caller: using offensive techniques instead of -- the emphasis used to be on defense. hack ande ways to pa sabotages communications and make the computers worthless. there are sites where they can tune in and given step-by-step instructions on how to build an iud. rig it so anyone trying to make an iud so it will detonate on them. that is just a comment. guest: it goes back to the

offensive capabilities and the rules of cyber activities. the strategy that was unveiled yesterday by the pentagon is a silence on bad. -- is silence on that on that. two examples. russian action against estonia. host: that is it for a time. thank you for exploiting the position from the pentagon. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] y. chaplain conroy: let us pray.

eternal god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. as the house gathers at the end of a difficult week, grant the members peace and calm that they might attend to the issues and policies that they continue to consider. may they honor the values and traditions that we share as a people. help them be mindful of the gifts of peace, justice, fairness and respect that our -- at our hour. as it is so often easy for all of us to focus on what separates one from another, may our understanding that you have created us as one people remind us of the values that bind us altogether as americans in the human family. may all that is done this day in the people's house be for your greater honor and glory. amen. the speaker pro tempore: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings

and announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1 the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from illinois, mr. quig low. -- mr. quigley. mr. quigley: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain up to five requests for one-minute speeches on each side. for what purpose does the gentlelady from north carolina rise? ms. foxx: i ask permission to address the house for one minute, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. if our nation's debt crisis has taught us anything it's that we

need a permanent fiscal solution to keep america the permanent land of the free for our children and grandchildren. there's only way to bind congress and that is a constitutional amendment requiring us to balance a budget. ordinary spending cuts and pledges to slash the deficit are no longer sufficient. washington went on a record spending binge in the last two years and left americans in an economic hangover. new taxes, some propose, would only punish the victim and reward the spenders with more money to waste. we need to stop spending money we don't have and begin living within our means. the future of our nation depends on it. a washington promise is always temporary. a constitutional amendment is permanent. for the sake of tomorrow's generations, let's get it done today. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back her time. for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise? mr. kucinich: good morning, mr. speaker. i ask permission to address the house for one minute.

the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. kucinich: the huffing and puffing over the debt crisis is reminiscent of washington's dealing with the wall street bailout. start to drop things from the sky. in this case, threats that social security checks will not be set out. we must avoid default, but social security didn't cause the debt crisis. social security had nothing to do with the debt crisis. withholding social security checks or cutting social security benefits would represent a default to the american people and an abandonment of the principles of economic justice that created social security. the white house wants a big deal. a $4 trillion debt deal. but that deal must not come from cuts to social security or medicare, for that matter. millions of senior citizens, in their lifetime built this country, for fought for this country, who depend on these social security checks for their economic lifeline want to

see if their concerns are a big deal to us. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from kansas rise? >> i ask permission to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. today i rise in defense of small business owners across the country who are attempting to survive under a mountain of taxes, rules and regulations coming out of washington, d.c. mr. yoder: seven out of 10 new jobs in this country are created by small business owners. to get our economy back on track we know it's these innovators and entrepreneurs who will start creating jobs. entrepreneurship is at a 17-year low. in the last few years there's been a 23% drop in new business creation, falling to the lowest levels since 1994. instead of debating ways to raise taxes and further burden these job creators we should spend our time trying to eliminate the job-killing policies coming out of this administration. mr. speaker, it's time we support the free enterprise

system. it's time we get our fiscal house in order, and it's time we get america back to work again. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from rhode island rise? mr. cicilline: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. cicilline: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise to honor a great rhode island citizen and a dear friend, the late malcolm kim chase. my fellow rhode islanders and i lost a great leader in kim's passing. he will long be remembered for his warmth, humor and devotion to the community. kim was a brilliant business leader. you couldn't be in the same room with him and realize how intelligent he was. equally apparent was his tremendous generosity of spirit. he demonstrated that generosity over again and again in contributions to numerous community and educational organizations including women and infants hospital, brown university, bryant university, the gordon school, the rhode island school of design, to name just a few. kim was always happy to donate his time and resource as a

service to rhode island. he offered a kindness to me and to all around him. kim was a true gentleman. kim's most important treasure was his wonderful family. my thoughts and prayers are with liz and the entire chase family. kim will be missed. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from indiana is recognized for one minute. mr. pence: thank you, mr. speaker. america's facing a fiscal crisis of unprecedented proportions. $14 trillion national debt. another $1.6 trillion deficit. and now a debt ceiling crisis looms. as negotiations go forward, members of congress have a choice to make. we can take a stand or we can take a pass. i say it's time to take a stand. and to cut cap and balance act of 2011 is that stand. as the white house and liberals

here on capitol hill continue to argue over the details of some kind of obscure, complicated deal over raising the debt ceiling, in the coming days house republicans will bring legislation to the floor that will give the american people a choice. and it will be a choice built on fiscal responsibility and reform. legislation that will come to the floor will cut spending now. it will cap spending in the law, and it will make any increase in the debt ceiling contingent on sending a balanced budget amendment to the states. i urge my colleagues to support the cut cap and balance act of 2011, and i urge my fellow americans to let your voice be heard in the coming days. we can cut spending now. we can cap spending in the law, and we can send a balanced budget amendment to the constitution, to the states for ratification, but the american people must engage. a minority in congress plus the american people equals a

majority. help us as we achieve this needed reform and restore fiscal sanity to our national government. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from oregon rise? without objection, the gentleman from oregon is recognized for one minute. mr. blumenauer: amyths the spreading scandal of the murdoch news corporation, it's clear it wasn't as they first claim, just a rogue reporter or two. there's a pattern of abuse, some illegal that was widely practiced and known, perhaps encouraged, certainly tolerated. it is important for the f.b.i., the s.e.c., hopefully congress itself to investigate the news corp, fox, "wall street journal" and not just about the concerns of potential spying on 9/11 victims which would be reprehensible if true. but possible violations of the foreign corrupt practices act which makes it illegal for american citizens to bribe

foreign officials. some claim we ought to go easy on the murdoch news corporation so we don't appear partisan, but just giving money to the republican party, hiring republican presidential candidates, slamming the news and commentary should not give them a pass for questionable, perhaps illegal, conduct. we must ensure that americans are not abused by the news corp management practices or employees. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute. mr. johnson: thank you, mr. chairman. the president wants congress to raise the debt ceiling without corresponding plan to cut spending and balance a budget and insist raising taxes as the only way forward. the reality is that doing so amounts to a barack obama bailout for his out-of-control spending that got us here in

the first place. a bailout for his $1 trillion obamacare, a bailout for the failed stimulus, a bailout for government motors, a bailout for fannie and freddie. according to a new poll in "politico," americans have more support for spending cuts and only 11% of voters see tax hikes as the main way of closing the deficit. america's got it right. it's time to cut spending, balance the budget and pay down the debt for our children and our grandchildren without raising taxes. just say no to a barack obama bailout. even his bailouts need a bailout. yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. quigley: mark quain is --

mark twain -- the a.t.f. is under fast and furious fire right now allowing hundreds of guns to walk in hopes of catching big fish traffickers is ill-advised. if congress wants to crack down on straw purchasing and stop the trafficking of firearms in mexico, it is operating from the mother of all playbooks of how you should not accomplish it. chapter 1, ensure that the a.t.f. remains devoid of leadership. chapter 2, pass only straw purchasing laws. chapter 3, attempt to block a simple, commonsense proposals that border state dealers report multiple sales of ak-47's. chapter 4, offer legislation to immunize corrupt gun dealers and call it the a.t.f. modernization act. it's true, denial river in

congress runs fast, wide and deep. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? >> i ask unanimous consent, mr. speaker, to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from new york is recognized for one minute. mr. tonko: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in this the 27th week of this session of congress and continue to ask the leadership in our house to move legislation that will create jobs. over the course of the last few weeks and months, this body has been so obsessed with the debt ceiling they have forgotten a plain and simple truth, that the american people acknowledged last november and repeat over and over again, the best way to grow our economy and drive down the deficit is to put people back to work. and there are plenty of people looking for work. with unemployment around 9%, this body must make jobs and the economy our top priority. in fact, a poll released yesterday found by a 30-point margin americans say it's more important to reduce

unemployment than to reduce the budget deficit. but the biggest threat to jobs today, failure to increase the debt ceiling and playing politics with our economy. holding the economy hostage in order to protect big oil, tax cuts for the wealthy and tax loopholes for companies that ship jobs overseas is not only un-american, it's immoral. leadership requires difficult decisions and compromise. i hope we'll see more of these traits in the coming days, not less. with that, mr. speaker, i thank you and yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. . the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? mr. frelinghuysen: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on h.r. 2354.

the speaker pro tempore: without objection. . pursuant to house resolution 337 and rule 18, the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the further consideration of h.r. 2354. would the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, kindly resume the chair. the chair: the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for further consideration of h.r. 2354 which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: a bill making appropriations for energy and water development and related agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2012, and for other purposes. the chair: when the committee of the whole rose on thursday, july 14, 2011, the bill had been read through page 62, line 2. for what purpose does the

gentleman from california seek recognition? mr. sherman: i have an amendment at the desk and printed in the record. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 79, printed in the congressional record, offered by mr. sherman of california. the chair: pursuant to the order of the house of thursday, july 14, 2011, the gentleman from california, mr. sherman, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. sherman. mr. sherman: mr. chair, let me begin with a completely irrelevant digression. on a completely different matter. today it was announced that the united states will recognize the libyan rebels as the legitimate government of libya. if that is true, we should make an immediate demand on that government that it use the $33 billion or some portion thereof of gaddafi money that is frozen in the united states to reimburse the american taxpayer for all of the military actions and humanitarian actions we have

taken for the benefit of the people of libya. there is no reason that these actions should be done at the cost of the united states taxpayer and the real cost of our military actions in libya should be calculated on the basis of full cost accounting not the marginal cost accounting that has been used in press releases from the png penning. now for my amendment. this amendment deals with the international programs carried out by the department of energy. it is in some ways a rival to or alternative to the amendment presented by million harris last night. mr. harris' amendment would eliminate all of these programs with the exception of one. and thus reduce roughly $8 million, i believe -- correction, $6 million in cost. my amendment eliminates those programs that go to china while

leaving the remaining programs. so if you don't want to see american taxpayer money used to benefit chinese manufacturers, you have two alternatives. maybe you'll vote for them both. but some will just vote for my amendment that focuses on the $2 million we spend in china. the harris amendment would have you also, perhaps in an effort to eliminate the money going to chinese -- going for the benefit of chinese manufacturers, to also cut our cooperative programs that are chiefly with latin america and canada. i believe that it is in our interest to continue to provide energy efficiency assistance to our partners here in this hemisphere. first these are our allies, these are in most cases poor countries that we are trying to help. their energy costs are very high, particularly in recent years, and one of the best ways

to help them is to help them reduce their energy bill. but it also helps the american consumer because if you can reduce worldwide aggregate demand for energy, particularly oil, you reduce the worldwide price. so it is in our interest to carry on the very small programs that have been effective in helping mexico and costa rica and dominica and other caribbean states to achieve higher levels of energy efficiency. however i do not think it is in our interest to spend the $2 million that we provide to provide fancy american consultants to go over to china at no cost to them to give them ideas on how to reduce their energy usage. if the chinese wanted this advice, unlike poor countries in latin america, they can well afford to pay for it.

if you can afford a consultant and you choose not to hire one, you probably don't want one and you're probably not going to listen to the consultant. so if china needs american technology to reduce their energy usage, they can and should pay for it. they could just send us back an infinitesimal portion of u.s. bonds being held in beijing. this amendment i offer today eliminates the possibility that this bill will be used to provide aid and foreign aid and corporate aid to the chinese government and chinese business. i may sound a little confused as to where its private sector and public sector in china, of course that's because in china those two things are confused. i hope that you will support my amendment, view it as an alternative to the harris amendment, and i hope that you'll vote against the harris

amendment because it does make sense for us to spend a very small amount of money in cooperative programs, chiefly here in this hemisphere, to help reduce energy usage by countries that we are providing for and aid to for the most part because they are poor countries and allies. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from california reserves the balance of his time. who seeks recognition? >> move to strike the last word. the chair: the gentleman from indiana is recognized for five minutes. mr. visclosky: i appreciate the recognition and rise in very reluctant reservation to the gentleman's amendment. i do not, speaking for myself as an individual, trust the chinese government. representing the largest production district in the united states of america, i have

simply seen them eat our economic lunch. we have had innumerable hearings in this congress under varied administrations of both political parties telling us that dialogue with china is going to work. and that somehow it is going to lead to miraculous job creation in the united states of america versus the country of china. i join with the gentleman in urging all of my members later this morning to vote against mr. harris' amendment and that we have no disagreement. and i join with the gentleman from california's concern about how the department of energy is going to implement this program with the chinese. because we are told by the department that this program is going to help u.s. cities develop more cleanly and is going to provide market

opportunities for u.s. clean tech companies. we are told further that for wind and solar there will be in the future market opportunities. for just one time i would appreciate the department of energy showing me the jobs, the companies, the cities, the towns, the industries where this type of cooperation with china has led to a job, a job in the united states ever america -- of america. so it is with the greatest reluctance, i hesitate to support the gentleman's amendment agreeing with everything he has said, i would yield to the chairman. >> i associate my remarks with those of the ranking. mr. frelinghuysen: thank you for your thoughtful amendment and share your apprehensions about

what -- the american job prospects relative to this program. thank you for yielding. mr. visclosky: the logical question of my colleagues, pete, why are you standing up talking about this if you agree with everything the gentleman said? i basically do. my concern right now is if we do terminate u.s. involvement in the international partnership for energy efficiency cooperation, which is based at the international energy agency, we have 14 other member nations, and i am just concerned about taking this particular unilateral action, but that is about the only concern i have with the remarks of the gentleman. i would yield back my time. the chair: the gentleman from indiana yields back his time. the gentleman from california. mr. sherman: i would just build on remarks of the ranking member and -- which the chairman chose a socialate himself with, and say if those are speeches against my amendment, i welcome them. and i hope those that are

listening will not just note on which side the gentleman -- the gentlemen rose but what they said and content of what they said supports my amendment far more eloquently than i can which is why i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from california. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. mr. sherman: i withdraw my request. the chair: the amendment is adopted by voice vote. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? mr. frelinghuysen: to strike the last word and to yield to congressman from louisiana, mr. scalise. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. scalise: thank you.

would the distinguished chairman of the energy and water development subcommittee yield for a point of clarification? mr. frelinghuysen: i would be pleased to yield. mr. scalise: thank you, mr. chairman. section 501-a provides for the corps of engineers more than $1 billion in emergency supplemental funding for disaster relief. the section makes those funds available, quote, for emergency expenses for repair of damages caused by the storm and flood events of 2011. am i correct in my understanding that included in the damages to be addressed by section 501-a is the loss of navigational channel dimensions caused by or exacerbated by this year's floods? mr. frelinghuysen: if the gentleman would yield. the gentleman from louisiana is correct. the intent of section 501-a is to fund the repair of damages to levees and navigation channels caused by the floods of 2011. the committee has provided more than $1 billion in title 5 of our bill to address navigation

channel dimensions and make levee repairs. mr. scalise: i thank the distinguished chairman. as many of our colleagues know it is critical in louisiana and elsewhere throughout the nation to restore as quickly as possible the flood control and navigation integrity of our inland waterway system. again i thank the chairman of the committee for yielding and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from louisiana yields back to the chairman. the -- mr. frelinghuysen: before i yield back. i support the gentleman in his capacity for his constituents and so many other members affected by the incredible devastation of recent floods. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? mr. hastings: i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. hastings of florida. at the end of the bill, before the short title, insert the

following, section, none of the funds made available by this act may be used in contravention of executive order number 12le 98 of february 11, 1994, federal actions to address environmental justice and minority populations and low-income populations. the chair: pursuant to the order of the house on thursday, july 14, 2011, the gentleman from florida, mr. hastings, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida, mr. hastings. mr. hastings: thank you very much, mr. chairman. i rise to offer this amendment that ensures that the most vulnerable members of our society no longer bear disproportionately more than their share of the environmental costs in their communities. mr. chairman, i first offered this measure the exact same amendment in the year 2005, and it was adopted in the -- into law. it has since been adopted into law in two other appropriations

bills. this is the right thing to do. environmental justice is an effort to achieve health and environmental equity across all community lines. mr. chairman, i ask that my amendment be supported and unanimous consent to have my full statement included in the record. the chair: without objection. the statement is entered. mr. visclosky: i move to strike the last word. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. visclosky: i appreciate the recognition and rise in strong support of the gentleman's amendment. appreciate him raising the issue and him offering the amendment. and certainly strongly support his intention here. i would be happy to yield to my chairman. mr. frelinghuysen: i concur with the ranking view and commend you for your efforts. no objection. mr. visclosky: i yield back the balance of my time. mr. hastings: i yield back the balance of my time.

the chair: the gentleman from florida has yielded back his time. the question's on the amendment offered by the gentleman from florida. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? mr. frelinghuysen: i ask unanimous consent to request for a recorded vote on amendment number 70 offered by the gentleman from texas, mr. burgess, be vacated to the end, that the chair put the question de novo. the chair: is there objection to the request of the gentleman from new jersey? if not, the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 70 is vacated.

the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 70 printed in the congressional record offered by mr. burgess of texas. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from texas, mr. burnless. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the amendment is adopted. for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana rise? mr. visclosky: i move to strike the last word. i realize we are at the end of the amendment process. i do not want to take members' time unduly. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. visclosky: i want to make a couple of observations and close the debate. i, again, want to thank

chairman frelinghuysen as well as the chairman of the full committee, mr. rogers and -- mr. rogers, and mr. dicks, the ranking member. i said at the beginning, mr. frelinghuysen has been a leader on energy and water issues but has been a tremendous partner. this process has been transparent. it has been open. it has been thoughtful. as people who have followed the last five days understand we have not agreed on every issue but worked very closely together. i truly personally appreciate that, and as a public official and member of this body, i appreciate that. also, again, because we all know as members of this committee who does the work to make this an exceptional bill, again, want to personally thank the staff. rob blair, joe levin, rain, an gee, tanya, nancy, katie, joe.

everyone has their expertise. we may have separate offices but we have, i think, collectively worked very well together to fashion a wonderful bill. i'd be happy to yield. mr. frelinghuysen: i want to -- mr. dicks: i want to add my support to this effort. i want to say how much i appreciate working with congressman frelinghuysen. especially on modernization of our new reactor of a follow-on summary. this is an enormously important program. the chairman's worked with us to make sure that the funding is appropriate and timely so that we can keep this program on track. for that i appreciate it. and all the staff and, chairman rogers, thank you, again, for regular order and staying with this. glad we were able to get an unanimous consent agreement.

mr. visclosky: i yield to the chairman. mr. frelinghuysen: i'd like to thank ranking member pete visclosky for his friendship and putting together this energy and water bill. the water side effects every district. it's important. i think we did the right thing. the reliability of our nuclear stock, the issues relating to nonproliferation, but i think we put together a great bill. i want to thank you for our leadership and our working relationship. i won't mention by name since you've done it so well the excellent staff that allows us to move forward in really a nonpartisan, bipartisan way. and to the big chairman, thank you, mr. rogers, for your support and quite a long haul here on this bill. i appreciate your loyal support and our working relationship. and to the ranking member, thank you so much, norm, mr.

dicks, for your support and friendship we had on the defense appropriations committee along with the ranking member. i'd be happy to yield. mr. visclosky: be happy to yield to the full committee chair. mr. rogers: i thank the gentleman for yielding. to thank chairman frelinghuysen and mr. visclosky for a hard, supereffort. this has not been an easy bill, to say the least. and you stayed with us and you have written a good bill and you have, i think, defended a good bill. there have been amendments that have passed, at least on voice vote, that i think helped the bill. but i want to remind members that this bill normally in past years has been one of the homes of earmarks. this bill was practically all earmarks in years' past. and to the great credit of this subcommittee, you have not allowed any earmarks, not one,

which is a remarkable achievement. and merits the support, i think, of every single member of this body. number two, we gave you a real tough 302-b number to deal with. that i admit from the very beginning. we were trying to implement the budget that passed this house, and the allocation you received was very edgy. i think you have, i think, done great credit to yourselves and the rest of us by using that limited allocation and stretched it out as far as you can stretch it. i think you got a good bill. in fact, the numbers in this bill -- we're going back to 2006 levels. 2006 levels.

now, when we started out it was -- i ask the gentleman -- mr. dicks: i ask unanimous consent that the gentleman have one additional minute. the chair: without objection, the gentleman has additional one minute. mr. rogers: will the gentleman yield? mr. visclosky: absolutely. mr. rogers: you go back to the 2006 levels which is a huge cut in spending, so you've done your share of helping us get the nation's fiscal house back in order, and i want to thank my colleague, mr. dicks, who at the very outset of this year agreed with me in toto that we would get this committee back in regular order and he's living that every day since that time. so thank you, mr. dicks, for doing a great job. mr. dicks: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. rogers: they are a model of civility and working together for a common cause. thanks for a great job. i yield back.

mr. visclosky: again, thank the staff very much and yield back my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back his time. pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, proceedings will now resume on those amendments on which further proceedings were postponed in the following order -- amendment number 26 by mr. cole of oklahoma. an amendment by mr. cohen of tennessee. an amendment by mr. gosar of arizona. an amendment by ms. kaptur of ohio. first amendment by mr. flake of arizona. an amendment by mrs. capps of california. second amendment by mr. flake of arizona. an amendment by mr. scalise of louisiana. amendment number 81 by mr. broun of georgia. amendment 63 by mr. broun of georgia. amendment 76 by mr. landry of louisiana. first amendment by mrs. blackburn of tennessee. second amendment by mrs. blackburn of tennessee. amendment 53 by mr. hare is of

maryland. an amendment by -- mr. hare is of maryland. an amendment by mr. rohrabacher of california. an amendment by mrs. adams. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment 26 printed in the congressional record by the gentleman from oklahoma, mr. cole, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the ayes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 26 printed in the congressional record offered by mr. cole of oklahoma. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives.

any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 249, the nays are 169, the amendment is adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from tennessee, mr. cohen, on which further proceedings were postponed, on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. cohen of tennessee. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 158 --

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 158 and the noes are 264. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on the amendment afered by the gentleman from arizona, mr. gosar, on which further proceedings were postpone and which the ayes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the

-- will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. gosar of amendment. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 283. the nays are 238. the amendment is not adopted. let me correct. the yeas are 183. nays 238. the amendment is not adopted.

the unfinished business is the request for recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from ohio, ms. kaptur, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by ms. kaptur of ohio. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: the yeas are 212. the nays are 210. the amendment is adopted. the unfinished business is the request for recorded vote on the first amendment offered by the gentleman from arizona, mr. flake, on which further proceedings were postponed on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignates the amendment. the clerk: first amendment offered by mr. flake of arizona. the chair: recorded vote has been requested. those in support of a request for recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 81. the nays are 341. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from california, mrs. capps, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mrs. capps of california. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of a request for recorded vote shall rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 152 and the nays are 269, the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on the second amendment offered by the gentleman from arizona, mr. flake, on which further proceedings were postponed, on which noes prevailed by a voice vote. the clerk: second amendment offered by mr. flake of arizona. the chair: a recorded vote has

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

the chair: on this vote the yeas are --

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 68, the nays are 353, the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from louisiana, mr. scalise, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by

mr. scalise of louisiana. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this this 271, the nays are 148, the amendment is adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 81 printed in the congressional record offered by the gentleman from georgia, mr. broun, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 81

printed in the congressional record offered by mr. broun of georgia. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this this 69 and the nays are 354, the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 63 printed in the congressional record by the gentleman from georgia, mr. brown, on -- broun, on which further proceedings were postponed, on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 63 printed in the congressional record offered by mr. broun of georgia. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: the yeas are 90. the nays are 330. on this vote the yeas are 90. the nays are 332. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for recorded vote on amendment number 76, printed in the congressional record,

offered by by the gentleman from louisiana, mr. landry, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 76, printed in the congressional record, offered by mr. landry of louisiana. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of a recorded vote shall rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 227. the nays are 193. the amendment is adopted. the request -- the unfinished business is the request for recorded vote on the amendment

offered by the gentlewoman from tennessee, mrs. blackburn, on which further proceedings were postponed which the noes reprailed by voice vote. the clerk will redebt the amendment. the clerk: first amendment offered by mrs. blackburn of tennessee. the chair: recorded vote has been requested. those in support of a request for recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is order the. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: the yeas are 129. the nays are 292. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for recorded vote on the

second amendment offered by the gentlewoman from tennessee, mrs. blackburn, on which further proceedings were postponed on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk shall redebt the amendment. the clerk: second amendment offered by mrs. blackburn of tennessee. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of a recorded vote shall rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 150. the nays are 272. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for recorded vote on

amendment number 54 printed in the congressional record offered by the gentleman from maryland, mr. harris, on which further proceedings were postponed an on which the nays prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 53, printed in the congressional record, offered by mr. harris of maryland. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of a recorded vote shall rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 235. the nays are 184.

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 236. the nays are 185. the amendment is adopted. the unfinished business is the request for recorded vote on amendment from the gentleman from california, mr. rohrabacher, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redebt the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. rohrabacher of california. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of a request for recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 68, the nays are 351, the amendment is not adopted. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to speak out of order for one minute. the chair: without objection, the house will come to order. the committee will come to order. >> i have a plane to catch too, madam speaker. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. >> it's my sad duty to report to the house that last night in the 50th annual congressional baseball game our friends on the minority side eeked out an 8-2 victory. mr. barton: we gained 87 seats in the last election, they gained three but one of theirs

is a pitcher from new orleans, cedric richmond, who -- i do want to point out to mr. richmond that the congressional salary is $175,000. the major league minimum salary is $350,000 and i know the owner of the astros and the texas rangers. we want to congratulate our friends. i want to tell you how proud i am of the republican team. we have a lot of new members, they played really hard, they practiced very hard but

sometimes it just isn't to be and i want to congratulate mr. doyle and his entire team on a victory well earned and i would yield to my friend from pennsylvania. mr. doyle: i want to thank my good friend, joe barton. it was a great game last night. but not exactly an ecoing game. cedric came within five outs of pitching a no hitter. something i've never seen in the 17 years i've been involved in the game. but in addition to that he had a group of men and women behind him that made every play when we needed to make them, had 15 hits and played almost error-free baseball, one error. when you can get away with making just one error in this game, good things are going to happen. as you know, this is the best of five series and we're currently in series 13. we had gone into the series with

a 2-0 lead so we needed one more victory to retire the roll call trophy and rather than string this thing up for too much longer we decided to finish it last night. our guys played a great game but the real winners last night were our charitieser, the boys and girls club of washington, d.c., and the washington literacy council. we were able to raise a record amount of money for those organizations, over $150,000 to those groups that are doing really good work with our young kids in washington, d.c. and we had 7,100 people at the game and i would venture to say that's a bigger attendance than the nats get some on some occasions. so it was a well attended game. but series 13 of the coveted roll call trophy has been retired finally by the democratic party. congratulations. i yield back to my friend. mr. barton: reclaiming the balance of my one minute, i do want to recognize the republican m.v.p. who did get a legitimate

hit, steve pierce from new mexico. and i will point point out to my friends on the minority side that this victory last night, while it is the third in a row in the modern era, makes it 36 republican, 19 democrats and one tie. i yield back. the chair: without objection, two-minute voting will continue. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from florida, mrs. adams, on further proceedings were postponed. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mrs. adams of florida. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes

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

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 181, the nays are 233. the amendment is not adopted. the clerk will read the final lines of the bill.

the clerk: this act may be cited as the energy and water development and related agencies appropriation act, 2012. the chair: the committee will be in order. the committee will be in order. does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. frelinghuysen: yes, i do. i move that the committee now doth rise. mr. chairman, i move the committee do now rise and report the bill back to the house with sundry amendments with a recommendation that the amendments be agreed to and that the bill be -- that the bill as

amended do pass. the chair: the question is on the motion. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. accordingly the committee rises. mr. speaker, the committee of the white house, having had under consideration h.r. 2354, directs me to report the bill back to the house. the bill as amend dodd pass. -- amended do pass.

the speaker pro tempore: the chairman of the committee of the whole house on the state of the union reports that the committee has had under consideration the bill hrment r. 2354 and reports the bill back to the house with sundry amendments adopted in the committee of the whole with a recommendation that the amendments be adopted and that the bills amended do pass. under house resolution 337, the previous question is ordered. it is a separate vote demanded on any amendment -- is a separate vote demanded on any amendment reported from the committee on the whole? if not the chair will put them engross. the question is on the adoption of the amendments. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have. it the amendments are adopted. the question is on engrossment and third reading of the bill. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. third reading. the clerk: bill making appropriations for energy and water development and related agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2012, and for other purposes.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? >> i have a motion to recommit at the desk. the chair: is the gentleman opposed to the bill? >> in its current form. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman qualifies. the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: mr. owens of new york moves to recommit the bill, h.r. 2354, to the committee on appropriations with instructions to report the same back to the house forthwith with the following amendments. page 23, line 20, after the dollar amount insert, increase by $5 million. page 32, line 4 through 23, after the dollar amount insert reduce by $7 million. page 36, line 17, after the dollar amount insert, increase by $2 million. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. owens: thank you, madam speaker. this week the department of defense acknowledged in their cybersecurity plan what many of us have known for some time. that cyberspace, like land, sea and air, that we have defended for over 200 years requires our continued vigilance to protect the nation.

i offer this final amendment today to address this concern. i have in my district fort drum, i have a lengthy expanse of border between the united states and canada and like all of us i have the electric grid which is one of the areas that is most potentially struck by a cyberattack. i would also like to quote for you a statement by secretary of defense leon panetta who noted in recent testimony that the next pearl harbor we confront could very well be a cyberattack that cripples our power systems, our grid, our security systems, our financial systems, our governmental systems. it's no secret that the internet has become a critical component of our day to day lives. every day across the globe over two billion users get online to shop, do business, connect with

friends and family and a host of other activities. cybersecurity affects clearly our national defense, all of our businesses, our schools, our seniors, in effect all of us. indeed while the internet has become one of our strongest capabilities it has also emerged as a stunning vulnerability. we need only to look at recent cyberattacks on sony, lock heed martin and other enterprises to witness the combrord damage that can be caused from anywhere in the world. at relatively little cost to those that care he out these actions. hackers become more sophisticated by the hour. an attack could cripple fort drum, could cripple our national security, could cripple the electric grid,

cripple health care, cripple our ability to pay our bills and to raise money. in effect, destroy our economy. we all know that if the electric grid were crippled that we would be unable to get to work, we would be unable to keep people warm, to keep people cool, all things that we recognize as necessities. i offer this final amendment to increase cybersecurity in defense of the electric grid by $7 million. this modest increase keeps an eye towards our need to reduce the deficit while making needed investments to protect our most critical infrastructure. this final amendment is fully offset and will go a long way to protect the country from this emerging threat. i thank my colleagues for their time and ask that they join me by voting yes on this final amendment. thank you, madam speaker, and i

yield back. the speaker pro tempore: is the gentleman from new jersey opposed to the motion? mr. frelinghuysen: yes, i am, madam chairman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for five minutes. mr. frelinghuysen: i stand in opposition to the motion to recommit. our underlying bill already adequately funds cybersecurity and such grid activity, though much work needs to be done to protect against the consistent attacks on our infrastructure and computing systems. as for the underlying legislation, it is truly a house product. it provides funds critical to our national defense. it helps maintain and rebuild our national infrastructure. it supports an economic climate to create jobs without government interference in the private sector. it also helps those devastated by the floods in the midwest and south while fully offsetting that help. and it cuts funding in the entire energy and water budget down to near 2006 levels. madam speaker, ours is a strong bill.

i urge our members to vote against the motion to recommit and for the underlying bill, and i yield back. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the previous question is ordered on the motion to recommit. the question is on the motion to recommit. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the noes have it. the motion is not agreed to. mr. owens: madam speaker, i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has asked for a recorded vote. 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. pursuant to clause 9 of rule 20, the chair will reduce to five minutes the minimum time for the electronic vote on the question of passage. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 182, the nays are 232, the motion is not adopted. the question is on passage of the bill. under clause 10 of rule 20, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this

vote the yeas are 219, the nays are 196, the bill is passed. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? >> madam speaker, i present a privileged report for printing under the rule. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: report to accompany h.r. 2551, a bill making appropriations for the legislative branch for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2012, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the union calendar and ordered printed. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 21, points of order are reserved. for what purpose does the gentleman from oregon rise? >> madam speaker, on roll call vote 585 i inadvertently recorded my vote incorrectly. mr. wu: on the amendment offered by representative gosar i intended to vote no. i ask unanimous consent that this statement appear in the record adjacent to roll call 585.

the speaker pro tempore: without objection. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas rise? ms. jackson lee: thank you, madam. the vote on the schiff amendment on yesterday, which was july 14, 2011, i incorrectly voted no. i ask unanimous consent that my correct vote be placed into the amendment -- excuse me, placed into the record as an aye vote for the schiff amendment on yesterday, july 14, 2011, to the energy and water bill which is -- to the energy and water bill that was under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman's statement will be entered into the record.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland rise? hoyer highway i ask to speak out of order for -- mr. hoyer: i ask to speak outer order for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hoyer: thank you and i yield to the majority leader. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. cantor: i thank the gentlelady. i thank the speaker, i thank the gentleman from maryland, the democratic whip, for yielding. madam speaker, on monday the house will meet at noon for morning hour and 2:00 p.m. for elective business with votes postponed until 6:30 p.m. this is a change from the legislative schedule that was announced at the end of last week. we will be sending out an announcement shortly so that all members are aware of this change. again, madam speaker, the house

will now convene on monday of next week, not tuesday. it is critical, madam speaker, that we solve our nation's fiscal problem and intend to schedule the house for legislative business if needed to accomplish that goal. mr. speaker, how it's is not in order -- the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is correct, the house will come to order. please take your conversations outside. the chair recognizes the gentleman from virginia. mr. cantor: thank you, mr. speaker. on tuesday, wednesday and thursday, the house will meet at 10:00 a.m. for the morning hour and noon for legislative business. on friday the house will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business. last votes of the week are expected no later than 3:00 p.m. on friday. mr. speaker, the house will consider a few bills under suspension of the rules on monday which will be announced by the clerk at the end of business today. i do not expect any other legislative business besides suspensions on monday. on tuesday the house will

consider the cut, cap and balance act which will provide the president with an increase in the debt ceiling so long as cuts are made in the short term, spending caps are put in place in the coming years and a balanced budget amendment to the constitution that's adopted so we never find ourselves in this position again. i'd encourage many members as possible to participate in this important debate on tuesday. during the remainder of the week the house will consider legislation relating to the expiring authorization of the f.a.a., a series of bills reported by the financial services committee that deal with the impending transfer of authority to the consumer financial protection bureau and finally, the legislative branch appropriations bill. mr. speaker, i thank the gentleman from maryland. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will yield back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from maryland. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for his information. i would say that it's my understanding now that we are, as the gentleman has pointed out, we are going to be meeting on monday and will be voting on

monday at 6:30 rather than commencing on tuesday at 6:30. the gentleman has pointed out that that's to accommodate the challenge that confronts us in the crisis that we have been put in with reference to assuring, a, that the -- america does not default on its bills and that we continue to pursue efforts to bring the deficit down and the debt under control. i say to my friend that it is late, he's right, we shouldn't confront this situation. we have on numerous occasions, of course, both the gentleman and i have voted in the past to extend the debt limit so that america can pay the bills that it has incurred. the gentleman also notes that a piece of legislation was brought to the floor to ensure

we pay our bills. it was brought to the floor with expressed intentions by the chairman of the ways and means committee that it be defeated and, of course, it was all defeated and all your members voted against it. though half of my members voted to make sure we pay our bills so we do not get to this position. the gentleman and i have been involved in efforts to reach agreement with the president, with the senate and with ourselves, with both sides of the aisle so we can not only provide with america's paying its bills, which if it doesn't will have very serious consequences to every household in america, 401-k, pension program in america, and the gentleman and i agree and everybody at the table with the president agreed allowing america to default on its bills

was not something that any of us believe was a policy that was appropriate. i say to my friend the cut, cap and balance act, we've been confronted with this challenge for a long period of time. it was my understanding that you were to -- going to bring to the floor next week a balanced budget amendment which was announced and which i thought was coming and which we had told our members was coming. you have now constituted for that, as i understand it, am i correct, the cut, cap and balance act? my understanding is there is no text of that act available at this time, is that accurate? is there no text available for that bill? i yield. mr. cantor: i thank the gentleman. mr. speaker, i'd say back to the gentleman that the bill is currently being drafted and will be posted online later

this evening. consistent with our three-deleover requirement. i yield back. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for his comment. given the fact that this is, as the gentleman pointed out, this crisis has been known for us for over five, six months now that we were going to confront this. i understand that in the cut, cap and balance pledge that has been future forward -- i don't know whether it's going to be put forward in the legislation -- but the pledge says that your side or the people -- excuse me -- people who signed the pledge, whatever side they're on, are going to oppose any debt limit increase unless all three of the following conditions had been met. one, cut substantial cuts in spending that would reduce the deficit next year and thereafter. seems to me that we passed a budget through this house that does that. it doesn't reach balance, of

course, until some 30 years from now. but secondly it says as a condition for voting for debt extension that unforcible spending cuts will put it on a path toward a balanced budget. we had discussions in the white house on cuts and what they apply to, a percentage of g.d.p. or the absolute caps in spending which obviously escalate denegation of the ability to deliver services over the years, depending upon the flexibility that's incorporated. i have not seen the legislation, of course. and then thirdly, a balance, and then pa rent -- parenthesis, not near support. i guess they will not vote to make sure america pays its bills on august 3.

congressional package of a balanced amendment to the u.s. constitution but only if it includes both spending limitations and a supermajority for raising taxes in addition to balancing revenues and expenses. now, i presume that that requirement will have to come, according to this pledge, to get votes for which -- included this cut, cap and balance requirement. does the gentleman believe that the second to at least -- one could argue we've already done the first in terms of made substantial cuts and we discussed agreeing on making substantial cuts but that the second two conditions cannot possibly be met between now and august 2? i yield. mr. cantor: mr. speaker, i'd say to the gentleman, as he has

heard me say before in those meetings and on this floor, i don't want to pass august 2 without increasing the debt ceiling. mr. hoyer: i understand that. i thank the gentleman. mr. cantor: i understand there's a lot of uncertainty if that were to happen, a lot of risk associated with that, risks i am not willing to take. but to the gentleman's discussion that it is imperative that we do that, above all else, i'd also add to that it is imperative that we demonstrate that we can arrive at meaningful solutions to the current fiscal crisis the country is facing. that is what the cut, cap and balance act tries to achieve. it offers a way for us to cut spending in a meaningful way

this year and throughout the budget window. it also suggests ways to enforce discretionary levels so that congress can actually begin to do what all of us would like to see us do which is to stop spending the money we don't have. the cut, cap and balance act also provides for caps on total spending levels recommended in our budget resolution. these levels are spending as a share of g.d.p. it provides, lastly, for ensuring that even beyond the 10 years that we actually can get back to balance. that's what the people of the country wants. i know the gentleman shares the

desire to have this back down to balance. so i'm hopeful that the gentleman and his colleagues on the other side of the aisle take a look at this legislation, as i said to the gentleman, it will be posted online to comply with our three-day layover requirement and have it posted to members and the public. mr. hoyer: i'm not sure you answered my question to conditions two and three of the cut, cap and balance pledge or, again, i haven't read the legislation. i see the pledge. i'm not sure what's in the legislation. i thank the gentleman for his observation that we need a meaningful and i would say robust addressing of the problem that confronts us. as a fact, as you know, because we discussed it, at the white house for four days now, from sunday night through last night, i guess five days, the

president of the united states has been indicating that we need a -- he calls a big, a grand design, if you will, along the lines that have been suggested by two of the commissions which on a bipartisan basis recommended a grand design. that grand design would have reached at least $4 trillion of deficit reduction, debt reduction, and in fact that is a figure somewhere closer to the budget that was passed through this house. i'd say to the gentleman parenthetically that the cut, cap and balance budget may be closer to the number you referred to. i am talking about the amendment that was defeated on this floor by one vote. but i'd say to the gentleman, the president wants to do a grand design to reduce that

deficit, not by $1 trillion or $ trillion or -- $2 trillion or $3 trillion but by $4 trillion. there was a commission on which -- a group -- the biden group we call it in which the gentleman participated. there were other discussions between your speaker and the president all looking at achieving a large deficit reduction. the gentleman at some point in time decided that was not something he wanted to continue working on and suggested that it be, i suppose, pushed up the line and it was. so the president was for a grand design. the leader of the senate, mr. reid, was for that. mr. durbin was for it. ms. pelosi was for it. i was for it. the vice president was for it.

but unfortunately we couldn't proceed on that discussion in a successful way, at least, because the gentleman observed and his colleagues observed that as long as there were any revenues attached to that it would not be acceptable to your side of the aisle. notwithstanding that, every bipartisan commission that has dealt with this issue has indicated that it needs to be a balanced package, that it needed to include substantial cuts, it needed to deal with discretionary spending, defense spending, entitlement spending and it needed to deal with tax expenditures. the gentleman says correctly that we want to balance our revenues with our expenditures. the problem is if you keep cutting revenues you are just going to be chasing yourself down. obviously you want to bring revenue rates down. i hope we can do that, but if we bring them down to a place

where we don't have the money to pay for our -- what we buy which is of course what happened in this past decade, then we will be confronted with a situation the gentleman wants to avoid and that is raising the debt limit. what we have done over the last 10 years is buy more than we can afford and therefore we have a debt. that's why the gentleman, as i say, voted for extending debt limits. that's why i voted for it. i tell the gentleman that i have a gallup poll that says 6 -- 74% say it should include both tax increases and spending cuts and 77% of independents believe the plan should include a mix of revenue and spending cuts. i say that so that i i can