mr. speaker , as one of 203 democrat and republican members of congress who voted in favor of s. 686 , a private bill for the relief of the parents of theresa marie schiavo , i am pleased that president bush signed this important piece of legislation that may result in the reinsertion of ms. schiavo 's feeding tube .  the bill empowers a federal court to examine the terri schiavo case .  as i listened to my colleagues debating this issue on the house floor last night , i heard many emotional statements from members on both sides of the aisle in support of and opposed to what this bill stands for .  this is not about democrats or republicans , it is simply about protecting the rights of disabled individuals .  unfortunately , after many years of dispute between ms. schiavo 's husband and parents , a florida state court ordered the removal of her feeding tubes and subsequent fate of death by starvation and dehydration .  due to the urgency of ms. schaivo 's case , this bill was limited in considering just her life .  however , there are many more people out there who also need help like this and i firmly believe that before we extinguish any life , we should allow that individual all legal and constitutional protections , so they can leave this world with dignity .  i feel so strongly about this that i was an original cosponsor of congressman dave weldon 's recently introduced bill , h.r. 1151 , that would have given legal representation to all incapacitated persons who are without written documentation as to their wishes and whose family is involved in a dispute as to the person 's wishes .  s. 686 , which we passed early this morning , allows ms. schiavo 's parents to bring the case before the federal court in florida and they would be able to hear all evidence without being prejudiced by any of the information from the florida state case that led to the feeding tubes being removed .  the bill also directs the federal courts to rule on whether removing ms. schiavo 's feeding tubes is a violation of her civil rights granted to her both by the constitution and federal laws .  i believe this bill is the right thing to do and i believe we should protect human life from its inception to a person 's last breath .  