crats want to tax the energy consumption. use the tax to pay for the national health care program. in fact duke energy has already asked for a $13.5% rate increase on its customers to pay for the tax. taxes on american energy companies will be passed on to the rest of us and so it begins. families and businesses are already struggling during these new times of change. the stimulus bill has only made things worse. so the government is going to automatically raise the cost ever everything that comes from energy, which is almost everything, and the consumer pays. while our small manufacturing companies go out of business because of these new energy taxes. and now we learn the new energy tax plan which was supposed to save planet earth will have little or no effect on the climate. bummer. so why punish american energy companies that pass the pain on to citizens? here's the reason. the government economic philosophy of 2009 is, if something moves, regulate it. if it keeps moving, tax it.

and if it stops moving, nationalize it. that's just the way it is. . the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from texas rise? ms. jackson lee: address the house for five minutes, revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized. ms. jackson lee: i thank the gentlelady very much, speaker. i rise today to continue to bring attention to ms.ling and ms. lee for being held today by north korea. and i realize that we have had over the years six party talks and that engagement is important. i am not advocating war, i am advocating a resolution to the holding of two innocent americans, one a mother, both renowned journalists, both loved by their family members. i believe it is important for north korea to be part of the

world community and imagine the concerns that would be expressed by anyone holding a north korean. i look forward to working as a member of the foreign affairs committee with the administration for the best approach and ongoing and continuing discussion, discussing the nuclear nonproliferation along with the release of these two hostages but we must make a statement and act to have the release of ms. ling and ms. lee and we must do it now. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? >> address the house for one minute, revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognize the. >> thank you. centrists in the house have put forward a bill that defends your relationship with your doctor and extends coverage. the a better bill than the senate bill which has $1 trillion in cost. c.b.o. says that bill will cover

31 million americans but another 15 million will lose coverage under the legislation. giving a net of just 16 million americans getting coverage. at a cost of $1 trillion, that means it costs $62,500 per patient over 10 years. our centrist plan covers more people at much less cost while finally guaranteeing the rights of your medical treatment against any government restriction. this house is suffering from trillion-dollar sticker shock from the senate bill. our centrist health care reform bill is more responsible and will not break the treasury. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from pennsylvania rise? >> permission to speak to the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. >> madam speaker, i rise today to announce the introduction of my first piece of legislation,

the young adult health care coverage act of 2009. or as i like to call it, the young invincibles bill. i am the mother of five young invincibles. and this legislation addresses what is known as -- what will cover adults ages 19 to 29. this bipartisan, no-cost bill provides these young adults with the option to access their parent' health insurance. this is important because young adults have the highest uninsured rate of any group in the country at 31%. the result is extreme measures such as borrowing leftover prescription drugs from a friend, setting their own broken bones or trips to the emergency room that cost the american taxpayer millions. 30 states have already enacted similar legislation. this bill will create a nationwide uniform standard. i thank congressman lance and others who are co-sponsoring this bill and i ask my colleagues to join us and i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky rise? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. >> madam speaker, by 2035, the heritage foundation estimates that chairman waxman's legislation will cause a 90% increase in electricity rates and a 55% rise in residential natural gas prices. experts predict this will result in substantial numbers of united states jobs going to countries like china and india that have not adopted a national it energy tax. at a time when national unemployment rate is soaring, approaching 10% in the next several months and the kentucky unemployment rate is getting dangerously high, we can't afford to enact this lenslation -- legislation to create additional hardships. energy prices are a major factor in determining the cost of living and the cost of doing business in a particular location. in fact, kentucky is one of the lowest energy cost states in the nation, depends on this from electricity produced from coal. i recently met with leaders who

reiterated that the cost of energy in the commonwealth is a reason they chose to base their businesses in the county. this energy tax will drive those businesses away or out of business, losing american jobs because it's not considering a long-term economic impact, let alone the lack of environmental veracity. the a positive story we hear throughout our commonwealth is low energy creates jobs and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana rise? mr. burton: i ask unanimous concept to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. burton: madam speaker, the national health care program as advertised by the administration, they estimate it will cost $1 trillion just to insure 1/3 of the uninsured in this country. so it will cost $3 trillion if you add all those people to the health care rolls. money that we just don't have. and the thing that really bothers me is abc news over the next week is going to be advertising a two-hour

infomercial that's going to take place by the president, the white house, in the next week. and they're doing this at the white house. abc is actually moving into the white house to advertise this for the president. you know, the president's on television every single day and the pretty obvious that cbs, nbc and cnn are all very supportive of the president. they're advocating everything he's talking about. but abc is going overboard. they're absolutely flipping by going to the white house and supporting and advertising for the president's program. you know, i think this is just dead wrong. it's ok to be supportive of the president, but i don't think abc should become obama news. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? >> address the house, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to congratulate the international

paper mill in georgetown, south carolina, for recently reaching a safety milestone of logging four million safe work hours without any employees missing work due to injured sustained on the job. not an easy task. with nearly 700 employees working at the paper mill daily, it is obvious that the team in georgetown has been working hard to develop new waze to -- ways to proactively prevent accidents. our goal is to leave work every day in the same or better conditions we arrived for ourselves and our families said the mill manager. recently employees implemented a new safety process focusing on people acting, caring and thinking safely. they see this as a great way to focus on safety but also realize there's no single action that can create another safe environment and everyone must work together to achieve this goal. congratulations to the georgetown mill team. i speak for myself and everyone in the first district when i say

we are proud of you and encourage the team to keep working towards those safety milestones and thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana rise? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. pence: for the fifth day in a row, hundreds of thousands of iranian citizens have taken to the streets on behalf of free elections and democracy. sadly, the response by the iranian government has been more oppression. violence again its own people, deaths confirmed, hundreds of citizens beaten and foreign journalists intimidated and banned from the streets. we are witnessing aity en-- tiananmen in tehran. while i respect the fact that the president of the united states has denounced the violence, that he has said that the protesters had a right to be, quote, heard and respected, this administration has not yet expressed the unqualified

support of the american people for those who are courageously taking to the streets on behalf of self-government and free elections in iran. yesterday i introduced house resolution 549, a resolution that would give voice to countless americans who want our nation to support the disdense -- dissidents in iran who are struggling for their own freedom. the american cause is freedom and in this cause, america must never be silent. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? >> address the house for one minute, revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. >> good afternoon. the late senator daniel moin han published a paper on defining deeve yensy down in which society lowers its standards, where by unacceptable conduct becomes acceptable. i recently heard from a number of my constituents about an abusive attack on governor sara

palin's 14-year-old daughter. governor palin and her 14-year-old daughter had attended a yankee game and david letterman did a totally inappropriate joke about them. last year david shuster made an inappropriate comment about chelsea clinton. the president of nbc apologized and suspended shuster from the network. the palin family received a belated apology a week later. i hope the host realizes that children should not be the targets of sexually charged jokes or do we allow the unacceptable to become the acceptable? i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> request to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. >> madam speaker, i rise today to protect the doctor-patient relationship.

president obama and many congressional democrats have been pushing for government-run health care. looking at the results of government-run plans across the world, it's a mistake we simply cannot afford. government-run health care will be bad for doctors, bad for patients and bad for the taxpayers. that's why i introduced legislation to ensure that washington bureaucrats do not use comparative effectiveness research to make health care decisions for you based on costs. the doctor-patient relationship and research act focuses on the two most important people in the health care system, the patient and their doctor. i urge my colleagues to join me in protecting americans from government-run health care. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to

address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. >> last week congressional democratics unveiled several sweeping overhauls of american health care. each of their plans includes a government-run bureaucracy that would put red tape between patient and their doctors. i saw this first-hand as a doctor when patients with government-run medicaid coverage often after heart surgery had difficulties finding doctors for follow-up care. a failure to get follow-up care after heart surgery is a great way to guarantee a poor quality result for patients and higher costs for taxpayers. far too often patients in our current government-run programs lack real access to a doctor, leaving them out of the system. today house republicans put forward a commonsense plan to revitalize the american health care system and improve combault -- quality. our plan puts patients and their doctors back in control of their health care destiny. our plan makes health care for

affordable and more accessible with patients able to see a doctor of their choice. we all agree improve our system will make america more competitive and give families peace of mind. let's work together to put the doctor and patient back in control. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. >> thank you. madam speaker, last week the u.s. department of the treasury announced the repayment of tarp funds from 10 banks, totaling $6 .3 billion returned to the partnership program. the tarp repayment news is a promising sign that our beleaguered financial system is beginning to stabilize and taxpayer funds are being returned. while many of my colleagues and i have called for these repayments to be applied to help pay down the national debt, treasury secretary geithner has

indicated that the return funds would free up resources for future bailout loans. i respectfully disagree with the secretary's position that these monies should be reused in the future. the repay taxpayer funds should only be used to pay down the ever growing national debt. i call on congress to pass h.r. 2119, legislation i am co-sponsoring, that would require the treasury to apply returned tarp funds to debt reduction itcht yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? the gentleman is recognized. . upon earning a doctor of business administration from nova southeastern university in south florida. as part of the program, dr. ochoa completed a grueling program in difficult disciplines. although greatly respected for his career in the banking industry, he has continued to

deepen his knowledge of business and the banking industry. his admirable pursuit of excellence in his field will be of great assistance to our south florida community. on saturday, dr. ochoa will graduate from nova southeastern having been grant the his doctorate. it is my privilege and honor to congratulate you on this great achievement. i know that your dedication to excellence will continue to serve our community well. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the distinguished gentlelady from new york rise? ms. slaughter: madam speaker, by direction of the committee on rules i call up house resolution 552 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 74, house resolution 552. resolved, that during further consideration of the bill, h.r. 2847, making appropriations for departments of commerce and justice and science and related agencies, for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2010, and

for other purposes. no further general debate shall be in order. notwithstanding clause 11 of rule 18, and house resolution 544, and except as provided in section 2, no further amendment shall be in order except one, amendments numbered 3, 6, 19, 22, 25, 31, 35, 41, 59, 60, 62, 63, 69, 71, 93, 96, 97, 98, 100, 102, 111, 114 and 118 printed in the congressional record of june 15, 2009, pursuant to clause 8 of rule 18, which may be offered only by the member who submitted it for printing or a designee. and two, not to exceed 10 of the following amendments if offered by the ranking minority member of the committee on appropriations or his designee.

amendments numbered 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 104, 105, 106, 107, and 108 printed in the congressional record of june 15, 2009 pursuant to clause 8 of rule 18. each amendment listed in this section shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for 10 minutes equally divided and controlled by the proponent an an opponent. and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the house or in the committee of the whole. all points of order against such amendments are waived except those -- except that an amendment may be offered only at the appropriate point in the reading. at the conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendment, the committee shall rise and report the bill to the

house with such amendments as may have been adopted. the previous question shall be in considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or without instructions. section 2, the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on appropriations or their designees each may offer one pro forma amendment to the bill for the purpose of debate. such amendment may be repeated but only after consideration of an amendment listed in the first section of this resolution. section 3, the chair may entertain aotion that the committee rise only if offered by the chair of the committee on appropriations or his designee. the chair may not entertain a motion to strike out the acting words of the bill as described in clause 9 of rule 18. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york is recognized for one hour. ms. slaughter: thank you, madam speaker. for the purpose of debate only i yield the customary 30 minutes

to my friend from florida, mr. diaz-balart. all time yielded during consideration of the rule is for debate only. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i also ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on house resolution 552. madam speaker h.res. 552 provides for further consideration of h.r. 2847, the commerce, justice, and state appropriations bill for f.y. 2010 under a structured rule. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentlelady is recognized. ms. slaughter: madam speaker, i know it's safe to say this has been a memorable appropriations process. for both sides. we are only getting started on this bumpy ride. appropriation bills often generate very emotional responses on all sides and this year is no different. the process is time consuming and stressful and my colleagues

on rules know that we were not meeting well after 1:00 a.m. this morning simply because we like each other's company. the rule we rise to consider today came about as a result of concern from the appropriations committee that we were unlikely to get an agreement from the minority for set and reasonable schedule -- to consider these spending bills. without such an agreement there was a very real fear on our side that the process could have degenerate food a drawn out battle jeopardizing our party's commitment to getting each of the 12 appropriations bills completed on time this year. at all costs our party wanted to avoid a repeat of the disastrous two-month stalemate that shut down the government in 1995 and 1996. and while it's sometimes tempting for the party and minority to clowblow up the process, as leaders in the house we are determined to legislate in a way that seeks common ground and makes everybody

proud. moreover, we have in recent years detected a trend where more and more amendments are given to us each year on appropriations bills. often for no other reason than political gamesmanship or stunts. there is not a single amendment to this bill in fiscal year 2003, but this year we had 127 amendments filed on the bill as of the tuesday deadline. that suggested to us we were in for what potentially could have been a repetitive change of dill tearous and ill considered amendments none of of which would have allowed us of getting closer to our goal of getting these bills completed and signed into law by the president. what became clear this week the minority was not ready to agree to a clear and firm schedule for the finishing the work on appropriations bills, we decided we had no alternative but to go ahead with a clear and concise plan. our proposal sets out a best balancing act between doing the

people's business and still giving both parties ample opportunity to shape the bills with amendments and discussion. under the schedule we will setaside a structured rule that provides for no additional amendments other than the ones previously agreed to by the rules committee. each of those amendments shall be debatable for 10 minutes. i firmly believe that given the refusal of the minority to agree to a schedule for getting the work done, that this represents a workable compromise that will allow us to vote on the appropriations bills in a timely and efficient way. more importantly, it allows us to move each of these appropriations bills in the next six weeks while at the same time making progress on other crucial legislation facing congress such as health care, climate change, and supporting our troops. i hope my colleagues on both sides will join me this morning in supporting this rule. i reserve the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida. mr. diaz-balart: thank you, madam speaker. i'd like to thank my friend the distinguished gentlewoman from new york, ms. slaughter, for the time. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. diaz-balart: madam speaker, i sincerely believe the majority will come to regret this decision to close down the deliberative process of the house on appropriations bills. yesterday the house passed, already an unorthodox rule, that probing with precedent, it was restrictive. and pursuant to that rule, 127 amendments were filed, by members of this house. after debate on the first republican amendment, the first one, the majority decided to

halt consideration of the legislation and called an emergency meeting of the rules committee. which began at 10:45 p.m. last night. in response to that first republican amendment, the majority is now bringing forth this rule that will block consideration of most of the amendments that were made in order under the previous rule. proposed by the majority and passed by this house. so all those members who followed the rule previously passed and filed their amendments by the deadline will be left without the chance to represent the interests of their constituents. i think this rule is unjust. i think it's unnecessary. i think the majority's making a

big mistake. during yesterday's late night meeting, the distinguished chairman of the appropriations committee cited the large number of amendments that were preprinted pursuant to the previous rule as a reason for shutting down the appropriations process. he went on to cite what he considered his obligation to move the appropriations bills on schedule. as a matter of fact he was kind enough to hand out to the members of the rules committee this copy of proposed schedule. i understand his concern. but the reason precisely for the high number of amendments that were filed yesterday was because the majority had abandoned the use of the traditional open

appropriations rule and they had required members to preprint their amendments. that forced members to submit all of the amendments that they conceivably thought they might wish to introduce, to consider, even if they eventually did not plan to offer them. under the previous rule members were also barred from making germane amendments to their amendments, changes to their amendments so members submitted duplicative amendments to cover all possible angles. members have an obligation to their constituents to represent them on appropriations bills and to represent the interest of their communities.

yes, even though 120 amendments were set for debate, the reality , mam speaker, is that we never would have considered all those amendments. members were hedging their bets. they were submitting duplicative amendments that in most instances they didn't plan to actually offer for debate. mr. burton, for example came before the rules committee last night, we were there till almost 2:00 in the morning and he testified he submitted a number of amendments, but he only was going to have -- ask for one of the amendments to be debated. so i ask, madam speaker, if the majority really believed that the minority was using dilatory tactics, why did they stop debate after the first minority amendment?

and call for an emergency rules meeting. they should have followed the advice of my colleague on the rules committee, mr. perlmutter, and allowed debate to continue last night and proceeded to work through the amendments. instead after one minority amendment, they halted the floor process so that the rules committee could meet late last night. by the time the meeting was over at almost 2:00 a.m., the house could have actually considered already a number of the amendments and most likely could have agreed by unanimous consent, which is the tradition on appropriations bills, to limit time on remaining amendments and the debate time. if after debating for a reasonable amount of time the majority sincerely came then to the