosion, he said, was worse than building, the side facing away from the of the staff is home. Heath and Guthrie were anything that happened to him in Vietnam. bomb. back at work on Friday at the VA’s new tem- When Guthrie arrived at the office, he Guthrie is not sure what happened when he porary quarters at Oklahoma City’s VA hos- greeted everyone. He remembers that Stan emerged from the building. He and Arm- pital. Ronbaun, who worked for the state but was strong were covered in dust. ‘‘For the next Paul Heath said he does not find any cos- attached to the federal office to help find three or four hours, we just wandered mic significance in the bombing. He believes jobs for disabled veterans, was sitting at his around,’’ Guthrie recalled. They wanted to desk right next to the window. Ronbaun was make phone calls, but were afraid to enter instead, he said, that ‘‘in my life and the life from New York and liked jokes. He reminded the Internal Revenue Service building near- of others there are these times of extreme people of the actor Walter Matthau. by. pain, and then there are all the good times Martin Cash, too, was in the front room, ‘‘I have never felt so helpless and dis- to help you grow strong and heal.’’ And then almost as exposed as Ronbaun to the large oriented,’’ Guthrie said. While he stumbled Heath began, very quietly, to weep.’ plate-glass windows on the north face of the in shock through the streets of downtown Dooley said that when Heath visited her in building. Cash counseled veterans about Oklahoma City, Guthrie said, he wondered the hospital, she told him she had not yet their benefits. Nearby were John Colvin and what he had done with his life: ‘‘I could’ve had time to cry. But she has time now. George Denker. They helped disabled vets been dead but I wasn’t dead, but I began to ‘‘These veterans are going to want their get loans. imagine all the dead and all the dead before checks on Monday,’’ Dooley said, ‘‘and I Guthrie visited for a few minutes with me.’’ don’t know how I’m gonna type with one Diane Dooley and office coordinator Paul When Guthrie and Armstrong emerged hand.’’ Heath, a man who wears many hats. Heath is from the building, a woman approached When asked what she would think if the a psychological counselor for veterans, help- screaming at them to save the children in bombers turned out to be former military ing them through neurological disease or di- the day-care center on the second floor. men with a grudge, she sighed and said it vorce or alcoholism. He has been with the ‘‘We didn’t do anything,’’ Guthrie recalled. would not surprise her. Dooley said she often VA in this office for 28 years. People call him ‘‘We couldn’t do anything. We stood there, thought that someday, some angry and dis- ‘‘Doc.’’ dazed and helpless.’’ turbed person, even one of the veterans, The three of them—Guthrie, Dooley and While the two men stood in a daze, Paul might enter the federal building and start Heath—talked about ‘‘nothing unusual.’’ Heath, the psychologist, was sitting at a shooting. There are no metal detectors and Heath recalls, ‘‘something about putting to- desk in Diane Dooley’s office, debris up to security was light, almost nonexistent. gether a unified database for a vocational his armpits. ‘‘I was staring ahead and could Guthrie said, ‘‘I am a solid person, but this rehab unit.’’ see, where the building used to be, nothing. whole experience has a lot of psychological Daughter of a retired Air Force sergeant, I could see across the street.’’ effects. I’m rethinking my life. I really am. Dooley married the son of another Air Force The front of the building fell away almost I want to spend more time with my children sergeant. She started working for the VA beneath Heath’s feet. He sat for a second and maybe change some other things.’’ five years ago as a clerk-typist and put her- half-buried. ‘‘I mean, the roof fell on my In this time when federal bureaucrats are self through college, becoming what she jok- head. Aluminum. Light fixtures. Duct work. sometimes seen as the source of everything ingly calls ‘‘a social worker for veterans.’’ Wiring. And I could still see what I think that is wrong with the United States, Paul Just as she was getting up to go to the Fed- was the explosive, the fertilizer, popping, Heath and his colleagues ask people to re- eral Employee Credit Union, she got a call these little sparks, and then the black cloud member the good that many federal workers from Dennis Jackson, her co-worker, ringing rolled in.’’ try to do. her from his cellular phone, telling her he Heath thought it must have been a natural ‘‘We’re not heroes,’’ he said. ‘‘But I like to was running late. gas explosion. He crawled over his desk and think that all of us try to help.’’ At 9:00, running late herself because of into the front room, clearing a path through On Friday Paul Heath went back into the Jackson’s call, Dooley started for the stair- the ruins. There he saw Colvin leaning over ruins of the Murrah building one last time. well to descend to the credit union on the Ronbaun’s crumpled body. ‘‘Stan’s hurt real He convinced some local policemen he knew third floor. She never made it. She was bad,’’ Colvin told Heath. Martin Cash, too, to accompany him up five flights back to his lucky. Seventeen of the 31 employees at the was covered in blood, his left arm broken, old office to retrieve his computers and his credit union are believed dead. bruised and deeply cut. Swaying on his feet, files. ‘‘Just as my hand reached the door, the ex- Cash announced. ‘‘I think my eye is gone.’’ plosion, it went off,’’ Dooley said, relating Colvin ripped off his own shirt and held it to He stared at the wreckage. The computer the story from her flower-filled bedroom Cash’s eye. George Denker was without his monitor on his desk had seemingly been after being released Friday from St. Antho- glasses, fumbling around in the dark. sucked to the floor. There were overturned ny’s Hospital. ‘‘I though I had set it off. Hon- ‘‘I told John to stay with Stan, that we’d chairs, wires and insulation. It was an eerie est to God, I believed I triggered the bomb.’’ find a way out and come back,’’ Heath re- experience—it unnerved him and reminded Dooley was knocked on her back, her right called. A steady man, Colvin remained with him how close he and his co-workers had hand and wrist smashed, her toes broken. Ronbaun while Heath and the others made it come to death. She believes she heard a second explosion, down the back stairs, remained with him Additionally, although the director of the VA which may have been the device itself or the even as the building groaned and continued Medical Center in Oklahoma City, Mr. Steve front of the building collapsing. ‘‘I could to fall apart and the facade and ceilings gave Gentling, would assert that he and his staff hear a man, somewhere, saying, ‘Help me, way. help me.’ ’’ Heath returned with a stretcher, carried by were simply doing their jobs, their many con- Dooley stumbled down another two flights a maintenance man whose name he does not tributions during the crisis merit special rec- and staggered from the building. A man kept remember, and Robert Roddy, who works for ognition. Although the following report is only asking: ‘‘What’s your name? What’s your the Department of Housing and Urban Devel- a summary of VA activities during the early name?’’ opment. Ronbaun is more than six feet tall days of the crisis, it vividly demonstrates the She was bundled into a police cruiser and and weighs about 265 pounds. Heath helped exemplary commitment of VA employees: is believed to have been the first person in carry him out, pushing desks and debris out the explosion to reach a hospital. When she of the way, but he worried. Heath has a bad DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, VETER- recovered from surgery, she kept asking her heart. ANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, VA MEDICAL husband, Jim, about her colleagues. When Heath emerged from the building, CENTER, OKLAHOMA CITY, OK Seconds before the explosion, Jim Guthrie the first person he met was a woman, sob- had left the office with Bob Armstrong. A bing and nearly hysterical, whose daughter SUMMARY OF OKLAHOMA CITY VAMC ACTIONS IN VA field investigator of fraud and, like Guth- had been among those in the day-care center. RESPONSE TO ALFRED P. MURRAH FEDERAL rie, a former Marine, Armstrong had served Heath knew the building well, serving as BUILDING DISASTER in Korea and done two tours in Vietnam. chief medical officer despite the fact that he As of 4:00 p.m., April 21, 1995, the VAMC ‘‘I felt a boom and was picked up off my did not hold a medical degree. He knew the had taken the following actions in response feet and thrown under a water fountain, and center had taken an almost direct hit, and to the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Murrah I was thinking, that was fine, since I thought he feared no one could have survived. building: E 892 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks May 1, 1995 Received 12 casualties, beginning at 10:50 Fred Gusman, M.S.W., head of the VA Dis- health insurance companies to offer conver- a.m. One of the casualties was a veteran; two aster Mental Health Trauma Team, will be sion policies, but allows them to do so in were children, both of whom were treated reporting to the VAMC to provide mental such an unconscionable way. and referred to Children’s Hospital. Three health counseling/coordination. Sincerely yours, people were admitted to the hospital and dis- Established Oklahoma City Family Assist- ——— ———. charged on April 21. ance Relief Fund at the Oklahoma Federal Enclosure. Sent a four-person triage team to the site Credit Union. CONNECTICUT GENERAL LIFE INSUR- of the bombing immediately after the disas- f ANCE COMPANY, A GROUP MEDICAL ter occurred. CONVERSION QUOTE—QUARTERLY Sent 19 critical care nurses and emergency WHY WE NEED NATIONAL HEALTH PREMIUMS employees to the closest hospital to the dis- CARE REFORM: $38,696 FOR A Rate quote for:———. aster, St. Anthony’s Hospital. HEALTH INSURANCE POLICY Your age: 54. Sent triage supplies to St. Anthony’s Hos- Your spouse status: Yes, age: 47. pital. HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK You have: 2 children. Sent 14 crisis intervention team members, Today is: 03/02/95. primarily psychiatrists and psychologists, to OF CALIFORNIA IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Effective date: 03/01/95. three assistance locations—the disaster site, Your ZIP: — the American Red Cross and the First Chris- Monday, May 1, 1995 tian Church. QUARTERLY COMPREHENSIVE PREMIUMS 1 At the request of the American Red Cross, Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, we didn't pass sent Dr. John Tassey, Director VAMC Behav- health care reform last Congress, but the need R&B daily limit ...... $100 $150 $200 $250 ioral Medicine Service, to serve as coordina- for it didn't go away. Surgical maximum ...... 4,500 6,000 7,500 9,000 tor/liaison for Oklahoma City mental health I've just received a letter from a midwestern Deductible: response coordination with the National family, which shows how the Nation's insur- $100 ...... 9,959 10,363 10,787 11,208 American Red Cross. ance companies continue to behave in an irre- $250 ...... 9,316 9,694 10,091 10,485 Set up offices for Veterans Benefits Admin- sponsible and capricious manner. This family $500 ...... 8,596 8,945 9,310 9,674 $1,000 ...... 7,918 8,239 8,576 8,910 istration (VBA) operations on the first floor of four, which says they have less than aver- of the VAMC. VBA Operations commenced at $2,000 ...... 6,915 7,195 7,490 7,782 age health care expenses, had been using the 9 a.m. on April 20. 1 Choose the benefit provisions from the top of the chart with the deduct- Set up office space in the VAMC for two of COBRA health continuation provisions for 18 ible from the side of the chart to determine the premium for your particular the forensic teams from the Public Health months at an annual rate of $5,556.97. With plan. Service. COBRA expiring, they wrote Connecticut Gen- QUARTERLY HOSPITAL/SURGICAL PREMIUMS 1 VAMC Psychiatry and Psychology employ- eral Life Insurance Co. to ask about convert- ees, including the Chief of Psychiatry Serv- ing to an individual rate policy. Hospital only: ice, Dr. Charles Smith, answered telephones Following is their letter describing what hap- R&B daily limit ...... $100 $150 $200 $250 for the American Red Cross Crisis Interven- pened. The company sent them a printed Premium ...... 2,781 3,357 3,828 4,189 tion Center continuously for 36 hours. Surgical only: Set up a blood donor team to identify em- sheet in which they were invited to continue Surgical maximum: ...... 2,400 3,600 4,800 6,000 ployees with rare blood types to be prepared for the annual rate of $38,696. Premium ...... 159 238 317 396 Mr. Speaker, Connecticut General obviously Hospital and surgical: for requests for those blood types. Collected R&B daily limit ...... 100 150 200 250 blood donations from donors, some of whom has no interest in writing policies for individ- Surgical maximum ...... 2,400 3,600 4,800 6,000 waited 5 hours to donate. uals. It met the letter of the law requiring that Premium ...... 2,940 3,595 4,145 4,585 Sent chaplains for coverage in one of the COBRA enrollees be offered a conversion pol- 1 Choose hospital only, surgical only, or hospital and surgical as indicated community clinic centers set up in local icyÐbut their offer is a joke and an insult. to determine the premium based on the benefit provisions. churches on April 20–21. When the Nation's insurance companies Establsihed a VAMC-sponsored community f display this type of behavior, they are just hotline for post-trauma counseling through PI KAPPA DELTA NATIONAL the American Red Cross. The American Red refanning the flames for health care reform. Cross will issue the hotline number and the The letter follows: TOURNAMENT calls will be referred to VAMC staff. APRIL 21, 1995. Will hold two ‘‘Group Counseling’’ sessions Re health care cost reform. HON. IKE SKELTON on April 21 and 24 open to all VAMC employ- Hon. PETE STARK, OF MISSOURI ees. Will schedule additional sessions as Subcommittee on Health, Ways and Means Com- needed. mittee, Longworth House Office Building, IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Sent 2 VAMC pathologists to the State Washington, DC. Monday, May 1, 1995 Medical Examines Office for assistance. DEAR CONGRESSMAN STARK: I am writing to Sent Paul Farney, VAMC Supervisory you because I believe you would want infor- Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, today I wish to Technologist in Radiology Service, to the mation like this to help you make informed recognize an outstanding group of students State Medical Examiners Office to serve as judgments on health care issues that not from Central Missouri State University's Coordinator for all city hospital radiology only affect me and my family, but affect mil- forensics team. The forensics team recently technicians. lions of other people. won the national 39th biannual Pi Kappa Delta Sent 2 vehicles and drivers to transport I believe it is federal law that requires in- National Tournament. The tournament was Radiology film for development at the surance companies to offer group medical held from March 22±25, 1995 at Louisiana VAMC for return to the State Medical Exam- conversion policies to individuals when they iner. The effort is anticipated to continue for are no longer eligible to be part of the group. State University in Shreveport. the next 6 days. Surely that legislation didn’t intend to allow Pi Kappa Delta is a national honorary frater- Assisted the State Medical Examiner’s of- for an insurance company, in this case Con- nity that symbolizes the benefits of a forensics fice in leasing a portable X-ray machine, and necticut General Life Insurance Company, to education. Twenty-three students represented with procuring supplies and technical assist- increase a family’s premium from $5,556.97 Central Missouri State University in the com- ance. per year to $38,696.00 (over 590% increase) petition. The team placed first in debate and Provided gowns, scrub suits, masks, gloves, with a higher deductible ($500) and lower second in individual events, winning 32 indi- and jaw stretchers to the State Medical Ex- R&B daily limit ($250). vidual event awards. This is the first national aminers Office. I paid a monthly premium of $463.08 for Dick Campbell, Chief Human Resources eighteen months after leaving my teaching championship in the team's 73-year history. Management, and Chairman of the Federal position. When I was informed that I was no I know that the Members of this body join Personnel Council, is organizing the effort longer eligible for the group, I requested and me in congratulating the Central Missouri with other agencies to reconstruct the per- received the enclosed conversion quotes. I State University forensics team for their ac- sonnel records of Federal Building employees am sure that Connecticut General Life Insur- complishment. The students on the forensics whose records were destroyed. ance Company’s attorneys have assured team should be applauded for all the hard Providing sleeping/showering facilities for them that they are within the law when they work, dedication, and perseverance it took to firefighters and rescue workers in the audi- quoted such an unjust rate. win the tournament. torium area of the Health Wing of the I would hope that Congress would review VAMC. and modify any legislation that requires