secretaries of state and have had fruitful strategic dialogue. today, i'm very happy i can work together with the vice premier, secretary clinton and tim diner for the benefit of china-u.s. relations. i am extremely honored i can work together with the secretary to co-chair the china-u.s. strategic dialogue with in the framework and we must live up to the expectations and fill our mission to make this good beginning of the dialogue. ladies and jon, difference, i think we are now taking part in building the history of two countries with culture, ideology, and working together to tackle challenges of the 21st century and we're now taking

part of building the history of a new type of relations between countries featuring need to respect, harmonious coexistence and a " last 21st century. .

ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. thank you. good morning. it is a great honor to welcome

you to the first meeting of the strategic economic dialogue between the united states and china. this is an essential step in creating a construction -- constructive debate between our country. the president and i both fell that it was important to get our relationship off to a good start. as a president and a basketball fan, i have learned from the words of --, who said no matter if you are a new or old team member, you need time to adjust to one another. for the constructive meetings that we have already had entered this dialogue i am confident that we will meet the standards.

i want to acknowledge a remarkable americans and chinese leaders who will co-chair this effort. hillary clinton and tim geithner are two of my advisers. i note that they will have capable and committed chinese parts. i am also looking forward to the confirmation of an outstanding u.s. ambassador to china. john has deep experience living and working in asia, and he speaks fluent mandarin and chinese. he also happens to be a republican, who cochaired senator mccain's campaign.

he is committed to serving his country. thank you, john, for your willingness to serve. today we meet in a building that houses a national memorial to president woodrow wilson, a man who held office when the 20th century was young and america's leadership in the world was emerging. it is named for ronald reagan. a man who came of age during two world wars and whose presence he helped to usher in a new era of history. it holds a piece of the berlin wall, a symbol of division that was finally torn down, unleashing a rising tide of globalization that continues to shape our world. 100 years ago, since the early days of the 20th-century it was clear that there were choices to be made.

choices about the rights of human beings. in woodrow wilson's day no one could have foreseen the ark of history to the wall coming down in berlin or imagine the conflict and upheaval that characterized the years in between. for people everywhere, boston to beijing, the 20th-century was a time of great progress. that progress also came with a great price. today, we look out on the horizon of a new century. as we launch this dialogue it is important for us to reflect about the questions that will check. -- shake the 21st century. like events that will -- like the economic crisis, listing more people out of poverty and creating better prosperity throughout the world. will the need for energy free competition and climate change,

build partnerships to build cleaned power to protect our planet? will nuclear weapons spread unchecked, or will we forge a new consensus to use his power for only. -- peaceful purposes? will we unite on behalf of our shared security? will nations and people define themselves solely by their differences or can we find common ground necessary to meet our common challenges and respect the dignity of every human being? we cannot predict with certainty what the future will bring. we can be certain about the issues that will define our time. we also know that the relationship between the u.s. and china will shape the 21st century, which makes this as important as any bilateral relationship been the world. that must underpin our

relationship. as we look to the future, we can learn from our past. history shows us that both of our nation should -- nations benefit from our relationship. we will mark the 40th anniversary of president nixon's trip to china. at that time, the world was much different than it was today. america fought three wars in east asia in just 30 years. the cold where was -- the cold war was in a stalemate. china was cut off from the world. and a huge percentage of chinese people live in poverty. back then our dialogue was guided by a narrow focus on our shared rivalry with the soviet union. today we have a comprehensive relationship with deep ties among our people. our people interact in so many

ways. i believe that we are poised to make steady progress on some of the most important issues of our time. my confidence is rooted in the fact that the united states and china share mutual interests. we advanced those interests through cooperation, our people will benefit and the world will be better off. our ability to partner is a prerequisite for progress on many of the pressing global challenges. we can cooperate to advance our mutual interests and a lasting economic recovery. the current crisis hadn't has made it clear that the choices made within our borders reverberate across the global economy. this is true in new york and shanghai as well. that is why we must remain committed to strong bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

that is the example we have set, to prevent a deeper recession and to save jobs for our people. going forward we can deepen this cooperation. we can promote financial stability through regulatory reform. we can pursue trade that is free and fair. growing economies like china play a greater role that matches their greater responsibility. as americans save more, the chinese are able to spend more, we can put growth on a more sustainable foundation. just as china has benefited from investment and profitable exports, china can also be -- for american goods. we can cooperate to advance our mutual interest in a clean, secure, and prosperous energy

future. the united states and china are the two largest consumers of energy in the world. we are also the two largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world. let's be frank. but neither of us profits from a growing dependence on foreign oil nor can we spare our people from the ravages of climate change unless we cooperate. common-sense falls upon us to act in concert. both of our countries are taking steps to transform our energy economy. together we can chart a low carbon recovery. we can expand joint efforts in research and development, promote the clean and efficient use of energy. we can work together from copenhagen and beyond. the best way to foster innovation that can increase our security and prosperity is to keep our markets open to new ideas, new exchanges and new

sources of energy. third, we can cooperate to advance our mutual interest in stopping the spread of nuclear weapons. make no mistake, the more nations acquire these weapons, the more likely it is that they will be used. neither america nor china has an interest in a nuclear arms race breaking out in east asia. that is why we must continue our collaboration to achieve the denote cloris addition of north korea -- denuclearization of north korea. we must also be united in preventing iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. this is not about singling out any one nation. this is about the responsibility of all nations. together we must cooperate to

secure all vulnerable nuclear materials around the world, which will be a focus of our global nuclear summer -- summit next year. we must renew its basic tenet, countries without nuclear weapons will not acquire them and all countries can access peaceful nuclear energy. the balance of terror cannot hold. the 21st century is strong and global regimes, we can cooperate to advance our mutual interest from transnational dress. the most pressing dangers we face no longer come from competition, they come from extremists who would murder of innocents construct from traffickers and pirates come from diseases and from

suffering and civil wars that breed in stability and terror. these are the threats of the 21st century. that is why the person of power must no longer be seen as a zero sum game. progress including security must be shared. to increase ties between our military's we can diminish disputes while providing a framework for cooperation. through continued intelligence sharing we can disrupt terrorists plots and networks. through early warning incoordination we can check the spread of disease and true determined diplomacy we must meet the peaceful resolution of conflict. we must end the suffering in darfur. all of these issues are rooted in the fact that no one nation can meet the challenges of the

21st century on its own or advance its interest in isolation. it is this fundamental truth that compels us to cooperate. i have no illusions that the united states and china will agree on every issue. or choose to see the world in the same way. this was are denoted by our previous speaker. that only makes the dialogue more important. so we can know each other better and communicate our concerns with kantor. the united states respects the progress of china has made by lifting hundreds of millions of people out of part -- poverty. just as we respect china's ancient and remarkable culture, remarkable achievements. we also believe that religion and culture of all people must be respected and protected, that all people should be free to speak their mind and that includes ethnic and religious minorities in china, as surely that is inclusive minorities

within the united states. human rights and dignity is ingrained in america. our nation is made up of immigrants from all around the world. we extend basic human rights to all of our people. those include freedom to speak your mind, to worship your god. this is who we are. china has its own distinct stories that shapes its own world view. americans know the richness of china's history because it helped to shape the world and americans. we know the talents of the chinese people. my own cabinet contains to chinese americans. despite our different -- differences, america wishes for

deeper ties, ties that can be forged through exchanges with our people and constructive bilateral negotiations. that is how we will narrow our divisions. let us be honest. we know that some are wary of the future. some in china think that america will try to contain china's ambitions. some in america think there's something to fear in china. i take a different view. i believe the president of china takes a different you as well. i believe in the future where china is a strong, prosperous, successful member of the community of nations. a future when our nations are partnered out of necessity, and also of opportunity. the future is not set, but a destination that can be reached.

thousands of years ago, a great philosopher mentioned, a trail to the mountain issues to become the path, but if and use it becomes blocked by grass in a short time. our task is to forge a path to the future that we seek for our children, prevent mistrust for the inevitable -- the inevitable differences and to prevent the trail to be blocked by grass. we are always mindful by the jury that we have undertaken. this dialogue will help determine the ultimate destination of that journey. i look forward to carrying this for to my first visit to china, where i hope to know better leaders, your people.

i am confident that we can move steadily in the direction of progress, to a future that we will all share. thank you very much. [applause] president obama, earlier this morning. robert gates is reported to be overseas in the middle east, saying the u.s. will seek much tougher united nations sanctions on iran. the united states and several nations want iran to come clean about the bomb making program.

the house comes in and about 10 minutes. coverage will be right here on c-span. earlier this morning we spoke with the state department acting inspector general, talking about the cost of building and operating the u.s. embassy in iraq. we will show you as much as we can until the house comes in. your office just released a report on the embassy in baghdad. we have laid it on our website. what does this report recommend? the main thing a recommends is times will change. the embassy has to change as we

it was a huge presence during the war. in fact, it is interesting when you think about it. typically, as our report says, an embassy would have been evacuated in the kind of situation that this embassy was created. now that iraq is becoming a more normal country, our embassy will have to be a normal embassy. which means ultimately slimming down quite a lot. host: to give our viewers some reference here, and look at "the washington post" last thursday. to give them an idea of what the size of the building is -- there are 21 structures at the embassy. two office buildings, one will become a school leader. a recreation building with a gym, barber, and food court. the cost was $592 million to build the facility in the green

zone. it is designed to be entirely self-sufficient, located on 104 acres. a look here at the politics and nations section of the washington post, what part of that facility looks like. how is the embassy -- or what i should ask is, is the embassy's size a concern given the change and role of the u.s. in iraq? guest: well, of course is, bill. although, i will tell you something interesting. as the latest "washington post" story and the mcclatchy newspapers story points out, the living facilities or build for about 600 employees. -- the living facilities were built for about 600 employees. when our inspectors went out to do the inspection in february, they were housed four to one

bedroom and one bathroom, except for the two teen leaders, and they had the privilege of being housed -- except for the two team leaders, and had the privilege of being house with each other. these are esteemed ambassadors. the embassy is totally over tax at the moment, but we think it will ultimately be about the right size. host: the mcclatchy news and "the kansas city star" reporting about downsizing the embassy, ending the reconstruction teams by 2011, which have been the prime u.s. tool for rebuilding civilian life in iraq's provinces. have they outlived their usefulness? guest: we hope they are beginning to outlive their usefulness as iraq returns to normal. i would expect that some of the

prt's will become consulates. host: do you have any of the concerns over the safety inside the green zone, that greens and created in the wake of the invasion in 2003 -- that green zone created in the wake of the invasion in 2003? guest: yes, we have great concern. much of the money spent during our presence in iraq goes to providing security. i am very pleased with what the department of state has done because no one has been hurt, let alone killed. no one under chief of mission authority has been hurt or killed in many years. host: let's get some calls for harry geisel on the u.s. embassy in baghdad. william on our independent line, hi. william, make sure to turn down your television, or radio, and

go on with your comments. caller: i am wondering about -- in reading the news about iraq, how long are we going to be over there? host: harry geisel, were you able to hear that? guest: i only got pieces. host: your understanding is probably better than mine, and we just will move on. i want to bring to your attention in "usa today," "u.s. pulls six of $44 million iraq jobs program. "in a loan @@@@@@@ @

this was the first embassy wide session that we have had since the war.

we have had many special inspections, investigations and audits, more than i can count. this was the first, taking up photo at 5,000 ft. where we try to look at the overall foreign policy, how well it is being administered and the embassy itself. we are talking about the embassy in baghdad. >> this embassy was a boondoggle to begin with. i think it is the biggest in the world. like the last guest said, but obama is taking bush policies

expanding the war. even when he was in russia, why didn't obama go to afghanistan to visit the troops? he is just another george bush and i voted for him. >> is it the biggest in the world? >> it is biggest in the world. both in size and its people. i hope that will not always be the case. that will be a tribute to the success of our work. >> you all -- u.s. facilities on the ground. what will become of those facilities? how will they be used? >> i mentioned earlier right now, there are twice as many employees in that place is there should be. i think it will be quite a few years.

>> here is rachel in palm beach, florida. >> thank you very much for taking my call. i would like to know who built that? was it a note bid contract, halliburton? they got their money, right? >> i don't remember if it was no bid or not, but speaking as inspector general, we have had a lot of problems with that building, many of which had nothing to do with how it was administered. we ended up doing an outstanding job of correcting -- correcting the problems. >> was the company based of

kuwait? >> i believe they have an amerin subsidiary. ican subsidiary, but this was a huge contract. there were a significant errors that went into the building in which -- and which had to be corrected. i am speaking of life and safety issues, and they were corrected. we have an audit that is just under way now on other issues regarding how well the embassy was constructed, what we got from our money or did not get from our money or did not get from our money. we will break away from the washington journal. the u.s. house is about to meet for morning hours. 16 bills are scheduled today. bills dealing with veterans benefits, flood insurance and

housing. the senate is also meeting today to work on energy department spending for the new year. you can see senate coverage on c-span2. live coverage starts right now. we will take you to the floor of the house. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's room, washington, d.c., july 27, 2009. i hereby appoint the honorable donna f. edwards to act as speaker pro tempore on this day . signed, nancy pelosi, speaker of the house of

representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 6, 2009, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour debate. the chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to 30 minutes and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and the minority whip limited to five minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentlewoman from north carolina, ms. foxx, for five minutes. ms. foxx: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, president obama recently held a televised press conference to discuss health care reform. as republican leader john boehner noted last week, several of president obama's points may not accurately reflect the health care legislation before the house. the president said that the government will stay out of health care decisions, but that isn't how the legislation is shaping up.

a simple amendment to the legislation that would have guaranteed that no bureaucrat will make any decisions or interfere with any decision between a doctor and a patient was rejected by the democrats in control of the energy and commerce committee. that doesn't bode well for government staying out of health care decisions. president obama also said that the plan will not add to the government's deficit. of course, we all know that the congressional budget office has been throwing water on that idea for weeks. they've already estimated that the current plan will add $239 billion to our deficit over the next 10 years, and that deficit number is based on a provision in the plan that starts collecting taxes before the health care component kicks in. essentially offering -- offsetting a significant deficit with taxes collected before the bill starts arriving. that means after 10 years we'll have a new structural deficit as the costs of this plan outstrips the punitive taxes on

small businesses. but what really current kerns me about this plan is washington's history of underestimating costs of expensive plans like this. if you look at this chart, based on research from congress' joint economics committee, you'll notice over the years the cost of health care programs were extremely unreliable. for instance, when congress was considering medicare part a, the hospital insurance component, congress estimated it would cost $9 billion by 1990. actual cost in 1990, $67 billion. seven times more than congress estimated. and the 1967 estimate for the entire medicare problem in 1990 was $12 billion. actual cost, $111 billion, almost 10 times the original estimate. later in 1987, congress estimated that medicaid's disproportionate share of hospital payments to states would cost less than $1 billion

in 1992. five years later, the results were in. $17 billion, which is an incomprehensible 17-fold increase over the estimate just five years earlier. you get the idea. government programs have a tendency to take on a life of their own and cost taxpayers way more than was originally estimated or envisioned. while i'm willing to allow for some margin of error in estimated costs, they are estimates, after all. what concerns me is today we are starting out with estimates for huge deficits with this health care plan. at the same time we're paying for it out of the pockets of america's job creators, small businesses. if the current proposal becomes law, are we going to be coming back to these small businesses with another tax increase in five or 10 years? we need health care reform that puts patients first and that won't destroy the small businesses that are a pillar of our economy.

republicans have a better solution that won't put the government in charge of people's health care that will make sure that we bring down the cost of health care for all americans and ensure affordable access for all americans. we should be considering the republican plan and not this job destroying democrat plan. an with that i -- and with that i yield back, madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields, the chair recognizes the gentleman from oregon, mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, madam speaker. we in congress and the new administration have been given a gift of serving in a time of opportunity to solve some of the long festering problems with american health care system. one opportunity to achieve true reform is to provide greater value to patients when they are most vulnerable, when loved ones are facing the last few weeks of life. today, these patients have a

wide variety of treatment options available. we can test them, hook them up to machines, poke them with needles, perform all sorts of heroic measures. and where appropriate we can accomplish amazing results with virtually no cost to older citizens. yet, when it comes time to help people understand what their choices are, to have their questions answered, to be able to shape treatment for what their values and interests might be, we fail them utterly. house bill 3200, health care reform, does have a simple solution to empower people and their families. yet, this carefully crafted provision has been attacked by some opponents of reform.

for example, betsy mccauley, in "the wall street journal" claimed wildly that somehow this would be mandatory, that this would be done by an assigned physician, the threat of coercing senior citizens. a simple reading of the provision shows that that's simply not the case. like all other medicare provisions, it would be voluntary, it would be by the physician of one's choice, and there's nothing mandatory about it. it has led the american association of retired people to issue a statement about this opinion piece in "the wall street journal." ms. mccauley's criticism misinterprets legislation that would actually help empower individuals and doctors to make their own choices on end of life care. this measure would not only help people make the best decisions for themselves but also ensure that their wishes

are followed. to suggest otherwise is a gross, even cruel distortion, especially for any family that has been forced to make the difficult decisions on care for loved ones approaching the end of their lives. the aarp makes clear, quote, we will fight any measure that will prevent individuals and doctors from making their own health care decisions. but we will also fight campaigns of misinformation that vested interests are using to try to scare older americans in order to protect the status quo. profits should never be allowed to come before people in this debate. and sadly, it's not just right-wing pundits are involved. i would hope that my friends in the republican leadership -- and the republican leadership would reconsider their ill-advised attempt to equate this bipartisan effort to

empower families with a slippery slope on pressuring seniors or even euthanasia. this is simply, categorically false and destructive. the provision in question was carefully considered. it was the result of real bipartisan cooperation to help families. indeed, some of the most moving comments in our committee's deliberations came from republican colleagues who talked about the concerns that they faced with their families in this difficult end of life situation and how we needed to do better. madam speaker, there are lots of areas that we can disagree with as we're dealing with health care reform. by all means, let debate and disagree over areas of genuine disagreement. but let's not attack this long overdue assistance to families

facing the difficult situation of end of life. let's not attack it, let's embrace it. american families deserve no less. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida, mr. stearns, for five minutes. mr. stearns: i ask unanimous consent that my speech -- entire speech be made part of the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. stearns: madam speaker, i rise today to address the increasingly troublesome issue of conflicts of interest within our financial regulatory system and the potential long-term harm this could render on american taxpayers. to be specific, conflicts of interest abound at the federal reserve bank of new york. the entity that has been at the forefront of our federal government's effort to respond to the worse financial crisis in our country -- this country has faced in decades. the new york fed is, of course, intimately intertwined with the federal reserve and the

treasury department too. but americans may be surprised to hear how close this entity is to major wall street financial firms as well. in fact, m.i.t. economists, simon johnson, was recently quoted as saying, quote, the new york fed sticks out as being not just very, very close to wall street but to the most powerful people on wall street. in particular, the federal reserve bank of new york is noticeably close to investment bank turn bank holding company and seaver of billions of dollars in tarp funds, goldman sachs. steven freeman was a former key employee at goldman sachs. and william dudley was at goldman sachs for 20 years, including 10 years as chief economist. and, of course, the new york fed is now tasked with overseeing goldman sachs. furthermore, former treasury secretary henry paulson who engineered the $750 billion bailout of wall street and created the tarp program was

also the former c.e.o. and chairman of goldman sachs. and another noncould he incident, during his time as -- noncoincident, during his time as c.e.o. of goldman sachs, he let goldman sachs' main competitor, lieman brothers, fail, thus ensuring that they would pay goldman sachs $2.9 billion in losses making goldman sachs the largest recipient of funds from a.i.g. until december, 2008, the chairman of the new york reserve, steven freeman, was a former member of goldman sachs. he resigned as chairman over his purchase of goldman sachs stock during his time in his position as new york fed chairman at the reserve. and yet another conflict of interest scenario, let us not

fore get that when timcally geithner, who was then president of the -- timothy geithner, who was then president of the new york fed, he gave funds to the acquisition of bear stearns but one of jpmorgan chase was on the board of the new york fed. alarmingly, madam speaker, the obama administration is now proposing we give more power to the federal reserve and in turn, this same new york federal reserve. let us first consider that the new york fed is dominated by the banks it supposedly is regulating, and let us not forget that these regulated banks hold the majority of seats on the new york fed board. former president of the federal bank of st. louis, william poole, he recently stated that the employees at the new york fed play a valuable role day in and day out with detailed contacts with these big financial firms, end quote. with such close proximity to large financial firms, how do we really know whose interest

the new york fed is putting first? are the interest of wall street insiders taken into consideration before the interest of the american people? are wall street's interests automatically equated with the interests of the american people? the intimacy between the fed and the firms they regulate should cause all of us to pause. it was after all the new york fed that allowed companies like goldman sachs and jpmorgan to convert themselves to bank holding companies so that they could receive access to taxpayers' funded henry paulson's created tarp funds. and then in tur-- turn around just a few months later and post billions in record profits and dole out some of the highest bonus -- es in speaker. what is the sense of giving more power to the biggest regulators on wall street when their failed legislation of

mortgage lending is what's led to the accumulation of toxic assets in our financial system in the first place? why on earth give more power to such a hopelessly conflicted regulator? with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house the house returns at 2:00 p.m. eastern time for legislative work. among the bill schedule today, veterans' benefits, flood insurance and housing. it will take place in 6:30 p.m. eastern. live coverage when the house returns on c-span. at 2 eastern this fema director will testify before a house panel on at their response to major tour disasters.

coming up in 15 minutes, held financial-services committee chairman barney frank live at the national press club. in the meantime, today's washington journal. the issue of health care is dominating the newspapers. here is the front page of roll call this morning. hopes fading for health bill . the politico this morning, new deadlines, new problems is there headline. and the arizona republic, they have pelosi -- health care bill will pass. speaker thous to overcome remaining obstacles. much the same story in "the

washington post reporting on some of the comments of speaker pelosi yesterday. pelosi vows passage of health- care overhaul. it will win -- confidence grows as democrats plan to resume talks. the article, defying skeptics in her party, house speaker nancy bossi vowed sunday to overcome lingering obstacles and pass health care reform in the house, restore momentum to president obama's top domestic priority and her own unruly democratic caucus. "when i take this bill to the floor, it will win," she said, "this will happen." the speaker, who struggled to overcome a series of setbacks raised stakes are planning to restart talks today among bickering democrats. one of the three house panels with jurisdiction over health care and where the bills stalled next week. democratic leaders are confident these can be resolved, hopefully the time to bring the house bill

to the floor. although pelosi did not commit to a timetable. my question to you is, what should the blue dogs do, the democratic caucus. new york is first up, built on the independent mind. good morning, welcome. go ahead, you are on the air. caller: i have been listening to c-span and health care issue. basically it is one where it is a very simple process. everybody should be in the same health care plan, whether it is blue dogs democrats or republicans. basically what we should do is we should just take and have one plan. i think this plan would be accelerated if they were affected the way many of us are. my wife has als, she is on medicaid and basically it is very difficult sometimes to get the things that she needs. i don't have the time for these blue dogs to say, it is not the right plan. we have been going through this for more than 15 years.

all i am saying we need to come together as citizens and say, hey, we are not going to vote you got into office if you cannot come up with a plan. all of this nonsense about the republicans want to do this and the blue dogs and the democrats that have basic fundamental plan for the country. thank you. host: here is what "the wall street journal" looks like, blue dog democrats hold health care overhaul at day. part of the article reads, a leader of the fiscally conservative group of representatives says he expects any vote on the health proposal would have to wait come likely until after labor day. "i think the american people want to take a closer look at this legislation. they want to feel more comfortable with it," said jim cooper, a blue dog from tennessee. house speaker nancy pelosi disputed any suggestion that the blue dogs's protests threaten the passage. "absolutely, positively not."

"when i take this one the floor, it will win. we will move forward. this would happen." blue gauze emerged as pivotal players. a swing group that the white house is wooing more intensely to keep the initiative on track. calo springs, nancy, republican column. what should the blue dogs do? caller: i think the blue dogs should vote against this bill. i think it needs to be taken time to study. you know, the last woman calling was saying about all the hoops to jump through for medicare. it would be no different once the government controls our insurance -- we will have tons of paperwork and tons of hoops to jump through, which we don't have to do right now. and i think the blue dogs are right on the money where they

should be. host: what kind of health care coverage? caller: i am a diabetic, so therefore i am not covered by any insurance, but thanks to the state of colorado's which is where i'm from, i must be covered, so i am under cover, rather. host: that is a state plan? on a cut that is a state plan, and -- all because that is a state plan and i am covered -- caller: that is a state plan and i am covered and a recovered well. insurance is insurance. i don't have any deductibles, i have to be going every month -- or i am sorry come every year for my check up, and they don't require me to do a lot. host: thank you. clinton, maryland. democratic collar. robert. good morning. caller: it is so nice the lady

has health insurance. i think she should maybe think about people don't have it. host: you don't have it? caller: yes, i have appeared but i feel for people who don't have appeared -- yes, i have it. but i feel for people don't. blue dogs should vote for passage. i should preference -- preface my remarks by making a statement that the single payer plan offered by the government was the best plan because the health care bill in this country is about $2.50 trillion this year and insurance companies take about 30%, $750 billion they put in their pockets for denying care. if that $750 billion can be but it did put back into the health care plan, that could pay for these people coming into the health care situation. so, we need the single payer plan. and the other plan would be difficult to work. holtz cut you sound like a health-care provider. what do you do?

caller: i work in a hospital. i will put like that. unless a single payer plan passes, everything else will not be sufficient. host: one of the comments on twitter, from democratsxorg -- blue dogs don't appear to much different from fiscally conservative republicans from the rich and corporations of punishing the poor. independent collar next up -- excuse me, wisconsin, republican, randy. welcome. caller: this is so easy. all you got to do is the people in the congress -- house and senate -- is to put themselves on the same plan that they are trying to pass and i am sure that the recipe -- they think they are above us and they've got a better plan for themselves. if they are voting on a plan that is so good, they should be on it, too.

host: asking you about what the blue dogs should do, but moderate to conservative caucus of the democratic party. "the wall street journal" has a look. we used the terms blue dog and caucus and i have a look at the various caucuses and the democratic party, at least in the house. shades of blue gum is their sidebar peace. blue dog caucus having 52 members, those are their positions. they want a congress to act in a fiscally responsible way. new democratic coalition, 70 to come work for policies tt enhance a business friendly climate. and a look at the congressional progressive caucus, they work for economic justice, civil rights and other progressive caucus. about 80 members. you get a visit rome -- visual representation. 41 of the congressional black caucus, promoting racial equality. and the new democrat coalition that advocates within congress

for issues affecting hispanics. that is an "the wall street journal." colorado, jim on our democrat line. good morning. go ahead. you are on the air. are you there? caller: i'm here. host: go ahead with your comments. caller: i am 79 years old and i voted first four harry truman -- for harry truman and i voted democratic 95% of the time. but if the health plan of the president does not get through, i don't think i will be voting anymore for either party because i think it is an absolute necessity that all people the insured. host: how are you covered? caller: medicare. host: arkansas, mike on

independent line. caller: yes, sir. it is not directly at the blue dogs but i am a disabled veteran. i have had va since 1988. it makes me a little angry that republicans say, well, we don't want the government running health care, what they think of va is? i am extremely happy. republicans say they don't want government running your health care plan, i guess we need to do away with the va. that is a make sense. i'm very happy with my plan. host: congressman mike ross who heads the blue bell coalition was our guest this week and on newsmaker -- heads the blue dog coalition was our guest. he takes an upfront lead with this negotiation did what are your impressing -- what are your impressions? caller: i talked to him. i have always voted for him. i will give him some of my input and perhaps change his mind.

we need a health care plan for people can't afford it. host: do you write your congressman, e-mail? caller: i call him. i talked to him on the phone. he is up front. host: you can get your congressman if you column on the phone? caller: yes, i sure can. host: va, rikki, go ahead, republican. caller: good morning. i just wanted to say that i have been following the political system for a long a long time. and the blue dog coalition, they got a lot of -- in state with this health care issue and i believe that they go head and stick against their party is planned -- their party's plan.

but if they don't do what they do and go ahead and cater to nancy pelosi and them, every one of them will risk their chances of winning reelection in 2010. host: take the politics out for just a moment. you are calling on the republican line. do you think the issue in health care is dealing with health care something that needs to be done in the timetable that the president would like it? caller: i think he is going to far too fast on this. and i think that they need to lay a little while get health care reform that will not make this country is socialized country like canada or great britain. i think the blue dogs, they've

got their feet to the fire now. host: all wings mill, maryland. next up is -- oh wings melt maryland. the democrat line. caller: of the blue dog democrats have got to pass the health care bill. mainly looking at the economic point of view that people are spending thousands of dollars each month on health care, that is money that is not going into our consumer-based economy and if everybody can get good quality and expensive health care that would free up cash to put back into are still failing economy. host: who are you covered by? caller: luckily this year i am covered by blue cross but last covered by blue cross but last year when i did not were spending $1,000 a month on medications. host: didn't have a plan at all?

caller: i didn't have a plan. host: here is from twitter -- nothing will enrich the wealthy and powerful, and corporations, more than a national health care plan or single payer plan. about 15 more minutes. mass., next, daniel, independent. caller: nice to talk to you guys did i watch you every single day. the blue dogs, i see them. as far as fiscal conservative goes, i really think about passing a bill that leaves the option of people who want to have abortions, that they can do that with their own money. because if people are paying for people who don't have it, it is kind of offensive you are missing money to end life. that would be a concern that could save money as well as

responsibility and cooperation as a country. but, anyway. host: the headline in "the washington times." bureaucracy drives up health care plans cost. house democrats proposed new boards, task forces, and the article reads, the health care reform bill, which >> we take you live now to the national press club for remarks by the house financial-services chairman, barney frank. his committee will begin a markup of a financial regulation bill that will include a stay on pay measure that would give more influence on executive compensation. he is expected to talk about that and other issues. we have live coverage as introductory remarks are under way. >> it involves restraint on compensation for top executives.

the committee is at the center of the capitol hill debate. he was educated at harvard and received a law degree from harvard law school. he taught at several boston area universities and also served as a massachusetts state rep. a member of congress since 1981, in 1987, barney frank became the second openly gay member of the house of representatives. please welcome congressman barney frank. [applause] >> thank you. i very much appreciate the forum the press club offers for these kinds of discussions. let me reinforce what may have been entirely unnecessary admission. no one who has been familiar with the media in america could ever think hearing applause but it came from members of the media. [laughter]

: 2 first address an issue about financial reform -- i want to first address an issue about financial reform. something about president obama -- whether or not he is asking congress to do too much, which is a refreshing change, i think, from the past. if the answer is no. in particular, there is no validity to any suggestion that because many of my colleagues are so deeply engaged in trying to deal with health care or cap and trade or other important is huge -- important issues like labor law reform, to enable men and women to bargain collectively about their own job situation or to improve education. these are not conflicting. nothing being done elsewhere is

retarding our efforts to deal with the financial system. those efforts are essential. we are in the midst of a debate about who is responsible for what in the past. i will touch on that because having some sense of that is important in deciding what to do in the future. our primary goal is to not undo the past but prevent its occurrence. the role of congress today with our committee having a major piece of it, is to try to prevent things from recurring. the financial crisis that we have had. our general view, and by that i mean the members of our committee and the people who work with me on the staff and members of the house in general and our senate counterparts is that the problem was non-

regulation. it is very important to stress it is non-regulation and not the regulation. there was deregulation, a bike part -- by product of the clinton administration and i voted against it. our problem was that of non- regulation. we have a healthy phenomenon in this free enterprise country in which the private sector innovates and the innovation is very important. by definition, only those innovations which provide a value added it will survive because it is voluntary. if someone comes up with a new idea that does not work, it doesn't work and it goes away. the only innovations that thrive are those that attract people's money in a free enterprise society. that is a constant process. but there are times when

innovation reaches critical mass, when there is such a combination of new things, new technology combined with new ideas, that the existing regulatory framework is left behind. the role of the public sector is to come up with regulations that allow the society the benefit of those innovations in the private sector while curtailing some of the abuses. the problem with the current situation, i believe, is we have before too long a dominant ideological viewpoint that rejected that. it rejected the notion that innovation of a very, very substantial sort, innovation that was turning around a lot of previous assumptions, and that very much changed existing

patterns, that the not require new regulation. one of the arguments we have today from some people is was the cause of the problem, assuming there were things that should have been regulated that or not, was the cause regulators or ideological opposition to regulating or an inadequacy of regulatory structures? the answer is very clear -- yes. it was both. it was people who did not believe in regulating and deregulatory structure that facilitated their ability not to regulate. yes, it is true. there are two extreme cases. you can have the most complete regulatory powers given to individuals who simply did not believe regulation is ever useful and it will work. as alan greenspan and knowledge, it came close to refusing to use the regulatory balance given to the federal reserve. the federal reserve led other bank regulators into becoming a

born-again consumer advocates. it has been one of the most interesting convergence we of seen recently in the united states. it is made easier for those who believe firmly in never regulating, never to regulate, when no responsibility is fixed on who should do it. the more you disperse responsibility, the harder it is to overcome that aversion. on the other hand, it is true. if you have wonderful regulators firmly committed to trying to propose rules that have stopped the bad things or what could go, they could overcome regulatory and efficiency. but we cannot legislate on the assumption that we will either have people totally opposed or wonderful super regulators. we need to regulate for normal human beings. that is what we hope to do. we think is important both that it be regulatory structures that provide focus responsibilities

for the right kinds of regulation and the appointment of individuals to do it. it is best to have both, but it is better to have at least one fan to have neither. as we say, we can structure it so you do get both for the near- term. it is very important when you get new regulation, and this is something we should not lose sight of, by definition, the new regulation is going to come under the aegis of people who believe in the first set of regulators will be good ones. that is very important. franklin roosevelt led the united states into a new set of regulation for finance capitalism and appointed people who would run it. for those who have criticized the obama administration because there are people in the administration had participated in the financial system we are now trying to change and improve and regulate, think of the

example set by franklin roosevelt when having established the securities and exchange commission, he appointed as his first chair someone who knew what he had to regulate -- joseph p. kennedy. he was a very effective chair of the sec precisely because he knew what had an illegal, was no longer legal, and will along reproved. we will be going forward setting up that kind of structure. i mentioned to the new deal. to me, we are in the third iteration of this phenomenon of innovation that is qualitatively different than what had been before in terms of its system and the need for regulation to catch up. the first example came in the night -- in the late 19th century when the american industry created a large industrial enterprises. if we did not have that, we

would not have had the wealth created and spread the way it was. it was the time of large enterprises. people who did it in the financial and manufacturing areas, finance, steel, railroads. then came theodore roosevelt and woodrow wilson who spent their time coming up with regulation not to cancel out the innovation but to contain its excesses'. you got the anti-trust laws, the establishment of the federal trade commission and the federal reserve. that was a good system. decades later, franklin roosevelt found the need to do it again and create a framework for mutual-fund companies securities and exchange commission, the fdic. for those who want to combine history and current events, if you want to read predictions that efforts to regulate innovation, efforts to rein in the views are foredoomed and will in fact denies the benefits

of innovation and curtailed the ability -- curtail the ability of the financial system to provide benefits, you can either read today's congressional record when you come to my markup or you can read what they said about roosevelt and wilson or franklin roosevelt. there is a pattern that people argue that any attempt to set rules for these innovations will destroy the economy. we reject that. we think that, in fact, the most pro-market thing franklin roosevelt could have done is what he did do. setting up the sec, setting a fool for mutual-fund, setting up the ftse saved capitalism and allowed to go forward. we plan to do the same thing. -- set up the fdic saved capitalism.

this wonderful system can go forward. we do reject one argument coming from the conservatives. there is an element of partisanship here. i do not understand why partisan is always a bad word. it least it has always been a bad word since the end of road work to win the partisans in yugoslavia fought the not cease. in everett -- under every other context, it's a bad thing. political parties are good thing for democracy. partisanship becomes a problem if it is excessive because there are issues in any democracy that will be legitimately partisan with two different part seize having to different viewpoints. the parties are not sides are randomly picked, they're people with different viewpoints.

whether or not there should be inappropriate regulatory intervention, to cancel innovation but channel it. there are those who thought theodore roosevelt and wilson got wrong, there are those that fought franklin roosevelt got it wrong, and they think we're doing it wrong today. just leave it to free enterprise with all the goods and bad. others think it is tough and difficult and you have to have humility about how you do it and listen to everybody, but you can make the system better by reducing the bad while not diminishing of the good things. the parties differ on that. the republican party in the house has a different view than the democratic party and that is called democracy treed we had an election. we have elections in 2002 and 2004 in which the people who did not believe in regulation one. they did not give any regulation and nothing was done. then we had elections in 2006 and 2008 which were different.

i say that because i want to raise the stakes for myself and my colleagues. we have now for the first time since 1993 a democratic president, democratic house, and democratic senate. we have the responsibility as democrats to come up with a system of rules that allow the free enterprise system to flourish and provide all the benefits it can provide while diminishing abuses, while protecting consumers, while encouraging investors to feel safe about investing, and to give us the benefit of the function of the financial system. it is up to us. i will tell you that i believe my republican colleagues had a responsibility. they had four years when the had the presidency and both houses of congress and nothing was done in the regulatory area. i understand there was a theory that says -- this was my fault

and christopher dodd, and some others -- the view was i had a secret hold on tom delay that i wish i knew about. [laughter] if i were to made a list that would have deterred him from doing, it would have been a lot larger than simply derivatives. [laughter] but in fact, we had a different viewpoint. there were some that the problem was we were too good to poor people. the problem was a democratic approach that said let's try to help lower-income people. let me be very clear and measured -- utter nonsense. [laughter] the community reinvestment act is what they blame. talk to community bankers, people who run smaller, locally based banks who justifiably object when people announce banks and they get swept then, getting blamed for things that were not guilty of doing. if only financial institutions

subject to the community reinvestment act made mortgage loans, we would not be in the crisis we are in today. the overwhelming majority of those were made in institutions not covered by the community reinvestment act. there is not a regulator who would say the cra -- there could be one -- it clearly did not happen trade look at the loans. what happened was an explosion of loans outside the regular banking system. by the way, that ties in with my thesis. the banks covered by the community reinvestment act who did not cause the subprime crisis were the regulated ones. it was the unregulated and under regulated sectors that did. we now have our response ability and here is what we believe needs to be done. we want to make it clear that

the financial sector is an essential intermediary in our economy. the phrase intermediary is important. in times when cash has disappeared or credit has disappeared from the system, it is called disintermediation. that means the financial sector no longer performs its important intermediary function. that function is to gather of money in fairly small amounts from large numbers of people, and bullet, -- bundle it, and make it available to people who will use it for productive purposes. that is the financial function. financial activity is not an end in itself, it is a means to an end, a means by which we gather up the savings of individuals and their need to invest and provide for their own personal income. and make it available to those who will invest in larger amounts and in productive

activities. i believe one of the problems is over the past 20 years, a certain amount of financial activity became the and rather than the means. i do not expect anybody in this society to do important work for nothing. obviously enterprises have to make a profit. financial activity has to have a profit. but the purpose of the profit is to enable them to be the intermediary. so i have had people come and complain to us that if you do that, i can't make any money. the answer is that is not our job. we're not here to help make money. we are here to help have a system in which he will make money as an instance of your providing funds to those who use it productively. to some extent, there has been financial activity that has been an end in itself. that is what is behind the denunciations of speculation treed there is an element -- denunciation of speculation. there is an element of people

doing things only to make money on them. a society is no worse off than people were doing it and if they want, making get real jobs and it would be no loss to anyone else. [laughter] a large part of this came from innovation which is a good thing. securitization -- 30 years ago, most loans were made by people who expected to be paid back by the bar were. that means you had to pay -- had to wait for them to pay back. securitization is money outside the system meaning it there is new sources of liquidity and you did not wait to be paid back. you sell the right to be paid back by other people. then you have a whole range of instruments involved that took those rights to be paid back and magnified them and cut them up into a whole range of very innovative financial devices. securitization is basically a good thing because it means

money turned over more quickly. if i have to wait for everyone to pay back, i can make as many loans. the more good loans that are made the better. the problem is securitization had two in packs -- in a lot more good loans to be made and more bad loans to be made. very simple human truth got lost -- if i lend you money and expect to be paid back, i will be more careful than if i lend you money and you payback someone else. securitization has weakened that bar or-wonder discipline. -- that our work-lender discipline. it seems to me the rating agencies are trying to over compensate for weakness by excess. when you say on behalf of the working press, they may enjoy this phrase, but i'm reminded of a great phrase by one of the great editorial writers of all- time who said his job was to come down from the hills after

the battle was over and shoot the wounded. [laughter] i think you see that with the rating agencies. when millions of loans are made by people who did not have the discipline of expecting to be paid back, i don't know how anyone can write them. here is the lineup we think you need to do. he'd put limits on securitization. people should not able to lend money without having risk retention. we think there needs to be somewhere in the system, and ability to limit leverage and put maximum leverage roles into place so that people do not wind up owing not only much more money than they have, sometimes we have more money, people owing more money than there is. you have to limit leverage. you have to come up with a way to put ailing financial in this -- financial entities out of our misery. it is called give resolving power.

-- it is called the resolving power. we did not have a decent way to do that with aig, lehman brothers, or merrill lynch. all of them cost problems. people of goodwill, ben bernanke and henry paulson, tried to avoid terrible financial harm from what happened. we need to contain derivatives. yes, they play an important role, but they have gotten out of hand. we need to protect consumers because protection of consumers now is dissipated in ways that result in a lack of activity because there is no way to focus responsibility. we deal with executive compensation. the problem with executive compensation is essentially a price estimate standpoint is against perverse incentives. if you are a top decision make there or somewhere else down the chain, -- if you are a top

decision maker, or somewhere down the chain, you are incentivize to take a risk. if the risk pays off you suffer no penalty. heads you win, tails you break even. it is like selling lottery tickets only cost money if they pay off. he would tell a lot of tickets but not raise much money. that's the problem. there's also a problem with salaries being excessive. we will work on this tomorrow -- our view is the regulators, the securities and exchange commission, should prevent their from being systems that allow person sentence. we think it's up to the shareholders. we have the radical notions on the democratic side that the shareholders ought to be beset limits on pay because the notion it will be done by the board of directors is fruitless because boards of directors and ceos are inevitably the closest of collaborators. there is not and should not be an adversarial relationship between a ceo and the boards of

directors. it's impossible to structure one in a well-run organization. but it's a mistake to go to arms length and the labor and management. we want shareholders to be involved in setting pay. that's the package. i have a challenge to make -- and until you the package has broad support in congress. -- let me tell you the package has broken -- broad support in congress. we have the responsibility to put a systemic risk regulation into place that would limit the leverage that got us to trouble with people being overextended. that will allow us to deal with aig and lehman brothers and put them out of business in an orderly way without shocking the system or having enormous public funds going into them. i believe we can curtail expectations in derivatives with reducing the real economic function they provide to society. i think we can impose risk

retention rules on originators of loans so that we still get the benefit of higher turnover but to not lose the lender-bar or discipline treed i believe we can content -- we can protect consumers. if we had protected consumers better, we would have had a more sound system cannot less sound system. we are going to do those. it's a responsibility for us as democrats to do them and we are convinced this is the way to prevent these abuses. i invite the judgment of failure if we are not able to deliver. i am not politically inclined to take on responsibility i do not think i could handle. i'm giving us this responsibility because i'm confident we will be it. i believe you are going to see during this conversation by the end of this year, a package that does this. one last point i want to make and want to offer advice,

unpaid, to my friends in the financial community and the rest of the financial community. because their first category -- a first category is actually cyclical. maybe i didn't have that many a few years ago and then i became chairman of the committee and made a lot of new friends without getting any nicer. [laughter] we worked together last year when ben bernanke and henry paulson came to us on behalf of the bush administration and said we face serious financial collapse if you cannot collaborate. none of us thought would be a popular thing to do, but we did it in a bipartisan way. democrats and republicans in the house and senate work with the bush and attrition. there were many in the financial community were grateful for our help. but i think some have forgotten that. not everybody, but some in the financial community who remind

me of the restored monarchy in france after napoleon. they have forgotten nothing because they learned nothing. let me go back to my youth, to the days when radio had a function other than the spewing of venom. when fiction on the radio was labeled as fiction. [laughter] there were people in the financial community, some older people here will check the reference, they want to return to the thrilling day is of yesteryear. [laughter] let me make one and a man -- want to return to the thrilling days of yesteryear when the loan rate route -- loan arrangers will write again. it will be accompanied by their faithful and submissive companion, the government. that is not going to happen.

[applause] we're going to put those rules into effect. let me say for the sake of my own metaphorical consistency, there was an old unpleasant joke when i was a kid, and may be relevant now. we may have to give them a new definition in the context of key mossad. -- of kemosabe. i'm making this response to the financial community. i want them to work with us. they need to understand what i talked about -- sustaining beverage, -- restraining leverage, some risk retention, protection of consumers, and a single, effective agency, those are all going to happen. i can guarantee you, not because i wanted to be, but because i have had a series of conversations with people and i know that's what's going to

happen. i know of the financial community or people who believe in total deregulation, if they want to make a national debate, i welcome it. they will lose the debate. it's a good debate have. just as we had the debate in the early part of the 20th-century and in the new deal, we will have it again and we will win it. we will prove the best thing you can do for capitalism is to have rules that give investors the confidence to get back in the system, that protects the great majority of decent people from abuses. that does not mean there is no role for them. i believe we should be containing derivatives. there are couple of ways to do it. on the table is banning naked credit default swaps. there alternatives to that. a tighter regime of openness and price discovery that comes to putting them on the exchanges. we will talk to them and hope to talk to them about that. but there are some tests they have to meet. tomorrow, there will be a

meeting about one of the great failings of my friends in the financial community to date -- their unwillingness to help us reduce mortgage foreclosures. it is not in their own interests. the casket foreclosures -- it will make it worse. i am glad we did and implement compensations and i was pleased when ben bernanke said last week in response to republican question that if it had not been for the bill, and employment would be higher today. but you cannot pay your mortgage out of unemployment compensation. we face the potential of more foreclosures with disastrous effects for individuals and it -- and communities and the economy. the financial community was successful and it will lead in creating bankruptcy reform. the garden was we did not need that to reduce mortgage foreclosures, but -- the argument was we did not needed to reduce mortgage foreclosures. we need much better cooperation. we need people in the major

financial institutions to understand how angry the american people are, that people who are in many cases, the cause of the crisis, and the beneficiaries of serious economic activity on the part of the government to help them get out of the crisis. we did not do the rescue plan. i did -- i long for the good old days when a tarp was what was used to cover the infield when it was raining. helping the banks was the inevitable byproduct. you cannot restore the credit system from a minute collapse as ben bernanke and henry paulson accurately said. you could not have done that without helping the institutions. you cannot get a whole new set of institutions. having done that, for them to return to the thrilling days of yesteryear is a great mistake. i do have to say to my friends

in the financial community to think about what you say about your character when you tell us you have to have enormous bonuses to align your interests with those of the people who pay your salary. in other words, you get hired for this prestigious job and get a salary and now we have to give you extra money for you to do your job right? i must say that does not speak well of the character of the people there. i think they are unfair to themselves. i think if you cut their bonuses by 90% they would work just as hard, but that is not what they have done. we will have to deal with this in legislation, to curtail the overall amount, but restructure them. i am asking the financial community to cooperate and ask us the best way to do derivatives. except the reality of this regulation and work with us. that applies to community banks. community banks were not the one to did subprime mortgages or

credit card use. another example in the financial sector is salary increases, compensation increases, not helping in mortgages, and we passed a credit-card bill and they said we need more time. that was the reason for the delay, not so they could jack things up in the interim. they are inviting a much harsher response of their not willing to cooperate on these. tarp recipients say we should not curtail excessive use of derivatives because of my produce their profits. they are putting themselves outside of the face we have and i would much rather they be in it. they cannot stop it. to the community banks, they have been unfairly reduced because there were a problem, but they need to be careful to not allow themselves to be used by some of their big, big brothers who would like to have sheltered them. we can set up a consumer protection agency that will

respect the role of community banks. they were not the perpetrators of the abuses and they will not be the subjects of the corrections. they need to work with us to help do that. we are ready to go forward with a set of regulations that respond to these innovations that we believe will give us the benefit of the innovations and diminish the abuses. our models are theodore roosevelt, woodrow wilson, and franklin roosevelt. we invite the financial community to participate with us, given what we believe is necessary, but it will happen one way or the other. the debate will be, i believe, in terms of history, as important in the -- as the one in 20th-century and i think will be as beneficial to the american economy. thank you. [applause]

>> thank you, mr. chairman. we have no shortage of questions this afternoon. the first comes from a person who says as an executive in the banking industry, i agree that lack of regulation was key to the financial crisis. how do we now wait for elation that hinders our ability to compete in the global economy and serving customers' needs effectively? >> one thing i forgot to mention -- then you can tell me to shut up. that's fair. he said you're going along. we do face a problem of international cooperation. nothing in the world is as mobile as capital. it can move anywhere in the world instantaneously. we are working very hard with our major financial competitors and partners, the european union, the guided kingdom, which

is a semi-independent entity -- the united kingdom, japan, we are determined to make sure when i talked about our rules adopted by identically and not by the same entity, but sufficiently similar in all those places so there will not be any competition treed i have met with european union's marketing commissioner and i've met with people the same jurisdiction from the european union and canadians. i apologize to my constituents because they have not seen as much as me, but we have been dealing with exactly that to make sure we have and a harmonious set of regulations so don't have that international competition. when i first became chairman in 2006, i was told we had to be regulate in america because everyone was going to go to england to the financial- services authority to be subject to their light touch regulation.

the financial service authority said a couple of months ago explicitly the era of light touch regulation is over. everything i have talked about, derived its come compensation, is being talked about in very similar terms by this entities and we have to do one more thing and this will be the end to the bell. -- is to be in the bill. we'll write into the bill instructions, not authority, but instructions to the secretary of treasury and the federal reserve that any country anywhere in the world which holds itself out as an escape hatch for these regulations will be denied any access to the american financial system. i believe we will be able to work with all the other allies to do this. as far as banks are concerned, there was overreach in some of the consumer products. one proposal was people are going to have to offer a plane, with all product. -- a plane, then all product. i don't think you can force people to operate generic

product. liquor places that had to serve food served most inedible food. i remember jars of pickled hardboiled eggs sitting on the counters of some bars. we're not going to make bankers offered people hardboiled pickled eggs. i don't think that will be a problem. to the community banks, they are unlikely to see much change. do we need central regulation? yes. is there such a thing as stupid regulation? yes. can we avoid it? >> yes. i think it is important we register hedge funds. but hedge funds are not mutual funds. there's a fear of registered had sought -- hedge funds, they would have to register the same as mutual-fund sprayed know, they won't. we are determined to come up with a form for hedge funds suitable for hedge funds. we want to treat them as mutual- fund.

>> the federal reserve chairman, ben bernanke, said friday that 25 companies would be deemed too big to fail under the president's proposal. should that exist and does that change the competitive playing field for large as opposed to small institutions? >> it should not exist. if we do this job right, it won't exist. part of our major core set of principles here is first, to some up a set of regulations that will keep people from getting too big to fail in part by severe limitations on leverage. there will be at several places in this system as a systemic risk regulator and [unintelligible] the ability to say you have to raise capital and you are overextended. the requirement to raise capital will be disproportionate. the degree get, a higher percentage capital you will have to have, not just the amount. that could have kept a ig from

getting overextended. secondly, lehman brothers failed and there's no mechanism to do anything. then when into bankruptcy. the judgment of the bush administration brought the system to a halt. even though a conservative republican -- conservative republican witnesses was brought forward, he said it would of been different because people have different expectations. the bush administration believes letting lehman brothers go bankrupt almost brought the system to its knees which is why they rushed in to provide the funding for aig. those are not choices we should have. either pair of nobody and have a collapse or pay off everybody. you have this, where banks go under, we have a good system under the fdic possible leadership. -- the fdic's leadership. we will have the same rules for other institutions. one thing i asked the financial community to work with us on is

to have a way to put these people, these institutions to sleep. one question is how sharp should the sanctions be? should be the rule that any company that is that, the ceo is gone and the board of directors is gone? we want to be very unpleasant to be an entity that has done that. the second part is because we don't want to see too big to fail, there will not be that list. the administration has proposed to be a list of systemically important companies and the general sense in congress is out of the opposite effect. the administration sees it as a way to discipline the companies, but many see it as it would be a license to do well because people think you cannot fail. there will be no such list. the administration thinks creating a list of systemically important institutions would be a way of severely disappointed -- severely disciplining them. others think the list would be

brer rabbit and the briar patch. but there will not be predetermined list to avoid that problem. >> one of the big issues right now is over-the-counter derivatives on the exchanges. the white house wants to have the treasury define what is a standard derivative. clearing houses will have to step up and want to trade them. what happens if they don't want to do it? does the federal government have the authority to be able to make exchanges put over-the- counter derivatives and standardize them if they don't want to? >> that has been raised and i've talked to the nasdaq about that. i don't think we will force them to do it, but these exchanges are money-making operations, so they will want to do it. we do recognize there will be an occasion, a derivative that cannot be traded on an exchange.

people doing that will have to pay a price in the much higher capital charges. we expect these to be on exchanges and clearing houses, and we understand they are ready to do the great majority of them. they may not be able to do a couple. or several. in those cases, the regulators will have the ability to require much higher capital charges, which means those who want to engage in those derivatives will have an incentive to fit them on exchanges. there are two parties to a derivative contract -- buyers and sellers. one party has an incentive to make it more expensive and the other has incentive to make it less except -- less expensive. we believe there will be great market pressure to tailor these things so they will go on to exchanges. there is also some concern --

and this is one of those things we will look into -- there are companies for whom the hedging is a major part of the business. people not in it for financial reasons purely because they have a business. we will talk about different versions. for them, collateral not need to be cashed in some of these ongoing businesses. but the answer is they will not be forced to take derivatives they do not want. those engaging in transactions will be under great footage of pressure to design and so they can go on exchanges. >> financial regulatory overhaul is only one of several major initiatives on the calendar. have health care, climate change -- a busy agenda. given that, when is this legislation that you say will pass this year actually going to pass? >> i wonder what the effect is

of people writing up their questions before i talk. they asked me a question that i answered. there is no conflict. our work has not been slowed up in the slightest by the fact we're working on climate and health care. there was some overlap between climate and health care because of the committee, even that did not turn out to be the case. i expect the house to pass this in september or october. we have done a lot of work and focused on it. let me just say -- by which the american people understood what a bargain the get -- i wish the american people understood what a bargain get from the people who work in the congress of the united states. [applause] they have been working hard and i think it will continue to work hard and we will get this to the senate by a fall.

what happens with this and in the senate, we have done a number of things collaborative way. tough regulation on fannie mae and freddie mac. the republicans could not do that. took us all a little longer. we have done some work on other areas. there are certain amount of the disputes that will get resolved. the house will begin this work. a number of issues, some of which i mentioned, they will never resolved until both houses vote. others are more specific and get results. we will send the senate package where we will have arrived at consensus on a number of issues. there will be some important issues. it's overwhelmingly likely that the senate will get the bill in october and us -- and the president will sign the package before the end of the year. >> the federal budget deficit is rising rates we have not seen before. where can you see cuts made in the federal budget that will slow down the pace?

>> let me give you a couple. first, i thought george bush's plan to send people to mars was very strange given the budget deficit. [laughter] that was hundreds of billions of dollars a want to spend. i believe we should not send people to mars. the problem is not sending people to mars, it is bringing them back. you can send their cheaply. but we care about human life. space is very important and we should be spending a great deal of money because we can learn a lot from. most scientists i talked to would diminish and not expand manned space missions. i thought president was right on agriculture. it is striking that the most conservative people in congress want to cut the budget and cut out subsidies and make people stand on their own 2 feet and keep their shoulders to the wheel and noses to the grindstone and cut back on

government intervention and must be pro-consumer and free-market. apparently, in the great free market taxed -- great free- market text, there is a footnote that says except for agriculture. none of this applies to agriculture. the footnote may be in german which is why it's hard. [laughter] german can be a difficult language. but the president proposes cutting back on agricultural subsidies and it both parties killed that right away. substantial savings on the military. let me be clear -- if we have not waged what i think is a damaging, war in iraq, we would not be worrying about how to pay for health care. let's be very clear. [applause] the money spent on the war in

iraq would have paid for health care. sometimes when i'm looking for the money, have one idea. i was in congress on september 10, 2001. there was no money in the budget for the war in iraq. apparently he had sources none of the rest of us did. a very important thing to happen and i give the press and a great deal of credit. he defeated the f-22. it was conceived to defeat the soviet union in the cold war atmosphere if it ever got hot. it had no current military function. it has never fired a shot in anger and almost certainly never will. many of my congressional colleagues, including budget hawks who were ready to cut back on medical care for children and ready to cut back on aid for homeless wanted to go ahead with a v f-22.

the press missed something. they have been doing a story about is they're going to be a second stimulus? this was a weapon whose sole justification was keeping people at work. it was important for the president to defeat that. i believe america is to be the strongest nation in the world. we could be far stronger with a significant reduction of $100 billion a year in the military budget, including providing a protection screen for everyone in the world. many of our allies say we're tired of the dollar being there reserve currency. i'm tired of the pentagon being the reserve military. they cannot say you're spending too much money but we will not have much of the defense budget. without any way endangering the added states, we can substantially reduce the military budget. reduce manned space travel, cut out agriculture, and you are saving well over $150 billion a

year. [applause] >> there are several questions about the consumer financial protection agency. what sort of jurisdictional issues which you see that having with other regulators and what sort of person which like to be in charge? >> jurisdiction only, i believe the fdic, the comptroller of the currency, and the fed should lose their consumer protection jurisdiction. when any agency in heron's the consumer protection tools of the fdic -- when any agency inherits the consumer protection tools of the fdic, you will be getting a very good set of tools. there will be almost new because they have been rarely used. [laughter] the difficult jurisdiction issue comes with the federal trade commission.

i think we need to readjust that. when we're talking about financial products in order to go to the consumer of financial product agency, there are a couple of things they talk about taking from the ftc that i would give back. the other one is the community reinvestment act. it's not an individual consumer function. i agree to strengthen the community reinvestment act and extend its reach. but i would not put it in the consumer protection agency. the other area is with the states. from the standpoint of community banks, they should welcome the consumer financial protection agency once they understand how we are going to do it. they are suffering from unfair competition and reputation damage from all lot of unregulated people out there like check catchers, pay lenders, and others. we plan to give the consumer product agency authority over a number of the early unregulated

entities. there are things the bank regulators, but there are greater abuse is coming from the early unregulated industries. if the states are doing a good job, there's no need to intervene. if the state is doing and uneven job, they would have that jurisdiction as well. >> is it time to get rid of don't ask don't tell from the military? >> i cannot say yes because that assumes there was every time to have it. it never made sense from the beginning. it is certainly time to get rid of it now. people in the american military who are unnerved at the thought of serving with people who, like me, are gay or lesbian, should be given an exemption from service in iraq or afghanistan. we have military allies that have allowed gay and lesbian people to serve. one argument was allow gay and lesbian people in the military

who are known are apparently having an unsettling effect because only clear people know who we are despite people who i can always tell who claim they actually can. if they could, there would be no don't ask don't tell rationale. [laughter] the notion that this implodes the military coherence ranks presumably as a wholly ineffective military in israel since israel has not tried to restrict it. i think the average american 20- year-old, you cannot argue anymore that he or she will be freaked out by the notion there'll be some gay or lesbian. not only has the time come, but i believe in next year's congressional segment, we have a bill we will do on employment non-discrimination and i believe we will get the bill to repeal it. 60 votes in the senate is an issue. there's no question that the

majority in the house and senate and the president is committed to doing it and i think we will get rid of don't ask don't tell to the benefit of the american military sometime next year. >> we're almost out of time, but before i ask a last question, there are some important matters to take care of. upcoming speakers -- on july 29, we will have senator john kerry and the chairman of the senate committee on foreign relations. we will have documentary filmmaker ken burns. and we would like to present our guest with are coveted traditional national press club mud. -- press club mug. [applause] >> i appreciate it. and now i can say without contradiction i have been mugged by the press. [laughter] >> we have one more question. president obama would like congress to take the august recess off in august. as congress need to take a break in august?

>> yes. we do spend a lot of time with their constituents. i will be doing some of that. second, people who do not take time to reflect, who did overworked, their judgment is not always the best. third, there is a lot of studying to do. we have had a lot of things to do. i will be spending a lot of my time, i will be reading a lot of fiction the summer. as i contemplate the time at some point when i am no longer in office, one of the advantages is i will no longer have to spend my time learning about things that very complicated and wholly boring. but that time has not come yet. i will be learning in august about a lot of things i never cared about as an individual and i should. i think reasonable work schedule is a good one and it will not return the passage of legislation at all.

>> thank you for appearing with us today, chairman frank. [applause] we would also like to think the national press club staff members for organizing today's lunch and thanks to the national press club library for its research. the video archive is provided by the national press club broadcast operations center. our offense are available for free download on itunes. non-members may purchase transcripts and videotapes by calling or sending an e-mail. check out our website. thank you. this meeting is adjourned.

>> of the house is about to gavel and four legislative work. 16 bills scheduled for today. among them are veterans issues and flood insurance. any votes will take place at 6:30 eastern. later in the week, it will consider three and a $36 billion for defense spending in the new budget year. the senate is also meeting today to work on energy department spending for the new budget year. you can watch the senate live on2 on -- on c-span2. here on c-span, it is the house, live. .

the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father coughlin. chaplain coughlin: lord god, you are blessed from the rising to the setting of the sun each day all around the world. today as the united states capitol recognizes korean war armistice day and honors over six million americans who served in the korean war, 56 years later we once more decry the price and pain of war, applaud the bravery of those who serve in the military, and pray for peace in asia and around the world. we commend to your

compassionate and faithful love all korean war veterans, their families and the comrades made during the years of conflict. we pray, also, for the people of north and south korea for separated families and for those once lost but now forgotten by all except you, almighty god. show your eternal mercy upon all your people both now and forever. amen. the speaker pro tempore: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1 the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from arkansas, congressman boozman. mr. boozman: those of you in the gallery are welcome to join with us. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which

it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will now entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? mr. kirk: i rise to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. kirk: mr. speaker, some are urging congress to back a $1 trillion government health care penn bill because they claim that 50 million americans are uninsured. but when you hear the rest of the story the numbers fall asport. while reports say that 47.5 million people lacked insurance during some portion of the year, we find that 9.5 million are noncitizens or illegal

aliens, 12 million are eligible for public programs but have not bothered to enroll, nine million have lacked insurance for less than a year, and 7.3 million make over $84,000 a year but have chosen not to buy insurance. when you do that math, you find that there are 7.8 lower income, long-term uninsured american citizens. but this smaller number is not big enough to justify $1 trillion in raising your taxes to rates higher than france which is why congressional leaders hope you do not look under the hood of their bill or the numbers they use to justify it. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? mr. wilson: mr. speaker, i ask permission to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one

minute. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, there is bipartisan concern in congress and across america that the house democrat leadership's health bill will drive up short-term deficits and long-term debt, ration care with waiting lists and destroy jobs. some estimates range from 1.6 million by the nfib to 4.7 million jobs loss due to this legislation. this is a better more positive way to approach health care reform and it starts by sitting down in a bipartisan way to build a consensus. we all believe the status quo is unacceptable, that we must work to make health care more affordable, accessible, and of the highest quality. republicans have offered a set of proposals we feel can expand accessibility for individuals and small businesses while preserving the doctor-patient relationship. we should promote health care reform, but we should not sacrifice quality and choice just for an arbitrary timeline. in conclusion, god bless our troops and we will never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time.

for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? mr. stearns: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. stearns: mr. speaker, last week the democrats released 1,000-page-plus health care bill that will cost in the order of $1.5 trillion and will allow for the federal government to nationalize health care in america. i hope the american people will learn more about this bill before it is voted on the house floor here. the federal government will eventually control almost 20% of our g.d.p. and will control every single doctor and patient health decision that's made in this country. it's clear we must reform the country's health care delivery system, but in the process of expanding affordable access, we must not create a weaker, more expensive system that future generations will have to pay for. 83% of americans enjoy the health insurance they currently have. we must strengthen and expand our current health care system and not destroy it in favor of

a $1.5 trillion experiment. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from arkansas rise? mr. boozman: i ask permission to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. boozman: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i rise today to commend the service of merlin walters who has distinguished himself as an exemplary citizen with 58 years of service to our country. five in the military and an astounding 53 years with the u.s. postal service. mr. walters served as a master mechanic in the arkansas national guard at camp robinson in little rock, arkansas, and has committed himself as a public servant ever since. in 1956, president eisenhower appointed him as a full-time carrier for the hartman post office in hartman, arkansas. after 11 years of dedicated service, he was appointed to the office of postmaster of hartman by president johnson.

he has been a familiar face at the hartman post office for 53 years and at 89 years old you can still find him there every day hard at work. mr. walters said he always finds hem self enjoyment working at the post office in hartman. he believes in working until the job is done and done right. i thank him for his service to the residents of arkansas and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair lays before the house the following enrolled bill. the clerk: h.r. 3114, an act to authorize the director of the united states patent and trademark office to use funds made available under the trademark act of 1946 for patent operations in order to avoid furloughs and reductions enforced and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule

20, the chair will postpone further proceedings today on motions to suspend the rules on which a recorded vote or the yeas and nays are ordered, or on which the vote incurs objection under clause of rule 20. recorded votes on postponed questions will be taken after 6:30 p.m. today. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 3219, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 3219, a bill to amend title 38, united states code, to make certain improvements in the laws administered by the secretary of veterans' affairs relating to insurance and health care, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from california, mr. mill fer, -- filner, and the gentleman from florida, mr. stearns, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. mr. filner: i thank the speaker and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. filner: i rise in strong support of passage of this bill, the veterans' insurance

and health care improvements act of 3219 -- of h.r. 3219. this important legislation was assembled with the help of many members of the house committee on veterans' affairs, without whose efforts this bill would not have been possible. and i'm surprised to see my friend, mr. stearns, managing the bill. having just railed against nationalization of health care, which is not what the obama plan has. but then he's a great supporter of the veterans' health system, which i think may come under his definition. so i'm pleased that he supports so strongly the veterans' administration health care system which is nationalized care, but i wish he would support mr. obama's health care plan, which has nothing to do with nationalization. but i want to recognize and applaud the outstanding effort of especially two dynamic members from the committee who sponsored major insurance provisions in the bill under consideration. mrs. halvorson from illinois sponsored the families of

veterans financial securities act, h.r. 2774, which has become section 101 of this bill. and mrs. kirkpatrick of arizona sponsored the veterans and service members accelerated benefit option equity act of 2009, h.r. 2988, which is now section 103 of this bill. these measures represent commonsense yet critical insurance provisions intended to ensure that our veterans, service members and their families who have insurance-related needs receives the full measure of the benefits offered. all of the provisions would give veterans and service members greater flexibility in their insurance choices and a greater peace of mind. additionally, the congressional budget office reports that none of the bills would increase federal direct spending for veterans insurance programs, and i want to applaud also the chairman of our disability assistance subcommittee, mr. hall of new york, for his leadership on these measures.

the legislation further provides for a wide variety of health care improvements in recognition of veterans who have sacrificed so much for the safety and freedom of the nation. it enhances the lives of the nation's veterans from world war ii to the current conflicts. other members also contributed to the health care provisions of the bill. i want to thank them for their efforts. for example, mr. mitchell of arizona, who wrote h.r. 1197, the medal of honor health care equity act of 2009, assigns a higher priority of medical services for veterans who are recipients of the medal of honor. another provision by mr. hare of illinois, h.r. 1302, would establish a position of director of physician assistant services within the office of the undersecretary of veterans' for health. and mrs. halvorson from illinois also sponsored h.r. 1335, which would prohibit the secretary of veterans' affairs from collecting certain co-payments from veterans who

are catastrophically disabled and have income above the means tested level. mr. mcnerney from california sponsored h.r. 1546, the caring for veterans with traumatic brain injury act, and that has been incorporated which to establish a committee on care of veterans with traumatic brain injury to assess the v.a.'s ability to treat and rehabilitate veterans with t.b.i., that is traumatic brain injury, and to provide recommendations on to how more effectively treat these veterans. mr. nye of virginia introduced h.r. 2926, which was incorporated into the bill to provide hospital care, medical services and nursing home care for certain vietnam era veterans exposed to herbicides and also veterans of the gulf war. mr. buyer would have establish a compensation fund for all civilian groups who are given veteran status under the g.i.

improvement act of 1977 and that is also in the bill. and finally, we have a bill introduced by mr. teague of new mexico, to waive the housing loan fee for certain veterans with certain service-connecteded disabilities called to service within this bill. so i want to thank all the members of this committee who have worked so hard to put together the important legislation we are considering today. and i hope my colleagues will support h.r. 3219, as amended. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from florida. mr. stearns: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. mr. speaker, i rise in strong support of h.r. 3219, as amended, to amend title 38 of united states code which would make improvements in the laws administered by the secretary of veterans' affairs relating to insurance and health care and for other purposes. h.r. 3219, as amended, combines veterans' life insurance and

health care provisions from bills by several members that improve the lives of veterans, and i will highlight from my colleagues just a few of these this afternoon. the bill includes provisions of h.r. 2349, the veterans' group life insurance improvement act of 2009, introduced by the ranking member, mr. buyer, to allow veterans under the age of 60 to purchase up to there are 400,000 of veterans' group life insurance coverage and $25,000 -- in $25,000 increments every five years. this bill gives our veterans greater flexibility and their life insurance choices and is supported by the v.a. and veterans service organization. that's good. another provision that has been included in h.r. 3219, as amended, is from h.r. 2270, also introduced by ranking member buyer, which provides equity for all of the 28 world

war ii civilian groups that were later given veteran status set up by the g.i. bill improvement act of 1977. the bill provides equity by making all these groups eligible for the same $1,000 a month payment that merchant mariners would receive under h.r. 23, as amended, which the house passed earlier this year. one group of veterans that will benefit from this provision is the -- provision is the members of the american volunteer group, also known as the flying tigers. this was a distinct group of american ground crew and pilots who worked as part of the chinese air force with u.s. government approval in defense of allied strongholds before and after america's entrance into the war. the flying tigers p-40 aircraft, with their

distinctive sharks' teeth painted on the nose of the fuselage became famous for their many, many successful raidsed on japan and china, including one just 12 days after parole harbor. they are credited with destroying 297 aircraft, of which 229 were air-to-air victories. this statistic is even more impressive when you consider they were largely outnumbered in almost every engagement they were involved with and all the supplies had to be flown over the hump from india over the himalaya mountains. also, mr. speaker, there's another well-known group, the women air force service pilots, wasps. they were pilots who flew noncombat missions for the air force in the war. over 1,000 of these brave pilots flew missions all over

the country. though they were promised to be made part of the air corps following the war, they were disbanded on december 20, 1944, with little fanfare and little recognition. earlier this year, the president signed s. 614 do award the congressional gold medal to an estimated 300 wasps that are still alive today. the passage of s. 614 coupled with the benefit provided to the wasps under the bill will give these brave women veterans the recognition they finally deserve. i want to thank the chairman, mr. filner, for accepting the amendment to include these in the bill so we can provide simple equity for all these veterans. i urge my colleague to support this legislation, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. filner: i yield as much time as she may consume to one

of our dynamic new members of our committee, mrs. halvorson of illinois. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for as much time as she may consume. mrs. halvorson: thank you, mr. speaker and thank you, mr. filner, for yielding. and for your leadership. i rise in support of h.r. 3219. included is language from legislation i introduced, which would eliminate co-payments for catastrophically injured -- disabled veterans who receive care at the v.a. catastrophically disabled veterans have condition this is a compromise their ability to carry out the activities of daily living, including such basic self-care tasks as eating, bathing, and dressing. veterans from these situations

have enough challenges to face on a daily basis. having enough resources to make a co-payment should not be another challenge they have to deal with. this legislation would allow our veterans to receive the health care they deserve without adding another burden that makes it more difficult to afford. also included in this language from my bill, the families of veterans' financial security act which would make permanent payments veterans receive from the cg -- the sgli. the sgli is operated by the v.a. and provides low cost group life insurance to members of the uniformed services. this program was developed make insurance benefits available for veterans and servicemens o were not able to secure -- and service members who were not able to secure insurance

from private companies due to extra risk involved in service or because of a service-related disability. currently, an a benefit extension exists to veteran whors totally disabled to retain their coverage at no cost for up to two years this extension guarantee this is a veterans most in need, the ones that are seriously disabled, as a result of their service, won't lose their life insurance coverage. this legislation would make the extension permanent and provide security to the families of disabled veterans. i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 3219 and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from california reserves. the gentleman from florida. mr. stearns: i would like to thank john hall of new york and

doug lamb born of colorado, and mic my shaud and henry brown of south carolina for their hard work on legislation included in this bill. i would also like to thank mr. buyer for their help many moving this forward and ask that the statement of mr. buyer of indiana be made part of the record. i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 3219 as amended, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. filner: i yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from american samoa, mr. faleomavaega. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. faleomavaega: i rise in support of h.r. 3219 to make certain improvements in the

laws administered by the secretary of veterans affairs related to health care and other purposes. i want to commend my colleague, the chairman of the committee of the veterans' affairs and my good friend from florida, managing on the other side of the aisle this important legislation. mr. speaker, h.r. 3219, among other things, would make permanent two-year extensions of free service members group life insurance coverage period for totally disabled veterans following separation from active or reserve duty, enable veterans ensured under the veterans group life insurance program to increase the amount of their coverage and eliminate the reduction in the amount of accelerated death benefits for terminally ill persons insured under the sgli and vgli programs. such improvements of these programs would maximize the opportunity for totally disabled veterans, especially those who have no commercial

insurance, the chance to obtain insurance coverage to pay for medical expenses. especially at this time of economic hardship this bill would provide tremendous financial help and security for our veterans and their families. moreover, it would expand existing health care programs to include veteran this is a would not otherwise qualify. for example, this bill would provide for the enhanced treatment authority for veterans of the vietnam era, like myself, and veterans of the gulf war who may have been exposed to agent orange, herb sides known to contain dioxin, which has been linked to cancer and other disorders. while the full impact of these is unknown, veterans have reported memory and concentration problems, headache, widespread pain, gastro intestinal problems and other problems not explained by

diagnostics. as a veteran myself and a proud member of o-- of the unit out of hawaii, i support the sacrifices of my fellow servicemen in the armed forces. i urge my colleagues to support this bill and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. filner: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislate daves to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in h.r. 3219 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. filner: i urge my colleagues to support the bill and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3219 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the intill passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? mr. filner: i move to suspend

the rules and pass the bill h.r. 1293. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 124, h.r. 1293, a bill to amend title 38, united states code to provide for an increase in the amount payable by the secretary of veterans' affairs for veterans for improvements and structural alterations furnished as part of home health services. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from california, mr. filner and the gentleman from california, mr. stearns each will control 20 minutes. the gentleman from california. mr. nil fer -- mr. filner: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank you mr. buyer for introducing this bill. in the past, many veterans have returned from combat with life-changing injuries. today another generation of service members is returning from wars in iraq and

afghanistan with even more egregious life-changing illnesses and injuries due to the development of better equipment that keeps them alive, albeit seriously injured. this bill provides for a long overdue increase for the amounts payable to veterans for improvements and alterations to their homes this amount has not been increased for 17 years. it would increase amounts from $4,200 to $6,800 for veterans with disability frand $1,2,000 to $2,000 to veterans. hissa grants can be used in addition to other grants offered through the veterans' administration to cover additional costs a veteran may be facing to build or adapt oa home to meet their needs. we owe it to our veterans to

keep pace with the many needs and challenges they face on a daily basis. 17 years is a long time to wait. i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 1293 and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida. mr. stearns: i yield myself such time as i may consume and ask unanimous consent to make mr. buyer's statement part of the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. stearns: i rise in support of h.r. 1293, the act of 2009. this bill is something that mr. buer introduced himself -- mr. buyer introduced himself for structural alterations that v.a. provides as part of home relt services. mr. speaker, it's an important benefit that is available to veterans with service-connected and nonservice connected disabilities who require home

adaptations to continue treatment for disability in their home and i'm proud to be an original co-sponsor of this bill. the hisa grant is used for something like widening a door, something simple that will have a great impact for veterans. lowering kitchen and bathroom counters and sinks, making simple handrails, wall switches, and window controls easy and accessible to folks so they can operate them. and installing elevators and stair lift which is will help for many veterans in wheel -- wheelchairs. this is distinth from the specifically adapted housing grants that are also available to service disabled veterans. the hisa grant can be used in addition to these grants. unfortunately, the hisa grant ceiling has not been raised in 17 years. yet the cost of home modification, as we all know, has increased over the years. in addition, there's a new generation of veterans from

operation enduring freedom and operation iraqi freedom, returning home with serious combat injuries. v.a. reports that the number of service connected veterans using the hisa grants grew by 20% from fiscal year 2000 to the year 2008. v.a. expects that the trend will continue to increase at the average of 1.5% per year. under current law, the maximum hisa grant is $4,100 for service-connected veterans and $1,200 for nonservice connected veterans. h.r. 1293 would raise the amounts to $6,800 for service-connected veterans and $2,000 for nonservice connected veterans. it would account for inflation and simply provide a reasonable amount for the type of home modification congress intended the program to provide for the service-connected veterans. h.r. 1293 is a bipartisan bill

that's supported by the v.a. and the veterans service organizations, so i urge my colleagues to support the bill, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from california. mr. filner: mr. speaker, i would yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from american samoa, mr. faleomavaega, a great supporter of veterans in our nation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from american samoa, mr. faleomavaega, is recognized . mr. faleomavaega: again, mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. faleomavaega: and i want to thank the gentleman, the gentleman from california, chairman filner, and my good friend from florida on the other side of the aisle for their management and also to commend the ranking member of our veterans' affairs committee, the gentleman from indiana, mr. buyer, for his sponsorship of this important bill. mr. speaker, h.r. 1293 would increase the amount authorized by the department of veterans' affairs under the health improvement and structural alteration, hisa for

improvements for homes of veterans with service-related disabilities of 50% or more. from $1,200 to $200 to service-connected disabilities up to 50%. we need structural and home improvements such as widening doors, putting in handrails or special lighting, making kitchens, bathrooms, electrical outlets and switches more accessible and building ramps, entrance ramps and driveways. these structural and home improvements is needed to meet the needs of our disand veterans. hisa was made out of concerned of disabled veterans returning to homes without proper structures. veterans with service-connected disabilities were receiving $1,200 -- $2,500 with veterans of nonservice-related

disabilities only received $600. 1992, the public law increased the fetime benefit limit from $2,500 to $4,100 for service-second veterans and $600 to $1,200 to nonservice-connected veterans. today, the ceiling has been in the process for 17 years even though the cost for home modifications have increased tremendously. no one deserve to prolong the suffering. i believe that this must be addressed to show our continued appreciation for our service -- for their service and all the accommodations to serve their disabilities should be made. mr. speaker, with a new generation of soldiers returning from the operation enduring freedom and operation iraqi freedom, this increase is significantly necessary. our service members have served our country in the time of the greatest need and have protected our nation's best interests, and i believe we should take care of their needs and interests when they return home. this legislation is necessary, and i urge my colleagues to support this bill. and i yield back the balance of

my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from california reserves. the gentleman from florida. mr. stearns: mr. speaker, in closing, i'd like to take the opportunity to thank the chairman and ranking member of the subcommittee on health, mike michaud of maine. i'd like to express my gratitude to the chairman, mr. filner, and ranking member, mr. buyer, for moving this bill to the floor so quickly. i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 1293, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from california. mr. filner: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on h.r. 1293. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. filner: i also urge my colleagues to unanimously support the bill, and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1293. those in favor say aye.

those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair -- mr. stearns: mr. speaker, on that i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? mr. filner: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 2770, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 123, h.r. 2770, a bill to amend title 38, united states code, to modify and update provisions of law relating to nonprofit research and education corporations, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from california, mr. filner, and the gentleman from florida, mr. stearns, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. mr. filner: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman is recognized. mr. filner: i rise in strong support of h.r. 2770. v.a. research is a very vital mission of the department of veterans' affairs, focusing on research for the special health care of our veterans, v.a.'s program has been recognized for excellence over many, many years. boasting such developments as the cardiac pacemaker and the cat scan, they have three nobel lure yets and other -- laurettes and other members. they've authorized the establishment of nonprofit research corporations. currently 82 of these n.p.c.'s provide their affiliated v.a. health care systems and medical centers with a highly valued means of administering nonv.a. research grants and private sector funds in support of v.a. research and education. the fundamental purpose of these nonprofits is to serve veterans by supporting v.a. research in medical education to improve the quality of care that veterans receive.

it has been 20 years now since the creation of the n.p.c.'s, and in that time the statute has never been updated. the purpose of this bill is to modernize and clarify that statute relating to nonprofit research and corporations. specifically, the bill expands the general authorities on establishing nonprofit research corporations by authorizing the creation of multimedical center research corporations where two or more v.a. medical centers share one corporation. it also clarifies the purposes of the corporations by allowing them to support functions related to research and education such as travel to scientific conferences, improvements in laboratories with new equipment purchase, and support for the institutional review board. at digsly, the bill modifies the requirements for the board of directors of the corporations so that they can acquire board members with legal and financial expertise for sound governance and financial management of the corporations.

the legislation also provides clarification on reimbursements and other fee charges. finally, h.r. 2770 improves accountability and oversight of the corporations by dealing the audit requirements so they are consistent with o.m.b. circular 8133, which provides guidance on audits as well as clarifying that employees of the corporations are to be subject to a conflict of interest policy adopted by the corporation instead of applying the federal conflict of interest regulations to nonfederal employees. so i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 2770, as amended, and i'd reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from florida. mr. stearns: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. and i ask unanimous consent that mr. buyer's statement be part of the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. stearns: mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 2770, as amended, the veterans nonprofit research and education corporations

enhancement act of 2009. this bill would simply amend title 38, united states code, to modify and update provisions of law relating to nonprofit research and education corporations, and for other purposes. v.a. nonprofit research corporations, or n.p.c.'s, as they're called, are independent entities that serve to provide a flexible funding mechanism for the use of non-v.a. funds to conduct v.a.-approved research. last year with $250 million in revenue, these organizations supported more than 4,000 research and education programs to benefit our veterans. it's been 20 years, however, since we passed the law that established this public-private partnership, and it is important for us to ensure that the statute stays relevant for today's complex research and compliance requirements and provides v.a. with the necessary oversight authority to simply safeguard the management of these funds. this bill, h.r. 2770, as

amended, would update and modernize the laws to improve the operation and strengthen the oversight of these not-for-profit entities. a key provision of the bill would allow an n.p.c. to be shared among a number of v.a. medical centers. to simply reduce administrative costs and to allow smaller n.p.c.'s to better achieve the potential to support v.a. research. so this bill would provide a number of new guidance and policy requirements to improve management of the n.p.c.'s and simply boost the v.a.'s oversight capability. i want to thank the chairman, mr. filner, and the ranking member, mr. buyer, for working in concert to jointly sponsor this bill and move it forward, as they've done. this bill is supported by the v.a., the friends of v.a. medical care and health research and the national association of v.a. research and education foundations. i urge my colleagues to support the bill, and i reserve the

balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from california. mr. filner: mr. speaker, i have no further speakers. if the gentleman wishes to yield back. mr. stearns: mr. speaker, i'd like to again offer my congratulations to the ranking member of the subcommittee, mike michaud, and henry brown, for their hard work on the bill. and obviously i appreciate mr. filner and mr. buyer, the ranking member, for working together. i urge my colleagues to support it, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from california. mr. filner: just to correct the record, mr. michaud the chair of the health subcommittee. you'd prefer that he's ranking member but he's chair. i would ask unanimous consent, mr. speaker, that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on h.r. 2770, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. filner: and i urge my colleagues to unanimously support the bill, and yield back our time. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2770, as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentlen from california rise? mr. filner: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 3155, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 122, h.r. 3155, a bill to amend title 38, united states code, to provide certain caregivers of veterans with training, support, and medical care, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from california, mr. filner, and the gentleman from florida, mr. stearns, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. mr. filner: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume and want to thank the chairman of the health subcommittee, mr. michaud of maine, for introducing this bill, and i'd like to yield to him to explain the bill since

he spent so much time in doing this. and we really thank him so much for doing this work. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maine, mr. michaud, is recognized. mr. michaud: thank you very much, mr. chairman, for yielding time to me. i also want to thank ranking member buyer, and you, mr. chairman, for bringing this bill so quickly so we can take care of our caregivers. but i also want to thank the staff on both the majority and minority side. a lot of work went into this legislation to move it forward at the rapid pace that it was moved forward. when our wounded heroes return home, there are many family members who step up to the role of a caregiver. in this effort, these family caregivers often make great sacrifices, including giving up their job, delaying their education, or making other significant life-changing sacrifice in order to be by their loved one's side. on june 4 of this year, the health care subcommittee, which

is by ranking member henry brown, we had a hearing to explore the needs of family caregivers of veterans. and based upon the foundings of this hearing, i introduced h.r. 3155, the caregiver assistance and resource enhancement act, otherwise known as the care act. the care act requires the v.a. to train existing case managers of veterans so that they can inform caregivers of the benefits and assistance available to them. next, the caregiver act provides support services to family and nonfamily caregivers of veterans of all eras who are enrolled in the v.a. health care system. such services include educational sessions on how to better give caregivers the education and resources they need. a one-stop shop to support services through a dedicated caregivers website, and information and outreach. in addition, this bill provides

caregivers with the counseling in mental health services to help cope with the stress of caregivers. the care act also provides veterans with the respite care that meets their -- the care they need. it provides an important number of -- medical care and monthly financial some typens will be available to primary caregivers. lodging and substantive payments will also be provided for those caregivers as well. and finally, the care act requires the v.a. to conduct a survey of caregivers so that we can better understand this population for future improvements in the program. it's one thing to pas legislation, it's the next thing to make sure that the legislation's implemented properly and that we revise that legislation to make it work smoothly. i'd also like to take a moment

to recognize the leadership of mrs. halvorson, mr. teague, and mr. perriello. they are true advocates of care givers, and their efforts are reflected in this bill. i want to thank my ranking member, mr. broun, for all the hard work he and his staff did to make the bill a better bill and move it forward so we can voten out here today. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting h.r. 3155 so we can begin to address the needs of the care givers who are the everyday heroes of our veterans. with that, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserve the gentleman from florida. mr. stearns: i yield myself such time as i may consume. i think mr. my shaud was correct in -- mr. michaud was correct in applauding the staff. i think in all these bills we should applauding the staff in their hard work in getting this accomplished. i rise in support of h.r. 3155,

the caregiver assistance and resource enhancement act of 2009. a family friend or family member who is a care givers drives the recovery of a severely wounded veteran or soldier. yet they make sacrifices and can have difficulties in caring for their own physical and mental needs and financial well being. it's important we reach out and make sure that education, counseling and other support services available so the family caregiver can meet their own daily needs as well as the needs of the wounded warrior for whom they care for. h.r. 3155, as amended, would establish new programs, enhance services and coordinate services system-wide. key components of the legislation would require the v.a. to provide more and better education using new technologies, expand mental

health and respite care services and travel benefits for family care givers. it also provides certain primary care givers of very severely injured returning care givers with health insurance if they lost or don't have it and a monthly personal allowance to mitigate financial problems that may occur. it would also require the v.a. to conduct a national survey of veterans' family care givers this survey would be vital to help us gain an understanding of the needs and develop additional good policies to support family care givers. i want to commend the subcommittee chairman, mic michaud, and subcommittee member henry brown for their work in developing this bipartisan piece of legislation this bill would provide veterans' family care givers with a strong, system-wide array of support and support to depend upon. i urge my colleagues to support the bill as amended and reserve

the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california. mr. filner: i would like to yield as much time as she may consume to mrs. halvorson of illinois, one of the movers of this legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from illinois, mrs. halvorson is recognized. mrs. halvorson: thank you, mr. filner for yielding and i want to thank mr. michaud for his leadership on this issue. i rise in strong support of this care act which among other things will provide the care givers of our injured heroes access to a wide range of services. h.r. 3155 includes language from my bill, h.r. 2898, the wounded warrior caregiver assistance act which authorizes the v.a. to make supportive services available tour care givers. specifically, the care act provides counseling and better training and respite care for family care givers.

it makes sure that the v.a. conducts community outreach through p.s.a.'s and brochures and informational pamphlets. finally, it helps care givers locate resources for additional support from public, private, and nonprofit agencies. having a stepson who was severely injured in afghanistan, i have firsthand understanding of how important these support services are. h.r. 3155 will give family care givers the tools and resources they need to provide the highest quality care to an injured son, daughter, or spouse. i would also like to take a moment to say thank you to care givers across this nation. mothers, fathers, spouses, and other family members are sacrificing their time, their energy, and in many cases, their futures to provide 24/7 health care for those who have

fought and -- fought to defend our nation. far doctor -- for far too long we have not provided them with the resources they node to prop every -- proeply care -- properly care for our wounded warriors. i strongly urge my colleagues to support the care act and thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from california reserves. the gentleman from florida. mr. stearns: let me close, i'd like to thank the chairman, as i have done earlier, mr. filner, and steve buyer, the ranking member, for bringing this bill to the floor. i urge my colleagues to support this and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: how much time remaining do we have? the speaker pro tempore: 14 minutes. mr. filner: i yield as much time as he he may consume to

the gentleman from american samoa, mr. faleomavaega. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. faleomavaega: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. faleomavaega: i want to commend the gentleman from maine, my colleague, mr. michaud for his leadership and sponsor zip of this -- sponsorship of this bill. i want to thank the chairman of the veterans affairs committee, chairman filner and ranking member buyer and my friend from florida, mr. stearns who is managing the other side of the aisle this bill addresses the important question of who will provide continuing care for injured servicemen and women once they transition to veteran status. today, more veterans are surviving the wounds of war than in the past. today, the saverpblg 1.7 wounded to every fatality for the first two world wars.

in korea and vietnam, it improved to three wounded per every fatality. operation iraqi freedom, we have seven wounded per fatality. there's a growing need to provide continuing care to those injured and wounded from recent conflicts once they reach veterans' status. as a result, providing support and resources to those giving care to these wounded and those injured veterans is of a real concern. unfortunately, the veterans' administration currently does not collect data that would enable us to assess the number of veterans currently under continuing care. there's no data available to assess the number of care givers, whether they be family members or other individuals. i believe this legislation provides for that right approach and again i thank the gentleman from maine for his

initiative in doing this bill. it would require the v.a. to conduct a caregiver survey at least once every three years to individuals caring for veterans enrolled in the v.a. health care system and report back to congress no later than 180 days after a survey has been completed. in essence, this bill would provide -- improve the quality of treatment and care of our veterans, specifically it would create a new caregiver program in order to provide coordinated support services to those giving care to our veterans. training would be made available to care givers through the veterans' administration. pertinent information would be disseminated to make sure they are aware and well informed of resources available to them. as a result, the bottom line, mr. speaker, our veterans are provided the necessary care for their needs. again, i support the legislation, i urge my colleagues to support this bill and i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from california. mr. filner: i thank the gentleman, mr. faleomavaega, for his support of the bills. i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislate days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material into h.r. 3155 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. filner: i urge support of the bill and yield back the plans of the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass hmplt r. 3155 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from guam rise? ms. bordallo: i move to suspend the rules and pass resolution 288. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title the clerk: house resolution 288, recognizing the importance of park and recreation facilities and express support for the designation of the month of july as national park and recreation month. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from guam, ms. bordallo, and the gentleman mr. hastings will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from guam. ms. bordallo: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. bordallo: house resolution 288 was introduced by our

colleague from georgia, representative john barrow, and would recognize july as national park and recreation month. federal, state, territorial, and local parks and recreation facilities across our nation play a vital role in creating healthy communities. they improve our quality of life. they keep our children active and safe and connected with nature. and they create economic opportunities by attracting businesses and jobs and increasing home values. house resolution 288 recognizes the importance of our valued parks and recreation facilities by encouraging the designation of a national park and recreation month. i commend my colleague, representative barrow, for his diligent work on ezz -- on this resolution. i ask my colleagues to support the passage of this measure and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time.

the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hastings: this resolution has been adequately explained by the gentlelady from guam. i hope this reminds the american people that public lands are theirs to fully enjoy. with that, mr. speaker, i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlewoman from guam. ms. bordallo: mr. speaker, i have no additional requests for time and would inquire of the minority whether they have additional speakers. mr. hastings: if the gentlelady has no requests for time, i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from guam. ms. bordallo: i again urge members to support this resolution and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 288. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative,

the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. without objection, the title amended. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from guam rise? ms. bordallo: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1376 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 127, h r. 1376 a bill to authorize the secretary of the interior to establish the waco mammoth national monument in the state of texas. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from guam, ms. bordallo, and the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from guam. many ms. bordallo: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection.

ms. bordallo: mr. speaker, h.r. 1376 introduced by our colleague, chet edwards, will establish a new national monument to protect the burial site near waco, texas, of several herds of mammoths that appear to have died in one or more floods some 68,000 years ago. the 107th congress authorized a study of the site and h.r. 1376 implements the results of that study. specifically, the bill provides that the 109-acre site be managed under a cooperative agreement among the national park service, baylor university, and the city of waco. . the representative has been a tireless effort on the preservation of this invaluable historic site. he is fob commended for his tireless efforts. i ask my colleagues to support the passage of this measure and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from washington.

mr. hastings: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hastings: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, h.r. 1376 would designate a national monument in the middle of the city of waco in texas. i do not necessarily oppose the designation but i do oppose the legislation as it is written because it lacks language protecting the property rights on lands adjacent to the monument. the national park service has a history of interfering with the use of lands it does not own. during the committee markup, congressman rob bishop of utah offered a commonsense amendment that limited the park service's control to the boundaries of the proposed monument. and prohibited the park service from designating buffer zones on private lands. the chairman of the subcommittee opposed the amendment stating that the concept of buffer zones did not exist and was nowhere to be found in law. however, a quick search of the park service's own website finds

78 references to buffer zones, including references in federal law. the amendment that was offered by mr. bishop was narrowly defeated by a 22-20 vote largely along party lines. so, mr. speaker, without language protecting private landowners adjacent to the monument, which includes homeowners, farmers, and for that matter even baylor university, paffering this legislation would be in my view -- passing this legislation would be in my view irresponsible. this is not a vague hypothetical concern. in the park service's own study, the issue of controlling neighboring lands through local zoning is specifically mentioned. and the door is left opened for the park service to push for restrictions on adjacent private property. that's the part that i -- concerns me with this legislation. so, mr. speaker, i urge a no vote on h.r. 1376 until language

is added protecting the property rights in the buffer zone. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from guam. ms. bordallo: mr. speaker, i yield such time as he may consume to the sponsor of the bill, the gentleman from texas, mr. edwards. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas, mr. edwards, is recognized. mr. edwards: i thank the gentlewoman from guam. mr. speaker, for over 60,000 years mother nature preserved a unique site in the world known as the waco mammoth site. now it is our responsibility to be good stewards of this historic site. located in my hometown of waco, texas, the site represents the only recorded incidence of a nursery herd of mammoths in the united states. it is the largest known concentration in north america and be possibly the world. dying from possibly the same

event some 68,000 years ago. according to the department of interior, the waco mammoth site is national treasure. that is why after an extensive study recommended that the site be designated a national monument and made a part of the national park system. my bill, 1376, would put into effect the department of interior recommendations. specifically the waco mammoth national monument establishment act of 2009 will establish in texas the waco mammoth national monument is a unit within the national park system. it would authorize the construction of administration and visitor use facilities on the site. and instruct the secretary of the entouror to prepare a management plan for the monument in consultation with baylor university and the city of waco. the national park service recommended that the most effective and efficient approach for ensuring the long-term

protection of the site and maximizing opportunities for public enjoyment and education would be for the national park service to lead a partnership with the city of waco and baylor nust. -- university. under this arrangement the national park service would take the lead responsibility for the protection, scientific study, and visitor enjoyment of the site while enlisting the partners in this effort. the partners would take the responsibility for initiating additional recreational and educational opportunities at the site. first discovered in 1978, the waco mammoth site is a unique find of national and international importance. to date 24 colombian mammoths, a giant tortoise, and a camel have been discovered. and future discoveries are high. it has become an area of

signature study been the argueo logical -- archaeological community. and it can serve as an educational resource for people of all ages for generations to come. for nearly decade i have been proud to join with and support the efforts of the city of waco, baylor university, and waco mammoth foundation to fulfill our dream of hing the waco monument site become a national monument, enjoying the ranks of american national monuments such as the statute of liberty -- statue of liberty. as with all accomplishments in life, this project has been a team effort. i especially want to salute the citizens of waco for their vision, dedication, and generosity in supporting this project. i can still remember, mr. speaker, my friend, sam, standing in my driveway in the 1990's telling me about this site for the very first time. while he and liz are no longer with us, their vision and donation of land started us down this path over a decade ago.

a path envisioned by them and former baylor professor, calvin smith. i remember buddy an early contributor to this project telling me we had a moral obligation to preserve for future generations what mother nature had protected for thousands of years. that led to my passing legislation in 2002 to have a resource study done by the department of interior and to later pass $400,000 in seed money for the project. when this project was bogged down a few years ago, i remember pastor johnwood, my father -in-law, holding a meeting in his home, which resulted in a renewed focus to get things moving forward. with the incredible leadership of gloria young, waco citizens raised $3 million of their own money to start building a permanent protective structure so that rains and floods would not ruin this site forever. citizens such as gloria and paul and gale and tommy and carla and

don and others have given generously of their own time and their resources to protect this unique historic site of the citizens of our country and the world. that is the kind of spirit of giving that makes me proud to call waco my home this. bill will not be on the house floor today were it not for the tremendous bipartisan efforts of so many. with apologies to anyone whose name do i not mention, i must especially thank and congratulate waco mayor, city manager and his staff, and dr. elie at baylor. their efforts have been tireless over many years and instrumental to the project's success. hardworking federal employees who often do not get thanked deserve our gratitude for the role they have played in doing the federal resource study. so thanks go to those at the national park service and the department of interior for whom

protecting special national resources is not a job but labor of love. last but certainly not least, i want to express my appreciation and natural resources committee chairman nick rahall and his ranking member, doc hastings. notwithstanding the legitimate principle question that he raised a minute ago, which i'll address in just a moment. i also want to thank raul grijalva and rob bishop, chairman and ranking member of the national parks, forest subcommittee. without their support this bill's passage would not be possible. i thank them for protecting america's natural resources. mr. speaker, what excites me the most is knowing that generations of school children will learn firsthand at the waco mammoth site about science and natural history. it will be an outdoor classroom where children can discover the richness of god's world in which we all live. at this unique site in the

world, they can find that learning can be fun and a lifelong adventure. when children and parents of all ages visit waco and see the bull mammoth desperately trying to push its young cavalier above the raging storm waters 68,000 years ago, we will all be touched by knowing the power of parental instinct is a common bond in mankind and mother nature. for the benefit of future generations, i ask my colleagues join with me in supporting h.r. 1376. mr. speaker, since i was not fully aware of mr. hastings' principle questions about this, i would just add a comment or two about that. i have been a long-standing supporter of private property rights. that's why i think the question he's raised is a very principled one. what i can say to the gentleman is that this has been supported by democrats and republicans and to my knowledge over a period of

10 years along with the support of baylor university and the city of waco and our community leaders, over that time period there's not been a controversy about private property being encroached upon by this project. i would just say to the gentleman if there is any way he could bring himself to support this bill, i would in good faith before we move forward in the senate sit down with him and discuss how we can address this issue. i would be glad to yield to the gentleman. mr. hastings: i appreciate the gentleman yielding. as i mentioned in my opening remarks, i have no problem with the designation. i thought you described it very, very well. you have heard those of us from the west talk about private property rights like these things only happen in the western part of the united states. but examples of this where these buffer zones have infringed on private property rights have happened all over the united

states. in michigan, obviously in the west, and even in the smoky mountains here in the eastern part of the united states. i know the gentleman is sensitive to that. i was disappointed that the amendment failed by a very close margin, but the reason it was offered why it didn't pass was because there's no precedence in law. in fact there is precedence in law. i suspect your legislation will pass because of -- on its mirts. notwithstanding my op -- merits. notwithstanding myp opposition to it. i would certain advise the gentleman has this process moves forward to look at this closely. this is not an isolated example. and i know that that is -- would be an unintended consequence of what you intended with this, especially as i understand this legislation sitting right in waco. i yield back. mr. edwards: to respond. if i could say to the gentleman again i have worked consistently. i may not be from the west. i'm from the southwest, though. private property rights are a

fundamental value in my district. again i can assure the gentleman i have worked for 10 years on this project. again with leading community leaders, elected officials at the city and county level. judge lewis and county commissioner's court contributed $100,000 of public money to this project. along with $3 million in private money we raised. it's been on the front pages of the waco newspaper for years. this is the first time i heard about any potential controversy regarding a buffer zone. could i ask the gentleman -- i do respect and understand his concern about national policy. could i ask if you heard from individuals from waco in terms of specific concerns about this bill? mr. hastings: if the gentleman would yield. no, i have to say i have not. having said that, there may be somebody on the staff that has. but i can tell the gentleman

that i have not heard specifically on this. but i just want to point out there are examples of this in other parts of the country. again it was something that was not anticipated, but in fact there was an infringing on these private property rights. i yield back to the gentleman. mr. edwards: i'll just say, mr. speaker, i respect the gentleman's questions. i certainly respect his concerns about protecting private property rights. i would just urge my colleagues with respect to the questions he's raised. i urge them because of the decade-long support in my community, this district is in my district, the broad bipartisan support for this bill. the many reasons i have mentioned in my floor statement why this bill needs to become law. the sooner the bet -- better. mother nature has protected this for over 60,000 years. there is risk of rains. while we are in the middle of a drought right now.

sometimes we have counties with drought and flood relief requests in at the same time, a massive flood in this area could put the entire project and all of its treasures at risk. i would plead with the gentleman to either himself or his colleagues to find way to support this bill. and let's find a way to work together which i would be glad to do as this bill goes to the senate. . mr. hastings stk if the gentleman would yield, i want to make the point, the issue has been known. like i say, this member has not heard directly from people in waco. maybe others have. i was talking in a larger sense. we've seen examples of this in other parts of the country. i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. edwards: i thank the gentleman for his questions raised, i look forward to working with him. i ask my colleagues, both

republican and democratic alike, since this bill is on the suspension calendar and requires a super majority, if they'd take into consideration the feelings of the people of my hometown who have been wanting this bill for a long time. if there are concerns about buffer zones and other rights, i'd welcome partnering with the gentleman for that purpose. with that, i yield back to ms. bordallo my remaining time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlewoman from guam reserves. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: thank you, mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. i've talked about this, it is a legitimate concern, i inquire of the gentlelady from guam if he his -- if she has any more

speakers? does she have any more speakers, mr. speaker? the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from guam. mr. bordallo: i have no further additional requests for time. mr. hastings: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlewoman from guam. ms. bordallo: i again urge members to support the bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1376 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative -- mr. hastings: i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this measure will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from guam rise? ms. bordallo: i move to suspend

the rules and pass h.r. 1121 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 125, h.r. 1121, a bill to exchange lands of blowing rock and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from guam. ms. bordallo: i ask in a all members have five legislative days to revise and extend mare remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. bordallo: this bill is sponsored by our colleague, representative virginia foxx, of new york. it authorizes the exchange of approximately 192 acres of land owned by the town of blowing rock, north carolina. for roughly 20 acres of land

within the blue ridge parkway a unit of the national park system. both the town and the national park service support this exchange. all applicable laws and policy regarding environmental compliance and equalization of values will be followed. this is a good bill, mr. speaker that resolves a long-standing management issue for both parties. i urge my colleagues to support the passage of this measure and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i yield myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hastings: theres. vaw that supplies watt -- the vezzvoir thatupplies water -- the rose vare that supplies water to the reservation was used until

recently. the parks service pronouncement means the town faces the prospect of renting its sole source of water one year at a time and being charged for the water. i want to compliment dr. foxx for this solution to the problem. this will allow blowing rock to manage its 20-acre municipal water supply rather than access it through the park service process. i am dismayed because of the price extracted by the national park service because it forced the town to come up with 192 acres in exchange for 20 in exchange. i think that's a bad ratio. nevertheless, i support this legislation, it's a good piece of leg and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from guam. ms. bordallo: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: mr. speaker, i yield as much time as she may consume to the author of this

legislation, the gentlelady from north carolina. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from north carolina, representative foxx, is recognized. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank my colleague from washington and my colleague from guam for bringing my bill forward and especially want to thank the committee for bringing h.r. 1121, the blue ridge parkway and town of blowing rock land exchange act, forward for consideration. this is an noncontroversial, bipartisan legislation and -- which is recognized by the north carolina delegation as essential to the blue ridge parkway's vital tourism industry and the town of blowing rock's access to public drinking water my colleagues have done a phenomenal job of explaining the need for the legislation and the fact that it is noncontroversial and very, very positive legislation. in recent years, the north carolina mountain region has experienced remarkable population growth and increased

tourism, increasing the need for reliable water supplies in towns like blowing rock. a testament to its importance in the region, this legislation is co-sponsored by the entire north carolina delegation. i urge my colleagues to support this important legislation and again thank the committee for bringing it to the floor for consideration. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from washington reserves. the gentlewoman from guam. ms. bordallo: mr. speaker, i have no additional requests for time and would inquire of the minority whether they have any additional speakers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i have no more requests for time, so i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlewoman from guam. ms. bordallo: i again urge members to support this bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r.

1121 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative -- ms. boar dal olow: i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from guam rise? ms. bordallo: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 556 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 92, h.r. 556 a bill to establish a program of research, recovery, and other activities to provide for the recovery of the southern sea otter. the speaker pro tempore: per sunt to the rule -- pursuant to the reehl rule, the gentlewoman from guam, ms. bordallo, and the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings, each will control 20 minutes. the gentlewoman from guam. ms. bordallo: i ask that all

members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. bordallo: growth of the southern sea otter population has been slow over the last decade because of high mortality rates. otters die from many causes, including disease, parasites, malnutrition, and entanglement in fishing gear. additional action is needed to ensure the recovery of these animals is a success. h.r. 556, introduced by our colleague, congressman sam farr of california, would direct the u.s. fish and wildlife service to implement a program that would address the decline of the southern sea otter by looking at health, mortality and life history parameters. develop measures to reduce factors impacting marine ecosystems, health, and human activity this is a limit sea otter populations, and to do so

in accordance with consensus recommendations made by the services' published southern sea otter recovery plan. h.r. 556 has been substantially revised since it was introduced, largely to address concerns of coastal fishing interests. the bill also benefited from further changes to streamline the recovery and research grant program and clarify its scope as it advanced through the committee process. h.r. 556 is necessary to provide a stable and reliable source of funding for critically needed research, monitoring, and implementation of recovery actions. its provisions would apply directly to southern sea otters, but because these otters are a keystone and a centennial species, h.r. 556 would also benefit the california coastal ecosystem as a whole. i urge members, mr. speaker to support the bill and reserve

the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hastings: i rise in opposition to h.r. 3556 a bill which will take a threatened species and place its management needs above others, even if those species are in danger of becoming extinct. the u.s. fish and wildlife service is the agency with management authority over the southern sea otter and most other animals listed as endangered or threatened. the service should make its own determination on how best to use endangered species act recovery funds. mr. speaker, i don't believe congress should get in the habit of promoting one species' needs over other, more endangered species. we should let the management agency do its job, guided by the endangered species act. with that, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves.

the yom from guam. ms. bordallo: i yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from california, mr. farr. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. farr: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you for yielding. always a delight to work with your committee and on this very important bill. the southern sea otters are a keystone species, as the chairwoman pointed out. if they break the chain, the whole ooco-logical system falls apart. essential -- the whole ecological system falls apart. the sea urchins, they are like the snails of the ocean, they eat the seaweed. if they go unchecked, you'll clear cut the oceans and have no habitat for fish and other thing this is a live in kelp beds. sea otters, by eating urchins, and we have a big urchin industry in california as well, have been compatible for years and years. the problem we have with the southern sea otter is its

remarkable recovery and it's a tribute to federal law that listed them because there were less than 100 animals, now they're up to about 2,000. but guess what? they're not growing, and there are less than there were a few years ago. there is something happening to this species that nobody can understand. that's why you need specific legislation to try to get, as the bill points out, it's a research bill. i want to point out to the ranking member, mr. hastings, where he pointed out that you shouldn't have these management sort of by single caveat, jal though we have done, in law, the african element, the bald and golden eagles, and i know those are important to you in your district, the elk preservation act, the fur seal act, the crown of thorns starfish act, the north pacific halibut act, the salmon conner

is vation act and the atlantic striped bass. those are just eight i could quickly find, i'm sure there's a lot more. i think the crisis here of the sea otter and frankly it's a big economic issue, too, because those of us who live along the central coast of california, it's a big draw for tourism. that's why the monterey bay aquarium, their single most looked at and visited exhibit is the sea otters. this bill came about with a lot of work from a lot of organizations. there's 13 organizations that have gone in support of this bill and brought these issues to us, including the defenders of wildlife, friends of sea otters, the marine conservation biology institute, the national resources defense council and many others. they represent about 14 million members.

i'm pleased that we were able to work out this bill with committee and bring it to the floor and hopefully get it adopt sod that we can figure out why this canary species, the -- if the sea otters are dying, then something else is happening that is very keen to the coastal near shore environment that affects the well being of mankind. i'd appreciate your support on this bill. it'smportant to good science and to preservation of our ecosystem. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlewoman from guam reserves. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: if i could inquire of the gentlelady from guam if she has more speakers. i have no requests for time on my side, if she's prepared to close, i'll yield back. . ms. bordallo: i will reserve the balance of my time. mr. hastings: did i understand the gentlelady to say she's prepared to close? ms. bordallo: yes. mr. hastings: with that, mr. speaker, i yield back the

balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from guam. ms. bordallo: mr. speaker, i again urge members to support the bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 556, as amended. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, -- the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and make a point of order a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from guam rise? ms. bordallo: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 509 as amended the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 107, h.r. 509, a bill to re-authorize the marine turtle conservation act of 2004. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the

gentlewoman from guam, miss -- ms. bordallo, and the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from guam. ms. bordallo: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. bordallo: mr. speaker, marine sea turtles are threatened by intentional and accidental capture in fisheries. the destruction of essential nesting habitat through coastal development, poaching of eggs, meat, and shells, entanglement in marine debris, ship strike, and ocean pollution. the marine turtle conservation re-authorization act of 2009 introduced by my friend and ranking member, mr. brown, of south carolina, provides a simple extension of an existing program which helps enhance our

conservation of marine turtle species. while progress has been made, the status of these turtle species remains tenuous, justifying the need to re-authorize this act. so i ask my colleagues, members on both sides of the aisle, to support its passage. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hastings: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, h.r. 509 was introduced by the gentleman from south carolina and a member of the resources committee, mr. brown. it will extend the authority of the secretary of interior to issue conservation grants to assist endangered marine sea turtles. under this measure the authorization of appropriations is extended an additional five years at existing funding levels. since 2004, 78 conservation projects have been approved to assist the imperiled green, hocks bill, loggerhead, and all of ridly marine sea turtles.

these projects are making a real difference in the ongoing struggle to save these species. i urge an aye vote on h.r. 509 and want to compliment my friend and colleague from south carolina, mr. brown, with that i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from guam. ms. bordallo: mr. speaker, i have no additional requests for time and would inquire of the minority whether they have any additional speakers. mr. hastings: if the gentlelady is prepared to close, i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from guam. ms. bordallo: mr. speaker, in closing i support this bill to restore and protect marine sea turtles. and i urge members to support both the turtles and the otters. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 509 as amended. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded

in the affirmative, -- the gentlewoman from guam. ms. bordallo: i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and make a point of order a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona rise? >> thank you, mr. speaker. i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 716. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 616, resolution congratulating the louisiana state university baseball team for winning the 2009 national collegiate athletic association division i college world series. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva, and the gentleman from louisiana, mr. cassidy, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker. i request five legislative days during which members may revise

and extend and insert extraneous material on h.r. 616, into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. grijalva: thank you. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise today to congratulate the louisiana state university baseball team for their victory in the 2009 ncaa division i tournament. on june 24 the l.s.u. tigers captured the university's sixth national baseball championship with an inimpressive 11-4 victory over the university of texas longhorns. this victory over the texas longhorns in the third game of a three-game series marked the first baseball championship for the tigers since 2000. we want to congratulate the coaches, the fans, and the supporters of l.s.u. tigers in this dramatic victory. they were rated number one going into the season. third when the tournament began. and pulled a dramatic victory.

i must emphasize that l.s.u. is not only an athletic powerhouse but this university is also premiere academic institution. they offer bachelor, master, doctoral, and professional degrees. the school enrolls over 26,000 students, including more than 1,400 international students, over 4,000 graduate students. l.s.u. graduates elite athletes, renowned scholars, and infamous elected officials who are changing the world as we know it. mr. speaker, once again i congratulate louisiana state university. i want to thank representative cassidy for bringing the resolution forward. i urge my colleagues to support this resolution and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from louisiana. mr. cassidy: thank you. i thank my colleague from arizona. mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cassidy: mr. speaker, i rise today in support of house resolution 616, congratulating the louisiana state university

baseball team for winning the 2009 national collegiate athletic association division i college world series. louisiana state university, l.s.u. was founded in 1853 and the first academic session began in 1860. as of the spring of 2009, l.s.u.'s enrollment is more than 26,000 students, including more than 1,400 international students, and over 4,000 graduate students. l.s.u. includes 10 senior colleges and schools and since its first commencement in 1869, the university has awarded nearly 200,000 degrees. l.s.u. has more than 300 student organizations on campus, and is widely known for its successful athletic program. the louisiana state university tigers have won 45 national sports championships, including five in baseball, three in football, and 25 in women's track and field. since 1986 l.s.u. baseball has been considered an elite program

in college baseball, making 15 college world series appearances and winning six national championships. the team was founded in 1895 and played a total of four games that first season. the tigers won their first national championship in 1991 and most recently were crowned national champions for the sixth time. the 2009 l.s.u. tigers baseball team has led to national victory by the coach, the team traveled to omaha, nebraska, for the ncaa college world series after sweeping southern university of baton rouge, baylor university and the university of minnesota in the regional championship and rice university in the superregional championship. then in the ncaa division i college world series, the l.s.u. tigers faced the texas longhorns in the finals after winning victories over the virginia cavaliers and the arkansas razorbacks. the l.s.u. tigers took the national title after a grueling three-game series against the longhorns. l.s.u. finished their season 56-17.

the team's athletic ability, determination, and coach paul's leadership led the baseball team to their first national championship victory since the year 2000. as a graduate of both l.s.u. and the l.s.u. medical school, i'm honored to stand before the house today to congratulate and recognize the significant achievements of the players, coaches, and students whose dedication and hard work have led to the success of the l.s.u. baseball program as the 2009 ncaa division i college world series national champions. i ask my colleagues to support the resolution. i reserve the balance of my time. go, tigers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: mr. speaker, i continue to reserve. would inquire of my colleague, mr. cassidy, if he has any additional speakers. mr. cassidy: i do. i yield to my colleague, dr. boustany. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana, mr. boustany, is recognized. mr. boustany: thank you, mr.

speaker. i rise today in support of house resolution 616, congratulating the louisiana state university baseball team for winning the 2009 national collegiate athletic association division i baseball national championship. i want to thank my friend, congressman bill cassidy, for sponsoring this resolution and for yielding time to me as well. and i also want to thank the education and labor committee for bringing it to the floor. on june 24, the l.s.u. tigers defeated the top seeded university of texas longhorns 11-4 in the third and final game of the college world series to achieve their sixth national championship in baseball. in only his third year as head coach, paul led the tigers back into the national spotlight. the series was sealed by an amazing performance from jere red mitch -- jared mitchell named most outstanding player of the series and first round pick

in the 2009 bleeg baseball draft. -- major league baseball draft. pitcher chad jones became the first two athletes to win both a college world series and a b.c.s. football national championship. mr. speaker, i'm especially proud of two players from my district, first of all my cousin, mikey. he lost his dad when he was about 6 years old and his dad was also a very well-known college athlete at l.s.u. mikey's turned out to be a great young man. he was s.e.c. all freshman outfielder. he's from my hometown. and also want to congratulate spencer matthews from lake charles, also in my district. this season mikey gave an excellent performance in the outfield. in addition to batting .450 with 13 home runs, 45 r.b.i.'s, 25 stolen bases, and multiple clutch hits, most notably in game one of the championship

series, spencer also recently represented the thomasville in the coastal plain league all-star game. a wooden bat summer league for college players in wilmington, north carolina. he pitched a scoreless fifth inning in the game, allowing no hits and striking out two batters. both student athletes are tremendous athletes to the team and southwest louisiana. mr. speaker, we must not forget that foremost these student athletes perform just as hard in the classroom as they do on the baseball field. i'm proud to announce that 11 members of this national championship team were placed on the 2009 southeastern conference spring academic honor roll. each student at-let -- athlete must have at least a 3.80 grade point average to be recognized. this championship is very special to the louisiana state university system and my great state of louisiana. it's my honor to recognize coach

paul and the 2009 l.s.u. tiger baseball team for all its accomplishments this season and for bringing home the college world series title. i also want to commend the families of these players, coaches, and support staff, and the very loyal, very vocal l.s.u. baseball teams -- baseball fans that have come to recognize omaha as a home away from home. go, tigers. i now ask my colleagues to support this resolution and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from louisiana reserves. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: i reserve the balance of our time. we have i believe no further speakers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona reserves. the gentleman from louisiana. mr. cassidy: i yield to my colleague, congressman scalise, two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: congressman scalise from louisiana is recognized.

mr. scalise: i thank my colleague from baton rouge for yielding two minutes. also good to follow-up my colleague from lafayette. rising in support of this resolution commending the 2009 l.s.u. tigers for their national championship winning the college world series as a proud alumnus of l.s.u., i was very excited to see them regain the prominence that they had under skip burtman, who won five national championship college world series during his tenure as the head coach, probably one of the greatest baseball coaches in the history of college baseball. now to have turned the program over to paul who just in his third year won the national title winning this college world series in omaha, a place that many people from baton rouge and fans of l.s.u. all throughout the country enjoy going to and of course celebrating national championships like now they did with the sixth national championship making them number two behind all college teams in

the history of college baseball. . there were a number of notable achievements. you've got to congratulate the coaches and players and the entire l.s.u. community for all they've done. chad jones and jared mitchell became the first two teammates who actually were on a b.c.s. national championship, winning -- being on the 2007 football national championship team and also on a team that won the college world series. some notable achievements there. the entire l.s.u. faculty, of course, the l.s.u. athletic program generates hundreds of thousands of dollar this is a go back to academic programs at l.s.u. as well. i'm proud to co-sponsor this resolution and i urge my colleagues to support it and go tigers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana reserves, the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: i continue to

reserve our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona reserves. the gentleman from arizona. mr. cassidy: i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: i yield back the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 616? those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative -- mr. cassidy: i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona rise? mr. grijalva: i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1035. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. the clerk: house resolution 1035, the morris k. udall

scholarship and excellence act. the speaker pro tempore: the chair rebling nices the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: i request five legislative days during which member mace revise and extend and insert extraneous material on h.r. 1035 into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. grijalva: i rise in support of h.r. 1035, a bill that enhances the morris k. udall foundation and honor the life of stewart udall. the morris k. udall foundation is an independent foundation that operates exceptional educational programs focused on developing leadership in environmental and native american issues. it also includes the u.s. institute for environmental conflict resolution, the only program focused entirely on preventing, manage, and resolving federal environmental

conflicts. the legislation today will enhance the program's and operations and honor one of the greatest public servants and conservationists in history. by adding stewart jew dal's name to the foundation along with his brother, morris k. udall. initially the foundation's mission was to provide educational opportunities for studies related to the environment and native american tribal policy and health care. in 1998, congress amended the udall foundation, enabling it to add a new mission, resolving conflicts related to environment, natural resources and public lands through services including mediation, facilitation and training. the work of the udall foundation has become more important today as the nation seeks long-term responses to climate change, sustainable energy supplies, and a sustainable economy for all americans.

through the education programs, the udall foundation identifies and educates tomorrow's leaders in the fields that are critical to the energy, climate change and economic issues facing this country. the programs include a premier scholarship and doctoral fellowship for ve environment and a scholarship for native americans studying health care. the native american internship program, which brings gifted graduate and undergraduate students to congress to work with us. the native american institute for leadership and management which trains and educates tribal lead thornse changing role and how to apply research and how indigenous people can meet the practical challenges of nation building. the park and focus policeman, which connects underserved youth to nature through the art of photography, instilling a new and lasting long-term

understanding and appreciation of our public lands. it's appropriate that -- for congress provide solid support for the udall foundation, an important program, through this legislation. while simultaneously recognizing the unsurpassed cricks of stewart l. udall by adding his name to the foundation's title. stewart udall serbed in this house of congress with distinction from 1955, repting an area that included what is now my district, until he was appointed secretary of the interior in 1961 by president john f. kennedy. as secretary of the interior, stewart udall had an unmatched record of environmental leadership, overseeing the creation of four national parks, six national monument, eight national seashores and lakeshore, nine recreation areas, 20 his poric sites, 56

wildlife refuges. he continued to make substantial contributions to environmental and native american policy as -- as a lawyer and author following his tenure. i urge passage of h.r. 1035 and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana. mr. cassidy: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cassidy: i rise in support of h.r. 1035, a bill that amends the morris k. udall scholarship and excellence in national environmental policy act. the foundation was created to help educate new generations to protect the environment. the foundation works to increase the awareness of our nation's natural resources, foster greater recognition in the role of the environment in our nation, and through the u.s. institute for environmental conflict institute, provide resources to

resolve disputes involving federal agencies. they operate several educational programs. the morris k. udall scholarship programs awards approximately 80 merit-based similarships each year. it supporting about 12 native americans or alaska natives every summer for a congressional internship program. it supports two fellows every gleer a doctoral program whose research focuses on environmental policy. the bill before us today continues the work of the foundation by making administrative changes and adding another member of the udall family to the legislation. this will honor another member of the udall family by changing the name of the foundation to the morris k. udall and stewart l. udall foundation. stewart also spent his life serving the nation. he was elected to congress in 1954 and served from 1955 too 1961, when he left to serve as

president john f. kennedy's secretary of the entire yomple he continued in that post until 1969, when he returned to the private sector, always working to protect the environment and our nation's heritage. mr. stewart udall is almost 90 years old and adding his name to the foundation is a fitting tribute to him and his family's service to the nation. i urge my colleagues to support this bill and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm pleased to recognize the chairman of the education and labor committee, the gentleman from california, mr. miller, for as much time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california, mr. miller, is recognized. mr. mill interk i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. miller: i thank the gentleman from arizona for yielding this time. i rise in very strong support of h.r. 1035, which honors the life of stewart l. udall a selfless public servant, by making improvements to the

morris k. udall's operations and adds his name to that of his brother, morris udall, on the foundation. stewart udall was born and raised in st. johns, arizona, along with his brother morris he left says his studies at the university of arizona to pursue two years of work as a mormon missionary in noork and pennsylvania he served his country in world war ii as a gun for the europe and traveled back to due san to open a successful law firm with his brother. he was elected to congress in 1954 and served both on the interior committee and on the committee on education and labor and he also served as the joint committee on the navajo-hoe pee indian administrationing -- navajo-hopi indian administration, a term that lasted much longer than his term in the congress of the united states. i don't want to recount all the things my colleagues have said, but clearly in his time in congress, he was very active on

these committees and as president kennedy recognized, his leadership on the issues of the environment and stewartship of our public lands and nominated him to be secretary of the interior, as mr. grijalva pointed out, he was one of our most successful secretaries of the interior, not just in leadership but also what he was able to accomplish in working with the congress in the establishment of seashores and national monuments and lakeshores and recreational areas that cross our country and are so valuable to our local communities and local economies. and after -- after leaving congress, he continued and continues today to be actively involved in public policy around environmental issues and working very hard as does the foundation on environmental conflict resolution. this is an effort by the congress, and i think a wonderful effort by the

congress to recognize the contributions of stewart udall and his brother morris udall, who i served with in the congress, was my chairman on the resources committee, and really the recognition of the family that has contribute so much to public service and i would hope my colleagues would give this resolution resounding support on behalf of moe udall, stewart udall and the udall families and what public service means to allf us in this country. i thank the gentleman, mr. grijalva, for yielding me this time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona reserves. the gentleman from louisiana. mr. cassidy: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: i'm pleased to recognize the gentleman from american samoa for three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized.

mr. faleomavaega: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. faleomavaega: i want to thank the gentleman from arizona, as chairman of our national parks subcommittee, for his leadership and sponsorship of this bill and i certainly want to associate myself with the comments made earlier by our colleague and former chairman of our house resources committee and currently now as chairman of the education and labor committee, congressman miller, for his comments. commending this legislation to the extent that, you mentioned the name udall, it resonates very well in the state of arizona, as i'm sure my good chairman will always realize that. i say this with a sense of tremendous feeling about the udall family asen early mormon pioneer family who settled what is now arizona. tremendous contributions that these brothers have made to our

nation's environmental issues. how ironic it is from a western state that you have two dynamic leaders that have shown real leadership in protecting the nation's environment and you think it comes only for those who want to develop our resources rather than also looking at the environmental issues as just as important. ironically, too, the fact that stewart jew udall's son serbs as senator for the state of colorado. i think i'm getting myself mixed up, so many udall's going around here, i get confused. stewart udall's son, tom is currently the u.s. senator from new mexico. moe udall's son mark is the u.s. senator from colorado. i want to commend the gentleman from arizona for his sponsorship of the bill and i urge my colleagues to pass this legislation, especially the tremendous help it gives to

students, the native american community in our country. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from arizona continues to reserve. the gentleman from louisiana. mr. cassidy: i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: i'm pleased to recognize my good friend from arizona, mr. mitchell, for three minutes. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona is recognized. mr. mitchell: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mitchell: mr. speaker, i rise in support of the morris k. udall scholarship and excellence in national environmental policy amendment act, h.r. 1035. congress established the morris k. udall foundation in 1992 to focus on critical environmental issues, provide resources to train native american professionals in health care and public policy and resolve

environmental disputes involving federal agencies through the u.s. institute of environmental conflict resolution. under this measure, the morris k. udall doll scholarship will also honor stuart udall. the udall brothers were not only prominent u.s. politicians from the great state of arizona, they were also dedicated public servants. as a teacher for 29 years, i used to tell my students when you name something after someone significant, whether it's a park, school, or scholarship, it's not -- this not only honors that person but it was also meant to set an example. stu udall has served the local communities in arizona as well as the entire nation. from serving in the united states army air corps to representing the local education community as a school board president of amphitheater public schools torques represent his constitutes as united states congressman, to serving as secretary of the interior under

presidents kennedy and johnson, stu udall has truly set an example for all of what public service means. it is my hope the recipients of this scholarship will honor stu udall and his legacy by engaging in a life of public service. i urge my colleagues to support this measure and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona reserves. the gentleman from louisiana. mr. cassidy: i continue to reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: i have no further speakers and continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from louisiana. mr. cassidy: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker. in closing let me urge my colleagues to support h.r. 1035. it's a solid acknowledgement of two great americans who contributed much to this country and their public policy legacy is obvious and known to all.

but i think one thing that they contributed and i think it's important in our times to remember, as political figures and as public figures, they contributed civility to the discourse, they contributed humor to the discourse. they brought integrity into their decisionmaking. and they were about bridging political differences and not exploiting them. i think that's the kind of legacy that bodes well for all of us that are in public service. and something that not all of us, including myself, mirror all the time. i come from a region in which the udall family is part and parcel of the history, the accomplishments, and the legacy of that region. and so with great pride and with sincere hopes that th house will support this, i urge passage of h.r. 1035. and yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1035. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair -- mr. cassidy: i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and make a point of order a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? >> mr. speaker, morph to pass house joint resolution 44. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the joint resolution. the clerk: house joint resolution 44, joint resolution recognizing the service, sacrifice, honor, and professionalism of the noncommissioned officers of the united states army. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the jamplet georgia, mr. marshall, the gentleman from south carolina, mr. wilson, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the

gentleman from georgia. mr. marshall: thank you, mr. speaker. let me first ask that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the resolution under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. marshall: mr. speaker, earlier this year the chief and the secretary of the army declared this year to be the year of the n.c.o. within the united states army. mr. skelton would be here today, chairman skelton would be here today to handle this motion but for the fact that he is at walter reed hospital visiting a constituent who has been injured in service to the country in iraq or afghanistan. and i would like unanimous consentle to permit me to enter into the record the statement of chairman skelton on this matter. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's request will be covered by general leave. mr. marshall: mr. speaker, the

n.c.o., noncommissioned officer, is offer described as the backbone of the army. the n.c.o. is also described as the eyes and ears of the commander. i was an n.c.o. in vietnam myself. a little bit young compared to the n.c.o.'s we have today. too wet behind the ears to be a good n.c.o. because a really good n.c.o. is not just backbone and eyes and ears. a really good n.c.o. is a teacher, a leader, almost a father or mother to the young soldiers that work in the unit that that n.c.o. is in charge of. n.c.o.'s not only train those soldiers, guide those soldiers, try to instill in those soldiers a real spirit of what it's like to be a sorlede, what it's like to be a good human being, instilling values, courage, teaching, training, techniques, you name it, but in addition to that good n.c.o.'s do the same thing for young officers. instilling in young officers the

kind of experience and wisdom that young officers need to gain as they mature. n.c.o.'s are essentially foremen. they are superintendents. without n.c.o.'s, we have had them for over 230 years, this army would not be what it is today. there is no question about that. they serve with honor in today's army. they sacrifice a great deal both themselves and their families. there are many examples of courage under fire by n.c.o.'s, over 100 medal of honor winners are n.c.o.'s in the united states, from the united states army. and i can't think of a more fitting tribute in light of the fact that the secretary and chief have declared this to be the year of the n.c.o. than that all of us vote in favor of of this motion which honors our n.c.o.'s in the united states army and with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time.

the gentleman from south carolina. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, i rise in strong support of house joint resolution 44, honoring the noncommissioned officers of the united states army. i thank congressman ike skelton, the chairman of the house armed services committee, for introducing this legislation. no one has better expressed the reason for this resolution than the current sergeant major of the army, kenneth preston, in his view today's n.c.o. corps is a standard-bearer of one of the army's greatest success stories -- the all volunteer force. and serves as a role model for armies of the world to emulate. i fully agree with sergeant major's statement. along with my colleague, mr. marshall of georgia, i, too, am an army veteran and in my own 31-year experience of the army national guard and reserve, noncommissioned officers were indispensable to the accomplishment of the

commissions we undertook. this is true of n.c.o.'s across all branches of the military. one of my four sons serving today in the military, a navy doctor, has been so impressed by the leadership and professionalism exhibited by the n.c.o.'s with whom he serves that he recommended that i invite one of their children to work as an intern in our office who is present with us today. todd o'brien is the son of master chief petty officer o'brien. master chief o'brien supports the u.s. navy seals as an independent duty corpsman in the naval special warfare logistical support medical group 2 and naval am bibous base, little creek, virginia. while he serves in a different branch, he serves in the values of service, honor, integrity, and courage common to all professional, noncommissioned officers. the army is adaptable and

successful on the battlefield because the corporals and sergeants have the training, education, professionalism, and operational and strategy awareness to -- strategic awareness to interpret and issue orders as necessary within their duties as the absence of commissioned officers. the all volunteer army has been able to sustain itself through eight years of war in two fronts because of corporals and sergeants who have made great personal sacrifices in the global war against terrorism. moreover, the noncommissioned officers of the army have not only trained future leaders, both officer enlisted, but they have also gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure the welfare of junior enlisted personnel and their families. in recognition of the current and historical contributions, sacrifices, and leadership, and professionalism of its noncommissioned officers, the army has designated 2009 as the year of the n.c.o.

this resolution is part of that effort to honor the corporals and sergeants who are the backbone of the army. i would urge all members to vote yes on this resolution as one way of expressing their deepest appreciation for the n.c.o.'s serving and have served. i would also urge that each one of us as we go home to our districts and meet with our constituents to take the time to explain what a magnificent army this nation has. especially because the men and women who call themselves n.c.o.'s. madam speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. marshall: madam speaker, i appreciate the words of my friend from south carolina, mr. wilson. as he noted he was an officer, a commissioned officer. who better than a commissioned officer to testify to the importance of noncommissioned

officers to the proper functioning of the army. frankly the army could not function with commissioned officers alone. noncommissioned officers arer more than just the backbone of the army. madam speaker, i would like to yield some time to a fellow n.c.o. from vietnam, the gentleman from american samoa, mr. faleomavaega. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. faleomavaega: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to extend and revise my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. faleomavaega: as a fellow n.c.o., my colleague, the gentleman from georgia, and also my good friend, mr. wilson, from south carolina i draw today to the attention of my colleagues today to house joint resolution 44, an act that would recognize the valiant efforts and heroism of the noncommissioned officers of the united states army. i would like to commend chairman skelton for his introduction and leadership and sponsorship of this bill. token of appreciation to those

who serve to protect our nation and our ideals of freedom. noncommissioned officer rank has a long and rich history in the united states army. originating with the continental army in 1775, the most visible leaders of the service, noncommissioned officers have been the backbone of the army for more than 230 years. often referred as the eyes and ears of a commander, noncommissioned officers are not only sought after their advice and guidance, but they are the standard keepers of the service, dedicating to the upholding of the army's and our country's values. responsible for the training of the army's future leaders, the noncommissioned officer is an integral part of our service. mr. speaker, from my own little district of american samoa and as a fellow samoan, i'm very proud to say -- share this little bit of news with my colleagues here. the house today, just a few

weeks ago a fellow samoan, a ranger, 101st member of the airborne was recently selected by admiral timothy keating as the senior enlisted leader of the u.s. army pacific command. in other words, the command sergeant major of all u.s., not just army, but the entire unified military command under the pacific command currently in hawaii led by admiral keating. this command was established in 1947 by president truman and is considered the largest of the united states uefide commands and consists of approximately 250,000 military personnel. command sergeant major has a long and substantial career in the u.s. army. he's served overseas all throughouturep rop and was instrument in the initial incursion of baghdad, and also

former command sergeant major u.s. army central command. he's an example of the samoan soldiers who are enlisted and have served in the many branches of the armed forces. i would like to take this opportunity to recognize command sergeant major vimoto, command sergeant major tobin, command sergeant major neiko retired, and chief warrant officer tutelif for their contributions to our military. i must pay special contribute to the sergeant majors for they both had sons who enlisted in the army he and have given the ultimate sacfice to our country. . he was killed in iraq while the son of command sergeant vimoto,

private first class timothy vimoto was killed in afghanistan. we must honor these fathers and sons of their selfless sacrifice and the sacrifice they have made in the protection of our freedoms. i cannot express the immense pride i have to those who preserve daily to protect the freedom and integrity of the united states. noncommission officers of the united states army are perhaps the most visible embodiment of moral character and strength of the u.s. army. i would like to remind my colleagues that this recognition by congress is the least that can be done to express the deserved gratitude of those who have served and those who continue to serve in our army today. and with that, madam speaker, i again commend my good friends for their management of this legislation, and i urge my colleagues to support this bill, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from south carolina. mr. wilson: madam speaker, i reserve the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. without objection. mr. marshall: madam speaker, as i think about the significance of this resolution, i am reminded of sergeant first class victor anderson. sergeant first class victor anderson from andersonville, georgia, was a sumpter county sheriff's deputy when called to duty as part of the 48th brigade of the georgia army national guard in iraq. he was disqualified because of diabetes, yet, nevertheless he fought his disqualification because he knew he needed to be with his soldiers. he knew that if he was with his soldiers they were more likely to be successful, they were more likely to be safe. about one week before he was killed by an i.e.d., some of his men were killed by an i.e.d. right in front of him. and he sent an email back to his family.

and in that email he essentially said this. i do not fight for some ideology. i fight for that man to my left and that man to my right. they are men of their word. when called they did not run. they came and did their duty. i had to also. don't worry about me. victor anderson represents the kind of quality that we have in our armed forces in sergeants. and i just bless every one of them, thank them for their service, and i at this point have no further requests for time. i'll continue to reserve my time until my colleague has yielded back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves his time. mr. wilson: madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina. mr. wilson: madam speaker, it's an honor for me to be on the floor today with congressman marshall, with delegate faleomavaega, two veterans themselves who could tell

firsthand heart felt indication of their appreciation of n.c.o.'s. i come from the state of south carolina. the state flag of south carolina is the recognition of the significance of n.c.o.'s to our independence and freedom. this flag of south carolina has a palmetto tree. it recognizes the british fleet that attacked the fort. the soft logs, the cannonballs hit the logs and bounced off or absorbed. at the same time they did not knock down the american -- they didn't knock down the american flag. and at that time sergeant william jasper had the courage to raise the flag back up, indicating to the british that they were not going to be successful. the british fleet withdrew. the flag of south carolina has a palmetto tree. it has a crescent. the crescent was -- indicated

the rank of the sergeant in the american revolution on the helmet. so we are forever the state of south carolina grateful for what n.c.o.'s have meant and forever in perpetuity we appreciate what h.r. 44 means. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from georgia's recognized. mr. marshall: i also yield back the balance of my time, urging all of my colleagues vote in favor of this resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house joint resolution 44. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the joint resolution is agreed to and without objection a motion to reconsider is laid on the table. mr. wilson: madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina. mr. wilson: i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and i

make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from missouri rise? >> madam speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to the bill h.res. 593, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 593, resolution recognizing and celebrating the 50th anniversary of the entry of hawaii into the union as the

50th state. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from missouri, mr. clay, and the gentlewoman from minnesota, mrs. bachmann, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from missouri. mr. clay: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. clay: thank you, madam speaker. and i now yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. clay: i rise in support of house resolution 593, a resolution recognizing and celebrating the 50th anniversary of the entry of hawaii into the union as our 50th state. the gentleman from hawaii, mr. neil abercrombie, introduced this measure on june 26, 2009, and having met all of the committee on oversight and

government reform requirements and criteria, the bill is now being considered today on the house floor. i should add that the measure comes to the floor with bipartisan support from over 56 co-sponsors demonstrating this body's eagerness to celebrate the admitans of our 50th state -- admittance of our 50th state, the aloha state. hawaii is one of our country's greatest treasure. ilts cultural heritage is rooted in centuries of precolonial history. and the state continues to protect it with efforts such as hawaiian language immergs schools and cultural -- immersion schools and cultural centers. and it is home of pearl harbor, the pacific fleet and the sight of the surprise attack that led the u.s. to enter the second world war.

its eight national parks preserve rich national beauty and ecosystems that support 1/4 of the endangered speedies in the united states. hawaii also contributes to the racial and ethnic diversity of our nation and of this congress. it elected the body's first woman of color, patsy mink and as well as hiram fong. and it has selected native hawaiians to congress including daniel kahikina akaka. and it is the childhood home state of our current commander in chief, president barack obama. madam speaker, i urge my colleagues to join me in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the state of hawaii by supporting this measure. and with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from -- the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from minnesota. mrs. bachmann: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. bachmann: i rise today in support of house resolution 593. this summer on august 21, our nation will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the entry of the beautiful islands of hawaii into the united states. it was in 1959, madam speaker, that then president dwight david eisenhower signed proclamation 3309 proclaiming the beautiful state of hawaii as our 50th state. hawaii is one of four united states that were independent prior to statehood. the kingdom of hawaii existed from 1810 through 1893, and it was an independent republic between 1894 and 1898 when it became a united states territory.

it was in 1900 that hawaii was granted self-governance, and though many attempts were made to achieve statehood, hawaii remained a territory for nearly 60 years. and the road to statehood was not without its challenges. one of the devastating times of not only hawaii but the nation as well was the attack on pearl harbor and the outbreak of world war ii which interrupted the drive to statehood. but finally on august 21, victory was achieved in 1959 when hawaii was admitted to the union. during the last 50 years, hawaii has contributed immeasurablely to the richness of our way of life here in the united states. the contributions of asian pacific americans have enhanced and benefited our rich cultural heritage in so many ways. not the least of which include the arts, sciences, mathematics, sports, commerce and many other aspects of american culture, not the least of which is of great american

tourism. hawaii is also contributed to -- has also contributed to the diversity of our congress, by electing, as our colleague has said, the hawaiian members of congress, prince jonah kuhio kalaniana'ole, the first asian american member, as well as my colleague mentioned, ms. hire -- mr. hiram fong, and the first woman of color, patsy mink and also the first asian senator, daniel akaka. they have some of the most diverse weather in the united states as well, including eight national parks, which preserve volcanos, our nation's fragile ecosystems and the sites of historical national significance. hawaiians are also known to be a people with a great sense of pride in their history, their tradition, which could be found in their traditional music, dance and sporting events.

our nation is so grateful for the contributions of native hawaiians. but most of all, it is the stunning beauty of this tropical -- of these tropical islands that leave many residents and visitors with -- to return again and again and again for hawaii's wonderful, not to be repeated, hospitality. hawaii truly is a place like no other with a people like no other, and this august, we all gathered to recognize and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the entry of hawaii into the union as the 50th state. madam speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the chair lays before the house the following enrolled bills. the clerk: house joint resolution 56, joint resolution approving the renewal of

important import restrictions contained in the bermese freedom and democracy act of 2003 and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from missouri. mr. clay: thank you, madam speaker. at this time i'd like to yield five minutes to my good friend and proud native of hawaii, mr. abercrombie. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the chair recognizes the gentleman from hawaii. mr. abercrombie: madam speaker, thank you very much. representative clay, thank you very much for your gracious introduction to this resolution . madam speaker, i'm filled with great emotion today. there are a lot of dates being celebrated. representative clay's birthday is today, and, of course, we want to wish him a very happy birthday. i introduced this resolution on my birthday. june 26. it was about that time 50 years

ago that i understood that i would be able to go to hawaii. just before that i'd been informed that i had received a teaching assistanceship at the university of hawaii, and that i would be soon on my way at the end of the summer to begin what became 50 years in hawaii. so i have that same anniversary with statehood, of course, came in august 21, and the first week in september, neil abercrombie arrived in honolulu and knew almost immediately that i would never leave if given the opportunity. . it's also going to be the birthday of brom, born in the hospital just down the road from where i lived. as i said it's great emotion for me, great time of no, sir tala -- nostalgia.

i arrived in hawaii at the same time as president obama's father. we met those first days in our matriculation at the university of hawaii. of course i could not possibly conceive at that time that the young man who was to be born out of the union of ann and barack senior would become president of the united states. so there's a great confluence of history taking place over the next month or so with the entry of the 50th state, last state of the union. as mr. clay indicated, there are also some very, very interesting firsts, if you will. we were maybe the last state to come into the union, but we had some very interesting firsts. i want to congratulate representative bachmann on her superb pronunciation of the

prince's last name. thank you very much, indeed. i know you must have struggled with that because i remember my first day in the classroom, the first saturday, 8:00 in the morning, teaching the lab course in sociology determined to say the names right, the hawaiian names right. i remember the first one was sampson pomohaleini. we celebrated our 50th anniversary of our friendship just this past month when we got together. sampson went on to do great things with the labor movement in this country. it's that kind of occasion you can see it on my face, can you hear it in my voice. this is a time of great joy for us. yes, the first asian american smart, republican senator, hiram fong lived almost a century. first asian american, chinese american. of course patsy mink, or beloved patsy mink, whom we miss every

day. and danny akaka, perhaps the best loved person in the congress of whom never a bad word has been said. don't we wish -- all wish the same could be said of us. and of course the congressional medal of honor winner, third longest serving senator in the united states, daniel k. inouye. serves now as the chairman of the appropriations committee. first japanese american to serve in the senate. some other dates i think of interest to all of us, 1778, james cook comes to bya mia -- wiamea bay. and 1785, king could he maya maya establishes the hawaiian monarchy. february 24, 1954, mr. speaker, a 25250-pound petition containing 120,000 signatures in

favored of statehood was delivered to the congress. in march of 1959, this house of representatives passed the hawaii statehood bill, 323-89. i'm sure the 89 all had a chance to visit and regretted their votes against it. of course then president eisenhower signed the proclamation, making it the 50th state on august 24. so, mr. speaker, i can say from the bottom of my heart that hawaii has given everything to me. i never conceived as i indicated earlier that i would ever have a chance to represent hawaii in congress. it is not just an honor and privilege to do so -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. abercrombie: could i have another 30 seconds. mr. clay: i yield an additional one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. abercrombie: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask all now then to join with us in this joyous occasion where

we have the opportunity to celebrate friendships and relationships of decades standing. to celebrate the transition of hawaii from the time of a prefeudle kingdom, a kingdom -- a prefeudal kingdom, a kingdom, now a state of the union. last state of the union to this time. we are filled with great -- sense of gratitude for that which has been given to us over these past 50 years. and of course pledge at this time that even though we were last to join the union, we are first among those who appreciate, understanding, and take great pride in being a state of the united states of america. thank you, mr. speaker.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlelady from minnesota. mrs. bachmann: thank you, mr. speaker. i, too, would like to extend my congratulations to my colleague, the distinguished gentleman, mr. clay, on his birthday today. it's also my brother's birthday today. we are so thrilled for this anniversary. i come from a state that has recently celebrated its sess can centennial, 1 -- sessqua centennial, 150 years, and we know hawaii will be even more beautiful when they celebrate theirs. we send a lot of minnesota dollars to hawaii with all the tourists we send. our climate you may not have noticed is a little different than that of hawaii. minnesotans love to visit. we extend the invitation to come back and enjoy our hospitality. we have a lot of shoreline, too. we have about 1,500 lakes. our fish are this big. please come and fish in minnesota, too. we'll return the favor and often come to visit the bullful state

of hawaii. with that -- the beautiful state of hawaii w that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from missouri. mr. clay: i thank the gentlewoman first for the happy birthday wish. i fish a lot, too. i will try to make it to minnesota also. to catch some of those big whopping fish. at this time, mr. speaker, aid like to yield three minutes to the -- i'd like to yield three minutes to the gentlewoman from michigan, -- hawaii, ms. hirono. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. hirono: i join my colleagues in wishing you a happy birthday. i rise in strong support of h.res. 593, recognizing the 50th anniversary of hawaii's admission of the 50th state of the union on august 21, 1959. as my colleagues have mentioned, hawaii brings a lot to this nation. our strategic location in the pacific, our example of tolerance with our multicultural

population. our special relationship with and understanding of the asia pacific region, and the physical beauty and ecological diversity of our islands are just a few of the assets we bring to this nation. i have very personal memories about the day hawaii became a state. i was in elementary school in honolulu and was given the honor of pinning the 50th star on our school flag at a special school assembly before sending the flag up the flagpole. all hawaii celebrated that day. to many statehood represented recognition of a state whose multiethnic, multicultural base was different from that of any other state, but whose sons and daughters were just as american as the people of the other 49 states. 1959 was also the year i became a naturalized u.s. citizen. apparently was also the year that my colleague, kneel

abercrombie -- neil abercrombie, came to hawaii and things haven't been the same since. it's a great state and it's given me opportunities that i never would have had had my mother not brought me there. we must always remember that the 50th state is also the native land of hawaii's indigenous population, the native hawaiians. i'm hopeful this year we will be able to move forward to our reconciliation with the native hawaiian people who lost their country and queen by passing the native hawaiian government reorganization act. this act will provide the native hawaiians with the same rights of self-determination enjoyed by american indians and alaska natives. hawaii's population is made up of persons of native hawaiian, japanese, puerto rican, portuguese, filipino, french, samoan, vietnamese, air force can and more. plus glin combination -- african

and more. plus gin combinations. it's not unusual for someone to identify themselves as filipino and japanese and hawaiian. today we also celebrate the achievements of people from hawaii whose notable efforts have paved the way for other americans such as olympic champion and cultural ambassador, astronaut, mentioned previously congresswoman patsy t. mink, and president barack obama to name a few. i urge my colleagues to vote for h.res. 593. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from missouri. mr. clay: at this time i'd like to yield five minutes to my friend from -- the delegate from samoa, mr. faleomavaega. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. faleomavaega: i ask unanimous consent to extend and

revise my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. faleomavaega: i thank my good friend, the gentleman from missouri, for his management of this important bill, and also the gentlelady from minnesota for her support. i didn't realize there was fish in minnesota this big. maybe if she would catch a 1,000 pound marlin, we'll see how big that would be. at any rate i thank her for her support. mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. resolution 593 recognize and celebrating hawaii's 50th anniversary and entry into the union as a member of the 50th state. i commend my colleagues, congressman abercrombie and hirono, for their introduction of this piece. half of my life was spent in hawaii. during my youth i spent there. the eight main island of hawaii, maui, oahu, kaui, and others make up the hawaiian islands of the pacific ocean and only state comprised of islands.

it is home of 1/4 of the endangered species list, as well as eight national parks which serve to protect volcanoes, rainforests, coral reefs, and other complex ecosystems. in addition to being visibly astounding, it is one of the first states to significantly contribute to the diversity of congress. the first state native hawaiian, first woman of color, first native hawaiian to serve in the senate all hail from hawaii. a favorite of elvis presley, whom i had the privilege of meeting when i was working at a youth performer. hawaii also is legendary to some of the most famous singers, as don ho and others. the state has made great efforts to presure its culture, hawaiian language immersion schools, hula competitions, and tra designational canoe voyages. what a great thing to remember that it was duke, the father of surfing, now has become an

international sport and a byproduct of surfing happens be to be the skateboard. originated from the great state of hawaii. and i also want to note, mr. speaker, hawaii's also proud to give to our nation her first native son who is currently the 44th president of the united states, president barack obama. at the height of the presidential campaign last year, mr. speaker, i remember there was a national blogger going around saying i was working as a special agent of barack obama and the reason for my traveling to indonesia and to also visit the school in jakarta where barack obama had attended was to destroy any records that would indicate that president obama was born in indonesia which would have him disqualified as a candidate for president. well, mr. speaker, this blog continues today giving such gross misinformation to the american people. and i just want to say it is

absolutely nonsense. those responsible for this blog should stop it. as i am sure there are better things they can do than to discredit our president. president obama was important in the hospital, honolulu, hawaii, period. mr. speaker, the state of hawaii's also remembered pearl harbor. yes, it has its consequences. reminiscent also of the tremendous disservice and problem that we and mistreatment of over 100,000 japanese americans. there are americans who happen to be of japanese ancestry. they produce also the 100 battalion 442nd infantry, most decorated unit in the u.s. army. with 18,000 individual decorations for heroism and bravery in the field of battle. over 9,000 purple hearts, 52 distinguished service crosses. ironically only one medal of

honor, but we corrected that mistake. we now have 19 recipients of the medals of honor that were awarded to these japanese americans as my colleague from hawaii, mr. abercrombie said, senator inouye was one of those to receive the medal of honor. . they brought unique and diverse elemented to the president of the united states. michelle obama said, if you want to learn more about the president, then go to hawaii. you'll understand his sense of philosophy, his sense of caring, his sense of wanting to share and to make sure that we have proper treatment and how we should be treating our fellow human beings. to strive to support the endeavors of the islands of the pacific and do not hesitate to offer any resounding support, i urge my colleagues, support this resolution. i think it's worthwhile and we ought to give due recognition to this great state of hawaii. and i thank, again, my good friend from missouri, and i yield back the balance of my

time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from missouri is recognized. mr. clay: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank my good friend from american samoa for that interesting history and perspective on hawaii, and i want to urge my colleagues so join me in celebrating the 50th anniversary of hawaii's entrance into the union as our 50th state by supporting this measure, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. all time now expired, the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution number 593, as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. mrs. bachmann: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative -- the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. bachmann: i object to the vote on the grounds that a

quorum is not present and i make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. mr. clay: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from missouri rise? mr. clay: mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 373. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 383, resolution expressing support for designation of the month of september as national hydrocephalus awareness month. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from missouri, mr. clay, and the gentlewoman from minnesota, mrs. bachmann: each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from missouri. mr. clay: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. clay: thank you. and i now yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. clay: mr. speaker, i rise in strong support of house

resolution 373, which expresses the support of congress for the designation of the month of september as national hydrocephalus awareness month. it is important for us to recognize the severity of this neurological condition that is estimated to affect one million americans. the resolution was introduced on april 28 by my colleague from minnesota, mrs. bachmann, and has secured more than 80 co-sponsors while meeting all requisite criteria for approval by the committee on oversight and government reform. hydrocephalus is defined as excessive accumulation of cerebrospinal flured in the brain. the -- fluid in the brain. they estimate that one in every 500 children are afflicted with this condition. additionally, hydrocephalus is

the leading cause of brain surgery in children. since 2005, the national institutes of health has increased its focus on improving hydrocephalus care. but more needs to be accomplished. the n.i.h. currently provides less than $1 million in annual funding for hydrocephalus research, but hopefully the national hydrocephalus awareness month can spur renewed efforts in this area of study. mr. speaker, during our effort to overhaul our health care system, it is critical that we remember to support important public health initiatives like the national hydrocephalus awareness month. and i urge my colleagues to support house res. 373 and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance

of his time. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from minnesota. mrs. bachmann: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. bachmann: i rise today in support of house resolution 373, which i authored in order to raise awareness of hydrocephalus, a devastating neurological disorder that often leaves individuals and their families in constant fear of sudden irreversible damage or even death. hydrocephalus or water on the brain, as most people refer to this, is a medical condition that results in abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid, otherwise known as c.f.s., in ventricles or the cavity of the brain. it is often difficult to predict and highly fatal. moreover, while this condition affects approximately, as my colleague, mr. clay, said, one in every 500 births, very few

people are even aware of this devastating condition. the national institute of neurological disorders and stroke is currently conducting research related to hydrocephalus prevention and treatment. however, more must be done at the community level to educate individual americans about the surprisingly prevalent disorder. recognizing the month of september as national hydrocephalus awareness month will bring this disease to the public's attention and encourage, i believe, discussions necessary to more effectively address this devastating effects of this disease and provides support to families who live with it every day. for example, currently the most common form of treatment for hydrocephalus involves the insertion of a shunt in order to maintain the flow of fluid from the brain. this outdated practice that's been around now for almost 50 years often results in complications that can

jeopardize the life of the often very young child who's the patient. as one parent summarized for me, my son and all the other children who suffer from hydrocephalus are literally 12 to 15 hours away from irrevirsible damage if not death if a shunt failure was to go undetected or left untreated. this sometimes paralyzes parents and there has got to be a better treatment out there, if not an outright cure, and, mr. speaker, i know you'd agree we'd just have to find it. that being said, i'd like to share the thoughts of a mother whose daughter, named allie, developed hydrocephalus at 1 year of age. she sent to my letter to my office in hopes of sharing this to our great nation will develop greater awareness of this disease to the general public. and with greater research, she's confident it could be diagnosed more accurately and

treated more efficiently. we certainly hope so. and this is her letter, mr. speaker. my name is michelle jansen. we have a 9-year-old daughter, allie, who developed hydrocephalus at 1 year of age. the cause of her congenital hydrocephalus allowed her to be eligible for a fairly new procedure called a third ventricoloscopy. very little was known about the third ventricoloscopy. allie underwent a third procedure on july 9, 2001. this year allie has reached 8 years of age as one of the lucky few who have not encountered malfunctions as frequently seen with shunts. alshow she does have other rare medical -- although she does

have other rare medical conditions, she is living a good childhood. she was one in her class to participate in the young authors club. and allie maintains straight a's throughout the school year, something many people thought would be impossible. several years ago, we searched for a support group close to home that would provide our family with support and education about the condition. that's when we became involved with the peed at rick hydrocephalus foundation -- pediatric hydrocephalus foundation. they've encouraged us to actively participate in educating, providing support and to raise funds for local communities and families in need. the founders have also been active with government officials such as you, mr. speaker, to initiate a resolution known as h.r. 373, to declare september national hydrocephalus awareness month. mr. speaker, before i close, i want to echo the comments that michelle jansen makes about the vision that michael and kim

illian has for children and families living with hydrocephalus. i've had the privilege of getting to know this lovely couple and their beautiful baby boy named cole through my work on this resolution. they have such optimism and faith. it just permeates everything they do and say. it's hard not to feel more hopeful when you're with great people like the illians. and that's the kind of support that they provide other families who live with hydrocephalus and the kind of support that we all hope will be spread by this resolution today. i want to urge all of our colleagues, mr. speaker, to start spreading this hope today by taking a moment to learn more about hydrocephalus by visiting the website hydrocephaluskids.org. that's hydrocephaluskids.org. it's the website for the pediatric hydrocephalus foundation. through increased awareness and education, we will take the steps that are needed to modernize the treatment of hydrocephalus and move toward a

cure. and i urge my colleagues to join myself and the 89 bipartisan co-sponsors of house resolution resolution 373 in supporting the recognition of september as national hydrocephalus awareness month. thank you, mr. speaker. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from missouri. mr. clay: mr. speaker, i have no other speakers. and i will continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman continues to reserve. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from minnesota. mrs. bachmann: mr. speaker, i yield as much time as he may consume to my distinguished colleague from the state of new jersey, mr. leonard lance. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lance: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i rise in support of house resolution 373 in an effort to raise awareness of the disease hydrocephalus. for too long, little attention has been paid to hydrocephalus.

together with congressman clay and congresswoman bachmann i have put forth this resolution recognizing september as national hydrocephalus awareness month. and i want to thank my distinguished colleagues in this regard. i want to thank michael illiant, his wife, kim, and their brave son, cole, for their steadfast advocacy on this issue. the they are constituents of mine in congressional district seven in new jersey. most of the best ideas in washington come from our constituents back home. michael, kim and cole illians are together a shining example of this. today's action by the house of representatives will bring much-needed attention to hydrocephalus and earn courage more research into its diagnosis and treatment. i am certain that with federal support for additional research we can develop a better treatment, if not a cure, for those suffering from

hydrocephalus and help them lead healthier, fuller lives. i urge all of our colleagues to support house resolution 373. i want to thank the congresswoman, the congressman, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from missouri. mr. clay: thank you, mr. speaker. i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman continues to reserve. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from minnesota. mrs. bachmann: mr. speaker, i urge all members to support the passage of house resolution 373, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from missouri. mr. clay: mr. speaker, again, i urge support for house resolution 373, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. all time now expired, the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution number 373. those in favor say aye.

those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended -- mrs. bachmann: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. bachmann: mr. speaker, i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and i make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. mr. clay: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from missouri rise? mr. clay: mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 3072. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 3072, a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 9810 halls ferry road in st. louis, missouri, as the coach jodie bailey post office building. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from missouri, mr. gentleman from missouri, mr. clay, and the gentlewoman from