there in months to come and i hope so because this is a much better process than us fighting all together. with that, again, i thank chairman emeritus dingell who led the way for us to get to where we are today and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan. mr. dingell: mr. speaker, how much time do i have remaining? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from has 12 1/2 minutes. mr. dingell: how much? the speaker pro tempore: 12 1/2. mr. dingell: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. dingell: first, i want to commend my colleague, mr. shimkus, and i want to express my gratitude to him. i also want to express my fwrattude to chairman waxman, chairman stupak and chairman pallone, the legislative and appropriation and investigative committee, chairman of the commerce committee for the outstanding work they did in

preparing this legislation. also representative degette and representative sutton. my colleagues, mr. barton, mr. deal, and mr. shimkus on the minority side have worked very well and carefully, thoughtfully with us. and i owe them a debt of thanks and gratitude. staff members like rachel and eric have worked long on this as well as my friend, virgil miller. the agriculture committee has been wise advisors and helpers in coming to the bill that can be agreed on by the two committees. representative levin, chair of the subcommittee of -- on trade of ways and means committee has been extremely important. as has representative delauro -- chair of the appropriations subcommittee. and jenny ireland, former staff member of this committee, has been of enormous help in the drafting of this legislation. we have a long list of supporters. the obama administration,

grocery manufacturers association, the people who sell are going to understand that they're being charged a participation fee. the wine institutes. the wine america. disstilled spirits council of the united states. center for science and the public interest. consumers union. consumers federation of america. center for food borne illness, research and prevention. food and water watch. government accountability project. national consumers league. charitable trust. safe tables our priority are all active supporters of this legislation. as -- and these agencies which previously had concerns about the legislation have either lifted their opposition, become neutral or actively support h.r. 2749. united fruit and vegetable, western growers, american farm

bureau federation, national association of wheat growers, national caddellman's beef association, national turkey federation, national chicken council, national pork producers council, national corn growers association, american soybean association, u.s. rice federation, american feed industry association, united egg producers and the american sheep industry. we have seen that in the long time since legislation was passed to bring food and trug up to national needs back in 1938 that many changes have occurred that have required significant changes both in the authority of f.d.a. and its moneys and its abilities to deal not with domestic producing problems but with problems overseas from which we are receiving lots of dangerous and unsafe food commodities and food products. this legislation gives food and

drug the authority that it needs, the ability to trace, the ability to hold producers abroad accountable, and it sets up a system where foreigners have to participate in the same responsibilities american producers, manufacturers and growers have to. and it enables food and drug for the first time to have real authorities to enforce the laws of the united states on food safety to protect americans against unsafe foods coming in from abroad. and i would remind my colleagues that food and drug had needed the resources at the point of entry, nor do they have the personnel at those places to inspect foods coming in. this changes that situation. it is also true that the legislation does something else of importance to our people, and that is it sees to it that where misbehavior occurs abroad, those same penalties that would be assessed against americans are assessed against

foreigners. this is an important matter of competition to american producers or manufacturers. it sees to it that they are fairly treated and that there is no more unfair competition by people who can market unsafe commodities to the detriment of american consumers and american growers, producers and processors. so the legislation is good. a systemf assuring responsibility and traceability is available for the first time. and food and drug has the authority to terminate the ability of foreigners to sell in this country for the first time in a way which is consistent with american trade laws and the obligations of american people with regard to -- with regard to the safety of food. so it is a good piece of legislation, and i would urge my colleagues to support it. i would have them know that this is bipartisan, this is a

good piece of legislation. it is legislation which protects american people, which sees to it that americans will no longer be dying of dangerous foods imported into the united states and it will see to it that american producers are treated fairly in the world marketplace without jeopardy of violation of our law. it also will see that food and drug has the personnel, the resources that it needs to protect american people. and it is kind to the budget of the american taxpayers. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: all time for debate has expired.

commit the bill h.r. 2749 to the committee on energy and commerce with instructions to report the bill back to the house forth with with the following amendments. page 2 is, lines 3 and 4, strike subparagraph d and insert the following -- b, shall only be collected and available as follows. i, 50% shall be available to defray the cost of additional safety inspection of food in the united states. ii, 50% shall be available for

use under section 137 of the food safety enhancement act of 2009. page 23, line 8, strike and. page 23, line 11, strike the period and insert colon and. page 23, after line 11, insert the following -- f, preemptive purchase of product from facilities as defined in section 415. at the end of subtitle c of title 1, add the following and revise the table of contents in section 2 accordingly. section 137, preemptive purchase. a, in jen, from the fees collected under section 473 of the food, drug and cosmetic act as added under section 102, the secretary of hfshfs may make a preemptive -- health and human services may make a preerchtive purchase and carrying out an amendment made by this act. b, limitation. notwithstanding subsection a,

the secretary shall not make any payment under such subsection in excess of the amount of fees available under section 743-e. 2-b-ii of the federal, food, drug and cosmetic act as added by section 102. the speaker pro tempore: point of order is reserved. pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from oklahoma is recognized for five minutes in support of the motion. mr. lucas: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. dingell: i raise a point of order against the motion to recommit. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will state his point of order. mr. dingell: which under rule 16, clause 7, and the language of the rule says no motion or proposition on a subject different from that under consideration shall be admitted under color of amendment, and i point out that the -- that that is applicable to the questions before us.

i would note that the language of the motion does takes and separates the receipts that will be gotten from the registration fees so that 50% are available to defray the costs of additional safety inspection of food. but 50% shall be available for use under section 137, but that , the purpose of that is to whether for the preemptive purchase of product from facilities as defined in section 415. this allows the broadest kind of purchase of food, the legislation itself allows the

certain specific actions none of which involve purchase of food, particularly under such broad circumstances as the motion allows. the bill only allows expenditure of these registration fees for the following purpose. records access, traceability, recall authority, authority to detain, subpoena authority, prohibition or restriction on the movement of bad food. no further authorities for purchase or expenditure of this money are permitted. this goes well beyond the fundamental purpose the legislation, and as such, it constitutes a violation of the rules going beyond that which

is the fundamental purpose of the legislation. and so constituting a violation of rule 16, clause 7 of being not germane. the speaker pro tempore: does any other member wish to be heard on the point of order? the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. lucas: mr. speaker, the nature of this bill contemplating a number of different things that try to address and protect the supply of domestic food in this country or food in general, i should say. the bill, the language offered the motion refers to using 50% of this fees collected under section 137 of the bill which is -- sorry -- section 137 of the motion, which is referenced on the second page. this is just an additional item to all of the things already

outlined in the bill in its present form. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan. mr. dingell: mr. speaker, i would observe that the language of the legislation nowhere authorizes purchase of food. the -- under the number of the legislation appears the language to amend the food, drug and cosmetic act to improve the safety of food and global market and for other purposes. and then down there where you follow -- following the words, a bill, and it says to amend federal -- the federal food, drug and cosmetic act to improve the safety of food in the global market, and for other purposes. nowhere in the legislation in my reading have i been able to

find the authorization for the purchase of food or the purchase of food to achieve safety. i would observe that the language of the motion to recommit permits the purchase of the food in -- without restriction, without restraint or limit. it is some of the grandest authority that is given and well beyond any authority which food and drug now has or seeks. food and drug has no authority in this area whatsoever for the purchase of food, and the purchasing of food is not for the purpose of protecting the american people of seeing to it that food and drug can properly ensure the safety of the food or the protection of the american consumers. and it -- the language that is

i think most particularly descriptive of what the proposal does, it follows line 3 at page 2, it says the secretary of health -- and i'm reading it line 6, the secretary of health and human services may make a preemptive purchase related to activities by the government in carrying out any provisions of this act or amendment made by this act. that might be good language for the committee on agriculture to present to the house, but it is no language that you will find in food and drug and none that would be suggested by the commerce committee. the speaker pro tempore: does any member wish to be heard?

the chair's prepared to rule. the gentleman from michigan makes a point of order that the amendment proposed and the motion to recommit offered by the gentleman from oklahoma is not germane. the test of germaneness in this situation is a relationship of the amendment proposed in the motion to recommit. the pro visions of the bill as a whole. the bill as affected amends the act to improve the safety of food. it grants the secretary of health and human services authority to issue mandatory performance standards for reducing hazards and requires the secretary to conduct risk-based inspections. food safety records and the secretary's ability to oversee the safety of imported food, requiring safety-related document from potentially unsafe imported food as a condition of import. the bill provides the secretary with sundry tools to address an outbreak of food-bo are, m -- bjorn illness. authority to mandate recalls of

con contaminated food and authority to quarantine geographic areas of the united states from which the secretary reasonably believes contaminated food has originated. the amendment proposed and the motion to recommit contemplates allowing the secretary to purchase food as a matter of food safety as in the context of section 415. the amendment also would make a portion of the proceeds of certain feeds contemplated by the bill available only for such preeveryonetive purchases. the chair finds the amendment pursuing the same fundamental purpose by a bill which a method that dwells. the chair therefore holds that the amendment is germane. accordingly the point of order is overruled and the motion is in order. the gentleman from michigan may be recognized for five minutes in opposition. mr. dingell: we have before us a bad motion to recommit. with all respect for its author, we know that the f.d.a. has been starved of resources,

particularly in the food area, and particularly its ability to protect the american people. the amendment offered before us would raid that money and use it for the purpose of purchase of food. the food is not designed, it is not designated as to how or why it might be purchased. i would point out that this breaks an agreement and an understanding that the committee had in this legislation with regard to support by the food production industry. especially the parts of the industry that will pay the tax. the bill only authorizes a modest $500 registration fee for food facilities. the motion to recommit asserts the bill does not require the f.d.a. to spend one additional penny on the inspection of food. this is a serious untruth. on page 23 the bill directs f.d.a. to spend its registration

fees on food safety activities. the bill explicitly provides that food safety activities include conducting inspections. this money will be diverted from inspection and protection of the american people and will not be available for the activities of food and drug. it might give relief to somebody and it might even be somebody that needs relief. but there's no standards whatsoever given as to who will get the money, how it will be spent, on what and for what purposes. the bill requires the f.d.a. to adhere to a rigorous mandatory inspection schedule based on risk. this bill does nothing to enhance that but takes money away from the protection of the american consumer by having proper inspections at point of entry or inspections in other countries. that is a bad situation and one which is going to seriously hurt

the safety of the american public. the bill is carefully crafted to assure that the american food and drug administration will protect american consumers and american manufacturers, processors, growers and the farmers of this nation. it enables them to focus on where there is danger and to provide the kind of protection that all of those entities, especially the farmers, the processors and the producers, need because today the broad authority that food and drug has is no longer sufficiently focused to enable the correct direct focus on dangers to the american public. the bill gives food and drug modern authorities to safeguard the food supply, but it gives them the money to do the things that they have to do to protect the american industry and the american consuming public.

this legislation diverts 50% of the receipts that we would get under the legislation from the protection both of producers and from the protection of the american consuming public. the bill has provisions that ensure that f.d.a. cannot use its ability to stop distribution , recall or detain or prohibit or restrict the movement of food. and the food and drug administration will have to use modern authorities in a very careful way, in way which has the support -- in a way which has the support of the consuming public and the people whose names and whose organizational structures i have mentioned earlier. we have found out what an inadequately funded f.d.a. does. this legislation will assure that those evils will persist and the amendment reduces funds to f.d.a. and thereby increases the likelihood of outbreaks and

danger to the health of the american people and hurt to the american producers, growers and farmers. this is a bad amendment. it is an amendment which threatens the support of industry for this legislation by diverting the money into unwise, unnecessary and undue expenditures which threaten the basic purposes of the legislation. it is bad legislation and it will worsen what is a carefully thought out, bipartisan bill which has been produced in consultation not just with the industry, but with the agriculture committee and with the administration, both the department of agriculture and the food and drug administration. i urge my colleagues to reject this amendment which wastes money and jeopardizes the life, safety and the well-being of

american consumers and the well-being of american farm -- farmers, agriculture and producers. it is a bad, bad motion to recommit. i urge the house to reject it. the speaker pro tempore: the chair advised the gentleman from oklahoma is entitled to his five minutes and is recognized. mr. lucas: thank you, mr. speaker. let me once again express my gratitude to the chair and the ranking member of the energy and commerce committee. they have both put a great deal of effort in developing this important piece of legislation. and they're to be commended for their attempts to accommodate the concerns raised by members of the minority party of the agriculture committee. during the past few days i've discussed many of the more objectble provisions of this legislation. today i'm hopeful and optimistic in offering this motion to recommit that we can at the very least address two of the bills' most glaring omissions. specifically i'd like to focus on what i believe to be a lack of accountability on the part of

the food and drug administration. the legislation before us provides the agency with numerous punitive authorities as well as a new source of revenue charged to people wishing to be in the food business. but it does not require the f.d.a. to spend one additional penny on the inspection of food. i'm hopeful that my colleagues will agree that this is something that we can and should address in this bill as it leaves the house. therefore i propose that f.d.a. spend a portion of the funds collected as registration fees for additional food inspections in the united states of america, let's face it, if we are going to call this bill the food safety enhancement act, we should probably have something in here that actually enhances food safety. now another issue that's very troubling, and the one we hear repeatedly from farm groups, is the issue of indemocratnyifycation. i would point out that the ranking member splaped that

concern in a dear colleague that was sent out last night. the issue can be illustrated with the example of what happened to tomato crops in 2008. f.d.a. mistakenly attributed an outbreak of salmonella to tomatoes. it was later discovered that the contaminated peppers were the actual source of the illness. however, the discovery came after a large part of the 2008 toe day mow -- tomato crop was destroy and the industry suffered perhaps $100 million in losses as a result. i appreciate that mr. dingell and mr. barton feel that the passage of this bill will reduce the number of and the severity of these mistakes in the future. i truly hope they are right. unfortunately we must not kid ourselves into believing that the f.d.a. will not make such mistakes in the future. wrongly implicating agriculture products to food-borne disease

outbreaks can cause severe economic losses to farmers who can ill afford them. unfortunately, this legislation does not address this real concern. we attempt to address this omission in our motion to recommit. we propose that some of the money coming from the registration fees set aside for prementive purchase product from producers and, remember, these purchases only result from a direct government action, these changes will not fix everything that we feel to be wrong with the legislation, but they will address some of the more significant problems. nothing in this motion adds to the cost of the bill. but it does strengthen f.d.a. accountability and it guarantees enhanced food safety inspection. once again, let's direct that half the money go to food

inspection, let's make sure the other half of this legislation -- rental administration money is going to correct the mistakes f.d.a. may make. i urge all of my colleagues to support this motion. let's clean up two of the biggest problems and let's move forward. i urge all of my colleagues to support this motion once again and, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. dingell: i understand that the majority is in the committee that handles the bill's entitled it to close is that correct? the speaker pro tempore: that's correct. mr. dingell: then i ask unanimous consent that i be permitted to proceed. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. dingell: -- the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from oklahoma -- mr. dingell: great respect for him. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from oklahoma rise? mr. lucas: reserve the right to object, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman reserves. mr. lucas: could i note for the record, has the gentleman not used his five minutes? the speaker pro tempore: because recognition to explain the motion was confered out of sequence, my fault, if there's no objection, the gentleman from michigan will close the debate for one minute. mr. lucas: for one minute, mr. speaker? the speaker pro tempore: one minute. mr. dingell: one minute? very well. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. dingell: i simply observe as follows, the motion to recommit asserts the bill does not require f.d.a. to spend one additional penny on inspection of food. totally false. on page 23 the bill directs f.d.a. to spend its registration fees on food safety activities, on line 18 the bill explicitly provides that food safety activities, including -- include conducting inspections. the bill also requires f.d.a. to adhere to a rigorous mandatory inspection schedule based on risk. i yield now to the gentleman from georgia, mr. scott. mr. scott: for the remaining seconds, the bill on two points, it violates the rule and it will weaken the f.d.a. program.

this bill inspects the food processing plant at an increased rate, far more than it is doing now. and, again, it violates the rule, it weakens the f.d.a.'s program and on those grounds we reject this motion to recommit. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair will receive a message. the messenger: mr. speaker, a message from the president of the united states. the secretary: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: madam secretary. the secretary: i'm directed by the president of the united states to deliver to the house of representatives a message in writing. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. smith: permission to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. smith: poll after poll shows that americans reject the administration's health care plan, but the national media continue to downplay the results of their own polls. for example, in its port on the

new nbc/"wall street journal" poll they failed to mention that more people disapprove than approve the way the president is handling health care. president obama said his health care plan is deficit neutral but the congressional budget office says the legislation will substantially increase the deficit. president obama says americans' health care plans will cost less, but the c.b.o. director says the legislation will cost more, much more. president obama says if you like your current health care plan, you can keep it, but an independent study found that most americans will lose their current health care plan. mr. speaker, americans need the facts on health care, not the bias news from the democrat media alliance. the speaker pro tempore: the house will come to order. are there further one-minute

requests? for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? >> i ridse to address the house for one minute. spoip without objection, so ordered. >> i rise today as a proud co-sponsor of h.r. 2920, the statutory pay as you go act of 2009. this important legislation will establish mandatory pay as you go budget discipline, iranian in deficit spending and reduce the national debt. in the 1990's, pay as you go budget discipline was enshrined in law and it led to record budget surpluses. after pay-go was originally codified in 1990, total federal spending as a percentage of g.d.p. decreased each year from 1991 through 2000. after congress let pay-go expire in 2002, projected surpluses of

$5.6 trillion were transformed into record deficits. passing the statutory pay as you go act of 2009 will require congress to make the tough choices necessary to get unacceptable high budget deficits under control and avoid passing today's costs onto our children, grandchildren and future generations. families make tough budget decisions to live within their means and the government should be forced to do the same. i urge passage of the statutory pays as you go act of 2009. -- pay as you go act of 2009. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? >> request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i agree with president obama when he says there's a need for affordable health care. mr. speaker, $1 trillion plan is not affordable, particularly when it leaves millions of americans without insurance. the republican health care plan offers a solution for all americans for health care

access, affordability, quality and choice. under the g.o.p. plan, medical decisions will be made by patients and their doctors, not a government bureaucrat such as a democrat-proposed health insurance commissioner. the g.o.p. plan provides for guaranteed access regardless of pre-existing conditions. the republican plan lets americans who like their coverage keep it. it expands community health centers that are critical points of access that provides health care services based on an affordable sliding scale. mr. speaker, the republican plan rein is in -- reins in junk lawsuits. we need health care access, affordability, quality and choice that americans deserve. americans deserve the republican health care plan. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: are there further one-minute requests? for what purpose does the gentlewoman from nevada rise? ms. titus: unanimous could consent to address the house for

one minute -- consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. titus: thank you, mr. speaker. during the upcoming work session, i will return to southern nevada which is ground zero for the foreclosure crisis that triggered our current recession. during my time at home, i will working with constituents who need help with their mortgages, many in homes that are under water. families throughout my district are struggling to make their mortgage payments and one out of every 16 homeowners in nevada has faced a foreclosure filing. folks in district three clearly need assistance to stay in their homes and avoid foreclosures. tonight in kitchens across the country and in every congressional district, families will worry about losing the roof over their heads. i'm sure that every one of my colleagues in congress will hear from such families during the upcoming district work period. i hope they will bring their stories back to washington and when congress reconvenes in september, let us place a

renewed focus on helping families stay in their homes and providing them the assistance they need. there is much more that congress can and should do and i commit to working on this issue when we come back after labor day. i hope you will all join me in this effort. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? mr. mccotter: i rise to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. mccotter: mr. speaker, recently we have seen the end of islam's 40-day period of mourning for the matterers to freedom that was ch that were -- martyrs to freedom that were killed on june 20. we have neda, we have tehrani and what did the regime do in

response? they prevented people from attending their gravesites. they removed people who wanted to lay flowers. and in the end, as reported by msnbc.com, brigadier general warned against any further gatherings, quote, we are not joking, we will confront those who will fight against the clerical establishment, end quote. yes, mr. speaker, they will fight against rape and murder, martyrs such as neda and tehrani, but the world will mourning these martyrs and soon iran and all the world will rejoice when these murderers are brought to justice and the iranian people breathe free. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: are there further requests for one minutes? for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise?

without objection, so ordered. >> mr. speaker, i rise to pay tribute to the folks of galveston, texas, who have worked to make the reopening of the university of texas medical branch emergency room possible. last september hurricane ike hit galveston, swamping parts of the island and forcing thousands of residents to evacuate. the emergency room's floor is at one of the highest physical elevations on the island, more than 30 feet above sea level. yet the power of ike's damage delayed the reopening of the emergency room until last week. southeast texas lost one of three level one trauma centers, putting a strain on the whole region. but thanks to tremendous community support, the emergency room will begin receiving patients and eventually offer the same level of trauma care it did before. every minute counts in life-threatening emergencies and

the reopening of this facility will help provide timely emergency medical services to the area residents. as a member of the house homeland security committee, i'm committed to continue to do all i can to ensure complete recovery for the impacted areas of texas by ike. this is a tremendous step forward for the recovery of galveston and the neighboring communities devastated by hurricane ike. i wish utmb, its doctors, its nurses and its staff, a successful future. welcome back. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: are there further one-minute requests? for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas rise? without objection, so ordered. ms. jackson lee: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i rise to celebrate the 75th anniversary of my hometown airline, continental airlines. i'd like to thank all of the

employees, past and present and those in the future, who continue to serve our community and the nation. we thank them for their original beginnings with great history and great leadership. i'm reminded of one of their transfer names, eastern airlines, reminded, of course, of the uniforms and the admiration that children would give the pilots and flight attendants. we still do that today. continental airlines is in my district and as well the bush intercontinental airport which is their hub airport. let me thank them for the many economic dollars that they provide to the fourth largest city in the nation, houston, texas, and as well let me glailt them as they move forward -- congratulate them as they move forward in a new structure that will allow more diversity, more competition, but stronger airline services and customer relations. thank you to the leadership of continental airlines and to their c.e.o., all of the hardworking employees, you had

75 years, you should be proud. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: are there more requests for e minutes? the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. levin: thank you. the voluntary public health insurance option is an important part of health care reform for a number of reasons. first the public plan will provide a competitor for private plans that will help make the entire system more efficient and help drive down prices for everyone. second, it provides assurance to all americans that there will be an affordable comprehensive health insurance plan available to them no matter where they live or work. in many places that there are currently only one or two insurers that people can choose from. third, the public plan will have the ability to test and implement innovative methods of payment that have the potential to make the entire health care system more efficient and

patient-centered. the current fee for service structure is a fragmented system. no provider will be required to participate in the public plan. but for those who do, it's important for the public plan to be able to implement effective payment reforms for all participating providers. allowing individual providers to negotiate their own rates and their own methods of payment with the plan will slow the vital process of moving us towards a more efficient, integrated health care system that serves both the patients and the taxpayers. now is the time to act on health care reform, including a robust public health insurance option. the speaker pro tempore: are there further requests for one minutes? for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? >> address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. >> i rise to recognize the loss of jaidee williams who expired

three days ago. he was a very special person. he worked with the young people, taught so many how to play baseball and of course he was an outstanding athlete himself. he was always giving himself to help others. i recall as a youngster how he would organize and go in his pocket and take money out to be able to assist young people in buying uniforms and being able to move from one location to another to be able to play different teams. he was just so committed to developing young people. he worked to get them into college and of course he had a relationship with many coaches around the country and they would respect the fact that if he said that you could play, you would be able to play. and that's the kind of relationship that he had. of course, let me say to his family, in times like these, you can be proud of the

accomplishments of jaidee williams, even though he's no longer with us. the speaker pro tempore: are there further one-minute requests? for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that today following legislative business and any special orders heretofore entered into, the following members may be permitted to address the house for five minutes, to revise and extend their remarks and include therein extraneous material. mr. lewis, georgia, for five minutes. ms. woolsey, california, for five minutes. ms. titus, nevada, for five minutes. mr. davis, illinois, for five minutes. mr. shouder, michigan, for five minutes, mr. sestak of

pennsylvania for five minutes. ms. kaptur of ohio for five minutes. mr. pascrell of new jersey for five minutes. mrs. linda sanchez from california for five minutes. mr. rangel of new york for five minutes. mr. about a sess a -- mr. becerra for five minutes. mr. spratt, south carolina, for five minutes. and ms. jackson lee of texas for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009, the following members are recognized for five minutes each. mr. lewis of georgia. the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to speak out of order

for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? >> i rise to address the house for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. >> mr. speaker, i rise to honor a public servant, leader, son, husband and father of the first order, mr. robert, who on august is, -- 1, 2009, will finish 40 years to the u.s. food and drug administration, the f.d.a. following his 1965 graduation from high school, bob compelled at grove city credge, grove city, pennsylvania, graduated in 1969 with a bachelor of science degree in biology. he was quickly hired by the f.d.a. as an investigator in the philadelphia district office in 1977, bob was selected to be supervisor of the new jersey

district in trenton, new jersey. he later moved to camden, new jersey, where he supervised 10 investigators and covered southern new jersey. during 13 years in this position, he and his team were involved in many unique and interesting cases, including those involving food tampering, recalls and compliance actions. in 1989, bob was accepted into a government potential program. in 1990, he was selected as the director of the investigations branch for the dallas district and moved to dallas, texas. in this position, with nearly 100 employees and 13 satellite offices, he was responsible for domestic import, inspection activities in texas, oklahoma, and arkansas. . as district director, bob was responsible for import operations along the entire united states mexican border

from brownsville, texas to san diego, california. bob's contributions are too numerous, but he improved uniformity in applying policies and procedures and worked to increase border protection. he stressed the food safety and included the number of product samples each year and import training program. most importantly, bob focused f.d.a.'s outreach and education efforts to work with the federal and state agencies on border health to improve the health of the population along the united states and mexican border. for all of these accomplish mpts in life, bob's greatest achievement will be his family. his mother and brother gary are proud of him as is his wife. they have raised two impressive sons and blessed with a lovely daughter in law who has given

them a grandson, jack. let us give thanks to bob for tireless and selfless service to the food and drug administration and the american public. i join the people of the 7th congressional district of pennsylvania and the thousands of employees that bob has cared for and bob's friends and colleagues. as they embark on the next and more remarkable chapter of their life. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: mr. poe of texas. mr. jones: i ask to address the house for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. jones: mr. speaker, early this week i was sad to read an article with a heading 7 g.i.

suicides push corps to record pace. i ask unanimous consent to submit that article for the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. jones: seven marines have killed themselves in july despite broad-based efforts to reduce suicides. the corps only pays for 56 suicides in 2009, which would shatter a record set last year when the corps lost 42 marines to confirmed or suspected suicides. the article further states, marine suicides have increased annually since 2006. unfortunately, the army has reported a similar increase in suicides. the suicide rate among army soldiers hit its highest level in 2008 when there were 128 confirmed suicides. yesterday at a hearing at at the armed services committee, i was

impressed by the leaders who described the steps they are taking to combat the psychological threat. i was pleased to read in the "marine corps times" they are taking the suicide rates seriously by rolling out a new prevention program and implementing additional all-hands prevention training. however, i also believe that the policy makers in washington have a role to play. with camp lejeune and cherry point in my district, i'm aware of the strain that the wars in iraq and afghanistan have placed on our nation's marines and families. there is speculation that repeat combat deloiments and the toll these have taken on service members, marriages and families have contributed to increased suicide rates. mr. speaker, i also believe that continuous war without a clearly defined goal is contributing to

anxiety and depression among members of our military. in recent days i have come to the house floor to talk about our military's involvement in afghanistan and the importance of knowing the end point to our war strategy. after nearly eight years in afghanistan, president obama's order for a surge of additional troops will lead to more killed and wounded, more frequent deloiments and more stress on our military and their families. that is the price of war. while american military personnel conduct their missions abroad, elected officials here in washington need to take seriously their responsibility to develop a viable, long-term strategy for these operations. i have spoken to many in the army and the marine corps who say our nation needs an end point to the war strategy. many service members have gone to iraq and afghanistan more than once and their service is greater than ever, but the

stress cannot continue forever. that's why we will continue to your knowledge the president to work with his military commanders and the congress to articulate our men and women in uniform, what is to be achieved and develop the best possible strategy for achieving our goals and wrapping up our military commitment in afghanistan. i will also continue to work with my colleagues in congress to ensure adequate funding for mental health programs for service members and veterans. before closing, mr. speaker, i would like to thank the department of defense and military leaders who are doing everything possible to help the service members who suffer from anxiety and depression. as i do about every night as i come to the floor of the house i have to close this way because i regret that i voted to send our troops to iraq. i have signed over 8,000 letters to the families and extended families so i can say to god for

give me for making that decision. god, please bless our men and women in uniform. god bless our families of the men and women in uniform. hold the families who have given a child who died for freedom in afghanistan and iraq. i ask, god, please, god, please, god please continue to bless america. with that, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: ms. woolsey of california is recognized for five minutes. ms. woolsey: thank you, mr. speaker. and i would like to thank congressman walter jones for his five minutes. that was the perfect lead-in to my remarks tonight. mr. speaker, last week, i stood in the house to mark two tragic milestones.

i said july had become the deadliest month for our soldiers in afghanistan since the conflict began. and i reported that the number of american troops who have died in afghanistan and iraq had gone over the 5,000 mark. today, i rise to warn the house that a third tragic milestone is coming up. according to a report by the congressional research service, congress has approved $941 billion in war-related spending since 9/11. if congress approves the administration's request for the next fiscal year, funding for afghanistan and iraq will go over the $1 trillion mark. and that's just for direct military operations, mr. speaker. the $1 trillion figure doesn't include the indirect costs such as health care for our wounded veterans. many of our veterans will need

care for the rest of their lives. the nobel-winning economist has estimated that when you add it all up, the occupation of iraq alone will cost us over $3 trillion. tragically, all that spending hasn't made us any safer. violent extremists have launched more attacks around the world since 9/11 than before 9/11. the war spending hasn't made us any richer either. it has contributed to our economic crisis, exploded the lid off our national debt and diverted funds from desperately needed domestic priorities. besides iraq and afghanistan, congress has also approved spending for a third war, called the global war on terror. that war has been a big mistake, too. as the rand corporation has pointed out when you use the word terrorists, you elevate

them. you elevate them to the status of holy warriors and encourages them to conduct holy war against the united states. we need to call terrorists what they reallyr criminals and violent extremists. to stop them, we need good intelligence and good police work in the communities where they hide, not massive military occupations that don't get the job done and bleed our treasury dry. i'm glad that president obama and secretary of state clinton have stopped using the phrase war on terror. that's a good first step, but now we need to take several more steps. we must speed up the withdrawal of our troops and military contractors from iraq. we must change our mission in afghanistan. to emphasize economic development, humanitarian aid, education, jobs and better governance. this is the kind of help that the people of afghanistan want

and need from the united states. this is the kind of help that will give the afghan people real hope for the future and a reason to reject extremism. and throughout the world, we must replace military power with the tool of smart power. such as diplomacy, multilateral action and nuclear nonproliferation. i have offered a smart security platform for the 21st century which could put these tools to work to make the world a safer place. mr. speaker, america cannot afford to keep using military power as our only option. it's dumb foreign policy, dumb military policy and dumb fiscal policy. smart power will save lives and money and build a more peaceful world for our children and their children. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the the gentlewoman from from nevada,

ms. titus is recognized. the gentleman from indiana, mr. burton, is recognized. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from florida is recognized? ms. ros-lehtinen: reclaim that time and address the house for five minutes. ms. ros-lehtinen: i rise tonight to recognize the work of take stop in children, a program throughout my home state of florida which provides low-income and at-risk children the scholarships and the guidance that they need to obtain a quality college education. as a former educator and former florida certified teacher, i'm permly aware of the importance in providing our children a solid education so they may be successful, productive and active members of society in the future. when students receive the support the mentoring and financial assistance necessary

to pursue a college degree, they begin to realize that they can achieve their goals, they are capable of reaching their dreams, there are people ready to say, we are here to help you. this is what take stock in children offers to all of these children. it is an opportunity for the kids in our community to take advantage of the education they might not have otherwise been offered. take stock in children created a model of operation, which provides for structure and the stability that at-risk and low-income students need in order to be guided, to be most productive into college and beyond. with it's innovative mentorship, scholarship and case manager and accountability systems, it is no wonder why take stock in children has flourished. the passion and commitment evident in all aspects of the organization is indeed

inspiring. over 94% of all funds that they gather go directly to scholarship and services to students. as more funds are made available to take stock in children, they are quickly made available to the students. take stock in children has been able to expand into a public-private partnership so that forever $2 raised for scholarship and student services, they receive a $1 match from the florida pre-paid college foundation, creating millions of dollars of resources for our kids. as all of our florida families know the florida pre-paid program allows them to invest early in their children's education and parents lock in the cost of college when they begin paying into the program saving them years of college rate increases and allowing them several years to save for their children's educational needs.

one in 10 florida's children has a pre-paid plan and 206,000 pre-paid students have already graduated from college. i'm proud to say i was one of the co-creators of this program when i served in the florida senate. take stock in children is the largest single purchaser of florida pre-paid scholarships and it's a great coordinated victory in the help to have children achieve dreams of success. it has been over 21 years since i helped create the program and i'm continually proud of its successes. with florida pre-paid and take stock in children working together and educational powerhouse has been created for florida students, combining financial aid as well as guidance and counseling for enrolled and eligible children. over 520 students in my district today are recipients of

scholarships from take stock in children and without its support, finding college tuition for these students would not have been likely. today, almost $109 million have been awarded in scholarships and one million hours logged with over 11,000 volunteers dedicated to helping these students. it is because of the commitment of dedicated individuals that take stock in children has come to be a tremendous success. as a member of congress and ardent supporter of giving the best education possible to our youth, it pleases me greatly that organizations like take stock in children exist today. i look forward to hearing about all of the future successes of take stock in children. and i again applaud them for their every day victories for all of our children. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of our time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky, mr. yarmuth, is recognized. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman from texas is recognized for five minutes. ms. jackson lee: let me thank the speaker very much and i rise to salute a woman of success and pay tribute to vermel cook, 95

years old, who passed just this last week, born on november 24, 1913. a woman that has a very special place in my heart and that of the city of houston. mr. speaker, you can imagine a woman born before -- can you imagine a woman born before the conclusion of world war i, in the midst of a segregated south, who became an important surgical nurse who attended to the surgeries of the famed surgeon dr. michael debake and dr. denton cooly at the methodist hospital? what an achievement. she did that for 30 years. in her 30 years, i would imagine she saw some of the first heart transplants. she saw the first opportunities to give new life to patients

through the genius of dr. michael debake, already passed and dr. denton cooley who still lives in our community. i'm very proud that this woman raised beautiful children, six children, she has eight grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and one of her wonderful children was a dear friend of mine, the mitchell family. her granddaughter, pam mitchell, who is saddened by her death, is one of the eight grandchildren, and her wonderful surviving daughter as well had the opportunity to live with a great mother and a great father, a husband, deceased, leroy cook, they were married for 50 years. and produced great talent, for the mitchell family, mr. and mrs. mitchell, and granddaughter, pam, and her young grandson traveled around the community and provided great music. she was a woman of religion as well. a member of the progressive new hope church under reverend ens i

brown and she served as that church for many, many years. a great historic church in the city of houston. but then as pastor brown passed away, she moved to one of the up and coming starring churches under the leadership of my dear friend, pastor samuel rat live, brentwood baptist church, and i'm reminded of my visits to that church when pastor ratliff and all of the leadership of that church always rallied around sister cook. they always were so grateful of her presence there and as well the spark and the laughter and the smile that she brought to the congregation. i will always remember her, generous in spirit and heart, a nurturer, and now i know why, a surgical nurse in the midst of a segregated america, living through world war i and world war ii, standing at the side of the founder of the veterans' hospital system of america, dr. michael debake and then his two

teams, dr. denton cooley, now their fallen hero goes alongside of dr. debake, my very dear friend, sister vermel cook. as she is buried this coming weekend, i would ask that we remember her challenges, but also her spirit. i will always be proud to have known her and to have recognized the greatness of her service and how she pioneered for nurses who now have come behind her. she will be funeralized on saturday, this coming saturday, august 1, 2009, at the brentwood baptist church. though we are saddened by her passing we know that this will be a commemoration, a celebration, of the pioneering spirit and the successes that she had. we pay tribute to verm lervings cool cook, yes, fallen, but yet successful. a woman we can be very proud of in this great nation that gives us opportunity. god bless you, vermel cook, and

god bless america. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas, mr. gohmert. >> unanimous consent to claim five minutes at this time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, the big guns have lined up against h.r. 1207, the bill to audit the federal reserve. what is it that they are so concerned about? what information are they hidinging from the american people? transparency is ok, except for those things they don't want to be transparent. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke argues that h.r. 1207, the legislation to audit the federal reserve, would politicize monetary policy. he claims that monetary policy must remain independent, that is secret. he ignores history because chairman of the federal reserve in the past, especially when up for reappointment, do their best to accommodate the president

with politically driven low interest rates and a bubble economy. former federal reserve board chairman arthur burns, when asked about all of the inflation he brought about in 1971 before nixon's re-election, said that the fed has to do what the president wants it to do, or it would lose its independence. that's about -- that about tells you everything. not by accident, chairman burns strongly supported nixon's program of wage and price controls the same year but i guess that's not political. is not making secret deals with the likes of goldman sachs, international financial institution, foreign governments and foreign central banks politicizing monetary policy? bernanke argues that the knowledge that their discussions and decisions will one day be scrutinized will compromise the freedom of the open market

committee to pursue sound policy. if it is sound and honest and serves no special interest, what's the problem? he claims that h.r. 1207 would give power to congress to affect monetary policy. he dreamt this up to instill fear, an old status trick to justify government power. h.r. 12 op 07 does nothing of the sort. he suggested that the day after an fomc meeting congress could send in the g.a.o. to demand an audit of everything said and done. this is hardly the case. the fomc function under 1207 would not change. the d.t.l. transcripts of the fomc meetings are reliesed every five years so why would this be so different and what is it that they don't want the american people to snow? is there something about the transcripts that need to be kept secret? or are the transcripts actually not verbatim? fed psycho fants argue that an audit would destroy the

financial market's faith in the fed. they say this in the midst of the greatest financial crisis in history brought on by none other than the federal reserve. in fact, chairman bernanke stated on november 14, 2007, that, quote, a considerable amount of evidence indicates that central bank transparency increases the effectiveness of monetary policy in en-- and enhances economic and financial performance, closed quote. they also argue that an audit would hurt the value of the u.s. dollar in fact, the fed, in less than 1 lun years of its existence, has reduced the value of the 1914 dollar by 96%. they claim h.r. 1207 would raise interest rates. how could it? the fed sets interest rates and the bill doesn't interfere with monetary policy. congress would have no say in the matter and, besides, congress likes low interest

rates. it is argued that the fed wouldn't be free to raise interest rates if they thought it necessary. but bernanke has already assured the congress that rates are going to stay low for the foreseeable future and again this bill does nothing to allow congress to interfere with interest rates setting. fed supporters claim they want to protect the public's interest with their secrecy. but the banks and wall street are the opponents of 1207 and the people are for it. just who best represents the public's interest? the real question is, why are wall street and the fed so his terically opposed to 1207? just what information are they so anxious to keep secret? only an audit of the federal reserve will answer these questions. and i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois, mr. davis, is recognized for five minutes. without objection, so ordered. mr. davis: mr. speaker -- mr. lewis: mr. speaker, i rise today because america needs health care and they need it now. the american people cannot wait. everyday that we -- every day that we wait, 14,000 americans lose their health insurance. 46 years ago at the march on washington, i said, they tell us to wait, they tell us to be patient, we cannot wait, we cannot be patient. people losing their health, their homes or their very lives because our health system does not work for them. this is not right. it is not just. and we can do better, much better. it is our moral obligation to lead.

the companies do not need our leadership. the drill companies do not need our leadership. they do not need our help. real hardworking people need to us lead. we must make sure that in other rush to appease the few, that we do not harm the many. we must adopt a bill that has a strong public health insurance option. we must adopt a bill that makes health premiums affordable to low and middle income workers. we must not negotiate a way -- away our commitment to the working poor and to middle class americans. this is the kind of leadership americans need. dr. martin luther king jr. once said, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane. if we do not protect our most vulnerable, hardworking

americans and their families, we will perpetuate this injustice. the time is always right to do what is right. we should not be afraid to do what is right. we must answer the call of history and pass health care reform that works for all americans. mr. speaker, i yield back. the balance of my time -- mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas, mr. olson, is recognized for five minutes. mr. olson: i ask unanimous consent to speak for five minutes, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman may proceed. mr. olson: mr. speaker, i'm convinced that sharing real stories from people in our communities is the best opportunity to put a human face on the task before us with respect to reforming health care. we have spoken about costs, tax increases and job losses, access

to care and government-run options. these are all deeply important factors in this equation and we have a duty to the american people to debate them fully. . . my republican colleagues and i have tried to impress on the other side the importance of maintaining the doctor-patient decision making process. and i think that joshua loya's story says it all. ap constituent of mine was 24 weeks pregnant when her unborn son was diagnosed with hypeoplastic left heart syndrome. she was told he would not be born alive. her cardiologyist consulted with

groups of occurring ons around the country, but none could offer the help she needed. brittany was advised she -- her child could be put to sleep and go to the hospital for a still birth. she was unwilling to accept this and decided to fight for her unborn baby. brittany made copies of the cardio gram and sent them to the top five pediatric cardio surgeons she could find. only one at the university of michigan's hospital that if brittany came to michigan, they would do everything they could to save her unborn child. on june 26, 2002, joshua was born. he was immediately intubated and wired and he was in critical condition and doctors felt he was not a good candidate for the corrective surgeries available.

he was listed for a heart transplant the day after he was born. and after 16 life-threatening days at 3:00 in the morning, brittany got the call that there was a heart for joshua. almost seven years later, you would never know what brittany and joshua went through. he is a happy, growing boy with medical needs, but no limitations on a good day. he can run, play, sing, laugh and dance. unfortunately, he is immune suppressed and will be for the rest of his life. he takes eight medications twice daily and must adhere to a strict schedule to control the levels of medication in his system. too little, and he is at risk of rejecting his heart. too much, and the medications trigger kidney failure and disable his immune system, making him more vulnerable to

every germ around. i tell joshua's story, because quite frankly because if the health care plans being promoted by my democratic colleagues were to become law, i'm not confident he would be here today. his mother is deeply concerned that with government-run health care, she might not have had the choice to deliver her baby and have access to the life-saving medical procedures needed to keep him healthy and alive. in a massive government-run bureaucracy, americans may not have the freedom to make the individual decision s that brittany craft made to bring little joshua into this world. she was in a position to not accept the word of a doctor and could search across the nation for a bretter chance at life for her unborn son. while some maintain that they can stay on their private plans,

they are not considering the far-reaching implication of the government plan. a government-run plan means bureaucrats make the decisions and private insurers will be forced to follow suit to remain competitive. there is valid concern that otherwise healthy people will flock to the cheaper government plan and sick people will try to stay on private plans putting private insurers out of business. joshua's story puts all of this in the crystal clear context for me and i urge all of my colleagues to remember joshua loya as we go ho and talk to our constituents about health care reform, any reform must include freedom for individuals and their doctors to make their own personal health decisions. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pascrell. mr. pascrell: address the house for five minutes. this is a golden opportunity after what you just heard, we wanted to dispel misinformation. i don't know what plan the gentleman just spoke before me is referring to. so this is what's been propagated from the other side about health care system envisioned in america's affordable health choices act. i have heard many of my colleagues across the aisle claim that the democrats' health care proposal will result in rationing and loss of choice. tonight let me address that, because if it did, i would not support it, nor would my fellow democrats. i have heard anecdote after anecdote from the other side about a man here, a woman there who that had to wait for care in

canada and england and i do empathize with their stories, but let's be clear, our health care plan absolutely does not envision a canadian-style system. we're americans. we proposed an american system with choice and competition. we're not socializing medicine and we're not rationing care. this is rhetoric designed to stir fear and slow down efforts to bring real reform to our system. with that said, i want to share with you a story not from canada, not from england, not from mars, but from right here in the united states, month claire, new jersey, my district. jody, one of my constituents, has been self-employed for 20 years as a dietish and. and when she got divorced he had

to pay for cobra coverage. after a year and a half of timely payments, her plan notified her that our insurance was canceled because the automatic withdrawal from her bank account was processed a day late. i want to be on the side of those who are going to support folks like this and not on the side of those who will perpetrate the support of insurance companies, and that's what we're talking about here over the next several months. that's what we'll continue to talk about. there's no appeal available, so jody was not notified until six weeks after she lost coverage and was not eligible for hipaa relating to pre-existing conditions. when she found insurance on the individual market, all of her pre-existing conditions were

excluded for a year. read the bill. when she needed blood work because she was having unplainable weight gain, the insurance company denied coverage for her tests because of a pre-existing thyroid condition, even though she never experienced these conditions before. read our bill. when she had pain in her foot, the insurance company denied coverage for a doctor visit because she had been to the doctor nine months prior for a wart. but what is different about this story from the stories brought to us from the other side of the aisle is that we have the numbers that prove that jody is not alone when she was denied care that she needed. if you want to talk about rationing, then let's talk about these numbers. 53% of americans cut back on their health care in the last year because of costs. between january, 2000 and this

year, five million families filed for bankruptcy because of medical bills. about 1/3 of the uninsured have a chronic disease and six times less likely to receive care for health care than an insured. read the bill. 25 million americans are underinsured, which means that at least 25 million americans face premiums, co-pays and deductibles that they can hardly afford. for these people, price stands between them and the care they need and the treatments their doctors prescribe. another 46 million are uninsured with no protection whatsoever from these costs. as many as 22,000 americans die each year because they don't have health insurance. read the bill. that's rationing, my friends. that's rationing. as costs continue to rise, these numbers will grow and grow. so please don't preach to us

about rationing. plans offered by the other side fail to reduce the number of uninsured, fail to rein in health care costs and erode provider coverage. the one mode of insurance that has kept us from slipping, our bill will expand access to health care, rein in health care costs and needless rationing in this country. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kansas, mr. moran. >> mr. yarmuth: request pergets to speak out of turn -- request permission to speak out of turn. the speaker pro tempore: the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. yarmuth: we are on the verge of something significant. i'm proud to join my colleagues from the ways and means committee here tonight to talk about the prospects of health care reform in this country.

i heard the other day that it was in 1912 that president teddy roosevelt first talked about proposing a national health care system for the united states. today, we are still the only industrialized nation that doesn't have health care for all of its citizens. we believe it's time, almost 100 years later to try and get this accomplished for the american people. now my colleague from texas a little earlier, my colleague friend and classmate from college, talked about polls that are out this week that indicate that the american people have somehow turned against the president in his quest to provide health care reform in this country. but what he didn't mention was the other part of that poll, which said once people understood what h.r. 3200 does that they overwhelmingly support it.

there have been a lot of efforts to mischaracterize what this bill does, what our proposal does, and quite frankly, we're in that sausage-making process now. we have three committees in the house working on health care reform. we have two committees in the senate trying to accomplish the same thing. and we have 1,000-page bill, there are thousands and thousands of pages of legislation designed to finally to build a kind of health care system that is responsive to the needs of american citizens. but more importantly, is responsive to the nation, its future and its economy. so i'm not surprised that americans are a little bit uncertain about what we're doing here, because we are still in that process. but i can assure the people watching tonight, the american public, that the battle lines are about to be drawn. this bill is go to come into

focus as the third of the final committees reports the legislation out. and over the next month, we will take the argument to the american people. because we're very confident that once the american people understand what we're doing, how we're going to improve their situation that they will overwhelmingly support our proposal. because what the american people, what my constituents in louisville, kentucky want, constituents in new jersey, washington and new york and california all want is basically the same thing, they want security for their health care lives for them and their families. they want stability of insurance so they don't have to wonder if they're go to go lose their job and their coverage, if they want to change jobs, go back to school, make one of those important life decisions, that they don't have to worry about whether a pre-existing

condition, something in their health history would prevent them from being covered. they don't have to worry about getting sick and having their policy rescinded as we have heard much evidence about. and most importantly, they can go to sleep every night knowing that a disease or an illness will not bankrupt them, will not change their standard of living. these are the things we are about to proceed to do for the american people. for ourselves as well, because we know as the republicans know, that if we accomplish this major, major goal, that we will have the everlasting appreciation of the american public. we know that, because the republicans have said that. we heard a senator the other day say, well, if we can defeat health care reform, that will be president obama's waterloo, we will be finished.

we know from frank lunz's memo which said, we can't afford to let the democrats succeed on getting health care reform. we have no answer to that, but we have to stop it at all costs, and that's what they have been trying to do. talking about things that aren't in the bill, talking about comparisons with canada, which is the only country in the world that does health care the way they do it. and as i asked a witness at our hearing, what have we copied from canada other than hockey? we can do something very special in this country and create a unique solution that will bring choice and competition. the two things that have characterized american society throughout its history by using choice and competition, by creating a public option for americans to participate in that will compete with private insurance companies. we can make private insurance

companies better and make health insurance more affordable forever american. this is our goal. this is what we know what h.r. 3200 will do. and we look forward over the next month in taking this argument to the american people, because the case we have is a winning case, the hand we have is a winning hand and we know that the american people will embrace what we are attempting to do. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from minnesota, mrs. bachmann. the gentleman from washington, mr. mcdermott. without objection, so ordered. mr. mcdermott: mr. speaker, health care reform may be the single most important issue members will vote on during their entire legislative career.

the issue effects every american. health care effects our economy at home and our ability to compete internationally. for the first time in almost 20 years we have a real opportunity to solve america's health care crisis, and the american people have spoken clearly, overwhelmingly, that they want congress to produce a solution that puts the american people's interest ahead of special interests. to say there is urgency in what we need to do is an understatement. for the last several months the three committees in the house have been working separately and collaboratively on health care legislation. two of the committees, including the ways and means where i serve, reported bills out of committee to the floor. i want to explain why the ways and means committee bill is the best bill and is vital to the success of health care reform. let's start with medicare. for senior citizens, medicare is health security.

the program is so effectively managed that 97 cents of every dollar goes for patient care. and that means it's 97% efficient. in many private insurance company programs, 40 cents of every dollar simply goes for overhead, advertising, paper, not delivering health care. so the smart choice is to develop health care legislation based on a proven model and that's what we did in the ways and means committee. a new model with a strong public option based on the medicare model which has delivered quality health care to seniors and a very comfortable living to doctors and other medical professionals across this country, that's what we need today. without a strong public option, health care reform is just a slogan. and without real cost control, health care reform is just another press release. america spends twice as mh on health care as any other

industrialized nation in the world, and run away costs are bankrupting average americans and consuming an even greater part of our gross domestic product than before. the situation is unsustainable. we talk about the need to address pre-existing conditions when it comes to health care, and we should. but run away costs are a pre-existing economic condition we must fix in the new legislation or we are setting ourselves up for failure. recent changes to the legislation have scrapped the proven legislative effective and fair model we have in medicare and substituted negotiated rates making the government negotiate with doctors. on the surface it may look fair, but looks can be deceiving. the private sector has had decades of opportunities to make health care work and the economic wreckage of that is everywhere to be seen. now they want more.

the legislation now would call for negotiateations. let me tell what you 245 means -- that means. so call negotiated rates does not limit what could be charged or the rate of increase each year. a public option tied to medicare is the only way to control the cost. otherwise health care cost also keep going up and americans will keep getting left out. while the rich can always take care of themselves, health care at any price the middle class and disadvantaged will remain one accident or illness away from financial ruin in the richest country in the world. that sounds like the status quo, right? we don't need anymore of that. under the chairmanship of charlie rangel, the ways and means committee tackled these tough issues and proud health care reform legislation that's fair for providers and affordable for the american people. you have seen what happens when the private marketplace decides what's best for the american

people. wall street, housing market. remember, when they say the market will take care of itself, they mean just exactly that. and we need someone to take care of the american people. that's what the ways and means bill is all about. it comes down to this. who do you trust? the private health insurance industry companies have had 18 years since mrs. clinton and the president tried to change it in 1993-1994. and there's nothing happened except raising the rates and more people losing their insurance. or you can trust the people who designed medicare which has given every citizen in this country, every senior citizen real health security. the choice will be made in september. the american people will have a month to think about this, listen to their legislators, ask

questions, read the bill. it's online. you can find it. there are plenty of ways to find out what's happening. but you have to tell your legislators, we want this bill for the ways and means committee. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: mr. bishop of utah. >> i ask unanimous consent to claim my time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to honor philip merring of grass lake, michigan, for his service in the united states army. his courage and commitment while serving is -- as an n fantryman in vietnam is truly deserving of our respect and admiration. he lenised in the u.s. army at the age of 17 upon finishing high school. he volunteered to serve in vietnam. and was deployed with the 196th

infantry brigade in 1972. in july of that year, he was severely wounded by concealed enemy explosives. he remained in the army despite his injuries and returned home for duty with the fourth mechanized infantry division. because of his outstanding service in vietnam, he earned both the air medal and the army commendation medal. later, philip was honorably discharged and he moved to michigan. he is now retired and enjoys time with his six grandchildren. mr. speaker, hundreds of thousands of americans still carry the wounds of vietnam with them. they are deserving of our constant recognition and support. and i am pleased to be able to have shared just one of their stories today. may the united states congress

and all americans thank and recognize my constituent, philip merring of grass lake, michigan, for his service to our great nation and for the injuries he sustained while serving as a u.s. army infantryman in vietnam. may god bless philip and his family. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: mr. forbes of virginia. mr. sess stack of pennsylvania. -- mr. see stack of pennsylvania. ms. kaptur of ohio. ms. sanchez of california. mr. becerra of california. mr. spratt of south carolina.

under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009, the gentleman from new york, mr. rangel, is recognized for 30 minutes. mr. rangel: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. rangel: first let me thank congresswoman woolsey and congressman ellison for sharing this -- their hour with us on ways and means. we have been blessed in having such dedicated members of our committee coming down here in support of h.r. 3200, varying from bill, dynamic john lewis, we had dr. mcdermott who spent so much of his life on this very sensitive subject. soon we'll be hearing from

congresswoman schwartz and you may have noticed that our discussion has been on a subject that the whole world has wrestled with and certain the united states. that is the health insurance for americans. tomorrow night we hope to be able to go back to our congressional districts to discuss this very serious and complex subject. a subject that many presidents have looked at and hoped that we could provide some decent way to take care of american citizens. but we do believe this courageous president has not only talked about the problem but brought together the stakeholders, the doctors, the insurers, the nurses, the hospitals, the unions, the private sector, the businesspeople all coming together to see how they collectively would be in the

position to tackle this problem once and for all. they even went as far as to suggest that we could over 10 years save $2 trillion and stop the hemorrhaging of the cost of health insurance by working together, republicans and democrats. i say that notwithstanding the fact that it appears as though the public debate has this republicans fighting against democrats. the fact is you can't fight against anybody's ideas. if you don't have any of your own. as tragic and unfortunate that during the next month it will appear as though the republicans are just attacking us because they don't have way to resolve this serious problem on their own. having said that we intend to move on. the ways and means committee as

you have heard has passed out a bill that we are so proud to present that. we have two other committees that have jurisdiction, the education and labor committee. they have passed out their bill. and we do hope that tomorrow we have every reason to believe that the energy and commerce committee will be passing out their bill. that means that the house would have completed its work. the three committees would have one bill and that in september when we come back and blend these bills and merge these bills, we will be able to have a bill that we will be able to go into conference with the senate, as they wrestle with two pieces of legislation over there, and then we hope in september or certainly soon thereafter, we would be able to present to the president of the united states a bill that tackles this very, very serious problem. this problem really everybody

listening and everybody in this house of representatives have had some horror stories, some story about what has happened with the insurance that they thought they had, the insurance that they lost, the insurance cost that is have just soared, or even people who can't even think about leaving their jobs for fear that they would lose their insurance. it shouldn't be in this great country of ours that people have to worry about education and health care as we try to compete with people throughout the world. it should be in this country that the least thing that you have to worry about if you are sick is how you're going to pay for it. and in a country as industrialized and wealthy as we are, we shouldn't be included among a handful of country that don't take care of its people's health. so in this bill we provide health care for some 50 million people.

believe me we are providing the insurance, but they are getting one way or the other they are getting health care. it's not the best health care. sometimes they are afraid to go into the emergency rooms. sometimes they can't afford to talk to doctors. sometimes they end up worse in terms of illness than they would have if they did have some insurance, but nevertheless the state governments, city governments, federal governments pay for it and you pay for it, too. that's a part of the reason why your insurance premiums are going up, because the hospitals are going to charge those that have insurance for it. the insurance companies are not getting paid, they are going to charge you for it. and ultimately you're going to find out that this fiscal price that our nation -- crisis our nation has is going to be hemorrhaged more by sharp increases in health care. so it's not just a moral problem, it's not just a health problem, it's a national interest problem in terms of the

direction which this great country of ours is going. . but just imagine the relief all of us will have knowing that if we do get sick, the insurance company will not come and tell you that you're not covered. just imagine if you want to get insurance at any pre-existing illness will not prevent you from getting insurance. just imagine if you want to leave your job, you don't have to look at your insurance policy to see whether or not you're going to lose that and not be able to get another one. so this is really just the beginning. this month of august is going to be america's month, a month to analyze what it means to you, how can it save you money, protect your health and protect our country against illnesses that we hope we never have, but sometimes when are hit, people have lost their homes, their

bank accounts and ended up in dire financial need because they couldn't afford. so tonight we hope to share with you some of our thoughts. and i like at this moment to yield to one of the dynamic members from pennsylvania, a member of our committee, ms. schwartz. she has worked in this area before she got to congress and while she has been in congress and made important contributions to the ways and means committee and i yield to her such time as she may consume. ms. schwartz: it has been an honor and a privilege to serve on the ways and means committee. i knew it would always be interesting and always doing important work and the principal work we do in congress, i don't think i could have anticipated to have worked on major issues

facing this country. there are few issues as important as the health care of americans. and i think we have seen it in the ways and means committee under your guidance and leadership, the fact that people bring their own experiences in health care. each and every one of us have our own experiences, both good and bad. we bring the concerns of our constituents. and i think our hopes and dreams for our country and how great it can be, under your leadership and our watch to participate in finding a uniquely american solution to health care, affordable, meaningful health care for all americans. it is an attainable goal and big goal and one that the president set out when he ran for president. he set out to us both in the committee and congress to say, now is the time to do this. i think each and every one of us could share stories that we hear from our constituents.

i'll tell just one if i may. i have some statistics about the number of the people of pennsylvania who don't have health insurance, but it's important to bring it down to a personal story. i visited one of those colleges in my district, penn state. it is well known. we have a satellite campus in my district. and i met with a group of students who wanted to talk about health care. a young woman talked about the fact that she was raised by a single mother and was on chip. i think all of us are proud of the children's health insurance program and she said her mother made $25,000 a year, no way she could get health insurance through her work. so she got chip and grateful that her kids had health insurance. this young woman was over 21 and no longer had access to chip but working full-time and full-time stupid and because of the

commuter campus, they don't require or offer a way for students to buy health insurance. she looked for it and it was unaffordable. she tried to find an affordable health policy and couldn't find one. and a short while before she had gotten sick and she said she was sick enough to go to the emergency room and ended up with a $7,000 bill. i don't know if she was held overnight. we didn't get into the details of the care she received. she was healthy and doing fine. but $7,000 in a bill. and had no idea how she was going to pay the $7,000 and stay in school and continue on her path and the promising future ahead of her. all these things that were consequences and yet she said to me, well, how can we be in this great country and not be able to

help her out. and i think that's what we hear. it is for the 50 million americans without health coverage. many millions of americans who have health care, you find they go to hospitals and find out that they have a pre-existing condition and not able to find the coverage, even though they have health insurance. and this is why we're here. we hear from small business people as well, who say i want to provide health insurance and i can't afford it, or i provide it but one of our employees has a serious illness and saw a 40% rate increase from one year to the next. we talk about double-digit inflation. in the last eight years we have seen health premiums double in price. double in price. and we are concerned about the federal government as well. we have deep concern about

maintaining our commitment to seniors in this country in medicare. imagine our seniors not having access to health care. this is something we did 35 years ago to get medicare coverage for all seniors. we see the unsustainable growth in costs. what are we going to do about it? we have a bill before us. we have passed it out of ways and means and as we speak, the energy and commerce committee is going through the bill. what it does is address the issues and concerns and realities of the families i talked about. it finds a way to bring down the costs under medicare by really instilling in our system a goal of quality and value, encouraging primary care, part of the bill that i want to thank the chairman for and his staff and other members for really including in this bill, increased opportunity for loan

forgiveness and debt and increased reimbursements in primary care. a new category of medical homes so if a primary care physician or nurse practitioner wants to be able to provide ongoing care between visits, make that phone call to see how somebody is doing, make sure they get the kind of care they need, make sure they followed up on their prescriptions and they are following the instructions that they understand the diet and the exercise that they have to engage in so they don't end up on renal dyalisis years lateror sight if gone untreated. diabetes is one example. we encourage payments that are bundled that say -- says we are going to look after you when you go home. physicians to provide primary care and specialty care and keep

people out of the hospital. these are all lifesaving and cost saving. almost half a trillion dollars in savings in the bill before us. and we have sound ways to help small businesses with tax credits, to be able to provide coverage to the employees and encourage all employers to cover health care. and for the gupe that is already insured, to -- group that is already insured, you aren't go to go have pre-existing exclusions or worry about the insurance companies finding a reason to deny coverage because of a health condition or don't have to worry about going bankrupt. you don't have to pay any more than 10% or 12% of your salary or lose your home or go bankrupt over health costs. these are just some of the consumer protections for people who already have insurance. and if you lose your job or

between jobs and many americans change jobs, if -- you will have that continuity of coverage. and we are going to find a way to help all those 50 million americans who don't have access to affordable coverage through an exchange and sent them a benefits package and provide subsidies for lower income working folks and we will do what the president has told us what he wants us to do, to contain costs for government, businesses and families and make sure that insurance is meaningful and every american has access to health coverage. at the end of the day, it's going to be a great day. i yield back. i'm happy to stay and participate in more conversation, but i'm happy to yield back. mr. rangel: i would like to recognize dr. mcdermott because when people have nothing to compete with, i think it's

natural just for them to be critical. i hear talk, dr. mcdermott, that this plan that we're having, for all of america, is actually a takeover of the federal government of all insurance plans. they say that the congress and the federal government wants to get in between a patient and their doctor and to watch out because the government is coming. it bothers me that they would say it because it would appear as though we're only talking about democrats who have doctors when we are trying to help all americans. could you share with us the public option, what this does for america and what opportunity it gives to people who don't have insurance. mr. mcdermott: well, mr. chairman, you raised the issue,

i think, that is probably our biggest and most tough issue to deal with, and that's the question of fear. people continue to try and convince people that they have to be afraid. we had a speaker here just a moment ago, who had a beautiful picture of a little child and the fear was that the government is going to come and take over their health care. now, nothing could be further from the truth in what we put together. if you look at america, you have 150 million people in private insurance. and then you've got 50 million people in medicare. and got 50 million in medicaid and then you got 50 million who don't have anything. now these people who have insurance today in their employment, each month when 300 ,000 they are over in the basket with the people who don't have health insurance. so we're not talking about people who aren't trying or

people who haven't been paying their taxes or haven't been working, but talking about us, the middle class, is in danger in this present system because if your employer stops paying your insurance, you don't have anything. and you are over here trying to buy it for yourself. wouldn't matter if you are older, got a problem, problem kid, whatever, you are going to have a very tough time. now the answer to that is for the government to say here is a public option that you can buy into at an affordable price. now, the problem with individual insurance, most people by the time they're 30 or 40, you know something's started to go wrong, whatever, and the premium for

those kinds of insurance programs is $1,000 a month. many people are paying $12,000 out of pocket trying to buy an individual program. that is unreachable for most of the working class in this country. the only solution is to have a government subsidized program that they can buy into. people say, there it is, the government is going to make all of the decisions. no, you're going to buy an insurance program that will be paid for by a government mechanism, but the delivery of the health care is going to be by private physician, private hospitals, private nurses, the whole thing is private. mr. rangel: how could the government get in between the doctor, the hospital and the patient? what are they talking about? mr. mcdermott: well, it's part of the scare tactics. if you watch television tonight when you go home, you will see commercials on there saying that the government is somehow going to get between -- and they did it in 1993 and 1994, it was harry and louise and harry says, you know that mrs. clinton,

she's going to take away our health care. they are doing the same thing now making it appear it's going to happen, when no such thing is being planned. there's no question that the government is not going to be between you and your doctor and making a decision on what needs to be done. mr. rangel: why would the private insurance companies be against the public option? i mean, if the congress is saying and the president wants that we have 50 million people out there with no health insurance, another 25 million with low health insurance and we are now going to give them a subsidy, we're going to give them enough money so they can walk in and get the type of health plan they want, why would the health insurance companies out there fight against campaign against, put ads against the public option? why do they do this? .

mr. mcdermott: it says to insurance companies you can't cherry pick the healthy patients you want to take care of and leave the sick ones to somebody else. what we say is, if you're an insurance company, you got to cover everybody. you got to open the doors wide and let anybody come in. insurance companies don't want that. what they want are healthy patients who pay a premium for whom they have to pay out very little money. then they did give the rest to the stockholders. there's nothing wrong with that. that's the preenterprise system. but they are afraid if we have a government system, that is there for the people's been fit and has a 3% over-- benefit and has a 3% overhead, where an average insurance company overhead is 14%, and they know the people are going to take the lower premium in the government plan. or they are afraid of that. so they say, we can't -- you got to put us on a level playing field. well, you can't make profit off

people's sickness and have a level playing field with a government plan. mr. rangel: let me ask congresswoman schwartz, if the private insurance company are fighting against the public option, does our legislation demand that a person has to join the public option? how does that work in our legislation? ms. schwartz: it's a really good question. i think -- of course not. we are not in any way telling people where they have to get their coverage. where they have to buy their insurance. if people get a subsidy, and really understand that everyone's going to have to pay something. we are not giving away too much free here. this is really everyone's going to pay their share. we are going to help people. we are also saying to them, we have said to the insurance companies. come in and compete. that's great. we are going to create a marketplace where you can offer new products to another 30, -- 30 million, almost 40 million people, each of those

businesses, families, small businesses will be able to choose between private insurance companies and a public option. i see that the public option is a -- an opportunity to ensure that there really is competition. because i think many of the markets across the country we have one major insurance provider. that's it. so not a lot of competition. we believe in the free market system, you need competition there. we only have one product to buy, it's very expensive, you don't have any choice. what we are trying to say here -- the insurance companies, i want to give them -- i'm happy to beat up on insurance companies, they have said if everyone's in, they want to be able to have the opportunity to sell a good product to people. that's fine. we are fine with that. we want them to step up to the plate and offer new insurance product to individuals and small groups. and again as mr. mcdermott said, make sure it covers certain benefits. it doesn't exclude people. it doesn't cherry pick as you say. there are going to be rules. we are going to make sure the consumers are protected under

these rules. that's very important. but no one is going to be told to go into the public option. no one. mr. rangel: dr. mcdermott, i heard the republicans said on this floor in this house of representatives and other -- on television that this public option that's being offered to people to take if they want it is really a democratic socialistic, communist attempt to knock out the private sector. where do they get this idea and what do they mean? mr. mcdermott: it's very strange. people who talk about believing in competition and believing in the marketplace, as representative schwartz says, there are places in this country where there's only one option. and if y have nobody to compete with, they control the prices. for them to get the idea that it's socialistic to put somebody in there to compete is really saying they are afraid to compete. they know they can't win.

they have failed over the last 18 years, they knocked out mrs. clinton's efforts in 1993. they had an open field, the entire country was opened to the private sector. and they cannot figure out how to cover 50 million people. so we come stepping in and saying we have a way. they say, oh, no. you can't -- you'll somehow if the people ever get a wind of what you're doing, they'll leave us. they are afraid that people will leave them because they have been in it for the profit and not in it for the benefit of the patients. and that's really why i think they are afraid. mr. rangele: some of the private insurance companies say we just don't have enough resources to take care of all these poor folks that you're giving subsidy to. let me ask you, congresswoman, is there anything that we are doing to provide the work force and to provide the environment so that sick people can feel secure in getting health care once they have the subsidy?

ms. schwartz: the subsidies, poor people in this country do get medicaid. we are expanding that. these are really people who work, many poor people do as well, work every day and simply don't make enough money to be able to afford the high rates of insurance. that's part of it. want to bring down the cost of insurance. again we hope the private insurers step up to the plate and help us do that. they haven't done a great job of containing costs which is why we are in this situation. once people have insurance we are working hard to make sure the delivery system, all those doctors and nurses and -- can you name all the other health providers are both available and that we are training enough. we anticipate if we don't do something about the lack of primary care physicians, in 20 25, there will be 46,000 too few primary care doctors. that's astounding. a lot of us are getting older. all of us are getting older, i guess. neither of you are, of course.

but we also know that -- we want to make sure we have the kind of care for every age. and we are not getting the quality out of the system we know we should. that also is an issue we have taken up in this legislation. we want to encourage our hospitals and our doctors through financial carrots, there might be sticks, are creating incentives for our doctors and our hospitals to improve quality. one of the examples many of us are becoming aware of is infections and -- you get in a hospital. or when you leave the hospital after surgery that you don't have the right kind of follow-up once you get home and you end up back in the hospital. that's not only really hrt 238 -- nurlt for the person affected it's also expensive for all of us. so if we can and our hospitals can, we can encourage our hospitals and insist upon our hospitals making sure that they reduce the number of infections and repeat readmission wee, would all be better off.

that's what we are trying to do. there are many pages of what we call delivery system reforms, we are encouraging everything from home visits after a baby is born to the family to, as i talked about primary care and medical homes, and ways doctors can organize themselves. and we are setting out a goal of changing some of the way we pay doctors and hospitals to encourage them to really look at quality and to save dollars and improve health outcomes. that's one of most discouraging things for all the dollars we spend, $2.5 trillion, not all government, half in the private sector, we don't have the find of healthy americans we should. and that is part of our goal here is to extend coverage to take for the government to be smarter in the way we finance it and for people to take more personal responsibility in their health care as well. mr. rangel: dr. mcdermott, before you came here, you practiced, you have been out there. you worked with patients and

doctors and hospitals, one of the most frightening thoughts that we have is that you get sick and you don't have enough coverage or you don't have any coverage, you face bankruptcy. you lose your home, you lose your dignity. and sometimes even lose your family. merely because you didn't have the resources to deal with a catastrophic illness. what provisions are in this legislation to protect the americans against that? mr. mcdermott: the plan that would be provided for every american who was in the health insurance plan, whether the private one they were in before or the one that they are in in the government option would give them the protection for the basic things that everybody needs in a health care system. i have a story, you reminded me of. one might i was going out of the hospital in seattle and the telephone operator stopped me

and said, they want you up on the coronary care unit. i went up there and there was a guy putting on his clothes and said i'm leaving the hospital. he had a heart attack the day before. they wanted him to stay in the hospital. he said, look, i have no health insurance. if i lie in this bed, it costs me $1,000 a day. and i can't afford it. what if i die? then i leave my family with a big bill. either way i'm caught. and when we put this program together we give people the assurance that if you have a heart attack or whatever, and you need hospitalization, you'll be taken care of. mr. rangel: let me thank the speaker and mr. ellison and ms. woolsey for giving us an opportunity to share what's in our bill. we will be back tomorrow and hope that during august all americans can look forward to the president of the united states signing a bill that would give them confidence that

wellness is the top priority for this congress. thank you. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009, the gentleman from minnesota, mr. ellison, is recognized for 30 minutes. mr. ellison: mr. speaker -- the speaker pro tempore: as the designee of the majority leader. mr. ellison: we'll claim the time. i need about a half second to set up. we will claim the time on behalf of the progressive caucus. mr. speaker, this is the progressive -- special order hour of the progressive caucus, congressional progressive caucus. we come every week to talk with

each other and to talk on the house floor about a progressive vision for america, a progressive vision that embraces everybody. where we all do bet with her we all do better. a progressive vision that says that the greatest moments of american history are when we pass a civil rights bill when, we invested in our infrastructure during the roosevelt era. our greatest moments in american history were when we passed the 19th amendment recognizing the right of women to vote. these are the great moments of american history and this great tradition of a progressive vision for america is what we carry on week in and week out. i want to say that if you want to communicate with us, our website is here at the bottom of the page, here, the cpc.grijalva.house.gov. and what i'd like to do, mr. speaker, is right away turn the microphone over and yield to our

caucus co-chair, one of the stalwart bigtime fighters who never backs down and always is for the people, who's lived it, knows it, and who is now representing the people of california in a great struggle to promote a grogive vision, none other than congresswoman lynn woolsey, who by the way has more five minutes against the iraq war than anybody else in history. i yield to the gentlelady from california. ms. woolsey: thank you very much. and thank you so much, congressman ellison, for doing this every single week for the progressive caucus. we do have a progressive message. by the end of the day we sometimes think that we are too tired to come down here and talk about our message. we are in the middle of the health care debate right hire in the house of representatives. and as congressman rangel told us, two of the committees have marked up a written and are ready to present their health

care bills. one of the committees is ways and means. the other one is education and labor. the energy and commerce committee is working on it right now. and we are going to leave before the end of the week and we are going to go off while our leadership and the heads of those three commits put the bill together out of these three committees. and one of the committees, what's happening in energy and commerce, the progressives disagree with. very, very severely. so we have written a letter to our leadership, to the speaker, and the three chairmen of these committees who will be writing this -- pulling these bills together, laying out what the progressives in this congress stand for. once again regarding health care. so i'm going to