the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 192 and the nays are 235. the motion is not adopted. the question is on passage of the bill. ose in favor say aye. those opposed, no. , the ayes have it. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from colorado rise? ms. diget: madam speaker, i ask for a recorded -- ms. degette: madam speaker, i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: those favoring a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 251, the nays are 175. the bill is passed. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? mr. westmoreland: i ask unanimous consent that when the house adjourns today it adjourns to meet at 9:00 a.m.omorrow.thet objection.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. the clerk: leaves of absences requested for mr. bilirakis of florida for today and mrs. emerson of missouri for today and the balance of the week. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the requests are granted. the chair will entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee rise? mr. roe: ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized mr. roe: thank you, madam speaker, i rise today to pay tribute to all those affected by the devastating storms that ripped through tennessee and 12 other states last week. my thoughts and prayers are with the families who lost loved ones

and with those that must rebuild their lives after this terrible natural disaster. just as a people of tennessee came together last year, we will do so again. with heavy hearts, we will overcome our great loss with greater strength and renewed sense of community. i would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all the volunteers and rescue workers involved in the disaster relief efforts. even in the dark hours, efforts of americans like these should give us cause for hope. in the days ahead we will work to together ensure our communities have the resources to rebuild and will emerge stronger than ever before. my prayers go to those family members in our state and others who lost loved ones. it is a terrible, terrible tragedy and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. are there any one-minute requses

for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition. >> permission to address the house for one minute, revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker, i rise today to honor william bill schultz. he is an educator who has dedicated over three decades, 34 years to teach in maine, new hampshire and new york. upon retirement, he has dedicated his energy and tall especially to retirees. he served two terms as president of the teachers association in my congressional district. serving eight years in unit 12, bill was influential in organizing the council. bill's leadership, dedication, compassion and knowledge have had a profound influence on the lives of the students he has taught. the retirees for which he has advocated and the friends he has made along the way. in 1921, john cotton dana said

those who dare to teach may never cease to learn. bill will be honored later this month. i commend and con great -- congratulate him and stand as a model for countless others. after all, our future and children's future are only as good as those who teach them. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. are there any more one-minute requests?

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> address the house for one minute and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. we had a hearing yesterday in the judiciary committee, attorney general of the united states came before us and one of the things we discussed was the fact that in 2008, toward the end of the year, there was the biggest, most important terrorist funding case that was ever tried, conviction of all five defendants on 108 counts and now this administration has dismissed and is not going to pursue the evidence that the trial judge said was there to make a case against the co-con spiritors. instead, you can go to the white house web site and find their

deputy national security adviser is thanking the president of the islamic society of north america, which was one of the unindicted for his wonderful help in the white house and the great prayer he gave the year before. it's time to get foxes out of the hen house and let's hold people responsible who want to destroy our way of life. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. are there any one-minute requests?

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? >> permission to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i rise today to thank my colleagues for voting so overwhelmingly the no taxpayer funding for abortion act. america today is pro-life and the tread line improves by the year. on public funding a supermajority of well over 60% oppose public funding of abortion. clearly, americans get it and there is nothing compassion nature or nurturing about abortion, abortion methods, the actual deed of dismembererment, chemical poisoning is an act of violence against children. abortion hurts women. earlier today in the capitol we heard from a woman from silent

no more awareness campaign who urged passage of h.r. 3. she spoke of her abortion and spoke of the emotional agony and foted over 10,000 women have come forward and have now spoken out publicly against abortion each and every one of those women have had at least one abortion themselves and they talk of the ongoing and enduring agony of that abortion. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman yields back. are there any more one-minute requests? for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? >> ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. >> mr. speaker, when i drove to the airport to come out here this week, i recognized that gasoline was at $3.86 a gallon in my district and the last time

we got to these levels was almost three years ago in the summer of 2008 and we at that time came up with an all of the above energy plan, a plan that recognizes that what we need to do is expand production in the united states. we need to concentrate on conservation, we need to incentivize new forms of energy, but first and foremost in order to get us over the bridge, we have to make certain we utilize responsible resources that have been given to this great country. onshore splorgs and offshore, clean coal technology, oil shale and things that will decrease not screws the price of gasoline but decrease our reliance on foreign oil and make this country and the world safer. let's get to work all of the above energy plan on behalf of the american people. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. are there any more one-minute requests?

for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? >> address the house for one hour. without objection. the gentleman will suspend. under the speaker's announced policy january 5, 2011, the gentleman from georgia, mr. broun is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. broun: mr. speaker,

unfortunately what has become a time-honored tradition, the president and my democratic colleagues that are here in congress, find it more convenient and politically expedient to make targets of energy companies. these are companies who invest their own capital and resources to increase our country's energy supply in the security of our nation. they want nothing more to operate in a free market environment without excessive government regulations. however, in a move to deflect the spotlight from this administration's own failings and the democratic party's own failings and incompetent policies, this administration and many in congress find it easier to attack the success of the energy companies than to actually confront the challenges that we face.

often, espousing policies to increase government interference in the marketplace that do more harm than good. recently, companies like coke industry, who employs more than 10,000 people in my home state of georgia, contribute more than $700 million to our state's economy along with tens of millions of community and -- have come under attack by several democrats in this body and this administration just because coke's work and success provides for an easy red meat target to throw to their radical environmental friends. it's also a sad state of affairs when energy companies actually post a positive profit

report even though most of these profits go back into more energy exploration as well as clean energy development. i'm also sure that you won't hear media attacks on how those profits help boost the retirement accounts of millions of americans and put more into our struggling economy than any government stimulus program has or could. according to the new "washington post"/abc news survey out today, more than 7-10 americans are suffering financial hardship from the skyrocketing gas prices. in fact, we got a chart here tonight, first one in a series. this is gas prices, average

retail prices in america when barack obama took office. average price at that time was $1.84 per gallon. just as recently as january of 2009. little over two years ago. look what happens. as of april 25 of this year, the average price per gallon was $3.88 a gallon. . average price two years ago, $1.84, now, $3.88. $2 higher. it's over doubled in just two years' period of time. and gas prices don't just hit the price at the pump. i was talking with a member a few minutes ago and she told me she just fueled her pickup truck and it cost her over $100

to fill the gas tank of her pickup truck. she and her husband own a ranch. they're active ranchers out west. never before has she had to pay $100 to fill the tank of her vehicle. and i fill the tank of mine and it was almost $90 in my g.m.c. yukon that i use to make house calls as a medical doctor. this is unacceptable. our gas prices impact our imposery bills, job opportunities -- grocery bills, job opportunities, travel plans and thousands of other decisions that businesses and families make. in fact, according to an analyst from the cameron hanover, every penny increase in the price of gas costs consumers, american citizens,

consumers more than $4 million per day. one penny increase cost consumers over $4 million per day. folks, who are hurt the most by this? people who are hurt the most are poor people and people who are on limited income, our senior citizens. as the cost of fuel and gas and oil go up because of the misplaced policies of this administration. this winter fuel prices are going to be out of the roof. in fact, the president said while talking about his cap and trade bill not long ago, he said energy prices would -- to use the president's words -- would necessarily skyrocket for his policies.

necessarily skyrocket. under president obama the cost of energy has skyrocketed. that's what he said in a national speech. the national average price of gasoline, as just mentioned, was $1.84 when president obama took office. today it's $3.96. rising gasoline prices are hurting families and small businesses. it's costing jobs. in fact, i just talked to a manager of a restaurant in my hometown of athens, georgia, just this weekend and he was

telling me that when he orders food for his restaurant his suppliers are adding a fuel surcharge, fuel surcharge onto the cost of groceries, food for his restaurant. and that's happening in all the grocery stores. that's happening all across this country. it's threatening our economy and our economic recovery. while the new house majority's taking steps to address gas prices and help create jobs with the american energy initiative, the obama administration's anti-energy policies are driving up prices and they're threatening our economy by blocking american energy production. we've had a 16% decrease, 16%

decrease in american energy production under this administration. it's 16% lower than it was projected to be. future projections showed continued decreases in domestic production and more and more reliance upon foreign imports for our energy sources. particularly for gas and oil. we're getting those energy resources from countries that hate us, that hate our american free enterprise system, that hate the liberty we have here in this country. more than a 200,000 per barrel

decrease in the gulf coast oil production. that's according to a march, 2011, short-term energy outlook . production from the gulf of mexico is expected to fall by 240,000 -- 240,000 barrels per day in 2011. and further 200,000 barrels per day in 2012, a reduction. 27 billion barrels of oil is under lock and key in alaska. according to a fox news report, the e.p.a.'s refusal to grant production in alaska's outer continental shelf has a limited access to an estimated 27 billion barrels of oil. with alaskan oil production

already decreasing by 7% annually, continued delays could force the transalaska pipeline to shut down. what's that going to do to our cost of gasoline, heating oil, natural gas and all of our other energy sources? what's it's going to do to the cost of food? it's all going to skyrocket. more than 40 american energy projects have been stalled by this administration. as the house natural resources committee notes, 10 months after the obama administration's official moratorium on american energy ended, over 40 projects remain stalled and people are left without work. this administration's energy policy is killing jobs in the gulf coast as well as all over this -- on the gulf coast as

well as all over this country. we're sending american jobs overseas. 12 rigs have already left the gulf. before we change, let me go to this quote here from the chief regulator of u.s. offshore drilling. "even if we permitted the hell out of everything tomorrow, every pending permit, some permits that haven't even been filed yet, it would not have a material effect on gas prices," bromwich said. "that's the simple, clear reality." michael bromw imb ch is absolutely wrong. as soon as the first drill bit starts hitting dirt, our ocean

floor, you will see oil prices plummet in this country, in my opinion. why? because opec will get a message that we are going to produce our own energy resources here in america. mr. speaker, i submit any country that is not energy independent, if they cannot produce its own energy resources, cannot produce its own food and its own clothing, then it's not a secure nation. the american people need to know that we are not a secure nation today, and it's because of policies of this administration that are making us less secure. we need to go in the opposite direction of the direction we're going today, that this administration's taking us.

according to the director of the -- at least 12 offshore rigs have already departed the gulf gulf. resulting in a significant -- gulf of mexico. resulting in a significant lowering of energy production. in january the moratorium forced seven oil rigs to abandon the gulf and head overseas costing american jobs and forcing the u.s. to import more foreign oil. these rigs have left. you see where they've gone. nigeria, egypt, the congo, brazil, french guinea.

they are affecting jobs that have left with them. in fact, as many as 12,000 american jobs have been lost, and more than 36,000 jobs are at risk. i hear my democratic colleagues talking about jobs, jobs, jobs. in fact, we heard that just today in the science committee. one of my democratic colleagues talked about jobs is the number one issue. well, she's absolutely right. but it's her party's policy that are running jobs overseas. the this administration's policies that are making these rigs leave the gulf of mexico and go to nigeria and egypt and congo and brazil and french guiana.

according to dr. joseph mason, the obama administration's de facto ban, and it is a ban, he says he's lifted the moratorium, but they're not putting out the permits. he says it's a de facto ban on american energy production could cost as many as 24,232 jobs in the gulf coast and 36,137 jobs nationwide. . the first six months of the official moratorium alone has resulted in as many as 12,000 american jobs have been lost. they're gone. they've left the gulf coast and have gone into other areas and gone to produce energy. if you look at this chart, in the middle east, in africa,

south america and brazil. in fact, the president just sent billions of dollars to brazil for them to produce their own energy and create brazilian jobs at the cost of american energy and american jobs. it makes no sense. absolutely no sense. recently to a trip to brazil in march, president obama, quote, to help with technology and support to develop the brazilian oil reserves so america can become one of brazil's --

quoting barack obama himself, become brazil's best customers. he wants us to become brazil's best customer. how about those american jobs he is killing and his administration is killing? his energy secretary, dr. chu, couple of years ago said, we have to find some way to make gasoline prices in america the same as they are in europe. we'll talk about that in a bit. and remind the american people that the president himself said that energy prices under his policies that he's promoting, would necessarily skyrocket. he wants americans' energy prices to skyrocket, putting people out of jobs, costing all

these thousands of jobs, costing our economy millions and millions and trillions of dollars in all probability, eventually. certainly billions. he just gave a loan to brazil, $2 billion to produce jobs and produce oil in brazil, instead of producing oil in the gulf coast and off alaska. and the e.p.a. just denied energy production off alaska. it makes no sense. according to gulf coast residents said the president's policies already are helping make good on his pledge with

unoffshore company employee reporting that his, quote, employer is sending 100 vessels overseas to bra brazil to keep them working with those transfers go many americans' jobs, unquote. this administration's policies are destroying jobs. democratic party policies under the former speaker, ms. pelosi, majority leader in the senate, harry reid, are destroying jobs. destroying our economy. and they want more of the same. they want more stimulus, more government. less american jobs in the private sector, less american energy production. mr. speaker, the american people

need to know very clearly. they need to know the simple truth. they deserve the truth. the policies created by this administration, the policies created under the leadership of nancy pelosi and harry reid, are building a bigger government, destroying our energy. they are building a bigger government, even high prices for housing in washington, d.c. to destroy jobs across the country and the energy policies are going to harm the most vulnerable americans, poor people, people on limited incomes, our senior citizens. recently, president obama and washington democrats trotted out two blame-shifting strategies

that democrats have tried unsuccessfully to use in the past to deflect blame for their failed anti-energy policies. just last month, democrats recycled it -- use it, lose it argument which is nothing more than a hoax, political fodder they are utilizing. and i have heard it in our natural resources committee and have heard it on the floor of the house. the american people are sick and tired of this kind of political dialogue. americans are demanding all over this country, not only in the 10th district of georgia, my district, but americans all over the country deserve for this

nation to be energy independent. they're crying out for energy independence. the carter administration established the energy department to make us energy independent as a nation. the department of energy has failed, failed miss rably in that task and failed in that task under both democrats and republican administrations. now president obama is trying to shift blame to oil speculators, just as he did back in 2008. and this is in spite of the fact that as the "washington post," jennifer rubin notes, to quote her, quote, the administration's own policies that are contributing to yet another drain on the wallets of average americans, unquote.

"washington post" has not been particularly a conservative newspaper that has promoted conservative policies, but that's what jennifer rubin said. the administration's own policies are contributing to yet another drain on the wallets of average americans and she is absolutely correct in that assessment. and i commend her for saying so. earlier this month the house passed the energy tax prevention act, h.r. 910, to stop the obama administration from imposing a back-door national energy tax that will further drive up gas prices. president obama says he's going to veto that legislation providing -- proving that he

won't let skyrocketing gas prices get in the way of his administration's job-crushing, anti-energy agenda. regardless of the costs to american families and small businesses. i've got a small business that is in the timber business in lincoln county, georgia. the owner of that business recently told me he parked all of his trucks because he cannot afford to put fuel in those trucks. and that is -- has cost several jobs in lincoln county. lincoln county has an unemployment rate that's way, way higher than the national average. in fact, the state of georgia's unemployment rate was recently reported to be just over 10%. this administration's

anti-energy policies are crushing jobs, crushing small businesses, crushing family budgets. it's anti-american. house republicans are making strong efforts to create jobs and lower oil prices in this country. recently cnn did a poll and found seven in 10 americans support increased offshore drilling for oil and gas. seven in 10. i wonder about the other three in those 10. 45% strongly favor. here's a question.

they asked how americans feel about increased drilling for oil and natural gas offshore in u.s. waters. and here's how they responded. 45% said that they strongly favor us doing increased drilling for our own oil and gas in the gulf coast offshore. 24% mildly favor. 16% strongly oppose and 15% mildly oppose. now that 15%, 16%, i wonder if they looked at their checkbook. i wonder if they've looked at the cost of bread, milk, cabbage and potatoes in their grocery store, because the prices of

those goods that we all depend upon when we go to the grocery store, all of them are markedly affected by the cost of gas and oil in this country. increase in american energy production will help create new jobs. and it addresses the rise in gas prices. and americans know it. the house prepared to vote on legislation to boost offshore energy production, as i said, seven in 10 americans support offshore drilling for our oil and natural gas. it be longs to us, belongs to the american people, and we are being prohibited from tapping into that by this administration and democrat party policy. implementing a comprehensive plan to build a more stable supply of petroleum from our own

north american resources, along with reforms that end litigation , the endless litigation and reveal policies that artificially inflate costs will provide immediate relief to the price of gasoline. the market knows that more energy means lower prices. when president bush removed the executive moratorium on offshore drilling in 2008 as a good example, crude oil futures, by the speculators, fell more than $9 almost immediately. it's not speculators that's causing the rise in cost of oil. it's not the speculators who are causing the rise of costs of americans when they go to fill

their cars and pickup trucks but failed policies of the obama administration, failed policies by nancy pelosi and harry reid and their cronies here in the house and in the senate. we can create good jobs. we can insulate the economy from energy price shocks by actively producing our own energy resources here in this country. and we can do that. we must do that while we are good stewards of our environment. repealing federal mandates and the prohibitions that artificially drive up the costs of gasoline and stopping the e.p.a.'s back-door energy tax. they're trying to implement what i call tax and trade by e.p.a.

edict in a dictatorial manner when they couldn't pass that bill in the last congress and by halting the president's drilling prematorium as we call it and locking our own natural resources that god has given here in america, both on and offshore, all of these will help alleviate the pain at the pump, the pain at the grocery store, even the pain in the doctor's office and the pain of all the high energy costs and the pain of all the increased costs of every good and service in this country. house republicans are actively working to increase american energy production. in order to do a number of

things, to lower the cost of gasoline, to create american jobs, to generate revenue to help reduce the debt and this deficit, this unsustainable, and to strengthen our national security by decreasing our dependence upon foreign energy. particularly foreign oil. i mentioned just a few minutes ago, i believe very firmly that if a country is not energy independent it is not a secure nation. and we are not secure today. we must make america energy independent and we do that by developing our own energy resources, all of our energy resources. not only oil and gas but coal. we need to develop clean coal technology.

we need to look at alternative energy resources such as wind and solar and waives and all the things, we -- waves and all the things, we need to have research and development on nuclear energy and all the things that are cratecal for us to be energy -- critical for us to be energy independent as a nation. republicans' bills -- republican bills would create 250,000 jobs short-term and 1.2 million jobs long-term according to louisiana state university's joseph mason. we've got to create jobs. and the energy policies that this administration and our democratic colleagues are promoting are killing jobs, not creating them. republican policies want to create jobs.

under republican bills that we have introduced, one of which is h.r. 1230, the restarting american offshore leasing now act, we would expand american energy production and create jobs by requiring the secretary of interior to conduct oil and natural gas lease sales in the gulf of mexico. as well as offshore virginia. that have been delayed and canceled by this administration, by the obama administration. h.r. 1229, putting the gulf back to work act, will end the obama administration's de facto drilling moratorium in a safe, responsible, transparent manner. and it puts thousands of americans back to work, increasing american energy production to help address the rising gasoline prices that americans are facing every

single day. every single day. we see gas prices jump. and h.r. 1231, reversing president obama's offshore moratorium act, will lift the president's ban on new offshore drilling by requiring the administration to move forward on american energy production in areaing containing the most oil and natural gas resources. many organizations support the three bills i just mentioned. u.s. chamber of commerce, americans for tax reform, national taxpayers union, americans for prosperity, citizens against government waste, americans for limited government, national federation of independent business, the 60-plus association, american trucking association, and i can go on and on and on. and gulf organizations are supporting passage of the

legislation. it lists organization after organization. i won't continue with those right now because i've been joined by a good friend, a stalwart on this issue, who i think is probably -- who has probably done as much or more than any other republican member of congress to try to help make us energy independent as a nation. to help us create jobs here in america. my dear friend, john shimkus. i yield to my friend. mr. shimkus: thank you, congressman broun. it is great to be with you. i appreciate the introduction, you're too kind. but one thing i do know, if you want to create good paying jobs it's in the fossil fuel industry. and during this recession two of the biggest job engines for

organized labor is the production of a new supercritical coal-fired power plant. thousands of building workers building this power plant and hundreds of people who will be working this power plant and mining the coal with great wages and superb benefits. so if we want good, high-paying jobs in this country, the fossil fuel industry is one sector that can do that. the other major job engine next to my congressional district is an expansion of a refinery in wood river, actually it's in congressman costello's district, but we're right next to each other. thousands of employees, $2 billion project to help crack the oil that would come from the canadian oil sands. so you have thousands of jobs right now, you have another

supply decreasing our reliance from an ally with north american energy. great wages, great benefits, secure jobs, fol fossil fuel industries -- fossil fuel industries. i am just amazed at the continued attack on that sector by my friends on the other side and the whole debate about what drives the cost of energy, it's a simple formula, we all learned it in basic economics and accounting supply and demand. if you want to lower the cost of the good, you have to increase the supply. and we continue to demand more, in fact, we're going to demand 30% more in electricity generation by 2030 and if we don't marry that with an increased electricity generation, guess what? we're going to have higher cost. same as s true with liquid fuels -- same is true with liquid

fuels. we're in a very exciting time in this country because for the first time we really can make the argument that we could be independent of imported crude oil. by using what we're proposing is an all-of-the-above energy strategy. let these energy commodities compete for our purchase. one example is we dropped with some friends on the other side is an open fuel strategy so anybody can use anything when they pull up to a pump. but another manner in which you do that is you continue to allow all commerce to compete for electricity and you don't allow government to stifle the electricity generation or the electric wid fuel markets. so -- liquid fuel markets. i'll go quickly, i know you have some issues you want to talk about. in an all of the above strategy d -- in an all-of-the-above

strategy, we say, all of the above. if you want to use solar and wind, great, that's part of all of the above. small portion of electricity generation does nothing for liquid fuel, liquid transportation fuels, but it might add 3% of electricity. o.c.s., we got to be there. we've got new excitement in the shale, that's got to be an exciting new venue that can go for electricity generation and for liquid fuels. we've got fuel from coal, not just electricity generation but d.o.d., south africa for years has been turning coal, carbon-based coal into liquid transportation fuel or aviation fuel or as you know i'm very supportive of the biodiesel provisions. it all comes down to this. jobs. when we continue to add additional regulations on the fossil fuel industry, just what happened to these mine -- minors, they all lors their --

miners, they all lost their jobs. 1,000 of them in one mine. the attack by this administration and my colleagues on the other side on the fossil fuel industry has to stop and i know we're joined with another of my colleagues, i'll end with this because you hear on the floor quite a bit from -- i just want to pose the question, if you raise taxes on a commodity good, how does that lower its price? if you raise the tax on a commodity, how does that lower the price to the consumer? it cannot and it will not. it will only add the price to that energy. thanks for letting me join you and i'll return the time to you. mr. broun: thank you, mr. shimkus, i appreciate you and i appreciate your efforts over many congresses since i've been here, i'm in my third congress, as you know, you've been a stalwart fighting this issue all along and i appreciate the hard work that you've done for the people in your district in illinois and for this nation. so thank you so much for what you've been doing.

we've also been joined tonight by another friend of mine who has been very active in this issue, because he's from louisiana. he has been on the floor many times talking about the moratorium and the stuff that has been going on. this costs people jobs in his home state of louisiana and so i recognize my good friend, steve scalise from new orleans. mr. scalise: i thank the gentleman from new jersey for yielding. i appreciate the hard work that you've been doing for years, as i have, on this issue, appreciate the comments from my colleague from illinois who just talked about just what's happening here. and i think as you look and the last two weeks we were in our districts and i got the opportunity to go through parts of my district and when you talk to people about what's happening in this country with the economy

, the biggest question that comes up, beyond the short-term issues of the economy and jobs, is the high price of gasoline and just why is it that right now people are paying almost $4 if not $5 in some parts of the country, $5 a gallon for gasoline? and we're still not even into the heart of the summer. and it's clear as people look, it's very clear that the policies of this administration that have completely shut off our ability to produce, go and explore for and produce energy in america is one with of the main contributing factors to the high price of gasoline. and of course you don't have to go far in south louisiana to see the direct impacts because, as my colleague from georgia just pointed out, not only the moratorium that was imposed about a year ago, but the permitorium that we're still experiencing today where the administration won't let our people go back to work,

exploring safely for energy. people that had absolutely nothing to do with the b.p. explosion and the deep water horizon, people that were in much deeper waters, drilling safely back then, that now cannot go back to work. we've lost over 13,000 jobs in the energy industry in south louisiana in the last year specifically because of president obama's policies that have shut those areas down. literally run thousands of jobs, 13,000, by the white house's estimates, we think the number is much higher, but i'll just use the white house's numbers, 13,000 people in this country who have lost their jobs in the energy industry, high paying jocks, by the way, that have gone to -- jobs, by the way, that have gone to foreign countries. we track some of these deepwater rigs. the president brags he wants to drill in brazil. i would suggest, mr. president, let's drill in america safely where we know there are billions of barrels of oil here in this

country, where we can create thousands of high paying jobs, generate billions of dollars that the federal treasury would take in because of all that economic activity and the royalties that would be paid by those oil companies that would lower our deficit and yet, no, the president says, we want to shut you down and put your people out of work, but we want to go and spend our resources in drilling in brazil. this is the backward policy that this administration has pursued that has gotten us to this point where we're paying over $5 in some places in this country, $4 close to $4 in my district, for a gallon of gasoline and we're not even in the heart of the summer. so then when you look at what the administration's plan is, i mean, clearly our plan is we want to let our people go back to work. exploring and drilling safely for energy, creating thousands of good jobs, bringing all that tax revenue into this country to lower our deficit. but the president's a answer is, now, would you think maybe he'd

be agreeing with us on this, there is bipartisan support by the way to do what my colleague from georgia and i are talking about, but the president does not only -- not only does he not support our plan, but the president's proposal is to raise taxes on american energy. he goes out and i guess every time he speaks he wants to go and beat up on american industry and right now it's the oil companies. well with, frankly the oil companies -- well, frankly, the oil companies that are out there right now, many of them are producing in other countries, but other local producers, the small businesses, these aren't the big guys, this is the small businesses that are barrel hanging on by a thread, struggling to survive -- barely hanging on by a thread, struggling to survive, that he would shut down by raising taxes. his plan is to raise $22 billion in taxes on american energy production. . his plan doesn't apply to

foreign countries. his package that he has asked congress to pass, and i sure hope we don't pass it, his package not only raises taxes on american industry, that doesn't apply to the drilling in brazil, saudi arabia or some of these other countries that use that money to do things that are counterproductive to american energy security but our homeland security. the president wants even more jobs out of our country and increase our dependence on middle eastern oil. that's the president's answer, is to raise taxes on american energy, which means higher prices at the pump. by the way, we are already paying too much at the pump. gas prices has doubled since president obama took office. it's not just bad luck that gives us high prices, but bad policy that comes out of

washington, d.c.,. and that's why i appreciate the gentleman from georgia bringing us here tonight and voting on the legislation we will be voting on tomorrow that says, you know what, if people want to safely explore and produce energy here in america, we will he let them do that so we don't send those jobs and billions of dollars to countries like brazil and even worst, middle eastern countries that want to do us harm. the price of policy impacts the price we pay at the pump and reverse policies that make no sense that are coming out of this white house and get back to an all of the above strategy that allows us to utilize our resources that produces good, high-paying jobs and brings billions more into the treasury to pay down the national debt. and i yield back. mr. broun: i would like to ask

my question -- but we need to yield for just a minute. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from utah seek recognition? mr. bishop: i send to the desk a privileged report from the committee on rules for filing under the rule. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. the clerk: report to accompany house resolution 245, resolution providing for consideration of the bill h.r. 1229, to amend the outer continental shelf lands act to facilitate the safe and timely production of american energy resources from gulf coast and providing for consideration of the bill h.r. 1230 to require the secretary of the interior to conduct certain offshore oil and gas lease sales and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the house calendar and ordered printed. the gentleman from georgia may proceed. mr. broun: thank you, mr. speaker. the rules that were just

presented by mr. bishop from utah, from the rules committee are the two bills that congressman scalise was just talking about, that will start america, forcing actually this administration to start letting out leases and helping us to develop our own energy resources in america but i wanted to ask mr. scalise before he leaves, i'm on three committees, i'm on natural resources, i'm on the house homeland security committee, and i'm also on science, space and technology committee. today, i heard democrat colleagues talk about the number one issue in america. one lady said it's jobs, jobs, jobs. and i have heard it in our other two committees and heard it from

democrat to democrat. and i know the gentleman is on the energy and commerce committee and the question i wanted to ask mr. scalise, have you heard in that committee, one of the most important committees dealing with energy production, have you heard that same mantra from our democrat colleagues? has it been jobs that we need to be focusing on? >> i appreciate the gentleman yielding and you know this mantra that is thrown out there, frankly for over two years now, we have been clammering for policies that actually create jobs and then when we bring forward legislation, actual bills, not to run up the deficit like our colleagues on the other side, not to run more jobs out of our country, but when we bring bills to say stop the madness, change these policies and bring that work back to

america, create those jobs here, bring in that revenue here, they actually criticize us and say, that has nothing to do with jobs. mr. scalise: it shows they are out of touch and don't understand how job creation works in this country and haven't been tracking the history and tracking exactly what is happening all across america, but especially in using the areas around southeast louisiana as the prime example, i mean, you don't have to go any further than to go to southeast louisiana and see the job losses that are have occurred because of this administration's policies which has shut off american energy production and led to higher prices and led to thousands of jobs outside of america. we track those rigs, which is a $1 asset and you have an american employer who says, you know what? i can't do business in america,

i have to move it to a foreign country. one of those rigs went to egypt. we know what's going on in egypt right now. isn't it a sad indictment on this administration's failed energy policy that an american employer that says it's better to do business, to bring that asset over to egypt and take the chances over there because of how bad the environment is business-wise in america. by the way, that one rig and there are multiple rigs that have left, that one rig in egypt is representing high-paying jobs. it's a shame and shows the failure of this administration's policies and reason why one of a few, but absolute reason why american families are paying higher gas prices at the pump. we need to reverse the policy. i'm glad your committee passed legislation that we will be

voting on tomorrow, our committee, energy and commerce, we are working on many solutions. but at least we are putting solutions on the table saying, mr. president, you might want to raise taxes on american energy, but we have a different approach. the house republicans and hopefully senators will understand and push this issue. but our approach is to lower gas prices by increasing the supply here in america so we are energy secure and don't have to rely on middle eastern countries and don't have to send our jobs and billions of dollars to the middle eastern countries which jeopardize our security at home and i know you know about that, too. i yield back. mr. broun: absolutely, i'm not a good lawyer -- i'm a medical doctor. in law school, they teach you not to ask a question. and i don't know what your answer was going to be, but i

felt sure that you want to answer the way you did for the simple reason that we hear our colleagues on the other side, the democrats keep talking about wanting to create jobs, but their policies are destroying jobs, american jobs, private paying jobs. their policies are developing bigger jobs, bigger government here in washington, d.c., so much the only city in this country that prices have not gone down is washington, d.c.,, they have gone up. this administration, and nancy policy and harry rizz and their colleagues are -- reid and their colleagues are creating bigger government, more taxes go, more attacks on private sector jobs, more attacks on small businesses

and it's creating a bigger government, thus higher real estate prices here in washington because they have created government jobs. they claim all the jobs they have created, but it's government jobs what we are creating. we have an oil problem. i introduced h.r. 1032, the relief act, because we have excessive and frivolous lawsuits against our own energy production and it has significantly delayed, in many cases, preventsed our energy resources from reaching the american marketplace. the relief act doesn't stop people from having their day in court. but what it would do is it would allow the environmental whackos who are trying to stop energy production in this country by

having this endless plethora that would stop the permitting and the production. it would require that all lawsuits be filed within 60 days and that the course would have to have a determination on that solution to that case within 180 days. and that if the district court ruling was appealed, that it would go to the supreme court and the supreme court would have a ruling within another 180 days. it would also allow some relief from the frivolous lawsuits by allowing those who prevailed to get the prevailing party would be able to seek legal fees and

other expenses under the act. this is the kind of bill that we need to pass. and i have been asking members of congress to co-sponsor this because we need to pass this legislation. we hear from our colleagues, well, let's stop the subsidies to the big oil companies. i would like to stop subsidies to everything, including, including ethanol, which has not made sense. i love my grits and corn bread and makes no sense to drive down the road burning up my grits and corn bread in my yukon. it's destroying the engine and food prices in this country. we need to stop all of this. we need to stop developing our

own energy resources. mr. speaker, what can the american people do? they can contact their members of the senate and the house and demand that we start producing american energy. america is not secure as a nation because we are not energy secure. we've got to start developing our own energy resources here in america, all of them. we need to have an all-of-the -above energy policy and the american people have to demand that. former senator dirksen said when he teels the heat, he sees the light. the american people absolutely must contact their senator and congressman, senators and congressmen to say, we need american energy. we have to start developing our own energy resources, all of the american energy resources, coal,

oil, natural gas, wind, solar, nuclear energy, every single energy resource. it's absolutely critical. it's critical for us to lower the cost of american energy, lower the cost of groceries in the grocery stores and restaurants. lower the costs of all goods and services, by lowering the cost of energy production. make us secure as a nation. it's up to the american people to demand it from your member of congress, from both your u.s. senators as well as the u.s. house men. and if we get enough heat upon members of congress, particularly heat upon our democratic colleagues in the house as well as our democratic colleagues in the senate as well as on the obama administration, we can be a secure nation.

we can be energy independent. we must and it's up to the american people to demand it. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. under the speaker's announced policy of january 5, 2011, the gentleman from california, mr. garamendi, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. . mr. garamendi: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i want to focus on an extraordinary event that took place on sunday, that is american time, but before i do that i just want to take a couple of minutes having sat here listening to the last 45 minutes of discussion on energy policy, just a couple of things. the president is not suggesting that we raise taxes on fuel but that we eliminate subsidies to the oil industry that has received for a century american

taxpayers' support and those subsidies are no longer needed, give be the -- given the extraordinary profits that they are making and we ought to also consider that last year exxon mobil paid zero federal income tax. yet they had billions, bds 11 billion of profit -- about $11 billion of profit. second point, the oil production in the gulf of mexico is up this year compared to the previous year and even though there is more production of oil out of the gulf of mexico, we've still seen this spike in gasoline prices so the notion that somehow more drilling in the gulf of mexico will drive prices down is just not the case because we've seen more production and yet a spike in prices. finally, with regard to the bills that were just announced during the middle of this discussion, about drilling in the gulf of mexico, the

democratic party wants to make sure that that drilling is done safely, the president wants to make sure that drilling is done safely and what we have suggested, that when these bills come to the floor they be amended so that the recommendations made by the commission that studied the blowout on the b.p. platform, that those safety recommendations be put into the law. i guess that's not such a bad idea. but i want to just get that out of here just so we have some understanding about what was discussed over this last hour. but what i really want to do and i see my colleague, mr. clyburn from south carolina, here, what i want to do is to focus on an extraordinary and extremely important event that took place on sunday american time and monday pakistani time. the united states persevered for

a decade to get osama bin laden. the president of the united states, barack obama, was determined during his campaign for presidency and in the very first moments of his presidency that he would focus like a laser beam on getting osama bin laden. it took some time, it took an extraordinary effort by the tense community, by the military, by -- by the intelligence community, by the military, by this congress in providing the necessary support and by our colleagues in other branches of government to get the job done. it was accomplished and finally that banner on that aircraft carrier has real meaning. mission accomplished.

mission accomplished. osama bin laden is no more. the man that was responsible for the biggest mass murder ever in this nation's history is no more. president obama, we thank you. we thank the men and women of this military and the intelligence community that made this happen. we applaud the courage of all that were involved. and the wisdom and the determination to get the mission accomplished. let me now turn to our colleague from south carolina, mr. clyburn. mr. clyburn: thank you so much, thank you for yielding me the time, mr. speaker. i rise to give thanks to all those who played roles in the operation that resulted in the

death of osama bin laden. first and foremost, president obama, who came into office determined to renew the focus on osama bin laden and he has delivered. his gutsy decision to proceed with the raid as he did, as opposed to striking the compound from the air, will go down in history as one of the great presidential decisions of all time. next, the navy seals who carried out the mission, the unparalleled courage, dedication and physical and mental strength are truly awe-inspiring and were crurenl for the success of the

operation -- crucial for the success of the operation. we have been trying to eliminate the threat to our homeland since 1993 and the effort has continued unabated as the white house and the congress have switched hands several times. nothing can bring back the lives lost in the world trade center back in 1993, our embassies in nairobi, kenya, and tanzania, the u.s.s. cole and the twin towers on september 11. last sunday's events serve as a modicum of closure for many americans and should be a

reminder to those who wish to do us harm that america does not waiver in the pursuit of justice. god bless the men and women and their families who work everyday to protect our nation and its people. but before closing, i want to also thank c.i.a. director leon panetta and all the unsung heroes in our intelligence community who do their work anonymously and seldom receive deserved accolades. their families sacrificed immensely so they can serve our country. god bless the united states of america. thank you and i yield back. mr. garamendi: i thank you very much, mr. clyburn, for your heartfelt and very, very

appropriate words. the mission that was carried out was not something that came about just in a matter of days. it had been planned over the course of many, many years and with determination the intelligence community, led by most recently mr. panetta, worked tirelessly to track down osama bin laden. it took a great deal of time and many, many years, but ultimately succeeded in ways that the news media is now beginning to report . we can only give thanks and congratulations to that part of this mission and their determination and steadfastness to stay on the track, to follow

every lead and to find every stone that needed to be turned over so that ultimately success could be had in locating osama bin laden. i think we all now know a great deal more about the community, not large, but what was this strange new compound doing in that particular location? we found out precisely what it was doing and we took the steps necessary. i think all of us have seen pictures of the situation room at the white house with american leaders surrounding a table, looking at the television screens, watching in realtime what was going on half a world

away. i think all of us could see the concern on the faces of those leaders, the president, the secretary of state, mr. panetta and others who were there, who had spent their previous hours preparing for the mission and making a very difficult decision. they knew that this was an extremely risky program that could quite possibly fail. and i'm sure they had the failure of the mission that president carter ordered three decades before, to go into iran to rescue the hostages, and i'm sure that weighed heavily on their mind. but nevertheless the president made a very, very courageous decision to accept the risk of failure and quite possibly to

succeed in finally dealing with the mass murderer, osama bin laden. we must keep in mind it wasn't just americans who were murdered here on the shores of this nation but in pakistan and in other countries around the world al qaeda murdered far more people in those countries. i notice now that i'm joined here by my colleagues, i'd like to turn to my colleague from san diego, susan, if you would care to join us, thank you. mr. davis: thank you. i want to thank you for taking this time today. we know that the -- mrs. davis: thank you. i want to thank you for taking this time today. we know that the events that occurred just a few days ago were really the result of multiple government agencies

bridging together over a number of years, but today, at this time, i want to rise to honor one of our nation's finest fighting forces, our navy seals. my district is home to cored in aow where all seals undergo basic training as well as the naval special warfare command. over the years i've had the pleasure of meeting these brave young seals, who are willing to do a job that most of us would rather not even imagine. and quite frankly we can hardly imagine many of the things that they're asked to do. and the most amazing thing to me is they do this job so quietly. they really don't talk about their work. but you can see it often on their faces and the fact that they are very proud of what they

do and they are very proud to be americans. these men ask nothing in return for the work that they do, a quality that i certainly admire in them, not only among our special forces but among our brave men and women in uniform across the services. so i rise to say a very big and grateful thank you. you ably and swiftly removed one of the most heinous criminals this world has ever seen and i simply want to say thank you to our seals for a job very well done. and i'm very proud to represent you. thank you. mr. garamendi: thank you very much, representative davis. i share your enthusiasm, not too long ago i also represented san diego, but in a different role,

not as a representative but as lieutenant governor. indeed it is an extraordinary place and the naval forces that are such prominent part of san diego did play a role in this in many, many ways. i was trying to recall whether the aircraft carrier that ultimately did the final burial at sea was stationed in san diego. i think it was the san diego aircraft carrier. mrs. davis: yes. mr. garamendi: you have another example in the way in which the american armed forces in their many different ways, in the case that you talked about, the role of the special forces or special operations and the seals that actually participated, carried out the mission, and the aircraft carrier and then in between the air force and the army, all of them playing a role, it's an extraordinary example of the way in which our

military power properly focused on a very important task and able to carry it out. mrs. davis: i think the other thing that we realize and those of us in san diego are so aware of, our navy, but all of the other agencies that work well together, that's important. and over the years, it hasn't were successful and we read in newspapers throughout the country and have the opportunity to speak to the people who were key in carrying out this operation. that's something they are very proud of. but people came together on many different levels and quite honestly it probably would not have been possible quite a number of years ago, but it is today. and i think it's something, i hope that our enemy is paying

attention to because we are a lot smarter, a lot more capable of carrying out these activities and it does -- should make those who want to do us harm think twice. mr. garamendi: absolutely correct. and i thank you for your participation tonight in honoring and congratulating president obama and the special operations and american intelligence community what they were able to accomplish. i would like to turn to our new colleague, just a little less experienced than myself, mr. hansen. >> i want to commend president obama and national security intelligence team by taking out america's public enemy number

one, osama bin laden. while i believe it is important to work to eliminate terrorist breeding grounds and safe havens, because osama bin laden is now gone this is the time to reassess our mission in afghanistan. we have been spending in aid to afghanistan, approximately 100 billion. we could take a share of that money, a share of those billions , redirect it to the united states, to better protect americans right here at home, invest that money in homeland security for a sound intelligence, to better protect

our borders and also to support our first responders and what i'm talking about is our local police officers, our local firefighters, our emergency medical providers. they need resources now because state and local governments don't have the money to properly fund those operations. but they need money and need our support, because our local police and fire, that's our first line of defense against terrorism here in the united states. let's return some of that money here to protect americans here on the homeland because that's americans' tax dollars that we are spending in afghanistan. similarly, we spend billions of dollars in economic assistance to help rebuild afghanistan. i'm not taking great issue with that. but we could take a portion of that money to help rebuild our

cities, rebuild our manufacturing capacity. repair our roads and bridges. build industrial parks and new schools. we are doing all of this right now in afghanistan. we can do more of that right here at home for americans. so i want to thank again the obama administration for a job well done, taking out our number one public enemy. this now provides us with an opportunity to reassess how we are spending our money overseas especially in afghanistan, to redirect those funds right here at home. it's our money in the first place. we can create jobs if we invest some of that in manufacturing, invest some of that in cities like the city of detroit, by is the basis of our manufacturing capacity, industrial cities all around the country and we need the industrial parks and schools. afghanistan, yes.

we are building that infrastructure there. let's do more of that right here in the united states. that's how we can help all of us make it in america and that makes the world a better place to live. and just finally, the real homeland security comes from within. when you take care of americans and make america stronger, that's the best way to fight off terrorists. that's the best way to defend ourselves against a threat that comes from overseas. it's to make sure we are as strong as possible right here at home. let's return some of that money to help serve americans because again, it's american tax dollars in the first place. and i appreciate the opportunity to speak on these issues. mr. garamendi: your concern about the economy of detroit and the economy of the united states is very well founded. no doubt that the economic and

social strength of america is the foundation upon which every other aspect of the war on terrorism must be fought. we have to deal with our economy and you are quite correct about the allocation of resources. thank you so much. i notice that new jersey and rush holt, who has been a stalwart on dealing with the policies of protecting america in many ways, energy policy and the rest, has joined us. mr. holt, if you would care to join us and share your thoughts on this most important event, the elimination of the world's greatest mass murderer. mr. holt: thank you, representative garamendi and thanks for setting aside time tonight to recognize work by great patriots. when i heard the news on sunday,

my thoughts turned immediately to those harmed by bin laden's vicious attacks on our embassies, ships, planes, world center and the pentagon and the many thousands of deaths caused by the havoc he sowed. our hearts go out to those families. in central new jersey, we lost hundreds and hundreds of people on september 11. but we mustn't forget those who died in the embassies a couple of years before that, those who died in the wars that followed. middletown, new jersey lost more people on september 11 than any other single town except new york city.

they went off to work, not understanding that this evil was at play, that mr. bin laden was plotting just the most dastardly thing you could imagine. america's military and intelligence services demonstrated why they are known as the best in the world. bin laden's removal was not the end of the threat of terrorism against the united states. but his death represents a crip willing blow to the organization responsible for these many attacks over the last 13 years. it really is appropriate that we congratulate president obama and the dedicated and brave members of our military and intelligence services for acting as they did.

the president showed that he understands intelligence efforts and military operations. and the special forces showed that they have the skills and equipment like no others. the hunt for zawahiri and other al qaeda leaders will continue. i suspect that the information gathered in the assault on bin laden this week will speed that search. i spent a number of years on the intelligence committee here in the congress and learned a great deal about the dedication and the skills of the people that work behind the scenes. you know, when the united states began its military campaign in afghanistan nearly a decade ago, our goal was to bring to justice bin laden and other al qaeda

leaders that were responsible for the attacks. it's worth noting that the senior most al qaeda leaders have been captured or killed not in afghanistan, but in pakistan. that fact only reinforces my conviction that the time has come for the united states to begin a swift and orderly withdrawal of our combat forces from afghanistan. and i hope the president will heed the call of people all over the country and i would say all over the world to do precisely that. as we celebrate the courage and work of the special forces, we must talk about the intelligence services, where they combine enormous skill, brain power and perseverance and courage. they are only one intelligence leak away from losing all their work or sometimes their lives. now the fact that this has taken more than a dozen years since

the bombing of the embassies to track down bin laden and his evil operations, emphasizes the need for a full, reliable cooperation with other countries, not intermittent, sometime cooperation. it should have been america would have wanted the world would have wanted that this be completed sooner. so we need that international cooperation. this demonstrates it. as mr. hansen, our colleague, points out, though, the day-to-day protection of americans won't be done by special forces. it will be done by courageous americans who do the right thing day in and day out, our local first responders, the

investigators, that's how most, in fact, nearly all of the terrorists, potential terrorist attacks that have been beaten, undone, have been uncovered. so -- this is sobering to think about what we have in front of us yet, but we know we have good people working on it. we saw it this past week. and we celebrate them and congratulate them and our leaders for carrying it out. i thank you for taking this time. mr. garamendi: mr. holt, thank you very much. a couple of things about your discussion really struck me about being very, very important. you reminded us of the men and women that died, not only on september 11, the impact on the community that you represent there in new jersey and other

communities, but also the fact that men and women died in the previous attacks that were sponsored and planned by al qaeda. you also reminded us that there were men and women not of this country and other countries, kenya, tan zinnia, iraq and other countries that were the victims of the evil attacks that were planned and carried out by al qaeda. it's not just americans that were the targets of this organization. and you also reminded us of the importance of our own first responders and police and others here in the united states. we know that the reach of al qaeda is not just afghanistan, iraq, pakistan, it includes yemen and somalia and other

countries and america. that there are americans that have been radicalized by the message. we need to deal with that and address those individuals and organizations that may exist within our own country. thank you for bringing that to our attention. mr. holt: if the gentleman would yield. i would add, i would hope that this would bring the world closer together, the recognition that the killings, evil worked by this man affected many thousands, really hundreds of thousands around the world. i'm sure many of these people are grateful, the families of those who have been killed in other countries and so forth, are grateful for the actions of these brave americans. i hope that what this does is bring the countries of the world and the peoples of the world

more closely together in fighting such evil. mr. garamendi: if i might take it from there. you reminded me that in the newspapers here in washington and i think across this nation, there was what we call an op ed, an article that was written by the president of pakistan who congratulated president obama and the united states for ridding pakistan of a terrible problem. i thought that that was a remarkable article that he wrote. he noted that his own wife was the target of al qaeda, not once, not twice, but three times. the final effort resulted in her assassination. so the point that you made about bringing all of us closer

together to deal with terrorism wherever it may be and whatever rationale it may perceive itself to have is a threat to every peaceful person and every peaceful -- in every country that desires peace. point well made and well taken, mr. holt. thank you so much for joining us this evening. i would like now to turn -- and you are welcome to stick around after we hear from my colleague from the state of california, lois capps that represents the santa barbara region of the golden state. . mrs. capps: thank you, mr. gar mebbedy -- mr. garamendi. i rise to commend the many people involved in bringing osama bin laden to justice. from all accounts and from what

we heard from director panetta yesterday, it was a meticulously planned and executed operation. i commend the president and his national security team for their focus. when the president was running for office he said that if he were presented with actionable intelligence on al qaeda's leaders that he would act, with or without the host country's permission or assistance. he got some heat on that commitment, if you'll remember, my colleagues. but it's clear he was correct. the result is that the perpetrator of the 9/11 attacks has now been brought to justice and the organization he has led has been further weakened and i am so grateful to our colleague from new jersey, mr. holt, for calling to mind again, as all of us felt, as we heard the news of osama bin laden's demise, we were immediately, at least i was as well, reminded again of that

awful day, 9/11, and the image that -- where we were when we heard the news, how we were riveted to watching the horror unfold, explode in washington, d.c., at the pentagon and new york city and in shanksville, pennsylvania. and i acknowledge that this was a very -- a closure for those families who have suffered and continue to suffer. and a good thing that they have seen this person, this evil man, brought to justice. but it doesn't lessen their sorrow and their loss. and we're mindful of that and it comes back again to remind us that we have not by any stretch ended the threat of terrorism and we must remain vigilant. mr. holt talks about all of the new jerseyans who lost their

lives that day and it was concentrated in our metropolitan areas surrounding new york city, but these were transcountry flights and some of the passengers were bound for the west coast and some of them were my constituents as well as, i don't know about mr. garamendi, but others in california i know lost their lives and those families are still grieving. so my heart goes out to them this evening. but i want to acknowledge also the comments and the contribution from our colleague from detroit, mr. clark, who acknowledges for us all, which i am very mindful of, our need to remain vigilant includes our homeland security and that goes immediately to the role that our first responders play. and the responsibility that we have in this body to make sure that our frontline defense in our cities and our rural areas,

in our vulnerable places that we're all mindful of now with the heightened security because we know that this event that happened just so recently is going to have some kind of affect and we need to be even more on guard. but everyday we want and need our first responders to be there in our homes, guarding our streets and guarding our communities, making sure that we're safe. and we have a responsibility to see that they have the resources to do that. disrupting on the other hand, disrupting the operations of this murderous group is such an important step to safeguarding our country. but you know, mr. speaker, my main reason for wanting to contribute and add to this discussion this evening is what i feel is our important duty to pay tribute to these navy seals who pulled off this operation. and to thank them.

we don't know their names, we don't want to reveal their identities, for the safety of their families, but these brave individuals serve not for fame, not for tune, they do it in some of the most dangerous situations imaginable. they do this service for us. to protect our freedoms. they do it as they did this past weekend and on so many countless other occasions. so keep our country safe -- to keep our country safe. while we sleep, they are on watch. and for that we owe them such a huge debt of gratitude. and finally i believe that all americans are rightly impressed and grateful by the tireless work done everyday by members of our intelligence and our military communities. indeed it was that relentless hard work that tracked down bin laden and countless others of

his ilk, the dedication, the sacrifice of these men and women and that of their families has been so critical to keeping our country safe, it is the duty that's been particularly heavy in the days since 9/11. and, you know, it's easy for us to go about our life and to resume our normal ways of living but not for them and not for their families. and now, as this has occurred, we really want to call to mind all those who serve our country, at home and abroad, in the military, wearing the uniform, for love of country, for their patriotism and we owe them so much. their service in iraq and in afghanistan, whether we agree with the engagement or not, they are serving their country and this has been nothing short of amazing. i think of my own naval base where the c.b. shipped from and the work that they have done and continue to do reconstructing

the war-torn areas and assisting in the folks in iraq and afghanistan and rebuilding their lives. i think of the air force base which i am also privileged to represent. where so much of this intelligence comes from. as our operations are carried out with such precision and such skill. the multiple tours of duties, the extended tours, the time away from family and friends, the danger that goes along with every deployment, these burdens are quite frankly something that most of us don't think about enough. so much of what these brave men and women do goes unnoticed and uncommented upon. so tonight as we pay tribute to the courageous navy seals, who stormed that compound in pakistan, i want us all to recognize the daily sacrifices of all of their brothers and sisters in arms, in the

intelligence communities and serving in uniform. let us thank them for the service that they have given and do give to us, thank them for carrying out their duty to serve their fellow citizens every single day and thank them also for calling to mind for us that they do this not as democrats or republicans, they do this in service to their country and i believe that this action, such as we came together on 9/11, calls for us to join together in this congress and in this country, in a call to unity, to rededicate ourselves to serving our country. we have many pressing challenges today, our involvement in afghanistan is one of them. and it's a major one. and in iraq as well. but we have our own homeland, with our economic struggles that calls for us to work together as

well. so your desire to bring us together, mr. garamendi, makes me think about a great many things and again to say how grateful i am that we have taken this important step in our war against -- for freedom, against al qaeda, but for freedom and for this life that we can enjoy in this country. mr. garamendi: representative capps, thank you for your words. as you were talking, you were talking about families. and i remember a discussion you and i had just a couple of hours ago as we were sitting here in chamber and you told me about the birth of your granddaughter. mrs. capps: it's a grandson. little oscar walter, but you're absolutely right. mr. garamendi: congratulations on that. our own 10th grandchild was born just eight months ago. and i was thinking about the -- about them in the context of what's happened this last week. and about what we here in congress, the people's house,

representing 350 million, 360 million americans, about the task that we have to assure that those children of the next generation, that they will have a world that is peaceful, safe in which they can live out their dreams as we have been fortunate enough to do ourselves. i notice that an extraordinary woman like yourself, mrs. capps, has joined us, representing the great state of texas, sheila jackson lee. i think you would like to make some comments on the subject of the extraordinary courage that our president and our intelligence and our military have displayed this last few days. ms. jackson lee: i thank the distinguished gentleman from california and would say to him,

what a contributor he has been to really improving the lives of all americans. i have enjoyed coming to the floor and engaging in important discussions on behalf of our colleagues. really, we are speaking to our colleagues. and we hope that all of those that are represented by the many colleagues here would realize when with we are on the floor we're trying to help set policy to improve the lives of americans. we travel just two or three days ago to another exciting venture and that was of course the set time for endeavor to launch into space. and i think it connects very well with. i enjoyed meeting your wife and having discussions about how great america is and as well knowing that our dear friend and colleague was able to travel, congresswoman giffords, and that

a texan, her husband, was going to be the commander of endeavour. we look forward to it going. but i mention that because of course many of the restaurants or military personnel -- are military -- restaurants are military personnel and i can remember -- astronaut are military personnel and i can remember when president kennedy challenged us to go into outerspace which seems like a fiction but was real. no sooner or no later than 1969 we landed on the moon. this is a great country. and we have the ability to be resilient and persistent and, you know, as all of us reflect on where we were on 9/11, and i know that you could say where you were, we were right in this place, we were meeting and huddled around issues, i remember it as clear as day, small business, we were not on the floor but we were huddled in a room right underneath this chamber, discussing how do we help small businesses?

and all of a sudden we hear heard such a sound, such a -- we heard such a sound, shutch a shrill, get out of here, it was something we never heard before. but you would have thought in that experience, a 21st century experience, that america would have been brought to her knees. that was the intent. it was to put us in such panic and such intense depression that we can never rise again and many of us who have flown into new york over the years always remember the very special effort, if you will, or the special view of the two towers. so, come now almost 10 years later, 2011, and as each president talked about making sure that they would find osama bin laden, even as president clinton experienced the first world trade towers bombing in 1993, and he responded, and even

as president bush made the comment of going to get him, we're so grateful that in all of those disappointments of not finding osama bin laden that america never gave up. so today i am delighted to join you to salute and honor all of the principals that were involved. president obama, his national security team, the joint special operations command, jsoc, the navy seals, and all of the courageous men and women of the united states military, as we rerp detailed this very intricate and -- as we were detailed this very intricate and very, very difficult and dangerous mission, how proud we were to understand the willingness of the navy seals, to sacrifice or to stand up and say, let me be counted. i'm hoping that we will have an opportunity to debate a resolution on the floor of the house. i'm hoping we will be able to do it in a bipartisan manner, i've

introduced h.res. 240 with 50 members of congress now joining in and asking for what might be a waiver this one time to allow us on this historic opportunity to debate on the floor of the house as our friends have in the other body. but even as we speak tonight and i want to thank our leader, congresswoman pelosi, for having the insight, knowing that members wanted to come and to express themselves. let me quickly say these words as i come to a close. i like this comment. the world is safer without bin laden, says president obama. then this other comment that i think is so very important, speaking about this nation and recognizing how we have never given up, the president has indicated that this is a

country that is continuously resilient and as we are resilient, even in the face of obstacles in the continued threat from the u.s.s. cole that happened, from the bombing in africa, the embassies that were bombed, all of those incidents and we never gave up. it's important for america to know that there were voices who opposed decisions that were made and not in any way to be negative but they doubted what was being presented. this was not an easy decision. this was a courageous decision. this could have been a calamity. this could have been the worst decision that one made. but fortunately, there was a president that had a team that came together on behalf of the american people they acted bravely, courageously, with sensitivity, astuteness, talent, genius and i'm so very proud to stand on the floor

today to offer to the american public my outpouring of congratulations to each and every one. i close with this. i don't know all of the facts but i understand that one of those actors, one of those military personnel may have been the child of an immigrant family. how great america is to be able to -- a recent immigrant family. how great it is to be able to take those young people who love this country and let them serve this country. mr. president, in finality, never give up. never give in. and never give out. you are serving the american people and as commander in chief we salute you. to all of those who worked, the military, the national security team, the intelligence community, jsoc, secretary of state, secretary of defense, and others not named, we thank

you because we realize that you stand in the shoes of those men and women that are forever brave. to their families i say thank you and to this leadership i say thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: thank you very much, ms. lee. your comments are so well taken -- mr. garamendi: thank you very much, ms. lee. your comments are so well taken and so well said. i was thinking about the situation room and what led up to the time when the program was being carried out, the extraordinary and difficult decision the president had to make but it was a decision he had made months and years earlier when he spoke to the american people as he was asking them for their vote to become president, that he was going to focus like a laser on the man that caused the problem. that he was going to go wherever it may take and do whatever is necessary to settle

the score. and to bring to justice osama bin laden. and when the moment came, when the information was presented and all of the potential disasters that could occur, international relationship issues, loss of men and even thinking back on the jimmy carter incident in tehran, he stuck by his guns with determination and completed a mission that was accomplished. as you and i -- as you were talking and i was listening to your very fine presentation, i noticed that an extraordinary leader had joined us here on the floor of the house. a leader who in her own way set a very unique circumstance for america. the very first woman speaker of the house, who led this chamber

and this nation to accomplish tasks that had not been accomplished for the previous 40 years but which were highly desired by the united states citizens, that is, a health care plan. that would provide service to nearly every american. wall street reform. women's rights in the workplace. it's been a privilege for me to join during the time she was the speaker and now she is the leader of our caucus, congresswoman nancy pelosi. ms. pelosi: i thank the gentleman for yielding and for his kind words. i thank you for yielding your special order that you have practically every night that congress is in session to talk about jobs for the american people to instead allow us to use this time to come to the

floor to say hail to the chief, congratulations and thank you president obama. all of -- many of us in congress come together to -- in appreciation for your leadership, your determination, your commitment of resources in the fight against osama bin laden. i'm pleased to join so many of my colleagues who have come to the throor to express their appreciation for that historic achievement. we all know the death of osama bin laden is not the end of terrorism but it is a significant step. it sends a clear message that the american people will pursue justice. i'd also like to express my gratitude to our former colleague, congressman but now director of the c.i.a., soon to be secretary of defense, leon panetta. he was tasked by the president and named by the president in

his remarks on sunday evening as the person who had the responsibility to get the job done. our colleague, congresswoman jackson lee, has referenced the entire national security team, some specifically i want to associate myself with her comments in that regard. the president's national security team, the special ops team, men and women in uniform and our officers in the intelligence community. it's a testament to their professionalism, their precision, their talent, that no american lives were lost in this action. but it is, again, indicative of, again, their contribution that they and their families make to help us uphold our oath of office, to protect and defend. that's what we take in our oath of office to do. we recognize that this achievement was not just the goal of president obama who

said as candidate obama and as president, if i have actionable intelligence on the whereabouts of osama bin laden, i will act upon them and act upon them he did. i called both president -- former president george w. bush and president clinton to thank them for their work in this regard after -- in the 1990's, president clinton declared osama bin laden america's public enemy number one. he saw that danger long before 9/11. and of course 9/11, following that, president bush tried to pursue osama bin laden. and their work was important. but i am here to commend president obama in particular for the tissue for carrying out, executing the plan to get it done in recognition of the foundation that was laid by

president clinton and president bush. when we think of why this is important and the symbol that osama bin laden was and why this -- bringing this closure is important, we are venturing onto sacred ground. 9/11. shocking act of terrorism that affected our country very, very deeply. but none more deeply than the families who were affected by 9/11. we can never make them whole. we can never make up to them all that they have lost. but i hope it is some comfort to them that at least this has happened, however long it took. they turned -- not turned their grief but used their grief for the greater good at the time by supporting a commission to

investigate -- the 9/11 commission to investigate and why this happened so it would never happen again and endanger the lives of the american people. so i commend the 9/11 families for their sacrifice, yes, for their patriotism, and for what they did to make a difference as we go into the future. who knows, maybe the work of the 9/11 commission contributed to the success of this operation as well. i know that our time is running out and i just want to close by, mr. speaker, saying our colleagues in the united states senate unanimously passed a resolution to honor those who so successfully carried out this mission and i'd like to associate myself with the language of their resolution. it says in part, the death of osama bin laden represents a measure of justice and relief for the families and friends of the nearly 3,000 men and women who lost their lives on september 11, 2001.

the men and women in the united states and around the world who have been killed by other al qaeda sponsored attacks. the men and women of the united states armed forces and inteblings community who have sacrificed their lives pursuing osama bin laden and al qaeda. as they said, the death of osama bin laden represents a measure of justice. with gratitude for this measure of justice, i again hail the chief -- hail to the chief, president obama, for his great work. thank him and congratulate him and all who made this historic achievement possible. with that, i yield back the balance of my time to the gentleman. mr. garamendi: thank you, congresswoman and leader pelosi, i'll say speaker, is that ok. thank you for your leadership. thank you for your remarks. we have a couple of additional members of our caucus who would like to speak, i think we have

the next hour, it'll be claimed and i believe that it'll be available, so we are out of time at this point. i'll simply wrap up with these three or four words and that is, it is with gratitude that i and my colleagues congratulate all who were involved in bringing to justice osama bin laden. job well done. mission accomplished. thank you very much, mr. speaker. i yield back the remaining time. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 5, 2011, the chair recognizes the gentleman from louisiana, mr. richmond, for 30 minutes. mr. richmond: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to yield as much time as the gentleman may consume to mr. ruppersberger.

mr. ruppersberger: thank you for yielding. i yield myself such time as i may consume. it's an honor to serve as the ranking member of the intelligence committee. the killing of osama bin laden is the most monumental achievement in recent memory. he was a terrorist leader responsible for killing thousands of innocent americans, moms, dads, brothers, sisters and loved ones. bin laden was the threat to the united states and a threat to the world. he has had the blood of thousands of people on his hands. as we all know, 9/11 changed america forever. over the weekend our military and intelligence professionals took extraordinary steps. they worked together as a team and killed the al qaeda leader. it was a risky mission executed with intense training and a high level of skill. these professionals risked their lives to keep our country safe and no americans lives were lost. the men and women who carried out this operation exemplified

the extraordinary courage of those who served our nation. the countless intelligence and counterterrorism professionals who pursued bin laden for years had the satisfaction of a job well done. applaud them for their persistence and professionalism. it was a great day for america. justice has now been done. let it be known, we have shown the world if you come after americans, we'll come after you. even if it takes disciplined persistence and considerable time and resources we will get you. let that be a warning to all members of al qaeda and any terrorists who attack the united states. our fight is against terrorism. we have severely weakened al qaeda. we will remain vigilant as we continue to work tirelessly to protect our nation. thank you and i return the balance of my time. mr. richmond: thank you, mr. speaker.

mr. speaker, i'm going to start something tonight in an attempt to engage more of our american people in the process and, mr. speaker, i know that you know that it's no secret that america is still emerging from the recent economic downturn. we're still -- we still grapple with high unemployment rates and our national debt. we're doing better than we were doing two years ago, but we have to do much better and we will do much better because we are americans. that's our history, that's what we do. we persevered through the great depression of the 1930's and the depression of the 198s to. and the are -- 1980's and the recession of yesterday. we persevered through hurricanes, through floods, through tornadoes. we mourn together and persevered through the assassinations of john f. kennedy, through robert kennedy and martin luther king. we persevered. in addition i personally remember the attempted assassination of president

reagan. i remember writing president reagan get well note in the second grade. i even remember getting a note back saying thank you. we persevered again. 50 years ago today an interracial group of americans -- americans left washington, d.c., on a bus trip to new orleans, with the goal of desegregating bus terminals. they were the first freedom riders. they never made it to new orleans. they were beaten and bloodied throughout the south. but they sparked off a moment -- movement of over 300 freedom riders with the same goal and perseverance. eventually our nation repudiated secretary gation and embraced equality -- segregation and embraced equality. we persevered. if we're going to shake off this economic downturn, we need to embrace the freedom riders' spirit of perseverance and dogged determination. that is so very american. america will only rise up again

on the strength of our collective ideas. americans make up america. the people make up the nation. and it is the people who will keep this nation great. mr. speaker, the u.s. house of representatives is the people's house. and it's time that we listened directly to the ideas from the people. mr. speaker, i'm inviting the american people to join in this conversation. here's how to contact me. here's how to talk to me, here's how to talk to congress. you can email me at myidea @mail.house.gov and again that's myidea@mail.house.gov. that's because i want to hear your ideas. or you can go to facebook and follow me or leave a message on the wall or go to facebook, contact me, or you can follow me, i'll follow you on twitter so we can have a free exchange of ideas.

and, mr. speaker, i want to give credit where credit is due. you in the house republicans last year launched youcut, based on a similar idea and i applaud that again. youcut requested that americans identify what funding they want cut from the government's budget and i'm glad that you engaged the people but i think we need to go further. we should and must request that americans share how they feel about everything. what bills do they want us to champion, what laws do they want changed, what programs do they want extended or ended? mr. speaker, under house rules i unfortunately can't directly address the american people. i must address my comments to you, mr. speaker, however if i could speak directly to the american people, i will request that they send me their ideas for how to keep america great.

i will request that they send me their thoughts on whatever they want to talk about. mr. speaker, the american people can again email me at myidea@mail.house.gov. i'll lead a conversation with the american people in which they will be an active participant. i will bring your thoughts up here and i will talk about them. i will engage you and congress so that people can read what you write and read your ideas. i will also put your name on it. i don't want the credit, i just want a better country for our seniors and for our children. every couple of weeks, while the house is in session, i will make sure to come down here and start this conversation with america, again, although it's a conversation by me, alone right now, and i would suspect that we will get other colleagues

joining in the conversation as we get other americans joining in the conversation. but right now we're going to stop and i want to talk factually for a second about our financial situation. and i want to do it as nonpartisan as i can and not lay blame on you are with party, one president, i just want to talk about -- blame on one party, one president, i just want to talk about where we are and we can start with recent history. according to the u.s. treasury, when president clinton took office the national debt was $4 trillion. and $188 billion. when president george bush took office, the debt was $5,728 ,000,000,000,000. remember, the total debt is the sum of our accumulated annual budget deficits. so it shows a history of

out-of-control spending. so what is our current budget deficit? last year the government spent about $3.5 trillion and collected $2.1 trillion in revenue. the deficit was right at $1.2 trillion. the nonpartisan congressional budget office estimates that this fiscal year's budget deficit will be in the neighborhood of $1.4 trillion. the deficit for this fiscal year is projected to be higher than that of last year due to increases in mandatory spending and less growth in revenues as a result of the temporary payroll tax reduction as a part of last year's bipartisan tax deal. so here we are, mr. speaker, the total amount of u.s. debt today is in the neighborhood of $14 trillion. and the current debt limit is $14.294 trillion. the department of the treasury

estimates that the debt will reach very close to this limit the week of may 16. at which we will be forced to do some courageous things to avoid jeopardizing the full faith and credit of the united states of america. so, what is the big picture? well, the fact is over the last several years the u.s. experience and imbalance between spending and revenues. as a result of the recession, we spent much more than we brought in. i would like to point out that our recent spending spurred hiring in the private sector. it also provided small businesses with unprecedented tax relief. it helped homebuyers purchase homes in this tough market. it helped police, teachers, firefighters continue to get paid. and it helped cities and towns across america weather this financial storm.

last monday night, while leaving afghanistan, i was having a conversation with a colonel in our armed forces and i was talking about this special order and i was going back and forth with him about his input and ideas to how they engage people and he volunteered to be the first person to start the conversation and to pose a question answered didn't really have much of a comment but he wanted to pose a question to the american people. and his question was very simple and it dealt with how big and what we do as americans. so right now i'll start with his question and that was, as americans, what do we have, what do we want the government to provide and how are we going to pay for it? and i think that that's a very

basic question but it's at the heart of the debate from both democrats and republicans and independents. so that's what i think that we will start tonight with, mr. speaker. if i can ask the american people a question, i would request them to tell me how they feel about that statement. what do we have? what do we want the government to provide? and how are we going to pay for it? everyone agrees that where we are now is not where we need to be. we're dealing with big issues that demand big solutions. we have an aging population, rising health care costs, crumbling infrastructure and uneven educational outcomes. fortunately for us america does great things. i believe that we can find a balanced approach that --

combines some reductions in spending on some programs. but combining that with increases in revenues for those who are most able to afford it and other policies that would promote faster economic growth like during the clinton era. the current budget proposals, both the president's budget and the republican budget proposed by congressman ryan, don't exactly get it right. they both leave room for improvement. we have to get this right, mr. speaker, and the only way that we can get this right is by both parties working together and sacrificing. we know that the american people don't want to underfund education or investments to grow the work force. we know that they don't want us to sacrifice our long-term global competitiveness for

short-term gain. americans believe that we can walk and chew gum at the same time. mr. speaker, we can invest in tomorrow and still get our fiscal problems and our fiscal house in order. how do we move forward? there are a number of options, but one thing is for certain. we should be honest about the tax burden currently faced by americans and i want to briefly show you another board which we're not making any proposals but we want to talk about, for a second, the affect of tax rates and the congressional budget with office just finished completing an analysis, in fact, they finished it in 2010, about the affect of tax rates which is the actual average rates of taxes paid. and what we're going to look at today is the taxes on the top earners were far lower than the

top tax rates. the tax rates for the top earners in this country are right at 35% of their income. well, when you look at the deductions and legal deductions and policies that we set as a country, those tax rates are far lower than 35%. the top 10% of earners represent approximately 12 million households in this country, paid an average tax in the neighborhood of 16.2%. now, after paying taxes their average income was $289,000 and let's look at now the top 5% of earners which only represents 5.9 million households. and they're taking home an average post tax, after tax, income, of $440,500. and they're paying an effective tax rate of 17.6%. so you can see that when you

look at 16.2% and 17.6%, those numbers are far below the 35% that's in statute. now, when we get to the top 1% of earners in this country, representing only 1.2 million households, they took home an average after-tax income of $1.3 million. while paying only a 19% individual tax rate. so they fall right at 16% under the tax rates that are on the books. and again i'm not proposing what the numbers should be. but what we do know is that the top number is 35% and the lower three numbers are 16.2%, 17.6% and 19% as the effective tax rate. so the question to america, the question to this congress, mr.

speaker, is, what's the appropriate number if we're going to continue to pay down the debt, stop running deficits, but at the same time continue to take care of our seniors and invest in our children, do all of those things that continue to make this country what it is? the next thing, and i'll talk about, so what is the biggest takeaway from these facts? it's about sacrifice. what are we willing to sacrifice to do the things and the allow government to do the things that government should do? what are the sacrifices we will make to take care of our seniors, to take care of our children, to invest in innovation, to protect our homeland, to spread democracy and to do all those critical things that we want to do? these are the facts, mr. speaker.

i urge the american people to draw their own con cluges based on the facts. not on political rhetoric but from the facts. as i've laid out our debt situation, i would ask that you send me your ideas on what you think the numbers should be. this is the people's house. we see how they feel in the polls, but we need to hear their stories directly from them, mr. speaker. i request that the american people send me those stories. tell me about their hardship. tell me if they think they're paying too much. but give me a specific example. tell me how that tax rate, that tax liability, that tax burden affected your family. i want to know. i think congress wants to know. we don't presume, and i certainly don't presume to know everything. i think it's very critical, and my grandmother told me a long

time ago, mr. speaker, smart people know what they know and know what they don't know. i'm telling you today that i don't know everything and i'm willing to listen to the people that do. so after all, we need everyone's creativity, every's inventiveness, everyone's ideas if we're going to keep this country great. this is america. home of amazing structural feats. the san francisco golden gate bridge in california. the hoover dam on the arizona and nevada border. mount mush -- mount rushmore in south dakota. this is america one of the most inventive nations in the world. we brought the world bifocals and the modern suspension bridge, dental floss and the doorbell. the airplane and peanut butter. america brought the world the defibrillator and the traffic

light. digital recording and the super soaker water gun. the artificial heart and the personal computer. this is america. a nation of firsts and a nation where an inventive spirit reins from sea to shining sea. this is america where we do big things because we have big ideas. as president obama said in this year's state of the union address, we're not a nation that says, i might not have a lot of money, but i have this great idea for a new invention. i might not come from a family of clebling graduates but i will be the first to get my degree. i might not know those people in trouble, but i think i can help them and i need to try. i'm not sure how we'll reach that better place beyond the horizon but i know we'll get there. i know we will. we do big things. and those were president obama's words from the state of

the union in which he laid a course of where we are, where we need to get to an why we all know we'll get there. so mr. speaker, again, i wish i could directly address the american people. mr. speaker, if i could, again, i would invite them to reach out to me on facebook, on twitter, or by email, email me at myidea@mail.house.gov. we've been through rough patches before and got through them because we're americans. we'll get through them because we're americans. our perseverance, ingenuity, work ethic are unmatched. we're going to get through this because of our people. mr. speaker, last week i had the opportunity to travel to afghanistan and over there, i just want to say that the

energy and the optimism in our troops was unmatched. they were representing america. they were representing what that flag stands for. they were representing the sacrifice that stands in this country's history. we didn't always get it right since our founding. but we've always, always made it a goal to strive to be a more perfect union. and i hope that through this conversation we will continue to pursue being a more perfect union. i want to take a side -- a detour for a second and just thank the new orleans hornets and thank their g.m., danny dickerson who when they found out i was going over to afghanistan to visit with some troops, they sent care packages and t-shirts and stickers and magazines to our troops because they understood the sacrifice that our troops were making and

wanted to make sure they participated in saying to our louisiana troops, thank you. job well done. we appreciate your sacrifice. so mr. speaker, tonight, thank you for allowing me the time to have a conversation with you about what i believe the american people stand for about the greatness we have inside ourselves, about the great things i know we can do when we stand together and thank youing mr. speaker, for allowing me to invite the american people to participate and become their own representative in this congress and talk about their ideas and express their desires, their wishes, what they're willing to sacrifice and those things we think they need to do. i yield pack, mr. speaker. -- i yield back, mr. speaker.

mr. richmond: i move that the house adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it.

announced this decision at the start of today's news briefing. here's that part of the briefing. >> ok. good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. before i take your questions i'd like to say to you that the president has made the decision not to release any of the photographers -- photographs of the deceased osama bin laden and rather than -- or rather

first i will give you the language the president used when he was recently interviewed about an hour ago to explain his decision. this is an interview with cbs "60 minutes". the president was asked, he said that they were discussing when bin laden's body was taken out of the compound, the president was asked about how they knew it was him. and he said, when they landed we had very strong confirmation at that point that it was him. photographs had been taken, facial analysis indicated that in fact it was him. we hadn't yet done d.n.a. testing but at that point we were 95% sure. question, did you see the pictures? the president, yes. question, what was your reaction when you saw them? the president, it was him.

question, why didn't you release them? the president, we discussed this internally. keep in mind that we are absolutely certain that this was him. we've done d.n.a. sampling and testing and so there is no doubt that we killed osama bin laden. it is important for us to make sure that very graphic photos of somebody who what is shot in the head are not floating around as an incitement to additional violence or as a propaganda tool. that's not who we are. we don't trot out this stuff as trophies. the fact of the matter is this was somebody who was deserving of the justice that he received and i think americans and people around the world are glad that he is gone. but we don't need to spike the football and i think that given the graphic nature of these photos it would create some national security risk and i've discussed this with bob gates and hillary clinton and my intelligence teams and they all agree. question, there are people in

pakistan, for example, who say, look, this is all a lie, obama, this is another american trick, osama bin laden is not dead. the president, the truth is that we were monitoring -- that we are monitoring -- we were monitoring, rather, worldwide reaction. there is no doubt that osama bin laden is dead. certainly there is doubt, no doubt among al qaeda members that he is dead. and so we don't think that a photograph in and of itself is going to make any difference. there are going to be some folks who deny it. the fact of the matter is will you not see bin laden walking on this earth again. that's the conclusion of the excerpt and i think it states rather thoroughly why the president made the decision that he did. with that i'll take your questions. >> thanks. based on those comments, the president made a very compelling case why not to release the photos. so what was the internal debate

and was he ever seriously considering releasing the photos? >> well, obviously the photos didn't exist until bin laden was killed so there's not a great deal of time between then and the decision. there are obviously arguments to be made on either side. the fact of the matter is, as the president described, these are graphic photographs of someone who was shot in the face or the head, rather, and it is not in our national security interests to allow those images, as has been in the past been the case, to become icons for -- to rally opinion against the united states. the president's number one priority is the safety and security of american citizens at home and americans abroad. there is no need to release these photographs to establish osama bin laden's identity and he saw no other compelling reason to release them given

the potential for national security risks and further because he believes, as he said so clearly, this is not who we are. >> so, was he, in the time period you're discussing, the moment he the photos, was he grappling with this at all or was his stand clear and he was just gathering other opinions? >> i don't know about the evolution of his decision making process. when i've heard him discuss it, he held this opinion very firmly. and he has held that opinion very firmly. but this is a very short period of time. obviously he wanted to hear the opinions of others but he was very clear about his view on this and obviously his decision is categorical. >> one other question, director panetta in one of the interviews he did yesterday said the government obviously had been talking about how best to do this but i don't think there was any question that ultimately a photograph would be presented to the public.

how do you explain that? >> what i would say is there are compelling arguments for in general the release of information and there is a discussion to be had about the pros and cons and the president engaged in that discussion and made a decision. every member of the national security team is aware of and expressed the down jidsoof -- downside of releasing which weighed heavily on the president as to the potential risks it would pose to americans serving abroad and americans traveling abroad. so the idea that this was 100% obvious, the fact of the matter is the president never gets to make a decision that's 100% obvious because those kind of decisions never get to his desk. >> that i understand but his comment was, there was no question that -- [inaudible] >> look, the thing is the >> look, the thing is the president made this decision,