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providing transportation services, nasa will be able to focus on the greatest challenges that lie ahead. in areas where we already have a stellar track record, advancing cutting edge technology and scientific discovery and pushing the boundaries of new frontiers on providing future explorers with dramatically greater capabilities than we have today. we start down that path now. we have with us today our two funded participants in the commercial orbital transportation programs, space ex of california, and orbital sciences, corporation of

virginia. they are both well on their way to demonstrations of cargo transport to the international space station and we look forward to their continued progress. today, i am also pleased to give you more details about the 50 million dollars that nasa is awarding to five companies through an open competition for funds from the american recovery and reinvestment act of 2009 to support commercial crew development efforts. each awardee has also proposed significant investment from other sources to leverage the taxpayer investment. it's a bold first step, and while there are many vibrant companies out there with which we hope to partner in the future, these five and our two participants are at the starting gate. they specialize in vertical takeoff and landing, life support systems, low-cost satellites and miniaturized avionics.

they have new rockets that have never been existed. here's some more about five companies getting grants today. blue origin located in kent, washington, is developing new shepard, a rocket-propelled vehicle designed to routinely fly multiple astronauts in space and to provide frequent opportunities for researchers to fly experiments in space and microgravity. they will receive $3.7 million related to its development of its pusher launch escape system and to have a crew module for structured testing. the space exploration division of the boeing company headquartered in houston, texas, has been involved in the development of a new spacecraft system, including the gem knee, apollo, skylab space shuttle and the international space station. boeing will receive $18 million to develop its space transportation system which includes a seven-person capsule

that may launch on expendable class launch vehicles. space corps is a woman-owned small business headquartered in tucson, arizona. paragon has directly supported with space flight hardware more than 70 successful space flight missions involving the international space station, the mirror space station, the space shuttle. they will receive $1.4 million for a development unit of an environmental control and life support air revitalization system. sierra nevada, corporation, manufacturers satellite, spacecraft proponent. the company will receive $20 million to further development its space transportation system, including the dream chaser, seven-person spacecraft to be launched on an atmosfide 402 vehicle.

and one in colorado is a joint ven tour of lockheed, corporation, and boeing. they will receive $6.7 million for an emergency detection system to monitor vehicle health of atmos five and delta four rockets. courtesy of president barack obama, it's my pleasure to introduce to you in person these space pioneers. i'd like to ask the representatives of each of the companies to join me on stage and say a few words. ladies and gentlemen, these are the faces of the new frontier, the vanguard. we will certainly be adding this -- adding to this group in the near future. the work has already started and we advance it one more step today. congratulations to all the winners. i'd like to ask each of our commercial pioneers to say a word or two. robert millman of blue origin.

brewster shaw. [applause] hold your applause until i give all the names. i want you to hear their names as we do this. i know you know most of them. brewster shaw, vice president and general manager, nasa systems, boeing. jane pointer -- sorry, jane -- after you told me. jane pointer, paragon space development, corporation. mike gas, president and chief executive, united space alliance. marge serangelo, sierra nevada, corporation. david thompson, c.e.o., orbital science, corporation. and ken, vice president, astronaut safety, space ex. can i give them this -- oh, there you go. [applause] >> good morning.

dr. holder, administer, thank you for -- administrator, thank you for holding this program this morning. on behalf of the men and women of united launch alliance, we are incredibly excited to participate in this bold new era with our nasa partners. united launch alliance has been supporting our nation for expendible launch vehicles with over 50 years of experience. our current generation of atlas and delta launch vehicles started with a $5 billion private investment to develop these new expendable launch vehicles. and the atlas and delta will be utilized to support hopefully commercial crew in the future. this new project that we're starting to get the emergency detection system is all about crew safety. to make sure we understand our system fully and to be able to give the appropriate signal for potential abort if necessary. this work will not only support our commercial crew but it will be sinegistic for providing

highly reliable products. thank you again for this opportunity. >> and good morning and thank you also for the opportunity to speak here. i'm robert with blue origin. blue origin is a small team headquartered in kent, washington. we also have flight facilities in west texas. and the team is dedicated to creating technologies for an enduring human presence in space. and with working with nasa we will be working on two technologies in particular. we're developing a pusher escape system. you may be familiar that a traditional tractor escape system has a tower jet seeing. you can escape at the back of the capsule which will avoid the jettison events and also because it will avoid consuming it on a nominal launch it will lower costs. and the other is a composite pressure vessel. this will be an all-composite

structure for containing the astronauts. it will improve the durability over conventional technology and also lower weight. so, again, thank you very much for the opportunity. >> thank you, gentlemen. and thanks to all of you for being here and for your interest in america's human exploration program. boeing and our principal teammate, bigelow aerospace, is looking to advance the state of our project. of course, we've been working with bigelow on our owe. because bigelow represents the most probable near-term market for a need for crew transportation to lower orbit other than nasa. and so we've been working together on this concept to satisfy both bigelow's needs and now with the ability and the opportunity to work with nasa to also roll in nasa's requirements so that the system that we develop does the best job it can of saving all of the

market needs for transportation to lower orbit. you know, 100 or so years ago a young entrepreneur named bill boeing was able to develop products that enabled the transfer of mail across the country in airplanes. and now that's grown to any of you who flew into d.c. probably road on one of bill boeing's products. so we've grown up that way. and for the last 50 years or so we've been involved in every human space exploration program that was executed by the u.s. of a. we have a vested interest, of course, of the international space station of nasa's teammate on that. we so much want to see i.s.s. live up to its potential. and part of that is having a robust logistics training with the delivery of cargo and crew in order to complete the research that will be enabled on the international space

station. so we've been in this game for a long time and with our teammate, bigelow, we intend to be in it for a long time more. thank you for the opportunity. >> thank you. and good morning, everybody. i know that back at paragon i certainly have a lot of cheering staff who are very excited about this moment. we have invested in and are developing with nasa an array of technologies that are for use on the international space station, on the moon, on mars, and really a whole array of settings, applications in space. our air revitalization system that we're developing under this program is really one of the first of its kind because it will be a turnkey system that can be used on an aray of missions, on -- array of missions on pretty much any space cavity. so we look forward to working

with the spacecraft developers to make sure it fits their needs. i also wanted to say, of course, at paragon we are deeply committed to the development of space for human exploration. both in a commercial way and, of course, over the years paragon has been involved in the commercial development of space from our inception, from inside biosphere 2, the first regenerative life support system, biogenre tif life support system developed. we have the very first commercial experiment on the international space station, which was really exciting for us. and i think today at paragon we're incredibly proud to be here and to be part of the nation's space program. thank you very much. >> good morning.

i'm mark from the sierra nevada, corporation. on behalf of the 2,000 or so employees of our company, i'd like to say thank you to nasa and for all of the effort that's gone into this program. we've been on over 300 space missions in our career as an organization. and what we've learned is that space is hard. this is not an easy thing to do. and it takes a lot of effort and a lot of corporation and a lot of teamwork. we have a great group of companies that are involved with us on our program. one of the things i'd like to say is that we had the experience of coming through an unfunded space act agreement with nasa for the last two years which is a rather unusual vehicle which i think received very well. we've received tremendous support from the team and the organization and throughout the nasa agency. as a result of that, we have now advanced our program to be very successful, in our view, very successful start. our program is based on a nasa vehicle that was originated many years ago called the hl-20. it's a runway landing lifting

body concept. we've now brought that concept forward and we're very thrilled to be part of that group and moving that idea to the next level. thank you very much. >> good morning. i'm dave thompson, chairman and chief executive officer of orbital science, corporation, a company that two friends and i started 28 years ago to develop the full commercial potential of space. with the perspective of about three decades in this business, my judgment is during its first term at-bat, the obama administration really hit it out of the park with its proposal for nasa's new approach to our civil space program. this new approach, which represents the most dramatic change in our civil space activity and at least the -- in at least the last 20 years is very consistent with what we've seen both in this country and around the world over the past several decades.

an increased reliance on an ever-more capable private sector. in this case, to deliver people to and from low earth orbit. this is an area that across a variety of applications raininging from satellite, communications, to space imagery, collection, launch -- orbital launch services and now commercial cargo delivery to the space station already represents an annual investment of about $5 billion a year by the u.s. government and other governments in space fearing countries, in europe, -- space faring countries in europe, asia and elsewhere. it seems this is the right time, the right direction for the agency to take in this new era. one of the reasons that i'm confident that the private sector is up to the challenges that are ahead of us in this

new era of commercial astronaut taxi services to and from low earth orbit is because of the progress that we've made over the last couple of years in developing private cargo transportation systems for the international space station. two of these systems will make their first flights to the station within the next year. i think that will pave the way not too many years later for the first launches of astronauts to lower earth orbit. these challenges are ones that we welcome, and i'd also in addition to this new element of nasa's program compliment the obama administration and the space agency for strengthening our scientific programs that nasa carries out. most of you that have studied the budget will note that about a 30% increase in the budget for nasa science programs over

the next five years and almost twice that much, about a 60% increase in the agencies for postspending on earth science which i think is one of the most important -- one of the most important areas that nasa carries out. thank you very much. >> yeah. i'm ken. today, it's an honor for me to be representing the 880 employees of spacex. we have a main construction facility out in hauthorn, california, and one in texas. one in the marshall island and a launch site in florida. one of the exciting things about me about the 2011 nasa budget is it acknowledges one of the greatest barriers to explore in space and that barrier is how you pay for it. one of the things that you have to work in order to fix that issue is the relationships

between the government and the contractors that provide the services. government hopefully will set the destination. the contractors with their flexibility and creativity should be able to come up with new and innovative ways to get that job done. spacex has had the primple of working with nasa in a partnership agreement since 2006 to provide cargo services to the international space station. and i can tell you from firsthand experience that it's a really great thing to watch what happens when you blend the skills that are only available in the government with the flexibility and creativity of private industry. >> folks, if we could do one thing before we -- i was going to ask -- yes, absolutely. get one great shot. this is the face -- these are the faces of the new space frontier, folks. [applause]

>> thank you all again for coming in and thanks to all of you who have came out today. in spite of the fact that i think this is probably the wrong thing to say, i think i'm ready for questions. >> thank you very much. please identify yourself and the organization you are representing. and please, it's only for

journalists. please. yes. >> hi. ken from "the new york times." so the budget is asking for $18 billion over five years for research. it's a lot of money to ask congress for when you haven't asked a specific goal. do you have a timetable and when do you think you'll come up with the timetable for when you tie all this technology into an architecture -- destination and timetable? is it a couple weeks, next year or five years? >> no, kid. it's more than a couple of weeks but less than years. we already are starting to form tiger teams that will help us come up with a schedule for how we're going to go about developing a new plan, a bold plan for exploration.

if you ask me about destinations, i get in trouble when i say it but i will tell you anyway. anyone that talks about exploration beyond lower earth orbit, there are some places, the moon, mars, asteroids, other near objects. so i'd say those are some of the definite destinations. i have lori down here who is one of my executives keeps reminding me i'm limiting us when i talk about mars instead of places other than the solar system. but i'm just talking about in my lifetime. so i will limit it to moon, mars, asteroids and things like that. and we hope very soon to be able to give you a very definitive time schedule on which we hope to reach some of these des takes. i will tell you that right now as we are talking about today with the people we are honoring here, as i talk to them, they were asking, what can we do to help? and i said, the number one thing that we all can do is pull together, work together and make sure that we deliver things on schedule, meet our

milestones and make sure that we come in on the cost that we said. because that's what's going to be different. if i can't deliver that then you all can throw me out. ok. >> seth, the associated press. general bolden, following up on that, if you're looking at believing yesterday's budget announcement, you made a lot of talk about the in-orbit fueling. i know it's still early. are you looking at primarily when the new type vehicles at launching from a space station or someplace in orbit to wherever you're going, is that sort of the primary role or are you looking at more the traditional from earth? >> you know, when you talk about in-orbit refueling, this is a question we have talked about internally among ourselves. we're talking about going from a space station to some other place in the solar system. we're talking about being able

to launch with a lighter vehicle than we would otherwise be required. because if you think about it, the reason for the weight and the size of a lot of vehicles is getting out of the gravity well. if we have a place we can go once we get out of the gravity well, refuel, it means you don't have the types of complex heavy, costly vehicles that we have today. so that's one thing. i would ask you to not -- don't be misguided, though, by our desire to have in-orbit refueling sites. that implies hydrocarbon and other types of proportion systems. when i talk about game-changing proportion, we talk about some stuff that nasa has on the shelf and whether it's ion engines and things you know better than i do and you know they will bring arguments in the coming months. if you are vasmer fan you don't

like ion. and vice versa. people say, please don't say it's exciting one more time. what i tell you what's exciting is we are going to have the national debate of where we should be going in terms of space exploration. and scientists and engineers who have not had the opportunity, perhaps in the last decade or more that will have the public discussions will not have them. if we do nothing but to facilitate discussion on, where we should be going and how we get there then we will have accomplished a lot. >> i'm a press club member. the announcement from the president has been greeted with dismay in some areas that we are abandoning man space

flight, that we are leaving it to the chinese, to perhaps the indians and other nations to take the lead in exploring our own solar system. how do you respond to that when we were the nation that was in the forefront and did land man on the moon? what do you say to those people? >> we are still the nation that's in the forefront. we are still the nation to which everyone looks and with whom everyone wants to partner. as i travel around the world, that message comes through loud and clear from all of our international partners. if i go back to people saying we are turning away from human space flight, i will share a story i got from jeff handily this morning who is the program manager for the constellation program and he got a message from a little girl named krisy

who he semi adopted. it was the greatest thing she had ever seen, the launch. she came back from the scrub and came back and saw it launch. to krisy, without anyone explaining anything to her, she thought we were turning away. jeff took the time to explain to krisy, look, we're not abandoning anything. you know, we're probably on a new course, but human space flight is in our d.n.a. so, you know, it's important for you all to help us explain to people who will look at the headline because you write the headline. so make it accurate. we are not abandoning human space flight by any stretch of the imagination. we have 10 more years of involvement on the international space station. that is exciting. you know, we just hired some astronauts in houston who are somewhat offended that people think they have nothing to do. we have cruise that we just named who -- crews that we just named who will be spending a year of their life training in moscow just to get ready to

spend six months of their life on orbit. that's human space flight and i can count on that until 2020. i've got seven companies represented right here who are telling me that they're excited about finding ways to get humans off this planet and into lower earth orbit. that's human space flight. so for any of you who think we're abandoning human space flight, i just respect flee disagree. i think -- respectfully disagree. i think we will get there faster than anyone thinks. if you think about space to mars. we can go to mars in days, not months. by doing the things that we're about to do, by taking the money that president obama has given us in our nasa budget for the next five years to use technology development -- don't -- i'm not trying to fool anybody that this is going to be easy. i still got to go to the other end of capitol hill, to the other end of pennsylvania avenue. but i'm excited about the opportunity to do that.

i now have a budget that allows me to walk to that end of pennsylvania avenue and say, this is the program that i want all of us to work on together. it's got to be a partnership. some of you may have heard my comments yesterday on the budget rollout. this is a we thing. this is not a -- this is not a nasa thing. this is a we thing. this is the nation. and working congress and the administration, nasa and industry, nasa and industry and academia, we have academia represented here -- i won't call their name of the school because i don't want to advertise them, but they're here. these are exciting times. anybody who was ever on a college campus over the last 10 years and walked into an engineering school and saw the dirt of research going on -- daerth of research going on in space science because there was no research money i think that's going to change. so help us. help us tell the story because

i think it is exciting. >> from aviation week. general, as you know was the anniversary of the columbia accident. it's my understanding that the constellation program was assembled as a direct response to that response, the findings of the columbia accident investigation were, for example, which mentioned the absence of a -- i believe they use the terminal mandate prior to the investigation and the fact that nasa was stretched too thin. how do you incorporate the lessons of columbia in this new venture, particularly the part that they identified as being a lack of a national mandate? >> frank, if i can, you limit the sources of lessons learned. our lessons learned and nasa go back to apollo i. that was when we had the first

eye-opening of earth that maybe we didn't know everything we thought we knew. and then we felt really good about ourselves in 1986. i can tell you i landed in the middle of the desert, i landed in edwards air force base in the middle of the night on january 18. you know, went back home to houston and going through my debriefs and my very last day of debrief we took a break to watch the space shuttle challenger launch and 73 seconds into flight i lost seven dear friends. and we were awakened that this is hard and that you've really got to stay on the top of your game. then, again, january 1, 2003, at the end of a mission when everybody is celebrating because nobody thinks, you know, that you're going to have a problem doing re-entry, except us who are in the game who know that it's not over until it's over. and that's why you call wheel

stop because everybody can then breathe. and once again we were reminded that this is tough stuff. so i think there are lessons to be learned from columbia, challenger, apollo i, and other accidents and incidents that we had along the way that didn't get the press that those did. i think the president has set a bold challenge for us. you know, we are not drifting. i think i heard -- i had friends from houston who write me when you talk about flexible path -- and i admit. ok. flexible path is hard to grasp. but let me help you. ok. they sent me a thing and i think it was -- they said, this is like "alice in wonderland," when you're going everywhere you're going nowhere. well, we're not going everywhere. we have defined destinations that we want to go and we will go there incrementally. and through our technology development, that will help determine where you go first. we will take advantages of opportunities that come as the

technology develops. so i think, frank, i hope that answers your question of how we are taking the lessons of the past. >> tammy from a.o.l. news. you say judging this how well you keep on track. given the costs from previous programs, how is this going to be different? >> it's going to be different because one thing the president has set out a wudget that supports where we think we want to gand we're building programs based on the budget that we have and not building programs based on a dream. now, dreams are really important. dreams are critical because without a dream, in proverbs, what's it say, without a vision people perish. i am a visionary, if you want to call me that. i dream and i want to be a realistic dreamer and the

president has laid out a pretty healthy budget that we think we can plan to that budget and stick with it. if you go back to the days of the s.t.s., the space transportation system, i see some people shaking their heads. at that time it is told to me that the brief was given to president nixon and said, i love it. go do it. the next morning said, what the president really meant to say you are going to get this amount of money and then we struggled for the rest of the program. this president has said, here's what i want you to do. here's the money that you're going to have to do it. let me know if this supports that vision, and we have said yes. what you have told us you want to do is supported by the budget you have given us. i say, hold me responsible. i have sufficient funds to do the things that i think we need to do for this nation so you need to hold me responsible. i can't say that the president has not given me sufficient funds.

>> to the issue of flying astronauts, after all the talk yesterday i sat around doing mentally, totally unscientific poll and i had people i talked to and ken bowersox and i came up with a number. 60 astronauts -- 60% say, nah, i woobt to it. 40% said i would. it's emotional. it's emotional latter day rights stuff. they use logic. how do you get beyond that? what do you say to the astronaut corps, this is how you do it? >> my message to the work force -- did everybody understand keith's question, first of all? the reason i started my comments by thanking the constellation team is because you've got to understand,

everybody's had a death in the family. to people who are working on these programs, this is like a death in the family. so, you know, everybody needs to understand that. and we need to give them time to grieve and then we need to give them time to recover. i have an incredible work force of civil serveents and civilians. they have been through this -- servants and civilians. they have been through this before. this is part of the life of being in nasa. and every time we manage to pull through it and we manage to recovery and we go off and do great things. that doesn't make an employee at the kennedy space center or johnson space center or marshall space flight center or a contractor that any of these seven people represent, that doesn't give them a great sense of solace because they're facing reality. but what i tell them is, look, we are going to get through this.

you know, kind of stick with us if you can. some of you will decide that this just isn't exciting for us for you and you can do other things. allow us to help you in your transition. and if at all possible let us help you find some work somewhere else that's going to be passionate to you. i'm a big person for passion. i'm here because i'm passionate about space and exploration. otherwise i'd be sitting in houston, texas, or i'd be in san diego with my three granddaughters. i'm here because i'm passionate about this stuff. i cry about it sometimes. so what. this is my life. this is their lives. and give them a little time. they'll come back. and they're going to be as great as they have always been. so just bear with them and give them some time. they'll be ok.

>> fox tv russia. as nasa actively partners with aerospace industry in the u.s., do you have any plans to involve russian companies in any way in the future after shuttle retirement? and could you please specify the process of delivering astronauts to i.s.s. in terms of russian participation in it? again, after shuttle retirement. thank you. >> thank you very much for the question. i just had a long conversation with a dear friend, the head of the russian space agency, yesterday morning to make sure he understood that where the president wants us to go. he was excited, as were all of our international partners about the president's support of extending the life of the

international space station to 2020. they're all excited, actually, about the funding that's going to commercial -- to the entry of commercial space into exploration and lower earth orbit. the russians have been an incredible partner throughout the years and they will remain so. i think most of you know when shuttle retires at the end of this year our primary means of getting astronauts to the international space station and anywhere else will be the solu spacecraft. i love the spacecraft. i have not flown on it. sox has. but the bad part about it is it leaves us without redundancy. i think if you talk to any astronaut, no matter what they think -- you know, keith mentioned the poll of 60-40 or 40-60, whatever, most of us will tell you what we think is critical for the nation is reliable, redundant access to space. when we retire shuttle, and it

is the right thing to do, by the way. for those who might want to ask me that question. it is definitely the right thing to do. when we retire shuttle at the end of this year we will no longer have real estate libel redundant way to get humans into space. the sooner our industrial partners can deliver the sooner we will at least have some redundancy in our ability to get there. two is better than one. several is much better than two. so we'll get there. >> at the end there. the lady there. >> thank you. i'm with abc owned tv stations. our houston station, ktra, is

very interested in the civil space program basically because boeing is headquartered in houston. now, one of the things they're mostly concerned about is jobs. as we all know, one of the president's main goals is job creation. so is there any possibility, is there any plan that some of the money awarded to these companies, not just boeing, will go towards job creation? >> i think if you look at -- you know, when you look at dollars planned for a program, those dollars can usually translate into jobs. the more money on a program as a general rule the more jobs that will be involved. the exciting thing i think -- i would have to ask our partners to say, but the more money they got, the more jobs that means, did i get it right? ok. so when people ask me, why am i excited about the president's budget? well, it's $6 billion over the

next five years that we otherwise were not going to get. so that says that the net -- there should be a net gain in jobs. now, let me not fool anybody. as i mentioned to somebody who asked the question earlier, we are not formulating our plans. we are making some big changes, and i don't think anybody can expect that we will have details, you know, specifics all laid out here overnight. it's going to take us a little while. we will have to figure out how we drawdown the constellation program in cooperation with our friends in congress. we have a lot of work to do but i'm confident we can get there. what i look at what president obama has put in the nasa program, specific to commercial space flight, technology development that we didn't even have before, to me with my simple brain that translates to jobs. now, i can't tell you, you

know, whether it's going to be 1,200 for 5,000 or 1,200 for 600. i don't have that granual aret yet. but my little brain tells me with that money we have the potential to increase the number of jobs in our field of endeavor. let me thank you all for coming. look, be tough on us but be fair and be honest. and, you know, human space flight is something that is critical to president obama and to me and this nation. our leadership is critical to our international partners. i had a representative from the chinese embassy in israel come up with me last week when the chinese and us are, you know, kind of not talking about other things and say, are you still planning to come to china? and i said, are you sure that

the invitation still stands? he said, why, of course. we're talking about space and science. so, you know, while anything could happen, there is something that draws people of different cultures and different characters and everything together and space is one of those things. and i have found that in traveling around the world. everybody wants to work with us. and we intend to keep it that way. it's a good start today. you know, keep your eye on us and see how we do and hold our feet to the fire. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you very much. and as we say -- thank you very much for your attendance and your patience. and as we say, the newsmaker is adjourned. [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> we know miss torecally that markets often don't work but we forget that. >> joseph stiglitz on the 2008 economic collapse and its effects on the economy on "book tv." >> since the $787 billion economic stimulus package was signed into law a year ago, about $332 billion has been committed. just over $176 billion has been paid out after of january 26. you can keep track of the stimulus money at c-span.org/stimulus. watch hearings and briefings and speeches and we can link you to different sites that are tracking the spending. both government sites and original -- i should say outside watchdog groups. the website again is c-span.org/stimulus. the house will be back in in about 15 minutes or so for legislative work. 2:00 p.m. eastern. we will have live coverage here on c-span. also on capitol hill today,

secretary gates and admiral michael mullen has been testifying before the senate armed services committee on the gays in the military policy of the u.s. government and the ban on lesbians and gays serving in the u.s. military. they just wrapped up their testimony a short while ago. we're going to show you some of their opening comments while we wait for the house to come in. >> the president is going to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell." he'll begin the preparations for repeal of the current policy. i fully support the president's decision. the question before us is not whether the military prepares to make this change but how we must -- how we best prepare it for -- for it. we received our orders from the commander in chief and we are moving out accordingly. the ultimate decision rests

with you, the congress. i am reminded of the fact that unlike the last time this was considered by the congress more than 15 years ago our military is engaged in two wars that have put troops and their families under considerable stress and strain. i am mindful, as well, that attitudes toward homo sexuality may have changed considerably, both in society generally and in the military over the intervening years. to ensure that the department is prepared should the law be changed and working in close consultation with admiral mullen, i have appointed a high-level working group within the department that will immediately begin a review of the issues associated with properly implementing a repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. the mandate of this working group is to thoroughly, objectively and myth oddcally examine all aspects of this question and produce its finding and recommendations in the format of an implementation

plan by the end of this calendar year. a guiding principle of our efforts will be to minimize disruption and polarization within the ranks with special attention paid -- special attention paid to those serving on the front lines. i am confident this can be achieved. the working group will examine a number of lines of study all of which will proceed simultaneously. first, the working group will reach out to the force to authoritatively examine their views and attitudes about the impact of repeal. i expect that the same sharp divisions that characterize the debate over these issues outside of the military will quickly seek to find their way into this process, particularly as it pertains to what are the true views and attitudes of our troops and their families. i am determined to carry out this process in a way that establishes objective and reliable information on this question with minimal influence by the policy or political

debate. it is essential that we accomplish this in order to have the best possible analysis and information to guide the policy choices before the department and the congress. second, the working group will undertake a thorough examination of all of the changes of the department's regulations and policies that may have to be made. these include potential revisions to policies on benefits, base housing, frat earnization and misconduct, separations and discharges and many others. we will enter this examination with no preconceived views but a recognition that this will represent a fundamental change in personnel policy. one that will require that we provide our commanders with the guidance and tools necessary to accomplish this transition successfully and with minimum disruption to the department's critical missions. third, the working group will examine the potential impacts of a change in the law on

military effectiveness, including how a change might affect unit cohesion, retention and other issues crucial to the performance of the force. the working group will develop ways to mitigate and manage any negative impacts. these are generally speaking the broad areas we have eye department find for study under this review. we will, of course, continue to refine and expand these as we get into this process or engage in discussion with the congress and other sources. in this regard, we expect that the working group will reach out to outside experts with a wide variety of perspectives and experience. to that end, the determine -- department will ask the rand corporation explore this more. we also have received some helpful suggestions on how this outside review might be expanded to cover a wide swath of issues.

this will be a process that will be open to views and recommendations from a wide variety of sources, including, of course, members of congress. mr. chairman, i expect that our approach may cause some to wonder why it would take a better part of a year to accomplish this task. we have looked at a variety of options, but when you take into account the overriding imperative to get this right and minimize disruption to a force that is actively fighting two wars and working through the stress of almost a decade of combat, then it is clear to us we must proceed in a manner that allows for the thorough examination of all issues. an important part of this process is to engage our men and women in uniform and their families over this period. since after all they will ultimately determine whether or not we make this transition successfully. to eb ensure that this process is able to accomplish its important mission, chairman mullen and i have determined we

need to appoint the high level officials. i am naming jay johnson and general carter hann, commander of u.s. army-europe, to serve as co-chairs of this effort. simultaneous with launching this process, i have also directed the department to quickly review the regulations used to implement the current "don't ask, don't tell" law. and within 45 days present to me recommended changes to those regulations that within existing law will enforce this policy in a fairer manner. you may recall that i asked the department's general counsel to conduct a preliminary review of this matter last year. based on that preliminary review, we believe that we have a degree of latitude within the existing law to change our internal procedures in a manner that is more appropriate and fair to our men and women in uniform. we will now conduct a final detailed assessment of this proposal before proceeding. mr. chairman, senator mccain,

members of the committee, the department of defense understands that this is a very difficult and in the minds of some, controversial policy question. i am determined that we in the department carry out this process professionally, thoroughly, dispassionately, and in a manner that is responsive to the direction of the president and to the needs of the congress as you debate and consider this matter. however, on behalf of the men and women in uniform and their families, i also ask you to work with us to in so far as possible keep them out of the political dimension of this issue. i am not asking for you to not do your jobs fully and with vigor before rather as this debate unfolds, you will keep the impact on oour forces in your mind. thank you for helping us on this important question.

we look forward to working with the congress and hearing your ideas on the best way ahead. >> thank you. admiral mullen. >> thank you, mr. chairman. senator mccain. and thank you for giving me an opportunity to discuss with you this very important matter. the chiefs and i are in complete support of the approach that secretary gates has outlined. we believe that any implementation plan for a policy permits gays and lesbians to serve openly in the armed forces must be carefully derived sufficiently through and -- sufficiently thorough and thoughtfully executed. over these last two months, we have resalud the fundamental premiseses behind don't ask, don't tell, as well as its application and process over the last 16 years. we understand perfectly the president's desire to see the law repealed. and we owe him our best military advice about the impact of such a repeal and the matter in which we would implement a change in policy. the chiefs and i have not yet

developed that advice. and would like to have the time to do so in the same thoughtful, deliberate fashion with which the president has made it clear he wants to proceed. the review group secretary gates has ordered will no doubt give us that time and an even deeper level of understanding. we look forward to cooperating with and participating in this review to the maximum extent possible and we applaud the selection of mr. johnson and general hamm to lead it. both are man of great integrity, great experience and have our complete trust and confidence. mr. chairman, speaking for myself and myself only, it is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do. no matter how i look at this issue, i cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order

to defend their fellow citizens. for me, personally, it comes down to integrity. theirs as individuals and ours as an institution. i also believe that the great young men and women of our military can and would accommodate such a change. i never underestimate their ability to adapt. but i do not know this for a fact. nor do i know for a fact how we would best make such a major policy change in a time of two wars. there will be some disruption in the force, i cannot deny. that there will be legal, social and perhaps even infrastructure changes to be made certainly seem plausible. we would all like to have a better handle on these types of concerns, and this is what our review will offer. we would also do well to remember that this is not an issue for the military

leadership to decide. the american people have spoken on this subject through you, their elected officials, and the result is the law and the policy that we currently have. we will continue to obey that law and we will obey whatever legislative and executive decisions come out of this debate. the american people may yet have a different view. you may have darche view. i think that's important -- have a different view. i think that's important and it's important to have that discussion. frankly, there are those on both sides of this debate who speak as if there is no debate, as if there's nothing to be learned or reflected upon. i hope we can be more thoughtful than that. i expect that we will be more thoughtful than that. the chiefs and i also recognize the stress our troops and families are under, and i have said many times before, should the law change, we need to move

forward in a manner that does not add to that stress. we've got two wars going on, a new strategy in afghanistan and remaining security challenges in iraq. we're about to move forward under a new defense review. we still have budget concerns and a struggling economy. and we have a host of other significant security commitments around the globe. sour plate is very full, and while i believe this is an important issue, i believe we need to be mindful of other pressing needs in our military. what our young men and women and their families want, what they deserve is we listen to them and act in their best interest. what the citizens we defend want to know, what they deserve to know is that their uniformed leadership will act in a way that absolutely does not place in peril the readiness and

effectiveness of their military. i can tell you that i am 100% committed to that. balance, mr. chairman, balance and thoughtfulness is what we need most right now. it's what the president has promised you and it's what we ask of you and this body. thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> president obama announced his goal to repeal the ban on gays and lesbians serving in the armed forces. from the hearing earlier today, secretary gates and admiral mullen and their opening testimony. you will see all of that hearing later tonight in our program schedule on the c-span networks. >> "in depth" welcomes british hiss taurean, paul johnson, author of over 40 books. his latest on winston churchill. your phone calls for paul johnson live from london sunday at noon eastern on "book tv's" "in depth" on c-span2.

watch c-span's "washington journal" for conversation, comments and your calls about the day's public affairs live daily from 7:00 to 10:00 eastern. c-span, covering washington like no other. u.s. house about to gavel in. nine bills on their agenda this afternoon including one commemorating the 65th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz. any votes will be held at 6:30 p.m. eastern. and the nomination of patricia smith to be solicitor of the labor department. the senate gavels in at 2:15 eastern. and that will be on c-span 2. on c-span3, coming up at 2:30, an intelligence committee. director of national intelligence, dennis blair. he's testifying -- they're testifying on threats to national security. it's election day in illinois. reports from the associated press indicate that voter

turnout appears to be light so far today as voters are decided which democrats will maintain the party's hold on the governor's office. now live to the house floor here on c-span. empore: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father coughlin. chaplain coughlin: lord, your spirit of understanding, truth, and peace, may this congress prove to be your fit instrument to foster yet a greater union and assure equal justice for all your people. we ask this because you have give us your just commands and reveal your redeeming love both now and forever. amen. the speaker pro tempore: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from

missouri, mr. luetkemeyer. mr. luetkemeyer: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain requests for one minutes. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? mr. wilson: request permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, in the state of the union address just last week the president stepped up his rhetoric about fiscal responsibility. but just yesterday the president presented a budget reminiscent of last year's that spends too much, taxes too much, and boros too much. the reality behind the president's budget proposal is that it more than doubles the debt. it drives up spending to $3.8

trillion in 2011. it pushes the deficit to a record $1.6 trillion. it raises taxes by over $2 trillion through 2020. during these tough economic times, lawmakers should be tightening our fiscal belts just like families across america are doing with their own budgets. increasing taxes and spending is not the way to rejuvenate our economy and revitalize small businesses to create jobs . in conclusion god bless our troops and we will never forget spetch and the global war on terrorism. -- september 11 and the global war on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from missouri rise? >> request permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker. for more than a year the people back home in the ninth district of missouri have expressed their anger about the way our government and this administration are spending their hard-earned money. they are angrier today after learning that the next proposed

budget comes in at a whopping $3.8 trillion with a record deficit of

without objection. mr. poe: mr. speaker, the attack on the constitution continues. in spite of the will of the people, there are those who still want to force feed us with government-run health care. the constitution gives no power to the feds to nationalize health care. the feds' plan to force americans to buy health insurance or pay a fine or go to jail or both, and that plan is unconstitutional. so 34 states are fighting back with legislation to block unconstitutional federal insurance mandates. also, texas attorney general greg abbott and other a.g.'s are ready to fight the feds in court over the unconstitutional cornhusker kickback. the kickback and the louisiana deal gave special health care favors to these states while discriminating against other states who must pay for these corrupt sweetheart deals. it seems that business as usual is going on in d.c. and it's

hazardous to our health. president reagan said there are two things to do things, the right way and the way they do things in washington. and that's just the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from alabama rise? >> ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> mr. speaker, i rise today in support of nasa and the constellation program. i am disappointed that the administration seeks to discontinue man space exploration. last week an administration official was quoted in "the orlando sentinel" as saying it was not necessary for us to return to the moon. language like this is a slap in the face. it's disrespectful for the lives lost, the thousands of hours of research and development that have gone in to man space flight. as we are being challenged internationally by china, russia and others, this administration is not accepting the challenge, as president kennedy did in the 1960's. this administration is asking

us to walk away from this challenge, and we will not do so. we, the scientists, the american public deserves to be number one in space exploration. the things that nasa has done for medicine, for regular space flight, for regular airlines, the safety, all that's concerned in our society has been touched by nasa. the very idea that this administration is lowering the expectations of america as far as man space flight is concerned is a disgrace. and we in congress will reject it. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. griffith: i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. smith: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. smith: to revise and extend my remarks. mr. speaker, the president's budget proves once again that the obama administration is not serious about enforcing our nation's immigration laws. they found money for 25 new

positions in the secretary of homeland security's management office, but there is no funding for a single new immigration detention bed, no new money to find and deport immigration fugitives or criminal aliens, no additional special agents to investigate workplace immigration violations, and no money to expand the visa security program. the president ought to use immigration enforcement to open up jobs for american workers. instead, the administration maintains the status quo. citizens and legal immigrants will be forced to continue to compete with eight million illegal immigrants for very scarce jobs. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? without objection, the gentleman is recognized. >> mr. speaker, the federal government is trying to do too much at too high of cost to the american people. thomas jefferson called for a wise and frugal government

which shall leave men free to pursue industry and shall not take from the mouth the bread it has earned. he's right. citizens should empower their freedoms and not eroding them and encouraging dependency. the american people are fed up with government intruding into their lives. they want us to do something about it. my message is simple, to get america back we must restore our founder's principles of empowerment. i'm working on the empowerment agenda and will be here in the weeks to come of how we can advance empowerment and reduce entitlement. this has been an empowerment moment and there will be many more as we watch our administration continue to tax and spend money that we don't have and drive -- steal the future of our future generations by leaving them with a legacy of debt. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana rise?

mr. pence: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pence: you know, mr. speaker. when i look at the president's budget for fiscal year 2011, i think about what albert einstein said one time. he said doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the very definition of insanity. well, after years of runaway federal spending under both political parties and after promises by this administration of fiscal discipline and reform, the president's budget more than doubles the debt, it drives spending to a record $3.8 trillion, it pushes the deficit to a record $1.6 trillion, raises taxes by more than $2 trillion by 2020 during the worst recession during 25 years, despite future spending freezes, promised, doesn't change the fact by any measure

this budget is insane. the american people know we can't borrow and spend and bail our way back to prosperity. they know that deficits and debt threaten our prosperity and our prosperity. house republicans have a better plan. a plan built on hard choices, fiscal responsibility and entitlement reform. on behalf of our families, on behalf of our economy, we say let's reject this irresponsible and unsustainable budget and let's come together around the principles of fiscal responsibility and reform. and let's put our house in order. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the chair will postpone further proceedings today on suspension of the rules on which the vote incurs objection under clause 6 of rule 20. record votes on postponed questions will be taken after 6:30 p.m. today.

for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? >> mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 4495. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 4495, a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 100 north taylor lane in patagonia, arizona, as the jim kolbe post office. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new york, mr. towns, and the gentleman from texas, mr. smith, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york. mr. towns: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to revise and extend their remarks.

the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. towns: and i yield myself such time as i may consume. mr. speaker, i am pleased to present h.r. 4495 for consideration. this legislation will designate the united states postal service facility located at 100 north taylor lane in patagonia, arizona, as the jim kolbe post office. introduced by my colleague, representative gabriel giffords of arizona, on january 21, 2010, and reported out of the oversight and government reform committee on january 27, 2010, by unanimous consent, h.r. 4495 enjoys the support of the entire arizona house delegation. born on june 28, 1942, in ever ston, illinois, former congressman jim kolbe began his public service and political career serving as a united

states senate page for barry goldwater and graduating from the united states capitol page school in 1960. in 1976, mr. kolbe ran for the arizona state senate and served three terms in that body. in 1985, mr. kolbe was sworn into congress, becoming the first republican to represent arizona in the house. mr. kolbe served as chair of the subcommittee on foreign operations, export financing and related programs on the house appropriations committee. for the last six years in congress. for four years, he was chairman of the treasury, post office and related agencies subcommittee. mr. kolbe decided not to run for re-election in 2006 and now serves as a senior trans-atlantic fellow as a german marshal advising on

trade matters. he serves at the college of business at the university of arizona. mr. speaker, let us on former congressman kolbe through the passage of this resolution and by designating the north taylor lane post office in honor of congressman kolbe. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from north carolina. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of h.r. 4495, designating the facility of the united states postal service located at 100 north taylor lane in patagonia, arizona, as the jim kolbe post office. congressman kolbe is a former colleague of mine here and congress. we have one term overlapping and certainly appreciate the chairman's words in support of this bipartisan resolution. and he served in the united states navy and in the naval reserves before being elected

to the state senate in arizona and elected to the united states congress in 1984. and he served very ably on the appropriations committee for foreign operations, export financing and related programs. he was one of this institution's hallowed -- well, the big guys in this institution seem to be on the appropriations committee. and he was an appropriations subcommittee chair, which as we all know, actually has a significant amount of weight, especially when you're writing a major portion of the budget, such as foreign operations. in addition to foreign policy, this congressman served his constituents ably. he was committed to constituents service and believed that serving the hardworking constituents of his district was a good part of his everyday job and was focused on

their priorities in southern arizona. mr. speaker, jim kolbe served his constituents of arizona and this country honorly for years and we support this resolution and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from new york. mr. towns: in closing, again, i urge my colleagues to join me in honoring jim kolbe through the passage of h.r. 4495, and i yield back the balance of my time. . the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 4495. the rules are suspended, passed. mr. towns: i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior

announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? mr. towns: i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 957. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 957. resolution honoring jimmie johnson, 2009 nascar sprint cup champion. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new york, mr. towns, and the gentleman from north carolina, mr. mchenry, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york. mr. towns: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. towns: i now yield myself such time as i may consume. mr. speaker, on behalf of the committee on oversight and government reform, i am proud to present house resolution 957 for consideration. this resolution honors jimmie

kenneth johnson and the 48th lowe's chevrolet for winning the nascar sprint cup championship in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. h.res. 975 was introduced by my colleague, representative patrick mchenry, of north carolina on december 8, 2009 and favorably reported out of the house oversight committee by voice vote on january 27, 2010. in addition, h.res. 957 enjoys the support more than 60 members of congress. mr. speaker, this resolution congratulates jimmie johnson for winning a historic fourth consecutive nascar sprint cup championship. by winning the 2009 championship, mr. johnson becomes the first driver in history to win the sprint cup championship four consecutive

times. breaking yarborough's previous record of three straight championships. in true american fashion, mr. johnson, a native of california, and a resident of charlotte, north carolina, rose from humble roots to the pinnacle of nascar world, this year mr. johnson accomplished something no other driver in nascar history has accomplished. not only has he won the last four nascar sprint cup championships, but has done so with unwavering poise, class, and humility. to put mr. johnson's unprecedented achievements in context, only nascar legends lee petty, richard petty, david pearson, and kale yarborough and darrell wall trip -- waltrip and dale earnhardt sr.

and jeff gordon have earned th championships. mr. johnson most recent sprint cup series championship tide with teammates jeff gordon on mr. speaker, i would be remiss if i failed to take this opportunity to also congratulate all the people who helped mr. johnson of course win. mr. johnson's success would not have been possible without the help of crew chief chad norris, team owner rick henry, and of course car owner and racing legend jeff gordon and the countless other team members who have helped mr. johnson win the last four nascar sprint cup championships. and beyond this impressive accomplishment on the racetrack, mr. johnson has never forgotten his humble beginnings and continues to give back to the community. i think that is just so

important. in 2006 mr. johnson and his wife founded the jimmie johnson foundation which is dedicated to assisting children, families, and communities in need throughout the united states. the foundation helped build places to play and places to live, save lives through blood collection and adding individuals to the national marrow bone program registry. and helps grant the wishes of children and adults who are in need. since its inception nearly four years ago, the jimmie johnson foundation has contributed more than two million in various -- from various organizations. mr. speaker, for this racing accomplishment and charitable efforts, lets us as a body take this opportunity to congratulate jimmie johnson, the associated press male athlete of 2009, and of course the chevrolet team for winning

the nascar sprint cup championship in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. of course i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting h.r. res. 957. i reserve the balance of my time. and to say to the gentleman from north carolina this is a great thing and of course sometimes we do not pay tribute to people that need to have tribute paid to them. this is a person that has accomplished great things. i'm happy my colleague, mr. mchenry, recommended that we recognize this effort. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina. mr. mchenry: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the chairman for his kind words. today, mr. speaker, i rise in support of the resolution honoring the accomplishments of jimmie johnson, the 2009 nascar sprint cup champion. now, this is a politically charged issue from my district because i represent a number of drivers and number of nascar teams and to honor any one of

them, well, it's tough. it's like, well, it's like baseball in certain areas of the country or football or college football or college basketball in north carolina. but nascar teams are real and potent in my district and -- but this is a special resolution because jimmie johnson has achieved something no one else in nascar history has achieved. that's four straight championships. he is with a great team. a combat crew chief, powered by hen rick motor sports and chef row -- hendrick motor sports and chevrolet. lowe's chef have i has done something unique. he started out in humble roots in california and now resides in my home state of north carolina. he grew up in a working class suburb, son of a bulldozer operator and school bus driver who raised jimmie johnson and his two younger brothers in a modest home and made financial sacrifices to give their sons the best opportunity to pursue

their passions. for jimmie that was racing. his love of speed was evident even from the time he was just a young child. he began his racing career on 50 c.c. motorcycles when he was just 5. from there he moved up to four wheelers where he found his true calling with four wheels not two. and moved into his 2002 rookie season in nascar at the top level of the series. and he became the first rookie to sweep both races at one track. that was at dover international speedway in 2002. he also became the first rookie ever to lead in the point standing and to date that remains the case. he is still the only one in the rookie season to lead the point standing. he's named the male athlete of 2009 by the associated press, the 2009 sprint cup series driver of the year, and was contender for driver of the decade. in 2006 together with his wife he founded the jimmie johnson

foundation, that assists children, families, and communities in need throughout the united states. jimmie rose from humble roots and achieved the pinnacle of success. now he's on for the drive for five. he wants five in a row. his story is truly an embodiment of the american dream. jimmie johnson, number 48, lowe's chef have i had made history by being a part of the nation's number one spectator short. mass car represents the best of american professional sports. especially my region. they are unmatched by their loyalty of their fans and participation by fortune 500 companies more so than any other sport. and with the identify connick daytona 500 quickly approaching in a week's time, please join me in honoring jimmie johnson for his seven wivens, 24 top tens, and unmatched race for the chase in the final 10 races

of 2009. he had an average chase finish of 6.8 which is absolutely amazing considering the competition they currently have in nascar. we pay honor to jimmie johnson, chad, and the whole crew of the number 48 chevrolet sponsored by lowe's. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york. mr. towns: mr. speaker, again i encourage my friends on both sides of the aisle to join me in congratulating jimmie johnson and the lowe's chevrolet team on their impressive accomplishments through the passage of house resolution 957. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: all time is yielded back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 957. 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 -- >> mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york. mr. towns: i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested.

all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? mr. towns: mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to h.res. 1014. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1014. resolution recognizing and supporting the goals and ideals of north american inclusion month. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new york, mr. towns, and the gentleman from north carolina, mr. mchenry, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york. mr. towns: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. towns: mr. speaker, i now yield myself such time as i may consume. mr. speaker, on behalf of the house committee on oversight and government reform, i am pleased to present h.res. 1014

for consideration. this resolution draws public attention to the needful inclusion of individuals with disabilities into the greater community. i introduced h.res. 1014 on january 13, 2010. and the measure was favorably reported out of the committee on oversight and government reform by unanimous consent on january 27, 2010. i am proud to say that the measure has bipartisan support from 59 members of congress. mr. speaker, one of every five americans has some form of disability. they face great difficulty in everyday life and significant disadvantages in education and employment. men and women around the country work hard in areas like special education, job training, rehabilitation, and other efforts address the needs

of individuals with disabilities. and we can all be very proud of their work. but we should be sure to remember that individuals with disabilities still face a great deal of hardship. these are our friends, our neighbors, and our family members and of course many, many, many times they are people that we see on a daily basis. they are our veterans. we must be sure to do our part to include these individuals in all facets of life. north american inclusion month recognized during the month of february was first created in 2005 of course and the hebrew word together for the national jewish council for disability and parent organization the union of orthodox jewish congregations of america.

i would like to thank these groups for all the hard work they have done to educate people on this important issue, particularly in my district in brooklyn. in closing i also would like to thank the gentleman from california, congressman issa, who has worked very closely with me on this issue. of course i really appreciate his involvement and his support to get us to where we are today. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting h.res. 1014 and i reserve the balance of my time. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina. mr. mchenry: i, too, rise in support of house resolution 1014, recognizing and supporting the goals and ideals of the north american inclusion month being the month of february. approximately 41.2 million americans have a disability of

some kind, and many of them are unemployed or underemployed and struggling to live on what they make or even to survive. mildly disabled individuals make less each month than those that are not disabled and the severely disabled, individuals take home almost $1,000 less than they otherwise would. and while there are programs in place to provide job training for those with special needs, they often do not focus enough on those -- on helping those individuals become independent or find permanent employment. many do, but there are many programs in our communities across the country, but both the union of orthodox jewish congregations of america and yachad, the national jewish council for disabilities have part nerd together for 2010 to promote -- partnered together

for 2010 to promote national inclusion month. these organizations have taken upon themselves to become leaders in promoting the message of inclusion month, the need for increased employment opportunities, better special education and greater inclusion of disabled individuals at the family, community and national levels. it's something we all should support. i certainly believe that this is a bipartisan resolution. i urge my colleagues to support it. and with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from new york. mr. towns: thank you very much, mr. speaker. you know, martin luther king i think once said, i cannot be what ought to be until the world is what it should be. and i think that this legislation really addresses that issue, to say that we have to be concerned about others, those who have disabilities. and let me again urge my colleagues to join me in calling for the great inclusion of individuals with disabilities by supporting h.res. 1014. and on that note, mr. speaker,

i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1014. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative -- the gentleman from new york. mr. towns: i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: 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.

for what purpose does the gentlewoman from ohio rise? >> mr. speaker, i ask that the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1043 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1043, resolution recognizing brescia university for 60 years of leadership in higher education. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from ohio, ms. fudge, and a member on the other side of the aisle, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from ohio. ms. fudge: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. ms. fudge: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise in support of house resolution 1043 which recognizing brescia university for 60 years of leadership in higher education. it was founded in 1950 in owensboro, kentucky. it was created by the sisters

of st. joseph as a catholic institution emphasizing the liberal arts and preparing its traditional and nontraditional students for successful careers in service to others. with the school motto of "make a difference," the university instills the leadership, justice and service in its students through its classes and activities it offers as well as the staff and faculty that teach them. the university provides its students with the sense of faith in community, on campus, with courses in theology, philosophy, ministry and spirituality as well as opportunities for religious expression and faith enhancement. throughout its existence, brescia university has helped the surrounding region. they provide each of its student with a quality liberal arts education, helping them shape into rounded citizens.

brescia universe six different degrees in over 60 different programs, and offers small classes which frequent one-on-one time between teachers and students. continuing the emphasis on the sense of community, the university takes pride in knowing all of their students individually. each are provided all of the resources and opportunities they need to find success in their lives so that they may fully participate in the life of the campus. brescia university also excels athletically. the university is home to 15 intercollegiate athletic teams. the brescia bearcats, as they are called, are members of the national association of the intercollegiate athletics and in the kentucky intercollegiate conference and added a competitive men's and women's track team this year. the motto of brescia university to form well-educated, well-rounded young adults with a sense of community and service to others is one that should be encouraged in all

educational institutions in our country. i urge my colleagues to support this resolution and thank mr. guthrie for bringing this resolution forward. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from wisconsin. mr. petri: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise in support of house resolution 1043, recognizing brescia university for 60 years of leadership in higher education. brescia university, located in owensboro, kentucky, was founded by the erseline sisters of st. joseph in 1960. it began as brescia hall, was founded as brescia college in 1950 and became brescia university in 1998. the university now offers undergraduate and graduate course work for the liberal arts. it offers various degrees,

including associate degrees, masters degrees and bachelor degrees. it includes education, medical technology and computer and mathematical science. brescia also aims to meet the needs of adult learners by providing tailered programs in their stars programs for adults returning to school. brescia university bearcats has 15 intercollegiate athletic teams. they participate in baseball, basketball, cross-country, tennis, volleyball and outdoor track as of this spring. brescia scompeets in the kentucky intercollegiate athletic conference and the national association of intercollegiate athletics and has excelled in such. brescia provides invariable service to its students as well as the community. since the founding of the university, brescia has emphasized service to others. in keeping with the tradition of the founders, brescia students are encouraged to

assist and serve the owensboro community and the surrounding region. it's a privilege to stand before the house today to congratulate brescia university on the occasion of their 60th anniversary and to recognize the university for 60 years of leadership in higher education. i extend my congratulations to brescia university, the faculty and staff, the students and the alumni. i also want to thank the college -- my colleague from kentucky, brett guthrie, for introducing this resolution. i ask my colleagues to support this resolution, and i yield such time as he might consume to my colleague, brett guthrie. ms. fudge: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from wisconsin. the gentleman is recognized. mr. guthrie: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding and i thank the gentlelady from ohio for her kind words for brescia university. i rise in support of house

resolution 1043, recognizing brescia university for 60 years of leadership in higher education. located in owensboro, kentucky, has provided a quality liberal arts education and worked to prepare students for successful careers since 1950. the only catholic university in western kentucky, brescia's mission and spirit emphasizing -- emphasize making a difference, encouraging students to serve others in the community. for over 60 years the faculty, staff and students have carried that provision of their founders, st. angela, who believed that education creates a stronger and more just society. these individuals have given so much to the owensboro community and the entire region. students at brescia enjoy a more personalized education with a 12-1 student to teacher ratio. brescia takes pride in creating an atmosphere of community while paying close teant to the personalities of their students.

they have 15 athletic teams that participate in the national association of intercollegiate athletics. i'm proud to represent brescia university in washington, and i'm proud to represent the owensboro-davis county community in which it is located. i ask my colleagues to support this resolution and join me in commending brescia for its commitment to service, faith and education. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: -- mr. petri: i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from ohio. ms. fudge: mr. speaker, i thank mr. guthrie and urge all of my colleagues to support this resolution. resolution 1043. with that i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1043 as amended. those in favor say aye. ms. fudge: with that i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady will suspend. the question is will -- all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended -- the gentlewoman

from ohio seeks the yeas and nays. the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from ohio rise? ms. fudge: mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 901 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 901, resolution recognizing november 14, 2009, as the 49th anniversary of the first day of integrated schools in new orleans, louisiana. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from ohio, ms. fudge, and the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. petri, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from ohio. ms. fudge: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i request five legislative days during which members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on h.res. 901 into the record. the speaker pro tempore:

without objection. ms. fudge: thank you. mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. mr. speaker, i rise today in support of h.res. 901 which recognizes the 49th anniversary of integrated schools in new orleans, louisiana. 49 years ago ruby bridges became the first african-american student to attend an all-white william frantz elementary school in new orleans. amidst deadly threats, ruby attended her first grade class every day over the course of the year. she was escorted to school by federal marshals just so she could receive the same education as her white peers. when ruby entered her new classroom, the white students refused to sit and to learn next to her. ruby was fortunate to have ms. barbara henry as her teacher during this tumultuous year. ms. henry instructed ruby in an empty classroom over the course of the school year. the two played games, talked and learned from each other

amongst the racially tense times. it's not surprising that ms. bridges still considers her year with ms. henry as one of the most pleasant times in her life. outside the classroom, ruby became face to face with the ugliest -- with the ugliness that erupted during this time. militant segregationists took to the streets and protest and riots erupted all over the city. her family also felt the imfact of her bravery. her father and her grandparents were all fired from their jobs. however, many folks, both black and white, supported the bridges family during their trying times. people sent letters of support, neighbors watched after their house and helpful friends and community members made financial contributions. in 1954 the supreme court ruled in brown v. board of education that segregated schools violated the equal protection

clause of the 14th amendment. prominent figures like referenced martin luther king, justice thurgood marshall are civil rights activists who are typically credited for moving the civil rights movement forward. while the story of ruby bridges is not widely known, her contributions to the movement are equally deserving of great recognition. today, ruby stands as a hero to all of us. she has taken the lessons she has learned from her youth and dedicated her life to helping students. her foundation helps students deal with racism and diversity at school and within their own community. she also wrote "through my eyes" explaining her first grade experience and now partners with organizations that promote nonviolence in schools. her monumental contributions to the american civil rights movement deserve to be recognized. i want to thank representative gwen moore for bringing this resolution forward and urge my

colleagues to support this measure. i reserve the balance of my time. . mr. petri: i'm delighted today in support of the resolution before us, house resolution 901, introduced by my colleague from the state of wisconsin, gwen moore, recognizing november 14, 2009, as the 49th anniversary of the first day of integrated schools in new orleans, louisiana. in 1954 the united states supreme court ruled in brown vs. board of education of topeka that state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students denied black children equal educational opportunities. the louisiana district judge, jay wright, ordered the orleans parish board to carry out a plan to integrate the state's schools.

after a six-year delay, ruby bridges became the first african-american to attend the all-white william france elementary school in new orleans, louisiana. ruby bridges faced many challenges during her first day and ongoing years at william france. henry was willing to teach ruby and for over a year mrs. henry taught her alone. mrs. henry's lessons left an indelible mark on ruby and remain with her to this day. ruby and her family suffered many hardships as a result of ruby's attendance at the school. however many of the community showed support in a variety of ways. some white families continued to send their children to france despite the protests that local members of the community walked behind the federal marshals car on the trips to school. today ruby bridges is the chair of the ruby bridges foundation which she formed in 1999 to promote the values of

tolerance, respect, and appreciation of everyone. in 2002 the ruby bridges foundation along with the simon wisen tall -- weisenthal center museum in los angeles launched the ruby bridges project. the project brought together students from diverse backgrounds to develop relationship building skills and promote an appreciation of one another. so i stand before you today to recognize the 49th anniversary of the first integrated schools in new orleans, louisiana. also want to acknowledge judge jay wright and mrs. barbara henry for their support and lifelong commitment to civil rights and equal opportunity. in addition i want to commend ruby bridges for her bravery and courage 49 years ago for her commitment to raising awareness of diversity through educational opportunities for all children and thank my

colleague, gwen moore of the state of wisconsin, for giving us an opportunity to recognize their contribution. i urge my colleagues to support this resolution and having no -- and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from ohio. ms. fudge: i am pleased to recognize the gentlewoman from wisconsin, ms. moore, for as much time as she may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. moore: thank you, madam chair, i want to thank my colleague from wisconsin for supporting house resolution 901. i can tell you that you have heard the history of ruby bridges, but in my own fourth congressional district of wisconsin last spring, another teacher, a first grade teacher, started a class project to teach her 6-year-old students the historic impact of ruby bridges during last february's black history month. the students recognizing the

bravery of another child their age thought ruby bridges should have her own special day of recognition. so what started as a very modest class project sort of built this groundswell where 2,200 signatures were collected throughout the fourth congressional district of wisconsin and indeed throughout the state. the project gained letters of commendation from milwaukee mayor tom barrett and from then state superintendent of'-z education elizabeth bermaster. they sent the full list to president barack obama and other elected officials in support of a ruby bridges day. it is so truly remarkable that a first grade class in my district not only learned the historic lessons of 6-year-old ruby bridges but also learned how extraordinary it is to have

a voice in this great country of ours through the power of the pen. in fact, the initiative of these small children brings me to the floor of the house of representatives today seeking support for h.r. 901. ruby bridges is the young black girl, a classic norman rockwell painting, wearing a white dress, escorted for her safety by federal marshals to school. and years after the supreme court had ruled that segregated schools were unconstitutional, louisiana was finally forced under a federal court order to implement a desegregation plan for the new orleans public schools. how frightened but how brave was a 6-year-old girl who took that test and qualified to become one of the first

official african-american students to attend this all-white school. and although she was only 6 years old, mr. speaker, and the lone black student at the school, she never missed a day. attended each and every day. ruby, a jewel, bridges, bridging a cultural gap. i'm so honored to support this resolution honoring ruby bridges. and with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from wisconsin. mr. petri: mr. speaker, i'm delighted to yield such time as he may consume to my colleague, the representative from new orleans, louisiana, joseph cao. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cao: thank you very much. mr. speaker, i rise today to request my colleagues to join me in supporting house resolution 901.

in 1956 the new orleans parish school board was ordered to develop a school segregation plan. after years of delay, a young girl by the name of ruby bridges became one of the first black children to attend an integrated school. upon her arrival, every white parent came to remove their child. all but one white teacher refused to teach. that one teacher instructed ruby in a room by herself for a full year. this experience did not deter ruby who not only completed her education but went on to found the ruby bridges foundation. the foundation's mission, to promote the values of tolerance, respect, and appreciation of all differences. i was honored touoz have met mi bridges in orls on a number of

occasions and she still has the same smile now as sheñr did in 1956. she is truly an extraordinary woman. at a time when my city is fighting to rebuild schools, i am thankful to have her as an ally and inspiration for future generations. having lived in new orleans all  proclaiming who dat? i hope my colleagues will join me in supporting house resolution 901 recognizing the new orleans, louisiana. thank you, i yield back. mr. petri: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the ==

r,nj=u1ji9from ohio.1 9mj i just want to close by recognizing the fact as we is no better person to recognize today than ruby bridges. i want to thank her for her courage, her determination, and the work she is doing today to help students across our great nation. mr. speaker, i urge all of my colleagues to support this resolution, house res. 901. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: all time has yielded. the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 901. 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 -- ms. fudge: i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from ohio requests the yeas and nays. the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking these votes by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays arñ c3 ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will ñ2ó7%óñor ed.qgciñicoç7mdñ

for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? mr. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1022. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution life and sacrifice of me evers and congratulating the united states navy for naming a supply ship after medgar evers. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from georgia, mr. johnson, and the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia. mr. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration. i yield myself such time as i may consume. mr. speaker, as we begin black

history month, i rise in support of h.r. 1022 to honor the life of medgar evers and congrat late the united states navy for naming a ship in his honor. medgar evers was born in decatur, mississippi, on july 2, 1925 and he was murdered on june 12, 1963 in the driveway ororoñr, on, mississippirouñ home. his upbringing was marked by the racism and violence of that time. before evers even reached high school he had endured the lynching of a close family friend. as a young man mr. evers was . he earned his high school diploma enduring taunts and abuse from white school ;olá:mu!é

drafted into the army and he bravely fought for his country at the battle of normandy and was honorably discharged in 1946. upon his return home, mr. evers completed a degree in business administration at alcorn state university. he played football, ran track, a sang in the university choir. he married his classmate in 1951. beside me is a photograph of medgar evers. he looksdñz? to be very fit and herschel walker has a slight

resemblance to mr. evers. and that's a compliment by the way. after completing that degree and getting married, mr. evers then moved to+t mount bayou, ñ9 regional council of negroñi leadership. he helped organize a bog%ck1ptú service stations that denied african-americansu! useñç"içwi rest rooms. in 1954, the year i was born, mr. evers applied to the segregated university of mississippi school of law when his application was rejected, he became the focus of an naacìq desegregate the school. he was hired as the first field secretary in mississippi.

mr. evers was instrumental in desegregating the university of mississippi and gained prominence through his work through the naacp. as his fame and success grew, so did the danger that he did face. death threats became commonplace, but he persisted. a true american pioneer. in may of 1963, a molotov cocktail was thrown into the car port of his home and then five days before his death he was nearly run over by a car outside of an naacp office. on june 12, 1963, while carrying t-shirts that read " jim crow must go," medgar evers

was assassinated in the driveway of his home in jackson, mississippi. just hours earlier, president john f. kennedy had delivered his speech in support of civil rights legislation on national television. evers' assassination prompted president kennedy to ask for a comprehensive civil rights bill which became the civil rights act of 1964 which was an historic and mighty blow to the institutionalized racism in america. mr. evers was buried in arlington national cemetery and received full military honors in front of a crowd of about 3,000 people. now, this resolution, mr.

speaker, not only honors the life of -- the life and sacrifice of mr. evers, but also commends the navy for its recent decision in naming a ship in his honor on october 9, 2009, secretary of the navy announced the united states naval ship medgar evers, a lewis and clark class dry cargo ship. for decades, medgar evers' legacy has inspired americans. he fought diligently for what was right and gave his life to the cause of civil rights. his life has been memorialized in song, in film, in sculpture, and now by the united states navy. and i ask, mr. speaker,

unanimous consent to insert at this point in the record an exchange of letters between house judiciary committee chairman john conyers and house armed services committee chairman ike skelton. i'm privileged to serve on both of these very important committees. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. without objection, so ordered. mr. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. i urge my colleagues to support this important resolution, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. poe: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. poe: i support house resolution 1022. this resolution honors the life and sacrifice of medgar evers and also it congratulates the united states navy for naming a supply ship after mr. evers in 2009. known today for his struggles in the civil rights movement in

mississippi and his untimely death at the hands of an assassin, medgar evers left behind an impressive record of achievement. he was born in 1925 in decatur, mississippi, and entered the united states army in 1943 and served in normandy in world war ii. he received the b.a. degree in 1952 and began to establish local chapters of the naacp. he organized boy cots at gasoline stations that refused to allow blacks to use rest rooms there. in 1954 he applied to the then segregated mississippi university school of law and when his application was rejected, he filed a lawsuit against the university. he became the focus of the naacp effort to desegregate the school, a case aided by the united states supreme court in a ruling of brown vs. the board of education that segregation was unconstitutional. evers and his wife eventually moved to jackson, mississippi, where they worked together to

set up a naacp office. evers began investigating violent crimes committed against african-americans and sought ways to prevent them in the future. this boycott of jackson, mississippi, merchants in the 1960 attracted national media attention and his efforts to have james barrett admitted to the university of mississippi in 1962 led to the much-needed federal help. due in part to mr. evers' work, meredith was awarted to the university of mississippi. on june 12, 1963, evers returned home just after midnight from a series of naacp functions. and he was leaving his car with a handful of t-shirts that read "jim crow must go." when he was leaving his vehicle he was shot in the back by an assassin. his wife and children, who had been waiting for him, found him bleeding to death on the door steps some 40 feet where he was gunned down and shortly thereafter he died. the death of mr. evers helped

prompt president john f. kennedy and others to ask congress to pass a comprehensive civil rights bill, and in 1964, the civil rights act was signed into law. in the years following his death, a number of songs, books and movies paid tribute to mr. evers' sacrifice and his peaceful pursuit of and equality for all americans. mr. evers is quoted as saying, "when you hate, the only one that suffers is you. because most of the people you hate don't know it and the rest don't care." he also continued to advise that violence is not the way. his life serves as an inspiration to americans of how citizens can use peaceful and democratic means to effect positive change within our democracy. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from georgia. mr. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield three minutes to the gentlewoman from the great city

of washington, d.c., and would point out that she is a civil rights legend of her own accord. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for three minutes. holmes holmes i thank the -- ms. norton: i thank the gentleman for yielding, for bringing forward this legislation, honoring the united states navy and honoring medgar evers. some context is necessary here. mississippi was not only late to the civil rights movement, mississippi was last to the civil rights movement. and there was a reason for that. because it was delayed, a number of the citizens began february, 1960, just 50 years ago, that was celebrated just yesterday with the opening of a civil rights museum in

greensboro. years passed, and you did not see young people coming forward in mississippi, young and foolish, young law student because mississippi was so heralded for its reputation for violently opposing civil rights, that's where i wanted to be. from my first day in mississippi in june of 1963, i was baptized by christ. i spent the day with medgar evers. i was only a second-year law student, but there were so few people with the skills associated with lawyers who had been in the movement that he tried to get me to stay in jackson, but i had committed to bob moses, the legendary head of a tiny movement in the delta area of mississippi to go to the mississippi delta.

i spent the day with medgar evers taking me to meet members of the movement, trying to get me to remain and finally deposited me was at a greyhound or another bus, i do not know. he put me on that bus, he went home and he was assassinated in his own driveway. i learned about it the next morning when a tiny little girl came to wake me up in a house that accommodated me as a member of the movement to say that mr. evers had been shot. the moment exists in my brain and in my heart to this very moment that unspeakable moment. mr. speaker, i was on the student of nonviolent coordinating committee. john lewis was the chair of it

at that time. students feared beatings literally in every state of the union except in mississippi but there was nothing like the four young students in greensboro who stepped forward in 1960. and here i come to mississippi in 1963 and i sure you not to sit in but there has not been a single sit-in in mississippi. and so here came a father and husband and said, ok, i will lead mississippians in a sit-in. can i have another minute? mr. johnson: i yield one minute. ms. norton: medgar evers was a student. he was not foolish the way the young students were. he had a lot to risk and he risked it all. he and a very few others stepped forward to do that first sit-in.

he paid a price that day. they were beat horribly, and he paid the ultimate price when they took his life in that driveway. it's time for the united states of america now to step forward, the way that medgar evers did, and recognize this one-of-a-kind american hero. and applaud our country and our navy for naming a united states naval ship the medgar evers. thank you for yielding the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from texas. mr. poe: i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from georgia. mr. johnson: yes, mr. speaker. may i inquire as to how much time we have left? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia has 9 1/2 minutes. the gentleman from texas has 17 minutes left. mr. johnson: mr. speaker, may i inquire of my counterpart how many other witnesses will you have? mr. poe: i have no other speakers at this time.

mr. johnson: does that mean that you are ready to close, sir? mr. poe: i am ready to yield back, and i yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas yields back. the gentleman from georgia. mr. johnson: mr. speaker, before i yield back, i will say that if medgar evers were alive today he would be fighting alongside delegate eleanor holmes norton for freedom in washington, d.c.. and what i'm talking about is the ability of residents of washington, d.c., to be able to vote to have a congressperson who has full voting rights in this -- in this body. so with that, mr. speaker, i will yield back the balance of

my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. all time has been yielded. the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1022. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules is agreed to -- the gentleman from georgia. mr. johnson: i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. mr. johnson: mr. speaker, i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and i make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: the vote has been secured. there will be a vote later on today. mr. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? mr. johnson: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 960. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution.

the clerk: house resolution 960, resolution expressing support for designation of january, 2010, as national stalking awareness month to raise awareness and encourage prevention of stalking. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from georgia, mr. johnson, and the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia. mr. johnson: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. johnson: and i yield myself such time as i may consume. mr. speaker, h.r. 960 expresses support for january, 2010, being designated as national stalking awareness month. every year, mr. speaker, an estimated 3.4 million people are the victims of stalking. stalking occurs through many

different behaviors, such as unwanted phone calls, letters or emails, the victim being followed or a stalker showing up at places without a legitimate reason. and while these individual acts may not be criminal in and of themselves, collectively and repetively, these can make the victims fear for his or her safety. this crime of stalking can be extremely dangerous. the fear and mental anguish that stalking causes can leave a victim's life in shambles. anxiety, insomnia or severe depression is much more prevalent among stalking victims than within the general population. this is especially the case if the stalking involves being followed or having one's

property destroyed. over 12% of employed stalking victims report losing time from work as a result of their victimization and more than half lose five days of work or more. in fact, many stalking victims have been forced to relocate their residences and they often need psychological counseling. stalking is often a precursor to physical attacks on a victim. this is why stalking is a crime in all 50 states and in the district of columbia, with the crime under federal law as well. over 75% of women murdered by an intimate partner had been stalked by that partner before being killed. victims are increasingly vulnerable to the crime of

stalking with advances in technology, giving stalkers more access to the victim's personal information. i would like to thank my judiciary committee colleague, the gentleman from texas, ted poe, for introducing this bipartisan resolution and i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting house resolution 960 and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. poe: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. poe: mr. speaker, i'm proud to be the sponsor of this legislation. stalking is described as repeated harassment or threatening behavior toward somebody else. the stalker can be a stranger or someone the victim knows very well, an ex-partner, a family member. laws vary from state to state but stalking is usually considered under the law to be any unwanted contact between the stalker and the victim.

that he or she either directly or indirectly communicates a threat or places fear in the victim. some examples include but are not limited to unwanted phone cause, letters, emails, instant messages, following the victim, showing up at the location where the victim is without any reason, leaving unwanted items or presents and spreading false information or rumors about the victim. stalking can turn any ordinary day and any ordinary activity like walking to your car into a terrifying experience for the victim. victims of stalking will really never know if they are safe whether they're at home or in their cars or at their work or even just walking down the street. stalkers show up at the oddest places, they'll be sitting outside of someone's home, they'll be there when the lady drops her child off at school, when she picks him up in the afternoon, when she goes to church. the stalker is everywhere. one example is a wonderful young

lady from maryland. she was severely burned by her husband shortly after restraining order against him was removed by the judge. just three weeks before she begged the judge to reinstate a restraining order that had been ordered against her husband. and she told him, the judge, that she feared for her life, but the judge, in his incompetence, refused to reinstate the restraining order. the judge has been reprimanded for that conduct, for refusing to listen to the case, which would have prevented the horrible tragedy. let me make it clear, when the judge refused to reinstate the restraining order, her husband followed her to the store that she worked in, he walked in the store, he had a bottle of gasoline, he poured it over the top of her head and he set her on fire. all because he had been stalking her but also a judge had the ability to intervene and prevent that activity.

and he did not do so. the woman survived those injuries and she is an advocate for victims' rights to this day. this case is a reminder of why we must educate law enforcement and others, including judges, about stalking and domestic violence in order to help them recognize situations. during a 12-month period, an estimated 3.4 million people ages 18 and older are victims of stalking. there's a similar story of a woman named peggy. she lived in albuquerque, new mexico, and broke up with her boyfriend, named patrick kennedy, after dating him for three years. he couldn't handle not being with peggy and stalked her outside of her work. he waited for her outside of her gym, he followed her everywhere she went and she could always find his truck wherever she showed up. she filed stalking charges against him and had a protective order put out against him. eventually peggy started dating

someone else and tried to move on with her life. patrick set her boyfriend's house on fire, flew to peggy's mother's house in ohio and spray painted her house with profanity. the police then thought they had enough evidence to take him to court. six months before the trial began, peggy moved to california to hide from patrick and he hired a private investigator to find her. and he did so in california. and two weeks before the trial, he located her and then killed her and then killed himself. the most effective way of preventing talking -- stalking is making people aware that it exists and how dangerous it can be. while not every instance of stalking ends in violence, many do. stalking must be taken seriously and decisive measures must be taken by law enforcement officials as soon as the behavior begins in order to prevent the escalation into a violent situation. house res. 960 expresses support for designation of january of

2010 as national stalking awareness month. to raise awareness and encourage the prevention of stalking. i support this bill and urge my colleagues to support it as well. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from georgia. mr. johnson: yes, mr. speaker, may i inquire as to how many more speakers the other side has? mr. poe: have one other speaker. mr. johnson: ok. well i will reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from texas. mr. poe: i yield to the gentleman from california, mr. royce, who is the original author of the national stalking criminal legislation some years ago. i yield him five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. royce: thank you. thank you, mr. speaker. and thank you very much. as my colleague, judge poe, representative from texas, has told you, some of the examples

about women who have found themselves in this dire situation. we had in my county, in orange county, california, a total of four young women in 1990 who were in the span of six weeks all confronted by the same situation. they were being stalked by an acquaintance or a former beau, someone they knew. each knew they were going to be attacked. each had been threatened that they would be attacked. and i spoke after the attack with a law enforcement officer there who said it was the hardest thing he ever had to do in his life, was to tell one of these young women, i know, i know you feel he's going to attack you, but there's nothing we can do until you're physically attacked, despite the threats he's made, there's nothing we can do. sow said, i took it upon myself -- so he said, i took it upon myself to follow this individual because i knew he intended to

carry out that attack. he said, i came within two minutes of preventing him from killing her. but unfortunately he took her life and then when he saw me, he took his own. this was the example given in this one case, but there were four cases within that six weeks in 1990. and i had previously passed legislation in the state senate on terrorism as it related to credible threats made against synagogues and churches but those who threatened to blow up synagogues and i thought, well, perhaps we can extend this and actually give law enforcement the chance to step in, since that other law had been upheld by the state supreme court, perhaps they would uphold the law if we passed an antistalker law that said if you threatened the victim with a credible threat of great bodily harm it became a stalking crime. and thereby perhaps you would

have the deterrent effect of having law enforcement able to go to these victims or go, more importantly, to perpetrators and tell them, you may not understand this, but under this new law you face three years or more in state prison if you do this. and we passed the legislation in california after some debate. we had particularly effective testimony from one young woman who had been stalked by a high school acquaintance who she didn't even know for years and finally taken at knife point and there was a 12-hour standoff, but because he didn't drag her more than the allotted number of feet, it was not a kidnapping. so finally with her testimony we got that through the state house and then we found that the very advice we were giving these victims, get away from your stalker, move, because there's little we can do, meant that when they moved from one state of california to another state, let's say florida, an example that i'm familiar with, the restraining order was no longer

in effect. which meant that the -- he couldn't be charged with stalking. so the answer to that was a federal law. by that time we had used the california law as a template, we had passed it in all 50 states. japan had adopted the law, parliaments in europe had adopted the law, but the question was, how do you protect those who go from state to state when those restraining orders are no longer in effect? so, in the united states house of representatives i introduced that legislation and as a result, this new law provides a uniform federal law protecting stalking victims when they cross state lines, eater to travel or work or get away from their -- either to travel or work or get away from their stalkers or for any other purpose or if they're on a military base, for example, a post office. it was signed into law in 1996 and i'll tell you now why i'm

appreciative of these members bringing this law. our key problem is getting people aware of the existence of this law. our key challenge today is deterrence. as mentioned, you have a case today where one out of every four young women who is killed is being murdered by someone who formerly stalked them. and there is a deterrent effect to law enforcement coming to you and saying, you could be serving three years in federal penitentiary or in jail. you've got 3.4 million, actually, 3.4 million people being stalked according to the department of justice every year. if we had those in law enforcement, if judges were more cognizant of the challenges of this problem, we'd be better able to handle this situation. many communities have come to understand that stalking is a serious problem. many have come up with programs that can support victims and combat this crime. but we really need law

enforcement to take -- to have a more foe -- to have more focus because how many times you can look at a situation and say, all right, there's something we could have done to deter this, we know the incidences where that has been effective here. most stalkers are known by their victims. mr. poe: i yield to the gentleman another additional minute. mr. royce: in today's world, stalkers, unfortunately, are using a very new and upgrated type of technology from what traditionally they used. it used to be, you know, they'd leave a message on the cell -- on the phone. today it's computers, it's g.p.s. units, it's cell phones, it's social networking and all this can be used it to harass victims. if anyone would like more information on national talking -- stalking awareness month, i urge you, visit www.stalkingawarenessmonth.org and try, for those out there in law enforcement, try to understand just how devastating

this can be to victims and try to give them a hand and try to deter these attacks before they occur. thank you, again, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia. mr. johnson: yes, mr. speaker, any other witnesses, may i inquire of representative poe? mr. poe: we have no other speakers. i'm ready to close. mr. johnson: all right. well, i will close just after making this statement. my sister was murdered back in may 30 of 1973 and that happened right here in washington, d.c., from a high school sweetheart to college, these two individuals,

my sister and this gentleman who stalked her and killed her, were an item. but when she went to college she started meeting new people and her interests changed and the gentleman just could not take it and so he continued to stalk her and finally it resulted in him killing her. at that time i don't think there were any stalking laws that would have prevented his misconduct and so i personally have a fewer tolerance level for stalkers and so i'm proud to support this bill representative

poe, trial lawyer, who has seen -- excuse me, trial lawyer and thrile -- and a trial judge, who has seen so many of these cases in your career, i'm sure, and mr. royce of california spoke eloquently on this issue as well. so i'm going to congratulate him for introducing the federal legislation that came before this. and i would advise all victims that as soon as it starts happening, let the police know and go get some counseling so that you don't allow this thing to get out of control. if you hit it, hit it hard when it first happens, i think the chances are much better, that

the result down the line will be positive, not negative. with that, mr. speaker, i will yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from texas. mr. poe: mr. speaker, i am ready to yield, but i did want to make comments to my colleague, mr. johnson, and appreciate his comments about his family and how stalking violence can happen anywhere in the united states to anybody. and we as a body must be aware that victims throughout the country go through terrible tragedies in their life. this legislation brings awareness of stalking to the national front. stalking laws are imposed to protect the right to be left alone, and that's a right people in this country have, to be left alone. i want to thank the victims' groups that have supported this legislation. and as chairman of the victims right caucus, all of the newest

members of the caucus also support this and urge its adoption. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 960. all those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair -- mr. johnson: mr. speaker, i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and i make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules is suspended -- the gentleman from georgia request the yeas and nays. mr. johnson: yes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? mr. johnson: yes, mr. speaker. i move to suspend the rules and pass senate bill 2950. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 2950, an act a bill to extend the pilot program for volunteer groups to

obtain criminal history background checks. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from georgia, mr. johnson, and the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia. mr. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill now under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. johnson: and i yield myself such time as i may consume. mr. speaker, s. 2950, the criminal history background checks pilot extension act of 2009, will extend the national child safety pilot program for another 14 months. passed in 2003 as part of the protect act, the national child security -- excuse me -- the national child safety pilot program assists organizations

in checking the criminal records of volunteers before placing them as mentors with our children. every year millions of americans generously give their time and energy to volunteer and mentor children throughout the country. while the vast majority of these volunteers act out of purely benevolent intentions, it is important that we are able to identify those who may seek to do harm. since 2003, the national child safety pilot project has enabled youth-serving organizations to work with the state governments to access the f.b.i.'s national fingerprint base background checks system. by providing access to the more comprehensive data in the f.b.i.'s database, the pilot program has helped prevent

child predators and sex offenders were getting access to children through legitimate mentoring programs. notably, 6% of checks came back with serious criminal records. this is a noncontroversial fee-based program that we have authorized twice before, mr. speaker. it's been extremely successful in providing invaluable information to mentoring organizations and it's at no cost to the taxpayers. now, we hope that this 14-month extension will give us more time to work with the department of justice on permanently authorizing this program. i urge my colleagues to support this important legislation, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. poe: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. poe: child safety pilot

program originally created in 2003 is part of the protect act has proven to be a valuable resource for groups that work with children such as the boys and girls clubs of america, the national mentoring partnership and the national council of youth sports. using this pilot program, nonprofit organizations that provide youth-focused care as defined in the international protection act of 1993, may request criminal history background checks by the f.b.i. on applicants on volunteer or employee positions that involve working with children. currently nearly 68,000 background checks have been administered through the child safety pilot program. of those checks over 6% of all workers screened had criminal records of concern, including serious crimes such as murder, rape and child asexual assault cases. more than 41% of applicants with a criminal record committed crimes in other states other than the one in which they were applying to

work as a volunteer. only a nationwide check such as the child safety pilot program could have provided this information to employers. a nationwide check is vital to these organizations since many of these applicants are looking for work in other states, specifically to escape their criminal past. that's why i support s. 2950, the criminal history background checks pilot extension act of 2009 which extends this program for 14 more months. unfortunately, organizations that work with children are often the target of those with criminal backgrounds and less than honest intentions. we need to equip these organizations so they can spot individuals with criminal records before it's too late allowing them to hire only professional and responsible people. s. 2950 extends the child safety pilot program that has successfully helped these groups in their missions to provide a safe learning environment for children. this is a commonsense piece of

legislation that should enjoy widespread support. so i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from georgia. mr. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. may i inquire as to how many more speakers the minority has? mr. poe: i have no other speakers. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from georgia. mr. johnson: i yield back the balance of my time as well. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass s. 2950. 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 -- mr. johnson: mr. speaker, i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and i make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? >> mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and agree to resolution h.res. 1044 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1044, resolution commemorating the 65th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz, a nazi concentration and extermination camp, honoring the victims of the holocaust, and expressing commitment to strengthen the fight against bigotry and intolerance. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from florida, mr. klein, and the gentlewoman from florida, ms. ros-lehtinen, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida. mr. klein: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. klein: mr. speaker, i rise in strong support of this resolution and yield myself such time as i may consume. as an original co-sponsor of this legislation, i'd like to thank the author of this legislation, my good friend from florida, ms. ros-lehtinen, for authoring this important

statement. this resolution recognizes the 65th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz. as many in this chamber know, auschwitz was one of several nazi concentration camps. auschwitz served as a death factory of eastern europe's jewish community and many others who were persecuted and murdered by the nazis. on january 27, 1945, auschwitz was liberated by allied forces, and that day is commemorated around the world as international day of holocaust remembrance. today auschwitz is a reminder of the consequences of hate red and bigotry -- hatred and bigotry in few hasity's worse. humanity never again will sink to those depths. this resolution reminds us of this purpose and focuses our efforts on education and prevention. this is something that i have been personally working on for

many years. as a member of the florida senate, i helped pass the first requirement for holocaust education in public school curriculum. now, many states have followed suit and more american children of all walks of life are learning these important lessons. in congress, i've learned that holocaust education can take many forms. just down the street from the u.s. capitol is the united states holocaust memorial museum. congressman mike pence and i have sought to bring new members of congress every two years to the holocaust museum so they can bear witness to this tragic history. they take this knowledge with them and bring it back to their districts across america and use their new understanding to raise awareness of anti-semitism and bigotry around the world. i'd like to thank ms. ros-lehtinen for focusing this resolution on holocaust education. as the generation of american liberators and holocaust

survivors begins to pass away, the mission of education and of never again is more critical than ever. finally, i'd like to acknowledge the many ceremonies that were held last week in honor of international holocaust remembrance day, including one at auschwitz attended by poland's president and prime minister, along with education ministers from nearly 30 nations and about 150 holocaust survivors. at this commemoration, it's really prime minister netanyahu proclaimed, quote, we will not allow the deniers of the holocaust to erase or desort the memory of what happened, closed quote. this is our mission as well, and today the house of representatives should speak with speak with one voice in support of this mission. i urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to yield myself such time as i may consume.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, sir. i rise today in support of my bill, house resolution 1044, commemorating this year as the 65th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz, the largest of the nazi extermination camps. over one million people were systematically tortured and brutally murdered there. the nazis at auschwitz conducted cruel medical experiments on prisoners, including children. they intentionally infected prisoners with diseases and performed forced sterilizations and cast ration on adults. most of those who perished at auschwitz were jews, but others that the nazi perceived as enemies or inferior to hitler's arian image were also murdered at auschwitz. it was held on earth. leo schneiderman, an auschwitz

survivor, said the following at auschwitz. and i quote, the minute we came in we heard screams and barking of dogs and then we got out of the train and everything went so fast. men separated from women, children torn from the arms of mothers, the elderly chased like cattle, the sick, the disabled were handled like packs of garbage. my mother ran over to me and grabbed me by the shoulders and said, she told me, i'm going to see you no more. take care of your brother, end quote. after years of misery and suffering, only a few thousand had remained when the soviet army arrived on a snowy day in 1945. most of those survivors were too weak to railize that they had been liberate -- to realize that

they had been liberated. we must remember what happened and ensure that humanity always prevails over hateful savagery and oppression. and the resolution we are considering today, mr. speaker, commemorates the 65th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz and honors the victims who perished at the hands of the nazis. it expresses gratitude to the people whose efforts helped defeat the nazi regime. it reaffirms the commitment of the house to bolster holocaust education here in the united states and abroad and to ensure that what happened during the holocaust is never allowed to happen again. and it also urges all countries to enhance their efforts to fight bigotry, racism, intolerance and anti-semitism. we must heed the lessons of history, remain vigilant and stand firmly against purveyors of hatred who insight the

violence against israel, against the jewish people and all of us who stand for liberty and the fundamental rights of all human beings. as israeli prime minister netanyahu said at a ceremony last week which marked the 65th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz, and i quote, we will always remember what the nazis did to us and we wonal won't forget to be -- and we won't forget to be prepared for the next who is making an appearance on the stage of history and once again threatening to destroy the jews. we will not take this lightly and believe that these are empty statements, we will never forget and always remember to stand guard. so as we commemorate the 65th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz, i urge my colleagues to keep those words in mind and work to support and ensure that the world will never again see

another holocaust. i would also like to use this opportunity to say that i will be introducing a bill this week that will open the door for holocaust survivors to bring holocaust era insurance claims against insurance companies in the u.s. courts. this bill will force insurance companies to disclose the names of holocaust insurance policy holders. and with that, mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to render their full support to this resolution and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentlewoman from florida. mr. klein: mr. speaker, may i ask the gentlelady from florida if she has other speakers or if she's ready to close? ms. ros-lehtinen: i do have a few other speakers. mr. klein: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlewoman from florida. ms. ros-lehtinen: mr. speaker, i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from texas, judge poe, a member of our committee on foreign affairs. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. poe: i thank the gentlewoman for yielding. auschwitz was one of several, if

not many, concentration camples -- camps that were established by the nazis. in 1945 a young 18-year-old teenager who had never been more than 50 miles from home showed up along with other members of the seventh army at a place call in germany -- at a place in germany and he helped liberate that concentration camp. that camp had been open from 1933 to 1945, where scientific experiments were done on people ordered by the nazis. this was the first concentration camp in germany. that 18-year-old that helped liberate that camp was my father and he never talked much about world war ii, but from time to time, even to this day, he mentions the word because that

had such a tremendous impact on him. i've had the opportunity, along with my son, to go to germany, to see this place where people were tortured, humiliated and murdered by the nazis. auschwitz was one, there are many others. and yet we should remember all the places where people were tortured in the name of hate and we should remember their -- the survivors of these concentration camps and we should refer remember them forever. with that i -- and we should remember them forever. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to yield -- sorry. the speaker pro tempore: go ahead. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, sir. i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from california, mr. royce, the ranking member on the foreign affairs subcommittee on terrorism, nonproliferation and trade. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes.

mr. royce: i thank the gentlelady for yielding and i rise in support of this resolution commemorating the 65th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz. i'm an original could he sponsor of this bill but i'd like -- co-sponsor of this bill, but i'd like to thank the author of this resolution, ms. ros-lehtinen, and chairman berman as well, and for their leadership. mr. speaker, during world war ii my father was part of the allied forces who liberated da could you. it was a concentration camp of similar horrors to that of auschwitz, as mr. poe expressed. and when they took the camp, he took pictures to document the tragedy, to document the horror of what he witnessed. and he has used them he ever since, even to this day, in terms of lecturing to high

school classes. mr. speaker, importantly we are marking this anniversary, we do so to remember the holocaust and its victims. inevitably the refrain, never again, comes to our lips. but unfortunately we know that this type of terror continues, maybe not on the magnitude that it occurred during the holocaust, but in the north korean police state, 200,000 are held in a system of political concentration camps which are modern day gulags, and the pictures of those imprisoned in north korea, malnourished with striped pajamas are, familiar with those of house saw those foms -- photographs either at do cao or auschwitz. many regimes who have no respect for their own, like north korea, are hostile also to us. high school students, my

father's lectured about world war ii, often ask, why the world was so asleep to adolf hit areler's horrors -- hitler's horrors, of course the world was only slowly learning about the depth of what was occurring in camps like auschwitz. but with respect to today's tragedies, we don't have such an excuse. mr. speaker, on the 65th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz, all of us, congress and the administration, can resolve to do more in the cause of freedom, to do more to commit the united states to make certain that nothing like the holocaust ever occurs again and we can do more to remember the victims of that senseless slaughter. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. ms. ros-lehtinen: mr. speaker, i have no further requests for time and we yield back the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from florida. clibe klein -- mr. klein: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentlelady and the speakers this afternoon on this

very important resolution. i urge members of this chamber to support this resolution and send a strong message worldwide, never again. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1044 as amended. those 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 -- mr. klein: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida. mr. klein: i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and i make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. mr. klein: thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, madam, this is to notify you formally, pursuant to rule 8 of the rulets of the house of representatives that i have been served with a -- an administrative subpoena issued by the environmental hearing board of the commonwealth of pennsylvania for documents.

this is in reference to the land in pennsylvania which i opposed due to environmental concerns. after consultation with the office of general council, i have determined that compliance with the subpoena is consistent with the privilege of the house. signed tim holden, members -- signed, tim holden, member of congress. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house another communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, madam, this is to notify you formally pursuant to rules 8 of the rules of the house of representatives that i have been served with an administrative subpoena issued before the environmental hearing board of the commonwealth of pennsylvania for documents. after consultation with the office of general council, i have determined that it is consistent with the president's -- precedence and privileges of the house to notify the party that issued the subpoena that i have no responsive documents. signed, william hanly, project director.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house a heavier communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, madam, pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2-h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, i have the honor to transmit a filled nfl received from the -- envelope received from the white house at 2:47 p.m. and said to contain a message from the president whereby his budget of the united states government for fiscal year 2011. with best wishes i am signed sin veerl, lorraine c. miller, clerk of the house. to the congress of the united states, we begin a new year at a moment of continuing challenge for the american people -- people. even as we recover from crisis, knowing that the families are still feeling the pain of lost jobs and savings, businesses are still drug -- struggling to find affordable loans to expand and hire workers, our nation is

still experiencing the consequences of a deep and lasting recession. even as we have seen encouraging signs of the turmoil of the past two years is waning, moving from recession to recovery and ultimately to prosperity remains at the heart of my administration's efforts. this budget provides a grant for the work ahead. but in order to understand where we are going in the coming year, it is important to remember where we started just one year ago. last january the united states faced an economic crisis unlike any we had known in generations. irresponsible risk taking and debt-fueled speculation led to the near collapse of our financial system. our gross domestic product, g.d.p., was failing at the fastest rate in a quarter century. $5 trillion of american -- household wealth had evaporated and home values plummeted. we were losing an average of 700,000 jobs each month.

equivalent to the coplation of the state of vermont. the capital and the credit markets integral to the normal functioning of our economy were virtually frozen. the fear among economists from across the political spectrum was that we were sinking into a second great depression. we undertook a series of difficult steps to stop that. businesses could get loans to buy equipment and ordinary americans could get financing to buy homes and cars, go to college, and start or run businesses. we enacted measures to foster greater stability in the housing market, help responsible homeowners stay in their homes and help to stop the broader decline in home values. to achieve this and to prevent an economic collapse that would have freakted -- affected millions of additional families, we had no choice but to use authority enacted under the previous administration to

extend assistance to some of the very banks and financial institutions whose actions helped precipitate the turmoil. we also took steps to prevent the rapid disillusion of american auto industry, which faced a crisis partly of its own making. to prevent the loss of hundreds of thousands of additional jobs during an already fragile time. many of these decisions were not popular. they were deemed necessary to prevent a deeper and longer recession. even after we worked to stop the economic free fall and address -- drastic crisis in our banking sector, our housing market and our auto industry, we also began attacking the economic crisis on a broader front. less than one month after taking office we enacted the most sweeping economic recovery package in history. the american recovery and reinvestment act. the recovery act not only provided tax cuts to small businesses and 95% of working families, and provided emergency relief to those out of work or without health insurance, it also began to lay a new foundation for long-term economic growth and prosperity. with investments in health care,

education, infrastructure and clean energy, the recovery act saved and created millions of jobs and began the hard work of transforming our economy to thrive in the modern global marketplace and reverse the financial decline working families experienced in the last decade. because of these and other steps, we can say safely we have avoided the depression many feared and we are no longer facing the potential collapse of our financial system. but our work is far from complete. first and foremost, there are still too many americans without work. the steps we have taken have helped stop the staggering job losses we were experiencing at the beginning of last year, but the damage has been done. more than seven million jobs were lost since the recession began two years ago this represents not only a terrible human tragedy but a very deep hole from which we have to climb out. until businesses are hiring again and jobs are being

created to replace those we have lost, until america is back at work, my administration will not rest and this recovery will in the be finished. that's why this budget contains plans to urge small businesses to hire as quickly as possible, to make additional investments in infrastructure and clean energy investments to help the private sector create jobs in america. long before this crisis hit, middle class families were undergoing strain. for decades, washington failed to address fundamental weaknesses in the economy a growing depends on foreign oil and an education system unable to prepare our children for the jobs of the future. in recent years, spending bills and tax decreases for the wealthy were approved and while main street dealt with the consequences, this washington

looked the other way. as a result, the economy may have been working well for those at the top but not for the middle class. while their incomes flatline and their sense of economic security evaporate. beneath the statistics are stories of hardship i've heard across america. for too many, there has long been a sense of the american dream a chance to make your own way, support your family, save for college and retirement, own a home was slipping away and the sense of anxiety was combined with a deep frustration that washington didn't notice or didn't care enough to act. those days are over and in the aftermath of this crisis what's clear is we can't go back to business as usual, we cannot go back to an economy that yielded cycle after cycle of speculative booms and painful bists. we cannot continue to -- busts. we cannot accept an educational

system that put our children at a competitive disadvantage and squeeze the income of our workers. we cannot continue to ignore the clean energy challenge and standstill while other countries move forward in the emerging technologies of the 21st century. andy cannot continue to borrow against our children's future or allow special interests to determine how public dollars are spent. that's why we are continuing to lay a newfoundation for the future. already we have made historic strides to reform and improve our schools to pass health insurance reform, to build a new clean energy economy, to cut wasteful spending and throiment the influence of lobbyists and special interests so we are better serving the national interest. however, there is much left to do and this budget lays out the way ahead. because an educated work force is essential in a 21st century global economy, we are undertaking a reform of

elementary and secondary school funding by setting high standards an, encouraging innovation and rewarding success. making a successful race to the top fund permanent and opening it up to innovative school districts, investing in education, the next generation of scientists and engineers and putting our nation closer to meeting the goal of leading the world in new college graduates in 2020. moreover, since in today's economy, learning must last a lifetime, my administration will reform the job training system, streamlining it and focusing it on the high-growth sectors of the economy because even the best-trained workers can't compete if our businesses are saddled with rapidly increasing health care costs, we are working to relieve this unsustainable burden. my budget lays the groundwork for these reforms, by investing in health technology as well as

to improve the thovel nation by increasing the number of primary care physicians protecting the safety of our food and drug, and investing in critical biomedical research. because small businesses are critical creators of new jobs and economic growth, the budget eliminates capital gains taxes and includes measure toins crease these firms with the loans they need to meet payroll, expand their operations and hire new workers. because we know the nation that leads in clean energy will be the nation that leads the world, the budget creates the incentive to build a new clean energy economy from new loan guarantees to encourage a range of renewable energy efforts and new nuclear power plants to spurring the development of clean energy on federal lands. more broadly, it makes critical investments to ensure we continue to lead the world in new fields and industries, doubling research and development funding and key

agencies, expanding broadband networks across the cuventry and working to promote american exports abroad. and because we know that our future is dependent on maintaining our ability abroad, the budget focuses on the military, executing our new strategy in afghanistan and fighting al qaeda all over the world. to honor the sacrifice of those who shoulder this budget, the budget also provides significant resources including advanced appropriations to care for our nation's veterans. rising to this challenge is a responsibility to rise to the future of our children, grandchildren and the nation. this is an obligation to change not just what we do in washington but how we do it. we must recognize that the era

of irresponsibility in washington must end. on a day my administration took office we faced an additional $7.5 trillion in national debt by the end of the decade as a result of failing to pay for two large tax cuts, primarily for the wealthiest americans and the new entitlement program. we also inherited the worse recession since the great depression, which even before we took any action added an adgsal $3 trillion to the national debt. our response to this recession, the r.v. coy -- recovery act which has been necessary to aid economic growth will add to the debt. the surpluses we enjoyed at the start of the last decade have disappeared and we are $12 trillion deep for the debt. in the long-term we cannot have sustainable and durable commike growth without getting our fiscal house in order. that's why even as we increase

our short-term deficit, we have refused to go along with business as usual, taking responsibility for every dollar we spend, eliminating what we don't need and making our program -- making the programs we do more efficient. we are taking on health care, the single biggest threat to our nation's fiscal future. by doing so in a fiscal responsible way that will not add a dime to our deficits and will lower the rate of health care cost growth in the long run. we are implementing the recovery act with an unprecedented degree of oversight and openness so anyone, anywhere can see where their tax dollars are going. we have banned lobbyists from serving on agency advisory boards and commissions which have become dominated by special interests. we are using new technology to make government more accessible to the american people and last year, we combed the budget, culting millions of dollars of waste and eliminating excess wherever we could, including outdated weapons systems that

even the pentagon said they did not want or need. we continue that process in this budget as well, streamlining what does work and ending programs that do not. all while making it more possible for americans to judge our progress for themselves. the budget includes more than 120 programs for termination, reduction, or other savings for a total of approximately $23 billion in 2011, as well as an aggressive ert to reduce the tens of billions of dollars in improper government payments made each year. to help put our country on a fiscally sustainable path we will freeze nonsecurity discretionary funding for three years this will require a devil of discipline with americans' tax dollars with hard choices and painful tradeoffs not seen in washington for many years. but it is what needs to be done to restore fiscal responsibility as we begin to rebuild our smi. in addition, as we begin to close the loopholes to end

subsidies for big oil, gas, and coal company the budget eliminates the bush tax cuts for those making more than $250,000 a year and those resources instead to reducing the deficit. our nation could not afford these tax cuts when they passed and it cannot afford them now. and the budget calls for those in the financial sector who benefited so greatly from the extraordinary measures take ton rescue them from a crisis largely of their own making to finally recognize their obligation to taxpayers. the legislation establishing the troubled assets relief program, tarp, included a provision requiring the administration to devise a way for those banks and firms to pay back the american taxpayer. that is why in this budget we have included a fee on the largest and most indebted financial firms to ensure that taxpayers are fully compensated for the extraordinary support they provided while providing a

deterrent to the risky practices that contributed to this crisis. yet even after taking these step, our fiscal situation remains unacceptable. a decade of irresponsible choices has created a fiscal hole what will not be solved by a typical washington budget process that puts partisanship above our shared national interests. that's why, working with the congress, we'll establish a bipartisan fiscal commission charged with identifying addition am policies to put our country on a fiscally sustainable path, excluding interest payments on the debt by 2015. 24 past year, we have seen the consequences of those in power failing to live up to their responsibilities of shareholders and constituents. we have seen how main street is as linked to wall street as our economy is to those of other nations. and we have seen the results of building an economy on a shaky foundation rather than on the

bedrock fundaments of innovation, good schools, smart investment and long-term growth. we have also witnessed the resilience of the american people. our ability, our unique ability to pick ourselves up and forge ahead even when times are tough. all across our country, there are students ready to learn, workers eager to work, scientists on the brink of discovery, entrepreneurs seeking the chance to open small business and once-shuttered factories just waiting to roar back to life in burring industries. this is a nation ready to meet the challenge of the new age and lead the world in a new century. americans are willing to work hard and in return, they expect to be able to find a good job, afford a home, send their children to world-class schools are seve high quality and affordable health care and enjoy retirement security in their later years. these are the building blocks of the middle class that makes

america strong and it is our duty to honor the drive, ingenuity and fortitude of the american people by laying the groundwork upon which they can purr sy these dreams and realize the promise of american life this budget is our plan for how to start accomplishing this in the coming fiscal year. as we look back on the progress of the past 123407b9s and look forward to the work ahead, i have every confidence we can and will rise to the challenge that our people and our history set for us. these have been tough times and there will be difficult months ahead but the storms of the past are receding, the skies are brightening and the horizon is appearing once more. signed, barack obama, the white house, february 1, 2010. caller: pursuant to clause 12a of rule 1, the house stands in recess subject to the call of the chair.

from paycheck to, companies struggling to paycheck it payroll to payroll. you made a comment earlier that it was in your previous career you just put out ideas, i think now is the time we have to be moving forward with real policy reforms. we've had this discussion but i want to go back to this, it seems as though this budget, all the real work, again, is being left to this fiscal commission. and the question is, how much -- how much you just recognized earlier that unless this congress and i think in a bipartisan manner stands behind this commission, you know, how successful can this commission be? you have an administration that's proposing this fiscal

commission but you recognize that it's going to take congress to support this commission in order for its recommendations to be successful. and i guess in my opinion, isn't it a job for the elected officials, all of us here in the administration, to make the policy decisions that need to be made. >> let me try to clarify, also, i think there have been various attributions of unsustainability and what have you. the hole we face is so deep that despite more than $1 trillion in deficit reduction contained in this budget, we are still in a position where further steps are necessary and we think the only plausible way to take those further steps is if we do it together. so yes, we have a fiscal commission to get us the rest of the way there, but it's inaccurate, i think, to say there's lots of hard choices you don't get $1237b9 trillion more deficit reduction than any previous administration has

proposed without making hard choices. is it enough? no, we've admitted it. we need to work together to get the rest of the way there, and i hope we can. >> i appreciate your response, but i think it's been mentioned earlier, there's been one proposal before this committee, congressman ryan had a proposal, i would like to have a proposal we could debate rather than waiting for a committee to report back. i've got three teenage sons at home and i didn't come to congress to continue to run up more debt by the public in this budget, more than doubles over the next five years, triples by fiscal year 2019 from the current levels, the budget would push the debt to $9.3 trillion this year, 63% of the g.d.p., i believe that's the largest, at least in recent history, maybe in history, we're talking about the future, at what point do we get control of the amount of debt which i

believe is, you know, hurting our economy right now, within this budget proposal? >> again, right now, we find ourselveses in an exceptional circumstance because private borrowing has clapped, the interest rate on 10-year bonds remains below 4%, we have taken exceptional action to rescue the economy, and frankly, that was necessary. if we had not done that, as i've already said, more than 1.5 million to two million people would be unemployed today, the economy would not be growing at 5.7% at the end of the 2009 as it was and we would still face, it is worth, we sort of glide right past it but if you rewind the tape for a year and look at the prospects and discussion then about the possibility of another depression, about financial market meltdown, as tough as the situation we face ourselves today is, it is much better than many predictions suggest.

>> i know i'm running out of time but we're continuing to spend. in this bill, how many new entitlement programs are created in this budget. what is the total amount of spending increase involved in those new entitlements? >> net deficit reduction of $1.2 trillion, discretionary savings of $250 billion and get you a precise answer to your question afterwards. >> we talk about the -- the president's talked about the need for fiscal restraint. how is the administration going to enforce the spending freeze that we've talked about? for nondefense discretionary programs? how do you enforce that with this budget proposal? >> the way to enforce it is through the regular congressional process, but as mr. ryan and others already asked if you and your colleagues are interested in statutory discretionary caps to better enforce that, that's a discussion we can have.

>> thank you for -- >> do you want to take a seventh inning stretch? zup to the committee, i'm loving this. >> how many cans of diet coke have you had? >> my pitch every is out. >> since you're having such a good time we don't want to interrupt it. >> that's the first answer, dr. orszag, that brings into question your credibility. let me begin by is a luretting you and the administration for taking four major steps toward trying to get this car out of the ditch. a three-year freeze on nondis-- on discrigsnear spending, some of my republican colleagues said it's not that significant. maybe those who think the $250

billion reduction isn't significant, maybe that's how we got into this mess in the first place. i commend the administration for supporting pay as you go, and had speaker hastert and people in this room not allowed that rule of the house to go out into left field in 2001 and 2002 we wouldn't be in this ditch and facing the kind of economy and deficits we're facing. number three, i salute you for proposing a genuine effort to try to reduce the deft sit by $137b92 trillion over a period of time. i would challenge anyone to suggest that's not a significant amount. fourth, i commend the administration for supporting a bipartisan commission to try to deal with entitlement spending. i know there's been some partisan criticism of that. and yet, as i recall, i've sat on this committee for a long time, as i recall, dr. orszag,

during the 12 years that republicans each and every year passed a partisan budget through this committee, i don't remember any long-term entitlement spending reductions passed during those 12 years through the house. in fact, just the opposite occurred, on a partisan basis they passed the largest increase in medicare spending since medicare was created in 1965. i do want to go on record as saying i am one democrat who believes our short and medium-term deficit reduction goals ought to be more aggressive than the administration has proposed, i intend to speak out on that. having said that, i also must say, it's disappointing that some of the captains of the economic titanic, those who wrote budgets that put us into the worst recession since the great depression and gave us the largest deficits in american history after they inherited the largest surplus in american history now do nothing be take potshots at

each of these four substantive proposals the administration has made. i welcome bipartisan support and dialogue but those who were in charge when we went from the largest surpluses in american history to the largest deficits in american history ought to, if they're genuine about that be a little more open minded rather than immediately criticizing each of these four very substantive 3r0 posals. i do want to commend mr. ryan. i think 4izz proposal is substantive, it is dramatic, if not revolutionary, as compared to programs as we know them in the federal government and i think this is an opportunity for the american people to see a dramatic difference in vision for the future of our country. one the administration has proposed again as we try to start reducing the deficits, the other one proposed by mr. ryan, not just any back bench republican, the leading

republican on the budget committee, genuine about reducing the deficit, the national debt, but one that nevertheless a proposal that would eliminate medicare as we know it for people under 55, partially privatize social security and i've seen the cost of that in years past as up to $2 trillion in lost revenues to the social security truths fund. it also, as we talk about new spending and i think republicans are right to ask about the level of new spending, when we have the deficits we face but i think it's also fair to look at the level of new tax cuts proposed by mr. ryan and the republican alternative vision for our country. let me just ask yo this question, do you have any kind of cost on what it would add deficits, some of the proposals in that ryan road map, the republican road map, the cost of eliminating the estate tax over 10 years, reducing the highest tax rate from 35% to 25%, eliminating capital gains tax, interest income, and

dividend income, and extending the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, do you have any ballpark numbers on how much those individual actions would increase the national debt over a 10-year period? >> we will get you exact figures, but we are talking about trillions of dollars shifted and offset through other changes, including to, in particular, medicare and medicaid to offset those huge shifts in the tax cuts. >> if i could just interject, the status quo is unsustainable. >> that's correct. >> medicare as we know it will not exist in the future, it has at minimum a $289 billion unfunded, so we're kidding ourselveses if we think medicare for those under 55 is beginning to look like it does today. it's totally uhen sustainable. >> that's why they proposed a bipartisan commission so we can

sit down together because frankly, mr. ryan, you know this -- >> it sounds like you're not going to take my ideas seriously. >> you've never been able to get the vast majority of republicans in your own caucus to support your proposals. maybe we can try to do this on a bipartisan basis. i absolute you for making this bold proposal, we ought to have a debate. >> mr. scott. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, dr. orszag. i appreciate the fact that you've indicated that tough choices have to be made. this chart focuses on the tough choices that were made when the blue line was created, 1993, we passed a budget making the tough choices that was severely criticized, in fact, criticized

so effectively that democrats lost their majority in the next election. in 1995, when the new majority took over they passed budgets that were viewed by the -- by president clinton as irresponsible, vetoed all of them, in fact, the government was closed down because he refused to sign the republican budgets. if you want to know what would happen if he'd signed them we do know because they passed them again in 2001, where you begin the last red line and you can see exactly what happened. in 2001, the end of the clinton administration, we had a projected surplus of $5.5 trillion. that was converted, as you know, to additional debt of approximately $3.5 trillion or more. had we nots med up the tpwhudget 2001 we would have

paid off the national debt two years ago, the debt held by the public. now we find ourselves in a huge deficit. one of our first priorities, obviously, is in creating jobs. we're in the ditch with the deficit and my first question is, if we cut spending, affecting the deficit, you can either cut spending or increase taxes. if we cut spending, what effect would that have on jobs? >> right now? >> right now. >> right now, either in 2010, when we face a big gap between how much the economy could produce and how much it is producing, either raising taxes or reducing spending today would be harmful to jobs because the key impediment to job growth right now is boosting demand for how much firms could produce that situation changes over time but for 2010, that's answer. >> and so if we were to do anything credible about the deficit this year, it would have an adverse effect -- >> it would be counterproductive, yes.

that's not to deny that we need to get the deficit down over time but this year it would be coubt productive. >> in determines of dealing credibly with jobs, one challenge we have is as we create jobs on the federal level, states are laying people off. the recovery act provided $145 billion for states and yet they still cut their budgets an additional $300 billion. for a total of $-- of almost $450 billion. that went to offset what the states were doing. is it accurate that -- is that accurate? do we essentially offset what the damage the states were doing to the economy? >> we have through direct state fiscal relief and through federal actions offset, i'll get the exact calculations, but offset the drag that state and local governments typically exert on a recession because

they're doing counterproductive steps during the recession. >> one of the challenges we have is to keep up to zero to get up to the point where we're offsetting what the states are laying off. if it lays off a job, we haven't made progress. >> don't quote me on the exact figures, i think there's some ambiguity. one reasons state fiscal relief was to offset actions states would have to take, lay off workers, nurses, teachers, cops, so on and so forth which would exacerbate the downturn. >> can we get the next chart please? this is when we had good fiscal responsibility in the clinton administration we created 237,000 jobs a month, during the bush administration, though we were overspending the budget, about $8 trillion over 10 year we did worse. the long-term fiscal challenges we have, the next chart, this

chart shows the change in percentage of g.d.p. of social security, medicare, medicaid, net interest and all other spending. if you look closely the only thing that's really growing is medicare. if you wanted to solve the problems, seems like getting rid of medicare would be one way to do it. that's a tough choice that you would make. can you talk about the effect, how much -- i understand you said you'd have to cut medicare 75%. can you explain what impact that would have on a person who was trying to get health care with a medicare voucher that's only 25% of the cost of health care and what it would do to employees if you eliminated the tax preference for health care, you eliminated that and had people going out on the market as individuals rather than the market, what the tough choices would amount to in the health care choices that the republican alternative would

envision? >> i think with regard to the 75%, you're referring to the reduction that would occur in medicare and medicaid spending under mr. ryan's, the republican alternative. the fact of the matter is, i think -- again, i'm going to give him credit ta for stepping forward with the proposal but there's a significant question about whether that is even a feasible approach because you would be providing individuals with a voucher that would not pay for the cost of health care over time and increasingly small share of the cost of health care over time, they would not have the type of benefit that would be provided through medicare where there's less uncertainty about the cost that they face, so they'd face not only more definite money out of their pocket but a lot more uncertainty about how much they'd have to pay and they'd be struggling with many of the same problems that individuals in the current individual market struggle with, which are unfortunate. in that situation, i wonder

whether future congresses would actually stick to a voucher level that was inadequate for the nation's elderlyñi to purchase their own health insurance and if a future congress didn't, not only would you have dramatically changed medicare program, you wouldn't even get the budget savings that mr. ryan is aiming for. the point of which is, i think what we need to do with regard to medicare and medicaid is get at the underlying drivers, provide much better information about what works and what doesn't, change incentives for providers so they have incentives to provide quality, not quantity, improve incentives for prevention and wellness so on and so forth. that's a different structure and different approach but i'd say frankly without all those components present anyway, i'm not sure mr. ryan's approach would even work.

>> thank you, mr. chairman. one of the freshmen of the committee gets to ask a question, i'll try to ask three questions, one is local but important to the region. in the budget, o.m.b. states that environmental infrastructure projects are not related to the corps' main mission and is trying to divest the corps from that. obviously that has implications for the chesapeake bay and in transfering that to the e.p.a., you don't the corps capacity at e.p.a. to be able to do the same things the corps of engineers does. you might comment? >> what we are trying to do with our army corps of engineer proposal is to focus on the three traditional areas that army corps of engineers has focused on, commercial navigation, aquatic ecosystem

restoration and there has been an additional area added by congress traditionally, we think that's better addressed through, as you correctly note, other funding streams. we have more than $3 billion for the safe and -- for the various revolving funds involving clean water, we think that's a better approach to that particular problem than funding those projects through the army corps of engineers. >> this is the beginning of a dialogue. second, help me understand, you know, at least in my district, the recovery act actually is working. it's funded a lot of transportation projects, helped with our school systems, though they're not out of the woods. it's funding some very important technology r&d related pr projects, etc. i guess if the stimulus is working, and i think it is, why do we need another jobs bill or another jobs initiative contained in this budget and aren't we concerned that given

the sort of surprising strength and economic growth of the last quarter, should it be sustained anywhere near that level, we will start to see jobs created anyhow and the lag time between this money being invested and actual job crease ated is going to be long, as we saw with the recovery act. >> look the recovery act has succeeded not only in promoting employment, but basically, primarily in restoring economic activity in moving from a collapsing economy to a growing one. but where we still lag behind is in the employment market and so the jobs package is focused specifically on steps we could take just to, again, more tightly link g.d.p. growth to employment growth. so something like the jobs and wages tax credit. the recovery act is working, it has averted a second great depression, along with other measures that were taken, but the employment market remains too weak and the question is

whether we can shorten the lags involved and when the economy starts recovering and the jobs market does. i agree that there's a projection that by this spring there will be positive zwrob growth but even when that happens, it's likely to be smaller than would be necessary even to work the unemployment rate down and don't forget we have that seven million job gap in terms of the jobs lost since december of 2007 that need to be worked off. so i don't think that the biggest risk we face is that job growth is going to be too rapid without further action. i think further action is beneficial. >> my final -- thank you, and i know that will be the beginning of a dialogue as will. my third and final question has to do with the ranking member's proposal and i certainly join in the chorus of praise that he at least has put something on the table. but i part ways with some of my colleagues in praising that

proposal because quite frankly, i see it as a radical departure from a decade of hard work in the united states to protect senior citizens both with respect to their pensions through the social security program and their health care through medicare. we made a kshes decision in this country to provide that kind of protection to -- under the guise of deficit redukts, to now threaten all of that certainly presents us with a stark choice. for me, it's an easy one. i believe for my constituents, when they understand it, it will also be easy. you may want to comment. >> i'm not going to dissuade you from the depiction that it's a dramatic change, there's no question about it. as i've already said, it not only means higher costs for beneficiaries, it also means more uncertainty around those costs for medicare beneficiaries and we haven't even gotten to the tax changes where there would be tax reductions at the very top and

tax increases in the middle and toward the bottom so that the total doesn't change but the burden is shifted away from higher earners and toward middle earners. >> i thank the gentleman. my time is up. >> thank you, mr. chairman. been a lot of talk about mr. ryan's proposal and the president's proposal. i'd like to know if mr. ryan's proposal is one that the republican leadership is seriously entertaining. i don't know if there's a way through this committee and the chair or through the media we can find out if this is a pr proposal that the party of no is moving off of the party of noed on going to go with a legitimate proposal. i think it's either one or the other. as another representative pointed out, there are not a whole lot of other proposals out there, we can either be against everything or embrace the proposal of the ranking member of the budget committee. i'd like to see if we can get

that information, mr. chairman. just a few quick questions, if i might. it would seem to me that the three-year freeze in discretionary spending has a value beyond the $250 billion, which is a lot of money in my neck of the woods, and that's showing the investors and the american people that we're beginning to get serious about controling our debt, wouldn't you agree with that? >> yes, especially as pat of a broader set of measures to reduce deficits by more than $1 trillion which is what this budget does. >> and isn't it true that a week, week and a half ago, the senate had an opportunity to go with the statutory commission that had been praised and talked about by both sides of the aisle here today but six or seven republican co-sponsors of their very own bill switched to no on that and ended up defeating our opportunity to go with statutory pay-go, isn't that correct? or statutory commission? >> that's correct. >> i think it's good that the president is, despite that setback, still willing to step out and offer the olive branch

and say, i'll do it on my own in a bipartisan way, let's get serious about the debt and we'll put everything on the table, not say it's going to be all one with sort of proposal or another, i think that should indicate to the american people that this president, at least, is still serious about bipartisanship and wanting to work together with folks. >> i think that's exactly right. >> a couple of quick comments, a couple of things that haven't been brought up in three hours. one is that i'm a little concerned about just the focus on nondefense discretionary spending. in my area, education, health care, public safety and the economy are the top issues. i've heard it said in quarters that our greatest threat to this nation is the economy, not necessarily a land war in afghanistan. while i think we should support the veterans 100%, exclude them from reductions and make sure they're well cared for, that inefficiencies in the defense procurement system, homeland security has a long way to go in terms of becoming a

functioning body based on what we've seen here in recent years and again i do have some concerns about the buildup in afghanistan. i would hope that the administration might consider some initiatives in those areas. >> absolutely. let me emphasize the defense budget has been scrutinized and there are efficiencies possible that secretary gates has already identified. there are some important, especially in the procurement budget, frankly, canceling additional purchases of the c-17, canceling the alternative engine for the fighter jet, canceling the c.g.x. naval ship, a whole variety of other terminations and reductions, secretary gates was effective, working with the president and congress in terminating unnecessary weapons system last year, we're going to build on that, continue that success and continue oto reform, especially the procurement pat of the defense budget. >> last comment.

i applaud your efforts in trying to stimulate small business. i'm one that happens to believe private enterprise is probably the best stimulator of the economy and anything we can do to get small business going is probably good. i have some degree of skepticism of the tax credit proposal, i'll be polling people to see what they think but what about the administration stepping in stronger than they have already with our banking and regulatory community? there seems to be a tension going on between overregulation, making the bankers concerned, at the same time, don't want to end up back in the mess we're in. are there any new nichetives, any thoughts the administration is going to use to pursue areas of increasing lending from the private sector, which i think is probably the long-term best bet? >> with regard to the regulatory system, two comments, the first is that kylerly the administration is very strongly in favor of financial regulatory reform legislation. the second is, my belief, i

believe it's correct that secretary geithner will be appearing before your committee in the near future and with regard more specifics on regulatory policy, i'm going to defer to him, given the sensitivities surrounding the appropriate boundies -- boundaries in regulatory policy. >> thank you very much. >> thank you very much for your patience in being here today and for the hard work you've put into putting the budget together. we're going to take quite a bit of time in scrutinizing it, working with the administration to try to get this right. we're obviously deeply concerned about where the economy is at this point. we've come a long way from where we were. one year ago we were losing over 700,000 jobs, as we were talking about, per month, the economy shrank by about 5.4%.

we have seen a slow turn around because last month we saw job losses at 1/10 the rate of a year ago and economic growth at 5.7%, is my understanding. obviously this is a remarkable progress. right now my constituents can't find jobs. in rhode island, we have the third highest unemployment rate in the country at 12.9%. can you once again, for my own knowledge and for my constituents back home, please more specifically outlined the proposals geared toward job creation and how they -- over what period of time and if you could, after that part of it, talk about specifically the funds that would be going in the job creation portion to the states, more specifically to local cities and towns. one of the criticisms we have in the stimulus money that it went to states and didn't

filter down the way we had hoped to take the communities so if you could talk specifically to money going to cgbd, something our administrators have been clamoring for because those are shovel-ready projects. >> with rad to the first part, we have put forward $100 billion jobs package, some of the details are still to be worked out, working with the house and senate. we have identified, for example, a $33 billion wage and jobs tax credit, which provides up to a $500,000 tax credit for hiring more people or expanding wages at a number. that will help promote job growth because some small businesses are right on the edge of either hiring someone or providing a wage increase and in return for this tax credit, they'd go ahead and do

that. that is one of the key things. with regard to state and local fiscal relief, as you know, the recovery act included at the state level important relief delivered through the medicaid program, this budget proposes continuing that so-called f-map for an additional six months beyond the current level and then you asked about cdbg, i'll get the exact figure, but i believe we're funding it at $4 billion -- $4.4 billion in 2011. andy also have, if i remember correctly, $100 million or $150 million catalytic grant program to try to create more innovation within that part of the budget. >> that's helpful. so the money that would go toward tax credits and other incentives, that's included within that $100 billion -- >> that's correct, within the $100 billion, yes.

>> so if i could, turning to the other part of our challenge, not only creating jobs, which is quite important, but the short and long run, but also as we've talked about equally important, deficit reduction, can you talk about your projection of how much these job creation, small business investments translate to overall deficit reduction in terms of g.d.p. once the jobs are created? is it enough to reduce our deficits to sustainable level sns >> one way of answering that we question is that when you -- one way of answering that question is when you stim lit $1 -- is when you stimulate $1 of economic activity, you get 25 pents to 33 cents on the dollar. $1 of from the government creates $1 of economic

activity, a quarter to a third of it would be offset through additional revenue as the economy picked up. the key thing though is, let me just emphasize, unless this economic recovery continues and unless we spur it on we will never get our deficits down. i mentioned we're at 10% now we need to get to a much lower number they have big reduction comes as we move from 10% of the economy to 5% of the economy by 2015 because of economic recovery. because of economic activity picking up. that abnormally low revenue as a share of g.d.p. which is currently the case, will increase as economic activity picks up and certain cyclically sensitive spending categories like unemployment insurance, food stamps what have you, decline as the economy picks up, both of which, and the fact that that's happening, revenues down, unemployment insurance, food stamps up, that's

beneficial, but those naturally fade and the deficit declines. that's crucially important to getting this deficit down over time. >> my time has expired. i want to say that i applaud the president for working with you to focus on creating jobs, jobs, jobs, like a laser beam. we have to have that focus. there are too many people out of work. with eget it here in the congress, i know the president gets it, this is going to be a strong partnership to make sure we get this right. >> thank you, mr. chairman. dr. orszag, thank you for your presentation. last week i was on fox business news responding to the state of the union, and he asked me whether or not i thought that raising the rate or restoring the prebush tax rate would be an impediment to growth and would stop job creation, i responded to him that as someone who started a business and ran it, has two brothers

and a sister all who run businesses, had a fur who developed a rather large company, when the income tax rate was 70%, that i hadn't seen that in my experience. now whether it was when president clinton raised the highest rate or when president bush lowered it, i depnt see any reason to believe that he disagreed with me and i looked at his background and i noticed, at least i couldn't find any evidence that he'd run a business or been involved in the private sector but i noticed that he, like you, went to the london school of economics. my question is whether you learned anything at the london school of economics that would give you superior insight to how business people behave in situations like that? >> unlike him, but like you, i started and ran a small business which we subsequently sold and i join you in saying that the key thing for a small business is not the marginal tax rate, especially if all you're doing is returning it to the levels that existed in the

1990's, but rather it is demand for your product, access to capital, a -- and good workers. all of which this budget is trying to focus on. get the economy back on its feed to -- on its feet to promote demand, promoting capital and new proposal the president was speaking about today to spur small business lending and then finally nerms of workers and the work force, investing in education because that is -- those are the workers of the future. >> thank you for clearing that up for me. i have to turn now to a more parochial subject. it definitely affects my state, kentucky, but i think it also affects other states, kinding  probably the ranking members, the elimination of the lifo accounting method. in my state that would dramatically affect the bower ban industry, which is an incredibly important economic factor in my state. i know it affects the wine business and many other

businesses that -- in which aging of the inventory is a factor. think president, and i applaud these goals, said we want to expand our exports, increase our manufacturing base and we obviously want to add jobs. by eliminateding lifo and doing it not just prospectively but retroactively and requiring the businesses that have been using it legally for many years would have to make up these incredibly large reserves, which essentially would be an enormous tax cuts, would put some of these companies out of business have you thought about the impact in regard to those three goals the administration set of something like the distilling industry and others where it would seem to be something that would run counter to the goals of the -- the other economic goals that you have, that we all have? >> the purpose of that proposal is that some firms use last in, first out for tax purposes,

sometimes they use different accounting in different settings. there is a tax policy justification for moving away from that. there may well be consequences for particular industries that again, i'm going to, given that it's a tax proposal and that you'll have secretary geithner here, defer to him on answering the specific questions about particular industries but the underlying tax policy justify cage for the change has been weal laid out in a variety of articles. we'll have to work with you on the impact. >> one last question. it may have been answered here before, i don't recall it. some of our colleagues over the weekend were talking about the fact, making the claim that terms of nonsecurity discretionary income that we've raised 84% in one year, would you respond to that and speculate on maybe how they got that number and whether there's -- well, just commend on -- comment on that claim, please. >> it's not an accurate

depiction of the base off of which we're freezing nonsecurity nondiscretionary -- nondefense discretionary spending. that spending went from just north of $400 billion to just south of $700 billion this 2009 because of the recovery act. and because of the measures that were necessary to try to mitigate the economic downturn. in 2010, it then declined to roughly $450 billion, a little bit bit south of that we are freezing off of that lower level. it went up, came down, we're freezing off the lower level. to claim we're freezing off that higher level is simply wrong. >> i appreciate the explanation. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you very much. we now turn to mr. becerra as the cleanup hitter, as mr. orszag has to leave after mr. becerra has completed his questions. >> thank you for your fashese,

for having answered every member's questions that attended this hearing. i appreciate the president's remarks in his state of the union last week, appreciate that he understands the plight of so many american families and the difficulty they're having. if i could have chart four put up on the screens, i'd like to talk about why this is such an important skgs. -- important discussion. as we talk about budget deficits and talk in terms of trillions and billions, most americans are thinking only in terms of number one, the job that each of those individuals has and unfortunately, for far too listening we saw americans losing thousands of jobs tooth point where it got to be millions of jobs. while finally we're starting to see a reversal of that job loss, it's taken some time. each of those bars represents the number of jobs lost in the thousands. so you have to ard up, if i'm correct, dr. orszag, you have

to add up every one of those bars and stack each war on top of itself, in order to figure out how many jobs have been lost in the last several years, moist of them under the previous administration and it's been some time in the course of those months to see some progress made. now i note that there's one lone positive par on that graph and that was back in november, a couple of months ago, where we actual saw job growth. it was only 400 jobs we netted in that month but at least it was 4,000. if i recall correctly you said we had lost, as a country, more than 700,000 jobs the day that president barack obama was handed the keys by former president bush in january of 2009. 741,000 jobs i believe the exact number one, which amounts to about 24,000 jobs americans were losing a day.

in january, 2009, as president bush exited the white house. that's changed. obviously not enough because we still have to add each of those bars for the months depicted on that screen on top of each other but as you mentioned before, we are hoping to see some positive net job growth in the next couple of months. so when you put that in the context of this discussion about deficits, i think most of us recognize that our priority should be to make sure that the private sector is creating the jobs people need. once they're working, then they can pay taxes. if they can pay taxes, they take care of their obligations to make sure our men and women in uniform are protected, well trained, that we have a well-functioning government, etc., etc. to me, the most important discussion is not so much about the trillions and billions we talk about in deficit bus the men and women who are working hard to hold on to their jobs and homes. you mentioned quite a bit, talked quilet a bit about the

plo posal the president has to freeze discretionary spending. i think it's a tough decision to make. it's probably something we have to do. i'm disappointed to have heard the president say it was only nonsecurity discretionary spending, as others have indicated as well. we used to hear about the several hundred dollar toilet seat. we know that during the height of the iraq war, halliburton ended up charging the american taxpayer tens of millions of dollars for meals to our soldiers which were never served. we know from some recent information gleaned from the department of defense that in afghanistan, we can account for at least about a billion dollars of contractor-related spending that we have no idea how it was spent. but it was about a billion dollars in those categories that were examined, totaled about 16% of all the contractor dollars that have been expended