mr. chairman , i rise in support of h.r. 1268 .  i would like to thank the committee leadership for their efforts to provide our men and women in uniform with the equipment that they need to succeed .  as a member of the house armed services committee , i have worked with my colleagues to provide much-needed force protection equipment to our troops .  h.r. 1268 includes $ 75 million for body armor , $ 51 million for up-armored humvees , and $ 611 million for add-on armor kits for vehicles .  having visited our wounded soldiers at walter reed army medical center , i know that we can prevent further injuries by funding this important equipment , and i appreciate the committee 's efforts in this area .  furthermore , the bill raises the military death gratuity from $ 12 , 000 to $ 100 , 000 and increases subsidized life insurance benefits from $ 250 , 000 to $ 400 , 000 for families of service members who died or were killed on active duty , retroactive to october 7 , 2001 .  as a cosponsor of legislation to increase the military death gratuity , i believe we must appropriately honor those that have made the ultimate sacrifice , and these benefit increases are one small gesture that congress can make to demonstrate our respect .  this legislation also demonstrates our nation 's commitment to aiding those in dire need throughout the world .  h.r. 1268 includes $ 656 million for disaster relief to the victims of the tsunami as well as essential peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance to darfur .  however , i was deeply disappointed that the house leadership used a procedural move to attach the language of the real id act , which i opposed when the house considered it in february .  the real id act would significantly alter our nation 's asylum and immigration laws in the name of homeland security , though its provisions went far beyond the recommendations of the 9/11 commission .  the senate has already registered some opposition to the real id provisions , and i fear that their inclusion in the house 's supplemental bill will slow down the process and prevent us from sending assistance to those who need it most .  our primary responsibility should be to assist our men and women in uniform and to fulfill our promises to the nations that were devastated in the december tsunami .  i urge my colleagues to move swiftly to pass this measure and to drop any extraneous provisions that would hinder this important funding .  