[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] the speaker pro tempore: the house will please be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's room, washington, d.c., march 10, 2010. i hereby appoint the honorable louise mcintosh slaughter to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, nancy pelosi, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father coughlin. chaplain coughlin: o god of all the living, at times you are silent or seem to be absent. when we are busy or fully occupied, we often do not turn to you, but when we do seek your presence or pray asking for an answer, you may be silent. sometimes you may draw back from our momentary attention

just to make us pray all the more and increase our desire for your presence or refine our request. hopefully when you break your silence and speak to us or any member of congress we will be ready to respond to your inspiration and be prepared to do your will. although we are not always faithful, you are faithful both now and forever, amen. the speaker pro tempore: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house her approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1 the journal stands approved. and the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from illinois, congressman hare. mr. hare: please join me. i pledge allegiance to the flag

of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will receive a message. the messenger: madam speaker, a message from the senate. the secretary: madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: madam secretary. the secretary: i have been directed by the senate to inform the house that the senate has passed without amendment h.r. 3433, to amend the north american wetlands conservation act, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will now entertain up to 15 requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. beginning with mr. hare. mr. hare: i ask to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hare: thank you, madam speaker. i rise today to pay tribute to many of the women's air force service pilots, geraldine

jordan of moing, illinois. i'd like to recognize her family sitting in the gallery this morning. at the young age of 21 geraldine was the first woman in history trained to fly. geraldine also prevailed in her second battle, the one to achieve full veteran status for her wasp sisters. today, i also honor geraldine as a mother of nine wonderful children and a community leader who advocated on behalf of several worthy causes. madam speaker, later today, geraldine and other wasp leaders will be issued the congressional medal for their service more than 60 years ago. unfortunately geraldine passed away in 2001 and cannot be here with us today to receive the award in person, but i'm very happy that her family will proudly represent her at the ceremony. madam speaker, geraldine is a true american hero and a great source of pride for the 17th

district of illinois, and i ask think of no better recognition than the congressional gold medal. thank you, madam speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will remind references to -- members to refrain from references to occupants of the gallery. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina rise? mr. wilson: to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from south carolina will be recognized for one minute. mr. wilson: the house is considering a dangerous resolution. as a father of four sons in the military and a former of the 318th bri gad of the south carolina army national guard which served for a year in afghanistan led by major general bob livingston i know we must trust our military leaders, led by general petraeus and general mcchrystal. these leaders will fight for victory to protect american

families by defeating terrorists overseas. even liberal "newsweek," highlights the surge in the march 8 edition with the subtile "all signs point america's way." though the taliban is entrenched in the province, its grip is slipping in the rest of afghanistan. this undercuts the common believe that america is doom to fail. the military situation and politics all favor obama's counterinsurgency strategy. if the taliban can't gain populous support it can't win. in conclusion, god bless our troops and we will never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york seek recognition? ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman from new york is recognized for one minute.

ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i'm honored to open the house this morning during the most important women's history month. our nation's foremothers stood up to injustice and by changing the course of history opened the doors of opportunity to all of america's daughters. it's our duty to recognize and honor these tireless efforts. the past summer our great nation celebrated 160th anniversary of the 1848 women's right convention in seneca falls, new york. as you know, this groundbreaking convention was dedicated to the key principle in the declaration of independence that we are all created equal. securing the woman's right to vote in 1920, to serving our country in iraq and afghanistan, we have come a long way. in this congress alone we have much to celebrate. speaker pelosi is the first woman to lead this esteemed body and senator clinton made 18 million cracks at our nation's high glass ceiling as the first woman to run a formidable presidential campaign. yet, as we celebrate these

important milestones and look back at all we achieved since 1848 we know our journey to a true gender equality is not complete. we must continue to fight for equality. this month we honor the women who blazed the trail for all women. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. poe: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from texas is recognized to address the house for one minute. mr. poe: mr. speaker, three of our tenacious navy seals captured one of the worst terrorists in the world. in 2004 four blackwater security guards was transporting supplies to fallujah, iraq. they were caught in an ambush and murdered by those cowards in the desert. these americans were set on fire, mutilated, dragged through the streets and hung from a bridge over the ue raties river. the terrorist was the mastermind between the massacre of these americans, but navy seals captured this outlaw.

but now for some odd reason they are being put on trial, the seals, not the terrorists. the whinny terrorists later claimed he was punched in the stomach during his capture on the battlefield. it hurt his little terrorist feelings, it seems. now, the seals face a court marshall. congress should commend these valiant actions of these seals and i introduced a resolution to do just that. these seals should be given medals and send out to bag another one and that's just the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california rise -- seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman from california is recognized for one minute. ms. watson: mr. speaker, during the 111th congress we have made great strides in creating jobs. the american recovery and reinvestment act was the largest middle-class tax cut in history. one year ago the economy that

was declining by 6% is now expanding at about that rate because of this significant program. the recovery act has already worked to save or create as many as two million jobs, according to the nonpartisan congressional budget office. in one year the recovery act has provided 120 billion dollars in tax cuts for 95% of the working families as well as businesses across the country. loaned nearly $20 billion to small businesses to expand and create jobs and funded more than 12,500 transportation projects nationwide, kept teachers, police officers and firefighters on the job and accomplished much more. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from alabama seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend

my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from alabama is recognized for one minute to address the house. mr. bonner: thank you, mr. speaker. many may remember in the 1992 campaign for the presidency, james carville made famous the phrase, it's the economy, stupid, because he posted that sign on the campaign war room to remind the candidate and the staff that that was the number one issue the american people wanted to focus on. well, you know, mr. carville ought to pull that sign back out and take it over to the white house and make take one down the hallway here to the speaker's suit to remind the majority and the leadership that that's what the american people want to focus on. it's not a government takeover of health care. they want to focus on the economy and creating jobs. i don't know why that seems to be something they don't want to do. the president said at the beginning of the year he was going to pivot from health care and focus like a laser on jobs and the economy. and here we are with him putting full attention on the government takeover of health care by the end of next week.

you want to remind him, it's the economy, stupid. let's focus on it. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from alabama seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from alabama is recognized for one minute to address the house. mr. bright: mr. speaker, thank you. last tuesday i introduced a constitutional amendment bill to balance the federal government. i am proud that 36 of my colleagues have joined me in co-sponsoring h.j. resolution 78, and i urge all members of congress who believe that government should live within a budget join me and join my colleagues to pass this bill. balancing the budget is a simple concept that alabama families follow every day. without question there are many steps that must be taken to improve our financial situation, but balancing the budget on a yearly basis is the only way to ensure we don't repeat the mistakes of our past. we know we can achieve this goal because we have done so in the past. from 1998 to 2001 our country achieved balanced budgets through adherence to pay-go.

49 states currently require an annual balanced budget. passing a constitutional amendment is a long process, but it is absolutely necessary to ensure america remains strong for generations to come. i urge the entire congress to join me in this effort, and i want to thank you for your support and i yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado seek recognition? >> i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from colorado is recognized for one minute to address the house. mr. lamborn: mr. speaker, i rise today in remembrance of a noble and humble man lost in the devastating earthquake in haiti. david haynes of colorado springs, colorado, left an enduring legacy of selflessness and faith. david lived a life completely devoted to his family and to his savior, jesus christ. he and his beloved wife, renee, have been blessed with two beautiful adopted sons, aden

and zander, who will remember their father's unending love. his movie was part of "cranium's arc." on january 11, david arrived in haiti to tell the story of orphans and widows. after a day of shooting footage he was in the hotel montana when the earthquake hit. his life was an amazing journey filled with fashion and truthfulness and faithfulness and his legacy will -- with faith and truthfulness and his legacy will endure. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky rise? mr. yarmuth: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from kentucky is recognized to address the house for one minute. mr. yarmuth: just as we're about to reach the mountain top of health care reform, opponents of health care reform say start over. you know, there are people in this country who do have to

start over. the 1,800 people or 17 a day, 700,000 a year who go into bankruptcy because of health care costs, they have to start over. they have to start rebuilding their lives all over again. and those 44,000 people -- i'm sorry -- the 14,000 people every day who lose their health insurance, they have to start over as well. they have to start the search to find out how they can protect their family with affordable health insurance. the only people who get to start over is the insurance companies who when people get very sick say we are going to start over with another customer because you're too expensive to care for. no, we can't start over because if we start over life will be over for too many americans. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. smith: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute to address the house. mr. smith: mr. speaker, the senate's reconciliation procedure is designed for

legislation to balance the budget. now, the administration wants to use reconciliation to force a health insurance scheme on the american people. the health care scheme under reconciliation means decisions made by the government behind closed doors against the wishes of the american people. a recent "new york times" article claim that they used reconciliation in the past but fail to acknowledge that they enacted a massive partisan policy change like $1 trillion government health care mandate. and the national media have largely ignored the fact that many democratic leaders, including the president, previously voiced strong opposition to reconciliation. in fact, the nonpartisan fact checkers at politifact says that it's a "quote," from his earlier comments. they should give all the facts,

not just represent the democrats' point of view. . without objection, the gentlewoman from d.c. is recognized for one minute to address the house. ms. norton: we have had to come to the floor, mr. speaker, to speak about the folks that drove this economy into the ground and just how bad it was. but there is good news to raise the spirits of the american people coming from the labor department and from -- we know the economy has turned around, but until the jobs market turns around, nobody wanted to hear it. now analysts tell us so has the job market. all expected unemployment to plummet, go down further, ratchet it up, the numbers to ratchet up during february because of the bad weather including crippling snowstorms, instead it stood steady, too

high at over 9%, but it showed confidence in the economy that so many employers stopped laying off people and kept people on. the biggest losses were where you might have expected, in construction, because of all the bad weather in the snowstorms. the best signs that our employers are feeling more confident is that they are getting their feet wet with many new temporary employees brought on which is always the first sign that they are ready to bring on people full-time and the best sign may be the 2.7 million job openings. now we have a mismatch. thank goodness for the stimulus that went to community colleges to help us cure that mismatch. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from montana is recognized for one minute to address the house. mr. fleming: i rise today to commemorate a solemn occasion. one year ago president obama issued an executive order

allowing for taxpayer dollars to incentivize the destruction of human life through the use of embryonic stem cells. as a physician, father, and grandfather i know that all human life is precious and begins at the moment of conception. and it is paramount that we continue to seek better medical treatments and cures for diseases. yet i also believe that our research and decisions must be like. life must be saved for save embryonic-like cells to make it unnecessary to destroy embryos. over 73 different diseases so far have been treated with adult or chord blood stem cells. i call upon the president to reverse this order and acknowledge that research that is both morally controversial and out of date does not need to be subsidized by the american taxpayer. i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i wish to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman from california is recognized for one minute to address the house. ms. sanchez: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to recognize national woman's history month and honor a small business owner from orange county. publisher of a magazine. sylvia exemplifies the principles of this month through her magazine, which showcases the work of women in the arts, business, community service, and politics. as a small business advocate and entrepreneur, she has demonstrated leadership in communicating the importance of women owned and minority-owned businesses, in particular in the growing hispanic business sector. she has received numerous business awards, including the small business administration's award of 2009, for small business journalist of the year. and she's also served as a

board member for various hispanic business organizations, including the california and the orange county hispanic chambers of commerce. the latin business association, and the national latina business women association. i'm very proud of sylvia's achievement and her small business advocacy. and i thank you, mr. speaker. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from tennessee is recognized for one minute to address the house. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. yesterday, president obama spoke about health care. he said if not now, when? if not us, who? president obama was correct. he knew that the duty and obligations of this house are to pass momentous legislation to help the american people. it's engraved above the speaker's rostrum, let us gather our resources and do something worthwhile and

momentous and great while we are here with the resources of this country. something to be remembered. health care has been on the american agenda for 100 years starting with teddy roosevelt in 1912. it went through harry truman, through richard nixon, bill clinton, and today barack obama. we are there to fulfill ted kennedy's dream and the work of many congresses and many people. i have had several constituents come to me andle it me of serious illnesses they have had that they would have gone broke if they didn't have insurance. and if they didn't have insurance and their cancer surgeries were covered, we would pay for it and the tax we pay we don't know about of $1,000 for person for uncompensated care. let's do something worthwhile. let's pass health care. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from new york is recognized for one minute to address the house. >> thank you, i rise today to commend the forerunner of today's women's military pilots, the women's air corps

service pilots, they flew more than 16 million miles. from 1943 to 1944 they delivered aircraft for manufacturers in the united states to air bases throughout the country. two women from my district. virginia, and elizabeth, are being awarded the congressional gold medal today in recognition of their service to our country. their fearlessness led the way to future women military pilots. it is long overdue we recognize these incredible women. our country thrives because of the bravery of citizens like wasps. we learned last year the ceremony was going to happen, her family told me it meant the world to her but she passed away in september of 2009. but her son and daughter and grandchildren are here and will attend the ceremony and i know she is here today in spirit and through the eyes of her two lovely granddaughters. i congratulate all of the

extraordinary wasps who served our country. thank you for your dedication and service. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from illinois is recognized for one minute to address the house. >> mr. speaker, the constitution makes clear, only congress can declare war. while no one can dispute we are at war, congress has never been asked to make this declaration. while i disagree with the congressman from ohio's policy position, to leave afghanistan at this moment would undermine our national security and imperil our troops. however the war powers resolution is an important check on unbettered executive authority. it is worth remembering the period in our nation's history during which this act of congress passed. in 1973 during the height of the vietnam war and following the gulf of tonkin, congress overroad a presidential veto. it did so because it was consumed with the congressional authority to decide when the united states should become

involved in war. white vietnam was a very different war, the frustration felt by the american public and members of congress at that point in time is similar to that of today. and overriding the presidential veto and passing the war powers resolution, congress was claiming a critical responsibility the founding fathers granted to it. that such a declaration would be a product of robust discourse, one which our leaders would identify the nature of the threat posed by our enemy, define the objective of the mission before us, and fully weigh the prudence of sending our troops into harm's way. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman from new york is recognized for one minute to address the house. address the house. mrs. maloney: mrs. maloney: mr.

speaker, this chart is a quick way to assess the direction things have been going in our efforts to recover from the great recession. while it is not success, it is definitely progress. it shows the monthly change in nonfarm payrolls over the past two years. point a on this chart is when the great recession and the job losses began in december of 2007. back then we were assured the fundamentals of the economy were sound. for over a year the economy went straight downhill and shed jobs at an increasing rate with no change in direction.

the last month that the former president was in office, president bush, we lost over 700,000 jobs. point c represents the jobs report from the last two months, clearly a dramatic improvement from a year ago, in fact, a 96% improvement from over 750,000 jobs lost to 35,000 jobs. again progress in the right direction. in addition to this general trend, i would like to point out that the temporary help sector continues to improve. more than 40,000 workers have been added to the temporary help sector, a clear end case of improvement in the job market. market. again this is progress.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> request one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from california is recognized for one minute to address the house. >> mr. speaker, members, i want to bring to your attention an extraordinary unit in our military in the air force located in travis air force base in fairfield, california. the 60th air mobility wing does an extraordinary job, providing services to the military as well as for humanitarian efforts. when the earthquake in haiti occurred, it was that wing that brought immediate assistance using the rapid deployment. they also have hospital services available that are immediately deployed. when it comes time to open a new military base or field

anywhere in the air, it's the 6 0th air mobility wing that provides those immediate services. so i ask all the members to recognize the good service, good work this unit does, the extraordinary service provided by the men and women of the 60th air mobility wing located travis air force base, fairfield, california. i yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 , the chair will postpone further proceedings today on the motions to suspend the rules on which a recorded vote or the yeas and nays are ordered or on the vote incurs objection under clause 6 of rule 20. record votes on postponed questions will be taken later. for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota seek recognition? mr. oberstar: i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 4786, to provide authority to compensate federal employees for the two-day period in which authority to make expenditures in the highway trust fund

lapsed, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 4786, a bill to provide authority to compensate federal employees for the two-day period in which authority to make expenditures from the highway trust fund lapsed, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from minnesota, mr. oberstar, and the gentleman from north carolina, mr. coble, each will control 20 minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from minnesota. mr. oberstar: mr. speaker, thank you. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the bill h.r. 4786, and to include extraneous material. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. oberstar: mr. speaker, we are here on both sides of the aisle this morning on a mission of equity, fairness, even mercy on behalf