clinics, even went so far to say they wouldn't have a problem with the federal government paying for it , support the federal claar, support the concept, agree that it's a preventative measure and then they went on to say, well, maybe they should -- we shouldn't pay for construction, we should only pay for operations. well, the fact of the matter is that when you submit an application for construction or renovation of the clinic under this law, you have to show that you have the money to operate. and it's pretty clear that if you don't have the building, you're not going to be able to operate. so again i don't understand what they're trying to accomplish here. we've all -- we all know that these centers make sense, they bring kids who would otherwise not see a doctor, to have that opportunity. i thought my colleague from virginia, mr. moran, really came home and brought home the point when he said that a lot of kids don't even participate in athletics unless they have a school-based clinic because they have to be certified that they're healthy in order to

participate in athletics in the school. well, doesn't that make sense? because then they don't sit around and become obese, they actually exercise, they participate in team sports, they get the whole, you know, collegiality of being involved in a team sport and the exercise and the health benefits of that, this is a win-win situation. i wish you'd picked something else today to bring to the floor to repeal because this is the worst thing could you have brought to the floor. no one, including yourself, argues that these school-based centers are not valuable. so stop trying to cut them, stop trying to come up with some fantasy about how you're going to fund some part of it and not fund the other part of it. it's a good thing. it's probably one of the best things that we have in this legislation, the affordable care act. and i think it's not rational and it makes no common sense to pick this out as something to, you know, to spend two or three hours on to say that this is something that we shouldn't do. we should do it. oppose this legislation.

the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. burgess: mr. chairman, i'll tell you what's not rational, it's not agsal to spend this money and say you're prohibited from providing care. let's be honest, the money for construction was do you plick tif. it was offered up in the stimulus bill previously so we are duplicating a previous expenditure in forward advancing, advance funding in the patient protection and affordable care act. that is what doesn't make sense. previous speaker on the democratic side called me mindless. that's mindless. was mindless to pass this bill over the objections of the american people to not listen to the voices of the people that were literally ringed around this capitol a year ago that said kill this bill. now we have a chance to bring back a little bit of spending, to bring back into the arena in which it belongs which is the united states house of representatives, the people's house. the mandatory spending was not

in the bill that passed this house in november of 2009. this language was put in by the united states senate. and why was it put in by the united states senate? because they were playing "let's make a deal." they got there by buying votes. this small provision, someone must have sold out very cheaply. this small provision was one of the provisions that allowed them to do that. again, i would remind my colleagues that you cannot use the money that is provided in 4101-a, you cannot use that money to have a doctor or nurse in the clinic. in fact, you're expressly prohibited from that. i suspect that's why the president did not issue a voteo threat on this particular piece of legislation because he himself considered no money on the discretionary side which will provide the services of a

doctor or a nurse. look, we have one small chance to reclaim some small part of our sanity in the united states house of representatives, in the people's house. the forward funding, the advanced funding, the direct appropriations that were contained within the patient protection affordable care act was everything that people in this country understand about what is the role of their federal government. after all, they willingly give up a little bit of their right in order to have their lives run more orderly, but they don't ask us to run roughshod over federal spending and then claim a greater and greater share of their lives. yeah, it's unfortunate we've had to spend all day here debating this bill. i don't dispute that fact. we should have never been here in the first place. the advanced funding should have never been included in the patient protection and affordable care act. and why wasn't it? because the democrats never intended to do a single appropriations bill. so the only way to get this dog

up and running after its passage last year was to put -- push the appropriations out the door in the language of the bill. that's what we've got to correct right now. that's what these arguments are about. yeah, it will be tough sledding in the senate. yeah, we don't have an ally at the white house. but the american people expect us to do this work and they want us to do this work. with that i yield back the balance of my time and urge an aye vote on the underlying bill. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. all time having expired -- for what purpose does the gentleman from texas now seek recognition? mr. burgess: i move that the committee do now rise. the chair: the question is on the motion. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. accordingly, the committee

are 183. the bill is passed. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to speak out of order for the purpose of making an announcement. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. rogers: i wish to announce to all members -- the speaker pro tempore: excuse me. the house is not in order. the gentleman may continue. mr. rogers: i wish to announce to all members of the house that

the permanent select committee on intelligence has ordered the bill h.r. 754, intelligence authorization act for fiscal year 2011, reported favorably to the house with an amendment. the committee's report will be filed today. mr. speaker, the classified schedule of authorizations and the classified annex will be available for review at the offices in room h.v.c. in the capitol visitors' center. the office will be open during regular business for any member who wish wishes to resue this material. i anticipate that h.r. 754 will be considered in the house in the near future, perhaps as early as next week. i recommend that members wishing to review the classified annex contact the director to arrange time and date.

and members will have assistance. i urge interested members to review these materials in order to better understand the committee's recommendation. the committee's report contains the committee's recommendations on the intelligence bill for fiscal year 2011 and related classified information that cannot be disclosed publicly. it is important that members keep in mind the requimets of clause 13 and house 23 that permits action by those members signed by the oath provided for in the rule. if a member has not signed that oath but wishes to review the classified scheduled authorizations, the committee staff can administer the oath and see that the form is snt to the clerk's office. the rules require that members agree in writing to a nondisclosure agreement. the agreement indicates that the member has been granted access to the classified annex and familiar with the rules of the

house and the committee with respect to the classified nature of the information and the limitations on the disclosure of that information. mr. speaker, i thank you for your time and information. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. who seeks recognition? the gentleman from utah is recognized. mr. bishop: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute for the purpose of making an announcement. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman from utah is recognized for one minute. mr. bishop: the committee on rules may meet the week of may 9 but could limit the amendment process for floor consideration of h.r. 754 for fiscal year 2011. any member wishing to offer an amendment to the bill must submit an electronic copy of the amendment and subscription to the rules committee web site and members must submit 30 hard copies of the amendment, one copy of the brief explanation and amendment log in form to the

rules committee in room h-312 of the capitol by tuesday, may 10, 2011. electronic and hard copies must be received by that date and time specified. members should draft their amendments of the text of the bill by the select committee on intelligence which is available on the rules committee web site. members should use the office of legislative counsel to ensure amendments are drafted in the most appropriate format and should seek the committee on budget and congressional budget office to be certain their amendments comply with the rules of the house and the congressional budget act. if you have any questions, please contact chairman dreier. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? >> i ask to be removed as a co-sponsor of h.r. 1081. the speaker pro tempore: without objection.

pursuant to house resolution 836 and rule 18, the chair declares the house and the committee of the whole on the state of the union for further consideration of h.r. 1214. will the gentleman from idaho, mr. simpson, kindly resume the chair. the chair: the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for further consideration of h.r. 1214. the clerk: a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction. the chair: when the committee of the whole house all time for general debate had expired. all time for general debate has expired. the rule shall be considered for considered read. no amendment to the bill shall

be considered as read unless those printed in the congressional record designated for that purpose dated may 2, 202011 and pro forma amendments. each amendment so received may be offered by the member who has caused it to be printed or designee and shall be considered read. are there amendments to the bill? for what purpose does the gentlelady from texas rise? >> i have an amendment at the desk. the clerk: amendment number 1 printed in the congressional record offered by ms. jackson lee of texas. the chair: the gentlelady from texas is reckfiesed for five minutes. -- the gentlelady from texas is recognized for five minutes.

ms. jackson lee: thank you, mr. chairman. i rise to ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this amendment. and i appreciate very much my friend and colleague from texas and i believe that this is an amendment that republicans and democrats can join and maybe for different reasons. i have indicated that i believe the repealing of the support for school-based health clinics and construction delf is an -- is an unfortunate act on behalf of america's children. my amendment requires the department of health and human services to pose public notice on its official web site that the mandated funds from section 410-1-a including the amount of

the funds will be rescinded and explains to the american public what we are doing and gives them a line-by-line, dollar-by-dollar impact of what happens when they take money that is already being invested that will be invested to help build a health care infrastructure in their neighborhood so that children like this young man and many others, who may not have access to health care, can have a school-based clinic. the amendment will provide the public with important information about mandatory health-care funding that will no longer be available for them to receive these preventative care services and allows them to show the american public that they are cutting government spending, but we must weigh the balance, cutting spending or alleging that you're going to benefit from these cut funds and undermining the health care system of america.

when congress passed the affordable care act in 2010 the president signed into law, the department of health and human services was given a pan date to provide funding for expanded and to sustain national health investments in school-based health center construction programs to improve clinical preventative services and help restrain the growth in costs. nearly every state has school-based health centers. there are 2,000 and provides mandatory funds for improving and building school health centers and there are applications in 46 states with shovel-ready projects. and h.r. 1214 will kill those funds and repeal it. and yet, this particular amendment will point out choices, not really good choices to take away from our children good health care under the pretense of cutting the deficit, mind you now the majority of the funding that is being cut from

my friends are discretionary services, few dollars that represent only a small portion of the nation's budget, appropriations and deficit. . i is that we support this amendment because truth is in the pudding. let's see how they are doing and see how you can get health care and school-based clinics. we're trying to make sure we have places in neighborhoods for people to evacuate to. schools that are secure enough and strong enough that you can run or you could evacuate or you could be safe in place. school-based clinics help clinics provide places to take the wounded, from compl weather a hurricane or a tornado or a disaster unforeseen or a manmade disaster. so i'd ask my colleagues to vote for this amendment, to support this amendment, because it shows the light of what we should and should not be doing. with that i reserve the balance of my time.

the chair: the gentlewoman reserves her time. we're operating under the five-minute rule. you were recognized for five minutes. the gentlelady still has one minute and 10 seconds remaining. you can't reserve your time. ms. jackson lee: let me make the point that in earlier debate today, the speaker allowed me to reserve of the chair and so i take issue with the ruling. and what is the basis of the ruling? the chair: under the five-minute rule, the gentlelady has to use her time, not reserve her time. ms. jackson lee: can i have an explanation as to why i was allowed to do so previously? the chair: i wasn't the chair then. ms. jackson lee: is there -- so can i have an explanation -- the chair: the chair would tell the gentlelady that the chair has -- the house is operating under the five-minute rule and not allotted time controlled

time. ms. jackson lee: in my parliamentary inquiry, the sean that we're under the five-minute rule? the chair: that's right. ms. jackson lee: let me just indicate that school-based clinics represent a source of homeland security and in fact what we will find is that we will stop states in their tracks for trying to provide the kind of health care not only for children going to school everyday, to be able to protect them, but also in a long range effort. does anyone remember h. 1 n 11234 i do braws i wept to my schools where there was an epidemic and we had one all across the nation. we were panicked and i will tell you that school-based clinics can be a source of relief for children either coming to school with infections or somdev station coming about, i'd ask my colleagues to support this very simple amendment which gives to the american public the reason why we shouldn't cut these

funds. cutting funds, killing health care. cutting funds, killing health care. support this very thoughtful amendment that provides you with the reason for us being able to support school-based health clinics, for homeland security, for the ability to evacuate and be secure in a time of disaster and, yes, to take care of the millions of children and to respond to the states that are not democratic or republican, who have 350 applications on the record. i ask my colleagues to support the amendment. i yield back. the chair: does any other member seek recognition? for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. burgess: i move to strike the last word. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. burgess: mr. chairman, the jackson lee amendment would require the secretary of health and human services to post on an h.h.s. public website a notice of the rescission of unobligated balances from the mandatory funded for school health center construction, provided under section 4101-a of the patient protection affordable care act and the amount of that

rescission. mr. chairman, i support transparency in government. actually wish there was more transparency, especially when the last congress was putting together this new health care law. we still do not know why certain projects were given mandatory funding and others were determined to be discretionary programs. no explanation has been given as to why construction of these facilities is mandatory and yet the staffing remains discretionary. paying for construction of health centers has always been the responsibility of states and localities and the federal government would help with the staffing. the patient protection affordable care act turned that long-term policy on its head. now, i recognize that the democrats in the house of representatives, now the house minority, did not write the bill . in fact, the bill was written behind closed doors in the senate and probably down at a coffee shop down by the white house. yet no one who was in the room or at the coffee shop will explain how the bill came to be.

if the author of this amendment feels that this would increase transparency then i will support the amendment. i would hope that all members would take the opportunity to increase transparency and demand transparency on how the backroom deals that seal the fate of our health care system in the hands of washington bureaucrats came to pass. mr. chairman, i will yield back the balance of my time. i urge an aye vote on the amendment and i will yield back the balance of my time. the chair: does anyone seek further recognition? the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: strike the last word. i yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from texas. the chair: the gentlewoman from texas. ms. jackson lee: i just rise -- i rise to thank the gentleman from texas for accepting this amendment. i think it shows that though we may have agreements that differ or positions that differ on the underlying legislation, that this, a initiative for transparency, and it will help explain to the american people,

let me also conclude by saying it should be very clear that this funding is not used for health care, in particular on personnel, but it is to build a structure that will provide and protect children to be able to have these clinics, more access to health care for communities and a source and site to be able to protect people who are impacted by natural or manmade disaster. with that i would ask my colleagues to support this legislation and i yield back my time. the chair: the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. is there further? the question is on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from texas. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. ms. jackson lee: mr. chair. the chair: the gentlelady from texas. ms. jackson lee: i'm request a recorded vote. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from texas will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise?

mr. pallone: i have an amendment preprinted in the record as amendment number 2 to hrment r. 1214 as the designee of representative capps -- caps. the chair: amendment number 2 printed in the congressional record offered pallone of new jersey. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. chairman. this amendment provides for a g.e.o. study to determine school districts most in need of constructing or renovating school-based health senters. basically it asks the controller, well, i should say mandates the controller, conduct a city to determine the school districts most in need of construction or renovation and not later than one year after the date of the enactment, the controller has to submit to the congress a report setting forth the results and conclusions of the study understand this subsection. -- under this subsection. i know we've had a lot of debate today about with money, but the fact of the matter is that the $50 million per year doesn't

actually cover the costs of all of the schools that have requested and applied for construction or renovation funds. and so that's why i would like to have this amendment passed and hopefully accepted by the other side so that we can find out exactly how many more of these clinics are in need of funding. or centers are in need of funding. i guess i have to yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. burgess: mr. chairman, i'd move to strike the requisite number of words. the chair: the gentleman is recognizesed for five minutes. mr. burgess: i rise in support of the amendment. the amendment requires the general accountability office to conduct a study to determine the school districts in the united states most in need of constructing or renovating school-based health centers. actually the amendment is refreshing.

i only wish we'd had an opportunity to have this discussion in our committee a year and a half ago, before the patient protection and affordable care act passed. this amendment underscores one of the major flaws in the patient protection and affordable care act. rather than conduct hearings and markups on this specific program, the school-based health center construction fund was lumped in with hundreds of other programs in a 2,700-page bill. i think this will help the congress determine if the need exists and to quantify the dollars in a careful manner. my only regret, my only regret, is that in the last congress, the then democratic majority did not request this study before providing $200 million in mandatory fund ising for the school-based health center construction under the patient protection and affordable care act. congress should determine the need before authorizing and appropriating dollars. that's, after all, regular order. that's the way we are supposed to do it. not simply throw the money out

to a program because we feel that it may be a good program or we believe that it may be a good program. no. we're dealing with the taxpayer dollars. it is our obligation to show those dollars are going to be wisely spent and then proceed with the appropriation and the authorization and then the appropriation. i believe this amendment will help in that process and i'll urge support of the amendment and yield back the balance of my time. the chair: who seeks recognition? mr. pallone: i would like to move the amendment, mr. chairman. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from new jersey. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. mr. pallone: i ask a roll call. the chair: the gentleman requests a roll call. pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from new jersey will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. burgess: mr. chairman, i move the committee do now rise. the chair: the motion is -- the question is on the motion

offered by the gentleman from texas. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the committee rises. the chair: mr. speaker, the committee on the whole house, having had under consideration h.r. 1214, directs me to report that it has come to no resolution thereon. the speaker pro tempore: the chairman of the committee of the whole house of the state of the union reports that the committee has had under consideration h.r. 1214 and has come to no resolution thereon.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house the following personal request. the clerk: leave absence requested for mr. griffin of arkansas for monday, may 2. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the personal requests are granted. who seeks recognition for one-minute speeches?

the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 5, 2011, the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the my mortgage lead --

ms. jackson lee: i'm delighted to have the opportunity to be on the floor for such an important issue and joined by my colleague. i'm holding the time until mr. -- my colleague arrives, but this is an enormous crisis when nine of our soldiers are killed and the way they were killed in afghanistan. and for many of us who are concerned about the continuing conflict and the next step, it is important to be able to offer our sympathy to their families and as well, to be able to ask for an investigation as to the basis of their loss. so it is important tonight that we educate our colleagues about the challenges that those brave soldiers faced, the conditions under which they lost their lives and to say to their

families that we will not rest until we have the opportunity to secure all of the facts and to be able to establish a reaction or basis on seeking a response from the afghan government and certainly from those who are in supervision of the armed forces in the -- in the region, in the theater. with that in mind, as we offer our sympathy and express our desire for a full understanding and story as to what happened, i want to yield to the distinguished the gentleman from louisiana and thank limb for -- thank him for -- let me yield the time back. as we conclude these remarks.

i look forward to a full airing of this unfortunate circumstance and i hope that we will continue to seek information for these families and on behalf of these brave soldiers. that, i yield back. the chair: the gentleman from louisiana, mr. richmond, is recognized for the remainder of the minority leader's hour. mr. richmond: i want to first, before i start, thank the gentlelady from texas, congresswoman sheila jackson lee not only for introducing the segment tonight but for the work she has done for people all across the country and especially when you talk about disasters. she was there for the city of new orleans in the metro region after the hurricanes to make sure everyone was included in the rebuilding and reconstruction and a lot of her effort to make sure we could

rebuild the city of new orleans. and as we just suffer loss around the country with the tornadoes that hit, i'm reminded of hurricanes katrina and rita, but more importantly, i'm reminded of the people in this congress who go above and beyond to make sure we take care of everyone in this country and for that, i want to thank congresswoman sheila jackson lee for doing that. tonight i want to focus on our brave soldiers who recently fell in afghanistan. we want to focus on their sacrifice and their brifferry. we want to -- bravery and focus on their legacy. last week on a diplomatic congressional delegation which was headed up and it was congresswoman bill shuster's idea and wept the extra mile to

include freshman members in that so we would get a chance to see what's going on over there. last week, while on a diplomatic and military congressional delegation in europe and afghanistan, i attended a memorial service for the fallen heroes on this board. they are lieutenant colonel frank bryant, major david brode, major phillip anbar, major raymond asetll, major osbourn and captain nathan nylander and technical sergeant tara brown and staff sergeant matthew d. hermanson. these are some of the faces of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in helping to keep our country safe from threats far and wide. i'm joined by a couple of my

colleagues who were with me on a fact-finding trip and will focus on the sacrifice made by these brave men and women and the sacrifice being made by all of our brave men and women on a daily basis. i want to yield to my congressman, bill shuster, who will have the opportunity to not only talk about one, two, three individuals who gave the ultimate sacrifice but on the experience in afghanistan, where wer the progress we are making. with that, i would yield. mr. shuster: i thank the gentleman from louisiana for yielding thank the gentleman for traveling with us on our codel, made up of six members, two democrats, four republicans and we traveled to, obviously as the gentleman from louisiana said to afghanistan. it was an eye-opening experience

for all of us, getting to see and hear firsthand not only from our military leaders, but also soldiers who are in the field and traveling out to the province and being able to go into the village and talk to the village elders and people who have 18 months ago in this village, was controlled by the taliban and today with the help of u.s. special forces, the taliban is gone and the people of this community, the people of this village and region are setting up their own police force and the village elder told us he would never allow the taliban to come back and how much he appreciated the support of the u.s. special forces and their training and the fact that they lived -- they were living with them in the communities. several of our special forces in two different compounds, offering training and guidance to these folks that live out in a very, very rural part of

afghanistan, actually 50 to 60 miles from the iranian border. we saw those positive developments. and we know what happened at the end of this weekend, our special forces were able to go in and kill osama bin laden and bring justice to him and america's grateful for their efforts. as my colleagues said, we were also able to participate in two ceremonieses, one was a ramp ceremony and they put the coffin on the plane to bring it back to dover air force base to meet its final destination and also a ceremony to honor the nine fallen americans that were killed by an afghan pilot, somebody they had been working with for nine months, somebody they trusted, who came in during a meeting last week and brought in a weapon and killed nine

people. there were eight military and people, people that serve in our military, a civilian, a retired civilian colonel. enlisted and they gave the sacrifice for serving us in afghanistan and largest loss of life for the us air force see the khobart towers were bombed by osama bin laden some 12 or 13 years ago. tonight, we are joining here and will be joined by others that were on the trip to talk about these individuals and honor these individuals. so, with that, the first person that we want to honor is major jeffrey o. osbourn, who was a nato -- in the nato air training command in afghanistan. major osbourn was born, august, 1969 in alabama.

his military career began on august 9, 1991 after being commissioned as a second lieutenant from troy state university reserve officers training corporation. after completing training, he remained as an instructor for four years. in 1996, major osbourn was selected for undergraduate pilot training and proceeded to columbus air force base and earned the coveted wings of silver. he went on to fly the c-130 and completed two flying tours in the mighty hverageeveragerveragekverage and joined the air education and training command as an instructor pilot. major osbourn sent and went through numerous aircraft. and in november, on november of 2010, major osbourn joined the nato air training command in

afghanistan as a c-27 evaluator pilot and chief of current operations with the 58th i air expeditionary squadron. service medal and aerial achievement medal. he is survived by his wife and two daughters and a son and stepchildren. our hearts and prayers go out to that family, for their loved ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice and it is with that tonight we remember major jeffrey overplete o. osbourn and i yield to my colleague, mr. duffy. mr. duffy: we were on a trip together, bipartisan trip to afghanistan and as we were able to tour the country and meet with our military leaders, our

c.i.a. and state department, it was for me an interesting trip in that, you see that support of our young men and women who are overseas fighting for their country, does not have political boundaries. our group on this trip came together and unanimously were supportive of the men and women who we have sent to defend this country. and i think it was quite remarkable to see this team come together and before i talk further, i would like to yield to the gentleman from louisiana. mr. richmond: thank you, mr. speaker. and thank you, congressman duffy for yielding. and i know that your constituent from wisconsin was someone that you wanted to talk about and had the privilege of performing the ramp act and give you a chance to switch podiums so you can go

down now that we have the pictures presented. but i wanted to take a minute to say what a ramp act is and it's a ceremony performed in the country of the soldier's death. it's not a funeral but a memorial and it's a good-bye to a fallen soldier on their return home. so this solemn ceremony may have words by a chaplain or commanding officer, but just a very, very surreal experience in the fact that the troops are out there and we had a participate to watch one of our fallen soldiers get put back on a plane to be sent home to his parents and the family that he left behind so that is our fair well for them. and i -- farewell for them. and the ceremony is performed for all coalition forces, not just the u.s. military.

we had a chance to participate in it and it was humbling and something i will never forget and i yield back to the gentleman from wisconsin, congressman duffy, to talk about his constituent who we watched and participate in that ramp ceremony. mr. duffy: i want to talk about one of our wisconsin heroes who was fighting for his country and that is matthew hermanson who is picked here in the lower left corner of our diagram. he is from appleton, wisconsin and survived by his wife and his parents. he whats -- he was fighting for his country and part of the second battalion, 4th infantry regular meant, 10th mountain

division and the division's 4th brigade is stationed in forth polk. we have suffered losses in wisconsin recently and our hearts go out to the family and parents of matt and to his wife, who at a time when many americans are celebrating what has happened in pakistan with osama bin laden, this family and other families are grieving the loss of their loved one. and here is a great wisconsin hero, great american hero who is fighting for his country and gave us the ultimate sacrifice in his pursuit for freedom. and i'm grateful for all that he has given his state and his country and we are proud of him. with that, i yield back to the gentleman from louisiana. mr. richmond: thank you,

congressman, duffy. and i would like to yield to the gentleman from connecticut, congressman chris murphy who was the senior democrat on the trip who provided an awful lot of guidance as a senior member of congress in terms of what we were seeing. so congressman murphy. mr. murphy: thank you very much, congressman richmond. kind of scary i get senior status in my third term but things move fast in the united states house of representatives. i thank you for bringing us together for this special order hour. i have been here now for five years and when votes are done and you go back to your office to get some work together for the next day, we often flip on the tv and watch these special order hours as frankly millions of americans do across the country and you know what you see every night starts to look the same.

you see republicans on one side having one hour, democrats on the other side having another hour and too often, that time is spent by both parties talking down the other side. this is unique to have members of both republican and democratic sides joining together in a testimony to something that binds us, it binds us as republicans and democrats, conservatives and liberals, whatever we are in this nation, we know how important it is to support our men and women abroad and to memorialize them when they don't come home. . if you asked what our perceptions were of the trip and the future of the war in afghanistan, you'd probably get different story but you won't get different story when is it comes to the respect that we have everyday for the men and women who fight for us and i think the new understanding you get of the threats that are

posed to these brave soldiers, when you spend a little bit of time in theater, not only did we have the tragic honor of being part of a ramp ceremony and then a memorial service for the nine airmen and civilians that perished in the attack at the airport, but we got a chance to take -- walk the beat with some of our special forces units in the western province, one of the western provinces of afghanistan. and that's where you realize how dangerous this job is. in a remote, outpost, with mud walls, a couple does of our bravenest are trying to do their -- bravest are trying to do their best to provide some security for afghans who had barely seen a coalition or american soldier before the last year, trying to cobble together the money that they had at their disposal to build some

infrastructure projects, to make their lives, community members and tribe members better. and whatever you think about the future course of this war, we got our best and our brightest fighting for us over there. 1% of americans are fighting for this country, protecting the other 99%. and unfortunately there are more and more that aren't coming home. in connecticut, as i got the chance to remark in a short speech before the house of representatives two weeks ago, we've taken an be a normally large number of casualties for a -- abnormally large number of casualties for a state in the last months. one of the nine airmen that were killed at the attack at the kabul airport was major astell ii. he was born in connecticut although he'd moved away. he was a native of the nutmeg state.

and his military career spanned two decades, back to november, 1991, with his enlistment in the u.s. air force. after completing basic military and technical training, raymond served as an enlisted aerospace ground equipment tech ninition, rising to the rank of senior airman before earning his commission through the reserve officer training corps at the university of new mexico in 1998. he was most recently assigned as the communications advisor for the afghan air force, with the 838th air expeditionary advisory group. it was in that capacity that was serving in afghanistan. it was in that capacity that he had befended -- befriended the afghan airmen who eventually turned his weapon on nine americans. major astell's awards include the bronze star medal, the air force commendation medal, with one oak leaf cluster, the joint service achievement medal and the air force achievement medal

with one oak leaf cluster. is survived by his wife and his daughters. and his son and his mother. as we sat there listening to the final roll call of that unit, with nine of its members missing, we read through the biographs of the nine that were killed and we noted that almost all of them had children, young children, 3, 4, 5. and as representative duffy so aptly said, as many americans are celebrating in the street the heroic achievement of our special forces in taking down one of the most evil people ever to walk this earth, there are other families that are grieving today for those who put their lives on the line to protect the other 99% of us and for my constituent, raymond astell, we grieve in connecticut today. with that i yield back.

mr. richmond: thank you, congressman murphy and i think that brought up a very good point -- congressman murphy, and i think you brought up a very good point which is the observation of the sacrifice and the fact that as we looked at all of the boots and the helmet of the nine troops during that boot ceremony, the fact that it crossed all lines, it crossed partisan lines, it crossed racial lines, it crossed geographic lines and it certainly crossed different income levels. so i just wanted to reiterate that the reason why we're here today with such a bipartisan and diverse group showing our appreciation, because that was one of the things that was so noticeable when we participated in that ceremony, the fact that it was a very diverse group, but there was one consistent and one overwhelming issue, one

overwhelming purpose and that was to make sure that the united states of america stays the best country on earth and to make sure that this next generation, we lead them and give them the opportunity to succeed and the opportunity to live in peace. i will just quickly read and it was one night while berp -- we were mite meeting and we were having a deep conversation about the sacrifice that our children are making, the sacrifice that the troops were making, and there was a parliamentarian from there who used the john quincy adams quote and it was the sentiment of everyone. i thought that i would point out that quote and read it to everybody and especially, mr. speaker, it's so onpoint that i thought people need to hear it and that is, i must study politics and war that my sons may have the liberty to study

mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history and naval architecture, navigation, commerce and as cull -- agriculture. in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelain. that's john quincy adams. mr. speaker, i would just again reiterate the fact that it seems like we have been fighting forever to make sure that we give those next generations the freedom and that they don't have to concentrate on war so much and that they don't have to ship their children off to war and we don't have to welcome our troops back home in caskets. that's the sacrifice we're making and we hope that we make that sacrifice so the next generations can study the arts and the culture and all of those things. with that, mr. speaker, i will yield time to, again, the leader of that congressional delegation, bill shuster. mr. shuster: i thank the gentleman and i appreciate the

gentleman talking about meeting with other parliamentarians in some of the other countries that we visited, from the czech republic to azerbaijan, to georgia. and one of the things all three of those countries have in common is they are really great allies of the united states of america. all those countries contribute forces to not only to afghanistan, but to iraq and currently they either have or have just had troops returning and when you look at a country like azerbaijan who lives in a rough neighborhood between iran to the south and russia to the north, georgia sits on the western border and has had problems with russia, but when those countries send their troops to fight shoulder to shoulder with the americans, they have no caveats, which means that their troops are allowed to do whatever mernts need thed them to do, when -- the americans need them to do, whether it's supporting the nato troops and the american troops

in some way, so it's really important that we as americans know these countries and support what they do for us. and when people think on the heel of it, georgia provides 900 troops to the effort in afghanistan just recently, a lot of people would say, well, that's not a very big force. but when you look that it's a country of about 4.5 million people, that would be the equivalent of the united states contributing 80,000 to 90,000 troops to the effort. so it's really a big contribution and we owe them a debt of gratitude to those countries that do that around the world. as my colleagues have been talking about, we're honoring those nine that were killed last week in afghanistan and of the nine, as i said earlier, eight were in the u.s. air force but one was a civilian, a contractor. that person was lieutenant colonel retired james mcclock lynn or as he was commonly

known, as jimmy mac, was one of the nine. and james was born on june 16, 1955. he graduated from drexler university with a bachelor of science degree and a master degree in business administration from the yoort of -- university of phoenix. he retired from the u.s. army as a lieutenant colonel in 2007 after service in iraq. his civilian career included program manager, product marketing manager and applications engineer manager with. jim's most recent service was a contractor supporting the nato training command mission in kabul, afghanistan. during the that time he was a senior mentor to both the ministry of defense and the afghan air force. jim held military and civilian ratings of both rotarya and fixed wing arke. one of his passions was his hand radio and he held a current amateur radio license. he had a network of fellow hand

radio operators throughout the united states and the world and james is survived by his wife, sandra, and their chirthree children, adam, eve, and james. all americans should keep their families in our thoughts and our prayers and we give, again, a thank you to not only to james for giving the ultimate sacrifice, for his family that have to suffer this great, great loss. and with that i yield back to the gentleman from louisiana. mr. richmond: thank you, congressman shuster. and with that, i will yield to our congressman, chris murphy, so he can again pay tribute to another one of our fallen american heroes. mr. murphy: thank you, representative richmond. i know we're with joined on the floor by a few other of our

colleagues here. i just underscore the remarks of representative shuster. although americans are clearly carrying the burden of operations in afghanistan, we do have partners that there and -- partners there and many of our partners increased their commitment to afghanistan as the united states did. others have walked away and drawn down their commitment, but we are fortunate to thank we are not fighting this fight alone -- that we are not fighting this fight alone there and we do have partners. i think it's important for us to remind americans of that but also remind mal many of our allies, -- many of our you a lies, that this fight is an international fight because though the most high profile of terrorist attacks in this world were those on new york and washington, d.c., and the fields of pentagon, -- pennsylvania, the next terrorist attack could be anywhere in this world and our ability to push al qaeda to

the brink of extinction is a global effort, not just an american effort. in addition to those that we've noted already, there was another person we memorialized that day. i'd like for a brief moment of time talk about major charles ransom. major ranson am -- ransom was born 1979. he attended the virginia military institute and he earned a back lohr yacht of science and computer science and received his rotc commission in the united states air force as a second lieutenant. on the 18th of may, 2001. it was in that year that he deployed for the first time in support of operation enduring freedom. then in 2006 he deployed again in turkey in support of operations enduring freedom, iraqi freedom and fundamental justice. and in 2009 he deployed to baghdad, iraq, in support of operation iraqi freedom.

finally in 2011 he deployed for the last time, to afghanistan, in operation enduring freedom. he survived by his mother and father, sergeant retired william and mary sue ransom and his brother, chief petty officer steven randolph. from those that talked about major ransom, they talked about with what a tremendously important figure he was in our operations in afghanistan. but his story and his background are not uncommon in two ways. first, major ransom comes from a military family, both his brother and his father have served and are retired from the armed services. . that's huh it goes, this becomes a family occupation and family passion. there are millions of families who have the kind of commitment the ransom family did. while we pay our respect to

those individuals who serve, we have to remember it's not just an individual commitment or individual sacrifice, it's a family sacrifice. the whole family serves. whether they're serving through brothers and sisters and fathers an mothers who have been members of the military or whether they serve by picking up and doing a little more for their family when they're deployed. he also isn't unique because they've served -- he's served four deployments. that's not to say there's anything wrong with forces in the past who served one term, but in the last 10 years, there have been a difference, they serve two or three or even four times. i imagine he did it because he didn't want to lee his men and

women behind to do it on his mind. unfortunately, representative richmond, he didn't come back but we owe him and his family a degree of gratitude beyond words for their service and sacrifice. i yield back. mr. richmond: thank you. i yield time to kangman duffy. mr. duffy: i appreciate the gentleman for yielding. i would echo the sentiment as stated by the gentleman from connecticut. if you look at the families and how they suffer when they lose one of their sons or daughters, fathers or mothers, it truly is felt and i think it was well said. quickly, as we were on this trip, we had a chance not just to go to afghanistan, but the

entire bipartisan delegation had a chance to sy many of our great jylies in the conflict in afghanistan. we stopped over in georgia, aser buy january and the czech republic. -- azerbaijan and the czech republic. one thing i found unique was their unabashed support for american principles, not just american, but human principles of freedom, liberty and prosperity. when we look around the world and people talk about america, oftentimes they pay us great lip service, they tell us they're our friend and they're supportive of what we're doing in the world but often their actions don't meet their words. but you look at these three countries we visited, they done just express support for what we do here in america but they show their support. they've shown that support most definitely in their -- by way

of sending their troops to afghanistan to fight for the freedom of those afghanis who want to see some form of democracy in their country. again, while we were in afghanistan, we participated in a memorial ceremony for the nine americans who were shot at the airport and were killed. i want to remember tonight major phillip anbar, one of those who lost his life last week in that attack. he was born in caracas, venezuela, on the fourth of april, 1967, and he lived in venezuela until he was 12 years old, at which time he moved to america and he was then living in edmonds, washington. he started his military career in 1985. he enlisted in the united states air force. and with a stellar enlisted

career, he rose to the rank of master sergeant and from there he attended night school, ulet wail -- all the while raising a young family and he obtained his bachelor's degree. he was then selected to go to officer training school in 2000. he was given his most recent assignment as a foreign language professor at the air force academy in colorado springs, he taught spanish and french. as we discussed here. -- as we discussed here, the loss of one of our military men and women is felt throughout the family and major ambard was sur sprived not only by his wife linda, but he had phi children, alexander, timothy, joshua, patrick, his daughter emily, and mother and father and his sister diana.

i know as they go into this week and the coming months and years, they'll mourn the loss of their father, their son, their brother, their husband and i just want major anbard's family to know we are grateful for his service, we are grateful for the sacrifice he gave to his country and we're grateful to them for the sacrifice they're making, where they don't have their loved one at home with them tonight sharing a meal, they're not going to have christmases and birthday parties together and that most definitely is a sacrifice they'll feel for a lifetime. i am grateful for what he's done, paying the ultimate sacrifice for his country. with that, i yield back to the gentleman from louisiana.

mr. richmond: thank you, congressman duffy. with that, i yield to another member that took the time over the easter break to go to afghanistan to visit with our troops who was certainly a rock star when he appears -- appeared on the base and stopped to sign a bunch of autographs. of course he was the only one he was asking autographs of. congressman runnion, i yield to the congressman. mr. runnion: -- mr. runyan: i thank my colleague and all my colleagues for a great trip, a great fact finding trip, it was an opportunity to go over there in a bipartisan nature and really learn about what our troops go through on a daily basis and what they're doing for the afghani people. but in the same light, to also learn about other ally nations we have. when you boil all of this down, whether it is the czechs, the

georgians, the afghans, we're all fighting for the same people. we're fighting for democracy and we're all fighting for freedom. so it was truly an honor to go over there and learn firstland about everything that is going on there. the opportunity to really go out and see what our guys go through on a daily basis of being put in wen afghanistan an see the relationships they're building with the afghan people was tremendous. the support they have. building those friendships really aplows -- allows our troops and all our of -- all of our ally troops to go in there and make friends with them and help them defend their own country. and no matter where we went on this trip, there was a sense of

pride that everybody took in themselves and in their country and in their war fighters that we were all out there, fighting for democracy and freedom. when you talk to the troops, you could really see it in their eyes because even when they asked the question, what is the end, when is the end? when you look at them and you go, well, the end is to give these people the opportunity that we have, and the scary thing about it was they, a lot of afghani people don't understand what it is to live in a democracy, what it is to have freedom. you could always see the twinkle in our troop's eyes, when you said that to them. you could sense that some of them were thinking about, when is this going to be over. but when you realize, and just refresh their memory on what

they're fighting for. they're not fighting for our proops -- for our troops. they're fighting for other human beings' freedom. it was truly an honor to go over there and witness that and experience that and really to say thanks to all of them. as my colleague said, you know, there was -- i had somewhat of a rock star mentality over there. but everyone asked me, can i get a picture? i can't give you enough time in the world for what you're doing for us and what you're doing for other people around the world with the sacrifices you're making. i say that on a day in, day out basis with every troop i ever meet with. an to really see when you got off into the villages and you see a group of guys living together in a camp out there that's all they have, they're

brothers, they were having a beard growing contest throughout the camp. some of them participated, some didn't, but they were taking a lot of pride in that type of stuff. just keeping that morale going. it was great because you knew what type of desperate situation they were in. they were also, you know, i really think we all when we got to that boot ceremony at the end where many of you have seen it before, where there's bts with the m-16's in the middle, with the dog tags wrapped around the weapon and the helmet on top. it was a somber reminder of the cost of freedom and the cost of democracy and i really want to, along with my colleagues, just say thank you to everybody because the one gentleman i want to recognize is major david l. broder.

his call sign was klepto. throughout the ceremony, they call the guys by their call sign. when they go through the roll call and keep calling the guys' names, the silence was deafening. they kept calling his name. there was no one answering as they went through the whole company. i know quite a few of us were really brought to tears in that moment. major broder was born on december 10, 1976. he was commissioned in the air force academy in 1989. he was a qualified f-16 pilot and served as a weapons officer in the squadron. he served at luke air force base as a schedule flight commander and weapons instructor pilot. his next i signment, he was chief of scheduling, an f-16

pilot and chief of the aggressor academics. upon his deployment, he was assigned to the 11th air force command. major broder deployed an served in operation iraqi freedom and was deployed in support of operation enduring freedom as air advisor to the afghan air corps command center. he is survived by his wife susan and his son, david jr., age 3rk and his daughter elizabeth. it's truly guys like this that make a difference that are a big reason why people like myself, i really think, get involved, to support the heroes, to make sure they're known. because, yeah, we have suffered a los here, but the people who

have suffered the ultimate loss are his family, they're not going to be a father, myself, being a father of three, i realize that, i respect that. may god bless his soul, may god bless his family, we thank him for his service. with that being said, i yield back to my colleague from louisiana. mr. richmond: thank you, congressman runyan. i yield time to the co-dell leader. >> i thank the gentleman for yielding to me and i thank him for organizing this hour to talk about our experience in afghanistan and to speak in honor of the nine people killed in afghanistan last week and as i mentioned earlier, that was the largest loss of life in the

u.s. air force since the khobar towers. as my colleague mr. runyan talked about, the somber and powerful experience we had there at his memorial service at the ceremony. mr. shuster: it was really something to be there. i think we all were very, very grateful to be able to participate in the ceremony. again, nine people, we've talked about the one that was not a military person but a contractor. he served in the military but then came back to serve in afghanistan as a contractor and try to help develop and train the afghan air force. another one of those members that gave the ultimate sacrifice is lieutenant colonel frank c. bryant jr.

he was born august 13, 1973, and is from knoxville, tennessee. his military career began when he entered the u.s. air force academy in the summer of 1991. after graduating if the u.s. air force academy with a bachelor's degree in general engineering, he was assigned to the columbus air force base. initially the student -- as a student pilot, then an instructor pilot. his aircraft was an fmbing-16. he completed tours in korea, shaw air force base and was an exchange pilot with the u.a.e. and his last assignment was in afghanistan assigned in kabul, afghanistan. during his career, he earned the bronze star, purple heart, the air force combat action medal, defense herer tos you service medal, the air medal, a

leaf cluster, the air force commendation medal, one oak leaf cluster, the air force achievement medal, the air force outstanding unit and second oak leaf cluster, combat readiness medal, the global war on terrorism expeditionary medal, the korean defense service medal, the afghan campaign medal, the air force rib been, the air force expeditionary service ribbon and the air force longevity service with three oak leaf clusters and finally the air force training ribbon. . somebody who served long and did a fabulous job serving the united states of america. and lieutenant bryant is survived by his wife, janice, his son, sean, his father, frank , and his mother, patricia bryant. we are a deep -- we owe a deep

debt of gratitude to his family and also to colonel bryant for their service to this country and of course for the ultimate sacrifice that colonel bryant gave for his nation. so with that i would encourage all americans to remember colonel bryant and his family and their -- in their thoughts and their prayers and with that i yield back to the gentleman from louisiana. mr. richmond: thank you, congressman shuster. now i have the privilege to call upon another one of our colleagues who participated in the congressional delegation, who has not had an opportunity to talk about one of our fallen soldiers, but i will tell you something about this member of congress. he himself has put his life on the line and served in our u.s. air force and that is none other than captain adam can zincer. zinc zinc thank you --

mr. can zinger: thank you. one of the great things when you talk about just in general america and what we stand for, there's a lot of disagreement and -- but when it comes to supporting our troops, when it comes to what america stands for, there's no disagreement. and the gentleman from louisiana and i have become great friends and on this mission we got to really go see what america stands for. mr. kinzinger: sometimes there's differences in where we should see foreign policy, there's no difference right now in supporting troops and supporting those who put their life on the line. now, as a military pilot, i never would expect to be in a situation where myself and scores of my brothers and sisters would be killed by a mad gunman walking into a room. that's something that i'm sure

these brave heroes that we're talking about never expected. but it happened. it was tragic but they stood up and fought for their country and in the process they lost their lives. one of those brave heroes who lost his life is a fellow illinoisan, captain nathan nyelander. captain nathan nyelander was born outside of chicago, illinois, and grew up in illinois and texas. his military career began in august, 1994, with his enlistment in the united states air force. after completing basic military training and follow-on technical training in texas, florida and mississippi, he served as an enlisted weather forecaster, rising to the rank of technical sergeant. his enlisted assignments include the weather forecaster at luke air force base in arizona and seoul, republic of south korea, and culminated as the presidential weather forecaster

at camp david, maryland. in 2006 captain nyelander did what few do. he earned his commission through officer training school and ended as a distinguished graduate. as a weather officer, captain nyelander held positions as a weather flight commander at joint base pearl harbor in hawaii and davis air force base in arizona. captain nyelander was most recently assign as the lead weather advisor for the afghanistan air force. his awards include the bronze star medal, the meritorious service medal, air force commendation medal with three oak leaf clusters, joint service achievement medal and air force achievement medal. he survived by his wife, son, daughter, two sons, and his father and mother.

these brave heroes are an example of what's best about our country. and while we mourn their loss we celebrate the freedom that they passed defending. so i'd say over the next couple years as we go forward and we debate really big issues near washington with and we have disagreement, never forget that we're all americans. that's the most important thing. so to the nine heroes and to those who gave their lives already, to those who continue to serve everyday, let me just humbly say, on behalf of everybody in the united states congress, on behalf of americans, on behalf of a republican and democrat standing here in the chamber, united on this, thank you. thank you for defending your country. thank you for being an example for generations to come. we mourn for your loss but now we celebrate the freedom that you defended.

and i yield back to the gentleman from louisiana. mr. richmond: thank you, mr. speaker. let me just have a one or two more fallen heroes that we want to -- and i want to make sure that people understand that this is just a short ceremony but from the heart for the nine people, 10 people that we had a chance to participate in their ceremony. and for private first class jonathan villnuveeow who was killed at the same time at staff sergeant matthew hermanson, but i want to take a minute to talk about master sergeant tara brown. she was born on july 21, 1977. she began her military career in 1997 at the air force base in japan. as an administrative clerk, quickly mastering her skills in

communications and embracing a love of travel and adventure. master sergeant brown completed assignments to germany, turkey, alaska, korea before taking charge in numerous high-level communications positions at andrews air force base right down the street. master sergeant brown's awards include the bronze star, posthumously, the joint service commendation medal, the air force commendation medal, with three oak leaf clusts, and the air force achievement medal with three oak leaf clusters. she is survived by her husband, earnest brown, father, jim jacobs, mother, gladys, brother, jim jacobs jr., and sister, laquanda jacobs. mr. speaker, i will tell you that during this service and when they talked about master

sergeant brown, they talked about her smile, they talked about her status as a newly wed. but more than anything, they just talked about her love of service and the fact that she was willing to give it all. so i wanted to make sure that we continued and we included master sergeant tara brown in our ceremony today, just to make sure that we don't forget any of our troops that we had the privilege and the opportunity to participate in their service and on their day. mr. speaker, i think that all of my colleagues, and i don't see them now, but i think all of my colleagues have exhausted their time and in making sure that they honor all of our fallen soldiers and this was just one thing that we thought we wanted

to do, to show the country that although we disagree on 20%, 30% of things in this body, and those 20% and 30% may be very gut wrenching and they may be very divisive and we may differ on how we cut programs, but every difference in principle is not necessarily a difference in purpose and a difference in our ultimate goal and that is to make sure that this country continues to be the best country on earth. so we, as just a small part of this august body and one that we're honored to be a part of, and we're honored to serve with so many senior members who have taken us under their wing to make sure that they nurture us and, mr. speaker, we can't thank you enough for that. and we can't thank congress and the american people forgiving us the opportunity -- for sb giving us the opportunity to go over and watch afghans as they start to patrol their own area.

i will tell you and i'm not sure if congressman shuster touched on it, but we're in an opportunity to patrol with a group of afghans and their elders. and one of the elders that was over was a very elderly man who was the commander of this police unit and they were protecting the entrance into this city and they had their checkpoint. while walking to the checkpoint, we saw a young man holding arms and protecting us as we walked and we stopped to talk to him. and then they pointed out to us that he lost his father and his brother in a fire fight just a week and a half ago while they were out patrolling. then as we talked to him just for a few minutes longer, he talked to us about the vision of freedom and he was all excited and his eyes were open very wide as he talked about why he was

still patrolling after his father and his brother's funerals,s, the fact that he a love for his country, for afghanistan, but also because he felt an obligation because we had so many troops out there fighting and dying, that we were joined at the hip because this was a very important goal and it's not just to bring freedom to us, it's to bring freedom to people awl all across this world. then as he was telling us that, he told us that just a couple of days before we got there, that his daughter drowned in a creek in their little village. so we're talking about a very young man who had tragedy three times in his life, who was still out there with his mg in the desert, in the heat, patrolling to make sure that this congressional delegation was safe, but also taking the time and we watched him talk to school kids and other things, but that's what makes this country great and the thing that united us all was the fact that

what makes this country great, we're inspiring other people so that they want to make their country and their town and their village great just like america. so you have people all across this world that -- and we can talk particularly about afghanistan because that's where we saw it. that we're going above and beyond because they have appreciated our effort to help them and they were committed to help themselves and they said, we are in it with you and we're going to sacrifice our life and our limbs just as those brave men and women in the united states are doing. so, mr. speaker, i want to thank you for allowing us to have this time to talk about the people we lost and i would just end with reading their names because i think that we can't give them enough. because they made and paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we could have the freedom that we enjoy and others could have it. and that was lieutenant colonel

frank d. bryant jr. major david l. broder. major phillip d. anbar. major raymond astell. major jeffrey o. osborne. oz as they called him. captain charles a. ransom. captain nathan j. nyelander. retired lieutenant colonel james a. macloughlin. sergeant tara r. brown. private first class jonathan vilanueva. staff sergeant matthew d. hermanson. mr. speaker, thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. i want to thank the gentleman from louisiana, mr. richmond, for his much-needed tribute and i want to thank you for recognizing those individuals, the defenders of liberty of this great nation. under the speaker's announced policy of january 5, 2011, the

gentleman from texas, mr. carter, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. . mr. carter: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, we just got off two weeks of working in our districts around this country and at least i held about 10 town hall meetings, i'm sure many of my colleagues held more. we talked about the debt an the deficit. one of the things that almost every one of these town halls insisted upon talking about was the high price of gasoline. this first exhibit we have here, this just gives you a comparison of what the gas prices were somewhere in the

united states, i can't tell where, january of 2009. $1.32, mid range $1.42, super, $1.52. here's a picture taken in april of 2011, regular, $3.99, mid range $4.09, the high powered stuff $4.19 a gallon. mr. speaker, the only party that can be blamed for this, unfortunately, is the democratic party under the leadership of barack obama, president of the united states. because of the vicious combination of the moratorium on offshore drilling and the devaluation of the american dollar through the administration's quantitative easing has resulted in the highest seasonal gasoline

prices in u.s. history. we have reached a point where if we don't pay attention, we're going to give up our ability to produce our own natural resources and buy all of our -- as the president said to brazil when he loaned them $2 billion or more, we would be glad to be good customers of yours when you find some oil out in the gulf. mr. speaker, this is a broken energy policy. in fact, this is no energy policy at all. we are quite aware now that we have found substantial reserves of natural gas. in fact, there were those who report that the production of shale gas in the united states could result in us having enough natural gas to operate in this country for at least 100 to 150 years at present or

projected usages. and yet, we seem to have roadblocks thrown up in front of that production at every step. due to a deep water accident, a terrible deep water accident in the gulf of mexico, the president put down a moratorium on drilling in the gulf. both deep water and shallow water, even though the shallow water had no massive oil leaks in the shallow water. so the gulf of mexico, one of the largest potential oil and gas fields in the world, was shut down for american production. not for chinese production, not for brazilian production, but not for -- and not for anybody who else had the ability to make a deal with cuba to get a lease offshore to drill, but

american production. they promised after they got all the cleanup done, they'd examine what happened and they would open up the and lift the moratorium. for the first time, at least in the state of texas, until the moratorium on drilling in the gulf, the state of texas was looking good for unemployment, still in the 6% range as the rest of the nation was in the 10% range. but when you shut down 250,000 jobs in the gulf of mexico, i don't know how many of those jobs were actually lost, but as a result that and other factors, we're now up in the 8% unemployment range, which is still better than the rest of the country but still a really direct cause of the moratorium on the gulf. and when the moratorium was lifted, they refused to issue

permits, but first, because the federal court told them to lift the moratorium they lifted that more toirm and issued a new one the next day. maybe two days later. which was, i would say, very much in ton kept of the order of the federal court. that federal judge made several comments about contempt of court and so finally, after years, the moratorium was lifted and another six months later, eight months later, a few permits were issued so the drilling could begin. remember this. barack obama when he became president of the united states, president obama promised hefts going to open up offshore exploration and enhance nuclear energy.

he failed to do both. the only energy policy he's dealt with is one we certainly need to develop but wind and other sources are not economically viable. this country is an energy-driven country. think of the amount of windows it would take to power up this room almost 24 hours a day. but we're for and i would say the great state of texas has the largest wint farm in the united states. so when it comes to energy, we don't shy away from any kind of energy in our state. we are an energy state. we've been producing oil and gas in the state of texas for i guess close to 100 years. going back to spindle top. -- to spindletop. we're not experts but we're as close to experts as you're

going to run into. i remember when i was 17 years old, my big desire was to go work on an oil rig because of the great pay those people got paid. my daddy wanted me to keep all my fingers so he told me i couldn't do it. i always wished i could. we don't think oil and gas are evil products, we don't think they are the curse of this country. we think they are the primary power source in competition with other power sources. of the petroleum age. and we think we do a good job of pr deucing clean energy and energy we think that is the cause of the great modern expansion of american government. remember, when we're talking about petroleum products, we're not just talking about power for our automobiles and power for your trucks and power for our power stations and all the other things we use with oil

and gas, we're talking about plastic, about life-saving chemicals, we're talking about clothing. there's a list of 100 different products, i can't even list them all, that have come from the production of petroleum. and now for some reason, we have an administration that treats petroleum and petroleum products like natural gas as if they were some kind of evil poison because of this issue which is unresolved of carbon iox side. -- carbon dioxide. we are sitting here on the verge of something that will ultimately shut down our economy. i can tell you from personal experience, because my wife sent me to the grocery store three sundays in a row and one of the things on her list was avocados. this is texas. we're pretty close to mexico, pretty close to california. two avocados cost $1.25.

the next week, she sent me pack to get two more. and they were $1 apiece. so i started watching those things. and holy cow, they've gone up three times since that first purchase of avocados aened you wonder why. maybe it's a crop failure or maybe it's the fact that the cost of energy is going up to power the trucks to power the diesel driven trains, to power the automobiles of america. as energy, gas prices go up, diesel prices go up, so does the price of the food. the two inflationary prices we see going forward are food and energy. this is serious stuff. i'm pleased to have a fellow texan joining me hear today,

blake farne that will, a new member out of corpus christi, texas, i yield to my good friend mr. farenthold as much time ooze he would consume. mr. farenthold: one of the pioneers in the oil and gas industry by the corpus christi industry, we've been a farming, ranching, oil and gas family since before i was born, since before my father was born, before my grandmother was born. it was my great grandfather. we can tell you as landowners, as outdoorsmen, as hunters and fish herbmen, the oil and gas industry is a clean industry. the men and women who work in the oil and gas industry are committed to the environment,

the landowners whose land is used for domestic oil and gas production are committed to making sure the oil and gas companies do a good job an keep their land in great shape. you know, you talk about offshore, too. corpus christi is home to some of the largest fabricators of offshore oil and gas equipment in the world. the port of brownsville has several industries, offshore oil and gas, and our fishermen love the offshore oil and gas rigs. they're where you go to fish. not fishing for sport but fishing the the fish you'll take home and fry and eat. they're clean and great for the environment. we had a horrible accident with the b.p. well. beaches in some parts of the country suffered with some contamination. it's the second time i that

happening in my lifetime. the first time it happened it was a blowout of a well in the gulf of mexico operated by the state-run oil and gas company of mexico. you know, not a whole lot happened with that one. we had tar balls coming up on the beaches of corpus christi, it was an annoyance, we took some wipes and wiped our feet off after you got off the beach so you didn't get it on your carpet or your car. but what we've done now as a result of the b.p. blowout is we've shut down the american oil and gas industry in the gulf of mexico while we've -- while the chinese, the brazilians, and the mexicans continue to drill in the gulf of mexico and there's not a thing in the world we can do to stop them or regulate how they do it. instead, we're penalizing our oil and gas companies in the united states. we're decreasing production that's available to fuel our cars to power our electrical

generating plants and to key ate the hundreds of products that rely on oil and gas. our focus is wrong. we should be looking for ways to increase production and increase safety and increase our ability to respond in the event there is another accident. we need to be training the coast guard, we need to be training the industry personnel, we need to be developing the technology to contain it and protect our beaches from oil and gas spills that may happen as a result of the act tiff -- activities of any country in the world. we have the opportunity tb the technological leaders in this an get our domestic oil and gas strbak on track and get the price of gasoline back down to reasonable levels. we're getting to $4 and $5 a gallon gasoline. that doesn't just ruin your summer vacation, it starts to ruin your life. you can cut down on driving, you can take the bus, you can take public transportation but