cspanvideolibrary.org and see the blog posting up at the top, you can click and see that ad and play an interactive game and see if you can name all those people that have been in the library. the blog will help you with a lot of resources. host: peter kiley, thank you so much for talking with us about the video library. guest: thank you, libby. it was a pleasure. host: we'll now head to the house floor, which is getting under way. also a programming note on c-span 3, we will be airing live congressman dennis's plans for how hoe plans to vote. . [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered by the guest chaplain, bishop hutchins, timothy baptist church, athens, georgia. the chaplain: shall we pray? our father in heaven, we humbly approach your thrown today. your servant, solomon, prayed

said know the difference between right and wrong. for who by himself is able to govern this great nation of yours. you responded to solomon because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people and have not asked for a long life or for riches for yourself or for the death of your enemies. i will give you what you asked for. i will give you a wise and understanding mind, such as no one else has ever had or ever will have. our prayer today, o god, is that you grant these men and women wisdom to govern this great nation. may your wisdom guide every decision and you be glorified. send your holy spirit to guide us in your wisdom. in his name we pray. amen. the speaker: the pledge of allegiance will be led by the

gentleman from texas, congressman poe. mr. poe: please join me in the pledge of allegiance. 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: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announced to the chamber her approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1 the journal stands approved. without objection, the gentleman from georgia, congressman broun, is recognized for one minute. mr. broun: all of us influenced by the people around us, people who come in our lives. i guess pastor today, bishop jerry hutchins, is one of those warriors who has tremendously influenced me and the people of athens, georgia.

he's a warrior for righteousness, a warrior to establish the kingdom here on earth as our lord, jesus christ, has charged us to do. he's a great friend, he's a great pastor, and i'm honored to have him here today as our guest pastor. madam speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain up to 15 further requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. chu: mr. speaker, last weekend a tragedy sent shock waves through the u.s. and mexico when three u.s. consulate employees and their families were brutally murdered in mexico by drug cartels. they were all headed home from a birthday party when gunmen fired upon their car. their 7-month-old was unharmed.

the husband of a consulate employee was shot to death. his two young children suffered injuries in the backseat of the car. this is the latest in a string of attacks on innocent american and mexican citizens, including bobby salcedo, an elected official and rising star from my district in el monte, california, who was recently murdered in a shock execution in durango, mexico. the murder of these employees and of bobby salcedo must be brought to justice, and the u.s. must renew increased efforts of bringing to the end of drug cartels. this violence must be stopped. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. poe: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. poe: mr. speaker, when i travel to the old soviet union in the 19 0's, nobody walked around smiling or joking or laughing. it was all doom, gloom and

despair. living under government tyranny hurts the mind, body, and soul. it kills off individuality. they have a cookie cutter solution for everything. it's the same with government-run health care. thomas jefferson was a visionary. he talked about government-run health care. he said, "if the people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in a sorry state as the souls of those who live under tyranny." government-run health care pushes us down the road to we the subjects instead of we the people, instead of us controlling government, government controls us. that's what tyranny is. the monopoly of government-run health care will have the efficiency of the post office, the competence of fema and the compassion of the good old i.r.s. and that's just the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman

from new jersey rise? mr. sires: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. sires: mr. speaker, we must now let this historic -- we must not let this historic opportunity slip away. if we do not act, continuing health care costs will force families to choose between health care and jobs. if we do nothing in 30 years one out of $3 in our economy will be tied up in the health care system. if we fail to pass reform, premiums for both single and family policies could more than double by 2020. if we can pass health reform, consumers will be able to select their insurance plans, doctors and no longer be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions and they can change coverage when -- they can keep their coverage when they change jobs.

mr. speaker, how long are 46 million uninsured americans supposed to wait? the american people deserve to take back control over their health care system. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> i have here over 3,000 letters from constituents in the fourth strict saying this -- i write this letter to emphatically say i to not want this massive health care bill. i believe it costs too much, it taxes too much and it would kill jobs. reconciliation is the utmost of partisan maneuvers on such a bill and would be ill-advised. health care reform needs to be addressed. getting the economy going and having jobs comes first. i want it to focus on lower

costs and helping families. madam speaker, reject this bill. give us the consent of the governed. allow us to pass a bill that has the consent of the governed, and then we restore the legitimacy of this body, stop the cramdown of health care reform. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. baca: mr. speaker, we must pass health care reform now. step-by-step approach is not the answer. if we do nothing the americans will continue to pay higher premiums, higher out-of-pocket costs now and in the future. there are too many americans without health coverage. in my district in san bernardino, california, there are over 220,000 without coverage. we also face 15% unemployment rate and the fourth highest foreclosures in the nation. -- foreclosure in the nation. i say, hold health insurance

companies accountable. cut and eventually close the doughnut hole for seniors. cut the national deficit by $100 billion over 10 years. produce over four million new jobs in the coming decades. families, not insurance companies, families, not insurance companies, deserves the right to make their own health care decisions. congress must not kick the can down the road. we need health care reform now. i state, we need health care reform now. this is historic moment. i ask us to support health care reform now, not tomorrow, not in the future but now. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? mr. lungren: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. lungren: mr. speaker, when he -- you practice law there is

something that goes something like that, if you have the facts, attack your opponent. there are those of us who have argued that the process we are engaged in, that is we will not vote on the senate bill but we will kind of vote on the senate bill, we will deem it pass, is unconstitutional. in addition to that, the speaker of the house has said that, i think it's ridiculous and the people tell you that it's unconstitutional know better and you should be very outraged that people who know better than that. i resent the fact that the speaker of the house is calling me a liar. there are constitutional scholars who said this is unconstitutional. now, i have only argued one case to the supreme court which i won on behalf of the people

of the great state of california. i have spoken with one lawyer that said we will send this to the supreme court. let's stick to the facts, stick to the law and stop attacking people personally. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from mississippi rise? >> i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> i rise in honor of national ag week. for their critical contributions to america's local economies, families. agriculture is the backbone of the south and the number one industry in the state of mississippi. not only is it responsible for providing the necessary its of everyday life, food, fiber, clothing and fuel, to name a few, but it also plays a key role in spurring economic development and strengthening american competitiveness in today's global economy. i'm very honored to serve as the only member of

mississippi's delegation on the house agriculture committee. i'm also proud to co-chair the bipartisan congressional rural caucus, which i join representative adrian smith, in re establishing last year to address important challenges unique to rural america. together we reached across party lines to get universal broadband access, the creation of a white house office of rural policy. i urge my colleagues in joining the rural caucus and recognizing national agriculture week. thank you, mr. speaker. . the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from kansas rise? mr. moran: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. moran: despite the diplomatic inconsistencies of the obama administration, one thing is concern, support for the u.s.-israeli alliance is congress remains strong in congress. israel is america's closest friend in the most volatile region in the world. it's a democracy that shares our values and hopes for a more peaceful world. regrettably the administration's misstep

undermines our shared goal of peace and distracts from more pressing issues. israel has a history of making peace with its neighbors and is prepared to make peace now. peace is a two-way street and the palacioses' commitment to that peace is in doubt. rather than commake demands upon israel for concession after concession, president obama should work closely and privately with israel recognizing our two nation's long and trusted alliance. israeli piece agreements between egypt and jordan have been reached in the past when u.s. support for israel was strong and consistent. the same level of commitment and closeness is now needed. make no mistake, israel is our ally and friend. the administration needs to confirm that fact with its words and deeds. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from maryland rise? ms. edwards: unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. edwards: mr. speaker, congress is on the brink of passing comprehensive health care reform to ensure that all americans have access to affordable and high quality

care. health care that protects consumers and not just insurance companies. we need reform to rein in these companies and hold them accountable for discriminatory and inhumane practices. policies like gender rating that forces women to pay higher premiums than men just because we are women. and denials for pre-existing conditions that can even include a history of domestic violence. we need reform to change the practice of insurance companies denying children with pre-existing conditions or dropping someone's coverage if that person falls ill. we can't put it off. we can't wait f we do nothing, in 30 years one out of every $ will be spent on health care. if we fail, families will see spending on premiums and out-of-pocket costs jump 34% in five years and 79% in 10. the american people not only want reform, they need reform, they are asking for reform. we made a promise to the american people to pass health care reform. it's time to keep our promise. it's time to get this done. and it's time to pass health care reform.

i yield. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, america has no truer friend than israel. we stand together on freedom, on democracy, and on security. more importantly, america and israel share the unique ability to trace our roots back to the hopes and dreams of our ancestors. even before the days of king david and king solomon, israel has been the center of the jewish tradition. israel, the sovereign nation, surrounded by sworn enemies determined to wipe it off the map. yet israel remains committed to freedom and democracy. mr. speaker, i'm concerned about the recent counterproductive statements made by the administration that threaten to undermine america's 60-year relationship with israel. criticizing israel for developing its land in jerusalem is just plain wrong. directing public demand and unilateral deadlines in israel while iran continues its pursuit of nuclear weapons is beyond wrong, it is dangerous. mr. speaker, if america is to

be a superpower, we must remain steadfast when the political winds blow. if america's to lead the world, we must act as a true friend to our ally, the nation of israel. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from washington rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. mcdermott: mr. speaker, i rise today as a physician out of concern for my republican colleagues. many of whom seem to be suffering from chronic am me'sha or chronic ignorance. when we started talking about the possibility of using this deem and pass procedure to finish the job on health care reform, republicans couldn't run fast enough to find a television camera to complain. fact check. this procedure has been widely used since the 1930's and was in fact used no fewer than 202 times under speakers gingrich and hastert amounting to 30% of

the rules put forth by the committees under their leadership. all this hypocrisy is kind of galling. i hope my republicans can recover from this amnesia in time to watch the congress pass a bill that the american people need and want. they do not like the health care system that's in this country. they want reform. and we are going to give it to them. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise to express my great concern over the recent statements by administration officials regarding israeli housing construction in that nation's capital city. history warns us that appeasement of mutual enemies is the surest way to destroy alliances and to invite aggression. and yet the rhetoric of this administration is taking us down this dangerous road.

israel has every right to allow construction in its capital city and throughout the west bank over which it exercises rightful sovereignty. the administration seems to have forgotten that jord an a-- jordan attacked israel in 1967 and not the other way around and the result was the israeli acquisition of this land. the israelis haven't forgotten that nor have they forgotten the folly of unilaterally giving up the gaza strip which rockets are now routinely launched against israeli citizens. imagine the danger to israel's capital by repeating that mistake. appeasement all but guarantees an escalation of conflict. sop for what purpose does the gentlelady from california rise? ms. watson: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. watson: mr. speaker, i rise today to speak out against the hiv-aids epidemic in african-american communities. while african-americans have 12% of the united states

population, approximately 50% of hiv-aids patients nationwide are black. just over the last six months 452 new cases of h.i.v. were reported in los angeles county alone. our prevention strategy is clearly not working for many of our constituents. that is why i support h.r. 1964, the national black clergy for the elimination of h.i.v. act and they sit up on our right in our gallery and i welcome them here. and this bill seeks to expand and increase programs for h.i.v. education, prevention, testing, care, and treatment in ways that are responsible for the needs of african-american communities. moreover, this bill recognizes how important faith-based outreach is. thank you, mr. speaker.

the speaker pro tempore: the speaker reminds members to not refer to guests in the gallery. for what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana rise? mr. fleming: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. fleming: mr. speaker, over months of debate over the government takeover of health care, a growing list of terms created by the democrats have been added to the american lexicon. terms such as cornhusker kickback, louisiana purchase, gator-aid, the doc fix, reconciliation, nuclear option, taxpayer funded abortions, and now worst of all, deeming a bill passed, self-executing and the slaughter solution. the democrat house members carp that the american people don't care about the process. after speaking to thousands of americans about this, not only do they absolutely hate this bill, three to one, and feel it will damage america forever,

they feel the democrat party's arrogance of power is unprecedented in american history. mr. speaker, process does matter. especially when members of congress and a president get themselves elected to power on the promise of transparency and ethics and stroop to a system of bribes and creative parliamentary procedures to ram through a government takeover of 1/6 of the economy, health care. merely to advance their ideology of incremental socialism which is strongly opposed by the american people. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee rise? mr. cohen: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. it's march. it means march madness. normally it means hoops in basketball. but, no, this united states congress means more and more false statements made about health care. the other side of the aisle continues the march madness talking about socialism, comparing our system to england and canada. nothing like it at all. what our system proposes is

subsidizing people who don't have health care and small businesses to make sure they get health care and can live truly life, health, liberty and the pure suit of happiness. they talk about abortion. doesn't change the hyde amendment. they talk about procedure, procedure they used. they talk about creeping socialism. there's nothing about socialism. the fact is this country is the last industrialized country in the world to provide health care for citizens. it's the right thing to do. we will be proud of this congress when we pass it. i wish it was bipartisan. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? mr. pitts: unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. pitts: thank you, mr. speaker. we have all heard about the cornhusker kickback and louisiana purchase, but there are other special deals in the senate health care bill that are on the verge of becoming law. in connecticut there's $100 million for university hospital and sertfide to senator dodd. $500 million in medicaid to

bailout the health care program in massachusetts. the small state of vermont gets $600 million for their medicaid program. this bill will subsidize new jersey pharmaceutical companies. will give $5 bill to union health care plans in massachusetts in michigan. it will slash medicare advantage programs for every state except florida. or exempt blue cross blue shield of michigan and nebraska from the new annual fee on health insurers. this bill will provide higher medicare payments in north dakota. and exempt hospitals in hawaii from cuts. all of these will become law the moment house arrogantly deems this bill passed to the president. is it any wonder the american people don't like this bill being crammed through, forced through, bribed through? i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker, this week we are closer than we have ever been to passing real comprehensive inshunchese

reform for the american people. the reform is simple. it gives consumers, working families, and small businesses more control and forces insurance companies to do what is right. with respect to medicare, it extends the life of the medicare trust fund and improves benefits for our seniors, including the prescription drug benefit. my friends on the other side of the aisle are not interested in passing real reform for the american people. they want to maintain the status quo in which we see health care spending growing exponentially. more families losing coverage, and health insurance companies continuing to raise rates, free of any restrictions. and they are ok with allowing tens of millions of tax paying, hardworking americans to go on without needed health insurance, the same coverage they enjoy as members of congress. they also want to eliminate medicare as we know it today. they want to privatize medicare and give seniors a coupon to go out and shop for private insurance plans. from the same companies that have been raising rates and dropping customers. health insurance reform is not just about insuring the uninsured, it's about also

protecting medicare. mr. speaker, i encourage these reforms and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana rise? >> to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. cao: mr. speaker, i rise today to thank the state department for getting the release of father lee. i have advocated and pushed hard for his release in the past year and i'm glad that my hard work has come to fruition. father lee is one of the many citizens who have been harassed for religious and democracy advocacy. he was placed on trial and was imprisoned for almost 17 years for promoting human rights. as a roman catholic priest and prominent vietnamese dissident, he has become a powerful icon in the goon going fight for democracy in vietnam. he is a hero for being vietnamese worldwide.

while the release is a good start, we still have a long way to go. we as a country must uphold our values and must continue to challenge countries like vietnam and china on their human rights and religious freedom violations. one day maybe my dream then will come true, a free and democratic vietnam. thank you. i yield back. . the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the chair will postpone further proceedings today ons omotions to suspend the rules or on which the vote incurs objection under clause 6 of rule 20. record votes on postponed questions will be taken later.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee rise? mr. cohen: i ask you and everyone a happy st. patrick's day and ask to suspend the rules and pass the rule house resolution 1141 on this special day. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of

the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1141, resolution honoring the accomplishments of supreme court justice sandra day o'connor, the first woman to serve on the united states supreme court. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from tennessee, mr. cohen, and the gentleman from texas, mr. smith, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from tennessee. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. 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 the resolution under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. cohen: and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for as much time as he may consume. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in support of house resolution 1141 to honor the accomplishments of justice sandra day o'connor. justice o'connor blazed paths of history for women throughout her career. in 1969 she was appointed to the arizona state senate. and in 1972 she became the first woman to serve as the majority leader of any state senate in the united states.

later she became a trial judge for maricopa county in arizona. then in 1981 she was nominated to the supreme court. the first woman to sit on the united states supreme court. and she did us proud. justice o'connor retired in 2006, but she continues to be actively involved in promoting good government and civic education. for example, she spearheaded our courts, a web-based education project designed to reinvigorate inside and outside the classroom. there were so many opinions she read as part of the majority and also part when she was the minority to where we know her voice is missed today. although appointed by a republican president, she was bipartisan and called them by the book and did a lot to see that this country's supreme court was highly respected and not politicized. this resolution is a way to honor her for her service to our country. i commend my colleague, gabby giffords of arizona, for

introducing this resolution. i urge my colleagues to support it. i hope we have more justices like her in the future, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for as much time as he may consume. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i -- h.r. 1141 honors the accomplishments of the honorable sandra day o'connor, the first woman to serve on the united states supreme court. justice o'connor was born in el paso, texas, in 1930, and grew up on a cattle ranch called the lazy b near duncan, arizona. she befriended cowboys who worked on the ranch, learned to drive a car and shoot a gun and became an expert horseback rider. her parents decided she needed an education, so o'connor went to live with her maternal grandmother in el paso. she later studied economics at stanford university with aon toward -- with an eye toward

working on the lazy b is she graduated in two years, which included valedictorian. one her other classmates, john jay owe coror, became her husband. this was the 1950's and she could not find work as a lawyer but she was determined. she started out as a legal secretary before finding employment as the deputy county attorney for san mateo, california. when her husband was drafted into the judge corps, she served him in germany. returning to the united states in 1957, the couple settled in phoenix and started a family. three children arrived in the next six years. o'connor eventually hung on a sheengle with one partner and began a general law practice. but with the birth of her second child she devoted

herself to homemaker duties, local politicses. following five years as a full-time mother, o'connor returned to work as an arizona assistant attorney general. later the governor appointed her to fill a vacant state senate seat. in 1974 o'connor became the first woman to serve as the majority leader in the state legislature. this achievement propelled her to the bench, first as maricopa county superior court judge and then 1978 as a member of the arizona court of appeals, the state's indeterminant apell ate court. justice o'connor was a smart, fair, even-tempered judge. this compelling story intrigued president ronald reagan who was looking for a judge to replace justice potter stewart. and sandra day o'connor he found his nominee.

senate confirmations are not for the faint hearted, but o'connor came through like an experienced pro. she was confirmed by a vote of 99-0 and was sworn in as the 102nd member of the court on september 21, 1981. of obvious importance then and now, she became the first woman to serve as an associate justice. so much for glass ceilings. justice o'connor served on the court for nearly a quarter of a century before retiring in 2006 . early in her tenure she was known as a concerted jurist who preferred analyzing cases with a narrow facts specific approach. later she acquired the reputation as a swing vote. law professor steven green once paid her the ultimate compliment when she said, quote, she seemed to look at each case with an open mind, end quote. since retiring from the bench she is not retired.

she cared for her husband, son, who was diagnosed with alzheimer's disease in 1990 and passed away last november. in addition to traveling and spending time with family members, she worked on the american bar association project to educate americans about the role of judges, served as the cans lohr and performed trustee duties for the national constitution center. in recognition of her life's work, president obama awarded her the presidential medal of freedom, the highest civilian honor of the united states, on august 12, 2009. mr. speaker, sandra day o'connor is a pioneer for women and an inspiration to all americans. i urge my colleagues to support h.res. 1141, which honors her many accomplishments. and, mr. speaker, i'll yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. cohen: i'll reserve to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas has

yielded back the balance of his time. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. i would just like to reiterate my extreme commendations of justice sandra day o'connor's life and the appropriateness of this resolution. when i was a member of national conference of state legislatures i suggested we give an award to the state legislator who did the most later in their life and sandra day o'connor, as well as julian bond, were the two people i put up as examples of people who should be honored by the national conference of state legislatures to encourage state legislators to go beyond that and do extra in their lives. and sandra day o'connor was a state senator who did much, and as mr. smith said, she had an open mind and that's something that we need to commend in arizona where representative giffords is from and sponsored this resolution. we had barry goldwater. as his career went on he stood up for tolerance and diversity. so i'm proud to be here to speak in favor of this resolution, and i would ask

that my colleagues vote to support unanimously this resolution and to pass h.r. 1141. and i would close. the speaker pro tempore: all time having been yielded back, the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1141. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative -- mr. cohen: mr. speaker, we'd like to request a roll call. the speaker pro tempore: the motion is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. cohen: i'd request a roll call. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman seek the yeas and nays? mr. cohen: yes. the speaker pro tempore: all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition? mr. cohen: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass senate bill 1147. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 1147, an act to prevent tobacco smuggling, to ensure the collection of all tobacco taxes, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from tennessee, mr. cohen, and the gentleman from texas, mr. smith, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from tennessee. mr. cohen: thank you. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and provide extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. cohen: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for as much time as he may consume. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. senate 1147, the pact act, will allow law enforcement to combat illegal smuggling of tobacco products. every day tens of billions of cigarettes are smuggled across state lines, cheating state and local governments out of taxs.

selling illy a lot with a state with a higher tax. the smuggler can sell at a kiss count and still turn a nice profit. cigarette smuggling costs states billions of dollars in uncollected revenues each year. it has attracted organized crime and even terrorist groups. because of the sheer magnitude, states cannot adequately address it on its own. there are federal statutes. the jenkins act and the prohibiting trafficking act. these statutes in their current form are no match for the internet. the internet is being used to shepherd tobacco across state lines in massive amounts and the states are not able to stop them. they are so mobile in fact that even if smugglers can be identified and pursued, they can reappear under a new name

on a new website. the pact act addresses the short come united states in law by addressing the postal system and commercial delivery services. first, the bill prohibits with limited exceptions sending tobacco products through the u.s. mail. vendors using commercial delivery services for retail sales are required to notify the tax authorities in the states labeled tobacco products, verify they are of legal age and keep records of all sales. third, the bill raises the offense of tobacco trafficking from a misdemeanor to a felony. and they inspect the premises. s. 1147 passed the senate on march 11 and is similar to h.r. 1526 which passed the house under suspension of the rules. i'd like to thank mr. weiner for his leadership in sponsoring the house version of this legislation.

i commend our ranking member, lamar smith of texas, for his leadership and making this a bipartisan effort. i urge my colleagues to support this important legislation, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas for as much time as he may consume. mr. smith: mr. speaker, s. 1147, the prevent all cigarette trafficking, or pact act, of 2010 is bipartisan legislation. it will help federal, state and local law enforcement officials combat cigarette smuggling and trafficking. today, the house considers the senate version of this legislation. the house passed similar bipartisan legislation last may, which i co-sponsored with my colleague from new york, mr. weiner. tobacco smuggling has become one of the most prevalent forms of smuggling in recent years. as the effects are felt not only in america but around the world. the world health organization estimates that illegal cigarettes account for over 10%

or approximately 600 billion cigarettes of the almost six trillion cigarettes sold globally each year. according to a study by the world bank, cigarettes are appealing to smugglers. smugglers are therefore able to sell contraband cigarettes at a significant lower price making it highly profitable to traffic them for resell. tobacco smuggling includes the large diversion of cigarettes from wholesale distribution to the public. it allows the traffickers to avoid most, if not all the taxes that will be imposed at retail. the profits from tobacco trafficking can be used to finance other illegal activity, such as organized crime and drug trafficking syndicates. in addition, the sell of tobacco traffic in the market deprives states of revenue each year. california officials estimate that taxes are unpaid on about 15% of all tobacco sold in its

markets at coos of $276 million per year. . recently my home state of texas raised its cigarette taxes. this increase is supposed to generate an additional $800 million in revenue for the state. this revenue could be lost if smugglers continue to divert cigarettes for resale on the underground market. the pact act will help to ensure that states like california, new york, and texas receive or recover tax revenues -- revenue that is due to them. this bipartisan legislation closes loopholes in current tobacco trafficking laws and provides law enforcement officials with ways to combat the innovative method being used by cigarette traffickers to distribute their products. mr. speaker, s. 1147 is supported by the lung cancer alliance, the campaign for tobacco free kids, and more than 20 public health advocacy

organizations. a number of tobacco manufacturers and a majority of state attorneys general also support passage of this bill. mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to support this legislation. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield as much time as is remaining which he consumes to the silver throated representative from new york, mr. weiner. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for as much time as he may consume. mr. weiner: thank you very much. i thank the ranking member for his informed remarks about this bill. i want to thank also the chairman of our full committee for reaching to this point. the fact is that the various states have different levels of tax on their tobacco products. some states are very high. my state of new york is among the highest. our city puts an additional tax. it is one of the prerogatives

of the different states. some have chosen to tax more. some have chosen to tax less. but the fact is that there is an enormous economy around avoiding that tax to essentially violating the law. there are internet tobacco sites that exist with the sole purpose apparently to be to deliver tobacco to people outside the realm of taxation. that's a problem. it's a problem not just because it makes it impossible for states to collect taxes that they have levied, but it's also a problem because it encourages by sale of internet tobacco encourages underaged smoking. it also makes it very easy tore anyone who wants to commit illicit acts. when the government accounting office took a look at a smuggling ring that they discovered in the early part of this century, they found that hezbollah, the international terrorist organization, was using this difference in taxes to fund their illicit activity. here's how it would work.

they would purchase tobacco at a low tax rate in north carolina, they would ship it to a higher tax state in michigan, and the difference that they saved by selling the cheaper tobacco in michigan would produce millions of dollars. but it is not just international terrorist organizations and not just underaged smokers that are using this gap in the laws to undermine our interstate commerce, but it is also just everyday citizens who have become scoff flaws by using -- scofflaws by using internet tobacco sale. how does this act sponsored by senator kohl and passed by a broad margin when we earlier considered this, how does it solve the problem? one, it is already by agreement u.p.s., fedex, d.h.l., the major common carriers already said we think it's wrong to be

facilitating this by making deliveries for internet tobacco companies. so we are not going to do it. they have agreed to. it's in place in all 50 states. there is only one common carrier that today still delivers tobacco through the mail. the united states postal service. they came to us and said, congress, if you really want us not to mail this, you've got to define what a nonmailable material is and you've got to ask the list. that's what the pact act does. you can no longer mail tobacco through the mail once this becomes law. so it's going to make it very, very difficult if not impossible for internet tobacco sales to continue. a second thing that it does, is that transaction that i described where you buy something cheaply and don't pay taxes on it or pay a lower tax than you are supposed to is already a violation of the law. but effectively those violations are never prosecuted because under the jenkins act, which is the structure of the law that enforces this, it's only a misdemeanor.

that's going to change. in this bill it's going to become a felony. if you think you're going to skirt the law by driving to your neighborhood indian reservation, buying boxes and boxes or cases and cases of cigarettes, not paying taxes on it, well, now, that's a violation of the jenkins act that rises to a felony so it might make sense for the u.s. attorney or for an attorney general to say, we are going to do a stakeout here. if we find internet -- untaxed tobacco being sold or undertaxed tobacco being sold, we are going to crack down on it. a third thing it does is it increases the enforcement of the act that is supposed to happen. when you buy something in a low tax state, you are supposed to pay the taxes in your home state. this is going to increase the reporting requirements for anyone that sells these products. it's going to have to report back to your home state that the taxes that are owed. now, what is this going to mean in addition to cutting down underaged smoking? this is going to mean that

states and localities are going to find that they are going to start collecting the taxes they are supposed to. and again, we have people who support lower tobacco taxes on this bill. people who support higher tobacco taxes on this bill. this is not an issue of whether you think there should or should not be tobacco taxes. i think there's bipartisan agreement that there is within the right of the 50 states the ability to levy these taxes and the sovereignty of those 50 states depend upon them being able to collect it. what this is going to be able to do now is we are going to make sure, we are going to make sure that in the context of this debate that these tobacco taxes get collected. no one knows exactly what is being abailted here, but there is one estimate that as much as a billion dollars in new york state alone is being abated. we are finally going to be able to get control of this problem. all 51 state attorneys general have supported the pact act.

all of the national association of convenience stores, the american wholesale association, even the major tobacco companies who understand that there is a regime that's been set up in the 50 states, they want it to be followed, too. so companies like al truea deserve credit for saying, you know what, while there are a lot of hot dwabets about tobacco use in this country, there should not be a hot debate about whether or not we enforce the laws of the 50 states. i also want to thank my republican colleagues here. mr. smith and his colleagues in a bipartisan coalition have said, you know what, you are going to be tough on crime, we are going to be tough on this crime as well. and have every step of the way made suggestions that have improved this legislation. and i also -- this is the part that's the toughest to say. i want to thank my colleagues in the senate, 290 times we have sent legislation in their

direction and while i think it was benjamin franklin who called the senate the cooling sauce of our democratcy, they have been more akin to a meat locker in recent months and i want to commend senator kohl for figuring out a way to extract something from that frigid environment and hopefully we'll be getting this to the president's desk. this is an important thing what we are doing here. and this is going to allow stites to collect revenue they are supposed to have. every anti-smoking organization that's concerned about underaged smoking has been active in making this happen. hhe american cancer society, the american lung association. i think all of us who are concerned about keeping tobacco out of the hands of children recognize that this giant gap in our law that allows them to get it on the internet without any age verification which is

another element of this bill that's going to be -- going to become law has a stake in making this bill a reality. i want to thank mr. cohen for managing this bill. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. cohen: reserves. the speaker pro tempore: reserves the balance of his time. does the gentleman from texas seek a unanimous consent request to reclaim the balance of his time? mr. smith: mr. speaker, i do not. i yielded back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. i just want to commend both the ranking member, mr. smith, and mr. weiner. this is bipartisan. bicameral, and bilegally. and since it's tribi, i encourage everybody to vote aye on s. 1147. the speaker pro tempore: all time having been yielded back. does the gentleman request the yeas and nays? will the house suspend the

rules and pass senate 1147. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. mr. cohen: mr. speaker, we'd like to ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman seek the yeas and nays? mr. cohen: yes. 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. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 , proceed also resume on motions to suspend the rules previously postponed. votes will be taken in the following order. house resolution 1089 by the yeas and nays. h.res. 1167 by the yeas and nays. h.res. 1184 by the yeas and

nays. the first electronic vote will be conducted as a 15-minute vote. remaining electronic votes will be conducted as five-minute votes. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the the gentlewoman from new hampshire, ms. shea-porter, to suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1089 as amended on which the yeas and nays were ordered. the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1089. resolution recognizing the 150th anniversary of august anna college. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to the resolution as amended. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: the yeas are 421. the nays are zero. 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. without objection, the title is amended. the speaker pro tempore: will members please clear the center aisle so the chair may receive a message. the secretary: recommended by the senate to inform the house that the senate has passed s. 1782, cited as the act of 2010 which the concurrence of the house is requested. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, five-minute voting will continue. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion from the gentlewoman from north carolina -- new hampshire, ms. shea-porter, to suspend the rules and agree to h. resolution is 167 on which the yeas and nays were ordered.

the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1167, resolution expressing the support of the house of representatives for the goals and ideals of professional social work month and world social workday. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agree to the resolution. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 419, the nays are zero. 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentlewoman from new hampshire, ms. -- the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentlewoman from new hampshire, ms. shea-porter, to suspend the rules and agree to h.res. 1184 on which the yeas and nays were ordered. the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1184, resolution accounting the 2009-2010 university of

maryland men's basketball team, greivis vasquez, and geary coach gary williams, on an outstanding season. the speaker p tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to the resolution. members will record their votes by electronic device. this shall be a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united stat house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 280 -- the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 279. the nays are 132 with six members recording present. 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 12 of rule 1 , the house will s sure.

host: let's take a moment now and talk with peter kiley, c-span's vice president. you're here to announce the video library. tell us about it? >> thanks, lib bism it's an exciting and historic call day in c-span's history. i'll take you back just for a second with how this is going to be developing. the cable industry created c-span as a public service back in 1979. in 1986, they launched c-span 2 for the united states senate.

shortly after that in december of 1987, c-span began a facility in a partnership with purdue university. about a decade later, we took total control of a facility that began to archive and record every single minute of c-span programming. the house and senate proceedings, the hearings, the speeches, everything you've come to know from c-span. over that time, it's developed into quite a large archive. we initially sold videotapes and then d.v.d.'s. as the internet grew and expanded, we began streaming a lot of that video. there's a team out in indiana led by dr. robert browning and 10 archivist who over the last few months have been digitizing these archives. content starting from the early days in 1987. today we're announce hag the

entire archive is available for streaming. it's fully searchable. it's a resource for a lot of people to use in a lot of different ways. we look forward to inviting our audience to browse through the arkifes, take advantage of the library and use it in a myriad of ways that they'll find it available. host: the you walk us through it? guest: sure. there's a couple ways to get to it. the easiest way is to go to cspan.org, and in the right-hand corner, you'll find a link. click on that link, go to the video library. you'll see that you can easily find lots of information. there's ways of going into the library and looking at what's been most viewed. you can see recent programs. you can see programs that people have been sharing. when you look at these things, you'll see that it's a simple icon that you can click on to go to the video.

to learn more about it in the top right-hand corner of that page, you'll see there's a blog with lots of postings on how to use the library. we think one of the easiest ways for people to do it is to do personal searches. there's been 115,000 different people that have appeared on c-span during that time. to find one of those people, you simply can go to the video library and type in their name. clearly, presidents, members of congress, everyone's in there. one search that we've done is if you want to search for supreme court justices, all the confirmation hearings since 1987 are in there. say you're interested in the chief justice. you can type in john roberts and click there. up comes the biopage for that person. each of the 115 people have a biopage like that. you'll see chief justice roberts comes up and you'll go to his history.

you can go to that and he made a speech this week, or last week at the university of alabama that made some news where he talked about the state of the union. you can go to that clip, click on it, and do what's called a text search. so maybe you're not interested in watching the entire speech from the chief justice, but you do want to see what he said about president obama and attending the state of the union speeches. you can search in the transcript and type in "union," and up will come in the transcript where that specific quote is in the speech. you can then clip that. you're seeing on the screen how you can find that exact quote, move the little -- slide those little bars across and clip the exact frame of reference that you want. what we think is really powerful and a lot of fun with this is you can take that clip and share it in multiple ways. you can imbed that clip in your blog. you can share it via e-mail. you can see where you can share

it to facebook, you can tweet that clip out. it's a great opportunity for fans of public affairs programming to come in, find what they think is valuable and relevant, important for them, something that helps drive home a point that they're advocating for, pull that clip and share it with their audience. host: who is it geared towards? guest: a lot of people. certainly educators, historians, people very involved in public affairs. certainly students with use the video library. we're finding that -- we got some blogs yesterday from jazz aficionados, who wrote in a blog the last thing they expected to find on c-span was a lot of good information about jazz. but they found in the library clips of people talking about -- members of congress talking about their favorite jazz. or talking about jazz at the national press club and how

people need to learn more about jazz. certainly people following the issues of the day with use it. for instance, health care has been such a big issue this year. we have followed the health care process, so if you want to get the most up to indict stuff, you can find the mark-up proceeding from this week. if there are 880 hours of content related to health care debate and discussion since obama became president in january of 2009 in the library. so you want to see this week's mark-up, you want to see president obama when he addresses the joint session of congress. those things are all easily searchable on there. so a tremendous resource for people following the issue of the day. host: how about historical perspective? guest: health care is a very good example to find that. many people are referring back to the 1990's when the clintons

pursued health care, and we've got a fun clip, i think, from 1993 and that discussion. >> the government-run health care system. i do share his intention to make the debate and the legislative process as exciting as possible. >> i'm sure you will, mr. harvey. >> we'll do the best we can. >> you and dr. kavorkian. [laughter] host: peter kiley, tonight's c-span will be coughing the tv radio correspondent dinner. are light-hearted moments captured in the video library too? guest: we think they are. one of the times where there are a lot of light-hearted moments are in the big social dinners in washington that we cover. the white house correspondent, where big-name comedians oftentimes come in and give speeches. the political actors in this

town make speeches that are oftentimes funny. we have one clip from that that we'll share with you. >> ♪ tell me what is your name >> m.c. rove >> he's rapping and chilling and showing his job he will do it without fail get out his gun because he's shooting quail this man will never stop look at him jumpling up and down ready to hop it's tell me you never saw this man move doing the dance the the karl rove dance ♪ guest: there's a special section within the video library for tracking members of congress. you go to the video library and up on the top bar you'll find a button that says congress. you can track your member or every member of congress. when you see that on there,

you'll find that it lists the people who have spoken the most on the floor of the house and senate or you can separate it by the least of the house and senate. you can watch for individual members of congress. you'll find not only their biopage, but a tremendous record taken from the congressional record of congress. the congressional record itself can be changed slightly, updated as it gets updated. this record that you can find on c-span is the exact proceeding of what happened on this house or senate floor. host: how is this funded and what's the cost, and why do this? guest: the important thing for the viewer and the user of the c-span video library is it's completely free to them. the cable industry made the commitment back in the late 1970's to have a public service channel. it grew to three channels. now it's developing with the growth of broadband and video online. the cable industry agreed with us that it's a resource that

should be made available. it's important for democracy. and we've heard from the industry great pride in allowing us and encouraging us, in fact, to make this kind of content available to as wide an audience as we can to make it as searchable and user friendly as we can, to make an important contribution to the democratic process. host: if you were reading the newspaper this morning, you may have seen this ad in a variety of papers. tell us about the ad and the blog features of the website. guest: unusual for c-span, we took out ads in several major newspapers today, full-page ads announcing the launch of the video library. within it you'll see dozens of pictures of people who have appeared on the network over the years that the library has been archiving content. if you'll go to cspanvideolibrary.org and see the blog posting up at the top, you can click and see that ad and play an interactive game and see if you can name all those people that have been in the

library. the blog will help you with a lot of resources. host: peter kiley, thank you so much for talking with us a the speaker pro tempore: u.s. house in recess subject to the call of the bill. another on the f.a.a. program. and possible later this week, health care legislation. expected today is the congressional budget office cost estimate. earlier this week it passed through the budget committee under expedited reconciliation procedures. everyone rating for that c.b.o. estimate and also for the rules committee to begin under way and set the parameters for debate. possible we could see debate on that legislation later this week. a reminder about health care, we have lots online for you available. you can watch that budget hearing from monday. you can also take a look at speeches and read the latest twitter posts as well.

all of that available to you on c-span.org/healthcare. now what's ahead on the health care debate on this morning's "washington journal." host: we're joined now by alex wayne from congressional quarterly. he is a staff writer who covers health care extensively. we will look at the procedure as well as the policy. thanks for being with us. guest: sure thing. host: we are at wednesday , at-- the get a sense of when the vote might come down? guest: democratic leaders have told us every day that they will have the bill and cost estimate ready any day, yet it has not yet appeared. today is the last day they can release the bill and still have

a vote before the president leaves for an international trip. host: house speaker nancy pelosi has said the bill will be posted for 72 hours before people vote. host: guestguest: that is rights now recanted on that. host: let's take a look at your piece today from the online news. last night you write that a burst of activity is likely in the next day or two as leaders released the final language of the bill, and the cost estimate.