journal" but we will be here tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. washington time.

which will provide 800 new jobs with funds directly sent to small and medium-sized businesses which is part of, again, the tried and true program that the stimulus bill expanded. the president of one company who is going to have 200 new workers as a result of this program, said, the grants have assisted us in hiring entry-level employees and provide them with new skills to more readily advance their banking careers. the largest newspaper in new london county indicated that this is an excellent program and this is what the stimulus

package was intended to do, putting people back to work is the best way to improve a strong and vibrant economy. first-time homebuyer tax credit, worker incumbent training programs, slowly but surely we are turning this economy around and i ask permission to submit these for the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from west virginia rise? mrs. capito: to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman from west virginia is recognized for one minute. mrs. capito: thank you, mr. speaker. i honor nancy show on her 41 years of service of cannon, west virginia, and to congratulate her on her upcoming retirement. nancy has served secretary to the mayor, computer assistance manager, recorder, treasurer and acting mayor to the city of buchanan. she served as president of the municipal clerks and recorders association and selected as clerk of the year in 2007 --

1997 and 1998. she also received the certificate of highest merit from west virginia university's local government leadership academy. and most recently she was awarded the quiet strength award for outstanding leadership. nancy's leadership was proven during the sago mine disaster. being the closest city to the mine, the county provided grief counseling largely due to her effort. she's proven herself to be a true leader and dedicated public servant whose positive impacts in her economy will be felt for many years to come. i join with the folks of buchanan county in commanding nancy show for her outstanding leadership over the past 41 years and i ask my colleagues to join me in hong her. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from -- mrs. capito: to join me in honoring her. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? >> to address the house for one minute.

the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from illinois is recognized for one minute. mr. hare: the employee doesn't want another benefits check. they want a job. i am proud to say on friday i introduced h.r. 4290, the new deal for new economy act, which will help retain millions of jobs. it will reach that goal by investing $60 billion per year over three years in tarp money. first, it would invest heavily in the creation of public works and public interest jobs through the creation of the new economy grant program. the jobs could be filled by persons of all skill levels, specifically in the areas of public works jects on the state and -- projects on the state and local levels. secondly, it will provide a direct line of money to help alleviate the financial woes. it will allow the expansion of our current work force and will be channeled to local governments through the grant programs for cops hiring and for safer grants for our firefighters and our fun works and economic grant program. further, my bill will provide

much-needed funding for our schools to protect our teachers and hire more. the third and final piece of this bill is one is critical to restoring our nation's lands for future generations. it's a direct line of funding to our national forest and national parks to address some of their many needs, projects that have been neglected for decades. mr. speaker, wall street got its bailout. it's time for main street to get theirs. again, i ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from ohio rise? mrs. emerson: to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman from ohio is recognized for one minute. ms. schmidt: thank you, mr. speaker. if we don't heed moody's warning, our nation' a.a.a. credit rating is likely to be downgraded due to unsustainable deficits by 2013. and what does this president and this majority do to answer this serious issue? spend more money we don't have

at record levels. the president and the majority party have no interest in reining in the budget deficit. just this weekend, top white house advisors said that tackling the deficit was not a priority. this administration has a lot of priorities. of frequent criticism is that it has too many priorities. apparently everything is a priority except for deficit reduction. i guess this shouldn't be a surprise coming from an administration that in its first year in office tripled the budget deficit to an all-time record high of $1.4 trillion. the president just graded his job performance on the "oprah" show as a b-plus. i can only imagine and would fear the kind of deficit the president would have run up if he would have given himself an a. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise?

>> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, despite its claims of pursuing only a peaceful nuclear program, iran's actions has shown it is developing a nuclear bomb. you only need three elements to build a bomb. iran has or almost has all three of these elements. according to the international atomic energy agency, tehran has developed one in three quarter tons of low-enriched uranium, enough to make two bombs. as for a delivery system, we know iran has missiles and in may tested a new long-range missile that reach israel, our other allies and our troops in the region. regarding a warhead, the iaea has evidence that iran is working on setting a bomb inside a missile column. and this week it was reported that iran has a plan to test a neutron initiator, a component that is used to trigger a nuclear bomb and has no

possible civilian applications. as we stand here debating iran is making a nuclear bomb. the iran sanctions act will help in this. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana rise? mr. fleming: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. fleming: mr. speaker, democrats in the senate are desperately looking for 60 votes for health care. so desperate that in a new report released last week, a chief actuary of medicare found that the reid-pelosi bill would cause many physicians to stop treating seniors because of $465 billion in cuts to the medicare programs. unfortunately, the medicare beneficiaries, the c.m.s. actuary, found that 20% of hospitals and nursing homes

would go into the pred within the next 10 years -- red within the next 10 years. as if that were not enough, the reid bill would also cut payments to medicare advantage plans by roughly $120 billion, plans that 11 million seniors enjoy today. these cuts, according to the actuary, will result in 3.7 million seniors losing benefits under medicare causing many to pay more out of pocket each month for the drugs and services they lost. the reid-pelosi bill will make it harder for seniors to find treatment or afford care when they are sick. that's all. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from pennsylvania rise? mrs. dahlkemper: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the

gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. mrs. dahlkemper: mr. speaker, i rise today to honor one of my constituents, an extraordinary woman in erie, pennsylvania. claire ward, the founder of the youth development and family center in erie, was the star of "extreme makeover: home edition." she had an amazing renovation to her home. with the help of her daughter, cynthia, and son, bennie, she provided children a safe haven from the streets. every year, claire gives 300 children presents for the holiday and she provides food for children who would otherwise go to bed hungry. we have all so much to learn from claire and her spirit of generosity. it is my hope that we carry this lesson through the holiday season and into the new year. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. poe: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute. mr. poe: mr. speaker, requiring

americans to buy health insurance or pay a fine or even go to jail if the fine tax is not paid is utterly without constitutional authority. under the constitution, a citizen has no affirmative duty to purchase a mandated cobble congressional product. citizens have -- mandated congressional product. the bruisers say that people must buy car insurance. that's a flaw. driving is a privilege, not a right. and to exercise that privilege, a driver must buy insurance. but no one is forced to buy a car. third, car shirns is to pro -- insurance is to protect a driver. a better analogy will be in the name of helping commerce -- congress by force requiring all people to buy a product, whether it's health insurance or a car or even a box of doughnuts is unconstitution ath

and abuse of congressional -- unconstitutional and abuse of congressional authority. and that's just the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from connecticut rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from connecticut is recognized for run minute. . -- for one minute. . slowed and almost stopped. the stimulus bill is rebuilding bridges in my district, rebuilding highways, rebuilding community health clinics. but slowing the rate at which americans lose their job is nobody's idea of a christmas present. we have hard work to do. i had occasion in church this weekend to hear the words of handle's ma "messiah" and the government shall be upon his shoulders. that is prophetic, meaning in the future. right now the government is on our shoulders. i hope when we reconvene in

january we setaside the partisanship, misinformation, and the anger to get back to the serious business of creating jobs for the american people. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> mr. speaker, i ask permission to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. olson: mr. speaker, in what has become a familiar move, house democrats have decided to increase spending yet again. but sadly they have opted to shut out debate on this matterer by attaching a $300 billion increase in our nation's debt ceiling to the defense appropriations bill. they know they would have serious trouble getting support to increase our nation's debt limit so they are using our troops to carry them. this is one of the reasons the american people are fed up with congress. as a navy veteran, i can assure

you that exploiting funding for our troops is both deplorable and demoralizing. and i will continue to oppose such actions. we owe the american people, our children, grandchildren and the men and women risking their lives in defense of our freedom bert than -- better than this. at christmas we should be be hanging ornaments on a tree not massive spending bills on the back of our troops. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york, for what purpose? mr. arcuri: ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. permission to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from -- without objection, the gentleman from new york is recognized for one minute. mr. arcuri: mr. speaker, last week i was about to stand up with many of my colleagues and hold wall street accountable for their reckless actions that led us into the biggest financial collapse in the last 50 years. for too long wall street banks were allowed to put short-term profits ahead of long-term

stability under the bush administration and reaped record profits as a result of their risky and out-of-control behavior. when the markets collapsed out from under them, this country's hardworking citizens were forced to suffer the consequences. the wall street reform bill we passed increases enforcement and makes necessary reforms to hold wall street accountable so that it can never again recklessly gamble with our financial health and safety. it also creates a new financial protection agency to prevent borrowers from taking loans they can't afford and holding risky lenders libel for their practices. the cfpa will also protect families and small business from irresponsible lending practice bice ensuring the bank's loans and mortgages and credit cards are fair and easy to understand. finally the bill makes it clear that wall street will no longer be receiving any sort of taxpayer funded bailouts. the american people have pulled together and selflessly acted to help this great country. it's time for wall street to step up and do the same. thank you, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise?

mr. gingrey: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from georgia is recognized for one minute to address the house. mr. gingrey: mr. speaker, the democratic member from connecticut said it's prophetic that the government should be on our shoulders. unfortunately, the government is on our backs and it shouldn't be. and no better example of that is this massive health care reform bill, complete government takeover of health care, bureaucrats coming between doctors and patients. people in this country have spoken loud, but the democratic majority is not listening. in my 11th of georgia, mr. speaker, there are 95,000 people on medicare. and 13,000 of them, 14% of the total, get their coverage under medicare advantage. that will be taken away from them as we strip $120 billion out of the medicare advantage program. and what that means, mr. speaker, is that those 13,000 people in my district will have to pay an additional $180 a

month for the medicare fee-for-service coverage if they can find a doctor that will take them. they will have to buy a prescription drug plan at $30 a month and buy a supplemental medigap plan to goff many of the things covered under medicare advantage without additional cost, that policy will cost them $150 a month. that's why the american people are outraged over this plan. listen up, members, vote no. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute to address the house. >> mr. speaker, it was not long -- mr. altmire: it was not long ago our economy bottomed out and we avoided a catastrophe. that is little consolation to the americans who lost trillions of dollars in retirement savings due to the years of reckless behavior on wall street. as we continue to show positive signs in our economy, this house last week passed legislation to make sure that

we never again find ourselves in such a dire situation. the regulatory reform bill we passed creates an orderly process through which large failing financial institutions can effectively be dismantled. no more too big to fail. we end taxpayer bailouts by ensuring in the future wall street not the taxpayers will pay to dismantle endangered firms. and we end the predatory lending practices that help caused the crisis by requiring banks to ensure that they only lend to borrowers who can actually repay the loans. these changes are long overdue, but come just in time for the american taxpayer. yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? mr. broun: to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute to address the house. mr. broun: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i'm a family doctor. i've examined the pelosi and

reid health care bills and i made a diagnosis. the american people need to listen up to this diagnosis. if you like your health insurance today, the price is going to skyrocket. and you're not going to be able to keep it eventually. if you are on medicare, you are going to have a hard time finding a doctor that will accept medicare because of the massive cuts. if you're a veteran and dependent upon tricare, forget it. mr. speaker, my prescription, we need to trash the reid and pelosi health care bills, work in a bipartisan manner, do this in an incremental way to lower the cost to everybody and work to make something that -- makes sense for the american public and keeps the good quality health care we have in america. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from arizona rise? >> qui unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from arizona is

recognized -- without objection, the gentlewoman from arizona is recognized for one minute to address the house. mrs. kirkpatrick: last week i release add report outlining out the american recovery and reinvestment act has benefited greater arizona and identifying where improvements can be made. i surveyed communities receiving recovery funds across my district to bring transparency and oversight into the process. i found significant progress has been made in bringing jobs to greater arizona with 1,098 jobs created or saved in district one. support to our state also prevented deep cuts in arizona's education and public safety funding. however, delays were reported on more than 40% of projects. despite the hard work of local officials. our rural communities are finding the bureaucracy to be an obstacle. i will continue working with local officials and federal

agencies to allow greater arizona to take full advantage of recovery act so they can create more jobs and get folks back to work. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will remind all members not to traffic the well while other members are under recognition. for what purpose does the gentleman from nebraska rise? >> to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from nebraska is recognized for one minute to address the house. >> thank you, mr. speaker. since 2007 our national debt has increased 39% from nearly $9 trillion to more than $12 trillion. this works out to be $39,000 for every man, woman, and child in america to pay off our country's debt. now there is a push to increase our nation's debt ceiling to $13.9 trillion despite warnings this increase will be harmful to the u.s. economy. at a time of of double-digit unemployment and with more than $2.6 million jobs lost since the so -- 2.6 million jobs lost

since the could he called stpwhruss was passed, isn't it time we institute fiscal sound policies? they know any economic recovery starts with tax relief for working families and small businesses and fiscal discipline from washington. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas rise? ms. jackson lee: to address the house. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman from texas is recognized for one minute to address the house. ms. jackson lee: thank you very much, mr. speaker. let me say that when democrats gather, good things happen for the american people. our health care bill is a bill that will bring down premiums, save lives, and create a magnificent reformed comparable to saving lives when medicare was passed in 1965. it is only those who are scared and apprehensive and not ready to go forward for the american people that won't allow us to move forward on the health care reform. just as when we gathered together behind closed doors, democrats again are promoting

transparentp legislation and creating jobs for americans. we stand with the small businesses in providing them resources and credit because they are the backbone of america. we realize that job training and specifically a bill that i am offering that says if you are unemployed and get unemployment compensation, you can be in a scholarship program that will train you for the jobs of the future. the health care bill will be providing jobs on top of jobs. health care jobs, nursing, doctors, physician assistance, americans need jobs and democrats are not afraid to take the risk that are necessary to provide for them. as we pass the appropriation bill, we are creating jobs for america. and therefore i am asking my colleagues to assist and not cast about the fears of doom. we are moving this economy. we are helping health care. we are providing the opportunities for america. and i am glad to be a democrat serving on behalf of the american people. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? >> permission to address the

house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for one minute. mr. pitts: thank you. mr. speaker, what is the proper function of the united nations? is it a forum for countries to come together to promote peace, security,er and human rights? or is it an independent entity that determines and establishes the law and regulations to govern member states? general secretary has made it clear in recent comments that the u.n. climate summit in copenhagen will not be successful unless a firm deadline for a legally binding agreement is in place. in copenhagen the u.n. is advocating for u.n. bureaucrats with the legal power to regulate the actions of member states. we should not let the health of our economy rest on the collective decisions of a group containing antagonistic and autocratic governments who do not have the american people's interests at heart let alone the interest of their own citizens. do we really want burma, iran,

north korea and other despotic governments setting the rules that govern how american businesses operate? i certainly do not. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> mr. speaker, i request permission to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute. mr. hinojosa: mr. speaker, i together with congressman henry cuellar rise to honor my newspaper in mcallen texas on its 100th year anniversary. since its first issue on december 11, 1909, the mcallen monitor has been around the clock operation. it began as a weekly newspaper. its reporters recorded the events when mcallen became incorporated in 1911. "the monitor" was there to record the history of the rio grande valley and its people. the names of the pioneering families leave a road map all across the rio grande valley.

families like the lopez, the guy yars, the mcallens, the youngs, the sherry, the hinojosas, and the bensons. now a daily paper the mcallen monitor takes pride in telling the success stories of homegrown people who have become famous from martinez to kris kristofferson singing and acting. from bobby moreau's olympic gold medal to the late senator benson. mcallen monitor has covered the good and the bad. the sad and joyous news for 100 years. congratulations to them on its 100th year anniversary. . the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? mr. lungren: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from california is

recognized to address the for one minute. mr. lungren: thank you, mr. speaker. when we were discussing and debating on the health care bill, i got a call in my office from one of my constituents and after we had spoken for sometime he said i have a confession to make. he said, i voted for president obama because i thought that he would be -- he would bring us together and that there was hope. but then he said these words. he said, i did not vote for this madness. what did he mean? i guess maybe he was talking about a health care bill that's going to cost more money, going to raise taxes and not going to take care of all americans. i guess he was talking about a cap and trade bill that will put a burden on every single american. i guess he was talking about a proposal that comes to us that says, oh, we have a huge deficit and we're going to work our way out by spending more. and i suppose he may have been here to hear one of my colleagues just a moment ago that said, when democrats meet behind closed doors they come out for transparency. it seems absurd, perhaps,

because it is. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california rise? ms. watson: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman from california is recognized for one minute to atres the house. ms. watson: mr. speaker, the 111th congress has made historical progress working with president obama to take america in a new direction. we're working to turn our economy around and create good jobs, to make commonsense reform to how wall street does business, to make quality health insurance affordable to every american, and to launch a clean energy jobs revolution that makes america more secure. these adverses are being tackled by fiscal discipline and accountability. you just heard by the american recovery and reinvestment act and the business assistance act, stimulating growth and creating jobs was up to 20

additional weeks of unemployment benefits. -- with up to 20 additional weeks of unemployment benefits. and the entrepreneurship act to give small businesses an entrepreneurial startups, the needed tools and resources needed to create jobs and drive economic growth. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? mr. kirk: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. kirk: this morning we read reports that the administration announced that a prison in illinois will have guantanamo detainees. we will walk away from that investment. administration briefings

revealed that we are not ending gitmo, just moving it to the heartland. members of congress posed over a dozen questions on this plan over a month ago with no answer. and here is one of the key unanswered issues. in his archives speech, the president announced that approximately 75 of the detainees are, quote, too dangerous for trial or release, unquote. they are to be held indefinitely without civil or military trial. it is illegal under our constitution for the executive to hold a person inside the united states indefinitely without trial. question, how will the president suspend our constitutional -- our constitution's writ of habeas corpus once he brings these detainees to the heartland? the american people should know right now. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky rise? mr. yarmuth: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the

gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. yarmuth: some of our republican colleagues are trying to raise the specter of 1994 when we are talking about health care reform saying, oh, the democrats are going to lose control of the house if they pass health care just like they tried to do can hillarycare. well, there is a difference between 4-and 2009. -- between 1994 and 2009. premiums had not nearly tripled in the prior 10 years. we weren't seven years away from facing bankruptcy and health care. more than 7,000 people weren't going bankrupt because of health care costs. and finally, nearly 45,000 people a year weren't dying because of lack of health care coverage. we've seen what the public response for health care is. they saw one move in 12 years of their control and that was to pass an unfunded prescription drug plan that the social security trustees now say may raise the deficit by $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years.

we've even the republican solutions. the american people want the democratic solutions. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana rise? mr. pence: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from indiana is recognized for one minute. mr. pence: thank you, mr. speaker. i was here at the capitol on september 11. i watched the smoke rise from the pentagon. i walked in the ashes of ground zero one week later. terrorism is not theoretical to me. that's why, like most americans, i was astonished to read this morning's press reports that the obama administration is about to transfer over 70 known dangerous terrorists from the military detention facility at guantanamo bay outside the united states to a prison inside the united states in the heartland of america in the state of illinois. by moving known terrorists to american soil, the obama administration is putting international public relations

ahead of public safety. how does closing guantanamo bay make us safer? how does moving over 70 known terrorists to a facility in my beloved heartland of this country make our families more safe? and how does it even make sense? mr. president, rescind this order. put the safety and security of the american people ahead of international public opinion. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california rise? mrs. capps: to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. mrs. capps: mr. speaker, the scientific consensus about whether humans is causing global warming is clear. they underscore the need for all countries to take action to reduce global warming pollution. as i speak, world leaders are meeting in copenhagen to

negotiate a new global climate treaty. this is a tremendous opportunity for the united states to lead the world in coalescing around a fair, ambitious and binding climate agreement. we must confront the cause of the global warming and manage the impacts of climate change, such as rising sea levels and help developing countries benefit from clean energy technology. mr. speaker, the united states has a lot to gain in copenhagen. currently, european countries generate more of their electricity than they do from clean alternative sources while china is on track to become the world's leading maker of wind turbines by the end of this year. the united states can lead the world in growing clean energy economy. we can create new american jobs and strengthen our national security while we protect our planet. we can and we must be a global clean energy leader again. let's all support a fair, ambitious energy agreement in

copenhagen, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from new hampshire rise? ms. shea-porter: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. shea-porter: the 111th congress and the president has pulled the economy out from the bripping. after the last oversilingt of wall street, tax cuts of the very rich, this congress and president obama are busy reversing the damage. the house passed the wall street reform bill that will protect consumers and ensure that taxpayers are never again on the hook to bail out big wall street banks. we also passed clash for clunkers to get new cleaner cars on the road. and, mr. speaker, the american recovery and reinvestment act has invested in main street america, creating jobs and building infrastructure projects. these projects will serve the communities for decades to come. when the president took office in january, the economy was shutting over 700,000 jobs a

month. last month, there were 11,000 job losses. every job loss is a tragedy, though, and that is why we've been working to create jobs while we also extended unemployment benefits to those still seeking work. we are still turning america around, but in just one year we have come a long way. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? >> i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. grayson: mr. speaker, i rise in favor of peace. i am joined by nearly 100,000 people who have signed a petition to urge congress to stop the escalation of war in afghanistan. this is from the petition -- group rethink afghanistan. president obama plans to send 30,000 extra troops into afghanistan. america cannot afford a war

that does not make us safer, and congress has the pire to stop that escalation. -- power to stop that escalation. vote no to send more troops to afghanistan. i agree with that petition. it took only about 1,000 special forces troops to overthrow the taliban in 2001. why would we need 100 times that many to keep them out now? this occupation is an 18th century strategy against the 14th century enemy. we've done enough to house and secure the push tons and others. it's about now we think about ourselves. instead of spending billions on the war we need to spend it on us. end the war now. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise? >> i rice to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. ellison: mr. speaker, after

nearly a decade of handing over middle-class tax dollars to the wealthiest 1%, after nearly a decade of policy that encouraged $1 million c.e.o. bonuses over raises for american workers, we are witnessing the results of nearly a decade of complete republican control of the federal government. they handed president obama and this congress two wars, hundreds of billions of dollars in debt, crumbling national infrastructure, a home mortgage foreclosure crisis. one in eight mortgages in default or in foreclosure. a global climate crisis, and a financial sector ravaged by greed. this should be called the republican recession, and then they handed it all off to president obama and now have the audacity to ask, where are the jobs? well, the jobs are coming. the jobs are being built right now because democrats are focusing on jobs. democrats are committed to a jobs program that talks about our infrastructure and retaining public employees and

building america's future again. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee rise? mr. cohen: to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. "the new york times" and cbs released a poll recently that showed what the feelings are and the effects of unemployment on americans. we got 10% unemployment and many more -- many people that are long-term unemployed. the effect are devastating. people are unemployed -- that are unemployed are more likely to not have health insurance and have difficulty in getting medical care. this costs us more money. they have more problems with depression and anxiety and yet can't afford medical treatment. again, problems arise. they have lost their homes, neighborhoods suffer, crime increases, neighborhood values decrease. unemployment, the loss of jobs have hurt millions of americans and hurt others because of the

effects on the economy, on the government and on neighborhoods. but the people who have lost their jobs know why they lost their jobs. 26% specifically say the reason they lost their jobs is because of president bush and the policies that were brought about during the time he was president. that is obvious. the second largest group is wall street bankers. we need to help the unemployed. we need to find jobs. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. walz: among the speakers who just addressed this house is a high school teacher, a nurse, a social worker, a small business owner and a criminal prosecutor. and they stood hand in hand for working families and main street to restore responsibility and accountability to wall street last week. after years of recklessness and unchecked greed that now have cost millions their jobs, their homes and their life savings,

we finally passed long overdue commonsense reforms. these reforms protect investors and consumers from the excesses of those who will gamble other people's hard-earned money and close loopholes in existing laws. they end the taxpayer bailout and believe a firm is too big to fail. financial markets work best when they're transparent, allowing investors to make smart decisions and our capital system to flourish. they hire cops on the beat to protect consumers from fraud and abuse. it -- the bill we passed gives people the confidence again to invest in america. i yield back. . the speaker pro tempore: the chair will postpone proceedings today on motions to suspend the rules on which a recorded vote or the yeas and nays are ordered or on which the vote occurs objection under clause 6 of rule 20. record votes on postponed questions will be taken later. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1517 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1517, a bill to

allow certain u.s. customs and border protection employees who serve under an overseas limited appointment for at least two years and whose service is rated fully successful or higher throughout that time, to be converted to a permanent appointment in the competitive service. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from texas, mr. cuellar, and the gentleman from alabama, mr. rogers, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. cuellar: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on the bill that's under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. cuellar: mr. speaker, i also ask unanimous consent that an exchange of letters between the committee of homeland security and oversight and government reform be included into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. cuellar: mr. speaker, rise in support of this bill and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cuellar: h.r. 1517 would

help fix a previous hiring error for select number of employees serving overseas in positions for customs and border frokes. through no fault of their own, there is about 35 employees, preclearance locations across the globe that were hired under a limited term appointment by the immigration and naturalization service. some of those workers have been employed, mr. speaker, since 1987 with the majority hired in the mid 1990's. mr. speaker, they have been for most of the part treated the same way other officers and personnel regardless of their initial appointment status. however these employees, hardworking employees, unknown to them, were in personnel limbo for the past 15 years, 20 years, and were not covered by the protections and immunities afforded to permanent c.b.p. employees engaged in similar work. this personnel situation was initially brought to the attention in 2005. since then the c.p.b., o p.m.,

and department of state have been trying to fix this glitch but they realize that they need the help of congress. this is why h.r. 1517 will give the c.b.p. commissioner the authority to noncompetitively convert these 35 employees to full-time permanent civil service positions. doing so would not only ensure those employees continue to receive their appropriate benefits, but also will provide them with the protections they deserve as dedicated employees during the c.b.p. mission abroad. this ability to n convert these employees will also ensure that c.b.p. and that the united states honor the agreement between our countries and others such as ireland. going forward it is our hope that the commissioner will take the past histories of this dedicated 35 individuals into account when determining their future. as i mentioned, through no fault of their own these employees now find themselves

in this very difficult situation. other employees assigned to work overseas rotate back to the u.s. after a period of time. the majority of these employees affected by the bills, however, have been at their post for many years and have put their roots in this locations. in light of these employees' unique circumstances, the bill provides guidance to the commissioner stating that the implementation of the bill shall, number one, meet the operational needs of c.b.p., and number two, to the greatest extent prack particular at -- practical not be disrupted to this number of employees. i intend to right the system, c.b.p. should not unduel disrupt the lives of these dedicated individuals who have provide add very valuable service to our country. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from alabama is recognized. mr. rogers: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. rogers: thank you, mr. speaker.

i rise in support of h.r. 1517 to correct the hiring status of approximately 30 customs and border protection officers stationed overseas under the wrong hiring appointments. i appreciate the opportunity to stand in support of this legislation and the place of ranking peter king, the sponsor of this bill, the republican sponsor of the bill. h.r. 1517 grants special authority to the commissioner customs and border protection to noncompetitively convert about 30 c.b.p. employees mistakenly hired under overseas limited employment to permanent status stationed at the overseas preinspection posts. c.b.p. operates preclearance operations for travelers to the u.s. are able to undergo entry inspections before boarding the planes. this facilitates travel while adding and important security benefit. unfortunately this hiring error if not addressed could force these employees to transition into locally hire staff. much like foreign service nationals at embassies are to return to the united states and

compete for the domestic c.b.p. positions. through no fault of their own these employees are now facing the problems with their employment status due to a mistake made years ago when they were initially hired. the congressional budget office analysis shows no signature budget impact from this legislation as these are existing employees who only need a category adjustment to employment records. i would like to highlight an express appreciation for the bipartisan manner in which this legislation was developed. congressman engel and ranking member king worked together to develop this bill and both chairwoman sanchez and chairman thompson sponsored the bill. i urge my colleagues to support this bill. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. cuellar: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield four minutes to the gentleman from new york, mr. engel, who is the author of this bill and has been working with the ranking member, mr. king from new york. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for four minutes. mr. engel: i thank the gentleman, my good friend from texas, for yielding to me. i appreciate the comments made

by mr. rogers as well. mr. speaker, this bill rights a wrong. it's a very technical bill, but the bottom line is that 35 loyal and hardworking federal employees stationed overseas working for america are being treated unfairly and the bill corrects this. when i was in ireland at the customs post, hi a chance to speak with some of these employees and i became convinced that they were not being treated fairly. so i rise today in support of my legislation, h.r. 1517, the conversion of certain overseas customs and border protection employees. i would also like to give special recognition to my colleague and friend, representative peter king of new york, for the hard work that he has put into this legislation as well. h.r. 1517 would grant the commissioner of the u.s. customs and border protection the authority to noncompetitively convert

employees serving on overseas limited appointments and to -- into permanent employees. the need for this legislation was brought to my attention by 15 u.s. c.p.b. employees serving a preclearance centers in ireland who were incorrectly hired by the immigration and naturalization service. these employees were hired on overseas temporary appointments but the work requirement evolved into a permanent basis. there were two ways for a federal agency to fill permanent overseas positions. one, by hiring locally engaged staff or, two, by u.s. direct hire. yet because an agreement between the united states and ireland requires that all preclearance employees be permanent employees, and by definition employees on overseas appointments are limited employees, albeit in this case limited for an indefinite duration, c.p.b. is in violation of the two

country's agreement. more troubling the 15 employees are not covered by the protections and immunities afforded by the agreement to permanent u.s. preclearance employees. later i learned the number of employees in similar positions included over 30 other c.p.b. employees in bermuda, the bahamas, and canada. some of these employees protecting our country for almost 20 years are in limbo. without this legislation they will have to become locally engaged staff compensated by and receive benefits from the irish government or be placed into competitive positions that will require a return to the u.s. some of them have families and have been living in ireland working for the u.s. as american citizens. a choice that would destroy ep an established way of life in ireland if they were forced to come to the united states, or a career with the u.s. customs and border protection.

they would have to choose and that's not right. this was done through no fault of their own. this bill, h.r. 1517, would allow these employees to stay close to their families and keep their positions protecting our country. i would like to applaud the homeland security committee for including language encouraging the c.b.p. commissioner not to be too disruptive to the employees when implementing this legislation. i recognize the standard c.b.p. policy is for employees serving in overseas positions to rotate back to the united states after five years. however in this extreme circumstance it would be best for the c.b.p. to allow the employees to continue to serve where they are currently with the years of experience they bring to their positions. let me say in closing, h.r. 1517 is a bipartisan bill. it is supported by the u.s. customs and border protection and the national treasury employees union which represents the employees.

may i have an additional minute? mr. cuellar: yield an additional one minute to the gentleman from new york. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for an additional minute. mr. engel: i thank the gentleman. this is a bipartisan bill. i repeat it is supported by the u.s. customs and border protection and the national treasury employees union which represents the employees. each has had the opportunity for input into the final legislation. i would strongly encourage my colleagues to join with me in support again of this bipartisan legislation. continued employment of these individuals is in the best interest of c.b.p. and the best interest of our country as the work requirement remains and is critical to c.b.p. plow texting our nation's -- protecting our nation's borders. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentleman from alabama is recognized. mr. rogers: thank you, mr. speaker. i have no additional speakers. at this time i urge members to support the bill and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back balance of his time. the gentleman from texas is

recognized. mr. cuellar: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cuellar: mr. speaker, thank you. i encourage my colleagues to support this important legislation. mr. engel has been working on along with the ranking member, mr. peter king, from new york. this is a piece of legislation that will help those employees who have been working for our country. i would ask all members to support this important legislation. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1517 as amended. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. mr. cuellar: i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and make a point of order a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20

and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. cuellar: mr. speaker, morph that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3978. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 3 979, a bill to amend the implementing recommendations of the 9/11 commission act of 2007 to authorize the secretary of homeland security to accept and use gifts or otherwise authorized activities for the center for preparedness related to preparedness for and response to terrorism and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from texas, mr. cuellar, and the gentleman from alabama, mr. rogers, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. cuellar: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection.

mr. cuellar: mr. speaker, i rise in support of this bill and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cuellar: mr. speaker, i rise today in strong support of h.r. 3978, which is sponsored by my friend from alabama, mr. rogers. i'm pleased to stand with mr. rogers on the emergency communication preparedness response subcommittee, his ranking member, and works with in a very bipartisan manner. i thank him for his service. mr. rogers' district is home to the center for domestic preparedness. it is the premier training site for our nation's first responders and it is the department of homeland security only federally chartered weapons of mass destruction training center. d.h.s. has facilitated training at the center for thousands of first responders from all 50 states, territories, and the district of columbia. given the center's prominence in the first responders community, it often receives offers of gifts and donations

from a variety of organizations. these donations including training, emergency response equipment, and offers of guest lectures. this would strengthen the center's ability to offer high quality emergency response training. unfortunately, the center currently lacks the legal authority at this time to accept this type of services. h.r. 3978 will permit the secretary of homeland security to use these gifts otherwise authoreded activities of the center of domestic preparedness that are related to preparedness for and response to terrorism. the legislation further directs the d.h.s. to report annually to the congress on any gifts that were accepted in the preceding years and how they have contributed to the center's mission. other d.h.s. supported training centers also are permitted to accept gifts and donations and to give the center for

preparedness the same authority. i urge all my colleagues to support h.r. 3978. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from alabama is recognized. mr. rogers: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. rogers: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in strong support of the first responder anti-terrorism training resources act. h.r. 3978, which i introduced last month, ensures that first responders will train in east alabama's center for domestic preparedness have access to even better training resources. as many here know the center for domestic preparedness located in my district delivers one of a kind training to america's emergency responders. it's our nation's preer all hazards trainter center, also the only federally chartered weapons of mass destruction training center in the nation. .

this year, c.d.p. celebrated its 500,000th graduate. like other first responder training centers, often they receive offers of toe nations such as rail car, trailers, and emergency response equipment to assist in their training courses. however, since the c.d.p.'s activities are conducted under the 9/11 act of 2007 rather than the stafford act they lack the legal thorget to -- authority to accept these gifts. my bill fixes that problem. it amends the act so that c.d.p. may accept donations of property and services. it's a win-win for our first responders, the taxpayer and this important east alabama training facility. i'd like to thank mr. cuellar for his support of this bill and holding the markup in the subcommittee last month. i urge my colleagues to support this important measure and i

reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman are reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognize plsmed cuellar: i have no more speak -- is recognized. mr. cuellar: i have no more speakers at this time. if the gentleman is ready to close, i will close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from alabama. mr. rogers: i have no further speakers, i urge support of this bill and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from texas. mr. cuellar: i urge my colleagues to support this bill, the gentleman from beavepl has worked hard and been very dedicated to this piece of legislation and i urge my colleagues to support this legislation and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3978?

those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the gentleman from texas. mr. cuellar: i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. cuellar: by direction of the committee on homeland security, i present a privilege red port to accompany house resolution 922 for filing under the rule. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the -- title of the resolution. the clerk: report to accompany house resolution 922, directing the department of homeland security relating to the

department's planning, information share, and coordination with any state or locality receiving detainees held at naval station guantanamo bay, cuba, on or after january 20, 2009. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the house calendar and ordered printed. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? >> i move to suspend the rules and pass resolution 894. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the rizz lesion. the clerk: resolution 894, resolution honoring the 50th

anniversary of the recording of the album "kind of blue" and reaffirming jazz as a national treasure. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan. >> i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the resolution under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. conyers: today we honor miles davis, the trumpet player, and his sextet, recognizing the 50th year of the repording of one of the ledge dare jazz tunes, one of the most important, too, of the 20th century that was an album

called "kind of blue." it was recorded in a -- in new york, manhattan a church-turned-recording studio. there were six other people with miles davis. john coltrane, julian "cannon ball" adder lee, wynton kelley on bass, paul chambers, also -- bill evans and wynton kelley were pianists, paul chambers, bass, jimmy cobb the drummer, made musical history and changed the artistic landscape of this country and in some ways, the world. at the congressional black

caucus, the event of this past september, we honored the only living artist of that recording date, jimmy cobb, the drummer. who was there and who performed, as a matter of fact. it was a great time and a great event that occurred 50 years ago and the reason that it was great was that each one of these artists, coltrane, adderley, davis, bill evans, wynton kelley, paul chambers and jimmy cobb, all became musical leaders in their own right and they were

experimenting. they were, what was once call be-bop, now progressive jazz, then went on to -- some went on to mortal jazz, which i'm still finding out what that's all about. they usually take chords of a song, sometimes a ballad or popular song and then substitute chords, and then you get this creative improvisation of what their interpretation of the song means to them. that's what modern jazz is, of course, all about. so with the event that the congressional black caucus had work the only living musician

from that historic recording, gives us a chance and an opportunity to understand what this contribution to music means to the american cultural scene. jazz is celebrated all over the world. i introduced a resolution, a concurrent resolution on jazz, h.r. 57, i forgot what year now , but it was passed in both the house and senate, and it celebrated this contribution, musical contribution that's been appreciated, reinterpreted, all over the world, whenever and wherever i travel, i always try to locate the musicians whether it's in norway or jamaica or germany,

this music is still going on and it's something that we celebrate and i'm glad to bring it before the house today for passing this resolution, 894, and i reserve the plans of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. smith: i support chairman conyers' sponsorship of resolution 894, which honors the 50th anniversary of the recording of the album "kind of blue" and reaffirming jazz as a national treasure. i support jazz, not only in music halls, but in the hall of

congress. in 1987, h.r. 57 by representative conyers honored jazz. taking its name from this act, the h.r. 57 center opened in washington to promote jazz and blues. he sponsored a bill to award funding for the smithsonian to focus on jazz. chairman conyers has long supported efforts to bring live jazz to audiences in washington, d.c. he's helped on boards of the national jazz inc. and others. jazz is a historic american creation and as such, it certainly should be honored and supported by congress today.

this year marks the 50th anniversary of the famous jazz album, kind of blue. on august 17, 1957, miles davis and his ensemble, sextet, collaborated to record "kind of blue" this album popularized jazz like never before. it led columbia records to declare 1959 as jazz's greatest year. today, "kind of blue" is recognized as the best-selling jazz album of all time. its influence on music, beyond jazz alone, has led music writers to view it as one of the most influential albums ever. in 2002, it was one of 50 recordings chosen by the library of congress to be added to the recording registry. in 2003, "kind of blue" was ranked number 12 on "rolling stones" magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all

time. the author of the book "kind of blue: the making of a miles davis masterpiece" called it the premier album of its era, jazz or otherwise. pianist chet corea said it's one thing to just play a tune or play a program of music, but it's another thing to practically create a new language of music which is what "kind of blue" did. as a distinctly american language of music, jazz is rightfully honored by chairman conyers' resolution today. it is with great pleasure i join him in supporting this resolution and i urge our colleagues to support the resolution as well. we have no further speakers on this side so i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan. mr. conyers: mr. chairman, i

yield to one of the people who knew little about this music, but has come a long way from memphis, tennessee, the distinguished gentleman from tennessee, steve cohen, as much time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. cohen: we all start as a tab lara sa in all area -- as a tabula rasa in all areas of life and then grow. i've learned quite a bit about jazz. it's been my pleasure to have a lot of friends involved in jazz, including one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time. he was known by jazz mewes musicians all other the world as a great jazz pianist.

others have gone from memphis to new york, marvin stanley, a great flugelhorn player, went to north texas state university in education, where they've got a degree in jazz band, one of the few places in the world, mr. smith's state has a jazz band distinction. new york, bradley's, village vanguard, all those wonderful places, where you've historiccally hi been able to hear people like art blakely, i was able to see max roach in baltimore once as a jazz festival. i'm a fan of charlie parker and miles davis, great jazz musicians. i think all musicians respect miles davis, as maybe of the greatest influence on their lives regardless of whether they're rockersed on blues

musicians or jazz performers. i thank the chairman for his appreciation of what's a uniquely american cultural achievement and with that the world holds dear and respects america for its appreciation of jazz, an art form that's being lost to our students that needs to be taught in our schools and maintained as a living and breathing expression of american artistry. thank you for the time, i yield back the remainder and thank the chairman for bringing this resolution. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas has yielded the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan. mr. conyers: i yield myself one minute merely to say that i appreciate the gentleman from tennessee because an earlier jazz started in his state in memphis in nashville, and the roots of it were embedded in the modern jazz that the -- of

the music that we reaffirm today as a national treasure. before i just yield back the balance of my time because i studied music as a young person, it was -- i owe these musicians a debt of gratitude because it was they that recommended that i go to law school. so i'm grateful to them for helping my career. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan yields the balance of his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution number 894. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to, and without objection the motion to

reconsider is laid upon the table. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, may i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i rise to move to suspend the rules and pass senate bill s. 1472. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 1472, an act to establish a sex within the criminal division -- section within the criminal division of the department of justice to enforce human rights laws, to make technical and conforming

amendments to criminal and immigration laws pertaining to human rights violations, and for other purposes. soil pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from michigan, mr. conyers, and the gentleman from texas, mr. smith, each will control 20 minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from michigan. mr. conyers: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. conyers: members of the house, s. 1472 is an effort to improve our ability to identify and prosecute human rights abusers. it enhances the justice department's efforts to hold perpetrators of atrocities accountable and would help ensure that war criminals do not find safe haven in our country. this act would combine the two offices in the justice department with jurisdiction over human rights to create a

new consolidated human rights section. it would merge the office of special investigations with the domestic security section which has jurisdiction over human rights crimes. this would allow more efficiency and effective enforcement and a begination -- combination that would improve the use of our resources and give one section the necessary expertise and jurisdiction to prosecute or to naturalize perpetrators of serious human rights crimes. it also amends a section of the immigration and nationality act and makes some several technical and conforming amendments needed in the light of the enactment of of other

laws. i commend the authors of this legislation, the gentleman from illinois in the other body, dick durbin, tom coburn, the ranking member of the senate and human rights and law subcommittee, and the ranking member of the judiciary committee in the house, mr. smith. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas, mr. smith. mr. smith: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i support s. 1472, the human rights enforcement act of 2009. this bipartisan legislation was recently passed by unanimous consent in the senate. the bill is now before this body for consideration. the first goal of this legislation is to provide technical corrections to the genocide accountability act which was signed into law by president bush in 2007.

before that act passed, genocide was only a violation of federal criminal law if it was committed within the united states whereby a u.s. national out-- or by a u.s. national outside the united states. the act closed this loophole by allowing the prosecution of nonu.s. nationals found in the united states for genocide perpetrated outside the u.s. the second goal of this legislation is to create a new section at the department of justice to consolidate prosecutial authority over most federal criminal and immigration human rights offenses. currently the responsibility for enforces these statutes rests within the office of special investigations or o.s.i. o.s.i. was created in 1979 to hunt down nazi war criminals who secretly lived in the united states. after discovering war criminals within the u.s., o.s.i. used at mrive procedures to denaturalize, deport, or remove them. in 1994 congress statutory directed o.s.i. to also

investigate and denaturalize individuals who participated in genocide, torture, or judicial killings. right now o.s.i. does not prosecution authority. instead it works with attorneys and other components of the department to prosecute those cases in which are a violation of federal criminal law can be shown. this legislation expands o.s.i.'s jurisdiction to enable it to prosecute and enforce federal criminal human rights laws and consolidate those efforts into one office. i urge my colleagues to support this legislation. mr. speaker, since we have no other speakers on this side, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i yield back my time as well. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan yields back the balance of his time of the the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass senate bill 1472. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no.

in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i object to the vote on the ground a quorum is not friend present and make a point of order a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? mr. conyers: i move to suspend the rules and pass house resolution 150. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 150, resolution expressing the sense of the house of representatives that a a. philip randolph should be be recognized for his lifelong leadership and work to end discrimination and secure equal employment and labor opportunities for all americans. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from michigan, mr. conyers, and the gentleman from texas, mr. smith, each will control 20 minutes.

the chair now recognizes the gentleman from michigan. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. conyers: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. conyers: i'm especially pleased to rise in support of this resolution honoring the life and work of a. philip randolph whom i have had the privilege of meeting and working with indirectly. and i'm pleased to be a co-sponsor of the resolution with the gentleman from new york, the chairman of the ways and means committee, charles rangel. who introduced it. a. philip randolph was a towering figure in the movement for social justice in this

country, particularly in the field of labor and civil rights. he is principally noted for beginning to -- for his efforts in organizing the porters, sleeping car porters on trains who were all african-americans and middle 20th century and he -- earlier. nearly 10,000 of them who have never been unionized before. he was able to do that and finally worked out a contract with -- in 1937 with pullman. then went to the afl-cio where

they were able to gain an international charter. that was his major contribution . but to me what was so important was the work that he did with dr. martin luther king jr. because it was he who organized the march on washington for jobs and freedom august 28, 1963. i was a lawyer that was at that march. the first one that drew over 200,000 people and had a great effect on us moving to enact the civil rights act of 1964.

there are books about him, but the story that i like to tell is about the time that he challenged president roosevelt to end the desegregation in the military and in the military factories, the industries that were making war materials to end desegregation. then in a historic meeting with president roosevelt, president roosevelt acknowledged the validity of the struggle, but then he said something prophetic. he said, make me do it. and amazingly randolph after a

period of time assembled a huge number of people to march on washington and as they got ready to march, word came from the white house that the president would accede to his demand and gave an executive order banning racial discrimination in the government and in the factories. . that's been told many times over. i'm indebted to the chairman of the ways and means committee, randolph worked out of new york, i'm hopeful that chairman rangel may have met him and

knew him as well. so mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time and urge support for the resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognize plsmed smith: i support house resolution 150, which recognizes asa philip randolph for his lifelong leadership and work to end discrimination and secure equal employment and labor opportunities for all americans. he's one of the most well-known trade unionists of his time and helped found the modern civil rights movement. mr. randolph moved to the harlem district of new york city in 1911, when where he organized black voters in favor of labor rights. in 1970, he co-founded a magazine, the messenger, calling for more opportunities for african-americans in the war industry.

in 1955, he organized the brotherhood of sleeping carporters. this was the first serious effort to organize a labor union for the pullman company, one of the biggest companies and a major employer of black americans. they agreed to a compromise in 1937, win page increases, shorter workweeks and overtime workweeks. in 1941, mr. randolph proposed a march on washington to protest war industries and propose the desegregation of the armed forces. the march was canceled after president franklin roosevelt issued order 8802 which called for an end to discrimination. mr. randolph's nonviolent efforts led to the signing of another executive order on july

26, 1948, signed by president truman to ban discrimination in the armed forces. in addition to these accomplishments, mr. randolph was an active participant in a number of organizations and causes, including the leadership conference on civil rights and the workman's circle. he also frmed -- formed the a. philip randolph institute to study the causes of poverty. mr. randolph has been called the towering civil rights figure of the period in which he lived. the dean of american civil rights leaders and among the first leadership of the labor movement he fought for more than a half century on behalf of the poor and deprived, securing rights not just for black workers but for employees of all races and nationalities. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolutionened i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from michigan. mr. conyers: i have no further

requests for time and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan yields back the plans of miz time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 150. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and paycheck a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this measure will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? mr. conyers: i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1110. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman call the bill as amended? mr. conyers: as amended, yes, sir. the speaker pro tempore: the

clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1110, a bill to amend title 18 of the code to prevent caller i.d. spoofing and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. conyers, and the gentleman from texas, mr. smith, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan. mr. conyers: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the bill under consideration and yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. conyers: mr. speaker and members this measure is aimed at the deceptive telephone practice called spoofing, where a fake caller i.d. is used to hide one's true identity. sometimes it means simply using the caller i.d. of another person or business without

permission, but sometimes the purpose is to commit fraud or identity theft. call recipients are sometimes tricked into divulging private, personal information to the spoofer. for example, the aarp has reported cases in which people receive calls fraudulently telling them they missed jury duty and they were told to avoid prosecution, they needed to provide their social security number and the phone number that appeared on their caller i.d. was from the local courthouse, people assumed that the call was made truthfully. recently, technology needed to spoof has become readily available through the purchase of internet telephone equipment, through websites

specifically set up for that purpose. the measure before us today prevents this activity on two levels, with penalties that fit the seriousness of the offense. for providing the caller i.d. information of another person without consent, with the intent to deceive, the penalties are fines up to a year in prison, for providing qualls caller i.d. information, for providing false caller i.d. information to obtain something of value, the penalty is fines and up to five years imprisonment. in addition, punishment includes forfeiture of receipts gained by those involved in this activity.

because it can be used for legitimate law enforcement intelligence purposes, the bill allows spoofing for lawfully authorized activities of law enforcement. it does not prohibit the simple use of a fake number to hide the caller's number. many businesses have opted to use this feature to protect against abusive callbacks. as a matter of fact, the house uses this feature on calls to outside lines. this nonmalicious practice is not intended to be reached by the legislation before us. finally, i note that the bill was developed in previous congresses on a bipartisan basis and i commend my ranking member and the entire judiciary committee for the work that's

gone into this measure. i urge its support and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. smith: h.r. 1110 addresses caller i.d. spoofing. spoofing is a ploy for obtaining a victim's personal and financial information to commit identity theft and other similar fraud. it involves masking caller i.d. information to make a fraudulent telephone call to a recipient. those who engage in spoofing use incorrect, fake, or fraudulent caller identification to hide their identity and then obtain personal information from the victim. call recipients unwittingly divulge their names, adresses or social security numbers under the mistaken belief that the caller represents a bank, credit card company or even a court of law. all too often a person does not

know that their identity has been stolen until it's too late and the damage has been done. this legislation will help law enforcement officials stop identity thieve biscuiting off their means of obtaining information. spoofing not only victimizes the phone call recipient but invades the privacy of those individuals whose caller i.d. is used to mask the fraudulent calls. to address this, the phone act specifically prohibits the use of an actual person's caller i.d. information for spoofing. though the technology needed to spoof has been available for some time, it previously required specialized equipment. now an identity theft can simply purchase internet telephone equipment or use a website set up for spoofing. the phone act imposes penalties for this. this legislation will help end

telephone fraud, protect consumers from harassment and protect consumers and their personally identifiable information from identity thieves. similar legislation passed the house in the previous two congresses so i urge my colleagues to support this bill and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from michigan. mr. conyers: i have no other requests for speakers and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1110 as amended? those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended and the bill is passed and without objection -- mr. conyers: object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior

announcement, further proceedings from this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? the gentleman from tennessee. >> i move to suspend the rules and pass house resolution 905. the speaker pro tempore: clerk will report the title. the clerk: house resolution 905, recognizing the 70th anniversary of the retirement of justice louis d. bran dice from the united states supreme court -- brandeis from the united states superior court. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from tennessee. mr. cohen: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration. the speaker pro tempore:

without objection, so ordered. mr. cohen: and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cohen: this resolution honors louis dfment brandeis, one of the greatest legal minds in united states history on the 70th anniversary of his retirement. he's influenced jurisprudence in the area of labor relations, free speech, right to privacy, and free speech. louis brandeis was born in kentucky to parents who came to america after working to create a bohemian nation. after graduating from harvard in 1920 with the highest grade point average in the school's history, he became known as the

people's lawyer. the pioneered the pro bono legal tradition. in a ranking of lawyers in america, he'd have to rank among toe the top 10, independent of his 23-year service on the united states supreme court. he was allowed to enter harvard law school, even though he wasn't a high school graduate and he graduated prior to the requisite age of 21, given his degree by special resolution. significant contributions are so numerous it would be impossible to discuss them all, but i'll mention a few. he and his law partner published an article in "the harvard law review" entitled "the right to privacy," he's credited with founding that law. he felt one of the people's great etc. right was the right to be left alone. he took on the life insurance industry and j.p. morgan's railroad monopoly.

he was a leading advocate for labor protections. he was an advocate for states having the opportunity to do endeavors and said states were the laboratories of democracy, that we had a number of states, today 50rk but less when he was on the supreme court, that each had the opportunity to try a new idea to see if it works so the other states could rely on that state to see whether it should expand and be used throughout the country. the laboratories of democracy are important as states such as california looked at marijuanaed me -- looked at medical marijuana and the other states could learn. that spread through 12 or 13 other states, it was a chance to learn rather than doing it all at one time. he was a chief economic advisor to president woodrow wilson and helped develop the federal trade commission act. in 1937, he -- president wilson

nominated him to the supreme court. unfortunately, his -- in his confirmatn anti-semitism was one of the sthashes came about, but our country overcame that and he became the first jewish supreme court justice. through this resolution we recognize and celebrate the 70th anniversary of the retirement of justice brandeis from the supreme court and remember his many contributions to our nation's life and the founding of the state of israel. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california. mr. lungren: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lungren: i rise in support of h.r. 905, which recognizes the 07th anniversary of the retirement of justice louis brandeis from the u.s. supreme court. .

he believed it was a vehicle to correct injustices than to make money. he was born in louisville, kentucky, in 1856, the son of jewish immigrants from prague, now in the czech republic. he excelled in the public schools in his hometown and later studied in germany. he grew up in a refined and engaged household in which history, politics, and culture were dust discussed regularly at the dinner table. i might add that one of his early influences was his uncle, louis dembivtz, who i'm proud to say attended the republican party convention in 1860 who nominated lincoln as president of the united states. he studied so hard his eyesight failed. rather than quit school he paid fellow students to read his textbooks allowed so he could memorize their content. he graduated with the highest grade point average in the histories of harvard law school

at that time. he was best known for his work as a lawyer and justice. and while eventually earned good money practicing law, he devoted most of his public life to causes. he wrote tree tees on antitrust matters and labor relations and assisted the wilson administration crafting the federal reserve act and federal commission. he issued opinions on many of the subjects that consumed him as a lawyer. yes, he did believe in states being laboratories of democracy and i enjoy the gentleman's comments of reference to my home state of california. i might say rather than choose the subject he chose as an example of california being one of those laboratories, i would suggest proposition 13 or perhaps three strikes and you're out as guiding lights to the rest of the nation as to how we ought to organize

ourselves. unfortunately my home state has forgotten some of those messages in the recent past. mr. chairman, -- mr. speaker, justice brandeis was not without his critics. this is not the time nor the place to air old grievances, rather we are here to honor a man. so i would use somebody else as a reference point. william o. douglas who described justice brandeis as being dangerous because he was incorruptable. i urge the members to support h.res. 905 and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. cohen: thank you. mr. speaker, i yield as many minutes as the gentleman from kentucky, mr. yarmuth, needs. mr. yarmuth is the genesis of this particular resolution. he hails from the same city that mr. brandeis, justice brandeis did and brings this to

memorialize this man's great talents. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. yarmuth: i thank the gentleman from tennessee. mr. speaker, in lieu -- louisville we are proud of many of the great things residents have achieved. from muhammad ali's success to diane sawyer's groundbreaking work in journalism. there's evidence of their legacies throughout our community. it's in the stories we tell, it's in the history embeded in our neighborhoods, and it's seen on the banners hung in their honor throughout town. we are proud that our city has been home to people who have changed the world in the realms of athletics, literature, art, music, business, and in the case of the man we are celebrating today, law. louis d. bran sighs was born in louisville, kentucky, in 1856. the son of immigrants. it was to louisville he would return throughout his life. it was the cradle of a burgeoning immigrant communities of 19th century louisville that brandeis began

his distinguished career. he excelled first in louisville's male high school and then harvard law before beginning a successful career as a lawyer and academic and laettner 1916 to the bench of the united states supreme court. when he was dominate -- nominated by woodrow wilson as the first jewish justice. the achievements of justice brandeis go far beyond breaking that ground. his legacy as a jurist and litigator has had a long-standing impact not just in the courtrooms and law books but the lives of every american citizen. his accomplishments were far ranging but their influence resonates today and will do so far into the future. to those of us who treasure the first amendment and protection ever free speech, we can thank the work of louis brandeis. to those who value the extension of equal rights to all americans we can thank louis brandeis. the right to privacy, groundbreaking work in the field of labor relations, successful challenges to once powerful corporate companies, the list is long, and

establishes his career as one well deserving of our recognition this this house. a recognition he's not yet received in the 70 years since he retired from the supreme court. the work of louis brandeis deserves not just our honor but or attention. through the battles -- though the battles we fight today may have changed from those of brandeis' era, his work has relevance. when few others would he took on the powerful monopolies that caused economic havoc in the 20th century. was skeptical of large banks and their relationships to corporations whose failure could threaten the entire economy and helped develop the federal reserve act of 1913 which clamped down on the bank's industry's most egregious practices. in his book, and in the series of columns, brandeis warned his contemporaries of the dangers posed by massive financial corporations accumulating rye sources, and using them

irresponsibly. lessons that forewarn the economic crisis we faced in this country just last year. as a litigator, educator, philanthropist, and jurist, he did nothing short of ensuring the rights we now regard as commonplace would endure. his contributions are those for which the entire country should be grateful and his legacy is something for which all of us in louisville can be proud. in fact, his legacy in louisville lives on at the university of louisville where the law school now bears the name of justice louis brandeis. i join justice's brandson and the rest of his family in urging my colleagues to support h.res. 905 recognizing the 70th anniversary of the retirement of this legendary american educator, litigator, and jurist. i yield back. mr.on: thank you. i appreciate mr. yarmuth bringing this resolution. how much time is left? the speaker pro tempore: 13 minutes. mr. cohen: i reserve my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from california. mr. lungren: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lungren: it is interesting we have heard of justice brandeis' commitment to the first amendment. one can only wonder what he would think of the current state of interpretation of the first amendment where, unfortunately, it appears we give greater protection to nude dancing than political speech. one would hope that the supreme court as it -- as we anticipate its decision in the most recent challenge to aspect spekts of mccain-feingold might listen to some of the interpretations and wisdom of louis brandeis with respect to the essence of the first amendment. one would hope that we would once again regain the notion that protection of political speech is at the forefront of the first amendment not an after thought to the --

afterthought to the first amendment. when we have gone so far as to have someone representing the solicitor general of the united states responding to a question in the supreme court saying in response to the question so, the law would give you the right to ban books if they said what is contained in the script of the movie that the f.e.c. believes it has the right to stop during a period of time before an election, the response from the representative in the executive branch was yes. if we have come so far that banning books is seen as something allowed under the first amendment because of the pursuit of purity in political campaigns, then we have lost sight of the first amendment as understood and expressed by louis brandeis. so i would hope that as we look forward to the end of this year

that we could look forward to a supreme court that comes to its senses and understands the essence of the first amendment. once again i would urge my colleagues to unanimously supreme court this recognition on the 70th anniversary of the retirement from the supreme court of louis brandeis. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. indeed justice brandeis had a great impact on this country. not only as a jurist as we mentioned, but as a lawyer. one of his innovations was something called the brandeis brief. where now it's a precedent used to i can make an argument but social data, factual data about changes in society to support the court's positions. brandeis was not alive at the time of of brown vs. board of education of topeka, one of the great decisions of our supreme court. but it was a brandeis brief argument that was used to win

that case. there was little law on the subject that was favorable, but there was much social analysis and facts that helped the court make its decision separate in fact was not equal and we needed a change in this country that we had in 1954 that we are continuing to experience today. justice brandeis had many quotes which were of great significance. one of which is inscribed in the walls of congress. i think just beneath this chamber on the first floor, if you look up towards the ceiling, the greatest dangers to liberty lurk insidious encroachment by men of zeal. well-meaning, but without understanding. that quote which is inscribed on the walls of congress is one that i have long thought about. and people making arguments that sometimes are well-meant but they take away from the

rights that people should have in this country and freedoms. brandeis also said we can have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few. but we can't have both. that thought permeates much of what we debate in this congress today. and see if differences in wealth grow greater and greater. gorgea o'keefe would have appreciated this resolution today for the right to be alone. the most comprehensive of rights and right most valued by civilized man was something brandeis he spoused. -- espoused. he said the most important political office is that of a private citizen. and i think we should all remember that. with that, mr. speaker, i close and i would request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is, will the house

suspend the rules and agree to house resolution number 905. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules -- mr. cohen: qui the yeas and nays on this. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee rise? mr. cohen: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 4194. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 4194, a bill to amend title 18 united states code to accept qualifying law school students participating in legal clinics or externships

from application of the conflict of interest rules under section 205 of such title. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from tennessee, mr. cohen, and the gentleman from california, mr. lungren, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from tennessee. mr. cohen: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. . the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. cohen: and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cohen 13k thank you, mr. speaker. h.r. 4194 would address an unfortunate consequence of current law that hinders participation of law students in bro boe -- pro bono clinic.

it's appropriate that this resolution follows that of justice brandeis, who was the father of pro bono work. it is a crime for a federal government employee to provide legal assistance to anyone in bringing a case against the united states, or bringing a case adverse to a substantial u.s. interest. section 205-b apply this is rule -- apply this is rule to other government. law students or legal clinic staff who are full or part-time government employees face criminal penalties if they participate in law school pro bono clinics who represent plaintiffs adverse to the federal or d.c. government. yet this opportunity is important for students to learn their craft and become lawyers. this disqualifies the law

students from participation in these many activities that benefit the wider community and many students. among them, juvenile justice clinic, death penalty appeal projects, advocacy programs and low-income taxpayer clinics. this also has the perverse attack of forcing students to choose between government service and community service and needlessly keeps government employees from a range of real-world experience that could be beneficial to them when they become lawyers. this is another area where we should encourage public service. this is a misguided choice to force on law students, for they should be able to have both government and community service and encourage so. this bill will stop the law from forcing them to have this conflict. section 205 already contains an exemption that narrowed the

defense in addition of conflict of interest to those instances of actual conflict, cases in which government attorneys substantially participated as a government employee or cases in which the employee's department is currently participating. by applying this exemption to law students and legal clinic staff, it will eliminate the pernicious con quenses of law 205. law students and legal staff will be able to participate in law clinics that are adverse to the government or the d.c. government. law students and staff who choose government service would remain subject to a governmental conflict of interest rule while being permitted to enjoy the same clinical resources and opportunities as their peers. i commend our colleague, congressman dan lungren, for his leadership on this important bill and i urge my colleagues to support it.

i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california. mr. lungren: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lungren: h.r. 4194, the law student clinic participation act of 2009, makes a simple yet important change to federal law so as to increase law students' access to clinics and other law school programs. nearly 44,000 law students nationwide will graduate this year from more than 200 law schools across this country. during their time in school, each of these students will study property and criminal and constitutional and contract law, just to name a few. these not only instruct students on relevant case law put also teach them to think like a lawyer that is analyze cases from a lawyer's perspective. as important as that is, equally important are the

clinical programs offered by virtually every every law school in the country that teach student house to practice law. this includes prosecution and defense, appellate advocacy, including death penalty appeals projects, juvenile justice an tax assistance clinics. yet a little-known provision in federal criminal law that makes it a crime, prevents certain law students from participating in these clinics. in other words, they would be subject to criminal penalties if they participated in these clinics. that is because section 205 of title 18 prescribed criminal penalties for government employees who provide outside legal assistance in a case against the united states or adverse to a substantial u.s. interest. therefore, law school students or even staff who are also employed by the federal government, full-time or part-time, may be barred from

participating in these valuable clinical programs. the impact of this provision is perhaps no greater than here in washington, d.c., in our washington, d.c. metropolitan area, which is home to over half a dozen law schools. it comes as no surprise that many of these schools' students are also federal government employees. some of the schools are night programs where the students work full-time in the day and take classes at night. many times, they do work for the federal government or the d.c. government. but because of their employment, they are therefore disqualified from participating in these extremely beneficial programs. this was most certainly not congress' intent when it enacted section 205. h.r. 4194, remedy this is problem by extending an existing exemption within the statute to include federal employee law students. the bill therefore

appropriately allows students and staff to participate in clinics, including those that are adverse to the federal or d.c. government. however, and this is important, the bill continues to prohibit any actual conflict of interest involving specific parties. therefore, if the student or staff member is involved in a matter which would be a direct conflict of interest, they are not covered by this waiver. it would seem that this is a common sense solution to provide those students employed by the government the same opportunities as other students. i might say, mr. speaker, when this came to my attention, i thought that perhaps we could have a relatively simple, straightforward waiver exemption to take care of this problem, which was unanticipated by the congress when it passed the relevant law and therefore i would urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill and if the gentleman from tennessee has no other speakers, i would yield

back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. cohen: mr. speaker, i want to thank mr. lungren for bringing this to us. it is important that the law students do have this opportunity and that the conflicts be real and not imagined. and i would like to encourage a yes vote and would move that we pass the resolution. at this time. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. all time has expired. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 4194. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended and the bill is passed. without objection -- mr. cohen: i object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule

20, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, proceedings will resume on motions to suspend the rules previously postponed. votes will be taken in the following order. house resolution 894, by the yeas and nays. h.r. 1517, de novo. h.r. 3978, de novo. the first electronic vote will be conducted as a 15-minute vote. remaining electronic votes will be conducted as five-minute votes. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from michigan, mr. conyers, to suspend the rules and agree to h.res. 894 on which the yeas and nays were ordered. the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 894, honoring the 50th

anniversary of the recording of the album "kind of blue" and reaffirming jazz as a national treasure. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agree to the resolution? members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a 15-minute vote.

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 409, the yeas are zero. 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the unfinished business is the question on suspending the rules and passing h.r. 1517 as amended, which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: h.r. 1517 a bill to

allow certain u.s. customs and border protection employees to serve an overseas limited appointment for two years and whose service is rated fully successful or higher throughout this that time to be converted to a permanent employment in the service. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair -- >> mr. speaker. on that, i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is requested. those favoring a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having risen a reco k/ár2"dr2t"dr2r2r2

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 414, the nays are one. 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rulings are suspended, -- the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the unfinished business is the question on suspending the rules and passing h.r. 3978 which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: h.r. 3978, a bill to amend the implementing recommendations of the 9/11 commission act of 2007 to authorize the secretary of homeland security to inspect and use gifts for otherwise authorized activities of the center for domestic preparedness that are related to preparing for and response to terrorism and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the

question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill. so many as are in favor will signify by saying aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair -- >> mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: 2/3 having responded in the affirmative -- >> mr. speaker, on that i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise a@m'r2r2 h"s"d $$s#hr2r2t"s h)ht

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 413. the nays are one. 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection a motion to reconsider is laid on the table. we would ask members remove their conversations from the floor. so we may proceed.

please, remove conversations from the floor so that we may proceed. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia rise? >> mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to h.r. 1147, the local community radio act of 2009, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1147, to implement the recommendations of the federal communications commission report to the congress regarding low-power

f.m. service. >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. the house is not in order. we ask that conversations be removed from the floor. pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from virginia, mr. boucher, and the gentleman from nebraska, mr. terry, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from virginia. mr. boucher: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. boucher: and, mr. speaker, i recognize for such time as he may consume, the chairman of the energy and commerce committee, the gentleman from california, mr. waxman. the speaker pro tempore: we would ask that conversations be removed from the floor so that

we may proceed. the gentleman from california. mr. waxman: i rise in strong support of h.r. 1147, the local community radio act of 2009. and i want to thank chairman boucher for his leadership in guiding this bipartisan bill through the committee. i also want to recognize and thank mr. doyle and mr. terry, the original sponsors of the bill, for their efforts to expand diversity, localism and competition in our media landscape. mr. doyle's been a tireless advocate of local community radio, and i greatly appreciate his leadership, flexibility and persistence. i'm pleased that the house is taking up this important measure. as i've long supported expanding low-power f.m. services. the bill removes a statutory barrier through the creation of potentially thousands of low-power stations across the nation. the creation of these stations

will further the goals of promoting broadcast localism and divirsity. i'm glad the bill -- diversity. i'm glad the bill has a clear dispute resolution process, such as when interference occurs. i'm glad -- i want to commend the radio project, the united church of christ, and other supporters of low-power f.m. services for their valuable input. i ask my colleagues to support h.r. 1147, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from nebraska. mr. terry: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. terry: as co-author with mr. doyle, i, too, rise in support of h.r. 1147. and it was my pleasure to come to the floor to discuss

legislation that is the product of great bipartisanship. congressman doyle and i teamed up working on this low-power f.m. station. we bill has the potential to revolutionize what americans hear on their radios and that it will provide an exciting new platform for citizens to communicate with one another within their own local communities and neighborhoods. low-power f.m. radio offers people at the community level the opportunity to broadcast when otherwise they may not afford to do so. this is extremely important for noncommercial groups like schools, churches, neighborhood organizations. the ability of those groups to broadcast their message contributes greatly to the overall betterment of our community and society as a whole. many local and statewide organizations are interested in

obtaining low-power f.m. licenses, including the following two in my district, omaha, nebraska. les hall, who is the c.e.o. of san tan i.t.a.man communications says -- santana man communications says this will give a voice to the voiceless. he went on to say, quote, low-power f.m. is the beacon that lights up the future for us and bravo for lee to championing -- well, i don't have to read that part. les hall has been involved in the lpfm issue for years and believes this is the life that allows the community to come together. this is great news says tim clark. communities across the country will now have a real opportunity to increase the ability to effectively communicate issues, concerns,

awarenesses, campaigns and to provide sensitive programming. north and south omaha will benefit positively from this channel -- challenge to develop unified efforts for the betterment of their constituents. i appreciate both les and tim's work on this issue, as well as other groups devoted to fulfilling the interest and needs of our community. i do believe this legislation is about empowering individuals who are making a difference in nebraska. as a member who back in 2000 voted in favor of legislation to require a minimum of four intervals between radio stations, i'm proud today to be able to stand by my friend from pennsylvania as well as all lpfm advocates in a bipartisan way in support of this legislation. the authorization of the miter study really was important, and now we definitively know that