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 )  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 , 