plan, reduces the deficit by $900 billion between 2012 and 2021, reduces mandatory spending by $20 billion, since $155 billion in interest on public debt, the debt ceiling is raised in 2012, procedures for staggered increases afterwards, and bipartisan a super committee would recommend further cuts, and there would be a vote on the balanced budget amendment. by the way, john boehner will be having a news conference about 1:30 today, and we will be bringing that to you live on c- span3. other things that are happening today -- michele bachmann will be at the national press club at 1:00 p.m. we will be covering that as well at some point. all sorts of things going on today here in washington.

reminder that the senate will be in this morning, and harry reid is scheduled to give the senate schedule at 11:00 a.m. on c- span2 in the senate, so you can get an idea of what the senate is going to be up to then. the house is about to come in. they will probably be in over the weekend, as will the senate, which can adversely impact booktv. if the senate comes in, we will go to the senate live, of course, and pick up booktv in progress. we have a lot going on with booktv this began. the freedom fest. charleston, south carolina weekend on booktv. a lot of charleston literary programs planned.

here is the house of representatives gu. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's room, washington, d.c., july 28, 2011. i hereby appoint the honorable daniel webster to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, john boehner, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will receive a message. the messenger: mr. speaker, a message from the senate. the secretary: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: madam secretary. the secretary: i have been directed by the senate to inform the house that the senate has passed s. 1188, an act cited as the all-american flag act in which the concurrence of the has is requested. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 5, 2011, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour debate.

the chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to one hour and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and the minority whip limited to five minutes, but in no event will the debate go beyond 11:50 a.m. the chair recognizes the gentleman from south carolina, mr. wilson, for five minutes. mr. wilson: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, today i would like to extend my sincere appreciation to paul callahan, a dedicated staff member in the office of the second congressional district of south carolina. after eight years in washington, paul will be departing the office at the end of this month to return home to south carolina. paul has been a faithful public servant for the people of south carolina's second congressional district since november, 2003. he has served in a variety of capacities ranging from scheduler to legislative core spendent to senior legislative

assistant. paul truly fulfills the role of dedicated hill staffer. most recently, paul's pour foalio has con-- portfolio has consisted of housing, telecommunications and foreign affairs. his hard work has been a valuable asset in the office for the citizens of south carolina. it is with sincere gratitude i'd like to thank paul for his expertise and enthusiasm. he will be missed in the office, and i wish you well. i wish you, jenny, charlotte, juda and-month-old penelope much success as you move back to taylors, south carolina. additionally, mr. speaker, according to "the wall street journal" on july 27, robert barrow correctly argues that raising tax rates on americans is not helpful in putting americans back on the path to prosperity. raising taxes does not present a feasible solution in engineering and economic recovery.

the solution is to cut spending. just as has occurred in canada in 1993 and in germany under chanceler angela merkel. the reason our country finds itself in this current fiscal situation is due to washington's out-of-control spending during the last three years. a failed $787 billion stimulus package in 2009 led only to the waste of taxpayer money. along with the hole even deeper than it was intended to fix. but the current administration moved forward with the belief america can borrow and spend its way out of a recession. that has proved to be false. now, the president wants to raise taxes in a way to pay for all of the spending. this is irresponsible. higher revenues will only lead to one thing, more government spending. tax increases destroy jobs. in conclusion, god bless our troops and we will never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism.

and i yield the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. jackson, for five minutes. mr. jackson: thank you, mr. speaker. cut, cap and balance, that's the republican economic vision. democrats should have a different economic vision for america. invest, build and grow. invest, conservatives say the federal budget should be like families and businesses and i agree, but families and businesses don't balance their budgets as republicans pretend. families and businesses go into debt by investing rationally in their future. families go into debt by purchasing homes and cars and sending their children to college. businesses go into debt to grow their companies. we should invest in things that will put americans to work in a full employment economy and make america's future bright with balanced economic growth. build, we need to put america back to work by building america. the new deal did not pull us out of the great depression. world war ii did. the government, not the private

sector, the government's conduct of the war and the government's role in steering the economy won world war ii and pulled us out of the great depression. government did that. government stimulated the public and the private economy. if we rationally invest a similar amount of money in our domestic economy as we did to win world war ii america out of this great recession just like we pulled america out of the great depression. grow. we need to grow the economy in a balanced fashion. too large tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 to the wealthy and big corporations, the so-called job creators, didn't create jobs in the private sector. indeed, only one million net new jobs were created between 2001 and 2009. all government jobs. the private sector reported minus 600,000 jobs. so much for giving tax breaks to the private job generators. some argue against all debt, but all debts aren't bad because all debts are not the

same. a $50,000 gambling debt is bad because it has no return. the last decade shows that gambling on tax cuts for the rich to create jobs was bad. gambling on two wars and not paying for them was bad. gambling on a new prescription drug law that was unpaid for was horrible. and gambling on unregulated financial institutions that failed was bad. and they resulted in a housing market collapse, slow economic growth, high unemployment and huge deficits and debts, all bad. so i think we gambled enough on the theory that budget cuts and tax cuts generate private sector jobs and more taxes. the l-a-f-f-e-r is truly a laffer. republicans are right, we do have speaning problem. we spend -- we spent too little in the economic stimulus package of 2009 and we spent it on the wrong things. one third of which were tax cuts to the rich that conservative republicans insisted be included even though they still voted against

it. rather than spending to create jobs by directly investing in things we need, new schools, new hospitals, new water and sewer systems, public transportation, high-speed rail, bridges, ports, airports and more, congress passed and economic stimulus package that kept us falling -- from falling into a great depression. but it was not enough to generate the growth necessary to create the number of jobs that we need. too many in congress drew the wrong conclusion. it reminds me of a man whose house caught on fire and we didn't put it -- when he tried to put it out with a water hose he concluded that water doesn't put out fires. water puts out fires, mr. speaker, but you have to have enough to put it out. you have to put it in the right place. that's what you have, mr. speaker, two choices for america. cut, cap and balance or invest, build and grow. that's the choice before the american people. both visions are for constitutional amendments. cut, cap and balance offers a balanced budget amendment that guarantees slow growth and few

jobs. but a different vision of invest, grow and build can be enhanced with a different set of constitutional amendments. education, health care and the environment, just to name three. according to the congressional research service over 51% of all jobs in america are tied to the first amendment. television networks, radio stations, the recording industry, wire services, facebook, google, ipad, movie studios, the internet, newspapers, magazines and more. in fact, most corporate activity is defined as first amendment activity. how many jobs would be created if we added an amendment to the constitution that gave every american student the right to a public education of equal high quality? how many new elementary schools would have to be built? how many old schools would have to be rehabilitated and be modern? how many teachers and counselors would have to be wired? how much wired installed for the internet? how many computers built and purchased? how many desks built and

bought? that's what an education amendment would demanded. if we added an amendment the right to health care and equal equality? how many new hospitals built? how many doctors, nurses, dentists, administers and technicians trained? mr. speaker, a different vision of america is possible. i'm not giving up on my country and neither should we. i thank the speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from kansas, mr. pompeo, for five minutes. mr. pompeo: thank you, mr. speaker. throughout history great changes mostly come from steady, determined, hard work performed over a long, long period of time. think of our revolution. it took years. think of the war that freed the slaves and the progression towards racial equality, it's taken years. think of the continued long march against radical islamic terrorism that continues today. today, the challenge we face is a frightening economic

challenge. we must put people back to work. we got to grow our economy so we can pay off the crushing debt that has been heaped upon the next generation over the past four years. it's the fight of my generation. now, there are two world views that threatens our republic. the first offered by the president and those who control washington, d.c., today is more government, more spending, more redistribution of wealth and more physical and spiritual dependence on government. the american people rejected this world view on november 2, 2010. there's a second view. it's one that offers liberty and freedom from government instead of controlled by government. it recognizes that the less morally misguided policies will expand government, suffocate growth, further depress job creation and push millions of people farther away from any hope of rising out of poverty.

these policies negatively impact american culture by squelching individual responsibility and initiative and work ethic. america has always had a cultural bias in favor of productive work and has disapproved of the easy acceptance of child and welfare payments when one can provide for one's self. these competing visions of america reduces our spending addiction. it's the fight we're having today. and so today i will vote for a bill for the first time in decades begins to turn the tide against the radical job-killing spending of our current president. now, it's true that the president -- the election of president barack obama in 2008 and the democratic democratic senate of 2010 -- this bill is insufficient. it does not complete the mission. we will plainly fail the task that the new class of freshmen

was sent to washington, d.c., to take on. but it's not all we'll do. we will continue to execute the will of the american people and we will hold this republic together by ending this spending addiction that has afflicted this town for decades. this bill is the d-day to world war ii. it's the first squirmish in a very long battle. that great kansan, general eisenhower, did not declare victory in 1944 after we commenced the liberation of europe. rather, he acknowledged a good day, that the battled had been joined and had a deep recognition that he needed to continue to execute his battle plan. the american people spoke on november 2, 2010, and we now begin to do what they demand that we do. this bill we vote on today honors that commitment. we said we would not raise taxes. this bill does not do that. our president complains. we said we would not increase

the debt limit beyond the amount of spending reductions we undertake. this bill does that and our president complains. these were bold commitments we made to the american people, especially when washington, d.c., continues to be controlled by liberal democrats. how can we be sure that a group of republicans can accomplish this? it has never been done before. today we have an opportunity. this monumental struggle begins. how big will our federal government be and will our country return to its constitutional role of having bounded government? in kansas i know it's battle sometimes looks messy. big challenges often look that way. today, however, i can say clearly that we have stopped a president in growing our government an begin to head down a path towards prosperity for our nation and freedom. it's a good day. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. mcgovern, for five minutes. .

the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, last week the united nations declared famine in somalia and reported urgent needs in ethiopia and kenya. on our nightly tv news and daily papers, we are seeing the pictures of people dying, children suffering extreme malnutrition, and mothers carrying their babies, walking over 100 miles in search of food and safe hache. tens of thousands of -- hiven. tens of thousands of people are seeking safe haven. this is send triest year on record since 1951. the impact has been compounded by war, neglect, and sigh spiraling food prices. some 11.5 million people across east africa need food aid, and care. somalia refugees have left their country along the borders. they arrive exhausted and

physically depleted. news reports estimate that above 1,300 somali refugees arrive in northern kenya every single day. they join already overcrowded camps and stress the ability of the kenyan government and humanitarian agencies to provide food, water, emergency care, and shelter. working with local farmers and n.g.o.'s such as doctors without borders, save the children, and italian aid, unicef will be vaccinating hundreds of thousands of children. dehydrated and suffering from malnutrition, these children, especially those under the age of 5, are particularly susceptible to the measles, polio, diarrhea, and pneumonia. to date in fiscal year 2011 the united states has provided over $450 million in humanitarian aid through the horn of africa through usaid's office of foreign disaster assistance and the food for peace program. along with refugee assistance from the state department's

bureau of population refugees and migration. but much more needs to be done. the next three to six months will be critical. the drought is expected to worsen, at least to the end of the year, and then we will wait to see what happens during the next cycle of rains. will communities be able to recover? will small farmers be able to plant new crops? or will heavy rains produce floods that drive communities deeper into poverty? my colleagues need to understand, however, that the current crisis, terrible as it is, could have been much worse. there is good news amongst so much tragedy. the last time a drought of this magnitude hit ethiopia, over 14 million people faced starvation. this time about 4.5 meteorologist ethiopians are in need of emergency aid. the difference? since 2005 the united states and other donors have made significant investments in ethiopia's productive safety net program. i saw firsthand several of these programs in 2007. they helped small farmers in

poor communities diversify the crops they planted, broaden their sources of income, create local markets, better manage their water resources, and increase the nutritional content of their own diets and those of their children. this has enabled over 7.5 million ethiopians to withstand the worst effects of the current drought. these communities are not part of the 4.5 million ethiopians who require urgent humanitarian aid. mr. speaker, these programs work. they were models for feed the future. our current global program to promote sustainable agriculture, food security, and nutrition. it's how you end global hunger, mr. speaker. it's the difference between needing to help rescue four million people rather than 14 million people. it's also the difference between investing $67 per person each year so they become more food secure and resilient to disasters, or having to invest $250 per person to deliver emergency relief that only covers three to four months. it's the smart way to invest our development resources.

and, mr. speaker, this is why i am so appalled by what happened yesterday in the markup of the state, foreign operations appropriations bill. development, humanitarian, and disaster 5eud programs were all brutally cut. these cuts come on top of the agriculture appropriations bill that devastated our emergency food aid programs. with the worst drought in 60 years hitting the horn of africa, these cuts amount to the united states turning its back on its own strategic interests and walking away from our international commitments. instead, we'd to increase our emergency response, ensure that we have the resources to invest in long-term development, and continue our global leadership in ending hunger and famine once and for all. we need to do better, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, for five minutes. mr. poe: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, time is up. it's time for the administration to quit stalling and make a decision on the keystone x.l.

pipeline project. the pipeline that comes from our friends in canada from alberta all the way down to my congressional district in southeast texas to the refineries in port arthur, texas. the house has done its job this week by passing a bill to move this decision along. now it's the senate's turn to pass the bill so the administration can make a decision on the keystone x.l. project that will create thousands of american jobs and decrease our dependence on unfriendly nations for energy. i commend my friend from nebraska, mr. terry, for passing this legislation and being the spearhead of this legislation. all that has to happen is the state department has to make a decision and the administration has to support that decision one way or the other. it's been three years, three years for the administration to make a decision, yes or no on the x.l. pipeline.

it's time to fish or cut bait. pick a horse and ride it. the administration must make a decision. and this should be to me an easy choice for this administration. either they can force americans to continue to rely on unfriendly foreign countries for our energy, like venezuela, and the middle eastern dictators, by depriving americans of a reliable source of oil at a time when gas prices are around $4, or they can work with our friends in the north to supply over 1.4 million barrels of oil per day. pipelines are the proven and safe efeshent source of energy. best of all, this project creates thousands of jobs at a time when unemployment in this country is 9.2%. and it is climbing. i would think this job creating shovel ready project, which my liberal friends always talk about, would be something they would support. and the administration would support.

as the administration continues to stone wall our own domestic production, we must safely and immediately look for ways to meet energy needs. the country needs energy. it needs jobs. this project provides both. what's the hold up, mr. president? for every barrel of oil shipped 1,000 miles, less than one teaspoon of liquid is lost from a pipeline. transporting goods by pipeline has the lowest carbon footprint as compared with other transportation modes. crude oil has to get to america someway. it either comes by barge or truck or rail or marine and pipelines historically are the safest way to transport crude oil. attacking a pipeline on environmental grounds seems to be absurd to me. pipelines have been the most cost-effective and environmentally sound way to transport oil and natural gas. a medium sized pipeline, which

is about 150,000 barrels a day, requires operating more than 750 trucks, or 75 car train every day to transport the same amount of crude oil. transporting oil through a pipeline is far safer than using transportation by oil tankers. when an oil tanker has a major oil spill, millions of barrels of oil can be spilled in a matter of few minutes, hours, or few days. nearly half a million miles of natural gas and crude oil pipelines are in the united states. 500,000 miles of pipeline. texas has over half of these in the state of texas alone. 270,000 miles of pipeline. and about 1/3 of that, 1/3 of all the nation's pipelines i understand go through the energy capital of the world, my district in southeast texas. if we don't use the crude oil from china in this pipeline, the

canadians could very easily instead of heading north to south pipeline, have a pipeline east to west and pipe it to the coast, west coast and ship it to our good buddies, the chinese. who want to buy it. you know, american energy plan seems to be twofold. send money to brazil and let the brazilians drill off their coast and we'll buy their crude oil. the second part is make sure we use those cute little curly c.f.l. light bulbs. that's it. it's time we take care of ourselves. this is a good project for america. american jobs, and a way to get crude oil into the united states. it's time for the white house to make a decision. that's just the way it is. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. members are reminded to direct their remarks to the chair. the gentleman from oregon, mr. defazio, is recognized for five minutes. mr. defazio: i thank the

gentleman. with one simple vote last december, congress precipitated the so-called debt crisis. we voted to extend all of the bush tax cuts at a cost of $4 trillion over 10 years. i voted no. so now the debate comes down to what's more important to the american people? social security or tax cuts? medicare or tax cuts? jobs or tax cuts? that's what this debate is all about right now. preserving tax cuts, particularly tax cuts for the wealthy, and the largest multinational corporations in this country. some are still trying to drag social security into this debate. social security did not cause one penny of this debt. in fact, social security is the largest owner of federal debt in the world. they are the largest investor in federal debt. social security did not cause this problem. yes, long-term starting 2037 social security's projected only able to pay 73% to 75% of

benefits. we can solve that simply. ask all americans to pay the same percent of their income into social security. today if you earn over $106,000, you pay a lower percentage of your income into social security. lift that cap. you could lower the tax for everybody, all those who earn less than $106,800, they get a little tax cut. everybody who earns more than $106,800, would pay the same% of their income in taxes as those who earn less. that's fair. it solves social security problems forever. then there are others who say well it's medicare. medicare is the thing we have to kill. the ryan plan, republican plan, kill medicare. turn it into a voucher program. that's their solution there. future seniors would have a subsidy to go to a private -- government sponsored exchange to buy private health insurance and the voucher would be far less than the cost of health insurance. we don't need to kill medicare to save it, or to preserve the

tax cuts. medicare we could do away with the bush republican unpaid for prescription drug benefit that subsidizes the pharmaceutical and insure industries and instead say, medicare we'll negotiate lower drug prices for all people on that program, and give them a cost benefit. we could reform the way we buy durable medical equipment, save another $20 billion a year. then we could move on to paying doctors for good results rather than volume, saving tens of billions more. yes, we can fix medicare. we don't need to destroy it. we don't need to destroy it to perpetuate tax cuts. and then tax cuts create jobs. that's the reason we havele to maintain, according to the republicans. tax cuts create jobs. we are in the 11th year of the bush tax cuts. the third year of the obama tax cuts that supposedly are creating jobs. where are the jobs? in fact we just had a really good demonstration last week. last friday all taxes on airline

tickets expired. the republicans say that will get passed on to the consumers. no, most are keeping the money. that's another issue. but did those tax cuts create jobs? no. actually so far they have cost us 94,000 jobs. 4,000 federal employees. they hate federal employees, that doesn't matter. 90,000 private sector construction jobs building critical security and safety projects on airports across the country have all ground to a halt because they stopped from continuing to collect that tax on people who use the system. tax cuts actually have destroyed 94,000 jobs. but they have profited a number of the airlines. one major airline, $4 million extra. they raised their ticket prices to capture that money. they didn't refund it. a couple like alaska have refunded it. but most airlines, no. so we are putting a lie to a lot of their policies here. the biggest core part of their

policy is, trickle-down economics. it failed in the reagan years and it's failing now. give billionaires the job creators, tax cuts and they'll create jobs for us little people. guess what? , no. maybe they hired another pool boy or someone else on the yacht. yeah, there are a few jobs. they are hiring private jets to fly their kids to camp in maine. there's a job there. but not the jobs that 18 million american people need if we restore the taxes on airline tickets, we put 90,000 construction workers, private sector workers back to work. and if we fully fund our transportation needs in this country, we could put another 2.7 to 3.5 million people to work. they want to cut investment, transportation infrastructure. bridges are failing, they are falling down. the roads are potholed. transit system are decrepit. the republican answer is give the people back their money and cut spending on those wasteful things. like mass transit, bridges, and

highways, and oh, by the way, under their plan we lose another 600,000 private sector jobs on top of the 20% unemployment construction. it's time to get real around here. put america back to work. if americans were working, that would solve one quarter of the problem. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. . the chair recognizes the gentleman from alabama, mr. brooks, for five minutes. mr. brooks: thank you, mr. speaker. i have voted to raise the debt ceiling where the bill makes america's financial condition better, not worse. both the reid and boehner plans failed to adequately address unsustainable deficits that threaten america with insolvency and bankruptcy. both plans put the debt ceiling issue to 2012 or 2013 at which time a financially weaker america will confront a worse debt ceiling crisis. both plans simply are not up to the seriousness of the financial challenges america

faces. washington must put 2012 election considerations aside and put america's interests first and foremost now. congress and the white house can and must do better now. america deserves better now. and quite frankly we have no choice but to do better now. years of spending binges have come to roost. america has suffered $3 trillion deficits and faces trillion dollar deficit noose the foreseeable future. annual deficits and accumulated debt force america to confront two major financial threat, both with one common cause, unsustainable budget deficits. in the short term, america faces a debt ceiling crisis. if the debt ceiling is not raised, economic hardship will ensue, unemployment rates will rise, america's gross domestic product will decline. over a longer term, however, america faces a larger, more serious debt crisis.

if trillion dollar deficits continue to run rampant, america's insolvency and bankruptcy is certain. which risk america -- excuse me -- national defense capabilities, social security, medicare, medicaid, nasa and everything else that the government provides. the question is not whether congress will raise the debt ceiling, the question is when and how. i have already voted to raise the debt ceiling $2.4 trillion by the cut, cap and balance bill -- bill. we're cutting f.y. 2012 expenditures by $1.2 billion. capping federal expenditures with an historically 18% to 20% ranges and passing a balanced budget constitutional amendment that protects future generations from the financial mess we now face. i am prepared to vote the debt ceiling again so long as congress substantively addresses our annual deficit

problem while protecting our fragile economy and jobs. as best i can with the limited and changing information available, i have examined both the boehner and reid plans. while they differ in many respects they also share common concepts. neither plan purports to immediately raise taxes. neither plan cuts spending in f.y. 2012 or 2013 as much as 5% of this year's $1.5 trillion deficit. neither plan eliminates annual trillion dollar deficits into the foreseeable future. both plans raise the debt ceiling by $1.27 trillion. it forces america to revisit the debt ceiling crisis here in either 2012 or 2013 at which time america's debt burden will be much higher and america will be that much weaker. neither plan heeds standard & poor's or moody's credit downgrade warnings. neither plan cuts america's short or long-term deficits enough to minimize the risk of

downgrade in america's credit rating. a downgrade that will cut funding for all other federal government programs. to make matters worse, if america's interest rates go up, state and local private interest rates are likely to also go up, thereby hurting americans at all levels. there is only one reliable solution that i can discern that protects america from both financial threats. a debt ceiling increase coupled with a balanced budget constitutional amendment that's phased in over a five-year period of time. in as much as constitutional amendments take years to pass, it's time that -- time that america does not have, the first step must be to raise the debt ceiling when the house passes a balanced budget constitutional amendment. if the house and senate concur, this can be done in as little as a week. the second step raises the rest of the debt ceiling when the states ratify the propose balanced budget amendment, thus giving the states a needed incentive to ratify the balanced budget amendment in

less than one year. this solves both financial threats. quite frankly, mr. speaker, i pray that washington has the strength to do what it must before it is too late. america is on the verge of a downward spiral. we must act now and we must act in substantive ways. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. neal, for five minutes. mr. neal: i request to address the house for five minutes and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. neal: i rise today to talk about our current fiscal situation and how we got here today. the thought that america would default on its obligations is unimaginable. this afternoon we're going to begin a debate on speaker boehner's debt ceiling legislation and i'll comment later on why i oppose the speaker's approach. but before we begin that debate, i think it's important to acknowledge, step back and review how we got to where we are. the success of the 1993 deficit reduction act, which was

vehemently opposed by our republican friends, led to a decade of prosperity and surplus. president clinton balanced the budget for the first time since 1969 and ran surpluses for four years. between 1998 and 2000, the publicly held debt was reduced by $363 billion. the largest paydown in american history. under presidents reagan and bush, the debt held by the public quadrupled. by the time bill clinton left office we were going to be surplused. alan greenspan warned us that we were paying down the debt too quickly. the clock in times square, which is chronicle to deficits, which actually turned off at the end of the clinton years. but unfortunately there were those who thought we should shift course. economic growth averaged 4% during those clinton years. compared to an average of 2.8%

during president reagan's years. the economy grew for 116 consecutive months, the most in history, fueled by more than 200 -- i'm sorry -- 22.5 million jobs that was created during those eight years. the most ever created during a single administration. and more jobs that were created during the 12 previous years. on january 20, when george bush took the oath of office, the c.b.o. estimated that the budget surplus for 2002 to 2011 would be 5.6 trillion dollars. and their campaign began to spend that surplus in earnest despite warnings. president bush began taking us down that fiscal path by enacting tax cuts. first in 2001 of $1.3 trillion. again in 2003, $1 trillion that cost the government going forward almost $4 trillion.

the other major expenditure during that year and those years was our idea that you can simultaneously engage two wars and cut taxes by $2.3 trillion. remember the argument about weapons of mass destruction that took us to the unnecessary war in iraq. while some questioned tax cuts and wartime, including people like mr. lincoln, others thought it brilliant. the republican leader at the time or the deputy leader at the time said it was patriotic to cut taxes in a time of war. well, i wonder if the virps -- veterans, 2.2 million who served us with with honor and distinction in iraq and afghanistan would feel that way to draw back on the benefits that they earned. during the bush years our country spent $1.5 trillion in iraq and national defense. the turnaround in our budget picture during the bush years was remarkable. in october of 2008, cnn reported that the debt clock

had run out of numbers. the debt clock actually had exceeded 13 digits that had been allotted to the clock and had to be revised. according to one report at the end of the bush term, the number of jobs in the nation increased by 2%. that's the lowest at anytime since data began to be collected seven decades ago. gross domestic product was at the lowest pace since the truman administration, and the price that america has paid for the theology that suggested during all of those years that tax cuts pay for themselves. you can't find a mainstream economist in this town today who will acknowledge that argument. and yet we hear now more tax cuts for the wealthiest americans. by the time that the bush years ended, the debt had increased to $10.6 trillion, setting a record for any administration. incidentally, the top vote that we hear so often, that took

place in october of 2008. that's a very important consideration. that was during president bush's years. but let me give you a quote that i think sums up much of what we did during those years. dick cheney told the treasury secretary at the time, paul o'neill, quote, reagan proved that deficits don't matter. we won the third term election. this is our doom. we embraced the prescription d medicare benefit and we're paying a price for it today. so here we are, my republican colleagues try to place the blame on the situation on the current administration. there were many of us who saw what was happening with the reckless expenditures during those years and the price that america paid. we need to vote to raise the debt ceiling. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. barletta, for five minutes. mr. barletta: thank you, mr. speaker. almost seven months ago i stood

in this chamber and took the oath of office. it was one of the proudest days of my life. since my swearing in we worked together to change the direction of this country and we've chaunged it for the better. we've cut federal spending by $361 billion. we've repealed an unpopular and unwanted government health care plan. and we've started going back on some of the regulation that's been slowing our economic growth. during my short time here in washington, i've heard some very passionate arguments, and i've seen some very heated debates. but they are nothing, mr. speaker, like the angry, confusing, misleading rhetoric i've heard in the last two weeks regarding the raising of the debt ceiling. some media reports around the capitol make it seem like we will never come to an agreement. not only are democrats and

republicans seemingly miles apart, but it appears as if both parties have splintered eternally. the bickering is dividing the american government, it's dividing the american people. it's bringing us to the brink of financial disaster. based on the calls my office has received over the past couple of days, my neighbors back in northern pennsylvania want it to stop. they want a solution, and i'm sure every one of you and your neighbors back home do too. there is no such thing as the perfect deal. there is no such thing as complete and total victory. many of us came here opposed to raising the debt ceiling. many of us prefer the cut, cap and balance approach. many on the other side prefer a clean debt ceiling increase with no spending cuts. while the budget control act is

far from perfect, it acome dates the priorities of the people sitting on both sides of the table, both sides of the aisle and both sides of the capitol. if we in this chamber, if our friends in the other chamber or if the president holds out for the perfect plan, well, the united states will likely default on its obligations. as the responsible stewards of the people's government, we cannot let that happen, and i am confident that we will not let it happen. but we need to work together. we need to trust each other. we need to realize that the perfect deal is neither possible nor practical. we are at a critical moment in our history. this country has lived far beyond its means for far too long. the out-of-control spending has been going on in washington for generations.

government spent as if there was no tomorrow, and now we and our children and our grandchildren are left to pay the price. i know the debt ceiling has been raised before, to the benefit of both republican and democratic administrations. well, i wasn't there then, and i didn't create this mess, but i'm sure going to clean it up and that's why i'm here. that's why the people of northern pennsylvania sent me here. . that's why the thought of re-election should never, never enter anyone's minds when we are doing the people's business. this issue is far bigger than the next election. this issue is far bigger than one man or one branch of government or one political party. how we solve this looming crisis is a defining issue of this congress. we can either continue on the path that we have been on, a path of reckless spending, of increasing taxes, of mounting

debts and deficits, but we can change our direction. we can put the brakes on the out-of-control spending. we can forge a new direction. one of fiscal responsibility, one of capped spending, one of balanced budgets. we can send a message to the american people and to the world that the united states is getting its fiscal house in order. and if we do that, we can bring stability to the shaky global economy. we can reassure skeptical business owners and encourage them to create jobs. and we can create a better financial future for our children and our grandchildren. i believe our choice is clear, i ask my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, when you reach for your voting cards today, first take a glance at the pictures in your walllets of your -- wallets of your children and grandchildren. we are not republicans. we are not democrats. we are americans.

today let's put the american people first. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlelady from illinois, ms. schakowsky, for five minutes. ms. schakowsky: i thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to discuss the catastrophic famine that continues to unfold in the horn of africa. eastern africa is currently in the grips of the worst drought in 60 years. affecting 11 million people in somalia, ethiopia, and kenya. according to the u.n., somalia now faces the highest malnutrition rates in the world and some three million somalis are in desperate need of immediate emergency aid. the u.n. estimates that tens of thousands of somalis have died of drought related causes in the past few months, and acute malnutrition rates in the country southern region now exceed 30%. thousands more are fleeing areas controlled by the al qaeda

affiliated group, al shabab, which even in the face of such large-scale human suffering refuses to allow major humanitarian groups to deliver aid. some 50,000 somalis have returned to the capital despite continued violence and instability in search of food and medicine. mothers have sought refuge from hunger and warfare in neighboring countries, nearly 400,000 somalis have crowded into kenya's refugee camp, a complex designed to house only 90,000 people. another 9,000 arrive in the camp each week, and thousands of other somalis continue to flee ethiopia in search of food, many particularly children and the elderly, do not survive the harsh trek. the warning signs of impending disaster have been visible for months, but the international community has been slow to respond. aid is slowly now beginning to trickle in, however.

the u.n.'s world food program has begun an emergency airlift of food, the first flight arrives in mogadishu yesterday, bringing 10 tons of nutritional supplements for children. the world food program says that is enough to treat 3,500 malnourished children for one month. clearly the need is far greater. the program plans to increase its efforts in hopes of reaching over two million people in somalia south. likewise, the united states have provided much needed assistance, 4.4 million drought affected people in eastern africa. since last october, our government has given $383 million in lifesaving aid, including 348,000 metric tons of food. further this week the obama administration announced a further $28 million in emergency assistance for famine relief in somalia. this aid is critical and i commend the president for these steps. however the scale of the current crisis requires a message

greater response. as well as creative solutions taylored to the unique threats posed -- tailored to the unique threats posed by the violence. because of the terrorist organization, will continue to impose restrictions on aid organizations delivering assistance to the hard hit regions under its control. we need to work with these humanitarian groups to ensure that despite somalia's continuing warfare and lack of governance, desperately needed aid can reach the most vulnerable men, women, and children. mr. speaker, we need to act quickly to fight famine and save lives. we also need to address the long-term underlying causes that have left somalia's people so vulnerable to drought and malnutrition. even before the most recent crisis, somalia was locked into the cycle of warfare, lawlessness, and bitter poverty. one expert recently called somalia's curn plight a

catastrophic failure of all the systems that people rely on to survive. that's why part of our response must be an investment in food security. part of our responsible must be an effort to address the long-standing violent conflict that has torn somalia apart. part of our response must go toward long-term economic development and capacity building. we need to act immediately to ensure the humanitarian aid can read the millions of eastern africans who face imminent nutrition and starvation that we are watching every day on television. i urge the united states and the international community to immediately scale up efforts to deliver urgent assistance to children and other vulnerable individuals. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from indiana, mr. pence, for five minutes. mr. pence: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman will suspend. the chair will receive a message. the messenger: mr. speaker, a message from the president of the united states. the secretary: mr. speaker, i am directed by the president of the united states to deliver to the house of representatives a message in writing. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pence: as america watches and the world watches from afar, washington, d.c., debates a debt ceiling increase and debates various proposals for confronting it. in a manner that is consistent with our commitment to this generation and the next. for the past 10 years i have been fighting run away federal spending, deficits, debt, and takeovers here in washington,

d.c., by both political parties. now, i recognize if you owe debts, pay debts. this congress has an obligation to defend the full faith and credit of the united states of america and find out -- find a way to pay our bills. but this congress also has an obligation to keep faith with this and future generations by restoring fiscal responsibility and discipline to our national treasury. i have come to the conclusion over the last decade that washington, d.c., is not only broke, it's broken. a colleague of mine said earlier this week, the american people don't just want a deal, they want a solution. and i rise to say that i believe a balanced budget amendment to the constitution of the united states is that solution. i told my colleagues earlier this week i did not want to vote for any increase in the debt

ceiling unless this congress did everything in its power to send a balanced budget amendment to the senate and to the states. earlier today we learned that speaker boehner and leader cantor have made a decision for this friday to bring two separate balanced budget amendments to the floor. and i hartley support their decision. -- heartily support their decision. the first will include spending limitations and require supermajority on tax increases. and i support those measures. but the second balanced budget amendment hasn't seen action here on the house floor for 15 years. 15 years ago what is commonly referred to as the historic or the clean balanced budget amendment received overwhelming and bipartisan support. some 300 votes on the floor of the house of representatives and almost passed the senate. i believe that by bringing that historic balanced budget amendment to the floor of this

congress this week, we are doing all we can. to send a balanced budget amendment to the senate and to the states and with that i inform my colleagues today that i will support the boehner plan. i will support the budget control act. and i urge all of my colleagues to join me in doing the same. the budget control act has much to recommend it. it has no tax increases and we have confirmed from the c.b.o. dollar for dollar spending cuts to match any increase in the debt ceiling. and there are mechanisms for additional cuts and additional reforms. but the budget control act also includes a requirement that the senate vote between october and november of this year on a balanced budget amendment. again, let me say a balanced budget amendment to the constitution has not been considered in the congress for 15 years despite overwhelming public support. across this country. now, i am for the version of the

balanced budget amendment with various limits, but i believe it's vitally important that republican leadership has chosen to bring the bipartisan version to the floor, to play it straight, and give us a fighting chance to get the 2/3 votes necessary to amend the constitution. i rise to announce my support for the budget control act. i rise to express gratitude to speaker boehner and leader cantor who listened to colleagues like myself who thought we could improve the circumstances of this vote by accelerating and improving our choices for a balanced budget amendment. and frankly i also rise to commend all of my colleagues who have held out for a better deal. i want to say from my heart, this is better. history is often made in unexpected ways and at unexpected times. i believe with the consideration of the budget control act on the floor today, we have an opportunity to make progress toward restoring fiscal discipline to washington, d.c.

i believe with consideration of the balanced budget amendment to the constitution of the united states tomorrow, we have an opportunity to make history. so i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the budget control act on the floor today. but i also urge all of my colleagues, republicans and democrats alike, to join us as we make a good faith effort to send a balanced budget amendment to the constitution of the united states, to the senate, and to the states. let us put in to the national charter that this national government for this generation and the next must again live within our means. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california, his lee, for five minutes. ms. lee: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. lee: i rise today as a founding co-chair of the

39-member out-of-poverty caucus to talk about the millions of people living in poverty in america. nearly 45 million americans live in poverty and one in five children are growing up in poverty. the recession may be over for big corporations and the superrich, but for far too many americans, the recession is actually a depression. yesterday the out-of-poverty caucus held a press conference with organizations working on the frontlines with low-income and poor people. we heard stories of more homelessness, long lines at food pantries, and the dessprations felt by so many. our nation's unemployment rate remains at an unaccept pli high 9.2%. -- unacceptably high 9.2%. millions of americans who have lost their jobs are finding it harder and harder to find a new one. these new ranks of the long-term unemployed and their families are facing the stark reality of life in poverty for the first

time. the ongoing impact of the recession on struggling families and those facing and living in poverty simply must not be ignored, but instead of working to improve the lives of millions of americans in poverty, the republican party continues their drive to pledge our nation -- plunge our nation into default and our economy over the brink. speaker boehner has unveiled yet another republican plan that fails to do what american needs. his plan fails to end the threat of default. his plan targets the program aimed at america's most vuss vulnerable, our seniors, children, and low-income families far more draconian cuts. trying to balance the budget on the backs of the door is morally wrong. we need a balanced approach that balances targeted cuts with the revenue that we need. we must make sure that we can pay the benefits that we owe to our seniors, protect medicare, medicaid, and social security, and safeguard our most

vulnerable communities. mr. speaker, while the nation's unemployment level remains unacceptably high, for some minority communities it was double digits even before the recession began. the unemployment rate for african-americans today is recorded at 16.2% and latinos recorded at 11.2%. and what many of us have known for a long, long time now, african-americans and latinos have lost 18 to 20 times their net worth, more so than white americans. due to structural inequalities where race is a factor. . these numbers are horrific speaking to the job crisis. let me share one story of one american who is locking for a job. reverend david was laid off from a job as successful director of a favet-based

nonprofit that served the disadvantaged and worked to put people on a path toward self-deficiencyy. now he's relying on the safety net programs that he used to connect others to. he diligently job hunts week after week. david and his wife rely on unemployment benefits that makes ends meet and he's worried about what he will do when he reaches 99-week limit of those benefits. the reverend is not alone. 45 million americans worry about where they will sleep at night if their children will eat, what will happen if they need medical attention and when they will secure a living wage job. we must work together to help the millions of americans who are still struggling to recover from the great recession. as the first order of business, i again call on the speaker to bring my legislation, h.r. 589, to the floor for an up or down vote immediately. this would add 14 weeks of

retroactive unemployment -- emergency unemployment benefits to those long-term unemployed known as 99ers who continue to face uncertainty and hardship. passing this extension will stimulate our economy, not to mention that it is our moral responsibility to help those in need. but people really want to work. instead of creating jobs, republicans are holding our economy hostage, putting forth policies that will create more unemployment and more job loss. instead of quickly passing a clean debt ceiling vote, the republicans are marching lockstep to create this default. instead of supporting the vital human needs programs that will protect our most vulnerable, republicans are trying to balance the budget on the backs of the poor while maintaining these tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires and big oil. mr. speaker, there's no more time for these republican games. the american people expect us to put partisanship aside, to

protect our economy and create jobs. the american dream has been a nightmare for the 45 million living in poverty, and it's turning quickly into a might mare for millions who are falling from middle income not ranks of the poor. the bill put forth today by republicans guarantees this tragic outcome. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from mississippi, mr. nunnelee, for five minutes. mr. nunnelee: thank you, mr. speaker. last week the remains of corporal judge c. hellims of mississippi were returned from the forest in france and given a proper burial in arlington national cemetery. in the fall of 1944, following the normandy invasion, corporal's unit was fighting its way east through france towards the german border. the tank destroyer, to which he

was assigned, was attacked. two men survived with serious injuries, but the corporal, along with private first class lawrence n. harris of elkins, west virginia, and private donald d. owens of cleveland, ohio, were killed in the attack. all evidence at the time indicated that their remains had been destroyed. over the last decade, through the cooperation of a french citizen who had been exploring the forest, and the joint p.o.w.m.i.a. of counting command, using d.n.a. evidence, and forensic identityification tools, the remains of these heroes were identified. on july 20, 2011, 67 years after their death, they were given the proper burial they had been denied as they were laid to rest in arlington national cemetery. to these heroes we say welcome

home and may you rest in peace. while these soldiers were identified, we still have 72 files of american soldiers who were unaccounted for in world war ii and more than 83 thousands from all wars who are missing -- 83,000 from all wars who are missing in action. in 1944, one's bomber was shot down over the north sea. his body, along with several of his fellow crewmembers, was never recovered. for more than a decade, adrian caldwell has worked tirelessly to bring her father's remains home. all of our heroes deserve a proper burial. and my office is working with mrs. caldwell to ensure her father received what he earned, the honor and combrattude from the country -- gratitude from the country he served his life to defend. this repatriation reminds us that freedom is not free.

we enjoy the liberty of a free nation today because of men like these who answers freedom's call. and the way we honor their sacrifice is to remember them and to call them by name. the greatest generation is passing to their heavenly reward at a rate of 1,000 people a day. these are veterans who left their homes to fight in far away places. these are families who supported those efforts. we cannot thank them enough but they're called home. the other way we honor their sacrifice is to pass on the legacy of freedom that they died to defend. when i conduct town hall meetings around mississippi, i ask a question. do you believe your grandchildren will live a better life than you lived? for the first time in american history the answer to that question is no. 67 years from now and 167 years

from now, generations will review the actions of our generation. only history will record if we answer freedom's call. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair will receive a message. the messenger: mr. speaker, a message from the senate. the secretary: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: madam secretary. the secretary: i have been directed by the senate to inform the house that the senate has passed with an amendment h.r. 2608, cited as the small business program extension and reform act of 2011 in which the concurrence of the house is requested. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york, mr. rangel, for five minutes. mr. rangel: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. rangel: thank you. my colleagues, yesterday i was talking about the american dream, but then again i was thinking about how many people have waken up this morning

concerned about our national debt. when you represent the type of district that i do and many, many other members, they're concerned about can they get a job or can they keep the job they have. they're concerned about the bills and obligations that they have. they're concerned about whether to keep their kids in school or keep food on the table or they have the dignity and the pride and not have their dreams shattered by this nightmare that their country owes $14.3 trillion. and we're making the special appeal to americans, republicans and democrats not to allow our country to get caught in the position that we don't pay our bills. i suspect that a lot of my constituents would say, well, how in the heck did i get that bill? how did we owe $14.3 trillion,

and what did i have to do with it? and i guess we have to say, honestly, you didn't have much to do with it. you did not go into countries and get involved in three wars. you were not responsible for saying that the richest of americans and corporations that are receiving large profits you should have and continue to have preferential tax treatment. well, why are you telling me, then, that i have to pay the debt? if we all have to pitch in, what about the guys not having to make a sacrifice? well, that's kind of difficult to explain to these people, but you tell them that there are people in the congress who truly believe that they can address their problem by having

a constitutional amendment. i know it's a stretch, but that's what some of us have to deal with in the congress. but you've heard some of them this morning, so the only answer to our problem is to have a vote in the house of representatives and persuade 2/3 of our members that in the united states constitution we will require a balanced budget. now, after we get 2/3 here, if we can't get 2/3 -- we only hold the senate by one vote. it's a commentary because after we do that then we have to go out to the states and ask the state legislators to approve what we have done, at least 2/3

of the states. that's their answer to those people who had an american dream. it would seem to me that along the line they may ask, well, who received the benefits of all of this debt, and i would suspect that a lot of the people that manufacture military equipment had a windfall. i would suspect that those people that were able to take jobs overseas, the profit and loss books look like they did pretty well, and the financial section, our committee voted and it was approved by the president $789 billion to be given to the financial community. and god knows they say these are the people that can create the jobs. well, i don't know whether any economist agrees with that, but they have enjoyed these tax cuts for decades and we are now

at the highest unemployment that we've ever been. and it would seem to me that those who have, through the benefits of all of our taxpayers, received this windfall that it's not asking too much to ask them to invest in their country, to invest in jobs, to not look how much profit they can make overseas but how many lives can they have to get a decent salary to be able to join the union, to be able to pay their bills and at the same time be able to go back to work. this answer that everyone makes a sacrifice is not talking about the private sector that made the money. i don't even know why sacrifice is even used in any dialogue. what we're basically saying is that we have to cut spending. well, everyone would have to

agree to that. but these people receiving benefits from their government are the ones that will be making the sacrifice. and as we cut the benefits, whether we're talking about education benefits, health care benefits, supplements to pensions, sometimes the only funds they have in retirement, in social security, whether we're talking about checks for the disabled who cannot work, now they want to cut those programs and the people that provide the service. so that means that they will be increasing the number of people that are unemployed. it just doesn't make sense that we have unemployment compensation and other things for people that have disposable income but we cut money for people who are trying to

provide. thank you, mr. speaker, for allowing me to address the house. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. gohmert, for five minutes. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. there's no question, this congress for many years has had a problem with spending. the democratic congress developed a bigger and bigger appetite for spending for 40 years as it held the majority for years and years. then, republicans took the house in 1995 and they forced a balanced budget on president clinton. they had friction between the president and the congress, and that allowed this country to have a balanced budget. who would have ever thought -- i certainly wouldn't -- i know

we have some democratic friends who thought but i didn't that when we got a republican president and we had republican jorts in the house and senate -- majorities in the house and senate we began to spend again? there wasn't friction there to hold spending down, and republicans, i would submit, lost their way. began spending too much money. my first year in congress in 2005 and 2006, we shouldn't have spent the money we did. and i can recall being here on the floor and having democratic friends beating us up, rightfully so, because in 2006 we spent $160 billion more than we had coming in. we didn't have to do that. we shouldn't have done that. i would never have dreamed that five short years later that with the democratic majority the spending would have

exploded once they had no friction between a democratic president and democratic congress and we would go from the $160 billion in deficit spending in 2006 that republicans got beat up for to $1.6 trillion in deficit spending, 10 times more, and people still thinking that's ok. . it wasn't ok for the republicans to overspend by $160le billion and it's not ok for this democratic senate and president to continue to push to spend $1.6 trillion more than we -- the $2.2 trillion we supposedly will have come in. now we are told today woor going to have a vote -- we are going to have a vote on a republican bill. surprising to some of us republicans, we passed a bill, cut, cap, and balance. it wasn't what i wanted. i liked the balanced budget amendment with the percentage of g.d.p. cap on spending to help

rein congress in. and that was negotiable on the percentage. but it also had $111 billion out of $1.6 trillion that would have been cut from spending. that just wasn't enough. but the balanced budget amendment, if it had been passed and become part of the law was enough of a game changer, it was worth voting for. then the senate sits back and said, we aren't going to go for that. we aren't going to pass anything. so pass something else. and now our leadership has heard the call of leader reid down the hall and is going to bring another bill. and i know the intentions of both sides of the aisle want the best for the country. i get that. i understand that. we have different ideas on how that can be done. i know there are people in my party that want to keep beating

up on me because i can't vote for a bill that only cuts $1 trillion out of $15 trillion to $16 trillion that will be deficit spending over the next 10 years. because it's easy to do the math. we cut $1 trillion out of $15 trillion, $16 trillion over the next 10 years and if we can keep doing that, there is no assurance we can, every 10 years cut another $1 trillion, then when i have my 207th birthday, we can celebrate that year a balanced budget. and we will have only added $120 trillion to the $14.3 trillion deficit now. i can't vote for that. politically we are told, gee, this is the political thing to do. you got to do the political thing. if you don't vote for the boehner bill, you are voting for obama. that's not true. if the senate will pass anything, anything, then we

could drive this to a conference committee and get a compromise. the senate has to pass something. think about this. we pass this, say hypothetically, the senate said, you bushed this to the edge of the cliff. we didn't want to vote for this. they pass it just like we did and the senate said i was going to veto but we are on the edge of the cliff, 100% republican bill. they wouldn't compromise. and now they say, gee, republicans inherited the economy. it's not right. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. gohmert: let's do the right thing. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from connecticut, ms. delauro, for five minutes. ms. delauro: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. delauro: the horn of africa is suffering from the worst drought in 60 years. for both moral and national security reasons it demands a strong, clear, sustained response from this institution. last week famine was declared in parts of soften somalia. -- southern somalia.

this means acute malnutrition rates among children reach 30%. people are not able to access food or basic necessity. one out of every five households in famine declared areas have no food at all. the malnutrition rates in somalia are currently the highest in the world. and the last few months, tens of thousands of somalis, the majority of them children, have died as a result of causes related to malnutrition. and in some of the most affected areas an estimated 310,000 children are acutely malnourished. the worst may yet to come. eight million people are in need of acyance in ethiopia and kenya. unless the global community and humanitarian agencies intervene now, it is predicted that the entire south of somalia will face famine within the next few months. nearly 1,000 people are arriving daily at overcrowded refugee camps in kenya and ethiopia. many have journeyed for weeks to get there.

according to joe set, -- joset, who is executive director of the u.n. world food program, the road to these camps are, i quote, becoming roads of death. over half the women i talked to have had to leave children to die or had children die. in the horn of africa, we could lose a generation. the troubles do not end there. sexual violence against women in these already overcrowded refugee camps is on the rise. this crisis didn't happen overnight. the eastern horn of africa is prone to chronic food insecurity. what is more below average rainfall in the late 2010 and the spring of 2011 anticipated drought conditions, which have been dramatically worsened by the fact that somalia has not had a central government since 1991. drought conditions have also progressively worsened throughout the year in ethiopia and kenya. to address the ongoing crisis,

secretary clinton recently announced that the united states would provide another $28 million in aid for people in somalia and for somali refugees in kenya. in addition to the over $431 million in food and nonfood emergency assistance already provided for the region this year. it's a good start. but we need to ensure that the appropriate u.s. funds are available to address this crisis this year. and that congress provides enough funding to maintain our ability to really address these crises. it is a matter of life and death for the most vulnerable people in the world. we do this not just out of moral responsibility, although that should be compelling enough. it is also because our national security interests need to be represented. to maintain the capability to combat food insecurity in the horn of africa and other critical regions around the world is about our national

security. anti-hunger programs that can help this crisis and strengthen international diplomacy. and yet unfortunately we have seen the money for international food aid cut back severely. when we fight hunger and poverty, we undercut the recruiting base of those who would threaten us. the terrorists who would threaten us. let me conclude by saying we know what we can do to help. we have the ability to alleviate hunger and suffering of millions in the horn of africa. we know that doing so is the right thing to do. it makes us safer in the long run. we lack the political will to do the right thing. i urge my colleagues, support funding for these critical programs in the coming budget. for the millions suffering in somalia, kenya, and ethiopia. for the humanitarian crises of the future, for the continued

safety and security of the united states. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from alabama, miss suewell, for five minutes. ms. sewell: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. miss sewell: -- ms. sewell: i rise today to recognize the 145th anniversary of brown chapel african methodist episcopal church in selma, alabama. for 145 years brown chapel has been a pillar in the selma community and she stands today as a powerful symbol of the civil rights movement and for the major role that this church played in the events that led to the adoption of the voting rights act of 1964. -- 65. 145 years ago, just two years after the emancipation proclamation, three slaves began wore shpping first in private

homes and eventually in the basement of the hotel albert in selma, alabama. 145 years ago, on august 31, 1867, an african methodist episcopal missionary, brother john turner, addressed the group assembled in the basement at the hotel albert and extended them an invitation to unite with the african methodist episcopal connection. two years later in 1869 these visionary church members bought a plot of lan on martin luther king street. this beautiful eddie physical known as brown chapel that stands today was built in 1908 by a black builder, mr. a.j. farley. today we celebrate 145 years of brown chapel, a history of faith, courage, and leadership. it took great courage in the early 1960's to defy an injunction that forbid all

churches in selma, alabama, from holding mass meetings. most churches in selma refused to obey -- disobey the court order, but brown chapel opened its doors to martin luther king jr. and became that wonderful church of courage that played such an integral role in the civil rights movement. brown chapel became an icon of the movement. it was from brown chapel that they marched on bloody sunday and two days later on turn around tuesday and on march 21, 1965, the day when the selma to montgomery march was finally completed, leading the infamous bloody sunday was hoe see ya williams as well as our esteemed colleague in this chamber, congressman john lewis of georgia. the story of bloody sup will go down not annals of history as a pivotal event in the civil rights movement. on march 7, 1965, at the ed mon pet tiss bridge -- edmund pettus bridge, mounted troops

confronted the marchers on that bridge. the sheriff and his posse charged the marchers with tear gas and with bully clubs. that night abc news interrupted regularly scheduled program to air footage of bloody sunday. by morning news of the events had spread nearly to every american household, and thousands of supporters began to flock to selma. the selma to montgomery march and the subsequent public outrage led to the passage of the voting rights act of 1965. for 145 years brown chapel has been a powerful agent of change. it has been a place where socioeconomic and racial barriers have been challenged. a place where barriers that divide our nation have been broken down. brown chapel continues to make history. on march 4, 2007, then barack obama, senators barack obama, a

presidential candidate, gave the address for the annual bridge crossing commemoration. it was during this address in 2007 that obama thanked the moses generation and challenged the joshua generation. in his famous joshua generation speech, obama asked the present generation, what would they do to fulfill the legacy? the obligations and the debts that were owed to the people who came before them? as a proud member of brown chapel church, i had the privilege of being there that day and for me his words were a call to action. it was because people prayed in brown chapel and people marched in the edmund pettus bridge that a little black girl from selma, alabama, could dream and could one day stand here in this wonderful chamber as the first black congresswoman from the state of alabama.

brown chapel has been a pillar in my hometown of selma, alabama,, and it still remains so today. i am a proud member of this church and have been for the last 30 years of my life. i was raised in this beautiful historic church. and i know its significance. i am now proud to represent the 7th congressional district of alabama and proud of the many giants on whose shoulders i stand. in honor of the 105th anniversary of the historic brown chapel a.m.e. church, i, terry sewell, representative to the united states of congress from the 7th congressional district, do hereby recognize brown chapel for its numerous contributions to the city of selma, the state of alabama, and this nation. i ask those present today to join me in celebrating 145 years of historic brown chapel a.m.e. church. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from ohio, ms. kaptur, for five minutes. ms. kaptur: thank you, mr. speaker. the republican majority has once again proven its complete irresponsibility by putting our economy at risk and handling our

nation's finances. a little over a decade ago there were projected surpluses as far as the eye could see. and the nation was on firm financial footing. that was before the george w. bush administration and the republicans took us on a spending spree, paying out trillions in huge tax cuts, skewed to, guess who? the top 2%, the wealthy. and they killed jobs. the last month that gorge bush was in -- george bush was in office we lost 700,000 jobs just in that month. they plunged the nation during that decades into two wars they refused to pay for. . history tells the story. then came the big collapse that included a loss in federal revenues that followed the largest economic downturn since the great depression due to george bush's capitulation to

wall street abuse. now, republicans claim to care about the federal deficit. yes, revenues have shrunk by about $400 billion a year because of the financial crisis we're trying to dig ourselves out of, spread out over 10 years, that covers the roughly $4 trillion we're trying to eek out of this sick economy but it's a very delicate balance because there's 14 million americans out of work and up to 24 million that work part time that want to work full time and others who have given up and dropped out. fewer jobs means lower revenues at all levels. it means lower profits to many companies, and it certainly means lower revenues into the federal treasury because there are more people who are unemployment. -- who are unemployment. more people who rely on public

health because their private insurance dried up. how many people can't pay their cobra? conversely, they're not earning a paycheck and able to pay their contributions for social insurance into social security and medicare, so it's a vicious cycle. in any time of economic downturn, it's like a teeter-totter. the government has to at the federal level help prop up the american people until they can find their footing again. it doesn't take a mental giant to figure that out. unemployment is a major cause of the deficit that we are bearing now, yet we hear almost no discussion about jobs, creating jobs, getting rid of unemployment and lifting the economy, healing the republic. rather than talking about jobs and how unemployment causes lost revenues and kills more jobs, house republicans have placed the entire economy at risk now to satisfy the ideological wishes of a few. well, the american people sees

what's happening. nobody's being fooled. i've heard from thousands of people back home in northern ohio who are concerned that the republican leadership is playing politics, playing with fire during the time when our economic recovery is very, very fragile. putting our nation's credit risk, our credit rating at risk is totally irresponsible and will cause more harm. i had somebody tell me yesterday they were trying to renegotiate the home loan and the mortgage company wanted to raise their interest rate a quarter of a percent. since world war i our country received a a.a.a. status from credit rating agencies because until now we always put the nation first, not any political party first but the nation first. to force america to default for the first time in history would hurt the republic and every working family and it would hurt those out of work as well. it would mean higher interest rates on cars, on home loans, on credit cards, on student

loans. it would mean fewer jobs and less growth. instability, uncertainty creates a downdraft on the recovery. congress should be focusing on economic recovery and creating jobs if we want to close that deficit gap. you balance budgets by slow employment economies. we passed the debt limit over two month ago and the treasury won't be able to pay all the bills that are currently due on august 2. yes, it's long overdue to reach a compromise. instead, speaker boehner has walked away from the negotiating table and chosen to roll out a hasty bill that hasn't gone through the normal committee process. apparently many in his own party reject it. this isn't leadership for america at a time when she needs it. it may be capitulation to go over a lobby, but his responsibility is greater.

mr. speaker, the way that you balance budgets is to put people to work and to grow the economy. i support a balanced bipartisan solution to reduce our deficit, create jobs and grow our economy, expand our middle class and protect medicare, social security and medicaid beneficiaries. i yield back my remaining time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. olver, for five minutes. mr. olver: thank you, mr. speaker. today we face an unnecessary crisis. the debt limit has never before been held hostage by any political party because it's in every american's best interest to protect the credit of the united states. but now ideologues in congress have hijacked this issue, pushed our nation to the brink of default, rejecting offers,

all offers of compromise. there are calls for massive spending cuts and spending cuts alone without raising any revenues whatsoever are irresponsible at least and deliberately destructive at worst. they would default on our debt, causing a global financial crisis rather than see hedge fund managers, corporate owners or oil companies pay higher taxes. the call for fisskble responsibility wrings hollow in the last three -- and the last three decades show that. this graph shows the growth of the national debt since 1980. at the end of the carter administration, the national debt was less than $1 trillion. 12 years later, president reagan's eight years and president -- the first president bush's four years, the national debt had grown by

more than 300%. it had quadrupled and we were mired in debt. the reagan-bush economic policies greatly increased the debt, soaring deficits, rising interest rates and ended in recession. in 1993, president clinton was under severe pressure from the very republicans who had meekly followed the two republican plts as they raised the national debt by over 300%. president clinton championed to balance the austerity program with roughly equal spending cuts and revenue increases. the clinton years. republicans in both the house and senate voted unanimously against that program arguing it would cost jobs and cause a recession. but the exact opposite occurred. more than 20 million jobs were created under the clinton administration and each of the last three budgets of the clinton presidency produced a surplus. those budgets were the only budgets in surplus in the last

40 years, and clinton's balanced program is considered highly successful by economists. president clinton raised taxes on those who could afford and reduce spending to shrink our deficit and the economy grew by leaps and bounds. the fiscal record of the second president bush is a record of utter irresponsibility. it began with massive tax cuts skewed sharply toward the wealthy and trillions of dollars spent on two long, unpopular wars, all of that paid for by borrowing. it ended in the great recession caused by the collapse of an unregulated housing market fueled by wall street greed. president bush turned president clinton's surplus into more than $5 trillion additional added to our national debt. all the way up to here. almost doubling the debt again.

president obama was inaugurated during the worst month of job losses in the great recession and cannot be blamed for what happened before. but the recovery stalled and we're short 12 million jobs. history has shown us what works and what doesn't. the reagan-bush economics led to hugely increased debt. the clinton economics eliminated the deficit and accelerated growth but required some sacrifice by all americans to fix the national problem. now, republicans want to slash social programs, gut medicare and social security benefits and further reduce taxes for the wealthiest few. the republicans threaten to default on our debt. the only plan would offer to add hundreds of thousands of people to the unemployment lines by eliminating jobs in the private sector. they would protect the wealthiest few at the expense of the entire country. they offer no plan to create jobs and no long-term solution. yet, america needs a long-term

solution and that must include spending reduction and revenue increase in balanced proportion. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from oregon, mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. the elaborate can bookie -- kabuki dance continues here on capitol hill surrounding the angst of increasing the debt ceiling. i think what we are seeing can be summarized in three words -- reckless, abuse and hypocrisy. first of all, it is reckless for my republican friends to hold the debt ceiling discussions hostage in an attempt to achieve other political goals. there have already been

significant costs. the american currency has weakened. we watched a slide on the stock market since last friday when agreement blew up and speaker boehner walked away from his work with president obama. we've watched premiums being paid now to insure united states debt. people are making adjustments that are having consequences right now and eroding the confidence that we have had globally in the strength of american commitments to pay its debt. a confidence that has resulted in record low interest rates that have benefited everybody in the united states, and that is at risk. the irony is that there's no reason for this to occur. we have increased the debt ceiling 117 times since this unusual little law was enacted

in 1917. the united states, recall, is one of only two countries in the entire world that goes through this charade of having to vote to finance spending that we've already done. it has always been routine. we've done it routine he for president bush. the irony is now when we are facing another adjustment in the debt ceiling, ironically most of the debt, $9.5 billion, was incurred as a direct result of the policies of the two presidents bush and ronald reagan. there's a great little chart on page a-14 in today's "new york times" that lines this out. instead of making it routine and making whatever pontiff cation that -- pontiffcation that people will do on the floor of the house since 1917, now all of a sudden we've thrown a monkey wrench in the process, we've raised the specter of default.

we're having people speculate of whether or not we have enough money to go through august 2 or august 5. we're speculating what debts, what bills the president will pay. the irony is that this republican recklessness is actually empowering the president of the united states to make decisions about whether to pay chinese creditors or honor our obligations to senior citizens or people that do business with the government of the united states. absolutely outrageous. but these are decisions ironically that wouldn't you think congress would like to make rather than punting to the president? well, no. in fact, the republicans are more than willing to punt to the president the decision about lifting the debt ceiling even though the law that we have puts that responsibility on congress. it's reckless and it's unnecessary. second, there is an abuse of power. you know, the american public overwhelmingly wants a balanced solution with a little bit of

revenue increase, maybe taking some unjustified tax loopholes, not slashing budgets unilaterally. they weren't a balanced approach, but my republican friends having taken control of one chamber, now think they ought to be able to dictate to the other body, dictate to the president of the united states, have their way or the highway. it's not what the american public wants. it's not what should happen in our system of democracy where there should be some give and take and some compromise. but, no, what we're seeing is an unfortunate abuse of power on the part of some people who are willing to take hostage the debt ceiling negotiation and risk economic damage to the united states, to our families and businesses. and third, it's the case of hypocrisy. you know, the republican plan, the so-called cut, cap and

balance, would require and they passed it last week on the floor of the house, would require cutting spending to a -- for the government to 18% of the overall economy. interesting number. ronald reagan never even proposed a budget that was less than 21%. they're talking about draconian cuts to things that the american public relies upon, everything from food safety to infrastructure to education. . when the time came to vote for it this week, they voted no on an amendment that would have implemented that type of cut. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from kansas, ms. jenkins, for five minutes. ms. jenkins: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. jenkins: where is the president's plan? if i had a nickel for every time i have heard that question, we

would be much closer to resolving our debt crisis. but the president and my friends across the aisle have still not answered the most important question of all, where is their plan for job creation? house republicans have a plan. at the core of this plan is passing the three pending trade agreements. these trade agreements have the ability to immediately create thousands of jobs, open new markets for our farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers, and play a pivotal role in growing our economy. yet the president continues to stand in the way. these agreements create jobs, period. so let's pass these agreements with south korea, colombia, and panama. let's re-authorize the g.s.p. and the andean trade preference act, and finally fulfill our duty to the american people. i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess until the hour it will be an hour of rule debate and at least two hours of general debate and votes throughout the afternoon. the critical issue is how that vote will go. the "politico" is reporting that speaker boehner told lawmakers this morning don't have the votes to pass the debt ceiling package but he predicted his leadership team will get the legislation across the finish line this morning. also, another reporting this morning about some republicans who are agreeing to the plan, including mike pence of indiana who made that announcement on the house floor just a short while ago. bob goodlatte of virginia.

walter jones of north carolina. and lynn west motherland of georgia. bob cusack in "the hill" writes the motives without a dote the most roll call of john boehner as speaker, if every republican voted against the legislation, republican leaders need to minimize defections in order to pass it. house republican freshmen this morning held a briefing to announce -- many of them, to announce their support for the boehner plan. we are going to show that to you next as we wait for the house to come back in at noon. >> i just want to start by thanking all of you for being here. we are all freshmen. we felt it was important to come out and express our views on the current debate over how we move forward. all of us here, and there will

be more joining us, support a plan that the speaker has put forward. we believe that it is consistent with our principles. it doesn't raise taxes. it cuts spending now. it cuts spending in the future. it is not a perfect plan, certainly, but it's a good step forward that gets us heading down the right path and starts to deal with the trajectory of our spending. and it puts in place a mechanism where we can deal with the big drivers of the debt. like i said, it's not the ideal plan for all of us. we voted on a number of different things that we sent over to the senate and it's sitting over there, but this plan is a good way forward. it also ensures that the balanced budget amendment vote

is part of the deal, and we're going to have one, maybe two votes on balanced budget amendments as part of this. i want to emphasize that this is a resolution that ultimately is bipartisan in its origins. now, i know that senator reid has made a number of statements about this piece of legislation , but the truth is he was at the table when a lot of the details of this bill were put on paper. and in fact, he was for most of this bill when this was being on paper and only changed his mind after the president took him to the wood shed. now, he's no longer for it. well, we believe this bill is

bipartisan in its originalins. i believe it will -- origins. i believe it will pass the house today. and it's going to go over to the senate, and i believe that once it gets over there and people take a second look at it and realize that these are ideas in there that senator reid was behind, i believe it could pass the senate and it represents what a lot of different people at the table want. i believe it will go to the president and he'll need to sign it. we have a lot of folks here to talk. let martha roby come up from north carolina. >> thank you all so much for being here today. i just want to start off saying, every one of these freshmen people standing here, we all come from different states and different parts of the country. we represent different districts, but we believe and we share common beliefs, and we firmly believe that washington and the leadership in washington has been on a

reckless spending spree for far too long. second, we believe that the mountain of debt that we have incurred, we have accrued threatens the prosperity of the future of this country. and thirdly, we believe that our job is to change washington. that is what we were sent here to do, to cut spending and to make fundamental changes on the way we spend taxpayers' dollars. these are fiercely held beliefs and we will not waiver. at this moment we face three options. we have speaker boehner's plan which contains significant spending cuts over the next 10 years. then, we have senator reid's plan which is fundamentally a budget gimmick that will not deliver real savings. or we can do nothing and we can let the united states of america default on its debt. and every serious economist believes that doing so could have serious negative consequences for not just those who hold our debt but for

working families all across this great nation. we are here today to demonstrate our support for speaker boehner which we believe is the right thing to do. and let's be clear. the boehner plan is far from perfect. had i written it myself it would look much different, but i don't have the luxury of writing the deal myself and neither does speaker boehner. he, like all of us, must work within the political realities that democrats still run washington and that democrats in the senate and the white house want more spending and more borrowing. speaker boehner has pushed for the largest spending cut he believes can pass the senate and will be signed by the president. some people say it's not enough and i agree. but i don't understand how a vote against speaker boehner's plan at this hour does anything to help advance our beliefs. in fact, it does everything to

empower the more spending, the more borrowing that this president wants. will it pass the senate? i certainly hope so. we have passed a long line here in the house with thp majority, a long line of job, pro-job creation bills and every one of them has been dead on arrival at the senate. that, of course, illustrates the greater point. to truly change the nature of washington we need a president and a senate that share all of our passion for fiscal responsibility. so with an eye towards the future, we will pass this plan to cut spending and avoid greater economic stress on this country because it is the right thing to do. thank you. >> thank you, martha. cory gardner. >> thank you. in january we listened to president obama speak at the

state of the union. 35 minutes into his speech he finally talked about the debt this country was facing. a month later he gave his budget 2.0 where he finally realized we have to cut spending in this country. but the c.b.o. director said, you know what, you can't score a speech. he demands tax increases. the american people want solutions. they're ready for this country, this congress to listen to the american people. and that's why what last year president obama characterized as the summer of recovery, this year it will be characterized as the summer of reality. the reality that washington spends too much. the reality that washington is out of control. and the reality that this freshmen class was sent here to put solutions in place to bring that spending down, to cut spending to balance the budget and that's exactly the path that we are on. my wife and daughter walked around the capitol last night and i looked down at my 7-year-old girl and said, this fight's for you. this fight's for you because we

cannot continue to recklessly kick the can down the road, trillions of dollars in debt, trillions of dollars in debt that they will pay for, that without a plan in place they will suffer under and our economy will suffer because of it. we are winning this fight today because it is no longer about whether or not we shouldn't cut spending or whether we should cut spending. we are winning because this fight is now about how many trillions of dollars to cut spending. the freshmen class is winning and we will continue to fight this fight. the united states senate has taken over 800 days to pass a budget. it took less time to build the pentagon. we got a week to act. this is the solution that's before us. cutting spending, putting caps in place and working toward a balanced budget. it is time that we slash through the knot of this nation's debt. >> thank you, cory. the now-famous alan kinzinger.

>> yeah, right. hey, thanks for coming out. you guys are being real troopers being out here. i know it's been rough on you as this goes on. let me say at the end of the day there's going to be a lot of talk about who's the political victor in this fight. is it the president, is it the house republicans, is it the senate democrats? i'm going to tell you, the it's the american people, if we pass the boehner bill. if we begin to get ourselves on that right path with the american people. i want to keep my remarks very short, but let me say this. in 2007 we had the same tax cuts, we had the same corporate loopholes, we had the same prescription drug benefit and we had the same two wars. and our deficit in 2007 was $161 billion. today that is all the same but we have a $1.5 trillion deficit. and harry reid and president obama have the audacity to say

it's because we don't have enough taxes. no. it's because the washington spending binge is out of control and we're getting ready, as my friends in the south say, we're fixin' to do something about that. so i want to thank you for the opportunity, thank you for coming out and covering this and i'll just keep it very short. >> alan nunnelee. there he is. he's going to talk a little southern. >> kinzinger goes to fixin'. i'm alan nunnelee from mississippi. i lost my job in a corporate merger seven years ago. for 48 hours i felt sorry for myself. tried to figure out what i could have done differently. but one morning my wife and i woke up, we made a pot of coffee, we took out a sheet of notebook paper and drew a line down. on one side we said, this is how much we have coming in. on the other side, this is how we're going to spend it. we shed some tears this morning

as things that had been important to us we found we could no longer afford. there's no question in my mind that while we're debating this important issue with one in 10 of our neighbors out of work, that our families going thue that exercise all around america -- going through that exercise all around america, if those families are willing to make those difficult decisions in their personal life, they have every reason to expect their government to do the same thing. now, that morning when torri and i sat down at the kitchen table, i couldn't do it without her and she couldn't do it without me. it took both of us sitting together. today, the house of representatives is going to sit down at the kitchen table and do our part. we invite, we challenge the united states senate to sit down -- >> a number of house republican freshmen earlier today

announcing their support for the john boehner debt ceiling and deficit reduction plan. coming up for debate and a vote today in the u.s. house. that's coming up shortly here on c-span. we want to let you know, also, we've covered a number of other briefings that are available at c-span.org and still more to come, too. in fact, just a few moments, moveon.org is covering a rally that will be covered on c-span3 and c-span.org. and the speaker will have a briefing at 1:30. look for that on c-span3 as well. now live house coverage here on c-span. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011]

the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. we give you thanks, o god, for giving us another day. we give you thanks for all people who through courage and selfless devotion have carried the banner of righteousness before us and have pointed the way to the high ideals of human dignity that are the handiwork of your creation. these are our american ancestors. bless now the men and women of the people's house, call forth leaders from their number who understand that courage, exercise in the fulfillment of

their legislative responsibilities might cost them popularity now but reap them praise in the future from our american descendents. may they take solace in knowing that it has always been this way with great leaders. we thank you for their hard work , give them the consolation of knowing they will have done their best work for all of our nation. may all that is done this day be for your greater honor and glory , amen. the speaker pro tempore: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceeding and announces to the house its approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from colorado, mr. lamborn. mr. lamborn: please join me in the pledge of allegiance to the flag of our great and blessed

country. 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 15 the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote ons for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle -- the chair will entertain up to 15 requests for one-minute speeches. mr. lamborn: mr. speaker, i rise today to discuss a critical component of america's national security, our nuclear deterence. yesterday the house armed services committee strategic forces subcommittee held a hearing on sustaining nuclear deterence after new start. the hearing made it absolutely clear that the nuclear policy provisions in the house fiscal year 2012 national defense authorization act are critical to our nuclear deterrence

strategy -- deterrence strategy. the ink was nearly dry on the strategy and the administration was already talking about deeper cuts. we need to slow down and wait for nuclear modernization to catch up to arms control. we must be wary of any further unilateral reductions of the u.s. nuclear deterrent which is critical to america's defense and that of our allies. congress has an obligation to scrutinize u.s. nuclear policy, to ensure that we have a sustainable and effective deterrent which is why the house nuclear policy provisions must become law. i thank the speaker and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise? >> i request permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. kucinich: here's what we should do to avoid the default. here's how to get out of debt. end the wars. save $1 trillion in 10 years. repeal tax cuts to the wealthy.

save another $1 trillion. medicare for all, end a $400 billion yearly subsidies for the health insurance industry. renegotiate trade agreements with worker strikes, human rights and environmental quality principles. save millions of jobs and billions of dollars. the fed creates money out of nothing and gives it to banks, why should our country go into debt borrowing money from banks when we have the constitutional power to create money and invest in jobs? we can have another new deal, putting millions to work, we building america's roads and transportation system, we can have a works green administration where nasa's the incubator of jobs, designing and engineering wind asolar microtechnologies for private sector manufacturing, distribution and installation in millions of homes, saving money and protecting the environment. we are the united states of america, the greatest country on earth. we envision wealth, we don't default. we create wealth. we don't default. we build wealth. we don't default.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? mr. pitts: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pitts: mr. speaker, the american people can finally see harry reid's debt ceiling plan. only five days before the deadline set by the president, the senate majority leader finally put something on paper and submit it had -- submitted it to the congressional budget office. the plan before the senate is filled with gimmicks and does almost nothing to put our country on a better fiscal footing. of course, the largest gimmick is claiming to save $1 trillion by shutting down wars that are already winding down. despite having these phantom cuts in this bill, majority leader reid gives the president the full amount of debt ceiling increase that he needs to push everything passed next year's election. once again, the financial security of our country would be sacrificed for political expediency. by contrast, speaker boehner's plan cuts spending by $1 for every $1 increase in the debt

limit. it may not be perfect, but it is necessary to keep us paying our bills and preventing debt rating downgrade. it's a start to getting our country back on a path towards a balanced budget. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. eshoo: mr. speaker, i come to the floor today with a coat of many colors. little unusual to do this, but i'm very proud of it. and i think everyone will recognize this because this is the traditional white coat that doctors wear. it was given to me by the passionate residents at the children's hospital in my district and all of these pockets hold notes. and the notes were signed by the doctors and the nurses all in support of a remarkable

program in our country that has trained thousands of pediatricians and pediatric specialists over the last 12 years. it's the graduate of the children's graduate education program. it was first created in 1999 because there was a shortage of pediatricians in our country and subspecialists, and this program today has been wildly successful. increasing the number of pediatricians by 35%. congress needs to approve this and keep in place those that take such good care of our children. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker. we're in the midst of an important debate. mr. walberg: fundamentally,

it's a debate about the future direction of our country, the next generation and getting americans back to work. jobs are the cure for an ailing economy and the aelicksor for a brighter future. we can't go down -- continue to commit generational threat of our children's and grandkid's future. what kind of legacy will we leave for this country and its future generations. will we leave a legacy of debt? no, that's not what i want. we must not pass on to the generation of tomorrow the mistakes of the leaders today who are unwilling to make the tough decisions and cut spending to create jobs and grow our economy. we can and must do right, and by god's grace we will. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore:

without objection, so ordered. mr. baca: mr. speaker, republicans claim that they want to lower the government's spending, but they sure have a funny way of showing it. first, they refuse to compromise with the president on a proposal that would lower the deficit by $4 trillion. now, they refuse to compromise on a long-term plan that will result in meaningful deficit reduction, meaningful deficit reduction. even after the stock market plunged yesterday, republicans still refuse to compromise. they refuse to compromise. why? because they're more interested in scoring political ponets and protecting the tax breaks for the ultrarich, corporations that send jobs overseas. we must not, i must state, we must not balance the budget on the backs of our seniors, the poor by cutting social security and medicare.

we need a balanced approach. we need to work together. no taxes, no jobs. let's stop this dangerous game of chicken before we have an economic disaster. we must compromise and it shouldn't be my way or the highway. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana rise? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i come to the floor today to thank every vocal constituent in america for pushing us to this point today where we will consider a tax-free and sensible budget control plan in exchange for raising our nation's debt ceiling. is it perfect? far from it. will i vote for it today? yes. the alternatives are too scary to comprehend. no matter how many times you try to put them down or call them namentse, the tea party movement and -- names, the tea party movement have had a monumental impact on the debt ceiling debate. no less. if left to its own devices, washington would have completed

just another raising of the debt ceiling or worse, more taxes and more spending. mr. stutzman: call them hobbits, call them what you like. i call it tea party fighters who wish to get this country on a fiscal projectry true patriots. the reality here on earth, mr. speaker, is that america is a great nation and we wish to remain that way. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. altmire: mr. speaker, with the clock tick, tick, ticking away towards a default on our financial obligations for the first time in american history, we need to come together to find bipartisan solutions. it's time to stop holding america's credit rating hostage. to be clear, what we face is not a possible government budget shutdown. the consequences of default would have far-reaching and

long-lasting effects. the increase in interest rates resulting from a default could cost americans an additional $10 billion in borrowing costs and the loss and confidence from investors and government securities worldwide could easily send america into another recession. default is simply not an option. i support commonsense compromise solutions to dereduce our deficit and to return to balanced budgets. i hope my colleagues on both sides are ready to put the partisan politics aside and move forward with a plan to help keep america and the u.s. in good financial standing. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. >> mr. speaker, i rise today in opposition to the republican default act, which will require deep cuts in medicare while preserving tax breaks and loopholes for millionaires and large corporations.

it is beyond disappointing that republicans have squandered a real opportunity to put our nation on a sustainable fiscal path. many of my constituents are afraid the republican leadership will continue bending to the tea party demands to drive our economy toward a self-inflicted recession. the risk here are -- risks here are very here. it will hurt them with higher mortgage rates and higher food and gas costs. republicans need to stop playing reckless games with our economy and start working for what the american people want, comprehensive deficit reduction that shares the burden equally, strengthens medicare and social security, ends tax giveaways and puts our country back on the path to fiscal stability. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from washington rise? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. inslee: mr. speaker, as we continue to hope that a spirit

of consensus will come forth to avoid this self-inflicted wound, i think it's well to think of a general principle on how we should approach our fiscal challenges. that is that a nation that does not learn from its clear, unambiguous mistakes is bound to repeat them. and in fact a problem with the republican plan that will be on the floor today is that it not only repeats the mistakes that occurred during the bush administration, it enshrines them into permanent law. now, i remember very well where alan greenspan came before us years ago during the last president's administration and said that we needed to have massive cuts for multimillionaires and further cuts for the oil industries because if we didn't do that the united states government would just have too much money in the kitty. that didn't work out too well. in fact, because of those giant

mistakes, it blew a hole in the deficit. do not repeat them. let's go back and solve this problem the real way. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from massachusetts rise? without objection, so ordered. >> mr. speaker, i rise today in recognition of the cape cod league's all-star game. which is taking place in fenway park on friday, july 29. i rise not just because this organization embodies the best of america's pastime, but because the league has decided to dedicate this year's game to the memory of christina taylor green, the youngest victim of the arizona shootings that took the lives of six people and injured 13 others, including our colleague, congresswoman gabrielle giffords. christina was an avid baseball fan who hoped one day to become the first female major league baseball player. her father, john, is a scout

with the los angeles dodgers and the family spent summers on cape cod in part so he could scout players in the cape cod baseball league. for those of you who are not familiar with the cape cod baseball league, it's the nation's premier amateur league and gives fans like christina the opportunity to watch future major league players up close. in christina's honor, league players will wear commemorative patch it's on their shirt -- patches on their shirts and her brother will throw out the first pitch. additionally, christina inspired the league to range for baseball to be brought into space by congresswoman giffords' husband and the astronauts aboard the final mission of space shuttle endeavour. the space ball covered 6.5 million miles during this trip. baseball games are wonderful examples of old-fashioned american fun and i commend the cape cod league for their heartfelt tribute.

sadly, christina, whose innocent life was lost too early, will only be there with us in spirit. yet that unique american spirit to achieve new heights, the same we saw in her desire to be the first female major league baseball player, will continue to inspire us. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from connecticut rise? >> to address the house for one minute, revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, i'm told that this afternoon the house will vote on the boehner default prevention bill in direct contravention of house rules with limited debate and no opportunity for amendment. one of the most important discussions we need to have as a country, limited debate and no opportunity for amendment. i would welcome that debate. i'd love to talk about what's involved in gutting medicare and social security without asking the very wealthiest people in

this country to participate in solving this problem. i'd love to have that debate. and we will later, not today. mr. himes: what i'm rising to talk about today though is the fact that this bill would have us having exactly this discussion six months from today, talking about default and credit ratings and the impacts of default. instead of talking about what every american wants this chamber to be focused on which is what we can do to bring about jobs. this is not a good bill. but the notion that it would have us having this conversation again in six months is reason enough for every member of this chamber to reject that bill this afternoon. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? -- the gentlewoman from florida rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, i rise to urge my colleagues to work together to resolve our debt reduction strategy and i rise to urge my g.o.p. colleagues to abandon their efforts to end medicare as

we know it. for 45 years medicare has been that fundamental promise to our parents and our grandparents that if they work hard, if they play by the rules, they pay into medicare, that they're going to be able to live their retirement years in dignity. ms. castor: and that their children will have economic security because we won't be worried about the economic challenges that a diagnosis or an emergency situation health condition would bring. it's fundamentally unfair that the debt racked up over the past decade with two wars put on a credit card, tax breaks for special interests, other special provisions, now the g.o.p. is looking to end medicare as we know it and to undermine that fundamental promise. we're not going to stand for it. we can work together on a more reasonable solution and i urge my colleagues to do so. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired.

for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> as we seek ways to get america's economy growing again, one part of this effort must be to create the right environment to grow private sector, cutting-edge jobs and cutting-edge industries. ms. schwartz: that is why i joined several of my colleagues on a bipartisan, bicameral basis, to introduce legislation that will keep america on the front edge of scientific research and development and offer new opportunities for job creation in america's life-science industry. this legislation provides targeted tax credits to promote innovation, entrepreneurship and new high quality jobs here at home. it expands on the research and development tax credit and allows companies to bring back overseas earnings for the purpose of creating american jobs and investing in american startup companies. american universities, research centers and private companies are the world leaders in medical

sciences and the development of new medical devices and therapeutics. but we are no longer alone. this legislation will help ensure that our life-science industries maintain their competitive edge in the global marketplace. i urge my colleagues to join me in support of innovative small businesses and the new jobs that they create. let's help them create the treatments of tomorrow right here at home today. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from the great state of illinois rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. quigley: thank you, mr. speaker. fellow citizens, we cannot escape history, said lincoln in an address to congress in 1862. we of this congress and this administration, we will be remembered in spite of ourselves. no personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us. we, even we here hold the power and bear the responsibility.

lincoln didn't say that one side of the battle lay a democratic victory and on the other side a republican defeat or vice versa. lincoln didn't say that this was a victory achieved without great compromise. lincoln didn't say if you do things my way, with my party, we'll win this one. he told the story of a nation that faced terrible consequences and yet had the extraordinary foresight and fortitude to charge ahead toward a victory that includes compromises. we shall nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth , his warning stands today. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. garamendi: this isn't just about raising the debt limit, this is about fundamental change and all the things that we hold dear here in america. if you care about medicare for your parents or if you happen to be 65, pay attention to what's going to be on this floor in the

next couple of hours. if you think social security's important to you or to your parents and to your future as the foundation for your pension, pay attention to what's going on here because have no doubts, america, that the republican party is putting forth using the debt limit as a lever, putting in place fundamental changes in medicare, basically looking to terminate medicare as we know it and changing the social security so that it's no longer the foundation for your pensions. heads up, america, watch carefully because the republican party is going right at the very heart of the most stable and most important parts of every retiree's feature -- future. pay attention. pay attention. because this is a critical moment -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. garamendi: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. members are advised to address their remarks to the chair. for what purpose does the

gentleman from virginia rise? >> to address the house for one minute, revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i've heard many of my republican friends claim that providing the private sector with certainty and then getting out of its way is one of the ways congress spurs economic recovery. mr. connolly: unfortunately speaker boehner's plan does neither of those two things. it's -- it delays a catastrophic default only for a short time, keeping this crisis going before requiring the same charade in six months' time. if house republicans are so unwilling to consider compromise today, if they are sure that bipartisan compromise is proposed, why should the american people have any faith that when they come back in six months there will be more -- they will be more willing to compromise? where the boehner plan fails, the senate proposal provides economic certainty to the american economy through 2012 while protecting medicare, medicaid and social security from the drastic cuts of the boehner plan envisions. and according to c.b.o., the senate's $2.2 trillion in

deficit reduction is more than double the boehner plan of $915 billion. the american people have spoken, mr. speaker. in poll after poll. get a bipartisan cro mice now. i yield back -- compromise now. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, i rise in strong opposition to the majority's debt ceiling proposal. democrats and republicans agree that raising the federal debt is unsustainable, that the default is absolutely unacceptable that we must set our country on a course of fiscal responsibility. but the majority's unwillingness to propose a solution that has any chance of working is putting our economy at risk and threatening the wage earners and senior citizens of america. we can find good solutions but this bill is not the way. now, in the few days that we have left, it will take all of us working together to find sensible solutions.

americans expect leadership from the president to solve this budget stalemate and alternatives to the bill do exist. americans want jobs, jobs, jobs and a responsible budget. there is a better approach that protects wages, wage earners and senior citizens and i urge my colleagues to oppose this legislation we're considering today. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair lays before the house a message. the clerk: to the congress of the united states, section 202-d of the national emergencies act provides for the automatic termination of a national emergency unless prior to the anniversary date of its declaration the president publishes in the federal register and transmits to the congress a notice stating that the emergency is to continue in effect beyond the anniversary date. in accordance with this

provision, i have sent to the federal register for publication the enclosed notice stating that the national emergency declared with respect to the actions of certain persons to undermine the sovereignty of lebanon or its democratic processes and institutions is to continue in effect beyond august 1, 2011. certain ongoing activities such as continuing arms transfers to hezbollah that include increasingly sophisticated weapons systems serve to undermine lebanese sovereignty, contribute to political and economic instability in the region and continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the united states. for these reasons i have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency declared on august 1, 2007, to deal with that threat and the related measures adopted on that date to respond to the emergency. signed, barack obama, the white house. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the committee on

foreign affairs and ordered printed. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, by direction of the committee on rules, i call up house resolution 375 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 62, house resolution 375, resolved that upon the adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the house the bill, senate 627, to establish the commission on freedom of information act processing delays. all points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. the amendment in the nature of a substitute printed in part a of the report of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution, modified by the amendments printed in part b of that report, shall be considered as adopted. the bill as amended shall be considered as read. all points of order against provisions in the bill as amended are waived. the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the

bill as amended to final passage without intervening motion except, one, two hours of debate with one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on rules. 30 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on ways and means and 30 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on the budget. and, two, one motion to recommit with or without instructions. section 2, a, it shall be in order at any time through the calendar day of july 31, 2011, for the speaker to entertain motions that the house suspend the rules, that the legislative text that is the object of the motion was available to members, delegates and the resident commissioner on the legislative day before consideration except that a motion described in subsection b may not be entertained until the third legislative day on which the

legislative text that is the object of the motion is available to members, delegates and the resident commissioner. b, if the speaker entertains a motion to suspend the rules relating to a measure proposing a balanced budget amendment to the constitution under subsection a, debate under clause 1-c of rule 15 shall be extended for two hours. section 3, when the house adjourns by operation of section 4 of this resolution on any legislative day during the period from august 1, 2011, through september 6, 2011, it shall stand adjourned until the third constitutional day thereafter at a time to be announced by the speaker in declaring the adjournment except that when the house adjourns on september 6, 2011, it shall stand adjourned until 2:00 p.m. on september 7, 2011. section 4, on each legislative day during the period addressed by section 3 of this resolution

a, the speaker may dispense with legislative business, in which case the house shall stand adjourned pursuant to section 3 of this resolution after the third daily order of business under clause 1 of rule 14. and, b, if the speaker does not dispense with legislative business, the speaker may at any time declare the house adjourned pursuant to section 3 of this resolution. section 5, on each legislative day during the period addressed by section 3 of this resolution except a day before august 8, 2011, on which the speaker does not dispense with legislative business pursuant to section 4, the journal of the proceedings of the previous day shall be considered as approved. section 6, each day during the period addressed by section 3 of this resolution shall not constitute a calendar day for purposes of section 7 of the war powers resolution, 50 u.s.c. 1546.

section 7, bills and resolutions introduced during the period addressed by section 3 of this resolution shall be numbered, included in the congressional record, and printed with the date of introduction, but may be referred by the speaker at a later time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for one hour. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, for the purposes of debate only i yield the customary 30 minutes to the distinguished ranking minority member of the rules committee, pending i yield myself such time as i may consume and i revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. dreier: and all time that i'll be yielding, that anyone will be yielding during this debate will be for debate purposes only. and i'd ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the consideration of this rule. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, this rule provides for consideration of the budget control act of

2012. it provides for -- 2011. it provides for two hours of debate, as the read clerk said, one hour is controlled by the chairman and the ranking minority member of the committee on rules. that will be yours truly and ms. slaughter. and the 30 minutes will be equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee on ways and means and 30 minutes will be equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee on the budget. mr. speaker, since 1962, there have been 74 increases in the debt ceiling. at this moment we begin what is clearly the single most historic debate on any measure that addresses increasing the debt ceiling. why? because for the first time we are working to get at the root cause of why it is that the debt ceiling needs to be increased. as the debate negotiations over

the looming limit have proceeded over the last several weeks and months, people across this country are asking, how did we get to this point? how was the crisis created, and how do we resolve it? as is often the case, we can't hope to reach a solution without understanding the fundamental problem. at the very start of this process several months ago, many of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle advocated strongly, worked very, very hard for an increase in the debt ceiling that had no strings attached to it at all, had nothing attached to it at all. they argue that the debt ceiling of an increase -- have been increased 10 times in the last 10 years. mr. speaker, the approach -- that approach is precisely the fundamental problem and that approach is one that has

throughout the past several decades led to for all intents and purposes a little more than a blind increase in the debt ceiling itself. for years and years and years, the federal government has spent money that it does not have. expanding the size and scope of government and its reach with regard -- without regard to the long-term fiscal consequences. when the tax dollars ran out, mr. speaker, it turned to borrowing very arabsly. each and every time the borrowed money ran out, the federal government just borrowed more. it was always clear that catastrophic consequences would ensue if the federal government would default on its obligations. so congress took the path of least resistance and simply raised the debt ceiling. but sometimes, mr. speaker, the path of least resist sens is in fact the -- resistance is in fact the road to ruin. raising the debt ceiling without taking measures to address the underlying issues

merely put off the crisis for a short time, making it larger and more entrenched in the process. that's how we got to the point where we are today. and that's why from the very outset republicans have insisted that this time would be different. we refuse to contemplate yet another debt ceiling increase without addressing the underlying cycle of reckless, unaccountable spending and borrowing. yes, we absolutely must avert the looming crisis that could force the united states government to default and put our ailing economy into a tail spin. -- tailspin. but, mr. speaker, we cannot and must not do so that creates an even bigger crisis down the road. republicans put washington on notice that the era of unchecked spending was coming to an end at the start of this

congress with the passage of h.r. 1, which democrat matically cut -- democratically cut spending. we continued the process -- drastically cut spending. we continued the process by passing our budget resolution for the coming fiscal year. this outlined not just spending cuts but long-term reforms that would not drag the economy down. in may of this year, at the economic club of new york, speaker boehner once again outlined the republican agenda for creating growth and opportunity, creating jobs and opportunity for our fellow americans through greater fiscal discipline and more rigorous accountability for the size and scope of government. from the very start of this new majority, mr. speaker, and at every step of the way since, republicans have been fighting for real solutions to the

fiscal mess that the country finds itself in. we promised that we would start a new course, and it's with a great deal of pride, mr. speaker, that i stand here and say we have done just that. food's underlying legislation, this underlying measure is a dramatic stride forward in our ongoing quest. we have steadily laid -- while we have steadily laid the groundwork, this is the most fundamental reform to our fiscal situation in the modern era. it makes enormous cuts in federal spending. this ensures that action taken to avert an immediate crisis is coupled with a massive down payment on dealing with the long-term crisis. it sets caps on spending in order to impose discipline and accountability on the process

going forward. it establishes a joint select committee that will be directed to identify at least $1.8 trillion in additional cuts and guarantee an expedited vote on those cuts later this year. this is a critical component to the long-term solution. mr. speaker, you know very well that we've had countless commissions over the years that have proposed ideas for cutting deficits. some ideas have had more merit than others, but their merit has been immaterial because no serious proposal has been afforded congressional consideration. this measure before us ensures that congress will address the proposals that we receive. now, for the last six months, the house of representatives has taken a number of key steps to rein in spending and ensure greater accountability and discipline in the use of taxpayer dollars. yet, they have been held up

indefinitely with our friends in the other body. today's underlying measure will eliminate the challenge by guaranteeing a clean up or down vote in both chambers of the work product that emerges from this joint select committee. the entire congress, mr. speaker, will have no choice but to consider real solutions. each and every member of the house and the senate will have to go on record. no deficit commission, mr. speaker, no deficit commission, no plan, no proposal that has come before has had that kind of guarantee. the kind of guarantee that is included in this measure that's before us. today's underlying measure also moves the process forward on a balanced budget amendment. taken together, these proposals represent a radical departure from the sfat us quo. mr. speaker -- status quo. mr. speaker, they fundamentally alter our spending process in order not just to avert an

immediate crisis but to diffuse the ticking time bomb of our $14.3 trillion national debt. mr. speaker, global markets, u.s. job creators and most important the american people are watching what we do here today. they want to see bold and credible action that restores confidence in our economy now and in the future. this legislation, this legislation, mr. speaker, delivers that very action that the american people, that u.s. market and the global markets are seeking. it's a plan for the short, medium and long term. it fundamentally alters the current landscape and helps to ensure that we never get back to where we are right now and that is, as we all know, on the

brink of a fiscal and economic catastrophe. so, mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues and i hope very much that we'll be able to enjoy bipartisan support. i urge them to support both the rule that allows for consideration of this measure and the underlying legislation and with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman, my friend, mr. dreier, for yielding me the customary 30 minutes and yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, we all recognize that we have two separate but equally urgent issues facing our country -- raising the debt ceiling and reducing the nation's debt. in this congress, we should make a serious effort to do both. however, after 100 years almost, in protecting the full faith and credit of the united states by raising the debt ceiling without pause, the majority has decided to hold the debt ceiling hostage in order to push drastic cuts and place the burden of future debt

reductions squarely upon the middle class. this unprecedented effort to put ideology before country has led us to the brink of default, a prospect that is all too real. the bill we are considering today is not the product of a bipartisan compromise. no matter how many times people say that it does not make it true. we are considering a bill, as the majority knows, will not be approved by the senate nor signed by the president. members of the house are being told to vote on legislation despite having no idea, no idea what cuts are in this bill. any democrat who votes for this bill could be cutting social security or heating for low-income families and not even know it. to ask the house to vote on undisclosed cuts is a cynical waste of time. it sh rugs -- shrugs the vote and simply rubber stamp.

that is not why i ran or why i was elected to congress and is an abandonment to the responsibility we are sworn to uphold. this plan will put us right back in the same situation a few months from now when the atmosphere is more politically charged by the coming election. our economy and our markets won't have the stability they need. credit agencies will have no choice but to downgrade the u.s. debt. this would cause interest rates to rise, effectively raising taxes for every american family. the leaders in the majority know this and said so publicly but they don't seem to care. in a june 13 interview in "politico" majority leader cantor said we feel very strongly, one of the reasons why we continue to see an ailing economy is people have very little confidence, have very little certainty of where we are going. in the same interview he expressed that he wants a single debt ceiling vote in this congress and not, as he said, a series of short-term

extensions, as some suggested. the following week katy couric quoted cantor, if we are making the tough decisions now, why wouldn't we be making them later? yet, here we are today considering a bill that will require a second debt ceiling vote just six months from now. not only is this a waste of our time but the rule before us clears the way which will come as a great surprise to members for a constitutional amendment that would be a simple -- give a simple majority the ability to cut spending. while only allowing the government to raise revenues, that is to go after people who are more able to pay, and to get corporations to pair that i own weight, we have to have approval of 3/5 of the house to do. that in other words, they are sank sant the poor always give. -- otherwise they are saying that the poor always give. this would hurt the middle class. the amendment stacks the deck in

favor of future cuts to social security, medicare and medicaid while making it virtually impossible to close tax loopholes for oil companies and millionaires and their private jets. as if this was not enough, the process by which we will vote on this amendment is a disgrace to this institution. under today's rule, the majority proposes we consider a constitutional amendment under suspension of the rules, the most closed procedure that we have. as we all should know, suspension of the rules was designed for noncontroversial legislation such as naming a post office or congratulating winning sports teams. to give a constitutional amendment same consideration as renaming a post office sem barsing for us -- office is embarrassing for us. in closing, today's debate is about fairness. are we a nation that asks the most of those who have the least? it certainly 'peers so. or are we a -- -- it certainly

appears so. or are we a nation that asks every american to do their fair share? this bill turns site down and proposes rad -- turns upside down and proposes radical changes. for this reason, i strongly urge my colleagues to vote no on today's rule, the underlying legislation and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, now in his seventh month as a member of congress, the budget committee's representative from the committee on rules, my friend from lawrenceville, georgia, mr. woodall, i'd like to yield him three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. woodall: i very much thank the chairman for yielding. that's right, seven months. seven months. i'm one of the new guys on capitol hill. and i ran for congress to do exactly what we're doing down here today. there are going to be a low of folks down here with -- a lot of folks down here with accusations

and recriminations. i'm going to be the guy down here with a smile on my face because today is why i came to congress. 73 times i'm told by folks who have been here longer than me this congress has taken a withdrawal out of america's a.t.m. -- i'd be happy to yield. >> i thank my friend for yielding. it's 74 times. mr. woodall: 74 times. i appreciate the chairman for correcting me. 74 times that america's a.t.m. card has been stuck in, no funds to withdraw and yet cash has been dispensed and not once, i'm told by my friend from new york, not once have we ever tied any spending decision to increasing america's credit line. that's outrageous. that's outrageous. today we do. today we do. today we say, the buck stops with the 112th congress. the buck stops with us. i'd be happy to yield to the chairman.

mr. dreier: i've been informed that both you and i are wrong. it's 75 times that this has taken place. i've just been told by the congressional research service. mr. woodall: that's almost going to -- mr. dreier: we're just being very mod nest our assessment of it so far but we're up to 75 -- modest in our assessment of it so far but we're at 75. mr. woodall: that almost takes the smile off my face. 75. the people's house, the most responsive body we have in federal government has reached in with that a.t.m. card and taken that money out, with absolutely no funds on deposit. well, again, the buck stops today. now, in fairness, mr. speaker, this bill does not do everything i wanted it to do. i wanted more in each and every time -- and each and every time wheeve an opportunity, we had an opportunity in h.r. 1, that continuing resolution we passed, great process, great debate, great conclusion. this does not go as far as the house budget -- the budget that we passed that day, mr. speaker, you'll remember, we considered

absolutely every budget that any member of congress brought to the floor of this house, we decided on one. this doesn't do as much as that did but you know what this does do? this says, we're not going to increase the credit line by a penny unless we're cutting a penny too because the problem in this town i have learned, mr. speaker, in seven months is not that we don't spend enough, it's not. and that's a legitimate disagreement i have found that we have. but it is not that we don't spend enough. the problem is that we spend too much. mr. speaker, do i wish that we were doing more in this bill today? yes, i do. but do i smile with pride that we could have been yet another congress, congress number 76 where we just kicked the can down the road and accept no responsibility at all? we don't do that, mr. speaker. the buck stops here and i'm in strong support of this rule. thank you, mr. chairman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i'm

pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from massachusetts, my colleague on the rules committee, mr. mcgovern. the chair: the gentleman -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. mcgovern: thank you. mr. speaker, i rise in strong opposition to this closed rule, to this closed process and to the underlying bill. mr. speaker, i keep expecting lion tamers and acrobats to appear on the house floor because this process thunderstorm republican leadership has become a complete circus. the underlying boehner plan should be called the republican default act. and the rule allows the republican leadership to bring a radical balanced budget amendment to the constitution before the house but right now we have no idea what amendment -- what that amendment will look like. this is crazy. our founding fathers spent weeks and weeks arguing over every clause, conjunction and comment in the constitution but today my republican friends treat it as just another excuse for a partisan press release. and why are they doing this, mr. speaker? it's simple. politics. the speaker of the house made that clear on the radio never

sbue. he argued that the reason the republicans should support his radical plan to slash medicare and social security and education and medical research is that, and let me quote, barack obama hates it, harry reid hates it, nancy pelosi hates it, end quote. and yesterday in a meeting of the republican conference, their leadership tried to rally votes for this bill by playing a clip from the movie "the town." to quote the used and i guess this was supposed to be -- dreier drir will the gentleman yield? mr. mcgovern: i quote, i node you're help. i can't tell what you it is, you can never ask me about it later, it was going to hurt some people, end quote. the problem is, mr. speaker, is that the people they're going to hurt are senior citizens on medicare and social security, they're going to hurt children who don't have enough to eat, they're going to hurt students trying to afford a college education. they're going to hurt the very people who can least afford to take the hit, all in the name of protecting tax breaks for million airs and billionaires.

-- millionaires and billionaires. their approach is reckless, their approach is wrong, their approach is unfair and i urge my colleagues to vote against this rule and against this bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. dreier: will the gentleman yield? mr. speaker, will the gentleman yield? may i yield to the gentleman? mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise to simply congratulate my colleague for the success that he had last night in the rules committee in encouraging the rules committee to adopt a measure that will ensure that we would have a three-day layover requirement in place for consideration of any balanced budget amendment to the constitution. the gentleman offered the amendment and i'm very pleased that the rules committee saw fit to make in order. i just want to congratulate the gentleman. mr. mcgovern: will the gentleman yield? mr. dreier: of course, i'm happy to yield. the gentleman didn't yield to me but i'm happy to yield. mr. mcgovern: you're bringing it under the suspension of the rules, the host closed process we have in this house -- the most closed process we have in this had this house. mr. dreier: if i could reclaim my time. i'll yield to my friend if i could reclaim my time, mr.

speaker. i think i have the time here. i would say to my friend that in both 1962 and 1983 the constitutional amendments were brought up in this house under suspension of the rules. this is not at all unprecedented. what is unprecedented is the fact that we said there would in fact be, based on the gentleman's amendment, three-day layover requirement addressed to ensure that members would have an opportunity to see the proposed constitutional amendment before it is voted on. with that, mr. speaker, i'd like to yield two minutes to a very distinguished former rules committee member, my very good friend, tom cole. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. cole: i thank the gentleman for yielding and i rise to support the resume and the underlying legislation -- the rule and the underlying legislation. mr. speaker, this is the second time in this congress has chosen, this house has chosen to raise the debt ceiling in a responsible and historic way. that is not only allowing the ceiling to go up but coupling it

with real reductions in long-term spending that we all know need to occur. now, so far the president and the other body have both failed to act. the senate, just for the record, hasn't even passed a budget in two years. hasn't moved a piece of legislation in this crisis. frankly has doling done nothing. the president is now a born again deficit hawk. it's a false conversion. let's just look at the record. the appointed deficit reduction commission and then refused to adopt any of its recommendations. he sent this body and the other body a budget that was so flawed it failed 97-0 in a democratic senate. he asked for a clean vote on the debt ceiling in this body, he was given that vote and he got fewer than 100 of my friends on other sood to vote with him -- on the other side to vote with him. he's talked about a plan but never presented a plan in public. frankly, the president in this

crisis has failed to lead but we have not failed to act. i am proud of our speaker, i'm proud of our congress and i know i'm going to to be proud of the house at the end of the day because this house is going to do the right thing for the american people, we'll see if the senate and president will follow suit. with that i yield back and thank the gentleman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from new york. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i am pleased to yield 1 1/2 minutes to the gentleman from north carolina, an expert on this constitution, mr. price. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 1 1/2 minutes. mr. price: mr. speaker, since our republican colleagues assume the majority in january, we have swung from one artificially created crisis to the next. in the spring we barely dodged a government shut down. now we face an unpress denlt and unnecessary crisis -- unprecedented and unnecessary crisis over raising the debt ceiling, an event that's occurred more than 70 times since 1964 and we're already hearing rumblings of another potential shutdown in october. at the end of the current fiscal

year. mr. speaker, the most baffling part of this legislation is that it would require us to have this debate all over again in six months. time and time again i've heard my republican colleagues say that private capital has not found its way back into the market because of economic uncertainty. surely the majority cannot believe that going through this debate again in six months would do anything to increase market stability or reduce uncertainty. mr. speaker, lurching from one politically motivated cla calamity to the next is doing our economy great harm and it's doing our country great harm. we need a bill that addresses this issue for the long-term, not one that will require us to repeat this madness in a matter of weeks. it's past time for the majority to bring a bill to this floor so that we can focus on bringing jobs back and building our economy for the long haul and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, at this time i'm happy to yield three minutes to another hardworking

member of the committee on rules, my good friend from spring hill, florida, mr. nugent. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. nugent: thank you, mr. speaker. and thank you to the chairman of the rules committee, mr. dreier, for allowing me to speak on this topic. we have an obligation to ensure that government doesn't default on its debts for the first time in history. i've always said that america's a country that keeps her promises and those promises include our debts. the senate hasn't acted, the president hasn't acted, so today the house is considering yet another solution to keep these promises. i'm not just talking about promises to our creditors, if we default we break promises to our seniors, to our troops and to our veterans. such a scenario in my view is just totally unacceptable. the budget control act is a way forward, it's a down payment on serious spending reforms and it