put someplace else to beater use possibly, to help unemployment. i'm sorry but homeland security just wasted a bunch of money that could have been used someplace else. host: are her numbers correct? guest: i think it is more than that. there was an emergency appropriation for about $2 billion, most of which went to the fence a couple years ago. that's about 650 miles of fence along the u.s. southern border. again, the department argues that they put this fence strategically in areas where it would be easy for an illegal immigrant to sort of disappear into difficult terrain or in urban area. and she mentioned the quote from the homeland security secretary who when she was governor of arizona famously said, show me a 50-foot fence and i'll show you a 51-foot ladder. she has reversed that since she became the homeland security chief and endorses the use of

the physical fencing. .

>> there's generally support in congress for t.s.a.'s basic search and seizure capabilities and powers. as many complaints as that generates, generally speaking congress has been pretty supportive of t.s.a. i guess where's been some debate now is where do they draw the line as far as electronic devices go has been the debate lately. and that is can they take the data from your laptop? can they take your blackberry from you and look at your blackberry? those sort of debates have been more prevalent lately.

generally speaking everybody's been pretty supportive of t.s.a.'s powers. host: the homeland security department was created in 2002 after the september 11 attacks, brought in many different agencies, 22 i believe, under one umbrella. the homeland security department. compare president obama's budget for d.h.s. to president bush's budget. how has the priorities changed? >> so far the priorities have been surprisingly the same. the t.s.a. plan that we are talking about now is actually developed largely under the bush administration. and they had started trials in 2007, concluded in 2008 this is the way to go. and didn't enact their plan because the obama administration was coming in. immigration, again, very similar views between presidents bush and obama. both have been pushing for immigration reform. both have been pushing for

strong enforcement either through mechanisms either like the e-verify, the employment verification database, or through different sorts of immigration standards and making sure that people who apply for various things are here legally. >> on e-verify, how much money in this budget for them? what is the status that have? >> there will be about $100 million in fiscal 2011 for it which is pretty much in line with what has been receiving. it needs a lot more. become a lot moreau bust and leaves people in the unit of the d.h.s., called u.s. citizenship and immigration services to ride it, and the social security administration to ride on that because to check social security numbers. the program just underwent an audit there. was some reporting on this last week. and found it was pretty accurate. about 93% of the time it caught somebody or didn't catch somebody properly.

the other 6%, 7% it would find illegal activity, basically. basically it said 93% of the time you're cleared. can you go to work. you're here in the united states legally. and did so properly. the other 6% or 7% it said we don't think you're here legally or have a question. it was able to resolve about half of those. that other half, that 3.5% that it hadn't resolved has drawn a lot of attention in the past couple weeks. that's the sort of thing they want to say we need more money into this program so we can shore that up and go it closer to 100%. host: westminster, maryland. good morning. caller: good morning. i have two questions. the first one is you were talking about the coast guard cutters. a couple years ago they were talking about how they were trying to modify a coastal cutter and make it a deep sea

cutter where they were basically cutting it in half and then extending it. and then because of the malfeasance of the contractor, he was not doing the job very well. cut it and many things were in danger of sinking at sea. they did like four or five of them before they discovered that this company, his company was botching the job. and these were given away to other countries because they were no longer useful to the united states because they were so dangerous. that's my first question. the second question is, you're talking about the no-fly list. the no-fly list was compiled at a time basically when they were,

say, like in maryland, the governor, ehrlich, was using the state police to spy on anti-war groups and anti-death penalty groups, peaceful protesters and everything, and getting information on them to put on friss watch list, no-fly list, and things like that. these are peaceful people whose only beef was that they -- we were going to do more against people who were no threat to us. we were torturing their citizenship -- host: we'll have to leave it there. your thoughts? >> i have to say i don't know much about the specific coast guard instance that he brought up. basically all the coast guard assets that they have are decades old. except for the new one that is have been coming on. and everything basically needs to be demissioned eventually. and the faster the coast guard can get to that, the happier it will be.

as for the no-fly list, there is a new program called secure flight now. it's become operational this year. it's very, very baby face basically. the idea there is to make sure we get the right people on the no-fly list. people who have actually pose add threat. should people still end up on the no-fly list somehow through some means they shouldn't or by accident or what have you, then there are redress procedures where you should be able to get yourself off that list. host: how much money has been spent on the no-fly list and the aggregation of all the lists that are out there between f.b.i. and the c.i.a. and getting them all to talk to each other? how much money has been spent on no-fly? >> the integration of those databases generally received somewhere in the $100 million range, several hundred million dollars in the past couple years. extending that capability and

getting that information into the hands of more people in the field would cost more money. i don't know that there's budget money directly for that, but again, the idea under secure flight is to be able to get more detailed information on specific passengers to the checkpoint so that t.s.a. screeners will be able to see right away this is you, this is not you because we have not just your name but perhaps your address, your age, some sort of very basic physical description of how you look. host: suzanne on the independent line. caller: i got this one comment to make. and one question. my comment is, i'm pretty sure i know that 9/11 was a falsified operation. my question is why do you need 22 more offices to open up under homeland security? and why do we need homeland security? >> well, i was at the pentagon

on 9/11. and it was a life changing experience. i guess i'll leave that at that. the department of homeland security is not a new idea. it was actually put together, the idea, was put together before 9/11 and it was the idea that all these assets that were sort of doing the similar job, the border patrol, coast guard were perhaps had some synergies that could come together under one umbrella and do that more effectively. that border patrolling, that looking at the edge of the united states and beyond and making sure there aren't any threat materials or illegal drugs or what have you coming into the united states. and i think that rationale has basically been proven to be correct. you've got border patrol. you got fema, you got coast guard, and now t.s.a. working together under one roof. the same basic mission to skeep bad people and things from

coming into the country. host: ellen on the republican line. caller: i would like to say something. in 2004, 2003-2004 a member of the kennedy family made a documentary. she's a woman that does documentaries. and in it she has a documentary called imagine the unimaginable. it's really something you should get to see. because it will scare you to death because what it was to show that had those two planes instead of being targets for the twin to youers, had targeted the indian point this whole section of the country would not be able to live in for 90 years, 900 years, whatever. supposedly the dome, it shows, in indian point is supposed to be able to withstand the impact of the jet planes. and the way they showed it, the way they proved this, is they took an army -- an air force

jet, which is much smaller than a jumbo jet, took all of the fuel out of it, put it on a tripod and rammed it into a ball and it still penetrated part of the wall. now we have the fay phi with their -- f.a.a. with their redesign in the area are going to be flying about 00 planes every day within five minutes of indian point. host: familiar with this situation? >> i'm familiar generally speaking with the concern about nuclear facilities and volatile chemical facilities. this is something -- nuclear facilities fall under the new england lar regulatory commission and the national new england lar security -- national nuclear security administration. there's been back and for the whether the protection there is enough to stop a plane. basically i think what they have done they have done a space analysis on which nuclear facilities would be at highest

risk of being attacked. they assured me when i talked to them their plans and security measures for dealing with that are good. chemical facility standards is an ongoing concern. the problem the department of homeland security is overseeing that and the department is requiring private companies to come up with security plans, basically, to say show us prove to us somebody can't fly a plane into your chemical plant and blow up new jersey. so far that department, that program has been rolling out slowly over the past couple years anti-department seems seems to be happy. host: just a reminder that we are talking with mickey mccarter, in a few minutes here we are going to bring you to the toyoda hearing day three up on capitol hill. the senate commerce committee is going to be talking with ray lahood, secretary of transportation, and david strickland, the administrator of

the national highway traffic safety administration. first here at 10:00 a.m. live on c-span and later today around 2:30 the quality chief -- excuse me -- yeah, the quality chief for toyota is expected to testify as well. cleveland, tennessee. democratic line. you are next. caller: hello, good morning. we have some problems over here, too. with the economy. business has been slowing down and things like that. we have been trying to get things started. but by gosh we have problems, too, with immigration and the economy and things like that. what can we do to straighten that thing out and what is the census bureau, 2010 census got to do with that? host: were you able to follow that? >> a bit. i know that i have heard some reports that local jurisdictions

are asking everybody that lived there to fill out the census saying that this doesn't get reported. if you are here illegally we don't share that information with i.c.e. who would be in charge of investigating those reports. insofar as making certain that illegal immigrants aren't taking jobs in our depressed areas, again the department said a lot of illegal immigrants have been leaving. it has shifted its focus on how it deals with that under the obama administration. in the bush administration they were famous for doing these work site raids where they would go to a large manufacturing facility unexpected to show up and arrest hundreds of illegal workers. now they are trying to basically be a little bit more quiet about it. bring the business in after an investigation, fine the business. try to basically cut off the source of jobs for illegal immigrants by discouraging

businesses. the department has asked for the ability to levy for fines on these businesses to basically be able to have stronger enforcement powers. host: manfield, ohio. alex, independent line. caller: good morning. first time caller. i have a couple things that i want to address. going back to the screening and the -- i wanted to ask here a couple months ago talking about maybe the power stuff in the underwear and everything else. looking at some old i guess, some old ways that law enforcement take care of drugs and everything else, i wanted to ask if there's any way that maybe we could get some canines in the airports. i wanted to ask about that. one other question. i wanted to ask what he thinks of the budget and if it's going to pass, thank you.

>> the canines, the homeland security secretary and key members of congress are big fans. in fact you're going to see more canine teams under the fiscal 2011 budgets in airports, railway stations, all around the country. their ability to sniff out explosive material is pretty well respected. we are going to see a lot more k nine -- canine teams under the budget. what i think will happen is congress will probably put more money into it. as we were talking earlier the grants are an obvious place where vit members are going to have an interest -- individual members are going to have an interest in building up those funds. and they are probably going to have some concerns about the doge. probably going to have a few concerns about the border security. and maybe even put some more money into t.s.a. depending. there is a budget hearing thursday on t.s.a. where there will be a closer look at what's going on there.

host: huntsville, alabama. will on the republican line. will, are you with us? caller: yeah. host: what's your question or comment? caller: i have a comment. i don't see homeland security improving until we get rid of that idiot napolitano. host: why do you say that? caller: she's incompetent. host: can you point to an example of why you think she's incompetent? caller: do i have to? do you not know? host: we'll leave it there. what's the reputation of homeland security secretary napolitano up on capitol hill? >> she's well respected on capitol hill. a lot of her critics, including those on capitol hill, because she does have critics there, have said that sometimes she's a little too quick to say everything's ok when it's obviously not. the famous quote assigned to her now is that the system worked after the christmas day bombing attempt when clearly it did not.

obama came out and basically apologized on her behalf and said there were big failures, etc., etc. she's viewed as being tough. she was very tough as governor on these issues which is why she was selected to be homeland security governor. and again she's very well respected. i don't think there will be any action against her in congress as far as debating whether or not she should be removed. host: anthony on the democratic line in atlanta, good morning. caller: good morning. i have one question. it's dealing with homeland security. now, we are trying to stop people from coming into the country. and we are trying to regulate what flows in. why is it such a problem if we can't stop -- we can't stop drugs coming into the country. how are we going to stop people from coming into the country? >> i don't cover the d.e.a. specifically, but i do know that

there's been a lot of reports from them and customs and border protection in recent years pointing to a lot more drug success than there has been in the past. i don't have figures on what they claim to have been able to accomplish. i guess i would say that they have been trying to use a lot more intelligence. a lot more risk driven analyses to figure out where they should put their resources to stop bad things or bad people from coming. host: we have one more phone call here or possibly another one we'll see. new castle, delaware, republican line, go ahead. caller, are you with us? caller: hello. host: you are on the air, sir, what's your question or comment? caller: i ask about immigration because imgration, because i

here almost like 10 years, my life, i married american citizen i have life. i have excellent job. still right now i can't work. host: sir, what's your question for mickey mccarter? caller: i ask him for any new law. that's it. host: any new law on immigration? caller: yes. >> well, i was saying earlier president obama has vowed to pick up this torch that president bush had carried and pass a comprehensive immigration reform package. the elements of that package would be taking the illegal immigrants currently in the united states and offering them the opportunity to stay. a lot of people are saying it

ought to be an employment-based program but that hasn't been threshed out yet. there is a proposal in congress right now in the house that is not employment based. and basically would ask immigrants that are here to come out, apply, pay taxes, go through a criminal background check then you would be able to stay in some sort of temporary capacity and perhaps eventually earn the legal citizenship. host: mickey mccarter with homeland security today. thank you for your time. >> just a couple minutes we'll take you live here to the state department, richard holbrooke will be speaking with reporters about his trip to afghanistan and pakistan. he's a special representative to the region. understand the briefing should get underway in under five minutes. from washington, president obama said today he was opened to four new republican proposals on health legislation. he detailed those ideas in a letter to congressional leaders. by the way you can read that letter in its entirety on our

website in featured length at c-span.org. jobs legislation also under consideration on capitol hill. we get an update from a capitol hill reporter. joining us is richard ruben of congressional quarterly, what's been happening with the jobs related legislation in the u.s. senate? >> just had some action this morning right when the senate opened. senate is stalled over several jobs bills, but most has been over the smallest bill, which is a short-term extension of programs that expired on sunday, including expanded unemployment benefits and cobra health insurance subsidies for jobless workers. what happened this morning in addition to democrats blaming senator jim bunning, you now have republican susan collins of maine joining in that as well. and attempt to get this bill passed. it's already passed the house but get it through the senate. but senator bunning continued to object. >> what would he prefer to see

instead? >> he would like the same bill but he would like to pay for it. it's about $10 billion. democrats and now senator collins say that it's an emergency and it shouldn't be paid for. other than through debt. senator bunning says let's take $10 billion from the stimulus law from last year that hasn't been spent yet to use that to offset the programs. >> as the objection continued, what is harry reid's strategy going forward? how is he going to work around it? >> two. one is to keep making what they call unanimous consent requests and seeking to pass the bill quickly, forcing senator bunning to come to the floor and object to it. democrats believe this is politically just gray for them to see a republican objecting to really popular programs. then the second thing he's doing is he's got a bigger bill on the floor, about $150 billion bill, that extend a lot of these programs for longer times. unemployment insurance and cobra subsidies through the end of the

year. extends the so-called doc fix for physician payments in medicare for seven months. he's got a short-term track he's trying to use politically. then they have this longer term bill on the floor. >> back to jobs for a second. the house passed legislation already. are they going to consider further jobs legislation in the near future? >> the house passed a bill in december that was about $154 billion, much heavier on spending on infrastructure than the senate's willing to take. now the house dealing with the senate's version of that bill, which is a $15 bill bill that includes highway money and payroll tax holiday for firms that hire unemployed workers. the house is struggling right now to try, democrats in particular, to figure out whether they should pass that senate bill or whether they want to make changes. you have members of transportation committee who are not particularly thrilled with the highway funding formula, but they seem willing to give on that a little bit, at least at

the moment. but you also have more conservative members in the democratic caucus concerned about the pay-as-you-go rules. then you have more liberal members in the house democratic caucus saying that it is not big enough, it doesn't do enough on spending. it's too focused on tax cuts. >> the house side still in committee consideration, still discussions. no indication when we might see something on the floor? >> i doubt it will go through committee. i think this is something that will come right to the floor, but they are going to -- the big question -- and will come to the floor in some fashion. the big question the house leaders are trying to figure out when members get back today is whether they should just pass the senate bill or make changes to it and go to conference. >> an update from richard ruben from congressional quarterly. want to take you live now to the state department. richard hold brook momentarily. speaking with reporters about his latest trip to afghanistan and pakistan. live coverage here on c-span.

>> and central asian republics. he was on an extensive trip around the world that included stops in many countries, including afghanistan, pakistan, finishing up in georgia and germany. he thought it was a good time to come down and just give you a current sense of the state of play in afghanistan. i think he'll entertain questions on the situation in afghanistan and also how other governments in the region see the issues unfolding and how they are working together very closely with them. then we'll follow up. richard, thank you. >> thank you very much for coming. this is the pattern that we are trying to evolve after major trip i come down here and we just talk. i want to talk about this trip which was my fifth trip this year. and my second to the gulf.

second to south asia. but my first to central asia. this is part of an accelerating intensification of our diplomatic outreach efforts. in the last six months we have had delegations in beijing, in russia, and turkey, in almost every country in the gulf. of course in europe, in china, and now for the first time we reach into central asia. i was in fourth of the five stans in order, if i can remember them, uzbekistan first, then kurdistan, then tajikistan, and then kazakhstan. we had also planned to go to turkmenistan but through a logistical communications

failure, we did not get the final clearance to land there until we were on the runway taking off. so we were locked in. that's a minor story. the purpose of this as we alluded to the last time i was down here was to visit all the countries in the region, all the neighbors with the exception of iran, i now talked face to face with the leadership. in the case of kurdistan which doesn't have a common border with afghanistan, but very important transit center, which will be -- which we will renew the arrangements on in the next few weeks. and i wanted to launch that process. we are very grateful to them for

that support and i had a very emotional meeting with the troops. 35,000 americans go through the training transit center every month and we just dropped in on the room where they were talking to their families on skype and playing fooz ball and chatted with some of them coming in and out. that's always valuable to have an encounter -- we talked in particular to a young first lieutenant who was on his way back to alaska. who had been in kusp and gave us a very vivid discrimination of his efforts down there. we talked about the northern distribution network and its importance to us. most of the supplies coming through that entry point into

afghanistan, the northern distribution network come through uzbekistan. in kazakhstan we talked about improving and increasing our overflight facilities. and improving rail transit which is an issue we are interested in. and in tajikistan we talked about also northern distribution issues. and in addition, we talked about resources. tajikistan has one of the greatest water potentials in the world. and the president described that to us in some detail. and we have on a separate basis we have got a water resources task force now set up in the department to examine how we can additionally help the countries of the area, particularly pakistan, with the water issue.

finally, after the four central arabian republics, we went -- asian republics we went on to the republic of georgia. we visited the georgia batalian outside of at that bleesy which will be deployed next month to afghanistan. the u.s. marines who do this as a profession, these are among the best troops that they have ever seen, these -- many of these troops fought in iraq with the coalition. those of you who know georgia know that it's a mountainous country with terrain features that are sometimes similar to afghanistan. they have a tremendous fighting tradition. they went into afghanistan with no national caveats and after they unpack and get climatized they'll be integrated into the marine operations in hellman.

on a per capita basis right now, they appear to have the highest per capita troop contribute shub of -- trib shun of any country in the world. it will be up to 950 troops when this battalion gets there. it's extremely important employment and we are grateful for it. the president and i have discussed this a year ago and started the process which has led to the deployment. he accompanied me on this trip to the training mission. i was not there on any other subject. we did not discuss u.s.-russian relations. we did not discuss issues involving their future relationships with natea. this was an afghanistan related trip. but i want to express with great strength on behalf of the entire u.s. government how much the

united states government appreciates the georgian contribution. it came by coincidence on the same day that the government in the netherlands fell. this is an important deployment and it's gotten far too little attention. germany was to continue our high level coordinations with one of the most important allies, but the main focus in germany was the german support of the police training program. germans by constitution, the germans cannot put their police under a military command. i'm sure all of you understand why that was written into the constitution. but within that framework they are doing a very important job on police training which is being closely coordinated with the -- but under separate

command arrangements consistent with the german constitution. we hope they will increase the amount of trainers they do, although we pull together very impressive number of additional training personnel in the last week where there was still short training personnel. so that's important. and the front end of the trip was in doha and saudi arabia. doha was to address the brookings institution conference , the world islamic forum. one of the best conferences in the world run by the ambassador and qatari government. and went to riyadh to continue our dialogue with them. saudi arabia is of enormous importance. in the middle of this i went to afghanistan and pakistan and saw

the leadership i have now seen president karzai three times in three different countries in the last month. we have had extensive and detailed discussions on the implementation of his plans as he outlined them in kabul on november 19, in london on january 28, and in munich on february 6 or 7. i don't remember which date. but at the munich conference. so the conversations in kabul were a continuation of that. i met with other members of the government as well. did not have a chance to get out of town but i spent a lot of time with general mcchrystal. finally in pakistan, extensive discussions with the president, prime minister golani, the leader of the opposition, and the leadership of the pakistani army, and the senior colleagues.

that's how i will continue my next trip to the region will be with admiral mullen. together we did this just under a year ago. i think some of you in this room were on that trip. and admiral mullen and i try to do about one trip a year. and that trip would include india. last point. p.j. and i had hoped today to bring the f.b.i. director with me, bob mueller, who has just come back from an important trip to afghanistan and pakistan. he had a conflict and i apologize if there's interest maybe we can bring him over at another time. i would recommend p.j., that you consider that because i think mueller's trip -- p.j. and i heard a detailed discussion by him yesterday. it was in furtherance of our trilateral meetings last year which we are going to resume in a few months here. and in that -- in his trip he

put together a meeting between the two ministers of interior. of afghanistan and pakistan. this is really important. a coordination between the two countries is at the core of the policies that we have been developing over the last 13 months. we really think director mueller's meetings were important and moved things forward. with that outline of what we did, i'll be happy to take your questions. thank you. >> in your discussion -- let me rephrase that. what's your assessment of how president karzai is doing at the moment? you have met him this time. the restrictions on the media, concerns about media freedom in afghanistan. he also last week introduced a new regulation with regard to

the election. maybe you could discuss those two issues and whether you raised this with him, whether you are concerned about it. do you see the afghan government moving in the wrong direction? >> i don't see a pattern but you have raised some issues of legitimate concern. on the first one p.j. and i have had an extensive discussion on that and we are -- it's pretty obvious we support free press. we don't like restrictions on the press. my whole career has been devoted to supporting that. and p.j. and i and the secretary of state are concerned. and will make our support of free access by the press clear to the government. on the second point, on the elections, you talking about the election -- >> yes. >> president karzai we have

talked about this, ambassador eikenberry has talked to president karzai about this. the integrity of the elections in the eyes of the afghan people and the international community is very important. it is a legitimate concern of the international community that with all the troops that are there, with all the international assistance that there be a process which is transparent and free and fair. and so some of the concerns have been raised are things that we think are legitimate and need to be discussed further. p.j. addressed this last week in his remarks. and i will only echo what he said then. i agree with what he said. he talked about time, i think i have some of what p.j. said.

i think it's engraved in stone. i don't have the exact words but let me tell you they were memorable. i wouldn't forget them for a moment except i can't remember them right now. >> do you think there should be some restrictions on assistance to pakistan. before the london conference if the afghan government did not act responsibly and was not doing what they need to do, you might withhold assistance. >> i'm not going to get into hypotheticals particularly when the assistance has been structured and restructured now to help the afghan people. do you want us to withhold cash for work in the agricultural sector? because this issue, that makes no sense. i'm not going to advocate things

like that. we have a large overriding goal here to help afghanistan succeed in its efforts to defeat the taliban and its allies and al qaeda. we are not going to take our eye off that goal. but to get there we want to encourage policies that give the broadest possible support to the government from the afghan people. and that covers a wide range of issues, including this one. >> there's been -- >> can you identify yourself. >> there's been some concern in germany about the command structure following the buildup. is that something that came up in your discussion? do they have any reason for concern? >> it did not come up. although i read about it in the press. i don't believe they have cause for concern.

oorl what about paying for the election? the international community does fund the election. funded the presidential election. is there a chance you could withhold international funding unless -- >> i'm not going to speculate on hypotheticals. that kind of issue is always there. you said international. the bulk of the money you're referring to is not american and it's not controlled by the united states. so let the international community deal with that. >> peter green from bloomberg. i'd like to ask you about marja. how long do you think it's going to take before that whole offensive is going to secure the area and what comes next? if you have any insight into the next portion of the campaign which is supposed to be the kandahar region what that is going to look like. >> p.j. and i and ashley and my

colleagues just got off the phone with frank. that's why we kept you waiting. we wanted to get up-to-date information from the field. frank, as i think all of you know, is the senior civilian in the southern command. a former assistant secretary of state and one of our most talented, highly valued members of our team. and let me just give you a sense. first of all, there are already six civilians on the ground in marja full-time. that may not sound like much. four are american, two british. it may not sound like much but it's a lot because first of all they are setting up the district support team. secondly there are plenty of other civilians coming in and out. frank himself was there ue or three -- two or three days ago. the object here is start

channeling the assistance and most importantly getting the afghan government to stand up its support at that level. to your specific question, no, i can't give you -- i'll let mcchrystal and his colleagues speak about the military aspects of the battle. that's their business and they are on the ground. but mcchrystal yesterday in marja in effect said the military phase was coming to an end. but there are always going to be i.e.d.'s, always going to be terrorist attacks. those happen in the middle of kabul and for those that matter they happen in the middle of major cities all over the world these days. i have a feeling, however, that the -- some of the energy has gone out of this approach to warfare. now, the critical test of marja, which was well reflected, for

example, in chris' piece in the "new york times" over the weekend, the critical variable is to bring civilian services to the people of the region and to make sure that they are not tainted by corruption. that's a heavy order in that area. given the history of the area, given the danger of operating, and given the complexity of it. but we are committed to it. and the military likes to call prove of concept. marja is a test of the strategies that are now being put into place. so just to make clear there isn't going to be a date on which this campaign ends if we start saying we have succeeded and we start to pull out, we are going to repeat the past. that's not the way to do it. remember, it's clear, hold, build, and transfer.

the clear phase was always going to be relativelyizey -- relatively easy and the casualty rate was very well. the hold phase is a transitional phase, in my view. it's the build and transfer that is the test of our policies. build and transfer. and that's what we are testing. final party of your question, kandahar i can't answer that. that is obviously a tactal issue and to discuss it prematurely serves no purpose at all. >> my reporting indicated that they are likely to get training and mentoring contract in afghanistan. the other bidder has been disqualified. are you worried about the optics of blackwater playing that role? >> my understanding of that is

it's somewhat more complicated an that. i think there's a review of the whole process now going on. i don't know how much of it is public. it's proprietary information on a contractual basis. it's being conducted in an arm's length basis so that neither i nor this building nor the people on the ground in kabul are involved in the award of the contract under the pleadures laid out by -- procedures laid out by the united states congress and by the u.s. government. and i want to stress this point because it's very important. whether you like this process or not, whether you like the system or not, it is not being handled by the state department or by people in kabul. it's handled in a separate channel. and i -- what little i know

about it, laura, suggests that it's not exactly where you say it is. but i'll let you continue your digging and find out more. charlie. >> charlie wilson, cbs. can you go back to your stop in georgia. tell us how much the georgia distribution sending troops there is costing and who is paying for it? >> the incremental cost in country are paid for by the united states and other countries. the salaries of the troops are paid for by the georgians of course. and there are all sorts of additional things that we pay for. but they are related only to the deployment in afghanistan. and if you really want more details, i'd like you to come down to our office. we'll lay it out. we'll get general field, he's away today, but we'll get

colonel lampson to help you on that. >> are you suggesting the division process they would only be talking to that one government. [inaudible] >> first of all, on the story you are talking about, i keep reading and hearing about it. i see no evidence to support that theory. it's out there. conspiracy theories are stock and trade. and not just in this part of the world. but i don't see any evidence for it. and i know somewhat more than

i'm at liberty to disclose about the circumstances under which these events took place. and every detail tends to work against that thesis. the second part of your question, this is a work in progress. this administration took office just over 13 months ago. i have said before and i'll say it again today that u.s. relations with the government of pakistan, civilian and military side, are much better today than they were 13 months ago. we have really worked on this. some of you have accompanied us on the trips. i have been to pack zahn now twice this year. secretary gates has been there. general jones has been there twice. once in november, once last month. admiral mullen goes regularly.

i just mentioned to f.b.i. director muller, don't underestimate the importance of a trip by a man of that stature gathering together two interior ministers who previous to our efforts starting about nine months ago had never even met. so there's a cumulative effect. and to me the turning point for secretary clinton was the end of october. she stayed much longer than she normally does. p.j. was with us. she did a very public series of meetings and very intense private series of meetings. she answered every question t no matter how hostile they were. and won over a lot of people. this came right on the heels of the misunderstanding tft legislation which was an unfortunate misunderstanding in

my view. so this process has produced a gradual improvement in cooperation. simultaneous with that, the pakistani military has undertaken two major military offenses. i went to solat on the previous trip, not this one. and met with the leaders there. finally some very bad people had been eliminated. high ranking members of the taliban have been incarcerated. this is a very important sequence of events. and we hope it will continue. i don't want to draw any strategic conclusions from it. i just want to express my

appreciation to the pakistani government. they are doing these things in the face of enormous economic problems. they are doing it in the face of water and energy problems which are getting more and more of our attention. we in turn are trying to increase our support for the pakistanis. i should have mentioned senator kerry went back again, talked to senator kerry at length yesterday. he is paying a special attention to pack stand and playing a very important, independent supporting role. >> i just wanted to ask you about the kerry-luger funding. is there -- i'm wondering first of all whether you feel that the people were starting to change their perception of it? and the second question was

whether there is any kind of bottleneck in giving out the aid? i know that your team is personally reviewing all the projects. how does that affect the money? >> first of all, the misunderstanding over kerry-luger has abated but it hasn't disappeared. and we work on that. secondly on the bottle next -- necks. the biggest bottlenecks are not with kerry-luger-berman. that money has been appropriated and it is beginning to flow. the biggest bottleneck has been in regard to coalition support funds. which is a very different matter. under the coalition support fund, trk the pakistanis are -- the pakistanis are waiting for close to $2 billion in money

that has been appropriated by congress and has been setaside. last week we released $349 million of that money urgently needed. we are still working through the rest of the money. not all the money that is asked for comes in, about 60%, 65% of it gets reimbursed. and the delays have been caused by a lot of things. the congress and the g.a.o. have accounting procedures which are pretty complicated. and we have offered to have auditors go to pakistan to help with this and the auditing team was held up in a massive delay over other visas. and we pulled them out and -- of the visa issue. and they are on their way. and it's a complicated process.

and there's a long history here. again i don't want to blame everything on what we inherited, but when we took office, the backlog was amazing. and there was no procedure for it. general petraeus and i have spent a lot of time on this. it comes up on every trip. but we are just going to continue to work this issue through. talked to ambassador hakani about it yesterday and again this morning. we are working on it very much. i do want to stress $349 million that c.s.f. went to pakistan last week. pakistani security forces they declared important -- just on the border with pakistan -- >> i'm having a little trouble understanding you. >> the pakistani security forces

have declared against tally ban. >> in bajur? >> yes. >> i know. i have been there. >> what is your reaction to that? >> i don't know the details but i'm delighted they feel they are making progress. when i first went there it was a very bad scene. we flew over it. we couldn't land. we had to divert and land somewhere else. so the fact they feel they have succeeded there is a very positive development. >> talk about the killings and captures of some of these major taliban leaders. do you have any sense yet about what kind of psychological effect it might be having on the taliban leadership or some of the mid devil -- mid-level

commanders? do you think they are considering alternatives like reconciliation? do you think pakistani influence from the i.s.i. would have any effect either way? >> it's a very good question. we ask it all the time of ourselves. we don't -- i don't have any empirical, quantifiable lack and white answer to that. however the anecdotal information coming in would suggest that the combination of the offensive in marja, the pakistani army's success in south bajur and the apprehension of senior taliban, fall are having an effect of people -- >> can you watch all this briefing later in our program. we are leaving now because the

u.s. house is gaveling in for legislative business. 10 bills to be considered today. including one marking national engineers week. live coverage on c-span. your praise for being so faithful and trustworthy. we give you your gratitude for displaying your presence in a very powerful way. we ask you for your wisdom to give to each congressman and congresswoman in their deliberation today. give them a passionate heart, and may we sense a humility through your love. we ask for your prayer for our men and women in military. shield them from all dangers and give them the assurance of your guidance and strength so they may safely return home to their loved ones. comfort those who are now grieving the loss of their loved ones. bless all our veterans and organizations who serve from their hearts. we serve you, our god, and our beloved nation.

amen. the speaker pro tempore: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house her approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1 the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from texas, congressman poe. mr. poe: please join me in the pledge. 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. . .7 c16 c13 . the speaker pro tempore: under clause 5-d of rule 20, the chair announces to the house that in light of the resignation of the gentleman from hawaii, mr. abercrombie, the whole number of the house is 432. the chair lays before the house a 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 sealed envelope received from the white house on monday, march 1, 2010, at 2:15 p.m. and said to contain a message from the president whereby he transmits a report to the congress regarding the national emergency with respect to zimbabwe. with best wishes i am, signed, sincerely, lorraine c. miller, clerk of the house. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will read the message. the clerk: to the congress of the united states. section 202-d of the national emergencies act provides for the automatic termination of the national emergency unless prior to the anniversary date of its declaration the president publishes in the federal register and transmits to the congress a notice

stating that the emergency is to continue in effect beyond the anniversary date. in accordance with this provision, i have sent to the federal register for publication the enclosed notice stating that the national emergency with respect to the actions and policies of certain members of the congress of zimbabwe and other persons to undermine zimbabwe's democratic processes is to continue in effect beginning march 6, 2010. the crisis constituted by the action and policies of certain members of the congress of zimbabwe and other purposes to undermine zimbabwe's democratic processes or institutions has not been resolved. these actions and policies continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the united states. for these reasons i have determined it is necessary to continue this national emergency and to maintain and force the sanctions to respond to this threat. signed, barack obama, the white

house, february 26, 2010. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the committee on foreign affairs and ordered printed. the chair lays before the house a 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 sealed envelope received from the white house on monday, march 1, 2010, at 2:15 p.m. said to contain a message from the senate whereby he transmits the message to the congress regarding a proposed constitution for the united states virgin islands. with best wishes i am signed sincerely, lorraine c. miller, clerk of the house. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will read the message. the clerk: to the congress of the united states. in accordance with the requirements of public law

94-584, the act, i hereby transmit to the congress a proposed constitution for the united states virgin islands. the constitution trasted by the constitutional convention of the united states you virgin islands was submitted to on december 31, 2009, by the governor, united states virgin islands. in submitting the proposed constitution, the governor expressed concerns about several provisions of the proposed constitution, but he also expressed his hope that the people of the united states virgin islands continue to move ahead towards their goal of increased local governmental autonomy. the act requires that i submit this proposed constitution to the congress along with my comments. the congress has 60 days to amend, modify, or approve the proposed constitution. if approved, or approve with modification the constitution will be submitted for a referendum in the virgin islands for acceptance or rejection by the people.

in carrying out my responsibilities pursuant to the act, i ask the department of justice in consultation with the department of the interior to provide its views of the proposed constitution. the department of justice concluded that several features of the proposed constitution aren't warrant analysis and comment. including one, the absence of an express recognition of united states sovereignty and the supremacy of federal law. two, provisions for a special election on u.s. virgin islands territorial status. three, provisions conferring legal advantages on certain groups defined by place and timing of birth, timing of residency, or ancestry. four, residents requirements for certain offices. five, provisions guaranteeing legislative representation of certain geographic areas. six, provisions addressing territorial waters and marine

resources. seven, imprecise language in certain provisions of the proposed constitution's bill of rights. eight, the possible need to repeal certain federal laws if the proposed u.s. virgin islands constitution is adopted. and nine, the effect of congressional action or inaction on the proposed constitution. to assist the congress in its deliberation abouts this important matter, i attach the analysis of the department of justice with which the department of the interior concurs. i believe that the analysis provided by the department of justice warrants careful attention. i commend the electorate of the virgin islands and its governmental representatives in their continuing commitment to increasing soft government and the rule of law -- self-government and rule of law. signed, barack obama, the white house, february 26, 2010. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the committee on natural resources. the chair will general tain requests for one-minute speeches.

for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? mr. wilson: madam speaker, i ask permission to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. wilson: madam speaker, the government takeover of health care was rushed to happen last july. but during overflow town hall meetings in virginia, massachusetts, and new jersey the american people made it perfectly clear that a government takeover of health care not an option. almost a year later this message unfortunately hasn't been received by the liberal majority. instead of working across the aisle and reforming the bill to include less government and more commonsense bipartisan principles, liberal leaders are talking about bending the brules and rushing this by way of a process called reconciliation. this is a legislative maneuver that requires fewer votes than the regular process. so the american people should listen this afternoon. the liberal majority knows the american people do not want this bill. they are left with a tricky maneuver that ignores what people have been fighting for and saying since last summer. i urge this institute make

their voices heard. in conclusion, god bless our troops, we'll never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. my sympathy to the family and friends of charles hamill of chapin, south carolina, a dedicated patriot. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> request permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. poe: madam speaker, it's sam houston's birthday. he was born in virginia on march 2, 1793 and he lived primarily in tennessee but he got to texas as fast as he could. houston fought with davey crockett and andrew jackson during the creek indian wars of 1812. later he served as a congressman and governor of tennessee. sam spent time throughout his life living with the cherokee indians where the chief adopted him, naming him the rache. he finally pulled up stakes and moved to texas to fight for

texas independence against mexico. general sam and the boys successfully led the tax yans at the battle of an jew is intera and texas became the free and independent nation. sam houston was the president for nine years, nine years later when texas joined the union he became governor and then a u.s. senator. he is the only person in united states history to have served as a governor and member of congress from two states. the city of houston and one of my grandsons is named in his honor. and that's just the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from nebraska seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. smith: i rise today in support of h.r. 3820, the natural hazards risk reduction t of 2009 which we will be taking up later today. this legislation re-authorizes and amends the national

earthquake hazards reduction act and national windstorm impact reduction act. restoring agencies as diverse as fema, the u.s. geological survey and national institute of science and technology have continuing appropriation authorizations to research the causes and forecasting the natural disasters as well as ways to limit their negative impact. the recent earthquakes in haiti and chile have demonstrated the improved methods of predicting and mitigating natural disasters. the contrast and outcomes have also demonstrated the clear benefit of preparedness and scientifically based building codes in containing casualties from major disaster if not the economic losses. nearly every part of the united states is susceptible to natural disasters in some form or another and re-authorizing the programs in h.r. 3820 will ensure we remain at the forefront of this important research. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: freight -- pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the chair will postpone further proceedings

today on motions to suspend the rules on which a recorded vote or the yeas and nays are ordered or on which the vote incurs objection under clause 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 oregon seek recognition? >> madam speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3820, the natural hazards risk reduction act of 2009 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: h.r. 3820, a bill to re-authorize federal natural hazards reduction programs, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from oregon, mr. wu, and the gentleman from georgia, mr. brown, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from oregon. mr. wu: thank you very much, madam speaker. i ask unanimous consent that

all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on h.r. 3820, the bill now under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. wu: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. wu: i rise today in strong support of h.r. 3820, the natural hazards risk reduction act of 2010. this bipartisan bill addresses a crucial need, securing our communities against earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and other natural phenomena. as we saw last month in haiti and just this past weekend in chile, earthquakes can strike without warning, cause massive damage, and many, many casualties. mitigation efforts like advanced building codes are crucial to preventing loss and injury. preparation savings lives.

-- saves lives. the chilian experience demonstrates the importance of preparation, building codes, and education. h.r. 3820 re-authorizes two very important natural hazard mitigation programs, the national earthquake hazards reduction program, and the national windstorm impact reduction program. since congress created the national earthquake hazards reduction program in 1977, and has been used to study earthquake phenomena, identify seismic hazards, and develop building codes and practices to withstand earthquakes. this re-authorization will allow the u.s. geological survey, fema, and national science foundation, the national institute of standards and technology to continue their efforts to develop and promote earthquake mitigation measures. created in 2004, the national

windstorm impact reduction program is also a critical tool in countering the destructive forces of hurricanes, tornadoes, and other severe windstorms. destructive windstorms are not limited to florida and the gulf coast or to tornado alley in our midwest. two years ago in my pacific northwest, we experienced 150 miles per hour -- miles perfect hour winds which caused nearly $200 million in damage. and just last week gusts of up to 90 miles per hour were reported in the northeast, knocking out power for more than 87,000 new yorkers and others in pennsylvania through the mid-atlantic. the purpose is to study wind hazards, to develop building codes and practices, to prevent

damage. . it is the crucial last step in preventing loss it is from natural disasters. h.r. 3820 includes provisions to develop ways to cost-effectively retrofit existing structure and secure lifelines as well as provisions for research to identify the best methods to encourage homeowners, businesses and communities to plan for natural disasters and adopt mitigation and education measures. h.r. 3820 also brings greater coordination to federal natural hazards r&d efforts. it direct the relevant agencies to develop a multihazards research agenda and identify where common research approaches are appropriate across different types of hazards. this will not only enable a research agenda for the lessons learned in one disaster can be applied to help prevent damage in another and therefore save

lives, it will use scarce taxpayer dollars more effectively and more efficiently. i would like to thank the ranking member of the technology and innovations subcommittee, mr. smith, for his hard work and support in helping us bring this bill to the floor. i would also like to recognize my friend and colleague, mr. broun, who is here on the floor today. i'd similarly like to thank the chairman of the full committee, the science and technology committee, mr. bart gordon of tennessee, and the ranking member, mr. hall of texas, the unforgettable mr. hall. h.r. 3820 is supported by the american society of civil engineers. i urge my colleagues to vote for its passage, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. broun: thank you, madam

speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise in support of h.r. 3820, the national hazards risk reduction act of 2010. whether they come in the form of hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis or other phenomena, natural hazards are infrequent and inevitable. and as illustrated by the recent events in haiti and in chile, can be devastating to life and property. the infrequent is i of such events is of course no excuse for complacency in taking steps to address them. the programs authorized in this legislation are the federal government's primary means of advancing science and technology to mitigate the risks of natural hazards. this legislation authorizes two programs, the natural earthquake hazards production program, or nehrp.

nehrp was founded in 1977 upon the growing threats of damaging earthquakes. it is an interagency effort consisting of four participating agencies, the national institute of standards and technology, supporting problem focused engineering research and development programs aimed at improving building design codes and construction standards. secondly, the national science foundation, the n.s.f., supporting basic research in geoscience, engineering and economic and social aspects of earthquakes. the third is the u.s. geological survey conducting basic and applied earth science and seismology research. and, fourth, fema, which supports mitigation, response, education and outreach and

implementation of research results. similarly, the windstorm impact reduction program created in 2004 and modeled after nehrp consists of four agencies, nist, n.s.f. and noaa, the national oceanic and atmospheric administration, which funds research in atmospheric sciences to better understand and predict and respond to hurricanes, tornadoes and other wind storms. goals and activities of these two programs are clear. from engineering research to improved structural resiliencey of buildings to development of models -- model building codes and standards to recovery and response operations. the opportunities for leveraging earthquake mitigation and windstorm mitigation activities are numerous and substantial. accordingly, the primary objective of this legislation is to establish an overarching

coordination structure to improve communication and exploit potential synergies and ensure new knowledge developed from both programs can be translated into practice and eventually decreased vulnerabilities. much progress has been made with overall authorization levels in this bill which have been reduced from prior authorization levels. in particular, at three of the four nehrp agencies, authorized levels have been reduced to more realistic levels that still achieve its goals. a responsible approach given our overall fiscal situation. at the fourth nehrp, usgs, it is modestly increased. this reflects the position of the lead officers of the bill that earthquake research should be a priority at usgs. these two programs have directed the right priorities

and implemented a true coordinated interagency effort can be more effective and can be leveraged many times over. i appreciate the hard work from my fellow members of the committee and staff to balance the need for minimizing the risk of these nist natural disasters. with the fiscal reality of large deficits and debt. madam speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. wu: madam speaker, i yield three minutes to the gentleman from illinois, the chairman of the investigations and oversight subcommittee at the science committee, mr. lipinski. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. lipinski: thank you, madam chairman. i thank the chairman for yielding. one correction, research and science education committee. i'm chair but i have a background as an engineer. i understand the need for

understanding how systems work, understanding what can be done in preparation so that in this case, this bill of mr. wu's, we can do the best we can to mitigate, avoid the problems and deal with what happens in the aftermath of earthquakes and wind storms. i thank mr. wu for this bill, i thank chairman gordon also for moving this forward and bringing it to the house floor. i thank the republicans for the work, mr. broun, who is here today. this is something we often forget about until after a disaster strikes. we see with the earthquake in chile, so much talk about the planning beforehand, the requirements that buildings has

to be designed in a certain way to withstand earthquakes, the lives that were saved. probably tens of thousands of lives were saved from this. and this was all through a type of planning that can come through this bill. i think this is also important and i see it often not just in nist, n.s.f., we see these interdepartment agencies that are doing separate work and they don't oftentimes enough coordinate the work that they are doing. and so i think this bill does a very good job to make sure we have the coordination when it comes to planning for earthquakes, what we can do about that, wind storms. i thank mr. wu for this bill, introducing this bill and i urge my colleagues to support

it and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. broun: madam speaker, i continue to reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. wu: may i inquire of the gentleman from georgia if he has any further speakers? mr. broun: mr. wu, i have no further speakers. i'm prepared to close whenever you are. i inquire of you, mr. wu, do you have any further speakers? mr. wu: we have no further speakers. if the gentleman would close then i would close also. mr. broun: madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. broun: madam speaker, i appreciate the hard work that my good friend from oregon, mr. wu, and my friend from nebraska, mr. smith, have put into this bill. certainly, i'm as a fiscal conservative am concerned about how the agencies within the

federal government coordinate their activities and coordinate their communications. i congratulate mr. wu in trying to bring an overarching communications between these four governmental agencies. just today on fox news -- "fox&friends" news, they had a seismologist predicting in the very near future a major earthquake that would affect mr. wu's home state of oregon as well as the state of washington as well as the state of california. we've seen a tremendous number of earthquakes recently, and i think having the federal government's agencies to coordinate and to try to find a way to communicate between those is absolutely a much-needed process and i congratulate mr. wu on his efforts to do that. so having said all that, madam speaker, i am prepared to close, but i just do want to

again congratulate mr. wu on his hard work on this bill. i thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from oregon. mr. wu: madam speaker, i want to thank the gentleman from georgia for his very kind remarks. we do not and we actually should not agree all the time because these are sincere differences. i think we reflect in our personal values and in the values of our constituents. but the legislation that we are dealing with today demonstrates this congress working at its best on those issues where we should be coming together and we do. and i want to thank the gentleman. i want to thank mr. smith and mr. hall on the minority side. i'd be happy to yield to the gentleman. mr. broun: i agree wholeheartedly. i wish we could get together on heart reform and do something that's right for the american people. we could get together on an economic stimulus package, and

folks on our side would very much like to do so. and it's unfortunate that we have such a divide, a philosophical divide in many issues, but, mr. wu, i've enjoyed working with you on the science and technology committee. i love your state. i did my internship in portland, oregon. and i know that's where you live in that area. i wish we could get together on many issues. i congratulate you on your leadership in bringing together a bipartisan bill so that people do get together, at least on this issue. and i commit to you as well as to my democratic colleagues to work to try to find some commonsense solutions, market-based solutions to health reform, to getting our economy back on course and other things. i hope that we can work together on these. i thank you for yielding. i yield back. mr. wu: i thank the gentleman for his kind remarks. sometimes the largest things start in small ways.

and the longest journey starts with a small step, and perhaps we are taking that step today, mr. broun. you know, storms teach us all sorts of things, and personal effort and caring matter a lot. the snowstorms that perilized this city a couple weeks -- paralyzed this city a couple weeks ago is a metaphor of what's been going on with the policy mechanisms that goes on in this city. i believe in my home state within a few hours of the storm being over we'd be out there starting to clean up and we'd be doing a reasonable job of it fairly soon. but what happened here was paralysis for days at a time and people complaining about the city not shovel, not cleaning up the streets. in my neighborhood folks did shovel their sidewalks, and that makes a big difference.

just take care of your own sidewalk, and maybe help your neighbor if your neighbor is old or just not able to do these things for him or herself. and the second storm, i actually offered to pay my son a little bit of money to shovel the whole block. shoveling the block was the second most important thing to do. i think the most important thing to do was to teach him civic virtue and what serving the broader good is all about. this bill does serve the broader national good. . it demonstrates the importance of american technology because they borrowed their designs from the united states. it also helps us to understand where we need to get better because their highways had a lot of collapses just as our

highways during the quake in los angeles unfortunately collapsed and perhaps we can improve our designs for that. education is also a very, very important component of earthquake safety. in my state it is estimated that we could have a 9.5 richter scale quake, just like the world's largest quake ever recorded, that was down in peru and chile, and it was 9.5 on the richter scale. the scientists tell us that that's what can happen in the pacific northwest. and if actually has happened in the past. since the last ice age these quakes have occurred every 200 to 1,000 years and the average period is 300 years. we didn't know that this was going to go on. when i moved to oregon we didn't know anything about problems like this, but this is the process of science. through research on tree roots,

which were buried in mud, and research on japanese records, we found out that the last such earthquake occurred in january of 1701. 309 years ago. so if the average period of 300 years we are in that zone and we ought to be prepared. education is key. preparation is key. and it's not just the buildings, it's not just design. but it is also about educating people about what to do before the quake. what to do during the quake. what to do after the quake. and how do you prepare for a tsunami. how do you get out of the way? it takes courage, it takes overcoming fear. and there are different kinds of courage and different kinds of fear. and i know that some folks are concerned about what happens when we move to an all hazards approach to these natural phenomena.

i can tell you that this congress, this committee, will brown and i, will stand united in providing the resources so that we can appropriately reduce risk. across different phenomena whether the risk is created by wind, by water, by earthquake, or by tsunami. that is our obligation of leadership and we will provide the leadership to do that because at the end of the day the earthquakes, the wind, and other hazards they know no bounds. they know no geographic bounds or with respect to age, income, or other hasards -- hazard. madam speaker, i ask all members to vote in favor of this legislation and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3820 as amended. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no.

in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative -- the gentleman from georgia. mr. broun: 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 prayer's -- chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from oregon seek recognition? mr. wu: madam speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass house resolution 1097, supporting the goals and ideals of national engineers week, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: thrort the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1097, resolution supporting the goals and ideals of national engineers week, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore:

pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from oregon, mr. wu, and the gentleman from georgia, mr. broun, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from oregon. mr. wu: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on house resolution 1097, the resolution now under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. wu: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. wu: thank you, madam speaker. i rise today in support of house resolution 1097, supporting the goals and ideals of national engineers week. i would first like to thank my friend and colleague, the chairman of the subcommittee on research and science education, mr. lipinski, for introducing this resolution. as one of only a handful of engineers in congress, mr. lipinski has and will continue

to be a strong advocate for engineers and engineering on the science and technology committee and in congress. national engineers week, which was held from february 14 to february 20, one day short of a week, has grown into a more formal coalition of 100 engineering education and cultural societies, major corporations, and government agencies. its ghole is to raise public awareness of the significant positive contributions to society by engineers and encourage students to become engineers. this resolution supports the goals and ideals of national engineers week. it also pledges that the house of representatives will work with the engineering community to make sure that the creativity and contribution of the engineering community can be expressed through research, development, standardization,

education, and innovation. this is a vitally important cause for our country's future well-being. as china and india graduate record numbers of engineers, the number of engineering graduates in the united states is stagnant. this is a troubling sign for our ability to maintain our edge as the world's technology leader. i might add that numbers alone do not tell the story. quality as well as quantity count. and traditionally we in this country have focused on quality and maintaining the best education system and the best professional and technical communities that we can. and we need to maintain that lead in quality also. we also need to continue to highlight the importance engineers play in our society and encourage our young people to enter these careers.

engineering is a challenging field, but one that can be truly rewarding for both the engineer and our society. i ask you to join me in supporting this effort and urge passage of house resolution 1097. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from georgia. mr. broun: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. broun: h.res. 1097 supports the goals and ideals of national engineers week which was celebrated this year, february 14 through the 20th. national society of professional engineers established one of america's oldest professional outreach efforts, the national engineers week, in 1951 to coincide with president george washington's birthday. president washington is considered our nation's first

engineer, notably for his survey work. national engineers week is observed by more than 70 engineering education and cultural societies and more than 50 corporations and government agencies. the purpose of national engineers week is to call attention to the contributions to society that engineers make. it is also a time for engineers to emphasize the importance of learning math, science, and technical skills. during this week a wide range of activities are planned in order to promote interest in engineering and technological fields in the k through 12 levels. some of the events this year included introduce a girl to engineering day which was held on february 18. schools and businesses around the country use this to spark interest and enthusiasm for science and engineering among young women.

also discover engineering family day in washington, d.c., occurred on february 20, 2010,' national building museum. after a full day of hands on activities and amazing demonstrations, kids and their parents went home with a new appreciation for the wonders of engineering. engineers are a vital part of the american economy. everywhere you turn there is evidence of the hard work of an engineer. from designing and constructing cardiac pacemakers to the very formal transportation we use to move us from one place to another. engineering is all around us. i applaud our american engineers and their ingenuity and am pleased to see opportunities such as national engineers week that raise awareness and give credit to all of the engineers and their

valuable work and contributions to society. i hope that the awareness spreads to interest in this rewarding profession to all young people of this nation. i support the goals and ideals of national engineers week and i urge my colleagues to do the same. madam speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from oregon. mr. wu: madam speaker, i now yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from illinois, mr. lipinski, the chair of the research subcommittee of the science and technology committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois is recognized. mr. lipinski: i thank the chairman for yielding. madam speaker, i rise today in support of h.res. 1097, supporting the goals and ideals of national engineers week.

as one of only a handful of engineers in congress, as chairman wu mentioned, i am proud to again sponsor this resolution honoring national engineers week. i'd like to thank the gentleman from michigan, dr. ehlers, for working with me on this resolution and on many other issues. unfortunately for this institution, and for america's science and technology policy, dr. ehlers announced a couple weeks ago he was retiring at the end of the year. we are going to miss his leadership and knowledge, especially in the area of science technology, engineering, and math education. i'll particularly miss working with him as a co-chair of the stem ed caucus. promoting stem ed and education engineering education is a big part of what national engineers week is all about.

two weeks ago marked the 20th anniversary of national engineers week, and for each of the five years they have introduced this resolution, it seems to get more important. we continue to fall behind other countries in the stem fields, with china seemingly poised to overtake us as a leading producer of knowledge within a decade. our infrastructure continues to languish. there are serious energy and water challenges in our country. at the same time we face an urgent need to create jobs. if we want to solve these problems, any of these problems, we need engineers. of course engineers build bridges and airplanes, but they also are the ones who design our computer networks and turn discoveries into products, industries, and jobs. the more than two millionning nears in the u.s. have helped make our country great.

but we need more of them. we need to recognize the contributions they have made and continue to make to our nation. national engineers week seeks to address this problem through events aimed at educating use and foster public awareness about the vital contribution made by engineers to our quality of life and economic prosperity. the programs like future city competition, interdutiesing girls to engineering day, and the first robotics competition, the national engineers week foundation confronts the challenge ever encouraging more students to pursue careers in engineering. engineering week combines numerous events like the ones i just mentioned. another example is students learning the value of teamwork as a working group to develop creative and practical solutions to some of the most important problems facing our nation in the world.

problems like designing future cities make engineering come alive for students, planting a seed that can lead to further studies or career in engineering. in fact, research shows that our children's early experience with science and engineering are a stronger prediction of long lasting interest in science fields than aptitude testing. -- tests. by drawing on volunteers throughout the country, engineer week reaches thousands of parents, teachers, and students exposing them to the excitement of engineering in a real and tangible way. . i can attest with my own childhood experiences with science and technology captivated me. i was always fascinated with the way things work. i remember going to museum of science and industry in chicago , touring the coal mines, watching the model trains run over this enormous track layout that they had were two of my

favorite activities. these exhibits excited and can't vate me. most importantly, though, -- captivated me. most importantly, though, i remember the teachers who helped mold this childhood fascination into an interest in engineering. all these experiences instilled in me the knowledge, confidence, intellectual curiousity that helped me pursue a chemical engineering and a mast aries degree in eng -- master's degree in engineering at stanford. national engineers week is to provide this kind of inspiration, inspiration i had as a child to inspire the next generation of students. we definitely need these students. by 2012 about 46% of all engineering jobs could become vacant due to the retirement by the aging work force. educating america's youth in

engineering and science needs to be a priority. i understand that engineering education is useful no matter what someone decides to do. my education helps me understand technology and science issues, stem education, transportation, manufacturing and risk analysis. what it -- but it is more than knowledge. engineering is problem solving. there are so many problems that we need to find solutions to in our nation and in the world. and engineers will be involved in finding all of those solutions. madam speaker, i'd like to again thank the gentleman from michigan, dr. ehlers, as well as the 27 other co-sponsors of this resolution. i'd also like to thank senator coffman for introducing a companion bill in the senate. above all, i'd like to thank the engineers who have contributed so much to america

and honor them for their commitment to continuing to better our society. i urge my colleagues to pass this resolution. and i yield back to the gentleman from oregon. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon reserves. the gentleman from georgia. mr. broun: madam speaker, i have no more members requesting time to speak so i'm ready to close whenever the chairman is ready to close. mr. wu: if the gentleman would close then i would also close and then yield back the balance of my time. mr. broun: madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. broun: thank you, madam speaker. a lot of kids in this country think that engineers just drive trains. and it's unfortunate that that's true. but this bill recognizing the work of engineers is so

important. our service academies have big engineering departments, and all of our military service academies. in my own field of medicine, it's engineers in the medical field that create a lot of the new products that have helped save lives in america and has helped us have the best health care system in the world. so bringing forth the ideas of educating the american public to the importance of engineering i think is extremely valuable. we need to encourage our kids to consider careers in engineering because we owe in our economy and our society a tremendous amount, not only to those engineers that drive the trains around to help deliver the goods that we need throughout the country, but the other engineers that go to great lengths to help improve our lives and have made america

the greatest nation in the world for our innovation and our technology. and it's engineers that we owe just a tremendous debt of gratitude to them for what they do for this society. so i'm very, very eager to see this legislation pass. i'm very proud to be here on the floor managing this bill and encourage all of our members to support this legislation so that young men and women across this nation can understand the importance of engineering, that all of society can and will help to develop interest in the engineering field so that young men and women will go into engineering so we can continue with the design and innovation that has made this country great and will continue the greatness of america. and with that i congratulate mr. lipinski and my good friend, vern ehlers, dr. ehlers, for this legislation.

i ask all of our colleagues to support this legislation, and, madam speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from oregon. mr. wu: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. wu: i want to agree with my good friend and colleague from georgia that america does indeed, does indeed have the best health care system in the world. if you can pay for it. and the great struggle in which we find ourselves today is the challenge of coming together, of coming together to help all americans be able to pay for their health care. and i want to thank my friend for his service as a physician and as a member of this body. i also want to thank dr. ehlers , a ph.d. and physicist, for his service in this body.

we have worked on many issues together in a bipartisan fashion because these tend to be the issues which come before the science and technology committee. for years i was his ranking member and he was the chairman. for a few years i was the chairman and he was my ranking member. it did not matter who was playing which role in our agreement or quite frankly in our disagreement, but we were always honest about it and we were able to work for the public good. dr. ehlers, vern, thank you for your public service. today, i hope that my parents are actually watching c-span because they are both research engineers. at a certain level i remain concerned that i still regret that i left science and technology first for law and

now for what i call fun service. when i was here on this floor being sworn in, i could remember seeing them right there and what was going through my head was, you know, i wonder if my dad is still angry that i left science and technology. he cares about it, and my mom does also, because they realize that engineering is hard and that it's important. and recognition in this resolution today is appropriate because it recognizes that engineering is hard. all of us can remember that when we went through college, the engineers took these classes where they worked really, really hard and got three credits for it. and we took things that weren't

that hard and we got five credits for it. so it is a difficult thing for a student and it remains challenging as a young professional, and i think that this body and this nation should recognize and celebrate those things which are hard. at least in part just because they are hard. we should do some things because they are hard. we should do more. that's the american way. to work your way through, to earn your way through, to step up to the challenge. today, we take a small step with this resolution of recognition. i ask that all members support h.r. 1097. i'm happy to yield to the gentleman from georgia. mr. broun: madam speaker, i thank the gentleman for yielding a moment. i was just sitting here thinking. i'm sure mr. wu's parents are extremely proud of him, and he could tell them that he's

engaged in engineering. he's engaged in policy engineering and social engineering in the u.s. house of representatives. and i'm proud that he's my friend and we have a great time in science and technology because we can work together and can put personalities aside. but mr. wu has been just a phenomenal friend and a member of this committee, and i congratulate him. i'm sure the wu family is extremely proud of him even though he's not in technical engineering, he's involved in some kind of engineering here in another form today. i yield back. thank you. i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. wu: i thank the gentleman. i'm concerned about my dad. i think my mom realizes that i'm doing my best and i'm just trying to keep science and technology and engineering well funded through this committee. madam speaker, i yield back the balance of my time and ask all members to support the resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1097.

those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. mr. wu: madam speaker, i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. wu: 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 proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? >> madam speaker, i move to suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 747, as introduced. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 747, resolution congratulating the united states military academy at west point on being named by forbes magazine as america's best college for 2009 . the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from georgia, mr. marshall, and the gentleman from north carolina, mr. jones, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia. mr. marshall: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume and ask unanimous consent that all members may

have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the resolution under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. marshall: madam speaker, i rise today to support house resolution 747, which was introduced by the gentleman from new york, mr. hall, which honors the recent accomplishments of the united states military academy at west point for being named "forbes" magazine -- by "forbes" magazine as america's best college for 2009. i would like to thank my friend and colleague from new york, mr. hall, who is a member of the veterans' affairs committee, for authoring this resolution and bringing to to the house floor. the tradition of the west point academy has been one of achievement and i am proud to be here to recognize their excellence. i'm particularly pleased to be here because my father and grandfather are both west point graduates, now deceased, and i

should add that both mr. hall and myself are members of the board of visitors at west point. so as you might imagine we were pleased by the news that west point had been named america's best college by "forbes." west point has a tremendous history. since the establishment of the academy at the direction of president thomas jefferson in 1802, west point has been educating some of our nation's best and brightest who have gone on to distinguished services, officers in the united states military. west point's mission is, and i quote, to educate, train and inspire the corps of cadets so that each fwrad wit is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of duty, honor, country and prepare for a career in service to our nation as an officer in the united states army. this mission exceeds the school astic gains of most -- scho

lastic gains of most institutions. and they have an integrity and commitment to service. west point continues to provide exceptional education that prepares officers for their roles as future military leaders year after year. while many institutions have long traditions of academic success, few match the continued contributions west point military academy graduates make year after year to their country. it's no wonder that two presidents of the united states , 74 congressional medal of honor recipients, 8 rhodes scholars, 33 more shall scholars and 28 truman scholars have graduated from west point. madam speaker, i urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from north carolina. >> madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i might consume.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. jones: i rise in strong support of house resolution 747, congratulating the united states military academy at west point of being named by forbes magazine as america's best college of 2009. i want to commend representative hall of new york for sponsoring this legislation. as our history shows us this west point has a tradition of excellence that began with its establishment in 1802. for more than 200 years, our nation in peace and war has been made a better place by the excellence of the leaders produced by the military academy. this most recent recognition of west point by forbes magazine is the latest indication that the tradition of excellence continues. for those of us whose duty it is in the house to bring close contact with military academy graduate, recognition by forbes

magazine comes as no surprise. we are reminded frequently of the professional complebs and commitment to this nation that west point graduates consistently demonstrate. those qualities in and of themselves are reason enough to remain in support of this institution that has consistently urged young men and women to lead such excellent lives. i urge all members to support this resolution. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia. mr. marshall: i yield such time as he might consume, mr. hall of new york. he chairs the disability assistance and memorial affairs subcommittee of the veterans affairs committee. he's a great member of congress and a great member of the board

of visitors at west point, mr. hall. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hall: thank you, madam speaker, thank you, mr. marshall. and thank you, mr. jones for your kind words of support. of my legislation, house resolution 747. thank you as well to chairman skelton and ranking member mckeon for bringing this legislation through the armed services committee to the house floor. madam speaker, h.res. 747 recognized the achievement of the united states military academy at west point for being named "forbes" magazine's best college in 2009. not best military academy, but best college overall. in fact the headline on the front of that issue of forbes said, why west point beats harvard. i think it's something that many of us don't realize that not only is the academy turning out exemplary officers who will serve this country with great

creativity and loyalty and imagination and energy but they're turning out well-rounded students who know about a variety of very important subjects that are taught as well or better as at that school as at any public or private university in the country. i have the honor of representing west point in the 19th congressional district in new york and the 4,400 cadets who make up the student body at the united states military academy. i also have the honor, along with my friend, the gentleman from georgia, mr. marshall, of serving on the west point board of visitors. the "forbes" rankings were based on the evaluations of students, success of the graduates of the school and on the average debt incurred by graduates. there's a -- it is a great tribute to the caliber of the cadets, faculty and administration of west point to be ranked with and now above the other great institutions of higher learning in this

country, based on these important criteria. graduates of west point served their nation with the highest level of skill, honor, and devotion for more than 200 years. more than 70 west point grads have received a medal of honor for their service to our country. each of the senior commanding generals are alumni. 74 west point graduates have given their lives in afghanistan and iraq. west point's cadets fully embody the academy's motto, duty, honor, country. west point is a national treasure and a jewel of the hudson valley, where today's heroes and tomorrow's leaders trained. i'm proud of their accomplishments, pleased they have gotten the recognition they have earned, especially proud of my nephew who is one of the -- will be one of the graduates of the class of 2010. i ask my colleagues to join us in supporting h.res. 747 and i

thank you very much and yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from north carolina. mr. jones: madam speaker, i would like to queeled four minutes to the gentleman from illinois, a west point gradge watt himself. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for four minutes. >> thank you, madam speaker, i'm honored to come to the floor with my good friend, congressman jones and congressman whole who also represents that area and congressman marshall who served in the vietnam conflict and is a great friend. they both serb on the board of visitors, which i have recently named for to do the job next week when we meet to continue the job. congressman marshall mentioned the mission of the united states military academy which is to educate, train, and inspire the corps of cadets so each graduate is a commissioned

leader of character, committed to values of duty, honor, and country and prepared for service to the nation as an officer in the united states army. as was noted, i graduated in 1980. i have many of my classmates who are major commanders and leaders in the areas of battle today. the number one responsibility of the federal government is protection of our citizens. we do that by having a standing military. we have learned that the importance of having a professional military force is critical. thomas jefferson learned that and instituted the development of the united states military academy in 1802. the important thing that thomas jefferson did that was different, though, was he focused on raising the professional military army out of the regular citizens of our country. thus developing this process of which we nominate and we accept

, that it's not an elite from the elite, but it's a perspective of all americans, everyone who -- every young man or woman who achieves good grades or kids of character, strong, moral conviction, athletically fit and sound can compete for this opportunity for an education which has been noted by the magazine article. but they do it for more than just a good education. what they have agreed to do is serve their country. that's not a small decision to make in this environment. i'd like to submit for the record, since the global war on terror, since september 11, 2001, a list of those west pointers who fell in the line of duty. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. shimkus: notably, three

from the class of 2007 so far in this campaign. these are real patriots and these are young men and women who, since the attacks, in fact if you're at the academy and go up to the -- go out to lake frederick and climb up on the hill and get on one of the old fire stands, you can see the outlines of new york city. when i was there as a young man, you could see, at that time the world trade center. which is no more. west point still inspires dedication, commitment and young men and women who want to serve their country at a great institution of higher learning, being prepared to put their lives on the line in defense of their country. so i appreciate this time just to highlight what we do at west point but also at other academies. the naval academy, air force academy, that's hard for me to

say. coast guard academy, her vant -- merchant marine academy. we want to make sure all our young men and women know they have an opportunity to serve the country, the best one being at west point. i thank my colleague for giving me the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from georgia. mr. marshall: madam speaker, i appreciate the words of mr. shimkus. i appreciate his service. i hope everybody takes those words to heart and i would like to yield three minutes to mr. wu from oregon. mr. wu. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. wu: thank you, madam speaker. i thank mr. marshall for recognizing me for this period of time. i want to recognize mr. hall for his leadership in bringing this resolution to the floor and for his service to the congressional district which

includes west point and mr. jones on the republican side who has been a good friend and colleague. i have always taken pride in sending good young people to the service academies, including west point, and now i can say that for those who are going to west point that "forbes" has selected your institution as the finest college in america in 2009. i do believe, though, that these young people who go to our service academies are there not only to get a great education, they are there for service and the highest kind of public service because it puts them at great personal risk. my first recollection of visiting west point was at the age of 8. at that point, i was an immigrant child, i'm not sure i knew english completely, but i

could read well enough to read the stone, that not too large stone there that has a very large phrase on it. duty, honor, country. the words that the united states military has lived by under civilian leadership for over 200 years. i want to honor that long gray line i saw in 1962, and i just also wonder whether those academy graduates from the class of 1963 or 1964, whether there are any left in active service and perhaps they would be a four-star today. there is a long line of service, thank you very much, mr. marshall, mr. hall, for bringing this resolution to us. i yield back the balance of my

time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from north carolina. mr. jones: madam speaker, i just want to briefly thank mr. halled on everyone that's spoken today. i do not know a bigger thrill for me as a congressman when i called a young person in my district whom i've nominated to one of the three academies to tell them to expect a letter of appointment. it is a thrill that every time i make the call, every time is a thrill and i want to thank mr. hall for this resolution today and also mr. marshall and those who spoke and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from georgia. mr. marshall: madam speaker, earlier this year, the president made an announcement concerning troop build youp, the proposed plan where afghanistan is concerned and the plan to increase the presence of american soldier there is. he made the announcement in eisenhower hall at west point. i was privileged, along with mr. hall and a few other members of congress to attend

that. i was struck by the fact that the commander in chief, our president, was talking to thousands of young men and women, some of whom for sure will wind up being injured protecting our country in afghanistan. i'm wearing my infantry tie today, i have my c.i.b. on, i had the privilege of having a couple of years of service back during the vietnam war and i say it's a privilege and i view it that way. people will often say to me, thank you for your service and sometimes i respond, you don't really need to thank me. i got more out of this than i gave. i encourage all young americans to think about attending one of our kay academys. west point received this recognition as the best college in the united states but all the academies give wonderful educations and they give you a wonderful opportunity to serve.

it almost certainly will wind up being the most extraordinary thing you do in your lifetime should you hooze that go through one of the academies and serve in our military. that's certainly a case where i'm concerned and i've done a lot of things in my life. the most extraordinary time in my life was when i was in service, particularly when i was in combat. i thank the country for having given me that opportunity and if you're a kid and you're thinking about college, you ought to think about our service academies. you not only get a gate education, but you have an opportunity to serve in a way that you'll not be able to serve in any other capacity in this country and you'll really feel good about it if you do it well. i have no further -- do you want me to wrap up? i thank mr. jones, he's a great member of the armed services committee, a great member of this congress and a real supporter of the member and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman yeeds. -- yields. the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 747. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative -- mr. marshall: madam speaker, i'd ask for the yeas and nays on this vote. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, 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 georgia seek recognition? mr. marshall: madam speaker, i move to suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 699, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution.

the clerk: house resolution 699, resolution appreciation appreciation -- expressing the appreciation of congress for the service and sacrifice of the members of the 139th airlift wing, air national guard. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from georgia, mr. marshall, and the gentleman from north carolina, mr. jones, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia. mr. marshall: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume, and i ask that all members may have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on the resolution under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. marshall: madam speaker, i rise today in support of house resolution 699, recognizing the service and sacrifice of the members of the 139th airlift wing of the air national guard. i'd like to thank my colleague, the gentleman from missouri, mr. graves, for bringing this resolution before the house. units of the air national guard play a critical role in

america's wars and major contingencies as well as provide valuable assistance to their states in times of crisis. i'm extremely proud of georgia's air national guard and the wing. the 139th airlift wing has roots in the most recognized air national guard in the united states and continues to be an important part of defense efforts at home and abroad. the unit deployed in support of operation enduring freedom in afghanistan and assisted in troop deployment in operation desert storm. in the 1990's, the 139th supported humanitarian operations in bosnia, sare yea vow, africa and haiti. -- sarajevo, africa and haiti. and they also helped in response to hurricane katrina. today, thousands of civilian and military personnel from northwest missouri and

northeast kansas serve selflessly in the unit. the 139th airlift wing provides maintenance and growth of the armed services. the unit is home to the advanced airlift tactics training center that trains airlift u.s. crews and support personnel as well as nato personnel and advanced tactics training. house resolution 699 recognizes the dedication and courage of not only the members of the 139th airlift wing and their families and service to the nation but also all of the members of the armed forces who have served or are currently serving in support of the united states military contingency operations. all our service members and their families deserve our deepest gratitude and respect. i urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing the exempary service and sacrifice of the 139th -- exemplary service and sacrifice of the 139 airlift wing and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from north carolina. mr. jones: madam speaker, thank you. i yield myself such time as i may consume.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. jones: thank you. i rise in strong support of house resolution 699 which recognizes the service and sacrifices of the members of the 139th airlift wing missouri air national guard. i want to commend my friend, representative sam graves from missouri, for introducing this resolution. the 139th airlift wing is a remarkably diverse and capable unit. for example, one of the major subordinate units is the advanced airlift tactical training center. that unit exemplifies the total force concept because its members come not only from the air national guard but also from the air force reserve and the active air force. they provided advance tactical training to improve the effectiveness and suitability of airlift crews from allents of the air force. these -- all components of the air force. the marine corps and 15 allied

nations. members deployed are in support of operations in iraq and afghanistan to include a missouri aggregate business who came back from a year-long mission in afghanistan. the success of the 139th air wing is directly related to the dedication, sacrifice and professionalism of the nearly 2,500 civilian and military personnel who carry out the unit's missions. their efforts deserve our recognition and thanks. for that reason i urge all members to support this resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from georgia. mr. marshall: i continue to reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from north carolina. mr. jones: madam speaker, i'd like to -- excuse me -- i'd like to yield five minutes to the gentleman from missouri who introduced this resolution, mr. graves. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from missouri is recognized for five minutes. mr. graves: thank you, madam

speaker. madam speaker, last july i was humbled to introduce 699, expressing the appreciation of congress for the service and sacrifice of the members of the 139th airlift wing, missouri national guard. since world war ii, the men and women of the 139th have been in st. joseph's county which is in my district. further, i want to thank my colleagues who join me in co-sponsoring this resolution and in helping move forward such an important tribute. i'd also like to recognize the 139th airlift wing's commanders, at least those which i have been able to work with. general steve mccamey, colonel davin -- colonel davenport and colonel mcnulty. he's been a dynamic leader in expanding the missouri air

national guard and has been an invaluable resource to my office, the military and also the st. joseph community. the 139th airlift wing initially designated as the 139th bombardment squadron, has been serving our nation proudly since 1946 which is one of the first federally recognized air national guard units in the nation. they have deployed in support of the korean war, operation desert storm, military operations alongside nato forces as part of operation joint force in europe, operation enduring freedom in afghanistan. and members of the 139th airlift wing have assisted with humanitarian efforts in response to the great flood of 1993, hurricane katrina, severe storms that struck northwest missouri in 2007 and most recently in response to the devastating earthquake in haiti. in 1984, the 139th airlift wing became common to the tactics training center which is what some have already pointed out today.

the advanced airlift tactics training center advances the survivelt of mobility forces in a combat environment and is utilized by our military and nato forces from around the world it is used by reserve units and active duty units alike. it's always interesting whenever i have the ability to travel abroad, to afghanistan or iraq, and as members of the congress we travel with c-37 crews. i ask them if they've been through the school at st. joe and 90% of them say yes, they have, which has taught them survivability in those areas. lastly, i want to express my sincere gratitude to the nearly 2,500 civilian and military personnel from northwest missouri and northeast kansas which serves selfishly in the 139 airlift wing. i commend them of their sacrifice and their families

and members of the military who have served, currently serve in the u.s. military contingency operations at home and abroad. madam speaker, please join me in thanking the members of the 139th airlift wing and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from georgia. mr. marshall: we have no further speakers. mr. jones: madam speaker, if i can be recognized i'd like to yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back his time. the gentleman from georgia. mr. marshall: madam speaker, i certainly home that the house will support house resolution 699, and i just want to take this opportunity on behalf of all members of the armed services committee and all members of the congress to thank the men and women of our national guard. whatever branch. for the service that you provide for this country and the service in which you're providing this country in terms

of the contingency operation. it's a strain on you and your families. we're grateful. the nation ose you. we appreciate your -- owes you. we appreciate your service. with that 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 699 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair -- mr. marshall: 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 georgia rise? -- seek recognition? mr. marshall: madam speaker, i move to suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 812

as amended. the speaker pro tempore: title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 812, resolution recognizing the significant contributions of the military working dog, m.w.d., program to the united states armed forces. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from georgia, mr. marshall, and the gentleman from north carolina, mr. jones, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia. mr. marshall: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume and ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks . the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. marshall: madam speaker, i rise today in support of house resolution 812, recognizing the significant contributions of the military working dog program to united states armed forces. i'd like to thank my colleague from new jersey, mr. lance, for bringing this measure before the house. military working dogs contribute essential services

to our armed forces through their capacity to detect explosives, illegal narcotics and unwarranted persons beyond the capacity of any human patrol. they offer an invaluable ability for tracking missing people as well as fleeing suspects. their support with century is crucial for the protection of our soldiers and civilians, and they are vital in so many different roles. our military would not be as effective without them. military working dogs serve the four branches of the military, the secret service, the central intelligence agency and the transportation security administration. their service was -- has developed and expanded since their implementation in 1942 during world war ii and have since played important roles overseas in korea, vietnam, iraq and afghanistan. the military working dog program has also increased its role in safeguarding our homeland. since september 11, 2001, our expanded homeland and defense efforts would not be as effective if it were not for the expanded effort of the

military working dog program. thousands of dogs serve every year, both in the united states and around the world, and i am glad to be here today in honor of their service. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from north carolina. mr. jones: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. jones: madam speaker, i rise in support of house resolution 812, which recognizes the significant contribution of the military working dog program to the united states armed forces. dogs have long been known as man's best friend. they are brave, loyal, trustworthy. it is not a coincidence that these are the same traits so valued by the united states military services. it is these qualities that have made our armed forces unsurpassed. it is no wonder that the natural bond between man and dogs are these shared characteristics have made military working dogs vital to the success of our armed

forces. since the k-9 corps was developed during world war ii, prior to the second world war, the only dogs employed by the military were sled dogs used by the army in alaska. war dogs, as they were called in world war ii, were trained to be century dogs, scouts or patrol dogs, messenger dogs and mind detection dogs -- mine detection dogs. today's military working dogs provide critical services in explosive and narcotic detection, century patrol and tracking not -- century patrol and tracking not only to the secret service, the central intelligence agency, and the transportation security administration. currently, there are over 2,000 military working dogs serving at military bases throughout the world. over 250 are serving in iraq and afghanistan alongside our troops fighting to rid the world of tyrants and terrorism. these dogs are credited to saving countless americans and coalition lives by their

actions and are recognized as a true force multiplier and enabler. sadly, madam speaker, military working dogs experience the same hardships and horrors of combat as the men and women they work to protect, including paying the ultimate price with their lives. since the beginning of the program, hundreds of dogs have been killed in action, 281 in the vietnam war alone. on a brighter note, today's military working dogs are retired after their lifetime of military service with the help of countless charitable agencies working with the department. they bring joy to their adopted families and serve as am boss dors for the military working dog program. madam speaker, i would like to thank the gentleman from new jersey for introducing this resolution to recognize the extraordinary military working dogs. i join him and my colleagues to honor these incredible dogs and

their military handlers and support adoption of the military working dogs who have served this nation so well. i therefore strongly urge all members to support this resolution. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia. mr. marshall: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from north carolina. mr. jones: i would like to introduce the gentleman who introduced this this legislation, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. lance. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lance: i rise today as a sproud support son of -- proud sponsor of this resolution recognizing the contribution of the united states military dogs to the military and the nation. dogs have been use by people to protect themselves and their

property since ancient times. trained dogs have been used by most of the world's military forces since the first militaries were organize. the military adopted the working dog program called the k-9 corps, shortly after the attack on pearl harbor when dog owners across the nation donated their noble pets to assist soldiers and sailors in the world war ii effort. since that time, military working dog training has been continually refined to produce a highly sophisticated and versatile extension of the warrior's own senses. military working dogs are trained in explosives detection, markets detection, sentry, patrol, tracking and other specific areas. even the most complex machines remain unable to duplicate the operational effectiveness of properly trained working dogs.

the branches of the united states armed forces as well as several other governmental agencies incorporate military working dog into their operation. including, as has been mentioned, the secret service, the central intelligence agency, and the transportation security administration. the united states military utilized more than 10,000 dogs in world war ii, more than 1,500 working dogs were employed in the korean war and 4,500 in the vietnam war. since september 11, military working dogs have served not only in iraq and afghanistan, but also in detection work as part of homeland security and defense efforts. approximately 2,000 military working dogs currently serve at nearly 170 u.s. military bases worldwide, including bases in 40 u.s. states and three u.s.

territories. over the past six decades, these dogs have helped prevent injuries and have saved the lives of thousands of americans. this resolution to honor these brave canines was inspired by a military working dog adopted by a family in flemington, new jersey in my congressional district. military working dog ben see sar 20 was retired from the air force last july after nearly 11 years of loyal service in the military. ben twrained as a markets and patrol dog, served with a security unit at boeing air force base, as the premier markets dog in the unit, he was selected to deploy to texas to assist the border detection agency where he detected and prevented 300 pounds of

marijuana from being smuggled into the u.s. in one month. ben also worked in law enforcement, foot patrols, and resource security to keep employees, residents, and visitors at the air force base safe. the air force award ben with a commendation to recognize the achievements he's received throughout his career. house resolution 812 also recognizes community organizations for their efforts to assist in the adoption process of retired military working dogs. j.t. gabrielle, a constituent of mine and -- gabrielle and a constituent of mine and ben's new owner is ea the found over k-9 soldiers, that supports canine troops worldwide. noigs providing support for active military working dog units, k-9 soldiers and mr. other community groups work

with the adoption program at lackland air force base in texas to help secure a home for military working dogs once they retire. thanks to their efforts, hundreds of retired military working dogs have been able to find good homes and continue to lead happy and healthy lives after their years of loyal service to the nation. i thank the chairman and ranking member for allowing us to bring this bill to the floor and the members who are co-sponsors of house resolution 812. i encourage all of my colleagues to support this resolution and honor the thousands of active and retired military working dogs that have helped save lives and protected the members of our armed forces in harm's way. thank you, madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia. mr. marshall: i yield myself such time as i may consume and simply observe that our very

effective military dogs cannot function at all without their handlers and so i'd just like to recognize and thank those who work with these dogs and make them all that they can be. the dogs are very important to security efforts by our armed forces and without their handlers, and then the general support that they receive from others, they would not be effective at all. with that, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from north carolina. mr. jones: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. thompson. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for two minutes. mr. thompson: thank you, madam speaker. i rise in support of house resolution 812, recognizing the significant contributions of the military working dog program in the united states armed forces. i thank my good friend from new jersey for putting forth this resolution. as my colleagues have stated, military working dogs have

served side by side with men and women in protecting their the nation. many of these working dogs serve on the front lines as bomb sniffing dogs, detecting explosives and other threat, but also working markets detection, patrols and even sentry arkselerting our brave soldiers when they're in danger. back in 2005, air force tech sergeant jamie dana and her military working dog rex were traveling in a convoy in kirkuk, iraq after searching several villages for explosives. rex a german shepherd, had been working with dana for years. they hit a roadside explosive device. dana was the most badly injured

and was rushed to a hospital, and kept asking for rex. dana defied the odds and recovered. during her recovery at walter reed, she woke to a surprise, rex was there with very few injuries. mr. jones: i yield the gentleman another minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. jones: if i could yield the gentleman 2 1/2 minutes to finish his words. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. thompson: i thank the gentleman for yielding the additional minutes. during dana's recovery, she awoke to a big surprise. rex was there alive, with little marne slight burn on his northeast nose. rex was scheduled to be brought back into service. growing up in pennsylvania's

fifth congressional district, dana has always loved animals, especially dogs and horses. she repeatedly asked to adopt rex but she was not allowed to keep him until congress, recognizing the importance of military working dogs, passed a law for certain wounded veterans. tech sergeant dana and others put their lives on the line every day for the country and so do their dog thesms contributions have touched the lives of so many. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution honoring military working dogs and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back his time. the gentleman from georgia. mr. marshall: noif -- i have no further speakers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina. mr. jones: i i think it's appropriate to say to everyone that's spoken today, thank you for your comments but i would like to share that the house has passed legislation that would allow a war dog memorial

to be built at no expense to the taxpayer, either the building of the memorial or the upkeep. with that, madam speaker, i would like to say to the gentleman in georgia, it's a pleasure to work with you, you're one of the gentleman -- gentlemen i have the greatest respect for in this house for your integrity. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia. mr. marshall: i appreciate the gentleman from north carolina for saying that as he's weedly viewed in the house as being nothing but integrity. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 812 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. without objection, the title is amended.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from connecticut seek recognition? >> thank you madam speaker. i move to the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1072 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 10 72, resolution recognizing louisiana state university for 150 years of service and excellence in higher education. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from connecticut, mr.

courtney, and the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. thompson, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from connecticut. mr. courtney: thank you, madam speaker. i request five legislative days in which members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on house 1072 into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. courtney: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. courtney: i rise today in support of h.res. 1072, which celebrates louisiana state university for 150 years of service and leadership in higher education. founded in 1860 as a seminary school and military academy, the university has grown to educate more than 26,000 students annually, including more than 1,400 international students. the students and faculty, past and present, guide l.s.u. to its current standing as the flagship public university of

the state of louisiana. l.s.u.'s dedication in the classroom is matched by its athletic achievements. it's earned over 46 national championships, including a recent 2009 national men's baseball championship. l.s.u. also demonstrates leadership and serves the communities of louisiana. this was best exemplified by its role in the aftermath of hurricane katrina. in addition to accepting 2,300 displaced students from universities throughout the region, 3,000 l.s.u. students volunteered to help injured hurricane katrina evacuees. l.s.u.'s support is critical to recovery and i thank the university and its students for their service. this year, louisiana state university will celebrate 150 years of providing excellent education and cultivating young men and women who become local, state and national leaders. madam speaker, once again i express my support for louisiana state university and

thank representative cassidy for bringing this bill forward, i urge my colleagues to join me in support of this resolution, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania. >> madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. thompson: i rise in support of house resolution 1072, recognizing louisiana state university for 150 years of service and excellence in higher education. they made their origin in 1806, 1811 for uses as a seminary learning. in 1853, the louisiana general assembly established the seminary of learning of the state of louisiana near pineville, louisiana. the institution opened on january 2, 1860. in 1870, the name of the institution was named to louisiana state university. today, l.s.u. holds a prominent

position in american higher institution. one of only 25 universities designated as both a land grant and a sea grant institution. it also holds the carnegie foundation's doctorial research extensive designation. l.s.u. offers degrees in 71 back layerette programs, 7 -- mr. baca: programs, -- baccalaureate programs. and it is recognized with over 800 sponsored research projects. l.s.u. not only boasts an excellent academic program, it is a powerhouse in athletics as well. it administers 11 intercollegiate women sports teams and nine men's sports teams. they have won 25 championships won by the women's track and field team. l.s.u. also holds a history of civic service through its 150 years of existence. most recently, l.s.u. operated the nation's largest field

hospital in the aftermath of hurricane katrina. in addition, the university accepted an additional 2,300 students in the greater new orleans area who were displaced after that disaster. louisiana state university is ranked 128th in the national universities category by the 2010 u.s. news & world report ranking of u.s. colleges, 64th among public universities. additionally, u.s. news & world report ranked l.s.u. as the 16th most popular university in the nation. i extend my congratulations to louisiana state university on its 150th anniversary and wish all its faculties, staff, students and alumni continued success in their endeavors. i ask my colleagues to support this resolution, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from connecticut. mr. courtney: i verve. the gentleman from the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. thompson: it's my honor to yield to my friend from

louisiana, mr. cao. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana is recognized. mr. cao: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, i rise to honor louisiana state university, which is celebrating 150 years of academic achievement to the state of louisiana. this celebration marks the culmination of many goals of louisiana state university. after they reached the end of their second major capital campaign before l.s.u. campaigned, and their academic blueprint for the future, the flagship agenda. l.s.u. has had the long standing goal as being designated as a tier 1 university by u.s. news & world report, and for the past two years, l.s.u. has achieved this ranking. for the past 25 years, however, l.s.u. has held the highest carnegie foundation classification. the designation of a very high research activity university. l.s.u. is the state of louisiana's flagship

institution and as the international leadership in research, they are one of 30 universities as being designated as the land, sea and space grant institution. most recently, l.s.u. won $10 million in grants and contracts related to the coast, including agriculture, erosion, substance, store modeling and social resiliencey to disasters. further, l.s.u. is deeply rooted in tradition and both a large percentage of students from the greater new orleans area, which i represent. i most notably and -- notably -- after hurricane katrina, l.s.u. opened its doors to enroll an administration of 2,700 students from the new orleans area, and the l.s.u. community housed thousands more. overnight, l.s.u.'s house

became a special needs shelter. and pete maravich assembly center became the largest acute care field hospital in america's history. with 800 beds, 1,700 medical personnel from across the nation and thousands more volunteer working to serve and care of those affected by the storm, their motto became, just make it happen. it was -- it was the epitomy of goodness. i am proud to represent approximately 8,000 l.s.u. alumni living in orleans and jefferson parishes. on behalf of the citizens of orleans and jefferson parishes, i want to thank the l.s.u. community for what they did with us after hurricane katrina and rita. the l.s.u. community is proud of their traditions, and today they are and should be proud of their commitment to academic excellence and community service. i want to congratulate my good

friend, bill cassidy, for bringing this resolution to the floor. the sixth congressional district cannot find a more dedicated, a more honorable representative than bill cassidy. i strongly encourage my colleagues to vote for this resolution. congratulations to the l.s.u. community on its 150th anniversary. thank you and i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from connecticut. mr. courtney: thank you, madam speaker. we have no further speakers. i'll reserve subject to your final -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. thompson: i have no additional speakers so i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back his time. mr. courtney: thank you, madam speaker. i yield back the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1072 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair,

2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are -- mr. courtney: on that, madam speaker -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from connecticut. mr. courtney: thank you, madam speaker. 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 connecticut seek recognition? mr. courtney: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 112. -- 1112. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 11 13, resolution congratulating the pennsylvania state university i.f.c.-panhellenic dance marathon, thon, on the continued success of the four

diamond. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from connecticut, mr. crort knee, and the gentleman from -- courtney, and the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. thompson, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from connecticut. mr. courtney: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, i request five legislative days during which members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on house resolution 1112 into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized. mr. courtney: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. madam speaker, i rise today in support of house resolution 1112, which recognizes pennsylvania state university's dance marathon fundraiser for its enthusiastic continued support of the four diamonds fund at penn state hershey children's hospital. this is an event which was first started in 1972, raised $2,000 in that year and since then has continued on the annual basis raising a staggering amount of money for

an incredibly good cause, the children's hospital at the hershey medical center. i know the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. thompson, the sponsor of this resolution, is far more familiar with the history of this extraordinary effort than i am. and i would just soon defer to him to talk about this resolution, and i'd reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. thompson: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. thompson: thank you, madam speaker. i rise today in for of shouse resolution 1112, congratulating the pennsylvania state university, i.f.c.-panhellenic dance marathon, or thon, as is referred to at penn state, on its continued success in support of the four diamonds fund at pen state -- penn state hershey children's hospital. it is a public research university founded in 1855 as the farmer's high school of pennsylvania. the school was renamed

pennsylvania state college in 1875, and in 1889 it became pennsylvania state university. today, penn state offers 160 different majors and over 43,000 students enrolled at the university's main campus and state college of pennsylvania just miles from my hometown. penn state has a strong reputation for its academic, athletic and civil -- civic excellence. it is known as one of the public ivys and is known for its community involvement. the penn state hershey children's hospital at the penn state hershey medical center in hershey, pennsylvania, is the only children's hospital located in south central pennsylvania and the home of the region's only level one nicu. the hospital is a leader in several specialties and vanked higher than 90% in patient satisfaction. the four diamond fund for the penn state hershey children's hospital was established to conquer childhood cancer by assisting children and their

families through treatment. the fund has helped more than 2,000 families by offsetting the cost of treatment and additional expenses incurred during treatment. the penn state council and the panhellenic has an annual dance marathon called thon. it took place in 1973 and has raised more than $68.9 million since then. it now has 15,000 student volunteers and is part of a year-long effort to raise funds and awareness. they raised over $7.8 million just last weekend for peed at rick cancer -- pediatric cancer treatments. it is the largest philanthropy in the world. and it raises awareness of children with cancer. as a member representing them here in washington, i want to congratulate penn state, the dancers, the students, the

individuals who make the donations and the organizations involved in the thon event and recognize them for their commitment to helping others. their activities have truly touched the lives of so many, and i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from connecticut. mr. courtney: thank you, madam speaker, we have no further speakers. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. thompson: madam speaker, i have no additional speakers as well so i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the gentleman from connecticut. mr. courtney: i urge support of the resolution and 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 1112. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the rules is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

for what purpose does the gentleman from connecticut seek recognition? mr. courtney: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 362 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 362, resolution expressing the support of the house of representatives for the goals and ideals of the national school lunch program. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from connecticut, mr. courtney, and the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. thompson, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from connecticut. mr. courtney: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, i request five legislative days during which members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on house resolution 362 into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. courtney: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. courtney: thank you. i rise today in support of house resolution 362, which expresses the house of representatives' support for the goals and ideals of the

national school lunch program. when it comes to education in our country, we traditionally focus on reading, writing and extra curricular activities. we want to assure that our students have access to well-trained teachers and the tools they need to achieve academic success. however, we often forget that an essential tool to any child's academic success can also be found outside the classroom in the school cafeteria. children who are hungry are at a disadvantage to their peers. studies show that those hungry have a high likelihood of lower math scores, increased absences and tardyness and a higher chance of having to repeat a grade. children who are not well nourished are also more likely to need referrals to special education services. nearly 1/3 of our children today are overweight and obese. obesity rates have soared,

increasing nearly five-fold in those ages 6 to 11. helping children have a healthy relationship with food and nutrition has never been more important. the first lady, michelle obama, has started a new program to deal with this challenge. the let's move campaign helps parents make better choices, improving access to better food in communities. the national school lunch program can have a central role in the first lady's efforts to help people achieve their highest efforts. for over 60 years, the national school lunch program has served as a safeguard for the health and well being of our nation's children. madam speaker, i would also like to take note of the changes we've seen in school food menus over the years. in cafeterias in all our communities you might find a

menu that offers salad bars with fresh fruit, whole wheat pizza or freshly made chicken wraps. the days of mystery meats are passed. today's students want to eat in the school cafeteria because the food tastes good and offer mrs. options. however, we know that healthy foods cost more. the u.s. department of agriculture has reported the fool cost to create a reimbursable lunch generally exceeds that of the federal reimbursement for free lunches. help to address this concern, the president has requested an adecisional $1 billion for child nutrition programs to help improve nutrition and quality and make these available to more children. these will go a long way in school calf tier tos -- cafeterias across the country and i look forward to working with the president and my colleague on this initiative.

lastly, madam speaker, this week each of us may be receiving visits from our local school lunch fund service directors. i want to acknowledge the fine work of the school lunch workers. they are the front lines in thevert and deserve our thanks. i would like to thank representative watson for introducing this important resolution that highlights the needs of this program and urge my colleagues to support it. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? mr. thompson: i rise to yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. thompson: i rise in support of house resolution 36 , expressing the support of the house of representatives for the goals and ideals of the national school lunch program. the national school lunch program was first established by the school lunch act in

1946. the program enables students to purchase school lunches at a free or reduced price. focusing on students whose families cannot afford the full price of a school meal. the program also promotes a basic understanding of nutrition and healthful eating. in fiscal year 2009, over 31.2 million children participated in the school lunch program every day. 19.4 million of those children received their meals for free or at a reduced rate. participation has steadily grown over the years since the program was first established over 60 years ago. the school lunch program was administered in approximately 100,000 schools by the u.s. department of agriculture's food and nutrition service. at the state level it's administered by the state education agencies through agreements with local authorities. private or public nonprofit

schools serving grades k through 12 and public or private nontroft child care for preschoolers can participate. they receive money for each meal they serb and they must offer free reduced price lunches to eligible children. the national school lunch program helps provide meals during the school day to students who may not otherwise be able to afford them. i stand in support of this resolution, expressing support for the goals and ideals of the national school lunch program and the children it serves. i ask my colleagues' support and mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from connecticut. mr. courtney: we have no further speakers, i reserve the balance of my time, subject to the gentleman from pennsylvania's remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves.

the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. thompson: i have no additional speakers, so i will yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from connecticut. mr. courtney: thank you, mr. speaker, in closing, just again, i would urge strong support for this resolution. it's a timely measure because as the gentleman from pennsylvania knows, the today the education and labor committee is holding a hearing on re-authorizing the child nutrition act and school lunch program is really at the cent heretofore effort and again, -- at the center of that effort and again, i urge support of the resolution and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 362 as amended? those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended -- mr. courtney: i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and make

a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from connecticut seek recognition? mr. courtney: thank you, mr. speaker. i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1111. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1111, designating march 2, 2010, as read across america day. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from connecticut, mr. courtney, and the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. thompson, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from connecticut. mr. courtney: thank you, mr. speaker. i request five legislative days in which member mace revise and extend and insert extraneous material on house resolution 1111 into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. courtney: i yield myself such time as i may consume.

sproim the gentleman is recognized. mr. courtney: i rise in support of house resolution 111, which recognizes march 2, 2010, as read across america day and encourages parents to read to their children. read across america day was established in 1998 to celebrate reading. it provides support to parents and teachers to keep their children reading all year long through activities such as the catavan which travels across the country providing books to students. it is held on dr. seuss' birthday each year. theodore geissel, better known as dr. seuss, began writing

children's books in 1936 and has since inspired children to explore reading through favorites such as "the cat in the hat" and other books. children exposed to reading before kindergarten become more successful readers and those who fail at reading is more likely to drop out of school. more than 6,000 adolescents are struggling readers. and more than 7,000 drop out of school every day. reading to a child when they're young encourages them to read and achieve more as adolescents and adults. this demonstrates the importance of literacy and the voofl read across america this critical literacy product is supported by a range of partners, including the district of columbia's the after school alliance, and first book. the n.e.a., along with the pearson foundation has donated

$100,000 in funds and books to public school libraries across our country while 45 million children and adults are expected to participate in this year's 2010 program. i want to particularly thank representatives markey and eleers for bringing this resolution forward and encourage my colleagues to support this resolution. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? mr. thompson: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. thompson: i rise in support of house resolution 1111, designating march 2, 2010, as read across america day. once upon time, when there were no televisions or computers, raid wugs a primary low pressure activity. people would spend hours reading books, using their imagination to travel to lands far away. today many people don't have

the same passion to read, this is unfortunate because reading offers a productive approach toim proving vocabulary and word power. it helps keep adults and children abreast of the various styles of writing and new vocabulary. children who start reading from an early age are observed to have a -- to have good language skills and grasp phonics much better. children and teenagers who love reading have comparably higher i.q.'s, are more creeavet and excel at school and college. it involves greater levels of concentration and add to the conversational skills of the reader. it's an indulgence that enhances the knowledge required consistently. the habit of reading also helps readers to decipher new words and phrases they come across in everyday conversation. it helps us to stay in touch with contemporary writers as well as those from yesteryear. theodore geissel, better known as dr. seuss is the most

beloved children's book author of all time. his titles include "green eggs and ham requests and "the cat in the hat." his use of rhymes help children develop the reading skill they need to be successful and develop a life-long love of reading. celebrating both dr. seuss and reading sends the message that reading is important. i thank my colleagues for sponsoring this resolution and ask that all my colleagues support its passage and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. for what purpose does the gentleman from connecticut rise? mr. courtney: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm pleased to recognize the gentlewoman from colorado, the sponsor of this legislation, congresswoman betsy markey for as much time as she may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognize. ms. markey: i rise today in support of a cat known

worldwide for his rid and white hat. in support of a fox who liked to wear socks and his game-playing friend called mr. knox. in support of an elfont horton who hears a who and a human mr. brown who proves he can moo. in support of those who hopped on pop and a dad who yelled at them to stop, in support of those amusing side kicks, thing one and thing two, and all of those folks with the last name of who. in support of marvin k. mooney who just couldn't go and those multiple colored fish we all know. in support of cindy lou who and the mean old grinch and the lorax who speakers in trees in a pinch. these characters taught our children to read in the field of children's literacy, dr. seuss took the lead. throughout power of green eggs

and ham, our children explain, i can read, sam i am. i come before the house today not to emulate dr. seuss but honor his legacy with read across america day. today, march 2 would be theodore seuss geissel's 101st birthday this resolution honors his birth and designates today as read across america day. i want to thank my colleague for his work with me on this resolution. in schools across america, millions of children will participate in sensational reading events. reading skills are the keystone for future educational success and its critical our children begin reading at a young age. i remember how my own children's eyes would light up with each book we read. my resolution encourages parents to read to their children for at least 30 minutes a day because, as dr. seuss himself said, the more that you read, the more things

you will know, the more that you learn, the more places you'll go. i have high hopes for this nation's children and all the places that they will go. i urge all of my colleagues to vote yes on house resolution 1111 and to celebrate read across america day. mr. speaker, having nothing else to rhyme, i hereby yield the balance of my time. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields. for what purpose does the gentleman from connecticut -- from pennsylvania rise? . the speaker pro tempore: mr. thompson: i yield back. mr. courtney: i yield 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 1111. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair -- mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i object on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8, rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess until approximately 6:30 p.m. easte

>> t.r. reid has traveled the world. his book "the united states of europe," the healing of

america," join our conversation with t.r. reid and your phone calls, live sunday at noon eastern on book tv's "in depth" on crmp span 2. >> we expect live coverage of nancy pelosi talking about health care legislation. right now, some more about unemployment insurance, the associated press writing that the top republican in the senate is predicting that a stop-gap measure to stepped unemployment benefits and keep highway dollars flowing will pass soon. senator mitch mcconnell says he is working with democrats to set up a vote to pass the legislation, which has been held up by senator bunting, on this morning's "washington journal," we talked to howard rosen and he explained how unemployment insurance works. host: thank you. we have heard this morning

about a package of tax provisions that expired sunday night. senator jim bunting holding up the package. part of that is unemployment benefits. how when rosen is a visiting fellow at the peterson institute. he is here to give us some details on unemployment. let's begin with the expired debt extension of unemployment benefits. if it passes today, later in the week,@@@@@@@@@ @ @ br#@ @ @ @ @ guest: there are really three parts of unemployment insurance. first is the basic 26 weeks that everyone gets if they are eligible if they lose their job. that is not affected by this holdup in the legislation. the second is something called

extended benefits, which works by a trigger that if the unemployment rate is above a certain rate and that trigger has gone sb about in 30 states and that will not be affected. i should note that the payment for that unemployment insurance is half by the states and half by the federal government. there is a third tier, which we call emergency unemployment insurance, and that has been legislated by congress. so it goes pretty much for everyone because of the emergency. and that, which could be up from 13 to 20 weeks, additional 13 to 20 weeks, that is what is being jeopardized right now by the holdup. i want to make it clear that people who are entering unemployment insurance will get their 26 weeks if they are in a state that is extended. but if they're on this third extension, they are the ones who could be phased out. if they're already receiving and part of that, they'll

continue to receive until the end of that, whatever period, 13 or 20 weeks. but they're not taking new people into the emergency program. and if you exhaust, you're out. host: of that third tier people you're talking about, is there a way that congress could back pay -- [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> we are going live to capitol hill, nancy pelosi is talking about health care legislation. >> the great president who has strifed for so long, one solid year, six weeks after his inauguration, he hosted a bipartisan meeting, republicans and democrats, outside stake holders who had an interest. for one solid year, that was march 5 of last year. for one solid year, he has striven for that bipartisanship took is through the summer, fall and up until last

thursday. so what we will do is hope that he can sfill find 60 votes. but if not, we'll have to go to the simple majority and that simple majority confines the issues we can address. [inaudible question] >> continuing where we are. we are right now freezing the language on the legislation. once we have that and a report back from the c.b.o., so it's about the substance. secondly, we'll see what the senate can do in this regard. and then we'll take that substance and that to our members. but our members want quality, affordable health care for all americans and i feel confident that we will accomplish that. thank you all very much.

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> in little over two hours from now, the house will be back in for votes and special order speeches. that's at 6:30 p.m. eastern time. more live house coverage here on c-span.

>> earlier today, president obama talked about the so-called cash for clunkers' program and would give rebates to homeowners who make certain energy efficiency improvements. the program is expected to cost $6 billion. this is from savannah, georgia. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. ♪

♪ [applause] >> hello everybody. well, thank you so much. thank you. everybody, please have a seat. have a seat. thank you. thank you very much. it is good to be back in georgia. it is good to be back in georgia, although -- where's the sun, guys? [laughter] >> i was looking forward to -- i'm still fired up, but we have been getting a lot of snow in washington, d.c., so i was

looking to maybe 60, 70 degrees, so i guess i'll take 50. i want to make some acknowledgements of some wonderful leaders who are here. first of all, i want to thank president kathy love and the entire savannah tech community for their hospital. [applause] >> i want to thank your governor, who i just had a chance to see recently, hosted him at the white house with the other governors. [applause] >> your mayor, otis johnson is in the house. [cheers and applause] >> congressman john barrow. if you're in his district -- that's right. [cheers and applause] >> congressman jack kingston.

[applause] >> congressman sanford bishop. [applause] >> and congressman hank johnson , are all in the house. [applause] >> thank you so much for taking the time to be here today. i really appreciate the opportunity to visit here in savannah and i just took a brief tour of some of the classrooms where students are learning about clean energy. they're learning about solar cells, learning about efficient heating and cooling systems. you have young people here through the youth build program are gaining job skills that will help them the rest of their lives, and by the way, they are building a house right now while they're at it. [applause] >> from the instructors to the students, you saw just an incredible enthusiasm for

america's future. and i was just talking to president love about the focus of savannah tech on clean energy, the idea that this can be a real model for green energy as a way of linking students to the enormous job opportunities and business opportunities that exist in the future. these are the skills that will help our country transform the way we produce and use energy. and that's so important, especially as families in georgia and across america continue to experience the painful consequences of the worst economic crisis that we have had in generations. now i also had a chance to meet with some business owners, who told me what i've heard time and again, that it's tough out there. unemployment in georgia is still above 10%. that doesn't include folks who

have had to accept part-time jobs or in some cases have given up finding a job all together. when it comes to domestic policy, i have no more important job as president than seeing to it that every american who wants to work and is able to work can find a job and a job that pays a living wage. [applause] >> that was my focus last year, and that is my focus this year, to lay a foundation for economic growth that will create jobs, that raises incomes, that will foster a secure economic future for middle-class familiar lits. now this depends on not just spurring hiring, but doing so in areas that will create lasting opportunities and prosperity. that's why we have invested in roads and railways, so our economy has room to grow and we are laying the infrastructure

for the future. in fact, because of the recovery act, there are more than 300 transportation projects under way in georgia right now. [applause] >> that's why we invested in schools and prevented layoffs of hundreds of thousands of teachers, including thousands of educators in this state, because we know we will not be able to compete in new industries unless we've got workers ready to fill jobs in those industries. and i'd also point out that i propose the largest ever investment in community colleges and technical schools like this one to produce millions more graduates who are ready to meet the demands of the 21st century economy. [applause] >> and to spur hiring and sustain growth, we placed a big

emphasis on energy. just a few weeks ago, i announced a loan guarantee to break ground in the first nuclear power plant, a project right here in georgia. [applause] >> a project that's going to create more than 3,000 construction jobs in the next few years and ultimately, 800 permanent jobs operating the plant. we are on track to create 700,000 jobs across america building advanced batteries for hybrid cars and modernizing our electric grid and doubling our capacity to generate clean energy. and, in fact, here at savannah tech, the recovery grant provided a grant to youth build to provide jobs in these fields because -- [applause] >> i'm convinced the country that leads in clean energy is

going to be the country that leads. i don't want us to be second place, third place or fourth place when it comes to the new energy technologies. i want to be first. we have the potential to create millions of jobs. these are jobs building more fuel-efficient cars and trucks to make us energy independent. these are jobs producing solar panels and wind turbines, jobs designing, manufacturing and selling and installing more efficient building materials, because 40% of the energy we use is used by our homes and builders. think about that. all of us know that we use a lot of gas in our cars. but in terms of energy usage, 40% of it goes to our homes and our builders. so as we're looking for additional initiatives to spur hiring, i think we ought

embrace what is happening on this campus and embrace the incredible potential that awaits us across america. in my state of the union address, i called on congress to pass a set of initiatives for homeowners who make their homes more energy efficient, to continue the energy transformation that has already begun. today, i want to explain the details of this program. and i also want to thank the members of the house and the senate, who are helping to usher this proposal through congress. now, many of you have heard of energy star. how many people have heard of energy star. you some that sticker on a computeror microwave. the energy star program was created to promote energy efficiency by letting consumers know which appliances, which electronics would save electricity and therefore, would save them money over time. the program i'm describing today applies this concept, not to the appliances, but to the home itself and takes it

further. we're going to call it home star, just to make it easy to remember. all right? [applause] >> here's how it would work. we identify the kinds of building supplies and systems that would save folks energy over time. and here's one of the best things about energy efficiency. it turns out that energy-efficient windows or insulation, those are products that are almost exclusively manufactured right here in the united states of america. [applause] >> it's very hard to ship windows from china. [laughter] >> so a lot of these materials are made right here in america. so we take these materials, and if a homeowner decides to do work on his or her house to put in new windows, to replace a heating unit, to insulate an

attic, redo a roof, the homeowner would be eligible for a rebate from the star or contractor for 50% of the upgrade up to $1,500. if you decided to retrofit your whole house to greatly reduce your energy use, you would be eligible for a rebate of up to $3,000. now, these are big incentives. and you would get these rebates snaptly from the hardware store or the contractor. if you went to home depot, right there at the cash register, you would get that money and wouldn't have to mail in a long form, wait for a check to arrive months later. [applause] >> now, we no know this will save families as much several hundred dollars on their utilities. we know it will make our

economy less dependent on fossil fuels, helping to protect the planet for future generations. but i want to emphasize that home star will also create business and spur hiring up and down the economy. i was just meeting with a number of business leaders in different segments of this industry. we've got some manufacturers making insulation and windows and other products. we've got folks who are contractors. so -- stand up, guys. see, they're ready to work. they're ready to go. [applause] >> so, we were just talking about how they are geared up and they've got the capacity to guarantee a homeowner that if they're willing to do this work on their house, that maybe they'll get their money back, not just through the rebate but

the energy savings. let's say you decide to use this rebate to seal up and insulate your attic because you want to save on electricity and tired of a drafty house. think of all the ways that will stimulate jobs and growth. if you knew what you were doing, you might do it for yourself, but probably would have someone to carry out the insulation work because you refused to let your husband do it himself. [laughter] >> that's a smart thing. he'll be stubborn and tell you he can do it, but don't listen to him. so that creates work for small businesses and contractors, like some of the folks who are here today. and obviously, construction work -- that's been as hard hit as anything during this recession. so you've got a lot of skilled

contractors ready to go. and that, in turn, means that the contractors start hiring some of these folks who may have been laid off. some of them may have been trained right here at savannah tech. you also have to buy the insulation and the materials. that means you are producing business for your local retailer. and that retailer has to purchase those supplies from manufacturers. as i said, most of them, located right here in the united states of america. and i mentioned the domestic manufacturers who are in the crowd, they would benefit -- they would benefit from this program. and then there's this huge amount of capacity, excess capacity to meet any surge of demand that was out there. and the fact is there's nearly 25% unemployment in the construction industry so far. so construction companies, hardware stores, contractors,

manufacturers, they faced a rapid decline in demand in the wake of the mortgage crisis. and to make matters worse, these businesses have seen a decline in credit that has hurt every sector of our economy. these are companies ready to take on new customers. workers eager to do renovations and factories ready to produce new building supplies. all we have to do is create the incentives to make it happen. and this is not a democratic idea or a republican idea, this is a commonsense approach that will help jump start and make our economy strong. [applause] >> so ultimately, that's what we're called to do, just like a responsible homeowner will invest in their homes in the near term to fortify their economic security in the long-term. we've got to do the same as a country. it will have some costs on the front end. you buy a new boiler or get

some new insulation or new windows, that's going to have an initial cost and that is true from the government perspective. and it's going to be politically difficult to do some of this, but it's what's right to plan for our future. the same is true when it comes to reforming our education system. the same is true when it comes to trying to make our health care system more affordable. same is true when it comes to energy. some of these are hard. some have costs on the front end. and working stuff through congress is more than a notion. [laughter] >> but by taking these steps, we'll help foster the kind of broadly shared growth that will save us in the years and decades to come. businesses will be able to

expand and hire and we will truly grow our middle class again. that's howell's not only rebuild our economy, but rebuild it stronger than it was before this crisis. i am confident that we can do it. savannah tech is leading the way. a whole bunch of folks in this room are leading the way. i just hope that washington stands alongside you making sure we have the energy future that we need. thank you everybody. god bless the united states of america. ♪

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[cheers and applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> we'll hear tomorrow on when president obama announces the final steps to advance health care legislation. he will speak at the white house at 1:45 eastern. >> the house is in recess, come coming back in for votes at 6:30. members debated nine votes today. the house is always live here on c-span. >> which four presidents lived past 90 years old? they were john adams, herbert

hoover, ronald reagan and gerald ford. find these and other presidential facts in c-span's book "who's buried in grant's tomb?" . it's a travel log, mini history work of biography and you can tell a lot about people at the end of their lives. resource guide, story of their final moments and insights, "who's burr queed in grant's tomb" and get a 25% discount at publicaffairsbooks.com. >> c-span, our public affairs content is available on television, radio and online and connect with us on twitter, face book and youtube and sign up for our scheduled alert emails at c-span.org.

>> as "washington post" international correspondent, t.r. reid has traveled the world. his books are not only about his travels but his global views on contemporary issues, including the united states and europe, healing of america. join our three-hour conversation with t.r. reid and your phone calls, live sunday at noon eastern on book tv's "in depth" on c-span two. >> a hearing on internet freedom issues. we heard from officials from the state and commerce departments followed by scufts from google and other technology firms. the testimony has focused on china where google has threatened to come out. this is an hour, four minutes. >> this hearing of the

judiciary committee subcommittee on human rights and the law. today is global internet freedom and the rule of law, part two. after a few opening remarks, i'll recognize the senators in attendance for an opening statement and turn to our witnesses. we appreciate their attendance. this subcommittee held our first hearing on this issue in may of 2008. at that hearing, we learned that repressive governments around the world censor the internet and persecute advocates who express their views online. since then, the scale and scope of internet censorship has increased dramatically. at our hearing two years ago, i showed pictures of censored internet searches on google and yahoo. unfortunately this censorship continues but in many cases is

worse. if i can do this, what you're looking at here on the screen to your left is google.com search for the word tien men. you will find pictures of the protest in 1989, especially the photo of on a demonstrator standing in front of several tanks. now what you see is google dth cn, china's search engine and search for the same word. here, you will find beautiful images of the square. let me be clear, i'm not singling google. yahoo and bing censor the

internet in china. the leading chinese search engines censors more content. i want to commend google for announcing that they plan to stop censoring their chinese search he engine. i look forward to an update today on their efforts. at our first hearing, we discussed the global network initiative, which was then being negotiated. g.n.i. is a code of conduct that requires technology companies to take reasonable measures to protect human rights. senator tom coburn and i encouraged google, microsoft and yahoo to complete the g.n.i. negotiations and the code was launched in october of 2008. i commend the three companies for promoting internet freedom. i have asked several other companies to consider joining the g.n.i. without objection, the companies' written responses

will be entered into the hearing record and also made available on my website. i'm disappointed that a year and a half after the g.n.i. started, no new companies have joined. based on the responses that i have received, only three companies, mca fee and skype have committed to participating in a dialogue about joining the g.n.i. one company indicated they will join if the membership fee is waived. many companies told us it is not real can't to their companies' businesses. the last two years have demonstrated that is simply not true. the explosive growth of social networking services like twitter and has helped organ publicize human rights violations in iran and other places in the world. however, repressive governments can use the same tools to

monitor and crack down on advocates. i invited face book and twitter to testify today and they refused. last year, the chinese government announced they would require computers sold in china to include software called green band which sensors political content and records user activity. thanks to the opposition of the u.s. government and companies, the chinese government eventually backed down. this incident highlighted the human rights challenges faced by computer manufactures. i invited companies to testify about these challenges today and they also refused. filtering software is allegedly being used to sensor the internet in several countries with repressive governments. i invited mcafee. they initially agreed but on friday informed us they were

pulling out. bottom line is this, with a few notable exceptions, the technology industry seems unwilling to regulate itself and unwilling to engage in a dialogue with congress about the serious human rights challenges that the industry faces. in the face of this resistance i have decided to take a more active position. at our hearing two years ago, i indicated that congress could step in if the industry failed to take concrete action to protect internet freedom. today i'm announcing that i will introduce legislation that will require internet companies to take reasonable steps to protect human rights or face civil or criminal liket. i look forward to working with my republican colleague, senator coburn, and my other colleagues to enact this legislation into law. i recognize that they face difficult challenges when they deal with repressive governments, but we have a responsibility and congress shares in that responsibility

to ensure that american companies are not complicit in violating freedom of expression, a fundamental human right enshrined in our constitution and the universal declaration of human rights. i recognize my colleague, senator coburn, the ranking member of the subcommittee. >> due to being under the weather, i'll ask that my opening statement be made part of the record. >> without objection. senator franken? >> i look forward to the hearing. >> we're going to turn to our first panel. u.s. government has an important role to play in promoting global internet freedom and ensuring u.s. technology companies do not facilitate government repression. i look forward to hear about the administration's plans to advance freedom of expression around the world. the witnesses will have five minutes. their written statements will be made part of the record and posted on-line. would the witnesses please stand and raise their right hands to be sworn.

do you affirm that the testimony you are about to give before the committee will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god. let the record reflect both of the witnesses answered in the affirmative. our first witness, michael posner, assistant secretary of state for human rights and labor, our top official. he was executive director of human rights first which he headed for 30 queers. he has substantial expertise in corporate and social responsibility and played a key role in funding the foundation. he has a law degree from the university of california. he first testified before the subcommittee last year when he held a hearing on the implementation of human rights treaties. our following witness is daniel associate professor in the commerce department

administration. and i think he is going to win a prize for the longest title having appeared before our committee. he is an expert on internet policy. he was director of the m.i.t. computer science and artificial intelligence laboratories, policy director of the worldwide web consortium technology and society activities. he was also co-founder and deputy director for the center of technology and frontier foundation. your resume has been loaded with titles. he has a bachelor's degree and law degree from buffalo law school. mr. posner, would you like to make the opening statement. >> i thank you senators for inviting me to testify and for your interest in this subject. i followed this issue quite closely and the subcommittee's involvement since your part one

hearing in 2008 and it's great that you are pursuing this. when you first addressed internet freedom, the primary concern of those testifying were content fillering on the internet and harassment and arrest of digital activists. these problems persist today as secretary clinton highlighted in january 21 speech on internet freedom, the state department continues to protest the arrest, detention and harassment of bloggers in iran, in china, egypt, vietnam and elsewhere. and countries that seek to filter access to information are only becoming more skilled at doing so. these problems persist. but the threats to internet freedom are expanding beyond restricting access to content. as again, secretary clinton described, repressive regimes are co-opting the media to deny human rights and rapid increase in the use of mobile phones creates new platforms in

providing access to information, it creates new threats to free expression and the free flow of information. so we have a major set of challenges. state department since 2006 has had an internet freedom task force, which has been relaunched as the net freedom task force, chaired by two of our under secretaries. and it is going to oversee the state department's efforts on these issues. i want to quickly cite three aspects of what we're doing. the first is advancing internet freedom through programming. our effort is to provide unfettered safe access to information and communication. beginning in 2008, the bureau of democracy, human rights and labor, which the lead has implemented $15 million in programming to support internet freedom, i spell out some of the details in my testimony. we're also working with