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The Fiscal Year 2009 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), H.R. 5658, authorizes $601.4 billion to support our national defense, including $70 billion to support troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, $2 billion for unfunded readiness initiatives requested by the services and $153.2 billion to meet the needs of service members and their families. The bill passed by a vote of 384 to 23.
Don Pandel, 80, disappeared over the weekend and was found days later nearly 160 miles from his home in Port Richey, Fla.
Pandel, who is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, left his home on Sunday morning to get breakfast, but got disoriented and was subsequently found on Wednesday in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Presented on Thursday at the 24th Annual Cyprus, Hellenic and Orthodox Issues Conference, the Livanos Award distinguishes Greek individuals who have worked for great achievements in society while remembering their Hellenic values.
Last week, the House failed to pass the emergency supplemental appropriations measure after the Majority voted to strip from the measure nearly $162.5 billion in funding for troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. While Bilirakis voted in favor of the troop funding portion of the three-part supplemental measure, he opposed the other two amendments that largely contained multi-billion dollars in domestic spending, a $54 billion tax increase aimed at small businesses, and restrictions on military commanders in Iraq.
Among the bills considered by the House on Tuesday was legislation providing for a cost-of-living adjustment for disabled veterans and the survivors of certain deceased veterans; an expansion of substance abuse treatments and services offered to veterans; improved veterans access to emergency care at non-VA facilities; and restrictions on courts from changing custody arrangements on service members supporting a military operation.
On Wednesday, Gus met with Pat Pedraja, 13, in his Washington office to discuss his recent efforts to raise awareness about bone marrow donation.
A young resident of Palm Harbor, Fla., Pedraja was diagnosed with Leukemia in March 2006 and has undergone intensive treatment for the disease. When he found out about the shortage of minority bone marrow donors, he put together "Driving for Donors." This effort took Pat across the United States in 2007, helping him to add 6,000 new donors to the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Registry.
Congressman Bilirakis was honored with an "A in English" Award by U.S. English, Inc. for his dedication to preserving the unifying role of the English language in the United States, particularly for his votes and co-sponsorships of official English legislation in the 110th Congress. Bilirakis received "A" grades on the U.S. English, Inc. legislative scorecard for the 110th Congress.
CQ Politics reports that the Senate Armed Services Committee has marked up their version of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes language similar to legislation (H.R. 5481) introduced by Gus earlier this year authorizing for "a 3.9 percent pay raise for U.S. military personnel, a half percentage point more than President Bush sought in his budget request."
On Saturday, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported on the success Texas has experienced since deploying its Silver Alert system 7-months-ago...
A new statewide alert system to track down missing elderly Texas residents is 30 out of 30 -- 27 of them in time to save their lives, according to recently released statistics from the Texas Department of Public Safety.