house when he was in the bed upstairs. the whole house came down, but he just walked out. he said, after that, he knew that god had him in his hand. that gave him the courage to stay with it. i do not know how to provincially judge when different lives end, but i do know that having the courage and finding that faith and finding that sense of not being all alone is what makes life of fred shuttleworth or dr. king or bobby or john kennedy what it could be. finally, i think he would be saying to us, remember, that your adversaries, even your harsh as enemies, are ones to be won over.

remember, they are fellow human beings caught in a system and a pattern and a culture. they're not lost souls never to be found. they are to be your community in a way -- if you treat them in a way that invites them. the faith and politics institute has carried members to alabama and walked through the history of the civil-rights movement in birmingham, montgomery, and some elma with john lewis leading us. we have carried 120 members of congress over the years. the first time we went, george wallace was still alive. and he was -- it was the last year of his life. he was in his house. she was in rough shape. the congressional delegation went to see him. -- he was in rough shape. john lewis and earl hilliard

walked right in and were comfortable as could be. i remember a couple of our white, midwestern and liberal members standing at the edge of the door not knowing whether they wanted to walk in that room or not, because something was really bad. george wallace received them with wonderful spirit. and two years ago when we went back, peggy wallace kennedy, came to selma, spoke at brown chapel, and joined us in marching across the pettis bride. ge. i think martin would look down, and say, yeah. that's it. you've got it.

keep going. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much to everyone, and we would like to begin our conversation and also do plan to have you included intha that conversation before the evening is over, but doug, i want to ask, how do we get there? i guess i am thinking martin luther king, jr. was a very special human being, who wrote as he wrote, spoke as he spoke, answered the call and took those steps. where are thed, hwer leaders? ? but we cannot count on that all the time. i am asking the entire panel --

and what do you think each of us can help do to create that kind of movement, inspiration, a conversation? what can we do -- action. one of you mentioned taking action. what kinds of actions do any or each of you recommend? gonna try this by sharing an experience that occurred just at the beginning of this week in my office. we have a young man named josh who just turned 30. as we were talking, and hillary, we were talking about your father's. law -in-law. and he looked at us. young?", "who's andy that scared me half to death.

this is a college educated young man, very smart, very dedicated to the civil-rights movement, an activist, the whole nine, wanting to absorb anything that comes his way. i felt bad and irresponsible. a part of what we can do to go to your original question is to make sure that we take nothing for granted in the history and legacy we have inherited. nothing. never assume that the person next to you, because of the environment they are in, that they also get it or know it. because of part of what the original movement gave a person like me -- i am from south carolina. so the education came through storytelling.

i was fortunate to do work with the reverend james orange who was right hand with dr. king. i got an opportunity to work for more than 25 years with mrs. king. no all three of the remaining children quite well-- know all three of the remaining children quite well. it is not telling the story, telling the history or the opportunities you of head. each person in this room is walking with something that a young person has no idea about. i look at my right, across the room -- someone i have not seen in years. but the stories that woman can tell and each of you shared when you opened in the panel discussion -- if we do not give it to those who are younger and some are just as old, that is on us. what would we do? we have to tell the story.

and we have got to make sure that it is the real story, not just one bit sounds good and floury, but we have to tell the story. -- not just one that sounds good and flowery, but we have to tell the story. >> [inaudible] >> i think it is great to tell the stories. i also think we have to organize. we have to win the next election. [applause] what do we got to do? this is ada. americans for democratic action. you have to get more democrats elected in this congress. it is pretty straightforward. you have to go out in the districts, register people. you have to use the new technologies to get them to the polls, get them to know what is going on, whether it is the repeal of healthcare, a fair tax system or whether you will make sure there is an excellent

education system. i mean, you have to organize, organize, and get people to vote. that is number one, because of they do not vote, the other side will fall. one of the things the other side has done -- i know you talk about prayer. we are all human beings, but the problem is if you make politics ugly, which is part of the process that the republicans have tried to do, and make it ugly and horrible, and politics is filled with people on the take, that it makes people not like to get involved in politics and not believe they can make a difference. one of the things be ada can do, and i think it is very much what my father worked on, voting rights, getting people to vote, is to believe that politics is what makes this country exceptional and special. reclaim those words. reclaim our history and win the

elections. [applause] >> [inaudible] we just had an election. we are sitting in the rayburn building. for the next year, there is going to be an agenda before us thtat we're for or against. if we are goingi think to reflect the spirit of martin luther king, jr., you take the opportunity that opens and moved. right now there is a movement when an effort to create a common sense, common ground,, and a good agenda that goes beyond party -- and common good agenda that goes beyond party, that will be tested in all kinds

of ways. member of this body on this side or the other side of this hill who -- they are a lot of new ones who you may think will not listen very much to us. but who knows where the change will come? but they have to be asked. we need to be good advocates of action by this body and by the senate. we have to give strength to those that stand for what we believe and show that we are with them. we need to go to a school of congressional action to learn how we can be much more effective on the side of the agenda that martin luther king, jr. left us with, let alone of the new dimensions that the world gives us know. i think a good reason to have it in this room and in this

building is to say that, though in every community, it is the same kind of process going on at all levels. but we are sitting in the capital of the country and the world that can make the most difference in the world. but it is our country. and this is the center of the government, the united states of america, and we have a special opportunity to figure out where we can be most effective, but to go into action. ditto. [applause] >> [inaudible] i mentioned the first five principles that have always been important and the foundation of dr. king's teachings -- feeding the hungry, clothing, housing, freeing the oppressed.

there are three principles. i am glad that kathleen kennedy townsend raised the issue of being a good organizer. there is a chance we used to use all the time. i went to a southern leadership conference at the time. i was a 12-year-old sent by my of baptist church and st. lawrence, missouri, to charlotte, north carolina, for one of the conventions. and the chant went -- what does it take to help our nation rise? we have to educate, agitate, and organize. when we talk about education, we have to educate on the history of where we have come from so we understand the project three of which we can understand what dr. king stood for, and where his principles came from. moving those principles for, understanding the challenges and fighting with everything we can to make sure that we do not have to live through a revisionist history. i will tell you why that is so important. it is not just about huck

finn. but when we saw what happened with the textbook cases in texas where they took up many of the struggles of the civil rights movement, the struggles of ethnic people in our country, the struggles of women, having to go against the impressions of our society. understanding those lessons of the past helps prevent us from making them again. as the saying goes, insanity, by definition, is it doing the same thing over and over in the same way and expecting a different result. we talked about the health care bill. education is recognizing that the only thing that is being offered -- repeal it, take it back to the mistakes we made before. let's allow insurance companies offdon't let them cut you from the health care plan again. [unintelligible] let's go back to where we were

before. we talk about the good old days. 47 million americans without health care insurance is not the good old days. it is an old problem that we move beyond by passing a historic, landmark education. we need to educate our people on what that means. in political terms, and say double it -- naacp is nonpartisan. we do not endorse political parties. i thought it was a shame that all of those blue dog democrats went running from the accomplishments they made over the last two years, addressing health care, but after 16 years, we passed a bill to address hate crimes we have in america, but we have people like in 1914, that oppose the naacp's anti- lynching campaign.

organizing the people on the issue ofdu want everyone to have an education. i was grateful the president gave his state of the union address and said, i want everyone to go back to school and get more education. more is better. let's do more of that as well. those three components i think our key for us. we want to educate -- we want to agitate in the principles of dr. king. we do not want agitation worse was the stock -- swastikas are painted on the sides of bu ildings. last weekend, we saw 19 people shot, six killed, others struggling for their lives in our country. that is outrageous. that was somebody's form of vegetation, but they missed the

point. we need to make sure -- that was somebody's form of agitation, but they missed the point. finally, we have to organize. it means we need to register voters. we need to educate them on the issues. on election day, we have to get them out in record numbers. our nation is moving in the right direction. there is still this voice, this hook that comes out every time we take a few steps forward, trying to pull us back into the ditch. everybody knows somebody that got elected somehow or another that believes that the best way to elevate themselves is to stand on top of somebody else. but, indeed, we know we cannot move our mission for it -- is an individual, you cannot move forward, trying to hold somebody in the ditch. you cannot go anyplace else. i think the fight is on. i think we have the way to do it. i am happy to be sitting with

these people. we get the point. thank you. [applause] >> i find myself asking, where did dr. king get the authority to be recognized as the leader? and it obviously came gradually. but it did not come because he had the best grasp of legislative possibilities. it came in part because he was a gifted speaker and english- learned, but at some point, it came because she got close enough to the pain -- he got close enough to the paying to be ready to put his life on the line for it. sometimes it is too easy for us to assume we know what needs to be done and what the results will be. if we tweak this legislation, or

we pass this bill, and where we are not personally close enough to the real hurt to be communicating effectively or to be taking the risks that come when one really gets close to it and decides to lead. and i would challenge us to be thinking in those terms. >> thanks. i would love to open it up for questions and comments from members of the audience. if you are interested, karen has a microphone, and she won't -- just raise your hand when ever you are ready. let us know your name. karen? ok? >> i would like to raise the issue of the language of the right. dr. king used the language of

rights and essentially that there was an agreement that we are all in this together. and kathleen kennedy townsend talked about this. what we find now ishahas taken f 've to ao that we 'v society where everyone is -- [inaudible] so the language of rights is supposed to free people from oppression. [inaudible] and it used essentially to keep people in oppression. and i just wondered if you have any comments about that.

>> clearly, i do. [laughter] yeah. i really believe that we have to redefine our language. we have to build the language of justice, our language of mutuality, and the language of common community. i think that is the efforts some groups have already done with talking about the common good. and i believe it's critical to do that because that is what our country -- what is a country? it is not just a collection of individuals. it is a collection of people who have a purpose to let people flourished, and we flourished by helping one another. i know we are talking about martin luther king, but i will tell this story anyway. excuse me. i do not know who i have to excuse myself to. in 1968, david frost, i do not

know if anybody remembers him. he is still around. david frost asked my father, robert kennedy, and ronald reagan what was our purpose on earth. why are we here? now i will let each of you think about how you would answer that question. does everybody have their answer? you.l likely snot quiz they gave two different answers. , answers that reflect american ideas. ronald reagan says that the first purpose is to reproduce ourselves. i thought my mother, who produced a loving kids, did really well on that score. -- who produced 11 kids, did really well on that score. then he said, our purpose is freedom and to beef as free as

we can without hurting another person -- and to be as free as we can without hurting another person. my father gave a different answer. first, you need to have enough food and clothing and shelter so you can survive. that is your first. but after you have that, to help somebody else. you may have no issues, but there will always be somebody who has no feet -- you may have no shoes, but there will always be somebody who has no feet. ronald reagan does not say free, for what. freedom to do what? what is the end? i believe we have this from our conversations, because it has been so dominated by another group, as to what our ends are. at the end of a nation or the purpose of a nation is to build then we have to articulate that.

i think we've lost articulating it, and we need to do that both for our country, our communities, and ourselves. why are we here if not to bring light to others? thank you. [applause] >> reagan was -- [inaudible] freedom and oh, freedom, to me, is riding down the 101, the pacific coast highway, with the ocean on my right in the hills to my left, in an open air convertible and the wind blowing and my face and the sun on me. i did go down the highway thinking about that. i think our president last -- two nights ago, as in the first speech that caught the

imagination of people in 2004 at the convention, as in his inaugural address, has found a lot of the language that reaches over and beyond party. and that part of helping government to be self government in the best sense is to give our response and our support to leaders who do speak the language of could we say light. whatever your summary of it is. the language that he brings together begins to sound this week, but in the tragedy of what the president was talking to, i think he found the words tied to the words and flesh, the words

must be made flesh. and he took the flesh and loss to turn into words what we need. and then how we turn these words into action, into deeds is up to us, and to the people that are in this body year and over and the senate and in the white house. -- in the senate and in the white house. >> rights, just as freedom, are best expressed by chris christoph% -- "freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose." when it comes to certain things that we are pressed to say, i am free to do this or that. >> [inaudible] the point you make also speaks

to a strategy that is being utilized to undercut rights that is outrageous. this summer, on a day that most of us and the civil-rights movement see as being one of our holy days, and that is the date is august 28, going back to the march on washington in 1963. for over 250,000 people of all races, and genders, and points of national orign came together -- national organ came together at the foot of the lincoln memorial. raising the rights of all of us to be able to guarantee the american dream. then we watched last summer as the form, not the substance of that march, came to capitol hill with the dollars behind it. many of us were amazed -- about

100,000 people showed up down on the mall. we watched and kept wondering -- where is the message? what are we trying to do here? we saw banners with dr. king's picture hanging downtown. the form, but not the substance. one of the best things we can do all along those lines is we need to ask the american people to start thinking again. intelligent thought is the enemy to all of these right wing intelligent -- right-wing policies. take we have been able to gain is so far for the rest of us -- take back what we have been able to gain in so far for the rest of us. i see you out here looking pretty. you spend a lot of money. you have lots of sound systems and great jumbotron systems. why are we here? what will you do to help the american people? mikeve been told the bull

battery has died. sir, if you would stand and ask the question, but i will repeat it for the microphone. >> the question is, we've had these events, these tragedies. we had all this cioklahoma city. we had the violence that has overtaken this country. at what point does this country -- [unintelligible] [inaudible] are we going to have a legitimate, credible national discussion? if you look at the economics --

at what point do you think [inaudible] >> again, the question is, at what point will we really talk to the issues that we are being confronted with, the violence, the economic recession, the poverty, the lack of educational progress? how do we get to the point that it is more than two weeks of media attention and then everything seems to roll back to where it was before? i hope by encapsulated your question. -- i encapsulate your question.

>> a part of how we get the discussion going is to realize how they -- if we can remember for a little while back the town hall meetings which were supposed to do that. right after the last presidential election, there was to be the open dialogue. and to do it at the sites where people lived. the town hall meetings were to go to yet another level, where people could do exactly what you were mentioning, and getting the question in a real way was stopped almost before it started. the phraseology talked about, flipping the script so they would talk about taking our country back. i do not know where the heck they thought it went. but there is and should be an opportunity for folk to express exactly the kinds of things you

are talking about. i think a part of what kathleen was talking about, to making that happen, is it for those who are normally polite to take a license with not being so polite and showing up and shutting down those who do the uncouth thing of screaming folk to the ground so the real story does not get hold. there is a responsibility sometimes it to be a bit rude, and we have to put that rudeness in the same time -- same kind of framework that dr. king taught us. the persistent. do not give the challengers of the new phraseology the platform -- be persistent. hold on to it, because it is the inalienable right that we fight for that because the mantra -- that becomes the mantra.

we have to show up. if we do not show up, they will continue to show out, and that is the message that will get told. that is the story. [applause] >> unfortunately, time is moving very quickly. so if we can get a quick, short question, and one more? and then the panel will wrap. however, you are all invited to remain for a reception afterwards, and we can continue as we visit and talk. yes? >> [inaudible] in addition, a lot of heartbreak and personal loss. the reason i talk about that is that we just had an election in which all lot of the people were so enthralled with what

happened -- just two years after this great victory, and pollsters tell me a lot of them have rejected what is happened between 2008 and 2010. my question is -- how do we build a across generational movement, that has more determination to be long- term? >> we are asked how can we build resilience into the electrorate who are in the 21st century not as strong when it comes to -- ok? >> that is what he said. actually, i think the question is, who was the electorate in 2008? a large part of that victory was

the economic disaster, and therefore, they were voting against what happened rather than for the democrats. it is very possible that the reason there was such a great victory was not because of a determination for barack obama but really i discussed with what had happened before. -- a disgust with what had happened before. that is one explanation. a second explanation is we are lucky enough to have a vision of what this country should be about. and we believe that this penalty play about justice and to reach well the and lifting which we believe in this can all about justice, about reach well the, about lifting each other up. it is in every fiber of our being. that is not the case for everybody.

and that is why i believe it that i wanted to make maryland the first state to require kids to do community service. because i think we are not all born with this passion. you have to learn it. you have to absorb it. and it takes awhile. so there is not in easy, short answer. it has to be about what this country is and get people excited about that. >> it is a challenge and optimism. the challenge i do not want us to miss is that the last bill of ted kennedy, the last great action that brought people together was what was named the edward m. kennedy served america act. it called for national service to go from 75,000 to 250,000 americorps members, that

expanded service learning that gave a great new impetus to the board generation's -- the boomer service.n's that will be continued, along with what happens with the peace corps. will it continue on that track? armey, who may not go to jail, spoke for a bad part of the tea party, saying second on his agenda to kill would be the serve america bill. it has been put on a list that may mean a whole new battle. it was a night when the republican conservative from wyoming it said that in every committee that worked on this, the majority of republicans supported. the ranking member worked on it. we worked with the white house. why can't we do more of this? the reason i am optimistic is

that is when things get worse that the clearest thing people ever know in politics is what is not it. and i think their response to what the president said about the tragedy, revive the sense that those of us who are among the 1 million people out there at the inauguration felt for that moment. i cannot tell you the number of republicans and young people, but republicans who voted for obama who in that last 48 hours, that just reminded me why i voted for obama. one of the white house speech riders under bush sent me a message saying, now he is justified -- he has justified what some of us hoped for when we voted. i do not want to put too much weight on the one moment of

obama's great achievement in finding the right language, but weight on the the opportunity that i sense right now that the majority of people are saying, what we have seen and last year is not a bit. let's remember martin luther king had very slumping years when "burn, baby, burn" was the slogan. and young people would not listen to him. and his answer was, it is "learn, baby, learn," "build, baby, build." qanand think, baby, think. and i think we have a chance to get thinking down on a great scale. >> i am afraid that we are out of time. i am so sorry, but please, we have another song at the end and

a reception after. and we can continue our questions. thank you very much to our panelists during a formal part of our discussion -- doug tanner, kathleen kennedy townsend, senator wofford, hillary shelton and mr. brown. thank you very much. and thank you to our wonderful moderator. >> thanks to all of you for being here this evening. just a few quick announcements before we bring all donald leace to close out this event. first off, i mentioned that joy ellison was the first place winner of the essay contest. i would like to mention our two runners-up and give a shot up to jack from the st. accustomed, florida, and the talk show from new york. they are wonderful essays and

got a lot of votes around the country -. make sure you learn more. there are two ways to make sure you stay in touch with what americans for democratic action education fund is doing. please go to our website, www.adaction.org. uys onn also friend facebook. we have a couple of thousand folks, and we would like to have more. make sure that you are connected with everything we are doing in those capacities. i want to thank the staff and volunteers, and especially, are wonderful panelists and moderator. i love what hillary schultze and taught us today. we need to educate, agitate, and organize. let's go out and do that. before we do that, donald leace will take us out. thank you. [applause]

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> i would like to say something quickly. there was a mother mouse that was taking her brood of mice children across the chasm floor one night -- the kitchen floor one night. a cat jumped out and started menacing at the children. the mother mouse, with out a beat, ran in front of her brood and started barking at the cat like a dog. [laughter] it freaked the cat out. the cat flew. the mother gathered all the children in the nest, started counted them. saw the wall there and say. she said, you see, children, that is the advantage of a second language. [laughter] -- she saw they were all there

and safe. ♪ deep in my heart depep in my heart ♪ as a freshman at howard university, staying in the same dorm as sophie carmichael, i was called out at night to go to zero rally. i was lucky to have been there -- to go to a rally. and this song still is, as far as i'm concerned, the official anthem of the movement. folks used to stand, interlock their arms, and sing it with a great deal of passion. and i hope it can rise to that occasion tonight, please -- you can rise to that occasion tonight, please. ♪ deep in my heart i do believe we shall overcome someday

well, we shall overcome we shall overcome we shall overcome someday ♪ oh, deep in my heart i do believe that we shall overcome someday ♪ the truth shall make us free. ♪ caller: truth shall make us free truth shall make us free truth shall make us free someday

oh, deep in my heart i do believe we shall overcome someday ♪ once more, please. ♪ we shall overcome we shall overcome we shall overcome someday oh, deep in my heart i do believe that we shall overcome someday

♪ [applause] >> on komsomol's "washington journal", we will talk with richard mcgregor -- on tomorrow's "washington journal",

we will talk with richard jintao's on inclusion tehu visit. later, trevor potter joins us. and the house debate -- will debate a repealing of the health care law tomorrow. live coverage begins at noon eastern. >> you are watching c-span, bring you politics and public affairs. every morning, it is "washington journal", a live call and program about the news of the day. weekdays, watch live coverage of the house and weeknights, congressional hearings and policy forms. also, supreme court oral arguments. on the weekends, you can see our interview programs.

on saturday, "the communicators". on sunday, "newsmakers", "q&a", and prime minister's questions. you can watch our programming any time at c-span.org. washington you're white. a public service created by america's cable companies -- washington your way. >> today, president obama spent the martin luther king holiday volunteering at a middle school in washington. that is later on c-span. after that, and national prayer breakfast with education secretary arne duncan and reverend al sharpton on the legacy of dr. king. tomorrow, the house will bring up a measure to repeal the health care law passed by the last congress. we will bring you some of that debate. this is from the house floor a week and a half ago on what rules will be used for the healthcare repeal bill.

the house will vote on the repeal one said. the senate said it will not bring up the measure -- the house will vote on the repeal wednesday. and rules committee colleague, the the gentlelady from rochester, new york, ms. slaughter. pending which i yield myself such time as i may consume. i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. dreier: during consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to rise and exnd which i have done. and i ask all members have five lemming days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore:ithout objection. mr. dreier: madam speaker, house resolution 26 provides for a closed rule for consideration of h.r. 2 and self-executes an amendment by the majority leader which is required under the statutory pay-as-you-go act of 2010. this is routinely required and is similar to many provisions that have been self-executed since the enactment of statutory

pay-go. the resolution provides for seven hours of debate on h.r. 2, equally and controlled by the chaiand ranking member of six committees and the majority leader and minority leader. it also provides the minority a motion to recommit, h.r. 2, with or without instructions. house resolution 26 provides for consideration of h.res. 9, under a structured rule, that provides an hour of debate and makes in order an amendment if offered by representative matheson of utah. it also provides for one motion to recommit h.res. 9 without instructions. lastly, the rule provides for the consideration a resolution if offered by the majority leader or his designee relating to the status of certain actions taken by members-elect under a closed rule. madam speaker, it was just before midnight that my great new colleague, and i were here in this chamber and filed this rule following a lengthy 12-hour

hearing upstairs in the rules committee. i have to say that there were many, many discussions that took place on a wide range of issues. i think it's very important for us to note that there were those who argued that we should not be taking up this issue because of the fact that should be focusing on job creation and economic growth. madam speaker, we know that the overwhelming message that came from the american people is that we have to get our economy back on track. we have to create jobs. we have to make sure that those people who are struggling to get under the first rung of the economic ladder are able to do just that. and that's why when we look at a $2.7 trillion expansion of e federal government, $2.7 trillion in new spending, we

recognize somethinghat is common sense and that is if you're going to expand the size and scope and reach of the federal government by that magnitude, it clearly is going to kill the effort to create jobs and get our economy back on track. so that's why today, madam speaker, we are taking the first step in fulfilling a key promise that we have made to the american people. with this rule we are setting in motion an effort to repeal president obama's job-killing health care bill and replace it with real solutions. i underscore that again because all the attention is focused on the fact that we are going to be trying to kill good provisions that are out there. madam speaker, we want to start with a clean slate. we are going to repeal president obama's job-killing health care bill and replace it with real solutions. this rule takes two important steps. the first is to allow for consideration of a bill to hit

the reset button, so to speak, on the very damaging legislation that was pasd last year under the guise of health care reform. the second is a resolution directing each of the committees of jurisdiction to craft responsible, effective, and economically viable health care solutions. madam speaker, the resolution lays out very clearly what real reform looks like. real reform will help not hinder in our goal towardcreating jobs. real reform will lower health care premiums by enhancing competition and patient choice it will preserve the right of patients to keep their existing coverage. if they so choose. it will ensure access to quality care for those suffering from pre-existing conditions. it will implement meaningful lawsuit abuse reform so that resources can go to patients and

doctors. and not to trial lawyers. in short, it will increase access to healtcare for all americans without compromising quality or hurting the very important small business sector of our nation's economy. madam speaker, the underlying re place resolution which i have offered will begin a robust committee process to tackle the difficult but essential work of achieving these goals and crafting true reform for the american people. this will be a process in which each and every member, each and every member, democrat and republican alike, will have an opportunity to participate. madam speaker, as speaker boehner said, the day before yesterday when he accepted the gavel, we are returning to regular order. once again our committees will be the laboratories, the centers of expertise, that they were intended to be.

rank-and-file members of both parties will play an active role in crafting legislation, scrutinizing proposals, offering amendments, participating in real debate. critical legislation is not going to be written behind closed doors by a select few. today's rule sets in motion a process that will be both transparent and collaborative. but we cannot get to that very important step without clearing the first hurdle. which is to undo the damage that has already been done. we will hear people say, why are you considering this under a closed rule? madam speaker, thiwas a clear promise that was made throughout last year leading up to the very important november 2 election. everyone acknowledges the elections have consequences. the commitment was made that we would haven up or down vote on repeal. and that's exactly what we are doing. we must repeal last year's bill

before we proceed with replacement. just as prekicted -- predicted, the so-called reform bill is having very real negative nsequences for ourconomy and our job market. it is putting enormous burdens on job creators, particularly small businesses, at a time that is already one of the most difficult we have faced. imposing significant new burdens and penalties, while our employment rate remains above 9%. we got the news a few minutes ago it's at 9.3%. we are encouraged by that positive drop but only 105,000 jobs were created, not the 150,000 jobs necessary to be created to sustain the position we are in right now. so we still are dealing with very, very serious economic challenges. and that's why we need to take a commonsense approach to first repeal this measure and then deal with solutions.

above all, i will say that the onerous, unworkable mandates that have been imposed are adding greater uncertainty which are job creation's biggest enemy. anyone who has spent any time talking with small business owners knows this to be the case. while the economic impact is already quite apparent, the fiscal consequences are looming down the road. while the bill's authors used a host of accounting gimmicks, i'm going to get into those further as i'm sure i will be challenged on this and i look forward to talking about the accounti gimmicks that have been utilized, by the authors used a host of accounting gimmicks, as i said, to mask the true cost of this measure, and honest and realistic assessment of the impact on the deficit shows a much clearer and tragically a far worse picture. the budget committee has demonstrated the real cost of thehealth care bill, as i said,

in my open, a staggering $2.7 trillion. once it is fully implemented. it will add over $700 billion to our deficit in the first 10 years. the words reckless and unsustainable hardly begin to cover it. this bill is an economic and fiscal disaster of unprecedented proportions. the time to undo it before anymore damage is done is quicy running out. republicans promised the american people we would act swiftly and decisively, and that's exactly what we are doing. some of my friends on the other side of the aisle have asked, why there will be no amendments to the repeal bill? frankly, there is nothing to amendment. there is nothing to amend, madam speaker, the repeal bill. either we are going to wipe the slate clean and start fresh or we are not.

that's not to say there aren't some good provisions in this measure. that is so onerous, nearly 3,000 pages, that we believe that the best way to do this is to wipe the slate clean, have an open d transparent process, and do everything we can to ensure that every single american has access to quality health care and health care insurance. now, once that slate is completely wiped clean, we will be ready for this open and collaborative process to develop threal solutions that we have talked about. that's what we promised the american people as we led up to last november 2, and that's exactly what we will diver here today. madam speaker, first we undo the damage, then we work together to implement real reform and real solutions. i urge my colleagues to support

this rule and then, after we have gone through the three-d layover requirement next week, which is in compliance with another promise that we made to the american people, i urge my colleagues to support the underlying legislation, h.r. 2, which our colleague, the new majority leader, mr. cantor has offered, and h.res. 9, which i have introduced, that calls for our committees to work in a bipartisan way to develop sotions to the challenges that we have out theren ensuring that every american has access to quality health care. with that i reserve the balance of my time. . e speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: good morning, madam speaker. i appreciate my gentleman friend, mr. dreier, for yielding me ti and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. slaughter: what a week it's been.

since we've been sworn in, the republican broken promises have been dizzying. one summed up the week up nicely when he said, quote, i don't think it would be possible to fall from grace any faster than this end quote. in november, the republican leadership, led by speaker boehner, traveled to suburban virginia and made a pledge to america. their constituents, including tea party patriots, like mr. mecker, listened intently as the republican party pledged to be fiscally responsible and serve the will of the american people. on page 6 of the republican pledge to america, the party states, and i quote, with commonsense exceptions for seniors, veterans and our troops, we will roll back government spending to prestimulus, prebailout levels saving us at least $100 billion in the first year alone and putting us on a path to balance the budget and pay down the debt, end quote.

the pledge s solemnly made by republican leadership despite being largely panned as a political stunt. despite following through on their pledge, the republican majority said the pledge to cut $100 billion was hypothetical. today now we're moving forward to do the exact opposite of the actions that they pledged as they introduce legislation to repeal the affordable care act. if successful, the publican legislation will add $230 billion to the deficit by 2021. this extra $230 billion won't be spent rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, teaching our children or providing for the millions without jobs. instead, the $230 billion will be added to our deficit in order to take health care benefits and protections from those who need them the most. for example, starting this year

the affordable health care act will begin to close the doughnut hole for seniors. under the law medicare beneficiaries who fall in the doughnut hole will be eligible for a 50% discount on covered brand-name prescription drugs. repeal this law and seniors receive no help and will be forced to pay their rising costs alone. those are the types of protections i fight for today. fiscally, members of congress pace a $300 billion choice. according to the congressional budget office, we have two options. one, do we keep the affordable heal care act and save $130 billion by 2021 or, two, do we repeal the affordable health care act and add $200 billion to our deficit by 2021? that may be trouble for some but for most of us it's easy. for me the answer is clear and i assume to most americans it's clear as well.

because they can't win by simply judging apples to apples, the republican leadership has taken to discrediting the congressional budget office. yet, a quit bit of research will reveal that republicans have long valued the nonpartisan and reliable work of the congressional budget office and have publicly supported the agency before. in fact, 2009, speaker boehner repeatedly referred to the c.b.o. as nonpartisan institution and relied on their estimates to argue against the affordable care act at the time. but now that the c.b.o.'s estimates are detrimental to their political goals, they have taken to questioning the work. republican senator john corn said it's inconvenient. two years ago he said, i quote, i believe the professionals at the c.b.o. are doing a difficult but unpopular work. they are speaking the truth to power here in washington, and making the folks who would pass these enormous unfunded bills

that impose a huge bt on generations hereaft somewhat unhappy. but i think they're doing important service by telling us the facts. and last week, i commended th director of the c.b.o. for saying that the c.b.o. will never adjust our views to make people happy. thank you, doctor. god bless him for his integrity and commitment for telling the truth because we have to learn how to deal with the truth, not try to remake it or try to cover it up. now, i couldn't agree more with that. the deficit estimates provided by the c.b.o. are the singular authoritative figuring from which we make all our decisions and have for decades. even if some don't like what the numbers tell us we know that numbers don't lie. i remind my colagues that today's actions are not, quote, hypothetical, unquote. we truly face a $300 billion choice. we can choose to provide

invaluable benefits to millions of americans while paying down our nationaleficit. remember that it will save $134 billion over 10 years, or end health care choices for millions and add $230 billion to the nation's deficit. mr. speaker -- madam speaker, we are considering the first measure from the rules committee of this new congress, and my republican friends have already produced one for the record books. let me give you some of the highlights. first of all, the resolution includes a completely closed process for two separate pieces of legislation. that means we get two closed rules in one. and maybe my republican friends think they can save taxpayers money by rolling all the closed rules in a single resolution. i think that's what they meant by bringing efficiency to government. the first closed rowley on the health care bill -- rule on the health care bl does heavy lifting.

blocks every single germane amendment submitted to the rules committee. that's not exactly right. it slips in one change without allowing the house to vote on it. the special amendments slipped in with the famous demon pass maneuver is very interesting. it allows the house to pretend that the repeal bill is free even though the budget office says it llaise the deficit by over $1 trillion. that's a neat trick, and now we know the secret weapon for reducing the deficit, a blindfold. this closed process is especially troubling on the health care repeal because this republican bill has had no public hearing, no committee consideration and is not paid for. the second closed rule in this two for one package blocks all amendments to another resolution, to correct a flaw in the swearing in process. apparently the vice chairman of the rules committee was conducting legislative business before he was actually a member of congress. maybe amendments are not important here because no member in the house has seen this resolution.

since the rule allows the majority leader to make the changes -- allows the majority leader to make changes until the moment it is introduced. if my colleagues are concerned about not having enough time to read this surprised resolution, don't worry. the rule allows the house to debate it for four full minutes. four minutes? have you ever heard of a bill debated for four minutes? fortunately, the rule generously gives the minority two of those four minutes and i guess that qualifies as both efficiency and bipartisanship. finally, the rule allows the house to consider a sweeping press release from the republican leadership, a resolution replace real patient protection with vague rhetoric. and, mr. speaker, this is a very disappointing day for the house rules committee. the first action in this new congress violates the promise we heard from our republican friends, no public consideration, a completely closed process, legislative text no member has read, four minutes of debate on an

important constitutional issue and so on. for all those members who were sent to washington like i was to repair our nation's finances, create jobs for millions of the unemployed, help the millions of americans in need, the decision should be simple. i encourage my colleagues to reject the efforts of the republican leadership, keep our promises to our constituents and vote to keep the affordable health care law, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: madam speaker, i yield myself 10 seconds to say that thomas jefferson said the two thinking people can be given e exact same set of facts and draw different conclusions. well, i just heard what my friend from rochester said. i will say this is a great day for the people's house because we are going to in fact be implementing the commitment that was made to focus on getting our economy back on track. with that, madam speaker, i yield two minutes to have very

hardworking and thoughtful member of the rules committee who was with us for 12 hours up until late last night, our new colleague from north charleston, south carolina, mr. scott. the speer pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina is recognized for two minutes. mr. scott: thank you, madam speaker. mr. chairman, i will say that it's truly an honor to serve on the rules committee. my first experience at the 12th hour experience all day yesterday. what an opportunity to serve the american people. thank you, sir. this is a great opportunity for ll of us in america, to kill the job-killing health care bill that is taking jobs away from the private sector. soon we want to make six quick points. we all recognize that the cost of insurance is only going up, up and up. there is a misnoemer that this bill somehow reduces the cost of insurance. it is simply categorically not true. shifting who pays for the insurance, the health care cost, does not make the health care cost goes dow

it is simply going to continue to rise. second point, when you design a bill that has tax increase after tax increase after tax increase and say that you are reducing the deficit by increasing taxes, it is inconsistent with the reality that the american people want from their congress. third, the individual mandate is simply unconstitution, and if the individual mandate is not part of the bill, if we don't force every single american to buy insurance, this ponzi schemsimply doesn't work. number four, bringing 10 years of revenue in and paying out six years of benefits and calling that equal, that's a farce. number five, the lifetime benefits -- lifetime benefits, we want everybody in america to have access to health care without any question. the question we ask ourselves is from an actuarial perspective, can we pay for a

$2.7 trillion expansion, a new entitlement when we have a $76 trillion unfunded liabilityn the current entitlements? we simply cannot continue to dig a hole and call ourself compassionate. there is nothing compassionate about increasing our entitlements by jeopardizing the future entitlements of americans. d finally, we've heard lots of rhetoric. mr. dreier: madam speaker, i'd like to yield my friend an additional 30 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 30 second. mr. scott: finally, we heard lots of rhetoric of what we're doing to senior citizens and women. what we are facing is an opportunity to stop robbing future generations, to stop the unnecessary impact -- the intergenerationalost without even taking into consideration the intergenerational cost, we consistently impact unborn

americans with legislation that passed under the former hoe. it is good to be in the house with a brand new speaker and thank you, mr. chairman, for allowing me to be part of the rules committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: madam speaker, i yield three minutes to the gentleman from massachutts, mr. mcgovern. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for three minutes. mr. mcgovern: madam speaker, the american people made it very clear in the last election, that they want us to focus on one thing, jobs. but the new republican majority has instead chosen to reopen an old ideological battle. i think that's a mistake. but the good news is that the american people will have the opportunity right at the outset of this new congress to see the clear differences between democrats and republicans. democrats believe that insurance companies should be prohibited from discriminating under the basis of pre-existing conditions. republicans do not. democrats believe we should close the doughnut hole and reduce prescription drug prices for our seniors. republicans do not. democrats believe that young people should be allowed to

remain on their parent's insurance plan until age 26. republicans do not. democrats believe we should provide tax breaks to small businesses and subsidies to low-income americans to help them pay for health insurance for their workers and their families. republicans do not. and democrats believe that we need to seriously address the budget deficit. publicans do not. as the c.b.o. croble made abundantly clear -- made abundantly clear. it would add $230 billion to the deficit over the next 10 years and another $1.2 trillion in the following 10 years. as far as i can tell, this is the most expensive one-page bill in american history. 114 words. that'$2 billion per word. rather than address those budgetary facts, the new republican majority has simply ignored them, to cover their ears and prend that the laws of arithmetic do not apply to them.

in their first order of legislative business, the republicans want to take health insurance reform and toss it in the trash. and how many hearings have they held on the impact of this repeal? zero. how many markups do they have? zero. and most shockingly, how many amendments will they consider in this bill? zero. the new majority whip, mr. mccarthy, said after the election last november, and i quote, when you look at the pledge to america that the republicans have laid out, there is a cultural change in there. there is something that opens up the floor that hasn't been done for quite sometime where bil will be written in the back room, where bills actually have an open rule, where people can bring up amendments on the floor. so much for that. instead of thoughtful, reasonable legislative lguage that addresses health care issues, the republicans replaced part of their repeal strategy is just a list of happy talk sound bites. it's no more than a press release. so, again, madam speaker, i believe we should be focusing on jobs and the economy and in

the meantime i urge my colleagues to reject this rule and the underlying reckless bill. i yield back the balance of my time. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentlemafrom california. mr. dreier: we have 87 new republicans in the house of representatives. there's no more impressive group than the four serving with us on the house rules committee. among them former sheriff noon gent -- nugent, the gentleman from brooksville, florida. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. nugent: thank you, adam -- madam speaker. it's new to me. chairman, thank you so very much. we were there last night in the rules committee for 12 hours to hear testimony from a number of individuals. on the democratic side and also on the republican side. let me talk to you about this. over the past year i met with thousands of people from throughout florida's fifth congressional district. whether they be small business owners, veterans, or medicare

recipients, they ask me to promise, promise to repeal obamacare. it's clear that the american people know more than our democratic leadership in regards to what americans want. obamacare eliminates millions of american jobs. cuts hundreds of millions of dollars from medicare. taxes by almost $500 billion over 10 years for six years' worth coverage. everybody knows that the health care system's broken and that reform is needed. however the unconstitutional job-killing mandates of obamacare are not the answer. house resolution 9 is an important step in congress working with the american public to find real, meaningful solutions to our nation's health care needs. this is the people's house and

we should be listening to the people. house resolution 9 will allow us to foster economic growth, job creation, lower health care premiums, and protect medicare. and inform the medical malpractice system that is bankrupting america. for all these reasons i am grateful for my colleague from california, mr. dreier, for introducing house resolution 9 and i'm proud to be an original co-sponsor of that resolution. with that, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlelady fronew york. ms. slaughter: madam speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from colorado, a member of the rules committee, mr. polis. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado is recognized for two minutes. mr. polis: i thank the chair. i rise in opposition to the rule and the underlying bill, the most expensive one-page bill in the history of congress and it

costs the taxpayers over $200 billion first 10 years alone and over $1 trillion. not only have the republicans as the first bill that we are doing a rule on and facing here on the floor put forward the most expensive one-page bill in the history of congress, but it is not paid for, madam speaker. in addition to not being paid for they have waived many of the notice fors transparency requirements, the regular order that they sought to establish with regard to the way that this congress is run. madam speaker, there were many good ideas and good amendments brought forward by members of both parties yesterday during our seion of the rules committee. i want to talk about a few in particular. one, my colleague from michigan, gary peters, brought a proposal that would have made sure that this biggest one-page expenditure in the history of congress did not raise taxes on small businesses. unfortunately that amendment is not made in order under this rule and therefore h.r. 2 will be raising taxes on small

businesses across the country that are now receiving tax credits for providing health care for their employees. there was also a lot of discussion and i think it's important and the american people know with regard to people with pre-existing conditions. now, we all want to do something for people with pre-existing conditions. there was talk yesterday, in fact when we aretalking ab h.r. 9, there mighte discussion in the future with regard to agreeing on high-risk pools for people with pre-existing conditions, but what this body is being asked to do today and next week is effectively replace something that works for people with pre-existing conditions, namely eliminating prices discriminations with some vague assurance on paper that perhaps someday, some committees, some chairmen might consider. we asked them kindly to consider something that would do something for people with pre-existing conditions. well, madam speaker, that is simply not enough for the people that have pre-existing conditions today, for those who will in the future. if we want to talk about improving health care there's ample room to do it but not

eliminating protection that is exist. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: madam speaker, at this time i'm very privileged to yield three minutes to the distinguished former chairman of the republican conference, my friend from columbus, indiana, mr. pence. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana is recognized for three minutes. mr. pence: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i would ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pee: thank you, madam speaker. i rise in support of the rule but i rise from my heart with a deep sense of gratitude to the american people. to urge my colleagues in both parties to join us as we keep our promise to the american people and next week vote to repeal their government takeover of health care, lock, sew stock -- stock, and barrel. i know democrats said at the time that they had made history. i said at the time i thought we broke with history. we broke with some of our finest traditions, limited government,

personal responsibility, and most profoundly the consent of the governed. on a late sunday nigh in march, the last majority had their stay . on a tuesday in november the american people had their say. and that brings us to this moment. it is remarkable to hear members in the minority explaining their opposition to this bill. only in washington, d.c., a year ago, only in washington, d.c., could you say you were going to spend trillions of dollars and save people money, and this morng only in washington, d.c., could you say that repealing a $2.7 trillion government takeover of health re is actually going to cost money. pleased to yield. mr. dreier: i thank my fen r yielding. i wonder if he might repeat that line. i think he said only in washington, d.c., can there be interpretation that cutting $2.7 trillion in spending is actually

going to end up costing the american people, is that what the gentleman was saying? i thank my friend for yielding. mr. pence: i thank the gentleman. reclaiming my time. yes. it must be mystifying for people looking in this morning to hear about the most expensive one-page bilin american history. i say again, only in washington, d.c., could a congress vote to repeal a $2.67 trillion -- $2.7 trillion government takeover of health care and the minority says it will ct the american people money. let me explain, when you mandate that every american buy government-approved insurance whether they want it or need it or not, when you create a government-run plan paid for with job-killing tax increases, when you provide public funding for abortion for the first time in arican history, that's a government takeover of health care that violates the principles, the ideals, and the values of millions of americans

and the american people know it. look, after we repeal obamacare next week, we can start over. with commonsense reforms that will focus on lowering the cost of health insurance without growing the size of government. republicans will waste no time in bringing greater feedoms to the american people, to purchase health insurance the way they buy life insurance, the way they buy carinsurance. we'll deal with responsible litigation reform. we'll even use the savings to cover pre-existing conditions. i urge my colleagues to join me in support of this rule but join us as we keep our promise to the american people and repeal their government takeover of health care oncand for all. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slauter: madam speaker, this is not a dispute between republicans and democrats about the $1.3 trillion. c.b.o., the nonpartisan congressional budget office, is saying that. i will now yield two minutes to the gentlelady from california, ms. matsui. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california is recognized for two minutes.

ms. matsui: i thank the gentlelady for yielding me time. madam speaker, i rise in strong opposition to the rule and the bill before us. the bill would increase the national deficit by $230 billion. increase costs to individuals, families, and small business owners, and deny the american public the consumer protections they have been seeking for years. repeal of the health care law would also mean the young adults would not be able to stay under a parents' plan. this is something that would have a devastating effect on constituents of mine such as elizabeth. shortly after graduating college she was dropped from her parents' plan and soon developed a severe thyroid condition. as a result, she had to purchase her own individual insurance plan which proved to be a severe financial hardship for her and her parents. thankfully she was able to re-enroll on her parents' plan as of january 1 because of this health reform bill.

repeal would also mean that senior citizens of sacramento would not see any relief for the medicare part d doughnut hole. the bill would close the doughnut hole critical to seniors in my districts. one such senior regularly pays over $2,000 a month for his prescription drugs. repeal would mean gary and the thousands of other seniors in my district would see no relief from the part d doughnut hole. this is unacceptable. madam eaker, a vote against this rule and against this bill is a vote to prect the american public from unfair insurance company practices. to provide relief to young and old alike, and to stay on the path to fiscal responsible future. i urge my colleagues to vote down this rule andote against the underlying legislation. i yield back the balance of my time. the spker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: madam speaker, at this time i'm happy to yield one minute to a hardworking member of the energy and commerce

committee which will be one of those committees when we pass h.res. 9 that will be dealing with ensuring that every single american has access to quality health insurance. our friend from brentwood, tennessee, mrs. blackburn. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. mrs. blackburn: thank you, madam speaker. today we do begin a very important process and it is a solid first step. and i stand to support this rule and to support repeal of this law because we have on the law -- on the books a law that doesn't improve the quality of health care. it will not reduce the cost of health care. and it is going to add billions to the exploding nationalebt. we have listened to the american people. they are smart. and they know that this law is unworkable. it won't deliver on the promises that they made. and the american people voted in overelming numbers to repeal it and replace it. that is the action that we are going to take.

congress cannot wait any longer to get this irresponsible law out of our doctors' offices, out of our lives, and off the books. we in tennessee have lived through the experiment of government-run health care called tenn-care. tennessee could not afford it and the american people know this nation cannot afford a tenn-care-type program on a national level. i support the rule. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: madam speaker, i yield one minute to the gentleman from michigan, our ranking member of ways and means, mr. levin. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized for one minute. mr. len: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. len: this is what the republicans are after, what their repeal would mean. it would take away from millions of americans, coverage for kids

with pre-existing conditions, coverage for young adults under 26, recommended preventive care would be taken away, it would take away lower drug costs for seniors. and this is what the republican repeal would do. it would give back to insurance companies unreasonable premium increases, unjust policy termses, rescissions, it would take away this, it would give back profits and c.e.o. salaries to insurance companies, not health care benefits. it will give back annual and lifetime limits on benefits. it gives back to insurance companies discrimination author against women. these are concrete reasons to

vote no on this repeal. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: i yield to a member of the energy and commerce committee, our friend from maetta, georgia, dr. gingrey. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for two minutes. mr. gingrey: madam speaker, i thank the gentleman for yielding. we have heard a lot of arguments on the other side of the aisle in regard to the $230 billion cost. and on our side of the aisle of course only in america can something actually cost $1.15 trillion in eliminating it that all of a sudden costs $230 billion. yes, ms. slaughter, only in america, only in this congress, numbers do lie. let me just say that what we have been talking about on this side of the aisle, of course, is the ice of american people. it's about 3,000 years ago that a little shepard boy walked into that valley of death looking up

at all those philistines and that nine-foot giant goliath who had that coat of maile, sword, and javelin, what did david have? a pouch and handful of stones. he hit that giant right between the head, brought him to his knees, and cut off the head of the snake. that pouch and those little pebbles represent the voice of the american people. that's what we have on this side of the aisle. that's why we are going to pass h.res. 9 and we are going to pass h.r. 2 next week and we are ing to deliver our promise to the american people to eliminate, to repeal obamacare, the american people spoke loudly. they don't like this bill. the democratic majority in the senate and the president have one last chance to make amends. i think they'll do it. i yield back. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia yields back. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: madam speaker, i

yield one minute to the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. markey. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for one minute. mr. markey: this debate is about health care versus don't care. the democrats' health care law lowers prescription drug costs, helps middle-class families pay for coverage for their sick children and expands health care for 32 million more americans, reducing the deficit by $143 billion. the democrats' health care law helps grandma afford her prescription drugs. the republicans don't care about grandma. they want to take back the drug benefits in the new law. g.o.p. used to stand for grand old party. now it stands for grandma's out of pescriptions. the republicans don't care repeal shows they don't care about sick children with medical bills, pushing families into bankruptcy.

they don't care about grandma and grandpa who need help paying for prescription drugs. vote down this rule so that we can help grandma, sick children and middle-class families struggling to pay for health care. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: madam speaker, at this point i'm happy to yield one minute to a hardworking member of this freshman class, the gentleman from san antonio, mr. canseco. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute. mr. canseco: madam speaker, i rise today in support of the rule and in support of an underlying legislation, the repealing of the job-killing health care act. 10 months ago president obama and his allies in the democrat-controlled house and senate committed legislative malpractice when they jammed through the congress and into the law a washington takeover of health care. they did so despite the

overwhelming opposition of the american people. since its enactment into law, what was already an unpopular law has only continued to become more unpopular. there's no doubt that we need to reform health care in america. however, it's not done by assaulting individual liberti guaranteed in our constitution, bankrupting our children and grandchildren and putting washington bureaucrats and personal relationships between our doctors and our patients. repealing the health care bill will also help encourage job growth to get our economy back on track. our economy's not suffering from a capital crisis. it is suffering from a confidence crisis. mr. chairman, may i -- mr. dreier: madam speaker, i'm happy to yield my friend an additional 30 seconds. the spear pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 30 seconds. mr. canseco: thank you. policies enacted in washington like the health care bill have injected uncertainty into our economy that has eroded the confidence of americans to

start new businesses or expand current ones to create jobs. the american people have made it clear, they want the health care law repealed and replaced with commonsense alternatives that will lower the cost of health care while also increasing quality and access. after meeting and speaking with thousands of texans in the 23rd district over the past year, this is their message. repealing and replacing the health care bill is one of the promises made to america in e pledge to america. today we are working on that promise as we work to -- the speaker pro tempore: the time has expired. mr. canseco: thank you. i yield back the bance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york. ms. slaughter: i yield one minute to the gentleman from nouge, mr. pallone. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for one minute. mr. pallone: thank you, madam spker. this is nothing but a gag rule. i and so many of my colleagues on the krattic side went up to

the rules committee yesterday and asked for amendments and they were almost all excluded from this rule. the republican chairman of the committee says there's trsparency. he says that there's an opportunity for participation. he can say it as many times as he wants but it's simply not true. he also said this is a commitment to the american people. there's no commitment to the american people here. the only commitment is to the insurance companies. they're the only ones that are going to gain from repeal of this important legislation because they want to increase premiums and they want to institute discriminatory practices again against women, against men. against those who have breast cancer, or bring back those annual caps or lifetime caps if they have a serious operation and they try to go back again and they don't have insurance. or perhaps the child who's up to 26 and also will not be able to get on their parent's insurance policy again. so let me tell you here.

the onlone that benefits is the insurance company, not the american people. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: may i inquire of my friend on the other side of the aisle how many speakers she has remaining? ms. slaughter: certainly, madam speaker. we have -- we've got every minute taken. i'm not sure everybody is going to show up. mr. dreier: i'm told 11 minutes are remaining on your side. i think with that i reserve the balance of our time. ms. slaughter: all right. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: i'm pleased to yield one minute to the gentleman from michigan, the dean of the house and our leader on health care, mr. dingell. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from the great state of michigan is recognized for one minute. mr. dingell: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. dingell: madam speaker, if you listen to the republicans today, they're telling us, don't bother them with the facts, their minds are made up. they are unaware of the fact

that the congressional budget office says that this is going to create four million jobs in the health care legislation. they don't tell us that the same congressional budget office says that passage of h.r. 2 is going to increase the deficit by $140 billion. and they also are telling us, the american people want this repeal. they don't. they understand what this means. it means that no longer are people going to get the protections that the health insurance bill gives. no more protections that the republicans get their way against pre-existing conditions and recisions, denying people health care because of something that happened to them down the road before. no longer will americans be protected against frivolous and improper behavior by the insurance companies. this is a bad role. it is not on facts but on

fiction. if this body is going to legislate and legislate well we need the facts, not fiction, no deceit, not misleading statements by our republican colleagues. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california continues to reserve the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: madam speaker, i'm pleased to yield one minute to the gentleman from texas, mr. dogget the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute. mr. doggett: if you are hit by a truck this afternoon or your child contracts a dreaded disease your future ought not to depend on the fine print in an insurance policy you didn't have anything to do with writing. no insurance monopoly should stand between you and your doctor. unfortunately, the republican party has become little more than an arm of the insurance monopolies.

they asked for a vote to furtr empower those monopolies and we ask for a vote for american families to empower them. a vote to repeal is a vote to maintain health care costs as the leading cause of bankruptcy and credit card debt in this country. it is a vote to require seniors to pay more, more for prescription drugs, more for diabetes and cancer screenings. we can stand with american families today or we can bend and kneel to the insurance monopolies. the choice is clear. let's vote for american families. i yield back. the speaker pro tpore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: i reserve the balance of my time, madam speaker. the speakepro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from new york. ms. sughter: madam speaker, i yield one minute to the gentleman and former member of the rules, mr. welch from vermont. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from vermont is recognized for one minute. mr. welch: i thank the

gentlelady from new york. i say, madam speaker, to my republican colleagues, you can't -- you beat us good, you ran on the agenda of defeating health care and repealing it. now you're doing it. own it. admit what it is you are doig. this is not a campaign. we're playing with fire. we're taking away health care benefits to make a real difference to our families. number one, this bill will raise the deficit by $230 billion. fiscal responsibility out the window. second, things that matter to families, their kids starting out getting $10 an hour job without health care. they have it now on their parent's policies. we are taking it away. pre-existing conditions. you have cancer, want to buy insurance, you can't. repeal, you can't. you lose it. lifetime caps. if you are with cancer or diabetes a you need that insurance, you lose it before you can go without it. and preventive care, we're taking it away from seniors who are trying to take care of themselves, get those free mammograms, keep the cost of

health care down. you are taking it away. admit it. own it. state it proudly. it's what you campaigned on. it's what you're doing. but don't try to sugarcoat what this is about. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california. the gentleman from california continues to reserve. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter:adam speaker, i yield one minute to the gentleman from new york -- the gentlelady from california, mrs. capps. the saker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california is recognized for one minute. mrs. capps: madam speaker, the issue facing the country is jobs instead of repealing health care we should bring up a jobs bill like the china currency reform. and so i rise in strong opposition to the rule and the underlying bill. today, i speak on behalf of millions of americans who are currently benefiting from the law and have yet been shut out of the legislative process. the way in which this legislation has been brought to this floor is a travesty. before the afrdable care act became law in the house alone, we held nerly 80 hearings on

e merits of reform. but thisill to repeal this life-saving law has not had a single hearing, not one amendment has been allod for an up or down vote here today. that's probably because the majority knows hearings would show that the law is already a real success. while we may disagree on the policy, we should be able to agree on the process. and this, my friends, is not the way tmove legislation in the house of representatives. we've all agreed upon that, and that's why i urge my colleagues, especially the new members who ran on the promise of ensuring an open congress, vote against this rule. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from california. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: madam speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california continues to reserve. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: madam speaker, i yield one minute to the gentleman from california, mr. garamendi. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for one minute.

garegare a lot of talk here on the -- mr. garamendi: a lot of talk here on the floor about job killers. the affordable health care bill creates some 400,000 jobs. the repeal of it is actually a killer of human beings. some 40,000 americans die every year for lack of health insurance. that's the reality. repeal this bill and you're going tfind more americans dying. also, you're doing away with this repeal of the affordable health care act, of the patients bill of rights. i was insurance commissioner in california. i know exactly what the insurance companies will do if this repeal goes forward. they will continue to rescind policies. they will continue to deny coverage. they will continue to make sure that tse 23-year-old children that have graduated from college will no longer be able to be on their parent's policies. this repeal is perhaps the worst thing you can do to americans in their health care. and besides that, you will

significantly increase the deficit by $230 billion. . i yeld back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. the gentleman continues to reserve. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to insert into the record the figures from today's jobs report showing that since the enactment of health reform in march, 2010, the which has created 11.1 million private sector jobs the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. slaughter: i yield one minute to the gentleman from califoia, mr. thompson. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for one minute. mr. thompson: madam speaker, i rise in strong opposition to this rule that we are taking up today instead of focusing on jobs. the new majority in the house ran on the platform of fisc responsibility. this bill flies in the face of that promise by adding $230 billion in the short run and over $1 trillion in the long run to our deficit. as important, under repeal the medicare trust fund will become

insolvent by 2017. that's just six years away. pushing medicare over the cliff by passing this repeal breaks the sacred trust with our nation's seniors to help provide health care coverage in retirement after a lifetime of working and paying taxes. that's why i went to rules committee last night with two colleagues and offered and amendment to guarantee that repeal will not go forward unless it's certified that that repeal will not shorten the life of the medicare trust fund. sadly, the rules committee didn't allow us to help protech america's seniors, they didn't allow that amendment. we will not be able to vote for that amendment on the floor. and i urge a no vote on this rule. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: may i inquire, first how much time is remaining on each side, and of my colleague how many more speakers she has. the speaker pro tempore: 7 1/2 for california.

5 1/2 for the gentlelady from new york. mr. dreier: madam speaker, then in light of that i'm very happy to yield one minute to a physician, another hardworking member of this freshman class, the gentlewoman from new york, ms. hayworth. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york is recognized for one minute. ms. hayworth: madam speaker, as a physician i understand the profound importance of the goals of the health care bill passed last year. to assure that all americans have affordable, portable health insurance, providing access to good medical care. i also understand that -- the disruptions this law is already causing to our economy, the predictable side effects of legislative bad medicine, and the reason we must repeal and replace it. the bill we will be considering is in no way nearly imbolic. it represents the true will of

the amican people. the majority of whom have stated time after time to this day tt they reject this law. the house's vote to repeal is the fit step towards assuring that all americans will have the quality, choice, and innovation in health care. that they expect and deserve. we need to proceed expeditiously . according to the rule on which we vote today, with the understanding that we are taking meaningful and crucial action. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: thank you, madam speaker, i yield one minute to the gentleman from organizeon, mr. defazio. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon is recognized for one minute. mr. defazio: previous speaker's right. this is not symbolic, it's real. in fact, the republicans are going to allow the return of the

worst abuses of the health insurance industry. pre-existing condition exclusions. taking away your policy when you get sick. lifetime and annual caps. throwing your kids off your policies. the republican repeal of this bill would enable all those thingsor their very, very generous benefactors in the insurance industry. i haven't had a single constituent and i know you haven't, begged you to bring back these abuses. is that what you are doing? is that what they want? you could take steps right now, in fact, to rein in this industry, and 400 people in this house voted for it last year. let's take away their unfair exemption from antitrust law so they can't collude to drive up prices, they can't collude to take away your insurance, they can't collude to that throw your kids off and all the other anti-competitive things an industry does. i offered that amendment to rules last night. the republicans, despite the chairman of the committee and others having voted for it last year, would not allow it.

this is an insurance industry bill plain and simple. 7 the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: at this time i'm happy to yield one minute to another hardworking physician, a member of this new freshman class, the gentleman from south pittsburgh, tennessee, dr. desjarlais. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized for one minute. mr. desjarlais:adam speaker, today i rise to support the rule and to support the repeal of the obama health care law. as a physician who has practiced medicine in rural tennessee under the onerous tenn care law, i know parent that this law does not work. it restricts access to health care. it increases the cost, and it does not deliver on the promises the minority made when they passed the law. the american people have had their say. they do not want this bill. they want it repealed and they want to see health care reform

that will increase access and lower costs. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yield back. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: i yield one minute to the gentleman from texas, mr. green. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute. mr. green: thank you, madam speaker. i thank my colleague from the rules committee for allowing me to speak. i ask unanimous consent to place my full statement in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. green: i rise in strong opposition to this rule on h.r. 2, patient's rights repeal. just yesterday the congressional budget office said that this repeal would cost $230 billion in additional federal debt. it's amazing this is our first major piece of legislation and the republicans are already adng to the national debt. the issue facing our country is jobs. instead of repealing health care, we should be bringing up a jobs bill like the china currency reform. where is that bill on the floor with the new majority? let me tell you what this bill

will do. at least in texas we will see tragedy happen. 161,000 young adults will lose their insurance coverage through their parents' heath care plan. that's only in texas. 2.8 million texans who have medicare coverage will be forced to pay co-pays now for preventive surgeries, like mammogram services. medicare will no longer pay for the annual visit of nearly 2.8 miion texans and many more americans for medicare. 128,682 texans on medicare will receive higher prescription costs if this bill is repealed. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: madam speaker, could i inquire again of my friend how many more speakers she has remaining at is point? ms. slaughter: i have four. mr. dreier: i think with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: i'm pleased to

yield one minute to the gentleman from maryland, mr. cummings. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized for one minute. mr. cummings: thank you very much, madam speaker. i rise in oppositi to this rule. despitardent promises from republicans that all bills would be considered under regular order, this resolution has neither been debated nor voted on by a single committee of jurisdiction. additially, the recently passed republican rules package requires that all legislation be fully paid for and yet the republican leadership has already publicly declared that they have no intention of paying for what is estimated to be a $230 billion increase in the deficit that the repeal of health reform would create by 2021. according to the congressional budget office. worse than the republicans' already broken promises are what this rule and the underlying resolution would do to children, seniors, and all americans suffering from illnesses. i strongly oppose this rule and yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: madam speaker, at this time i'm happy to yield one minute to another great new member. the gentlelady from 340 -- missouri, miss archer. --miss archer. miss archer: i ca testify as a person newly elected and been o the campaign trail for a while in the fourth dirict we have small businesses that are not hiring and not expanding because of the health care bill. we have got to repeal this so that we can create more jobs. i'm a small business owner myself and i can tell you since this has passed that health insurance premiums have voted -- skyrocketed. the anticipation of the mandate will be forced on them. if we want to get serious about creating jobs, we need to start by repealing this. this is also a bill to rein in the run away spending.

that is devastating our country and it's mortgaging our children's future. as a another that's important to me. this bill put another $1.2 trillion of debt on our country. we cannot afford that. and lastly, this is a freedom bill. the people in my district do not want the government telling them they have to buy a private product and then mandating what is in that product. that is unconstitutional. by passing this last year, you have taken away my freedom, the freedoof the people of the fourth district, and the people of this country. we deserve better. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: let me inquire of my colleague how many speakers he has left. mr. dreier: madam speaker, let me just say to my friend from rochester that i will be the final speaker. ms. slauter: you're ready to close. mr. dreier: i'm ready to close.

ms. slaughter: thank you. mr. dreier: how many more speakers does the gentlewoman have? ms. slaughter: two left. i would like to yield one of those minutes to ms. sutton from ohio. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from ohio is recognized for oneminute. ms. sutton: thank you, madam speaker the issue facing this country is jobs. instead of rushing to the aid of the insurance industry to reinstate their right to engage in egregious discriminatory practices of discriminating against adults and children based on pre-existing conditions, instead of allowing the doughnut hole to continue to bear down on our seniors, we should be passing real jobs legislation. urgently we should be bringing up jobs bills that will make a real difference like putting an end to china's currency manipulation. we have heard the numbers, 2.4 million jobs lost across the country. 92,000 jobs lost in ohio.

and 5,700 jobs have been lost in my congressional district due to china's deliberate and abusive trade policies. we can do something about this issue today and we should. it makes a real difference. i hope that our friends across the aisle will stand with american businesses and american workers and put an end to the abusive practice of china's currency manipulation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: i'll continue to reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman continues to reserve. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: i yield for a unanimous consent request, the gentleman, mr. butterfield, from north carona. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. butterfield: i thank the ntlelady. i ask unanimous consent that my statement be included in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. slaughter: madam speaker, i yield one minute to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. andrews. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for one minute. mr. andrews: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. andrews: thank you, madam speaker. there are 15 million americans

unempyed this morning. they do not want us to play politics with hlth care, they want to us work together to create jobs. there is a job killer loose in america. the job killer is unfair trade practices that force the outsourcing of our jobs. there is a proposal that has broad agreement between republicans and democrats to bring fair trade back to america. if we defeat the previous question, we will move to amend the rule to make in order the currency reform for fair trade act which simply says this. as the chinese have been slamming the door shut on our workers and products, we have been opening our shelves in american department stores. no more of that. no more outsourcing of jobs. no more unfair trade practices. a fair and level playing field for american workers. let's work together to create jobs and stop the politics and

the waste of time of health care. vote no on t previous question. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yieldsack. the gentleman from california. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: i'll continue to reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman continues to reserve the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: i would like to pause for unanimous consent reest for mr. engel, the gentleman from new york. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york. mr. engel: i rise in opposition to this amendment. it seems that the openness of the new majority promised us lasted half a day. and changed the order remain the same. i urge my colleagues to vote no. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: madam speaker, if we are able to beat the previous question, i will move to amend the rule to make in order a bill, h.r. 2378, from the last congress, the currency reform for fair trade act, which

invokes our atiumpingaws and provides relief for american workers and companies injured by unfair exchange rate policies. . i ask unanimous consent to insert into the record the text of the currency reform for the fair trade act. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. slaughter: and i yield to the gentleman from new york for a parliamentary inquiry. >> madam speaker, i have a parliamentary inquiry. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will state his parliamentary inquiry. mr. weiner: what is the current whole number of the members of the house? the speaker pro tempo: the whole number of the house is 435. mr. weiner: madam speaker, further parliamentary inquiry. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will state. mr. weiner: can the speaker state that all have been sworn as under the constitution? the speaker pro tempore: the speaker, it's her belief that

all have been sworn. mr. weiner: thank you. ms. slaughter: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: madam speaker, i yield myself the balance of the time. the speaker pro tpore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. dreier: thank you, madam speaker. this is the first act of the 112th congress and i am particularly gratified that we had six new members of this 87-member republican class participate in this debate. because, madam speaker, they have come here with a very, very strong, powerful message from the american people. that message is that we have to make sure that we create jobs and get our economy back on track. even though we've goten this positive news of the reduction of the unemployment rate from 9.8% to 9.3% this morning, tragically last month only 105,000 new jobs were created. that's not enough to sustain our economy. you ha to eate at least 150,000 just to be treading

water. and so we know that the american people are continuing to suffer. and the message that has come from the american people through these 87 new members is that we have to have a laser-like focus on creating jobs, getting our economy back on track and duce the size and scope and reach of the federal government. my friend, mr. pence and i, had an exchange which we said only in washington, d.c., can a $2.7 trillion increase, saying that cutting that,liminating that, scrapping that will in fact co money. it's absolutely crazy, but that's what they're arguing, and through their sleight of hand with the congressional budget office they are continuing to claim that somehow it will save money. madam speaker, we are doing what we told the american people we would do.

it's very simple. beginning lastear we said we would have a very clean, up or down vote, an up or down vote should we maintain this $2.7 trillion expansion with government mandates and increased taxes or should we repeal it, and that's what we're going to be voting on after the three-deleover next week. and, madam speaker, are we in fact committing ourselves to doing everything that we possibly can to ensure that every single american has access to quality, affordable health care and health insurance? and that's what the resolution i iroduced, h.res. 9, will do. it will direct the six committees of jurisdiction to begin immediately working on ways in which we can drive the cost of health insurance down. i personally believe that we need to allow for the purchase of insurance across state lines

which is now forbidden under the karen ferguson act. believe we -- the karon-ferguson act. i believe we need to have lower rates. we need to have pooling for pre-existing conditions. we need to expand medical savings accounts and, yes, madam speaker, the fifth thing we need to do is to have meaningful lawsuit abuse refo so that resources can go towards doctors and not trial lawyers. and, madam speaker, these are the kinds of things that these new members are telling us need to be done and that's exactly what passage of this rule will make happen. madam speaker, let me say i urge support of this rule and i urge support of the underlying legislation, and once again, with zeal, enthusiasm and gratitude, i move the previous

>> president obama singh and part of the federal holiday volunteering at a middle school and -- second part of the federal holiday volunteering at a middle school. after that, the rev. al sharpton on dr. king and later a discussion on how dr. king may have dealt with some of the policy issues being debated. >> the health-care law. watch the debate on c-span, and go to c-span.org to see it online. >> president obama and his family spent part of the martin luther king, jr., holiday painting the walls of the middle school in washington, d.c. the president spoke about volunteerism and mentioned the

tucson shooting. >> there you go. this is an outstanding program and an example of what martin luther king's birthday should be about i want to thank the and mentors participating. dr. king had a dream of justice and equality, but he also had a dream of service, and that you could lead by giving back to our communities, and that is what

this program is about. that is what these participants are about. michelle and i are proud that this is how we celebrate, by giving something back to the community, and i hope all the projects across the country are giving similar attention, because this is what america is all about, and after a painful week were so many of us were focused on tragedy, it is good for us to remind ourselves what this country is all about. we're thrilled with everyone who is participating. >> army duncan called this the

civil-rights issue. he was the keynote speaker at the breakfast. even focused just -- the even focused on martin luther king's legacy. it is an hour and 40 minutes for a good >> we lost one of our school board members, who served. i see many of our students as well, so if you could indulge me with a moment of silence, i would appreciate it. thank you, and go like to say thank you to my leader, who before we believed there could be of barack obama, he was

running for president. and the hon. rev. al sharpton, always a pleasure to have you. [applause] it is his leadership that has kept us in many things, and as i stand in the 51st state of new columbia, i am reminded of some of the most importt things our illustrious martin luther king stood for, and that is the poor people's campaign during good -- campaign. that has been unfulfilled for many in the nation's capital and those residents who are not full citizens in this country, and we do not have statehood, but i am also reminded of those who do not have educational

opportunities, those who are in our cities with less than this country deserves and what this country should afford them, and that is what dr. martin luther king is truly accomplishing, because there is a resurrection city among us. there are people living without shelter. you need to support the residents of the district of columbia. our school board members are disenfranchised. we welcome you both remind you that martin luther king's statement that it check fed has insufficient funds still exists in the capital and in this

country, and we must make sure we do what we can to make sure that does not happen, and those -- and when you took us from dunbar high school to the national martin luther king memorial, we are reminded that is not yet done. it is not just this weekend we celebrate, but today, so welcome to the 51st stage. -- state. [applause] >> thank you. next we are going to have valerie from fdiu to share some brief remarks with us. .et's give her a hand [applause] >> 32, 32!

that is my family over there like the rest of the room. thank you very much for inviting us on behalf of mike fishman. this is a blessed day, and i am going to keep my comments brief, because i know many of you have things to do in the quest to continue the dream of martin luther king, jr. i was born in 1962, so many of you have more personal knowledge, but one of the things the help me think about him as the fact that he was an optimistic man. he was optimistic in the parts where things were difficult. he was optimistic a time when there were difficulties. there were people who hope less, and he always gave hope your your all of us hold on to the

optimism. -- he always gave us hope. all of us hold on to the optimism. our job is to deal with security officers. and now we represent 10,000, but it is a small stain, but he got up first to speak to us. that was a small vein but an important thing. -- a small saying but an important thing. they are trying to make sure they have a voice and connect because of your efforts and communities but hold on to dr. martin luther king's dream. i talked to you because we have security officers who do not make much money, who are

standing up and uniting, who deserve more, and all of you together and people doing small things in communities can make a difference. i know we're short on time. my granddaughter was in church, and they were teaching the affirmation of faith. when you get up there and try, you might be doing the small things, but listen to the impact. that is pretty profound.

carry on the dream with the small things you do. help yourself or your neighbors, because times are difficult. thank you very much. >> thank you. let's give a hand. we want to thank the high school. let's give them a hand. [applause] when we called on the principal and asked them to find a student, they said we have a perfect the gunman. let's give them a hand.

>> food morning, everyone. -- good morning, everyone. i love poem, and it is titled "i remember." men in sheets, my people being battered, yet they will rejoice after hearing his voice. i remember him fighting for peace. shall we remember him as man with an act of courage and compassion, who to put himself

in harm's way for the greater good? shall we remember dr. king and? >> of this term we are going to call on someone who needs no introduction. most of us know him. that is none other than our founder and the president of the network, the rev. al sharpton. [applause] >> thank you. thank you and good morning and happy came the day -- king day. i say that because so many do

not realize that it was even a struggle to get this as a holiday. america did not just wake up one day and say, let's have a martin luther king hotter -- holiday. even that took struggling. we have a federal holiday and even now, some are disregarding that day. in charlotte, they are taking it as a snow day. we are here in the nation's capital led some of our leading clergy and activist and labor leaders and government officials to celebrate how far we have, and to challenge ourselves on how far we still need to go. the dream of dr.king has not yet been fulfilled. we should not be cynical and

acted as if there has not been progress. clearly, there has spent. we would not be in a ballroom of a downtown washington hotel if we -- there had not been progress. we would not have many of you that are in your positions if there had not been progress. we have put in this position to relax. we have been put in a bullet -- position to finish the dream. both at the bottom are still at the bottom. the education achievement gap is still there. violence is still a problem, ariz. only reminds us. we must confront them as a nation. that is why we celebrate today. we will be hearing from several people today.

we will be honoring a struggle. i also want to acknowledge all of our partners in the labor movement. it was a boycott and marge that dr. king went to memphis for. they talk about the dream as some nebulous dream. they do not ever bring it to the ground. dr. king was in memphis marching and striking for the rights of laborers who had been disenfranchised. in that march, at the same senseless violence that we have

seen in harlem, and acosta. a young man was killed. the media blamed dr. king for the killing. it was why he came back to memphis to prove that he could still lead a non-violent march. that was when he was killed. we need to know the history. you cannot share in the glory if you do not know the struggle. many today are in the glory and not have the story. you can enjoy the glory, but only if you know the story. there are so many today -- we are doing the three cities today. i want to acknowledge the presence of one who has always given a house to freedom fighters, a platform for those it had something to say.

he was one that welcomed us to the nation's capital when many of you would not do it. i remember when i used to meet some of you. you did not want nobody to know that you knew me. but he always was with us and i am honored that he is with us this morning. that is the union temple baptist church reverent. -- reverend. [applause] you never forget the bridges that brought you across. had it not been for them, you never would have achieved. i would never beat in the room where that -- with the rev. wilson without acknowledging his sacrifice and investment. he came north of the lines coming to this city.

i wanted him to note that we are honored that he would come this morning. let me first printer you want that -- what the first bring to you one that i consider to carry the legacy of great women in the civil rights movement. she has taken on the mantle that mary mcleod bethune have held. we have never had a movement without women up front. one of the finance -- footnotes -- and i heard are sister valerie talking about how she was born in 1962. i do not remember some well, i was too young. i remember everything after that. i remember that one of the things that mrs. king would

always talk about was how women were not allowed to speak at the march on washington. he made sure that that was corrected in my time. women not only spoke, they did a lot of the speaking. sometimes they told us to shut up. in continuing that tradition, and telling us when to shut up, is the president and ceo of the national coalition of black civic participation. melanie campbell, my sister. [applause] >> good morning. thank you, reverend sharpton, for your leadership, for your friendship and support. i feel blessed and honored to be here with all of you this morning.

reverend sharpton, we are delighted that you are now one of our new board members and we have several board members that are here. i am glad that we will have the opportunity to work with you to continue the good work that you do each and every day. that is richard womack, cynthia, ronald thomas. thank you. [applause] those of you who know me know that i always have the young person next to me because that is how i was raised in atlanta, georgia. i have a young man who works with me who is now my deputy director who is a national advocate in domestic violence against women and children. you do not see a lot of brothers that are out there. he is dynamic. [applause]

you asked me to say something about concrete achievements in my area of expertise that dr. king would be proud of. i have a script and i will try to stay with us. i stayed up all night. i went to sleep at 5:00 this morning because i realize that after 25 years, that is all my adult life. the first thought that comes to mind, it was through my father. i remember my father crying about dr. king. i was to young to understand it.

i did not move -- i did not learn non-violent until i moved to atlanta. my father was fighting the kkk. we all had to lay down on the floor. they did not come back. that is all i will say about that. [laughter] let me fast-forward to my college years, which was in 1980. i went to school at atlanta university treated --. i was a part of that group. it was normal everyday that these folks were here. we did not grasp what it was all

about. we were there foot soldiers to continue the legacy. we marched in the cold every year for the state to be what it is today. we marched to save black colleges. we organized the 20th anniversary march on washington in 1983. we organized voter registration drives. we were free labor for labor it down there in the south. we went to mississippi to fight for the catfish workers down there. my life was forever changed, never forgetting to remember those two i could beat -- i could depend on.

they shared with me and a lot of us to understand firsthand the knowledge of dr. king leading the non-violent civil rights union. but let us understand that he was a revolutionary. he was a visionary. i was listening on my way into andy young. did anyone hear that this morning? because we were all up early. he talked about and he mentioned rev. orange. what is so significant about that? it was the leaders who had the gravitas. i learned that my life was about

service. i went to college to go and get my business administration degree and i was in corporate america for seven years. i hated it. i hated it as a job. i moved fast in the 1980's and i moved into the 1990's and i woke up one day and i was going up the corporate ladder. i walked into my job one day, lost my mind, and gave them my letter of resignation. it was because it was not fulfilling my life. my life was about service.

i learned that my life was about service. to others and to each -- that is his legacy. i was able to work with the king the kids -- king kids. we taught other students about non-violence. non-violence is not passive. it seeks reconciliation. it is directed at eliminating evil. a willingness to accept suffering for the cause, a rejection of hatred. faith that justice will prevail. the 1990's, i came to d.c. i came here the year of the million man march.

i moved here in august of 1995. we organized on that mall and a registered 100,000. in 1996, black men voted more than black women. you need to catch up again. i move and i moved and i moved and i came here for 18 months. i have been here for 16 years. i think i hit my head, but i am still there at the coalition. i am trying to see what we can do. if i were to say what i hope

that dr. king would be proudest of is going back to the service. never for getting to work with the foot soldiers. never forget to be your own foot soldier. you have to follow the leader and not always be the leader. everybody can be great because everybody can serve. you and i do not have to have a college degree to serve. we do not have to make our subjects and are verbs agreed to serve. we do not have to know what plato and aristotle to know. we do not have to know einstein's theory of relativity to serve. we only need a heart full of

grace, a sold generated by love, and you can be that servant. i can be that servant. thank you. >> melanie campbell, that was beautiful. i do want to it knowledge our national field director. he is one of the foot soldiers of this era's -- he and i came out of brooklyn together. we debated on who was going to be the president and because i was better looking -- [laughter] the way. every step of

but we had a margin it was time to go to jail, he stepped back and said, you are the leader. [laughter] there is a downside to being up front. andrea johnson has always been on the ground here. [applause] i must say that a young leader the i think has national ramifications -- he is the example to me of what it means to be grounded and no matter where he goes, he has remained grounded and a foot soldier even in high places. that is terri thomas. -- harry thomas. [applause] i really appreciate his work.

i want to also acknowledged the principle of dunbar, coach walker. [applause] the principal comes from my neck of the woods. but we had the march last year and started at dunbar high school, he was giving orders, i had to tell might national staff that he was not one of the students. watch how you order him around. they told me it was a mile from dunbar to the martin luther king memorial. [laughter]

i feel like i am still walking. [laughter] it is not a mile. on august 28 of this year, it will be the anniversary of the i have a dream speech again. this year, it will be the official opening of the dr. king memorial on the banks of the potomac. there are only three memorials on the banks of the potomac. one for george washington, one for abraham lincoln, and one for thomas jefferson. it will truly be an historic day when a man who never sat in the white house, and who never held a legislative or political position, is honored with a

permanent memorial on the banks of the potomac. [applause] let me say now, on the day before, saturday, we will be having a national gathering at the lincoln memorial. we will be gathering there from all over the country. we will conclude that rally by marching from lincoln memorial to the king memorial. from emancipated to the liberator. we will show the growth. the freedom fighting function memorial.t the caking

the right wing took lincoln last year. we mean no disrespect for abraham lincoln. we're showing the progression of american history as we keep moving forward. dr. king also was a great man of faith. he was grounded and rigid in the baptist tradition -- rooted in the baptist tradition. he believed it was his calling by god. he became the personification of liberation theology and of social justice, which was not popular. young people need to understand that he did not pass to the biggest church in atlanta. it was very modest, in fact. but he had the biggest message. those that had more members, their members were depending on

his leadership and his understanding of theology. in that tradition, as generations,, we have a young man who is a giant in that field. he went to school -- he has been a real example of the kind of ministry that continues. you cannot become -- there is a difference between those to pick up the mantle and those who mimic those who have it. do not try to be dr. king. we are in a different era and a different time. we need a new model. dr. king did not have to deal with the economy.

there are different things that you have to deal with in your time. it does not mean put on overalls and looks like you are stuck in time. it means to take the principles and update them in your time. we needed new beats that sample what worked in the past. [applause] >> let's give it up again for the rev. al sharpton. thank you. thank you for bringing us here to date on such an important occasion. it is good to be here today. as we assemble and gather here today, i'm reminded of his last sunday service delivered at the

national cathedral on march 31, 1968. in that sermon, dr. king told a story written by washington irving. you know the story. rep korean winkle went up into a mountain and slept there for -- rip van winkle went up a mountain and slept there for 20 years. there was a sign on the mountain that he visited with the king's picture on its. when he woke up, 20 years later, the sign had a picture of george washington, the first president of the united states. when he woke up and saw that picture, he was confused and bewildered and did not know who george washington was. during the time that he was

asleep, at the american revolution had been fought and won. the american colonies were no longer under british control. the tragedy of this story is not just that he slept solana. it was that he slept through a revolution. while he was sadly sleeping in the solitude of that mountain, a change was taking place. the revolution was being waged. and he knew nothing about it because he was asleep. the story said -- the story tells us that one of the great tragedies of life, many people find themselves living amidst a great period of social change and transition and yet the message because they are asleep. that is where we find ourselves today. amidst a great period of great shame and social transition and

many people, unfortunately, are asleep. morally, we are asleep. our ethical compass and our moral barometer has been compromised by our culture of materialism, consumerism, and commercialism. our principles have been barred by profit and compromised by the morality of the market. in both the street and global economies, whatever earns a dollar will sell its. if it means that spending bad loans, compromising our convictions, and destroying the american family, we will do it. morally, we are asleep. not only that, politically, we are asleep. farm to many people have been desensitized by what is going on in the world. we have become desensitized by violence, disconnected by -- from poverty, and is interested in activism.

prophetic institutions have become pathetic institutions. our houses of worship have become centers of complacently rather than vehicles a change. politically, we are asleep. morley, we are asleep. -- morally, we are asleep. we are slipping through a revolution. a world of great transition is happening around us. while we slept, the deregulation of wall street led to the collapse of main street. our racial fears are resurfacing in this country. the gap between the haves and have-nots is increasing. while we sleep, more money is being spent on bullets and bombs that on books and school buildings. while we sleep, academic test scores and to many urban communities decline while prison construction rises. while we sleep, american cities

can find money to build a new sports arenas, but cannot find the public will to redeveloped urban communities. [applause] what do we do in times like these? when hiv aids is reaching pandemic proportions. what do we do in times like these when partisanship and political rancor have clouded irs -- have crowded our judgment? the first thing we have to do it is wake up. we must wake up to the recognition that as world citizens, we must all become active and involved in making the world a better place. if more of us would do that, the lives of the world would be improved, the culture would be

transformed, our communities would be provided. for that to happen, we must seek to understand the complete king. many of his disciples have commented how the legacy of dr. king has been reduced to a sound bite. dr. king has become so sensitized and sterilized and commercialize that everyone remembers the dream part of the speech, but hardly anyone recalls what the dream was about. hardly anyone remembers the part of the speech for dr. king talked about black americans being given a check mark insufficient funds. the challenge for us today is to do whatever we can to make sure that that check can be cashed and redeemed. that can only happen if we can find a way to reignite his spirit of activism and social

protest. we dream that one day our children will again find the faith of profits, to liberate themselves from the cynicism that enslaves their moral imagination. from the idolatry of privatism and self absorption that shackles their compassion. from all that binds and limits their moral courage. if we are really to keep this dream alive, we must commit ourselves to the call of challenging the status quo and confronting injustice wherever it raises its head. we must replace the idols of cash and cars and clothes with compassion and care and concern for the least of these. the only way that his dream can become a reality is when we see in justice, we must confront it. when we see hatred and violence, we must seek to end it.

forever we go, what ever we do, we should exercise an influence for good and be a force for social uplift. it is not until we realize that our privilege does not placed upon islands of indifference, but rather that we are intimately connected to one another. dr. king said as much in his letter to the birmingham in jail. we are part -- caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. we are tied in a single garment of destiny. what affects one directly affects all indirectly. never again can we afford to lift with the narrow, provincial outside agitator. anyone who lives inside the united states, can never be considered an outsider anymore

within its bounds. sadly, today, his dream has been deferred because we have reached a place in american political discourse that he cautioned against. he points out the dangers of ideological segregation in american public life. he appeals to help us understand that retreating to our various ideological neighborhoods is just as dangerous to the american experiment as a racial segregation. too often today, we allow distinctions of race and class and party affiliation and ideology to separate and polarize us. it is the case that we are bound into a world of mutuality. recent events in arizona show as that we must be as vigilant today in fighting ideological

segregation as he was in fighting racial segregation. we must find a way to tap into his ability to engage in a rigorous debate without demonizing the other side. we must be able to preserve and to maintain the great historic tradition of passionate political argumentation, characteristic of the new free democracy. we must be able to do so without demonization, without labeling the other side as on patriotic -- un patriotic. for that to happen, we need more symbolic and substantive gestures of collaboration and exchange. blinis more bold and courageous examples of what some have called the unusual alliance of reverend sharpton, secretary

duncan, and newt gingrich to facilitate a conversation on education. the heart of this country need symbolic gestures of politicians, voluntarily sitting together while the president addresses the country. this is a good thing. we need more examples of where conservative and liberal pro- choice and pro-life, can come together to across ideological lines and then gained an ideological commerce with the hope of seeking to understand one another. i know that is not going to be easy. i know it is going to be difficult. our destiny as a nation is to be found in understanding what it is that we share in common. rather than emphasizing what distinguishes us. we must all be a part of the

solution rather than a problem. our communities depend upon an our children depend upon it. and our nation depends upon it. i am reminded of the story about the father who was watching a playoff game in his study one day when his son came into the room and said, can you come play with me? the father, not wanting to be disturbed, he felt a jigsaw puzzle entitled a map of the world. he said, take this puzzle and when you have put the pieces together of the map of the world, come back and and i will play with you. the father said that thinking that he had bought himself about 30 minutes of the could finish watching the rest of the game. about 50 minutes later, his young son ran into the room and said, i finished putting the

puzzle together. the father was incredulous. he could not believe that his son did it so quickly. he said, how did you complete this so fast? it was easy, he said. on the other side of the map of the world, there was a picture of a child. when i put the child together, the world cannot all right. are charged today is to put the child together. if we work to put the child together, the world will turn out all right. god bless you. ng day.in [applause] >> give him a hand.

as i stated earlier about august 28, that did not have been by it -- that did not happen by accident. i was in washington yesterday and read an article about a man who had logistical charge of the memorial. but the memorial would not have had logistics had it not been for the vision and the diligence and sacrifice of a man who people thought was crazy when he said, we will raise millions of dollars and but this memorial on the banks of the potomac. in many ways, can hestly say that i believed this would

happen had not been for the commitment, the perseverance, and sacrifice of harry johnson. i want him to come before us now. we are honored that he has given us a monument for generations to,. -- to come. [applause] >> thank you so much. it is a joy to be with you. you believe in me more than i believe in myself sometimes. good morning. i am not going to stay long. this will be the last day in the history of the world's that we celebrate his birthday without having a national memorial in his honor. [applause] i am proud to stand before you and tell you that we have raised $108 million of the $120 million needed to build this memorial. we still need $12 million.

the unthinkable happened? i know what will happen. -- d think it will still happen? i know that it will happen. on august 28, we will dedicate the first memorial to a man of color. august 28, the same day he gave his speech, we will dedicate his memorial. the same date that barack obama accepted the nomination from the democratic party. we want to dedicate this memorial back to president obama. able to walk to the mall and see dr. king situated between the lincoln and jefferson memorial bridge god bless you all. god bless you, reverend. thank you all.

>> as i said today, the day before, we will march from the emancipated to the liberator. be ready for the day after what we consecrate that memorial. i do not need 6 million for the march. i adjusted about half a million. -- i just need about half a million. he mentioned president obama. president obama has made us all proud. his administration has been diligent in trying to make this country a better place. dr. king was killed fighting for laborers and yet we find ourselves today over 9% unemployed. in the african-american and

latino community, it is much more than that. those statistics are just based on those looking for jobs. unemployment among black young men is over 50%. the department of labor has bought and continues to fight to try to provide jobs, to give us a report to. we're honored to have the assistant secretary of policy and joins us to give us an update today. [applause] >> thank you. i appreciate it. i am always happy to be in your presence. since we are the same age, we have the same memories. for the public school students

here, we group a couple of miles. this is my hometown. i was born in washington d.c. i'm a product of the public schools of washington, d.c. i want to send you greetings on behalf of my immediate boss. the secretary would love to be with you, but this is a holiday in she was back in her home town of los angeles leading and participating in the king parade. she is with you and pspirit. you ask me what we are doing and concrete steps. we should remember that dr. king