handle this. they have expertise on issues relating to consume procedure duct safety through labeling and consumer product testing. it suggests that we should entrust this through the cpsc. having the deficiencies had been resolved, this bill would likely warrant passage. unfortunately, i can't support the bill in this current form and urge a no vote. madam speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from california is recognized. ms. matsui: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. radanovich: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized. ms. matsui: who knnw -- we know that harmful formaldehyde

emissions need to be addressed immediately. it was larblingly the rrsult of cheap foreign products that enter the united states marketplace at much lower costs. these have harmed far too many americans than foreign sources have and continue to place our domestic manufacturing industries at a competitive disadvantage this will level the playing field for domestic industries and protect the health of american consumers. today we have a strong bipartisan, bicameral bill that will boost our domestic manufacturing industry, create jobs and protect american consumers. this bill is strongly supported by a large number of industries, public health advocates and environmental groups. again, this legislation is bipartisan and i urge my colleagues to support s. 1650, -- s. 1660, to make sure that faulty foreign wood products don't enter the united states. i yield back my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass senate 1660. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended and the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california -- does the gentlewoman from california rise? ms. watson: i move to suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 13 50 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report think title. the clerk: house resolution 1350, recognizing june 20, 2010, as world refugee day. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the

gentlewoman from california, ms. watson and the gentlewoman from florida, ms. ros-lehtinen, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california. ms. watson: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentlewoman from california. ms. watson: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized. ms. watson: i'm grateful for the opportunity to speak today on h.res. 1350, a resolution i introduced to recognize world refugee day as june 20, 2010. this special day first marked in 2001 is held every year on june 20. tens of thousands of people around the world take time to recognize the plight of

forcefully displaced people throughout the world. the annual commemoration is marked by a variety of events in more than 100 countries involving government officials, humanitarian aid workers, celebrities, civilians, and those who are forcibly displaced themselves. with the humanitarian efforts of the united states, other nations and organizations like the united nations high commission for refugees, the red cross, the international rescue committee, and the refugees international among so many others, refugees are able to flee from persecution, violence, and war in order to seek protection. many have fled to the united states a safe haven with a history of aiding those seeking protext from persecution, violence, and war. america has provided more assistance to refugees seeking

protection than any other country. if you ever met a refugee, you have encountered someone who has overcome great obstacles simply to just survive. take the case of a somaly refugee, abdul samatar, a young man with a childhood full of tragedy and life threatening experiences who took refuge in the united states. he was born in 1984 in somalia. then, at that time, a peaceful land of great beauty, promise, and resources. now, however, somalia s overwhelmed by famine, war, and violence. leave nothing person unaffected. in 1992, his father, a religious leader in moe gandhi shoe, a -- in mo gandhi shoe --

in mogadishu, the capital, was shot. he lived the life of a know mad. he was afraid that like his father he would be killed by a rival tribe he fled across the somalia-kenya border into kenya. thanks to the generosity of the united nations high commissioner for refugee, he was provided with food and assistance for 2 1/2 years there. fortunately, while he was in nairobi, he was introduced to a refugee coordinator at the united states embassy who along with two other citizens helped him move to the united states. an example of success, he graduated from high school in 2004 and graduated from the university in may 20, 10, with a degree in american studies. with his education, he intends

to make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate. yes, madam speaker, stories like this attest to the success of our refugee program and given merit to recognizing june 20, 2010, as world refugee day. i just want to include that on that friday, we were at the state department, we had abdu and his family there, along with our secretary of state we celebrated and commended those who were involved in world refugee day. i urge my colleagues to support the bipartisan h.res. 1350. madam speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from florida. ms. ros-lehtinen: i would like to yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. ros-lehtinen: i rise today

as a proud co-sponsor of house resolution 1350 and i want to thank my good friend and colleague from california, ambassador watson, for introducing this worthy measure this issue is important to me, not just as the ranking member of the foreign affairs committee or as a member who represents one of the top 20 refugee resettlement areas in the united states but also as a former refugee. refugees have been a core component of our wonderful nation since its creation, whether they were early colonists fleeing religious persecution in europe or families in the 20th century fleeing communist tyranny as mine fled the castro regime, refugees have found in this great nation safety, freedom, and opportunity. from the displaced persons act of 1948 to the refugees act of 1980, until today, i am proud

of the work that coness has done over the years to keep refugee protection a priority of our government. paradecisional -- traditionally the united states has resettled more refugees on an annual basis than the rest of the world combined. but our country also lives up to its own higheet ideals when we reach out overseas to help and protect those most vulnerable of the vulnerables, those forced from their homes by persecution, whether due to ethnic, sectarian or political conflict in africa or the middle east or repression by regimes like those in burma, north korea, or sudan, tens of millions of children, women, and men around the world stand in need of food, shelter, and protection. because of this vulnerability, they are also prime targets for the demumizing form of

exploitation and human trafficking. by supporting the work of the u.n. high commissioner for refugees and the many dead nate -- dedicated nongovernmental organizations, the people of the united states don't show our generosity toward the displace and the vulnerable. world refugee day, observed for the 10th time this past weekend, is a fitting time for us to reflect on these dire human needs, commend the bravery and service of those who assist refugees in insecure circumstances around the world, and to recommit ourselves to the protection of displaced populations as a humanitarian and human rights priority. for these reason ares, madam speaker, i support -- for these reasons, madam speaker, i support this measure and urge its prompt adoption. madam speaker, we have no further requests for time.

at this time, i would like to yield back the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida yields back the balance of her time. the gentlewoman from california is recognized. ms. watson: madam speakee -- ms. watson: madam speaker, i want to thank my co-sponsor, i think her stories, too, are very commelling and we join strongly together on this piece of legislation. i have no further requests for time, madam speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: all time has been yielded back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1350 as amended? those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? ms. watson: i move to suspend

the rules an agree to the resolution s.j.res. 32. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the joint resolution. the clerk: senate joint resolution 32, joint resolution recognizing the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the korean war and reaffirming the united states-korea alliance. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from california, ms. watson, and the gentlewoman from florida, ms. ros-lehtinen, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california. ms. watson: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise pnd extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. so ordered. the gentlewoman from california. ms. watson: i rise in strong support of this resolution and yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california. ms. watson: madam speaker, last week the house passed h.j.res.

86 a joint resolution commemorating the 60th anniversary of the korean war. that resolution was introduced by the gentleman from new york, mr. engel, and three other distinguished veterans of the korean war, the gentleman from michigan, mr. conyers, the gentleman from texas, mr. johnson, and the gentleman from north carolina, mr. coble. we had hoped the senate would take up and pass the house version of the joint resolution and then send it over to the president for his signature before tomorrow's korean war commemoration in statuary hall. however, the other body made a number of technical corrections to their version of the joint resolution subsequent to last week's house action and as a result, the only viable means for us to get the joint resolution to the president in a timely fashion was for the house to take up and pass the

joint -- the senate joint resolution, which is the legislation before us today. madam speaker, i urge all my colleagues to support this resolution and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentlewoman from florida is recognized. ms. ros-lehtinen: at this time, i would like to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from indiana, mr. burton the ranking member on the foreign affairs subcommittee on the middle east and south asia. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana is recognized. mr. burton: i thank my good friend from florida for yielding. i say that south korea has been one of our greatest allies ever sincc the korean war. we worked together during the war, along with the united nations, to stop the expansion of communism throughout that area, and ultimately there was a resolution. although it's still kind of ten

with us, when they divided -- tenuous, when they divided korea along the parallel. i have been over there since the korean war. there has never been a case of freedom and democracy as opposed to a totalitarian government than in korea. in korea, north korea is foundering, it's under a dictator. the communist system has created famine and a huge loss of life. the tyranny there is unbelievable and yet you go south of the 38th parallel and you see a blossoming country, one that has done extremely well over the past 60 years because of freedom and democracy. i think that korea is one of the best allies -- south korea is one of the best allies that the united states has. and the one thing i'd like to add to this little discussion today is the need for us to expand our trade relations with

south korea with a free trade agreement. that's been languishing for a long time. and i'd just like to say to my colleagues, that's one of the things that can enhance our relationship with south korea and we need to get that thing passed as quickly as possible. and with that i'd just like to say one more time, south korea is one of our best allies in that entire region and a perfect example of where freedom and democracy really works well. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida is recognized. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you so much. and i thank my good friend from indiana. i wholeheartedly agree with his remarks. madam speaker, i'd like to yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida is recognized. ms. ros-lehtinen: i thank the speaker. i rise in strong support of this important resolution, which honors as the inscription at the korean memorial reads, our sons and daughters who answered the call to defend a country they never knew and a people they never met.

on a predawn sunday morning in june, 1950, while the world slept and the church bells of seoul had yet to ring, north korea launched a sudden, unprovoked military strike on the republic of korea. president harry truman, when he received the news, immediately returned to washington and summoned his cabinet. within 48 hours the president had directed general douglas mcarthur to undertake a vigorous defense of south korea and her people. the rest is history. history of what has come to be known as the forgotten war. the conflict in korea became the first test of the medals of the west in confronting communist aggression in the cold war. over 50,000 of the boys and young men and women of the summer of 1950 who left for korea did not return, including over 33,000 who fell in combat.

in the sweltering heat of that summer, in the monsoon rain, on the wind-swept expans of the yalu river, and in the bloody withdraw from the reservoir the following winter they gave in some cases their last full measure of devotion. names like heartbreak ridge, pork chop hill, glouster valley where british, belgian and philippine troops joined with their american comrades in arms echoed down in the slowly fading memories of aging warriors. were their great sacrifice worth the cost, worth the blood, sweat and tears of the boys of summer of 1950? one only has to look at the faces of ttose living in freedom in south korea. one only has to look at the gleaming towers of the bright

skyline of seoul in contrast to the darkness, the impoverishment and the fear that lies north of the 38th parallel to say thank god for those brave men and women who risked all to save so many from communist oppression. however, we were unable to help save them all. one need only reflect on the huddled refugees crossing the vastness of china on the underground seoul train. one need think only of the young north korean women escaping the hopelessness of sexual bondage in china for freedom in south korea to know that those who answered harry truman's call truly made a difference. i was a proud sponsor of the re-authorization of thee+ north korean human rights act during this last congress to help address some of those issues.

today, dark clouds hang once again over the korean peninsula sadly. the vibrant economy and the flourishing democracy of a south korea which had risen from the ashes of ar is again under the threat of the tyrannical and belligerent north. in march in a clear violation of the armistice agreement, north korea launched another sudden, unprovoked attack torpedoing a south korean naval vessel and murdering 46 young south korean sailors. and pyongyang's provocation is not limited to military strikes. in actions which are clearly those of a state sponsor of terrorism, north korea sent a hit squad of agents to seoul to assassinate a leading dissident and attempted to ship weapons via bangkok to hamas and

hezbollah. madam speaker, now is the time for our president to show some of the medals that defined our nation 60 years ago and stand up to the north koreans by %% redesignating their country as a state sponsor of terrorism. our south korean, japanese and israeli allies are depending on us to help shield them from the north korean provocations and the weapons of mass destruction. in the crisis on the korean peninsula, beijing has played a cynical game calling for the korean peninsula to be denuclearized on one hand and yet shielding its north korean cronies on the other hand. beijing had the audacity to publicly warn south korea not to let the aircraft carrier u.s.s. george washington to enter waters lying between the

korean peninsula and china for a proposed joint u.s.-south korean naval exercise. well, we have news from beijing. if you don't want the u.s.s. george washington in your back yard, then you better rein in the bullies in pyongyang. another legacy of the forgotten war is the vibrant korean american community. %% immigrants from korea over the past six decades have contributed immeasurablely to the american mosaic. impacting positively this nation's economic, educational, scientific and cultural life. economic and trade ties have also boomed between our two countries in the decades since the war, ties that can be invigorated by prompt congressional action on the proposed free trade agreement with south korea. thus, it is perfectly clear that the world is a better

place because of the heroism in koreaa of the boys of summer 60 years ago this month. the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of war in korea is an appropriate time to demonstrate that we continue to stand with our south korean allies. the people of south korea should be assured that we stood with you in that summer of 1950. we stood with you during the recent crisis, and we shall stand with you until the day of% peaceful reunification with your abused and bestieged brett ren in the north. madam speaker -- brotheren in the north. madam speaker, i strongly support this joint resolution and with that i rrserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentlewoman from california is recognized. ms. watson: madam speaker, i %% want to thank my colleague for

her strong support and giving us the background for which this resolution was introduced. i have the largest korean -- south korean community in the united states in my district, all of korea town, and they are struggling with the challenges ahead of them. and i want you to know in august i would be going to korea. i invite my colleague to go with us if she can spare the time. but i think what we do, we spread good will and let the south koreans know how appreciative we are with them coming here to america and particularly in los angeles with their stimulating and vigorous entrepreneurship and they have added so much to the culture and that added value makes us a little stronger.

and i hope that we can return the favor to add value to south korea. madam speaker, i have no further requests for time and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california yields back the balance of her time. ms. watson: madam speaker. ms. ros-lehtinen: and i also have no further requests for time, madam speaker. i'd like to yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: all time has been yielded back. ms. watson: yes. and i again yield back the balance of my time. madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized for what purpose? ms. watson: if we can just take a voice vote on that. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass senate joint resolution 32. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended and the

joint resolution is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? ms. watson: madam speaker, i move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution h.res. 1464. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1464, resolution recognizing the 50th anniversary of the conclusion of the united states-japan treaty of mutual cooperation and security and expressing appreciation to the government of japan and the japanese people for enhancing peace, prosperity, and security in the asia-pacific region. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from california, ms. watson, and the gentlewoman from florida, ms. ros-lehtinen, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california.

ms. watson: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentlewoman from california. ms. watson: madam speaker, i rise in strong support of this resolution and yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california. ms. watson: this resolution commemorates the 50th anniversary of the united states-japan treaty of mutual cooperation and security which entered into force on june 23, 1960. this treaty formed the basis for the presence of u.s. armed forces in japan which has contributed to japan's security and prosperity and to regional peace and stability. our alliance with japan has advanced american interests by

ensuring a stable balance of power in the asia-pacific region, providing that platform for managing tensions on the korean peninsula and serving as a means to enlist japan's cooperation on regional and %% global security issues. for example, japan is the second largest internntional contributor to afghanistan pledging $5 million in economic assistance over the next five years. japan sent rapid humanitarian aid to haiti and the japanese self-defense force provided medical relief following the earthquake there this past january. japan, to this day, remains a steadfast ally with the united states in combating the nuclear threat from north korea and responding to the north

provocative behavior. the success of our alliance with japan would not have been possible without japan's broad support and understanding, and i would like to thank the government of japan and the japanese people and especially the people of okinawa, where i taught for two years, for their continued hosting of american armed forces in japan. i taught the children of these armed forces. while japan is an important partner and friend and we ea aee gree on many issues there is one important matter on which we disagree, the issue of american children take ton japan by one parent against the wishes of the other parent. this issue is a very real and serious concern for those left behind parents and for those of us representing them here in

congress. it is imperative that our two governments create the best possible situation for these tragic cases to be resolved. not only for the sake of those families, but to ensure that u.s.-japan relations continue on a positive trajectory. as we commemorate this week, the 50th anniversary of our alliance with japan we know that the importance of this alliance remains as vital as %% ever, even if the treaty's original cold war backdrop has long faded from view. we only to look at north korea's belligerent action over the last two years to be reminded of the relevance of the u.s.-japan security treaty. now is the right time to pursue an ambitious, forward-looking

agenda to ensure that the fundamentals of the alliance remain in place and to advance our security cooperation to meet the many challenges of the 21st century. i would like to thank my friend, the gentlewoman the distinguished gentlewoman from florida, ms. ros-lehtinen, the ranking member of the house committee on foreign affairs, for introducing this resolution and i urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentlewoman reserve the balance of her time? ms. watson: madam speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida is recognized. ms. ros-lehtinen: i'd like to yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from florida.

ms. ros-lehtinen: i rise in support of this -- of this resolution recognizing the mutual benefits for the united states and japan of a treaty which went into effect exactly 50 years ago today. the asia-pacific region was a dangerous neighborhood a half century ago. the united states and her allies had just fought the first hot bat olves the cold war on the korean peninsula. tensions were high in the taiwan strait and the war in vote nan was just emerging on the horizon. a half century later, asia, while now the prosperous trading hub of the world, is still dangerous. only -- we need only look at the recent torpedoing of a south korean naval vessel by a reckless north korea to recognize that the asia-pacific region is not jet truly pacific.

thrugh all the perils in the pacific, the united states-japan treaty of mutual cooperation and security has stood as a cornerstone of a continued regional peace and prosperity. none of this would be possible without the contribution of the people of japan and especially those on ock in a what through their continued hosting of our proud u.s. armed forces. the smooth transition from bitter adversaries to full partners is a tribute to the resiliency and farsightedness of two people on opposite sides of the pacific. the people of the united states and the people of japan. the recent reaffirmation of the commitment to full implementation of he 2006 road map and the guam international agreement for realignment of u.s. armed forces in japan is a concrete step forward in cementing this crucial alliance.

the mutual cooperation promised in the treaty 50 years ago, however, extends far beyond the japanese island when the u.s. looked for partners in dealing with the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in haiti early this year, japan's self-defense forces were there working with their american counterparts. on the critical issue of the stabilization of the volatile situation in south asia, japan pphas been a generous contribut in economic assistance to both afghanistan and pakistan and japan has been a stalwart ally in our u.s. efforts to end the proliferation of nuclear weapons and missile technology by the reckless regime in pyongyang. both within the united nations and during the six-party process in beijing, japan has

stood shoulder to shoulder with its american allies in opposing continuing -- in continued north korean nuclear brinksmanship. north korean threats continue, we should immediately relist north korea as a state sponsor of terrorism. this ii both because of pyongyang's past abductions of japanese citizens and because of north korea's continued links to terrorist groups like hezbollah and hamas. there is no greater signal that this administration canned send to the japanese people in this treaty anniversary year than acting expeditiously to hold north korea fully accountable for such terrorist activities. i join in the anticipation expressed in this resolution of another 50 years of unshakeable friendship and deepening

cooperation with the people of japan. madam speaker, we have no further requests for time so at this time, i'd like to yield the rest of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida yields back the balance of her time. the gentlewoman from california is recognized.%% ms. watson: i have no further requests for time and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california yields back the balance of her time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agrea to house resolution 1464? those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended -- for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california rise? ms. watson: i object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will

be postponed. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek reck are in addition? ms. watson: madam speaker, i move to suspend the rules and agree to resolution h.res. 1465. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1465, resolution reaffirming the long-standing friendship and alliance between the united states and clomia. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from california, ms. watson, and the gentlewoman from florida, ms. ros-lehtinen, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california. ms. watson: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise aad extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentlewoman from california. ms. watson: madam speaker, i rise in strong support of this

resolution and yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california. ms. watson: madam speaker, last month colombia held the first round of their presidential elections.%% in an outcome that spur prized many observers, the -- that surprised many observers, the green party and the national unity party both failed to receive an outright majority of the vote. a runoff was required this past sunday. over 13 million colombians participated in the second round, with former defense minister juaa manuel santos receiving 69% of the vote and becoming the president-elect of colombia. with this resolution, the house of representatives honors the colombian people and their commitment to democracy. since gaining its independence from spain in 1819, colombia

has remained democratic, sometimes as an outline -- outlier in this region. we applaud the free and fair nature of these multiparty, internationally recognized elections. colombia is not without problems. some of them significant. the human rights situation in colombia leaves much to be desired. colombia has over three million internally displaced people. second in the world only to the sudan as a result of its long struggles with armed groups that the united states and most of the world consider terrorists. while these issues must remain on the front burner of our common agenda, it is important to recognize that colombia remains an important friend and ally of the united states. their resilience in the long

hemispheric battle against narcotrafficing is worthy of respect and admiration. ppas we congratulate president-elect juan emanuel santos on this victory in colombia's june 20, 2010, presidential election, we have every expectation that he and his new administration will continue the tradition of a strong relationship with the united states. madam speaker, i urge my colleagues to support this resolution and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california reserves the balance of her time. the gentlewoman from florida is recognized. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, madam speaker. at this time, i would like to yield three minutes to my good friend from florida, mr. mario diaz-balart, a member of the budget and science and technology committees. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. diaz-balart: thank you, ma'am. i want to also thank the ranking member of the committee, ms. ros-lehtinen. i rise to strongly support this resolution this past sunday, as we heard 20 million of colombia's citizens turned out to the polls and elected former defense minister juan man well santos with an astounding 69% of the vote. yet the true wins of the presidential election were who? the colombian people. and democracy as a whole. they were the winners. yes, the united states of america. because the colombian people not only elected someone who i know will lead them with brilliance but also a person who understands the special ties between colombia and the united states of america. madam speaker, words are important, but so are actions. it is now also time, yes, we

have to pass this important resolution, but we also have to bring forward to this house the free trade deal with colombia that has been lingering and just waiting for house -- for congressional action. colombia is a strong ally. they have done everything right their people have once again spoken, with huge numbers, and supported a person who, again, has been pushing for the free trade deal, just like his predecessor, the current president of clomyarks president uribe who has demonstrated great leadership. it's time to bring up the free trade deal, it's time to pass the free trade deal, it's time to not only shower colombia with kind words but show with action, that this congress does care for democracy that we understand we have to support our allies, none more important than clomyasm it's time to pass the free trade deal with colombia. in the meantime, i urge support of this important resolution.

i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized. ms. watson: madam speaker, i have no further requests for time, but i reserve they baaance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the yom from florida. ms. ros-lehtinen: i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from kansas, mr. moran, the ranking member thope -- on the agriculture subcommittee on general farm commodities. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. moran: thank you, and i thank the gentlelady for yielding. i traveled to colombia to see our partnership at work. colombia has overcome many, many challenges and more remain, it's essential that the united states continue a positive relationship with this critical ally in south america. while it's good we're here today to discuss and pass this

nonbinding resolution in support of colombia, the better way to show our support for the colombia people is to approve a still pending, four years now, pending trade agreement. it's been nearly four years since the f.t.a., the free trade agreement, has signed, yet congress has failed to act. the longer we wate to approve the free trade agreement the more realienate this ally. if the colombian free trade agreement was approved, duties on u.s. wheat would be eliminated, creating new opportunities for wheat exports. it's harvest time in kansas and this is critical for wheat farmers encountering%% growing supplies around the world. i support this resolution but

it's not a substitute for what we ought to be doing, approving the u.s.-colombian free trade agreement. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from florida is recognized. %% ms. ros-lehtinen: i'm so honored to yield two minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. brady, the ranking member on the house ways and means subcommittee on trade, who has been a proud proponent of passing the u.s.-colombia free trade agreement. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for two minutes. mr. brady: thank you. i thank the gentlelady for her leadership and for her yielding. i want to congratulate the colombian people and president-elect santos on a successful presidential election. i want to enter this editorial from "the washington post" -- the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. brady: to support the incoming santos administration by acting on the u.s.-colombian trade agreement. president santos will continue the great work to strengthen the rule f law and improve the lives of all colombians.

colombian workers arr safer now than ever before. despite this progress, colombia faces real challenges. venezuela has imposed a trade embargo because of colombia's strong support for the united states. severely damage the colombian economy. we have a powerful tool to help colombia, whether the embargo, the u.s. free trade agreement with colombia. it will provide both economic and political support for a truly democratic government and a long-standing ali. unfortunately, democrats in congress -- ally. unfortunately, democrats in congress have denied us an opportunity for a simple up or down vote on the agreement. but other countries aren't standing still. they are reaching agreements with colombia, racing ahead to put their workers and their businesses ahead of ours. just yesterday, the canadian legislature ratified the colombia-canada free trade agreement. colombia's negotiating agreements with europe, panama and south korea and as a result

american workers are falling behind. there is no credible reason to oppose the colombia free trade agreement. it levels the playing field for american workers, creating over $1 billion in new u.s. sales to colombia. they'll impose stronger labor protections for colombian workers. thousands of workers support the agreement. it demonstrates america's commitment to a valuable and long-standing ally. the administration says that exports creates jobs and ensures strong u.s. foreign policy but none of this is credible while we ignore the u.s.-colombia treed promotion agreement. -- trade promotion agreement. madam speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from california is recognized. -- from florida is recognized. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, madam speaker. i'd like to yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, madam speaker.

i rise today as the proud author of the resolution before us, house resolution 1465, which reaffirms the longstanding friendship and the deep alliance between the united states and colombia. furthermore, it recognizes our shared commitment to democracy and it congratulates juan manuel santos as president-elect of colombia. in colombia, we have seen the impossible become possible. once under siege by extremist groups and drug cartels, the people of colombia and its government have transformed a dark past into a promising bright future. the recent presidential elections in colombia are a testament to this progress and demonstrates the confidence that the people of colombia have in president-elect santos. receiving 69% of the vote,

president-elect santos has a clear mandate to continue much of the progress seen under president uribe. following his victory on sunday, president-elect santos, and i quote, said this, colombia is leaving its nightmare. the time has run out. no more useless confrontations, no more division. the time has arrived for union. the time has arrived for work, for employment, for entrepreneurship. juan manuel santos professed commitment to the value of freedom and demonstrated ability to stand up to extremists standssin stark contrast to the tyrannical and destabilizing agendas of dictators in the region. further, the free and fair nature of the multiparty, internationally recognized presidential election in colombia serves as an important

reminder to some in the region of what a real and genuine democratic electoral process really looks like. with elections scheduled sooling in venezuela -- soon in venezuela and nicaragua with a, we've seen both hugo chavez and daniel ortega pulling out all the stops to quell their opposition. from the media to the courts, chavez and/or takea have no chame -- and ortega have no shame in the dismissal of the democratic processes in their countries. as critical as it is to call out those who affront the principles of a democratic society, however, it is equally important to recognize those who embrace them which is why we are here today, madam speaker, standing in support of house resolution 1465. colombia represents to many the

light at the end of the tunnel. colombia shows that with hard work, determination and a commitment to fundamental freedom, a democracy can flourish no matter what the odds. instead of falling into a deep division, colombia is ascending the peak of freedom and democracy. and i have no doubt that the vital alliance between our country and colombia is poised to become ever closer and more successful than ever under the leadership of president-elect santos. and i remain ever hopeful that this alliance will soon include the passage of the u.s.-colombia free trade agreement. colombia has enormous potential for u.s. businesses, especially in my home state of florida. miami has nearly $6 billion in

colombia last year alone. signed nearly four years ago, the f.t.a. is one of the easiest, most obvious steps that congress can take to expand these important economic ties. we can ask for no better partter or trusted ally than the people of colombia. its commitment to the democratic process as demonstrated by this weekend's free, fair and transparent elections shows what can be accomplished when the basic tenets of liberty are afforded to a people of a nation. in closing, madam speaker, i'd like to congratulate president-elect santos on this momentus occasion and once again recognize the unbreakable ties of the people between the united states and colombia. i thank the speaker for the time and with that i reserve the balance of our time. if the gentlelady continues to reserve, i'd like to yield two

minutes, madam speaker -- ms. watson: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is reserving the balance of her time. the gentlewoman from florida is recognized. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, madam speaker. i'm so pleased two yield two minutes to the gentleman from texas, and they only come that way in texas, judge poe, and our esteemed member of our foreign relations committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for two minutes. two minutes. mr. poe: thank you, madam speaker. i'd like to thank the gentlelady from florida for yielding some time. this is an important resolution. it puts the united states on record as to where we stand. and our part of the world when it comes to democracy and supporting our allies. colombia is an ally of the united states. when i was in colombia in april down in the jungle with the ppnarcotics police, with gerald

fortuno, helping them fight the cartels and farc, i found out they like the americans. that's not universally true in south america. there are a lot of folks that don't care much for the united states. but the colombian people are our allies. not only politically but also they like americans for who we are. and they support us and we should support them. it's a good day for democracy when president santos was elected this past weekend. we should show colombia and the rest of the world that we support this democracy in south america. but we also should support the colombian-american free trade agreement. this is an important agreement to show that we mean business in supporting another democracy. rather than talking about trading with the chinese we ought to talk about trading with democracies. and in is one of those democracies. and it's being stalled for political reasons, and we need

to support this. we need to pass it through this house and make sure that the colombians know that we mean indeed they are our ally, especially our ally in free trade. so i commend this resolution and make sure that we support democracy anywhere it occurs in the world and support freedom as well and let's move a step forward and let's move forward with the free trade agreement with our friends, our allies and neighbors in colombia. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlewoman from florida is recognized. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, madam speaker. i thank my good friend from texas. we have no further requests for time, madam speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida yields back the balance of her time. the gentlewoman from california is recognized. ms. watson: madam speaker, i have no further requests for time. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1465.

those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

for what purpose does the %% gentleman from new york seek recognize? mr. ackerman: madam speaker, i have a resolution at the desk. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. does the gentleman agree to suspend the rules and adopt the resolution? mr. ackerman: i do. the speaker pro tempore: as amended? mr. ackerman: as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1359, resolution calling for the immediate and unconditional release of israeli soldier gilad shalit held captive by hamas, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new york, mr. ackerman, and the gentlewoman from florida, ms. ros-lehtinen, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york. mr. ackerman: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york. mr. ackerman: madam speaker, i want to thank my good friend, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee, for his support for this resolution and for its consideration by the house today. gilad shalit is not an american. he's an israeli soldier that's % been held captive by hamas for four years. his parents are not americans. i don't know that he's ever even been to the united states, but i would contend that nonetheless he's one of us. why? most simply because he's a soldier serving in the army of a fellow democracy. a longstanding ally that's fighting a war that is backed by those committed to thee destruction of the jewish state and the annihilation of all jews in israel. some may doubt that such shocking bigotry is possible in the year 2010. it's not really merely possible and it's not an overstatement.

it's reality. on june 11, not even two weeks ago, hamas authorities in gaza broadcast the following sermon. and this is a quote directly from that sermon. whoever believes that our battle with the jews and the crusaders has subsided or is dormant is living in delusions. the jews are convinced that their annihilation and the destruction of their state will never be accomplished by secretary lahr reactionary pan-arabic or other regimes. the destruction of their state will only be achieved through islam. . that's the hamas world view. and they are not ashamed of it. we shouldn't hesitate to believe them when they say they hate jews and they are trying to destroy israel and that they want to create a islamic thee ogcracy in -- theocracy in

palestine. look what they have done in gaza. for those who believe in universal human rights and religious freedom, hamas is your enemy. if you believe in peace in two states for two people, these are your foes. if you believe kidnapping and extortion are inexcusable and detonating a bomb full of nails inside a restaurant or a city bus is barbaric, these are your adversaries. if you believe that firing rockets at homes and kindergartens filled with young kids is absolutely indefensible and that teaching hate the children as monstrous, these are your opponents. if you support the palestinian authority and believe president abbas and the prime minister are palestinian's best chance of statehood, hamas is the opposition. if you support a democratic jewish state of israel and want to see prime minister netanyahu take chances for peace, hamas is

the enemy desperate to ensure that he never will. if you want the united states to be active in helping israelis and palestinians to make peace, hamas are the people working against our every effort . gi lad shalit is one soldier. but his captivity tells you everything you need to know about hamas. as the resolution makes clear, contrary to both international humanitarian law and most basic standards of human conduct, hamas has prevented all access to gilad shalit by medical personnel and the representative of the international committee of the red cross. they have done this time and time again. madam speaker, they have just done it again today. they deny him the humane treatment to which any captive is entitled and they bar any communication by him of his

family and they have compelled him to appear on propaganda videos. each of these unconscionable choices demonstratessthe amoral and depraved character of hamas. these allegedly religious militants are nothing but thugs. nothing more. they hold up all kinds of banners and they champion all kinds of causes and they claim all kinds of mandates, but their real goal is power and their true intention is the destruction of the state of israel. against their enterprise of darkness and hatred and blood shed, we need to stand up with both palestinians and israelis for a different vision and a different future. one where israelis and palestinians live side by side in peace. where the city of jerusalem is a symbol of coexistence and tolerance. where the lost and missing, all of them, all of them are returned to their families and their people.

it is this vision that motivates us, that mobilizes us to work so hard to achieve peace for others. and it is within this vision of a better future that we keep faith with our allies and the state of israel and with the shalit family as they wait for the return of their lost son. thank you, madam speaker. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from florida is recognized. ms. ros-lehtinen: i thank the speaker. i would like to yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, madam speaker. since its creation over six decades ago, our ally, israel, has been under siege from those who seek its destruction. israel's enemies+ refusing to accept the existence of the jewish state have invaded israel's borders and sought to wipe it off the map. they have launched missiles at

israeli civilians. they have sent homicide bombers to massacre innocent israelis on buses, in schools, in synagogues, in restaurants, in hotels. they have dess rated -- they have desecrated wedding celebrations and passover seders with acts of mass murder, turning days of joy into days of mourning. and they have killed or kidnapped israeli soldiers. these bloody acts were taken not to build a better life for tte future of the palestinians, but to wipe out any feature or the israelis and to destroy the jewish state. and of course at present the greatest threat to israel's security and its very existence are posed by the rogue regimes of iran and syria, as well as by the violent extremist proxies such as hamas and hezbollah. this is the context for this

important resolution before us today. on june 25, 2006, as part of its long-standing war against the jewish state, hamas crossed into israel and attacked an israeli military post killing two soldiers and kidnapping gilad shalit who was then just 19 years old. for the last four years hamas has held staff sergeant sha heat hoss average. denying -- shalit hostage. denying him access to his families, access to competent medical personnel, as well as representatives of the international committee of the red cross. hamas has forced young shalit to appear in audio recordings, in video recordings used to put pressure on israel and has mocked shalit, has mocked his family and captivity in plays and cartoons and animated

movies. reports indicate that gilad shalit's health has declined as a result of this -- his captivity. madam speaker, hamas is violent, extremist group. hezbollah, and their state sponsors not only are at war with israel, they seek the destruction of the united states as well. ahmadinejad himself has spoken off quote, a world without america or zionism, end quote, stating that, quote, you should know that this slogan, this goal can certainly be achieved, end quote. and the iranian reggme is no stranger to taking hostages, including the 52 american hostages that tehran held captive for 444 days. so when we consider hamas' holding of gilad shalit in captivity, we must recognize that this situation is part of

the broader threat posed to both the united states and to israel. madam speaker, i have met with staff sergeant shalit's father who gave me hisson's dog tags and as a -- his son's dog tags, and as a parent i can only imagine the agony the family is endurinn. anguished over his plight is felt by millions of israelis who have -- who are parents, siblings, spouses, or children serving in the israeli defense forces and who have spent many anxious nights hoping and praying for the safe return of their loved ones. it resonates directly with many of us who have had children and other family members and friends who in the service of our nation have been in harm's way. as israel continues to seek gilad shalit's freedom, we in the united states must continue

to stand with our indispensable pllies. for all of these reasons, madam speaker, i rise today in strong support of house resolution 1359 which reaffirms our demand for gilad shalit's immediate and unconditional release. i would like to thank the chairman and the ranking member of the subcommittee on the middle east and south asia, mr. ackerman, and mr. burton for introducing this resolution. i ask that the house join us in voting in favor of this resolution and in support of further measures to address the comprehensive threat posed to our nation and to our ally, israel, by iran, by syria, and - by the militant proxies. among other steps that the united states should take is to stop the failed policies of engagement with the syrian and iranian regimes which have not

advanced our interest but has lent those dictatorships undeserved legitimacy. we should also continue to stand unequivocally with our ally, israel, and oppose all efforts to deny israel its sovereign right to self-defense, the very right that staff sergeant shalit was exercising when he was kidnapped by hamas. with that, madam speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. ackerman: i want to thank the the gentlewoman from florida, the distinguished ranking member of the committee, for her statement and for her support. madam speaker, now is my pleasure to yield to the gentlewoman from nevada, the distinguished and respected member of our committee, shelley berkley, for as much time as she may consume.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from nevada is recognized for as much time as she might consume. ms. berkley: thank you, madam speaker. i want to thank my very good and dear and cherished friend from new york for yielding and for bringing much needed attention for -- to this issue by introducing this resolution which i proudly co-sponsorsed. madam speaker, i rise today along with my colleagues to mark a very sad occasion, the fourth anniversary of the kidnapping of israeli soldier, gilad shalit. if the world needs evidence of hamas' cruelty, they need look no farther than the kidnapping of this young soldier serving on the israeli side of the gaza border. defying any standard of human decency and international law, hamas has held him prisoner without access to a doctor, to the red cross, they have denied him contact with any outside party. even his family who have no idea where this young man is being

held. hamas has even forced him to appear in a video that was used to pressure the israeli government into making concessions in exchange for his release. the conditions of his detainment are illegal, they deplorable, they are immoral. so the usual reasons the wall bombards israel to defend its citizens, while hamas continues to violate human rights day after day. it ultimately puts all peace loving people at risk. where is the u.n. with this outrage? where is the arab world? where are theure peaian allies -- the european allies? the world condemns israel when it's put in the position to defend itself against terrorism. where is the outrage against the continuous and human behavior of hamas? a recognized terrorist organization. where is the outrage against hamas as it continues to hold

shalit, a young man just doing his duty. just this week israel took enormous risk by easing their necessary and legal blockade of the gaza. it is time, indeed, madam speaker, it is well past time for hamas to show some human decency and release gilad shalit back to his family. i am a mother of a son named sam who is the exact same age as gilad shalit. i can only imagine what that mother goes through day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year as she has absolutely no contact and no idea how her son is being treated, where he's being held, and what his condition is. shame, the shame of it all. it's disgusting. i urge support for this resolution. i thank the gentleman again. i yield back my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from nevada yield back the balance of my time. the gentlelady from florida is recognized. ms. ros-lehtinen: i would like to reserve the balance of our time. i don't know if the gentleman from new york -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves the balance of her time. ms. ros-lehtinen: if the gentleman from new york has no further requests, i would be glad to yield back the balance of our time. mr. ackerman: before that, madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution that is now under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. ros-lehtinen: madam speaker, i do yield back the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from florida yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from new york. mr. ackerman: we have no further speakers on our side. i yield back the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1359, as amended. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no.

in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative -- the gentleman from new york. mr. ackerman: i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and make a point of order a quorum is not present. . pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> thank you, madam speaker. i move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution house 1457. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution.

the clerk: house resolution 1457, resolution expressing the sense of the house of representatives on the one-year anniversary of the government of iran's fraudulent manipulation of iranian elections, the government of iran's continued denial of human rights and democracy to the people of iran, and the government of iran's continued pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from california, mr. costa, and the gentlelady from florida, ms. ros-lehtinen, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. mr. cossa: thank you, madam speaker. i ask unanimous consent that -- mr. costa: thank you, madam speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include any materiels -- extraneous materials on this resolution now under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. costa: madam speaker, i rise in strong support of this resolution today and yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. costa: thank you, again,

madam speaker. house resolution 1457 expresses the sense of the house of representatives on the one-year anniversary of the government %% of iran's manipulation of the iranian elections, the continued denial of human rights and the continued pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability, and i'd like to thank my friend, judge poe, congressman from texas, for joining me in the introduction of this important resolution. madam speaker, just over a year ago on june 12, 2009, the world watched as iran's rulers manipulated and stole an election for their chosen candidate, mahmoud ahmadinejad. remind -- i remind my colleagues that these assessments don't oli exist in ang silo. financial institutions will be a forced to pass this on to their customers and their small businesses. i think i believe now is --+++5.

human rights in iran, we know -- precipitously over the election of ahmadinejad. and since that disputed presidential election last year, iran slid into a brutal

dictatorship and has sharply accelerated. iran's revolutionary guard, its police arbitrarily arrest thousands of peaceful protesters and dissidents, including students, wommn's rights activists, lawyers and journalists in a clear effort to intimidate and stifle their dissent. this regime can't withstand its critics. but as champions of freedom and democracy, the united states must, must condone these abuses of this iranian regime whenever possible as we witness such actions around the world. it is our constitution and it is one of the reasons why we still remain a beacon of light around the world as we stand up for human rights, human rights that have sadly been abused in

iran by this regime. but it's just not in our constitution. in the koran it states, help one another in a righteousness and goodness way. help not one another when in sin and aggression. clearly this regime in iran is engaged in full-time sin and aggression of its own people. but this quote, of course, is from the koran, which is the book of the major religion of the people of iran. and yet they violate their own faith in this way. madam speaker, the people of the united states stand behind the people of iran who simply want to live their lives in peace and freedom, free of the brutal oppression of their government. let us be clear at the end of the day, mahmoud ahmadinejad is nothing more than a bully and a

dictator. his regime uses every tactic they can to subdue and terrorize their own people and we need to recognize this phony regime for what it is. it's a killer of freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom of press. and i believe that when history is written that the record of this terrorism regime in the 21st century will%compare, sadly, to those same brutal dictatorships that we witnessed in the 20th century. i'm talking about hitler, stalin, tojo and mussolini. that is a level of despotic dictatorship that we are witnesses today in iran. so, therefore, this resolution before us confirms the support of all iranian citizens who struggle for freedom, human rights and civil liberties. it condemns the ongoing violence and human rights abuses against the people of iran by their government and

urges immediate release of all political prisoners detained by this regime. house resolution 1457 also calls for the freedom and democracy for the people of iran, including fair, democratic and independent elections unlike, unlike the ones that were held a year ago. finally, this resolution condemns the continued pursuit of nuclear weapons capability and a ballistic weapons program for we clearly know what they want to use it for. this is a timely resolution, madam speaker, for this week the house is expected to vote on the conference committee report. we hope by the end of this week, certainly next week that iran sanctions accountabilitt and disinvestment act of 2010 is an important measure. i'm proud to be a conferee on the conference committee. this piece of legislation represents, i think, a monumental step toward our

fight against iran's nuclear proliferation. these sanctions reinforce and go far beyond the united nations sanctions aimed at persuading iran to change its conduct that was voted on over a week ago. these tough new petroleum and financial sanctions will restrict the ability of iran's regime and its thugs to continue their nuclear aspirations and the oppression of the iranian people. our legislation also increases penalties foo sanction violations and bolsters the u.s. trade embargo against iran. these sanctions will send a strong signal that our nation will not stand for the escalation of this regime's aims at a nuclear arms program, especially with violent threats against our strategic ally, israel, and the threat of that ally and its impact throughout

the regions of europe and southeast asia along with the middle east. clearly their medium-range missiles are capable of reaching all of those countries within that area. and, therefore, we stand with israel and our allies. these sanctions are a powerful step forward. we must continue to take all necessary actions and to keep every option on the ttble to prevent nuclear arms races in that region. madam speaker, i encourage my colleagues to support this important resolution and to send a strong message to iran and the entire world that america will not stand by while these human rights abuses continue and they pursue -- continue to pursue nuclear weapons capabilities. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from florida is recognized. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, madam speaker. i'm pleased to yield five

minutes to the gentleman from texas, judge poe, an esteemed member of our committee on foreign affairs and the cao author of -- and the co-author of this resolution before us. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for five minutes. mr. poe: thank you, madam speaker. i thank the gentlelady from florida for yielding. i also want to thank my friend from california, mr. costa, for introducing this resolution 1457 and i am proud to be a co-sponsor of this important resolution. the people of iran are under the oppression of the a little fellow from the desert, ahmadinejad. and the little fellow claimed that he won the election last year but the whole world knows, including he, that he stole the election in iran. the people of iran want democracy, they want freedom and so they took to the streets opposing the little fellow. and what did he do? he retaliated. he used his henchmen, his squad

to come out and brutalize his own people who were unarmed but yet taken to the streets wanting freedom and a legitimate election. he injured them, he beat them, he hung them and he shot them. peaceful iranians wanting freedom and democracy. but the folks of iran were not going to be intimidated by the crimes committed begins them in their pursuit for freedom and a free election. so they have continued to speak out by continuing to speak out, of course, more of them get arrested. as my colleague from california mentioned, it includes everybody, women and children, lawyers and journalists. they're all arrested, brutalized and some are killed in the name of keeping the little fellow, ahmadinejad, in power in iran. this past week in paris, france, 100,000 people, mainly

iranians, marched in support of freedom and democracy for their homeland in iran. and it's important that we in america let everybody know where we stand when it comes to freedom versus tyranny, freedom versus a dictatorship, that we stand by the people of the nation who want self-determination and freedom. the iranians kind of wonder where we stand as a nation. they are concerned because, you see, they get their government controlled media and it tells them one thing, that the united states is not supporting them. they don't want weapons, they don't want armament, they don't even want money. they just want to know that this country, the center and hope for the world when it comes to human rights and democracy, stands with the people, the people of iran and their quest to control their own destiny and control their

own government. there is no freedom in iran as long as this regime is in power, and ahmadinejad continues to be the dictator, the tyrant of the desert who threatens to destroy not only our ally, israel, but destroy the west as soon as he can get his hands on those nuclear weapons. he needs to go. his time has come. it needs to go. and the way that that can happen is when the people of iran take control of their own country. the best hope for the iranians, the best hope for the world, madam speaker, is for a regime change in iran by the people of iran. so we should support that endeavor. we should tell those freedom-loving folks, their sons of liberty, those daughters of democracy that we in america, halfway around the world, who believe in liberty and believe in democracy and believe in freedom, we stand with them. we support them morally and we support them because they have the right to determine their

own destiny. our qurl as a nation is not -- quarl as a nation is not with the people of iran. pur quarrel is with the tyrant, the little fellow from the desert who wants to destroy his own nation and the rest of the world as well. so i support this resolution. i want to compliment my friend from california, mr. costa, for bringing this to the floor. and that's just the way it is. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. costa: thank you, madam speaker. i thank the gentleman from texas, my friend, congressman poe, for his good remarks, as always. and i'd like to recognize the the gentlelady from nevada, congresswoman -- recognize the gentlelady from nevada, congresswoman berkley, such time as she may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from nevada is recognized for as much time as she may consume. ms. berkley: thank you, madam speaker. i want to thank mr. costa. we have worked on many issues, this one being the most

important. i thank him for yielding some time to me. it's been one year since ahmadinejad and his thugs stole the election from iran. the world watched with hock as one million iranians took to the streets of tehran to protest the so-called results of the sham election and dismay as the protesters were cruel squelched. we watched a beautiful iranian woman killed in the prime of her life as she peacefully protested the election results. i stand with the people of iran as they protest the continued denial of human rights and democracy by their illegal government. iran's government is on a very dangerous path. they are the state sponsors of terrorism across the planet. they're the main sponsors of hamas, and as we watch hamas cruel treat the palestinian people in gaza like animals more than people. we know that the iranians are

supporting hezbollah in lebanon and transporting weapons to them that could be used against israel. we watch as they infiltrate south america through venezuela trying to spread their hate and terrorism across the planet. . we have a serious problem with iran. they will not join the family of civilized countries that are trying to improve this world. quite the contrary, they are the main obstacles to peace everywhere. in addition to their exporting of terrorism and supporting of terrorist organizations, the threat to wipe israel off the map, what s this dangerous country doing? it is attempting to acquire nuclear weapons with all deliberate speed. when there is a president of a rogue nation that is supporting

terrorism and terrorists across the planet, that is calling for the destruction of the state of israel, that talks with great disparagement about western civilization, particularly the united states of america, when a country like this is attempting to acquire nuclear weapons, it is time for the world to wake up and recognize that they say what they mean. they mean what they say. and the iranian government must be stopped at all costs. i stand with the iranian people. i support them. and i thank them for having the courage to stand up to their own government. it is not easy to do. when you know if you stand up chances are you will be killed. i thank them very much for doing that. i thank the gentleman from california for bringing this to our attention through this resolution. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from nevada yields

back the balance of her time. the gentlelady from florida is recognized. miss rain: thank you -- ms. ros-lehtinen:00 thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. ros-lehtinen: i thank the speaker. madam speaker, in discussions about the iranian regime's pursue of nuclear weapons program, or its state sponsorship of violent extremists, the persecution that the thugs in tehran inflict on ordinary iranians, that s sometimes overlooked. and this is particularly true on the international stage. the united nations human rights council has condemned the democratic jewish state of israel over and over again for defending herself, but has not once condemned the iranian regime's brutality against the iranian people. iran, a regime that stones women to death, was elected by aically mation to the u.n. commission on

the -- acclimation of the united nations commission on the status of women. it is incomprehensible. iran, a rrgime that stones women to death was elected by acclimation to the u.n. commission on the status of women. it is all the more important that we in this house stand in solidarity with the iranian people and with all of those who support and defend human rights, support and defend democracy, support and defend freedom. we must also be clear and steadfast in describing and condemning the iranian rrgime's human rights abuses of which there are many. those in power in tehran practice torture, flogging, rape, am pew contiguous, and murder. the regime -- amputation, and murder. the regime conducts official discrimination against women, baha'is, christian jews, and

many others. all seven members of the national baha'i leadership in iran remain in prison where they have been held unjustly for two years and on trial for trumped up charges that potentially carry the death penalty. gay people are hanged from cranes. even as their very existence in iran is denied by ahmadinejad. since the sham elections using the term loosely, one year ago, the regime has intensified ts repression, increasing restrictions on the freedom of religion, expression, association, assembly, and the press. what is left? thousands of protesters, dissidents, journalists have been arbitrarily detained or killed with innocent people shot on the street and the stalinesque show trials continue. even iranians who succeed in fleeing their country are

reportedly still in danger as agents of the iranian regime threaten them with death if they continue to speak out and protest human rights violations by tehran. despite this repression, the people of iran continue to put their lives on the line in pursuit of freedom and the united states and other responsible nations must stand with them. there are many further steps that we can take to help at this critical time. above all we must do no harm. negotiateation with the regime -- negotiation with the regime legitimatizes its illegitimate leaders and distracts attention from their repressive acts. we must hit the regime where it hurts by fully implementing sanctions targeting the regime's vulnerables, both existing sanctions and the new ones that coning will soon enact. the same refined petroleum products and other petrodollars

also bankrolls its repression of human rights. requiring the immediate implementation and enforcement and enforcement of comprehensive sanctions can help stop both%of these threats. we must also support those who % seek human rights for iran and monitor abuses, such as the iran human rights documentation center which is actually seen as funding cut. as the beacon of liberty and democracy to the entire world, the united states must do our duty to name and shame the guilty. because we must take an all-of-the-above approach to this issue, i introduced h.r. 4649, the bipartisan iran human rights sanctions act which was introduced in the senate by john mccain and joe lieberman. that legislation requires the president to designate and sanction those who violate the human rights of iranians.

i'm gratified that some versions of this bill will be included in the iran sanctions conference report that, as i said, congress will soon consider. and given the importance of human rights for the iranian people and worldwide, i'm proud to strongly support the resolution before us today, house resolution 1457. this resolution as we know marks the one-year anniversary of the iranian people's mass uprising against a regime's product, manipulation, and repression and it also condemns the regime's brutality. furthermore, the resolution reaffirms our support for all %% iranians who courageously struggle for freedom. it urges the immediate release of all political prisoners, and it calls for freedom and democracy for the people of iran, including fair, democratic, and independent elections. i also thank the authors of this resolution. the twished members of our

foreign affairs committee, mr. costa of california, anddthe gentleman from texas, we just heard from him, judge poe. this legislation in fact builds on a resolution that judge poe introduced six months ago, as well as a resolution introduced by another distinguished member of our foreign affairs committee, mr. mccaul. i appreciate the long-standing efforts of all of these members on this important issue, madam speaker. ultimately the purpose of this resolution reflects the words of -- words of holocaust survivor and no bell peace prize winner, elie westle. -- wiesel. i quote, we must always take sides. neutrality helps the oppressor. never the victim. + silence encourages the tormentor , never the tormented. end quote. with these words in mind we must take sides, we must act together

in support of the people of iran. i urge my colleagues to support this important resolution. with that we yield back the balance of our time, madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from florida yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. costa: thank you very much, madam speaker. i, too, want to thank my friend and colleague, the gentlewoman from florida, ms. ros-lehtinen, for her strong bipartisan comments on a resolution that there is strong bipartisan support for. as witnessed by the statements here this afternoon. make no mistake about it, madam speaker, and to those who are listening. this resolution is about human rights violations in iran. this resolution is about the despotic sham regime that is currently governing in iran, that is oppressing the people of that country. this resolution speaks to the

higher values and goals that are enshrined in our country's constitution and bill of rights. those freedoms that we hold most dear that are at the end of the day the basis for all human rights, not just in our country, but throughout the world. and therefore today the congress must speak to these human rights violations that are existing in iran. today the congress must voice its opinion on the despotic rule of this regime. and by passing this resolution in a bipartisan fashion, we will not only put the house of representatives firmly on record as to the year anniversary of the sham election that took place in iran, but we will also reiterate our strong support for sanctions against this country

that in fact is violating these human rights. and that is turning its back on the rest of the world. make no mistake about it. the iranian government today, not its people, by the iranian government today is, in my view, the largest concern not only in the middle east but throughout the world in terms of achieving peace that we all hold most dear. the goals of peace in the middle east and throughout the world are at greatest risk by the actions, accivities, and supports of terrorist activities by this iranian regime. whether it be to hezbollah, whether it be to hamas, or whether it be other terrorist groups that it supports, in so many different ways, because they know at the end of the day they cannot support the family

of nations throughout the world in expressing freedoms that we hood most dear. so i ask my colleagues to support this bipartisan resolution and at this time i would like to yield back the balance of my time, madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california yields back the balance of his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1457. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. costa: i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and maae a point of order a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. mr. costa: thank you very much, madam speaker.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from west virginia seek recognition? mr. rahall: madam speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5481 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5481, a bill to give subpoena power to the national commission on the b.p. deepwater horizon oil spill and offshore drilling. the speaker pro tempore: purruant to the rule, the gentleman from west virginia, mr. rahall, and the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from west virginia. mr. rahall: thank you, madam speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all

members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. rahall: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from west virginia is recognized. mr. rahall: last night president obama issued executive order establishing the national commission on the b.p. deepwater horizon oil spill and offshore drilling. the measure we are considering today introduced by our colleagues lois capps, would authorize a commission to issue subpoenas, if necessary, to gather information and compel testimony. . with it we are giving the commission some peace. the commission should be demanding and receiving a full and fair accounting to carry out its important mission. without subpoena power, the commission runs risk for allowing b.p. to writen own admission of what happened in the gulf. it works with the justice department to make sure that

any commission subpoena does not interfere with any present or future criminal investigation or prosecution or civil litigation involving the united states. i want to commend the bill's sponsor and a valued member of our committee on natural resources, representative lois capps, a valid member, not only in our -- a valued members, who has experienced oil spills in her history, as many of our colleagues are today. having lived through the santa barbara oil spill, which was in her congressional district in 1969, representative capps has a deep understanding and a commitment to oil spill prevention and mitigation. madam speaker, h.r. 5481 is just one of a number of actions this congress will need to help gather information on the causes of the b.p. deepwater horizon disaster and develop safety and environmental measures to prevent such a disaster from occurring again. i urge my colleagues to support the passage of h.r. 5481. a commonsense bill will help

shed some light on what happened the night of this tragic explosion, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from west virginia reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings, is recognized. mr. hastings: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hastings: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, at this very moment oil continues to flow into the gulf of mexico, and the urgency to address this crisis should not be forgotten or dismissed. it is important that we get to the bottom of the causes of this terrible tragedy. we need to know what went wrong and who did precisely what wrong. at the same time, we should not lose sight of the most immediate priorities. and those priorities are, first, the leak must be stopped. second, the oil must be cleaned up because the livelihood of families and communities all along the gulf coast need help and support and the well-being of wildlife and environment

must be cared for. and third, b.p. must be held 100% accountable and pay all costs associated with this disaster. this bill, as the distinguished chairman said, simply grants subpoena authority to the seven-member commission established and appointed by the president to look into the causes of the deepwater horizon accident, into the resulting spill and into the response. i support this bill, and the commission having subpoena power to compel the disclosure of documents and the testimony of witnesses. congress has passed laws to give subpoena power to similar commissions in the past and is fully appropriate to do so here. to be clear, the authority granted in this bill allowing the commission to issue subpoenas covers b.p. and the companies involved in the drilling of this well. but it also fully covers the agecies and departments of the federal government.

not only must we get to the bottom of what these companies did and the failures that occurred, but we also must know what failures occurred by the government and their regulatory oversight in responding to this spill. but there is one concern with the wording of this bill, madam speaker, and the impact that it could have in prolonging the work of the commission beyond its six-month time frame see out by the president. the bill allows the attorney general to object to the commission issuing subpoenas for certain specified situations. those situations are when criminal investigations and certain civil litigation may be harmed by the taking of testimony. that's understandablee madam speaker. under the wording of the bill, however, the attorney general must act to make known such an objection to the commission's subpoena, and i quote, without unnecessary delay, end quote. this term places no real time frame on the attornny general to act.

when the commission itself is supposed to complete its work within 180 days of its first meeting, an open-ended delay could occur due to the inactions of the attorney general must be highlighted. this is particulaaly important, madam speaker, because the administration has partly justified its deep water moratorium on allowing the commission to complete its investigation. under the way this bill is drafted, the moratorium, which i say suffered a legal blow yesterday by a federal judge in louisiana, could drag on much longer than publicly promised by the president. the economic toll that a prolong commission and prolong deep water moratorium could have on the economy in the gulf and the jobs of tens of thousands is very, very real. a stricter timeline for the attorney general to review subpoenas could have presented such a scenario. this was not done and there is

no opportunity, obviously, to offer amendments to this suspension bill. so, madam speaker, i raise this as an issue because the commission and the attorney general need to be diligent to avoid such a scenario. this oil spill has been a tragedy on the people of the gulf. the commission needs to complete their work in a timely manner. the power to issue subpoenas is necessary to the commission's technical abilities to do their investigative work. but i must point out that questions aae being raised about the seven persons selected and appointed by the president to his commission. so, madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to enter into the record a selection of three pieces covering the commission. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ppmr. hastings: thank you. the first was an associated press article entitled, and i quote, "obama spill panel

builds big on policy, not engineering." another news article from "the times-picayune" is, they have represented environmental groups, end quote. and third "a wall street journal" editorial entitled, "the anti-drilling commission: the white house choices seems to have made up their minds." the pieces include, do the past statements made and positions taken by several commission members in opposition to expanded offshore drilling affect their ability to act fairly and impartially? will the general lack of engineering expertise among the commission membersshinder their eablet to fully grasp and -- their ability to fully grasp and get to the bottom of this accident? will the absence of any drilling expertise among all seven commission members affect their pace of work or understanding of the matters

they are charged with investigating? will the pro-cap and trade positions of several commission members transform this from an investigation into what went wrong with this incident into a pitch for a national energy tax? will the commission's report ultimately be credible to all or be compromised due to the personal perspective of the members that the president appointed? madam speaker, only time will answer these questions. i hope the commission is able to fully and fairly conduct its investigation into this incident and the government's response to it. we do need to know what went wrong so that reforms can be made to ensure american drilling is the safest in the world. we've got to have the facts in order to develop informed effective solutions to make certain accidents like this never happens again. so, madam speaker, the president's commission isn't the only entity looking into

these questions. congress, too, has a responsibility, and congress should act when the facts are known. a subpoena power is necessary for the commission to undertake its work, i encourage my colleagues to support this bill. with that i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from west virginia is recognized. mr. rahall: madam speaker, i yield myself 30 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. rahall: i appreciate the gentleman listening -- listing all of his and submitting to the record background. i will not at this time%% although i feel compelled to ask the financial and political background of the federal judge that just issued the decision of the administration's moratorium this week. i will not do that. nor the commission has some 150 scientists at their disposal as well. but i won't submit their backgrounds and history at this time.

instead, i will yield five minutes to the gentlelady from california, mrs. capps. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california is recognized for five minutes. mrs. capps: madam speaker, i rise in strong support of this legislation to give the national commission on the b.p. oil spill the power to issue subpoenas. i want to thank three chairmen, chairman rahall, chairman oberstar and chairman conyers. i really appreciate the tireless effort of chairman markey who has worked with me on this bill and the earlier bill which was the basis for president's order to set up the commission in the first place. i also appreciate the speaker and the majority leader for bringing h.r. 5481 before us today. as we witnessed the continued disruption affecting the livelihood of gulf residents and the environment, a full and thorough investigation must be conducted. the american people want answers from those responsible for the devastating oil -- gulf oil spill. providing subpoena power to the commission will ensure that no

stone goes unturned. and it will enable the american people to get the full truth about how and will this disaster occurred. while the president has committed full -- the full cooperation of the federal government to the commission, he doee not have the authority to give it subpoena power. congressional action is required. with the investigation expected to start soon, it's vital the commission has the tools and the resources it needs to get the job done. as i've said repeatedly on the house floor, oil drilling is never without riik. but if we're going to make it as safe as possible, we need to provide the commission with every means available to find out exactly what caused the b.p. disaster so we can do everything possible to prevent such a disaster from ever happening again. arming the commission with subpoena power will help us accomplish these goals and will help the affected communities to recover. madam speaker, the need for subpoena power is certainly indicated by b.p.'s wholly

unsatisfactory response to this crisis. unlike the gush of oil, b.p. has tightly controlled the flow of information following its spill. it is -- has regularly stone walled independent researchers and the public to provide accurate and timely information. b.p. has failed to tell us the amount of oil is spilling into the gulf waters every day. b.p. has failed to provide health and safety data to the public, to the scientists and the federal government. and b.p. has failed to prepare for the capture of all the oil being siphonned up from the well. b.p.'s behavior raises major doubts about its willingness to provide a full accounting of what went wrong when they appear before the commission. the only way to get the information we all need from b.p., transocean, halliburton and other private entities is for the commission to have the power to compel its disclosure. the commission just won't be able to do its work without complete access to the

information it needs. so passing this bill is the appropriate and the responsible thing to do. it's also consistent with federal commission and investigations that followed previous disaster, such as that on three-mile island. madam speaker, the people of the gulf of mexico and the nation deserve an speculation for all the circumstances and the decisions that led up to this disaster. only a comprehensive independent review with subpoena power will ensure the necessary lessons be learned, practices changed and future disasters averted. so i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important legislation. subpoena power is critical to hold all the parties accountable, protect taxpayers and successfully clean up the disaster in the gulf. and i yield back to the chairman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings, is recognized. mr. hastings: madam speaker, how much time on both sides? the speaker pro tempore: 13 minutes for the gentleman.

mr. hastings: and how much time for the other? the speaker pro tempore: 14 minutes for mr. rahall. mr. hastings: i'm pleased to five minutes to the gentleman from louisiana, five minutes, a member of the committee, mr. fleming. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. fleming: i thank the gentleman for the time. i stand in favor of the -- of h.r. 5481, which gives subpoena power for the national commission on the b.p. deepwater horizon oil spill and offshore drilling. as we stand today here, madam chairman, oil is still pouring into the gulf of mexico off the coast of louisiana and 242 miles of louisiana shoreline is impacted by this oil. the highest priority for us must be to stop this leak and %+ get this mess cleaned up. bullpen must be held 100% accountable -- b.p. must be held 100% accountable and we must be responsible for the

oversight. many questions are left unanswered, the most pressing is, what went wrong? the bill we have before us today would provide subpoena power to the national commission on the b.p. deepwater horizon oil spill and offshore drilling. this commission has been tasked by the president with providing recommendations on how we can prevent and mitigate the impact of any future spills that result from offshore drilling. future tragedies we are currently experiencing can only be prevented if we know what went wrong. we must find out what made the mistakes, who made the erroneous judgment, what failed and what went wrong. i'll interject, madam speaker, that in operations like this there are many backup system, many redundancies, and for a tragedy and disaster like this to happen, there had to be gross errors and gross negligence. this sort of thing just doesn't

happen out of whole cloth. i will support the bill today but share the concerns raised by my colleagues on the scope of the subpoena authority and voice my own concern urging congress this commission and the administration to their eye on the ball to resolve the crisis affecting my state and our country. i use this as an opportunity to advance an agenda, shut down offshore drilling or impose a national tax. the people of louisiana has been hurt enough by b.p.'s failures and the inability of the administration to deal with this disaster. the last thing we need is the federal government adding to the disaster by crippling one of the largest economic drivers in my state of louisiana. the moratorium imposed by the administration would do just that. a federal judge recently stated it would cause irremember rabble harm. any action by this congress,

this administration must be based on science, not politics. let's get answers to what happened, stop the oil, clean up the gulf and help louisiana. i want to point out a couple of things on this bill about the actors in this bill. i condemn b.p. and its actions. it's very clear that b.p. was negligent, if not criminal, in its actions by putting profits ahead of safety. let's talk about the administration for a nofmente administration failed to address well known problems with the mineral management service, even well into the first 18 months of the administration. held off high volume skimmers from other countries offered within three days of the disaster, barely acknowledged the spill for nine days, did not give permission for berm construction for almost 60 days in my home state of louisiana, repeatedly stopped emergency

cleanup operations for trivial or unknown reason, and that's happening even today. repeatedly slapped mor torea on offshore drilling -- moratorium on offshore drilling over 500 feet when all the experts on this panel said it was perfectly safe to do so. there is one silver lining in this situation and that is my own governor, governor jindal has been standing point each day in this process doing everything that a governor should do and must do while our president's on the golf course and of course the c.e.o. of b.p. out on a yacht. so i want to say, in summary, madam speaker, i do support h.r. 54811. this is -- 5481. this is one step in many to find out what happened hear he do need -- what happened here.

we do need subpoena power. our tourism industry, our fisheries, and now with the moratorium shut do you think 33 rigs, is devastate -- shutting down 33 rigs, is devastating our economy. i want to thank you, madam speaker, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expire. the gentleman from west virginia is recognize. mr. rahall: i yield five minutes to the gentleman from massachusetts, many murray. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. murphy: i thank the gentleman for his excellent work and timely hearings on this catastrophic event and i thank the gentlelady from california, mrs. capps, for her excellent work on this indy spenceable piece of legislation working together in a bipartisan fashion with the

minority to ensure that we have an historically accurate assessment of what has happened in the gulf of mexico. mr. markey: president obama established the bipartisan national commission to investigate the causes of the b.p. disaster through executive order. however, the president does not have the authority to give the commission subpoena power. that requires the congress to act. b.p.'s response continues to be marked by catastrophic failures. just today, an accident with an underwater rover at the bottom of the sea has forced b.p. to remove the containment cap and oil is now gushing into the ocean at a rate of 25,000 to 50,000 barrels per day. b.p.'s mistakes seem to be

without end. b.p. said the rig couldn't sink. it did. b.p. said they could respond o an exxon valdez size spill every day. they couldn't. b.p. initially claimed that the oil spill was 1,000 barrels a day. it wasn't. and b.p. knew it. internal b.p. documents show that in the first week of the disaster, b.p. estimated the size of the spill could be as high as 14,000 barrels a day. it took b.p. 23 days to finally agree to release video footage of the spill. even then they officially only released voof one of the 12 remote operating vehicles on the -- released video of one of the 12 remote operating

vehicles on the ocean floor. all along, it seems b.p. has been much more concerned about its own liability they pay a fine per barrel of oil per day, than they were with the livability of the gulf of mexico and the livelihoods of the people dependent upon the gulf of mexico for their livings. b.p.'s actions raise significant concerns about whether it will fully cooperate with the commission. we need to ensure that neither b.p., halliburton, transocean, nor any other party could prevent the commission from getting to the bottom of what went wrong at the bottom of the ocean on april 20, 2010, when the deep water horizon exploded. congress has granted subpoena power to presidential commissions investigating national crises in the past, includdng the commission that investigated the disaster at

three mile island, and the 9/11 commission. as the worst environmental disaster in our nation's history continues to unfold in the gulf, the american people and the people of the gulf coast deserve answers so that we can prevent similar disasters in the future. this legislation will ensure that the national commission has the powers it needs to get those answers for the american people. we have to make sure that this never happens again. we have to make sure that the lessons learned are implemented. if the oil industry is going to drill in ultra -- in ultra deep waters, we have to make sure it is ultra safe and that there is an ultra fast response that can, in fact, ensure that there's a minimization of the harm done to the residents of the gulf. every oil company now says they have no capacity to respond

ultra fast to a catastrophic event of the size that's happening in the gulf right now. we have to make sure none of this occurs again. only with the subpoena power can we understand what's happening, only with passage of that today. i urge all members to cast an aye vote. the speaker pro temmore: the gentleman from massachusetts yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings, is recognized. mr. hastings: may i inquire again how much time i have on my side. the speaker pro tempore: eight minute, and 9 1/2 minutes for mr. hay ral. mr. hastings: i'm pleased to yield four minutes to the gentleman from louisiana, mr. cassidy. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for -- recognize for four minutes. mr. cassidy: it's been 54 days since the deep walter horizon rig sank, it's time to respect

our coast and hold b.p. accountable for damages. next, we've got to get to the bottom of what happened and like hi colleague just said, if we're going to go ultra deep, make sure it's ultra safe. for that to happen, we have to know the facts, a detailed account, informed by understanding of what did take place and then put in ultra safe safety and enforcement measures to make the united states the safest place to drill to get the resources that power our economy. this was supposed on the purpose of the national oil spill commission. instead, the members of this do not appear to be up to the challenge. instead of appointing independent experts with knowledge and expertise of deep water drilling, the president has packed the commission with people who lack ex-per cease in the issues we're confronting. first let me say, madam speaker, i am for this commission having subpoena power.

i'm for them learning as much as they can learn. my concern is they do not have the members capable of understanding what they need to understand. there are no petroleum engineers in this commission nor anyone wells with -- else with experience in deep water drilling. if you're going to have a commission to figure out what went wrong in a petroleum engineering circumstance in deep water drill, you need members with expertise in those issues. if we don't learn from this, if we don't figure ut how to not rrepeat these mistakes, we're dooming ourselves to either repeat the mistakes or to have an energy future that's less than secure. it appears the president is rejecting science and professional expertise in responding to this he recently imposed a moratorium that his hand-picked experts said should not be put in place. these experts stated, and i quote this moratorium will have a lasting impact on the

nation's economy which may be greater than that of the oil spill, end quote. they specifically said that the moratorium should not be blanketed but targeted to those rigs at risk. i speak as someone from louisiana. we have over 150,000 jobs at stake here. these are jobs in the energy production field, fishery, wetlands and our ecosystem. at stake is not only these job bus the ability of our country to provide the energy we need to power our vehicles, our businesses, to provide jobs in a sense to make our -- to keep our economy going this spill is a disaster for the gulf coast, especially for my state. the citizens have had their lives and livelihoods up ended by this. to get to the bottom of what happened we need people who are up to the task. we need to put science before politics for the sake of the gulf, our nation, and for those whose jobs are at risk. i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana yields back the balance of his time. mr. rahall of west virginia is recognized. mr. rahall: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. holt a member of the committee on natural resources. the speaker pro tempore: mr. holt is recognized for two minutes. mr. holt: i thank the chair of our committee and i rise in support of h.r. 5481, which mrs. capps has brought before us to grant subpoena powerr on the deepwaterer horizon oil spill. our nation is in the midst of a great environmental disaster of historic scale. tens of thousands of barrels gushing into the gulf, hundreds of miles of coastline contaminated, thousands of people suffering from the economic impact. with today's news that the cap has been removed, this environmental catastrophe continues only to get worse. b.p. has not been forthcoming over the past months, not forth coming in what they were doing

or how it was done or how much oil was gushing out and on and on and on. we owe it to the american people that they have an answer for what has happened, why it has happened, how it will be brought under control, what actions are being take ton prevent future spills. we can't -- taken to prevent future spills. we can't let corporate prevarication stand in the way. i support the president's action in creating a commission to determine the answers these questions and as the commission begins to investigate the spill in the coming weeks, we must ensure it has the tools necessary to succeed. granting the commission subpoena powers will ensure that we undertake -- that they undertake a complete inquiry on the causes of this spill and make meaningful recommendations on how to prevent similar disasters. i urge support. i also want to point out that we need to ensure that the responsible parties are held accountable for the economic

damages they've caused. the big oil bailout prevention act which has the support of nearly 1/5 of this body, would raise the liability limit for economic damages from the laughably small $75 million. it's my hope that congress will also act on this important legislation in the near future. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey yields back the lance of -- balance of his time. the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings, is recognized. mr. hastings: how much time do i have? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has five minute, mr. rahall has 7 1/2 minutes. mr. hastings: i yield three minutes to the gentleman from louisiana, mr. scalise, a member of the commerce and energy committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. scalise: thank you, madam speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding. i rise in support of the legislation to give subpoena powers to the commission. i would hope that the commission would be an objective commission that looks into and helps us find out just what went wrong

because i think we all need to know what went wrong on that rig , to lead to the explosion that unfortunately took the lives of 11 people, and has led to not only this human loss but also this environmental loss. i would hope that as they -- i would hope that they would be objective in their deliberations. i think i do have concerns that some of the members appear to maybe come to this with a predisposed outcome and they would be well served and the country would be well served if they put their political agendas on the side and actually focused on finding out what went wrong and coming up with real recommendations. now, if we look at the legislation not only here before us but also some of the problems we're dealing with on the ground we continue to have problems -- ground, we continue to have problems and we seem to be spending more time fighting against this administration than fighting the oil because we're not getting the leadership we need from the president. just yesterday the and barrier plan brought forward by our governor that the president

himself bragged about helping approve last week was stopped, halted bb the federal government yet again. this kind of administrative red tape is something that's holding us back from properly responding to this disaster. but if you look at what's happening with this ban on drilling in general, secretary salazar had initially put a commission together to come up with recommendations, they had a 30-day report that they issued, and these were scientists that were put together on recommendation by the national academy of engineers and they came up with some solid recommendations to improve safety but they opposed a ban on drilling and unfortunately secretary salazar set that ruling on the side, set that report on the side and ignored the reports of scientists and put politics over safety and science. and went forward with the ban that yesterday a judge ruled was not legal. not proper. and so as this commission moves forward, i would hope that they would actually follow the rule of law and come up with

objective decisions, but i think the secretary would be well served and the president would be well served to go back to the report that was issued by his own scientific panel that came up with suggestions to improve safety on rigs without shutting down an entire industry. and unfortunately the president and the secretary continue to set those kind of scientific recommendations on the side and allow politics to trump the science by continuing to pursue this ban even though the judge said that their decision was arbitrary and capricious, that they did not have the legal authority to have a complete ban on drilling. in fact, the scientists recommended and suggested that a complete ban, this moratorium that's in effect, would currently have would decrease safety on rigs. so i would urge the president and the secretary to go back and read that report and follow the recommendations of his own scientists with that i would yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from west virginia, mr. rahall, is

recognized. mr. rahall: i yield two minutes to the gentlelady from california. the speakkr pro tempore: the gentlelady from california is recognized for two minutes. ms. castor: i thank the chairman for recognizing me and i want to give some information about the nature of the commission for the record. and to clear up some misinformation apparently that is being circulated. the truth is that the commission is not designed to be technical in nature, it is more oriented to understanding the regulatory and organizational framework which clearly has a major bearing on this incident. the commission is going to consult the very best minds and the subject matter experts as they do their work. the commission members bring expertise in a range of relevant fields, from oil drilling to engineering to environmental science. the appointment of the commission is another step from the obama administration to hold the oil industry accountable by ensuring that independent experts review the facts of this spill and recommend necessary

environmental and safety precautions to address this disaster and to prevent future disasters. at the request of co-chair william riley there is a 66-member expert panel led by robert bee that will serve as a consultant to the commission. these technical experts are critical to sorting through all of the information that's presented and the commission is required to draw on the technical analysis that the national association of engineering is currently performing. i just want to add that congress is also providing oversight on the efforts to contain the spill and to mitigate the devastation. there are thorough investigations into what led to this tragedy with dozens of house hearings in the past two weeks alone, in order to hold responsible parties accountable as well to inform what changes must be made so it never happens again. although republican leaders have scoffed at these efforts, democrats will continue to provide the necessary oversight

to hold responsible parties accountable and to ensure that every member is taken to ensure that a disaster like this never occurs again. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from washington is recognized. mr. hastings: madam speaker, i'm pleased to yield one minute to mr. rohrabacher. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for one minute. mr. rohrabacher: thank you very much, madam chairman. let us note that this catastrophe could well have been avoided in a number of ways. what we're talking about now is the fact that standards that already in place were not followed and we had best practices that of course are required of the industry that were not being followed and i think we're going to find that out. so the last thing we want to do is cripple the united states' production of domestic energy in order to find out that a whole certain group of people accountable for the fact that they did not follow the practices or the standards. but let's put it this way, congress hasn't done its job as well.

we have spent billions of dollars on research and development for the department of energy. that money has been channeled into nonsense like proving global warming. rather than spending some money which we have, spending money on research and development to make the technology that we need to have safe oil and gas production which our country currently depends upon for our standard of living. so we haven't done our job here. we haven't set our priorities here and on top of that we did not develop the technology necessary to deal with the spill of this magnitude. kevin costner came to our office and testified at a hearing -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman's time has expired. mr. rohrabacher: we need to deal wiih this crisis. thank you very much. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from west virginia is recognized. mr. rahall: madam speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: madam speaker, can i inquire of my friend how many speakers he has? i presume he's prepared to

close. mr. rahall: prepared to close. mr. hastings: i yield myself the balance of the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hastings: madam speaker, this legislation is necessary so the commission has subpoena power. i think everybody understands that and supports that. but we need to do the three things that i have mentioned early err -- earlier. and that is to cap the well, to clean up all of the oil that has spilled out and to hold b.p. accountable. those things i think have very, very strong bipartisan support. the only issue is what has been addressed a few times at least from my perspective, an imprint about the objectivity of this commission. and of course, madam speaker, we all know that only time will tell when that judgment will be made. but if they work in an objective way, look at the facts and come to a decision based on the facts rather than a political point of view, i think we'll all be better served by that. with that i yield back the balance of my time and urge support of this legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington yields back the balance of his time.

the gentleman from west virginia. mr. rahall: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman also yields back the balance of his time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5481 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 -- mr. rahall: madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from west virginia. mr. rahall: i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from west virginia rise? mr. rahall: by direction offthe committee on national resources, i have a report for filing under the rule. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the concurrent resolution. the clerk: report to accompany

house resolution 1406, resolution directing the secretary of the interior to transmit to the house of representatives certain information relating to the potential designation of national monuments. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the house calendar and ordered printed. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the house will stand in

also with certainty that it is the right thing for our mission in afghanistan, for our military, for our country. i'm also pleased to nominate general david petraeus to take command in afghanistan, which will allow us to maintain the momentum and leadership that we need to succeed. i don't make this decision based on any difference in

policy with general mcchrystal as we are in full agreement about our strategy. nor to i make the decision out of any sense of personal insult. stan mcchrystal has always shown great courtesy and carried out my -- out my orders faithfully. for him and his long record of service in uniform. over the last nine years, with america fighting wars in iraq and afghanistan, he has earned a reputation as one of our nation's finest soldiers. that reputation is founded upon his extraordinary dedication, his deep intelligence, and his love of country. i've relied on his service particularly to design and lead our new gentleman ji -- strategy in afghanistan. all americans should be grateful for general mcchrystal's remarkable career

in uniform but war is bigger than any one man or woman, whether a private, a general, or a president. as difficult as it is to lose general mcchrystal, i believe it's the righttdecision for our national security. the conduct represented in the recently published article does not meet the standard that should be set by a commanding general. it undermines the civilian control of the military that is at the core of our democratic system. it erodes he trust that's necessary for our team to work together to achieve our objectives in afghanistan. my multiple responsibilities as commander in chief led me to this decision. first i have a responsibility to the extraordinary men and women who are fighting this war and to the democratic institutions that i've been elected to lead. i've got no greater honor than serving as command for the

chief of our men and women in uniform. it is my duty to ensure that no diversion complicates the vital mission they are carrying out. that includes adherence to a strict code of conduct. the strength and greatness of our military is rooted in the fact that this code applies equally to newly enlisted privates and to the general officer who commands them. that allows us to come together as one. that's part of the reason why america has the finest fighting force in the history of the world. it is also true that our democracy depends upon institutions that are stronger than individuals. that includes strict adherence to the military chain of command and respect for civilian control over that chain of command. that's why as commander in chief i believe this decision is necessary to hold ourselves accountable to standards that

are at the core of our democracy. second, i have a responsibility to do whatever is necessary to succeed in afghanistan and in our broader effort to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al qaeda. i believe this mission demands unity of effort across our alliance and across my national security team. i don't think that we can sustain the unity of effort and achieve our objectives in afghanistan without making this change. that, too, has guided my decision. i just told my national security team that now is the time for all of us to come together. doing so is not an option but an obligation. i welcome debate among my team but i won't doll toll rate division. all of us have personal interests, all of us have opinions, our politics often fuels conflict.

but we have to renew our sense of common purpose and meet our responsibilities to one another and to our troops who are in harm's way and to our country. we need to remember what this is all about. our nation is at war. we faced a very tough fight in afghanistan. but americans don't flinch in the face of difficult truths or difficult tasks. we per mist and we persevere. we will not tolerate a safe haven for terrorist whs want -- who want to destroy afghan society from within and launch attacks against innocent men, women, and children in our country and around the world. make no mistake, we have a clear goal. we are going to break the taliban's momentum. we are going to build afghan capacity. we are going to relentlessly apply pressure on al qaeda and its leadership, strengthening

the ability of both afghanistan and pakistan to do the same. that's a strategy we agreed to last fall, that is the policy that we are carrying out in afghanistan and pakistan. in that effort, we are honored to be joined by allies and partners who have stood by us, who paid the ultimate price through the loss of their young people at war. they are with us because the interests and values that we share, and because this mission is fundamental to the ability of free people to live in peace and security in the 21st century. general petraeus and i were able to spend some time this morning discussing the way forward. i'm extraordinarily grateful he has agreed to serve in this new capacity. it should be clear to everybody he does so at great personal sacrifice to himself and his family. he is setting an extraordinary

example of service and patriotism by assuming this difficult post. i say to the american people, this is a change in personnel but not a change in policy. general petraeus fully participated in our review last fall. he both supported and help dead sign the strategy we have in place. in his current post at central command he has worked closely with our forces in afghanistan. he has worked closely with congress he has worked closely with the afghan and pakistan governments, and with all our partners in the region. he has my full confidence and i am urging the senate to confirm him for this new assignment as swiftly as possible. let me conclude by saying that it was a difficult decision to come to the conclusion i've made today.

it saddens me to lose the service of a soldier who i have come to respect and admire. the reasons that led me to this decision are the same principles that have supported the strength of our military and our nation since the founding. once again, i thank general mcchrystal for his enormous contributions to the security of this nation and the success of our mission in afghanistan. i look forward to working with general petraeus and my entire national security team to succeed in our mission. i reaffirm that america stands as one in our support of the men and women who serve. thank you very musm

>> president obama just announcing that general stanley mcchrystal is no longer in charge in afghanistan, he has nominated general david petraeus, who must be confirmed by the senate. the house is in recess, some members working on resolutions and bills today, expected back for votes at about 4:00 or 4:30 eastern time. tomorrow members considering changes to campaign finance disclosure rules, the measure is in response to the supreme court's ruling that corporations, labor unions, and interest groups have the same free speech rights as individuals and do not have to disclose campaign doe nays -- donations. we'll have live coverage of the house when the members return about a half-hour or hour from now. also on the hill, representative joe barton will retain his top spot on the house energy and commerce committee. barton who came under fire after apologizing to b.p.'s

c.e.o. tony hayward about the way the government treated the company, will stay on the committee which oversees oil and gas regulation, among other areaa. right now we go to a briefing by admiral thad allen on the gulf oil spill. >> good morning, everyone, i'm lieutenant joe pinker, press

secretary to admiral allen. he'll be sgroined the secretary for labor and health. just a couple of ground rules follow the comments, we'll have 10 minutes of questions from the phone and possibly 10 minutes of questions from the room. at that -- at this time, i'll turn it over to admiral allen. >> thank you. good afternoon. a couple of developments to update you on but first of all, as of midnight last night, we were able to produce 27,097 barrels a new high for us, a combination of the discover enterprise, which did 668,000 and the q-4000 which flared off natural gas and oil of 420,000 oils. we had an incident earlier today where they noticed there was some kind of gas rising

through the vent that carries warm waters down. in an abundance of caution, the discover enterprise removed the containment camp and moved away until they could assess the condition. they've indicated the problem was a remotely operated vehicle that had been around the area had bumped one of the vents that allows how to come out, thereby creating pressure and a back flow. they are checking the containment cap right now. containment cap, they'll try to reinstall the cap. if there are hydrates, they'll probably have to rerun the pipeline and that will take a considerable amount longer. a couple of other updates, as i told you other this, over the last couple of days, we are in the process of installing free standing riser pipes. the first free standing riser pipe has been installed.

they are testing it for pressure leaks today. we are looking forward potentially next tuesday bringing an additional production vessel online to get 53,000 barrel a day capacity, not withstanding the removal of the containment cap today for the issue i just talked about. on a more somber note we had two deaths reported of people helping with this effort, one a swimming event, one a ship operator. we know this is a devastating thing to happen. we understand the gulf shore officers are investigating the vessel of opportunity death. we've had a number of questions about worker safety and exposure of workers to various types of hazards out there.

i thought it would be informative for everyone to hear from the source itself about what we're doing together. a few weeks ago we signed an m.o.u. between the department of labor and osha that laid out how to work together moving forward. it's been a strong team moving, i'd like to introduce him right now. >> thank you, admiral. i'll talk about what osha has been doing and how we're protecting workers cleaning up the oil spill, both on land and at sea. osha has been involved in protecting workers on this oil spill since the last week of april, since we immediately anticipated that workers were going to be mobilized to work on the cleanup and would possibly be exposed to a number of health and safety hazards. osha personnel were deployed to the gulf the last week of april. we have had a presence at every staging area in louisiana, mississippi, alabama and florida. we're on the ground, monitoring health and safety conditions,

doing air monitoring, air sampling. we have been on the vessels of opportunity, observing health and safety conditions there, doing air sampling as well. we have over -- almost 150 people in the gulf area at this point, 25 of whom are assigned 100% of their time to the gulf cleanup operation. we are bringing in a couple dozen more as well. we've also been involved from the beginning with b.p. and the incident command on the type of training workers will need. we've been preparing and working with other groups to to prepare educational materials in a variety of languages, english, spanish, vietnamese. we've been aggressively assuring that b.p., the contractors, everyone are complying with health and safety standards and any safety conditions, including being supplied with the appropriate personal protective equipment, which may include gloves, cover

yawls, in certain cases respirators. we've been taking samples of worker chemical exposures, again on the beaches, the swamps, boats, everywhere that workers are. i will just let you know, we can discuss this a little bit more, we have found no exposure levels to chemicals that are of any concern. the main problem we've been seeing down threrk main concern we've had for worker health and safety has to do with heat. people are working in very high heat conditions. often they're working with tie veck suits with chemical protective suits, gloves which exacerbates the heat problem. we've had a number of incidents we've had to deal with with heat including some hospitalizations. we're very concerned about that in conjunction with fatigue problems and the long hours people are working. right now, when we find problems we are bringing them up immediately with b.p., with any of the contractors or with the zwroint incident command. we have had really no problems

with the employers down there complying with health and safety standards and addressing any of the issues we have raised. earlier in this process, we had a few road bumps when we were trying to work out a relationship with b.p. and the contractors in order to ensure that when we identify a problem that it was handled not only immediately but also hand nled a systematic process across the whole gulf area. we have managed to reach agreement and as the admiral mentioned, we have an m.o.u. now with ea the joint incident command and irnede out those problems. again so far, though we continue to verify every day that workers are working safely, any problems that we identify are being handled. i'd be glad to answer any questions. >> before we go to questions, i want to make one other comments. there have been questions posed to us throughout the day regarding drudging operations in louisiana. i can be very clear on this

point. the federal government has not stopped the state of louisiana from dredging. we have asked them to work within the plan agreed to back in may when we declared this was an appropriate oil spill response activity. but we understood also that that had to be done within environmental constraints to not damage the barrier islands, particularly true with the hurricane season approaching. the state and dredging contractor have certain obligations to meet and we hope they do that. we're kind of disappointed that -- and surprised because this was identified as a priority tt move forward and comply with the original covenants established moving ahead. with that, i'll be glad to take questions. >> operator, we'll begin with questions from the room. >> this r.o.v. that struck the apparently, thing system on the point, has that caused a completely unrestrained flow at this point? and tell us the timeline as to

your notification something happened? >> i was notified immediately. we had people down in houston, i've had two conversations with bob dudley, who is managing the response for b.p. they also notified the department of homeland security. >> it's not -- so is it unrestricted? >> we're still flaring off 10,000 barrels a day. we have two vessels out there the discover enterprise terminated its efforts while they check for hydrates. it's more than it could have been but it's not unrestrain. -p>> he hurricane forecast timeline is shorter than the amount of time it takes to get materials and assets in a given area, target area. how are you going to resolve that? >> we're in discussions with british petroleum. i have talked with bob dudley about that as well. we've been working with the national hurricane is center and working through our

national incident command with the coast guard commanders. depending on the type of vessel out there, it's going to take a shorter or longer time to be able to disconnect. the other ship will take six or seven day advance notice to evacuate. we have to look at the probabilities of the storms and act very early on. if you look at the area between cuba and the straits of florida, there's it's a radius or perimeter. anything that could fall in that area should prompt action. we're concerned about the vessels, when you get above igget -- eight foot seas they aren't effective. >> we noticed something had changed, the containment camp had been removed. do these units bump into the assembly snauven >> we've had two issues with

r.o.v.'s. there are an unbelievable amount of r.o.v.'s down there it's our only eyes and ears for the relief well the vertical riser packages being installed, other installations. we were putting the riser insertion tube in it became dislodged and had -- and had to be put back in. it was dislodged by an r.o.v. that was tending to another tsk task. we have simultaneous operations, simops, the fact that we've had two bumps with some consequence associated with them in a 60-plus day response is a pretty good record. it's never going to be risk free out there, we need to watch it very closely. >> you say you were notified immediately when it happened. >> i was. >> the operator of the r.o.v., did they have immediate not fi

-- notification or was there a symptom in your -- that caused a delay in your reaction time? >> i don't know what the timeline was. the minute the person in houston found out about it, i got an email, the minute i found out about it, i notified the white house. mr. dudley is a native mississippian, he's got a lot of experience in the oil production part of b.p. i had a frank and open conversation with tony hayward and with bob dudley as well, i expect that to continue. i think b.p.'s decision to create a response organization in the gull san francisco a very, very good decision. we need to bring them in, our unified command down there, they need to understand what we need from them. i continue to be very closely -- talk to them a couple of times a day. i think this is generally a positive step. >> do we have other questions

from the room? >> i want to know, the fatalities, are they work related? >> they don't appear they are work related. that doesn't mean we don't feel badly about it. our hearts go out to their family but it doesn't appear they're work rhetted. >> other questions from the room? ok, operator, we'll take questions from the phone line. >> hello, admiral, i'm hoping you can walk me through again what happened with the cap, when was it removed? why would closing the vent cause hyyrates because that's caused when sea water gets inside. >> my understanding was they netsed there was some kind of burp in the line where there was natural gas or some reason, they thought they had product or hydrocarbons coming up through the water line that's meant to carry warm water down to do away with the hydrocarbon

problem. when they felt it might be compromised and might compromise the discover, which is flaring now. to the extent there's product there, you have a chance for hydrates to form. they had to check and see if there were hydrate there is. if there are, they probably have to pull the dree pipe and reinsert it once the hydrates are clear. the initial indication was one of the vents allowing the oil to vent so the cap will stay on might have been dislodged by coming into a contact with an r.o.v., i think they're trying to validate that. they knew one of the vents was shut when they sent a second r.o.v. down to take a look. that's all we have right now, we're continuing to look into it. >> admiral, thanks for take question. just to follow up on that why

would an r.o.v. have bumped the cap? i'm sorry, i don't quite understand what happened. if you could give us a precise time on when it all went down, that would be great. i'm looking at the scene from b.p., it's showing looks like a disperse ant sprayspraying on -- disperse isn't a spraying on an open guyser. and if you could explain more about the two deaths. could you elaborate a little bit? >> regarding the two deaths, i have no further data. i was advised coming into the briefing today that they occurred. i have no other information to provide at this time. regarding the removal of the containment cap, as i was getting prepared to come over here in the press conference, i came back -- we can get you a minute by minute accounting but

i was told they found out after the fact when they set the -- sent the r.o.v. down that it appeared a vent was closed, the assumption is that is because of an r.o.v. bumping into it and closing the vebt. i don't think there's any problem putting out an exact timeline. i was just getting that over here today. >> what about the possibility of the pipeline blowout to another platform, another installation somewhere in that area. i was wondering if you had mmre specifics about what would need to be done to make that plan work as well as, have you found any possible targets or platforms that might be able to take production? >> i believe b.p. is in discussion with other industry

producers that have rigs in the area that might be useful for that. i don't think they've concluded those yet. i mentioned it yesterday because i was asked about whether or not there were redundancies or any recourse if we had a hurricane or heavy weather that required us to move the vessel from the scene. this is another way if you needed to move to another drill site you'd have surface vess ales. >> thank you for taking my call. as i look at the update from the administration response, there's only about 1/10 of the national guard currently in the theater. i wonder what's the limiting factor there are they not needed? what's the delay there? >> there's no delay in acting on a request for national guard. i believe the total authorized for the gulf coast region is 17.5 -- 17,500.

the way the process works is the governor makes a request to the on scene coordinator for a particular activity to be carrieded out by the national guard, that is approved and then the national guard is deployed an dispashed. we have not turned down any requests thus far. it's up to the governors in how they want to employ the national guard. we've been responsive when the requests have come in. so far the level of use dictates the desires of the state at this point. >> we have time for one last question. >> admiral, going over the mileage figures in the next few days, on june 20 it was 59 miles, then jumped up to 173 the next day and 171 yesterday. is that a matter of reporting or was there a lot of oil that

hit in mississippi, alabama, and florida on the 21st? >> it tends to fluctuate when we report that out. it's what we're dealing with right now in terms of impact control and what we're cleaning up that could drop once the shoreline is cleared up, and could go back and be counted later on if the beach is reoiled. it's just a current snapshot, it's not cumulative and can change dramatically if we had a heavier than anticipated land fall of oil or greater impact area. it will vary from day to day. was that responsive? ok. >> ok. thank you everyone, that concludes today's briefing. thank you, operator. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> some news from capitol hill on the spill i spill in the gulf. b.p. will receive a subpoena

for documents for documents related to the spill. the house judiciary committee voted unanimously for the subpoena. one of the bills the house will vote on when members come back in deals with giving the commission investigating the oil spill subpoena power. live coverage of the house coming up shortly inspected in the next half-hour or system of representative john shadegg had the house energy and commerce -- head of the house energy and commerce committee talked about the future of oil drilling on this morning's "washington journal." is here toshadegg about a whale drrlling. -- is here to talk about oil drilling. this is a story yesterday in times" quoting the

administrator, and co-chair this mission to look at this. any moratorium would require the industry require safer drilling they wouldand that's markedly strengthened. said you cannot do that fast enough. look at the history of washington. a congressional hearing revealed major oil companies on an inadequate plan to%+ to an offshore oil .pill guest: what is wrong according opinion is that is capricious in the sense written the way his comments are written. they are not imposed on

drilling in the gulf do those things. if you said we will have a until the major oil rewrite their recovery i think it would rewrite them quickly. if they would impose this on bp, was dealing with practices, i ask them a series of questions. they disapproved of the that bp use. -- used. bp has been in engaged in a risky pattern of conduct for time. other executives knew that but what they could do that. but the judge's opinion makes it that you could write a moratorium that set

you impose these safety requirements, most of what the criticism is about has not been plan. recovery most has been on how bp as it went to cap this well. it was going through the process. eds said this was about cumin, not system failure. -- it was about human, not system failure. that should of been red flag number-one and they should have something different. it wws -- they should have done pressure teet of the well. instead of reacting to the properly, they took the decision. impose a new set of

provisions. the pressure test show there is resubmit. we submitted there appears to be no basis for selection of six months. the comments that say there are that can be done is in agreement with all of the oil executives. things the government could require that we do for safety. say they already do those things. but rewriting the recovery plan a part of the order by secretary salazar. i think that is what caused the judge to throw it out. used to practice in

arizona. the attorneyth %%neral's office. rules.re the government imposes a set of requirements. to have a reasonable basis. case, the majority of the scientists that wrote the report on which the mooatorium was based leader came back and salazar orary somebody change our report after we released it. they say we believe the report, wrooe does not the moratorium as written. it will not contribute -- it contribute safetyrably to increase made in theges of their reeort are

counterproductive to long-term safety. this judge was pressed. have eight of the scientist report and it not add to safety. think his hand was forced. host: some legal expprts makest mr. salazar could -- they are not in compliance relevant safeey staadards. guest: i think that is what they done from the beginning. from what i have learned from cutting, unsafe practices, other things at bp, i moratorium st. must suspend drilling or maybe bp should suspend all bp cleans its

act. and i think cells are could order that says -- and think mr. salazar could issue order that says we will reinspect them and impose a moratorium on a case by case basis. not worried about bp. i'm worried about the damage this has done. a spill like this happen again. bp has economic resources. practices, it is appropriate to stop their driiling. that public records show judge has large investments in oil companies, in particular transocean which wassrunning bp -- running this bp. for be

yout: if he is an investor, have to disqualify yourself. that he kept this case and made this ruling if he fact had a conflict. question.a i think you have to look get the rules of judicial ethics. if he broke them, that is a%+ serious problem. host: what is next for the committee? guest: the committee will hold hearings and gather evidence. we're frustrated. we have had in oil company executives and a different ofcommittee had in the head from that testimony. some are disgusted by that

testimony. not had in the mines and responsible here.hat was%- you can see from early reports that its conduct was irresponsible. one thing i think bothers people living n the gulf rea -- the had an agent that was supposed to check the practices some people were either being become under the influence of some of the oil companies and were not doing their jobs. company will punish and i think that is a problem i wish our committee would in the officials that eee in doing their oversight job. is the point in government oversight if people do not do their jobs correctly? host: what should happen with mms?

guest: every american needs to the best safety regulations. and are being implemented theave confidence that officials -- people chicken house are which appearsb, have happen. hoss: should you take away the responsibility of inspecting them? guest: i think that is a possibility. i do not think they should be combined. should give ithe a system that is charged to protect the environment. regulation of safety is different from protection of the environment. the agency should be looking at

environmental impacts. the agency insuring drilling is done and we should keep them each of their separate functions. let's go to the phone calls. informed through the media. if louisiana wants to overcome moratorium on drilling, would the state be willing to assume full responsibility and waiver, holding all the parties responsible? guest: the state of louisiana was on a plaintiff in this lawsuit. the plaintiffs were business who service these wells. there was a company that runs ships that takes the

supplies out to the oil host: they said they do not moratorium, either. guest: are there others who are willing to step in and say, we think we are safer and we will hold harmless the people responsible? people might be willing to that. we do not think this is the right remedy. argument that was made in hearing was the less we produced domestically, will have to import. argument can be made if tankers or less safe than drilling, then by relying on%% willimportant for oil

andease the cost of oil gasoline and giving them more of our money. tankers appear to be less safe than drilling operations. by importing more, we increase than decrease the rest oil spills. i think it should be on the informedand discussion. that is what the coort ruled. is magic about six months? nothing in the case to support the selection of six months. fort 4 myers, florida -- florida. i will put renee on hold and we will try to get that straightened out. there is a private legislation

is being negotiated in the senate right now. the house passed a bill earlier year on cap and trade. to see in anu like bill, final legislation spill? to the gulf oil guest: i think we need to ensure that practices in the industry are safe. one of the points made in the that the thousands of -- the industry standards are should be. all safety precautions are put in place. if we do not currently require that when tests are performed during the capping of the well, those tests show a problem, stop and if there are practices than by bp, which should in place. those

think we should put place further restrictions on production of domestic oil. years ago we got into a on energy policy. we need to move to renewables as can but that is get toething we will tomorrow. need to produce our alliance foreign services. but to make this as safe as it possibly can be, but let's not wipe it out. host: deeroit, michigan. caller: i would like to know, if coming to the open market? the oil in the gulf. guest: this waa all domestically oil.ced

this is not imported oil from countries. we import oil from canada, mexico, the middle east. this would be domestic oil. a worldgoes into market. this was consumed here in the united states. we produce about 40% of what we need. we import the other 60%. we become more reliant on oil and we ship jobs and overseas. someone comes by tanker. host: the oil they were killing rig -- the oil they were drilling for -- guest: there is a difference

between drilling and production. this was a drilling rig. they found the oil. the next phase would have been place the necessary mechanisms to bring it to shore. they had found the oil. host: jefffey in connecticut. caller: i was wondering for mr. consideredn't this jury what he did -- is and forgery?ered guest: i don't think it is3 appropriate. if you handed a teaching assistant eighth report you had written and the teaching to turnt was supposed professor and if he not, you would be angry. i would like to see the

committee: secretary salazar and say, how is it -- assembled a of 15 scientists. they wrote a report. somehow you change the report before you release it to the public. before youthe report the president. i think it is part of what this judge to reach that conclusion. unusual for a group of scientists to say, if you change the report. imply we agreed with what we to the president. i think the caller raises a good question. no hearing scheduled to secretary salazar why he changed the report. overnight, secretary salazar has announced he will impose a new moratorium based on new evidence. really?

let's see. he had scientists come in and the scientific basis the current moratorium. he changed the report. did he call those scientists back? is the basis for the new moratorium? really playing politics here? point made earlier, let's look at the specific need to be done. it will take time to do that before we can safely put wells back into place. the: the judge wrote that justifyration failed to need for such day "blanket, moratorium on gas drilling." given what you said about the of war-torn he put together puthow it has been he resign?hould

guest: it would be premature to jump to that conclusion. everything is being done premature. that is, as soon as the incident occurred and the deepwater horizon blue up and sank -- blew and sank, they did an bat.ction right off thh were found.lations those that were found were minor. it looks like things are fairly with regards to the of the current r igs. in this instance, it is pretty clear that bp was cutting corners. did not go.hoe

some see this as a red flag. cement >> we're leaving this recorded program to go live to the u.s. house. members are coming back in for votes oo measures debated earlier today live on c-span. the first electronic vote will be conducted as a 15-minute vote. remaining electronic votes will e conducted as five-minute votes. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from west virginia, mr. rahall, to suspend the rules amended onr. 5481 as which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5481, a bill to give subpoena power to the national commission on the b.p. deepwater horizon oil spill and offshore drilling. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the

bill as amended. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of

quorum call: quum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. mr. wicker: i ask unanimous consent to vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wicker: i rise today to inform the senate of the accomplishment of mississippi's summerall high school baseball am. earlier the bobcats set a mississippi record by winning 67 consecutive games and winning their third straight state championship, an impressive

achievement worthy of recognition. the team fell just eight wins shy of breaking thh national record for consecutive wins, but they secured their spot as the team with the nation's fourth longest winning streak. some teams might have been discouraged after a loss ended such an impressive streak, but the bobcats regrouped and went on to win their final 11 games and their third consecutive class aaa state championship. the summerall high school bobcats' state title and 36-1 record earned them the top spot in "usa today"'s national high school baseball rankings. the staff consists of head coach larry knight and assistant coaches steve cooley, andy davis, richard broom and matt thomas. the team members and coaching staff have demonstrated

outstanding teamwork, discipline and sportsmanship. i congratulate the summerall high school baseball team from mississippi, and i wish them continued success, both on and off the field and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the rl. quorum cl:

quorum call:

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the call of t quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: we're still working on this extenders bill. we thought we had it all worked out, and there was -- one of the senators wanted some more changes. each time we do that, we've to rescore the bl, and it takes time. and we're in the process of doing that right now. so i apologize to everyone. we're not having these votes. i do ask consent now -- unanimous consent that we be in a period of morning business until 6:00 tonight, with senators allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes each. --and during this time,

mr. president, that we're involved in this morning business that it be for debate only. the presiding officer: without mr. reid: suggest soling. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

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