bless the families of our men and women in uniform. ask god in their loving arms who has given a child in iraq and afghanistan. and i will god to give wisdom, strength and courage to president obama, that he will do what is right for the american people. and i will then say three times, god, please, god, please, god, please continue to bless america. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from nevada rise? ms. titus: permission to december the house for five minutes and revise and stepped my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. titus: thank you, madam speaker. i rise to honor ken brown, known throughout nevada as mr. veteran. as my colleague, ms. berkley, pointed out a few moments ago, mr. brown was instrumental in providing a final resting place for n

providing a final resting place for nevada's veterans. in 1987, when he donated the necessary funding for the southern nevada veterans memorial cemetery. mr. brown personally donated the funding to purchase 83.5 acres of land in boulder city in district 3 that serves as a cemetery for nevada's fallen heroes. he worked tirelessly so military veterans would have a dignified final resting place in our home state, close to their loved ones. this effort was formally recognized by the state of nevada when it declared april 6, 1990, ken brown day on. that same day, the southern nevada memorial cemetery was officially dedicated. everyone in southern nevada knows that this project would never have been completed without the hard work and dedication of ken brown. now this was just one of many awards and commendations that

our mr. veteran has received, including the proclamation of heroism from clark county, a god and country award from the u.s. navy armed guard, a formal proclamation from the las vegas city council and keys to the city and certificate of recognition and appreciation from the veterans of foreign wars political action committee. his efforts have been recognized both formally and informally by countless organizations and individuals, too many to list here. . mr. brown serves our nation admiraly when we were fighting to rid the world of tyranny and hatred. at a time when our nation needed heroes, ken brown stepped up. he answered the call. since his service in our nation's armed services, ken has dedicated his life to improving the lives of other veterans in southern nevada through his advocacy and his own example.

mr. brown has also written a poem which was dedicated to our afghan and iraq veterans, u.s. navy armed guard and the u.s. merchant marines. the words of his work ring true today as our brave men and women serve valiantly throughout the world to protect our nation. i ask unanimous consent to enter that poem into the record. madam speaker, today we flew a flag over the capitol in honor of ken brown. i want to thank mr. brown again for his lifetime of dedication to the united states of america and to our heroes, our men and women in the armed services. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from kansas rise? mr. moran? the gentleman from south carolina rise? >> unanimous consent to claim my time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection.

>> madam speaker, i rise tonight in -- tonight in opposition of the small business and infrastructure jobs act. this bill will raise taxes by as much as $16 billion, madam speaker, and will limit businesses' ability to expand and create new jobs. this massive tax increase will deal a devastating blow to the nation's and south carolina's already struggling economy. democrats say they're trying to introduce legislation that will help foster job creation. but if that's truly the case then why does h.r. 4849 place new taxes on companies doing business in the u.s. during an economic downturn? 80% of the bill's funding goes to growing state and local governments.

which we all know will not solve our nation's abysmal unemployment rate. our nation's economy is already on life support, madam speaker. we cannot afford to enact any legislation that further jeopardizes job creation. it's time to put an end to excessive taxing and runaway spending. instead we should focus on the time-tested principles such as extending the 2001 and 2003 tax relief provisions which will by just chance expire at the end of this year. madam speaker, i came down to the floor this evening because someone has got to stand up for america and small businesses. in fact, there are other places i'm really supposed to be right now. but this is exactly where i need to be right now. defending american jobs. the truth is, this bill will not strengthen our economy or create more jobs. instead it will create

unnecessary financial hardships for businesses that are already struggling to survive. for months democrats have been pushing job-killing legislation, everything from stimulus to a government takeover of health care. it's time for congress to stop spending and taxing excessively, madam speaker. we should start working together on creating viable solutions that create more private sector jobs that our country and especially south carolina so desperately need. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: ms. woolsey from california. ms. woolsey: madam speaker, as the drama was building towards this body's passage of health care reform this week many of us may have forgotten that friday was the seventh anniversary of the invasion of iraq. it's been seven years since we

were assured that americans would be greeted as liberators from the moment they touched down in baghdad. seven years since we were told democracy in iraq would blossom naturally like spring flowers and seven years later with more than 4,300 americans having been killed and hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars wasted. the truth remains, the simple act of self-governance is still a life-threatening proposition in iraq. to be sure, in the recent parliamentary elections many iraqis once again showed enormous courage by going to the polls amid violence and unrest. the problem is that it's hard to call a democratic election a success when citizens are taking their lives into their hands just to exercise their most basic democratic right.

despite the resolve of so many iraqi citizens, the fact is that voter turnout declined from the last national election in the year 2005. "the new york times" described the atmosphere as one of a country under siege, noting that, and i quote them, iraqis prepared for the election the way that americans do when battening down for a hurricane. not exactly the festival of civic pride we normally associate with an election day. as it is, even before iraqis voted this election was marred by chaos. disputed candidacies, corruption, arrests, even assassinations. jon stewart on the comedy channel jokes that to call this election a success with just a few candidates assassinated is setting the bar pretty low. what's really unsettling, madam speaker, is that there was a

pretty aggressive propaganda campaign to convince us, here in the united states, that election-related violence really wasn't all that bad. in public top military brass told us not to worry our pretty little heads, that there were hardly any ins dents -- incidence at all, but then someone leaked to the news media the real story. the media -- military's internal numbers, 37 people killed as part of 136 attacks in conjunction with the election. and the disputed outcome of the elections would mean -- could mean that the worst is yet to come. with no clear winner and with accusations of fraud and vote rigging being thrown around, we can -- could see an aggravation of ethnic risk in iraq. some of the worst sectarian violence in iraq to come since

the inconclusive 2005 election. complicating matters is the electoral strength shown by the followers of the radical cleric, muqtada al-sadr, because they despise the american occupation, have a history of violent nationalism and enjoy ties to iran. i can't help but wonder if we had implemented the principles of what i call smart security a long time ago, maybe it wouldn't be so dangerous just to cast a ballot in iraq. if we had deployed fewer soldiers and more democracy building experts, if we had fired fewer guns and had emphasized greater diplomacy and reconciliation then maybe iraq could have a genuinely peaceful and successful election. we cannot learn the wrong lessons from the violence surrounding the iraqi election.

we cannot delay the plan's redeployment of our combat troops out of iraq. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. mr. flake from arizona. without objection. ms. ros-lehtinen: i thank the speaker for the time. madam speaker, last week the cuban tyranny sunk to an all-new low as the communist thugs brutally attacked a procession of mothers, daughters and wives of cuban political prisoners collectively known as the ladies in white. their crime, walking, walking to commemorate the seve pt anniversary of the dictatorship's march, 2003, crackdown against human rights and pro-democracy activists, a grim event known as the black spring. many of those imprisoned at the

time continue to languish in jail cells and endure unspeakable suffering. the profession -- one of the processions of the ladies in white was led by a woman whose son died only a few weeks ago at the hands of the castor regime. carrying flowers and wearing their white clothing as symbols of peace, they were suddenly and viciously confronted, beaten and some temporarily detained by agents of the dictatorial regime. she described the confrontation explaining, and i quote, they dragged me, i am all bruised, they beat me, they cannot be forgiven, end quoit. further reports indicate that nearly 1/3 of the ladies in white marching that day had to seek hospital treatment for the attack. the cowardess of the regime's agents could not be more obvious in the wake of this attack. confronting the nonviolent actions of these women in such a

vicious and hateful manner makes it clear the dictatorship fears these women because the regime officials fear the truth. the repression by the regime knows no boundaries. now they're even attempting to deny the people of cuba the right to mourn the loss of their loved ones. for anyone who had doubt these attacks make it clear, the regime has no conscience. there is no limit to its abuse and its indecenciesy. i was pleased, however, to see the european and the chilean parliament deliver strong statements of condemn nation and reproach following the regime's actions last week. however, responsible nations must do more. the nearly inaugurated president of chile understands this moral obligation. he recognized the suffering of the cuban people, that it must come to an end and that free nations must lead the charge. the president said, and i quote,

the government of chile would do everything that it can so that in cuba there is a process of peaceful recovery of democracy and a full restoration of respect for human rights and individual freedoms, end quote. but where is the rest of the world? why are regional leaders silent on the regime's gross human rights violations in cuba and the abuses of power? where is the organization of american states on the wrong side of history? it was almost a year ago when the o.a.s. voted to incorporate the cuban tyranny into the inter-american system. what a mistake. the united states made a mistake then by shepherding such an effort. but it's not too late to do the right thing by the cuban people. and take up the cause of freedom for the island nation. the u.s. ambassador to the u.s. should immediately call for a consideration of a resolution condemning the tyranny in cuba for its attacks on the ladies in white and demanding that all

political prisoners be immediately released. the u.s. should call on the inter-american commission on human rights to immediately convene a meeting to hear testimony on the systemic violations of human rights and the universal freedoms by the castor dictatorship. the u.s. must request an investigation by the special repertoire for freedom of expression in our western hemisphere on the assaults of independent journalists. it is timer to the -- time for the world to admit the full brutality of the butchers in havana and provide the people of cuba and the solidarity and support that they deserve. it is time for the people of cuba to have the rights and liberties they deserve and for which they fight every day. let this congress pave the way, madam speaker, i ask my colleagues to support h.con.resolution 252, a resolution i introduced to recognize the life of orlando zapata and calling for a renewed

focus on the promotion of human rights and democracy in my native homeland of cuba. i thank the speaker for the time on this important cause. the speaker pro tempore: mr. defazio from oregon. for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado rise? >> ask unanimous consent to take mr. defazio's time. the speaker pro tempore: wowed. -- without objection. >> i rise in recognition of colorado gearup because college access and success is more critical than ever from making our economy strong and competitive and to give every child the access to the gateway of opportunity that an education provides. each and every day colorado gearup helps us meet the president's goal to meet the -- lead the world in college great wits by 2020. it's funded by the u.s. department of education and managed by the colorado department of higher education. unfortunately, way too many students are left behind across

the country, both in secondary and postsecondary education. designed to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education, gearup provides six-year grads to provide services at high-poverty, middle and high schools. it is to provide scholarships. gearup's vision is to engage, encourage and enable colorado's low-income students, including first-generation collegegoers and immigrants so they can reach their potential and pursue its goals. colorado gearup is an effective tool for helping students to close colorado's achievement gap by preparing students to meet rigorous expectations and to level the playing field for colorado's low-income students. beginning in seventh grade, colorado gearup selects class of 10 middle schools and eight

-- in eight school districts statewide. precollegiate advisors follow them through high school and provide their family with the resources, academic and cultural support that they need to finish high school and enroll in college. a vital element of the program is the connection between students and their advisors. advisors have a low student -counselor ratio and meet with their students at least twice a month. if a student is struggling academically, socially or culturally, they meet more than twice a month. data drives the prom attic dre significances. they meet all data from meetings in a database and provide monthly reports to the principals of the schools. it measures success through an annual online student survey that takes place each spring. the colorado gearup model focuses on exposure and experience. students participate in monthly college knowledge workshops.

they visit college campuses. they learn about different kinds of degrees and different kinds of financial aid that might be available to them. juniors and seniors use the gearup online portfolio as a navigation tool to help them with their college selection process, admissions process and financial aid. in 2008 and 2009, more than 80% of colorado gearup students understood their financial aid's options compared to 30% of their peers. colorado gearup is partnered with colleges and have enrollment courses as early as their sophomore year in high school. this allows them to take college courses for college credit. not only are they taking advantage of college course work, they're succeeding. 80% completed at least one college course and 70% received a c or better. colorado gearup students will

enter college with significant amount of college credit and some may even have an associates degree. as students go on to college campus, gearup partners with the institutions to continue to track progress and make sure that the students have the support services they need to succeed at college. i want to share with you what some students say about colorado gearup. quote, gearup is an opportunity to achieve an education. it just makes a person realize about the real world. gearup is there to make it a little easier, said a 10th grader from pueblo east high school. one says that gearup means a chance to go to college and succeed in my life. moving forward, colorado gearup plans to expand to serve even more students across colorado. this program's performance clearly demonstrates that students can be successful in early college initiatives, can succeed at a four-year university given the proper guidance and support and opportunities. early college experiences can even save money by preventing students from dropping out of high school. that's why i applaud colorado

gearup as a national model for innovation and effectiveness in expanding college access for low-income students and first-generation collegegoers and i strongly support its continued expansion and success. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from illinois rise? mrs. biggert: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. biggert: madam speaker, i rise today to congratulate evan, the 2009 men's world figure skating champion and the 2010 olympic gold medalist. what a feat. he started figure skating in naperville, illinois, a town located in my district. he attended high school there where he was on the honor roll and earned many other academic achievement awards while still maintaining a very intense training schedule for figure skating. his discipline and focus certainly paid off. evan won seven titles and

championships at the junior level before making his senior international debut at the age of 19. evan has competed and medaled in world figure skating championships and the 2006 winter olympics before his thrilling gold medal win at the 2010 winter olympics in vancouver. but he's more than an accomplished figure skater. word has it that he is part of charities, including a make a wish foundation and the olympics. i'm glad to say that evan lysacek and his family is the 13th district -- is home in the 13th district. i'm glad that he will be on the next "dancing with the stars."

i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: ms. jackson lee from texas. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. jackson lee: thank you very much, madam speaker. it's always a historic pleasure to be able to sign legislation that can change millions of lives. it is a rare opportunity for members of congress no matter how long they may serve to be able to serve the people and then to be able to grant the people privileges that they would not have had but for the acts of this congress. so i stand here today very proud of the fact that just a few hours ago the president of the united states, the vice president of the united states, the democratic leadership and members signed legislation that would provide opportunities for

32 million americans. polling over the last 24 hours have characterized americans as enthusiastic, uplifted, happy, quite contrary to some of the unfortunate drama that played out over last three or four days as we were debating on the floor of the house. today in "roll call," a local hill paper, the headline reads, "house decorum" and it cites a comment about house democratic leaders may have lost control of this body. i beg to differ with them. they are wrong. this institution is sacred, and the house democratic leadership maintained that sacredness. but tragically those who differed with us took to

tactics that i believe calls for an apology by the republican leadership. the actions of members on the balcony that were beyond the pale, holding up posters that denigrated house leadership on the balcony of the united states house of representatives . signs that were inappropriate. certainly i have no control and welcome the first amendment rights of anybody, including the protesters. interestingly enough, more than 100,000 had gathered on sunday for immigration reform. polite, orderly, respectful and getting their point across. but low and behold, there were some who decided to disrespect this institution and i'm offended. yes, there can be cheers, there can be boos, we do that. it is the order of the day.

but to call out words that are offensive to our fellow members is unacceptable. and i rise today calling on our leadership to ask for an apology from the minority and to have a review and an investigation. a review of the actions of those who decided to hold signs and i believe disrespect the institution. so we're not losing control of this body. individuals may have acted inappropriately, but i will assure you that the debate that was carried on by democrats were on the issues, albie it you may have agreed or disagreed, it was respectful and we won the vote. thank god we won it on behalf of the american people. but there are my friends on both sides of the aisle. i claim them. but the point is that this kind of behavior is unacceptable and offensive. and we must learn that there are some things more important than our individual opportunity

to express ourselves as members of congress outside of this body. it is the institution and the respect that is held over the years for the institution that is known as the most powerful lawmaking body in the world. we are owed then the duty and responsibility of acting like we have the respect for this body. if no one else does, we need to have it. madam speaker, the behavior was unacceptable, the behavior was without description and without comparison. and i'm offended by the insults to the democratic leadership. they've got tough skin, but it's not democratic leadership. it is the speaker, the majority leader. it is the majority whip. it is the majority chairperson of the democratic caucus. it is the vice chairperson and a variety of leaders. not once did i see on a balcony holding a message that would have offended the minority. time will come now when we will

take back this house in a way that all of us can respect this institution. i'm grateful that we had the courage to do what was right for the american people. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will receive massachusettsage. the messenger: madam speaker, a message from the senate. the secretary: madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: madam secretary. the secretary: the senate has passed with amendments h.r. 1586, cited as the f.a.a., air transportation modernization and safety improvement act in which the concurrence of the house is asked. -- is requested. the speaker pro tempore: mr. burton from indiana. mr. burton: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. burton: well, you know, madam speaker, i was watching television today and i saw that the president was down at the

white house signing the new health bill and he was getting all kinds of applause and everybody was, you know, just having a big time. and something like 61% or 62% of the american people were wondering why. because what they passed was something that the vast majority of americans don't want. so tonight i thought i'd come down here -- i don't want to rain on the president's parade, but i would like to talk just a little bit about what they're doing to america. because i think it's really important. i know i can't talk directly, madam speaker, to the american people, but if they were listening i'd like to just tell them a few things about what's been going on since this guy took office -- excuse me -- since the president took office. january of 2009, they spent $73.3 billion on the state children's health insurance program re-authorization and a lot of people thought this was necessary but it was still $73

billion. february 9, a month later, they passed the stimulus bill that was going to create jobs and keep unemployment below 8%. that was $1.16 trillion with interest, and that was not successful in keeping the unemployment down. in fact it went way above 8%, over 10%. it's now do you a little below 10%. but nevertheless, it's still up there much higher. but we spent $1.16 trillion on that. now, i can't tell you how many zeros are involved in that, but you'll figure it out, america, if america were allowed to listen to me, madam speaker. they'll figure it out when they start seeing all this extra cash flowing around that's going to depreciate the value of their money. then on february 9 also they passed the omnibus bill, the same day they passed the stimulus bill. but that wasn't much, it was only $625 billion, a little over half a trillion.

and then in june they passed the defense supplemental which was necessary, that was $106 billion, but they had scabs of pork bill projects in there that the president said he would not tolerate. and then in december the president passed the omnibus bill, the consolidater appropriations omnibus bill, and it was only $3.554 trillion. we don't have this money. we just don't have it. we're digging a hole that you just won't believe how hard it's going to be to get out of it. nevertheless the spending goes on. and on and on and on. and i'm hoping that america wakes up and realizes what's going on before it gets so bad that we have hyperinflation and interest rates that go out of sight because they'll trial -- try to control it like they did in the early 1980's and we see taxes going through the roof.

in addition to that the things i just mentioned, they passed cap and trade through this body which was $846 billion, almost another trillion, but it's still languishing in the senate. after the president's victory and the signing of the health care bill today i'm sure he's going to try to ram that dude through, too. and the health care program that they passed today that they said was going to end up saving us money, i mean, listen to this. we're going to have 32 million more people that are going to be insured and it's going to cost less. i want everybody to figure that one out. how you can insure 32 million more people and spend less money? if you can figure that out i'm going to get a job as houdini's assistant. it just isn't going to happen. as a matter of fact, the cost of the health care bill is going to run at least, at least $1.5 trillion to $3 trillion. the way -- the gimmick they're using to try to make it look good is they're going to start taxing us right now for 10 years

but the health coverage, most of it doesn't start until 2014. so you're paying 10 years of taxes for six years of coverage and that makes it look like they're staying below $1 trillion. but when you put the pencil to 10 years of taxes and 10 years of expenditures you're looking at something like close to $2 trillion. and i believe it's going to end up costing a lot more than that. all these government programs they talk about that's going to cost so little, always ends up costing more. always creates more bureaucracy. and always ends up hurting this country and the future generations. so, i would just like to say, madam speaker, if i were talking to america tonight, remember what happened today, remember what our colleagues on the other side cheered about two days ago, remember what it's going to do to you and your kids and your grandkids because there's an election coming up in 2010, in

november, the people need to be aware of what's happened and what's happening. we are moving toward a socialistic approach in government. not free enterprise that made this country great but socialism and america needs to be aware of it. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: ms. kaptur from ohio. mr. mccotter from michigan. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? >> ask unanimous consent to address the house for five minutes, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> madam speaker, i rise to discuss the health care legislation that has just been signed into law and to discuss the state of the american economy and in particular the state of federal spending and

federal debt. regarding the health care legislation the president signed into law today, it was unanimously opposed on our side of the aisle and in my case it was opposed principally as a result of what i believe is a fiscally irresponsible approach. certainly we need to reform health care in this country and i was supportive of a proposal that permitted the purchase of policies across state lines, major medical malpractice insurance reform, making sure that young people had the opportunity to stay on their parents' policies until their middle 20's and the pooling of small businesses together. i think that this would have been an approach that would have received wide bipartisan support. however, the bill that became law today is not balanced over the next 10 years. the congressional budget office

reported over the next 10 years that this does not include spending for the so-called doctor's fix, that it's roughly $200 billion, and there is no one on either side of the aisle who believes that we will not engage in that appropriate expenditure, in other words, if that were included in the cost over the next 10 years the bill is not revenue-neutral, it is in the red. there was an interesting op ed piece in "the new york times" on march 21, first by douglas akin, formerly the director of the congressional budget office. and he is widely respected on both sides of the aisle, the congressional budget office obviously is nonpartisan in nature. and what he says -- states is that, unless there is a realistic assumption of what is going to occur then there cannot be a realistic assumption of the

total cost involved. he states, fantasy in, fantasy out. and the first gimmick he cites is the fact that we front load revenues and we back load spending. in other words, revenues increase over the next 10 years but the spending does not increase until four years from now. 10 years of revenue increases as opposed to six years of spending. this can only occur once and moving forward into the second decade, of course, that will not be possible. this is an excellent example of why over the first decade the health care bill is not deficit neutral, it in fact is in the red. something that should be of concern to all americans. this is an example of a larger problem in this country and the larger problem in in this country is that we have -- in this country is that we have a $12 trillion debt and that debt is rising rapidly.

last year our annual deficit was $1.42 trillion. this year it is expected to be $1.6 trillion. the highest annual deficit as a percentage of gross domestic product since 1945 at the end of world war ii. over the course of the next four years, debt will increase dramatically and i urge the obama administration to begin to address this fundamental issue that really confronts us as a nation and certainly confronts the next generation. moodies, the rating house, has indicated that it is not clear that we will be able to retain our triple a bond rating and this of course would be tragic for the american people, tragic for our taxpayers and indeed tragic moving forward making sure that america remains in its position of preeminence in the world. moodies cites three different criteria as to whether it will reduce the triple a bond rating

of this country. first, the amount of debt we are taking on and of course that includes not only debt here at the federal level but also debt at state and local levels as well. and we are taking on enormous debt, as i have indicated. so that's not a good sign. and then of course whether or not federal deficits will increase over the next decade and as a percentage of gross domestic product and this is the highest it has been since the end of world war ii. moodies is also watching another factor to see whether we borrow less in the future and whether or not we raise taxes which i oppose or cut spending or both, moodies is looking at that. certainly we should engage in fiscal responsibility in a way moving forward to get our fiscal house in order. thank you, madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: mr. bartlett from maryland.

for what purpose does the gentlewoman from minnesota rise? mrs. bachmann: to address the house for five minutes, revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. bachmann: madam speaker, thank you. madam speaker, i'd like to congratulate the president today. mr. president, you are halfway there. with the president's signature on a health care bill today, the federal government has now taken outright ownership or control of 50% of the american economy. the president can rightly say that he has transformed america. since the inception of bailout nation in september of 2008, with the passage of the $700 billion tarp bailout, the federal government loll -- the government's loll pa losea takeover is under way. president obama fully embraced the $700 billion bailout plan during the first of his presidential debates with senator john mccain.

during december of 2008 president-elect obama insisted that outgoing president george bush released billions of dollars to create the automobile task force for the purpose of preventing general motors and chrysler motors from filing for bankruptcy. but like most government interventions the billions spent on the auto companies did not prevent bankruptcy, but it did provide a gentler landing for the unions who worked so hard to elect president obama. banks were bailed out, and the great wall street investment houses, including goldman, et al, turned themselves into banks to be eligible for government subsidized tarp funds. soon the federal government turned its dividend-paying shares into equity shares and government became the outright owner, the shareholder, of america's largest banks. next came the unholy bailout,

madam speaker, of a.i.g. the largest insurance company in america, a sponge for taxpayer money, a.i.g. held toxic derivatives and they have yet to right their ship. the federal reserve fought massive copious reams of toxic commercial paper from private corporations and the federal government's balance sheet forever changed, subsidized by the american taxpayers. freddie and fannie, the secondary mortgage purchasers, were the center of the university for the financial meltdown. foolishly they pursued a policy of purchasing substandard loans, then repackaging those loans into mortgage-backed securities. freddie and manny greedly spread their economic cancer throughout the financial world, exposing america's taxpayers to potentially trillions of dollars of losses. freddie and fannie should have been shuttered. they should have been placed into receivership, but uncle

sam, ever the chump, couldn't resist and now uncle sam owns 50% of america's home mortgages. eager for more, the obama administration consumes the student loan industry and they completed that transaction today with the signature of a pen. a breathtaking 33% of the private economy was either outright purchased or controlled by the federal government in a span of 10 months' time. but the brass ring of government control health care still taunted this administration. 18% of the private economy, the finest health care the world has ever known, was a long sought-after prize of the political left. today they've realized their dream at the 11th oth hour this morning, president obama was a signage -- with the signage of his name completed the federal government takeover of health care. 33% plus 18% equals 51% of the

private economy today controlled or owned by the federal government. it is fitting on this momentous day that we pause for a moment of silence and lament the passage of half of america's economic freedom. in a stunning 18 months' time, for the first time in america's history, the federal government now owns or controls over 50% of the private economy. madam speaker, i say congratulations, mr. president, you're halfway there. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? without objection.

mr. poe: thank you, madam speaker. i bring you news from the third front. we have the front that america's engaged in war in iraq. we have the front in afghanistan and i bring you news from the silent third front in that nobody talks about it and that's the southern border of the united states with mexico. the convenient truth is there's a border war brewing down on our southern border and america needs to be aware of what's taking place and not ignore the obvious. the texas border sheriffs and the sheriffs' coalition from brownsville all the way to san diego talk about the problems that are increasing over the -- on the border and it's violence, it's the organized crime cartels, the drug cartels that are bringing violence to the border area on both sides of the border. on the mexican side and on the american side. and it's only going to get worse.

i want to talk about a specific incident that's taking place between two drug cartels, the zetas and the gulf drug cartels. they're operating in mexico but one of them is galero, mexico, right on the border between the united states and texaco -- rather between mexico and texas. it's near a place called falcon lake. falcon lake is a man-made dam and the lake then is the result of that dam. on the southern side of falcon lake is mexico. 6,000 people live there. on the northern side in the united states is falcon heights in zapata county and starr county are located there. yesterday in mexico eight buildings were burned to the down by the drug cartels. the reason being the owner of those eight buildings was a

zeta and he switched to the gulf cartel and as a result the cartel burned down the eight buildings that he controls. and the problem in garrow, mexico, is so -- guerro, mexico, is that it's so bad that they say do not leave your homes today because they expect violence to erupt today, tomorrow or this weekend between the two cartels fighting over as we say in the united states turf, but what they say in mexico is la paza. good folks on both sides of the border live in fear because of the violence, because of the crime, because of the drug cartels. and while we talk about health care, we need to talk about the health of americans who live on the u.s. side of the mexican american border and the health

of the people who live on the southern side as well. the sheriffs are worried about what's taking place because the cartels have more money, they outgun americans, they outfinance us and have better equipment. the secretary of state today is down in mexico city talking about how we can spend more money in mexico about the merida initiative, the $1 billion we gave mexico to secure the border on the other side. we should be talking about spending money on our side of the border to protect and reinforce the border on our side because sooner or later violence will erupt into the united states. and in guerrero, mexico, they're expecting a violent fight between these two drug cartels in any moment, any day fighting over this turf. you see, the zetas are running out of money and they need more money. the way that they'll finance

their operation is to kidnap people, the plan apparently being from what i understand to kidnap teenagers who have wealthy parents and then hold them for ransom until that money is paid for. hopefully that doesn't occur but we will see whether it does or not. this is just one area along this vast border between mexico and the united states where violence continues to erupt and where we need to be in control of our own borders. you know, the texas governor asked for troops on the border. he's been denied that. it's the first duty of government to protect the dignity of the united states and secure the border. people have a right who live on the border to live free from criminal cartels coming in and committing violence against americans. and our government needs to protect american citizens and this is today's news from the third front.

on the texas-mexico border. and that's just the way it is. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009, the gentleman from florida, mr. mario diaz-balart, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. mr. diaz-balart: thank you very much, madam speaker. you know, we've had a number of interesting debates in the last -- last year, last few weeks in particular. and one of the things that we should never forget is how precious freedom is and how frail freedom is. just 90 miles away from our shores at this very moment, at this very instance there are people who have been enslaved for over half a century under

the boot of the same oppressive regime, the dictatorship of the castro brothers. half a century of brutality. and just last week was the -- marked the seventh anniversary of the beginning of what was known as the black spring in cuba. the cuban black spring in 2003 where 75 human rights activists, independent journalists, librarians, economists and other peaceful pro-democracy activist and leaders were jailed for expressing their desire for democracy and democratic change in cuba. all of them were sentenced to up to 25 years in prison in the worst possible conditions and the worst possible prisons. now, that was just one of or some of the thousands of heroes who are standing up for freedom in the enslaved island of cuba. the majority of this congress for many, many years has always

stood with the cuban people, has stood in solidarity with the cuban people and their struggle for that freedom which is inevitable but that has cost so dearly for so long. i have a lot to talk about on this issue, madam speaker, but before i proceed, i frankly just deeply honored to be able to yield time to an individual who has been a leader in this congress for issues of freedom, a leader in this congress who has always been speaking out for the oppressed wherever they may be but who is so well-known by the dissidents, by the opposition leaders, by the pro-democracy leaders in cuba because his name rings as freedom for the cuban people who have been enslaved. i'd like to yield as much time as he would like, because it's a privilege to be able to share

tonight with a person who everyone in cuba and there are those cubans who live in freedom, whether it's in the united states or other parts of the world, recognize this gentleman, dan burton from indiana, as a fighter for freedom. it's a privilege to speak with you today, sir. mr. burton: wow, i really appreciate you saying that. because when i think of people who really are fighting for freedom here in the congress regarding cuba, i think immediately of lincoln and mario diaz-balart. you two have been real stall warts, and you're also very eloquent. and we're certainly going to miss lincoln after he retires after this year, but i know he'll continue to fight for freedom and democracy in cuba. and ileana ros-lehtinen has been a real fighter too. so i really appreciate all three of you in which you have been able to do, and you worked so hard to get us the

helms-burton bill passed several years ago which dealt with the cuban issue. the thing that bothers me the most is, as you said, castro has been in power down there for over 50 years. and when he first came into power when the revolution took place, i remember there were a lot of people in america that thought he was going to be the savior of cuba because batista, who was the dictator down there supposedly was supposed to be so bad. but they didn't realize that while batista might have been a problem, castro was an absolute disaster. he came in, started killing a whole bunch of people, started imposing his communist philosophy and putting people in prison for huge periods of time. there's a book i read against all hope, almando volideras.

when i read that book i was on a plane. he was in jail, i think, 25 years only because he took issue with the communist approach to cuba. and i started to cry and a guy next to me thought something was wrong with me. and i assured him there wasn't and i told him about the book and he said, i am going to have to read that myself. but i would say to anybody in their offices tonight that might be watching, i hope you get a chance to read "against all hope," because it will tell you how really bad it is. i think last week or a week before, mario, we had a person who had a hunger strike down there. you could give me his name. i can't remember right now. mr. diaz-balart: orlando zapata tamayo who died in prison as a political prisoner on haunger -- a hunger strike. mr. burton: he was protesting the terrible treatment and the people who were incarcerated

for nothing but opposing communism and he died in his fight for freedom. that is just unbelievable, and castro continues to keep people incarcerated for huge periods of time without any real charge against them except they don't agree with communism. so tonight i am adding my support to mario and lincoln diaz-balart and their special order because cuba should be free. it is only 90 miles from our border. there's an awful lot of people down there. in fact, most of the people in the country that yes or no to have the freedoms -- that yearn to have the freedoms and democracy we have in the united states, and yet they live in abject poverty, they live with driving cars that are 50 years old because of the economy down there. and if they work and the company they're working for is paid in dollars, that money has to go to the government and

they're paid in pesos which are worth almost nothing. and so people are kept in abject poverty for extremely long periods of time with no hope except to continue to live that way. so i hope and i pray that there will be freedom and democracy in cuba. i hope it will be before too long, and i hope that people like -- it won't be before too long, and i hope that people like president chavez in venezuela will stop giving support to the cuban communist government and if there's anything that the united states can do to stop mr. chavez from blowing up that government because he's committed not only keeping cuba a communist country but spreading it. but as long as lincoln diaz-balart and ileana

ros-lehtinen continues to fight, i'll support them because cuba should and must be free and one day cuba will be free. and when it is free we are all going to go down there and i am going to let the mario and lincoln brothers buy me a margarita and we'll all celebrate together. viva cuba libre. thrart diaz-balart let me thank -- mr. diaz-balart: let me thank the gentleman for freedom everywhere but has been particularly vocal on free cuba. i want to approach the well because i want to show some pictures and some boards of some individuals that i want to briefly talk about. madam speaker, the gentleman from indiana just mentioned orlando zapata tamayo. this is his picture here. 42-year-old plumber and bricklayer in cuba. he was arrested, thrown in prison, again, a pro-democracy

-- peaceful, pro-democracy advocate. and while he was there he was constantly being beaten and beaten and beaten. which, by the way is not unusual treatment for how that regime treats their prisoners. it's hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of political prisoners. so in order to protest the beatings against him and the inhumane treatment of all the other political prisoners and to highlight the cause of freedom, the cause of freedom that so many are struggling for and are suffering so thoroughly for. he stopped eating. he went on a hunger strike on december 3. and again, he continued to suffer from that brutality. he had been arrested in 2003 during the black spring that i mentioned. and, again, a person who had been declared as a prisoner of conscience by even organizations like amnesty

international. so he went on this hunger strike, and after 80 days, 80 days he passed away. he passed away because he refused to give up on the cause of freedom. and he refused to accept as a normal everyday occurrence that should be accepted the fact that the political prisoners should be beaten, should be mistreated and in fact should be incarcerated at all. let me also put up this poster now. this poster is of orlando zapato -- zapata tamayo's mother. what she's holding up here is the bloodied t-shirt of her son. that's the kind of beatings he was receiving in prison. as a political prisoners -- prisoner, as a prisoner of conscience, as a peaceful man who was just asking for freedom.

and because of that this is the kind of treatment that he was getting. constant beatings, constant, constant beatings in prison. and after he died, after orlando zapata tomeiow -- tamayo, that hero for freedom a that hopefully all of us will remember, because history must remember him for his sacrifice, after that one would ask, well, is that it? is the cause dead? no. because there are other heroes that have come after him. like the many heroes that came before and they will continue to come until cuba is free. and right after he died another well-known political prisoner, a very well-known activist, a very well-known pro-democracy

activist also then stopped eating and went on a hunger strike. he's been on this hunger strike since the 24th of february. this is a man who's a psychology, -- psychologist, he's a freelance writer, he's on a hunger strike and he knows what the consequences of that hunger strike may be. because he saw what happened to zapata tamayo and he's on a hunger strike knowing that his fate may very well be the same, that he may give his life so that others will finally wake up and speak out about the horrible atrocities that are taking place just 90 miles away from our shore. and again he says, he has stated that he will remain on this

hunger strike until a number of other political prisoners who are -- 26 of them who are seriously ill, seriously ill, are set free. as you can see by this image, his condition as well, very fragile. it doesn't take a medical doctor, i'm not one, to understand that his condition is very, very fragile. another man, i don't have a picture of him but he's an engineer in a -- and a former university professor. he has already publicly vowed that he will also go on a hunger strike if this man were to die, on his hunger strike. that he will replace him in the hunger strike until, as he said, the final consequences to highlight the condition of the political prisoners, to

highlight the lack of freedom of the cuban people, to highlight the fact that that freedom is something that's desired by all and yet receives so little attention, so little international atext -- attention. because where are the international communities? where are the international groups? where are they speaking out for the freedom of the cuban political prisoners? where are they asking and demanding elections for the cuban people? very few are anywhere to be heard. which is why now felix has also said that he will go on a hunger strike as well. again, i repeat as he said, until the final consequences. and the story goes on and on and on. i want to now put up a picture of this man and his wife.

he is known as one word. he was arrested while talking to some friends in a public square. in 1990 he was talking about the lack of freedom in a public square in 1990 and he was arrested and he spent 17 years as a political prisoner and he was consistently and constantly beaten in prison. and yet he never gave up. he never lost faith. and he was finally released in 2007 and what has he done since his release in 2007? mr. speaker, he's continued to speak out, madam speaker. he's continued to speak out. he's continued to complain and denounce the treatment of the political prisoners and the lack of freedom and demanding democracy for cuba. and just like he was beaten in prison, he and his wife, another hero, are now constantly arrested and rearrested and they're beaten and beat and beaten time and time again.

he's 45 years old. another hero that the american people need to know about. these are heroes 90 miles away from the united states. both of these individuals are heroes. another hero, another heeow, madam speaker, oscar -- hero, madam speaker, oscar. he's a physician, he's a doctor. he was incarcerated because he refused to perform forced abortions. they actually had forced abortions in the island of cuba. he has dedicated his life to advancing human rights and democracy in cuba. he's a medical doctor, as i said, and a total pacifist. a believer in martin luther king and in gandhi. a person who, again, continues to speak out, even from prison. even after the repeated beatings

that he's received time and time and time again. he has been placed in sol taret confinement, he has lost many of his teeth and yet he continues to speak out. and unfortunately where are the international organizations demanding his release? and i can continue to go on and on and on, we need to talk about some of these heroes that can never be forgotten, that we need to stand with them, next to them, behind them in solidarity, but to also speak on she this issue and tell us a little bit about -- to speak on this issue and tell as you little bit about -- i believe he spoke to the doctor who is on the hunger strike recently, to talk about that is a person who has dedicated his life for the cause of freedom, who has spent many years in public service, who will, even though will be leaving congress soon, will not stop fighting for the cause of freedom everywhere, not only in cuba, but obviously also

particularly fighting for the political prisoners for democracy, for the just causes, for the suffering of the cuban people and that is the gentleman from florida, mr. diaz-balart. mr. diaz-balart: thank you. and i ask the speaker to inform me how much time we have remaining. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has 43 minutes left. mr. diaz-balart: thank you. i want to thank congressman mario diaz-balart for convening us here this evening and, mario, if you may leave biset because i'm going to read first a statement he sent out along with five other heroes on march 3 and i'd like to start by, as i was saying, thank you for convening us and by pointing out who the heroes and genuine representatives of cuba are. there have not been free

elections for many decades and so the people cannot express themselves. when they are able to express themselves, these heroes and others like them who today enjoy the moral authority arising from their conduct will have political authority, they will be elected at the municipal level, at the provincial level, at the national level as the leaders of cuba. they are the representatives of the cuban people. dr. biset whose photograph is on top there and five other heroes managed to send a statement from their prison, they are in one of the gulags of the castro brothers, and they sent out a statement on march 3 and i'd like to read it. we continue to suffer cruel

treatment, inhuman, degrading treatment and even torture in the communist regime's prisons. we ask all who support cuba's freedom to between march 12 and march 31 unite in short periods of fasting and study of the bible, demanding the liberation of all political prisoners and liberty and democracy in cuba, please engage in short fasts and prayer sessions in your homes, churches or other public gathering place -- places, and speak out in articles and conferences to reflect upon and implement and help implement through peaceful, just and patriotic means the long-sought objectives of the cuban people. oscar biset, whose photograph is there, julio, an gel, those

heroes sent out the statement that i read. a few days ago i was able to be in lithuania where i was invited to help form the parliamentary forum of the community of democracies, over 100 nations belong to the community of democracies and lithuania, a small country with extraordinary moral authority, is chairing the community of democracies and had the initiative and the idea of the formation of a parliamentary forum and i was honored to be elected one of the seven vice presidents. the new president of that now established parliamentary forum, chairman garis of the foreign affairs committee of the lithuania parliament, made a motion in the first meeting of the parliamentary forum in

lithuania a few days ago to -- and drafted a resolution in furtherance of the request of dr. biset and the other heroes. and i'd like to read it. resolution, in the convening meeting of the parliamentary forum of the community of democracies, calling for support of cuba's pro-democracy movement , whereas the pro-democracy movement in cuba has grown at a rapid pace over the last three years and specific expressions of the movement are evident today in the explosion of bloggers on the island, independent journalists, musicians, artists, writers and others who are using their talents to denounce the atrocities of the dictatorship, all while putting forth new ideas for the transition to domesy. whereas there are still extraordinary obstacles to overcome, such as the continued

repression by the totalitarian dictatorship, extremely limited access to the internet and texting capabilities and a lack of a coherent message of solidarity from the international community. whereas the dictatorship is fearful of the growth of the pro-democracy movement, whereas the message of the movement is coherent and clear in demanding freedom for all cuban political prisoners beginning with those who are gravery ill inside the prisons. freedom of expression and free fair multiparticipate elections with international supervision. whereas this common position of the cuban pro-democracy movement requires greater recognition, dissemination and solidarity on the part of the community of democracies, whereas now more than ever the cuban pro-democracy movement requires that the democratic community take concrete steps to demonstrate its solidarity, now therefore be it resolved that the community of democracies parliamentary forum condemns the brutality of the cuban regime against cuban political prisoners, expressesity full

support for the cuban pro-democracy movement, honors cuban pro-democracy fighters such as the martyr orlando zapata tamayo, and expresses its admiration for the efforts of other heroes such as i go err mow, calls for the immediatery lease of all cuban political prisoners and free mallity -- multiparticipate elections in cuba and calls on the democratic community to take concrete steps in demonstrating their solidarity with the cuban pro-democracy movement by providing humanitarian and technological assistance to the pro-democracy movement, urging foreign diplomatic posts in havana to strengthen contacts with pro-democracy activists on the island, encouraging foreign dignitaries to visit cuba for the soul purpose of meeting with pro-democratic activists and looking for opportunities to reiterate and support the common position of the cuban pro-democracy movement in the international community.

that resolution passed at the convening meeting of the parliamentary forum of the community of democracies in lithuania on 12, march, -- 12 march, 2010. i have and i see a distinguished colleague of ours, there's no one who i admire more, cyst measure smith has joined us -- are you christopher smith has joined us and before yielding back to you, i'd like to make reference to two items, first, i will put in the congressional record a list of 25 gravely ill political prisoners in cuba. the reason for the hunger strike is in the photograph below dr. biset, he's been on a hunger strike for weeks now. for the reason that these 25

political prisoners are near death because of grave illnesses and they are still being held and have received sentences at the order, obviously, of the tyrant, fidel castro, up to 26 years of length, their sentences. simply for calling for freedom, supporting freedom and democracy. so after chris smith speaks, i will, if it's all right, read the names of these 25 heroes, and then i'd like to make reference firk may, to, i received a call i wasn't able to answer before coming to the floor from a reporter for the national journal, tom rissen, who according to my staff is asking my opinion with regard to the initiative now with the

sutter fuge -- now with the subjecter fuge, under the subterfuge, where they tell the american farmer, this is to help you make sales. legislation has been filed to open up what the castro brothers consider their number one priority, to grant them their number one priority, the billions of dollars in mass u.s. tourism to their system, to their island, where they would then be able to receive the tourists, make sure that the tourists see the village -- >> if the gentleman will yield on that point. i think it's interesting to note, the legislation you're

mentioning, it was filed on the same day that orlando sa paw toe died in prison -- zapata died in prison in a hunger strike, the same day where you expect solidarity. what can we do to help. that same day, some in this congress filed a bill to unilaterally lift sanctions, asking nothing in return on that same day. mr. diaz-balart: and granting the cuban tyranny its number one priority. when colleagues have come to me and said, what's your opinion on the agriculture bill that's been filed, i said, do you realize it has very little to do with agriculture and it is the number one priority of the cuban tyranny? unilaterally to receive the

countless billions in u.s. tourism, unilaterally, thus in exchange for nothing, the prisoners would continue being tortured. the cuban people would continue bound and gagged, denied their ability to speak, much less have free and fair multiparty elections for over 50 years? that would continue and the regime would have unilaterally its billions, countless billions of u.s. dollars. that's what that bill is about. it's not about agriculture. the regime is allowed to purchase american agricultural, by u.s. law. agricultural products. ast roe has to pay so that the american taxpayer is not then given the bill after, for billions of dollars he won't pay after he gets the ability to get financing and if he gets tourism, then imagine the ability to further repress, to

further torture, to further denigrate, discriminate because the essence of that regime is not only totalitarian, it is a racist regime against the due ban people. i wish to read the list of the heroes but i think it's important -- mr. smith: if the gentleman will yield, i'll ask you in a little while to tell me about the conversation you had with one of the heroes. the majority in congress has always had great solidarity with the cube coup ban people. one of the people that i most admire, i knew of him before i got elected to congress by having conversations with you and see his record. they called him one of, i think, the hero of the oppressed. not in congress, just in our country. and so it's a privilege to have

the gentleman from new jersey, mr. smith, again a hero of those who are oppressed, a hero of anyone who is struggling in a political prison in a gulag for his or her belief. mr. smith, it's a privilege to have you here. again, when we talk about heroes and in the gulags, we have it easy here, because we live in freedom, but we can't forget the struggles of those around the world, including just 90 miles away, i want to thank you for never forgetting, never forgetting those that are struggling. like dr. biset, who is in there, frankly, because he's pro-life. thank you for being here. mr. diaz-balart: i thank my -- mr. smith: i thank you for yielding and i say to both diaz-balart brothers, mario and lincoln diaz-balart, you have spoken for so long and with such clarity for those all over the world, including especially

in cuba, the people of cuba have no greater friends than you brother the diaz-balart brothers. there is -- isn't a single argument, fight, debate, amendment, bill, that you -- the two of you -- are not out in front taking all of the flak, all of the disinformation that is dished by those enablers of tyranny, who believe that somehow if you coddle dictatorship you'll see an amealoration of their egregious acts. it doesn't happen. it didn't happen with the nazis, it has not happened with the chinese communist regime. it has not happened in north korea. and other this last half century it has not happened in cuba. the more you enable dictatorship, the more of an appetite it has for political prisoners, for repression, because there's no check no tourniquet on their horrific abuse. let me say again, no one has

done more on behalf of human rights, especially for the beleaguered cuban people than lincoln diaz-balart and mario diaz-balart and my -- i've been in congress for 30 years. i, along with frank wolf and others, have worked very hard along with you on human rights, laws, and policies, it is a privilege to be called your friend for your steadfast advocacy. it is incredible. when you spoke about the travel ban and other associated concessions to the dictatorship in havana, it seems to me, and i say this to both sides of the aisle but especially to my democratic friends, especially to the congressional black caucus, that traveled down to cuba and met with raul and fidel it's a roe and as far as we can tell, never mentioned dr. biset, never mentioned any of these courageous political

prisoners who have been tortured, who have been put in solitary confinement because of their steadfast belief in human rights and that every man, woman, and child in cuba ought to live in liberty and freedom in cuba. there's an empathy deficit. a lack of empathy, a lack of compassion. we talk about compassion in congress but very often it's a simple throw-away word that has all kinds of meaning. we need to have empathy to get in their shoes. realize what it must be like to spend hours without a light in darkness, eating worm-infested food, being sick, having diarrhea that seems to never go away. losing your teeth as dr. oscar biscet is in the process of doing, if he hasn't lost them all already. this brave man, an ob/gyn, a doctor who stood up for human

rights, not one member of the congressional black caucus, to the best of my knowledge, and other might be whors always patronizing fidel castro, have stood up and said, what about him? why can't we see him and visit him in his prison cell? congressman frank wolf and i tried for 20 years to visit cuba, to go to the prisons. every time, we're turned down by the castro regime. we have a pending request right now, we were turned down last february. those who go in and sing the praises of these modern day adolph hitlers and let's not forget, take fidel castro andra ewell castro and what they have done, torture, humiliation, execution, slow and long, sometimes a bullet, sometimes a very slow death, these people, if they were in a free society, not only would be prosecuted, they'd probably be in an insane

asylum for the kind of terrible, dark seeds they commit on other people. i read armando validari's book years ago, it's called "against all hope," it's a chronicle of this brave man's years in the castro gulags. he talks about one instance where in order to further humiliate the political prisoners, they lined them up and marched them into a vat of human excrement, submerged them, and these men, their noses, their eye, their ears were filled with human ex-trement. -- excrement. many lost their hearing, had eye problems, all kinds of infections from it. they smelled horrible. that very act caused the kind of ptsd in him.

later on, when his wife, after he was exiled, gave birth to children he couldn't even change his children's diapers because it brought him back in a flash to that terrible, degrading torture that was inflicted upon him by fidel castro. fidel castro, ladies and gentlemen, ought to be at the hague standing trial for crimes against humanity. he's in the same league at pol pot, slobodanmy losevitch and all the other -- slobodan mill osevitch and all the other tyrants. we call on this administration, the owaugh because ma administration, to stop its coddling of fidel castro. it is unconscionable. all the smiles and happy words,

this man needs to be dealt with for the tyrant that he truly is. i'm talking about not justify dell but his brother raul as well. these political prisoners need friends in the white house so someday they can live in freedom. mr. diaz-balart: i thank the gentleman. before you leave, you know, you, again, the atrocities are such, i would like, if it's possible, there's a poster there right next to you, the last one, i believe, it shows the woman in white, they're the wives and mothers, daughters, spouses of political prisoners. and they demonstrate in havana. all they do is very quietly, they just march. demonstration, basically, asking for the release of their loved ones and relatives. this was last week. this picture is from last week. that demonstration, that march,

it's a march, peaceful, quiet march, was led by reina tamayo, whose son died after 180-plus days on a hunger strike in a prison as a political prisoner. there you see what happens to those women, peaceful women, who just walk quietly, peacefully. i, a little while ago showed also, the t-shirt held up by reina tamayo of her son, who died in prison a political prisoner, who died in prison after a hunger strike. imagine the beatings, imagine the beatings that that human being had to endure. just look at that t-shirt. and look at that mother. look at that mother and how anybody can then say, you know something, we're going to

unilaterally give that regime what they want, asking nothing in return, why that is happening. the gentleman from florida. mr. diaz-balart: chris smith's point, if there were justice if there were justice in the world, the cuban tyrants, fidel castro and his brother, who now has the titles and carries out, continues to carry out the orders of fidel castro but has the titles now, some of the titles of power. because fidel castro, the tyrant is immobile and finds it difficult to receive people, but still gives the orders and is the instigator and source of terror in that island prison. if there were justice the cuban tyrant and his brother would be facing it in the international court of -- the international criminal court, in the haig.

what's most appalling -- hague. what's most appalling is that nid of that what we see is, number one -- instead of that what we see is, number one, deafening silence. we hear deaf ing silence. where is the outrage? imagine if these were hunger strikers protesting the lack of freedom in another dictatorship. imagine. but the cuban people who now have had to for 50 years live as nonpersons, where is the media? where? these are men who are dying. zapata tamayo already died. guillermo is in the process of dying. felix has said he will be the next. those are people who we know are

on hunger strikes to protest specifically, to request the release of these 25 heroes and i'd like to, if i may, read their names and i will submit their names for the record. our friend, dan burton, and now chris smith, talked about the brothers, mario and lincoln. it is a great honor for me to serve with my brother, first in tallahassee in the legislature, and now in the congress of the united states. it's been an honor and a privilege for the rest of my days i will cherish. as it has been to represent the wonderful people of south florida for 18 years in this congress and six years before that in the state legislature. but there are two brothers who are genuine heroes. among these 25 gravely ill

political prisoners, two are brothers. at one point four were political prisoners, four brothers. there are still two and they are gravely ill, both of them. ariel and gilgo -- gildo. the other names of 25 gravely ill political prisoners who we are aware of and guillermo is on a hunger strike demanding their release, their immediate release, are -- the other names are antonio la costa, omar lopez, arturo ndo ramos, rodriguez, he suse phillipe,

angel la costa, ricardo garcia, juan carlos la costa, jorge louise -- l, is, electer gonzalez, ricardo gonzalez alfons, jose luis, julio is he sar, -- cesar, manual. luis enrique ferrar garcia, also from another family and brothers who are heroes, two of them are political prisoners. unfortunately luis frerer garcia, one of the two brothers, is gravely ill.

juan fernandez, alfredo pelipe, eduardo, victor arroyo, pedro moranow. those 25 heroes we know of and the hero ferinas, that psychologist and independent journalist who i had the privilege of speaking with the other day, the day i was leaving for lithuania i managed after many attempts to get through to him, obviously the not easy, the dictatorship -- now he's in no condition to speak on the phone, he was very weak even when i spoke to him, this was about a week ago. and he said, you know, i said i'm very worried about you, you're going to be very needed and he said, no, don't worry about me. he said, there are many, many

more qualified people who will be ready to help cuba reconstruct, this has to be done. he told me, all peoples need matterers, all nations need matterers -- martyrs and the time now has arrived for a different attitude by the opposition in cuba. i was extremely moved during my conversation with the hero. and my thoughts and prayers are with him as they are with all of those who at this moment are suffering in the gulag of the tyranny. mr. diaz-balart: thank you for relaying that conversation. the gentleman from new jersey.

mr. smith: the long suffering people of cuba are really in a double unfortunate position. they are subject -- subjected to one of the cruelest dictatorships on the face of the earth. freedom house recently ranked cuba as one of the least free countries in the world, the only country that ranked lower on the freedom scale than cuba was the nightmare gulag of north korea. yet in an insane paradox the cuban tyrants remain romantic heroes, people have pictures of these tyrants on t-shirts, wear them on college campus and for many in the united states and including some members of congress, especially those who visited cuba last year, they gush with admiration for these dictators who have so repressed people. you know, last year the u.n. human rights council did what they called the universal periodic review at which time they looked at their record of human rights abuse in cuba.

it was scathing. many members of that council raised serious questions at the council meeting and also said, here are a number of recommendations, virtually every recommendation was rejected out of hand and that was the end of the story. i would call upon the obama administration to call, as a member of the human rights council, for a specific meeting of the human rights council, the u.n. human rights council, it only takes 1/3 of the membership to do so, to refocus on cuba and its horrific human rights abuses and the fact that they have taken every recommendation, i mean, even the international committees of the red cross has been denied access to those prisoners. the icrc, the sterling record of investigations and interventions

on behalf of political prisoners around the world, they can't even get in to the cuban prisons. so i call on the obama administration to ask for a specific meeting just on cuba and the rejected recommendations. let me also point out that chronically -- chronicling the abuse isn't all that hard. the state department in its human rights report released just two weeks ago couldn't be more clear in laying out the catalog of abuses routinely visited upon the people, especially the almost 200 known and there are others political prisoners in cuba's gulags. let me finally say, during the 1980's many of us were very active fighting against the abuses of the soviet union. in the mid 1980's congress frank wolf and i actually got into the infamous gulag where great

heroes and all these other great leaders spent time in solitary confinement and suffering at the hands of the k.g.b. we actually got in, visited with, videotaped and agitated for the release of almost two dozen political prisoners and one by one they got out. i visited a man when he was a political prisoner in indonesia, in a prison in indonesia. he went on to become president of east timor. frank wolf and i got into beijing prison number one where at least 40 tiananmen square activists, 40 tiananmen square activists with shavinged heads were thrown into that gulag known as the lao gai in china and suffered horrifically but at least the chinese government allowed us in. a lot of people want to get out of coup cuba. all people want to get out of their political prisons. mr. wolf and i are asking to let us in and i renew that request

of the cuban government as well as again to ask that this administration help to make that happen. finally, my friends will know, because i work so closely with mr. diaz-balart, mario wasn't here yet, on the issue of linking a series of human rights with the lifting of a travel ban. most important of which was the full release of the political prisoners. that legislation passed here. it didn't pass in the senate, unfortunately. and i will offer that again if given the opportunity although the rules will probably for bid it. but that's what we need to do -- forbid it. but that's what we need to do. you need to say to a dictatorship, if you want a benefit, you have to cease prosecuting your own people and, you know, there's a great group, we all know it, brothers to the rescue. the diaz-balart brothers are the brothers to the rescue here. mr. diaz-balart: you're very kind. mr. diaz-balart: thank you. i want to thank the gentleman. you mentioned brothers to the rescue. i think it's important to know

that this is -- it is a rescream that incarcerates and oppresses its own people but it has a history of murdering americans. you mentioned brothers of the rescue. two airplanes -- american airplanes, civilian american airplanes in international air space that were shot down by cuban migs one fine day just because, because they could, because they wanted to, killing four individuals, four innocent individuals. that, i guess their sin was trying to save people in the ocean, looking for people that were in the ocean seeking freedom. and the same regime that killed those individuals is the same regime that harbors multiple terrorists and trillions and fugetifics of american law, including cop killers -- fugetives of american law including cop killers who are living in cuba. the same regime that right now as we speak, as some will file bills to unilaterally give

concessions asking nothing in return has another american hostage. that's the regime that we're dealing with. i yield to the gentleman from florida. mr. diaz-balart: i thank christopher smith for his leadership, commitment, clarity and history will thank him as it must. i reiterate my admiration. i want to make one point with regard to political prisoners. we know of these 25 gravely ill political prisoners. the reason we know is because guillermo, the here o'on hunger strike, has said, that's why i'm on a hunger strike. release them now before they die. we know of, yes, the names of 200 prisoners of conscience. but we also know that there are thousands of political prisoners for crimes that are only crimes in the fief dam of a mow men --

fiefdom of a mow meanted terrorist. crimes like dangerous and crimes like trying to leave the country without permission, but imagine being in prison and charged with dangerousness. thousands, countless thousands of cubans are in the gulag because of so-called crimes like that. they're political prisoners and they have to be released unconditionally, immediately, as all political parties must be legalized. the press, labor unions and free and fair multiparty elections. mr. smith: the state department report, human rights report released two weeks ago again, they can catalog or chronicle 5,000 prisoners who were in there -- who are in there because of, quote, dangerousness, that are known. they're the ones that are known. mr. diaz-balart: thousands of political prisoners. let's not -- because we know the names of 200 prisoners of conscience, let's not forget the countless thousands of political prisoners and you, chris smith,

and frank wolf, who have not stopped to go to cuba to laugh at the jokes of the tyrants, but rather to meet with biset and meet with others and meet with the heroes and the leaders of the future, you were called specifically and by name by the cuban tyrant fidel castro, provocateurs. what he doesn't know is that, or he must, he should know, his days are limited and the cuban people, christopher smith, are going to thank you. they're going to thank frank wolf and they're going to thank all those men and women throughout the world who have stood with them. obviously we wish that there are many more chris smiths and frank wolves like there are more now people, look at this example in central europe and eastern europe of solidarity and more is coming, but much more is needed.

nays, thank you, chris smith. mr. diaz-balart: i thank the gentleman from new jersey for spending time and explaining what's at stake here. it's important to note that the majority of congress has stood by the cuban people and continues to stand by the cuban people. but there are others who do the lithuanian the pole the czechs, the lithuanians -- the poles, the czechs, others, those who have had lack of freedom understand the horrors of that regime 90 miles away. they suffered under similar type of totalitarian regimes. i mention this again that this congress in a bipartisan fashion stands by the cuban people. stand by the political

prisoners. stands by those relatives who have lost loved ones in the gulags and in the ocean. will continue to stand by the cuban people. will not be swayed by propaganda. do not forget, this congress does not forget, i should say, the suffering of the cuban people and does not forget that the most important thing that any human being has is freedom. so i am so grateful to the solidarity of the american people and i am so grateful because of that strong solidarity of this majority of this congress, the cuban people will be free. this congress will do everything it can to make sure they know we are with them. they will be free. they are getting it all -- giving it all, they are sacrificing even their lives. it is important thinet they know they are not alone, they

are not forgotten, we know they are there, we admire you and respect you and stand 100% behind you. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009, the gentleman from california, mr. garamendi is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. garamendi: madam speaker,

if i might spend a few minutes talking about an extraordinary and historic day today, a day in which america finally, after more than a century, has managed to achieve a program that will in the years ahead create universal access to health care, universal -- a country that has universal insurance coverage is not so far away. a few days ago, one of my colleagues used this quote by martin luther king to point out why this is such a historic and important day. martin luther king said, of all forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane. those days are over. unfortunately, martin luther king is not here today to see

this historic passage. earlier, five hours -- six hows ago now, the president signed the health care legislation and in the week ahead or the days ahead the senate will follow up with corrections to that legislation and we will be on our road to universal health coverage in america. along that road in the days ahead some very important things are going to happen. i received a phone call earlier today and on radio yesterday was asked by a business person in the san francisco bay area, how does this affect me? my wife and i have a small business, how does this affect me? and i answered this way. are you purchasing health insurance now? he said, yes, and we can no longer afford it, we have to drop it. we're one of those people faced with the 40% increase from blue

cross of california. i said, well, two things. in the years ahead, companies such as blue cross of california will have their rates reviewed as to the appropriateness of the increase. but that's not today. but beginning today, actually, january 1 of 2010, 35% of what you spend on health insurance will become a tax credit and subtracted directly from your tax obligations. i also received a call in the last couple of days from a rancher in my district. he asked, how does this affect me? i have three employees, part-time, but i try to buy health insurance for them. i asked him, do you have health insurance for yourself and your wife? he said, yes, also on the ranch policy. i said, it will help the same way. you will receive immediately, and every small business in america a -- actually 100

people or less, 100 employees or less, will receive that tax credit a 35% and in the year ahead, in 2011, that will increase to 50% so that -- so the burden of purchasing insurance for small businesses which after all are the entrepreneurial part of our economy, where most jobs are actually created, and where most health insurance policies have been lost, they will receive -- receive a significant reduction in the cost of their insurance immediately and more in the days ahead. i was also asked about seniors. but before i go to that, let me just pick up this issue of why this is such an important day for america. in america, of yesterday, 45,000 americans died every

year, prematurely, because they did not have health care. our health care statistics rank us 19th among the industrialized nations of the world. and even behind the nation of colombia. this is the number of our children that die prematurely early in their life, general health, we do not live as long as other nations, people die earlier, our children die more often. we've also seen an extraordinary rate increase, for those of us in california that obtain our insurance from blue cross, 94% over what amounts to just a little bit more than a one-year period of time. there was talk last summer about the death panel. the death panel actually occurs from the insurance companies. in california, the average number of claims that were rejected, denied, and these are

efforts that doctors have made to provide insurance, 21%, 1/5 of all claims, all requests for services were denied by the health insurance companies. one company actually denied 39% of them. the number of californians without insurance is about 24%. now let's go to the issue of seniors. and think back on those words of martin luther king. the medicare program in america was made stronger as a result of the legislation that was signed today. the medicare program in america , its financial solvency has been extended somewhere seven and nine years ahead, all this talk about the medicare program becoming insolvent isn't the case any longer as a result of

today's action by president barack obama. i should use my left hand. when he signed that legislation. it's an incredibly important day. i'm also delighted to notice that i've now been joined by my colleague from the great state of illinois, jan schakowsky who is here to join me in this and with the permission of the chair, i'd like to engage in a dialogue with her. january, welcome, i know -- jan, welcome, i know you represent a special part of this nation. we're talking about seniors and the effects of this legislation on seniors. a couple of days ago you spoke to this issue. how does it affect illinois? ms. schakowsky: one of the things that i think is really refreshing about what's going on today and ever since the legislation was finally passed, is that there is real focus on

how this bill is going to help real people. no more the mists of, if we do this, this is going -- the myths of, if we do this, this is going to happen, i heard you talking about the death panels, etc. now we're having a real conversation. americans, including our seniors, are looking at what does this bill really mean to me? let me give you an example of the ninth congressional district in illinois. we know that 101,000 beneficiaries of medicare are going to be helped by this, that medicare will be made stronger, including beginning the closing of the doughnut hole, that gap in coverage that can be $36,000 out of pocket that is going to go away in this bill over time and it's going to start right away. and so, you know, what we're

going to find out now, and i actually, i saw a poll today that the majority of americans now, you know, it's changing. really quickly. say that they are either enthusiastic or pleased that this legislation passed. beating out those who, you know, say that they didn't want it or that they're afraid of it. so you know, i'm so glad that we're now at this phase of the discussion. this day is really one i've dreamed about my whole adult life and what i've been working for for a while as executive director of the illinois state council of senior citizens for five years. we've been talking about this for a long time. mr. garamendi: it's a happy day for america. we're on our way to solving one of this nation's great problems. earlier today i was in the east east room of the white house with both of you sitting next

to me, as an extraordinary representative from an important part of this nation, part of the nation that's been really harmed by the economy, and we were talking about the way in which this legislation, as the president was signing it, would affect her district system of let me call upon the gentlelady from western pennsylvania, katherine dahlkemper. mrs. dahlkemper: thank you for yielding to me. pennsylvania has the second largest population of seniors in the country. this legislation will go a long way to see curing our senior's future as far as the benefits they fete get from medicare. i'm proud to be here tonight talking about this, proud to be one of those who voted yes and helped make this historic legislation move forward. it was certainly a great day on sunday and it was a greater day today when the president signed

this into law. when i think about the fact that as i campaigned just short, a little over a year ago, year and a half ago, so many seniors told me about the financial problems they were having with this doughnut hole issue and they would cut their pill in half or only take it every other day. i was with my father-in-law one day, driving somewhere, and i said, you know, i asked him his diabetes was. he's got adult-on set diabetes. he said you know, i got into the doughnut hole. one pill i'm taking it every other day. he was self-medicating. he was determining what he could afford, not what the doctor ordered. i know this is a problem for so many seniors. we're going to close that doughnut hole, which i think is one of the great benefits, and we're going to allow our seniors to get more preventive care without the co-pays so they can have a better quality of life and enjoy the years we all hope to enjoy at some point

in our life. mr. garamendi: actually, in 2011, 10 months from now, the medicare program will provide wellness and preventive care. it will not cost seniors anything. it will be part of the program, 100% paid for by the medicare program. your father-in-law, is it, that was cutting his diabetic medicine in half to make it through? mrs. dahlkemper: he was doing that trying to spread it out so he could extend his prescription longer and reduce the out of pocket cost that he was experiencing. mr. garamendi: one thing that will clearly help him, beginning january 1, we back date this to january 1, 2010, there'll be a $250 rebate a check written to him, it'll show he spent $250 on that medication, she'll get a check from the federal government to reimburse him for the $250 he spent once he got to the

doughnut hole. that's an immediate benefit. you've got to be sure and give him a phone call as soon as you leave. mrs. dahlkemper: i will, he's coming back from a trip, something all seniors should be able to do, go enjoy themselves and making sure they don't spend everything they have on prescriptions. i want to thank the gentleman for hosting, i'm pleased to be here and pleased to see this legislation going forward. mr. garamendi: i know you'll have smore responsible and -- responsibility and that's to preside over the house. thank you for joining us before you take the chair and make sure that we keep our time. mrs. dahlkemper: i thank the gentleman. mr. garamendi: thank you. i notice that a woman who i've had the pleasure of working with now for, neither of us will say the total number of years, but she became the chairman of the senate health and welfare committee in california when i moved out of that job to become the majority leader in the california senate, i'd like to now introduce and yield to congresswoman watson and then,

jan, excuse me, the gentlewoman from -- i got to learn all of the protocols. the gentlewoman from illinois can follow. ms. watson: thank you so much, congressman garamendi, one of our newer members, however old in leadership. ability, ability and he saw a spot for himself in this debate. and i want to say, we are going in the aura of being in the white house and seeing the president, barack obama, sign with 19 different pens what is going to change the quality of health care threw insurance for this whole country, for americans. and you're only as strong as your weakest link.

i told them earlier today that the people at home who have doubts about what we did and what we're doing and don't really understand the opposition always showed all of these hundreds and thousands of pages and people became confused and they really were misled. but think of somebody on a high wire and he's got a pole in his hand or she has a pole in her hand and she slips or he slips and underneath there is a safety net. if that safety net has a hole in it what's going to happen? people are going to fall through and the end will be there. we in government are the safety net. we have to look larger, you know, they say all politics is local, but we have to look at

what we had signed into law by the president, what it would really do. and i just want to say, that mother who has a son 9 years old and has chronic asthma and had no way of getting him covered can now see that he is covered and get the kind of care that he needs. and this is a true story. it happened in sacramento. and there was a young mother and she was a buetigs and worked, paid her rent in her little booth where she did hair, she had to quit and go on welfare so her son could be covered because he was in the hospital at least three times a week. mr. garamendi: he had a pre-existing condition. ms. watson: he had a pre-existing condition and she could not get insurance covered -- coverage. that will be taken care of.

mr. garamendi: the gentlelady from illinois. ms. schakowsky: unfortunately, representative garamendi, i'm going to have to leave, too, but before i did, i wanted to focus on what happens this year for people. you know, the full rollout of the bill takes a number of years to happen, but if people are wondering, what's going happen this year? i wanted to just give some examples. starting as soon as the bill is passed, tax credits to small businesses, to make employee coverage more affordable, those tax cuts, as you're pointing out, of up to 35% of premiums will be immediately available to companies, to small businesses that choose to offer coverage to their employees. and of course in 2014 the tax

credits will cover 50% of the premiums. right away, we've talked about that $250 rebate to medicare recipients, that's going to -- and also there's going to be a 50% discount on brand name drugs for people who are in that doughnut hole, in that gap in coverage. and the doughnut hole will be closed completely by 2020. 90 days later immediate access to insurance for americans who are uninsured because of a pre-existing condition to a temporary high risk pool. we put billions of dollars into a high risk pool for people. six months after enactment, that's when health plans are prohibited from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions. mr. garamendi: that's what congresswoman watson was talking about, that young child, the mother, that child has immediate

access, six months from now. let's count it up. that would be september. she would be able to get health care coverage for her child. ms. schakowsky: and then also in, let's see, also in six months, and this is going to affect 52,000 young adults in my district alone, to require health plans to allow young people up to their 26th birthday to remain on their parents' insurance policies at their parents' choice, of course. so that's pretty good. mr. garamendi: that's exciting. now, i've got a 24-year-old daughter, 11 months ago, not quite 11, yeah, about 11 months ago she went off our policy, she couldn't get insurance, even though she'd been with the same insurance company for 23 years, and suddenly she was uninsurable because she was a woman in her childbearing age.

those days are over. she can come back on my policy and we've got 52,000 people in my district, the same young population that will be able to stay with their parents. please continue. it's exciting. ms. schakowsky: that's a story in itself. why your daughter, after having been insured for 23 years, would now have to, you know, couldn't pay for her own insurance and they'd raise her ratings. mr. garamendi: it wasn't a matter of paying, she couldn't get it. exclusion because she had that pre-existing condition called female. ms. schakowsky: female, yeah. now in six months from the enactment of this bill, from today, health plans won't be able to drop people when they get sick. and illinois happens to be number one in what is called rescission and that's just canceling people because they go back digging through their records and say, we're going to drop your policy. six months from today health

plans will not be able to have lifetime caps on coverage and people, you know, who have connick -- chronic illness, they can reach those caps in a very few months if they get sick. and in six months tightly restrict new plans' use of annual limits to ensure access to needed care. and these tight restrictions will be defined by health and human services. so that's a good thing. we're going to begin to regulate what they do. and finally, beginning in january of next year, that's when the seniors don't have to pay any co-payments for preventative services, exempts preventative services from any deductibles under medicare. what a great thing that is, to keep older adults healthy in in this country and -- in this country and also in january, what we call a medical loss ratio, that's kind of a fancy term for saying that plans,

insurance plans will have to spend 80% of premium dollars on medical services for small group markets or individual markets and 85% in a large group market. 85 cents on every $1 is going to have to go to health care, not to bonuses or stock options for executives, but for health care. so this is a great bill. mr. garamendi: what year does that kick in? ms. schakowsky: january 1, 2011. mr. garamendi: and so, it's not going to be about profit, it's going to be about actually providing benefits to people? ms. schakowsky: exactly. they're going to have to pay for individual markets, 80% of the -- 80 cents on the dollar has to go to health care and then for small group and then 85% for large groups. mr. garamendi: so those companies like illinois and california that are denying

claims to fatten their bottom line are going to have to actually provide medical services and pay for it? oh, my godness, we're shocked. ms. schakowsky: they'll be prohibited six months from now from dropping people off of their policies. those days are over. so, in some ways we're saying to the american people now who have been staying up at night like those parents, worrying about their children, sleep well. we're actually going to solve those problems and lift this tremendous weight off of the shoulders of americans. thank you so much for doing this, thank you, congresswoman watson, appreciate it. gar br thank you so very much for joining us -- mr. garamendi: thank you so very much for joining us and bringing that specific information. as you were talking about the rescission issue, four years ago, as insurance commissioner in california, we came upon several insurance companies that were just doing this, really to

fatten their bottom line. and it happened to be the biggest company in california, anthem blue cross. and there were some complaints brought to us, brought to others, and we began to investigate them and we found that there was a pattern of practice within that company that when an expensive claim, when one of their customers became sick with something that was expensive, perhaps diabetes or acute heart or cancer, they would go back and comb through the application, looking for an error that may have been made. for example, this is one that was a very real example, as a young child one of the people that had been -- had their policy canceled had an asthma attack as a young child. probably 3 or 4 years of age, had an asthma attack, that was sufficient in the minds of blue cross anthem to rescind the policy and to not pay for the

very expensive care that the mother had incurred. those kind of days are over. and the message to the insurance industry is, you can no longer harm your customers, you're going to have to abide by your contract, you're going to have to provide coverage and no longer are you going to be able to discriminate based upon a pre-existing condition, upon sex, females, for example, you can no longer do those kind of practices. immediately this year those insurance reforms go into place and that will help every american that has a private insurance policy, whether you're in a group or you're in an individual policy. an extraordinary important reform that i would have loved to have had a law like that in california during my days as insurance commissioner. we had to use other ways. contractual ways, we didn't have the law, we didn't have the power that is now given to the

american people to force the insurance companies to behave. ms. watson: you know, what we failed to do, congressman, was emphasize this really is a health insurance reform. mr. garamendi: yes. ms. watson: too many people think that we're going to change the way health is delivered. and i say to people when i have town halls, how many of you have insurance? and the hands go up. how many of you like your insurance? and the hands come down. i said, well, keep your hand up if you like your insurance. if you like it, keep it. mr. garamendi: exactly. ms. watson: if you don't like it and it's not meeting the needs of your -- yourself and your loved ones, then you can go and shop around and find an insurance that is affordable. but you know what makes me just delighted tonight? and that is we have prevention

written into this law. isn't it wonderful if you could go and check so you don't have breast cancer? that's one of the penalties i guess for being a woman. but, you know, men can get breast cancer. and you were in the legislature in california when we discovered in 1980 that breast cancer research was done on men. and the group of us women got together and said, we're not going to vote for the budget unless you have $28 million in there to do research on breast cancer. . i think you remember that. . mr. garamendi: the insurance industry has harmed us. it was like we were thrown to the sharks. we will have a better option in the purchase of insurance in the days ahead. in fact, for those people in the

50-65 age group who have pre-existing conditions, there is an insurance exchange that is immediately available to them. they will be part of a group, a high-risk group and will be able to get insurance immediately. i think it's within 90 days, they will be able to apply for that coverage. they aren't old enough for medicare. they are probably unemployable because they have a pre-existing conditions and employers won't hire them because they know they won't be insureable. but this provides a mechanism for those people in that category to get insurance in a high-risk pool that is paid for by the federal government. and that will be available this year, right away. ms. watson: you know if i could describe some of the other

preventative services that will help people keep their stress level down because they feel they have a condition, but they don't have insurance. and when you go to get help, they say, what's your insurance? i don't have one. well,ion if i can help you here -- well, i don't know if i can help you here. go to the county hospital. people have to understand, when you have an organized society, everyone has to pay. we are only as strong as our weakest link. and if we have communities where everyone is ill in that community, can we be a strong nation? we are going around the globe and fighting three wars at the current time or 2 1/2, and we are saying do it our way. well, i tell you, congressman garamendi, i have actually felt

shame in the last three our four days. the people that were out on the streets, taunting, showing hatred, calling people names, when another member destroyed our decorum saying baby killer and someone is apologizing for him. we are trying to show ourselves as a strong nation and we have values and we care about people. but yet we spit on them and call them names. we make fun of them in some way or another. sometimes, it's a mental condition that has not been treated. mr. garamendi: mental health and addition health is included in the coverage in the years ahead. no longer will there be a

division. mental health will be treated the same as the classic physical health insurance. incredibly important part of this legislation. it requires that mental health be included in the insurance program. and what family, what family in america hasn't been affected with either an addiction issue in their family or with a mental health issue? it's common. so the coverage will be there. we aren't making any aspersions in this building or out on the streets but the facts are the facts that mental health is desperately needed and it's the same as the normal or physical programs in the past. and that was brought to us by patrick kennedy who fought vigorously over the past year, making sure that that issue, addiction and mental health is included. if that is, go to any police

station around the nation. follow the policemen in their work during the day or the night and many of the calls -- and i know from my own experience in california, ride-alongs, ride along with the police, many of the calls, maybe 50% or the more on the day i was there was a mental health issue. oh, it's gladys, off her meds and causing trouble again or the addiction issue. we know the prisons are filled with addicts. there is also in this legislation, and you have talked about prevention. this doesn't happen -- some of this happens immediately, but it will take time. the mind research. what is addiction? is there a way we can treat addiction? and the mental health issues are a part of our life. there is an enormous part of our money that will go into research of all kinds that will benefit us in the years ahead, including

medical information technology. we know that mistakes in hospitals and in the doctors' office are often the result of scribbles on a pad of paper, trying to be interpreted by the nurse or doctor that follows up in the next shift. but medical information technology that is readily available, where your information can be on a flash drive and maybe you and from california, we get hit walking across the street here, we could have a flash drive in our wallet and plug it in and they know everything there is to know about us without having to start at the beginning. ms. watson: i'm glad you mentioned california. you must have automobile insurance if you have a license and you drive a car in california, because i don't care how good a driver your there

will be a time when you're going to need insurance. we mandate it. are you aware that it has been said since the bill has been signed that 12 states are going to come together to sue us because we are mandating that you have to have health insurance. well, i can tell you this. if we don't require it, then you're going to pay one way or the other, because you see, when that person gets hit and they don't have any insurance and they are laying out on the street -- we are the society and we're going to fix them up and take them to the county hospital or the district hospitals, because we aren't going to let anyone in this country lie on the ground because they don't have insurance and die because they don't have health care. that's not the kind of people we are. but i tell you, listening to

these ranters, rather than reasoners, what are we turning into as a nation? and i want to tag insurance on, because that's what this bill is all about. mr. garamendi: it certainly is and for that unfortunate person that was out on the street and got hit by a car and off to the emergency room, there's a cost there if that person doesn't have insurance. who's going to pay? i'll tell you, the taxpayers, either the local, county, city or the state and the nation will pick up that cost or it will be passed onto the insurance policies and the premiums that everybody else pays. so those people that are not insured are getting a free ride and the rest of the people that are insured and the taxpayers get to pick it up, so those days where we spread the risk -- i know insurance, i was the

insurance commissioner, you spread the risk throughout the entire society and the entire society shares in the cost of the system. that's the only fairway to do it. if you wait until you don't have insurance, wait until there's an accident, you may go bankrupt, but the chances are that you don't have enough money to pay for it and the cost is going to be shifted. so, this is a fairness thing also. you spoke earlier about the attorney generals that want to secretary federal repeal of this legislation, there's also members of congress that have already introduced legislation to repeal it. i'm going, well that will be interesting. how are you going to tell the 52,000 young men and women in my district -- ms. watson: in their districts. mr. garamendi: they will be able to stay on their family's insurance for three years. are you going to repeal it so

they get thrown off? how about the seniors that are going to get $250 and a closing of the prescription doughnut hole. are you going to tell seniors, sorry, we decided to repeal that and you are going to have to pay for that out of your pocket. and by the way, the discount on theen eric drugs, that's gone off. the drug companies deserve more profit. is that what you want? i don't think so. i don't think the public wants that. i don't think that rancher, who contacted me about providing insurance for himself, wife and three part-time people is going to be happy to learn that the 35% credit on the money he spends for insurance and in a couple of years, the 50% reduction in the cost of health insurance for him, i don't think he's going to be too happy. or the 55-65-year-old people who are sick with a pre-existing

condition who are unsnurble. and under this legislation, will be able to enter a high-risk pool that will pay for their insurance. they aren't going to be happy. for those who want to repeal this, let's keep in mind what this legislation actually does. this law provides access to insurance, high quality insurance for men, women and children -- did i forget to talk about those children that in 60 days will be able to get insurance? this program is a fundamental change and takes america to a new higher plateau of justice, of justice. talk about repeal. when the american public comes to understand what is in this, with all the fear monday

engineering aside, with all the rhetoric of kill the bill aside, when they come to understand what's in this bill, it would not be repealed. ms. watson: why would we allow the repeal of something that we did with so much pride? and if it got out of this house and got to the other house, why would they, when they had people sign on to a letter that they would pass it, and what would influence the president of the united states to sign that bill? so i think what's happening is just an opportunity for opposition to be heard again and continue with the devastating misstatements that they're giving to people. you know, it really troubles me that people -- well, i guess it's the mob mentality can buy that. and that's why it's so important that we do what we're doing

tonight, to set some reality. we talked about mental health. remember we were walking into the rayburn building this morning after we came back and there was a gentleman with fatigues on and got up and absoluted and that's an intelligent man. and under the reagan administration, they closed many of the mental health hospitals and there were some who wanted to sell off their property. and with the promise of sending the mentally ill out to be treated in their own communities and money would follow. well, the money never followed. and in my city, on any given night, there are 80,000 to 90,000 homeless people. and if you were to go through on the streets, if you were to go through that group, you will find that out of 10, six of them are in need of mental health treatment. we did something a few months

ago, we did increase the budget for veterans and their mental health. thank goodness. this will follow. and that gentleman who absoluted us who went in, he can get the kind of help he needs and get off the streets. it's obvious that there is a great deal of intelligence there. he just got a bad deal. mr. garamendi: if i might, your discussion reminded me of the community districts of los angeles and my own district and throughout the state of california and other states that provide the safety net service for those people who are homeless, those people that are in need, those people who are low income or unemployed. in this legislation, there is an extremely important increase in the safety net services, not only in three different ways. first of all, for the community clinics spread throughout the nation, there is $11 billion

over the next three years that will go to those community clinics so they can expand the services for those people that are low income, unable to have insurance right now, but in three more years, they will be able to have that insurance. and it will bring up the community clinics so they can meet the needs that exist today. that money will begin to flow out to the community clinics. and in my own district, sacramento county, it will result in enough money to build 10 new clinics in areas that are desperate for medical services. ms. watson: you know that in california, 85% of our land is agricultural or that's being reduced. and sometimes people are great distances away from the delivery of quality health care. now we're going to have a whole system of clinics where they can

go. and you know, imjust so thrilled because we emphasize prevention. and we're even going to increase pell grants so students can get larger amounts of money to stay in school and become a general practitioner to take care of these people and to see them on a regular basis, to keep them from going into the hospital. and you know, one of the areas that we really haven't dealt with is long-term care. we haven't solved that problem yet. but we hope we can keep people healthy and keep them from having the need to have long-term care. we want to keep our seniors. and you know, in california, we receive a lot of them because they are bypassing the overindustrialized states, even florida and texas and they are coming. and many years ago, we increased the benefits under medical.

we have our own system. and many years ago, we increased the benefits up to 32, 34 that weren't required in law. let's emphasize the front end and keep people out of acute care facilities by keeping them healthy. . mr. garamendi: there are specific provisions which expand long-term care. we've gone on now, i'd like to do two more things, if would you join me in this, i'd like to review what we've done. before we get to that, somebody is going to say, well and good but how are we going to pay for it? this piece of legislation is fully paid for. it's paid for in a variety of ways. part of that pay-for comes from a significant reduction in the

unnecessary bonus that the insurance companies get for providing medicare advantage programs. this has been the great scare tactic, medicare benefits would somehow be cut. absolutely not. there's a specific line in the bill that says, medicare benefits will not be cut. what what is cut is the unnecessary bonus that the previous administration gave to the insurance companies to do what they should have done without having that bonus. it's a 16% additional bonus over and above the cost. we get that money back we plow that money back into medicare and we will be certain that the medicare programs will not see a reduction in benefits. that's one way. also, there are, in this program, for those people that for years and years have been able to get a free ride, there are tax increases in the out

years for what -- for income earned on the upper -- people who have $240,000 or more of income and have income from stocks, bonds, dividends, capital gains , they've been getting a free ride forever, ever since medicare came in 43 years ago. that will be the other way. then there are savings in the legislation. bottom line of this is that the program is totally paid for and let's talk about the deficit. ms. watson: it reduces the deficit. this will be the largest deficit reduction measure in 17 years and will cut the deficit, get this, by $148 billion, $148 billion over the first 10 years and get this, $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years, and

small businesses, you know, that's what killed the clinton proposal, universal health care, they said it will kill small business, so this is what we do. small business us will receive $40 billion in tax credits to make it easier for them to provide coverage for their workers. mr. garamendi: that's that 35% that we talked about, earlier, 35%. in my district i have 14,500 small businesses that will qualify for that if they are purchasing health insurance for their employees. an encouragement to purchase health insurance by reducing the course by 1/3 and in two years out it will be -- three years out it will be a 50% reduction in the cost of insurance for those small businesses. ms. watson: now that the bill is signed into law we probably should have town hall meetings like this. so people will actually know. and you have these very fine charts and i'm going to let you take the rest of the time to let

folks know what we did when that bill was signed into law. mr. garamendi: let's run through it very, very quickly. i'll put my glasses on so i don't make a mistake here. ms. watson: i hear you. mr. garamendi: i'd like to say this is the sign of age. small business tax credits, we talked about that, 35% right now, beginning january 1, carrying on and eventually in 2014, going to 50%. ms. watson: you think you might be able to hire some people to work? jobs, jobs, jobs. mr. garamendi: combktly. small businesses are request -- are where the job creation is. we talked about the doughnut hole on the part d, $250 for those senior citizens that are currently in the doughnut hole with their drugs, they're going to get a $250 rebate, a check from the government, to help them and we begin to shrink the doughnut hole and in the years ahead it will disappear. ms. watson: so they can eat real

food and not dog food that some people were doing in my district. mr. garamendi: 90 days from now in june, there's immediate help for the uninsured in the exchange. this is what we were talking about. those who have a pre-existing condition, those 50 to 65 years, they will be able to enter into a temporary high risk pool, in 2014 they'll be able to purchase insurance through the purchasing exchanges. six months, september of 2010, no discrimination against children with pre-existing conditions. ny of -- think of that child, you talked about that child, a mother who had a child who had diabetes, uninsurable. a young at birth with a birth defect cannot get insurance but in six months, in september, 2010, those children will have

access to insurance. they -- the insurance companies cannot deny coverage. this is the one, i only wish this was a year ago, maybe my daughter can get back on, 52,000 young adults in my district will be able to stay on their parents' insurance beginning september, 2010. this is good news for a whole lot of parents and a whole lot of kids in -- throughout america. we talked about rescission. we talked about the way in which the insurance companies go about when there's an expensive case and find some excuse to dump the individual from the insurance policy and then the individual's left with the cost. those days will be over in september, 2010. lifetime limits, september, 2010, lifetime limits, no longer will an individual blow through the lifetime limit on insurance company and be left totally to themselves. this is the reason why we have

bankruptcies, 65% of bankruptcies are a direct result of insurance of medical issues and those people have insurance. ms. watson: let me just interject this here at this point, the public needs to know that if you're insured under this program and your sick and you can't work -- you're sick and you cabinet work, your insurance will cover -- can't work, your insurance will cover you. too many people have gone bankrupt because they had to borrow on their homes and they couldn't repay what they borrowed and they're sick and can't work. mr. garamendi: those days are going to be over. so, september, 2010, the lifetime limit on health insurance, over. and restrictions are placed on a descending amount of the annual limits and those eventually phase out in 2014, so annual

limits will be gone in 2014, and they begin to phase out beginning september of 2010. effective january 1, 2011, nine months from now, free preventative care under medicare, you've talked about prevention, january 1, senior citizens, free prevention care. how important that is, keeping them healthy. and the issue of what are the insurance companies doing when the premiums we pay? beginning january 11, 80% of those premiums are guaranteed to go for medical services, not for profit, not for bonuses to the high and mighty of the insurance companies, but rather, and this is the individual market, but rather for medicare services and in large group markets, employers, 85%. so, for those big shots in the

insurance industry that have been receiving $2 million and even greater bonuses, i'm sorry, only after you pay for the services that your customers have contracted with you to provide. the days of rescission are over. it was a glorious day today. as we sat there in the east room of the white house, after all the work that's been done for more than a century, by presidents from theodore roosevelt -- roosevelt, men and women in previous congresses, by you and the others who were here in the early days of this year, finally a fundamental change for the better for america's health, for the men and women and children in this nation. it is a good day and what a privilege for all of us to be part of that this day. ms. watson: and you know, these

people who got elected and feared that an aye vote on this would really harthem, they don't belong here because if you -- harm them, they don't belong here, because if you can't make a vote for the greater good of society and go back to your district and explain it to your constituents, you don't belong here. what we did in the last 48 hours was for the greater good of america and not just a select few. so, congressman, i want to thank you for the opportunity to again have this period with you and i'm going to strongly suggest when we are in our caucus that we go back now and hold those town halls and lay it out like you have done this evening and i

want to thank you for that. mr. garamendi: thank you very much for joining us. i thank my other colleagues for joining us. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. does the gentleman from california seek recognition for a motion to adjourn? mr. garamendi: well, we finished the discussion, madam chair, and i move that the house do now adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion ato adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is agreed to. accordingly the house stands

>> c-span our public affairs content is available on television, radio and online and you could connect with us on twitter, face book and youtube and sign up for our emails at c-span.org.

>> president obama signed into law the health care bill passed by the house on sunday. the move was necessary in order for the senate to take up a package of changes to the bill passed by the house. after the signing, president and vice president biesen spoke at the interior department. both of them spoke a little more than an hour. >> president of the united states and vice president of the united states. [applause] >> thank you all.

[cheers and applause] >> thank you all. [crowd cheering] >> way to go! way to go! way to go! >> mr. president, i think we have a happy room here. >> oh yeah. >> it seems ridiculous to say thank you all for being here.

[laughter] >> ladies and gentlemen, to state the obvious, this is a historic day. [applause] >> in our business, we use that phrase a lot. but i can't think in the day of the 37 years that i have been a united states senator in the short time i have been vice president that it is more appropriately stated. this is a historic day. and history, history is not merely what is printed in textbooks. it doesn't begin or end with a stroke of a pen. history's made. history's made when men and women decide that there is a greater risk in accepting the situation that we cannot bear than in stealing our spine and embracing the promise of change. that's when history's made. [applause]

>> history is made when you all assemble here today, members of congress, take charge to change the lives of tens of millions of americans, through the efforts of those of us lucky enough to serve here in this town. that's exactly what you've done. you have made history. history is made when a leader steps up, stays true to his values and charts a fundamentally different course for the country. history is made in the leader's passion is matched with principle to set a new course. ladies and gentlemen, mr. president, you are that leader. [cheers and applause]

>> you deserve it, man. you deserve it. >> mr. president, your fierce advocacy, the clarity of the purpose, your perseverance, these are the reasons why we're assembling in this room together, today, but for those at try beauties, we would not be here. many, many men and women are going to feel the pride that i feel in watching you shortly watching you sign this bill, knowing that their work, their work has helped make this day possible. and mr. president, you're the guy that made it happen. [applause] >> and so, mr. president, all

of us, elected officials that have assembled, we have seen incredible things happen. but you know, mr. president, you've done what generations -- and not just ordinary, but great men and women have attempted to do. republicans as well as democrats. they have tried before. everybody knows the story, starting with teddy roosevelt. they've tried. they were real, bold leaders. but, mr. president, they fell short. you have turned, mr. president, the right of every american to have access and decent health care into reality for the first time in american history. [cheers and applause]

>> mr. president, i've gotten to know well enough, you want me to stop because i'm embarrassing you, but i won't step for another minute, because you delivered on a promise, a promise you made to all americans when we moved into this building. mr. president, your to repeat myself, literally about to make history. our children and our grandchildren, they're going to grow up knowing that a man named barack obama put the final girder in the framework for a social network in this country to provide the single most important element of what people need, which is access to good health. [applause]

>> and that every american from this day forward, will be treated with simple fairness and basic justice. look, the classic poet vir gill once said, that the greatest wealth is health. the greatest wealth is health. today, america becomes a whole lot wealthier becomes tens of millions of americans will become a whole lot healthier. ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states, barack obama. [cheers and applause] >> thank you everybody. thank you. thank you. [cheers and applause]

>> thank you so much. thank you so much. thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you everybody. thank you. thank you everybody. please, have a seat. thank you, joe. [laughter] >> good to be with you, mr. president. [laughter] >> today, after almost a century of trying, today after over a year of debate, today, after all the votes have been tallied, health insurance reform becomes law in the united states of america. [cheers and applause]

>> today. >> you know, it is fitting that congress passed this historic legislation this week, for as we mark the returning of spring, we also mark a new season in america. and in a few moments when i sign this bill, all of the overheated rhetoric over reform will finally confront the reality of reform. [applause] >> and while the senate still has the round of improvements to make on this historic legislation and these are improvements i'm confident they will make swiftly -- [applause]

[laughter] >> the bill i'm signing will set in motion reforms that generations of americans have fought for and marched for and hungry to see. it will take four years to implement fully many of these reforms, because we need to implement them responsibly. we need to get this right. but a host of desperately-needed reforms will take effect right away this year.

[applause] >> this year, we'll start offering tax credits to about four million small businessmen and women to help them cover insurance for the cost of their employees. that happens this year. [applause] >> this year, tens of thousands of uninsured americans with pre-existing conditions, the parents of children who have a pre-existing condition will finally be able to purchase the coverage they need. that happens this year. [cheers and applause] >> this year, this year, insurance companies will no longer be able to drop peoples' coverage when they get sick --

[cheers and applause] >> they won't be able to place lifetime limits or restrictive annual limits on the amount of care they can receive. [applause] >> this year, all new insurance plans will be required to offer preventative care. and this year, young adults will be able to stay on their parents' policies until they are 26 years old. that happens this year. [applause] >> and this year, seniors who fall in the coverage gap known as the doughnut hole will start getting some help. they will receive $250 to help pay for prescriptions and that will, over time, fill in the doughnut hole. and i want seniors to know

despite what some have said, these reforms will not cut your benefits. americans on medicare will receive preventative care without co-pays or deductibles. that begins this year. [applause] >> once this reform is implemented, health insurance exchanges will be created, a competitive marketplace where uninsured people and small businesses will finally be able to purchase afford annual insurance and be part of a good deal and same insurance that members of congress get. that is what will happen under this reform. and when the exchange is up and running, millions of people will get tax breaks to help them afford coverage, which represents the biggest