democracy. in the 1930's up until the 1950 revolution there was an iraqi parliament. that parliament chose a prime minister. until then, there was something of a tradition of democracy there. host: ambassador ryan crocker, thank you for your time this morning. guest: thank you, it is a pleasure to be here in my new capacity after many years of public service. i'm delighted to be with this great university and to be dean of the school public service as we down here in texas work to prepare america's newest greatest generation for service to the country. host: come back again,

ambassador. we will have coverage of the state of the union address beginning at 8:00 p.m. eastern. we will take a look back at past state of the union addresses. around a 30 5:00 p.m. eastern the state of the union procedures would get under way. the house speaker nancy pelosi will call the house to order. -- at around 8:35 p.m. then around a few minutes before 9:00 p.m. the first lady and others are escorted into the gallery. the gop response will be with the newly inaugurated bob macdonald. learning lessons from last year's response from then-

governor, republican gov. bob region will -- from the floor of the virginia house of delegates run by an audience of about 350 that includes small business owners, legislators, and military members. coverage as well of gop response. thanks for watching. . . [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker: the house will come to order. the prayer will be offered by the guest chaplain, rabbi galstein. the chaplain: our god and god of all of all of our ancestors, we ask that the light of your presence guide the hearts and

linds of the leaders of this great nation gathered here today. may the wisdom of your teachings guide them to act for justice and to lift up the stranger, the orphan and the widow. open the hearts of our leaders with your compassion. help them to lead with integrity always remembering that your wisdom resides in every heart as the deepest truth of our humanity. may our leaders always remember that your guidance is not in the heavens alone nor far beyond the seas but within each of us, in our mouths and in our hearts to carry into action in the world. may our leaders, therefore, serve as beacons of justice and compassion making this country

a light to the nations. amen. the speaker: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the chamber her approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1 the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. shuster. mr. shuster: thank you. will you please join me in pledging allegiance to our nation? i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker: without objection, the gentleman from california, mr. waxman, is recognized for one minute. mr. waxman: madam speaker, it's my honor to welcome rabbi gil steinlauf as our guest chaplain today. when i was first elected to congress, our family moved to

washington and we joined adas israel congregation in washington, d.c. it is the largest conservative synagogue in our nation's capital and one of the oldest. it also has the reputation for outreach to young families in washington, d.c.. we have been members for more than 30 years. rabbi steinlauf cave to adas israel in 2008 to serve as the senior rabbi. he made his mark as a charismatic, dynamic spiritual leader. it's a great pleasure to get to know him and his family. originally from jericho, new york, rabbi steinlauf was ordained in 1998 at the jewish theological seminary in new york. he graduated from princeton in 1991 with honors and also studied in jerusalem and the university of judaism now known as the american jewish university which is located in my district in los angeles.

rabbi steinlauf is joined by his wife and his children, his parents, some of his extended family and a proud delegation of adas israel. thank you, rabbi steinlauf, for your inspirational words. the speaker: the chair will entertain up to 15 additional one minutes on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> madam speaker, to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. baca: madam speaker, the house passed the wall street consumer protection act. it will oversee wall street. it will help ensure taxpayers are never again on the hook for wall street's riskiest decisions. it will protect retirement savings, college savings,

financial futures from unnecessary risks by speculators. it will protect consumers from predatory lending and industry gimmicks and inject transparency and accountability into the financial system. it ends predatory lending practice with tougher enforcement. we ask the senate to pass this legislation in protecting our consumers. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? mr. shuster: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. shuster: thank you, mr. speaker. on saturday i attended a funeral service of a constituent, staff sergeant matthew ingham who was killed in action on january 11, 2010. i rise today to recognize his life and his extraordinary service and sacrifice for our country. matt's parents of altoona, pennsylvania, and his wife, mourn the loss of a remarkable young man and a great marine.

they are in my thoughts and prayers and i pass on my sincere condolences. sergeant ingham was awarded the bronze star with valor for the heroic actions that ultimately led to his death. he was responsible for saving the lives of nine marines by crawling to a radio to call in air support after his unit was ambushed. although apparently wounded, the sergeant exposed himself to more enemy fire and put the lives of his fellow marines above his own. he was a 2002 altoona high school graduate and enlisted in the marine corps in july of 2002 and was promoted to staff sergeant in april. he served two tours in iraq and went to afghanistan in the fall as part of a reconnaissance outfit assigned to the third marine division in okinawa, japan. the ninth district of pennsylvania and our nation owes a debt of gratitude for him and all those who sacrificed their lives in the pursuit of freedom. i yield back my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? mr. sires: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. sires: mr. speaker, since the beginning of this congress, this house has taken significant steps to grow our economy and create jobs here at home. almost one year ago we passed the recovery act by creating and savings millions of jobs while beginning to rebuild our nation's sfrass. we passed the jobs for main street act to create and save even more jobs at home with targeted investment for highways, transit, school renovations, the hiring of teachers, police and firefighters, increase lending to small business, job training initiatives and affordable housing. furthermore, to spur growth within small business, we passed the small business financial and investment act to make it easier and more affordable for small business to get loans and access to capital which in turn could save and create millions of jobs in this sector alone. mr. speaker, while i am proud of the steps this chamber has taken to lift our economy i know our work is not done.

we will continue to fight to create jobs until we repair the damage left by the economy downturn from the last eight years. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. poe: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. mr. faleomavaega: without objection, so ordered. mr. poe: -- the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. poe: the view of the economy could be summed up this way, if it moves, tax it, if it keeps moving, regulate it and if it stops moving subsidize it. the american people are uneasy about their financial future. taxing and borrowing and spending are out of control. government's the problem. the people are frustrated. we in washington should listen to the people of america. they talk to us at town hall meetings. they get louder with their marches on washington. the american people say stop the spending, cut up the credit cards. we should listen to america. america's a representative republic. that means that the people talk, we listen. we implement their ideas. that's the way it works. lately, the government dictates, the people comply.

that's backwards and it's arrogant. in america the people are the sovereign, not the government. we in congress should make the government work for the people, work with them, not over them. stand by their side, not ride their back. the people are talking and their voices cannot continue to fall on a deaf government asleep in denial and that's just the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back his time. 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, so ordered. mr. yarmuth: mr. speaker, among all of the disastrous consequences of last week's supreme court decision on campaign finance, one of them is a real cruel irony. those of us who think we need public financing of campaigns may now watch as taxpayer dollars actually are used for federal campaigns. a.i.g., which this congress and this -- our taxpayers bailed out to the tune of $180 billion may now be able to spend our

money, your money to actually influence federal elections. not only that, we passed the wall street reform and consumer protection act to regulate wall street. finally after they brought us to the brink of disaster. we spent a lot of money doing that, taxpayer dollars. now, those dollars, the companies that were saved by those dollars can now directly advocate for the election or defeat of candidates for federal office. this is a disgrace and unfortunately i hope we still haven't act sufficiently to put an end to the risky wall street behavior. i hope we can sign the wall street consumer protection act into law before the supreme court -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. yarmuth: i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? mr. wilson: i ask permission to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, yesterday, the nonpartisan congressional budget office announced that the cost of the president's spending plan has jumped another $75 billion. steve dynan of "the washington

times" reported that the country faces giant budget deficits for the foreseeable future and has the biggest debt problem that it had since after world war ii. on the heels of this report, the president will deliver the state of the union address and will present his agenda tonight. i hope the president will be substantive about tackling out-of-control washington spending, to promote bipartisan corporation. i believe we need to freeze spending based on 2008 levels. the washington liberal majority needs to explain the 85% spending spike in just two years. american families, who are trying to stay financially afloat, do not have time for any more stimulus stumbles. we need jobs, not more spending. in conclusion, god bless our troops and we will never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. congratulations, coach darren horn and the u.s.c. gamecocks over number one rank kentucky. 7 c16 c13

mr. polis: in the last congress, the last administration, president bush came to congress during the financial meltdown along with secretary paulson and asked for hundreds of billions of dollars. they said they were going to use it to buy bad debt from the banks. did they use it for that? no. they started to use it to nationalize american companies. they bought automobile companies. they bought banks. they used the government to take over the means of production. and now it falls to us to break this socialist stranglehold in our country. the wall street reform and consumer protection act was one of the first steps. we banned future tarp failouts. we require companies to pay into a fund. no longer will companies be bailed out by taxpayer dollars. i call on the united states senate to pass the wall street reform and consumer protection act and take additional steps to privatize these companies the federal government owns. i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? >> permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. >> mr. speaker, yesterday i introduced the job creation act of 2010. the number one priority in america should be jobs and helping small businessings. my five-point plan will be -- provide tax relief for small businesses. instead of writing off equipment over five years, have them write it off over one year and sunset in a year or two. eliminate cabal gains tax on companies. there's plenty of capital. people don't have confidence in the administration. they don't have confidence in this congress. but there is capital to invest. the small businesses need that capital to create jobs. unemployment benefits, we are taxing those benefits at 11%. that needs to stop. we need to sunset that. tarp funds, $750 billion, we committed to the american people that would be paid back. they are paying back much of the funds, it needs to go to pay down the $12 trillion debt.

also, we need to curb frivolous lawsuits. it's driving up health care. it's killing businesses. it's killing jobs. i urge members from both sides of the aisle to support this bill. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. >> mr. speaker, i rise with my good friend, representative la mart smith, to honor the scooter star, a hometown business in our home state of texas. they have been recognized by "fortune" magazine as one of the top 100 places to work in america. as fortune magazine has recognized this excellent work environment for their employees, ranking the store as the 30th best place to work in 2010. the scooter store was founded in texas by doug and susanna harrison almost 19 years ago. today they serve more than 460,000 people across 48 states including puerto rico. with more than 70 facilities and approximately 2,000 employees.

mr. speaker, this is not the first time they have been recognized. they were recognized six years ago. they are a company built on teamwork and good values. this is why, mr. speaker, i'm honored to have the time to recognize the scooter store for their ranking as the 30th best place to work in 2010 by the fortune magazine. thank you for your time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from florida rise? without objection, so ordered. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to recognize two outstanding americans, my good friend, ronald and glenda crongold, constituents of my congressional district. for decades they have dedicated themselves to the safety and security of our democratic jewish state of israel, including through their leadership in the national israel bonds campaign. ron served as vice chairman and chairman of new leadership. their work on israel bonds has contributed greatly to israel's thriving economy and its booming

scientific technological and entrepreneurial sectors. ron's expertise has also benefited our home state of florida. he played a pivotal role in the negotiations of the trade understanding between our state of florida and israel signed by then secretary of commerce for florida, jeb bush. ron and glenda, for your dedication, you have the appreciation of this house and countless americans in israelis, thank you for your work. keep it up. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? without objection, so ordered. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to urge congress to overturn the supreme court's ruling last week that allows corporations to buy federal elections. yesterday i introduced the freedom from foreign-based manipulation in american elections act which will prevent foreign influenced companies from buying u.s. elections. should a chinese corporation decide u.s. copyright policy or

civil rights law? should saudi arabia have a say on american energy policy? how about venezuela? should hugo chavez have a voice in american elections? these are the questions we must ask if the supreme court's decision is allowed to stand. the court's decision flies in the face of a century of precedent, keeping corporations out of elections. by giving corporations the same rights as individuals, the court is handing corporations a blank check to decide elections instead of letting the voters do it. i urge my colleagues to join me in saying no to this decision and yes to democracy. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to say welcome home to a group of minnesota heroes. the national guard's 34th infantry division known as the red bulls. many of the red bulls have begun arriving home from their most recent tour of duty in iraq. these brave minnesotaans have played a very crucial role in

transitioning security, responsibilities from american troops to the iraqi forces as well as leading more than 1,000 reconstruction projects to help the iraqi people. the 1,200 soldiers now returning, they come home from more than 275 communities in minnesota and represent the american spirit of selflessness, sacrifice, and service. i had the chance to personally meet with some of the red bulls when i visited iraq not too long ago and i was humbled to see their selfless work that they work on and accomplish every single day. today i'm thrilled to see them returning home from iraq safely, to their friends, to their families, and to a state that's especially grateful for all they do. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. arcuri: we have asked the american people to do a lot over the past year to work together

to rebuild our economy. tonight we await the president's words to see how the country will move forward to continue to put people back to work an make reforms necessary to jump-start our economy. i applaud the president for putting a freeze on all nonsecurity discretionary spending for fiscal year 2011 because as the american family tightens their belt, so must congress. i would encourage the president's continue to call for increased fiscal responsibility in congress and i will do my part in ensuring that we spend responsibly to protect the people of my district. i join several of my blog -- blue dog colleagues to call for a spending freeze earlier this month and will continue to look for ways that we can hold ourself fiscally accountable for every dollar spent through initiatives like pay-go and other budget cuts. my predecessor in congress used to say we hear in congress can't create jobs but we can create an economic climate for job growth and development to boost our local economy. that should be our primary goal in 2010. thank you.

i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana rise? >> ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. fleming: mr. speaker, according to a poll released this week by cnn, nearly three out of four americans think that much of the money spent in the so-called stimulus plan has been wasted. i agree. should we be surprised that a bill chock-full of earmarks and pet projects did not to inspire confidence among americans? and with the record drop in real estate sales, a languishing stock market, and unemployment rate remaining above 10%, should we blame them? the c.b.o. just offered after only one year in total control, democrats more than triple the annual deficit from $408 billion to $1.4 trillion. these are not the changes americans voted for.

mr. speaker, when it comes to the idea of a spending freeze, this country needs more than window dressing. it needs to return to balanced budgets and a real focus on job creation. -- -- i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? >> to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. >> thank you, mr. speaker, tonight when our president gives the state of the union address i'm going to listen intently. i know he'll talk about creating jobs, improving the economy, lowering unemployment, and also health care reform. let's rally behind our president. the people sent us here to work together in a bipartisan fashion. let's not look about what's best politically for this party or that party. let's look at what's best for the american people. i ask my republican friends, stop being the party of no, work with us on health care. we can do it if we all put our heads together. let me remind my friends that

the tarp bailout, the bailout of the banks happened under president bush. it was president bush's recommendation and i and the democrats supported it because it was the right thing to do. let's support the president when he says the right things that he will tonight. let's understand that we can only succeed if we work together. we were rest a mess by the previous administration. one year to clean it up is not enough. we prevented a depression. now we have to move on. i ask the other side of the aisle, please work with us. please work with us to help the american people. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? >> to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. pitts: mr. speaker, we know that the best way to prevent an attack on u.s. soil is to ensure that terrorists are stopped before they reach our shores. unfortunately we failed to do so on christmas day and al qaeda came close to a significant victory. while the terrorist abdul was known in a terrorist identity database, he was not placed on a separate screening database and

his u.s. visa was not revoked. clearly we did not connect the dots to notice that a man on a u.s. watch list also held a current u.s. visa. this is not the first time terrorists have obtained u.s. visas. several of the 9/11 hijackers did so as well. we need to strengthen the visa application process. we need to streamline the intelligence gathering and sharing process. we need to end the visa lottery. we need to ensure that terrorists are turned around before they get to the airport, before they even attempt to go through security. were it not for the quick action of passengers on that flight, 288 innocent lives would have been lost. passengers should not have to rely on last-minute heroics in order to travel safely. this administration must get serious about addressing this problem. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from maryland rise? ms. edwards: to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. ms. edwards: mr. speaker, justice brandeis got it right -- democrats or wealth concentrated

in the hands of a few but not both. that's truer today as the united states supreme court just wiped away decades of legal precedent allowing corporations to spend unlimited money from their treasuries on our elections. the american people already believe that corporate special interest and their lobbyists run the show around here. the halls are crawling with them. but that's not enough. now the court says the big banks, drug companies, insurance companies, hey, all bets are off, it's open season. our elections are for sale. that's right. if the congress doesn't like what this congresswoman is doing, they'll just forget the voters, buy tv ads, send robo calls, a lot of mail and beat her in november. a law won't fix this. we have to fix it in the constitution. today i'll introduce the constitutional amendment so that we the people can take back our elections and our democracy. this is not the people's house incorporated. we are the people, it's our house. it's our constitution. and it's our elections. we plan to take it back from the united states supreme court. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentlelady yields back her time. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? >> ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. murphy: mr. speaker, since the $862 billion stimulus bill was signed into law last february, nearly three million more americans have lost jobs. the projected deficit for this year is $1.3 trillion, second only to last year's $1.2 trillion. it's time to stop washington's wild spending and start creating hometown jobs, families want paychecks not unemployment checks. that's why we introduced the bipartisan american conservation and clean energy independence act, h.r. 2227, which opens up the u.s. coast for environmentally responsible oil and gas exploration. this bill produces $1.2 million new good-paying jobs and $8 trillion economic boost over 20 years. we will clean up america's waterways. we'll clean our air by replacing old coal plants with new clean coal, nuclear, wind, solar, and geothermal energy generation.

we will conserve energy by rebuilding our old infrastructure in a smart grid. americans will modernize buildings to cut waste by 25%. we stop spending hundreds of billions of dollars on opec oil, we stop borrowing from china and do this without raising taxes. join me in supporting h.r. 2227. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from alabama rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. >> mr. speaker, i'm pleased that the president according to the press reports that we are getting over the last couple days will be proposing a three-year freeze on nonsecurity related discretionary spending. this is a good and necessary first step to control government spending and reduce budget deficits. however, our ballooning deficits mandate that we go even further. wasteful and unnecessary programs need to be i.d.'d.

they need to be reduced, they need to be eliminated and they need to be eliminated immediately. i have and will consistently oppose legislation that i believe unnecessarily increases federal spending or funding programs that do not warrant support during a recession even when they are only a few million dollars. you know, we must have the mindset that every little bit counts. if we are going to be serious about cutting government wasteful spending. i hope the president goes further in explaining some of his proposals in the state of the union tonight. i will be listening very closely with many others. yesterday the blue dogs, my colleagues, released a set of proposals that outline the steps we must take for many budget reductions. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. bright: i apologize. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from ohio rise? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mrs. schmidt: thank you, mr.

speaker, last friday almost a half million folks gathered at the capitol to he are mind us once again that all life is precious and that the unborn are guaranteed the right to life. . while abortion has been allowed in this country for the past 37 years, americans make it crystal clear they don't want their taxpayer dollars being used. the hyde amendment stopped federal funds from being used to pay for abortion. the current bill passed by the senate will erode this. this bill will change that longstanding law and allow for tax dollars to be used for abortion. mr. speaker, the american people do not want their money to be used to pay for abortions. as we continue to debate the health care bill, we must honor their wish. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back her time. 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, so ordered. mrs. capps: mr. speaker, one

year ago our economy was on the brink of collapse. wall street was in a downward spiral. credit markets were completely frozen, and more than 700,000 americans were losing their jobs every month. but president obama and the democratic-led house -- congress responded quickly and responsibly with historic measures. these measures may be unpopular, unpleasant and expensive but they have worked. i have been meeting recently with business, labor and community leaders throughout my district to get a better sense of how the recovery is working for main street. my constituents have made it clear to me that we have made great progress. financial and housing markets have stabilized, monthly job losses have abated, and banks have begun to lend again. however, they also made it clear that they need more help, and that's why this democratic-led congress has passed the jobs for main street act in the house. this plan builds economic opportunity for the long term, creates new jobs that are sustainable for years ahead,

rebuilds our infrastructure, creates new energy sources and develops the new technologies and innovative products that we in the world want to buy. we are committed to rebuilding america's economy, putting americans back to work and ensuring our nation's economic future. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back her time. for what purpose does the gentleman from wisconsin rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. kagen: mr. speaker, tonight the president of the united states will be addressing the nation on where we are at, how we got here and what we must do now to dig out of this economic mess. well, where are we? we're coming out of the deepest worldwide economic downturn of our time. and how did we get here? never forget. never forget that it was george bush's republican policies that drove us into the ditch and without paying a dime for them. republicans gave away huge tax cuts to the rich, got us into two wars at the same time,

created the biggest trillion dollar prescription drug entitlement plan in american history and deregulated the banks on wall street. and worse yet, they borrowed all the money from china asking our children and grandchildren to pay it back. the fact is we're cleaning up after the biggest elephant parade in american history, and never forget these facts. well, folks, in the middle class, rescued -- middle class rescued wall street and now it's time back to return the favor. we want our money back and that's why we're proposing the transfer fee on all wall street speculators. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana rise? mr. pence: mr. speaker, i'd ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. pence: thank you, mr. speaker. tonight, the president of the united states will turn to this well of congress and deliver his report on the state of the union and house republicans welcome the president back to

the people's house. now, we've heard that after a year of runaway federal spending, trillion dollar deficits, borrowing, bailouts and big government schemes in energy and health care, after a year where democrats have been on a spending bin g, the president is going -- binge, the president is going to tell us that he's going to get his party on the wagon here in congress. well, we say we welcome that. we welcome a three-year spending freeze. frankly, i've never met a spending freeze i didn't like. but let me say this emphatically. house republicans will welcome any effort to restore fiscal discipline to washington, d.c., and work with this administration. but, mr. president, the american people want action. we don't need another lofty speech from this historic well from the president of the united states. mr. president, set aside your big government plans to take over health care, send us a budget that reduces spending and reduces taxes on the american people. mr. president, deeds, not words

is what is required to put our fiscal house in order. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to express the compassionate concern of congress to those affected by the recent earthquake in haiti, including thousands of american families of those missing and injured. my thoughts are especially with the hope well family. their daughter, christine, a daughter of lindh university, was doing service work in haiti when the quake struck. i assured the family that we would not rest until their daughter will be returned. i pay tribute to the search and rescue team who has been there for two weeks looking for christine and other americans ibbed believed to be at the hotel.

also, thanks must go to the department of state and many other people and the 82nd airborne, the d.o.t., h.h.s. and other government personnel who reflect and carry out the compassionate concern of the american people who again demonstrate their core generosity. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado rise? mr. polis: -- db mr. perlmutter: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. perlmutter: here are my friends on the republican side of the aisle talking about the debt, they're talking about jobs, they're talking about fiscal restraint when in fact it was the republican administration under george bush and the republican programs under their congress that drove us in the ditch and

created this mess that we have. president obama inherited a $1.4 trillion deficit, the biggest debt ever in history. now, the republicans would like to say, hey, democrats, why haven't you gotten rid of that? hey, country, why don't you take care of this? well, this is a big mess that was created under their watch. we have tried to create jobs. we're going to deal with this long-term debt, but the republican prescription for america, you know what it is, mass amnesia. they want people to forget. well, we're not going to forget and we're not going to let the people forget that the programs and the policies of the last administration almost took this country in the tank. and that's got to stop. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time.

mr. polis: by the direction of the committee on rules, i call up house resolution 1038. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 150, house resolution 1038. resolved, that upon the adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the house the bill h.r. 3726, to establish the castle

nugent national historic site at st. croix, united states virgin islands, and for other purposes. all points of order against consideration of the bill are waived except those arising under clause 9 or 10 of rule 21. the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the committee on natural resources now printed in the bill shall be considered as adopted. the bill, as amended, shall be considered as read. all points of order against provisions in the bill, as amended, are waived. the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill, as amended, to final passage without intervening motion except, one, one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on natural resources. and two, one motion to recommit with or without instructions. section 2, upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the house the

bill h.r. 4474, to authorize the continued use of certain water diversions located on national forest system land in the frank church-river of no return wilderness and the selway-bitterroot wilderness in the state of idaho , and for other purposes. all points of order against consideration of the bill are waived except those arising under clause 9 or 10 of rule 21. the bill shall be considered as read. all points of order against provisions in the bill are waived. the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill to final passage without intervening motion except, one, one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on natural resources. and two, one motion to recommit. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado is

recognized. mr. polis: mr. speaker, i yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. sessions. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentleman is recognized. mr. polis: mr. speaker, house resolution 1038 is sangle rule that provides for separate consideration of two measures. the rule provides for consideration of h.r. 3726, the castle nugent national historic site establishment act. and the idaho wilderness water facilities act. each rule has one hour of general debate and has one motion to recommit for each of the two bills. mr. speaker, h.r. 3726, the castle nugent national hiss tore site establishment act of 2009. and the idaho wilderness water facilities act are two pieces of legislation that represents years of hard work by their sponsors and the local communities that are at the

heart of both bills. h.r. 3726, the castle nugent national historic site act of 2009, introduced by congresswoman donna christensen, from the early times of yosemite to yellowstone to the national monuments here in washington, d.c., our country has had the foresight to preserve the tangible places which houses our nation's character, identity and history. today, the castle nugent national historic site act of 2009 does the same for the history and identity of a unique place in our country, the u.s. virgin islands. this area of st. croix holds a great number of historical remnants, not only from the colonial age when the west independenties played a prominent world in shaping world history, but also pre-colombian archaeological sites, continuing a long and proud tradition of preserving the remnants and artifacts of our first nations in this

hemisphere. began by mesa verde national park. the colonial of st. croix is among the oldest in the west independenties. this national historic site preserves much more than history. it also preserves a great deal of natural habitat. the site includes sensitive sea turtle nesting areas and habitat, healthy and increasingly scarcing coral reefs and a wealth of wildlife and plants. for any proposed national park system addition, the first step is to have the park service complete a study of the proposed addition and to ensure that the proposed addition does in fact deserve to be included among the treasures of our nation that the park system includes. the national parks service concurred and found that castle nugent area does in fact deserve to be included as a part of our nation's national parks. this rule provides for consideration of h.r. 4474, the

idaho wilderness water facilities act, a bill that has undoubtedly been -- had a great deal of work. the wilderness act of 1964 provided our nation with the tool to preserve its last remaining wild places untraveled by man. like my home state of colorado, idaho's sweeping beauty, rugged mountains, wildlife and waterways form the foundation of our country's cultural identity and our civic pride. the selway-bitterroot wilderness area was created in 1964 as one of our country's first wilderness areas and has a breathtaking landscape. the frank church-river of no return wilderness area that was designated in 1980. predating the existence of these two wilderness areas, private landowners got money to repair the water permits.

many of these permits have since expired leaving those unable to improve their water facilities. h.r. 4474 would give the secretary of agriculture the authority to issue special use authorization to owners of these water storage, transport or diversion authorities to allow continued maintenance of their water facilities, ensuring continued access to water. . this bill provides much help to these commupets and residents. i urge passage of the rule and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: goom, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized.

mr. session: thank you, sir. mr. speaker, i rise in opposition to this closed rule. yet another closed rule before the congress. and i object to the process by which this bill was brought to the floor. last week both of the bills we are discussing today under this rule failed to get the 2/3 vote in this body. instead of working together to resolve the differences with the bills between the leadership, my friends on the other side of the aisle, the majority, simply rescheduled them today for floor action today with no republican input. today, mr. speaker, we are going to debate these bills. and once again the democrat leadership's priorities in this congress, let's be honest about that, it's about spending money. spending money, mr. speaker, is what this democrat leadership

priority is all about. however, tonight our body will welcome the president of the united states. the president will be here for the state of the union. we will be able to it hear from the president about his priorities and about, i think we will hear about how he wants us to work together. work together. ideas from both sides. hey, i get it. republican party is not in the majority. the american people get that. we are in the middle of democrat majorities that have been in place for three years now. and i suspect we'll hear from the president about how important it is to work together using bipartisan measures to reconcile our differences for the american people so that they can have confidence in congress. our ability to work together on big issues and small issues.

set priorities that the american people can understand. yet democrat leadership just last week took down the idaho wilderness bill and placed it it on the calendar for today with the exact same language, yet they removed my colleague, a republican, dr. mike simpson, as sponsor of the bill and replaced him with a member of the majority party. payback time, i guess, is once again in order here on the floor of the house of representatives on the exact same day that we are going to welcome the president and we are all going to put that big smiley face on tonight. we are all working together. boy, we don't know what's wrong with the problems of the country, but we are going to work together and then be admonished about telling the truth, which is the problem. mr. speaker, the republican party is here to do the people's work. we are here to work together. we continue to have ideas that are shut out in the room just

above this floor, just above this body, up there called the rules committee. we have been trying for years to do that. i wonder if the president would consider that working together by the way we are doing this. i hope he does not. i hope he admonishes us and i hope he takes us to task and says it's about time that foolish political gamesmanship is wasting america's money and america's time. because time is important to the it american people because there are a whole lot of people who are without jobs. they are without jobs because of the lack of bipartisanship and working together in this body all for spending money because that's what this speaker wants to do. i think the american people want democrats to rein in their

borrowing and taxes and spending ways. that's what i think. i don't know. maybe you would have to ask the american people. oh, by the way, i think they have spoken in new jersey and virginia and again last week in massachusetts. i think they want congress to stop talking about what they will do to provide jobs and talk about all the things that are happening and actually get to the work of getting it it done. mr. speaker, i have a lot to say today. but at this time i would like to yield five minutes to the distinguished gentleman from california who last night very clearly in the rules committee as ranking member talked about what republicans' hopes and dreams were just on this bill and the process. i yield to the gentleman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for five minutes. mr. dreier: thank you very much. i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. dreier: i thank both my rules committee colleagues for being here and i will say that this is obviously a very

important day. we are anxiously looking forward to the message that the president of the united states will be delivering right behind me here as he provides his state of the union address. and there is early indication of what it is that he might say. according to reports he's going to talk about the need for fiscal responsibility. the need for us to do everything we can to bring about a freeze in spending. and we all think that that's a good first step. i will say that if you look at the two omnibus appropriations bills coupled with the stimulus bill, the report that we just got of additional $75 billion on top of the $787 billion for the stimulus bill, we have over the last two years seen an 86% increase in spending. an 86% increase, and i guess freezing with an 86% increase

that is proposed in spending for the next two years is something that may not be all that painful for people who want to it maintain a high level of federal spending. as we look at that and then recognize that this measure that is before us that allows for up to 50 million, 50 million, not billion, not trillion, which was the terms we use around here, but $50 million to be authorized for the purchase of beachfront property in st. croix just don't understand how on the day that we are going to have the president of the united states stand here talking about a spending freeze that we could possibly consider taking action such as this. the american people get it. last night i had a telephone town hall meeting with my constituents in southern california in the los angeles area, and they have been raising

grave concerns about the size and scope and reach of the federal government. they have made it it clear that they want us to work not just to have a freeze but bring about major spending cuts. the message that the american people have been sending to us that we got as my friend from dallas said a week ago yesterday, is that getting the economy back on track is very, very high priority. job creation is a high priority. and we know that. in my state of california we have a national 10% unemployment rate, in the area that i represent, suburban los angeles, we have an unemployment rate in some areas in excess of 14%. people are losing their homes and businesses and they want us to focus on creating good, long-term private sector not temporary government jobs, not jobs that are engaged in collecting in numbers and information through the census

and that sort of thing, those sorts of temporary jobs, they want long-term job creation. and we have an opportunity, in fact the president has an opportunity to do just that, mr. speaker. if he were to send us the three pending trade agreements, i know i talked to my friend from colorado about the issue of trade and i know he joins me in being a supporter of free trade, i hope if the president were to send the three pending trade agreements -- it panama, colombia, and south korea here to the congress, i am convinced that at least the panama and colombia agreements based on conversations that i have had with members on both sides of the aisle, we could have a bipartisan win that in passing, if we pass threes three agreements we could create more than a quarter million good private sector jobs. why? if you look on average the tariff on manufactured goods and other products going into the 40 million-strong, consumer strong colombia is 14%.

that means union and nonunion members who are working for caterpillar in peoria, illinois, manufacturers working for whirlpool in ohio would have an opportunity to sell their manufactured products, their tractors, their washing machines and refrigerators, into this market. now, mr. speaker, what that would do is create, again, good long-term private sector jobs. if we were to be able to do the korea deal, it would be the single largest trade agreement in the history of the world. korea has a $1 trillion economy, mr. speaker. a $1 trillion economy. we have about $83 billion in trade with korea right now. by and large korean products, automobiles and other things, get to the u.s. consumer tariff free. virtually tariff free. i think that's a good thing. i think imports benefit the consumer. what we need to do is we need to

pry open their market, mr. speaker -- mr. session: i yield an additional five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for additional five minutes. mr. dreier: i won't take the five minutes. i'm going to wrap up here because i think what we need to do is we need to not just talk, we need to engage in action. mr. speaker, i was just mentioning korea. the fact is we would have the single largest agreement that has ever been put together. they are our seventh largest trading partner right now in south korea and it would mean that while we have their products coming here virtually tariff free, there would be an opportunity for us to have access to the millions of consumers in south korea which we don't today. i also have to say that our inaction, the fact that we have had these agreements signed by our executive branch, the executive branches of those countries that are awaiting passage here in the united

states congress, our inaction has really jeopardized our potential for economic growth. why? if you look at the fact that colombia has already embarked on a free trade agreement a-- with canada. south korea is working with the european union right now. there are other countries and blocs in the world that are taking advantage of our inaction here. and remember again, mr. speaker, our action is going, is going to create probably in excess of a quarter million good private sector jobs. so as the president talks this evening about job creation and economic growth and fiscal responsibility, i hope that he will follow his words because he's told me that he believes in free-throw and wants to do this colombia keel -- believes in free trade and wants to do this colombia deal. we look forward to him sending it up so u.s. workers will have

the opportunity to enjoy the success we have seep in the past and i'm convinced we will see in the future. i thank my friend for yielding and leadership. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from colorado. mr. polis: i thank the speaker. i find little objectionable in what my colleague from california said. certainly there's great opportunity for trade with south korea and panama and colombia to create jobs, but neither of those -- none of those agreements are the topic of the rule before us today. and i want to give a little background on this and talk about how we can move forward. first of all we could have moved forward in a bipartisan way had they passed on suspension. what does suspension mean? suspension rares 2/3 vote of the house. the bills are nonamendable. both bills passed with a majority instead of 2/3. h.r. 3726 passed 241-173 and h.r. 3538 which was the version identical to 4474 passed by a 225-191.

so since they both passed by majorities but not 2/3, they came before us in the rules committee. we would have loved ideas. my colleague, mr. sessions, talked about how can we work better together? well, there weren't any amendments that were submitted this. would have been the time whether the ideas came from republicans or democrats, and our rules committee has an excellent record of allowing amendments from members of the minority party as well as the majority party, i know we take our role very consciously-consciously. both these bills deal with important local issues. they have important -- importance for the stakeholders. i have interest in the wilderness designation act. we are working in colorado on that designation. it's a real issue when you were dealing with legacy, water, how can they be maintained if they are wilderness? this affects real people. it took both mr. simpson and mr.

minnick working across the aisle in idaho coming together, coming before congress saying this is our local solution and asking us to approve it. it would have been nice if we could have gotten that done on suspension. if there weren't any other ideas to improve it, now it's a good chance to have a bipartisan vote of support to pass the bill. the same with the other bill, castle nugent national historic site establishment act. one key thing about this bill it doesn't spend any money, not one dime. you heard the figure tossed around it might be worth $40 million, $25 million. this is merely an authorization bill as my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are fully aware. the bill simply designates this area as a new unit. the bill contains no direct spending and any land acquisition if it occurs will be subject to appropriations or to fundraising or donations. enactment of this legislation is just the beginning of a very important process that we have been through with many other national monuments to preserve a unique and stunning area for inclusion in our national park service.

i reserve the balance of my time. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: i appreciate what the gentleman says. i know he was busy. i find times when i cannot attend the rules committee meeting, and i know the gentleman was not there yesterday. i need to help him with what actually happened. as a matter of fact, republicans did ask for an open rule, mr. speaker. we were not without ideas. you have to open the rule to be able to get amendments in, and we were denied. i also would point to, you know, the ideas that we're all sitting around here, oh, golly gee, we're all bipartisan when in fact the gentleman voted against the bill just this last week. i assume because he disagreed with the substance of the bill. but he was joined by lots of democrat colleagues that actually took down the bill. once again, i assume substance not because it was a

republican's name on there. it will be interesting to see what happens when there's a democrat member's name on there to find out if the same policy differences that existed last week, even though it's the exact same bill, whether those same policy problems still exist today or really whether it was just politics. and we'll be able to know this afternoon. we'll be able to know because the exact same bill, and the argument the gentleman's making, oh, we're just all getting our job done around here. mr. speaker, we disagree with the bill, and we spoke yesterday not just about dr. simpson's bill, we also spoke about the bill with the $50 million in st. croix. i'm going to outline part of that here, but it's based upon substance. and the substance that we believe is important is directly related to the national park service giving us their study which they spent

$500,000 doing. and last night upstairs, we just blew it off. hey, don't worry about that recommendation. national park service, they're going to say it's ok. i'm sorry. in testimony, do you know what the substance what they're going to say? no, but i have a good idea. i sit on the committee. i'm a ranking member or i'm the committee chairman. mr. speaker, that's the wrong way to run this house. that's the wrong way to run the rules committee. that's the wrong way to do things. ask somebody to do a study, spend half a million dollars and just go ahead and move the legislation without even hearing from people about the substance of the issue. forget about it being beach-front property, $50 million, $9 billion backlog of taking care of national parks in this country and yet it's going to take another $1 million annually to just take care of this beach-front property that the democratic

leadership wants to push. americans across this nation are struggling, mr. speaker. they're struggling to provide for their own families and their loved ones. last week the department of labor released data showing that 12 million americans are collecting unemployment benefits and over 15 million are currently unemployed. that is double -- that is double in one year. there's only so much blame that goes around. at some point the democratic leadership is going to have to say after three years of running this economy in the ground they're going to have to stand up and be big about it. it's the policies of taxing and spending that the democratic leadership and that the democratic members are letting them get away with in this body. i think somebody's going to have to explain the priorities at some point. why they're putting these two bills back to back. why they're trying to oppose it one week in the same policy, the next week presumably will

pass it. i will watch with great interest, mr. speaker, to see exactly what happens today on the vote. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves his time. the gentleman from colorado. mr. polis: yeah, thank you, mr. speaker. you know, first of all i take some degree of offense coming from colorado if people were to call our wilderness area a kind of denigrated as mountain-front property. it happens to be that our state is a mountainous state. this property is a beach. st. croix is an island. i'd like to yield three minutes to the gentleman from colorado, my colleague on the rules committee, mr. perlmutter. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. perlmutter: i thank my friend, mr. polis. and, mr. speaker, i heard my friend from texas talk about our rules committee meeting last night. and what he forgot to mention to you and to this body was

that this bill that is before us concerning the virgin islands is an authorization bill. now, to the world what does that mean? it means it only gives the authority for the national park system to decide whether they want to accept a donation of the property, they want to pay for the property or make an exchange for the property. there is no appropriation. there is no money spent. and i appreciate my friend's comment about the need for the study. well, the study will be there before any money is spent by the united states of america. but according to the testimony, this is property that has cultural value as well as scenic value, something that is important to the preservation of these islands and that is important to the united states of america. so this bill just authorizes it, doesn't pay anything for

it. now, my friend from texas talked about jobs. what he forgot to tell you, tell all of us was that when george bush left office last year we lost 785,000 jobs in that month. last month in december we lost 85,000. still not good enough, and we all know that. still not good enough, but 785,000 at the end of the bush administration and in one year we reduced that to 85,000 a month. now, we've got a lot of work to do and we need to do it in a bipartisan way. my friend is right that we need to work together. and i intend to work with him and with others to reverse this system and get people back to work. we got to roll up our sleeves. we got a big job ahead of us to get people back to work and to create jobs in this country. and with that, mr. speaker, i'd yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: thank you, mr. speaker. you know, mr. speaker, it's all about priorities. and, you know, i welcome the debate here that we're having today. we asked not to do this at the rules committee. we asked not to do this bill. isn't it better that we don't go spend $50 million right now? it is an island. by the way, every piece of land on the island is not beach-front property. the bottom line is is that we are choosing because it's a priority to do this. it's a priority, and those priorities the republican party disagrees with. the second bill that comes under this bill that failed to get 2/3 vote last week is the one we are talking about, h.r. 3726, the castle nugent national historic site establishment act. and what this bill really does is go about, as we've heard about it, is that it authorizes but not propets $50 million --

appropriates $50 million. if there's anybody in this body that believes that we're going to have a significant debate about the $50 million when it comes into a huge package of appropriations they are wrong. this puts it in line to be a part of another massive spending bill. meanwhile, as we going buying federal land on the virgin islands, 10% unemployment rate, that's problematic to me. americans, lots of them, don't even have the opportunity to go visit this new $50 purchase because economic climates are so bad. you know, even if we weren't running $1.4 billion deficit and raising the debt limit by another $1.9 trillion in the next few weeks, there's still this backlog that we could

prioritize and put the $50 million in to take care of the $9 billion maintenance backlog that we have in this country. and by the way, that's cultural. lots of sites in this country are cultural that are national parks. and the priorities should be of existing decisions that we have made. look, i just think it's a bad way to go, but i think it represents exactly the mindset of the democratic leadership, another good way to spend money, put a happy smiley face on it and talk about it's a really good thing for taxpayers. we're going to find out more when the national park service finally releases their study. we're going to find out what they say. the republicans up in the room at the rules committee last night said let's wait. let's not spend the money. let's wait to find out what we do. and most of all, let's make this an open rule so every member can bring their ideas down here. not going to happen.

party line vote. so what today's legislation should show the american people is about this congress' priorities. first, that the democrats reviews, once again, nothing new, to work with republicans on -- refuse, once again, nothing new, to work with republicans on health care. secondly, that jobs and the economy come second to the $50 million worth of taxpayer funds for beach-front property that most americans will never, never, ever see. mr. speaker, americans want jobs. they want fiscal responsibility by this body. they want us to work together on the issues and the problems facing this country. and i think they're seeing once again today after what was called the wake-up call last week that we're not doing any of those. mr. speaker, the democrat majority continues to preserve initiatives and policies that will lead to more unemployment,

more debt, nor taxation. this administration and democratic -- more taxation. this administration and democratic congress said they would help health care, cleaner energy, better education. the list goes on and on and on. and what we see after three years now entering the fourth of democratic leadership, majority in this body is that they are driving our country to record deficits, record unemployment, record spending and record inability to take responsibility for what they have done on their watch being the policy arm of this government. this rule does not represent any commitment to fiscal sustainability either. and with this legislation congress only continues to increase federal debt, slows down our economic recovery, increases the federal burden and the financial burden placed

on our children and grandchildren. mr. speaker, the obama administration promised americans if congress passed the stimulus bill that unemployment would not go beyond 8%. that was a long time ago. that it would save millions of jobs. here we are a year later record unemployment, more than two million americans have lost their jobs since the package that is called the jobs bill, $1.4 trillion stimulus package, and today in the papers we read not only is it not working it is doing what republicans said at the time it's going to add to unemployment and debt that will increase at an exponential rate. in june of last year my friends on the other side of the aisle passed a cap and trade bill that would also raise prices on energy, goods and services for hardworking americans across this country. in my home state of texas, the

average household would expect to pay more than $1,100 extra a year. no wonder, no wonder there's an outcry. once again, part of a legislative package, an initiative that would lose 1.38 million manufacturing jobs. they are in the middle of that right now. somebody's going to have to stand up and take accountability for this because it's happening on the leadership of the democratic party's watch. and today despite these facts we're spending more money and going to place america in a deficit position again. . . it's time that the democratic party begin working with republicans if you want to bring jobs back.

mr. speaker, the majority party's out of touch. out of touch with americans. their priorities on borrowing, taxing, and spending is killing our economy. and ruining progress for job growth. i know once again today i, republicans, are the minority party. all we can do is stand on the floor and talk. but we believe that the processes up in the rules committee are important. that's why we were there even last night trying to say this is the wrong thing to do and $50 million more does matter. we cannot remedy the economic circumstances that we are in by increasing spending. not on national parks in the virgin islands or not on a $1.3 trillion health care bill that will destroy 5.5 million jobs. huge energy and health bills are going to raise taxes and kill jobs. certainly expenses for states and people.

over the last year we have heard our constituents say they want stability. they wants to -- want us to work together and want us to focus on the things that would bring about a better tomorrow. i disagree what we are doing again today. and i respectfully would say to the american people and my colleagues we should defeat this bill. it's the wrong direction. it's a bad idea. and the timing of this is very bad. mr. speaker, we are going to welcome the president of the united states tonight. i hope we listen to what he says. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from colorado. mr. polis: thank you, mr. speaker. once again i want to reiterate that this bill does not cost $50 million or $40 million or 30d million. does not cost one penny. it is simply an authorization. as my colleague knows it's part of the process. if there ever is an appropriation, there is a number of avenues under which there might not be an appropriation,

there could be a donation of the property, could be other involvement from other sources. if there is an appropriation, that's when that would be debated. that would be part of a bill and somebody could offer an amendment that would come before the rules committee and i would certainly support ruling that in order to make sure that that is a topic this body has the time to discuss. but now is not the debate with regard to the expenditure of any federal dollars with regard to this matter. the procedure that has been used, again, when bills come up on suspension, as these bills did, there was no opportunity for the minority party or the majority party to amend the bills or offer alternatives. when the bill did not get the requisite 2/3 it came before our rules committee and there were no other amendments offered by members of the minority party or majority party. we are very open along with my colleagues from the rules committee, i know the house as a whole, to ideas from both sides of the aisle regardless where they come from. if somebody had improvement of

the water rights in idaho or adjustments to the borders of the proposed castle in st. croix, the minority party has under both this rule the opportunity for a motion to recommit with or without instructions with regard to each of the bills. there is ample opportunity and we are hearing a deafening silence from the other side with regard to how to improve these bills. the door is more than open. the first step again in finding that they were unable to reach the 2/3 authority was that they would be open for input. there were no amendments. not one that was presented to the rules committee for either of these bills. and i look forward to seeing what the motion to recommit may entail. if they are constructive and improve these bills in any substantial way, i'm confident my colleagues will join me in supporting them. i would like to inquire of the

gentleman from texas if he has any remaining speakers? mr. session: i appreciate the gentleman asking. i want to ask how much more time we have if i could, please, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas has six minutes. the gentleman from colorado has 17 1/2. mr. sessions: thank you, mr. speaker. i would anticipate i will be the final speaker for us. thank you very much. mr. polis: very well. i'm the last speaker for my side so i'll reserve my time until the gentleman from texas has closed for his side and yielded back the balance of his time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i do appreciate the gentleman from colorado, mr. polis, for representing the democratic party today. i think that it's important as we approach today that the hopes and expectations of a nation who tonight will listen to our

president will be in our hearts and minds. this country has had serious days in our past and we are in serious days today. i don't think there's any problem bigger than a solution in this country. i do believe, however, and i have believed this, that when it comes to the economy and building jobs and working to create a better environment where america is competitive in the world, that it will require not just the basic sense of understanding marketplaces, but really, mr. speaker, of discipline. of seeing the problem for what it is. it is a problem that has been self-induced. it is self-induced by this body

who in the midst of the greatest expansion -- i remember just a few years ago with my friends who are democrats, oh, all this money that this country has. we are not spending it the right way. the priorities are mixed. we should go spend more money and help people who do not have the advantages because this booming economy has not gotten to them yet. mr. speaker, i do understand that. i do understand that a lot. i have spent a lot of time working with disabled people in this country. but what happened in that process was we flipped so far over to where we are now killing the goose that lays the golden egg and that is the free enterprise system. free enterprise system as a result of this speaker and the policies of the democratic party are pushing an agenda that would lose this country 10 million

jobs. we are in the middle of that. the assault on employers is part of the political agenda. i get that. i think the free enterprise system gets that. but the american people have now caught on. and i think it's time if we really want to talk about having jobs, jobs that can be competitive with the world, jobs that are not nickel and dime jobs or here today and gone tomorrow, that it will require a discipline and a philosophy of understanding how jobs are created and the free justice department prize system and the decisionmaking. the decisionmaking is that this congress needs to do at least three things. number one, they need to make sure that we cut capital gains taxes so that people will invest in this country. they'll invest in this country and the creation of jobs will occur. secondly, we need to make sure

that we do away with or greatly diminish depreciation. depreciation is that government competing against the free enterprise system for money. and perhaps most importantly or lastly, the death tax. the death tax because literally after three generations anybody that owns a family-owned business has to lose it. it's gone. it's gone from taxation from a federal government that is controlled by those that want to tax and spend and diminish that for the spending of the government. rather than people who have jobs . i think we ought to take the responsibility today. i think just like somebody going to a meeting and admitting they made a mistake and they were wrong and they have a problem being honest about the problem, the creation of jobs won't come through some trickery. it will only come from doing the

things that business itself will tell you it needs. reducing capital gains on a permanent basis. reducing the problem that we have with depreciation. and lastly the death tax. we don't have to take it to $1 billion or half a billion dollars. we could move it probablyle to $50 million or $60 million and stop the burden, the bleeding that is happening where people are losing their land, their property, their businesses. but it takes someone who understands that. i spent 16 years in the free enterprise system. 16 years where i never missed a day of work. i loved what i did, but i saw washington as the problem. that's why i came to congress. i still see government as being the problem. here today we give a lot of lip service to jobs and people act like, well, i just don't know what to do.

the fact of the matter is the political agenda of losing 10 million american jobs which we are in the middle of -- health care, cap and trade, and card check is strangling this country. if we want to be honest about this, just like an alcoholic showing up at an a.a. meeting and admitting there is a 10 or 12-step process to coming back, we need to understand that. we are taxing too much. we are spending too much. we are borrowing too much. and the debt is strangling this country. mr. speaker, where are the jobs? i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from colorado. mr. polis: thank you, mr. speaker. the gentleman mentioned, quote health care, cap and trade, and card check are strangling the country, end quote. fortunately none of those are included in this rule and i hope my colleague will join me in support of this rule. which simply brings to the floor

two very important bills, water rights in the state of idaho and the castle nugent national historic site. colorado has places protected not only important foreign the economic well-being of our state or but important for the very foundation of our civic pride and identity. in many cases these protections are also part of the fundamental bases of the economy in many of our tourist areas. we know the benefits of local communities from the national park service. recreation and tourism provide a long-term sustainable economic base. gateway communities thrive from recreation facing their adventures an experiences from these nearby communities. both the castle nugent national historic site act of 2009 and the idaho wilderness water facilities act share the story that land preservation done right is a winning local policy and, yes, a job creator and winning economic policy.

the castle nugent area this bill represents the preservation of historic had been talt that will lead to future tourism and future small businesses and local and sustainable jobs. the park proposal preserved nearly ,900 acres of former

thereby zero taxpayer money being spent. there was a legitimate discussion when and if that time arrives do we want to spend money on this. that is the totally separate question. i look forward to debate

regarding that matter. but the authorization is the first step. i'm hopeful that we can preserve the historic legacy, attract good jobs to the u.s. virgin islands and i urge a yes vote on the previous question on the rule and i yield back the balance of my time. . i move the previous question on the resolution. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the previous question is ordered. the question is on adoption of the resolution. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the gentleman from colorado. mr. polis: mr. speaker, i demand the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 , this 15-minute vote on the adoption of house resolution 1038 will be followed by a five-minute vote on the

resolution -- on the motion to suspend the rules on house resolution 1024. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o e

speech? guest: thed you can send us an , journal@c-span.org. linda feldman wrote this story from the christian science monitor. "can obama get his mojo backed?" what will be the tenor of the speech? guest: the person the present needs to do is to reassure the people that he hears them, got the message not only from massachusetts senate election but the overall decline in his popularity in the last year. and then he needs to pivot toward what he does plan to do. he does know the economy and jobs are the number one issue. but he is prepared to do what ever it takes to improve the situation with jobs. host: what happens after tonight's speech when he delivers this message on jobs and the economy, where is ago

next and how does it keep up the message? guest: he needs to just keep pounding away. he has had two trips on his main street tour, going out into the country. we expect a lot more domestic travel this year. tapping a bit into the populism he started to engage him, telling people he is going to fight for them, that he is focused on the middle-class, that he is not giving up on health care. i think this is key. congress might have other ideas but he does not want to give up on his agenda. he has said as much. he believes the problem is really and how the policies were sold, and he takes responsibility for that. host: on healthcare there are polls that show americans do want the president and congress to stop focusing on health care and put more focus on jobs and the economy. how will the square and that --

how will he square that? guest: congress has been meeting and said essentially they will slow it way down on health care, they cannot politically afford to keep pushing full steam ahead and trying to push it over the finish line. now is synch earliest they would get something about it is late february but the closer to the election, the harder it will be to get anything passed at all. the president has hinted that perhaps he will try to do a scaled-back version, but he kind of backed away and said he was not giving up on a comprehensive health care. but i think the handwriting is on the wall. host: this is the first day of the union address for the president. he addressed congress and join sections -- joint session springtimes. is this a bigger speech for him tonight, and has he been practicing? who has been involved in the speech writing of these comments tonight? guest: this is by far the most

important speech. he gave a speech in the joint session of congress in february, was not the state of the union, and then the joint staff -- speech on health care. this is a critical time. the election in massachusetts this last week was just a real wake-up call for this administration, that they were really off course and they really had taken so long on health care. it just a bit them terribly. the speech he has been working hard on, they have been working on it for months. you have his speech writing team and his top aides weighing in. the president himself is active in what he will say. as is usual, the revisions will be taking place up until the very last minute. host: did the white house given the indication of who will be sitting with the first lady? guest: i spent yesterday with

the first lady. she was giving a speech to the wives club of the joint chiefs officers out of bowling airforce base. this has been one of her big issues, support for military families. one of the points that came out and discussion what some white house aides is that she will have six military sitting with her in the first lady's box tonight, including the two police officers who stopped the shooter at fort hood last year. host: do we know from the rest of the administration, who will not be there this evening? guest: i'm afraid i don't know that, sorry. most of what about congress -- host: can you tell us more about the pomp and circumstance before the speech? guest: the president is really

at a very rough patch in his presence in but the members will still be lining up for the hearty handshake and kind of i-5 -- i do not know if it is literally a high fives. but it is a big televised event, a lot of americans will be tuning in and everybody wants that moment on tv with the president of the united states. host: linda feldman is what the christian science monitor. and to your phone calls, what would you like to hear ther.r.r.

host: dennis johnson is here to

talk of up tonight's state of the union address, but also looking back and other state of the union addresses. can you think of an appropriate comparison for tonight's state of the union? after the president's first year with an economic situation like he had, headlines that read "liberal funnieunease," cau come up with a comparison? guest: it is pretty tough. he might have to go back to bill clinton. at this time, the company was coming back strongly. of course, is big problem -- his big problem was his agenda.

he famously had troubles with the monitor talking about health care. but you alshave to go back to ronald's -- ronald reagan paused first term. there were positive signs that he was going to do something better. there was a lot of anticipation at that time. i think those would be good parallels for barack obama. host: how did they use those speeches to take on the years as president? guest: when you look at all three of them, they are probably the best communicators that we have had. from ronald reagan, he

acknowledged people in the audience, american heroes. that was unprecedented. in 1992 we had this terrible snowstorm. president reagan in an alleged one of the heroes -- recnized one of the heroes during his speech. since then every president has done something similar. but only to talk about their policy but also to acknowledge average people who are considered american heroes. capt. sullen burgeburger recent. host: let us go back to the clinton address from 1996. >> we must answer here three

fundamental questions. first, how do we make the american dream of opportunity for all, a reality that all americans are willing to work for? second, how do we preserve our old enduring values as we move into the future? third, how do we meet these challenges together, as one america? we know big government does not have all the answers, we know there is not a program for every problem. guestwe have offered to give the american people a smaller, less bureaucratic government in washington, and we have to give the american people one that lives within its means. the era of big government is over.

we cannot go back to the time when our citizens were left to fend for themselves. host: your reaction? guest: that was an interesting speech. i think republicans in the audience were probably saying, my god, he is stealing power lines. that is what we were going to say. it is true. president clinton was taking the standard policy speeches and policies thrust by republicans, so i think they were perplexed by that. what you have this sort of day exercise. how many times can you get

members of congress to stand up and applause? this was a mixed reaction. republicans wanted to applaud things that the president was in fact saying. host: do you think president obama will steal some lines from the republican party tonight? guest: he probably will. he will talk about economic discipline, certainly about cutting the budget. he will talk about getting jobs back. who knows if he talks about smaller government or not, and whether that will have a resonance with the american people or not. host: some facts about the state of the union. woodrow wilson first delivered the state of the union in

person in 1913. the first televised broadcast was president harry truman in 1947. you can see how we have evolved. why is the state of the union important, it is the first one for a president important? guest: the state of the union is something required by the constitution. it says from time to time. it does not say exactly what he will say, but he is to report. of course, our convention has been every year at this time of year. for someone who has never given one, it is extremely important.

for one, things are not going so well for the democrats. it is time to rally the troops and fundamentally tell the american people and congress what he wants to do. host: can the president speak to short or long? guest: yes, the president can speak too long. bill clinton talked a lot. typically, these speeches are about one hour long. of course, they are punctuated with applause, and that sort of thing, but if you go past one hour, you are losing people. 45 minutes is probably the maximum you want to have. host: talking about tonight's speech and past presidents speeches. next phone call. caller: i want to make a comment

for a lot of the people calling in. i think it is obvious we have an educational crisis, not only with young kids, but with adults as well. a lot of people are forming opinions on things they probably do not understand. for instance, you have the senate and house of representatives, the president -- i am sorry, i am nervous. they need to be more respectful to the president and they need to listen to how things work, and understand, before they form an opinion. i think the president has a lot of good ideas. if people in the senate are going to take sides and block everything, then they need to go. i have to an mba, i am

unemployed, and i am about to lose my insurance. host: thank you. why is the state of the union in the house of representatives chamber? guest: simply, there are not enough seats in the senate to accommodate all the members. you have 100 members of the senate, 438 in the house, members of the cabinet, supreme court, members of the ambassadorial cabinet that may also be there. physically, the only place that you could do it is in the chambers of the house of representatives. host: hillary clinton will not be at the speech tonight because she will be in london doing her job. is that unprecedented?

guest: no, not at all. what has happened in the past decade is one member of the cabinet is designated as the catastrophe cabinet member, if something were to happen, god forbid. there has to be one member physically not present so that government can carry on. that is the role she is playing now. host: seated in the chamber will be members and former members of the house and senate. the chief justice of the supreme court will also be there. guest: it is a relatively recent principle, but probably

important. host: next phone call. betty from california. democrat line. caller: i do not understand how the republicans -- it is not one thing that the president said or did that dathey stood with him. democrats respected bush when he was in office. i think obama, he said he was bipartisan, but i think what he wanted was for them to give him ideas and that he would evaluate them, not them taking over his program. if he does not do exactly what they say, and they would throw it out. i wonder why they do that.

they have not banded together to do anything to help the country. that is what we are interested in. we are not interested in partisan fights. i was wondering, when are they going to stop fighting, for the sake of the people? host: republicans will be giving a response to the state of the union tonight. that will be delivered by bob macdonald of virginia. he will be talking, presumably, about the republican agenda. why is it that the opposing party gives a response after the president delivers his state of the union? guest: that is a fairly recent phenomenon, too. the idea is not equal time is not fair time. if you have people watch and for

one hour, it is basically the political junkies, the people who watch c-span, who will be watching the response from the opposing party. host: the most recent response coming from and louisiana governor. he was criticized heavily for his response to president obama, the way he came out, the way he was speaking. talk about that. as far as message, what can the other parties do in order to compete? guest: you are referring to bobby jindal. a lot of republicans would say that he is our next hope for the election, but the problem was not the words that he said. it was his staging.

he came down the stairwell. the situation was entirely wrong for a response to the president. if you are sitting in a studio, that is probably the best thing you can do when you have people standing behind you, you can never control what is happening behind you. the setting was wrong, the way he delivered the speech was wrong. it left republicans flatfooted and critics were saying, that was done very good at all. host: jim on the republican line. caller: this guy is a knucklehead. he is a professor but he is a piece of junk. host: next phone call. my apologies for the name calling. caller: hello?

good morning, greta. not have been in this country for 20 years. i am from jamaica. host: we are going to put you on hold. as a reminder, you have to turn your television down. peter from new york. democrat line. caller: thank you. unfortunately, that person who expressed what he feels about you, i do not think that is right. but i want to point out the problem that we have with this conversation. i did not really care when the high definition broadcasts of the state of the union was. i want you to discuss the state of the union.

obama is going into a chamber that is so self-ridiculing, when you have chief justices who say that it is ok for chinese or filipinos to spend as much as the one on the election. barack obama, who worked hard to get elected, walking in and talking about controlling costs , when on the first day he came in he could have gotten that medicare bill repealed. the fundamental state of our union needs to be flawed when no

one will take responsibility for the state of our union, but just told the ideological or business ties as the motivation for their lives, as opposed to the founding fathers. guest: thank you for that comment. esolution expressing support for designation of january as poverty in america awareness month. 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 is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the host: rep chris van hollen, what do you want to hear from the president? guest: and little recap of where

we have been the last year. the president will point out a year ago the economy was in the free fall and will stabilize but not yet turned the corner. it was the american people want to hear is what is the plan going forward. i think the president will talk about jobs, accelerating jobs, making sure that we have fiscal discipline in the out years, that we hold wall street accountable, and talk about some of his proposals for accomplishing those objectives. in addition to the completion of health care reform. host: on health care reform, polls are showing americans want the president and congress, democrats, to stop focusing on health care and switching their focus to jobs. the democratic leaders, according to papers this morning -- you all have not given up on health care and you don't want the president to give up on it. how do you square the two things? guest: we have been focused on jobs sent day one. economic recovery plan was about making the investments in the

economy necessary to stabilize and get us out of free fall, and that has been successful. we are out a free fall. now we need to turn the corner which is why the house passed in december a jobs bill and the president i think will talk about important components of that investment in infrastructure, he will talk about middle-class tax relief and tax credits, job creation. it in health care costs under control is an important part, making sure we have a strong economic foundation. individuals, families, businesses, premiums are going through the roof and the federal deficit will be bad in the future if we don't get health care costs under control. this bill, as cbo has found, will reduce the deficit and over a period of time. if we are interested in fiscal stability in the out years we need to get the skyrocketing health-care costs under control.

host: if the american public does not believe -- is there a message problem? host: of the debate on health care has clearly dominated. it is a complicated issue. it is important to get it right. but the fact we have been moving forward on jobs initiatives during that period of time i think has been partly lost by the media coverage of health care, the twists and turns of that debate. i think it will be very important going forward. as we continue to focus on jobs and pass additional jobs measures, let people know we are focus like a laser beam on these issues. again, the economic recovery bill has succeeded in getting us out of a free-fall. the economy was declining at a rate of 6.5% this time last year. now the economy is showing positive growth.

it jobs were just going through the floor. now, what we have not only recovered and have not gotten positive jobs growth, at least we are not losing 700 and did it thousand jobs a month like this time last year. and the stock market has obviously recovered compared to what it was. this does not happen magically appeared it is the result of actions that were taken. were they sufficient? no, that is why we will continue to take steps. all numbers -- here is the headline in "the financial times" this morning. "liberal unease at obama." frontpage. here is something in the story this morning and "the washington post," some quotes from the

liberal blogs. it is official, obama is an idiot. brock herbert hoover obama. and obama liquidates himself. obama's self-inflicted lobotomy it proceeds apace. it is the president risking alienating the liberal base before the midterm elections? any concerns, the base you need to turn out on election day? guest:: the base, i think, wants to see the economy recover as fast as anybody and that is why the president has been focused on job creation and has made a point and saying the most the poor thing we need to do to improve the deficit situation is to get people back to work. we want to get people back to work so that they can pay the bills and meet the rent payments, but also if people are not back to work, obviously the deficit will continue to get worse. so, that has to be job number

one. but what the president is saying here is we also need to get our long-term fiscal house in order, and we have taken a number of steps. and the house we are working very hard to pass what we call pay as you go. if the federal government and, to launch a new program will have to find reductions elsewhere or some way to pay for, like a family has to pay for things. the president will probably announce the creation of a commission to develop recommendations for deficit reduction. i believe this idea of a freeze in the budget growth is a good one. the president has pointed out this does not mean you freeze every individual program. he will increase education. but if you are going to increase one component, you have to find and offset the one forward. host: jones' bill, south carolina. walter on the line for democrats -- jonesville caller: i keep

hearing the president needs to stop focusing on health care but focus on jobs. we lost our jobs to countries that have health care and we will not get our jobs back until we fix health care. health care comes first, then the jobs. i just want people to know that. it guest: you make a very 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the chair would ask members to please clear the well and clear the aisles so we can begin with suspend bills. -- suspension bills.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair requests that members please take their conversation off the floor.

the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the chair will postpone further proceedings today on the motion to suspend the rules on which a recorded vote on the yeas and nays are ordered or on which the vote incurs objection of clause 6 of rule 20. recorded votes on postponed questions will be taken later.

the chair would ask the members to the right of the chair to please take their conversation off the floor. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york rise? ms. velazquez: madam speaker, i now move that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 4508. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 4508, a bill to provide for an additional temporary extension of programs under the small business act and the small business investment act of 1958. and for other purposes.

the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from new york, ms. velazquez, and the gentleman from missouri, mr. graves, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from new york. if she'd suspend for a minute, the chair respectively requests that members to the right of the chair please take their conversations off the floor so that we can proceed with business. thank you. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from new york. ms. velazquez: thank you, madam speaker. 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, so ordered. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from new york. ms. velazquez: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. as we worked to foster job growth, small businesses will be central to the creation. time and again when americans face economic uncertainty they

respond with innovative ideas and new ventures. while larger companies are slower to reverse the trend and start hiring again, small firms are often more in limbo and can lead us out of downturn more quickly. madam speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is correct. the house is not in order. the chair has asked several times that the house come to order. will members please take their conversations, members and staff on both sides of the aisle, take your conversations off the floor so that the gentlewoman and the gentleman can be heard on this bill. the gentlewoman will proceed. ms. velazquez: thank you. for many dislocated workers, starting a new business can help pay the bills and even launch a new career. however, for entrepreneurs to fulfill their traditional role as job creators, they need the right tools. the legislation before us today will extend programs at the

s.b.a. that help new businesses form and existing firms grow. this bill extends some of the agency's most valuable efforts, re-authorizing certain capital access programs will help small businesses survive the credit crunch. earlier this year, the house passed legislation to strengthen those initiatives. we have also approved bills re-authorizing the small business innovation research initiative. however, before these measures are updated, they will have to be extended. h.r. 4508 ensures these programs continue operating as we keep working with the senate to fully update them. this bill is not a comprehensive re-authorization, but it does represent another step toward a more prudent solution. given the vital role that small businesses play in our economy, we cannot afford any of the s.b.a. services to lapse.

i therefore urge my colleagues to vote yes and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from missouri. . >> i rise to support the rule. the bill is a straightforward and clean extension that prolongs the authorization of all programs authorized by the small business act. small business investment act, and any program operated by the small business administration which congress has already appropriated the funds. this extension will last until april 30, 2010. this legislation is essential because authorization for various programs operated by the s.b.a. expires on january 31 of this year. over the past three years our committee has worked in a bipartisan fashion reported out a number of bills to re-authorize and extend programs at the s.b.a., the extension

passed late last year will expire before the lemming process can run its course. without enactment of this extension, a vital number of programs that the s.b.a. operates would cease to financial. given the continued importance of the small business -- businesses play in the revitalization of the american economy, we simply cannot allow the s.b.a. authorizations to run out. the work needed to help america's entrepreneurs revitalize the economy simply cannot be accomplished without the time frame -- within the time frame outlined in the current legislation. we not only need to re-authorize these critical programs, but also update them to respond to new economic conditions. the extra time contained in this legislation allows us to fully explore and implement the ideas that will give our nation the entrepreneurs the tools they need to be successful. passage of this legislation will enable the house and senate to continue to work in a manner to

address necessary changes to s.b.a. programs. i urge all my colleagues to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 4508. madam speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from new york. ms. velazquez: madam speaker, i yield as much time as he may consume, mr. david wu from oregon. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. wu: thank you, madam speaker. i rise in somewhat reluctant support of this legislation. which temporarily, among other things, extends the small business innovative research and small business technology transfer programs. the truth is that we should have re-authorized these programs long ago. and we should not be dragging this process out, but that is not a problem that we have in this chamber. it is very, very important because these innovation programs invest in small businesses, the ones best positioned to drive economic growth and to create new jobs.

innovation is the key to resuscitating our alien economy and to creating good family-wage jobs for the american middle class. by investing in innovation, sbir and sptr create more than good-paying jobs, they encourage the development of growth industries. and that, madam speaker, is what our nation needs most. apple, microsoft, research in motion all started out as cutting-edge small businesses. these creative high-tech companies spurred new industries, new jobs, new technologies that now employ hundreds of thousands of americans. by facilitating creative renewal, sbip and sptr are not only helping guide our economy out of recession, they are

building our nation's capacity to thrive in a very competitive global economy. sbir and sptr have a proven track record of over 25 years success in creating good-paying jobs in high-growth industries and we must continue our commitment to these programs and re-authorize them immediately. but we cannot continue to fuel the 21st century economy with 20th century programs. we must modernize sbir and sptr so they can meet their potential as innovation katja lists. some of these improvements are simple like making awards more reflective of today's technology development costs. others like ensuring that our most innovative companies are eligible for public investments regardless of their capital structure require a more nuanced approach. the science and technology committee and the small business committee led by my colleague

chairwoman velazquez have been working hard with our senate colleagues to strike the right balance for these improvements. we are not there yet, but i am confident that we will get there. in the meantime, we must pass today's temporary extension. madam speaker, i urge support of this bill and its swift passage. thank you. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from missouri. mr. graves: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, i would like to associate myself with the words of the gentleman from oregon. it's not this chamber's fault we have to pass an extension re-authorization should be funnished by now. but i want to thank the chair woman for all her work and the committee and the work that we have been able to accomplish so far out of committee. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from new york. ms. velazquez: madam speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the question will be the house suspend the rules and pass h.r.

4508, 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. ms. velazquez: i ask for a recorded vote. 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, the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this further proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from the virgin islands rise? mrs. christensen: madam speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass house resolution 1020. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1020, resolution honoring the 95th anniversary of the signing of the rocky mountain national park act. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from the virgin islands, mrs. christensen, and the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from the virgin islands. mrs. christensen: thank you, madam speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mrs. christensen: thank you. i yield myself such time as i may consume. madam speaker, this resolution to honor the 95th anniversary of the

the speaker pro tempore:ing of the act that created rocky mountain national park was introduced by representative betsy markey and the entire colorado delegation. president woodrow wilson signed the act on january 26, 1915 creating a park that preserves a remarkable beauty of some of the highest peaks in the continental united states. some three million people visit rocky mountain national park each year, making it one of the top 10 most visited parks, national parks in the united states. and in march of last year, congress passed and president obama signed legislation designating much of the park's majestic terrain as wilderness. marking the culmination of decades of work by many committed park supporters. therefore, madam speaker, it's appropriate to mark this important anniversary from rocky mountain national park and i commend representative markey for introducing this resolution. i ask my colleagues to support the passage of this measure and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentlelady reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from washington is recognized. mr. hastings: mr. speaker -- madam speaker, i yield myself 15 seconds. house resolution 1020 has been adequately explained by the majority and we have no objection to this resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from the virgin islands is recognized. mrs. christensen: madam speaker, this bill as we said is -- this resolution is an important resolution marking the anniversary of the rocky mountain national park. i had hoped i would have another speaker. at this time, madam speaker, not seeing any other speakers on my side, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington is recognized. mr. hastings: i yield back my time also, madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from the virgin islands.

mrs. christensen: i yielded back. mr. hastings: madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington ask unanimous consent to reclaim his time. mr. hastings: i ask unanimous consent to reclaim my time and unanimous consent that the gentlelady from the virgin islands has her time also. the speaker pro tempore: any objection? seeing none. mrs. christensen: i have no objection. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington is recognized. mr. hastings: i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from georgia. such time he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is yielded as much time as he may consume. mr. kingston: i thank the speaker and the gentleman from washington and the gentlewoman from the virgin islands. i had a lot of interest in this bill because i have spent so many wonderful hours at the rocky mountain national park. my family has been going there off and on for nearly 25 years, about once a year. i can tell you there is not a greater playground in the united states of america if you like the outdoors, if you like elk,

if you like mule deer, if you like family. if you like to get out and exercise and do the fresh air. i have had the experience of hiking up long peak three times and those of you out west are very familiar. for somebody who comes from zero sea level in savannah, georgia, to go 14,000 feet in altitude up in the tun bra, tundra starts at 11,000, it is such a great thrill to go through the key hole, to go through the narrows, to go through the boulder field to get on the summit of long peek and -- peak and look out for miles and miles. i also climbed flat top mountain, otis, epislon mountain and others. so many times doing that i have done it with my family, my cousins, my small children, now my grown children.

i had a couple of them up on long with me. my mother who is now in her 80's was the one who first got addicted to rocky mountain national park. we had the opportunity many years ago to go to cabin lake together. i remember my mother was probably in her 70's at the time. but that is a great hike. they actually rate hikes in terms of a, b, and c. a, the most difficult. c being moderately tough hike. and cabin lake is one of those. my mother has been all over the rockies as has my sister, jean. both in snowshoes, both in cross-country skis and tennis shoes and hiking boots. i have gone trout fishing there many times with my childhood friend. and it kind of discourageding for me to release trout but i understand the big picture. it has been fun. i photographed elk and the deer

and look for marmuts on the peak and i can't emphasize enough what a great vision that mills had, who is the father of the rocky mountain national park, when he promoted this to become a national park. it was his vision, tiss brother joe mills also was -- his brother joe mills was also a very passionate lover of rocky mountain national park. i had the opportunity to meet enis mills' daughter. i am sorry to rant and raef on a personal bay -- rave on a personal basis about something, but i want to recommend to anybody in congress and anybody out there who is listening who doesn't live in colorado, who hasn't been there, it is a wonderful place regardless of your age, regardlies of your interest. there's something there for you. and, madam speaker, if you guys are interested, and i can tell you are, i would like to invite you to let me come show you my slides. i will be willing to do that. we can come -- you-all can come

to my office and i'll show you my many picture albums because it is something that's great. i'm glad we are doing this. there's some things i think congress does well. the national park service certainly is one of those great things that congress has done on a bipartisan basis and have a lot of support for. i yield back and thank the gentleman for letting me go down this personal trail today. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from the virgin islands. mrs. christensen: thank you, madam speaker. i would like to ask unanimous consent to reclaim my time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. christensen: at this time i would like to yield to congresswoman markey such time as she might consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. markey: i rise today to urge my colleagues to vote for house resolution 1020 to honor the 95th anniversary of president woodrow wilson signing the rocky mountain national park. i thank my colleague for his offer for slides. i would also -- i represent this

beautiful district and i also welcome anyone to come and visit colorado and see for yourself this crown jewel of the west. this legislation setaside roughly 360 square miles of the southern rockies to establish rocky mountain national park. when the national park service was established, the following year in 1916, the park was one of the original 12 parks transferred to the agency's control. today the rocky mountain national park remains one of colorado's most treasured destinations and is consistently one of the top 10 visited national parks in the united states. . it embodies this preservation movement at the time of the century. it goes to the alpine tundra and includes a diverse terrain of flora and fauna. it remains one of the largest example of the alpine country

ecosystem in the national park system in the lower 48 states and offers invaluable opportunities for visitors to learn and enjoy the great outdoors. on march 30, 2009, 408 square miles of the park was designated as a wilderness area thereby conferring the highest level of conservation protection for federal lands. president theodore roosevelt once said, of all the questions that can come before this nation short of the actual preservation of this existed in a great war there is none which compares in importance with the great central task of leaving this land even a better land for our descendents that it was for us. this week we celebrate the foresight of so many californians to preserve this ma jetic landscape for future generations to come. i urge all members to support this resolution.

thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington is recognized. mr. hastings: madam speaker, i require if the gentlelady from the virgin islands has any more speakers? mrs. christensen: i have no more speakers. mr. hastings: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from the virgin islands is recognized. mrs. christensen: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: all timetime being yielded back, the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass house resolution 1020. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is -- mrs. christensen: madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from the virgin islands rise? mrs. christensen: madam speaker, to request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all 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 proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from west virginia rise? mr. rahall: madam speaker, pursuant to house resolution 1038, i call up the bill h.r. 4474 and ask for its immediate consideration in the house. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 4474, to authorize the continued use of certain water diversions located on national forest system land in the frank church-river of no return wilderness and the selway-bitterroot wilderness in the state of idaho, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 1038, the bill is considered as read. the gentleman from wave, mr. rahall, and -- from west virginia, mr. rahall, and the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings, will each control 30 minutes.

the chair recognizes the gentleman from west virginia. mr. rahall: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on h.r. 4474. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the chair recognizes the gentleman from west virginia. mr. rahall: and i yield myself such time as i may consume. madam speaker, i rise in strong support of h.r. 4474 introduced by our colleagues, mr. walt minnick and mike simpson of idaho. this bill would authorize the continued use of certain water diversions located in wilderness areas on national forest system land in the frank church-river of no return wilderness and the selway-bitterroot wilderness in the state of idaho. the water is used for a combination of purposes including drinking water for private cabins and ranches. many of the permits have since expired leaving those without to me cancally maintain the

systems -- mechanically maintain the systems. under the term of this legislation, the secretary of agriculture can only issue new permits if the owner demonstrates that the facility existed prior to the designation of wilderness. the facility had been used to deliver water to the owner of the land. since the designation the owner had a valid water right. and it would not be practical to move the facility out of the wilderness area. this is legislation designed to put in place a reasonable solution to a conflict. mr. minnick and mr. simpson ought to be commended for working cooperatively and in a bipartisan fashion to craft this legislation. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington is recognized. mr. hastings: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, i will first speak to the merits of this legislation before focusing on the partisan reasons why the house is having to debate this bill and this legislation for a second week in a row.

this bill was originally introduced by mr. simpson of idaho to require the forest service to issue special use maintenance programs to owners of a small number of water systems in two idaho wilderness areas. although these water diversions continue to operate, their owners currently lack the authority to maintain and repair these facilities. failure to maintain these facilities can harm not only to those that depend on access to the water that these structures provide but also damage the environment and watershed of the forest service land. h.r. 4474 will allow the owners of the existing water systems to do the necessary maintenance. the legislation is narrowly tailored to apply to a small number of sites that meet specific criteria. to qualify, the water diversion facility must have been in existence on the date that the area was designated as part of

the national wilderness preservation system. it must have been in substantial continuous use since the date of that designation and the order of the facilities must hold a valid water right. additionally, sites can only be covered by the bill if it cannot be practical or feasible to put it to another area and continue the beneficial use of water recognized under state law. this is the bill and policy that i believe merits strong support in this house. congress needs to have a reasonable and commonsense approach to managing our federal lands. wilderness designations preclude such commonsense management. the restrictions on activity are so severe and inflexible the designation is often applied to unsuitable lands, the problems and the conflicts that arise out of that

designation. and so here we are today, congress must go back once again and fix the problem created by previous wilderness designation law. congress needs to execute far more caution and care and forethought before designating wilderness areas before you lock up these areas for human activity. we ought to be wise enough to devise sound conservation practices on our land without creating the threat to neighboring families at poorly thought out wilderness designation can bring. there's no reason why we cannot both be good stewards and good neighbors. so, madam speaker, as i said that this is a matter of good public policy and i support the changes that this legislation will make in the law. however, as a matter of how the democrat loords leaders who control this house are choosing to operate this house, i object to the extreme partisan

maneuvering surrounding this bill. last week the house voted on this exact same bill, but there are only two differences between that bill and this bill. first, this is a new bill with a new number. and second, the lead sponsor is now a democrat instead of a republican. last week this bill was h.r. 3538 sponsored by republican mike simpson of idaho. today, the bill is numbered h.r. 4474 and the lead sponsor is democrat walt minnick of idaho. so let me repeat, the bill is word for word the same that the house voted on last week except the sponsorship has been switched so that a democrat is now the prime sponsor. now, i have to say, madam speaker, this is truly a remarkable display of

partisanship. first, democrat leaders directed their members to vote against this legislation last week because a totally separate piece of legislation failed to pass on the suspension calendar. and now these democrat leaders are playing a partisan switch-a-roo in sponsorship of this bill so that a democrat will get credit for this bill's passing. i assume this bill will pass. i might add, by the way, that the area that we're talking about is in mr. simpson's district. so, madam speaker, with unemployment in double digits, millions of americans without jobs and with record deficits set last year by a democrat president in this congress, one would think that this house would have more important things to do than to engage in such overt and obvious partisan tactics. so with that, madam speaker, i support the bill and i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from west virginia is recognized. mr. rahall: madam speaker, i yield myself 30 seconds. i do appreciate the manner in which the gentleman from washington, the ranking member, has stressed the bipartisanship nature of this legislation. as he knows in our committee on natural resources, it's always our effort to improve a product a second time we consider it. and that's what we're doing here today with this legislation. madam speaker, i yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from idaho, mr. minnick, who has been so instrumental in bringing this legislation forward and worked so hard in crafting it. as much time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from idaho is recognized. mr. minnick: i thank the chairman and i'd like to indicate that the partisanship which leads to this particular procedural process for bringing this bill back to the floor had nothing -- has nothing to do with the merits of the legislation.

congressman simpson has done a great deal of work on these remote water systems that were ignored when two wilderness bills were protected and exist in both of our districts carefully crafting, as the ranking minority on the committee has stated, the congressman from washington, carefully crafted a very narrow bill which creates some exceptions which allows 22 landowners who have since before wilderness -- these areas were created as wilderness operated very simple gravity fed water systems whose points of intake are now in wilderness because their small upstreams of creek in many instances and who needs to maintain these systems from time to time occasionally using

mechanical means. congressman simpson looked and catalogged these 22 inholdings, graphed very carefully to correct the oversight. the oversight was not the wilderness. it was the continuous use of these private inholdings. legislation that would allow them to continue operating as they are in perpetuity. this is good legislation, it's good for idaho, it's good for wilderness. i want to congratulate my colleague on his diligence and to urge my colleagues to support this remedial legislation. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington is recognized. mr. hastings: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: madam speaker, i want to respond to my distinguished chairman. it is true that we do have a lot of bipartisanship on our committee. and i appreciate the gentleman

for making that point, and i'm certainly going to do everything on my part to ensure that that conditions on. however, i will -- continues on. however, i will make a point. we did have a hearing on h.r. 3538, the measure sponsored by mr. simpson. we have not had a hearing, however, on h.r. 4474, which is before us today, sponsored by mr. minnick. i just wanted to point that out because we try to do regular order as much as we possibly can. i just think that is worth being -- worth pointing out. so i would hope that this legislation does pass the house with a strong bipartisan support. maybe it will send a signal that we can indeed work in a bipartisan way. if only we change sponsorships of certain bills. but that remains to be seen, madam speaker. i look forward to that time. with that i'd inquire of my friend if he has any more speakers on this bill.

mr. rahall: i'm ready to close. mr. hastings: if the gentleman is ready to close i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington yields back. the gentleman from west virginia is recognized. mr. rahall: i yield back my time, madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: all time for debate has expired. huent to house resolution 1038, the previous question is ordered on the bill. the question is on engrossment and third reading of the bill. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. third reading. the clerk: a bill to authorize the continued use of certain water diversions located on national forest system land in the frank church-rirch of no return wilderness and the selway-bitterroot wilderness in the state of idaho, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on passage of the bill. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the ayes have it. mr. hastings: madam speaker, i ask for the yeas and nays. .

the speaker pro tempore: a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 further proceedings on this question will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from west virginia rise? mr. rahall: pursuant to house resolution 1038 i call up the bill h.r. 3726 and ask for its immediate consideration in the house. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 230, h.r. 3726, a bill to establish the castle nugent historic site at st. croix, united states virgin islands, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 1038, the amendment in the nature of a substitute is printed in the bill as adopted and the bill as amended is considered as read. the gentleman from west virginia, mr. rahall, and the gentleman from washington, mr.

hastings, will each control po minutes. -- control 30 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from west virginia. mr. rahall: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on h.r. 3726. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentleman from west virginia. mr. rahall: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise today in strong support of the peppeding measure introduced by my very good friend and valued member of our committee on natural resources, the gentlelady from the virgin islands, dr. donna christensen. the pending legislation establishes the castle nugent national historic site on the island of st. croix in the u.s. virgin islands. the castle nugent area possess as wide range of historic resources, including the remnants of small danish cotton, sugar, and cattle plantations. pre-colombia archaeological sites also exist on the property. the cattle ranch there is one of the oldest in the west indies.

the proposed part -- the diverse and undisturbed natural resources of the site include the most substantial black mangrove stand left in the virgin islands. sea turtle northwesting areas, large and healthy coral reefs, and a lagoon that is home to many different species of birds and other wildlife. congress authorized the special resource study for this area in 26. the national park service has completed all the work for that study and found that the area meets all applicable criteria for significance, suitability, and feasibility for designation as a national park service unit. the proposed park would include 2,900 acres of a privately owned ranch land as well as 8,600 acres of submerged land owned by the government of the virgin islands. the family which owns a majority of the site has fought off aggressive developers for years. seeking instead to have their

land preserved for future generations to enjoy. this legislation includes no direct spending and any land acquisition will be subject to appropriations. this is an excellent piece of legislation and i commend once again dr. christensen for her tireless efforts to preserve the unique and stunning resources that are located in her beautiful district. thanks to the recent public broadcasting system series by ken burns, chronicling the amazing history of our national park system, many americans are asking themselves and asking this congress what can we do to build upon the incredible legacy left us by those who invented the idea of national parks? the answer to that question is simple, work to identify and study significant unique areas of natural and historic significance and then make certain they are protected. the sent is support the pending legislation and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance

of his time. the gentleman from washington is recognized. mr. hastings: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hastings: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, i cannot support this legislation and i urge my colleagues to oppose it for two reasons. first, this congress in prior times enacted a law that authorized and directed the national park service to conduct a feasibility study on whether this site should be preserved and if so in what manner. madam speaker, we don't have that report. hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent on this study and yet this house is charging ahead making a decision without having a study in our hand. madam speaker, i think that's wasteful and i think it's irresponsible. it's been said that the report is done. with you if congress hasn't goten a copy of that report, we are told its recommendations will support the approach taken in the bill. but yet we don't know that

because we have not received the report. even if the final report were to recommend establishing historic site, we would benefit from the information they have gathered to better craft such legislation. this bill is clearly put in the -- putting the cart before the horse. the park service itself has testified on this castle nugent bill before us today and they stated, and i quote, we would ask that the committee defer action on this legislation until the special resource study is completed, which is consistent with the department's general policy on legislation establishing a new unit of the national park system with when a study is pending, end quote. madam speaker, if the $500,000 study that congress passed to initiate is nearly completed, then we should wait to consider this bill until we have that information. that seems to be a rather logical conclusion of the

events. there hasn't been a single compelling reason given as to the need to act right now before this study is enhanced. now, madam speaker, the second reason for opposition to this bill is its costs. with 10% unemployment nationwide, and with millions of americans without jobs, and the fact that we are running record budget deficits, and the public debt is skyrocketing, now is not the time to potentially stand up to $50 million of the taxpayers' money to buy nearly 3,000 acres of bench front property on a caribbean island. on top of that it will probably cost an estimate of $1 million a year to maintain. madam speaker, we can't afford the price tag for a new park in st. croix. just as many americans will never be able to afford a visit there.

i had my staff, madam speaker, actually look up the cost of getting to st. croix over the presidents' day weekend next month. from my hometown in pasco, washington, it would take two plane changes over 12 hours of time, and around $1,000 to visit the island which would be the home of this new park. for a resident in the wild and wonderful state of west virginia, just to pick a state, flying out of the charleston airport, the time to get there is a little less but the price is still around $1,000. on top of the cost of buying this beachfront caribbean property and the cost of maintaining it, we need to be honest about the backlog that we have in caring for land already owned by the federal government. madam speaker, there is a $9le with, that's billion with a b, worth of needed repairs and maintenance on existing park land. if we are caring for -- aren't

caring for what we already have, congress shouldn't make it worse by authorizing new park land. our existing treasures should ensure folks who load up the s.u.v. have a safe and enjoy, accessible visit. like my colleague from georgia, mr. kingston expressed a moment ago about the rocky mountain national park. i guarantee you that no family from any state will ever load up their minivan and drive to this park in the caribbean ocean. this congress must get serious about controlling spending. the american people are concerned. they are worried and they are angered by the spending that's gone on in washington, d.c. the first year of the obama administration, the largest spending deficit in our nation's history, has been set. whether it's the $787 billion stimulus bill that has failed to create the jobs that were promised or the government

takeover, potential government takeover of the health care that would cost if it is put in place, the health care bill that's being debated over $1 trillion, i think is very, very clear. spending in america's mind is out of control. for congress to buckle down and i.n.s. tute only put the brakes on megaspending bills, but it also must start taking a hard look at smaller bills like this one. just take a look, madam speaker, at some of the bills that have been advanced out of the natural resources committee this year. we passed a bill to create a $700 million welfare program for wild horses. they approved another bill to increase spending for neotropical bird by millions of dollars. today there is a committee hearing on the bill to send millions -- spend millions of more dollars overseas to assist haiti. there's a lot of talk the president may propose a spending freeze in his state of the union

speech tonight. the news media and blogs have been talking about it for several days, and yet this house is poised to vote on creating a new up to $50 million park in the middle of the caribbean ocean just hours before the state of the union speech tonight. madam speaker, those that control this house will send quite a message on spending and the real priorities if it approves this bill before the president even makes it here to give his speech tonight. so, madam speaker, for those two reasons i urge my colleagues to support -- to oppose this bill and with that i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from west virginia is recognized. mr. rahall: thank you, madam speaker. i'm very happy at this point to yield to the gentlelady from the virgin islands who has worked so long, soar hard, so diligently, so patiently to bring this bill before us today, dr. donna christensen. as much time as she may consume.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from the virgin islands is recognized. mrs. christensen: thank you, madam speaker. thank you, chairman rahall, for yielding. today i rise once again to speak on behalf of h.r. 3726, a bill that i introduced to establish the castle nugent historic site on st. croix, virgin islands, and i introduced it for the first time in the 110th congress. the introduction of this bill or reintroduction stands as testimony to our country's legacy of preserving our national -- nation's special places. h.r. 3726 deepens the commitment of our conservation trail blazers such as henry thorough, george perkins, and john muir who worked tirelessly to protect our collective natural history in such a way it would live on for generations. as noted by ken burns when discussing the need to document the national park system, the chronicle of america's park

isn't a mere celebration of our nation's natural treasures but also a story of our people, of the force that is helped shape our lands, and the influence that is will guide our children. the siting to designated as the castle nugent national historic site continues to be heralded as one of the last pristine areas in the region. without hesitation i can attest to the fact that the castle nugent farm is worthy of preservation, worthy of inclusion into the national park system, and truly worthy of being shared as more than just a beachfront property. in the caribbean. but instead is a valuable chapter in our nation's official record of the american story. the national park service testified as such in november at the subcommittee hearing. h.r. 3726 calls for the preservation of 2,900 acres which include caribbean dry forest, sea turtle northwesting areas, large and healthy french

coral reefs, and the great pon bay home to numerous species of bird and other wildlife. today the landscape remains pretty much as it did historically with its rolling hills, open grassy plains sloping into the sea. in addition to guaranteeing the protection of one of the most ecological sensitive areas on the island, h.r. 3726 also preserves a rich part of our historic and cultural past by preserving the archaeological remains of our indigenous inhabitants as well as danish estate house now listed on the national register of historic places. casele nugent is one of the last working catsle ranches on st. croix and one of the ranches instrumental in the development and exploitation of the unique and sturdy cattle throughout the caribbean and throughout the world. h.r. 3726 would ensure the rearing of the cattle with a prov