without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent that i may redact a statement from my remarks in debate made earlier today that i believe might reflect a misapprehension of facts. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered.

the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. will members kindly take their conversations off the floor. will members and staff please clear the well.

the speaker pro tempore: if members will clear the well, the house may proceed. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the chair will postponefurther proceedings today on motions to suspend the rules on which a recorded vote or the yeas and nays are ordered. and on which the vote incurs objection under clause 6 of rule 20. record votes on postponed questions will be taken later.

for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? >> i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to s. 841 the pedestrian safety enhancement act of 2010 the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: an act to direct the secretary of transportation to study and establish a motor vehicle safety standard that provides for a means of alerting blind and other pedestrians of motor vehicle operations. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from georgia, mr. barro, and the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. pitts, each will control 20 minutes. the house is not in order. the chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia. >> thank you, madam speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material

on the legislation. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. barrow: as hybrid and electric vehicles take hold in the market, they bring lots of benefits to consumers trying to shield themselves from rising gas prices and help reduce our nation's dependence on foreign oil. but the near silent operation of their combuston-free engines have prevented challenges for blind pedestrians. a nhtsa research, published in april of this year, confirms that the absence of sound indicating vehicle movement can create serious safety risks for blind and sighted pedestrians unable to designate vehicles as they backup, turn or approach an intersection. earlier nhtsa research found that hybrid and electric vehicles are two times more likely to be involved in a pedestrian collision at a low

speed than conventional vehicles. blind pedestrians are among the most vulnerable, but sightless seniors and children are also among those greatly affected as the number of hybrid and electric vehicles on the road increases. the bill before us offers a straightforward solution directing the national highway traffic safety administration to create a standard for hybrid and electric vehicles to emit appropriate conforming sounds when traveling at low speeds. in addition, the bill gives the agency three years to develop the standard, gives manufacturers a three-year phase-in period, calls on nhtsa to consider the overall community noise impact and protects against the unauthorized disabling modification or replacement of the sounds. i am pleased that this bill has received strong support from the national federation of the blind and the alliance of automobile manufacturers. i commend manufacturers of

hybrid and electric vehicles that have already stepped forward to work with nhtsa to address this serious safety issue. i also want to thank my chairman, chairman rush, and my colleagues, the gentleman from new york, mr. towns, and the gentleman from florida, mr. stearns, for their leadership on this issue which has a strong record of bipartisan awareness and support. i urge my colleagues to support this legislation and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. pitts: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pitts: madam speaker, i rise in support of senate 841. i commend congressman towns and congressman stearns for their efforts to improve pedestrian safety as the champions of the house companion legislation to senate 841. they have worked with all the stakeholders to champion the legislative compromise that the senate passed and which is before us today. the national federation of the

blind and the auto industry support the compromised legislation that will ensure pedestrian safety is not compromised by evolving engine technology. the success of hybrid cars represents technological progress, but the byproduct is a silent engine that has raised concerns they are not audible to pedestrians and can jeopardize their safety. quiet technology makes it very difficult for the blind and other pedestrians such as children or joggers or bicyclists to evaluate traffic they do not see. the concern is greatest for blind pedestrians that rely on audible attributes of cars to evaluate direction and speed of traffic to ensure their safety. new vehicles that employ hybrid or electric engine technology can be silent. rendering them extremely dangerous in situations where

vehicles and pedestrians come into proximity with each other. the changes required by the legislation will become more important as hybrid technology becomes more and more widely deployed. so i urge support and i yield back. thank you and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman reserve? does the gentleman reserve? the gentleman from georgia. mr. beiro: i am pleased to yield -- mr. barrow: i am pleased to yield to the gentleman from new york, mr. towns. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. towns: i thank the gentleman for the time and, of course, the ranking member as well. mr. speaker, i rise to urge my colleagues to vote in favor of s. 841, the pedestrian safety enhancement act. today, environmentally friendly vehicles are quickly becoming a staple in the lives of americans who are attempting to go green. i applaud the use of technology

that decreases air pollution and fossil fuel consumption. however, we must address an unforeseen consequence of such innovation. over the years we have heard tragic stories involving pedestrians and hybrid or electric vehicles. not too long ago, news accounts of a story of a young child hit by a hybrid car. this accident was not caused by a driver negligent or a car's defect. it occurred because the child never heard the approaching car. the hybrid engine was simply too quiet. environmentally friendly vehicles such as hybrids often fail to produce audible sounds when driven. the solid nature of these vehicles coupled with their growing popularity presents a dilemma. how do we protect individuals

dependent on sounds for their safety such as unsuss expecting pedestrians and the blind? this bill requires the secretary of transportation to conduct a study of the minimum level of sound required for environmentally friendly vehicles. once the safety standard is determined, it will be applied to all new automobiles manufactured or sold in the united states beginning two years after the standard is issued. this is an effective way not only to prevent avoidable injuries to pedestrians but to do so without impeding innovation with stringent regulations. it is clear that environmentally friendly vehicles are growing in popularity. while it is important to embrace technology that benefits our environment, we must do so with the safety of

all citizens in mind. this bill successfully passed the senate last week and has been a long time coming here in the house. our chambers -- our chamber's companion bill has 238 bipartisan co-sponsors. the bill coming to us from the senate is even stronger. it is completely deficit neutral and supported by the alliance of automobile manufacturers, the national federation of the blind, the association of international automobile manufacturers and the american council of the blind. before i conclude, madam speaker, let me take a moment to thank my colleague and friend, representative cliff stearns, who has worked over the years with me on this bill. i want to thank staff members james thomas and nicole

alexander for their tremendous assistance in helping us move this important legislation forward. i would also like to thank emily corey and dana grayson and all other staff that have made this moment a reality. this bill has been a model of bipartisanship and will benefit pedestrians across the country for years to come. i urge all of my colleagues here in the house of representatives to join me in supporting this very important legislation. and on that note, madam 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 pennsylvania reserves. mr. pitts: madam speaker, i have no other speakers. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from georgia. mr. beiro: i yield back the

balance of my time. -- mr. barrow: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass senate bill 841. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative -- mr. -- mr. barrow: madam speaker, i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed.

for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? >> madam speaker, i move to suspend the rules and concur in the senate amendment to h.r. 4337, the regulated investment company act of 2009. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 4337, an act to amend the internal revenue code of 1986 to modify certain rules applicable to regulated investment companies and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, and the gentleman from ohio, mr. tiberi, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: i would like to ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and insert any extraneous material in the congressional record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. levin: i now yield such

time as he shall consume to someone who has been working on this issue for i don't know how long, a long time, mr. neal of massachusetts. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. neal: thank you. thank you, mr. chairman. madam speaker, this legislation has already passed the house and it really was a bipartisan achievement this year, and much of the good work that went into this legislation has been years in coming. more than 100 years ago, the first mutual fund was started in boston, massachusetts, and mutual funds have been a way for the every man to invest in the market with benefits of pooling and diversification. today, more than 50 million households invest through mutual funds with a median household income of $80,000. more than 50% of 401-k plan assets were invested in mutual funds at the end of 2009.

h.r. 4337 was introduced last year by mr. rangel and i to modernize the tax laws regarding regulated investment companies, better known as mutual funds. the tax rules that relate to mutual funds date back more than 50 years, and although these rules have been updated from time to time, it has been over 20 years since the rules were last revisited. the bill before us today would make several changes to the tax code to address outdated provisions such as rules that relate to preferencial dividends and rules -- presentation dividends and rules that would set -- preferencial dividends and rules that would prevent earning income from commodities. now, in june my subcommittee, the select revenue subcommittee, we reviewed this

legislation with a panel of experts to express support for the changes. simply put, the subcommittee held a hearing and there was broad support on the democratic side and on the republican side for the accomplishment that sits in front of us. i am pleased to support this modified legislation, which is also revenue-neutral. the ways and means committee has a responsibility to review our tax rules from time to time and to remove the dead wood and update were it necessary. this bill accomplishes that to the benefit of investors, taxpayers and mutual fund companies. i urge its adoption and i thank the chairman for yielding to me and thank our friends on the other side for their endorsement of this legislation as well. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from michigan reserves. the gentleman from ohio. mr. tiberi: thank you, madam

speaker. as was just said, regulated investment companies, better known as mutual funds to most americans and to us, are intended to provide investors the ability to invest easily and with low cost in a diversified pool of professionally managed investments and they've worked. in fact, according to the investment company institute, the largest trade association for mutual funds, as mr. neal, chairman neal said, more than 50 million americans, 50 million american families currently invest in mutual funds.j most of the current law the mutual funds have to deal with have not been comprehensively updated for more than two decades. this would modify and update certain technical tax rules pertaining to mutual funds. these changes will allow mutual funds to conform with aspects of

the tax code and security laws. we had a wonderful hearing where every single person who testified agreed to the changes in the underlying piece of legislation. it was passed in this house unanimously after that hearing this last summer. every witness was supportive and no opposition came before us with respect do the legislation. it was passed in the senate last week by you nan -- unanimous consent, with one change. my hope is that this house will vote, again, to vote for this underlying piece of legislation with the one change, send it onto the president. let's make this change and let's give american mutual fund investors some certainty into the future. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the

balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: are you finished? mr. levin: i'll close. mr. tiberi: i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. mr. levin: the bill before us makes important changes to the tax law rules to regulated investment companies, more commonly known as mutual funds. they were described 80 years ago in testimony before the ways and means committee as, and i quote, a group of small investors who have banded together for the purpose of obtaining diversity and supervision through the medium of pooling their investments, end quote. while mutual funds continue to serve this important role, the tax rules that govern mutual funds have not been updated in over 20 years. in june of this year, the select

revenue measures subcommittee, chaired by mr. neal, heard testimony from a variety of industry experts stressing the importance of modifying our nation's tax laws to ensure that the technical tax rules pertaining to mutuals would better interact with other tax rules. the ways and means committee and the congress have an obligation to ensure that our tax rules keep up with the times. so the bill before us would update and simplify the rules that apply to mutual funds to ensure that small investors are not disadvantaged simply because they ban their investments together through a mutual fund rather than investing directly. the bill enjoys strong bipartisan and pass the house earlier last year and last week was amended to pass the senate by unanimous consent. i want to thank all of my

colleagues on ways and means and all others who joined for their contributions to ensure that these important changes to the mutual fund rules can be swiftly signed into law by the president of the united states. passage today will do just that. so i urge strong support for this measure. and i now yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and concur in the senate amendment to h.r. 4337. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the senate amendment is agreed to and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does michigan seek recognition? mr. levin: madam speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 6517 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 6517, a bill to extend trade adjustment assistance and certain trade preference programs to amend the harmonized tariff schedule of the united states to modify temporarily certain rules of duty and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, the gentleman from texas, mr. brady, each will control 20 minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from michigan.

mr. levin: madam speaker, first i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. levin: madam speaker, i now yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. levin: this is really a vital bill. and i bring it to the floor in a bipartisan spirit to move and to make sure that all of the important pieces of this vital legislation, all of them become law. this bill continues the essential trade adjustment assistance program that we expanded in 2009. importantly, these reforms were authored on a bipartisan, bicameral basis by mr. rangel and myself, mr. camp, senators

bachus and grassley. let me say a few words about this. since the reforms were implemented in 2009, more than 155,000 additional trade impacted workers who might not have been certified under the former program, became eligible for t.a.a. worker benefits and training opportunities. more than 155,000. in total, more than 367,000 workers were eligible for support in that time frame. in 2010 alone, and i also want to emphasize this number, 227 ,882 workers took advantage of t.a.a. and participated in the

program, receiving case management training and/or income support. you know, i wish in a way 2727,882 people could come here and line up from here. i'm not quite sure how far the line would extend. it would be a very long way. we have a solemn obligation to continue thr expanded program. this legislation also supports u.s. businesses that need inputs for components in order to manufacture, and i underline that, downextreme products here in the united states of america. miss tariff bills like this one have been a part of u.s. policy

years for 27 years but in recent years, we have made the process more transparent than ever before. and if i might, i want to pay tribute to all of those who have worked together here in the house and in the senate in terms of the transparency of this process. based on these improvements the sunlight foundation has praysed the organization quote, transparency done rights. the last was signed into law in august after passing the house by a bipartisan vote of 378 to 43. taken together, according to these two are expected to increase u.s. production by at least $4.6 billion over three

years and support 90,000 u.s. manufacturing jobs. next, the bill also includes an 18-month extension for two preference programs, the generalized system of preferences and the andean trade preference act that are set to expire at the end of the year. that means to weeks. last year, this legislation was passed by voice vote. preferences are important tools in u.s. trade policy. they help developing nations capture the opportunities in the challenges of trade and gobble lization and at the same time, this is critical, providing significant benefits here in the united states. for example, atpa has helped develop an important market for

u.s.-made textiles in the andean region and helping those nation in their efforts to fight trade in narcotics. also, the majority of u.s. imports, 75% using g.s.p. were imports used to sustain u.s. manufacturing including parts, components, machinery and equipment. these programs have also, and i want to emphasize, have been shaped to encourage broad-based economic development with eligibility criteria regarding worker rights. and we have worked on the worker rights' provisions over the years. the rule of law, innovation investment and policies to fight corruption. madam speaker, there has long been because of the strength of these programs, bipartisan for all of them. each of them relate to u.s.

jobs. each of them relate to u.s. jobs and it is crucial that we act to continue them today. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. brady: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume and yield the balance of my time to the distinguished ranking member, mr. brady. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. camp: the unemployment rate is 8.8% and in my home state, 12%. america is in need of jobs and we need to focus on legislation that will help create jobs. this legislation is a solid step in that direction. i have often said that government can't create jobs but the private sector that creates jobs and congress can help the private sector by removing barriers to job creation.

this legislation lowers taxes and makes american manufacturers more competitive so they can invest and create the jobs that american workers need know. therefore, it fits squarely within the four core principles, lowering taxes, making american workers more competitive, liberalizing trade and let the private sector create jobs. i would like to seekonk vote on our agreement with colombia but over three years the speaker has refused to permit an up or down vote. the speaker refused to bring that agreement to the floor although it would generate new exports and support american jobs. despite the lack of progress on that agreement, i strongly support the continuation of the atpa program. this program is crucial to this country and colombia and can't them let the program expire on

top of our inability to act on that trade agreement. this legislation extends the bipartisan, bicameral the trade adjustment assistance law that is helping farmers, firms and communities retool and compete in the 21st century. the 2009 law provided a more flexible, cost effective and accountable regime focusing on retraining and recognized the important role of services in the u.s. economy by bringing service workers into the program. these improvements to the t.a.a. program help get them off of government support and into private sector jobs. importantly, this legislation delays for a year and-a-half a controversial u.s. department of labor rule mandating that the states use exclusively state employment service employees to administer funded benefits and services. unless this is enacted now, 27 states will no longer be allowed

to use a mix of staff. without this delay even the other states that elect to use the staff would be adversely affected because they could not make different staffing choices in the future. it makes no sense to require states to make changes to successful programs that are helping workers find new jobs. this delay is important because it would help restore the 2009 bipartisan bicameral compromise on this issue. it removes barriers by lowering tariffs that enable value-added american manufacturing and support u.s. jobs, inputs that aren't otherwise available in the united states. these provisions have been fully vetted through a bipartisan and transparent process. and finally, this legislation is fully paid for, which is crucial in this time of rapidly rising fiscal deficits. i'm pleased that this legislation accomplishes all these goals and is a truly bipartisan product. i want to thank chairman levin

for his close cooperation in preparing this legislation and bringing it to the floor today for a vote. i hope the other body takes up the legislation quickly and passes it. several other programs expire at the end of the year . i reserve the balance of my time. mr. levin: i yield three minutes to the chair of the subcommittee, mr. tanner. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. tanner: i want to thank mr. brady, the ranking member on the trade subcommittee. the mentioning of the trade adjustment provisions and the generalized system of trade preferences are both important. i think they've been covered by mr. camp and mr. levin in their remarks. i want to talk just a minute of -- about what i consider to be

one of the most important features of this bill, with respect to american jobs, and that is the miscellaneous tariff provisions contained in the bill. these miscellaneous tariff provisions allow for u.s. companies to import items that cannot be obtained in this country to be used in the manufacturing process, thereby making u.s. manufacturing concerns more competitive in the world market and in -- and being able to increase employment in our own country. this cannot be, i don't think, overstated or overestimated as to its importance, although it may be a very small part of what we are trying to do in the whole area of trade. i hope that we can move forward even though i may not be here,

i won't be here next year, i hope we move forward on trade agreements that are pending, this is an exciting time, it's a time for america to get back in the business and this only neep bus trade bill is a good start. i want to applaud mr. levin and the committee staff and thank them for all the help they've given to the trade subcommittee through the years. with that, i yield back my time. thank you, mr. chairman. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from texas will control the time. the gentleman from texas. mr. brady: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. brady: i want to thank mr. tanner for his leadership and service through the year, he'll be missed. the economy is struggling and this congress hasn't done enough to promote the job creation we desperately need. this legislation can be the first new play we run.

the bipartisan legislation extends the generalized system of preferences in the trade preferences act and renews certain miscellaneous tariff reductions. in doing, this bill lowers taxes on products that american manufacturers need to be more competitive. more competitive u.s. manufacturers means more jobs for american workers. america's farmers will benefit if this legislation as well because it will help hold down the cost of fertilizers and pesticides. more importantly, american families will benefit from the legislation. american families will see doubled benefits. not only will it help promote job creation, it will lower costs for consumers at a time when so many families are struggling to get by, lowering taxes on these products can help american families make ends meet. expert analysis have demonstrated how these provisions will support american jobs. for example, the miscellaneous

tariff legislation could support 90,000 u.s. jobs. another will bring 92,000 jobs. in today's difficult economic times these are policies congress should support. additionally the extension of the atp a program will provide critical support for our strongest ally in south america, colombia. right now they're suffering from terrible flooding and declared a state of emergency this has badly damaged the colombian economy. colombians can't afford even a temporary lapse of this program. i share the frustration of many of my colleagues that colombia has not taken up the u.s. trade agreement to remove barriers to american sales in colombia. america's farmers and ranchers are already losing exports as other countries work out agreements ahead of us. that's why this agreement has bipartisan support.

i urge supporters on both sides of the aisle to assure that the atp a program does not lapse so we can support our allies in colombia and continue our efforts to bring the agreement to the floor of congress. this authorizes the 2009 law updating and improving the trade assistance program in various respects. such improvements included allowing bet every and more successful trading options to trade impacted workers. in providing training to service workers. the 2009 law also helps assure taa program accountability and results by requiring data on the program's performance and the workers' outcomes. this will enable us to measure how the program is effective. significantly, it prevents the u.s. department of labor from forcing texas and 26 other states to use only so-called

state merit employees to provide trade adjustment assistance funded services. this mandate went against the wishes of congress and has unnecessarily distracted states from providing services to trade impacted workers. the bill delays the ill-advised rule for a year and a half helping to assure that the congressional intent behind the law is respected and that each state may continue to decide how best to provide high quality t.a.a. services to trade impacted workers to get them retrained and back to work. i commend chairman levin and ranking member camp for working so hard to bring this rule resolution to the floor. this can be the first bipartisan play out of a new playbook to grow jobs.

it condition be part of more including trade talks next year. i will yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from california who has led the trade subcommittee in the past years. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for the balance of me time. -- of the time. >> mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california will control the remainder of the time and reserve the balance of the time. the gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: it's my pleasure to yield three minutes to the gentleman from washington, mr. mcdermott.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. mcdermott: i rise today in support of the omnibus trade act of 2010. my -- mr. speaker, you know that when the affl -- the afl-cio and the u.s. chamber of commerce are energetically in favor of the same bill, that's a pretty good day and probably a pretty good thing to do. this bill helps u.s. businesses, are reduces their costs with tariff are reductions on things they need that aren't made here in the united states. each one of these tariff reductions have been carefully vetted they've been on the website, anybody can see them, it's been a transparent process and it is good that we're able to get it done before we leave the congress at this time. it will create billions of dollars of economic activity and help kick start the creation of jobs this bill also

helps drugging economies around the world, the andes, the caribbean and others, by keeping our trade programs in place and stable for the next 18 months. we can't let these programs lapse. they're too important to americans, but also to our good partners worldwide with whom we want economic development, with whom we do better for they're doing better, and these programs are helpful to them. to cut them off is to leave them with no place to sell the goods they're making. now in fact, i would like a longer extension and i really think there needs to be a trade preference bill and i hope that in the next congress mr. brady and others on the other side will bring that forward. we'd hoped to get it done this time, we didn't get it all done but we need to do it. this is a good intermediate step.

finally, we are keeping our trade adjustment assistance program in place and continuing toim prove on it. this helps hundreds of workers, as you heard, every year, who are negatively impacted by trade. 227,000 workers benefited from this in this year alen -- alone. they receive educational benefits and help in making a transition from an industry that's disappeared to one that is now expanding in the united states and will provide jobs. our workers need to be mobile. and retrained. and the training adjustment assistant helps get that done. this bill costs almost nothing. it's fully paid for and will boost the economy. i urge my colleagues to vote for it. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the jell from california. >> i yield to mr. reichert of washington one and a half minutes.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one and a half minutes. mr. reichert: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i rise today in strong support of this omnibus trade package and urge my colleagues to support it, along with my friend and colleague from washington state, mr. mcdermott. i'm particularly pleased that this bill extends trade preference programs. preferences are a powerful developmental tool and can also be used to improve laws, environmental and labor standards and property rights protections. developing nations, american workers and businesses have benefited considerably when our preference program partnerships move to a permanent free trade agreement. one clint that has graduated from preferences is south korea. it continues to be one of the leading exports to the united states. exporters to the united states. it's a great model of how a country can graduate from the

preference partnership to a free trade agreement. that levels the playing field for american workers. a free trade agreement that diserves broad support and swift passage in the next congress. as unemployment remains high, we must continue to knock down trade barriers for american goods and services. sell american to customers all over the world to protect and create jobs here at home. i urge support for this package again today and yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: i now ask that the gentleman from washington control the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from washington will control the time. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from washington. mr. mcdermott: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pascrell. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. pascrell: thank you, mr. speaker.

i rise in strong support of h.r. 6517, the omnibus trade act of 2010. shipping jobs overseas has become an industry unto itself. jobs and people are displaced again and again. this is an attempt to try to respond to those workers whose -- who have lost jobs under the guise of free trade. our first line of defense is fair trade. that doesn't sacrifice the american work force. but this is good, bipartisan legislation. we haven't had too much of it so we might not have noticed it. i'm pleased with the committee. that it was able to work in this fashion with the majority, with the minority. to extend these programs, extend them and the provisions as well to help our workers and businesses compete in this

global economy. it is particularly critical that we authorize and re-authorize the reforms congress made to the trade adjustment assistance or t.a.a. program and it was passed as part of the recovery act in february of last year. these reforms have been in place now for some time. and the t.a.a. program helped hundreds of thousands of workers as the chairman pointed out. 5,000 of those workers were in new jersey. whose jobs were shipped overseas during this recession, they received free training, support for their incomes, and keep their health care. we expanded the program's eligibility including the service sector and more manufacturing jobs. jobs, incre training and health coverage benefits and extremelined the

program making it more flexible and efficient for workers to take advantage of it. one of the most important reforms expands eligibility. one more minute. mr. neal: i yield an additional minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. pascrell: it expands eligibility to all workers whose jobs have been moved overseas, not those were lost to our free trade partners. if we allow this provision to expire, workers who have seen jobs shipped to china or india could be ineligible for t.a.a. benefits when their jobs are offshored and out of luck. all in all, the department of labor estimates that thanks to these reforms an additional 155,000 impacted workers were eligible for the t.a.a. program. in new jersey, almost 90% of the

workers who received t.a.a. benefits were eligible because of the reforms we passed in february of 2009. we must continue to fight for those jobs. we must continue to keep american jobs here. for those who unavoidbly get left behind, providing them with the opportunity to get support and retraining like the community college in my district in patterson, new jersey to the t.a.a. community college grant program, this is the least we can do to our workers who have been hard hit in the last 10 years. thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california. mr. herger: mr. speaker, i am the last speaker. i reserve my time until later. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves his time. the gentleman from washington. mr. mcdermott: i yield three

minutes to the the gentleman from north carolina, mr. etheridge. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. etheridge: permission to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. etheridge: i thank the gentleman for yielding and i want to thank the chairman of the committee and ranking member for their work and the committee's work in really bringing the omnibus trade act of 2010 to the floor. this is an important piece of legislation. it really is about jobs, as you have already heard at a time when unemployment rate remains unseptemberbly high and stubborn in a lot of places across this country a workers will get retraining. we forget about people losing jobs and long-term unemployed and the issues surrounding training for new opportunities.

in my home state of north carolina, the manufacturers and manufacturers across the country, they are the ones who are going to deliver our economic growth and our national recovery. and this bill really is, as you have heard, will help in that regard. first it helps lower production costs by helping level the playing field with our international competitors. and that's an important piece. you have heard how we do it. it's for those items they purchase that we don't have in this country, keeping them from paying tariffs and means they are more competitive and we have more workers working and people can substitute an unemployment check for a pay check. and as a former state superintendent of schools in north carolina, i have always said that education is the key to the future.

there's no better way to create jobs than have a well educated citizenry, an educated work force. it supports job training and supports community colleges to expand access to education for more trade-impacted workers. while i strongly support this bill, i wish it had included a re-authorization of the cotton trust fund, which would have helped hundreds of workers in north carolina. and i call on the house and the senate to re-authorize the cotton trust fund as soon as possible. despite this omission, though, the omnibus trade act of 2010 is a good job-creating bill that will keep american workers competitive in this tough economy we find ourselves in. so i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this

legislation. i thank the gentleman for yielding. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from california. mr. herger: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. herger: i rise with renewed hope that our nation's trade agenda may move forward. this legislation includes an extension of trade preference programs which is important, but is no substitute for passing our pending market opening agreements with colombia, panama and korea. mr. speaker, if we hope to remain the key player in the global marketplace, we must do all we can to strengthen our ties to important democratic allies. passage of these agreements will boost economic growth and create u.s. jobs by tearing down trade barriers and significantly

increasing our exports into these markets while at the same time enhancing our national security by bringing greater stability to asian south america. take the u.s.-colombia agreement, for example. colombia is the largest market for u.s. agricultural exports in south america, which makes it an important market for my agriculturally rich northern california district. yet, we have seen our agricultural exports to colombia decline by 62% over the last two years because our products still face tariffs and other barriers while agricultural products from argentina and brazil, two major competitors for america's farmers and ranchers receive duty-free access to the clomian market. the reason for the disparity is

simple. argentina and brazil implemented a trade agreement with colombia, while our nation has not. this trend of u.s. producers losing out to foreign competitors will only get worse as the european union and canada are moving towards implementing their own agreement with colombia. mr. speaker, it is time for congress to recognize continued inaction is the -- depressing job creation for americans out of work and denying our producers new opportunities to export. congress should pass our pending trade agreement without further delays. i urge the congress and my colleagues to support this legislation. and i yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from washington. mr. mcdermott: did the gentleman yield back his time?

mr. herger: yes, i did. mr. mcdermott: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington yields back his time. all time having expired, the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 6 17 as amended. those in favor say aye. -- 6517 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no., in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek

recognition? >> i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill s. 3860. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: an act to require reports on the management of arlington national cement ter. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from california, mr. filner and the gentleman from indiana, mr. buyer, each will control 20 minutes. mr. filner: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. filner: thank you, mr. speaker. the long-standing problems at arlington national cemetery have become well known and are a national tragedy. arlington national cemetery is our most hallowed ground, final resting place of our heroes.

nearly four million people visit the cemetery. because of the importance of arlington, the american people expect arlington to be run refer rently, but as we know now, this has not been the case. following investigative reports published, the army prompted an investigation regarding reports of unmarked, misidentified or misplaced graves. they identified a culture of inaction and inactivity, failure to act and come to grips with the problems at arlington. these problems have been going on for years. recently, the army opened a criminal investigation after eight remains were found in a grave marked unknown. our army secretary mchugh has taken steps to fix the problems at arlington and we have strived to get answers and find a way

forward. i agree with our chairman of the house armed services committee who stated at a june hearing that, quote, we must be prepared and 100% that the cemetery and all of its operations which now must be undertaken will yield a larger number of problems that must be addressed. a survey may find that the errors may number in the thousands, but in order to provide a concrete solution to this problem, we must fully understand the scope. the senate has acted, passing s. 3860 on december 4 of this year. this measure requires reports to congress on the management of arlington national cemetery, including grave site discrepancies, the management and oversight of contracts. passing s. 3860 is a first step, but not the final answer. in the last days of this congress, we have the opportunity to send to the

president this important measure. we will continue to work closely with our colleagues in armed services, with the administration and our senate colleagues to fix what is wrong at arlington and ensure that the operation of this national shrine honors the men and women who lie at rest there. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves. the gentleman from indiana. mr. buyer: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. buyer: i rise in reluctant support of senate bill 3860 as amended, which would require reports on the management of arlington. the reason i say reluctant support, the veterans affairs committee itself, really, we didn't take up the issues on arlington. and we allowed the senate and house armed services committee to do their work, but the house veterans affairs committee, we did not do ours, and so this is

very unfortunate which are proceeding with this bill in a lame duck session when we have not held hearings ourselves on this issue. so i cannot speak from firsthand other than my conversations with the secretary of the army, myself, but the committee did not hold hearings on this piece of legislation at all. since the founding of arlington in june of 1864, the cemetery has been referred as the quote, crown jewel end quote of the national cemetery system. it is the final resting place of several american presidents, supreme court justices and 300,000 veterans and their families. i was deeply disturbed and appalled by revelations by the department of army inspector general's report regarding the mismanagement and possible criminal behavior at arlington. i do want to praise the secretary of the army, john

mchugh, for his swift action in response to this report, also for his following up on the recommendations of secretary gerron's request for the investigation. once again, i extend my compliments to my good friend, secretary of the army john mchugh. secretary mch -- secretary mchugh has reached out to the -- to make changes to defend arlington's reputation and make sure ceremonies are conducted in a way that honors those who gave their life for our nation. no family should have to worry that -- wonder where their loved one is buried. this bill seeks to prove that as insurance. this bill as amended requires several reports on the new

team's process, to improve the i.t. system, organizational structure and the report on the feasibility of transferring the operation of arlington from the department of army to the v.a.'s national cemetery administration. while additional are reports will be beneficial, i believe it is important to first allow the army to complete its ongoing investigations of these same issues. different studies on overlapping issues can provide unique insights. however, by providing these simultaneous investigations performed by different agencies may create unnecessary hindrances to the studies. also with regard to feasibility on transferring the operation of arlington national semiter arery to the v.a. national cemetery administration, i want to offer my recommendation that arlington national cemetery remained under the jurisdiction of the united states army, it is hastily assumed that we

should immediately transfer the jurisdiction, it is very important for us to define what in fact are the challenges and what are the problems. it is so much like an american. we hear a problem, we want to run out and create a solution before we truly understand the stope of the challenge. before we get the cart before the horse, let's not run out there and talk about let's immediately transfer. i can assure you that when he department of interior was not doing their job, what i believe correctly, i made a suggestion that we should transfer those cemeteries from the department of interior to the v.a. i don't have a problem you make that as a holder out there, you get people to do what they believe are the right things to do, maybe that's what senator mccaskill was trying to do here. i i have to respect her in setting a benchmark to do that, maybe that's in fact what her goal is, to make sure everybody does what they're supposed to do. the v.a. does have an complevent job of administering

the administration however they have an arare of logistical arrangements that are separate from the v.a. that they handle. for example, in addition to coordinate 25g military funeral pers day, the army's duties at arlington include responsibility for the horse teams, the caissons and guarding the tomb of the unknown soldier -- or tomb of the unknowns is truly unique. certainly, arlington national cemetery can benefit by emulating v.a. practices that are applicable and such information sharing is under way but ultimately, the army national -- arlington national cemetery, under the jurisdiction of the united states army is where it should remain until we achieve some answers. at this point, i are reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman are reserves his time. the gentleman from california. >> we had thought the

distinguished gentleman from missouri, mr. skelton, would be here this evening, he is not. but i would like to say that we honor his extraordinary service to his district, his state, the men and women of our armed services and of course our nation for 34 years. it has been a great experience to work with ike skelton closely as chairman of the veterans affairs committee. mr. filner: and work with him on those who serve on active duty and those who serve and are now veterans. president truman, who was a hero to all of us, especially to ike, stated that quote, it is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit. ike skelton personified this wonderful saying, working tirelessly for the good of our country. he has done more than he will ever get credit for and this

house will be poorer without him. i are reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana. mr. buyer: yielding myself such time as i may consume, may i ask the chairman, is chairman skelton planning to come to the floor? thank you. the answer was in the negative. i do associate myself with the chairman's comments in regard to chairman skelton. chairman skelton, ike, not only being a dear friend, i appreciate him stepping forward in the hearings. with that, i yield three minutes to the gentleman from virginia, representative bob goodlatte. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. goodlatte: i thank the gentleman for yielding, i thank the gentleman from california for bringing this legislation forward and i want to take the opportunity commend the gentleman from indiana for his leadership on the veterans affairs committee for a number of years now and for his service in the congress. he came here the same time i did and i very much appreciate the great contributions he's

made in those years. i rise in support of this legislation which requires a detailed report to congress on the grave site discrepancies at arlington national cemetery, including information concerning burial operations and errors in burials. it is sad that we are even having to consider such legislation today, but unfortunately, it has become apparent that it is absolutely necessary. recent news reports have revealed multiple instances of misplaced human remains at arlington national semiter arery. these sickening stories are a national disgrace. our nation's veterans in life and in death deserve our utmost respect. they have engaged in one of the noblest forms of public service, defending this nation. it is their tireless work that has made our country great, strong, and most importantly free. these men and women have helped to liberate victims of oppression, spread democracy across the world, and preserve

the freedoms our nation was built upon. our fallen heroes deserve our honor, our respect, and our appreciation this critical legislation will go a long way in ensuring it is always the case. it is a final thank you on behalf of a grateful nation. mr. speaker, it is important that we get to the bottom of this matter and correct this problem as quickly as possible and restore the respect that people need to have in this so important facility that carries such historic significance and the sacred remains of great men and women who served our country. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana will reserve his time.

mr. buyer: i thank mr. goodlatte, he's a good friend of mine. with that, i yield to another virginian, robert j. whitman of virginia. the speaker pro tempore: how much time? mr. buyer: three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. whitman: i rise in strong support of s. 3860, a bill that would ensure greater accountability for the operations -- mr. wittman: i rise in strong support of s. 3860, a bill that would ensure greater accountability at arlington national semitherer -- cemetery. i thank the gentleman from indiana, mr. buer who is passionate about doing the right thing and making the right decisions. i think the he points south only great -- points out some great things we need to think about, let's not be hasty in reaching judgments, let's make sure we're thoughtful about

this and make sure we're holding people accountable and not getting too quickly to a point of transference but getting to the root of the problem. i thank the ranking member for his thoughts on that. mr. speaker, these are our nation's heroes who have fought and chied -- died to protect -- died to protect our country and they deserve respect, dignity and honor and the 34iss handling of grave sites at arlington has demonstrated a clear lack of accountability. after allegations of mismanagement surfaced in june, army secretary john mchugh came forward to accept responsibility and made changes to the system. i applaud the secretary for doing that. he has cone great work in making sure the issue gets addressed. i do believe this legislation is necessary, though, as the next step to ensure accountability and avoid them in the future. s. 3860, would require the

secretary of the army to submit a report to congress accounting for all the grave sites at arlington cemetery with within one year. this is a significant effort, there are 320,000 of our heroes buried at arlington. there may be up to 6,600 grave sites in question. we owe it to the families, we owe it to the service members to make sure that this issue is addressed. this bill would require the army to submit plans to remedy any errors found and make sure they don't happen -- happen again in the future. under the bill, the comptroller yen would be required to report to congress on efforts to change the management and oversight structure at arlington national cemetery including contract management. i'm pleased the legislation requires an assessment of the adequacy of current practices at arlington to provide information, outreach and support to families of individuals buried at the cemetery as errors are detected and corrected.

we've seen some of those things happening recently. i heard of a family who was told the remains of their loved one were known and confirmed. unfortunately, a week later they were called and told that was not the case. we need to make sure we get this right and we need to make sure we keep in mind the effects on families whose loved ones and our nation's heroes are buried there. the families deserve timely and accurate informing about the location of their loved ones and i want to make sure that happens in every case without ambiguity. arlington is the last resting place of so many of our nation's hero, those servicemen and women who are called upon and gave the ultimate sacrifice to this country and they deserve nothing less, i want to urge my colleagues to support this bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia's time has expire. the gentleman from indiana. mr. buyer: i yield smeist such time as i macon -- such time as

i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. buyer: what i want to comment on is a problem in the house rules that i think needs to be corrected as we go into the next session of congress. with regard to lines of jurisdiction and committees and how bills are assigned through the parliamentarian at the direction of you, the speaker, i sent a letter, for which i would ask unanimous consent that this letter to the speaker dated december 9, 2010, be submitted for the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. buyer: it appears the senate bill that came to us, it appears it invokes the jurisdiction of the house armed services committee. the army personnel manage and operate arlington national cemetery and the cemetery is under the jurisdiction of the united states army system of chairman skelton properly moved out and held his hearings in the house armed services

committee relative to arlington. so i can begin to understand why the chairman of the veterans affairs committee allowed that to proceed. when the senate conducts their hearings and they did so and the senate veterans affairs committee passed their bill and immediately sent it to us in a lame duck session. now you say, why wouldn't this bill also have either a joint referral or to the armed services committee or why did it only go to the house veterans affairs committee? you go to house rules. even though i sent the letter to madam speaker pelosi saying please go to the armed services committee, the answer obviously was no because we're doing this bill on the floor without a committee who never had hearings on the bill. the problem is in the house rules itself. when you turn to the house rules, i think this has to be an error in the drafting of

these rules. rule 10-2 cites that cemeteries urn the united states in which veterans of any war or conflict are or may be buried whether in the united states, abroad, except cemeteries administered by the secretary of the v.a. goes to the veterans affairs committee. this has to be corrected. hopefully going into the next congress this gets corrected so cemeteries under the jurisdiction of the cemetery that legislation with regarding to that jurisdiction rests with the armed services committee. the v.a. committee, we have oversight but with regard to this, this is a jurisdictional question and it needs to be corrected. that's why you have two individuals here managing a bill on the floor that really the house armed services committee, mr. speaker, should also be hearing. but i want all the members to know that's why this is

happening and i want to make these concluding remarks and i suppose, yes, we can all be very upset with regard to the management and the markings of some of these graves, but those of us who had the opportunity to go to arlington and see the job in which the old guard performed, it is pretty extraordinary. i was last there on monday of thanksgiving week. i joined lieutenant general john kelley, his family and hundreds of his friends at the chapel at fort meyer. we all left the chapel, proceeded down the windy road, down the hill, led by the army band, platoon of soldiers, horse drawn caisson that carried the body of john's youngest son, lieutenant robert kelley, killed in afghanistan.

killed in afghanistan. the wind was crisp, the sky was blue, the oak and maple trees were clutching on to their red, yellow, gold and light green leaves. others were slowly drifting to the ground. the bright sun shown brightly upon them all. each grave marker properly and perfectly aligned in columns and rows and angles. each was offset by rich green grass signifying the eachings in our national book of remembrance. that's my firsthand account of having attended the funeral of lieutenant robert kelly at his burial thanksgiving week.

that has been replicated since that monday of thanksgiving week and it has been no different than how the old guard pays their honor and respect to so many and it goes back so far in time. that rich heritage causes each one of us to rise when we get so concerned with regard to mismanagement of such sacred ground. i ask all members to support the legislation and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. filner: i have no further requests for time and urge unanimous support and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: all time having expired, will the house suspend the rules and pass senate 3860. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative -- the gentleman from california.

mr. filner: on that i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a a sufficient number having arisen. pursuant to clause 8, rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? mr. filner: i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill s. 3447. the clerk: senate 3447, an act to amend title 38, united states code to improve educational assistance for veterans who served in the armed forces after september 11, 2001 and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from california, mr.

filner, the gentleman from indiana, mr. buyer, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. mr. filner: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the chairman is recognized. mr. filner: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and inexclude ks train youse materials into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. filner: i want to thank chairman of the veterans affairs committee from the senate known as the post-9/11 veterans educational improvement act of 2010. i thank congressman minnick for his advocacy and introducing a similar bill in the house of representatives. and i ask unanimous consent to include letters of support from a.m. vets, the military officers association of america, iraq and

afghan veterans, national association of uniformed services, american legion and student veterans of america into the congressional record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. filner: my colleagues will recall we passed the post-9/11 veterans assistance act to help pay the full costs of tuition at four-year colleges to veterans who serve after september 11, 2001. this new entitlement has provided thousands of veterans to pay for tuition and fees, monthly housing allowance and 1,000 book stipend. this is a significant step to improving educational benefits for our veterans, much work needs to be done. this bill is fully paid for, bipartisan and seeks to rectify many of the ongoing technical

concerns that were highlighted after the passage of the post-9/11 g.i. bill. while expanding benefits to veterans which were originally excluded from participating in this new benefit. current law prohibits certain individuals from obtaining educational benefits. this legislation seeks to address this inequity by affording qualified individuals reserve and national guard to reserve benefit under the post-9/11 g.i. bill and provide veterans with a housing stipend while taking courses through a long-distance learning, a key issue. in addition to expanding the housing stipend, they will have the ability to use their educational benefit to pay for tests, license you are and certification tests. this bill would address a major shortfall addressed by the

veterans' community by those who wish to attend a non-college program. this bill seeks to expand on the eligible programs of education to include apresence -- apprenticeship. finally this bill seeks to recognize the family's role of caring an injured veteran by extending the period they can use education benefits providing more time for them to pursue their educational goals is the least we can do for those who have taken on to care for an injured loved ones. i thank our speaker, nancy pelosi. only fitting to note that enhancing veterans' education benefits was a major focus when democrats took control of the house four years ago and is a

priority in the final hours of the 111th congress and we look forward to continuing this advocacy in the next congress. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from indiana. mr. buyer: i reserve myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. buyer: i don't know since when the g.i. bill became the debatest hallmark of democrats. it's both parties, mr. chairman. i rise to express my concerns about the way once again we are legislating outside of regular order. leaving undone significant fixes

needed to correct known substantive problems with the bill. this all goes back with the way the g.i. bill came to us. it came to us as a political instrument, not properly vetted through the house. it came as a political instrument in a highly presidential election time. the house committee was doing its work on modernizing the montgomery g.i. bill. representatives herseth and boozman were doing great work and doing everything they were supposed to do to that bill. and sure enough, they took a bill that was drafted by one staffer who had not been properly vetted in the senate and sent that bill over to the house without even being vetted here by the house and speaker pelosi wanted to do that and it was all about at that time, jamming john mccain. i voted for that when it came to the house floor.

the reason i did that is because i wanted a seat at the table and wanted to correct problems with the bill. we cited 10 or 11 problems we had with the bill, all of which were ignored. so what happened? all of these inequities, all of these poor drafting errors, the challenge the administration had with regard to the implementation of the legislation. oh, once again, we'll just do something quickly, bypass the house process, ignore regular order, dumping it on the administration and then force them to fix it and if they don't do things according to a timeline which we foresee, we'll beat them up. this is the worst way to legislate. if you want to do proper governing, you don't wonder whether a democrat is getting credit or a republican is getting credit.

don't think about winning or losing, good government is about the collective ideas of all people of this house. so once again, what are we doing? here comes the bill once again coming from the senate to us on issues that we haven't had a chance to pour through. let's come to the floor, let's cheerlead and let's embrace and you are doing it once again in a lame duck session. then speaker dennis hastert, what did he do? he held a conference and told republicans, respect the will of the american people. we will not legislate our agenda in a lame duck. what are you doing? you are ignoring the will of the american people and trying to jam everything imaginable that you can before you quote, lose power. let's do gays in the military and do everything imaginable you

can, let's do this. you are creating more inequities in this bill than you think you are correcting. in order to understand my concerns, you know, originally the bill cost nearly $80 billion and was not paid for. we could be headed for a similar situation by passing this bill today without going through regular order. i received a long list of technical changes from the v.a. that would have facilitated successful implementation. the majority continued to block my efforts for these changes. in the end, the house once again will have no say in a major piece of legislation expanding veterans' benefits. be careful about pounding your chests thinking you did a lot of great things, we have not.

i'm concerned about the policy change that ends living stipend payments to veterans between semesters. you better think about what you are about to vote on. this cut in veterans' benefits will hit veterans and their families hard especially many schools dismiss for the winter break and veterans would receive their stipend check during that period. i can't think of a worst idea to cut a veteran's benefit during the christmas and holiday season. the month of desist a strain on their pocketbook and to have your pay check cut during a devastating time period is pretty tough. my second policy concern deals with the national cap on tuition and fees. current law allows the v.a. to pay up to the maximum in-state tuition and fees. each state has different maximum

amount of twuse and fees that the v.a. is required to pay. while the revised benefit of $17,000 500 will be a windfall for most veterans, there are veterans in several states including texas, new york and new hampshire that will see their tuition and fee payments reduced. veterans in these states will be forced to pay for this reduction from other sources or their own pocket. for example, a veteran studyying at bay lore receives $26,000 in tuition and fee payments. under this bill, that veteran would receive only $17,000 00 in tuition and fee payment for a difference of $8,500 per year or $34,000 over a four-year time period will be cut from their benefit. this bill should have included a provision to grandfather the current students in these high-cost states so they are not required to make up the

difference in tuition. bru the members did not get that change or any other change for that matter. by removing these payments and excluding a grandfather clause, the drafters of this bill were able to pay for their other enhancements of the bill. however these enhancements are being done at the expense of some veteran to the benefit of another veteran. it's one of those things for which we are always carbous about, cutting one veteran benefit to the detriment of another veteran. if you we -- if you went out and asked, i believe they would oppose cutting one benefit -- raising their benefit and cutting the benefit of a comrade. what bothers me is rushing this through regular order, they don't seem to have a problem

with yeert of these issues that will hurt american's veterans through expediency or the apparent need to score some kind of point in the lame duck. i'm surprised the veterans service organization have jumped on board this bill despite its cut tots veterans benefits. i'm certain they are very uncomfortable for me standing here on the house floor and talking about the veterans' service organization support of cutting veteran benefits. the commander of the american legion said, this bill rectifies the inequities and short comes of the well intention bud incomplete post-9/11 g.i. bill and makes it hole. -- makes it whole. it does not. we create more inequities and make matters worse. in testimony before the senate committee on veterans' affairs the veterans of america stated the discussion draft of senate 3437 will improve the new g.i. bill and ensure all student

veterans have access to the most generous benefit since world war ii. at the same hearing the veterans of foreign wars stated, quote, senator, your legislation addresses every concern we have with the bill. we cannot say enough about the noble intent driving this bill, end quote. madam speaker, i guess we have a few questions for the veterans who are members of these veteran's service organizations. number one, are your representatives in washington standing up for you when they pass a bill that cuts your stipend in the holidays. when an individual finish theirs fall semester and before they start their spring semester, their benefits are cut. in some schools they're out five weeks or three weeks or four week we cut their stipend in that break between semesters. the other question is, are they really representing the view of

a vet ren when they endorse legislation that cuts tuition payments for some veterans by thousands while trying to benefit veterans some other place. while i'm retiring here at the end of this congress, i'm sure members of the new majority will want to hold hearings on the shortcomings in the post-9/11 g.i. bill and look for ways to improve the bill early in the next congress that way we can further consider the v.a.'s and committee's concerns, avoid unintended consequences and do so in a bipartisan manner and most importantly using regular order and making sure everyone participates in the process. that is the best way for us to govern a country. with that, i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california. mr. filner: i'd like to yield such time as he may consume to congressman loebsack. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman is recognized. mr. loebsack: i want to thank democrats and republicans alike who worked on this bill and to the folks in the senate who worked on this bill as well, both democrats and republicans. madam speaker, mr. speaker, the post 9/11 g.i. bill is an expression of our nation's gratitude to those who served our country since the 9/11 attacks. as a former college professor, i know firsthand the impact of -- a post-secondary education can have it. -- can have. it opens doors and broadens opportunity and is critical to the future strength of our military and the economy. i have had opportunities to meet many member os they have iowa national guard and have seen them respond to the floods that hit my district in 2008 and i visited them in iraq and afghanistan. the dual role of the national guard in our homeland and national security is unique and it has only incroosed since the

9/11 attacks. the national guard is no longer a have strategic reserve, it is an operational one. these soldiers and airmen secure our air space, respond to disasters, protect our borders and deploy to iraq and afghanistan. yet the post-9/11 g.i. bill did not recognize this this dual role. it counts only service overseas and overlook the role the national guard plays in federally funded homeland security missions. that is why i introduced the national guard education equality act which has over 100 bipartisan co-sponsors and has been endorsed by a number of veterans service organizations. i'm proud that my bill has been included in the post-9/11 veterans' education assistance improvements act. as a result, tens of thousands of national guard members will receive benefits they are due for their service to our

country. while this bill is not perfect and these -- and more needs to be done, it is an essential step forward. among its many other improvements for veterans, it will recognize and will honor the contributions of the national guard to both our homeland and national security. i urge support for this critical legislation and thank you very much again chairman filner for your great work on this, democrats and republicans alike. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the gentleman from indiana is recognized. mr. buyer: i have no other speakers. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. filner: i have no further requests for time, this is an important bill that extends benefits to even more of our veterans and tries to enhance

benefits for those already receiving them. i ask for unanimous support and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california yields back the balance of his time. all time having expired, the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass senate 3447. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider -- the gentleman from california. mr. filner: i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those in favor of taking a vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having risen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 further proceedings on this question will be postponed.

for what purpose does think gentleman from california seek recognition? mr. berman -- >> i move house resolution 1755. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. the clerk: supporting a

negotiated solution to the israeli-palestinian conflict and condemning unilateral declarations of a palestinian state. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from california, mr. berman, and the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. berman. mr. berman: 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. mr. berman: i rise in strong support of house resolution 1765 and yield myself three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. berman: i brought this resolution to the because i believe negotiations are the only path to a two-state solution to the israeli-palestinian conflict. for this reason, the united states congress has every reason to be concerned about efforts of some in the palestinian authority leadership to obtain

recognition of statehood while bypassing the accepted negotiation process. these efforts run counter to the palestinians' own internationally witnessed commitments at the 1991 madrid conference or the 1993 oslo agreement and the 2003 road map. most important, the palestinians will only get a state by negotiating with the israelis. that is but one reason i'm deeply disappointed by the recently announced decision of brazil and other latin american countries to recognize an independent palestinian state, actions prompted by a direct request from palestinian president abbas. ultimately such recognition of nonexistent statehood gives the palestinians nothing. in 1988, yasser arafat declared a state and garnered recognition from more than 100 states. now 22 years later, there is still no state.

the palestinian people don't want a bunch of declarations of statehood they want a state, and they should have one, through the only means possible for attaining one, negotiations with israel. the obama administration has been unwavering on this point. unless an independent palestinian state is formed, via a negotiated settlement, the israeli-palestinian conflict will not be solved. only through direction negotiations can difficult compromises be reached on the core issues of borders, water, refugees, jerusalem and security. unilateral declarations will not eliminate the sources of the conflict. they will exacerbate them. secretary of state clinton could not have been more correct when she said this past friday that, quote, it is only a negotiated agreement between the parties that will be sustainable. i believe that palestinian authority president abbas and

prime minister fmbing ayyat are committed to a peaceful resolution of their conflict with israel so i hope they will take secretary clinton's message to heart this body has been very generous in support of their worthy efforts to build institutions and the economy on the west bank. in fact, i believe we are the most generous nation in the world in that regard. so i think our friend should understand, if they persist in pursuing a unilateralist path inevitably and however regrettably there will be consequences for u.s.-palestinian relations. i encourage my colleagues to support this important pro-negotiations, pro-peace resolution. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. poe: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. poe: i'm proud to be a co-sponsor of this legislation, i strongly support a negotiated

solution for peace in the middle east and this resolution will help do that. unfortunately, behind closed doors and behind the backs of the israelis in the united states, palestinian leaders are reportedly holding high level unilateral discussions and pursuing recognition of a palestinian state by the united nations and other international forums. in fact, the u.n. special coordinator for the middle east peace process, robert siri, on october 26 of this year, said he supported recognition of a palestinian state by the united nations. the answer is to negotiate with israel to make sure that there is a palestinian state and not operate unilaterally without the help and negotiation of israel. but this is not all. earlier this month, three south american countries, argentina, brazil, uruguay recognized palestine as a state. palestinian statehood

recognized outside of talks with israel is not a bad idea and not a peaceful solution to this problem. if the palestinian state is a sovereign state what are the borders of this state going to be? will terrorist acts now be seen as an act of war from a recognized state? is this going to be a sovereign state within the sovereign state of israel? no one knows. because none of these questions have been answered with these countries who want to have a unilateral recognition of this state. i'm not saying that there can never be a palestinian state but what i am saying is that certain conditions certainly should be met before a state can be established. and one of those, the foremost important one is, get to the table and negotiate with israel. quit worrying about what brazil, uruguay and others think and be more concerned about what israel thinks because israel must agree to

whatever solution comes about in this negotiation. if other countries follow brazil and recognize the palestinian state, why would palestine want to return to negotiations with israel? they're already getting what they want without gos. i believe that without further negotiations with israel, there will be violence in the middle east. in fact, peace in the middle east will be a far-off dream. i think the administration needs to come out very strong in opposition of this idea before more states recognize the palestinian state and i think it's important that congress show israel we stand with them, we stand for them, because what is bad for them is bad for the united states and for the world and for middle east. so it is simple. get back to the table with the people that are most concerned about a palestinian state, that being the israelis. and i reserve the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. berman: yes, mr. speaker, i yield myself 15 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. berman: i thank the gentleman for his position, for his resolution, for his co-sponsoring of this resolution and i'm here to stand not only with the israelis but i stand with the palestinians on this issue because the palestinians want this state and negotiations are the way to get it. i'm pleased to recognize for unanimous consent request my colleague from california, mr. miller. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. miller: i ask unanimous consent and i rise today to express my support for negotiated solutions on the decades-long conflict between israel and palestine. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. berman: mr. speaker, i'm very pleased to recognize -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. the gentleman is recognized. mr. berman: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to recognize for three

minutes the distinguished ranking democrat on the foreign affairs committee, the chairman of the middle east and south asia subcommittee, mr. ackerman of new york. mr. ackerman: i thank the chairman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for three minutes. mr. ackerman: this resolution is absolutely vital. it should be called a peace process preservation act because that is exactly what it's all about. i understand that for many israelis and many palestinians there's enormous frustration and disappointment and impatience with the peace process. but there is absolutely no acceptable alternative to it. only negotiations can promise a real and durable peace, a peace with security for israel as a jewish and democratic state and independence for a sovereign and viable palestinian state. there is no magic wand. there is no shortcut. the only way to peace is negotiating in good faith and making the hard choices that it demands. israel has shown time and again

that it is ready. in the year 2000 israel made a serious and generous offer to the palestinians at camp david and then offered even more. israel offered the palestinians still more in 2008 and last year prime minister netanyahu, without getting any credit, came out publicly in favor of a two-state solution and has been waiting ever since for the palestinians to join him at the table. it's time for them to stop jetting around the world looking for alternatives and dealing with directly with prime minister netanyahu. palestinians can't on the one hand complain that israeli settlements prejudge final status issues and then run around and call on other nations to try to impose a solution from the outside. personally i think that the palestinians' complaints about settlements are overwrought. prime minister netanyahu froze settlement building for 10 months and got only palestinian scorn for his efforts. moreover, the peace process would have promoted, israel has

withdrawn from areas, so the israeli track record on land for peace is very clear. but what some palestinians can't seem to understand is that their legitimate aspirations cannot only can't be achieved by violence but are equally unobtainable through unilateral or external declarations. a just and lasting settlement is only possible through a political process, one where both sides make concessions. any nation that is truly committed to peace or receives itself as a friend of the israelis or the palestinians have to recognize that trying to dictate a solution is a recipe for a catastrophe. instead of producing peace, efforts to impose one from the outside will transform a difficult but resolvable conflict between two peoples into an horrific war between two religions. so i think the time to resolve this conflict, if you think the time to resolve this conflict is

now and i do and if you think both israelis and palestinians are entitled to govern themselves, and i do, then you need to support this resolution in favor of negotiations in peace and against imposed or unilateral solutions. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. poe: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the gentleman from indiana, mr. burton, the ranking member on the middle east subcommittee, be allowed to control the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman from indiana is recognized. mr. burton: mr. speaker, at this time i'll reserve the balance of my time and ask the gentleman from california if he has additional speakers right now? mr. berman: mr. speaker, i missed the question. i know the answer but i missed the question. mr. burton: it's very nice that

you pay attention to your ranking member of the middle east subcommittee. what i was asking, sir, is do you have any more speakers and if do you i'd like to reserve the balance of my time and yield to you. mr. berman: by that i assume you have no -- other than yourself you have no further speakers? mr. burton: i don't believe i do but i know you're interested in hearing what i have to say. mr. berman: i am. mr. burton: yes, thank you. mr. berman: i'm pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from new york, mr. engel. a member of the committee, chairman of the western hemisphere subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for three minutes. mr. engel: i thank the chairman for yielding to me and i, like my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, rise in support of this resolution. my colleagues have said it very, very well and i reiterate it, the only way that peace can be achieved in the middle east is by having the two parties sit down and negotiate a settlement. that can't be an american plan, that can't be an obama plan,

that can't be a u.n. plan. it has to be a plan between israelis and palestinians. so at the end of the day, we come out with a two-state solution, the jewish state of israel and a palestinian state and both states ought to live with security along recognized borders. now, it's bad enough that these countries, like brazil, argentina and uruguay, unilaterally say that they accept or they recognize a palestinian state. they talk about a palestinian state within the 1967 borders which is preposterous, everyone knows that israel would never and could never agree with it. those borders are indefensible and for that reason israel would and could not accept it. so as far as i'm concerned, this is just mischiff making. this is the palestinian -- miss chief making. this is the palestinian leadership not having the guts to silt down and negotiate a difficult situation -- sit down and negotiate a difficult situation.

you know, the palestinian leadership has been thrown all kinds of preconditions out there, saying to israel, we're not going to sit and negotiate with you unless you do this. we're not going to sit and negotiate with you unless you do that. so the prime minister of israel, netanyahu, agrees to a 10-month moratorium on building any kind of settlements or neighborhoods or anything like that and the palestinian leadership decried it. they made fun of it. they said it was nothing. and then they waited nine of those 10 months to actually sit down and negotiate with israel. so they sat down for one month, the limit 10 months expired, and now they are demanding another freeze. well, i find it very odd that now that this freeze on set -- so-called settlement activities is absolutely necessary in order for the palestinians to sit down and negotiate when for nine months they refused to negotiate when israel had stopped any kind of new settlements. so this is just a further

international attempt to delegitimatize israel and to unilaterally declare a statehood for the palestinians. that will never work. the palestinians's little history is important here. back in 1948 when the united states -- when the united nations resolution passed, taking what was then historic palestine and dividing it between an arab state and a jewish state, the israelis, the jews in the area said, yes, accepted it. and the arabs said no. and then went to war against israel and went to war against israel time and time and time again to wipe out the state of israel. and so we know, we've come a long way and my colleagues have said this, back in 2000, back in 2001, prime minister sharon, prime minister owe merit, all issued -- olmert,al issued and agreed to have negotiation -- all issued and agreed top of negotiations and give the palestinians almost everything they wanted. a state of their own. they turned it down.

negotiation is the only step forward and we should continue on that path. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york's time has expired. the gentleman from indiana is recognized. mr. burton: since we just have one speaker, i'll continue to let my colleague go first. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. berman: mr. speaker, i'm very pleased to yield two minutes to a member of the committee, the gentleman from american samoa, mr. faleomavaega. two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. faleomavaega: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. faleomavaega: i do want to thank the distinguished gentleman from california, the chairman of the house foreign affairs committee, and i want to state for the record i associate myself with the comments and the position taken by the chairman of the foreign affairs committee concerning this issue. that is now before the house. mr. speaker, there is no question that the israeli-palestinian conflict has

been for the past 60 years, in my opinion, has been something that not only has it got the attention of the entire world, but in trying to find the solution to the current issues and the problems existing between the israeli and the palestinian people. i also want to commend the obama administration and certainly secretary clinton in her efforts at initiating the efforts to continue the negotiation process in trying to find a peaceful solution. the current problem existing between israel and the palestinian people. one thing that is quite certain, at least there's a sense of consensus and agreement, is the fact that we recognize the fact that, yes, palestine should be given as an independent and sovereign state, just as much as there should be proper recognition of israel as a sovereign and as well as an independent state. i think the points that have been taken by my good friend, the gentleman from texas, mr. berman, and also my colleagues

from new york, mr. ackerman, and mr. engel, are well taken. and i just want to urge my colleagues to support the resolution and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from indiana is recognized. mr. burton: i will continue to reserve the balance of my time since mr. berman has a few more speakers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. berman: yes, mr. speaker, i'm very pleased to yield two minutes to the distinguished member of the foreign affairs committee, with an ardent interest in this issue, the gentlelady from nevada, ms. berkley. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from nevada is recognized for two minutes. ms. berkley: i'd like to thank the gentleman from california for yielding and for his extraordinary leadership on this issue and on our committee for the last several years. mr. speaker, i rise in strong support for this importants remain loogs because i am deeply concern -- resolution because i am deeply concerned about the chances for middle east peace. over the last year, instead of negotiating directly with the israelis, the palestinian

leaders have turned their backs on peace talks. they have come up with all sorts of excuses to avoid negotiations, demanding that israel stop construction in all settlements, including israel's capital, before they'll even sit down to negotiate. when israel took the courageous and difficult step of agreeing to a 10-month moratorium, that wasn't enough. they wasted nine of the 10 months only coming to the table at the last possible moment. meanwhile, rather than negotiating the palestinians have decided to pursue a unilateral strategy, seeking global recognition for their state instead of making peace with the state of israel. shamefully several countries have even rewarded the palestinians' stonewalling instead of urging them to return to the negotiating table where they belong. the negotiating table is the only way to bring a true and lasting peace to the region. all peace-loving nations must reject this palestinian manipulation and insist that they return immediately to

negotiations. there's simply no other path to peace. while it's the palestinians that have the most to lose if there isn't a negotiating path to peace, while israel has a strong country and a good education system, a vibrant economy, a national identity, a cultural identity, and a strong democracy, the palestinians, because of their poor leadership, has absolutely none of those and they will never get any of that until there is peace between the parties. the only way to do that is to sit down and negotiate in good faith. if i was palestine, you couldn't drag me away from the negotiating table. i would sit there until i delivered for my peam a palestinian state. it occurs to me -- a palestine -- for my people a palestinian state. he should have started on day one of the moratorium instead of waiting until the end. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time.

the gentleman from indiana is recognized. mr. burton: may i inquire as to how many more speakers the chairman has? mr. berman: i have one additional speaker and then i comment to close. i believe i'm entitled to close on this issue. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is correct. mr. berman: so one more speaker. mr. burton: i'll reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. berman: mr. speaker, i'm very pleased to yield two minutes to one who has been really an ardent supporter of the resolution of the israeli-palestinian conflict and peace in the middle east, my friend from california, mrs. caps, for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california is recognized for two minutes. mrs. capps: i thank the gentleman for yielding to me. i rise in reluctant support of this resolution. unfortunately we have yet another one-sided resolution

regarding the israeli-palestinian conflict. i will vote in favor of it because i do support -- i do oppose unilateral declarations of palestinian statehood and i do believe a negotiated settlement is the only way forward. however this resolution ignores other facts on the ground that led to breakdowns in gos, most notably, israel's expansion of settlements. it is truly absurd to argue that serious negotiations can occur when both actors are engaged in activities that threaten the peace process. it is likewise unwise to ignore that both sides have responsibility. resolutions like the one we are considering today are done for domestic political consumption much more than having any positive impact on the conflict. we should not be ignoncht of

the fact that this chamber's habit of passing resolutions are one-sided can undermine our credibility as serious brokers for peace. no one is doubting the relationship between the united states and israel. israel is our strongest ally and the only true democracy in the region but that doesn't mean we shouldn't speak the truth in identifying israeli policies that are harmful. if i could rewrite this resolution, it would highlight the responsibilities of each partner to take actions demonstrative of its commitment to peace. israelis and palestinians alike share this responsibility and so does the united states as an honest broker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from indiana is recognize. mr. buyer: i -- mr. burton: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized.

mr. burton: i think israel continues to do everything they can to bring about a peaceful solution to the problems in the middle east regarding the palestinian issue, but they don't have a partner. the palestinians continue to do an end run around the negotiation process and it isn't going to work, number one, but number two it shows the insincerity of the palestinian authority when they talk about peace. we in the past five years have given over $2 billion in assistance to the palestinian authority and we have been reinforcing and rewarding bad behavior on the part of the palestinian authority when they prove to us by doing the things they're doing right now that they're really not worthy of this support we're giving them. we should finally hold the

palestinian authority leaders accountable. a couple of things really bother me. when you hear the leader of the palestinian authority and the p.l.o., abu mahsin praise the recently deceased master mind of the p.l.o.'s massacre of the israeli athletes in the 1972 munich olympics, this is the leader, and he's praising that massacre that the whole world jab hored. he also ex--- -- the whole world ab hored he also expressed his opposition to the jewish state of israel. he said we have not and will not recognize it. that's a heck of an attitude for someone who says they want a pl stainian state and want to negotiate while at the same time they're making these statements and doing an end run around the process. last year, he said, quote,

presently, we are against armed struggle because we cannot cope with it. but things could be different at some future phase. now, that indicates, again and again and again, their insincerity of negotiating in good faith. they're talking about at some point in the future having another armed struggle. israel has gone beyond the pale time and again, netanyahu, the prime minister, has taken that extra step time and time again and until we see real concern and real sincerity in the negotiating process, we ought to put, we ought to take a very hard attitude toward the palestinian authority. in my opinion, that means cutting off any funding for them until they're willing to sit down and negotiate a

settlement. i yield back the balance of my time. 13r0eu7 the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. berman: mr. speaker, how much time do i have left? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has five and a quarter minutes are remaining. mr. berman: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. berman: i would like to address the comments of my colleague from california, mrs. capps. obviously grateful for her support of this resolution and her agreement with the notion that unilateral steps like this are not the way to achieve peace but she made certain comments regarding issues not in the resolution. she's right, this resolution has nothing about settlements, there'sing in about incitement, there's nothing about a

palestinian denial of the jewish connection to the western wall. as for the settlements, i have my own reservations about israel's activities, but this resolution isn't about any of those things. this resolution is about the most central issue of all, the pathway to palestinian statehood. there is only one path and that is through negotiations. no negotiations, no state. it's as simple as that. and in closing, i simply would like to quote from an interview just given by the prime minister of the palestinian authority. i'm being asked to yield by the gentlelady from texas after telling the gentleman from indiana that i have no further speakers. would he object to my yielding? mr. burton: i have no objection

whatsoever. mr. berman: i'm happy to yield two minutes to the gentlelady from texas. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. ms. jackson lee: let me thank the distinguished gentlemen, both of them, and thank the gentleman from indiana for his kindness in yielding. i rise to support this legislation and as i listened earlier and i had to depart from the floor, i wanted to reinforce the common sense perspective that chairman berman has announced. diplomacy is bilateral. it is a two-way street. it is a give and take. it is the ability to help all the people who are involved and it also is the ability for the world to recognize that a coming together has occurred. i have the greatest sense of concern and respect for the palestinian people, for palestinian americans, who themselves have reached out and

asked for help. i believe the people of the west bank and gaza want freedom, opportunity, equality, and a peaceful existence. i believe the people in israel over the years and the many leaders have engaged in the process of peace. we in the united states are committed to a two-party state. we're committed to a peace resolution. make peace today. unilateral affirmation of one state without the recognition of the importance of both states coexisting and working together does not lead to the recognition that the world should give to two independent states who will be working alongside each other. i simply indicate that as we move forward, it is enormously important that we get energized on the two-party debate an discussion and diplomacy that

we provide a peaceful existence as one of the negotiators, the united states, for the palestinian people and the people of israel. we should be engaged, we've been asked to be engaged, we can make a difference and i would support the idea of us making a difference. to my friend who has proceeded in a unilateral perspective, mr. speaker, i simply sago this route, two-party state, engaging to provide peace for the two states. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. berman: i yield myself such time as i may consume simply to close by quoting from prime min -- from the prime minister's interview he gave yesterday, actually, it was tonight in that time zone, where he said,

we want a state of palestine, not a unilateral declaration of statehood. he explained that he did not see how a unilateral declaration of statehood would assist the palestinian cause. mr. speaker, i urge the house to pass this resolution and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back his time. all time having expired, the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1765. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended and the resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. mr. berman: i move to suspend the rules -- the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman seek recognitions? mr. berman: i move to suspend the rules and agree to s. 987.

the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 987, an act to protect girls in developing countries through the prevention of child marriage and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from california, mr. berman, and the gentleman from indiana, mr. burton, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. mr. berman: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. berman: i rise in support of s. 987, the international protecting girls by prevention child marriage act of 2010 and yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. berman: this legislation, s. 987, is the corresponding legislation to legislation introduced by our congressman from -- by our colleague from

minnesota, ms. mccollum, h.r. 2103. child marriage is one of the most harmful practices affecting girls in the developing world today. globally, more than 60 million girls under the age of 18, many only 12 or 13, are married. usually to men more than twice or three times their age. between half and three-fourths of all girls are married before the age of 18 in countries such as chad, somalia, bangladesh and nepal. should these numbers remain consistent in the next 10 year, there will be 25,000 new child brides every day. marrying at such a young age comes at a terrible cost for these girls, girls who in most developed countries would otherwise still be happily playing sports, singing in their school choir. these young girls are at an increased risk for health problems like hiv-aids, due to

the sexual history of their older partners. in addition, they're at risk of complications in pregnancy and childbirth. childbirth complications are the leading cause of death for women 15 to 19 years old in developing countries. not only are child brides at a higher risk for disease and death, they are frequently victims of domestic abuse. premature marriage deprives girls of their dignity and dooms them to a life of poverty and exens dependence. it is for these reasons as many more that it's categorized as child abuse and a violation of human rights. poverty and a lack of education are key contributing factors who why young women fall victim to child marriage. 60% of girls involved in child marriages have no education. families struck by poverty

cannot afford to keep their daughters in school and often don't have the are resources to provide for their daughters at all. marrying off female children is often the only alternative for struggling families. with an often false promise of a better life for their daughters, parents marry their girls off at an all too early age. however, there are undoubtedly better alternatives. this bill before us seeks to eliminate the harmful practice of child marriage overseas. it requires an integrated strategic approach by our government to reduce the incidence of child marriage by authorizing the president to provide assistance through multilateral, nongovernmental and faith-based organizations to prevent the incidence of child marriage and to promotes the -- promote the educational, economic and social being of girls and young women. it direct finding a strategy

for developing countries. we need to invest in these young girls and provide safe spaces where they can evolve socially and become self-sufficient. empowering young girls through education can help prevent child marriages and lead to a brighter and healthier future for millions worldwide. i want to thank representative mccollum and -- representatives mccollum and crenshaw for their leadership on this bill and i encourage my colleagues to support the bill which will be an invaluable investment in the future of millions of girls around the world and i reserve the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from indiana is recognized. mr. burton: we only have one speaker, -- one person to speak on this issue, mr. speaker. so if my colleague has more speakers, we'll reserve our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. berman: yes, mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield seven minutes to the gentlelady from

minnesota, the author, along with congressman crenshaw of the corresponding house legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from minnesota is recognized for seven minutes. ms. mccollum: thank you, mr. speaker. every year in the world's poorest countries, millions of girls are forced into marriage. girls as young as age 8, often 13, 14 and 15 years old are sold by impoverished parents to settle debts or they're given away to become the wives of men who are years or even decaded old -- decades older. for a young girl, a child to be forced into marriage to an adult man, can only be described as a life of slavery, child molestation and servitude. this is not marriage. it is a violation of the most basic human rights of a child. on the floor today is s. 978, the international protecting girls by preventing marriage act, a bill that was passed

unanimously in the united states senate. let me repeat, this bill passed unanimously. every republican and every democrat in the senate supported it. i want to commend senators richard durbin and olympia snowe, along with the other co-sponsors for their tremendous efforts to protect vulnerable girls. it is my honor to be the sponsor of the companion bill in the house and i want to thank my republican colleagues, mr. crenshaw, mr. latourette, mr. schock and mr. latham, for their bipartisan support for ending child marriage. according to unicef, child marriage, and i quote, is the most prevalent form of sexual abuse and exploitation of girls, end of quote. one in every seven girls in the developing world is forced into marriage some time before the age of 15. millions of girls every year. 13-year-old girl that is forced into marriage will not go to school, she is most certainly

guaranteed to be a victim of domestic violence, she's condemned to a life of poverty and she's more likely to die or to be disabled in child birth because she is a child. her infant is more likely to die. h.i.v. infection, maternal death, child death, gender-based balance, extreme poverty are all deadly obstacles to development that destroys families, weakens communities and destabilizes countries. child marriage contributes to all of these destructive problems. the photo i have with me was taken by a brilliant photo journalist, stephanie st. claire, who documented child marriage in afghanistan. this 11-year-old girl in the photo is not seated with her grandfather. the man next to this child is her husband to-be. this little girl's father gave her away to be married because he was too poor to care for her. her value to her husband comes from her ability to work in the fields, care for animals and

because she's a virgin. in this country, a man treating an 11-year-old as his wife would be imprisoned as a sexual predator, a pedophile. in afghanistan an 11-year-old's abuser is her husband. it does not matter where in this world an 11-year-old girl is. she should never be anyone's wife. today we have an opportunity to put the lives of vulnerable girls ahead of what is all too common at times partisan political games that take place in this house. today we can show our constituents in the world that the life of every girl has value and potential if they can grow up free from exploitation. it is my firm belief that girls, girls everywhere in america, in ethiopia, in afghanistan, deserve the right to enter adulthood with the freedom to decide for themselves who their husband will be. a girl is not a commodity to be traded.

she's a precious member of a community who needs to be valued and allowed to grow into adulthood. this congress and the american people spend billions of tax dollars on foreign assistance. the u.s. has a direct investment and an interest in an unit to ensure that girls in the developing world can grow up to be healthy, productive, contributing members of their communities and their countries. not only do girls deserve the right to choose their future husbands, they deserve the opportunity to get an education, to contribute their skills and their talents to their countries. this legislation supports and expands the successful models already in place for promoting girls education, protecting the human rights of girls and eliminating the practice of child marriage. this bill authorizes existing state department funds to be used to implement a strategy to protect girls from being forced into marriage. this bill does not spend one

additional dollar that is not already appropriated by congress for health, education, democracy or other development activities. earlier this week i was honored to receive a letter from archbishop desmond tutu of south africa, urging the house to pass h. 987 and i ask unanimous consent to have this letter entered into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. ms. mccollum: archbishop tutu's letter said, -- says, and i quote from it, child marriage is a harmful practice that treats young girls as property, stops their education and robs them of their childhood and their dignity. the archbishop goes on to write, thank you for your attention and dedication to passing this bill before congress adjourns. by doing so you may help make the difference in the lives of young girls of opportunity or enslavement, making -- excuse me, by doing so you may help make the difference between the lives of opportunity or enslavement for millions of

girls and i end the quote. madam speaker, child marriage is a sanctioned sexual abuse that destroys girls' lives. the choice before this congress is to do nothing as young girls and children continue to be enslaved, raped and condemned to a life of abuse or poverty or we can join the u.s. senate and vote to pass this legislation and have the united states stand with millions of girls today and tomorrow who seek nothing more than the freedom, the opportunity and the time to be allowed to be children, to grow and into adult hearts without being forced into marriage. i thank chairman berman for his support and i urge all my colleagues to vote to protect the millions of girls in this world from sexual abuse. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from minnesota yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i send to the desk a privileged report from the committee on rules for filing under the rule. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of

the bill. the clerk: report to accompany house resolution 1766, resolution providing for consideration of the senate amendment to the house amendment to the senate amendment to the bill h.r. 4853, to amend the internal revenue code of 1986 to extend the funding and expenditure authority of the airport and airway trust fund, to amend title 49 united states code, to extend authorization for the airport improvement program and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the resolution is referred to the house calendar and ordered printed. the gentleman from indiana is recognized. mr. berman: -- mr. burton: mr. speaker, may i inquire as to how many speakers the other side has? bedroom bem on this legislation, one additional speak -- mr. berman: on this legislation, one additional speaker. mr. burton: and then you'll close? mr. berman: yes. mr. burton: i'll reserve my time then. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. berman: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield two minutes to

the gentleman from washington, mr. mcdermott. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington is recognized for two minutes. mr. mcdermott: permission to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. mcdermott: mr. speaker, i rise today in support of the international protecting girls by preventing child marriage act. recently nelson mandela asked a group of the world's most thoughtful and experienced political and moral leaders to identify the largest issues fueling humanitarian problems and forced child marriage is at the top of the list. child marriage denies girls the chance to get a full education. every country in the world that has advanced has educated their women as the first step. child marriage prevents girls from contributing to their communities in the fullest way possible.

and it contributes to the health crisis among women and babies in countries around the world. in the next 10 years it's estimated that over 100 million young girls will be forcibly married if we don't act and the policy of the united states right now is to right more reports -- write more reports. with this bill we can make a huge difference with no additional taxpayer money being spent. this bill gives clear guidelines on how already appropriated moneys are to be spent in countries with the greatest problems in ways that are culturally sensitive and community-based. it requires the state department to track the issue annually as part of our human rights considerations. mr. speaker, this bill will save lives and save dreams and i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support it.

i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from indiana is recognized. mr. burton: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. burton: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise as do others on our side of the aisle today as a supporter of efforts to combat child marriage in developing countries. but in opposition to the senate bill that we're considering today. i want you to know before i make all my remarks that i have actually seen forced child marriages in countries like saudi arabia firsthand and it is a horrible thing and i'm very supportive of stopping that practice. it's truly distressing to know that there still are countries where underage girls like in saudi arabia are compelled to marry much older men and lose

their innocence and hope forever. the health of such young girls can suffer as can their future opportunities to lead productive lives filled with normal social and economic opportunities. lives in which they can contribute with their full potential to their societies and their economies. concern over this problem is not a partan -- partisan issue. for example, in response to the plight of such young women and to ensure the prevention of child marriage is an integral part of u.s. efforts to promote respect for fundamental universally recognized human rights in may of last year. ranking member ros-lehtinen of the foreign affairs committee expressly included pertinent language in the republican alternative version for the state department authorization bill, h.r. 2475. however much has changed in our domestic fiscal environment over the course of the last two years. here at home we have americans who are losing their houses,

their homes, state and local governments that are on the verge of bankruptcy, cities that are reducing their police and fire fighting forces and an economy that is close to stalling due to lack of growth. i could go on and on but in light of all these facts, even the provision that had been included in the republican proposal for the authorization of state department operations last year would now need to be revised to cut spending and address the budgetary challenges that we face. regrettably the bill adopted by the senate and that we're considering today does not reflect the current fiscal realities. the congressional budget office has stated that the manner in which the provisions of this bill are drafted would result in $108 million altogether riced funding and $67 -- authorized funding and $67 million in actual outlays over the next few years which is different than what we heard here on the floor. further, despite inquiries to

the research service and through c.r.s., the state department and agency for energy development, there's apparently no available confirmed figure on exactly how much aid the united states already provides to fight child marriage overseas. we do know that such u.s. assistance programs, programs that specifically include the prevention of child marriage as an objective, are already under way. but no one can tell us how much taxpayer funding is already being used to fight child marriage in developing countries. countries. to achieve the policy objectives while taking into account the challenges and limitations our constituents are facing, this week congresswoman ros-lehtinen introduced a bill on the prevention of child marriage which enjoys the support of several colleagues in this house. that bill reflects modifications that ranking member ros-lehtinen