behalf of real structural change in how we spend taxpayer dollars, other people's money. i took an oath to make sure i uphold the constitution. i also will make sure that i represent new hampshire in the manner in which they would like me to represent them. and i contend that they would like us to reduce expenditures, reduce our debt, reduce our deficit and this bill does that. they want to see us cap spending. we all have to live within the means we have. we take in $2.2 trillion a year and spending $3.7 trillion. nobody in america has that balance sheet. the time now to act. no more partisan politics, or baseless charges from members of this body. let's do the right thing and let's make sure that we can send a message to the country that we can work in a bipartisan fashion to do what everybody understands

what we need to do which is spend no more than we take in. and in exchange for that, we allow this president to raise the debt ceiling, to pay for the 41 cents of every dollar that we continue to borrow. that policy has to stop. those days are over. i support this bill and i urge my colleagues here in the house and the senate to do the same. i yield back. . >> we keep hearing from our colleagues that this was put forward by the president. mr. van hollen: he said he'll do $3 in spending cuts for $1 in revenue for debt reduction. if someone wants to take us up on that option, that would be terrific. because our republican colleagues walked out of that discussion, senator reid did put on the table a proposal that has been scored by the

congressional budget office, i have their score in my hand, dated july 27, 2011, it would reduce the deficit by $2.2 trillion, more than the $917 billion score in the republican proposal. this is a nonpartisan, independent, c.b.o. score. the difference is, he would raise the debt ceiling for two years, so we don't keep the economy under a cloud, so we don't keep the threat of higher interest rates going into effect which would be a hit on every american family. why we would choose to deliberately keep the economy under a cloud and put jobs at risk is a mystery. the only answer is, our republican colleagues want to use that as a forcing mechanism to ultimately put in place their budget plan which does end the medicare guarantee, does slash education, and does protect corporate tax loopholes. with that, i yield one minute to a terrific member of the budget committee, ms. schwartz,

the gentlelady from pennsylvania. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. schwartz: we are faced with an important moment for our nation. a moment of economic uncertainty a moment to significantly reduce our deficit and make the right choices for our future. the boehner bill does neither and as a result there is little support from either side of the aisle because it does not seriously reduce the deficit and ensures uncertainty in the markets for many, many months ahead and cuts $1 trillion over 10 years. speaker boehner had the opportunity to reduce the deficit not by $1 trillion but $4 trillion and walked away from that plan. the gang of six a bipartisan effort, reduced the deficit by $3 trillion and he rejected that plan as well. this moment is about choices. speaker boehner made a choice to walk away from the plan that offered trillions in deficit reduction and subts constituted

instead a political document with significantly less deficit reduction. this is not a serious proposal. we have little time to avoid default. let's stop wasting time. members from both sides of the aisle should reject this bill, it's an adequate -- it's an inadequate response to deficit reduction and the harm it will do to the nation's economy. the chair: the gentleman from wisconsin. mr. ryan: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from oklahoma, mr. cole. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cole: every now and then you need to step back and look at the record and put the rhetoric aside. when this majority showed up in january of this last year, we found a situation where our fends on the other side of the aisle had failed to write a budget for this year, failed to pass any appropriations bills, and had just sort of gone home. we had a president who had appointed a debt reduction commission and yet failed to

embrace any of their actions at all. not one. then we heard the president come and address us in this chamber, state of the union message, didn't bostonner to mention the looming debt crisis for 35 minutes. 35 minutes. then the first serious proposal we got from that president, our president, was for a $400 billion reduction over 10 years that was so laughable, when it was brought up in the united states senate, which his bod -- which is controlled by his party, it failed 97-0. the the president wanted to have a free vote on raising the debt ceiling. let's just raise it, go ahead, and see what happens. we obviously don't support that. we think there ought to be spend regular duckses but we said, sure, you've got the vote. fewer than 100 of my friends on the other side supported their own president when he asked for

that vote. so we clearly weren't sufficiently motivated to do that. now we've reached a point where, last week, we actually did raise the debt ceiling by $2.7 trillion, we did institute cuts that, frankly, are going to happen anyway they coincide with my friend mr. ryan's budget and put caps on long-term spending and said, just give the american people a chance. just a chance, vote on a balanced budget amendment. not asking that it pass, but don't you think they ought to have the right through their state legislatures to make that decision? we were denied that. i ask the gentleman for an additional minute. mr. ryan: i yield the gentleman an adegreesal minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cole: now we are at a point where we are about to once again raise the debt ceiling and do it in a responsible way, a way that i predict will probably become the pattern in the future this body should never raise the debt ceiling again automatically. we've done it on our side, our

friends have done it, we should always couple it with spend regular straint and reform. that's what we're doing in this measure this majority has enacted a budget, my friend has taken a lot of flak for that budget, but i'm proud to be associated with it, body has, or will twice raise the debt ceiling and as for the president's plan we hear about, i'd just like to see it. just once. i haven't seen anything or heard anything like this since richard nixon had a secret plan to end the war. the president must have a secret plan because it's not on paper, it's not been scored, it's not been publicly presented to anybody. to act like -- and by the way, one last thing on that, if speaker reid -- excuse me, an additional minute? mr. ryan: yield an additional minute. mr. cole: if the leader's plan scores at $2.2 trillion, i guess we have a $4 trillion

deficit. we have $3 trillion and we don't count the extra trillion which is automatic because the wars are ending. i think we ought to up ours, we have a $4 trillion plan, ought to give the majority leader the credit for that, for finding that additional trillion and if you'll just vote for this, we'll have your magic $4 trillion plan done. our three, senator reid's one that adds up to what we wanted. let's pass it, give the senate an opportunity to pass it and give the president an opportunity to sign it. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. mr. van hollen: i don't think the american people want us to be doing this every five months, that it becomes business as usual that we put the country through this crisis situation with the threat of rising interest rates and all the negative economic consequences that would happen and because the grand babar --

bargain is now off the table, senator reid has put forward a proposal, and again, i have the c.b.o. scoring of it right here, $2.2 trillion, more than the proposal, more cuts than the proposal on the table here from our republican leagues, the big difference being, he doesn't want to say every five months, let's put the country into economic crisis and all the uncertainty between now and five months from now that that will create. with that, i yield one minute to mr. ryan a terrific member of the budget committee from ohio. mr. ryan: i thank the gentleman. one of the issues we want on the table here is revenue. the top 400 wealthiest people in the united states of america pay 17% tax rate. my constituents in youngstown and akron, ohio, pay a heck of

a lot more than 17%. we hear our friends on the other side of the aisle, how all these changes need to occur, how all these problems need to be solved, but heaven forbid, mr. speaker, we ask the 400 wealthiest families in the united states of america to maybe be a little bit patriotic and help us out. and you'll say, well these are the job creators. these taxes won't go into place for another year or two. we've got to get through this downturn. but we need to send a message to the bond market that we are serious. and for us to be this irresponsible and not ask the wealthiest, what are they being asked to sacrifice here? what are the top 1%, what are we asking them to sacrifice? i ask for an additional 15 seconds. mr. van hollen: i yield an additional 15 seconds. mr. ryan: one final point. the debt we are now debating was run up by our friends on the other side.

two wars, the bush tax cut and a prescription drug plan, all on the credit card, and now the same people who worked their way up in the leadership position are saying, we're not going to pay the bill. this is irresponsible. let's solve this in a balanced way and let's ask for some shared sacrifice. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from wisconsin. mr. ryan: mr. speaker, let me -- i yield myself two minutes. the gentleman, my friend from maryland, keeps talking about the reid plan, that the senate majority leader, i've got the c.b.o. score, it says $2.2 trillion. $2.2 trillion increase that means it doesn't raise the debt limit less than we cut spending, so it cuts less, but more importantly, $1.3 trillion of that money is accounting tricks and budget gimmicks. mr. speaker, the american people are tired of all the accounting tricks and the

budget gimmicks that go on in washington. let me explain what $1.3 trillion of this does. it says that, imagine that we're at war for 10 years, in afghanistan and iraq at surge levels. we assume we're going to be fighting this war for 10 more years, with over 100,000 troops in afghanistan and oh, gosh, wait, we're going to withdraw our troops in 2014. $1 trillion in savings. i've got a better idea. let's pass a bill to cover the moon with yogurt that will cost $5 trillion today. and then let's pass a bill the next day to cancel that bill. we could save $5 trillion. wait, i've got a better idea. our debt is $14 trillion. let's come up with a new plan to spend $14 trillion, then rescind it the next day and let's save $14 trillion.

this stuff is fiscal fantasy. you can't make this stuff up, mr. speaker. suggesting that we're going to be in a war at these levels for 10 more years when everybody knows we've already decided not to do that, that does not get us $1.3 trillion in spending cuts. only in washington can you add up math like that. we need real spending cuts. i yield myself an additional minute to say, this is getting serious, mr. speaker. very serious. we can't keep spending money we just don't have. 42 cents of every dollar coming out of this place is borrowed money. it doesn't just threaten our children and grandchildren anymore. it is hurting our economy today. half of that money is coming from other countries like china.

why on earth do we want to give the president a blank check to keep doing that, giving our sovereignty and self-determination to other countries to loan us money to fund our government? those kay days have got to end. -- those days have got to end. this bill doesn't cut as much as we want. we passed a bill with $6.2 trillion in spending cuts, in real cuts. this cuts about $1 trillion. let's cut this $1 trillion and bank that money and cut some more. that's what we're trying to do, be responsible. the problem isn't that we don't tax americans enough. the problem is we're spending way too much money. with that, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from maryland. mr. van hollen: of course we should be reducing the deficit. of course we should make sure that we don't rely on the chinese as our bankers anymore. which is why it's so ironic that our republican colleagues

refuse to cut subsidies for oil companies by one penny for the purpose of reducing the deficit so we don't have to rely on borrowing from china anymore. in fact if you look at exxon o's quarterly profits today, they're through the roof. i'm all for having exxon make money, but why should they have taxpayer money on top of it? yet our republican colleagues get up here and talk about how we're dependent on china but they don't want to break that dependency if it means actually asking the top oil companies to get rid of their subsidiers in purpose of deficit reduction. so let's get serious. now, with respect to the plan that's been put forward by senator reid, i listen to my colleague, i would point out to the body that if you look at the republican budget and the documents that accompanied it, when they pointed out what their savings were relative to the c.b.o. baseline, they also show $1 trillion in savings

from the global war on terrorism. as my friend -- >> will the gentleman yield? mr. van hollen: as my friend, the chairman, knows that's the function of the way the congressional budget office scores, but it is also a fact that when the republican budget was presented, they presented both relative to the president's baseline and the congressional budget baseline. i further make the point, even if you take that off the table the proposal by senator reid cuts, cuts immediately more on spending than the republican proposal before us today. the difference being he doesn't keep the economy hanging under a cloud for five months and make this country go through this exercise just by the end of december. and with that i would yield a minute to the distinguished member of congress from illinois, mr. jackson. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois. mr. jackson: soon, my colleagues will be quoting dr. king's i have a dream speech, and here's the quote they will

not read and they will ignore. in a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. when the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent wrotes of the constitution and the declaration of independence they were signing a promissory note. this note was a promise that men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalien able rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. america has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as the men of color are concerned. america has given the people a bad check, a check that has come back marked insufficient funds. but we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. the problem, mr. chairman, is not that we spend, it's that's we don't honor our obligations. we are a nation that spends billions of dollars to put a man on the moon, fund the war in afghanistan, fund the war in iraq but we can't find the money in this congress to put a man on his own two feet right here in america. and that is something more fundamental, mr. speaker,

that's going on here. this president is being treated differently than other presidents. no other president has been stuck up, shook down or held hostage as the president of the united states over this. this is fundamentally unfair, mr. speaker, to change the rule in the middle of the game. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. and the chair would respectfully ask that members heed the gavel and only consume the amount yielded to them by the floor managers. the chair would recognize the gentleman from wisconsin. mr. ryan: mr. speaker, i'd yield two minutes to the gentleman from texas, the chairman of the house republican conference, the gentleman from texas, mr. hensarling. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. hensarling: i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. speaker, this nation has a debt crisis, not because we are undertaxed but because washington spends too much. and here we are days before the president's august 2 deadline and the president of the united states has yet to submit a plan

to deal with the debt crisis. here we are days away from the president's august 2 deadline and the united states senate has yet to pass a single plan. days before the president's august 2 deadline not only have house republicans passed their first plan, in a matter of hours we will vote on another plan to deal with the debt crisis that we must remember is spending driven. it's the president's spending that brought us here. now, the bill that we're bringing to the house floor, mr. speaker, is not the ultimate solution. but, mr. speaker, it assures that this nation pays its current bills like families, like small businesses have to. it gives us the opportunity to

actually cut spending. you know, the amounts are not what they should be, mr. speaker, but for the second year in a row we will have the opportunity to actually reduce spending to save our country and save our children's future. but most importantly, mr. speaker, within this legislation is the opportunity that brings us the ultimate solution and that, mr. speaker, is a balanced budget amendment to the united states constitution. every family, every small business, almost every state has a provision that says we have to balance our budget. should we expect less of a great nation? maybe that's why we have the $14 trillion in debt. we have to act today, approve this bill, balance the budget for our children and future generations. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland, mr. van hollen.

mr. van hollen: mr. speaker, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. ryan. mr. ryan: i'll yield myself two minutes at this time, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. ryan: mr. speaker, this legislation before us today is a down payment. does this cut the amount of money we need to save our country from a death debt crisis? no. our budget does that. this is 2/3 of the spending cuts we called for in discretionary spending. is it 100% of the cuts we asked for? no. it's 2/3 of the cuts we asked for. what does the president's budget do? it actually spends $130 billion more. i'll take 2/3 of the step in the right direction instead of going in the wrong direction, the president's plan. the congressional budget office, we asked them to take a look at the president's framework. c.b.o. director told me under oath they can't score speeches. this plan reject the president's fiscal demands for

tax increases and it rejects its political demands for a blank check to get them through the election. what we are doing here today is getting serious about getting spending under control. the spending cuts that are in this bill were already agreed to by bipartisan talks. why are people hiding from that? this is the second bill we will have passed to avoid a default. that's responsible. it has been 820 days, 820 days since the senate even tried passing a budget. the president, as we know, has yet to offer a plan to fix this problem. we passed a budget to fix this problem. we passed a man to deal with the debt limit, and now we're passing another plan based upon mutually agreed to spending cuts that gets 2/3 of the cuts we already called for in this

category of government. that's reasonable. that's responsible. and that is what we should be doing. instead, we hear all this empty rhetoric and all this call for a blank check and all these accounting gimmicks and budget gimmicks from the other side who are trying to do everything they can to do anything but cut spending. and with that, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from maryland. mr. van hollen: thank you, mr. speaker. just to be very clear, the senate leader, the democratic leader, mr. reid, has put on the table a plan that would cut more immediately than the republican plan before us today even if you don't include, even if you don't include the overseas contingency account funding. the difference is he would not put our economy in jeopardy again just five months from now as the republican plan did. with that i yield one minute to the gentleman from virginia,

mr. scott. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia. mr. scott: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, we're talking about being serious, and here we're considering a $2 trillion bill, $200 billion a year, slapped together behind closed doors, less than 24 hours when it was printed, no amendments that 53 senators already say they're going to oppose. we have a situation where last december we passed $400 billion a year tax cuts, and now everybody says we need $400 billion a year in deficit reduction. this bill does not cut anything. it has caps. promises for cuts in the future. and we don't know what those cuts are going to be. mr. ryan: will the gentleman yield? mr. scott: we know in a continuing resolution -- i only have one minute. f.b.i. agents, air traffic controllers, flu shots, water grants, schools, scientific

research, transportation, health and human services, we can expect all those to be cut in the future all to preserve tax cuts, many for millionaires and oil companies. that's not right. let's go through the regular process so we know what we're doing. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland. mr. van hollen: thank you, mr. speaker. you know what we've seen play out here is a few years back we provided tax breaks that went disproportionately to the very rich in the country. now, all of a sudden we say, well, and we can't pay our bills any more. a good part of that reason being the tax cuts, but how are we going to deal with these bills? we are going to sock it to middle-class america, whether it's through cuts in education or cuts in medicare and because we don't want to cut oil subsidies. just today exxon reported huge profits. god bless them for making all this money, but why do they

need any of ours, our taxpayer money? and that is the rub of the issue. it's not whether we reduce the deficit. it's how. with that, mr. speaker, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the chair has been advised that it's the intention of the chamber -- chairman of the budget committee, mr. ryan, to hold on to his one minute. the gentleman from maryland has a minute and 3/4 and the chair has been advised that whenever you're done with whatever portion you are going to use we will go through other legislation. mr. van hollen: so i understand -- if i were to use 3/4 of a minute i could reserve a minute later, is that correct? the speaker pro tempore: that's exactly right. mr. van hollen: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself 45 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. van hollen: just to say we as a body needs to do two things. number one, we need to make sure the united states pays its bills. we need to make sure it pays

its bills and we shouldn't do it in a way that puts the american economy in jeopardy every five months. just listen to the folks, the experts who have been monitoring this. they said if you do this on a five-month period you will risk interest rates going up. second, we need to reduce the deficit. of course we do. we need to do it in a balanced way. the president has proposed $3 in spending cuts to $1 in revenue but we can't get our colleagues on the republican side to get one penny, not one penny of revenue from closing a corporate tax loophole if the purpose is deficit reduction. and there is the rub. so, mr. speaker, let's reject this wrong approach. senator reid has a proposal on the table. cuts more than the one that the republicans does but it doesn't put the economy in jeopardy every five months. the speaker pro tempore: so both sides have a minute. it's the chair's intention now to postpone consideration and let --

mr. van hollen: mr. speaker, i yield the last minute to the terrific democratic leadership in the house, ms. pelosi. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california is recognized for one minute. ms. pelosi: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding. i commend him for his tremendous leadership. we couldn't be prouder than the way he has represented the values of the american people both as the ranking member of the budget committee and also at the table with the bipartisan talks with mr. clyburn under the leadership of the vice president -- vice president boyden. and too bad that the progress that was made in those meetings to have a balanced, bipartisan initiative to bring to the floor to give confidence to the market, to give confidence to the american people didn't succeed because the republicans walked away from those talks.

mr. speaker, last week our speaker, speaker boehner, said he couldn't reach an agreement with president obama because they had different visions of our country. president obama has a vision, shares the vision with the american people. when we look to find our common ground and take it to a higher ground, i think all americans agree that we want to educate our children for their own self-fulfillment. but also to keep america number one by having innovation which springs from education and from the classroom. i think all americans share the higher ground, the common ground when it comes to the creation of jobs, good-paying jobs here in america for the economic stability of america's families and of our economy. i think all americans agree that we must have a dignified

retirement for our seniors where they have health and economic security. that's why medicare and medicaid and social security are so important to the american people. i think all americans agree that we must keep the american people safe, both in our national security and our economic security and one must do so in a fiscally sound way. without adding to the deficit. that is president obama's vision of our country system of i think that one -- and i'm sure that speaker baper must share those views. so if that is the reason, the different vision of our country, maybe it is, hopefully it is not, hopefully they share that vision, why are we where we are today? i believe it is because it

wasn't about not sharing a vision for our country. i believe it is because the purpose of these talks was to reduce the deficit. my belief is that the republicans came to the table not to reduce the deficit but to go way beyond that and to dismantle decades of progress made in a bipartisan way for america's great middle class. if in fact the purpose was deficit reduction and a very -- in a very strong way, we were on that path in the biden talks and the talks subsequent to it. we all agreed that there had to be substantial cuts, that we had to subject dollars spent, federal dollars spent to make sure we got our money's worth for u.s. taxpayers. democrats wanted revenue. we wanted sharing of the

sacrifice in all of this republicans did not. but we still could come to a place, as senator reid did and as our distinguished ranking member referenced, at a place that used the proposals that republicans had in the ryan budget and in proposals they had agreed to in the talks to reach a strong deficit reduction number that would enable us to come to agreement and put this matter to rest until february of 2013. so we would remove all doubt in the markets that we were going to honor our debts, we were not going to default on previous spending. the purpose was not to lift the ceiling to spend more. it was to lift the ceiling to pay for previous obligations.

and that there would be that 18-month certainty. instead, the republicans have come forth with a proposal that, as i said, dismantles, this isn't about deficit reduction, this is about dismantling the public sector. and in doing, they want to do it for six months, which means the minute this thing would be accomplished, we would have to start all over again. i believe the american people were disappointed that this has taken so long and angry that it is happening because of the uncertainty it brings to their lives and disgusted with the whole process and they are so, rightly so. because if our purpose is reduce the deficit, we certainly can do that. if our purpose is to dismantle progress to the middle class, we won't be a party to it.

i come -- i think that the six months not only in terms of uncertainty is also a job killer. it has front loaded cuts that will deter, impede, the growth of our economy, our comeback, and again, kill jobs. every day that we are debating this is another day that we are not talking about job creation. every day. republican bills that they have brought to the floor in the first 200 days of their majority, now it's 205, would amount to nearly two million jobs lost. just under 10,000 jobs a day. lost by the proposals they have brought to the floor. the american people's top

priority is the creation of jobs. jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs. instead of this prolonged dismantling of the public sector attempt, we should instead have reached agreement. we still can. on a balanced, bipartisan approach. i want to say something as a mom about this dismantling of the public sector. i view my role in politics as an extension of my role as a mother and now a grandmother. as parents, all of us know that we want to do everything we can for our children, to help them grow, be healthy, to learn, to reach their fulfillment. but there are things we can't do for them. we have to look to the public sector in order for them, and moms can identify with this, i'm sure, to make sure they

have clean drinking water, that the air they breathe is clean, that there is food safety. we can't do that ourselves. we can't do that ourselves. that is a public role. the list goes on, the education of our children, the health security of grandparents, now being a fwrarnte myself, but in terms of medicare and medicaid all the things that are important to children, their health, their education, the economic security of their families, the pension security and health security of their grandparents, the safety of their neighborhoods. some of these are private roles, some of these are public roles, some are public-private roles. but as a mom, i call upon all mothers across the country to understand what this bill does for the health and well being of america's children and

really it's ironic because any speech that you hear on the floor, in meetings, and all the rest they say we must reduce the deficit because it's immoral to pass along deficits to our children. well i think it's wrong to pass along private or public debt to our children. but what we are doing here is to pass along to our children a future less bright because of the -- again, i'll say it again, the dismanting of the public sector, which is an ideological goal long held by our friends. they would rather see seniors pay more for medicare, they'd rather cut medicaid and jeopardize social security, while they give tax subsidies to big oil, making record profits, tax breaks to corporations sending jobs overseas, and tax breaks to the

wealthiest people in our country at the expense of the education of their children and health and well being of our country. i hope that the house will reject this measure. i know that people of good intention to reduce the deficit can find a path to do that. it can't be too late because we have a deadline on august 2. but i want to pay my respects to president obama, who has been respectful of every suggestion proposed by the republicans, giving it the time and attention that they thought it deserved. he tried to accommodate all of those, to have a balanced, bipartisan approach, and what did the republicans do? walk away from the table. the american people know about this. that's why 50-something percent

of the american people support the balanced, bipartisan approach that the president says we should strive to achieve and only about 19% of the american people support the proposal that is put forth by the republicans. this house should reject that. we should come together, use the work that has been done already to do something that will remove all doubt that we pay our bills, to remove all doubt that we are a strong economy that recognizes the role we play in the global economy, but also recognizes that all of this has an impact in the lives of everyday americans as they sit around their kitchen table, thinking about what will they do if credit goes -- the cost of credit goes up and that means there are credit card bills, house payment, car payment, the rest are more expensive to them. this is very costly in terms of confidence and in terms of

making ends meet. let's be responsible. reject this bill, get back to work so that on tuesday, we will have met our obligations. that's the least that we can do for our children. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the distinguished minority leader's time has expired. at this moment in time, all time to mr. van hollen has expired. mr. ryan has one minute. pursuant to clause 1-c of rule 19, further consideration of s. 627 is postponed.

the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause of rule 20, the chair will postpone further proceedings today on which the a recorded vote or the yeas and nays are ordered or on which the vote is objected to under clause 6 of rule 20. record votes on postponed questions will be taken later. for what purpose does the gentleman from oklahoma seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2548. the chair: the -- the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 2548 a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 6310 north university street in peoria, illinois, as the charles "chip" lawrence chan post office

building. the chair: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from oklahoma, mr. lankford, and the gentleman, mr. davis, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. lankford: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume and ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized. mr. lankford: thank you mr. speaker. h.r. 2548 would designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 6310 north university street in peoria, illinois, as the charps "chip" lawrence chan post office building. with that i choose to yield to mr. schock as much time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. schock: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman and my good friend from oklahoma for yielding. mr. speaker, i offer this

legislation to designate the federal post office located at 6310 north university in peoria, illinois, as the charles "chip" lawrence chan post office building. mr. speaker, we are quickly approaching the 10th anniversary of the horrific attacks of september 11 of 2001 . and while as americans we can recall the events of that tragic day like they were yesterday, i offer this legislation in remembrance of all those americans who tied on that day. specifically -- died on that day. specifically, this would honor the life and legacy of peoria, illinois, resident charles "chip" chan. chip was a 23-year-old bond trader working for the brokerage firm of counter fitzgerald on the 105th floor of 1 world trade center when terrorists flew an airplane in his building killing thousands of individuals like chip.

chip graduated from my alma mater, richwood high school, in peoria in 1995, and went ton a attend the university of illinois commerce and business graduating from a degree in economics. soon after graduating chip received his first official job in all places new york city. when trying to describe to family members or friends which tower he worked in, chip would often say, the one with the antenna on top. chip was a member of the st. thomas catholic church in peoria heights and was the son of john and julie chan. he was the oldest of six brothers. brother to christopher, craig, matthew, mark and michael chan. when describing his son only days after september 11, his father, john, described chip as a good athlete, a good lerner and someone who is outgoing in nature and with quick wit.

always reading a book on business or economics to help him learn his trade. martin luther king once said that one of life's most urgent questions is what are you doing for others. well, chip, the tragic and needless way his life ended, along the close to 3,000 other americans that day, did more for others in the way that united our country unlike ever before than any could imagine to achieve in 10 lifetimes. as we approach the 10th anniversary of september 11, it is my hope that as our country we will remember what brought us together as a country in the days, weeks and months after that horrific day. today, i hope we draw upon that common unity, that sense of patriotism and pride for fellow man kinde as we look at our neighbors -- mankind as we look at our neighbors and complete strangers in the eye, in the

end we all share the same vision for a strong, secure, fair and free america. mr. speaker, i urge all members to support the passage of house resolution 2548, and i will yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma reserves the balance of his time? the gentleman from illinois. mr. davis: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. davis: thank you, mr. speaker. the members of the house committee oversight and government reform, i'm pleased to join my colleagues in support of h.r. 2548 which designates the facility of the united states postal service located at 6310 north university street in peoria, illinois, as the charles "chip" lawrence chan post office building. h.r. 2548 was introduced by our colleague, representative aaron schock of illinois, on july 14,

2011, and i, along with the entire illinois delegation are proud co-sponsors of the underlying bill. the committee on oversight and government reform unanimously agreed to report out h.r. 2548 given the sad circumstances that led to the death of the bill's designee. mr. speaker, h.r. 2548 will rename the post office in peoria in honor of a young man who was unfortunately a victim of the tragic events of september 11, 2001. chip, as he was affectionately known to family and friends, gave the full measure of the greatest devotion that one can displace. he gave his life in support of his country and in service to his country. we have no further speakers, mr. chairman, and so i would urge passage of this bill and yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. lankford: mr. speaker, i'm prepared to close. i have no additional speakers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lankford: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman have additional speakers? -- mr. lankford: does the gentleman yield back? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois has yielded back. mr. lankford: this would be something we can do together. with that, sir, i urge all members to support the passage of h.r. 2548, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2548. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

mr. lankford: mr. speaker, i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and i make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from oklahoma seek recognition? mr. lankford: mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2244. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. caller: h.r. 2244, a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 67 castle street in geneva, new york, as the corporal steven blaine riccione post office. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from oklahoma, mr. lankford, and the gentleman from illinois, mr. davis, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. lankford: thank you, mr. speaker. with that i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lankford: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous

material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. langevin: mr. speaker -- mr. lankford: mr. speaker, the bill introduced by mr. hannah would designate the united states postal service located at 67 castle street in geneva, new york, as the corporal steven blaine riccione post office. it is co-sponsored by all the members of the new york delegation. with that i'd like to yield time to mr. hanna, the gentleman from new york, such time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hanna: mr. speaker, i thank the gentleman for yielding. i rise in strong support of h.r. 2244 which designates a post office in geneva, new york, as the general steven blaine riccione post office. i introduced this legislation to extend the long overdue recognition to a national hero from the 24th congressional district.

corporal steven riccione was a native of geneva, new york. he was a geneva high school graduate who volunteered to join the army in 1967 during the vietnam war. while on search and destroy mission with his platoon in vietnam, corporal riccione came under intense enemy fire and became pinned down. riccione, then a private, saw machine gunner in his platoon get wounded. as major general e.m. strong describes in his october, 1967, account, quote, private riccione with complete disregard for his own safety rushed from his position which was covered through a vicious hail of enemy fire to aid his wounded comrades. he continuously exposed himself

to the weathering hail of enemy fire, standing up at times to place effective fire on enemy positions. when his weapon was struck by an enemy bullet and demolished, he undowntowningly picked up a machine gun and charged an enemy bunker, killing two enemy soldiers. shortly after, private riccione was mortally wounded while helping to evacuate personnel under enemy fire. private riccione devoted to duty riccione's devotion to duty was in the highest keeping of military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the united states army, end quote. corporal riccione was killed in action while helping to evacuate wounded american

soldiers. as a result of private riccione's actions, major general strong recommended him for the bronze star medal with valor device and the bronze star medal with first oak leaf cluster which he was posthumously rewarded. he was also promoted to corporal. mr. speaker, corporal riccione is a source of great pride to his family, his community in geneva, my congressional district and indeed to a grateful nation. i urge my colleagues to support this legislation so that corporal riccione's memory may be honored in his own hometown of geneva, new york, for generations to come. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york yields back. mr. lankford: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma

reserves his time. the gentleman from illinois. mr. davis: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. davis: thank you, mr. speaker. on behalf of theous committee on oversight and government reform -- behalf of the house committee on oversight and government reform, i'm proud to present h.r. 2244 which would rename the united states postal facility at 67 castle street in geneva, new york, as the corporal steven blaine riccione post office building. the measure before us was first introduced by representative richard hanna from new york on june 21, 2011, and in accordans, it was co-sponsored by all members of the new york delegation. it was taken up by the house committee on oversight and government reform on june 22, 2011, where it was favorably reported out of committee by voice vote. mr. speaker, i'd like to briefly highlight some of the

achievements and honorable services of corporal riccione. corporal steven riccione was 20 years old when he volunteered to join the united states army during the vietnam war. a native of geneva, new york, and a graduate of geneva high school. corporal riccione served our nation admirably up to the point of his death in south vietnam on september 27, 1967. corporal riccione died in action while helping evacuate wounded soldiers after a fierce battle with north vietnamese troops. no greater gift can one give than to give his life in service of his country and of his fellow men. i urge passage of h.r. 2244 and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from oklahoma rise? mr. lankford: mr. speaker --

mr. speaker, this is an honor, to have a chance to honor this great individual who laid down his life for his nation. i join with the entire delegation of new york to be able to encourage this house to pass this and with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2244? those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative -- mr. lankford: mr. speaker. mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from oklahoma rise? mr. lankford: mr. speaker, i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and i make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from oklahoma seek recognition? mr. lankford: mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2213. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 2213, a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service

located at 801 west eastport street in iuka, mississippi, as the sergeant jason w. vaughn post office. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from oklahoma, mr. lankford, and the gentleman from illinois, mr. davis, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. lankford: i yield myself such time as i may consume and ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. lankford: this bill was introduced by representative nunnelee to recognize the facile i have to the united states postal service located in iuka, mississippi, as the sergeant jason w. vaughn post office. it was reported from the committee on government oversight and reform on april

2. i yield as much time as he may consume to mr. nunnelee. the chair: the gentleman -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. nunnelee: i'm honored to rise in me noirm -- in me moyer yam -- in me moyer yam -- in memoriam of sergeant jason w. vaughn. he was only 29 years old. sergeant vaughn was killed in action on may 10, 2007, when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in iraq during operation iraqi freedom. he joined the army in 2002. sergeant vaughn first served in iraq from november of 2003 until 2004.

in fact, he was serving his second tour of duty when he was killed in action. he was the recipient of the army good conduct medal, the national defense service medal, the global war on terror expeditionary medal and the global war on terror service medal. sergeant vaughn was buried with full military honors at oak grove, cemetery in iuka, mississippi, on may 19, 2007. he held the rank of specialist and was posthumously promoted to sergeant and awarded the bronze star medal, the purple heart and the combat infantryman's badge. he was a graduate of tichimngo county high school. his father, walter vaughn, told the associated press he had friends all over the place. he was an outgoing type of person. the world lost a leader.

my son was a born leader. renee smith vaughn spoke proudly of her son. jason was a hand many man on the outside and more importantly on the inside. i'll always remember his smile, bear hugs, love of life, positive attitude and his way of making everyone around him feel special. his greatest attribute may have been his kind heart. jason was always considerate of the needs of his family and friends he never forgot to call and give his mother and sister a special greeting on birthdays and other special occasions. we as his family are so grateful for the opportunity to have had him in our lives. jason will live in our hearts and minds forever. sergeant vaughn also left behind his wife, con sess --

contessa w. vaughn and a brother and sister. i want to thank my colleagues in the mississippi delegation and in congress for their support of h.r. 2213 and for renaming the facility of the united states postal service located at 801 west eastport street as the sergeant jason w. vaughn post office. we can't bring back a husband or a son but this honors his sacrifice. it will serve as a reminder to the people of this county that freedom is not free. mr. speaker, i urge passage and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma continues to reserve. mr. lankford: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois. mr. davis: i yield myself such

time as i might consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. davis: i join my colleague from the house committee on oversight and government reform in supporting consideration of h.r. 2213 which would rename the united states postal service facility located at 801 west eastport street in iuka, mississippi, as the sergeant jason w. vaughn post office. h.r. 2213 was introduced on june 16, 2011, by our colleague, representative alan nunnelee from the state of mississippi. currently it's co-sponsored by all four members of the mississippi delegation and was favorably reported out of the committee on oversight an government reform by voice vote. mr. speaker, the achievements and honorable service of sergeant jason vaughn are certainly worth noting. the son of walter glenn and

leona vaughn, he grew up in iuka, mississippi, where he graduated from high school in 1996. following graduation, he enrolled in northeast mississippi community college before going on to attend mississippi state university. in 2003, he made the decision to serve his country by enlisting in the u.s. army. shortly thereafter, sergeant vaughn became a member of the fifth battalion, 20th infantry regiment, third gribury gade, sec infantry division which is paced out of fort lewis, washington. while serving in operation iraqi freedom, sernlt vaughn was tragically killed by an improvised explosive device on may 10, 2011, right outside of

barquoba, iraq. he was only 29 years of age when he lost his life in service to our great nation. mr. speaker, in recognition of this young man's bravery and accomplishments, i ask that we pass the underlying bill without reservation and pay tribute to the commitment and sacrifice made by sergeant jason vaughn. i have no further speakers, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. lankford: i urge all members to support the passage of h.r. 2213 and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2213? those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended -- mr. lankford: mr. speaker, i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and make a point of

order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman y oklahoma -- from oklahoma rise? mr. lankford: i move that the house suspend the rules and pass hmpt r. 789. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the bill. the clerk: h.r. 789, a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 20 main street in little ferry, new jersey, as the serkt matthew j. fenton post office. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma, mr. lankford and a gentleman from illinois, mr. davis, each will control 20 minutes. mr. lankford: i ask that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. lankford: h.r. 89 would

designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 20 main street in little ferry, new jersey, as the sergeant matthew j. fenton post office. sergeant fenton served as a united states marine, training fellow marines as a reserves inspector and instructor. tragically, on may 5, 2006, sernlt fenton passed away at the naval medical center in bethesda after suffering wounds he received as a result of a suicide attack in anbar province, iraq. prior to serving his country, he was no different than many of us. he enjoyed watching baseball, playing poker and loved his hometown of little ferry, new jersey he loved to root for his favorite teams, the yankees and giants. he had a dream of becoming a police officer and serving his local communities -- community. his mother diane talked about

his desire to be a police officer. she sent him a civil service book to study while he was in iraq he achieved his goal when his hometown police force made him an honorary officer posthumously. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois. mr. davis: it's my pleasure to yield such time as he might consume to the author of this legislation from the garden state of new jersey, representative steve rothman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. rothman: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you to my ranking member, mr. davis, dr. davis, for your work on this bill. i'd like to thank the chairman for his support as well. very greatly appreciated by all of us. mr. speaker, i rise today to honor a true american hero, marine sergeant matthew fenton of little ferry, new jersey.

at just 24 years of age, matthew fenton made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. it happened during his service in iraq's al anbar province in 2006. matthew was struck by shrapnel after alerting his comrades to the presence of a suicide bomber. all of them escaped. except for matthew. he passed away nine days later at the national naval medical cent for the bethesda, maryland, as a result of his wupeds. -- of his wounds. a day after he received the purple heart for his bravery. i attended matthew's funeral in 2006. i can tell you, mr. speaker, that five years later, i still vividly recall the pain and deep sadness of his parents, his family, friends, and yes

the entire community over the loss of this wonderful young man. matthew represented the best our country has to offer. matthew planned to return home to little ferry as has been said after his service in the marine corps he wanted to continue serving his community as a police officer. there is no doubt in my mind that just as matthew was an outstanding marine, he would have made an outstanding police officer. recognizing this fact, the little ferry police department made sergeant fenton a member of the little ferry police force after his untimely death and then they permanently retired his badge number, number 44. it is a humbling privilege for me to have played a small part in honoring marine sernlt matthew fenton, having sponsored the legislation naming the post office in his hometown of little ferry, new

jersey, the sergeant matthew j. fenton post office. mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to support this legislation and join me in ensuring that marine sergeant matthew j. fenton is recognized for his selflessness, his courage, and his patriotism and that he will always be remembered. with that, i yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois. mr. davis: i thank the gentleman from new jersey for introducing this thoughtful measure and yield back the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. lankford: i urge all members to support the passage of h.r. 789. with that, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 789? those in favor say aye.

those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the in the affirmative, the rules are suspended. mr. lankford: i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and paycheck a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman seek reck nillings? mr. lankford: i move that the house suspend the rules an pass h.r. 1975. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the bill. h.r. 1975, a bill to designate tissue the clerk: h.r. 1975, to designate the facility of the united states postal service locate at 281 east colorado boulevard in pasadena, california, as the first lieutenant oliver goodall post office building. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. lankford: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise

and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under considering. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. lankford: h.r. 1975 would designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 281 east colorado boulevard in pasadena, california, as the first lieutenant oliver goodall post office building. the bill was reported out of the committee of government and -- oversight and government reform on may 2. oliver good all -- goodall was assigned to the 477th bomber group based in kentucky. in 1945, first lieutenant goodall was among the first of a group of african-american officers arrested for trying to -- trying to peacefully integrate an all-white officer's club.

this came to be known as the freeman field mutiny. . mr. goodall moved to los angeles after world war ii and began his career as a postal service employee. mr. goodall was awarded the congressional gold medal in 2007. sadly in november of last year, mr. goodall passed away at 88 years old. first lieutenant goodall is a designee of this post alpha silt. and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from illinois. mr. davis: i yield myself such time as i might consume. it's my pleasure to yield such time as he might consume to the author of this measure, representative adam schiff from california. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized.

mr. schiff: i thank the gentleman for yielding and thank the chair and ranking member for their support. i rise today to speak in support of a bill to designate the u.s. postal office building located at 281 east colorado boulevard in pasadena, california. doing so will honor mr. goodall's service to the community and country as an airman, public information officer and postal worker. it's my honor to talk about a man who answered the country's call to service. oliver goodall fought the injustice of facism abroad while combating racial segregation at home. he was one of the first african american pilots when segregation infused the armed services and much of the country. they had commendable spirit and

will in serving their country with extraordinary courage and sacrifice as their every achievement was met with obstruction. in june, 1941rks the tuskegee began with the formation of the 99th fighter squadron in alabama. the first class graduated in 1942 and the program would eventually graduate 994 pilots, many of whom would go on to serve with valor in the war in europe. grood all entered in february of 1943. in october of 1944, he graduated as a multi-engine pilot and assigned to the bomber group in january of 1945, where he obtained his first pilot's rating in six months. despite an excellent service record including a silver star, 150 distinguished flying crosses, 14 bronze stars and 744 air medals by war's end, the

tuesday key gee airmen faced segregation. white and african american officers and enlisted men were separated in all activities including the officers' club. at freeman airfield in indiana where the bomber group was stationed, goodall and 60 other african american officers challenged the segregation at the officers' club getting into the all-white officers' club. all of the officers were arrested. most were soon released, but all the african american officers were forced to sign an order that barred them from the club and established a separate club for african americans. goodall and all but eight of the african american officers refused to sign the order and to enter the african american officers' club. asked why he refused to sign the

order, he responded, because it's just another form of segregation. the officers had refused to sign the order were arrested again and released on april 18, 1945. by then news of the incident and the dignity that goodall and other officers had displayed in entering the all-white officers' club had spread across the country. the protests compelled the war department to establish a committee to investigate segregation in the armed officers. the committee played a critical role in the abolishment of segregation in the military. after the conclusion of the war, goodall moved to southern california and took a job with the u.s. postal service where he worked until he was retired. he served as fundraising chairman of the tuesday key gee airmen scholarship fund. and in 1961, he bought a home in

california where he lived until he passed away in october of 20 is 10. i urge my colleagues to designate the post office as the first lieutenant oliver gd all post office building. this is a fitting way to honor the legacy of oliver goodall. i think the speaker and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois. mr. davis: i want to thank the gentleman from california forever his introduction of this very thoughtful measure. i can't help but think of the fact i was given a jacket by a chapter in chicago and i wear it whenever i get a chance in honor of lieutenant goodall and his fellow airmen.

i urge passage of this measure and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. lankford: mr. speaker, this is a worthy man to be able to honor in a life that served many people and a life that stood up and made a real difference. i urge the members to support the passage of h.r. 1975 and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1975. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair 2/3 being in the affirmative -- the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. lankford: a quorum is not present and i make a point of order that quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8, rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from oklahoma seek recognition? mr. lankford: mr. speaker, i move the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1843. the clerk: h.r. 1843, a brill to

designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 489 army drive in barry gadave guam as the john gerber post office building. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from oklahoma and the gentleman from illinois each will control 20 minutes. mr. lankford: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. . mr. lankford: h.r. 1843 introduced by the gentlelady from guam would designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 489 army drive barry gada guam as the john pangelinan gesh beer

post office building. it was reported to the committee and i would look forward for the gentlelady to sea it correctly. sergeant john gerber was born on may 31 in guam and served in the marine corps and known for his hospital towards his fellow marines. during operation desert storm he offered to host any individual or group associated with the third marine division. his offer was accepted by many marines and over time nearly 20,000 marines visited him. later in life, sergeant gerber led a campaign to rename route 1 to marine corps drive to recognize the marines who lost their lives in and the 6,000 marines wounded during the liberation of guam. he established the pacific

marine museum and to educate the public on the war in the pacific. as a result of his dedication educating citizens on marine corps' history he was the 2011 recipient of the colonel magerder award and he received it following his death at 5 years old. mr. speaker, i urge all members to join me in support of this bill and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from illinois. mr. davis: i yield myself such time as i might consume. it's my pleasure to the author of this measure, ms. bordallo of guam. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. bordallo: i thank the chairman, ranking member and mr. speaker. i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 1843, a bill that honors the life and the service of john

gerber. this bill would rename the guam main post office facility as a tribute to his tireless work at advocating for veterans on guam and educating the public of guam's importance during world war ii and the marine corps. a proud marine and lifetime resident of guam died on may 4, 2010 at the age of 58. john was a patriotic american who took pride in his island and his heritage. after graduating from high school he enlisted in the marine corps and completed basic training in san diego. he was deployed to vietnam where he served with the fleet logistics command in support of the first and third marine divisions. when he completed his tour in vietnam, john was assigned to the bravo company at marine

barracks guam until he was discharged in 1975. following his service, john worked as a radio disk jockey, his show "wireless rock" was the most popular of its time on guam. he opened the music box, a record store in guam, in the capital city and established a charter boat tour company and led tourists through the best fishing and diving spots making him as one of the piners in cultural-based ecotourism on guam. he attended the university of guam where he received a degree in public administration. the marines were never ever far from his mind. in 1992, john joined the guam chapter of the third marine division association and devoted his time to helping his fellow marines and veterans and strofe to promote and preserve the

story of the third marine division to memberalize its division in the war in the pacific and particularly with regards to the liberation of guam during world war ii. he extended his general rossity to service members who visited guam on temporary duty or other deployments. with help from the guam chambers of commerces and other veteran organizations on the island, john hosted numerous fiesta's welcoming marines, sailors, soldiers, airmen and guests to partake in our culture and hospital. his home known as gerber's ranch collected vehicles, weapons, uniforms. these items would late be be transferred to the pacific war museum, which john established to educate the public about the marine corps' role in the liberation of guam. john opened the museum to the

public on july 21, 2008, on the 64th anniversary on the liberation of guam. in 2004, john led the effort to rename guam's main highway, route 1 from marine drive to marine corps drive in order to ensure that the sacrifices of the marines who liberated guam are never forgotten. he saw this opportunity to honor the 1,548 marines who lost their lives and the 6,000 marines that were wounded during the liberation of guam from enemy forces during world war ii. the defining moment in this effort came when he pulled a hand cart with a billboard demanding action. the entire 27 miles from the air force base to naval base guam. in doing so, he rallied support for his issue and spurred many guam residents to advocate to recognize those who fought and died for guam.

on the day after his march, route 1 was officially named marine corps drive. a year after this victory in 2005, the department of defense announced that the marines from the third expeditionary force will be locating from japan to guam. so john, along with many others on guam viewed this relocation as a homecoming and first to defend the marine corps and strategic importance of this realignment. although john will not be able to greet these marines as he had done for so many service members who had visited guam, his legacy will continue in our community and in the pacific war museum. these efforts were recognized this year when the marine corps heritage foundation bestowed john with the colonel john h. magruder award. mr. speaker, john gerber was an

extraordinary man whose greatest dream was to ensure our veterans, those who made the greatest sacrifices for our country would not be forgotten. renaming the main guam post office facility will serve as a tribute to his legacy and i urge my colleagues to cast their vote to support this bill. and i yield back. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois. mr. davis: i want to thank the gentlelady for her introduction of this measure and urge its passage. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. lankford: i join the others who have stood before you to support the passage of h.r. 1843 and i also yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1843. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative,

the rules are suspended. mr. lankford: mr. speaker, i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this measure will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman rise? mr. lankford: i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2062. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will designate the -- will report the title. the clerk: h.r. 2062, to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 45 meetinghouse lane in sagamore beach, massachusetts, as the mathew a. pucino post office. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma, mr. lankford, and the gentleman from illinois, mr. davis, each will control 20 minutes. the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. lankford: i ask that all members have five legislative

days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous trl. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, order. mr. lankford: h.r. 2062 was introduced by representative keating and would designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 45 meetinghouse lane in sagamore beach, massachusetts, as the mathew a. pucino post office. maw matthew pucino was killed in 2009 when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive dwhismse enlisted in 2002 as a special forces candidate and went on to earn the green beret as an engineer sergeant. he was conducting a combat patrol near the pakistani border. he was an intelligence sergeant with the 20th special forces group on his sec deployment. he'd served in iraq with he fifth special forces group. as a result of his bravery in his first deemployment he was awarded the purple heart,

bronze star, army commendation and global war on terrorism service medals. according his cousin anthony, matthew joined the military after september 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, because he wanted to help protect america and americans. mr. pucino was 34 years old, he left his wife crystal and his parents albert and a sister. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois. mr. davis: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the swrelt is recognized. mr. davis: it's my pleasure to yield such time heas may consume to the author of this measure, mr. keating, of massachusetts. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. keating: thank you. i thank the gentleman for yielding his time. i rise today to honor sergeant matthew a. put chino who lost

his life on november 23, 2010, after his seek was struck by an improvised explosive device while conducting mounted patrol in afghanistan. sernlt pucino enlisted in 2002 as a special forces candidate. he went on to complete the special forces qualification course and earn the coveted green beret. as a special forces engineer sergeant. in july, 2009, he deployed for the third time in support of operation enduring freedom as a member of the combined joint special operations task force in afghanistan. sergeant pucino was highly decorated, a testament not just to his abilities as a soldier but to his true character. this includes such honors as the bronze star medal, purple heart medal, the army commendation medal, and the army good conduct medal.

the national defense service medal. the iraq campaign medalful the global war on terrorism service medal. noncommissioned officer professional development ribbon. army service ribbon. nato medal, combat infantrymen's badge. parachutist's badge and the special forces tab. in tribute to the sergeant's ultimate sacrifice for our country, i have joined with my colleagues in the massachusetts delegation in introducing h.r. 2062 to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 45 meetinghouse lane in sagamore beach, massachusetts, as the matthew a. pucino post office. i respectfully urge all my colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation and honor sernlt pucino. a hero, not just to the citizens of massachusetts, but

to all americans. with that, i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois. mr. davis: i commend mr. keating for introducing this thoughtful measure, i urge its passage and yield back the balance of our time. the speaker: the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. lankford: i urge all members to pass h.r. 2062 and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is, will he house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2062? those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative -- mr. lankford: mr. speaker. i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman seek recognition? mr. lankford: i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h r. 2149.

the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 2149, a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 43 4 pahoa avenue in honolulu, hawaii, as the cecil l. heftel post office building. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from oklahoma, mr. lankford, and the gentleman from illinois, mr. davis, each shall control 20 minutes. the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. lankford: i yield myself such time as i may consume and ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. lankford: h.r. 2149 would designate the facility of the yates postal service located at 4354 pahoa avenue in honolulu, hawaii, as the cecil l. heftel post office building.

cecil l. heftel was born september 20, 1924. he was an accomplished businessman and politician who served his community for many years he served five terms as a member of the house of representatives. in the 1960's, he began his keer in hawaii and when he started the heftel broadcasting and took over kgmp television station he ran for congress, won five consecutive terms and then left congress to run for governor, but was defeated he returned to the broadcasting business in 2004 and then returned to his community to serve as a member of the board of education he died february 4, 2010, at the age of 85 and his service to the honolulu community will never be forgotten. i urge my colleagues to pass this bill and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois. mr. davis: i yield myself such time as i may consume.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. davis: it is measure pleasure to yield such time as he she may consume to the author of this measure, the gentlelady from hawaii, ms. hanabusa. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. hanabusa: thank you mr. speaker, thank you to the gentleman for yielding, thank you to the chair and ranking member for affirmatively looking upon h.r. 2149. mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize the tremendous career of the late representative cecil l. heftel. h.r. 2149 is a bill which designates the facility of the united states postal service located at 4354 pahoa avenue in honolulu, hawaii as the cecil l. heftel post office building. representative heftel was a very unusual person and a very accomplished man. he was known for his prowess in

building radio and television broadcasting systems in hawaii. many of us grew up in hawaii with his creations, like "checkers and pogo," the most popular children's show. he had one of the most popular radio personalities and and "the legends themselves" which still rule our airwaves in the show of "perry and price," michael w. perry and my good friend coach larry price. they still are the first and highest ranking radio show in hawaii. cecil heftel was elected to the 95th congress to represent the first congressional district of hawaii. while in washington, representative heftel's first assignment was to the education and labor committee and ironically post office and civil service committee. he was re-elected four times,

serving a total of five terms in this body. during the 1996 congress -- 96th congress he was elected to the ways and means committee where he stayed until his resignation in 1986 to run for governor. of our beautiful state of hawaii. while in office, representative heftel sponsored 160 bills and it is important to note this because these bills evidence his vision and farsightedness. he was a champion of tax reform and energy independence, an issue that is very popular today but may not have been as popular back then. all showing aloha for his constituency. in response to president reagan's tax cut po posal, representative heftel said, i cannot support a tax proposal which would benefit me so much more than those of my constituents who earn less than

$30,000 a year. similar statements are being made today. this is what defined cecil heftel both as a member of congress and a person from hawaii. in 1983, representative heftel was involved in a car crash near the lincoln memorial that left him with severe injuries. the accident occurred before cars were legally required to have airbags. this experience helped shape representative heftel's view of government regulations and the private sector. remember where he came from. a very successful businessman. after the accident, he unsuccessfully filed suit against general moe, blaming the accident on faulty brakes in his olds mobile. it is important to note that after the accident, he received a letter saying, there may be

something wrong with his brakes. though representative heftel as a businessman probably was not in favor of regulations, it is important to note that he proposed these kinds of bills, in the 99th congress in particular to provide for criminal penalties for manufacturers who fail to notify owners of motor vehicle safety defects, something we have all come to expect and are protected by today. this shows you who representative heftel was and the fact that he always placed the public, the people, and his constituents first. he went through his service here in the congress displaying this kind of independence and courage in looking to these important issues.

i want to say that on a personal note, i was able to meet mr. heftel in the year 2004. it was at a dinner event where i met his daughter susan, first and when we spoke of her father, she told me, i think my dad would like to meet you. so we sat at dinner first and had several meetings after that and he told me about his experiences in congress. but more importantly than that, he shared with me his passion for education and how he believed, he believed that he still had it in him come and make change in the education system in hawaii. . at the age of 80, he was successfully elected to the state board of education for the oahu at-large seat and served

there for four years to make his mark like he did as a member of congress as well as the greatest communication person we will see in the state of hawaii. mr. speaker, i ask and i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 2149 in the naming of the facility in honor of cease i will heftel. i do this not only to honor him and to pay our respects for someone who served the state so well, but i want especially the youth of today, when they go by that post office and they see the name cease i will heftel, who was he? and i believe when they learn

his story and see how he served in this body and how over time the experiences shaped his legislation, legislation that we may not have thought would be something he supported and how he put his constituents first and his genius, absolute genius in communication in the creation of all the legends over time, that they will be inspired and they would one day among one of them, we may see anr cecil l. heftel and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois. mr. davis: i commend the gentlelady for her introduction of this very thoughtful measure. urge its passage and yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. langevin: i urge all members to support the passage and i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2149. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the ules are suspended and the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. pursuant to clause 8, rule 20, proceedings will now resume on h.r. 2548. unfinished business is on suspending the rules. the clerk: h.r. 2548, a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 6310 north university street in por yeah, illinois as the chan post office building. the speaker pro tempore: will

the house suspend the rumes and pass the bill. so many in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the rules are suspended and the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1. the house will stand in recess subject to the call

members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, about a minute and a half after 3:00 p.m. on july 28, 2011. at this moment we begin the debate on one of the most crucial items that we have had or will have before us. since 1962 on 75 different occasions the united states congress has chosen to increase the debt ceiling to ensure that we paid our past obligations. it's been done 75 times without ever having any strings atatched whatsoever. -- attached whatsoever. last november there was a very strong message sent by the american people to this institution. mr. speaker, could i ask that the house be in order?

the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. members, please remove their conversations from the floor. members in the back of the chamber, please teether -- either take seats or remove your conversations from the floor. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: thank you very much, mr. speaker. last november we all know that there was an overwhelming message that was september by the american people to washington, d.c. and that message was, number one, create jobs. get our economy back on track and in so doing rein in the dramatic increase in the size and scope and reach of government that we witnessed in the past several years. we all know in the last four years we've had an 82% increase in nondefense discretionary spending, an 82% increase. so the message that was sent was, that has to come to an end. so speaker boehner, when asked

by the president of the united states to move an increase in the debt ceiling, said that he was willing to do that. he recognized, as i believe an overwhelming majority of both democrats and republicans in this institution recognize, it is absolutely essential that we increase the debt ceiling. we've got to do everything that we can to ensure that social security checks get to those retirees. we have to make sure that the many other obligations that we have are in fact met. and on that one issue of social security we know that on july 12 the president of the united states in a speech said that if we don't see an increase in the debt ceiling by august 2 could he not guarantee that august 3 those social security checks would go to our retirees.

so, mr. speaker, what happened was speaker boehner said, we want to make sure that those social security checks get out, we want to make sure that we increase the debt so our nation doesn't default and follow the pattern of greece, portugal, ireland and other countries in the world that have gone through tremendous economic devastation. but what the speaker said is that while we are going to, in increasing the debt ceiling, meet those obligations of the past, we are not going to do it the way it's been done the last 75 times. we are going to get to the root cause of why it is that we have to increase the debt ceiling. and that is the runaway spending that democratic and republican alike decries regularly. so the speaker said that he would increase the debt ceiling but he wanted to ensure that we

cut spending in an amount that was greater than the level of the debt ceiling increase. so he began discussions, recognizing that republicans, those who won this majority last november, only control the united states house of representatives. speaker boehner does not look at the world through rose-colored glasses. he knows that the republicans don't control the united states senate and he knows that he has to work with president obama. but he does know that the last statement that was made by the american people in november of last year was, we've got to have a dramatic change in the course that we have been on. so he began negotiating. he began discussions. he began working over the past several weeks and months to try to put together a bipartisan effort so that democrats and

republicans alike could come together and ensure that those social security checks get out and the other obligations we have are met and that we do increase our debt ceiling. we've all followed and the american people are following very closely the global markets, -- closely, the global markets are following very closely the debates that are taking place here. it came to a head last weekend when we know the president of the united states has requested a 50% increase in the level of taxes to be increased from $800 billion to $1.2 trillion and the speaker of the house said that that was a nonstarter. so the speaker said that he wanted to work with the bipartisan leadership of the united states congress, both houses of congress. and so last weekend we know that speaker boehner and majority leader, the democratic majority leader of the united states senate, harry reid, came together and fashioned by and

large the measure that is before us today. i'm the first to say that harry reid no longer supports this measure. harry reid has indicated that he does not support it. we have this letter from the 53 senators, we have word that they're going to table this measure when it passes the house of representatives. but it's important, mr. speaker, for everyone to recognize that what is before us today is by and large a measure that is not what speaker boehner would write if he were doing it on his own, it's a measure that is the byproduct of bipartisan discussion and, as the speaker likes to say, the ability to find common ground. and we are today in a position where we face in just a few days the prospect of those social security checks not going out. and, mr. speaker, that's why i don't like this measure but i'm

voting for it. i'm voting for it because i want to get those social security checks out, i want to make sure the united states of america does not default and i believe that that's the responsible thing for us to do. what we have before us in the house of representatives is the closest thing, it's the closest thing to a bipartisan agreement. the measure that's over -- first of all, we know that by and large there have been no other plans put forward, but the plan that does exist, there are very few plans put forward, the plan that has been put forward by senator reid is one that does not enjoy bipartisan support and it was not put together in a bipartisan way. this one was by and large, even though it does not have the support of senator reid any longer, it was put together with -- based on the discussions they had. so i believe that this measure is deserving of strong bipartisan support here in the house of representatives and

from our colleagues in the united states senate as well. so, mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues, i urge my colleagues to, in the name of sanity and in the name of ensuring that we maintain the solvency and the strength of the greatest nation the world has ever known, that we pass this measure and that we send it to our colleagues in the united states senate so they can do the same and so that when it's placed on the desk of the president of the united states he'll have his opportunity to ensure that what he predicted as a possibility for august 3, that being the social security checks will not go out, will not happen. and with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: -- the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. mr. mcgovern: i would like to yield three minutes to the gentleman from maryland, the distinguished democratic whip, mr. hoyer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is

recognized for three minutes. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for yielding. there is no common ground here. nor was it sought. we find ourselves at an unprecedented place today. americans stand on the brink of default. it stands there, my friends, because the leadership of this house has failed to act in a timely and responsible way. this is an unprecedented status for america. an intolerable place and americans are understandably outraged at the politically-caused -- politically caused impasse that confronts us. the consequences of which for every american and our country have been correctly characterized as catastrophic. for more than two centuries an american default has been

unthinkable. the men and women who came before us in this chamber built up the full faith and credit of the united states until it became the bedrock of the world's economy. despite their differences they agreed that the honor that comes from paying our bills responsibly and on time was a moral obligation. now our nation is on the verge of breaking that trust. if america fails to pay its bills and default comes the wounds of the global economy, to jobs across this country, to our standing among nations, that wound will be entirely self-inflicted. it cannot and must not come to that. americans have overwhelmingly called on us to come to a balanced, bipartisan solution, one that pays our bills, reduces our deficit and draws common

contributions from all americans. not only the vulnerable and the unconnected but also those who have enjoyed the nation's prosperity. that is the consequence, that is the consensus of the vast majority of the people who send us here. they understand that my way or the highway is no way to govern. they understand that all of us who had a hand in accumulating our debt must share the work of paying it off. they understand that the prosperity and prestige of our country are at stake right now. and they are relying on the ability of this body to put partisanship aside. there will in fact be bipartisan opposition to this bill. but there i predict will had be

no democrat for this bill. -- but there i predict will be no democrat for this bill. i'm deeply concerned that the short-term plan of speaker boehner will put us right back, right back here on the precipice of eminent default in just a few months. casting uncertainty over the economy and leading to a job-destroying credit downgrade. each of us, ladies and gentlemen -- may i have an additional minute? mr. mcgovern: i yield the gentleman an additional one minute. mr. hoyer: each of us, ladies and gentlemen in this house, have a duty to end this impasse. let's live up to that duty by voting down this partisan legislation. and then let's come together on a balanced, bipartisan solution to reduce our deficit and pay our bills.

i suggest to my friend from california that majority leader reid has offered just such a plan. in fact, it incorporates exactly what speaker boehner suggested in his speech in new york city. let us embrace that plan. when this fails, let the senate send it to us. i will not yield at this point in time. this is a moment of great crisis for our country and for our citizens. a crisis that demands our putting aside partisanship and politics for the good of our people. we're not there yet but it is my great hope that we as a body can live up to that challenge. our fellow citizens expect it, our duty demands it, our oath requires it. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california.

mr. dreier: i say to my friend from maryland that bipartisanship has been sought and i'm seeking it right now. i hope we are in a position where we are able to enjoy bipartisan support for this and with that i yield two minutes to my very good friend from illinois, a hardworking member of the financial services committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from illinois is recognized for two minutes. mrs. biggert: i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. speaker, there is not a single member of congress or the administration who do not know that this day was coming. washington was spending tax dollars more than ever before and the debt ceiling was caving in. the question is, how do we respond? do we protest? do we argue? or do we govern? last november the voters asked for change and that's how this house stopped the largest tax increase in history and cut spending this year to levels not seen since 2008. today, we have the opportunity to take the next step by passing the budget control act.

this is a balanced compromise that will avert a default and stop the cycle of debt that is draining our economy. it makes nearly $1 trillion in immediate cuts, more -- lays the groundwork for additional savings and a balanced budget amendment. in a perfect world, some of us would like more cuts. those on the left also want a bigger plan. or at least a big enough debt increase to carry the president beyond the next campaign. but the american people care about jobs, not politics. they want solutions that will restore confidence, credit and growth in the united states, and neither a default nor a two-year budget gimmick will accomplish that task. this bill will. i urge my colleagues on both sides to recognize that good politics is about doing what's right for the american people. let's take this opportunity, cut spending and put america

back on a sound fiscal path to prosperity. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, at this time i'd like to yield minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from connecticut, ms. delauro. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from connecticut is recognized for two minutes. ms. delauro: mr. speaker, we are five days away from a historic, unprecedented and needless default. instead of acting responsibly and in a bipartisan way to raise the debt ceiling, the republican majority continues to hold the american economy hostage to press their agenda. even though the debt ceiling was raised seven times under president bush, even though 110 current members of the majority have voted to raise the debt ceiling in the past, the majority continues its dangerous games of brinkmanship. included in this bill is $917 billion in cuts, mostly to critical public investment, education, infrastructure, biomedical research, law

enforcement, food safety, they will all be slashed. and yet these programs, which i call discretionary programs, they are only 3.1% higher than it was five years ago, less than what it was under ronald reagan and the first bush administration. it is disingenuous for this majority to continue these republican investments, critical to job creation and economic growth are the source of our deficit problem. the primary reason the deficits have grown is because revenues are lower than they have been in 60 years. 15% lower thanks to the bush tax breaks for the wealthy and because we initiated two wars on the nation's credit card. if the majority was serious about deficit reduction they would allow for additional revenue by asking the wealthiest americans and corporate special interests to share in the sacrifice . rather than seeking to pro-- in

the sacrifice, rather than seeking to protection, which this legislation does. this bill is not about deficit reduction. it's about using the threat of default to enact a radical agenda, one that will cost jobs, undermine the american economy, where middle-class families will have an opportunity for a decent retirement. in a few months they're coming back, $1.6 trillion in cuts to medicare, social security and medicaid. this one of hostage-taking is not responsible leadership. it's the wrong direction for our country. i urge my colleagues to vote against this incredible, outrageous piece of legislation, and i call on the majority to quit playing political games. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i say to my good friend that i believe that the majority is serious and i believe that the democrats are serious in their quest to ensure we don't default. this is their opportunity to step up to the plate and make sure that it doesn't happen. with that, mr. speaker, i'm

happy to yield two minutes to my good friend from gold river, the hardworking member of the committee, mr. lungren. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. lungren: what is incredible, what is unprecedented is the amount of debt we are incurring on a daily basis and we have been for a long time. those being hostage is the children and the grandchildren and their future. and the question we have is whether or not we are going to reach a balanced approach. what did i say a balanced approach would be? a balanced approach would be when we are once again creating jobs in this economy. what those on the other side have led us to believe is that the answer to our problems is to follow the european experience over the last 30 to 40 years. and that is to rely more on government, higher taxes with the net result of a shrinking private economy and less jobs. what is unprecedented is that

we are now in the longest period of continuous unemployment that we've seen since the great depression. what is unprecedented is that if you call this a recovery, it's the most jobless recovery in the history of modern day united states. what it is is very much like what we've seen in europe over the last 30 years, and so the question before us is, do we follow the european experience with greater reliance on government, greater balance which translated means taxes when we know that not a single economist of any refute would tell us that the answer to our jobless situation is to tax those who create the jobs. that's why this is such an important vote for us today. that is, we will show that the way to the future is the american way. the way we've done it in the past, reliance on the private sector, allowing the ingenuity,

the creativity, the risk-taking, the courage of the american people to bring us back to prosperity. those on the other side, the gentlelady from new york just suggested that the way to do that is through the expansion of government programs. that's not the essence of how we create jobs. we are in an unprecedented period of time. that is true, mr. speaker. we must act in an unprecedented way and that is to follow the boehner plan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i'd like to ask unanimous consent to insert in the record a statement by robert greenstein, the president of the center on budget and policy priorities who says that -- if enacted the boehner bill could really produce the greatest increase in poverty and hardship by any law in modern history. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcgovern: at this point i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from colorado, my colleague on the rules committee, mr. polis. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman from colorado is recognized for two minutes. mr. polis: mr. speaker, this smoke and mirror bill before us today stands to increase, yes, increase the deficit of the united states of america by over $100 billion. let me walk the speaker through the math here. this is why credit ratings matter. countries that have a.a. credit ratings, this is a group of them, pay an average interest on their sovereign debt of 3.75%. countries with a a.a.a. rating, this is a 10-year, pay 2.89%. that's 1.75%, almost 2% difference between a.a.a. and a.a. in passing the bill today which only has a six-month extension we are jeopardizing our a.a.a. rating that will be incredibly hard to ever earn back. the addition on paying an extra two percentage points on your mortgage, two points more on your credit card debt, two points more on your car debt, in addition to that, mr.

speaker, the government, the biggest borrower in the country, will pay more on the debt. in 10 years that 1.75% difference, which is just taking the average, between a.a.a. and a.a., costs over $100 billion a year in extra interest on the debt. over 10-year period, over doctor 1 trillion of additional interest paid on the federal debt. so what are we doing? cutting $915 billion and risking adding over $1 trillion in additional expenditures. this smoke and mirror effort before us today risks increasing the federal deficit at a time that we all need -- we need to decrease federal spending. we need to decrease our deficit. the last thing we need is to set motion forward to actually up our interest rate, jeopardize our credit rating because of the short-term venture and increase the interest payments on our federal debt. i encourage my colleagues to look at these numbers and vote no on the underlying bill.

i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i yield myself 15 seconds to just say to my friend that he's absolutely right. if we go into default, if we don't extend the debt ceiling we are in fact going to see an increase in interest rates. the fact of the matter is the ratings agencies like standard & poor's say that we not only have to increase interest rates but we have to put into place a deficit reduction plan that will pay down our debt and that's exactly what's happening. with that i'd like to yield two minutes to our hardworking colleague from the energy and commerce committee from brentwood, tennessee, mrs. blackburn. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from tennessee is recognized for two minutes. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to offer my support for the budget control act of 2011. what i like to cut cut, cap and balance 3.0. last week the house passed cut, cap and balance 1.0 in a bipartisan fashion. not surprisingly senator reid and his democrat colleagues in the senate failed to even allow for a vote. speaker boehner then offered

cut, cap and balance 2.0 which, according to the c.b.o., failed to generate sufficient savings to a company -- accompany the debt ceiling increase. so the speaker went back to the drawing board. found more cuts and reductions. i applaud him for that. once again our house will ensure the nation will take another step by enacting legislation that cuts spending more than any increase in the debt ceiling, does not raise taxes on america's families and job creators during the time of economic hardship and ensures an up or down vote on the balanced budget amendment to the constitution. and i thank my constituents and the small business owners who have called to encourage me in this process to say, let's get this job done. let it be known this is merely a small foundational step to ensure we put this nation on the road to fiscal help and it is historic by passing the budget control act, we will take away president barack

obama's blank check. for the first time debt limit legislation will cut spending, lock in these cuts, cap future spending, does not raise taxes, assures that balanced budget amendment vote and keeps our attention on the nation's fiscal problems. house republicans are saying the buck stops here. let's get to work addressing our nation's fiscal woes and cutting the spending problem in washington, d.c. for that i urge my colleagues to vote yes on the budget control act. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i'd like to ask unanimous consent to insert in the record a recent "new york tiles" editorial entitled "the republican wreckage." >> without objection. mr. mcgovern: at this time i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. andrews. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for two minutes. mr. andrews: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. andrews: mr. speaker, the biggest problem in this country is not that the american

government is about to reach its debt ceiling. it's that too many american families have reached their debt ceiling. we have a jobs crisis in this country, and this should be our principal focus. now, somewhere in america today some decisionmakers are not getting much help with that jobs crisis. a hospital that's thinking about adding a rehab lab and adding a couple hundred jobs wonders how much medicare revenue it's going to get. this bill says, wait six months and we'll let you know. an entrepreneur who has a software company who's about to finally get off the ground is thinking about borrowing some money to hire more people, but she doesn't know what the interest rates are going to be. this bill says, wait six months and we'll let you know. and, yes, there is a diabetic, a person who is worried about whether they should keep their house or not because their health care bills are rising and they are worried medicare

won't pay as many of their diabetic bills as they are now. and we're saying, wait six months, we'll let you know. we can't wait to let you solve this had problem. the republicans should listen to their own leadership. spoke out against a short-term fix to this problem. quote, we feel very strongly that one of the reasons why we continue to see an ailing economy is that people have very little confidence, very little certainty in terms of where we are headed. i completely agree with majority leader eric cantor who said that in june. we should listen to mr. cantor's advice. we should adopt a long-term plan and put america back to work, get back to the negotiating table today. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i at this time am happy to yield two minutes to our thoughtful and hardworking colleague, mr.

dent. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. dent: thank you. i rise in support of the budget control act. you know, first and foremost, we, the united states house of representatives, have an obligation to govern. we have a tremendous responsibility to the american people to consider this plan that ensures our nation does not default on our nation's commitments. at the same time it places this country on a sustainable fiscal path. and let me be clear, defaulting on america's obligations to our creditors, to our seniors, disabled veterans, active military personnel, college students and many others is not an option. this bill prevents a default and it pays our bills. congress must act swiftly to deter ratings downgrade of our u.s. government. a downgrade that will affect families and small businesses all across the country. only a sound, credible plan that places on that sustainable trajectory will threaten that downgrade, driven in part by an unprecedented spending binge by this administration which has

blown up the fiscal balance sheet. you know, a previous speaker said a few moments ago that we're playing games. i can assure you, this is no game. this is serious stuff. and speaking of serious, the white house is still refusing to offer a serious specific plan in writing that we can review. in fact, in a stinging review of the administration, the director of the c.b.o. said, we don't estimate speeches. you know, the senate's dug in its heels too. it would be nice if they passed the bill. any bill. it's been 800 days since there's been a budget. it's time for them to act. and to move. to prevent this type of a fiscal calamity that many have predicted. so, again, i ask my colleagues to support this legislation. it's a step forward, it may not be the final product but it moves this process forward. i encourage the senate to take it up. but most importantly, you know, we have a sacred duty and a solemn obligation to lead and to act and we do have that

affirmative obligation to govern for the benefit of our country and for the american people. the world is watching. americans are watching. it's time for us to lead and demonstrate the american exceptionalism. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i yield two minutes to the gentleman from new york, a member of the committee on budget, mr. tong -- tonko. mr. tonko: thank you, mr. speaker, and i thank the gentleman from massachusetts for yielding. we're here today at long last to vote on the republican default plan. after 200 days without a jobs agenda, after 200 days of saying that those hardest hit by the recession should bear the burden of unbalanced cuts, after 200 days of rhetoric and walking away by republican -- away, my republican colleagues have brought their default plan to the floor for a public debate and a vote. so what do they offer up? courageous leadership, a grand bargain? sad sadly, no. when you walk out of -- sadly, no. when you walk out of negotiations and spend more time talking to the press than to the

president i'm not sure we expected more. we have before us the same tired policies that got us into this mess. cut taxes for millionaires, give kickbacks to special interests, pay for it all with cuts to the middle class and never forget the central tenants of the conservative agenda -- end medicare and privatize social security. my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will no doubt come to the floor to say that the bill explicitly protects medicare and social security from cuts. that claim is blatantly false. it's a desperate campaign speech to counter the backlash that comes when the american people read the bill, like they read the ryan budget. so i would ask my colleagues to take another careful look at the bill before us. it is only 57 pages long. there's even a summary online through the rules committee website and after that careful examination, i would ask you ask you to come before my -- ask you to come before my constituents and promise us with a straight face that you have no intention of using this legislation to dismantle medicare and cut

social security in the next 12 months. you can't. i don't support these policies and i cannot support a plan that puts us back in the same bitter, vilifying debate in january. it may be good politics but it's not good government. i'm tired of it, my constituents are tired of it, anyone who's watched the nightly news for the last six months is tired of it. washington loves to kick the can down the road, that's how we got here in the first place. this is our moment, we need a plan, not another republican manifesto. and there are better plans out there, let us vote on them, i ask my colleagues to oppose this bill and get back to work. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, at this time i'm happy to yield two minutes to our good friend and presidential candidate, the gentleman from michigan, mr. mccotter. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized for two minutes. mr. mccotter: i thank the gentleman from california. we hear a lot of talk about plans, we hear a lot of talk

about secret default plans, senate plans, the reid plan. but we've yet to hear about the president's plan. we live in a period of time where we are engaged in a struggle against economic stagnation. where 30 million people can't trade jobs because there are no better ones out there. where 14 million people are unemployed. this is a period of time where inflation is rising, real wages are declining. in short we live in a period of time in which we are being neither led nor governed. we are seeing postures, not plans. with one exception -- the house republicans have endeavored to meet the duty that was entrusted to them by the american people which is to put forward a plan that will prevent the default of

the united states and a diminishment of our economic credibility in the world. unfortunately what we get in response is not an attempt at honest, bipartisan collaboration . instead it is more political rhetoric, more partisanship, more posturing. at this point in time we have before us a plan that can work. it is not a perfect plan, people on both sides of the aisle have their qualms with it and yet it is a plan that can be helpful to the american people, that can be helpful to ensuring that our economy does not further deteriorate, a plan that can make sure that big government no longer crushes the aspirations of the american people to grow this economy, to find

employment, to secure their pursuit of happiness around the harget of home. -- harth of home and for that i will support this bill and i would urge my colleagues to do it because the american people deserve no less. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to yield one minute to the gentlewoman from california, ms. chu. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized for one minute. ms. chu: what's not safe under the boehner default plan? social security, medicaid and medicare are not safe under the boehner default plan. in just seven months it forces nearly 1.6 -- $1.6 trillion in cuts from these programs, they will be unrecognizable. jobs are not safe under the boehner default plan. it will force two million americans to lose their jobs, putting greater strain on struggling families. our economy is not safe under the boehner default plan. this short-term deal could lead to an automatic tax increase for

every american with a mortgage, car loan or credit card. it would leave a cloud of uncertainty. businesses won't invest and our economy won't groge grow. nothing is safe under the -- won't grow. nothing is safe under the boehner default plan except tax breaks for big oil companies that ship jobs overseas and the rich. we must reject this ideological approach and come together on a balanced solution that will ensure that every american will have a safe and secure future. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, may i inquire of the chair how much time is remaining on each side? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california has 12 1/4 minutes remaining. the gentleman from massachusetts has 17 minutes remaining. mr. dreier: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: i yield 1 1/2 minutes to the gentleman from virginia, mr. moran. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is recognized for 1 1/2 minutes. mr. moran: mr. speaker, according to grover norquist who is apparently the real republican strategist, this is

about ensuring that democrats will never again have the revenue to govern as democrats. but what does he mean by that? is he talking about when roosevelt rescued us from the great depression? in the 1930's? or when we saved the world for democracy in the 1940's? or when we built the middle class with the g.i. bill in the late 1940's? or when we won the race to space in the early 1960's? or when we started medicare and passed civil rights laws in the mid 1960's? or when president clinton raised taxes, balanced the budget, generated $20 million -- 20 million new jobs, cut poverty, grew the middle class, passed on projected surpluses as far as the eye could see and enabled those at the top tax rates to take home more after tax income than in any prior time in american history? the fact is that democrats have

made this nation great by investing in all our people and by raising the revenue necessary to meet our obligations and to secure our future. this is the alternative, this is about an ideology that lowers our sights, diminishes our statue and sells short our future. that's why it should be rejected, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, in light of the disparity here, i'd like to continue to reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: i'd yield one minute to the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. lynch. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for one minute. mr. lynch: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in opposition to the budget control act because i honestly believe that this nation is better than this bill reflects. scruft so we're clear on the difference here between -- just so we're clear on the differences here between our positions, this amendment seeks to place the overwhelming burden of this crisis on the backs of senior citizens and it forces

seniors especially to make enormous sacrifices while at the same time it allows the richest americans and oil companies and hedge fund operators to escape any responsibility or sacrifice. this is not how we should be treating america's greatest generation who survived the great depression, who fought in world war ii and who made the sacrifices in their time when their country called upon them. this is not the way to treat the frail elderly or any senior who at the end of their working lives are now on a fixed income. the way we deal with this crisis will say a lot about america. i think hubert humphrey said it best he said that the true test of any society is how we treat those citizens in the dawn of life, our children, those in the twilight of life, our elderly, and those in the shadow of their lives, our poor and disabled at the end of their lives. mr. mcgovern: i yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds. mr. lynch: thank you.

i just want to say, as republicans are rallying to the ramparts to save the millionaires from suffering from any loss of a tax loophole, i take full measure of pride at where the democrats in this house are standing on this issue. i urge my colleagues to stand with seniors and vote no on this amendment. thank you, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i mentioned last november, sent 87 new republicans to the house of representatives, one of them is the very thoughtful gentleman from indiana, mr. buechon. at this time i'd like to recognize him for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana is recognized for two minutes. mr. buchanan: mr. speaker, i rise today -- burebbureb mr. speaker, i rise today for america's financial future. we're at a time when we need to make every effort to save our nation's credit rating. the rating agencies have said that raising the debt ceiling is not enough. while i prefer the cut, cap and balance plan, the budget control act vote today and the balanced budget amendment vote tomorrow is the best remaining approach

to reduce spending and help avoid a downgrade. mr. bucshon: we can reform today. however, the bill isn't perfect. i wanted more and frankly all of our constituents deserve more. the reality is our friends on the other side of the aisle won't allow it. with years of reckless spending by the federal government instead of making tough choices to address our spending problems , the other side wants to raise taxes on the american people, to finance funding washington, d.c.,'s spending spree. in addition they want us to give the president a blank check to get him through the 2012 election. well, that's not going to happen. the united states has always maintained a a.a.a. credit rating and the threat of inaction by our colleagues in the u.s. senate and no plan offered by the administration puts that at risk. the house has and will take action.

we need to send a clear message to the american people that we are willing to make the tough choices and work together on behalf of our nation's citizens. i urge all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this bill and take the first step to restoring fiscal responsibility to our nation. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i would like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from kentucky, a member of the budget committee, mr. yarmuth. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky is recognized for two minutes. mr. yarmuth: i thank my colleague. mr. speaker, congress' approval rating is up in down around 10% and given the debate on this politically induced default crisis, i have to ask myself, who are these crazy 10%? the american people are looking at this institution right now and they're asking, what on earth are you thinking? they're sick of these games and they're sick of us. they want this default crisis reduced, resolved now, they definitely don't want to repeat it six months from now and they understand that a real solution means a real compromise. our constituents have made it

clear they want shared sacrifice where millionaires, billionaires and oil companies contribute their fair share. they want their social security and medicare benefits to be protected, but this bill, the republican default agenda, does none of that. in fact, this reckless bill is actually a stealth attack on medicare and social security because it requires large cuts next year that can only cut -- come from those programs. the boehner plan would increase borrowing across local and state government and citizens, producing essentially a back door tax hike on the american people. it does damage to seniors and the we are going to run our country in the ground, failing to respond to the crisis. the american people are

demanding better. we need to defeat this bill so we can move on to a real solution. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, at this juncture i think i'll reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i yield one minute to the gentlewoman from ohio, ms. sutton. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from ohio is recognized for one minute. ms. sutton: i'm frustrated as we sit on the drink of the financial unknown people in my district are left hanging, worrying about jobs. and the bill before us fails to address the number one priority of creating jobs. instead, it puts us in the exact same position six months from now. it protects tax cuts for millionaires and big corpgs that ship jobs overseas. it's been 200 days of this new republican-led congress and what sh we seen? we've seen targets at medicare and working families, the environment and education. we have even seen them use up

time to target energy-efficient light bulbs. but what we have not seen them do is target job creation. i encourage my colleagues to vote no on this risky plan and responsibly raise our debt limit so america can pay its bills and this congress can get serious about creating good-paying jobs. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: can i inquire how much time is remaining? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california has 10 3/4 minutes remaining and the gentleman from massachusetts has 11 1/2 minutes remaining. mr. dreier: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, at this time i'd like to yield one minute to the gentleman from new mexico, mr. lujan, for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new mexico is recognized for one minute. mr. lujan: thank you, mr. speaker. it's very clear that we have to act to prevent a default and a downgrade of our nation's credit rating. sadly, the house republican leadership's plan is not a serious plan to avoid such a downgrade. more smoke and mirrors. we heard that talked about lately.

it will put us right back in the same position in a few months, requiring another vote to raise the debt limit, putting america in further area where we might be able to see the potential downgrade, costing americans $100 billion a year, $1 trillion over 10 years. a short-term increase in the debt limit has already been rejected by economists and credit rating agencies which made it clear that this plan will likely result in an unprecedented downgrade to our credit rating, leading to higher interest rates for mortgages, student loans, for all americans in addition, this reckless plan leaves the door the open -- mr. dreier: will the gentleman yield for just one second, mr. speaker? i want the gentleman to cite -- mr. lujan: mr. speaker -- mr. dreier: i'm sorry. i thought he yielded. mr. lujan: i don't believe i did yield. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new mexico controls the time. mr. lujan: how much time is left --

mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i'd like to yield the gentleman 15 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 25 seconds. mr. lujan: it leaves the door open to the same damage as the ryan's plan to attack medicare, medicaid and social security while protecting tax breaks for billionaires and corporations. mr. speaker, it's important that we talk to the american people about this and that we have this conversation. i urge my colleagues to reject the partisan gamesmanship and seek a responsible and balanced solution to this crisis and with that, mr. speaker, i think there's a little bit of time left and yield it back to the minority. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i'd like to engage in a discussion with my friend just to ask exactly -- i'm sorry -- did the gentleman not yield to me. i'm confused. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. the gentleman from california controls the time. mr. dreier: ok, thank you very much, mr. speaker. well, at this time i'm happy to yield to the next governor of

indiana, the gentleman from columbus, mr. pence. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana is recognized for two minutes. mr. pence: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding. i'd like unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pence: mr. speaker, i come to the floor to rise in support of the budget control act of 2011. which is a negotiated compromise between the speaker of the united states house of representatives and the republican and democratic leadership of the united states senate. let me say that again. the budget control act that we will bring to the floor today is a compromise. at a time when people across america long for washington, d.c., that is able to reach across the aisle, lower the volume, solve the problem, this legislation comes to the floor.

and i'm proud to support it. and the truth is it's a difficult time for people across my beloved indiana and all across this country. our economy's struggling. unemployment's at 8.3% in indiana and 9.3% nationally. and i believe that runaway federal spending by both political parties is a cause and a barrier to our economic recovery today. we simply must put our fiscal house in order. now, i know the administration wanted to simply raise the debt ceiling without conditions, but that was rejected. i think almost unanimously in the united states senate. and we rejected it as well in this body. what needs to be done today is we need to recognize that if you owe debts, pay debts. we have to raise the nation's debt ceiling so we have the money to pay the nation's bills, but we also owe a debt to this generation of americans

struggling in this economy and to the next generation of americans that we can only repay through fiscal discipline and reform. and the budget control act does that. the budget control act does two things that i believe are worth highlighting. number one, it ensures in this first installment that there will be a dollar in budget cuts for every $1 in increase and borrowing authority by the united states, and that's crucial. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i'd like to yield my friend an additional minute. mr. pence: secondly, the agreement around the budget control act also ensures that there will be a vote in this body, now tomorrow, and a vote in the united states senate this fall on a balanced budget amendment to the constitution of the united states. there are other aspects of this bill that are meritorious. a hard spending caps, more

enforceable than spending cap of the past. the creation of a bipartisan commission to negotiate spending discipline and reforms for the next installment of a debt ceiling increase. but for my part, making sure that any increase in the debt ceiling is matched, dollar for dollar, with spending caps in this bill and for the first time in 15 years bringing a bipartisan version of the balanced budget amendment to this floor of the house and soon to the floor of the senate. a worthy note. and they should endorse this approach. this is a very serious time, mr. speaker, and i welcome the budget control act as evidence that congress can still compromise. we can still come together across the aisle. we can find a way to pay the nation's bills and do so in a way that reflect our commitment to fiscal discipline and reform. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: thank you, mr. speaker.

at this time i'd like to yield one minute to the gentleman from colorado, a former member of the rules committee, and we miss him, mr. perlmutter. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado is recognized for one minute. mr. perlmutter: i thank the gentleman from massachusetts. and mr. speaker, i think we got to go back 10 years and talk about where we were at that time. under bill clinton this country had a surplus. revenues exceeded expenses. things were going along great. we were adding jobs by the millions. we have a republican administration. two tax cuts. couple trillion dollars lower revenue. two wars. couple trillion dollars more expense. a crash on wall street. $3 trillion in expense to this country. that's where this expense comes from. that's why we have bills to pay. we had a tough 10 years. most of it under republican administration. we got to pay those bills, but the republican leadership has brought us to the brink of default. something the united states has had full faith in credit for

235 years and they want to bring that right to the brink of default. ladies and gentlemen, we are better than that. we have a responsibility. we can't live in turmoil. we need to rebuild the american dream for people who want to -- a shot at getting ahead in life, not a brinksmanship. this is a bad bill and must be defeated and with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: yes, mr. speaker, at this time i'd like to yield one minute to the distinguished gentleman from georgia who serves on the financial smbs committee, mr. scott. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for one minute. mr. scott: thank you very much. america, we really need to pay close attention here. first of all, this is a terrible bill at the wrong time. here we are, the number one issue facing the american people is jobs, and this bill is a major job killer of the

highest magnitude. it will average a loss of 4,000 -- 40,000 public service jobs in the public sector each month. all we have to do is look at the record from the month of june, and the month of june the private sector created 58,000 jobs, but because of massive cuts in the public sector there was a loss of 40,000 jobs each month. in addition to that, this bill will drastically end medicare. it will reduce medicaid payments to the states, and it will severely cut back the checks to our social security recipients. by an average of $1,000 each month. now, ladies and gentlemen -- mr. dreier: i'm happy to yield my friend additional time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i'd like to yield my friend additional time, if i might.

may i yield my friend additional 30 second, and will the gentleman yield to me? mr. scott: well, since you yield 30 seconds which you've already taken my last 30 seconds. mr. dreier: well, i'll yield additional time if i need it. where in this bill can he point to where cuts in medicare are going to take place? and i thank my friend for yielding. i've gone through it. mr. scott: you know perfectly well, mr. dreier, that the announced cuts in this bill and the setting up with this commission and also your party has already set a record on a roll -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia controls the time. mr. scott: let me go back and i want to answer your question, but it's very important, mr. speaker, that we also understand that the other dangerous part about this bill is that in six months we will be right back here again which

will add greater instability to the markets and further undermine our credibility rating. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i yield myself 15 seconds simply to say to my friend there are exemptions in this bill to ensure that social security and medicare are not touched, and we need to remember that. when it comes to this sequestration process that it's not touched. and for those who are saying that this measure will in fact bring about the cuts have not read the bill and are mischaracterizing it. mr. scott: there is nothing in this bill that exempts -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i want to yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from new jersey. mr. andrews: i want to ask the gentleman from california a question. i'd yield. is the gentleman saying the text says if the commission set up reports back a cut in social security benefits that that may not be enacted by the commission? i yield. mr. dreier: will the gentleman yield? mr. andrews: i do. mr. dreier: i thank my friend for yielding.

and let me say the sequestrations in this bill -- mr. andrews: reclaiming my time. reclaiming my time. mr. dreier: my friend said that this measure -- mr. andrews: reclaiming my time, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the house is not in order. mr. andrews: mr. speaker, reclaiming my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey's time has expired. the gentleman from new jersey's time has expired. mr. mcgovern: i yield the gentleman 30 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 30 seconds. mr. andrews: mr. speaker, i'm not talking about the sequestrations. i'm talking about the fact that this commission's instructed to find $is.8 trillion in cuts, and -- 1.8 trillion in cuts, and medicare and social security are not exempted from those cuts. mr. dreier: will the gentleman yield? mr. andrews: this is a road map, a user's guide as to how to cut social security and medicare. we reject it. i yield to my friend. mr. dreier: i thank my friend for yielding. let me say, this is not a commission. members should not refer to this as a commission because the idea of a commission, some sort of outside entity, we're talking about our colleagues in the house and senate who will be members of the joint select

committee -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. dreier: i thank my friend for yielding. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey's time has expired. mr. mcgovern: i yield 10 seconds. mr. andrews: the gentleman is correct, it's not a commission. it's a committee that is empowered to cut medicare and social security. we will not stand for it. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, may i yield myself 10 seconds to say to my friend, this is not a committee that's empowered to cut social security and medicare. it is a committee, a joint select committee that is empowered for the first time to submit to both houses of congress a recommendation that we will have an up or down vote on. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: who yields time? the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: i'd yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from maryland, ms. edwards. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from maryland. ms. edwards: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in opposition to the underlying bill. this is nothing more than

political posturing by the republican majority and i think it's important for the american people to understand that this majority has asked us time and time again to vote to end medicare, to cut social security , to cut medicaid and they're doing it once again. no question about it. what's being offered up by this majority is nothing short of recklessness. absolutely nothing. the speaker and the republican party know that the president and the senate are going to reject the bill. i don't even know why we're here on this floor, mr. speaker. rather than spending the last several months developing a real plan that would avoid default, the republicans have spent months stripping away health care protections, attacking the e.p.a., jeopardizing jobs, not creating jobs and here we are once again to end medicare, social security, cut away medicaid benefits and attack the most vulnerable in our communities.

i have to say, mr. speaker, if it weren't sad it would be laughable. the plan would require $2.7 trillion in deficit reduction over the next 10 years. cut $915 billion at the offset and another $1.8 trillion in december. they're coming after american social security checks, they're coming after medicare, they're coming after medicaid. that's what this majority is doing. let's not be fooled by it. it's time for the american people to stand up. the bill threatens our ability to pay our obligations. they're not interested in paying our obligations. these are debts that we've already incurred and yet they won't take the money that they've given away to the wealthiest 2% of this country. no, they can't give up theirs. the oil and gas companies can't give up theirs. the companies that have offshored jobs can't give up theirs but they're asking the american people to sacrifice social security, medicare,

education, medicaid. it's unfair and we won't stand for it. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i yield myself 10 seconds to say to my very grood friend from maryland, she has just accurately described the measure that has been proposed by the senate majority leader, harry reid. with that i'm happy to yield a minute to my very good friend from lafayette, louisiana, a hardworking member of the ways and means committee, mr. boustany. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana. mr. boustany: thank you, mr. speaker. i think it was a gross distortion of what's being proposed here and again she -- the previous speaker just condemned the majority leader's, harry reid, the senate majority leader's bill in the senate. that's the only democratic bill we've had. so i think it seems to me there's a little bit of a fight going on over on the other side of the aisle between their house members and senate. to my friend from new jersey, this committee that's formed is

a committee of active sitting members of the house and senate. so in order for anything to be recommended by this committee, it would require in all likelihood all of the democrats to support it. mr. andrews: would the gentleman yield? mr. boustany: i yield. mr. andrews: if they wanted to close tax loopholes would they need a simple majority? mr. boustany: it would be a simple majority. a simple majority. mr. andrews: it's your position that a simple majority of both houses could raise taxes? mr. boustany: that's correct. that's what we need. we need that to force some movement -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. boustany: thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, at this time it's my privilege to yield two minutes to the gentleman from south carolina, the distinguished assistant leader, mr. clyburn. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina for two minutes. mr. clyburn: i thank my friend for yielding to me. mr. speaker, father clock is

ticking, the republican majority is dickering and the american people are hurting. our financial markets are on pace for their worst week in nearly a year. state governments are bracing for downgrades in their borrowing capacities and the gap between those in our society who have a lot and those who have very little is growing. the republican majority continues their efforts to divert attention from the self-inflicted crisis with manufactured controversies, holding the american economy hostage to their reckless and dispassionate demands. as the clock ticks toward default and the pain it would bring to middle income families and those who aspire to become middle income, my friends on the other side continue to play politics. speaker boehner does not even pretend that this is a serious attempt to solve the problem. he sold this bill to his

conference by telling them that it wasn't bipartisan and with divided government, a plan that isn't bipartisan is no plan at all. it's just a game. the president and the democrats in congress, as well as the american people, have advocated a balanced approach to reduce the deficit while growing the economy and protecting the most vulnerable, including medicare, medicaid and social security beneficiaries. and we have been willing to make tough, politically difficult compromises. this bill on the floor today, just like the bill from last week, is yet another partisan time waster. our constituents are not interested in any of us voting to cut medicare or cap social security or balancing the budget on the backs of medicaid recipients. a six-month extension is another

waste of time. we must resolve this better now and ensure the full faith and credit of the united states. let's defeat the boehner bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i'd like to inquire of my friend how many speakers he has remaining. mr. mcgovern: i'm the final speaker. mr. dreier: i'd encourage my friend to proceed and then i'll offer -- mr. mcgovern: are you the final speaker? mr. dreier: yeah. mr. mcgovern: how much time left, mr. speaker? the speaker pro tempore: 3 1/4 for you. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i'd like to ask unanimous con sent to insert into the -- consent to insert into the record an article about republican leaders vote for debt drivers they blame on obama. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, this bill does nothing to solve our long-term fiscal challenges because everybody here knows that this is isn't going

anywhere. instead it's -- that this isn't going anywhere. instead it's a political stunt. instead it hurdles us closer and closer to a devastating default. for years presidents and congresses of both parties have raised the debt ceiling, recognizing that endangering the full faith and credit of the united states would be a grave mistake. it's amazing to me how many republicans i've heard who dismiss the potential of default as no big deal. no big deal? tell that to the family who would have to pay higher interest rates on their mortgage, their car loan, their student loan. it would be a very big deal to them. many of my friends on the other side of the aisle didn't just stand by as we created these massive deficits. they were active participants. they voted for two huge tax cuts, mostly for wealthy people, that weren't paid for. two wars that weren't paid for. a massive prescription drug program that wasn't paid for. and now their solution is to punish the very americans who can least afford it, all in the

name of keeping their rich friends and their special interests happy. the boehner plan is unbalanced and unfair. it slashes programs like social security and medicare that benefit the middle class and the poor. but the republicans insist on protecting tax breaks for oil and gas companies, just today exxon mobil announced profits of $10.7 billion for the second quarter. do they really need special tax breaks? the american people sure don't think so. poll after poll shows that the vast majority of our citizens prefer a balanced approach. yes, we need to cut spending. yes, we need to reform our government. but everybody needs to chip in, to do their part, including the very wealthy who have benefited the most. now, there are certainly places to save. how about ending wars that aren't paid for? aren't paid for? right now we borrow $10 billion