recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. members, this is a five-minute vote. five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 405, the nays are two. 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? >> mr. speaker, on vote number 590 that was recently taken, i was detained in a hearing in the intelligence committee, did not vote on the adoption of h.con.res. 323, supporting the

goal of ensuring that all holocaust survivor notice united states are able to live with dignity, comfort and security in their remaining years. as a co-sponsor of that bill, i would have voted yes had i been present. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman's statement will appear in the record. >> i would ask that appear in the record at the appropriate place. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the house will be in order. the house will be in order. for what purpose does the gentleman from wisconsin rise? mr. obey: mr. speaker, i call up joint resolution h.j.res. 101 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the joint retslusion.

the clerk: house joint resolution 101, joint resolution making further continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2011 and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 1741, the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. obey, and the gentleman from california, mr. lewis, each will control 30 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from wisconsin. mr. obey: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous done sent all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on h.j.res. 101. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. so ordered. mr. obey: mr. speaker, i yield myself two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. obey: mr. speaker, this legislation is one page long, it does only one thing, it changes the date so we can keep the government running from this friday, december 3, to saturday, december 18. otherwise the government would shut down. the two weeks we are extending the current c.r. will provide us and the senate time to consider the full year c.r. and the anomalies that the administration should be sending us today.

with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the house will be in order. the gentleman from california. mr. lewis: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i might consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lewis: mr. speaker, by any definition, this year's appropriations process has been a complete and utter failure. we are now five weeks past the beginning of the new fiscal year and congress has yet to enact a single appropriations bill. out of 12 total bills, two have passed the house while 10 bills were never, ever considered by the full committee. even more astonishing, mr. speaker, is this fact. during all of 2010, the full appropriations committee met just once in july, and that

meeting occurred almost a null year since the last time -- full year since the last time the committee met in july of, 2009 -- in july of 2009. this record is all the more striking when you consider the fact that the house has spent week after week, month after month considering hundreds of insignificant bills while ignoring the substantive work required of the congress to pass the federal budget. today the house is considering a two-week extension of the current continuing resolution. chairman obey and the democrat leadership are hoping that two weeks will be enough time to muster enough democratic votes to pass a massive 12-bill package loaded with earmarks, with a price tag exceeding $1.1 trillion. if they succeed, house democrats will pass an omnibus without a

single republican vote. democratic staff in the house and the senate began negotiations on the omnibus spending bill after members of congress left washington in october, realizing that these negotiations excluded input from the elected members of congress and recognized the likelihood that these negotiations would lead to yet another massive trillion-dollar government spending bill. i directed my staff not to engage in these negotiations. while democratic staff was focused on additional ways to spend money, republican staffers on the committee were working to identify spending cuts. as i made clear time and time again, i am strongly, unequivocally opposed to any potential omnibus spending bill the democratic leadership may be planning to bring to the house floor before the end of the year.

likewise, i remain adamantly opposed to extending the c.r. for the balance of the fiscal year to current spending levels which are, frankly, too darn high. i am encouraging my leadership and each of my colleagues who are concerned about excessive spending to oppose any effort to pass an omnibus or extend the c.r. beyond. voters have made it clear that they want congress to cut spending, starting today. there's no better place to begin this process than by returning the u.s. treasury -- to the u.s. treasury unobligated funds from the american recovery and re-investment act, one of the most costly and infective bills in modern history. for this very reason, i introduced legislation on november 15 to immediately rescind billions of dollars of unspent federal stimulus funding and immediately applying those

dollars to the deficit. i am hopeful that rescinding this funding will be among the first orders of business in the 112th congress. this commitment to cut spending will also consist of rescinding previously appropriated dollars passed under the current democratic majority, as well as dramatically scaling back funding for proposed by the president in his final two years in office. i believe we ought to extend the c.r. until february, allowing the house republicans the opportunity to begin putting our nation's fiscal house in order. by completing the fy 2011 appropriations bills -- f.y. 2011 appropriations bills and saving taxpayers at least $100 billion, it would be the clearest signal the house could send to the american people that we've got the message and take seriously their commitment to

cutting spending. should the democratic leadership muster the votes to pass an omnibus in its last effort to spend yet another trillion-plus dollars, every penny above and beyond the 2008 levels will be on the chopping block come january. or put another way, if house democrats use their last four weeks in power to spend another $1.1 trillion, house republicans will rescind every penny above and beyond the 2008 levels when the new congress convenes. mr. speaker, i believe we should have shut down the government, but i cannot and will not support this c.r. because it continues unsustainable levels of spending established last year. at a time of historic deficits, record debt and 10% unemployment, i believe we owe our constituents more than the

status quo. let's start cutting spending, mr. speaker, today. i urge a no vote and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from wisconsin. the gentleman from wisconsin reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from california. mr. lewis: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from kentucky, mr. rogers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky is recognized for three minutes. mr. rogers: i thank the gentleman for yielding. today's c.r. is nothing but a continuation of the culture of overspending, persistence of a broken process and the refusal to make the tough decisions and earmarks and do the job we were sent here to do. as a result, our federal

spending is off the charts. we're staring at another trillion dollar budget deficit, debts are stacking up over $13 trillion, unemployment continues to hoffer around 10% and congressional approval by the public remains at an all-time and dangerous low. for the past two years, the administration has been given a freehand with an unlimited credit card -- free hand with an unlimited credit card. 27% in growth in nondefense discretionary spending since 2008, and that's not including the bailouts and a failed stimulus package. meanwhile, the appropriations committee has not done its job. no checks, no balances, no discipline, no bills. what do we have to show for our work this year on the committee and in the congress? a two-week extension of more of

the same. a date change is the sum total of the work of the appropriations committee. disappointing to say the least. i believe we can do much better by severely cutting spending, conducting rigorous and thoughtful oversight, changing the culture of appropriations and performing outreach inside and outside the congress. fortunately i believe wholesale change is on the way, mr. speaker. we got to cut discretionary spending and exert fiscal discipline on fat agencies. we got to stop the administration's regulatory war on small businesses and working families and rein in the out-of-control bureaucracies like the e.p.a., and we got to start listening to the american people and their views rather than building these bills in the speaker's office behind closed doors. let's let the light shine in

and open up some closets around that stale office. mr. speaker, i urge the house reject this two-week delay, cut spending, return to regular order and conduct our business out in the open. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from wisconsin. mr. obey: could i inquire of the gentleman from california how many speakers he has remaining? mr. lewis: we have no additional speakers. mr. obey: i have only one speaker left to close, myself, so if the gentleman wants to yield back. mr. lewis: mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from wisconsin. mr. obey: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. obey: mr. speaker, i made a mistake here today. i assumed because the election was over that we would have at least a temporary suspension of the election year rhetoric, but

evidently i was wrong. it's not the first time but nonetheless i had hoped it would be otherwise today. let me simply say that i will take a lot of lectures from a lot of people on a lot of subjects because i made more than my share of mistakes in the years that i served in this place. but the one thing that i will not take is lectures from the other side about fiscal responsibility. i mean, these are the folks who managed to turn $6 trillion in expected surpluses when bill clinton left office into a $1 trillion deficit. these are the same folks who insisted on passing two tax cuts primarily targeted at the wealthiest people in this country all paid for with

borrowed money. these are the same folks that have insisted that we fight two wars on borrowed money rather than paying the bills. and these are the same folks who attacked president obama for the so-called bailouts when in fact the mother of all bailouts, tarp, was brought to this congress by the previous republican administration. i -- while i don't like the way they implemented that bailout, i happen to think that they did -- that administration what was necessary under the circumstances. the circumstances created in large part by previous policies that were pursued by the folks running washington, d.c. so i don't want to go any further than that. i didn't intend to get into the political side of the debate,

but neither am i going to sit by and have these comments go unanswered. with that i would simply say this, again, is a very simple proposition. it extends the budget for two weeks at existing levels so the congress can make an attempt to finish its work so we do not do what was done to us four years ago because when we took office four years ago we had to clean up all of the last year's fiscal mess before we could turn to next year's problems. i would think that it is worthwhile to finish action on our budget this year so as our friends, as they assume majority status in january, can start with a clean slate and be looking forward rather than

backwards. and that's what this resolution is an attempt to facilitate that. i urge passage of it. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: all time has yielded back and all time for debates that expired. pursuant to house resolution 1741, the joint resolution is considered as read and the previous question is ordered. the question is on engrossment and third reading of the joint resolution. all those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. third reading. the clerk: joint resolution making further continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2011 and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on passage of the joint resolution. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. mr. lewis: mr. speaker. i ask for the yeas and nays. the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: i'm sorry, yes. the yeas and nays are

requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed.

mr. miller: i call up s. 3307 and ask for its immediate consideration in the house. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 3307, to re-authorize child nutrition programs, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from california, mr. miller, and the gentleman from minnesota, mr. kline, each will control 30 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. mr. miller: i thank the chair and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. miller: mr. speaker, today i rise for our nation's children and for the poorest children in our country who are hungry and malnourished. i rise because children need our help. child nutrition is is a question of what's the moral thing to do for our children. it's about being on the right side of history and ensuring healthy and productive future for our country. our children will make and

determine our future and that is what is at stake. in our country, as great as ours, no child should go hungry but in fact millions of children do go hungry at various times throughout the year and very often throughout the day. and the fact of the matter is we cannot afford to let that continue. at the same time in the middle of this crises of food insecurity, as it's called, better known as hunger, we also face the public problem of obesity. what we understand and what we know is our schools through the school nutrition programs and other programs that serve nutritional meals to children are an opportunity to educate them about eating better, eating healthier. and this legislation addresses those concerns because it provides -- it provides the resources necessary so we can improve the meals selection for our children in the various feeding program. it's very important for us because it also provides for

transparency, increased transparency othe program, for increased efficiency of the program, for increased compleesity of the program both for -- complicit of the program both for parents enrolling in the program. and those are the kinds of healthier meals should be a goal and is a goal, in fact, of this congress and of this nation. it also provides accountability within the legislation. it also provides the means by which we can ensure that we will have healthy foods during the school day for the children and in other educational settings and care settings for these children so that we can also address the problems of childhood obesity. we have the hearings in our committee where we've had experts from various scientific organizations and health organizations that we now have very young children presenting

with adult diseases and illnesses. and we spent some $140 billion, $150 billion in the excess cost of obesity, much of it starts with children with their diet. so that's what this legislation is really about. it's making sure that we can in fact provide for a healthier school-age population, a smarter school-age population about the foods they choose, a better meal program for them and increased simplicity and transparency and accountability for those who administer the program. and with that i will reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise -- need to work on the sound system. i rise in opposition to s.

3307, and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. kline: the american people have spoken, and they continue to speak loud and clear. i've been listening and i know what i've been hearing in the second district of minnesota is being repeated from coast to coast. stop growing government. the people are telling us, stop spending money we do not have. it's a simple request and a sensible one. yet it continues to be ignored. today's vote will be among our final acts as we move through the few remaining days of the 111th congress. as we cast those votes we have a choice to make, will we continue spending more and increasing the role of government and americans' lives or will we listening to the people and step on the brakes? each of us must make that choice as we cast on the vote on the bill before us. extending these programs does

not mean expanding these. we can extend these programs and add to them with no added cost. we can listen to our constituents and do right by our children. in fact, our republican colleagues and i tried to do precisely that. the democrats in the rules committee denied us such an option on the floor today. instead, this bill spends another $4.5 billion on various programs and initiatives and creates our expands 17, 17 separate federal programs. it imposes a tax on the middle class by empowering the u.s. secretary of agriculture to require schools to increase -- that's right -- requires schools to increase the price they charge families for school meals. it's one of many concerns outlined by the national governors association and leading school groups. in fact, the school leaders who would be responsible for implementing these new requirements have urged us to

vote no on s. 3307 because of its higher costs for local districts and its rigid mandates. earlier this month the american association of school administers, the council of the great city schools and the flal school boards association -- and the national school boards association told us, and i'm quoting, all of the organizations representing the nation's public schools do not support the senate version of the child nutrition bill -- child re-authorization bill pending before the house. this is a strong statement that should leave every member questioning imposing these added costs to mon dates on our school -- mandates on our school systems. it's been a sticking point throughout the process. the majority claims this bill is paid for. they want us to believe we can grow government with no cost or consequences, but the american people know that's just not true. more spending is more spending. wloor those dollars are -- whether or not those dollars are

sent elsewhere. but one offset in this bill is particularly questionable. the truth is, at least some portion of the billions of new program costs is deficit spending. this money was borrowed from our children and grandchildren in 2009 when it was put in the stimulus. that borrowed money is simply being redirected today. it was borrowed then, it is borrowed now. this bill with the so-called pay for d is merely a stalling tactic. it obscures government expansion in the short-term so this bill can become law and its spending can become permanent. so here we stand, playing a shell game with the federal budget and hoping the american people do not notice that government continues to grow. spending continues to expand. and our children continue to fall deeper and deeper into debt. mr. speaker, i support extending and improving child nutrition programs. i believe we can do so in a bipartisan way. but that opportunity is lost with this bill and so i must oppose it and i reserve the

balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from california. mr. lewis: mr. speaker, i yield myself 30 seconds. first of all, it's very clear in this legislation, this does not require school districts to raise any meal prices. in fact, in the best sense of local control, it lets school districts decide and determine how they will ensure that there's adequate revenue to support the paid meal program. we should not have the federal taxpayers underwriting the support of meals for those who can afford it. mr. miller: as is required by the law. this bill passed unanimously from the united states senate, it passed unanimously because they knew that -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. miller: and i yield two minutes to ms. woolsey. a member of the committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized for two minutes.

ms. woolsey: tnk you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of s. 3307, which passed by the way by unanimous consent out of the senate. and i support it because it is our responsibility in this wealthy nation, the united states of america, to make certain that all children, regardless of family income, have nutrition food -- nutritious food so that they will thrive in school and in life. because we know that a hungry child cannot learn. and poor nutrition costs our nation far more over time than investing in good nutrition now. mr. speaker, i'm proud to be the author of two provisions of this bill. one will update for the first time in 30 years the knew trirble standards for food -- nutritional standards for food sold in vending machines, and school snack bars. the other creates a pilot

program for schools to offer organic food. we know that child nutrition is at the heart of our social network. and the safety of all of our children. and these programs have been overwhelmingly successful and they've been cost effective. it's essential that we re-authorize and that the administration urge -- works with us to fulfill their commitment to backfill any food stamp funding after 2013. i urge all of my colleagues, mr. speaker, to vote yes on s. 3307. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: i thank the speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume here to address this issue of a floor on school lunch prices that can be imposed. i've got a couple of quotes here i'd like to read, one from the

bill and one from the letter from the government association where there's a paragraph that says, and i quote, federally mandated paid meal price, the bill would establish a federal mandate for every paid meal in every school in the country for the first time ever. governors join with the school communities to strongly oppose this federal mandate. the provision will dramatically destabilize fair market pricing of school meals and so forth. and they get that from the language of the bill itself. in section 205 it says, lower price. in the case of a food school authority that established a price for a paid lunch in the previous school year that was less than the difference between the total federal reimbursement for free lunch and the total reimbursement for a paid lunch, the school food authority shall establish an average price for a paid lunch that is not less than the price charged in the previous school year. so the federal government is coming in and saying, you can't charge any less, you cannot lower the price of your paid

school lunch unless it meets our requirements. it is in fact saying that you can't lower the price of food even if you would like to do so, it doesn't meet this requirement. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from california. mr. miller: two minutes to the gentlewoman from new york, the subcommittee chair, mrs. mccarthy, on this. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for two minutes. mrs. mccarthy: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today in support of s. 3307, the healthy, hungry free kids act of 2010. i apt also thank chairman miller for his leadership on this issue and i want to thank all of our staff who have worked so hard on this bill. finally i'd like to thank the nutrition and antihunger groups who helped raise the awareness of this very important issue, including those in my district. in the healthy families and communities subcommittee which i chair, we've worked hard over the last two congresses on how we should address many of the important issues through child

nutrition re-authorization, including how we can reduce childhood obesity. i am proud that this bill contains provisions from the bills which i have introduced which will promote nutritious and wellness in child care settings and support breast feeding for low income women. as a nurse for over 30 years, i've seen firsthand the risks and illnesses that can result from obesity. childhood obesity, diabetes, heart disease are all on the rise in the united states and one of the best tools we have to combat these illnesses is our ability to provide wholesome and healthy nutrition to children in our schools. childhood obesity is found in all 50 states in both young children and adolescents. it affects all social and economical levels. there is no silver bullet to solve childhood obesity. however, the school breakfast and lunch programs can make a

great impact because they may provide more than 50% of the student's food nutrition intake on school days. given the current financial realities for many families in my district and throughout the nation, schools have an increasingly important role to play in providing children with nutritious food during their days. we also know how difficult it is to reach -- critical it is to reach children as soon as possible. it is a strong, commonsense and bipartisan effort to improve access to healthy food for all children. i urge my colleagues to vote on this bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i'm pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from georgia, dr. brown -- broun. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for three minutes. mr. broun: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i'm a medical doctor and i've spent almost four decades practicing medicine, concerned about child nutrition. about the health of my patients.

doctors do that as family practitioners and pediatricians all over this country, all over the world. but this act is not about child nutrition. it's not about healthy kids. it's really about an expansion of the federal government. and it's an interference in the school system so much so that the american association of school administration -- administrators, the council of great city schools and the national association of school boards association all oppose this act. this is not about child nutrition. this is about more government control. this is not about healthy children. it's about borrowing more money and putting our children in greater debt. it's n about creating a better environment for our children in the schools. it's about more and more control from washington, d.c.

and we've just got to stop that. the american people are acting very strongly against the agenda that this congress and this president has shown them in the last two years. we saw that on november 2. we've got to stop suspending. this is a -- $4.5 billion bill. it's borrowing more from our children and this kind of i had yosy just has to stop -- idiocy just has to stop. it includes a lot of federal mandates. it's going to be extremely costly. and it does things such as create new programs like an organic food plot. now, i eat organic food, i like the taste of free range chicken and free range beef and organic

foods. but we don't need the federal government to promote this kind of stuff. it's crazy. it also spends taxpayer dollars to federalize nutrition standards. i'm one who believes in proper nutrition. i've talked about patients for years and years about eating properly, taking care of their diabetes and hypertension and things like that through nutritional means, above even prescribing medication. the federal government has no business setting nutritional standards and telling families what they should and shouldn't eat. this bill contains a lot of hidden costs, hidden costs that is going to wind up being billions of dollars of more federal spending. it contains mandates on the states. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman's time has expired. mr. kline: i yield the gentleman an extra one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for an additional one minute. mr. broun: it gives extra mandates on the states and the states are already overburdened and suffering financially. republicans have an alternative to support child nutrition without growing government. but we're not able to bring those things to the floor. hopefully in the next congress we'll be able to. we are very extremely concerned about nutrition of our children and adults. as a physician i have been spending most of my adult life talking about nutrition and health. but this bill is not that. this bill is a nutrition bill for bigger government, greater spending and it must stop. and i encourage my colleagues to vote against this bill. this disastrous -- it's zange rouse. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the

balance of his time. the gentleman from california. mr. miller: i yield a minute to the speaker of the house. the speaker pro tempore: the speaker is recognized for one minute. the speaker: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i thank the chairman and i thank congressman mccarthy, chairwoman delauro, congressman jim mcgovern, all for their leadership in bringing this important legislation to the floor today. i especially want to acknowledge the exceptional leadership of first lady michelle obama, for recognizing a tremendous need in our country. for proper nutrition for our children. children who have issues of having a proper nutrition, have issues about being susceptible to diabetes. so many members of our caucus of this congress have participated in this legislation d this house, of course, congressman barbara lee, the chair of the congressional black caucus,

other members, mr. leader hoyer, all come together with a shared value. and we come together proudly to support a bill that passed unanimously with bipartisan support unanimously in the united states senate. i congratulate the senate for the action that they took to give us the opportunity to be here today. when i became speaker, my first action was to gavel the house to order on behalf of all of america's children. i feel very proud that toward the end of this congress i have the opportunity to come to speak for those children ats withle. i come as a mother -- as well. i come as a mother and a grandmother. i come as one whose children and grandchildren every day pray for the one in five children in america who live in poverty. many of those children go to sleep hungry at night. how could that be in this, the greatest country in the world?

this congress, the united states senate, in a bipartisan way, the first lady and the president of the united states have decided to take action upon the tremendous need our children have. we all know that this legislation is important for moral reasons. it's also a competitiveness issue for our country. it's important for children to learn in order for us to compete internationally, they can't learn if they're not eating. if they don't have the proper nutrition. so it's not just what it it means for the children although it's foremost. it's what it means to our country, to our community, to our economy. it's a national security issue as well. just a little bit of history that many of you are familiar with, but i'll recall that in order to create the strongest possible military we must address obesity among america's children.

the history, the national school lunch act was made law in 1946 as it responds to the alarming number of americans who were rejected for world war ii military service because diet-related health problems. that's how we got any of the food stamps and the food initiatives in our country. more than 60 years later, america faces the same problem. 27% of young americans are unable to serve in the military because they are overweight. that is why mission readiness, an organization of more than 150 retired military leaders, is urging congress to pass this bill. they face community -- faith-base community supports it, those concerned about nutrition and feeding our children support it, the military supports this legislation. it will strengthen our competitiveness, it will improve our military readiness,

it will honor our commitment to our children and it does so in a fiscally responsible way. improving the efficiency and the effectiveness of federal child nutrition initiatives and ultimately saving the taxpayer money. the united states of america spends $147 billion each year in excess medical costs treating obesity related diseases. indeed, we cannot afford not to address this problem. we must address this problem. and so again i commend my colleagues for their leadership over the years. i know that congressman george miller, now chairman of the education and labor committee, but way back when before he came to congress decades ago as a staffer in sacramento, california, worked on childhood nutrition issues. he brings a long history of great commitment and making a tremendous difference for children and their health. again, let us address this moral issue, this competitive

issue, this national security issue. let us join the united states senate in passing this legislation with strong bipartisan support for all of america's children. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. i understand the chairman has several speakers, and i have some on the way, so i'll reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. miller: i yield 1 1/2 minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. andrews. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for 90 seconds. mr. andrews: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. andrews: thank you, mr. speaker. the senate unanimously passed this bill unanimously. and i think i understand why because they understood what i hope we understand today is the choice that's in front of the country.

you can understand that choice by thinking about where two americans are at this moment. one of them is the second grader who just went through her paces in classes of the morning. it's time for lunch. this bill says no matter how much money her mother and father make she's going to get a nutritious, wholesome meal to fuel her for the rest of the day. yes, that's going to cost $4 billion, which is offset by costs in other areas of the budget. the second american is the leader of a huge hedge fund on wall street. he's on his way to lunch at the priciest restaurant in manhattan. maybe $200 or $300 lunch. one of the other issues before this congress this week is whether he should get a tax cut that over the years will cost a dollar for every penny that

this bill costs. these are the two americans whose considerations are before the house today. i don't begrudge the wealthy hedge fund manager. i don't think we should borrow from the chinese to lower his taxes. i think as unanimous consent of the senate thought that that second grader should get a wholesome, healthy school lunch and we should vote yes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. i'll continuto reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from california. mr. miller: i yield one minute to the majority leader, mr. hoyer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland, the majority leader, is recognized for one minute. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman. i thank the chairman for yielding. i want to congratulate the chairman as the speaker did for a lifetime of dedication to children, to education and to health care.

he has been a giant in all three of those activities and in fact understands the relationship between all those activities. i also want to thank the ranking member for his work. i know that he's not for this bill, so we have a difference there, but i do not believe, as the previous speaker said on his side of the aisle, that he's not also for making sure that children have the proper nutrition and grow up healthy. we have a different perspective on how to get there. the centers for disease control tells us that over the past three decades childhood obesity rates have tripled. nearly one out of every five american children between the ages of 6 and 19 is obese. that is a national crisis. that is a national security crisis. that is a crisis that we owe it morally, ethically, fiscally and as a national policy to

address. that doesn't just mean a lifetime of health problems for those children. it means a public health crisis that we all pay for. one of my favorite phrases is -- life is a series of alternatives, series of choices , but they're not free choices. ted agnew was elected governor of the state of maryland the same time i was elected to the maryland state senate and he gave a speech on the east front of the capitol of our state in annapolis, and one of the phrases in that speech has stuck with me since january of 1967. he said, the cost of failu far exceeds the price of progress. i want you to think about that. the cost of failure far exceeds the price of progress. the cost of unhealthy children is far greater than keeping those children healthy.

to facilitating their not only nutritional but health needs. we pay for the failure to do so in the billions of dollars in health care costs each year. and we even pay for it in military readiness with at least nine million young adults. think of that. nine million young adults in america are too overweight to serve in our armed forces. nine million. coordinate to a coalition of retired senior military leaders -- according to a coalition of retired senior military leaders. we can't reverse the obesity epidemic or stop child hunger overnight. we recognize that. but we can take an important step towards getting our children healthier food by passing this particular piece of legislation. and as has been pointed out

time after time after time, this bill was passed unanimously in the other body. that means that this is not a partisan bill. this is not a bill on which there was great disagreement. and we know in the united states senate there were people very concerned about the budget deficit, very concerned about the growth of government, very concerned about many of the things that were expressed on this floor, unanimously said this is a priority for our country and we're going to pass it. this legislation takes important steps to increase access to school meal programs, improve the standards of the food provided and sold to our children and strengthen accountability to produce healthier results for our children. among the bill's most important provisions, it increases reimbursements for school meal programs so that the food offered can meet today's health standards. not outdated standards.

we've learned a lot in the last 15 to 20 years. we understand better what creates healthy children. it's helpful or is not. food that may taste good but leads to obesity. now, we all have the opportunity to purchase that. i'm a big mcdonald's eater myself. i understand that luckily whatever metabolism i have seems to work with respect to my ingesting all those mcdonald's hamburgers and french fries. i love them. i don't want to be told i can't have them. i do know this. i have a great granddaughter who is 4 years of age. she's going to be in school pretty soon. i want to make sure shall food she gets at school -- luckily our family will be able to afford it -- is food that will enhance her health, her well-being, her growth, her intellectual abilities because

she will feel well. this is a critically important piece of legislation that so many members of the senate and the house have worked so hard on. the bill also helps schools create the -- create and expand breakfast programs because nutritious breakfast have been shown to correlate strongly with improved academic outcomes. george bush i was a big proponent of head start. one of the reasons he was a big supporter of head start, because he thought it worked. he thought it worked to make sure that young people have opportunities. one of those, of course, is having a breakfast so that when they're in the classroom they are not agonized about hunger. they're focused on learning. when families face food insecurity and when schools do too little to pick up the slack we are condemning children to higher chances of poor performance in school and poor health throughout life. this bill would also provide grants and outreach to increased participation in

summer food service programs so that children can eat healthier foods year round. i learned about the importance of those programs firsthand. i'm sure many of you have done the same on both sides of the aisle. you have visited programs in your communities that provide children with healthy meals. i was in maryland a few months ago and saw the direct benefit to those children of the program that was available to them there. finally, this bill would continue school districts' role in creating local nutrition and physical activity programs. but it will also ensure that those programs are implemented and that they meet their goals. the health of our children has a distinct and direct impact on awful us and all of us care about that. it's not a partisan issue. every republican, every democrat cares about the health of our children.

but caring is not enough. we need to act as well. saying that we care, as the bible tells us, faith without work is dead. it's nice to say you have faith but if you don't follow that with actions it's somewhat empty. this is an opportunity to act. this is an opportunity not only to say that we care about children and their health and their nutrition and their welfare but it is an opportunity to act and make it so. let us do that. i congratulate all of those who have worked so hard to bring this bill to the floor, and i urge its adoption and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i'm pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from tennessee, east tennessee, dr. roe. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee is

recognized for three minutes. mr. roe: i thank you, mr. chairman. i rise in opposition to this legislation. you'll be hard pressed to find many members on either side of the aisle who oppose childhood nutrition programs. no child, no child should have to go hungry. that's something that all of us agree on. this bill, however, represents everything that's wrong with congress right now. first, we've done virtually no committee consideration of this legislation. of other legislation, yes, but not this legislation we are going to vote on today. the education and labor committee marked up an entirely different bill. many republicans offered amendments in committee and like so many other bills in nancy pelosi's congress, no amendments were permitted on the floor today. none. second, this bill spends even more. what the american people have been saying all year to us is to stop spending money we don't have. they want us to look for savings within existing programs. if there are worthy

improvements to be made, we can use those savings to make these programs better, and you can't get out of a ditch if you keep digging yourself deeper into it, and our fiscal situation is the grand canyon of all ditches. now, i'm sure we're going to hear all about how this spending is quote-unquote paid for with spending cuts. while that's an improvement over paying for bills with tax increases, the fact is many of the other -- many on the other side of the aisle and a host of groups already insist that the cuts being made here today, the food stamp program or snap as it's now called, will be restored. . how dishonest is it that the bill is paid for with spending cuts we have no intention of keeping in place. if we defeat this legislation today we can come back an start considering each new program today on their own merits. there may be some improvements in the program i would vote for. i'm sure there are. i would be happy to work with the colleagues on both sides of the aisle on this program after we have had a chance to

carefully review it. but until then let's keep our existing program in place. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yield back. the gentleman from california. >> i yield one minute to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. holt. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for one min -- minute. mr. holt: this will increase the number of children enrolled in school meals programs, provide more meals for at-risk children nationwide t will improve the quality of school meals. it removes junk food from the schools. it provides nutrition and wellness for the students and increases the reimbursement rate for schools. this is too important to delay another day. i want to thank chairman miller for including in the bill language that i wrote on farm to school improvements which will provide tens of millions of dollars in mandatory funding for fresh vegetables. now, since i come from new jersey it may not be a surprise i support bringing jersey tomatos and sweet corn into the schools. but this has real nutritional

benefit and educational benefit as well as improving the economics of local farmers. of course it will help as we have heard fight childhood obesity. it's important to point out and i must emphasize this to my colleague who just spoke, this is paid for fully by cuts in other programs. and i pledge to restore any funds borrow interested future years of food stamp funding to cover this. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. may i inquire to the time remaining on each side? the speaker pro tempore: 8 1/2 minutes on both sides. mr. kline: i understand the chairman has several speakers? i'll reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california. mr. miller: i recognize the gentleman from iowa, mr. loebsack, for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from iowa is recognized for one minute. mr. loebsack: i ask unanimous

consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. loebsack: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank chairman miller and staff for working to move the re-authorization of this bill forward. this really is a historic bill. while it's not perfect, it is nonetheless a vast improvement over the status quo and as was mentioned already, a number of times it passed unanimously in the senate. i'm pleased that this legislation includes provisions from legislation that i introduced to ensure that over 110,000 more children receive school meals. and are automatically enrolled for those meals. saving parents and schools time and money and cutting red tape while also ensuring that our nation's children are in fact getting adequate nutrition. it also includes provision that is will improve the quality and -- provisions that will include the quality and healthfulness of school foods and give schools a new option to provide universe at free meals t also makes a

strong commitment to the healthy schools to farm programs. and it provides the first increase in the meal reimbursement rate in over 30 years. i urge support for this legislation not only for our children's current health but for the health and future as adults as well. i urge passage of this legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. miller: i yield one minute to the gentlewoman from california, ms. chu, a member of the committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. chu: how could the wealthiest country in the world have a situation where 22% of its children are hungry? children like michael, a fourth grader. his mom works two jobs and it's hard for her to cook so michael stuffs three sandwiches in his backpack during lunch making his school lunch program his only guaranteed meal. this bill will make it easier for more children like him to have one healthy meal a day. kids who aren't fed -- are fed aren't just healthier they

succeed. they do better on standardized tests than those who skip or eat at home. that's not all. we heard some school districts are balancing their budgets by using school lunch dollars for other purposes. i introduced a bill to ensure federal nutrition money goes towards feeding our needy children. it is included here ensuring that our tax dollars go where they are supposed to. this bill was unanimously passed in the senate and fully paid for. let's pass this bill and ensure that our kids are fed. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself two minutes just to address an issue that we talked about a number of times. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. kline: both sides have referred to organizations that support or oppose this legislation. i just want to for a moment go to a letter that's been referred to from the american association of school administrators, council of the great city schools and national school

boards association these are the representing the state and local officials who actually got to implement this law that we are preparing to pass here in congress. just a couple of excerpts from the letter quoting the bill adds multiple new requirements while failing to reimburse these additional costs. school districts continually subsidize the federal meals program at the expense of our primary responsibility, our students' educational program. the numerous new requirements will exacerbate these operational concerns and drive school districts' budgets farther into the hole. notably none of the interest groups or celebrities promoting this bill bears the governmental and legal responsibility of school district officials to deliver services with an annual balanced budget and so forth. so, madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to have this letter from the school leaders inserted in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. kline: this bill will drive up costs and complexity for school districts and that is not the direction we should be

going. i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. miller: i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from california, miss barbara lee, chair of the congressional black caucus. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. lee: thank you. mr. miller: i take back those two minutes and give them to mr. farr from california. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for two minutes. mr. farr: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. farr: thank you very much, madam speaker. and i'd like to first of all praise the leadership, grandmother leadership of speaker pelosi, and the leader of the committee, george miller. there are no two legislators in the history of the united states congress that have done more for children than nancy pelosi and george miller. i'm proud to come down and support the bill that they are supporting. look, the largest cost of the united states government is health care. it's a no-brainer that if you want to cut the cost of government, you've got to invest in wellness.

the biggest investment in wellness is children. we can't just be concerned with what we are putting in their minds without being equally concerned what we are putting in their stomachs. you can't will a healthy america without nutrition. we paid little attention to it. this bill is a start, is a beginning, a better wellness in america, healthier kids with healthier minds so that we can grow to be a competitive country and a healthy country and bring down the cost of government. for you that are opposing this bill is nonsensical. it's one of those issues where you raise the cost of everything. but have no understanding of the value of what you're trying to defeat. the value is the healthier america. that brings down cost. it's important, it would get fresh-grown vegetables, fruit into our classrooms. get away from all this processed

stuff. obesity is a huge problem in america. kids can't qualify to get in the military. diabetes is one of the fastest growing diseases can be prevented. it starts with this. it starts with this. this is a good bill. we ought to all support it just like all the senators supported it. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to address their remarks to the chair. mr. kline: thank you, madam speaker, for the reminder. i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. miller: i continue to dance. madam speaker, i yield myself one minute here. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. miller: the suggestion has been made by speakers on the other side that somehow this really isn't about a child nutrition bill. that somehow this isn't about child nutrition, well-being of our school children. the fact of the matter is that's what this bill is all about. that's what this bill is

directed to do. and that's why it has received the support of the american dental association, the american diabetes association, the american dietetic association, the american public health association, the american scho of health association because these are the people who are intimately involved with the health of america's young children. these are the people who are with them in the school setting where they see what happens when children don't have proper nutrition throughout the day and the impact it has on their ability to learn, their ability to focus, their ability to participate in class. that's why this legislation is so important. that's why it has such broad support in the entire nutritional community, in the health care community, in the religious community, in the farm community, in our urban community because they understand the importance of this to the well-being of these children and to the budget of our nation when we spend over $147 billion dealing with obesity and diabetes in our society and we know that it starts much of it with a bad

diet. i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from california, miss barbara lee, the chair of the congressional black caucus. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. ms. lee: thank you very much, madam speaker. let me first thank the chairman for his leadership and for his yielding and long-standing commitment and support for child nutrition programs and for our children. on behalf of the congressional black caucus, first of all i want to thank our speaker, congresswoman delauro, and chairman miller. i have to thank the first lady for her commitment to child nutrition and launching the let's move program. this program supports the first lady's goal by re-authorizing and expanding our child nutrition programs to provide healthy nutrition meals to our nation's children. i ask unanimous consent to insert into the record the census bureau which are the latest poverty statistics which show that poverty is rampant throughout america in both democratic and republican -- the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. lee: thank you very much, madam speaker. let me just say, madam speaker, i personally know the value of

these child nutrition programs. when i was a single mother on public assistance, raising two sons, going to college i relied on school lunch programs for my children. and i was on food stamps. i was on food stamps. this was really the only way, mind you, this was the only way i could feed my kids during some very difficult times. unfortunately this bill, however, feeds low-income children at the expense of the food stamp program. but i know that the president and first lady share this concern. i know chairman miller, our speak e. congresswoman delauro -- our speaker, congresswoman delauro, and i know the president will do everything he can to restore these cuts as he guaranteed yesterday. he has a deep commitment to our children and to our families and his leadership on this bill really does demonstrate that. today more people are falling into poverty. unemployment is at 9.6% and

double that in the black and latino communities. and we have record foreclosures. and we still haven't passed an unemployment insurance compensation benefit package. we haven't extended this for those who sess prattly need help. addressing the deficit on the backs of the poor while arguing for a $700 billion tax cut for the wealthy is really not who we are as a country. i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join us, to join the c.b.c. in supporting this bill. the congressional -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. ms. lee: thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. lee: this should not be a republican or democratic or green or independent issue. providing a safety net for those in need during economic times is the moral and ethical responsibility we have. the congressional black caucus of course has been known as the conscience of the congress and we recognize that while not perfect this is a bill that will create healthier children, healthier families, and a

healthier country. so we thank president obama, speaker pelosi, chairman miller, our leadership team for moving this bill forward and we look forward to continuing to work with you to restore the cuts which have been made to the food stamp program. thank you very much. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, madam speaker. does the chairman have other speakers? then i'll reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. miller: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from oregon, mr. blumenauer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. blumenauer: i appreciate the gentleman's courtesy as i appreciate his important leadership on the child nutrition program legislation. in oregon we are tallied as the third hungriest state in the country. so there is much in this legislation that means a difference immediately to families and children in our

state. but indeed expanding school lunch meal programs to all 50 states, the $40 million in mandatory farm to school funding these are all elements that everybody ought to rejoice about. our children deserve our best. the most nutritious food that we can give them and sadly that is not the case with school lunch programs as we all know. and this bill while not as good as the bill mr. miller, that you originally sent to the senate, will help provide more children with healthy food choices. . i am particularly pleased about the farm tu school program. this is about the win-win program we should be focusing on particularly during difficult times. we all should be troubled about the decrease in the food stamp funding that is used to help deal with the budget deficit in

the financing deficit in this bill. i hope that the administration will indeed work hard with us to find ways to diminish the cut. it's a sad day when the on way we can feed hungry children at school is by taking away food from them at home. at a time when people are talking with a straight face about borrowing $4 trillion for tax cuts, including hundreds of billions for the most fortunate of americans, the notion that we would shortchange our children in this fashion i think is regrettable. we can do better. the legislation as before us is an important first step, and i look forward to building upon this foundation so we can finally give children from coast to coast the nutrition they need and deserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, madam

speaker. before i yield to the gentleman from utah i'd like to yield myself a minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. kline: the speakers on my side of the aisle have expressed concern as indeed i did about the pay-for here where we -- and this bill proposes to take money from the snap program to pay for this. and we've expressed some concern that this was something of a shell game for two reasons. one, it's borrowed money. and if we really want to do some positive things for our children we should look at not adding trillions more, billions and trillions more to the debt that they're going to have to pay. but we've had speaker after speaker on the other side of the aisle come down and say things like the president has assured me that we're not going to actually spend this money or that they're going to work tirelessly to make sure that this pay-for is not in fact the pay-for. so i think that debate has confirmed our suspicion that in fact the pay-for, the promised

pay-for is really not there. and at this time i'm pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from utah, a member of the committee, mr. bishop. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. bishop: thank you, madam speaker. i appreciate the gentleman from minnesota allowing me some time. i come down here to talk about this balancing act. there is nothing wrong with childhood nutrition. there is nothing wrong with the kids having the opportunity to be well-fed so they can function in school. there's nothing wrong for the goals or desires of those who are sponsoring this legislation. admittedly there is something wrong with allowing the senate writing everything and ignoring what the house did and bringing this on a closed rule but that's a process issue. what i wish to do here more than anything else is to plead the sentiment that there are great and ble goals within this particular bill but this

body is no the only place for great and noble goals to be accomplished. when we give the secretary of the agriculture the unlimited control to determine what is food and what is not, what kids will eat and what is not, we abide by nature we take away that responsibility from local school boards, from parents, from local administers who actually do care about -- administrators who actually do care about those kids than our concern on this particular level. when we in this bill mandate and an exercise program in order to get funds for school lunches. there's nothing wrong for kids to go out and exercise. that's noble. this is not a school board. those are the issues in which local government and local schools and parents and administrators and educators on that level, that's a progress they should be making. i hate to say this, they do no better to the local initiatives

and local needs of their kids. when you add 17 new federal programs in this particular bill you do nothing but allow the school to concentrate on things is more important. when you allow the federal government to establish what will be paid for a school lunch you take once again flexibility away from local people to meet the needs of their particular area. there is nothing wrong with the goals and attitude and hopes of this particular bill. but we're not a school board. that's why ty are there. they understand. they care about their kid. they should be empowered to make these kinds of decisions, not mandated on how those decisions should be made. i say, i appreciate the sponsor. i appreciate the leader of this committee. i appreciate his goals. but once again, not every idea has to germinate in washington. not every concept has to be

authorized, funded and regulated in this particular body. i plead the 10th amendment. thank you, madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. miller: i yield 2 1/2 minutes to the gentlewoman from connecticut, rosa delauro. i thank her publicly for all of her work on this legislation and on behalf of our children. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. delauro: i thank the gentleman from california. i thank him for his entire career as a member of this house of representatives and in the past for being a leading champion on what happened to our kids, their well-being, their nutrition and their best interest. and this bill is another example of his commitment to that effort. the hunger-free kids act represents an overdue, a much-needed recommitment to the health and the well-being of

our schoolchildren. our kids today are threatened by a growing obesity epidemic. far too many kids are struggling and families are struggling with unyielding hunger. today, people want to talk abt food insecurity and food hardship. what that means, don't let them use those nice words. it's about one out of every four kids going hungry in the united states of america every single day. we have an opportunity to move forward to address that issue today. the hunger-free kids act will add 115,000 new students into the school meal program. it uses medicaid data to certify eligible kids. it will provide an additional 21 million meals a year by reimbursing providers for after-school meals to low-income children. while expanding access to the meal programs, the bill works to improve the nutritional quality of all of the kids in our schools. it sets national nutrition

standards. we're going to get junk food that infiltrate our classrooms and our cafeterias out the door. for the schools who comply with the revised nutrition standards, it says that there's a first time reimbursement rate increase. six cents a meal is what we're talking about. the first we've seen in over 30 years, and it does it, all of it is being fully paid for. i ask my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, how many programs that get passed in this congress are fully paid for? we are paying in order to feed our kids. our kids consume roughly 35% to 50% of their daily calors during the school day. we can pass this bill. they will get enough nutritious food to stay healthy, to grow, to learn and to succeed. for those who say, how can we afford this bill right now? we say, how can we afford not

to pass it? leaving millions of children hungry, leaving millions of children malnourished in the name of budget cutting is penny-wise, it's pound foolish and it is unconscionable. vote for this bill. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, madam speaker. i'm prepared to close. i'll reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. miller: thank you. i yield one minute to the gentlewoman from california, ms. richardson. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. richardson: thank you, mr. chairman and also madam speaker. let me say this very briefly. this is a very important bill to all of us. when we look at what's happening right now in the united states of america, nearly five million women, infants and children rely upon federal nutrition programs such as the national schools lunch program, the w.i.c. program and the child and adult food care

program. no one has worked harder than our chairman here, mr. miller, to be able to protect the american people who are oftentimes struggling between choosing between food and any other of their priorities that they have. the key reasons why i'm supporting this bill, it increases the school lunch funding to help schools offer healthier meals. it limits the availability of junk food in our schools and it leverages our private-public partnerships. but also in honor of our first lady who worked very hard in this area, and this will give the resources we need to make those priorities happen. but i commend our chairman. it's way overtime and we need to get this done so that people can eat in these very difficult times. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, madam speaker. i understand from the chairman that he has no more speakers, and so i will close and yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman is recognized. mr. kline: madam speaker, the argument that we have been making in the debate today is that this really isn't about dietary guidelines or even school nutrition strategies. there is a lot of people caring from multiple school boards, members of congress, certainly to the first lady. it's not about making our children healthy and active. we all want to see our children healthy and active. this is about spending and the role of government and the size of government. a debate about whether we're listening to our constituents or not. re-authorizing child nutrition should be easy. we should be able to extend these programs and improve them. we should be able to do that without adding to the cost. i'm confident members on both sides of the aisle would we can the opportunity to do just that at no new cost to taxpayers. unfortunately that option is not on the table today. instead, we're voting on yet another bill that calls for the government to grow, expand,

spend more and intrude more, and i arguing that this bill is in fact not paid for. the argument i made minutes ago. i would quote from an article in the newspaper yesterday. i think "congress daily." it says, anti-hunger advocates oppose house consideration of the bill before the election because part of the offset for the bill is a cut in future food stamp benefits. but the food research and action center said last week that its member groups would support the bill as long as congress and the obama administration plan to restore the food stamp cut in future legislation. we don't know where the pay-for is going to come from. we got something on paper that says it's going to come out of food stamps. which was money borrowed in the stimulus bill, and yet we really don't know where that's coming from. so, madam speaker, i'm arguing that this bill is not what the

people want. they want our children to be healthy and active but they do not want to see government grow. they do not want to see the creation or expansion of 17 new programs. they do not want to see $.5 billion of new spending. this is not -- $4.5 billion of new spending. this is not a bill i can support. i urge my colleagues to vote no and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. miller: how much time is remaining? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has 5 1/2 minutes remaining. mr. miller: ok. i won't be that long. madam speaker and members of the house, first of all, i want to begin by thanking the staffs of the committee on both sides of the aisle. we may not agree on this bill but we spent a lot of time in this committee on hearings and the presentation of facts and the marshaling of those facts and the drafting of legislation and we had a lot of cooperation across the aisle and i want to thank everybody for that

effort. and specifically on this side and the majority side i want to thank gabry el, carrie, hosea, betsy, mercy, denise, jody and brian. from ms. delauro's staff, keith. mr. mcgovern's staff and the speaker's staff. all of these people were helpful in the negotiations, not only in the house and the presentation of this legislation, but monitoring and look agent what was happening in the senate where this legislation we're considering today was not only passed out in the senate with unanimous consent but it was also passed out of the committee with unanimous consent. where it was given full consideration, where hearis were made and built the confidence of the members of that committee on both sides of

the aisle and built the confidence obviously on both sides of the aisle in the senate so it can pass with unanimous consent. and why has that happened? because this legislation deals with and addresses in the most profound way the problem of hunger among our schoolchildren, among poor schoolchildren in this nation. but we also address the needs of the various institutions that are involved in delivering this nutrition to these children. and that is to the local school districts, to the local schools and we simplified the program, we've made it more efficient, we've taken away much of the redundant activity that they had to do to check the same kid four times a day in four different settings. we got rid of that to reduce the cost of the program. and we received bipartisan support for that effort. we also made it safer. up until this legislation is passed, in many instances the school is the last to know that a food recall has taken place and that the recall may be

taking place that produces the food for the school. but because they're not on the list, they're not in the protocol, the schoolchildren are put at risk, as we've seen in the recent -- in the recent recalls. . the six cent increase for the meal program is the first one in 30 years. and it's with the designed purpose to improve the quality of the meal program. i know these children. i have seen these children. i know them through the diabetic association. i know them through the programs on obesity. we have a very serious problem. this is an effort agreed to by the pediatrics association and others that this is the way to attack it and to start to build a barrier against childhood obesity and adult onset obesity. and we've got to change that diet. that's where major savings in health care come from. so this is a bill that has been

thought out in its entirety. it's a been that is respectful of local control. it's respectful of the needs of school settings and their particular situations. we tried to do that. we listened to school food administrators for districts across this country, all of whom had ideas for efficiencies and improvements. and many of those are ingrained in this legislation. so i would hope that my colleagues when they come to the floor later to vote on this bill will vote for this legislation. they'll understand it's fully paid for. they'll understand it receives unanimous consent in both the committee in the senate and on the senate floor and with that i urge the passage of this legislation. madam speaker -- 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 s. 3307. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered.

mr. miller: madam speaker, i would like to add that i appreciate chairman waxman and the energy and commerce committee working with us to bring this critical bill to the floor in a expeditious fashion. i ask to have a letter of exchange between myself and chairman waxman included in this record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. miller: thank you. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. all time for debate has expired. pursuant to clause is-c of rule 19, further consideration of this bill is postponed. the unfinished business is the vote on passage of house joint resolution 101 on which the yeas and nays were ordered. the clerk will report the title of the joint resolution. the clerk: house joint resolution 101. joint resolution making further continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2011, and for other purposes.

the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the passage of the joint resolution. 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 representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 239, the nays are 178. the joint resolution is adopted. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the house will come to order.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from washington state rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to speak out of order for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection the gentleman is are recognized. >> madam speaker and my colleagues, i am pleased to make a very important announce. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. the gentleman is are recognized. >> thank you, madam speaker. today a new republican was born, our colleague, cathy mcmorris rodgers delivered a baby girl this morning at

12:20, weighed nearly 8 1/2 pounds, over 20 inches and both the mother and daughter are doing very well as is brian. thank you very much. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 1c of rule 19, proceedings will now resume on s 3307 which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: senate 3307, an act to re-authorize child nutrition programs and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 1742, the bill is considered read and the previous question is ordered. the question is on third reading of the bill. those in favor say aye.

those opposed, no. the ayes have it, third reading. the clerk: an act to re-authorize child nutrition programs and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise? >> madam speaker, i have a motion to recommit. the speaker pro tempore: is the gentleman opposed to the bill? >> i am. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman qualifies. the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: mr. cline of minnesota moves to recommit the bill senate 3307 back to the committee on education and labor with instructions to -- mr. cline: i ask unanimous consent that the motion to recommit be considered as read. the speaker pro tempore: is there objection to the request of the gentleman? without objection, so ordered. pursuant to the rule, the gentleman is are recognized for

five minutes in support of the motion. the gentleman will suspend. the house will come to order. members will take their conversations off the floor. the gentleman is are recognized. mr. cline: with the clock winding down on the 11th -- on the 111th congress, there seems to be a move to push through as many bills as the majority can manage. unfortunately, this means the sacrifice of the deliberative process. this bill was sent to us from the other body that we -- with the demand that we accept it as is, that ke we can't change a single comma or period. this bill never received a vote

in the education and labor committee, not a single amendment was made in order for the debate which mean here's on the house floor members were not permitted to even discuss possible improvements to the bill. this motion to recommit is our last chance to improve the bill. our last chance to remove some of its most harmful provisions and insert stronger protections for our children and that's exactly what we are attempting to do. madam speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the house will come toed oner. -- to order. the speaker pro tempore: members and staff will take their conversations off the floor. mr. kline: thank you, madam speaker. first to protect the safety of children receiving meals in a child care setting, it requires comprehensive background checks

for all child care providers. this searches various criminal databases as state and federal levels as well as the national sex offender registry. with taxpayers subsidizing these programs, parents need the peace of mind that requires that -- that comes with knowing their child is not in the care of those with a history of child abuse or other criminal behavior. many parents today may wrongly believe they have been given a background check. unfortunately, federal law contains no comprehensive background check requirements for child care providers that receive funding under these nutrition programs. currently only 10 states have a comprehensive system of the child abuse registry and sex offender registry and fingerprint check. simply checking the fingerprints of a future child

care worker will help advance the safety of countless children. next, it eliminates the middle class tax included in this proposal. any time the federal government forces a private citizen to reach intois or her own pocket to pay for a good or service, it's a tax by any common sense definition of the word and that's what this provision would do. it creates a federal price floor for paid school lunches a floor for paid school lunches, force manage schools to increase the prices they charge to children who do not receive free or reduced price meals. the national governor's association and leading school groups are spoken out in opposition to this provision because it will drive up costs. madam speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: members will take their conversations off the floor.

the gentleman may continue. mr. kline: the national governors' association and leading school groups have spoken out in opposition to this provision because it will drive up costs for families and punish schools that have worked hard to hold down costs while providing higher quality meals. in a letter to congress, the n.g.a. wrote that this will establish a mandate for every federal paid meal in the country, close quote. they went on to say this will, quote, price out some low income families from paid school meals and punish school districts that in good faith have worked to increase the quality of school meals while simultaneously holding down the paid meal prices allowing the

federal government to create price mandates is a dangerous precedent that should not be set. by approving this motion to recommit, ke we can block the harmful tax on working families. we have thoroughly debated the selections today arguing against spending and mandates. that's not the debate we are having now. this motion to recommit is a modest pair of corrections that will make the bill better. it will make our children safer and protect working families and i urge my colleagues to support its passage. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> in opposition to the motion to recommit. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. miller: madam speaker, members of the house, we have known for some time and certainly all of today that our colleagues on the other side of the aisle oppose this legislation. that's what the gentleman, my colleague, mr. kline just spoke to, his opposition to this legislation. they have opposed this legislation even though this

legislation is fully paid for under the pay-go rules, they've opposed this legislation even though it passed out unanimously out of the senate committee, they opposed this legislation even though it passed unanimously on the floor of the senate and was sent to us because they know we're in the last days of this session and if they can attach something to this legislation they can kill this bill. they can kill the years of hard work that have gone into this legislation to make it less expensive for school districts to make it more flexible for school districts to make it easier on parents to assure that we have safe meals so when food is recalled the school districts will be informed right away, usually they're the last to know that they're serving dangerous and maybe lethal food and the food -- in the food recall. they know that what this bill does is create for the first time healthy meals so he we can address the problems of diabetes and obesity that are swamping this nation's health care system, that are swamping the health care budgets of

families, of businesses. this starts with children and that have adult onset as a result of that. this is endorsed by the pediatrics association and every other health care association because they understand this is the front line if we're going to reverse this trend. so now what have they done? they've talked about the federal government extending the mandate of the federal government, the federal government is about to swoop in on timely day care providers, more family day care providers than any other day care provider in the country. very important in rural areas, very important in poor areas, a person takes care of four or five of their neighbor's friends, they know these people, now they have a mandate, they have to do a background check. these are marginal operations, do they have to pay for that? who is going to do that check? in a school setting, does the school district pay for it?

if they're in the kindergarten room, do they pay for that? what they're trying to do is kill this bill. it wouldn't matter what this amendment says, if it goes back to the senate, we struggled all of us, mightily, on both sides of the aisle with the nature of the senate. but here we have the opportunity to have a major program to improve the nutrition, flexibility and health and safety of this program and this is an effort to kill it. i yield my remaining time to the majority leader. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. kline: i -- mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for yielding. ladies and gentlemen, we all want to pursue the legislative process. one of the things that has undermined the legislative process on both sides is the gotcha amendment. this amendment has a worthwhile amendment obviously of protecting our children. we're going to give everybody

an opportunity to vote on this amendment. in just a few short hours. then we're going to pass this bill because the gentleman's debate had nothing to do with this amendment until the last few seconds of his remarks. his remarks went to the substance of this bill. he's opposed to this bill. he said he's opposed to this bill. this bill passed unanimously. unanimously means that every republican, as well as every democrat, wanted to reach out to provide for child nutrition for america's children. this bill, i believe, enjoys the majority support on this floor. we'll pass this bill and we'll pass it tomorrow. but we're going to give members on this side of the aisle as well as on your side of the aisle to pass an amendment that in efft says, ok if you want to put these regulations on these small providers, in these small jurisdictions, fine, we'll do it, we want to protect children as much as you do. i said that during the substance of our debate, that we wanted to protect children and i'm sure you want to make

sure that children are well fed so my belief is that we will rise now, we will come back on this amendment, which is not related, we'll give you an opportunity to vote on your amendment, and then we're going to pass this bill and send it to the president of the united states as the senate of the united states unanimously voted to do, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california yields back. without objection, the previous question is ordered on the motion to recommit. pursuant to clause 1-c of rule 19, further crucial of s. 3307 is postponed. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, proceedings will resume on motions to suspend the rules previously postponed. votes will be taken in the following order. house resolution 1217, house resolution 1724, both de novo. the first electronic vote will be conducted as a 15-minute vote.

remaining electronic votes will be conducted as five-minute votes. the unfinished business is the question on spending the rules and agreeing to house resolution 1217 as amended which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: house resolution 1217, resolution honoring fort drum soldiers of the 10th mountain division for their past and continuing contributions to the security of the united states. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to the resolution as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california rise? >> i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is 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, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a 15-minute vote.

[captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 415, the nays are zero, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended this resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the speaker: the house will be in order. the chair would ask all present to rise for the purpose of a moment of silence. the chair asks that the house now observe a moment of silence in remembrance of our brave men and women in uniform who have given their lives in the service of our nation in iraq and afghanistan and their families and of all who serve in our armed forces and their families.

the speaker pro tempore: without objection, five-minute voting will continue. the unfinished business is the question on suspending the rules and agreeing to house resolution 1724 as amended, which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: house resolution 1724. resolution commending the city of jacksonville, arkansas, for its outstanding support in creating a unique and lasting

partnership with little rock air force base, members of the armed forces stationed there, and their families and the air force. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the use suspend the rules and agree to the resolution as amended? those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative -- >> madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those who favor a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having risen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 411, the nays are zero and 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina rise? >> madam speaker, on h.res. 1217 i was unavoidably detained, had i been present i would have voted yes. the speaker pro tempore: the objection of the gentleman's statement will appear in the record. thank you.

>> thank you, madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the title is amended to h.res. 1724. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the chair will postpone further proceedings today on motions to suspend the rules on which a recorded vote or the yeas and nays are ordered. or on which the vote occur -- incurs objection under clause 6 of rule 20. recorded votes on postponed questions will be taken later.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? mr. conyers: i move to suspend the rules, pass senate bill s. 1338. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 1338, an act to require the accreditation of english language training programs and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from michigan, mr. conyers, and the gentleman from texas, mr. smith, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan. mr. conyers: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. conyers: and, madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is now recognized. mr. conyers: madam speaker, may we have order in the house? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is correct. may we please have order in the house, those who are engaged in conversation, take them away from the floor. thank you. the gentleman may proceed. mr. conyers: madam speaker, and members, s. 1338 requires that these -- visas for foreign students seeking to attend english schools in the united states only be granted when the student attends a school accredited by an agency recognized by the secretary of education. what we found in short is that some of these language schools are undermining the laudable mission of this visa program and it has been determined that many of them are not even attending

schools. and so thanks to the diligence of the chairman of the committee on finance, barney frank, we've introduced the bill, the senate has passed the same bill and now it is over here for our final approval and i would at this point reserve the balance of my time, but before i do that i would thank lamar smith, the ranking member of the judiciary committee. i reserve the balance. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. smith: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: so granted. mr. smith: madam speaker, i support s. 1338 which requires the accreditation of english language training programs for student visa holders and i'm a co-sponsor of the house version of the bill. accreditation of english programs will ensure that foreign students here on temporary visas receive the high

level english language education that they deserve and expect. and this legislation will help give the students a positive experience in america as well. the bill prevents fraud in the student visa program and raises the quality of english language training programs in the united states. it does so by requiring accreditation which is achieved only after certain learning criteria are met. under the immigration and nationality act, a foreign national can get a student visa to study at a u.s. college, high school or other learning institution such as an established, quote, language training program approved by the secretary of homeland security after consultation with the secretary of education, end quote. this bill requires that a nonimmigrant foreign student seeking to enter the united states to study at a language training program must enroll in a program that is recognized and accredited by the secretary of

edation. the senate has passed this legislation by unanimous consent. i urge my colleagues to support it as well. madam speaker, i'll reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: madam speaker, we have no further requests for speakers and i am prepared to yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. smith: madam speaker, i will yield such time as he may require to the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington is recognized. mr. hastings: thank you, madam speaker. and i want to thank my friend from texas for yielding. this legislation is a good piece of legislation and i urge my colleagues to support it. but there are other issues that i think need to be addressed today. there has been bipartisan agreement across this country and in congress that blanket moratoriums on offshore drilling

hurts america when it comes to jobs and energy. yet the obama administration has suddenly imposed a moratorium that closes the eastern gulf of mexico and the entire atlantic coast. madam speaker, this is the wrong way to respond to the b.p. oil spill. it hurts our economy and job creation. the answer is not to say, america can't figure it out and we should rely on other countries to produce our energy. the right answer is to find out what went wrong and make the effective, timely reforms that ensure that u.s. offshore drilling ithe safest in the world. the deep water horizon spill was a terrible tragedy but this is a great country, madam speaker, and we shude shouldn't allow this single event to disrupt our long-term need to develop an all of the above energy plan that includes responsible development of our nation's offshore oil and gas reserves. the administration has taken us

in the wrong direction. instead we need to be working to keep and create energy jobs here in america. i thank the gentleman for yielding and i yield yield. -- i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman continues -- mr. smith: madam speaker, i have no other speakers on this side and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: both sides having yielded back -- the gentleman from michigan. mr. conyers: i'm going to yield back but can i ask my friends on the other side, if youe got another subject matter you want to introduce on a bill, can you wait until we pass the bill and then make your speech about whatever you want? i yield back. the speaker pro tempor the gentleman from michigan yields back the balance of his time. all time has been yielded back and the question now is, will the house suspend the rules and pass senate bill 1338. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3

of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. mr. conyers: madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? mr. conyers: i rise to move to suspend the rules and concur in the senate amend -- amendment to h.r. 5283. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5283, an act to provide for the adjustment of status for certain haitian orphans paroled in the united states after the earthquake of january 12, 2010. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from michigan, mr. conyers, and the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan. mr. conyers: thank you, madam

speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members have fivive days to revise and extend their remarks -- five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material to the bill under consideration. i yield myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized. mr. conyers: madam speaker, members of the house, this bill entitled help haiti act of 2010 was introduced by the gentleman from nebraska, mr. fortenberry. it is incredibly important that we finish the job we understood took when we rescued just over 1,200 haitian orphans immediately following the earthquake that devastated haiti on january 12 earlier this year. all in all, 1 1/2 million people were directly affected in terms

of human and economic impact. it was one of the worst natural disasters ever recorded in the western hemisphere. in response to this disaster, the department of homeland security instituted a policy for the immediate evacuation of haitian orphans who had been adopted or were in the process of being adopted as citizens. now in the, with their adoptive -- now in the united states, with their adoptive or perspective adoptive parents, these children need one more bid of assistance. had the earthquake not hit and disrupted the adoption process in haiti, each of these children would have entered the country as united states citizens under current immigration law. because of the emergency procedures used to evacuate these children, they maust now

wait years before they cab get permanent residency and even further more years before they can qualify for citizens. they're in the process -- they're running the risk, some, of aging out even before they can get to residency that would make them ineligible for legal status in the country system of what the measure before us does is treat these children as if they have come to the united states under the normal adoption procedures that would have applied had the earthquake not occurred and required hastening their move. with that in mind, i am pleased to thank the bipartisan efforts of the judiciary committee starting with the ranking member, lamar smith, the immigration subcommittee chair, zoe lofgren, and of course

judge poe who is leading the measure on the other side. with that, i'll reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, is recognized. mr. poe: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. poe: i strongly support h.r. 5283. madam speaker earlier this year, haiti was hit by a massive earthquake and hundreds of thousands of people died. in reaction, the department of homeland security announced a humanitarian parole policy under which orphaned haitian children who were in the middle of an adoption process with american would be immediately brought to the united states. under this policy, about 1,200 haitian children, orphans, came to the united states. since adoption proceedings were not yet completed then these children were brought to this country, they will have to live with their adoptive parents for two years before being eligible

for permanent resident status in the united states. in the interim, they remain in parole status which is to be renewed each and every year. this legal limbo can be stressful to the children and the families who have adopted them. we must remember, madam speaker, these children had been approved for adoption to american parents. additionally, representative fortenberry from nebraska was concerned about the impact of this delay on children in circumstances such as the death of adoptive parents. mr. fortenberry therefore introduced the help haiti act of 2010. this bill grants immediate permanent residence to the airlifted haitian orphans this legislation completes the humanitarian endover db endeavor launched by homeland security and helps the future of children who have suffered a great deal. the house has already passed

the fortenberry bill by voice vote. the senate made minor changes and has passed the bill by unanimous consent. i know personally how important this bill is to the children and families of this country are. the parker family from my district this kingwood, texas, contacted my office shortly after the earthquake that devastated haiti to get help in finalizing the adoption of their son. before the earthquake, the parker family was in the process of adopting a young haitian named ronnell. prior to the earthquake, he was approved to go to the united states. fearing for his safety, mr. parker flew to port-au-prince and slept on the floor of the united states embassy for several days as he haggled with united states and haitian authorities to permit the adoption. finally the adoption was permitted and ronnell was

allowed to fly to his new home in kingwood, texas. a few weeks after making his way to his new home i was fortunate to meet this young american. though he was still learning english and i don't speak creole very well we communicated just fine. my staff even took up a collection to buy him his first pair of texas cowboy boots. it was clear he was very intelligent, had a strong heart and he was very happy to be in america with his new american family. i am confident that he will grow up to be a fine american and a fine texan and we are proud to have him in this country. it is for children like ronnell and families like the parkers that i urge support for this legislation. the families of these 1,200 haitian adoptees have gone through enough and these parents are to be admired by all of us. i urge my colleagues to pass this bill as amended by the senate so we can send it to the president for his signature. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance

of his time. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: thank you, madam speaker. i want to commend judge poe as a gentleman and scholar and we're proud of his service on the judiciary committee. i now turn to sheila jackson lee of texas and yield her as much time as she may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. jackson lee: thank you, mr. chairman, thank you for your leadership on this issue and thank you to mr. fortenberry and my friend and colleague from the state of texas, judge poe, this is a response to a humanitarian crisis. some of us had the opportunity and somewhat of a privilege to be in haiti this past sunday. i'm here to report there are still 1.5 million to 1.6 million persons still displaced, many of them living in various camps. there is need for the continued

removal of rubbish and debris that we all saw in horror on january 12 of 2010. so thises a an enormously important -- so this is an enormously important initiative because it addresses the status of 1,200 haitian orphans airlifted and rescued on that fateful day. they now live in limbo. it is important to note that if they were to return, it is a country that struggles to survive. let me applaud the haitian government for its concern about haitian children. and to make sure there is no abuse and misuse of those children. but we know that many of these children, all of these children are in loving homes in the united states. there are families that still want to endorse the idea of adoption of haitian children. all of them are willing to do it in the right way.

but this legislation helps those who are here to give them permanent resident status to allow them to be statused so they can pursue the act of citizenship once the government of haiti is in operation. on this past sunday, there was an election, many of you heard of the challenges that were faced. some of us still believe that those challenges of allegations of fraud need to be corrected but we do know that haiti needs a stable and supporting government and we know that these children need a loving family. it is important, then to provide them with this particular effort this bridge that will take them to the next level, the next step. let me thank the many parents who simply have love to share with these children. these adoptive american parents who need assistance now. let me thank you. and acknowledge to you that there are members of congress who are particularly sensitive

to this issue. just a few months ago, i traveled to haiti with senator mary landrieux and debbie wasserman schultz. our focus was on the children, their schooling, access to health care and yes, their ability to be adopted in an expedited or efficient manner. therefore i ask my colleagues to support this legislation as really the first step in what will be many, many steps on the journey of the restoration of haiti and the haitian people. they are resilient and i'd like to thank the haitian americans and those who still struggle to survive because it is important for us to say we will not forget you. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from texas is are recognized. mr. poe: i yield to the gentleman from nebraska, mr. fortenberry, the sponsor of the original legislation, as much time as he wishes to consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from nebraska is recognized. mr. fortenberry: thank you,

madam speaker, thank you, judge poe, for the time. i wish to thank chairman conyers as well as the ranking member of the immigration subcommittee, ms. lofgren and lamar smith as well for your efforts in this regard and your diligence in getting this to the floor today. i also, madam speaker, want to thank the many adoptive families, members of the international adoption community and others who have worked behind the scenes to spur action today. thanks to this outreach of so many concerned americans, congress is finally doing the right thing here to help as many as 1,200 voiceless and vulnerable haitian orphans and their adoptive american families. we can now give these new families who have endured so much heartbreak and tragedy the comfort of thing their children's legal status is now in good order. many of us receive heartbreaking calls for help in the wake of the january 12 earthquake. american families in various stages, as we've heard, of

adopting haitian orphans fear for the safety and security of their children. extraordinary work was done swiftly to evacuate these children and unite them with their new families on u.s. soil, yet instead of coming here as fully adopted u.s. citizens, these children did arrive under a legal status known as humanitarian parole. so due to a destructive, unpredictable act of nature, the normal process for international adoptions in haiti was upended and these american families were prohibited from finalizing the adoptions in haitian courts system of while their status remains in limbo, these vulnerable children have fewer lel protections, may not be eligible for critical resources and potentially risk being forced to return to haiti. with each passing day, some children are aging out of the international adoption system as well. once a child turns 16, he or

she may no longer gain u.s. citizenship through adoption. so the urgency is clear. i recently spoke, madam speaker, with the mother of a haitian orphan who just turned 16. we have to act. we need to pass this bill today. to give so much more security to these generous american families who have opened their hearts and homes to children in extraordinary need. i want to thank all of those who have been involved in helping get this important legislation to the floor today and i yield back the balance of he time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan is are recognized. mr. conyers: i recognize the gentlelady from brooklyn, new york, yvette clarke, for such time as she may consume and note she has the second largest number of haitians and haitian americans in her congressional district. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york is recognized. ms. clarke: thank you very much, madam speaker. let me thank you, chairman

conyers for your consciousness in bringing this legislation to the floor. i rise today as a proud co-sponsor of h.r. 5283, the help haiti act of 2010, introduced by my colleague, congressman jeff fort brin. this bill norm -- jeff fortenberry. this bill normalizes procedures for certain adopted haitian orphans that received humanitarian pa el, -- parole of january 18, 2010 and april 15, 2010. it allows their adoptive families who are u.s. citizens to apply immediately on their behalf to become legal permanent residents and eventually qualify for citizenship. as a representative of the second largest population of first and second generation haitian immigrants, haiti has been at the core of my caribbean agenda. that is why i'm extremely concerned that more than 1,000

paroled haitian oor fans being adopted by american families remain in immigration limbo due to a legal technicality. at least 50 orphans reside in my district alone. it is alarming that these children have to wait two years before they are granted legal permanent residency. in this sitch -- if this situation is not addressed, these children will remain in this country without certain legal protections and are in jeopardy of being separated from their family and being forced back to haiti where they have no family. the legal technicality that puts these children in such a precarious position is yet another example of why our nation needs comprehensive immigration reform. that's why i'm committed to working with my colleague to make immigration reform a reality as soon as possible. our national security is at stake. our moral standing in the world depends upon it. and the american people, many of whom are first and second

generation immigrants, demand it. i urge congress to take a fresh look at the antiquated policies and bureaucratic back log that tear families apart and devastate our communities. finally, i commend congressman fortenberry and senator jill brand for address -- senator jillen brand for addressing this issue. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. poe: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: if you have anyone else you ought to bring them forward. i'm prepared tyield back. mr. poe: i'm prepared to yield back the balance of my time. this bill is important to the parker family in my district, the people that mr. fortenberry mentioned, and the 1,000

children that will have a good christmas because this legislation is passed in the house, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. mr. conyers: i yield back as well. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and concur in the senate amendment to h.r. 5283. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the senate amendment is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? mr. conyers: i move to suspend the rules and pass senate bill 1421. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 1421, an act to amend section 42 of title 18, united states code, to prohibit the importation and shipment of certain species of

carp. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from michigan, mr. conyers, and the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan. mr. conyers: 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 conderation. and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentleman is recognized. mr. conyers: madam speaker and members of the house, s. 1421 prohibits importation and interstate shipment of certain species of carp. it amends section 42 of title 18 of the code to add the big head variety of the species commonly known as asian carp to

the list of species that are prohibited from being shipped or -- shipped in or imported to the united states. asian carp are a significant threat to the great lakes because they are large, extremely prolific and consume vast amounts of food. they can grow to more than six feet in length and weigh in excess of 100 pounds, quickly dominating the waters they inhabit, and eat as much as 40% of their body weight daily. the -- researchers caution that these fish could pose a significant risk to the great lakes ecosystem by damaging habitats and disrupting the food chain that supports native fish. in the 1970's, two species of asian carp, the big head and

silver, were imported by catfish farmers to remove algae and suspended matter from their ponds. during large floods in the early 1990's, many of the catfish ponds overflowed their banks and the asian carp were released into local waterways in the mississippi river basin. in an effort to prevent the carp from getting to the great lakes, a barrier was constructed in the chicago sanitary and ship canal which connects the mississippi river to the great lakes. unfortunately, the asian carp are steadily making their way northward up the mississippi, and ashan carp d.n.a. has been -- asian carp d.n.a. has been discovered beyond the barrier. if these carp reach lake

michigan, they are likely to spread throughout the great lakes. where they go threaten the environment and the economy. the great lakes is one of the most unique bodies of water on the planet, and they would threaten not only the commercial and recreational fishing on the lakes, both of which are major contributors to the economies of great lake states. the asian carp prevention and control act lists the bighead variety of the species called asian carp as ininjurious to wildlife under the lacy act. and by including them in the lacy act, this bill will prohibit importation or interstate shipment of live asian carp without a permit. it's our hope that this will help deter further intentional

or accidental introduction of the species into our waterways. it should be noted that this legislation does not interfere with existing state regulations of asian carp. and in addition, permits the transport or purchase of live asian carp for scientific, medical or educational purposes . i commend my colleague, the senior senior from michigan, carl levin, and george join vitch, co-chairs of the great lakes task force, for introducing this legislation and hope it will be favorably considered in this body. madam speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. poe: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may

consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. poe: s. 1421, the asian carp prevention and control act amends the lacy act to designate the bighead species of asian carp as injurous fish. this was introduced by senator levin of michigan and recently passed the senate by unanimous consent. my colleague, mrs. biggert from illinois, sponsored the house companion to this bill, h.r. 3137, and has been a tireless champion of this legislation. according to the environmental protection agency, asian carp imported by catfish farmers in the 1970's to remove algae from their commercial ponds. during large floods in the early 1990's, many of the catfish farm ponds overflowed their banks and the asian carp were released into local waterways in the mississippi river basin. the carp has steadily made their way north up the mississippi river becoming the most abundant species in some areas of the river.

dubbed the underwater lawnmower, these enormous fish have become a menace to native species and their habitats. asian carp can grow up to four feet to six feet long and over 100 pounds in weight. these fish can consume nearly three times their body weight in food each day. as a result, asian carp leave little food or no food supply for the other fish. as the fish move upstream toward the great lakes, they threaten the food supply of sport fish such as the yellow perch, the walleye and smallmouth bass. they -- to prevent the carp from entering the great lakes, the united states army corps of engineers, the peaverpletpeaverplet, the state of illinois, the international -- the e.p.a., the state of illinois, the u.s. fish and wildlife service are working together to install and maintain a permanent electric

barrier between the fish and lake michigan. this designation prohibits the importation and interstate shipment of asian carp unless a permit is issued by the secretary of the interior. the penalty for illegally importing or shipping asian carp is a fine or imprisonment up to six months. this bill is supported by members on both sides of the aisle in both the house and the senate, and i urge my colleagues to immediately vote in favor of this bill. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: i have no further requests for speakers, madam speaker, and i am prepared to turn in my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. poe: madam speaker, i yield as much time as she wishes to consume, the author of this bill, ms. -- the gentlelady from illinois, mrs. biggert. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from illinois is recognized. mrs. biggert: i thank the gentleman for yielding and, madam speaker, i rise today to

ask my colleagues to support the senate 1421, the asian carp prevention and control act. this is the senate companion to a bill that i sponsored in this house since 2007, and its passage will be a long overdue victory for wildlife preservation here in the united states. as most of you know, those of us in the illinois delegation have worked tirelessly to stem the spread of the invasionive species into the great lakes' ecosystem for many years. currently the asian carp are the single greatest biological threat to that natural habitat having traveled for the last four decades up the -- from the mississippi river basin into the illinois river and now is close to the shipping and sanitary canal that connects our rivers to the freshwater

lakes, particularly lake michigan. and these ferocious fish prey on and compete with the native species for food and eat up to 40% of their body weight every day, as has been mentioned. because they eat the natural plant life near the bottom of the food chain they can quickly displace native species, destroy fishing habitat and threaten maritime jobs. and the reason these fish became such a nuisance and cost taxpayers billions of dollars to combat is because they were imported into the u.s. by the southern fish farmers who used them to clean their breeding ponds. some flooding allowed them to escape into our river system and eventually travel up from the gulf towards lake michigan. madam speaker, it's long past the time to recognize that these species do not belong in fish tanks. they certainly wouldn't fit as they grow so large.

and domestic ponds where they could find their way into other fragile ecosystems. in illinois we spent an awful lot of time working on ways to keep those fish out of the great lakes. it's so important. the electric barriers, and there are now two that the army corps has put into the sanitary canal and it's in my district, and we've had blockage of tributaries of the rivers so even by flooding they can't get into the canal. can he got oxygenation. i've been at fish kills where they've actually put -- made the water dud to kill the fish. one of the things that is now taking place is certainly the fishing for these fish further down the river and are now sending the fish to china where they are turning that into food

over there. but the bill that we're considering today will add the bighead species to the list of injurious list and prevent their sale or importation into the united states. this ban would not apply to the dead fish that i was talking about that they are caught and then sent to china as dead fish. it includes the species of the invasive carp that the federal wildlife managers found last june in a lake in illinois. and so that, madam speaker, i would like to thank my friend from michigan, senator levin, who secured passage of the bill in the senate and express my gratitude to all my colleagues from the great lake states who worked with us for many years to preserve our waters from the invasive species. this effort is not only about

protecting our ecosystem but also the billions in jobs and opportunities that are precious natural habitats and waterways provide to citizens every year. i urge my colleagues to support this bill and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. poe: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass senate 1421. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman, mrs. davis from california seek recognition? mrs. davis: i move to suspend the rules and concur in cincinnati akon current resolution 147 -- concurrent resolution 75. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. the clerk: senate concurrent resolution 75 a, to grant use of the capitol rotunda.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california. mrs. davis: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the matter under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mrs. davis: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. davis: this authorizes use of the capitol rotunda on january 20, 20110 -- 2011, for a comment commemorating the half century anniversary of president kennedy's inaugural address. the words of that speech still apply today particularly as we close one congress and begin another. he said, and i quote, let us begin anew remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness and sincerity is always subject to proof. let us never negotiate out of

fear but let us never fear to negotiate. let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us. end of quote. madam speaker, i am sincerely looking forward to this commemorative ceremony. i know of no controversy to this measure and urge my colleagues to support senate concurrent resolution 75. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from california is recognized. >> thank you very much, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. berman: i rise in support of senate concurrent resolution 75, authorizing the use of the capitol rotunda for an nevpbt january marking the 50th anniversary of the inaugural address of president kennedy. presidential inaugural addresses are always historic and are often some of the most

memorable events in our country's history. we recall president lincoln's inaugural address in 1861, president roosevelt's in 1933, president reagan's in 1981, among many others as addresses that inspire this nation at particular moments of importance. in 1961, president kennedy's inaugural address rightly challenged us to ask what we could do for our country, and not what our country could do for us. as people across this land did 50 years ago so we must continue to do now. we must ask ourselves how we can best contribute to our society by providing for our families, by participating in our communities in civil society, in our children's schools, by looking at the lives and needs intimately and immediately around us and in seeking to meet them. some were then, and some may now, be called to use their

skills and services in military, diplomatic and public service sectors. president kennedy's address boldly challenges us to meet these needs. i support this resolution and i believe we should look for inspiration to his eloquent address given some 50 years ago this coming january. if the gentlelady has no speakers, i have no other speakers and i would yield back the balance of my time as i said, i hope all will join us in supporting this resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california yooleds back. the gentlewoman from california is are recognized. mrs. davis: i thank the gentleman for his words and i ask for an aye vote and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agree to senate concurrent resolution 75. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair,

2/3 brg in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the concurrent resolution is agreed to and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas seek recognition? >> madam speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 6184 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 6184, a bill to amend the water resources development act of 2000 to extend and modify the program allowing the secretary of the army to accept and extend funds contributed by nonfederal public entities to expedite the

evaluation of permits and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from texas, ms. johnson, and the gentleman from florida, mr. diaz-balart, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from texas. ms. johnson: thank you, madam speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous materials. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. johnson: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. johnson: i am pleased to rise to support h.r. 6184, a bill to extend to the end of 2016 the authority of the secretary of the army to accept funds from the nonfederal public entities for the consideration of permits under the clean water act and the rivers and harbor act of 1899. this language is modeled after language included in the water

resources development act of 2010 that was favorably approved by the committee on transportation and infrastructure in july of this year. while i am disappointed that the larger water resources development bill is not likely to be enacted before the end of this congress, i support the efforts of the gentleman from washington, mr. larson to provide a five-year extension of the section 214 permit review authority. the authority expires at the end of the current calendar year and this legislation will continue the program through the end of december, 2016. madam speaker, i support the inclusion of several common sense reforms to the 214 program contained in this legislation. which aim at addressing the potential conflict of interest that arises from a permitee can

contribute funds to a government agency for review of its permit application. as chairwoman on the subcommittee of water resources and environment, i have joined with my chairman in carefully monitoring the implementation of this authority. while it is very popular for those who have used it, there has been an ongoing concern that allowing a regulated entity to pay the cost of a regulator could affect the objectivity of that regulator. in may of 2007, the government accounting office issued a report that expresses concern with the overall implementation of this section 214 authority this report recommended several improvements to increase the overall transparency and the impartiality of the permit revuse conducted with outside -- reviews conducted with outside funds. many of these recommendations

are codified in 6184, included the requirement that any permit reviewed under the 214 program undergo a higher order review by the core district commander or an appropriate designee. in addition, this legislation requires the corps to publicly disclose, including on the internet, copies of all filed permit decisions that are reached utilizing the 214 authority. in my view, this additional level of public disclosure will provide are an appropriate safeguard to ensure the integrity of the regulatory authorities as well as the integrity of the 214 program. in carrying out this authority, the corps should make every effort to have these records easily accessible to the general public and disclosed in a timely manner. finally, this legislation

clarifies the original intent of the 214 program to be available only to public entities for private -- projects for public purpose. the may, 2007, g.a.o. report highlighted one core district -- corps district that had utilized the 214 authority to process a permit for a private development project. this is inconsistent with the intent of this program. the amendments made by h.r. 6184 clarify this point and ensure that only projects for a public purpose may be reviewed using this authority. i support the passage and quick enactment of this extension and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. diaz-balart: i rise today in qualified support of h.r. 6184 to authorize the extension of the army corps of engineers

section 214 program. as was just described, section 214 of the water resources development act of 2007 allows the army corps of engineer to accept and expend funds by nonpublic entities to hire additional personnel for the process of regulatory permits, something that we have -- had heard time and time again was greatly needed. now most members of the body support a permanent extension of section 214, madam speaker, i'm not quite sure, i've yet to understand, what make this is program so different so special that it requires temporary extensions not just a term innocent program. so madam speaker, i say that i offer qualified support of h.r. 6184 because while this legislation is needed and there's no doubt that it is needed, my colleagues from -- my colleague from texas, mr. olson, has offered a much

better piece of legislation. his legislation, h.r. 4162, will authorize a permanent extension of the program, not a five-year temporary patch or extension offered by this bill. congress has been forced to temporarily extend this program six times since it was authorized in the 2000 act. yet the committee on transportation and infrastructure has heard from members on both sides of the aisle supporting a permanent extension of section 214 of the section 214 program. i've heard no member object to a permanent extension of the section 214 program. the corps of engineers has now the adequate experience in running the program and we -- the government accountability office observation concur with this assessment. yet here we are again, madam speaker. we're on the house floor,

moving a temporary extension of an excellent, proven, tested program. authority for this program expires on december 31 of this calendar year. obviously if this program works, it will be allowed to expire and the corps would not have the ability to process permits in a timely manner as they immediate to. i want to thank representative olson and representative larson for their efforts on this issue. madam speaker, i urge all members to vote in favor of h.r. 6184 but i mist tell you, i do wish we were passing a permanent extension of the section 214 program today, not a temporary one. with that, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. ms. johnson: thank you, madam speaker. i yield to the gentleman from the state of washington, mr. larson, such time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington is recognized. mr. larson: thank you, madam speaker. i want to thank the chair of

the subcommittee of the transportation and infrastructure committee for helping bring -- mr. larson: thank you, madam speaker. i want to thank the chair of the subcommittee of the transportation and train have chuck -- infrastructure committee for helping bring this bill to the floor. this extends the section 214 act through 2016. it's currently authorized through december of this year. as my good friend and colleague from florida noted, many members of congress want to make this a permanent program and i am one of those. however, we were able to get to a point where we can move it from the annual re-authorize igs as we were doing, which is why it's been re-authorized six or seven times to a five-year re-authorization at this point, i look forward to working with mr. olson in the next congress to see what we can do about the permanent thrsation. -- authorization. but this allows the corps to

use staff time for processing approval, it was enacted by congress because the corps of engineers permitting process had become cumbersome for corps staff and applicants as the number of ap lip cases rose. by funding additional staff work on specific time intensive applications, they are able to process back logs more quickly. funding for additional corps staff has reduced wait timers in funding entity or any individual organization seeking a permit. governments are able to move forward with einfrastructure and ecosystem recovery projects in a timely manner. in washington state, section 214 is currently being used by over 41 public agencies in 20 corps districts and in washington state alone, the city of seattle was think first public entity in the country to

develop and use this facilitative permitting process for 285 projects representing over $1.1 billion in capital investment. it has resulted in a cost savings of $10.6 billion. the average review time per project has resulted from 108 days to an average of 47 to 166 days. in region where we have to balance some of the most difficult environmental issues in the country and the second highest commerce in trade area of any region in the country, section 214 is a key to overcoming some permitting delay and sore challenges. so the authority granted by 214 has worked well in practice. this authority does need to be reviewed so additional staff can remain on the job without interruption. it makes several important improvements. as the subcommittee chair has noted, improvements that were suggested by the g.a.o. and this will enhance oversight of the program. it also -- finally want to note that this bill has support of

the u.s. chamber of commerce, the american association of port authorities, the american public works association and the national association of flood and stormwater management agencies. finally, i want to note as well, that the father of this father particular section of the water resources development act is our colleague, brian baird, who has retired and finishing out his last term in congress. and certainly owe a debt of gratitude to our colleague, mr. baird, for bringing this issue up in the first place back in 1998, 1999 and 2000 and getting it in wrda of 2000. we now need to re-authorize it for five years and move this bill forward. i ask my colleagues to support it. thank you and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. diaz-balart: thank you, madam speaker. at this time i'd yield back the remaining part of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlewoman from texas is recognized.

ms. johnson: thank you very much, madam speaker. i have no further requests for time. i simply would ask all of the members to support this measure, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 6184 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from missouri seek recognition? >> madam speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill s. 3250, the federal buildings personnel training act of 2010.

the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 3250, an act to provide for the training of federal building personnel, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from missouri, mr. carnahan, and the gentleman from florida, mr. diaz-balart, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from missouri. mr. carnahan: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material to s. 3250. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentleman is recognized. mr. carnahan: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. carnahan: i rise today in strong support of s. 3250. this bill has bipartisan sponsorships in the senate, senator carper and collins. it's the federal buildings personnel training act. the legislation passed the senate by unanimous consent. it's identical to h.r. 5112

introduced by myself and my republican colleague, representative judy biggert of illinois. the bill also passed out of the house transportation and infrastructure committee on a voice vote. at a time when many people are tired of partisan gridlock here in washington, i believe this legislation is a good example of what we can do when we work across the aisle to safeguard taxpayer investments, provide certainty to small business and most importantly save taxpayers money. madam speaker, when we invest in our federal facilities we also need to invest in the people operating and maintaining them. the american recovery and reinvestment act included a substantial investment of $5.5 billion, a portion of the g.s.a., to upgrade their facilities. in order to save the substantial investment, i want to assure thathe g.s.a. and other federal agencies have the tools necessary to properly maintain and operate these buildings at their highest performance levels. late last year, a government

accountability office report found that the lack of proper expertise and training was a major challenge for the federal government in reaching its ergy reduction goals. this legislation will fill the training gap. most importantly, by filling the training gap, the federal buildings personnel training act will save taxpayers dollars in operation and maintenance cost. the federal government currently consumes about 2% of the nation's total energy or about $17.5 billion in annual energy costs. the potential for cost savings here is huge. in fact, the recent study by the international facilities management association show that for every dollar spent on facility management training organizations reported received an average of $3.9 in return. if we are to be responsible stewards of dollars and invest in energy efficient buildings we must invest in the pa people maintaining those -- invest in the people maintaining those

buildings. this legislation will help ensure that our federal buildings are run in a way that maximizes their performance, assuring -- ensuring they retain value in their life cycle. and the properties are both protected and leveraged. to reap the cost savings involved in sufficient operations and management. i want to personally thank the republican co-sponsor, my colleague, representative pete sessions and representative judy biggert for their support throughout this process. representative biggert and i co-chair the high performance buildings caucus and we have advocated for the federal government to lead by example in high performance building practices. i also want to give special thanks to chairman oberstar for his long and distinguished leadership on this issue and to ranking member micah for their support to bring this -- mica for their support to bring this bill to the floor. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to insert into the record a support letter from over 50 of the country's leading building professionals, manufacturers and small

businesses. they are pleased to support this legislation and are poised to provide the necessary training to achieve both public and private sector goals. madam speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman's request is ordered. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. diaz-balart: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. diaz-balart: thank you. this bill would require, as we just heard, the justice service administration to consult various professional associations in order to establish a training and certification requirements in order to establish those requirements for federal and private personnel who maintain federal buildings. now, the purpose of this bill is a very good one. with all of the taxpayer money, dollars that have been invested in the high performance green buildings, we obviously need to ensure that those maintaining them are frankly properly trained. otherwise that money is frankly just spent away.

i want to thank representative carnahan as well as -- he mentioned representative biggert and representative sessions for their leadership and work on this really, really important issue. there are a few caveats that i just want to put out there, and we had this conversation. there's no disagreement. it's going to be very important, madam speaker, that after passage of this legislation that we ensure that g.s.a. implements this appropriately. in particular would be important for g.s.a. to not only -- the g.s.a. -- that g.s.a. doesn't develop such broad training requirements so it costs for small businesses to be able to do that. in addition, it's going to be really important, madam speaker, for g.s.a. to ensure that there are conflicts -- potential conflicts, conflicts of interests are not created and that appropriate federal laws and rules governing advice from private entities are strictly followed. as this bill is implemented,

our committee will be conducting close oversight to ensure that requirements in this bill are carried out in a reasonable manner. i am not going to object to the passage of this legislation, as i mentioned. i want to thank the sponsors for their hard work, and with that i would at this time reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from missouri is recognized. mr. carnahan: thank you, madam speaker. now want to yield five minutes to the chairwoman of the federal buildings subcommittee of transportation, delegate eleanor holmes norton. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from the district of columbia is recognized. ms. norton: i want to thank the gentleman for yielding but i need to thank him for much more. for not only sponsoring this bill but for shepherding this bill. it was not always smooth sailing but it was mostly smooth sailing because its

underlying purpose is so clear and necessary. i appreciate that it's been a bipartisan bill, both here and in the senate. i certainly appreciate its bipartisan sponsorship by representative biggert and you, mr. carnahan. i know that this bill will be gratifying to mr. oberstar who has presided over much of the building of the federal inventory during his extraordinary serve in the house. i want to thank mr. lincoln diaz-balart, with whom i worked so closely not only on this bill but the many bills and the many hearings we have held together. madam speaker, what we are -- we have to consider is the

federal building inventory amounts to $43 billion of investment of the taxpayers of the united states over many decades. it is clearly irreplaceable. some of it is familiar to us all. the buildings here in washington, such as the justice department, or your own office building when you go home to invite in your constituents and to do your constituent service. the courthouses where you are. but there has been little investment in this inventory. even inventory close to home. we had a hearing in our subcommittee that showed scores of violations in the buildings of the capitol complex, which i'm pleased to say are now being quickly remedied but, --

but some of them would have endangered the lives of the millions of people who visited the capitol every year, not to mention the many thousands who live here. this is a particularly gratifying piece of legislation. every year our committee approves hundreds of millions of dollars of projects in construction and repair and modernization. nothing, however, like what we have done recently -- because in the american recovery and reinvestment act, congress took the opportunity to invest in the updating of more than $5 billion in g.s.a. inventory which had been untouched and was a growing backlog. and we didn't simply invest in it by saying, fix the roof. we said save the taxpayers

money by upgrading the state-of-the-art -- the energy systems so that we save the taxpayers more money than we are investing today and we begin to catch up on the backlog of many decades of disinvestment in our own priceless inventory. so we are upgrading these federally owned facilities with more energy efficient and sustainable building components for the first time in memory. this investment will be important, but if we allow these buildings to deteriorate, as so much of our inventory has, we will pour the investment right down the drain. that means that you now will have contractors, subcontractors, yes, and many employees who are being asked

to maintain inventory that has