mr. speaker , i thank the gentleman for yielding me this time . 
mr. speaker , we meet tonight under extraordinary circumstances , and i for one am very grateful to the speaker and majority leader delay for bringing us back because a much-loved disabled woman in florida has been ordered to die by starvation and dehydration . 
we meet tonight because terri schiavo 's family , including her parents , bob and mary schindler , refuse to allow their precious daughter , who is not in a coma nor is she terminally ill nor is she in a persistent vegetative state , to be killed by starving her to death . 
disabled people deserve no less than everyone else deserves , to have their fundamental human rights protected and properly asserted . 
we meet here tonight because there are serious questions whether terri schiavo 's estranged husband , michael , who has abandoned terri for another woman and has had two kids with the other woman , could be trusted as a legal guardian for a woman for whom he has sought death for many years . 
let us not forget she has been in a hospice for 5 years . 
my mother was in a hospice . 
she had terminal brain cancer and was dying . 
one goes into a hospice when they are in the process of dying . 
terri was not dying . 
mention was made earlier by the gentleman from florida ( mr. wexler ) xz4004300 that everyone agrees that terri is in a persistent vegetative state . 
that 's not true . 
let me remind my colleagues that no less than 14 independent medical professionals , including six neurologists , have said she is not in a persistent vegetative state . 
let me also point out to my colleagues dr . 
william hammesfahr , an m.d. , board certified neurologist from clearwater , florida has testified , and he has signed an affidavit as recently as march 6 of this year , and he has said ms. schiavo is not in a persistent vegetative state . 
he goes on to point out that she could benefit , and i will include this full statement in the record , from medical interventions that are available right now as we meet , she could be getting therapies , medical and otherwise , that would make her situation all that much better . 
all of that has been denied to her . 
she has sat in a hospice to languish denied these basic medical provisions and procedures that could enhance her life . 
i would hope that we would vote for this legislation . 
the material previously referred to is as follows : declaration of william m. hammesfahr , m.d . 
i , william m. hammesfahr , m.d . 
have personal knowledge of the facts states in this declaration and , if called as a witness , i could and would testify competently thereto under oath . 
i declare as follows : 1 . 
i am a board-certified neurologist in private practice in clearwater , florida . 
my curriculum vitae is attached to this declaration . 
2 . 
i have previously filed affidavits and testified in the matter involving terri schiavo . 
3 . 
i have personally examined terry schiavo , reviewed her available medical records , and reviewed her ct can . 
when i last reviewed her ct scan i noted that ms. schiavo had significant brain tissue . 
she has a large amount of viable brain tissue in her cerebellum space and cerebral hemispheres , not just scar tissue or spinal fluid . 
4 . 
i have previously testified , and i am still of the opinion , that ms. schiavo is not in a persistent vegetative state . 
5 . 
further , ms. schiavo had the ability to swallow . 
when i examined her approximately two years ago , she was not pvs of mcs , she was in an alert state , able to follow commands , able to respond to language , and able to swallow . 
6 . 
her condition of hypoxic emcephalopathy is a type of stroke . 
it is a condition i routinely treat with therapy , sometimes 50 and 60 years , after the injury . 
she is only 15 years past the injury . 
we routinely see major improvements within the first six months of treating such patients . 
terri schiavo deserves to have the benefit of further treatment . 
7 . 
there have been new advances in medical evaluation and treatment for patients like terri schiavo even in just the past few years . 
for example , in november of 2003 . 
judge susan kirkland of the florida department of health validated the treament i have been providing victims of stroke by identifying me , during her ruling , `` the first physician to treat patients successfully to restore deficits caused by stroke. '' with my therapy , there is improvement of blood flow to the brain . 
8 . 
there are other therapies that could benefit terri schiavo , such as hyperbaric oxygen therapy , and nutritional therapy , that all have high success rates , and these should be tried on terri . 
9 . 
as a patient , terri schiavo is not in that bad of a condition to begin with . 
we treat many patients who are a lot worse . 
there are a lot of therapies out there that will very likely improve her condition , and they all compliment each other , so if you do them all in a series , she could get a lot better . 
10 . 
without a doubt , i observed terri swallow . 
at a previous hearing for terri , all five physicians who examined her agreed and testified that she can swallow . 
we know that because the body makes approximately 2 liters of saliva and post-nasal drainage a day and if she can swallow that , which she can because she swallows her saliva , then she can swallow food . 
11 . 
i believe that it is wrong and medically unethical to remove terri schiavo 's feeding tube and derive her of food and water . 
at the very least , further swallowing tests should be done , and swallowing therapy used , so that terri can feed herself , without the use of the current feeding tube . 
i declare under the penalty of perjury under the laws of the state of florida that the foregoing is true and correct . 
executed this 06 day of march 2005 , in clearwater , florida . 
william m. hammesfahr , m.d . 
declaration of william maxfield , m.d. , facnm i , william maxfield , m.d. , facnm , have personal knowledge of the facts stated in this declaration and , if called as a witness , i could and would testify competently thereto under oath . 
i declare as follows : 1 . 
i am a medical doctor and licensed in florida and several other states . 
2 . 
i have extensive experience in treatment of stroke , multiple sclerosis , brain trauma , cerebral palsy , other cognitive diseases and congenital problems such as ataxia-telangectasia as well as many other diseases that are treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy ( hbot ) . 
my experience in imaging and hyperbaric medicine provide a unique background for my work in developing protocols to diagnose and treat conditions that may benefit from hyperbaric oxygen therapy , such as the current condition of terri schiavo . 
3 . 
a copy of my 20-page curriculum vitae is attached to this declaration . 
4 . 
in may of 2002 , i previously evaluated terri schiavo . 
i reviewed supplied medical records , personally observed and evaluated ms. schiavo on two separate days at the request of attorney pat anderson , who was involved in the case at that time . 
5 . 
when i evaluated ms. schiavo i observed that she was able to swallow at that time . 
she swallowed her saliva . 
she did n't drool her saliva like a patient would if they could not swallow . 
6 . 
based on my observation that ms. schiavo can swallow , i believe that she deserves the opportunity to see if she could sustain her life by swallowing food and water . 
i recommend that she receive further swallowing testing , and the right to sustain her life by eating and drinking on her own . 
7 . 
during my personal observation of ms. schiavo , i saw her respond to music and to her family by grimacing , moving and smiling , and turning her head . 
she could not move her body very much at that time , because of stiff joints , but she turned her head toward her family and looked at them . 
she would follow balloons around the room to a great degree . 
these behaviors , in my opinion , are not consistent with a persistent vegetative state ( pvs ) , but are those of minimally conscious state ( mcs ) . 
8 . 
there have been medical advances in the evaluation and treatment of patients like ms. schiavo even in just the past several years and since the last time that i examined her . 
for example , these advances include further documentation of the neurological response to hbot and now the developing field of hypoxia imagining . 
having just a normal mri or cat scan is not enough for a patient like ms. schiavo . 
i would recommend ms. schiavo have a spect brain scan before and after hbot . 
there is a data demonstrating an improved spect brain scan after one or a few hbot sessions can provide a significant correlation as to response from a full course of hbot . 
we can then determine if there is improvement in the pattern of her brain , and predict if additional hyperbaric 9 . 
when i observed ms. schiavo , i noted that she did not interact with me , but she did interact with her mother and father . 
she does not respond to other strangers . 
she does respond to people she knows and this is not something a person in a pvs state would be able to do . 
i base this opinion on my 30 years of practice in radiation therapy , and as medical director for a hospice program , where i have dealt with many patients who are in a pvs state . 
10 . 
in my opinion terri schiavo is mcs , because if she was pvs , she would not respond to the stimuli around her , including the music . 
in my opinion , she is in a vegetative state . 
11 . 
without out a doubt , terri does respond and she does swallow her own saliva . 
if she can do that , then , in my opinion , she can swallow liquids . 
i declare under the penalty or perjury under the laws of the state of florida that the foregoing is true and correct . 
executed this 6 day of march 2005 , in odessa , florida . 
wiliam maxfield , m.d. , pacnm , 