first-time caller. host: sure. caller: one of my biggest complaints -- i love c-span. love it. love it. the thing of it is i just -- the republicans that you have on the program sometimes give -- i'm so disgust disgusted, i find myself having to turn and wait for your next guest. if i want to hear talking points from the republicans, i would watch fox, which i don't, you know what i mean? i just cannot take it when some of these people come on your program and they just speak these negative talking points over and over and over again. and it's just very disheartening. and i love -- i would love to see more focus on. host: got the point, caller. got to let you go. sorry to cut you off.

we have to take you to the floor of the house. thanks for watching today. we'll be back at 7:00 eastern tomorrow. this is live coverage from the floor f enjoy your day. from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's room, washington, d.c., may 12, 2010. i hereby appoint the honorable jose e. serrano to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, nancy pelosi, speaker of the houps. -- speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: the prayer will be offered by the guest chaplain, grace evangelical free church. the chaplain: most gracious, lord god, we are continually encouraged as we sense your guardianship, as you powerfully determine the destiny of this powerful republic. we acknowledge that the future of all of our political institutions are staked upon

the capacity of each of us here to govern, control and to sustain ourselves in accordance with the word of god. today, we acknowledge our departure from your word and ask for your forgiveness. may your word once again become the guiding light for our homes, our schools, our courtrooms and workplaces. lay upon the hearts of all who serve in this great historical room the need to establish a personal relationship with you that will grow them into servant leaders who make their constituents the beneficiary of every decision from your divine perspective. may we walk humbly with each other, acknowledging their mutual duty. all this we ask in the name of jesus. amen.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1 the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from texas, congressman poe. mr. poe: please join me in the pledge. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman from washington, congresswoman mcmorris rodgers, is recognized for one minute. mrs. mcmorris rodgers: thank you, madam speaker. i'm proud to welcome the pastor from this morning. he and his family have been faithfully serving our lord and ministry to the people of that

area for the past 23 years. he's been my pastor, and over the years i've become friends with his wife, jane, and their three sons. he began serving as a youth pastor from 1976 to 1986 and then moved across the country to washington state in 1987 to become pastor of a new church plan of 35 people. since then the church has grown steadily and has made a tremendous difference in the people who have walked through its doors, including me and my family. i appreciate the pastor and his family. thank you for coming to the united states congress to lead us in prayer today. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain up to 15 further one-minute requests on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman rise?

>> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. hall: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to say it it will not be the u.s. taxpayer who is stuck with the bill for the tragic oil spill that is still spewing hundreds of barrels of oil into the gulf of mexico. b.p. had -- british petroleum, b.p., had $6 billion in profit last quarter alone. that's profit, not earnings. and that is the first place we should be looking to pay for this oil spill. and we all know how much money halliburton socked away thanks to the last administration. their deep pockets also need to be tapped to pay for their negligence. for years we've heard from the oil industry that offshore drilling is safer than ever, cleaner than ever. not true. meanwhile, oil companies, like b.p., spent years making billions while gouging consumers. we in the house are going to make sure that they pay for cleaning up this unprecedented catastrophe. it's time to truly move beyond

petroleum into renewable energy and energy efficiency. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. poe: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. poe: mr. speaker, the texas department of public safety has issued a stern safety warning to members of the texas legislature living near the southern border. remove your car license plates that say state official on them. texas legislators were warned to remove their identifying car license plates because of threats from mexican drug cartels. based on intelligent estimates from information they received, they assaulted and kidnapped those around the border region. some have removed those state official license plates and some are seeking concealed carry permits. there have been reports of mexican officials being assaulted and kidnapped by the cartels in mexico. now the threats have crossed

across our side of the porous region. now it seems that the national guard is better suited to deal with the violent narcoterrorists than a bunch of concealed staffers, even in texas. that's just the way it is. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. this week from employee owned s. corporations from around america will be on capitol hill giving a chance for members and staff to hear directly from these employee owners. how their investment and hard work facilitated by this unique ownership helps creates jobs and helps their employee owners prepare for retirement. how they expanded jobs here in america even in this difficult environment. in 2008, for instance, aesop increased employment by 2% while our economy shed almost 3% of the jobs.

employee owned business wages increased at twice the national average. each company is a unique american success story. that's why i hope you will join me in co-sponsoring h.r. 3586, the promotion and expansion act to protect and enhance employee-owned corporations. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. johnson: today, i'd like to congratulate the players and coaches of the island american hockey team for capturing the southern conference title. you know, this is the first time a first-season team has accomplished this. after a stellar inaugural winning season, the minor league hockey team earned a slot in the playoff. their final postseason game against rapid city ended in a

double overtime battle. it's no surprise they sent four players up to the american hockey league. they play at the allen event center and folks should be proud to have such an accomplished, dedicated team representing their community. i've seen them and they're good. i had the privilege to cheering them on. i wish the team and its players all the best. congratulations. god bless you. i salute you. and as the fans like this year, dread the red. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york rise? mrs. mccarthy: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mrs. maloney: mr. speaker, this is a chart prepared by the joint economic committee which i call the v-chart, not for victory or total victory but it certainly shows success and that we're trending in the right direction in our economy.

the red bars on the chart represent the job losses under the prior administration. the last month of the bush administration this country lost over 770,000 jobs. the blue bars represent the record of the obama administration as we recover from the depths of an inherited economic disaster. there is still much left to do as we uncover from the great re-- recover from the great recession. millions of americans still suffer. but if we wish to avoid repeating history, we should first remember and understand it. the policies of the past drove our economy down. the policies of this congress have begun to lift it up, and you can see it here very clearly in the red, white and blue. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana rise? mr. fleming: i ask unanimous consent to address the house

for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. fleming: mr. speaker, last week governor bobby jindal announced that louisiana, along with 16 other states, would not participate in the government takeover of health care's temporary high-risk pools. i commend governor jindal on this decision and for having the foresight not to put louisiana on the hook for yet another tax increasing, job killing, unfunded mandate and subjecting our citizens to more federal inefficiency and bureaucracy. while i have always supported the concept of high-risk pools, this effort will thrust the burden onto the backs of louisiana taxpayers, eventually saddling them with another federally mandated program they can ill-afford. louisianans have made it clear that they are sick and tired for carrying the water for an ever-expanding federal government. i commend our governor for doing the right thing for our state and our country.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise? >> good morning, mr. speaker. i request permission to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. kucinich: afghan president karzai is in washington this week seeking out $33 billion to keep the war going, presenting his so-called peace proposal to allocate $60 million to fund new government bodies, pay off insurgents who agree to stop fighting and to undermine efforts to establish local gornance. ranked the second most corrupt government in the world, his ties to big oil and the notorious drug pushers, including his own brother, is no secret. while he's being treated as royalty in washington, millions of dollars is unaccounted for as mr. karzai builds villas in dubai.

meanwhile, i have constituents in cleveland that are struggling to stay in their home. if this continues, the more u.s. soldiers and afghan civilians die. he wants $33 billion for a war to continue in afghanistan. here at home americans need jobs, access to education and health care. billions would be better spent rebuilding america than sending it to afghanistan to continue a war. bring our troops home. end the war. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. smith: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and eend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. smith: mr. speaker, television network news stories about arizona's enforcement law had been overwhelmingly negative, according to a new analysis by the media research center. from april 23 to may 3, negative news reports on abc, cbs and nbc outnumbered positive reports by a margin of 12-1. this kind of extreme bias is a danger to democracy.

and nowhere is it more evident than the reporting about immigration. only 10% of network reports acknowledge that the majority of americans support the arizona law and that nine out of 10 say it is important to reduce illegal immigration. the networks should give americans the facts about immigration, not just give them one side of the story. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from pennsylvania rise? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. dahlkemper: mr. speaker, i rise to express my gratitude to the united way of butler county, pennsylvania, and the partners in the labor community for the annual service program. butler county labor month of caring. the butler county united labor council and the butler county building and construction trades are working with the united way to help make homes safer in butler. safety equipment like smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors save lives, yet many homes, particularly those of

senior citizens, don't have these devices installed and working. every saturday throughout the month of may in butler county, volunteer workers install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in home. on behalf of the united states house of representatives, i thank the butler county labor community and united way for their generosity in giving the gift of safety, and i yield back. . the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? mr. pitts: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. pitts: consumer spending is critical to creating new jobs. the last thing we want to do during a recovery is discourage it. unfortunately, we are hearing whispers and rumblings that the president's debt commission could recommend a new value-added tax before the end of the year. close advisors to the president such as paul volcker and john podesta publicly supported this tax which is already widely used in europe. the problem is that european taxes mean european unemployment

and levels of job growth. from 1982 to 2007, the u.s. created 45 million new jobs compared to only 10 million in europe. that tax -- v.a.t. tax raised the price of goods directly reducing consumer purchasing power. this means fewer jobs. i think we need to make it clear to the debt commission that a v.a.t. tax is no solution to our fiscal problems. the real solution is to restrain federal government spending that is far -- has far outstripped its traditional boundaries. i'm circulating a letter for signatures to the commission opposing the v.a.t. tax. i hope my colleagues will stand with me against it. yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from wisconsin rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. kagen: mr. speaker, this past weekend i met with people in appleton, and green bay, wisconsin listening to their concerns. what do they ask me to do?

they ask me to cut their taxes and to help small business owners grow the jobs that we need to work our way back into prosperity. well, you may not have seen it on television or heard it in the radio, but president obama and the democrats here in congress have already delivered the biggest tax cuts in american history. here in "usa today" two days ago, it says tax bills in 2009 at lowest levels since 1950. don't stop there. let's take the word of president reagan's domestic economic advisor, mr. bartlett, quote, federal taxes are lower by every measure since obama became president. last year, $787 billion stimulus bill enacted with no republican support, reduced federal taxes by almost $100 billion in 2009 and another $222 billion this year. but we all know that helping small business must be a top priority as well. that's why we passed the bipartisan hire act which will

generate jobs. that's why we worked together with republicans and democrats to pass the home star act. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. kagen: working together to rebuild this contry. thank you very much. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in support of the extension of the short line railroad tax credit that recently expired. because this credit has not been extended for 2010, the illinois and midland, tazzwell, and peoria railroads in my district have not been able to perform much needed maintenance to their infrastructure. mr. schock: these companies depend on their extension of credit to keep their track laborers working and continue to invest in their track which is necessary to serve local businesses in my district. companies like caterpillar, midwest generation, abingtine and others may lose their

connection to the rail network. the problems facing these companies in my district are not unique to the rail industry. the uncertainty of all these expiring credits leave businesses in a state of flux, unwilling to make the -- the necessary investments and long-term planning to expand their businesses and put people back to work. over 250 members of this body have already signed legislation which extends this credit. i urge the speaker to call this bill the short line railroad tax credit today. the speaker pro tempore the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? >> ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. rerned. -- revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. >> i rise today in support of wall street reform and ask which side are you on? in my opinion the debate is straightforward. there are those who support hardworking american families and small businessings against those who wish to protect the status quo and big wall street

banks which are to blame for the current recession. mr. tonko: for example last year this house passed the wall street reform and consumer protection act. none, that's right, zero of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle supported that bill. the other side can no longer ignore american families who worked hard and play by the rules. only to see their homes foreclosed on, the retirement savings lost, the businesses destroyed, or jobs wiped out. we need commonsense reforms and stronger consumer protections to ensure that a crisis on this order of magnitude never happens again. it is time we streamline government and put a cop on the beat of wall street to protect american families and businesses. absent this cop wall street will regulate itself as it did under the previous administration. the american economy cannot afford to live through that real life tragedy again. and neither can her family. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas rise? >> ask unanimous consent to address the house for one

minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in support of the re-authorization of the american competes act. 50 years ago in dallas, texas, a texas instruments dr. kill bye invented the microchip. this groundbreaking technology is arguably the catalyst of the information age. and the entire field of modern microelectronics. at this time this technology was unimaginable if not for dr. kilby it is feasible that sophisticated large-scale semiconductors may not exist. the example he set proves that it is the american people that will create the next technological fete into order to become energy independent, create more jobs, and develop the technology we must invest

robustly in scientific education and innovation. this is the goal of america competes. i'm pleased, i along with my supportive colleagues want to thank the house leadership for bringing this important legislation to the floor. i thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. costa: mr. speaker, today i want to introduce legislation to help put our dairy industry on track and prevent future dairy crashes like the one we are now in. the dairy price stabilization act is not just about trying to elevate dairy prices, it's about returning stability to the dairy industry. i was raised on a dairy farm and we know what boom and bust cycles have always existed. in the past decade booms have goton shorter and busts longer and more severe. these highs and lows have forced many dairies to shut down. in the last two years, we have

lost over $12 billion in equity in the industry and families have taken their own lives. this is unsustainable and must stop. dairies can no longer survive on milk checks lower than the cost of production. our bill gives them the option to grow what they see fit. mr. speaker, we must take swift action now to protect our local dairy farmers across the nation. i encourage my colleagues to join in this effort. i yield the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from connecticut rise? >> to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. murphy: over the last several months i visited factory floors in burlington and others, the news is good. orders are returning. revenue is up. access to capital is coming back. we have seen it in the national numbers. last week the department of labor reported that 290,000 jobs were added in april. a larger than expected increase.

last year, thanks to the tax cuts this house passed, consumer spending has started to increase. jumping up by 3.5% in the last report. we have to do more. in connecticut our economic recovery won't be complete until manufacturing completely rebounds, and that won't happen until this congress decides to start spending u.s. taxpayer dollars here on u.s. jobs. our economy is coming back but it's recovery will not be full until we make a commitment to buy american. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana rise? >> ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. pence: thank you, mr. speaker. our country is weary of borrowing and spending and bailouts from washington, d.c. so the american people deserve to know we are bailing out greece and future americans may be picking up the tab for as much as $50 billion in

additional loan guarantees for the rest of europe in the form of a bailout. here's how it works. the european union's members and i.m.f. recently pledged $145 billion in a great bailout. $40 billion of that came from the international monetary fund. i.n.s. the united states pays 17%, we are the largest contributor to the i.m.f., american taxpayers are on the hook for $6.8 billion in loan guarantees from the i.m.f. and it may just be a down payment. the e.u. this past weekend talked about a $1 trillion bailout plan that could put u.s. taxpayers on the hook for $50 billion in additional loan guarantees to bail out europe. look, the e.u. was formed to compete with the u.s. of a. economically. it is simply not right to ask the people of the united states of america to put out loan guarantees to bail out an economic competitor in europe. nobody wants to see the e.u. fail, but we are not asking their help in new jersey or

california. they shouldn't be asking our help with portugal, spain, or greece. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from arizona rise? >> to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. giffords: i rise today to urge president barack obama to improve the security on our border by employing the national guard. a family who has been ranching on the border for over 100 years was murdered on his own land. three days later i wrote to the president and asked him to send back the national guard to protect our citizens who live and work along the border. i he are nude that request two weeks ago and again last week. -- i renewed that request two weeks ago and again last week. we need to assure the residents of their security. the people i represent do not believe the federal government has heard their pleas and they grow worse and worse every single day. much has been done to improve

border security but our border is not yet secure. contrary to whatever people say. drug cartel violence increasingly threatens the lives of our citizens and on behalf of the thousands of the americans who live in the troubled sections of the u.s.-mexico border, particularly in southern arizona, i ask again that the president immediately deploy the national guard. the first responsibility of the government is to ensure the safety of its citizens. we must take action. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky rise? >> request permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. yarmuth: mr. speaker, earlier this year i was proud to co-found the congressional task force on american competitiveness. the reason we did that is while this democratic congress makes the kind of short-term required investments to keep our economy stable and to grow it from the depths of a recession that we just emerged from, we still need to keep our eyes on the prize. and many of us -- and that means growing an economy that will provide a vibrant, growing job

opportunity for our children and grandchildren. this is why the task force strongly supports the re-authorization of the america competes act. a piece of legislation that will expand our growing commitment to science and technological education, to innovative research, and also to utilizing our manufacturing base to grow the economies of the future. the america competes act will make the kind of long-term investment that will create the economy that will sustain our society for years to come, create the kind of futuristic jobs we can all be proud of. i urge all my colleagues to support the america competes act which will sustain this economy in the future. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? >> i ask to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. holt: mr. speaker, we learned last week that april was the fourth consecutive month of job growth in the united states. the tax cuts and investments

made by the recovery act are turning the economy around. funding for scientific research and infrastructure in that act has put to work scientists and construction workers and others, but after years of underinvestment and research, this part of the recovery act, $22 billion, was merely a down payment on our future economic competitive festness. the america competes re-authorization act in the house this week will build on the successes among other things by authorizing funding levels to continue to double the budgetses of our basic research agencies. these investments will pay big dividends at discoveries and innovations lead to new industries that will keep our nation competitive. if we intend to lead the global economy, we cannot afford to neglect innovation and infrastructure that produces that innovation and that has produced the economic power houses. as a member of the congressional task force on competitiveness, i

urge my colleagues to support this important legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from maryland rise? ms. edwards: unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. edwards: mr. speaker, i join millions of americans to demand that finally congress get to the business of reforming wall street. let's get a bill to the president, let's let him sign something that benefits main street. 18 months ago i joined working families across the country in anger and frustration over lax regulation that led to unfettered greed, ultimately forcing nain street to bear the burden of a wall street bailout. the american people our parties introduced legislation to put an end to taxpayer funded bailout of wall street firms that bend the firms and avoid regulation. but as i stand here today, these firms are nothing more than common thugs, working with

our allies on our other side of the aisle to continue their risky investing. so we have to send a clear message that we'll stand up with working people and reform the industry that almost brought us to the brink of economic collapse. mr. speaker, our colleagues and congress face a choice. either stand up for working people and our values or protect the greed and risk of wall street. for me, the choice is really clear. it's time to put wall street back in line with main street. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from nevada rise? ms. titus: to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. titus: thank you. mr. speaker, i rise today to pay tribute to reverend jesse scott, a fine hero and a lifelong civil rights hero who passed away on monday. a native of louisiana, reverend scott moved to las vegas in 1970 to become the president of the local naacp chapter.

in that role and later as executive director of the nevada equal rights commission, reverend scott was a love and respected leader whose commitment to justice was unparalleled. reverend scott once said, god placed me in position to help others as i have been helped by others. and by all accounts, that's exactly what he did. his legacy will live on in the lives of all those he touched in his fight for equality, in his work at the second baptist church and in the acts of many public servants, including myself, whom he inspired and mentored. my thoughts and prayers are with reverend scott's family and friends during these tough times. thank you. i yield. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the chair will postpone further proceedings today on motions to suspend the rules on which a recorded vote or the yeas and nays are ordered or on which the vote incurs objection under clause 6 of rule 20. records votes on postponed questions will be taken later.

for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass the senate bill, s. 3333. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 3333. an act to extend the statutory license for secondary transmissions under title 17, united states code, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from michigan, mr. conyers, and the gentleman from texas, mr. smith, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan. mr. conyers: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. conyers: and i will yield 10 minutes to the distinguished

gentleman from virginia, rick boucher, and ask unanimous consent that he be allowed to control that time from his committee. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. conyers: and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. conyers: members of the house, the satellite television extension act of 2010 re-authorizes the satellite compullsary licensing until -- come pulseary licensing until december 31, 2014, and mod enizes the copyright licenses for satellite and cable television. this is required an amazing amount of negotiation, not only between the members of the two committees involved, but as

well among the many major players in this very complicated area of technology. for more than a year there have been hearings, discussions, fact finding, floor committees, local broadcasters, copyright owners, satellite companies and here's what's resulted. we've been able to resolve the phantom signal problem in the cable case. we've been able to make it possible for all satellite consumers to get their local broadcast programming. and then we have the satellite companies, we created a way for

them to use the license where there is a multicast. and so we join with a wide variety of dedicated leaders in the house so that local broadcasters can send several streams of programming over one digital system. and i thank my friend, rick boucher, for his role in this very long operation. and, of course, as usual, lamar smith has been invaluable as well as chairman henry waxman, ranking member joe barton of the committees.

this is not easy to develop this consensus between very strong entities in this technology, but i am happy to bring this bill to the floor today, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. smith: mr. speaker, this bill is the single most important copyright bill presented to congress to date. it represents the culmination of a legislative process that began in the house judiciary and energy and commerce committee in february, 2009. but bearing a senate bill number, many of the policies contained in this bill were in earlier house bills which overwhelmingly passed the house last year. the legislation previously passed the house and incorporated into s. 3333

actually integrated two separate bills. h.r. 3570, which was introduced by chairman conyers and reported by the judiciary committee on september 16, 2009, and h.r. 2994, which was the energy and commerce committee's related measure to amend the communications act. the principal purpose of this measure is to extend the compulsary license of section 119 of the copyright act that has satellite providers to send programming to prescribers. while they rely to receive network programming in years past, about one million households still derive some benefit from it. the absence of an immediate market alternative makes it necessary once again for congress to extend the license temporarily until december 31, 2014. my hope is that this will be the last time congress re-authorizes what was originally envisioned to be a temporary license. in addition to amending the

satellite license in section 119 of the copyright act, this bill contains a number of significant amendments to the cable license in section 111 and a separate satellite license in section 122. the new transmission of both local and accident programming while the latter is local into local programming. perhaps the most significant amendment is a resolution of the phantom signal issue. the provision in the bill was negotiated and supported by both program owners and the cable industry. while circumstances prevented congress from further harmonize or eliminate these licenses, i'm pleased we were able to make substantial improvements in addressing some of the most urgent concerns. i thank chairman conyers for bringing this legislation to the floor and want to recognize chairman berman and senators leahy and sessions for their support as well. the inclusion of enhanced

penalties for violations as well as an act of judicial oversight of compliance coupled with an obligation that dish is compliant with a federal court requires critical and necessary improvements from prior versions of this bill. i urge my colleagues to support s. 3333, the satellite television extension and localism act. when enacted, the bill will both preserve and expand the ability of americans to view network and independent station programming without interruption. and it will do so without taking into account the vital property interest of those programming is made subject to the license. mr. speaker, i have no other speakers on this side and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from virginia. mr. boucher: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. boucher: and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. boucher: mr. speaker, today

we take the final step in adopting legislation that will assure the continued satellite delivery of network television programming to world homes that cannot receive that programming by means of an outdoor antenna or rabbit ears from a local television station. over the course of the last year, the house and senate commerce and judiciary committees have closely cooperated in a bipartisan process to revise and to modernize the law. and i want to say thanks to all of the members of the four committees who have been involved in this effort and have worked together in order to achieve the result and the success that we celebrate this morning. my major goal of reforming the satellite home viewer act has been to bring to all 210 local television markets across the nation what we refer to as local-to-local television

service through which local television signals are transmitted by satellite to homes in the market where those television signals originate. with the passage of the bill that is now under consideration, we will achieve that goal. today, 28 of the 210 local television market around the nation do not have the benefit of local into local satellite service. and those local signals are tremendously important. families routinely rely on local television to bring news about emergency weather conditions, to bring news about school closings, and other events in the community, the knowledge of which is important to the families that watch television in order to receive that information. and there are 28 rural markets across the united states where those very valuable local

television signals are not available through satellite cliffery. these are very rural -- delivery. these are very rural markets and most of them don't have a full complement of network afill wrated local tv stations within the market. we call these short markets because they're missing one or more of the major network affiliates. abc, nbc, cbs and fox. and in virtually all of these markets, one or more of those network programs are not available by means of a local television station. until today their short market status has made it economically unattracted for the satellite carriers to provide local television signals in these markets. so those markets currently are without that service, and that will soon change. last year i spoke to the chief executive officer of ecostar,

also known as dish network, one of the two major providers of satellite-based tv services across the united states. i asked him if working together we could find a way for his company to serve the 28 rural market that do not have local television service at the present time. he responded that if we revise the law to enable dish to import distant network signals from stations located outside of these rural markets to the extent necessary to supply the network signals are missing in those markets, dish would then commit to serve all 210 local tv markets across the nation. the legislation before the house today makes that key change. its passage means that in the near future ecostar will begin serving the 28 rural markets that lack vital local television signals at the present time. the satellite necessary to

deliver those services has been launched. the plans to uplink the signals of the stations and import distant network signals to the extent necessary to provide a full complement of network affiliates in those market have been made. all that is now waiting is the passage of this bill in the house and its signature into law by the president. and so with the act that we take today we can be assured that in the very near future all 210 local television markets across the country will receive this important service. . i want to commend the leadership for making the commitment. i also want to say special thanks to chairman conyers of the house judiciary committee and to our friend, mr. smith from texas, for their tremendous work and cooperation as our two

committees together have fashioned this revision of the satellite home viewer act. it is an important step that we take. and, mr. speaker, urging that the house approve this measure, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from michigan. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i have no speakers and i would be willing to yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from virginia. mr. boucher: mr. speaker, i also have no further request for speakers and yield the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: all time has, spired. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass senate 3333. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i call up h.r. 5014 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report -- mr. levin: and ask for its immediate consideration.

the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman move to suspend the rules and the bill? mr. levin: i do. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5014, a bill to clarify the health care provided by the secretary of veterans' affairs that constitutes minimum essential coverage. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, and the gentleman from california, mr. herger, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in strong support of h.r. 5014, a bill to reinforce the health care provided by the department of veterans affairs constitutes minimum essential coverage under the individual mandate. very specifically, this bill clarifies the coverage at the v.a. for individuals who have

spina bifida as a result of their parents' exposure to agent orange counts as minimum essential coverage. i want to be clear that this bill does not in any way change veterans' health care, nor does it put anyone but the secretary of veterans' affairs in control of veterans' benefits. the bill has no cost. a similar version of this legislation passed the senate by unanimous consent. this legislation is consistent with the commitment that the congress has made to the veterans of our nation. finally, i would like to highlight that it is supported by numerous veteran service organizations such as the veterans of foreign wars, the

american liegeyodge -- american legion, amvets, and disabled american veterans. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california. mr. herger: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. herger: mr. speaker, millions of american workers are in danger of losing their health care coverage because of the democrats' unprecedented social experiment. one of the central flaws of the democrats' health care overhaul is that it forces every american to buy health insurance and allows federal bureaucrats to decide if their coverage is acceptable. if your insurance does not meet the government standards, then you will be taxed, that's why we are considering this bill today. certainly none of us wants to see hundreds of disabled

children of veterans lose their health insurance because of democrats' grand experiment on health care. i agree with the goal of this legislation and intend to support it, however where is the fix for the millions of american workers and retirees who will be forced out of the health care coverage they currently have? fortune.com reported internal company documents from four major u.s. employers who are considering, quote, dumping the health care coverage they provide to their workers in exchange for paying penalty fees to the government, close quote. these companies currently offer health benefits to well over 2.3 million employees, retirees, and their dependents. a number that exceeds the population of 15 states as well as the district of columbia.

at&t reports they could save $4.1 billion per year if they simply dumped their employee health care coverage and pay the employer mandate tax instead. when will the democrats put a bill on the floor that protects 1.2 million at&t employees? retirees and their dependents from losing their coverage. caterpillar would reduce its expenses by 70% if they eliminate health benefits and instead pay the tax. where's the protection for these employees? a survey conducted by the city university of new york for the financial executives research foundation found that 3/4 of cheap financial officers believe that democrats' health overhaul would be, quote, negative both for americans and for their own

companies, close quote. 62% of c.f.o.'s say they will have to increase employee co-pays by 48%. 48% believe they will have to reduce the quality of the health care package they offer employees. and 46% say they will have to reduce employee benefits. even more troubling, the "philadelphia enquirer" recently interviewed legal experts who advised employers on how this -- to structure their health plans. according to new reports, some health care benefit managers, quote, see a future in which employers no longer provide coverage because the cost of dropping health insurance for employees, about $2,000 per person, in federal penalties to

employers is far less than the current cost of providing family coverage. about $12,000 per employee. there is an opportunity to get out of providing health benefits to employees, close quote. while i support the goal of the legislation before us, it is not enough. we must repeal the dangerous experiment with government control of health care, replace it with reforms that will allow all americans to keep their health coverage. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: first of all, mr. speaker, i would ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks

and to add extraneous material. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. levin: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california. mr. herger: mr. speaker, i yield so much time as he may consume the ranking member from the veterans' affairs committee, the gentleman from indiana, mr. buyer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. buyer: we are doing some unnecessary house cleaning today. i'm not certain whether you are cleaning out a garage or you're cleaning up the bedroom, cleaning up the mess you made in the kitchen, one thing's clear

we are cleaning up a mess. a mess that i tried to fix with the chairman the day before we voted on the health bill. and you wouldn't even do it then. yeah, we're cleaning up a mess. a mess because it was all about political expediency. we got to get a bill. the president's got political capital out there. we got to get a bill. 18 years i have been in this town. whenever this town gives in to a do something mentality built on the emotion of the moment, people are going to get hurt. that's exactly what's happened. people get hurt. the health bill was never intended to have been signed into law by the president. it is a political document that was passed in the united states senate to achieve 60 votes. to get to the conference table.

oh, no. we'll just take that document that was drafted not even vetted and just bring it over to the house with all its roars and just pass it. even with -- errors and just pass it. even with those of us with ernest and sincerity to correct your bill, a republican conservative to correct your mistakes, and you wouldn't even take it. i go to the rules committee, to the rules committee, and lay out the mistakes in your bill. the that comes from the rules committee with their pride is we stop all those amendments. are you kidding me? you stopped all those amendments. what pride. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is reminded -- mr. buyer: i remove the word stench from the record. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is reminded to address his remarks to the chair. mr. buyer: there was a stench that came out of the rules committee. the stench was pride.

they wouldn't swallow their pride to correct the bill when they had the opportunity to do it so they came to the floor saying that, geez, we are not going to take any of those amendments. so now, mr. speaker, we are having to take up your time and this precious time on the floor to correct the bill we shouldn't have to do. that's what we are doing here today, mr. speaker. and we are doing it with veterans. now let's talk about political corruption. steve, you are dancing on the edge here. you mean there could have actually been political corruption on the night of the health bill? you bet. what is the difference between politics and the super bowl of politics in the arena and corruption. where do you cross the line? is it really crossed? when did you end up in the nebulous? let me tell you about the

congressional budget office. the nonpartisan referee of the congressional budget office. ok. what was supposed to happen? let's do a little flashback here. someday we are going to vote on the health bill. what happens? at midnight on friday night, that bill that came over from the senate, we finally get to see it, what's wrong? there are problems in the bill. the drafting of the bill only mentioned tricare for life not the protection of tricare. so ike skelton immediately, the chairman of the armed services committee, files a bill to be brought to the floor for which, chairman levin, you were here, it was the ike skelton bill to correct tricare. a correction that had to be made. it was made outside of the bill. i sought to make it a correction inside the bill. we also had the problem with -- in the drafting on the protection of veterans programs of title 38 under chapter 17. veterans programs. there are a lot left out

including chapter 18 which is a spina bifida program, a serious problem. we are not going to take care of that. i guess we'll do it later. chairman levin, you kept your word. you kept your word to me. you're a gentleman. we tried to get it done on that day and it didn't get done, and you kept your word to me and we are back here today, but we shouldn't have to have been back here today i guess is my point. . the crups was is that it was still in earnest to have this corrected in the bill. the v.f.w. was also very upset. so was the american legion. so is the uniformed services. couple of v.s.o.'s would have rolled over like platecal dog and let you scratch their belly. well, i tell you what, these other ones stood firm because

they knew the bill was flawed. here's the quote from the commander of the v.f.w. the president and the democrat leadership of -- have been betraying america's veterans. and what's worse, the leadership and the president know the bill is flawed yet are pushing for passage today like it's a do or die situation. this nation deserves the best were their elected officials and the rush to pass legislation of this magnitude is not it, end quote. he's right. that's what happened on that day. that's why we're having to come up and clean up the mess. now, we go to the day of the bill itself. what are we being to do? we are going to have the motion to recommit the bill. so? so what's mr. buyer going to do? we are going to have to put in a motion to recommit the bill to correct these mistakes with regard to tricare program to

cover the military and their dependents and protect their injuries dirks. also, make sure the other -- protect their jurisdiction. also, make sure that the spina bifida program is protected. what happens? i get a ring, ring, ring. a phone call from c.b.o. c.b.o. says we believe that your bill may score at $4.4 billion. are you kidding me? $4.4 billion. we just did ike skelton's bill on saturday and it did not score. but my bill is now going to score on sunday and ike's didn't score on saturday? are you kidding me? now, it comes from somewhere else, mr. speaker. c.b.o., the congressional budget office. what happened to fair dealing? what happened to being a referee and nonpartisanship?

so i say to c.b.o. in that phone conference, some individuals who were in that conference are sitting right here. correct me if i'm inaccurate. go back and look at your numbers and call me back because there's no way this can score. they then call back and they come back and say, we have concerns. your bill may score at $4.4 billion. ok. i tell you what, do not send me a letter -- this is what i told c.b.o. do not send me a letter tomorrow that says the bill doesn't score. in my heart i know what you're doing. you're blocking to prevent me from bringing a motion to recommit the health bill on the house ploor so the democratic leadership and democrats do not have to take a tough vote and actually admit that the v.f.w. and the american legion were right that the bill is flawed and doesn't protect veterans. now, because of all this is

boiling, what does the white house do? the white house doesn't want to re-create another joe wilson moment where someone comes up and challenges the president's veracity. what do they do? the white house press shop goes and contacts the secretary of the veterans' affairs and they get the secretary of the v.a. to say what buyer has brought out is unfounded. they get the secretary of the v.a. to do the dirty work. the individuals who are serving the secretary of the v.a. are not serving that man well at all because whatever they said was unfounded, has been founded. it's been founded because we're correcting what i said the mistakes were made. let me continue on with the corruption wave. let me talk about those who sit up on the perch. oh, my gosh, they're not there. our friends in the media, they're not there. where are they? no, they're not there because let me tell what you they did that night. they participated in the

marginalization of me, the mistakes, because they said, well, we g four democratic chairman that said there were -- chairmen that said there were no mistakes, the v.a. said it's ok. buyer, you must be an alarmist. so tom philpot, someone who i respect from "the baltimore sun" actually writes an article how i must have been an alarmist because the chairman -- the four leading chairmen and the white hse and the secretary of v.a. said what you were talking about spina bifida was unfounded. why are we here today correcting those mistakes? because they're founded. they're real. so where's the press now to write the story that the v.f.w., you were right when you challenged the leadership for passing a flawed bill?

let me say, let me close with the corruption in the c.b.o. i didn't bring that motion to recommit the bill, did i? i couldn't bring it because they said the bill scored at $4.4 billion so i couldn't bring it on the floor. so i told c.b.o., guess what, you win. i can't bring it. but if you tomorrow, you send me a letter that says it didn't score, i tell you what i'm going to do. because you say it scores at $4.4 billion, that means that the savings that the democrat leadership was talking about as a pay-for for the health bill, the savings of $4.4 billion was taken out of veterans programs. that's where the savings came from. so i said, ok, fine. if my motion to recommit scores at $4.4 billion, then the savings that they talked about over here, savings in the

health bill, let's vote for the health bill. it was taken out of the veterans programs. that's where it came from. so what happens on monday morning? i issue a press release that says $4.4 billion taken out of the savings -- veterans savings programs. within two hours, what does c.b.o. do, mr. speaker? they issue a statement to me that says the bill doesn't score. my amendment didn't score. oh, my gosh. did every member out there whom has had an experience over the years dealing with c.b.o., protect yourself. right now you cannot trust c.b.o. you cannot trust their veracity. i stand here with honor and i am sickened by what c.b.o. has done. i am sickened by the super bowl of politics that occurred on that night that here we had a bill that is very meaningful to

the american people. we know there are errors. the gentleman, with whom i have complimented, knew in his heart there were problems with the bill, that we were going to have to come back and correct. we shouldn't have had to do this. i felt compelled, though, to tell the story of a retiring member of congress. there are things i love and defend about this institution, but there are also things that are called the dark side of human behavior, that are toxic and poisonous and they disturb me to no end. so to members of whom hold onto your honor, put your face in the cold wind and do in the accept it when individuals act with corruption. stand and shove them back. our country is too great, and especially to have played politics with veterans programs is the ultimate to me.

the children of the korean and vietnam war with spina bifida, are you kidding me? that's who we're going to play games with? the other veterans programs, who are those individuals? they are the widows, they're the war widows and we are going to play politics with war widows. you know, there's a word i guess we don't like to use very often. it's called shame. because it's a very, very powerful word. that's shameful what we did. when an error is in front of you and you got the opportunity to correct that error, you correct it. if you do not it is shameful. and i will accept responsibility too. but if i'm being -- going to accept responsibility as a member of this house that i was not able to see it through,

someone else must step forward and accept responsibility, madam speaker. and you turn and you then face the veterans at the conventions this summer and you tell them, yes, the bill was flawed, but i apologize, and the bill was corrected. and with the issues that were brought up by mr. buyer, they were founded. i apologize for challenging his veracity because what he said was right. and then madam speaker should say, i was wrong. and then under the president, you should also say to the secretary of the v.a., i apologize to you, mr. secretary. we put you at an uncomfortable position whereby you laid your honor on the line and made a statement that was not truthful , and this president should apologize then to the secretary of the v.a.. that's how you clean up the

mess. so it's not just the legislative mess. there is a mess here with regard to individuals' integrity and their honor. so if you wonder why the american people are upset and disgusted with washington, d.c., is because they see this is what's happening. i say we lost our majority and you're about to lose yours. the speaker pro tempore: the time has expired. the chair are remind all members -- the chair will remind all members that they should -- it's not in order to refer to occupants of the gallery. the gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: how much time is remaining? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california has no time remaining. the gentleman from michigan has 18 1/2 minutes remaining. mr. levin: met me say a few --

let me say a few words. i really regret that the minority has decided to use this bill as an opportunity to talk about the health care bill i think in totally irresponsible ways. i don't think it is fitting for the service of the veterans of the united states of america that you decide to essentially use this time to talk about issues unrelated. i don't think that is the reason of why you're here and why we're here, so i'm not going to debate the health care bill. we're talking today about a bill to make very clear if

there is any need about one provision. talk about playing politics. that's what's been endeavored here, and i think it's deeply regrettable. there was a difference of opinion as to whether there was any mistake at all on this specific issue. there is a difference of opinion. the secretary of v.a. said that this issue was already covered. that was his judgment. there's no need for anybody to apologize to the secretary. and so there was this difference of opinion as to whether there is any need to correct, and a lot of us said

there was no such need. when it was raised this issue by mr. buyer, we said that so instead of acting on something that we thought was not necessary, what we said was we will take further steps to make sure there is no concern. there was a lot of rhetoric that went around regarding that issue, and i want to just read a letter that came out just shortly thereafter from the commander in chief of the v.f.w. it was a letter to our speaker, and this is what the letter said. dear, madam speaker. i want to apologize for saying

in a sunday press release that you and the democratic leadership are betraying americans -- america's veterans. your support of america's veterans, military and their families is and has been above reproach, quote-unquote. above reproach. and so now using this opportunity to try to cast any aspirgs i think is more than unfortunate. i think if i might say so is disgraceful. . there is said something about we are doing something in health care reform on the emotion of the moment. talk about emotions.

we had worked on this in our country for decade after decade after decade after decade after decade and more decades. health care reform was an effort in the best american tradition to try to advance what has made this country great and that is acting as a community to meet the needs of individuals, to combine responsibility and community. so let me get back, if you want to go out and talk about repeal, as the gentleman from california has, go and talk to the people

who are going to benefit from this bill, go and talk to the kids who are under 26 who are going to receive coverage through this bill, go and talk to the people who otherwise would have their health care rescinded as some entities tried and backed off when we raised the issue. now if anybody's playing politics today, it's no one on this side led by our distinguished speaker. so i urge adoption of this legislation and i ask unanimous consent that we enter into the record a letter from robert e. wallace, executive director of the veterans of foreign wars of the united states, and a letter from peter gaden, the executive

director of the american legion. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. levin: i now yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: all time has expired. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5014 as amended. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the the motion to reconsider -- mr. levin: i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman ask for the yeas and nays? mr. levin: i do. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition? >> i move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, h.res. 1337, expressing the sympathy and condolences of the united states house of representatives to the people affected by the flooding a week ago in tennessee, kentucky, and mississippi in the first week of may, 2010. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1337, resolution expressing the

sympathy and condolences of the house of representatives to those people affected by the flooding in tennessee, kentucky, and mississippi in may, 2010. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from tennessee, mr. cohen, and the gentleman from tennessee, mr. duncan, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from tennessee. mr. cohen: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. cohen: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without. the gentleman is recognized. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. the first weekend of may the great storms came through from the west and struck in arkansas, mississippi, tennessee, and kentucky. the flooding damage was record breaking. the damage done in the state of -- in all states was great but

in the state of tennessee was the most severe, my home state. the most destruction i guess and most damages occurred in the district of the honorable jim cooper, but in my own county of shelby, there was extensive damage. i joined with my colleagues in calling on our governor to issue a request for declaration of emergency and that was done by the governor. the federal government has responded in a magnificent manner. president barack obama and his historic speech to the democratic national convention in 2004 said how there was not a red united states of america or a blue united states of america but only one united states of america. and in this particular instance where people suffer in states that are all considered politically red states, the united states of america has responded with all of its resources to help our people and our people need help.

fema's been on the ground. fema director was in tennessee in no time. secretary napolitano has been to nashville. secretary donovan of h.u.d. and secretary locke of commerce have been to memphis and nashville and other. others have been there. i had fema officials at my town hall meeting on saturday. they have let people know that the federal government is there to help. the people have been very responsive and our local governments were responsive. when i went to millington on monday and toured some of the damage there, the people in the neighborhood said the shelby county officials had been outstanding in their response. they now feel the federal government officials have been outstanding. secretaries locke and donovan visited the community center that's now a shelter. they visited with millington, also. the people in the midtown, the heart of my district, who had great flooding damage. people know now to call

1-800-621-fema to lodge their notice of their damages and to get on a list to start to have inspectors come out, which they are doing, to assess the damages and as certain which individuals are qualified for the $29,900 in recovery funds that can be had for the damages to their residential or primary vehicle. the s.b.a. has been there, they are set up to help in losses over $29,900 and to businesses for their losses. city and county governments will be eligible to qualify for debris removal and for goods that have been distributed. overall the volunteer state has responded as the volunteer state should and from its naming. volunteers have come from everywhere to help the people who have been damaged. we have been contributing. hillary clinton, quoting an african proverb it takes a village to raise a child. it takes a village and

government to come together to help the people. and we have seen the federal government do that. this government in particular. i'm proud we have done so and i appreciate the response i have seen in my state of tennessee. i regret the damage and i know the people have width stood it well. -- have with stood it well. -- withstood it well. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee. mr. duncan: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. duncan: mr. speaker, house resolution 1337 was introduced by the tennessee delegation last week to express the sympathy and condolences of the house of representatives to those impacted by the recent flooding in tennessee, kentucky, and mississippi. as we all know earlier this month tennessee, kentucky, and mississippi experienced severe rainfall resulting in unprecedented flooding. it is with my home state of tennessee, the hardest of all. and while my district

fortunately was spared from any of this flooding, our official title is united states representative from whatever state we are from and i think that the tennessee delegation has always worked together and joined together to try to represent the whole state even though we do each run in districts. on may 4 the president issued a major disaster declaration for tennessee authorizing federal assistance to supplement the state and local response and recovery efforts. as our colleague, the gentleman from the ninth district, mr. cohen, has just stated, the outpouring of support for the people affected by this flooding has just been tremendous, as he mentioned, our great volunteer state of which we are so proud. unfortunately, as a result of these floods, in these three states dozens of people were

killed and hundreds of homes were destroyed, thousands of people were displaced, and forced to pay shelter. in tennessee, the governor declared 52 of tennessee's 95 counties as disaster areas and key landmarks like the grand ole opry were flooded with several feet of water. in tennessee it hit primarily the districts of our colleague, con man cooper, congresswoman blackburn, and congressman gordon. in kentucky the governor declared a state of emergency of 79 of 620 counties and issued a boil water advisory affecting nearly 83,000 residents. in mississippi, nearly 250 homes were destroyed or suffered major damage and the governor has requested six counties receive a major disaster declaration. even in this tragic situation we saw and continue to see many

examples of heroism. as we have seen in previous disasters, people in the community, first responders, and volunteers have responded in a big, big way. the state and local officials along with organizations like the american red cross continue to provide assistance and aid to those affected by this flooding. and fema's assistance has and will help supplement these efforts. i strongly support passage of this resolution and urge all my colleagues to do the same and i'm sure they will. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. i would like to yield as much time as the gentleman needs, the author of this particular resolution and distinguished congressperson from the district that suffered the greatest, mr. cooper. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. cooper: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank all my colleagues for the unanimous, bipartisan support of this resolution

honoring the people of the three state area that was affected. we suffered one of the great rainfalls of modern times. literally double the prior record, 13 inches of rain in a two-day period. that led to a real disaster, particularly in the area of the middle tennessee that i represent. the mayor of nashville who has done a magnificent job responding to this crisis has estimated the damage already at at least $$8.5 billion. the nashville is opened for business. tourists are welcome. most all of the sites will be available and ready to welcome you. a few are down temporarily, but we are rebuilding. and we are rebuilding because of the magnificent volunteer spirit of our people. wherever you went to help the homeowner clean up the mess or business recover, you were greeted with dozens, sometimes hundreds of volunteers.

a group called hands on nashville that did a wonderful job coordinating these volunteer efforts. churches, other places of worship were magnificent. delivering sandwiches to the hungry. sheltering the homeless. taking care of whatever needed to be taken care of in our community. so the volunteer spirit was magnificent. now it's time for the government to step up. whether it be fema or s.b.a. or any other alphabet soup of federal agencies, it's time for government to do its part. we look forward to working with the disaster victims to making sure that everybody is helped to the extent possible. because this was an unforeseen and unforeseeable calamity. it affected our district. unfortunately it did not get the publicity it deserved because of the new york terrorist incident and spill in the gulf, but when anderson cooper of cnn came down, his initial headline for the story was nashville flooding. as soon as he saw the magnificent response of our

people he changed that headline to national vi rising. -- nashville rising. that's our real message here. we are coming back and coming back strong. please come visit nashville,town turn, spend your -- nashville, tennessee, spend your tourist dollars there. and with your help we'll restore our place of country music and other music. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee. mr. duncan: mr. speaker, i yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from tennessee, mrs. blackburn. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from tennessee is recognized. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman from knoxville for yielding the time. i rise today in awe of the people in tennessee. so many of the families in my district have lost most or even all of what they had. some have suffered loss of family members, and we express our sympathies to those families. you know, homes are gone, businesses are wiped out,

schools are flooded, schools even out for the year in some communities. roads and bridges are absolutely washed away. and the road back for tennessee is going to be a very long road. it's going to be difficult, also, but tennesseans are undaunted. i chose to stay in my district last week. all 15 of our counties are federal disaster areas. and i wanted to make certain that me and my staff make certain that we get into those communities, into those counties and to assess the need and make certain that needs were being met. this photo that i'm showing you shows the extent of damage in one of the counties, cheetam county in my district. but it could have been taken over in mr. davis' district or mr. tanner's district or in mr. cooper's district. but it shows you what happened with how roads are completely washed away. and it is one of only hundreds

and hundreds of roads that have been washed out by the storm. this one, you will see the road actually lies about 16 yards from the roadbed and where it was originally placed. the terrible force of the waters washed it out and onto the foundation of three homes, what were completely washed away. while the rain fell, neighbors stepped up to help neighbors, and those who had dry homes took people into those homes and then they started to get ready to rebuild. and what they are doing is getting purchasing pools to help clear the homes and rebuild those homes. i can't count the number of empty foundations that i saw across the district last week or the schedule tons of

churches and -- skeletons of churches and homes and businesses that are now sitting on river banks. i spoke to residents who have nothing, nothing at all where their home used to have. some who have only parts of the foundation left. one resident was wearing only the clothes on his back. and he didn't talk about what his needs were or how great his loss was. what he talked about was rebuilding that community, and he talked about how he could replace material goods. but, also, about the richness of people helping people and coming together. our local government, as mr. cooper was saying, the state of tennessee and the federal government are responding. aid that began to hit our urban areas around nashville and memphis is now making it out into the rural counties.

and the road back for those counties will be difficult, but i commend those local elected officials for how they have stepped up, how they had a disaster plan and they also had an implementation plan and they put it to work and responded in the appropriate way. being there to help all of their local citizens. i commend fema and the administration for the aid that i know will eventually come to tennessee and to our rural communities, and most of all i commend the families who once again have displayed why we are the volunteer state. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. i now yield as much time as he may consume to the honorable bart gordon who represents the district just kind of south and i guess southeast of davidson county. the speaker pro tempore: how

much time? mr. cohen: as much time as the gentleman consumes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. gordon: i thank the gentleman for yielding and i thank my friend, mr. cooper, for bringing this legislation. i want to thank our neighbors in rising to support h.res. 1337. my district in middle tennessee was among those devastated by historic rainfall and subsequent flooding on may 1 and 2. seeing this kind of devastation just breaks your heart. many tennesseans were displaced, including my mother. while it was just temporary, inconvenient for her, and i'm grateful for that, for some it was an ongoing disruption. for others it was a life-changing event. even as many people in tennessee return to normal routines, those families who were most affected will still be working to rebuild their lives. those families will continue to need our compassion and support through the coming months. federal assistance is available

and will make a difference for many families. and that's why i encourage everyone in the affected county to document their damage and contact fema. apply even if you have insurance. if you find out months from now that insurance won't cover any damages or all your damages it might be too late to apply for fema assistance at that time. my staff in furfreesboro, cookeville are standing by. a lot of good people are pitching in to lend a hand after they just drive them self off. this is not surprising. our communities have rebounded after tornadoes and storms. this flood will work -- this time we will work together to rise above the floodwaters. i urge my colleagues to support this resolution and to keep tennessee in their thoughts and prayers. with that i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee. mr. duncan: mr. speaker, i continue to reserve unless the gentleman from memphis is ready to close or do you have additional speakers? mr. cohen: mr. speaker, i'm ready to close. mr. duncan: all right, mr. speaker, i'll simply close by saying that all tennesseans -- almost all tennesseans have their friends and relatives, including me, people who were affected by this understooding. and i want to commend all the people from my district who volunteered and who went to the aid of those people who were touched by this tragedy. and i want to commend the gentleman from nashville, my friend, mr. cooper, for bringing this resolution to the floor. again, i wish to express my sympathy and condoleness to all those who were -- condolences to all those who were hurt and lost family members. i urge support for this resolution, and i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. i, too, thank mr. cooper for bringing this resolution, mr. gordon for testifying, and mr. duncan, mrs. blackburn for their system. all the members of the delegation came together in a bipartisan manner. they believe government can and is an effective tool to help people and can when used properly, efficiently and effectively, as fema is now, can be an important part of the government response to a crisis to help the american people. as mr. cooper said, nashville is open for business, and nashville is a great city with a great tourist economy. while the onry land hotel may be shut down temporarily, the opry is still open. iowa 40 is open and we had -- i-40 is open and we hope to see you there. i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. all time has expired. the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1337. mr. cohen: mr. speaker, i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules is agreed to -- the gentleman from tennessee. mr. cohen: request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition? mr. cohen: mr. speaker, i rise in support of the resolution, h.res. 1284, introduced by the gentleman from florida gator land, mr. boyd. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman move to --

mr. cohen: which supports the goals and ideals of national learn to fly day. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman move to suspend the rules and pass the bill. -- pass the bill? mr. cohen: yes, sir. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1284, resolution supporting the goals and ideals of national learn to fly day, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from tennessee, mr. cohen, and the gentleman from missouri, mr. graves, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from tennessee. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and make extraneous material included in h. resolution 1284. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. cohen: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of the resolution, h.res. 1284, as amended, introduced by the

gentleman from florida, mr. boyd, which supports the goals and ideals of international learn to fly day, and recognize the contributions of flight instructors, flight schools, promoting of teaching the next generation of pilots. it was established on may 15, 2009, to increase interest in flying and encourage the aviation community to get others involved in aviation. the event was announced at the experimental aviation association in oshkosh, wisconsin. flight schools, flight instructors have come together to dedicate a day on fly. airports, flight instructors will offer free or discount flight instruction oro aviation events. it will lend the time and expertise to introduce people to flying. airlines must be able to track the next generation of commercial pilots. international learn to fly day will be an important day to promote experience of learning to fly to attract people to the pilot profession of which my home city is the home to federal express, which

employees many fine pilots and continue to deliver cargo to the world. international learn to fly day will be celebrated each year. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting h.res. 1284. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from missouri. mr. graves: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. graves: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today in strong support of h.res. 1284, which is a resolution obviously supporting the goals and ideals of international learn to fly day. and i would like to thank mr. boyd and mr. ehlers for sponsoring this meaningful piece of legislation. both of these individuals are great advocates of aviation and they need to be commended for this -- for this bill. mr. speaker, aviation plays an important role in america and

throughout the well. it inspires innovation. without flight insthructors -- instructors, flight schools promoting an teaching the next generation of pilots, many of these benefits won't be realized. the u.s. pilot population has declined. as a commercial pilot, myself, it was easy for me because i grew up across the road from the airport. i played in airplane wrecks as a kid. i pumped gas and washed windshielded and washed airlines. anyway to get a lesson. and i grew up with it and grew up next to it so i was able to learn to fly. but i find the news that the pilot population is declining, i find that extremely disappointing. and in response, the international learn to fly day was established, and it's the third saturday in may. and this goal is to increase interest in flying and to encourage the aviation

community and others to get involved in aviation. there's a lot of groups out there, the experimental aircraft association, the aircraft owners and pilots association. i know the general aviation manufacturing association, which are all here this week, they're all coming up with programs and working on programs to encourage young people to fly and trying to get them their first lesson, whatever the case may be. this is a very worthy cause and i'm very proud to support it and with that, mr. speaker, i would reserve the balance of my time. i know i've got a couple of speakers, maybe, and the other side does, too, but i'd reserve the balance of my time at this point. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. with your indulgence, i'd like to recognize the gentleman from west virginia tennessee, mr. tanner. the speaker pro tempore: how long? mr. cohen: as much time as he needs. shouldn't be less than a minute. mr. tanner: thank you, mr. cohen.

i was in a conference committee and could not get to the floor when the tennessee delegation was talking about the unprecedented flooding, 16 of the 19 counties in the eighth district have been declared a disaster. we expect the other three. i would then ask unanimous consent to submit a statement for the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. tanner: thank you, mr. cohen. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. if i could now yield as much time as he may consume, the sponsor of the resolution, and a pilot himself, the gentleman from florida, mr. boyd. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. boyd: i thank mr. cohen for giving me time. and, mr. speaker, i rise today as co-chairman of the general aviation caucus with my friend, vern ehlers, my fellow co-chair, in support of this resolution honoring national learn to fly day. . i thank chairman oberstar and ranking member john mica to get it out of committee.

i also want to thank the original co-sponsor of the bill, representative graves, for his work. learn to fly day will be celebrated this saturday, may 15, with opportunities throughout the country. to learn more about what to expect during flight training and career options for you once you achieve that goal. as many of you may surmise, i'm a pilot myself. and i would encourage anyone i know to pursue their desire to learn to fly. you will not be kiss appointed. -- disappointed. it's never too late to learn. unlike mr. graves i didn't grow up around flying, but in the service i became very interested in flying when i got my opportunity to spend a lot of time in a plane, and then when i came home and went into my profession, i continued to do that from time to time. then only less than four years ago i achieved a lifelong goal

of making -- getting my private pilots license. i'm telling you it has not been a disappointing experience. i think it's very clear to us that travel around the country from time to time and go to these airports, particularly these smaller and municipal airports, and see the general aviation activity. we learn how dependent we are in this country upon flying. and particularly the general aviation business. we have seen a good example, the recent volcano activity in europe that our economies and our lives are limited without the ability to fly. mr. speaker, congress will surely earn its wings today if we pass this resolution. i urge support of h.r. 1284 and your local national learn to fly day activities. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yield back. the gentleman from missouri. mr. graves: thank you, mr.

speaker. mr. speaker, i yield such time as he may consume, the gentleman from michigan, one of the original sponsors, mr. ehlers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. ehlers: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i also want to recognize that mr. boyd has been a real stalwart on the transportation committee, particularly the aviation subcommittee, with his relative experience in flying and the knowledge that he brings to it has been invaluable. i really appreciate all you have done for aviation in the congress. that's very important because last year the congress developed a negative impression of flying. you-all recall i suspect that some corporate leaders came in asking for government funds and they flew in in their private jets and that made headlines across the country. unfortunately the news media didn't leave it there but continued to pursue the entire

issue of flying and presented a portrait of the average flyer -- flier as being very wealthy and having an airplane as a toy to play with. that is far from the truth. most pilots do not have a lot of money. very few do own their own airplanes. and this made an impression that was formed here by the congress and in the congress really troubled us, those of us who know something about flying. i am not a professional pilot. i would love to be, but i have never had either the time or money to do it, but i recognize injustice when it takes place. it took place right here in the congress o of the united states. and that led to a lot of activity on our part to try to educate the public about flying, about who the pilots are, what they accomplished for the economy as a whole, and in

particular what good works they do. a good example of that is the tremendous amount of effort, the private pilots of the united states exerted, in helping the island of haiti. just last week we had harrison ford here to describe what he had done. he owns several airplanes and did a number of flights into haiti, transporting doctors, medicine, and so forth. he's an example of what i'm talking about. not everyone who took part is a movie star at harrison ford is, but he was representing a lot of people who expended a lot of their own money to aid the people in haiti through the use of airplanes, flying goods in and out, flying patients out to the united states for medical treatment when they were in serious trouble. and so it's just an example of one of the many things that

pilots and aviation in general does to help the public at large. so i'm very proud to stand here and say we have to help aviation and private pilots in every way that we can. and one good way is to encourage them to learn to fly. individuals who normally would not think of flying but when they see they can accomplish so much good with aviation, we hope they will take the time to learn how to fly and to at least join a flying program or perhaps eventually own their own airplane so that they can really go forth and help a lot of people. it's amazing how many people do this sort of thing in various fields. for years i was interested in ham radio, and again tremendous help to the economy and to the people at large done during emergencies by ham radio operators.

very similar with pilots. when the need is there they will rise to the occasion and provide the transportation that's necessary. in my area we have an angels of mercy program which has done tremendous work flying people to hospitals that cannot afford to take a commercial plane to get medical treatment. they are not in good enough shape to travel by car. and so the angels of mercy fly individuals at essentially no cost or very low cost so that they can get medical treatment in the right place. it is high time that we recognize the good service that these pilots provide and that we do everything we can to help them in that effort. and this resolution is part of that. simply encouraging people to fly. i know there's a local group in my district that has taken advantage of this to publicize flight lessons in my area. and there are a number of people who have signed up already who

are willing to learn to fly so that they can accomplish good for other people. i strongly urge that we adopt this resolution and recognize the good work that aviation does for the general welfare of our nation. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee. mr. cohen: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from missouri. mr. graves: thank you, mr. speaker. i don't have anymore speakers. i uld once again like to express my strong support for this resolution. there's a lot of groups out there again encouraging flight, experimental aircraft associations, will give that young person that very first flight for free. i encourage anybody out there who would like to take advantage of that for a young person to learn the joys of flying to do that at their local airport. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. cohen: you. i thank mr. boyd and mr. ehlers

for bringing this resolution and i ask all my members unanimously support h.res. 1283 as amended. with that -- 1284 as amended. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: all time has expired, the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1284 as amended. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. without objection, the title is amended. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition? mr. cohen: i move to suspend the rules and agree to resolution, s.con.res. 61, expressing the sense of congress that general aviation pilots and industry should be recognized for the contributions made in response

to the haiti earthquake. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: concurrent resolution expressing the sense of the congress the general aviation pilots and industry should be recognized for the contributions made in response to haiti earthquake relief efforts. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from tennessee, mr. cohen, and the gentleman from missouri, mr. graves, each will control 20 minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from tennessee, mr. cohen. mr. cohen: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and add extraneous material as necessary on s.con.res. 61. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. cohen: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cohen: mr. speaker, i rise in strong support of s.con.res. 61, resolution expressing the many contribution of pilots in general aviation and industry in the contributions they made in response to the earthquake. on january 12, 2010, devastating

earthquake struck haiti leaving up to 300,000 dead. private pilots and businesses banded together to provide an estimated 4,500 relief flights. this amounts to about 3,500 passengers and delivered over one million pounds of cargo and supplies. they got help to smaller communities that had difficulty in receiving aid. it often land on not much more than dirt roads. general aviation aircraft transport equipment supplies like food, blankets, and medical equipment. the fields was even used to help generators continue -- fuel also helped generators to continue to run. a group came from my hometown of memphis, spent quite a bit of time down there. i urge my colleagues to join me? supporting h.con.res. 61.

i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from missouri. mr. graves: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. graves: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise in strong support of senate crucial 61, a resolution recognizing general aviation pilots and the general aviation industry for their contributions in response to the haiti earthquake relief efforts. on january 12, 2010, the country of haiti suffered a devastating earthquake and immediately after the earthquake general aviation pie loss began providing transportation for medical staff and relief personnel. more than 4,500 flights were made by general aviators in the first 30 days and business aircraft alone conducted more than 700 flights transporting 3,500 passengers. and over one million pounds of cargo. fully paid for by individual pilots and aircraft owners. i would also like to take this opportunity to recognize the efforts of the corporate aviation responding in originalcies organization called care. one of the largest contributors to haiti response efforts, care is a group of volunteers from

business aviation community that coordinate relief flights in response to disasters. it was formed in response to hurricane katrina and participants flew about 175 missions and moved approximately 1,000 people and 250,000 pounds of supplies. the earth quick -- earthquake in haiti presented another problem, it needed quick reaction, decentralized response and efficiency. business and general aviation was the only response entity that could do all three. care operation haiti has included more than 700 flights with 3,700 passengers and over a million pounds of critical medical supplies. care passengers included newly adopted children, injured patients, and missionaries. over 100 aircraft have been activated for the program. flying more than $5 million worth of flight hours. i would like to recognize the

contributions of care and others. i extend my deepest sympathies to the families that have been impacted by this disaster. i'm proud to support this resolution and urge my colleagues to do the same. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from missouri reserves. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. cohen: reserve also. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee reserves his time. the gentleman from missouri is recognized. mr. graves: madam speaker, i would yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from michigan, mr. ehlers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. ehlers: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i said much of what i could say on this particular bill, resolution, as i said about the previous one. it's to recognize that general aviation is very, very important to our nation. it serves so many people, so well, and i would not bother to repeat all the points i made earlier, but simply want to say that i think this is an excellent bill and i hope that everyone in this chamber will

vote for it and it will go into effect. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. cohen: continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee reserves his time. the gentleman from missouri is recognized. mr. graves: madam speaker, i don't have anymore speakers, i yield back the balance of my time. and urge my colleagues to support this resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from missouri yields back his time of the the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. cohen: thank you, madam speaker. i'm going to take before we close i want to take an opportunity because i don't know if i'll have the opportunity on the floor to do it. mr. ehlers is retiring during in congress, and when i was a fleshman in 2006 he was the head -- freshman in 2006 he was the head of the committee on administration to help all the freshmen. he was one of my first influences on my experience in congress. it was an excellent one. you are a gentleman and it's been an honor serving with you. i wish you godspeed. with that i'd like to ask all of our members to join in

supporting s.con.res. 61. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee yields back his time. question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to senate concurrent resolution 61. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the current resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from nevada seek recognition? >> i move that the house suspend the rules and gly -- agree to

house resolution 1338. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1338, resolution recognizing the significant accomplishments of americorps in encouraging all citizens to join in a national effort to raise awareness about the importance of national and community service. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from nevada, ms. titus, and the gentleman from michigan, mr. ehlers, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from nevada. ms. titus: thank you, madam speaker. i request that five legislative days during which time members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on h.res. 1338 into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentlewoman from nevada. ms. titus: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may require. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from nevada is recognized. ms. titus: thank you. madam speaker, i rise today in full support of house resolution 1338 which recognizes the

substantial contributions of mesh corps. since 1994, americorps programs have engaged over 570,000 individuals of all ages and national -- in national service programs, including 705 million hours of service to our nation. americorps was launched following the establishment of the corporation for national community service uer the national and community ser e orga americorps state and nationa programs, the national civiliane voluntrs in servicto america the initial class of 20,000 volunteers helped establish and grow this wonderful program of volunteer service. americorpsow iolves 75,000 duals each year toism natios most vulnerable citizens, protect the environment, contribute to public safety,

spond to disasters and strengthen our edational system. americorps particints have aled ny timely and health care, gang vience, drug abuse, environmental cleup and homelessness. they have partnered with thound o inclung habitat for humanity and the red cross. americorps vets paip have been onhe front lines nst this is 6,500 particints provide assistance each year to low income communities by helping businesses, expan access to technogy, recruiting literacy volunteers, strengthening antipoverty groups and creating sustainable programs that help people rise out of porty. ian mmunity corticipants have le service projects iareas of criticalational edncluding disaster response,

environment anen conservation and urban and rl development. as well as helped communities prepare for the next emergency. most importantly americorps members continue to serve their community even after their terms of service. in fact, many former workers continue as volunteers, teachers, nonprofit professionals and government employees. madam speaker, for those struggling to make ends meet during this tough economy, volunteers and the national service are more important than ever. the edward m. kennedy serve america act signed in 2009 by president obama expands the americorps program to incorporate 250,000 volunteers each year. and the strength of our nation depends on individuals who take actions toward building better communities.

this week is americorps week, when we recognize and thank the commitment of these volunteers so that future generations will continue to support the ideal of national service. it's important for us to highlight the important work done by the organization and to motivate others to become engaged and to volunteer, whether through americorps or other service opportunities throughout the country. so i would ask that my colleagues join me in full support of house resolution 1338 and to take a moment and appreciate the contributions by our many americorps participants. i want to thank representative matsui for bringing this resolution to the floor and i urge my colleagues to pass it. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. ehlers: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. madam speaker, i rise today in support of house resolution

1338, a resolution recognizing americorps week. this year marks the fourth annual americorps week which is may 8 to may 15. as a co-chair of the national service caucus, i am honored to recognize the individuals who participate in the americorps program and dedicate their time and effort to helping others and local communities. last year president obama signed the latest reauthorization of the corporation for national and community service, the serve america act. this act aims to ensure additional accountability in national service programs, helps smaller organizations participate in national service and works to ensure american's veterans can participate in service. americans have a long history of service to each other and to their country. and americorps creates a web of opportunities for americans to serve.

i saw ample evidence of this just yesterday when i participated in a ceremony in grand rapids, michigan, my hometown. and it was just striking to me with what a multiplier effect we have with the americorps program. the room was filled with volunteers, but not all of them were americorps members. americorps had energized a lot of different organizations and a lot of different volunteers to put in time during the course of the past year. and many of them received awards because of the quality of their work -- the work they did. i was not only happy to see that the federal government had assisted in the formation of this group, but also that we are getting so much for so little federal money, because the americorps people working there who did receive some federal funds had in fact recruited a large number of other people to work with them and so we

accomplished a great deal in my community with very, very little federal funding. and i think that serves as a model for the nation. nationwide americorps provides 85,000 opportunities annually to serve communities from across the nation and gives americans the opportunity to alter their services in fought to -- offer their services in mentoring disadvantaged youth, fighting illiteracy, building affordable housing and assisting communities in times of natural disaster in fact, there was a group of volunteers yesterday who were supposed to receive an award for all the good work they did for habitat for humanity and in fact they were not there to receive it because they were putting up another house. and that's an example of how this -- these efforts are multiplied throughout different communities. a couple of examples of this ongoing service include americorps members assisting the american red cross in managing shelters for residents who have

evacuated their homes due to the flooding brought on by the heavy rain and -- in nashville, tennessee, and partnering with second harvest food bank in greater new orleans to assemble and ship emergency food boxes bound for the louisiana coast fishing communities whose livelihood is being impacted by the recent oil spill. i want to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues, matsui, mr. price and others, for introducing this resolution with me. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempor the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from nevada is recognized. ms. titus: madam speaker, i'm pleased that at this time to recognize the sponsor -- at this time to sponsor the -- to recognize the sponsor of this resolution, ms. matsui. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized for three minutes. ms. matsui: i thank the gentlewoman for -- the gentlewoman for yielding me time. i rise today in support of the

resolution which recognizes the significant accomplishes -- accomplishments of americorps volunteers. and helps raise awareness about community service. i'd like to thank the education and labor committee and chairman miller for their support of this resolution and representative ehlers and price for their partnership. as a co-chair of the national service caucus, it is a pleasure to call attention to the tremendous work that those involved this service at every level. we are now in the midst of national americorps week which is celebrated each year to honor the important work that americorps volunteers provide to our communities. at this time last year the president had just recently signed the senator edward m. kennedy serve america act with strong bipartisan support in both the house and the senate. and we have seen since then a tremendous increase in the number of americorps applications, an interest in service as a whole.

the bill answered the call for americans of all generations to help get the country through the recent economic crisis by serving in their communities. in times of strife, the american people have always shown a spirit of service and ingenuity, and investments in service and volunteer programs help prepare us to handle the unforeseen crises. in my hometown of sacramento, americorps national civilian community corps, or as we saw, naaac, provide important benefits to our region. for example, sacramento-based naaac members served thousands of hours to help fight the fires that devastated the lives and livelihoods of thousands of californians and in doing so helped protect thousands more. americorps and naaac members are disaster trained and available for immediate deployment in the event of a natural disaster anywhere within the united states. through programs such as americorps, state and national

volunteers and service to america and naaac, service members address critical needs in our communities. and we should continue to make national service more accessible to the millions of americans who want to serve their country by contributing to their community. madam speaker, americorps' week offers us an opportunity to honor the important work of americorps volunteers in our own districts and across the country. i urge my colleagues to support this resolution and take this opportunity to thank americorps volunteers for their dedication to improving our nation one neighborhood at a time. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. early early i don't believe i have -- mr. ehlers: i don't believe i have any speakers at this time. are you prepared to close? ms. titus: we have no other speakers. we're ready to close. mr. ehlers: i yield back the

balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from nevada is recognized. ms. titus: thank you, madam speaker. i would just reiterate the point that i made earlier but in a brief fashion to say that i hope our colleagues will join in supporting this resolution to say thank you to the many volunteers who are on the front lines helping us during times of crisis, whether it's economic, physical disaster, sociological change, we need their help and we appreciate it and this is a resolution to do that. so i would thank the sponsors, i would thank the chairman of the service caucus and urge your support. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back her time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1338. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is

-- mr. ehlers: madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman rise? >> i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays have been requested. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. -- all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. .

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? >> madam speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1261, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1261, resolution recognizing national nurses week. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from california, ms. woolsey, and the gentleman from minnesota, mr. kline, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california. ms. woolsey: madam speaker, i request five legislative days during which members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on h.res. 1261 into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. woolsey: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized. ms. woolsey: madam speaker, i rise today in support of house resolution 1261, which

recognizes national nurses week. and the significant contributions that nurses make to our nation's health care system. national nurses week also stresses the importance of quality hire education and nursing to meet the needs of one of the fastest-growing professions. national nurses week began on may 6, a day also known as the national recognition day for nurses. today marks the end of the week of recognition as we celebrate the birthday of florence nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. all across the nation communities have spent this week recognizing our nation's 3.1 million nurses for their heroic acts, years of service to the community, and commitment to the nursing profession. today's health care system requires nurses to be present at every state of patient care, including partnering with physicians, pharmacists, and other health care professionals

to direct and manage patient needs. we thank them for their hard work and their dedication. the number of nurses in the united states is expected to grow rapidly in the near future. the bureau of labor statistics anticipates that the employment of registered nurses will grow by 22% from 2008 to 2018. the growth in nursing job openings along with an increasing number of nurses retiring or leaving the profession is likely to lead to a continued demand for nursing professionals. in fact, it is estimated that there could be a shortage of more than one million nurses by the end of this decade. madam speaker, while we honor america's nurses, we know that we must do more to expand and sustain the profession. according to the national league for nursing most recent survey of all prelicensed nursing programs, thousands of qualified

applicants have been rejected from nrsing programs nationwide in the last few years. according to the league the lack of capacity in nursing programs is due in part to a continuing shortage of nursing educators. it is vital that we support efforts to enhance existing education programs at both the baccalaureate and graduation level. madam speaker, once again i express my support for national nurses week and the focus on the contributions of our nation's many nurses to our health care system. we all know the excellent work done by nurses and encourage them to continue making a difference each and every day. i thank representative eddie bernice johnson from texas for introducing this resolution and i urge my colleagues to support this bill. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. kline: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kleine: madam speaker, i

rise today in strong support of house resolution 1261, recognizing national nurses week. my colleague, the gentlelady from california, explained in some detail the history of this week and the importance of nurses to our communities, to our states, to our nation. and i strongly endorse and identify myself with her remarks. i want to just take a personal moment. this is an especially important week in my house and my life. my wife, vicki, has spent her entire adult life as a nurse, registered nurse, career in the army as an army nurse. and worked for years in emergency rooms and trauma centers really around the country as i was transferred from duty station to duty station, and so i feel the importance that comes with this very noble and important profession. i know the care and compassion

that comes with this profession, the lifesaving skills, the dedication, and in my family literally in vicki's family the nursing profession has long been part of that family. her mother was a nurse. i have a niece, her niece who is serving today as an army nurse. sister-in-law who spent her adult life as a nurse. this is a profession that is, indeed, lifesaving. and so important to our families. so i want to extend my great congratulations to all those nurses, men and women, who have dedicated their lives to serving those in need here and around the world. i ask that my colleagues support this resolution and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time.

the gentlewoman from california is recognized. ms. woolsey: i'm pleased to recognize the gentlewoman from texas, the author of h.res. 1261, ms. eddie bernice johnson, for as much time as she may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. ms. johnson: thank you very much, madam speaker. and thanks to the presiding member, ms. woolsey. it is a privilege to offer this resolution recognizing national nurses week celebrated this past week week ends today. nurse vs. been called the patient's first advocate but their work also encompasses a scope of scientific inquiry, including clinical research, and working education research. every day nurses make a commitment to provide quality patient care, growing and adapt into the new challenges that are changing and our health care system required.

i began my career as a registered professional nurse where i profounded hands-on patient care for 15 years as a professional psychiatric nurse at the veterans administration hospital in dallas, texas. this is why i remain a strong nurseing ally today to ensure they have the means necessary to perform their jobs with the best resources possible. i'd like to thank my fellow colleagues, congresswoman lois capps and congresswoman carolyn mccarthy, who are also nurses and champions of this resolution, the nursing profession. we the nursing caucus also helped in promoting this legislation and i appreciate all the efforts to generate support for the resolution. nurses are our key component to our nation's health care system and will become even more vital with the health care reform. nurses work in emergency rooms, school-based clinics, community

health centers, skilled nursing facilities, hospitals, and battlefields. their roles take many shapes from staff nurse to nurse educator. all while remaining committed to a pasheent -- patient, for the benefit of the greater good. nurses are extremely dedicated individuals who must be intelligent and detail oriented. ready to act at the spur of the moment. a compassionate heart is required for the tough work they perform, usually under duress. madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to put the rest of my statement in the record and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's statement will be entered for the record. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. kline: madam speaker, i don't have any other speakers at this time. so i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota reserves. the gentlewoman from california

is recognized. ms. woolsey: madam speaker, i'm pleesed to recognize the gentlewoman from california, mrs. capps, who is also a nurse for such time as she may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized. mrs. capps: madam speaker, i rise in support of house resolution 1261, recognizing national nurses week. and i thank the leadership in the congress for bringing this bill to the floor and acknowledge the close permanent ties many of us have with nurses . i'm very honored and pleased to be co-sponsoring this resolution with my house colleagues and fellow nurses, eddie bernice johnson for her leadership in introducing the legislation, and also carolyn mccarthy. a recent debate in congress on health care reform and the passage of the patient protection and affordable health care act had provided us an opportunity to highlight the importance of nurses to our health care system. nurses are the backbone of health care delivery. i know that because of

occasionally we'll have -- i'll be approached by a colleague who wants to tell me about the recent medical event in their life, some situation, procedure, or surgery, or some hospital stay. inevitably it isn't the kind of doctor care they had, it's the nurses that they want to tell me about. especially the outstanding ones that made all the difference in their recovery. and i know because it is nurses who spend countless hours at patients' bedsides. it's nurses who are in all walks of life educating their communities about public health. and that's what i did for most of my career as a nurse. caring for the children and their families in our public school system and my community. nurses are also case managers, they are health system administrators, they are

educators, they are members of the military, they are primary providers, and the list goes on and on. so i'm proud to see our house of representatives recognizing their immeasurable contributions that nurses make to the daily health and well-being of all americans. madam speaker, i know that as individuals we each recognize the important roles nurses play. of course, too often this recognition and appreciation doesn't come until after we have had our own adverse health experiences, as i have been relating to you. as i said, many of my colleagues come up to me after a hospitalization or that of a family member and again they say, wow, if it hadn't been for the care of the nurses. today we have an opportunity to collectively thank and show appreciation to the nurses in our lives and all the nurses that serve our country every day in the armed services and in our communities. nurses who are constituents and our family members and our

friends. to renew our commitment to supporting the professions by providing greater opportunities for scholarship and loan repayment, just as we did in our newly enacted health reform law. we have a shortage of nurses and other health providers and we want to do what we can to increase their numbers so that better patient care can be delivered. we need to also increase funding for existing programs to improve the training and recruitment of our next generation of nurses. so i urge all my colleagues to support this resolution and pleased to be standing on the floor in its favor. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. kline: thank you, madam speaker. i understand that mr. latourette has introduced his remarks for the record. i have no other speakers. i would just encourage my colleagues to support h.r. 1261. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from california is recognized. ms. woolsey: madam speaker, i urge my colleagues to support

h.res. 1261, recognizing national nurses week. and recognizing the significant contributions that nurses make to our nation's health care system. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: all time has been yielded back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1261. so many as are in favor say aye. as amended. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? ms. woolsey: madam speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to h.r. 959, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 959, a bill to increase federal pell grants for

the children of fallen public safety officers and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from california, ms. woolsey, and the gentleman from minnesota, mr. kline, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizings the gentlewoman from california. ms. woolsey: madam speaker, i request five legislative days during which members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on h.r. 959 into the record. . the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentlewoman from california. ms. woolsey: i yield myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california. ms. woolsey: madam speaker, i rise today in full support of h.res. 959 which offers financial assistance for higher education to the children of police officers, firefighters and other first responders who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty. madam speaker, it is an american

responsibility to look after the children of our fallen heroes, a small but important gesture to fulfilling this commitment is to make a college education possible for the children who have lost a parent in the line of duty. these mothers and fathers have given their lives so that we might be safe. we should do all that we can to help their sons and daughters be successful. we know that the loss of a parent can make it difficult for families to make ends meet, let alone send their kids to college. making their children eligible for the maximum pell grant is a way to thank the officers for their sacrifice and to give their children an education which they might not otherwise be able to afford. under this bill a child of a fallen police officer, firefighter or other first responder who is eligible for a pell grant would become automatically eligible for the maximum pell award. this legislation would waive the income eligibility requirements

in such cases. with passage of the 2008 higher education opportunity act, we expanded pell grants to survivors of soldiers killed in iraq and afghanistan in a similar manner. as a result these children will be eligible for more than $20,000 in grants for college over four years. whether it's a sacrifice made on a distant battlefield or protecting our citizens here at home, it's time we extended this benefit to all of the children of our fallen heroes. our fallen heroes deserve our thanks and they deserve our respect. and we can honor them by supporting their children as they seek out a higher education. i ask that my colleagues join me in full support of h.r. 959 and to take a moment to appreciate the daily sacrifices made by america's police officers, firefighters and first responders. i want to thank representative murphy for bringing this

resolution to the floor and i urge my colleagues to pass this resolution. i also want to thank chairman conyers of the judiciary committee for working with the education and labor committee on allowing this bill to move expeditiously to the floor and i ask unanimous consent that an exchange of letters dated may 10, 2010, between chairman conyers and chairman miller be included in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. ms. woolsey: with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. kline: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. madam speaker, i rise today in support of h.r. 959, the officer daniel faulkner children of fallen heroes scholarship act of 2009. i'm sure we're going to hear from my colleague from pennsylvania, mr. murphy, something about officer daniel faulkner.

he represents a profession where the men and women serving put their lives on the line every day and h.r. 959 honors this ultimate sacrifice that fallen heroic police officers and firefighters make by providing their children with a helping hand that they cannot be there to provide. and furthering their education. children of fallen active duty service men and women are already afforded the same assistance. this act ensures police officers and firefighters are honored in the same manner as our brave soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, forgiving their lives to protect our safety -- for giving their lives to protect our safety. every year thousands die in the line of duty. their jobs are inherently dangerous and they accept this risk to protect america's citizens. it is important that we recognize their sacrifice and honor their lives. the officer daniel faulkner children of fallen heroes scholarship act provides a

fiscally responsible way to convey our gratitude and respect for those who sacrifice their lives to protect us. madam speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from california is recognized. ms. woolsey: madam speaker, i am pleased to recognize the author of h.r. 959, the gentleman from pennsylvania, congressman patrick murphy, for as much time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. mr. murphy: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you to the gentlelady of california and also the gentleman from minnesota, congressman kline, my republican colleague, thank you so much for your service to our country in the marine corps and for supporting this bill. i do appreciate it. madam speaker, i'd also like to thank my colleague from across the aisle, republican tom platts from pennsylvania, he has been my battle buddy and my partner on this bill, on this bipartisan bill. his steadfast commitment to our nation's first responders is second to none. we've worked on this bill together for three years now and

today finally it will come to fruition and it's been an honor to partner with him. mr. speaker, you know that this is national police week and saturday is national peace officers memorial day. during these times of recognition and reflection, it's critical that we pause and thank those who bravely and selflessly protect us and our families. but unfortunately, mr. speaker, far too often we never get the chance to truly express our deep appreciation because too often a police officer, a firefighter, an e.m.s. professional is taken from us too soon. last year in 2009 alone 126 law enforcement officers and 90 firefighters were killed in the line of duty.

they and their families gave the ultimate sacrifice. these heroes sacrificed their lives for the most noble of causes, serving their community and their country. and, mr. speaker, as so many of us remember, such was a tragedy 29 years ago when officer daniel faulkner was murdered in philadelphia during a routine traffic stop in center city. officer faulkner served in the army, proudly joining the philadelphia police department. at the time of his death, just a few weeks before his 26th birthday, he was working toward his bachelor's degree in criminal justice at night, hoping to eventually work in a district attorney's office as a prosecutor, but because of the actions of a cold-blooded killer he never got that chance.

mr. speaker, it was his example of service, of valor and dedication that inspired me to introduce the officer daniel faulkner children of fallen heroes scholarship act. under our legislation if a child of one of these fallen heroes is eligible for any amount of pell grant money, they will become automatically eligible for the maximum grant available. in 2010 this means 5,-- $5,550 to pay for college and nearly $6,000 by 2017. this bill is in honor of officer faulkner and the thousands of other heroes, including 11 officers, 21 firefighters and two e.m.s. workers who have lost their lives in bucks county, pennsylvania. this bill is for cyst officer

jones -- christopher jones, and for countless others who have made the ultimate sacrifice. i'd like to submit for the record the list of names of bucks county police officers, firefighters and e.m.s. workers who did give the ultimate sacrifice. they are our community's heroes. madam speaker, every first responder deserves to know that if the unthinkable were to happen, their children will be taken care of and their family will not be alone. this legislation is a small step in that direction. the work these heroes do every day put an incredible strain on their families, too. i know because my father, jack murphy, spent over 20 years in the philadelphia police department. fortunately for my family, he came home every knight, but when he left for work -- night, but

when he came home for work i you could see the strain in my mother's face. she always said to us three children, make sure you kiss your father goodbye. you never know if that's the last time you'll see him. she knew the risk of my dad's profession. but she also knew that he was doing his duty to protect all of us. so many families in our communities are just like mine. and with this bill, this congress can come together as democrats and republicans, as americans, to do our part, to ensure that the children of our fallen heroes can still afford to go to college despite their profound loss. we have received tremendous support for this bill. it's been endorsed by the from a term order of police, the international association of firefighters and members of both sides of this aisle. madam speaker, i urge my colleagues to vote for this bill because we must never forget

what american heroes like danny faulkner, like christopher jones, like daniel mcintosh and countless others have given and we must keep faith with those who love them. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. kline: thank you, madam speaker. may i inquire of my colleague from california if she has more speakers? if in that case i encourage my colleagues -- in that case i encourage my colleagues to support this and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota yields back his time. the gentlewoman from california is recognized. ms. woolsey: madam speaker, i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 959 which offers financial assistance for higher education to the children of police officers, firefighters and other first responders who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r.

959 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california rise seek recognition? ms. woolsey: madam speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1333. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1333. resolution expressing support for the goals and ideals of children's book week. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from california, ms. woolsey, and the gentleman from minnesota, mr. kline, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california. ms. woolsey: madam speaker, i request five legislative days during which members may revise

and extend their insert ex traun -- extend and insert extraneous material into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. ms. woolsey: madam speaker, i yield myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california. ms. woolsey: madam speaker, i rise today in support of house resolution 1333, a resolution in support of the goals and ideals of children's book week. to be held may 10 through may 16, 2010. children's book week is a great time to highlight the importance of reading to our children and our students. educators, librarians, book sellers and families have long celebrated children's books and the love of reading. since 1919 children's books and children's book week has put an annual spotlight on this vitally important activity for a child's education and cognitive development. through storytelling, parties

and author and illustrater appearances this week helps to encourage a love of reading in our children. today even the very youngest child in america is growing up i measuresed in media, spending hours a dash immersed in media, spending hours a day watching tv. pull out a book and sit with a child and read it or have a child read it on his or her own. this year official children's book week events will be hosted in 10 cities and in classrooms, libraries, book stores and homes all across this country. in addition, the children's choice book awards will honor important authors who bring their gifts of writing and imagination to our kids. madam speaker, once again i express ply my support for children's book week -- express my support for children's book

week and celebrate reading for children and students of all ages. i thank representive roe for introducing this resolution and i urge my colleagues to support this bill. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. kline: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: madam speaker, i rise today in support of house resolution 1333. . this resolution supports and honors children's book week which is a celebration of the written word. as my colleague so aptly said, today our children are immersed in a multimedia world. i know my grandchildren are unbelievably expert at video games, and i can't tell you how happy i am, how thrilled i am when i see them sitting with a book. i was so pleased to see that my

eldest grandson followed in the line of his father and grandfather and great grandfather of seeking every available minute to get into the world of literature, to get into the written word, to read these books, going to the point of getting under the covers with a flashlight, way after lights out time for bed. i think that's an important part of our children growing up. i am concerned that many of our children are losing this touch with the written word and so i believe that the congress expressing our support for the goals and ideals of children's book week, written word, is an important statement. and i urge my colleagues to support this resolution and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california. ms. woolsey: madam speaker, we have no further speakers.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, madam speaker. in that case i urge support of this resolution and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california. ms. woolsey: thank you, madam speaker. i thank the gentleman from minnesota for working with us on these last three resolutions. i urge my colleagues to support h.res. 1333, resolution in support of the goals and ideals of children's book week. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1333. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado seek recognition? mr. perlmutter: thank you, madam speaker. by direction of the committee on rules i call up house resolution 1344 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 194, house resolution 1344, resolved that at any time after the adoption of this resolution the speaker may, pursuant to clause 2-b of rule 18, declare the house resolved into the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of the bill h.r.

5116, to invest in innovation through research and development, to improve the competitiveness of the united states, and for other purposes. the first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. all points of order against consideration of the bill are waived except those arising under clause 9 or 10 of rule 21. general debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on science and technology. after general debate, the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute rule. 7 section 2 -- section 2-a, it shall be in order to consider as an original bill for the purpose of amendment under the five-minute rule the amendment in the nature much a substitute recommended by the chair on science and technology, printsed in part a of the report of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution. the committee amendment in the

nature of a substitute shall be considered as read. all points of order against the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute are waived except those arising under clause 10 of rule 21. b, notwithstanding clause 11 of rule 18, no amendment to the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute shall shall be in order except those printed in part b of the report of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution and amendments en bloc described in section 3 of this resolution. c, each amendment printed in part b of the report of the committee on rules may be considered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered only by a member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to demand for division of the question. d, all points of order against

amendments printsed in part d of the report of the committee on rules or amendments en bloc described in section 3 of this resolution are waived except those arising under clause 9 or 10 of rule 21. section 3, it shall be in order at any time for the chair of the committee on science and technology or his designee to offer amendments en bloc consisting of amendments printed in part b of the rule of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution not previously disposed of. amendments en bloc offered pursuant to this section shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for 40 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on science and technology or their designee, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to demand for division of the question. the original proponent of the amendment included in such amendments en bloc may insert a statement in the congressional record immediately before the disposition of the amendments en

bloc. section 4, at the conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendment, the committee shall rise and report the bill to the house with such amendments as may have been adopted. the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or without instructions. section 5, the chair may entertain a motion that the committee rise only if offered by the chair of the committee on science and technology or his designee. the chair may not entertain a motion to strike out the enacting words of the bill as described in clause 9 of rule 18. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. perlmutter: thanks, madam speaker. for purposes of debate only i yield the customary 30 minutes to my friend from florida, mr. diaz-balart. all time yielded during consideration of the rule is for debate only.

i also yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado. mr. perlmutter: thank you. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on house resolution 1344. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. perlmutter: thank you. madam speaker, house resolution 1344 provides for consideration of h.r. 5116, the america competes act. it is a structured rule making in order 54 amendments. it also provides one hour of general debate equally divided between the chairman and ranking member from the committee on science. it considers the amendment in the nature of a substitute to be considered as an original bill. the rule waives all points of order against consideration of the motion except clause 9 and 10 of rule 21.

finally, the rule provides authority to the chairman of the committee on science or his designee to move amendments en bloc. madam speaker, our nation's economy fell off a cliff in the fall of 2008. by the end of the bush administration, we were losing at least 700,000 jobs a month. in the last month of the bush administration, that number was up to 780,000 jobs in that month alone. congress then working in tandem with the obama administration passed various pieces of legislation to stabilize our economy in the short-term and invest in various fields for the long run growth of our country. 15 months since the passage of the recovery act, we are seeing its impact. we went from 780,000 jobs lost

the last month of the bush administration to 290,000 jobs created in april, 2010. a pretty significant swing given the fact that the logs was so drastic and so -- loss was so drastic and so quick in the fall of 2008 and the first month of 2009. we are not out of the woods yet. we are turning the tide. this congress recognizes no country on earth can match the creativity, productivity, and hard work of the american entrepreneur. the america competes act builds upon this idea by investing in scientific research, industrial innovation, and hard science education. it gives our nation's most creative scientists and engineers the resources they need to develop the breakthroughs which will change the world as we know it and make america even more competitive.

the bill re-authorizes programs in the national science foundation, the national institute for standards and technology, the department and department of energy to capture their full potential. this empowers our universities which are undergoing tremendous strain as they weather the recent financial collapse. in my own district, the colorado school of mines and the university of colorado health science center will have access to more funding to develop green energy, medical communications, and other technologies. the bill improves science technology, engineering, and math education to ensure thature nation's work force has the training and know how to maximize the investments that we make. gives our innovators the chance to compete for more resources so they can research, develop, commercialize, and eventually transform our economy. as we speak, there are scientists, inventors, and

engineers in our nation who are devising the next groundbreaking advances. we cannot afford to let those ideas wither on the vine. so i urge the passage of the rule and underlying bill which will create jobs and solidify the foundation for the long-term growth and prosperity of the united states. with that i retain the balance of my time, reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. diaz-balart: thank you, madam speaker. i'd like to thank my friend, the gentleman from colorado, mr. perlmutter, for the time. and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida. mr. diaz-balart: in order for the united states to compete in today's global marketplace and to spur long-term growth, we must invest in the basic science

research and development. in 2005 the national academy of sciences, the national academy of engineering, and the institute of medical, collectively known as the national academies, published the report, rising above the gathering storm. the report concluded that the united states faces a serious challenge with regard to our future competitiveness and standard of living. that report led to the bipartisan enactment of the america competes act of 2007, which implemented the report's recommendations. today we are set to consider h.r. 5116, the america competes

re-authorization act of 2010. the bill re-authorizes the america competes act for five years, increases authorization spending levels to $86 billion and creates new programs. i understand and i support the underlying principles of the america competes act, prioritizing and strengthening investments and basic research and development and stem, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. but we need to have an economic strategy that encourages companies, businesses in the united states to compete, to grow, and to hire new works