economic future. republicans do care about the future of the country. we do not want to become priests. i do not think i is a scare tactic when you look at all levels of debt that we have assumed in the country. next year we will be at 60% debt to gdp. most economists say that we are fast approaching the point where an economy like ours will certainly frightened. we will see standard of living decline in the country. america has always been the place where there is more portunity. we have to make sure we are taking care of those who really need the help, and that we are compassionate people, because we care about americans. what we care about most, no matter where you come from, who you are, that you have an equal opportunity to succeed.

host: marcy from virginia. caller: good morning. i had a question. you say you care abouthe future of this country, deficit, the economy. i see children go to sleep with no food all the time. could you be a model in congress? there are a lot of children who need more attention. we do not need to be sending millions of dollars to israel. i hope that you can think about the children of this country more. >> you can watch owl of that segment online at c-span.org. the house is dwaveling in. -- is gaveling in.

>> our priority is making sure the country -- the children of our country have food. connecticut, united entertain to 10 one minutes per side. for what purpose does the gentleman from connecticut rise? mr. courtney: wish to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. courtney: this will make a huge difference for adult children of their work force. too often at commencement ceremonies which are taking place across the country, kids are given a diploma and a notice that they are off their

parent's health insurance plan. u.t.c. has set great example for employers across the country to implement this change as soon as possible. mohegan sun casino issued the same decision for its employees. this will make a difference for families and adult children. i spoke to a mother of a 22-year-old that's been hospitalized numerous times and she was in tears. she was so excited that her daughter will be able to continue to receive the care that s needs which otherwise would never have been available if we had not passed the health care reform bill and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to speak to the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. fleming: mr. speaker, recently the i.m.f. announced a giant bailout to keep greece from defaulting. defaulting of its own debt, debt of its socialistic

economy. the u.s. is the largest contributor to the i.m.f., therefore, we are the largest bailout source for this. that's right, mr. speaker, the u.s. taxpayer is now in the business of rescuing greece from its debt crisis which is brought on by a reckless borrowing and spending to fund welfare programs. while the u.s. is putting itself on the hook for another bailout, liberals in washington are working hard to copy cat the greek model, taxing, spending, borrowing and incasing combimet programs across the board -- entitlement programs across the board. behind greece are other european countries on the verge of default. are we going to bail them out too? and that's not to mention states like california and the many companies that the government has already bailed out. who will bail out our country when we can't borrow our way out of trouble? mr. speaker, let's stop bailing out countries, states and companies and hold all entities, including ourselves,

accountable for runaway spending. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from colorado rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. degette: i rise today to urge this congress to pass meaningful health care -- wall street reform to protect american taxpayers from ever again forcing to bail out wall street banks. ms. markey: it's time to end too big to fail financial firms whose irresponsible behavior almost crashed our entire economy. and it's time to end the predatory lending practices with tougher enforcement. we must pass a bill that will end bailouts, ensure that banks and taxpayers are never again on the hook for wall street's risky gambles. we must act to protect families' retirement funds, college savings, homes and small businesses and bring transparency and accountability back to a financial system run amuck. i wasn't in wall street while some banks re running our

financial system in the ground but i came here to clean up the mess and get america's economy back on track. so i ask my colleues, whose side do you stand on? do you stand with the reckless wall street banks or will you stand with american families? i urge my families to pass this bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from florida rise? ms. ros-lehtinen: to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, mr. speaker. on wednesday the u.s. coast guard announced that the balls discovered on the florida keys' shoreline was not linked to the gulf oil spill. what does this mean? it means that florida is still open for business. mr. speaker, public beaches in my congressional district of miami beach and the florida keys are open. their waters are warm and inviting. charter boat captains eagerly await the opportunity to take tourists deep sea fishing. similarly, dive shops stand by to take vitors on the trip to

underwater treasures, the florida keys coral reefs. for those outside of florida, fresh caught fish from our sunshine state is just as fresh as ever as is our stone crab, spiney lobster and shrimp. recent news reports caused a premature panic for visitors. and while it's important that coastal communities prepare for the possibility of oil coming ashore, florida is open for business. come on down. the waters' fine. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. baca: america's immigration system is broken. congress' failure to act has opened the doors for laws like arizona s.b. 1070 that inspired hate and racism. sadly, this misguided law hurts everyone who looks different, whether they are american citizens, lawful immigrants or undocumented immigrants.

everyone deserves the right to live, free and from unwarrant suspicion. but arizona s.b. 30 legalizes racial profiling, taking away our basic freedoms. i state, taking away our basic freedoms. later today i will introduce legislation in the house to fight this law that clarifies the role of the federal government as a sole enforcer of immigration law. i urge all of you who value fairness, justice to join me and this economic boycott of arizona and where -- wear a red and yellow band. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> across america right now people are sitting down at the dinner table, trying to figure

out how to make ends meet. you know what they're having to do? sit down and revise their budget. they're trying to figure out if they need to go and fix the car. what we've seen is these american people are figuring out you can't borrow and spend, borrow and spend, some day there's a day of reckoning. they're wonderling why their government hasn't figured out that. last week the american public gave the american -- the republicans gave the american people an opportunity to say whether we should be cutting spending. 280,000 people said we should be culting spending. they'll given an opportunity this week to express themselves again. we saw today the jobless rate is up to 471,000 people. we need to get americans back to work and we need to cut the spending. we need to listen to the american people. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired.

for what purpose does the gentlelady from ohio rise? ms. kaptur: -- >> you know, when i talk to people in my community, they are losing jobs at an atrocious rates, now we're seeing months of job growth and adding jobs to our economy. that's good news. let's continue to stay on this pathway. that's why i'm supporting bills like the hire act to help employers add more people to their businesses and recently niled small business intermediary lending act so eople starting businesses and needing smaller loans in that gap between $35,000 and $200,000, that there can be a pilot program to set that in motion. because when i talk to people and business people in the

community, the one thing that they tell me that they really need is access to credit and access to capital. the small business intermediate lending pilot act will help that and another bill that we're working on in our financial services committee, putting money into community banks to make lens -- loans to business to small business, will do just that. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> request permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: wok. mr. poe: mr. speaker, admistration officials are criticizing arizona's new illegal immigration enforcement law and haven't read the bill. the attorney general hasn't read it. the secretary of homeland security hasn't read it. some state department radical compared the arizona law to human rights violations in china. but he hadn't read the bill either. but that hasn't stopped them all from criticizing the arizona law they know nothing about. mexico president calderon spoke here today and lectured us on our illegal immigration laws he

said the arizona law opens the door to racial profiling. if the president had read the law he would know it does nothing of the sort. in fact, in four place the law prohibits any profiling. i wonder if president calderon has read the law he's been criticizing. it doesn't appear he's read his own country's tough immigration laws either but he takes the time to arrogantly denounce our laws. all these critics don't want the truth of the law to get in the way of their political demagoguery and their agenda. that's just the way it is. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to pay tribute to an american hero. on april 27, the kennedy family in the town in my district lost a son and brother.

sergeant nathan kennedy was less than a month away from completing his second tour with the u.s. army when he was fatally wounded by sniper fire in afghanistan. he was a 2004 graduate of mcgaufy high school where he exelt exceled as a champion wrestler he enlisted in the army and served in iraq and afghanistan. he was killed in battle on his late mother, penelope's birthday and was laid to rest beside her on mother's day. he returned to a grateful group of friends and neighbors standing along the streets to honor him. not a sound was made in his procession, none but for the strut of the team of horses that pulled the cason carrying his -- the caisson carrying his flag-draped cove. though our hearts are heavy in

remembrance of nathan, we may rejoice because while the town may have lost a son, the nation gained a hero. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. dreier: i'm happy to inform our colleagues common sense has come to washington, d.c., at least by way of the airwaves. wrc-1260 is now offering intelligent talk which includes people like bill bennett, michaeled me ved, hue hewitt, dennis prager and more. we all know with the 24-hour news cycle, bloggers, talk radio, satellite radio, facebook and youtube, there's no shortage of commentary out there at all. but these hosts are consistently thoughtful voices for sound public policy. they have built large audiences and broad respect, not by being

the loudest or most outrageous ut by being consistently -- by consistently offering reasoned, sound analys and positive center right solutions. some might think intelligent talk in washington, d.c. was an idea whose time would never come. thanks to bennett, hewitt, prager,ed me ved, and more there's a little more common sense kicking around now in our nation's capital. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? >> i ask annapolis consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. lipinski: mr. speaker, investing in transportation and infrastructure is one of the best ways to put people back to work. while increasing our global competitiveness. these investments must be made not just publicly but also by private companies. so one such policy is a short

line railroad rehabilitation tax credit which has been critical in boosting private investment and rail infrastructure. in chicagoland, which suffers greatly from rail congestion, this has been put to good use by rarlserarlede, such as the belt railway company in the indiana harbor belt. these have made improvements to reduce congestion, boose economic competitiveness and yeezing traffic on the roads. unfortunately, this credit expired at the end of last year so we must act now. let's help people -- put people back to work and enhance and extend the short line tax credit. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> i ask permission to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, i rise and praise the city of costa mesa.

in stark contrast to the municipalities have declared themselves sanctuary cities, costa mesa, under the leadership of the mayor, has declared itself a rule of law city, a city where citizens and law enforcement will support rather than undermine our efforts to deter and enforce our immigration laws. mr. rohrabacher: i am proud to represent costa mesa and, yes, to reside in that city. it follows arizona in its efforts to protect the interests of the american people from the municipality up. this isn't just a job for the united states government. today, the citizens of the united states see their well-being threatened, whether it's their education, the health care or the criminal justice system on which they depend undermined by this massive, out-of-control flow of illegals into our country. i praise those people who are taking a stand their local, whether it's costa mesa or

arizona, and i think we should be taking a cue from them to do our job in washington to watch out for the interests of the american people. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> mr. speaker, ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. smith: mr. speaker, here are a few recent examples of the national media ignoring stories they don't like. number one, attorney general eric holder has criticized arizona's new immigration law and may file suit against it. however, in a judiciary committee hearing last week, the attorney general admitted he had not even read the law. the national media largely ignored his admission. number two, the city of los angeles recently voted to boycott the state of arizona because of its new immigration law. a "los angeles times" online poll found that more than nine out of 10 respondents opposed

the city's boycott. "the l.a. times" ignored their own poll results. number three, hundreds of scientists gathered this week at an international conference to discuss the scientific problems with the theory of human-caused global warming. the media largely ignored the conference. the national media should report all the facts, not just the ones that support their liberal agenda. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman fromlorida rise? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> -- mr. bilirakis: people that come into our country and then disappear as they plot to attack us, earlier this year, the department of homeland security disrupted schemes involving individuals holding

student visas despite their violation of the terms. in addition, the recent times square bomber came into the united states in 1998. on top of the several 9/11 hijackers had violated the terms of their student visas. foreign students have a role in our owe site, but we must ensure that terrorists do not use these visas as a back door into our country. the need to improve the system is clear. i introduced the student visa improvement act in order to screen foreign students before they enter the u.s. and to ensure they abide by the terms of their visa once they are here. congress must strengthen student visa security. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, proceedings will resume on motions to suspend the rules recently postponed. votes will be taken in the following order, h.r. 1256 by

thyeas and nays, house resolution 1336 de novo, house resolution 1361 de novo. the first electronic vote will be conducted as a 15-minute vote. remaining electronic votes will be conducted as five-minute votes. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from new york, mr. gentleman from new york, mr. mcmahon, to suspend the rules

>> we are glad to have a good friend of his representing pennsylvania in the house. i am certain that your prior service to the 12th district will be invaluable as to serve here in washington. on behalf of the republican delegation, please do not hesitate to contact any of us if we can be of help as to begin your service to the people of pennsylvania. welcome to the house of representatives, i yield back. [applause] >> thank you, madam speaker. i would also like to what? my wife nancy, my beautiful two

children, my family [applause] mrs. murhat -- mrs. murtha for their support. [applause]

>> are you confident in bp? >> the law and trusted this.

>> debate on the underground coal mine safety measure is coming up in the u.s. house. coming up in the senate in 10 minutes, both on cloture, ending debate for the financial regulations bill set for 2: 30 p.m. you can follow that on c-span 2. we will take you back to the white house with live coverage of the news briefing with robert gibbs.

the speaker pro tempore: members, please clear the well. and the center aisle and the side aisles. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york rise? ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, by the direction of the committee on rules, i call up house resolution 1363 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 197, house resolution

1363, resolved, that the committee on education and labor is granted the authority provided under clause 4-c-3 of rule 10 of the rules of the house of representatives in furtherans of the investigation by such committee into underground coal mine operator compliance with the federal mine safety and health act of 1977, as amended, and into other related matters. section 2-a, the chair of the committee on education and labor shall transmit to the committee on rules not later than two days following an adjournment sine die of the second session of the 111th congress or january 2, 2011, whichever occurs first, a report on the activities of the committee on education and labor undertaken pursuant to this resolution. such report shall indicate, one, the total number of depositions taken. two, the number of depositions taken pursuant to subpoenas. and, three, the name of each

depostseasonent that the committee has named. and, c, report described in subsection a by the committee on rules, the chair of the committee on rules shall submit such report for publication in the congressional record. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york is recognized for one hour. ms. slaughter: thank you, mr. speaker. for the purpose of debate only, i yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from california, mr. dreier. all time yielded during consideration of the rule is for debate only. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material into the congressional record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. ms. slaughter: thank you. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, this resolution provides the committee on education and labor with deposition authority in connection with its investigation of underground

mine safety. the resolution also requires the education and labor committee to report to the rules committee on its use of the authority by the end of this congressional session. mr. speaker, we're here today with a pretty straightforward mission. we want to empower the men and women who are investigating the causes of the serious safety problems facing miners in america. . as we saw recently with the upper branch mine in west virginia, there's wrongdoing there and inadequate regulation we must address. explosion in upper big branch in april killed 29 coal miners. ripped apart an entire community and state, and was the worst mine disaster in this country since 1970. why is congress involved? because one of our most serious responsibilities as lawmakers is

oversight and investigation. and from what we have been able to tell from the facts so far, there is an urgent and compelling need for the public to know all the facts surrounding this and other recent mining tragedies. i come to this issue with a personal feeling. many of my constituents back home and some know i was born in harlan county, kentucky. some of my earliest memories are hearing the whistle blow at night over at the mine. even as small as i was then i knew what it meant. it meant serious trouble at the mine. the pain and suffering endured by miners in kentucky and west virginia and everyplace else should inspire us to do everything in our power to make this work environment as safe as we possibly can. the bottom line should never supersede a human life.

the resolution before us today would give the house committee on education and labor staff authority to take depositions as they pursue their investigation. we know that a greater review of this issue is sorely needed. there are far too many unanswered questions surrounding underground coal mine operator compliance with the federal mine safety and health act. and the safety of every single miner in this country depends on answering your questions. getting to the truth on mining safety is not a part of the issue, getting to the truth is. this is not without precedent and numerous times over the years congress has approved resolutions such as this to provide temporary powers to committees trying to get at the truth. and every piece of information that comes to the questioning will be obtained by and shared with members of the committee from both parties.

the house gave the education and labor committee similar authority during a probe into a mining accident just a few years ago. it is the hent congress that the education and labor committee was given deposition authority in the 2007-2008 investigation into the deaths of nine miners and rescue workers at the crandal canian mine in utah. that led to strengthening mine safety with laws that may be too lax in enforcement. among the issues the committee was to devil into was the growth of the number of mine safety enforcement case cases pending before the federal mine safety and health review commission. the commission is meant to serve as an independent agency that provides administrative trial and appellate review to contested citations, penalties, and work retaliation cases. the reality, though, the increased enforcement and

tougher penalties has followed several profile mine zents in 2005 and 2006 has swamped the commission. landowners have tripled the number of violations that they appeal. and they contest 67% of all penalties that are assessed. as a result, the government's lengthy backlog of cases at the commission that has surged from 2,100 in 2006 to approximately 16,000 in february of this year. this deposition power for the committee will help bring witness who is have important insight into this issue but might not otherwise be willing to offer testimony. this is an important tool and i urge my colleagues to rise and support me on this plan here today. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. include extraneous material in the record.

the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentleman is recognized. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i'm going to do something that is somewhat unusual. i would like to as i did in the rules committee yesterday associate myself completely with everything that has been said by the distinguished chaiof the committee on rules. as i said yesterday in the rules committee, it's difficult to fathom a challenge a young person would go through hearing that whistle and knowing that there was difficulty ahead and the threat of the loss of life. and that's the reason that we are very proud to stand here having an exchange with mr. miller and i see mr. rahall here who obviously has suffered greatly through this, mrs. capito is here as well. to say that we would have been extraordinarily proud, mr. speaker, to have done this instantaneously under a unanimous consent agreement. mr. kline would have agreed to that. in our exchange with chairman miller today, we talked about the important rights of the minority.

the fact that we are simply exspanting authority that already does exist, but it is very important that we do this. that tragedy with the loss of those 29 lives is something that is -- we have got to remain committed in a bipartisan way to ensure we have the adequate oversight to ensure that it never, ever happens again. we know the hearing's taking place in the senate today and serious questions have come to the forefront and i will say, mr. speaker, that we were privileged to approach the majority and say that there was no reason for us to be here. no reason for us to be here because we would have granted unanimous consent and we would not have taken this time of the house of representatives to consider this measure. and so the only thing that i'm in disagreement with is the fact that we are taking the time of the house to do this. so it's for that reason, mr. speaker, that i'm going to move

to defeat the previous question. i'm going to move to defeat the previous question not so that we in any way would undermine this very important authority that the committee on education and labor is going to have, but to enhance this and get us back to an issue which i think is very near and dear to the american people since we all agreed that this kind of authority, democrats and republicans alike, is essential. we believe that if we can defeat the previous question we will have the opportunity to take on the issue of deficit spending, which has been incredibly painful all the way around. today when i last looked earlier today, the dow jones industrial average was down over 350 points. i saw it had come back a little, but we are dealing with at least a three-month low on the dow

right now, and then we saw the numbers this morning on the dramatic increase in the jobless claims, 417,000. we are going through difficult times. we all know that. and it is essential that we do everything in our power to rein in massive federal spending which we believe, and i believe the american peole by and large believe has exacerbated rather than ameliorated the economic challenges that we are facing. americans are tired of the reckless spending and they are outraged, mr. speaker, by the lack of accountability and deeply concerned about the consequences of our fledgling economic recovery now and for future generations as well. after months and months of countless phone calls, emails, letters, town hall meetings the american people are asking themselves why won't washington listen?

why is our demand for fiscal responsibility not getting through? why is the majority refusing for the first time in modern congressional history to not even consider a budget? my answer to them is that some of us, mr. speaker, some of us are getting the message from the american people very loudly and clearly. the democratic majority might refuse to listen, but republicans are serious about the issue of reining in spending. though we have been barred by the majority for making significant reforms, we are using every tool at our disposal to force some accountability into the spending process. one such effort is what we are calling the youcut project, y-o-u-c-u-t launched last week on the republican whip's website. americans have the opportunity to voice their opinion on five specific spending cuts, and nearly 300,000 votes were cast.

people making their thoughts known. nearly 300,000. the proposed cut among those five that drew the most votes was a welfare program that was expanded in the so-called economic stimulus bill without including any requirements that abled bodied recipients return to work. it was a concept that came forward by our friends, messrs. price and jordan, who worked long and hard on this. mr. speaker, common sense dictates that an era of fiscal crisis is no time for creating an open-ended welfare program. cutting this program will save taxpayers 2.5 billion. and toy we are going to hold the democratic majority's feet to the fire and demand a vote on this spending cut. again, mr. speaker, let me say that today when we vot on the previous question members of both political parties will have

the opportunity to state very clearly whether they are in the camp of fiscal discipline, reining in the size and scope and reach of the federal government, or continuing down the path of reckless spending. mr. speaker, we are going to continue this youcut program in the weeks ahead. every single week americans will have the opportunity to vote for the spending cuthat they had like to see most. -- that they'd like to see most. and every week republicans will demand a vote on the winning cut. can we eliminate the deficit in one fell swoop? absolutely not. everybody knows that we can't do that. anyone who has ever had to take responsibility for a budget knows that no magic wand will fix the problem. it takes very hard choices, one cut at a time, but with discipline and perseverance we can restore fiscal accountability here in washington. the democratic majority has made it clear that left to their

devices they will continue to spend our nation into insolvency. and we have seen a projection that just came out, the notion of our national debt being 110% of our nation's gross domestic product within the next five years. extraordinarily troubling based on the fact that we are on today. they put up every conceivable roadblock so far, mr. speaker, to accountability, but they are not going to be able to sidestep today's vote. we are ensuring that 300,000 american voices are being heered. mr. speaker -- heard. mr. speaker, anyone who cares about spending in washington will have the opportunity to see how their representative voted. and they'll continue to have that opportunity week after week as the youcut program goes forward. there are a number of tactics that can be employed to prevent fiscal accountability, and the democratic majority has tried them all, but ultimately, mr. speaker, the will of the american people will find a way around the roadblocks and their

voices will be heard. we are determined to make sure that the voices of the american people are heard here on the floor of the people's house. so, mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to defeat the previous question so that members of this body will have the chance to take on the issue of fiscal discipline and accountability and support the price-jordan measure which will finally bring us the kind of responsibility we need to our nation's welfare program. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york. ms. slaughter: i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from west virginia, mr. rahall. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. rahall: i thank the distinguished chair of the rules committee for yielding to me and certainly want to commend to her for bringing this resolution to the floor and for the manner in which she has spoken from personal knowledge of the troubles and trials and

tribulations that we go through in coal country as she hails from coal country herself. mr. speaker, i do want to commend as well the chairman of our education and labor committee, mr. george miller, whose jurisdiction -- within whose jurisdiction the mine safety health administration resides. -- -- resides. mr. miller is certainly a true champion of our coal miners and one who has coal mine health and safety deep in his bones, he will be traveling to our district in southern west virginia on monday to have a hearing to listen to family members of those who lost loved ones at u.v.b. and that horrific tragedy on april 5. i also wish to commend the house of representatives in a bipartisan fashion for the very swift action in which the house passed a resolution after this tragedy commending those 29 fallen miners and expressing condolences to their families. we continue to work with the

family members to help them through what is a difficult process known as healing and trying to get by in life now without their loved ones. this resolution is to grant the committee on education and labor deposition authority as part of the committee's oversight activities relating to coal mine health and safety. while i am not a member of the education and labor committee, the disaster which took place on april 20 at the upper big branch rhine in raleigh county, west varks, claiming the lives of 29 men occurred in the congressional district of which i'm honored to represent. . this resolution reflects the seriousness of which this congress takes to the health and of coal mine safety. the u.b.b. mine disaster was the worse in our nation as the gentlelady from new york, the chair of the rules committee, stated, the worse since 1970. it follows in the wake of the sago mine disaster in 2006.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. ms. slaughter: i yield the gentleman two additional minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. rahall: it follows in the wake of the sago mine disaster in 2006 which claimed 12 lives. the dashy mine disaster and the crandall mine disaster. while congress responded in 2006 under the capable leadership of the education and labor committee chairman, mr. miller, which was referred to as the miner act, the focus then was on emergency response. in the wake of the u.b.b. disaster, it's now entirely appropriate that we investigate coal mine health and safety matters further. and the committee of ed and labor is the appropriate forum for that to take place. i commend chairman george miller, his ranking member, mr. john kline, for pursuing a responsible course. i would note and thank the ranking member of the rules committee, mr. dreier, as well,

for the bipartisan support that he and members of the rules committee and on the minority side are giving this particular resolution, although they are trying to, of course, high jacket it for other purposes. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. e gentleman from california. mr. dreier: i thank my friend for his very thoughtful remarks and fee -- and how horribly refeel about those that lost the lives in his state. with that i'm happy to yield four minutes to our distinguished republican whip who's launched the you cut item on his website, a total of four minutes, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for four minutes. mr. cantor: i thank the speaker, i thank the gentleman from california. i would like to just follow-up on the remarks that we, too, would tell the gentleman from west virginia, we agree entirely with the thrust of his remarks and express our sorrow for the folks of west virginia who have experienced such a

tragic loss. i would say, again, theanking member of the rules committee has indicated already that we cld have already embarked upon the effort that the gentleman from west virginia and the lady from new york speak about because we did offer unanimous consent on this. so we are in total agreement there. however, i would rise in opposition to the previous question. and, mr. speaker, for the millions of americans demanding accountability for the culture of reckless runaway spending in washington, meet you cut. at a time when approval of congressional spending has reached its lowest ebb, this first of its kind initiative empowers taxpayers with the ability to contribute directly to a new culture of savings in our nation's capital. each week the public votes on one of five wasteful spending item that they would like to strip from the federal budget. once the votes are tallied, the house will vote on whether or not to cut the winning provision from the federal balance sheet. within five days of the

experiment, over 280,000 americans cast their vote either online or by text message. that's a rate, mr. speaker, of more than 2,000 votes per hour. with less than 1% of the votes originating from inside the beltway, i might add. the overwhelming response speaks to the extreme frustration taxpayers feel toward a congress that refuses to listen to them. make no mistake, america is at a critical crossroads. the american people are tired of the spending bin gs. they look -- binges. they look across the atlantic and see europe collapsing under the weight of its debt. with our own deficits swelling, it's only natural to fear that we are heading down the same road to ruin. you cut is not a political venture. it is about shifting the pendulum in washington back towards the direction of saving money.

rooting out unnecessary spending should be a bipartisan endeavor. this week the house has considered two bills to name a post office and a federal building, 11 resolutions honoring different individuals, sports teams or causes, including even recognizing craft beer week. we find ways to spend money and create new programs. mr. speaker, what we have not considered is a single bill to reduce spending. unfortunately, this is a pretty typical week. today, we have a chance to change that. during the first week of you cut, a plurality of voters acted to cut the $2.5 billion annual welfare reform. the welfare reform was bipartisan reform. this new program undermines those reforms.

while it was just created last year, the reports of waste and fraud are already trickling in. perverse incentives for states to reduce work caseloads, cash given out to welfare recipients that are used tobuy flat screen tv's, ipods and gaming systems. enough is enough. when the funds are not being so extraffic getly wasted, we cannot afford to continue this program. that's why they asked for us to vote on this program to reduce the program and use the money to reduce the deficit. this vote is just to do just that. a quarter of a million americans will get to see if their representative in congress share their fiscal priority. i ask my colleagues to support the american people and take up this vote today and vote no on the previous question. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia's time

has expired. the gentleman from california reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i am pleased to yield seven minutes to the gentleman from california, the chairman of the committee on education and labor and a champion of all working people, mr. miller. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. miller: mr. speaker, i want to thank the chair of the rules committee for bringing this rule to the floor of the house and to thank the ranking member, mr. dreier from california, for his cooperation and support for this resolution. i, too, have the same remarks as my colleague from new york, ms. slaughter, who probably has more experience and understandings of these tragedies than any other member that does not live in the coal regions of our country and has spent a lot of time with myself and others on our committee discussing these issues of coal mine safety tradge -- safety.

tragically throughout the years when we had one accident after another over that time. the resolution that the rules committee brings to the house floor today reflects the seriousness with which congress takes to the issue of mine safety. last month we watched the tragic events unfold in the upper big branch mine in west virginia, the memory of the 29 miners who lost their lives in that disaster must stand as a reminder of the work that remains to be done to keep our nation's miners safe. there is much to be learned about the disaster of the upper big branch mine. i've been heartened about the swift and decisive action that's been taken by the department of labor and mine safety administration. i expect investigations into this disaster will be comprehensive. the resolution we are discussing today, however, will be in furtherance of our committee's broader oversight duties regarding the health and safety of our nation's coal miners. last year i committee staff began looking into issues relating to the backlog of

cases at the federal mine safety review commission. this commission and its administrative law hearings the citations by the mine safety and health administration's inspectors that issue against the operators. this backlog is potentially severe ramification for miner safety. the backlog has prevented m that -- msha litigation. because of this increased scrutiny would bring miners warned by msha of having a potential pattern, generally significantly improved their mine safety records. but they have figured out a way to gain that system and, therefore, the miners and their families are robbed of this very powerful tool that would ensure greater safety of their workplace and perhaps avoid some of the tragedies that we have just witnessed. in february, our committee

explored a recent uptick in the citation contest and how it might ultimately affect the safety in the mines. in the wake of the r big branch mine disaster and our hearings on mine operators citations, appeals and backlogs, i'm deeply concerned of what coal mining conglomerates have done or not done to discourage safe mining practices. that's why i hope our oversight will benefit from the authority to held and compel witnesses held at depositions. deposition authority is a powerful tool for many investigations, but some investigations would particularly benefit from the tool. last congress ran the deposition authority in our investigation of the crandall canyon mine disaster in utah. this successful investigation led to a criminal referral to the department of justice in large part because of the evidence that our staff obtaed in those depositions. i understand that the department of justice continues to investigate our referral. i believe that the deposition authority is equally justified

in this case. a deposition can serve as an intermediate step between a full public hearings and executive session and informal staff reviews. it creates a formal record, yet, it allows us to explore issues in a more sustained matter. indeed, it allows us to realize that the potential witnesses does not have the knowledge of particular issues to justify calling them at a hearing. it was because of the usefulness of this investigative tool that our committee, this congress approved the committee rule to package to include deposition procedural rules. we wanted to build on our successes and our execution of the deposition authority granted last congress, and we wanted to -- and wanted to be ready should the circumstances justify it should we need it again. unfortunately, the deaths at upper big branch have highlighted our work on mine safety and our committee investigate the issues related to mine safety. the committee's deposition rules respects and affirms the right of those individuals being deposed and respects the

rights of the minority on our committee it has been worked out with the minority on our committee. it is the result of a bipartisan process began last congress and reaffirmed with the adoption of our committee rule this congress. we have used the tools sparingly and effectively in the past, and i assure the committee we will use it sparingly and effectively in this investigation. next week, my committee will be conducting a field hearing in west virginia with congressman rahall. we will be hearing from the families and the victims of the upper big branch mine explosion. just as we may sure to hear from the families of the sago and the crandall canyon, we will hear the concerns of these families. with every hearing, we pledge to the families to never turn a deaf ear to their concerns, their knowledge, to make sure that mining is safer. i intend to keep that pledge and the resolution before us is part of keeping that pledge. again, i want to thank the ranking republican on our committee, congressman kline and his staff, to work closely

and effectively with me and my staff in framing the deposition rule and framing our future investigations and going before the rules committee to ask for this authority from the rules committee. and, again, i want to thank the chair and the ranking member for bringing this matter to the floor and thank congressman rahall for his support for our committee having this authority, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california yields back the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: thank you very much, mr. speaker. let me thank my friend from california, mr. miller, for his thoughtful remarks. at this time i'd like to yield to the gentlewoman from charleston, west virginia, who has clearly suffered greatly through this extraordinary tragedy, two minutes, mrs. capito. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. mrs. capito: thank you. i'd like to thank the gentleman

for yielding me time. there is no controversy on this underlying resolution. i think we could have done it several days earlier under unanimous consent. i wish that would have been the direction we've gone. on april 5, 2010, an explosion occurred at the upper big branch mine in west virginia, killing 29 miners. our hearts are with the families and community. this mine was the worst mine disaster in west virginia and the third worst mining disaster. in 2006 in my district, 13 coal miners were trapped for nearly two hours at the sago mine, and one miner miraculously survived. i agree with my colleagues that congress has a very important oversight role to ensure that the laws are properly executed and to prevent future mining accidents. there must be a thorough investigation by congress to determine whether the executive branch agencies charged with protecting miners are performing their job and whether changes need to be made to ensure that those agencies

fulfill their obligations to the miners, their families and the public. also, the congress needs to have a thorough investigation into the company practices and whether safety is the top priority and the one priority first considered whenever beginning or starting to pursue coal mining while it's in operation. congress, however, must be weary not to compromise the integrity of any pending or future investigations and potentially jeopardize the executive branch's ability to enforce and hold violators accountable. keeping our miners safe requires all of us to work together to prevent mine disasters from happening in the first place. i support this rule and i will vow to take whatever message -- excuse me -- i vow to take whatever measures are necessary to ensure the safety and health of all miners. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back, the gentleman from california

reserves the balance of her time, the gentlewoman from new york. ms. slaughter: i yield three minutes to the gentlelady from california, ms. woolsey. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for three minutes. ms. woolsey: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentlewoman from new york for allowing me this time and i appreciate the cooperation we're getting from both sides of the aisle on this very important issue. on april 5, 29 miners were killed and two injured in a massive explosion which ripped through mas see energy's upper -- mas see energy's big branch mine in west virginia. it was a shock to all of us. unfortunately, since then, there have been two other mine accidents, one in kentucky, another in west virginia, that have resulted in even more fatalities. the explosion at the upper big

branch mine was the worst mine accident since 1970, when 38 miners were killed in an explosion at a mine in kentucky. we are now, mr. speaker, in the 21st century, and there is absolutely no excuse for these tragedies. there are ongoing investigations into the explosion at the upper big branch mine, we don't yet know exactly what caused this blast, but we do know that massey energy has a long, long history of health and safety violations at this mine and others of theirs and that it has received hundreds, not a few, but hundreds of citations before the blast occurred. this tragedy and the conduct of this mine owner toward the safety of its workers further

highlights the need for the education and labor committee to fully perform oversight function. we owe this much to the families of the fallen miners and to those miners who go to work each and every day so they can come home safely to their families every night. the deposition authority provided by this resolution which is the product of a bipartisan agreement, as we've all -- as we all know, is a vital tool for the committee and i urge passage of this resolution by every member of the house of representatives. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california yields back the balance of her time the gentlelady from new york reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i'm happy to yield three minutes to the co-author of the very important issue that's going to bring back account to believe t welfare, the gentleman from georgia, mr. price. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. price: i thank the

gentleman. we all strongly -- are strongly sympathetic and unanimously support the underlying resolution and our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and families from all mine disasters. we should take this as an opportunity, however, to decrease spending. everyone across the land knows washington spends too much, borrows too much and taxes too much. washington has grown fat on bloated, wasteful spending for far too long. it's collapsing our fiscal house, it's jeopardizing our kids' and grandkids' future. it's high time we put the federal government on a tite and that can begin today. with the youcut program, republicans are partnering with the american people to restore fiscal sanity. this is a unique initiative where we are asking the american people to help prioritize which special interest handouts and other

wasteful spending they want to target for elimination this youcut initiative combines two crucial components of common sense governing, listening to the people and cutting waste from government spending. i'm grateful for the huge participation we have already seen. over 281,000 votes cast, of which less than 1% are from the district of columbia, so americans across the land are participating. the spending reduction that representative jordan and i proposed received more than 81,000 votes. we identified and america supported the repeal of a $2.5 billion a year program that's gutted the positive, bipartisan welfare reforms of the 1990's. as part of their failed stimulus package, democrats added a new program to incentivize states to increase, yes, increase, mr. speaker, their welfare case load without requiring work from those able to work or get job training or

make other efforts to move off taxpayer assistance. welfare reform was one of the most important bipartisan achievements of the last two decades. it's been terribly undermined by this little noticed provision. rather than take our nation backwards we need to vote today to restore welfare reform by refocusing temporary assistance on people getting back on their feet as quickly as possible. i hope our democrat colleagues will follow our lead and yes, the lead of the american people, in working together to put washington's fiscal house back in order. mr. speaker, we have tried to partner with our democrat colleagues to rein in wasteful spending but their help has not been forthcoming. they have chosen to expand the deficits to over $1 trillion and proposed tax hikes that stand in the way of job creation. let's start today, together, to

begin the job of getting the nation back on track. vote no on the previous question, vote for fiscal responsibility. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia's time has expired. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slallingter: i'm pleased to yield two -- ms. slaughter: i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. holt. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. holt: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentlelady, the chair of the rules committee. i rise in support of h.res. 1363, which gives the committee on education and labor, on which i sit, the ability to investigate the upper big branch mine disaster this resolution allows us to do our work and i would like to speak about that subject. in a greater sense, resolution honors the coal miners who perished in the tragedy and works to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again. we owe it to the remaining families and to all mining families. i feel strongly and personally

about the concerns of miners because i was born and reared in west virginia. where my father, the late u.s. senator, many decades ago, was known as one of the best friends a miner ever had. there's no question that mining has been a dangerous job. although the number of deaths in america's mines has been reduced, today, coal mining is rated, still, among the most dangerous jobs in america. and it does not have to be that way. i support the education and loy boar committee's work to investigate any possible health and safety violations at upper big branch and to see if laws were circumvented and miners' lives were put recklessly at risk. those responsible must be held accountable. too many families have suffered the loss of a loved one in a mining disaster. we in congress need to investigate fully the factors

that led to these tragedies. we need to investigate the deficiencies in laws and enforcement that may have contributed. we owe it to the families of the miners lost and the miners who work every day to take action. we must prevent these accidents from happening again. i urge my colleagues to support h.res. 1463. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time eric the gentlelady from new york reserves the balance of her time, the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. dreier: i recognize the gentleman from georgia, mr. linder. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. linder: i would like to express my sincere sorrow to the families of those killed or wounded in that accident and in all mining accidents this could have been done under unanimous

consent without a rule, but since the rule is here, i propose defeating the rule to consider mr. price's motion. the welfare reform act successfully reduced welfare dependence and poverty and increased work and earnings. but despite that success, congress has spent years to undermine welfare reform. they saw an opening in the 2009 stimulus law. they created a new $5 billion welfare emergency fund derek sined to promote welfare dependence all over again. the new fund pays states if they increase welfare case loads, among other outcomes. states have been less than eager to collect. by mid may, less than half, $2.4 billion, had been claimed by states. only three states received full shares. you know something is wrong when the federal government has

trouble giving away money. mr. price's motion would end this program right here and right now. that is the right policy for a program that should never have been begun. just consider how this emergency money has been spent so far. one of the largest chunks has been spent on something called nonrecurrent short-term assistance. a program operated in new york last summer offers an example. new york used these funds to make one-time $200 payments to welfare and food stamp recipients, supposedly for back-to-school purposes. but that's not how the money was really used vosme sip yents used the money, as cbs news put it to buy flat screen tv's, ipods and gaming systems. convenience stores in poor areas notd an increase in beer, gum, and cigarette sales.

i ask annapolis consent the article be inserted in the record following my remarks. the subcommittee on which i serve had a hearing on this this. one witness noted taxpayers spent an incredible $950 billion on welfare and other low income programs. i asked is it your testimony that $953 billion is not enough? her answer is telling who is to say what's enough? it's time that the american people are saying, this is enough. so should we. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlelady from new york is recognize. ms. slaughter: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: may i inquire of the distinguished chair of the committee on rules how many speakers she has remaining? ms. slaughter spm i'm told we have some people coming to the floor. at this time on the floor, i have no more speakers.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: at this time, i'm happy to yield two minutes to the co-author of the amendment, who join police department price in bricking about welfare accountability, m jordan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio is recognized for two minutes. mr. jordan: thank you, mr. speaker. the people have spoken, they said, stop the ridiculous spending, with the youcut proposal they said stop the ridiculous spending that incentivizes wrong behavior. talk about the old welfare system, what it said to the single mother, don't get a job, don't get married, have more children, we'll give you more money. that's not the message we want to send. our amendment would change that. the democrats want to move in the wrong direction, we think it's completely the wrong way to go, particularly at a time when we have a $1.4 trillion deficit a $12 trillion national

debt, it is the wrong thing to o. one of the things that makes our country so special, one of the things that makes america the greatest nation in history is this simple concept. parents make sacrifices for their children so when they grow up, they have life better than we did. and they grow up and do the same for their kids. each generation in this country has done that for the next. now we find ourselves where the policymakers, the political class are making decisions that spend now, focus on the moment and send the bill to somebody else. it is wrong. it is wrong to trap people in this welfare system. it's wrong to keep spending and spending. it is wrong for future generations of americans. that is why, mr. speaker, i urge a no vote on the previous question and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio yields back. the gentleman from california reserves. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, mr. perlmutter is here to speak,

i'd be happy to yield two minutes to the gentleman from colorado. the gentleman from colorado is recognized for two minutes. mr. perlmutter: let's talk about jobs. my friend on the other side of the aisle have completely forgotten what the subject of today's presentation is and that's about mine safety, about protecting the people who are going deep under ground to help foul this country, completely forgotten about that. that's not of any interest to them, because they want to talk about other things. mr. dreier: will the gentleman yield? mr. perlmutter: i will not yield. i will not yield to my friend from california because what they want to come in here and talk about is commeetly off

topic. they like america to continue to be afraid, to continue to be in doom and gloom. that's their whole argument. what's happening here -- and they'd like everybody to forget about it. their prescription is mass amnesia. they want to forget about the fact that under george bush this country was dropping into the abyss in terms of jobs. the last month of george bush, this country lost 780,000 jobs in that month alone. last month in april, 14 months later, we gained 290,000 jobs. that's a swing of over a million jobs a month in one month, a million-job swing. but, no, they don't want to talk about that. they want to talk about, hey, we have too many problems. we don't want to put the eight million people who lost their jobs, we don't want to put them

back to work, we don't want to care about them. well, this country gets back on its feet. its economy starts booming. it takes care of a lot of what they're talking about in terms of debt and deficit. but once we're back on our feet then we can look at the numbers that they're talking about but we have to get this country back on its feet. it's got to be strong. so we shouldn't be here dealing with a serious subject like mine safety and all those men and women that comprilled a few months -- a couple months ago -- were killed a few months -- a couple months ago and we are not discussing that. is my time up? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. ms. slaughr: i yield -- mr. perlmutter: 30 seconds more. mr. dreier: will the gentleman yield on that? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california will suspend. the gentleman is recognized for an additional 30 seconds. mr. dreier: will the gentleman yield? well, i'm happy to yield my friend some time if he'd like and we can engage in a colloquy

if he'd like. mr. perlmutter: i'll just finish here. let's talk about what happened. under george bush this economy fell off the planet. dropped 6.4% the last quarter of 2008. we haven't seen anything like that since 1929. ok. during the last nine months, all of a sudden our combpped is going up so that -- g.d.p. is going up so that this untry is getting back on its feet and heading in the right direction. job loss, as i said, was at a level unseen before. we are reversing that but we've got a long way to go and today we should be worried about mine safety. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlelady from new york reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i yield myself 30 second to say with all due respect to my very good friend and rules committee colleague that he obviously has not followed the debate. we approached the majority and said under unanimous consent we

wanted this kind of authority to be granted so that we can ensure that never ever again will we see the kind of tragic loss of life because of a mine disaster that we have faced. now, my friend said we were talking about some extraneous issue, then he takes the well and talks about jobs under george bush when in fact we're dealing with the issue that we all said that needs to be addressed and that is from the very outset, mr. speaker, from the very outset, mr. speaker, we concurred with the desire to ensure that this authority exists. at this point i'd like to yield a minute to my very,ery good friend from michigan, a hardworking, very, very thoughtful member, mrs. miller. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. mrs. miller: i thank the gentleman for yielding. and, mr. speaker, all americans, all americans share the grief of the families of the miners of west virginia. mr. speaker, spending by this congress is out of control. in the next few days our

national debt will surpass $13 trillion, and today the federal government borrows about 40 cents of every dollar that is spent. the american people have been speaking out saying that this out-of-control spending is not sustainable. they're very frustrated that washington and the democrat majority is not listening. mr. speaker, the house republicans are listening. we've heard their voices. you cut allows the american people to vote on specific spending cuts. we actually had over 300,000 folks vote this week. and the goal of you cut is simple and it should not be a novel concept on capitol hill. stop spending and start cutting. the question again is will washington listen? can you hear them now? a no vote on the previous question will allow us to debate this spending cut put forward by the american people. is that too much to ask? i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from michigan yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from california reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: i'd like to

yield twmore minutes to mr. perlmutter from colorado. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado is recognized for two minutes. mr. perlmutter: yeah. i would like to speak to my friend from michigan, and she probably knows as much as anybody the trauma that so many families have felt by the economy by the recession by the layoffs. and as we start moving forward we got to make sure that those people who lost their jobs find employment. now, they say washington's not listening about cuts. we know spending needs to be managed. we need to be smart in how we spend. but i'd say to my friends on the republican side of the aisle, they should have been thinking about this back in 2001 when they cut the taxes for the wealthiest of americans, prosecute two wars without paying for them, failed to police wall street and leave this country in the worse financial shape it's been since 1929.

george bush left, obama received a $1.3 trillion deficit. now, they want to complain about it. ok. go ahead and complain about it but take a look at yourselves. that's what i'd say to my friends on the other side of the aisle. and i'd say on tuesday they made all of these arguments. the one race that was up between democrats and republicans, people were worried about jobs. the democrat won. they're worried about jobs and that's what this country needs is to get people back to work. and with that i'd yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado yields back the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, at this time i'm friend to yield one minute to my friend from dallas, mr. hensarling. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute. mr. hensarling: i thank the gentleman for yielding. mine safety is a very serious

issue, so is national bankruptcy. under democratic control, the deficit has exploded 10-fold in just two years. we've seen the national deficit triple before our eyes. we're borrowing 40 cents on the dollar from the cheaps and sending the bill to our children and grandchildren. the democrats have been on a spending spree that puts us on the road to becoming greece. house republicans are fighting back. with a new program called you cut where the american people can participate in voting themselves to cut spending and to save their children money. and in just this week alone, 280,000 voted to cut a wasteful welfare program that's been associated with fraud. mr. speaker, the choice is simple. either you cut or your children and grandchildren go bankrupt paying the national debt. vote no on the previous question and vote yes for fiscal sanity, vote yes for saving your children and

grandchildren $2.5 billion that doesn't have to be borrowed from the cheaps. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas' time has expired. the gentlen from california reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i am pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. andrews. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for three minutes. mr. andrews: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. andrews: i thank the speaker. i thank the chairlady for yielding. i think it's important for the house to reflect what we are and are not doing. what we are doing is considering a procedure by which the congress can investigate what may or may not happen in the tragedies that occurred in west virginia that cost the miners their lives. setting that process in motion. but the minority is -- what the minority is doing is tryg to bring to the floor a vote on a different matter regarding the

tanf program. that's well in their right. i will not object to their procedural methods to do that. when i'm finished. i am going to object to the substance of their argument. if i understand it correctly that the cut that they're interested in making is in a program that i think most americans think makes pretty good sense and what it essential lisa is if you're abled bodied and you receive welfare benefits you should work. most americans when they hear that say it's a pretty good idea. i want to read to the minority this program they want to debate today was commented on by the gentleman from a think tank in washington said given the state of the labor market, it's hard to imagine how any sensible person could oppose extending the emergency fund that they're talking about.

this was not from the obama administration or one of the more liberal groups in town. it was kevin hastert from the american enterprise institute. so i'd say to the majority that the thrirs for spending cuts was -- thirst for spending cuts was somehow missing when the bush administration launched two wars on borrowed money, when the bush administration cut taxes for the wealthiest americans and paid for it by borrowing money from the chinese. there is a record on spending cuts in recent history. spending i shall cruises in recent history. during the clinton years, federal spending increased 4% a year on average. during the bush years spending increased 8% per year on average. spending has increased 7% given the economic emergency.

but during president reagan's term spending increased 7% per year. so i'm with the minority, mr. speaker. i think spending restraint is something we need to have which is why we should make sure we never have another republican majority in the house of representatives. i yield back. mr. dreier: will the gentleman yield? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey -- mr. dreier: i thank -- the speaker pro mpore: the gentleman from new jersey -- does the gentleman from new jersey yield time? mr. andrews: i'd be happy to engage on your time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. the gentleman from new jersey controls the time. mr. dreier: and he just yielded to me, mr. speaker. mr. andrews: i yielded. mr. dreier: i'll say that the closing was very, very inappropriate because the solution that the gentleman has offered to the 8% increase that existed during the bush administration is to have an 85% increase in nondefense discretionary spending taken in the last two years. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey's time has expired.

mr. andrews: will the gentlelady yield 45 seconds? ms. slaughter: 45 seconds. mr. andrews: i'd ask my friend from california if it's true or false that spending increases was 8% during t bush years? mr. dreier: we did see 8% for defense, homeland security and veterans security. mr. andrews: reclaiming my time. mr. dreier: nondefense discretionary spending. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey controls the time. mr. andrews: reclaiming my time. if i ups it correctly, the gentleman is denying that the spending increases average 8% during the bush years, is that correct? mr. dreier: correct. i agree with the gentleman. i agree with the gentleman. mr. andrews: you're agreeing with me, not denying it? mr. dreier: i agree it increased 8% during the bush administration but 85% in nondefense discretionary spending during the -- mr. andrews: the best insurance policy is under democratic control. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlewoman from new york

reserves the balance of her time. mr. dreier: i yield myself 10 seconds to say to my friend that we have an 85% increase in nondefense discretionary spending since president obama has been in office. mr. andrews: will the gentleman yield? mr. dreier: i yield. mr. andrews: how much of that was the recovery act? mr. dreier: 85% incess in nondefense discretionary spending and we look -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california's time has expired. mr. dreier: and if you look at the markets now we can see it's failed. i'd be happy to yield one minute to my good friend from wheaton, illinois, mr. roskam. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois is recognized for one minute. mr. roskam: thank you, mr. speaker. and i thank the gentleman for yielding. i found the gentleman from new jersey's logic dizzying. it took 43 american presidents from george washington to george w. bush for us to accumulate late $5 trillion in debt. this congress and this administration unambiguously are tripling that number in a

decade. i also found it sobering and kind of surprising that the gentleman from colorado a couple minutes ago -- and i wrote it down immediately -- said once we're back on our feet then we can talk about it, or words to that effect. once we're back on our feet then we can talk about cutting spending? it is this bloated budget that is the restraining influence on prosperity in this country. it is the hide bound orthodoxy on the other side that says we can borrow or spend our way into prosperity and that is a fool'ser rand. s the sink hole of self-absorps in this congress than -- of self-absorption in this congress than generation that tells us to spend, spend, spend. we need to get serious about cuts. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california reserves the balance of her time. mr. dreier: how many speakers

does the gentlelady have remaining? ms. slaughter: i have one. mr. dreier: how much time is remaining, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york has 4 1/4 minutes. the gentleman from california has 4 3/4 remaining. mr. dreier: i reserve they balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado is recognized for three minutes. mr. polis: thank you, again, thank the chairwoman of the rules committee. i think what is key here is this country needs to get back on its feet. we're moving in that direction.

-- mr. perlmutter: we had a bill up this week called the america competes act which is about investing in this country's future through grants and funding of our national science foundation, national institute of health, those kinds of investments, which are jobs today and investment in the future so that this country is on the best footing to compete with every other country on the globe my friends on the other side have now, twice, undercut that whole operation. that whole bill. but this congress is going to keep this country moving forward so we have jobs today and invest in the future so we don't have the kind of job loss we saw at the end of the bush administration. people in this country, as much as my friends would like it to be doom and gloom and blame, what they want is they want a can-do approach because the

spirit of america is that we can do this. we can make this better. we will make this better. we're not taking no for an answer. failure is not an option. we are going to invest in this couldn't arery today, help people get back to work and we will be a stronger nation for it. with that, i yield back to my friend from new york. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado yields back. the gentlelady from new york reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: i'm pleased to yield a minute and a half to my good friend from lubbock, texas, mr. neugebauer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. neugebauer: in a minute, we'll have a vote on the preous question. if you vote yes, i think a lot of my colleagues on the other side will do that it means yes, keep on spending money we don't have. i'm going to vote no because i believe the american people are speaking out, they're listening, and -- i'm

listening, and they're tired of our spending. there's a picture in the cloakroom of a little girl standing outside a doll house, she says, i owe $41,000 and all i own is a doll house. this is about the future of our children and grandchildren. today we have almost $13 trillion in debt. we're on course to double that debt in five years, triple it in 10 years. er what going to say to our children and grandchildren when we leave them with a legacy that basically all they get to do is service the debt service. we've got to stop it. so that's the reason the right vote on the previous question is yes. if you want to keep on spending. but if you want to stop spending, if you want to bring fiscal responsibility to this country, if you want to leave a legacy of opportunity and empowerment for future

generations, you're going to vote no. it's time to listen to the 280,000 people who participated in youcut last week that said, stop the spending, vote no on the previous question. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california reserves, the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: i have no further requests for time. mr. dreier: i'm prepared to close, madam chairman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. the gentleman has 2 1/4 minutes remaining. mr. dreier: thank you very much, mr. speaker. let me close, as i began, saying, first, that we could have done this under annapolis consent. we all concur with the need to ensure that we take steps to ensure adequate oversight to ensure we never, ever, ever see the kind of loss of life we saw in west virginia or any other mine disaster. mr. speaker, the american people, the hundreds of millions of americans who want

us to rein in federal spending have unfortunately, because of the democratic majority, they've been denied a voice here on the house floor. they're saying, try and bring down the size and scope and reach of government. my friend dennis prager says, correctly, the bigger the government grows, the smaller the individual becomes. we decided to utilize a procedure here known as defeating the previous question and we said, why don't we let the american people actually have a chance to be heard. so we did it, we put five proposals out there on the republican whip's website and asked the american people to vote nearly -- to vote. nearly 300,000 americans cast votes. they ended up with 81,000 votes being cast in favor of a measure that said, gosh, should people be required to work for welfare? or should we have an open-ended policy that allows them, without any kind of accountability, to be -- to be

rewarded for not having people -- states are rewarded for not having people have a work component in the record. we said with that overwhelming vote that we would use this procedure to ensure that democrats and republicans alike would have an opportunity to make a decision whether or not they want to go down the road toward continued spending, where again we've had an 85% increase in nondefense discretionary spending since president obama has been in office. that's why i couldn't understand why my friend from new jersey was arguing we had an 8% increase when president bush was there his answer is a 10-field increase. that's going to solve the problem? we know that we are deeper in the hole. we have more serious problems now and the american people want us to cut federal spending and every democrat and republican will have a chance when we move to defeat the

previous question to do just that. so mr. speaker, i ask annapolis consent that the text of the amendment and extraneous material be included in the record just before the vote on the previous question and with that, i urge my colleagues to vote for reduced spending by defeating the previous question and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from california yields back the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, this has been a most interesting debate. i am, as i started, terribly concerned about what caused the awful mine disaster in west virginia. i look forward to finding out why that was. lack of government oversight, without any question in my mind lrk a large part of it. this is what we're finding out with the oil spill. this has also been an interesting afternoon of charades. i have a 6-year-old granddaughter who plays a game with me. she'll tell me a tall tale, i

pretend to believe it, at a moment of her choose, she says, got you! don't let them get you today. what they have been doing here is totally nongermane on this bill. if you vote no on this question, they're not going to bring this up because they can. the obama administration did not create this awful problem but we have undertaken responsibility to clean it up and we are going to do that. as soon as the supplemental bill comes, we'll have one of the best chances in the world if we start to cut back the money we are spending on wars in iraq, in afghanistan, where we've already spent $1 trillion . last enormous numbers of our -- lost enormous numbers of our young soldier, maimed many, many more. it is time for us to cut that out. that, again, will start, along with other things we are doing to get this country back on some solid footing. let me say to you once again,

come down here and vote yes. don't be fooled by this i imagine this is the beginning of every charade every week, sort of like what mr. perlmutter said about the compete act. please don't forget, my colleagues, that twice we tried to vote out that bill. to create jobs for people -- to put people back to work and procedural games have killed it. to the great concern of national association of manufactures and the chamber of commerce to name a couple. so this afternoon, i want you to come down here as quick as you can, wherever you are and put your yes in here so that we can get this done and to ge chairman miller the opportunity to use this deposition authority with his staff. to get to the bottom of this mine disaster. we have many disasters of all stripes that we're working on. as you know. and don't be held up by what we have been through here today. there's no question about it,

it's nongermane. thank you very much, and i yield back the balance of my time. i call the previous question. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york yields back the balance of her time and orders the previous question. the question is on ordering the evious question. those in favor say aye

henry happenarnold and omar bradley. alumni of fort kansas, to coincide with the celebration of t 102nd anniversary of the founding of the united states army command angeneral staff college. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill 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, t rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of suspending the rules and agreeing to house resolution 1339 which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: house resolution 1339, resolution expressing support for designation of may as national foster care month and acknowledging the responsibility that congress has to promote safety, well-being, improvinged outcomes and permanency for e nation's collect of children. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to the resolution. those in favor say aye. those opsed, 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 on the table. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of suspending the rules and agreeing to house resolution 1324 which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: house resolution 1324, resolution expressing condolences and sympathies for

the people of china following the tragic earthquake in the qinghai province of the people's republic of china. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to the resolution. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. 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 on the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask to address the house for one minute for the purpose of inquiring about next week's schedule. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman's recognized for one mi. mr. cantor: i thank the speaker and i yield to the gentleman from maryland, the majority leader, for the purposes of announcing next week's schedule. mr. hoyer: i thank the republican whip for yielding. on monday the house will meet at 12:30 p.m. for morning hour debate and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business with votes postponed until 6:30 p.m. on tuesday the house will meet

at 10:30 a.m. for morning hour debate and 12:00 p.m. for legislative business. wednesday and thursday the house will meet at 10:00 a.m. for legislative business and on friday the house will meet at 9:00 a.m. we will consider several bills under suspension of the rules as is usual and the complete list of suspension bills will be announced by the close of business tomorrow. in addition we will consider senate amendments to h.r. 4213, the american jobs closing tax loopholes and preventing outsourcing act, and h.r. 5136, the national defense authorization act for fiscal year 2011. and we will take further action on the american competes legislation to make our economy more vibrant and i yield back. mr. cantor: i thank the gentleman. mr. speaker, i'd ask with the memorial day recess beginning the week after next, does the gentleman expect the house to be in session next friday? and i yield. mr. hoyer: i expect us to

reserve that day for session and i've urged members -- would urge members on both sides now to reserve that day, not to plan for that day. carly if we can complete the week's business then we will not have to meet but i remind the gentleman, as i'm sure he knows, there are a number of items that have expiration dates either on the 31st of may or the first of june. unemployment insurance, cobra health insurance, the sustainable growth rates for doctors' reimbursement for services and other items that are critical to continue. so that i do not want to give away friday because it is the last day we'll be here for 10 days and therefore we need to address those issues and i yield back. .

mr. cantor: the defense authorization bill is up next week and members expect debate on amendments and there are a large number of amendments made in order. does the gentleman expect to follow that precedent and lengthy number of amendments and discussion on the house floor next week? mr. hoyer: we expect to take such time as is necessary to complete the appropriate debate on that bill. if we can do it in one day, if it takes more than that, we will allot more time. mr. cantor: there are a number of items the gentleman did not mention in next week's schedule, a budget resolution as well as troop funding supplemental and would like to ask the gentleman whether he expects either of these two items to come to the floor next week, and i yield? mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for his question. with respect to the budget, as the gentleman knows, i want to

see a budget move forward. mr. spratt has been working very hard to try to see if we can reach consensus on the parameters of such budget. he continues to do that. i frankly want to tell the gentleman honestly that my assessment is that probably will not be done by thursday or wednesday of next week and therefore, even if it was completed wednesday, not appropriate time for notice to be given so that my expectation is it will not be done next week. but my expectation is that we will continue to work on that and do that shortly after we return. mr. cantor: i thank the gentleman. mr. hoyer: you asked another question. on the war supplemental, very important bill that the gentleman and i are very interested in. the senate has marked up. chairman obey is working to get the bill ready for committee

consideration and it is possible that we would consider that next week if, in fact, mr. obey and the committee are ready to report that out. mr. cantor: i thank the gentleman. mr. speaker, the house voted today on the first you cut proposal, a spending cut selected by the american people. unfortunately, only nine members from the gentleman's side of the aisle joined with all republicans in voting to save the taxpayers $2.5 billion. i wish more had voted with republicans. the good news is, members will have the opportunity to vote on another cut again next week. right now as we speak, mr. speaker, americans are casting their votes at the you cut website what they would like the house to cut next week. in keeping with the gentleman's announcement about next week's floor schedule. the house will vote on one of these five spending cut proposals next week.

first, to eliminate the byrd honor scholarship program. second, stop the proposed federal employee pay raise next year, a potential $30 billion worth of savings. third, to suspend the federal land purchases, a $2.6 billion potential savings, mr. speaker. fourth, ability to terminate u.s. funding for unesco for $810 million worth of savings or fifth, a move to eliminate mo hair subsidies, something that would save the taxpayers $10 million. the gentleman knows about this program. it is nothing but an attempt for us to try and change the culture here in washington towards one of saving taxpayer dollars, reducing the deficit should be a bipartisan effort and we would hope the gentleman and his

colleagues would joiwith us as we bring up the next you cut proposal next week. mr. hoyer: would the gentleman yield? mr. cantor: i yield. mr. hoyer: mr. boehner and i did attempt to pursue some meaningful restraints last week and unfortunately we couldn't get agreement to do so on your side of the aisle. having said that, we certainly agree that we need to get a handle on the extraordinary deficit picture that confronts us. i know i'm repetitive, but in 2001, president bush came before the congress and said we have a $5.6 trillion surplus. unfortunately, that $5.6 trillion surplus was eliminated. and, in fact, $5 trillion of

additional deficit was incurred giving us a $10 trillion deficit when this administration took over. that's unfortunate. i will tell the gentleman and as he knows, he and others have voted for trillions, that's with a t of dollars of unfunded liabilities for the federal government, either reduction in revenues, which you say will grow the economy. unfortunately, it did not. or prescription drug bill, which was not paid for, which was hundreds of billions of dollars, not minimal dollars. but we are interested in working with you in a meaningful way, not in procedural vote ways, but in meaningful ways to reduce the deficit that confronts us, including reducing areas of spending, which we think is appropriate.

with respect to the motion that you made today, a procedural motion, maybe a real motion and of course many of those programs were in existence for the 12 years that you controlled the congress of the united states as the gentleman well knows. the motion today, of course, would have affected the program which we believe would have created 185,000 jobs. we think that's important in an economy that is still struggling to get jobs back. but we applaud the efforts to bring forward meaningful, important ideas. unfortunately, that has not always been our experience. i'm sure you read there have been a lot of motions to recommit that have been made. now we are on to previous questions now. but motions to recommit, norm

ornstein wrote an article the other day and said the unfortunate fact is the motion to recommit with instructions has for more than a decade been a hollow vehicle and farce. the american public doesn't want to see us participate in hollow vehicles. what they want us to see is work together in real ways to affect the kind of fiscal responsibility that we had in the 1990's. and unfortunately, we did not have in the last decade. we need to return to that. we have, as you know, taken very substantive steps. one was to pay for what we buy, not a previous question. legislation on this floor that said we were going to pay for what we buy. put in place in a bipartisan way with mr. bush and mr. gephardt

leading the way and others. again adopted in a bipartisan way with mr. gingrich and mr. clinton, president clinton working together. and then, jettison, not under your personal leadership, but the leadership of the republican party in 2001, 2002 and 2003 in which we said no, we don't believe paying for what we buy is the policy we are going to pursue. you didn't pursue. you created large deficits every year you controlled the house, senate, presidency, every year, without fail. so i tell my friend that we want to join together in real efforts. we're sorry in a partisan way pay-go was jettisoned. the commission that the president established by executive order didn't pass

because so many of the colleagues who said they were for the idea to propose real restraint in spending, not only in terms of discretionary dollars but in terms of entitlement dollars that so many of your colleagues in the senate oppose that and as a result, we don't have a statutory commission, we have a presidently appointed commission. i'm hopeful they will make recommendations, our members and your members will join to make recommendations. mr. reid, the leader in the senate and speaker pelosi have indicated they will put their recommendations on the floor. the senate passes them, we'll put them on the floor here. hopefully we will work together, even though there may be disagreement on the process that is being pursued. and i yield back. mr. cantor: i thank the gentleman. mr. speaker, the gentleman loves to talk about spending under the

bush years and under the years that our party controlled congress. i find it ironic at this point to talk about the inability to control spending when it is his party and the majority currently that is unable to produce a budget. and he and i have had discussions about the inability of this house to do its work and i know the gentleman recalls because it has been reported before that he himself says that when we are unable to pass the budget and i quote, it is failing to meet the most basic responsibility of governing, that is enacting a budget. in the same way the the gentleman from south carolina, mr. spratt, said, quote, if you can't budget, you can't govern. in a parliamentary system, it is more than an addage. mr. hoyer: would the gentleman

yield? . cantor: not yet. mr. hoyer: i agree with both of those statements. mr. cantor: instead of casting stones and pointing blame and saying you did this, i believe it is most important for us to recognize now the failure of this body to do what the american people expect us to do to control spending and that is to produce a budget. mr. speaker, i go on to say, the gentleman was quick to -- if i could say malign the attempt to reduce the $2.4 billion program under the expanded welfare program under the stimulus bill that we just had a vote on. there were nine members, mr. bright, mr. donnelly, ms. kirkpatrick, mr. mitchell, mr. nye and mr. taylor, these individual members felt that perhaps we were and did have a valid point to make that we

ought to be cutting spending right now. and i would say to the gentleman, perhaps he's suggesting that these individuals voted to kill 185,000 jobs. i wouldn't say that those members did try to do that in that vote. again, i would just ask the gentleman whether that was his intention. i wouldn't think his members would vote to kill jobs. i would say more, mr. speaker -- mr. hoyer: would the gentleman yield? mr. cantor: i yield. mr. hoyer: there is a lot of concern and we all know this, 70-second gotcha ads on television which don't discussion the ramifications of actions. the bill that passed, passed overwhelmingly. the previous question would have stopped that bill going forward. obviously when you were in control, you wanted the previous question passed so you could move your substantive

legislation forward. no difference over here, but the gotcha ads are something in the minds of everybody on both sides of the aisle. mr. cantor: reclaiming my time. there is no gotcha ads. there was a statement that said that thprogram we were attempting to cut was a program that could create or has created 185,000 jobs. and i would say to the gentleman nine of his members voted with us on that vote. i would ask the gentleman did those nine members voted to kill 185,000 jobs the way in his statement that he implied that's what the republicans intended to do? mr. hoyer: members don't believe this is a real vote. we are cognizant of why it's being done. but the 185,000 jobs clearly,

those nine members that you referenced did not vote to eliminate 185,000 jobs. but all your members did. and the reason the difference is because you aren't going to run ads against your members. the fact of the matter is, if you want to do real things to create real jobs, we're prepared to work with you. we believe the program you want todd eliminate does in fact score at creating 185,000 jobs. you call it welfare. we call it work. we think it was an appropriate expenditure. as the gentleman may know, we have that expenditure in our jobs bill. why? because it's scored to create 185,000 jobs, put people to work, allow them to support their families, allow them to live with some degree of dignity and we think that's appropriate in a very, very strained economy

to this date. we're coming back, but as we have seen lately, it is fragile and oil causes problem in terms of confidence and we need to keep confidence up and not make the mistakes made in the past. . mr. cantor: the kind of debate that we are having should be the kind of debate we are having on this floor every day, not voting for post offices and naming federal buildings. the gentleman knows the reason -- mr. hoyer: will the gentleman yield on that particular point? mr. cantor: i yield. mr. hoyer: do you want me -- as you know, i schedule the legislation. are you asking me not to schedule the 40% of those post office buildings that your members are requesting? if you are, i will not schedule them. i yield back. mr. cantor: mr. speaker, what i am asking the gentleman to do is

to work with us in bringing to the floor and scheduling bills that actually reduce spending here in washington. because the gentleman indicated that he knows why all this is being done. and i think that perhaps maybe he's thinking it's being done under the old nstruct. where we are now, mr. speaker, in my opinion is that the american people expect some accountability here in washington. they want to us stop spending money we don't have. the reason why we launched the program is, number one, we want to say to the american people, we're listening. that we're not setting aside their wishes and their desires that we care about what they think. that's what it's all about. it's about empowering folks to go online and to tell us what they think, given the options presented, to cut the federal budget deficit. that's why we're doing this program, mr. speaker. and that's what you cut is all about. now, i would say to the gentleman, not one bill on the

floor this week cut a single dollar from the federal deficit. that's why we brought this proposal up. now, why we chose the p.q.? i think the gentleman knows that the rules put in place make it so that the minority has no other way to deposit their alternatives or deposit wishes that we may have other than to use the p.q. and that's why we elected this. if the gentleman wants to schedule a bill that we are discussing on substantive grounds, that's what we're about. bring these bills to the floor for open and fair debate. and lastly, mr. speaker, i would say to the gentleman, he mentions the disappointment that he had over some on our side of the aisle and some on the other side of the building not supporting the president's commission, trusting the fcal outlook for this country. the gentleman knows well the reason why many members on our side of the aisle refuse to

participate in that vote was because in fact the focus was not going to be on that commission cutting spending. we think that washington doesn't have a revenue problem. we have a spending problem here. so why couldn't we just set aside the need for additional revenues, put that off the table and focus on spending? again, that's what the you cut program is about, that's why we're bringing these things to the floor and i would hope that the gentleman could join us in demonstrating that we're listening to the people and actually moving towards a sense of fiscal discipline here in washington. mr. hoyer: will the gentleman yield? mr. cantor: i yield. mr. hoyer: i ask the gentleman, there is a member on your side of the aisle who has in my opinion a very thoughtful, courageous and substantive proposal. i happen not to agree with it. but i think it is a courageous, honest, intellectually honest proposal. and that is mr. ryan who's the ranking member of the budget

committee. if the gentleman would like to us put that budget on the floor, which is from his chair, when he was in the majority, of the budget committee, that is a really substantive proposal. again, i don't agree with it but i think it intellectually is an honest, effective proposal to deal with a very serious problem. not a little problem. but a $1 trillion program -- problem. not a little problem that sounds good in sound bites but is not going to get to us where we need to be. i think mr. ryan has such a proposal and i certainly would urge the chairman of the budget committee to agree to make sure that's on the floor because i believe that is a substantive proposal. the gentleman says we don't put substantive proposals on the floor. that's made by the ranking member of the budget committee, one of the leaders of his party,

representing your party on the budget committee and i would be glad to make arrangements to have that proposal on the floor. mr. cantor: i say to the speaker that the gentleman suggests that our ranking member on the budget committee, mr. ryan, wrote that proposal as the budget. that's not the budget. that's a 75-year document. the gentleman knows, if he's looked at that, is a plan to try and address the very real fiscal challenges that this country faces. mr. hoyer: i agree with that. mr. cantor: our job here in this congress is to go about trying to address the problems through the processes that his party has put in place. right now priority one should be a budget. ok? so if the gentleman is suggesting that perhaps we bring mr. ryan's road map bill to the floor, 75-year document, how is that even something that we could eect is a serious gesture to do something about the fiscal needs this country

has when his party can't even produce a budget for this fiscal year? so, again, i say, mr. speaker, let's get serious now. we can agree, there are a lot of things we can agree on. the budget cut that we brought to the floor today is something that i believe up or down, if his members were given the opportunity to vote on again and think about without being tainlted by some accusation that it may not be for real, these are cuts that are serious. we've got to start somewhere. and the american people have said, start here. so this is what we're about, mr. speaker. and i'd ask the gentleman to work with us and bring these types of cuts to the floor. if the gentleman's really saying that $2.5 billion is not something that we could start with, as if that's no money, i know he doesn't mean that, and

only in washington somehow has that become a sense that $2.5 billion is not real money. of course it is. but we've got to find ways to work together and if the gentleman says he'll bring up, you know this bill is up but he can't support it, then the purpose is not for us to work together. we've got to work together to find a way to solve these problems and i yield. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i take that as a no. that you're not interested in having that bill brought up. but, $2.5 llion is a lot of money. and to the extent we cut $2.5 billion or $2.5 million, we ought to do it. you're going to have an opportunity to vote on that $2.4 billion, 185,000 job creation bill probably next week. we're going to have it on the floor. so you'll have a chance to vote on that, i tell my friend. we do want to work tgether.

and the reason i keep bringing up not is to blame. i said this a couple of weeks ago. not to blame but to point out the failure of the premise under which you have operated to do what you said it was going to do. create jobs, lower the deficit. in fact, it did the opposite. we followed that economic policy for six years, the american public said, we don't like this. and we couldn't change it because president bush didn't want to change it. in 2008 they said, we want new leadership. unfortunately the legacy we were left was a -- the deepest economic recession as a result of those policies that this country has seen in 75 years. we're trying to dig out. it's difficult to dig out. we have a responsibility, however, to make the tough decisions to dig out. you and i made a tough decision at president bush's request in september.

in february we had to make another tough decision, you and i disagreed on that. and that was trying to put money into the economy, try to stabilize it, bring jobs back. i suggest to the gentleman that that is working. it's not working as well as we would have liked, but we've had four months of job growth. those four months, if they're replicated over the next 2/3 of the year, would create more jobs, more jobs than were created in the 96 months of the bush administration. 1.7 million jobs. one million were created during the entire eight years of the bush administration net. we have a hole, we need to dig out. the gentleman is absolutely correct. to the extent that we dig together, america will get better. we want to do that. mr. cantor: i thank the gentleman and again i would respond by saying it is just not all that black and white and he knows it. there is no way that the blame

for what happened can go singly to one party, one administration or what have you. we all have to come here with the best of intentions to work together and to point to the good in this country and what made us who we are and that is the freedom and the economic freedom afforded by our system, that is the principles by which we come to this building, mr. speaker, and some of us have a strong objection to the increasing sense that somehow we've got all the answers here in washington, that we don't have to listen to the people. i'm glad to hear that the gentleman's going to bring some you cut proposals to the floor. that's a great start. we need to keep going, listening to the people, doing what it is they expect which is to get this federal spending under control. mr. speaker, in closing i would -- i look forward to working -- i yield. mr. hoyer: what i said is we'll bring the proposal to create those jobs to the floor. not to cut it, but to spend it

because we believe that that will create 185,000 jobs. i just didn't want to be misconstrued in what i said. the gentleman will have an opportunity to votagainst that, of course. mr. cantor: i apologize, mr. speaker, for misunderstanding the gentleman. i would respond to that statement then by saying, the american people have told us to stop spending, to stop spending money we don't have. and that's the purpose for our sponsoring this provision today, the purpose for launching you cut and we will expect to continue to have the votes on listening to the american people, to begin to cut the federal deficit. but, again, mr. speaker in closing i look forward to working with the gentleman from maryland in a fiscally responsible manner. which again, we would hope starts with passing a budget blueprint this year, making some of the tough decisions to cut spending just like the american families and small business people are doing as we speak. and with that, i thank the gentleman for his time and i

yield back. mr. hoyer: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland rise? mr. hoyer: i ask unanimous consent that when the house adjourns tomorrow it adjourn to meet at 12:30 p.m. on monday next for morning hour debate and when the house adjourns on that day it adjourn to meet at 10:30 a.m. on tuesday, may 25, 2010, for morning hour debate. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, madam, this letter is to inform you that i have sent the enclosed letter to governor mitch daniels of indiana, resigning my office as the united states representative for the third district of indiana, effective friday, may

21, 2010. it has been an honor and a privilege to serve the people of indiana. signed sincerely, mark e. souder, member of congress. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, madam, i write to formally notify you that i have been served with a subpoena for testimony issued by the u.s. distct court for the northern district of illinois in a criminal case pending there. while it is unclear at this time whether the testimony sought relates to the official functions of the house, within the meaning of rule 8.1 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives i am electing to notify the house of the subpoena out of an abundance of caution. after consultation with council, i have determined that compliance with the subpoena is consistent with the privileges consistent with the privileges and rights of the house.