work up on capitol hill to find the common ground that has been needed. host: lynn jenkins first-time visitor a "washington journal to l." the house is coming into session. there is a new series that begins on c-span to mine called "the contenders." it is about 14 people that ran for president that did not make it. tonight is our kickoff. with star with henry clay -- we start with henry clay. now the house is in session. washington, d.c., september 9, 2011. i hereby appoint the honorable

candice l. miller to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, john a. boehner, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: and the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, chaplain conroy. chaplain conroy: we give you thanks as well as we begin the fall season of the people's house. please give the members of this house hope and wisdom as they confront old problems and unresolved issues. give them an understanding both of who they are called to be by you and what they are elected to do by the american people. make them trustworthy as they seek what is best for our nation. free them from defensiveness toward and suspicion of those who share political persuasion. bind them together in a shared

commitment to you, a passionate patriotism and a deep dedication to find creative solutions to the concerns that confront us and divide us in these times. may your blessing, o god, be with them and with us this day and every day to come and may all we do be done for your greater honor and glory. amen. the speaker pro tempore: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house her approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1 the journal stands approved. the pledge today will be led today by the gentleman from texas, mr. brady. mr. brady: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain up to five

requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. poe: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. poe: madam speaker, 10 years ago i was headed to the courthouse as a judge in houston, texas. i was driving my jeep, listening to country western music when i heard on the radio this alarm that new york was under attack. later that day as most americans were watching television as i was later in the evening i saw those attacks on new york and the pentagon and how thousands of people, americans, were running as hard as they could to get away from that terror in the sky. but there was another group of people, not very many, but they were there, and they were running as hard as they could to get to that terror from the skies. and who were they? they were our first responders. peace officers, port authority officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians

and volunteers and they rushed into those burning buildings and saved people. and while today it is just as important that we remember those thousands that died on 9/11, we should also remember those that got to live because america's first responders went into those buildings and saved them. and that's just the way it is. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from massachusetts rise? >> i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcgovern: madam speaker, sunday is 9/11, the day when the world were remained. 10 that died were my constituents. back then tony blair challenged the world to use the unity created in the aftermath of those horrible attacks to create a community of good, to

help the world's most vulnerable, those without schools, food, water. we should reflect on how well we have responded to that challenge. we need to resolve to do better, to make our country better and to heal the wounds of the world. on the first sunday after 9/11 in worcester, massachusetts, i said our faith teaches us love is stronger than hate. i still believe that. now more than ever i believe that is the legacy of 9/11 most deserving of our political will and attention. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. brady: to address the congress for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. brady: the president's jobs message was clear and powerful. government made america great and government can make it great again. this misguided view explains why two years after the recession supposedly ended we are still left suffering with the second rate economy that's being held up to ridicule by

the world as our nation sinks deeper into debt and 22 million americans can't find work. i was looking for real leadership and a mission the president's economic policies have failed and a call for a new start, a fresh new direction for this dismal economy. other than the call for passing the free trade agreements which the president himself continues to hold up. what america witnessed was a shopping cart of gimmicks to special interest voting blocks paid for by crushing tax increases on the very consumers and job creators we need to get out of this dismal economy. if you like the leadership of the last two years on the economy, you are going to love this president's job agenda. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from rhode island rise? mr. cicilline: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cicilline: madam speaker, having spent the last several weeks in rhode island with families, small business

owners, manufacturers and builders, people in my district are hurting, facing real struggles every single day. and the jobs crisis is causing real anxiety and real havoc in their daily lives. last night the president laid out a serious plan to get rhode islanders and americans back to work. the president put forth a jobs plan that reflects many of the priorities i've been working on and have heard during my small business tours. strategies to rebuild american manufacturing and to make it in america again. creating jobs by enacting small business tax cuts. supporting workers by expanding the middle-class tax cuts and rebuilding our nation's roads, bridges and schools. and providing greater support and job opportunities for returning veterans, the long-term unemployed and our young people. the time for taking action to create jobs is now. americans have endured the crushing consequence of this economic recession for far too long, and there is no time to waste. i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: granted. >> thank you, mr. speaker. since fires have ravaging drought-stricken texas, claiming lives, more than 1,500 homes and 3.5 million acres of land, my deepest sympathies goes out to the victims of these wildfires. mr. farenthold: and fema and the white house must help texas during this time of natural disaster and provide the tools needed to fight these devastating fires. disasters like these fires is why fema was created. just this week fires have crept into eight more counties, forcing thousands to evacuate and waiting and praying that their lives don't go up in smoke. the house of representatives

will find the necessary tools to combat this disaster and i'll push government at all levels to provide the necessary resources for firefighters. if you live in one of these danger zones like folks in bastrop, please heed warning and advice. i'll pray for rain and the safety for those in harm's way. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise? >> mr. speaker, to ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today with a simple message, let's stay here and work for america. last night the president stood right there and challenged us to do what's right for america. mr. walz: you know what we're going to do, we're going to knock off early at noon today. we couldn't -- the president couldn't speak wednesday because we had the capitol ground used for an event. that's unacceptable. last night i brought lee to the

speech. he said one thing, i got guys who want to work, they're ready to work. put us to work. today school teachers are waking up across america, going to work early and staying late to educate children. nurses will work 12-hour shifts to help those in need. the least we can do is stay here and do our job. mr. speaker, i encourage americans across this country, call their members of congress, tell them to get it do. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from hawaii rise? >> mr. speaker, i request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. ms. hanabusa: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, last night the president stood here and he stood here to speak to us. he came to talk about his proposed american jobs act and i'm sure each and every one of

us didn't hear what we wanted to and we took different things from that speech. but what we all should have heard is we were hired -- that word is great -- we were hired to do a job and we must do that job. people are not going to wait 14 months for us to get our act together. especially those who are unemployed. we should also have heard the cry for the future of our nation. the president said we must invest in our future, we must become the number one nation again. we cannot let china outbuild us and neither can we have china and europe take over manufacturing. those are things that we, the united states, has been known for. we must do that. we must invest in ourselves again. we must invest in becoming the number one nation in the world, and we can do that if we are all committed to make it in america. mr. speaker, if we cannot put

the pride of our nation before all of us, we will never come together. let us invest in america. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from new york rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. maloney: thank you, mr. speaker. 10 years ago the horror of 9/11 struck this great nation. but in its aftermath i have never seen this nation or this congress so united and so determined to make sure that we protect our citizens and that it does not happen again. we came together with such a strong purpose and we need to come together again with a strong purpose behind the president's jobs proposal. 14 million americans are out of work. he has a plan. let's unify, let's work

together and let's put americans back to work building our crumbling infrastructure, repairing our schools, investing in innovation, education and working together. we did it after 9/11, after that great crisis. we can do it again. the president has a plan. let's get behind that plan. if the republicans have a plan, then put it forward. let's look at it. let's work together and put americans back to work.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? mr. rogers: mr. speaker, i have a bill at the desk. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous

consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on h.r. 1892. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. pursuant to house resolution 392 and rule 18, the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the consideration of h.r. 1892. the chair appoints the gentlelady from michigan, mrs. miller, to preside over the committee of the whole. the chair: the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the consideration of h.r. 1892, which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: a bill to authorize appropriations for the fiscal year 2012 for intelligence and intelligence related activities of the united states government, the community management account, and the central intelligence agency retirement

and disability system, and for other purposes. the chair: pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered as read the first time. the gentleman from michigan, mr. rogers, and the gentleman from maryland, mr. ruppersberger, will each control 30 minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from michigan. mr. rogers: thank you, madam chair. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. rogers: madam chair, i first wish to announce that subsequent to ordering the bill reported, the committee has modified the classified schedule of authorizations to the bill with respect to the level of funding of certain programs. with bipartisan agreement between myself and my ranking member, mr. ruppersberger. the classified annex containing the schedule of authorizations is available for review by all members of the house subject to the rules of the house and the permanent select committee on intelligence under the procedures described in my announcement to the house on wednesday. the modified schedule of authorizations is and has been available for review to members for a period of time required by the rules of the house.

madam chair, i think this is an important day for the community. certainly rolling into the weekend of the 10th anniversary of that tragic event on 9/11. it is important, it is crucial, that we continue to monitor, to improve, to provide support for our intelligence services who so bravely around the world and here at home serve to protect the united states of america. the bill before us today is a vital tool for our oversight of the intelligence community's classified activities and is critical to ensuring our intelligence agencies have the resources and authorities they need to do their important work. passing an annual intelligence bill is vital to keeping the laws governing our intelligence operations up to date. the f.y. 2012 bill sustains today's intelligence operations and provide for future capabilities while achieving six significant savings. the u.s. intelligence community

plays a critical role in the war on terrorism and securing the country from many other threats that we face. this bill funds all u.s. intelligence agencies spanning 17 separate agencies, totaling roughly $80 billion. the bill's competitive classified annex provides detailed guidance on intelligence spending, including adjustments to costly programs. it provides oversight and authorization for critical intelligence activities, including but not limited, to the global operations such as the one that took out osama bin laden, tactical intelligence support to combat units in afghanistan and iraq. and other places. cyberdefense by the national security agency. detecting and countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. the r&d, research and development, of new technology to maintain our intelligence agency's technological edge, including work on code breaking and spy satellites. and the bill also reflects our

tough economic times as well, madam chair. after passage of the budget control act, the committee revamped the bill it reported out of committee in may to double its budget savings. the bill is significantly below the president's fiscal year 2012 budget request and further, still below the f.y. 2011 authorized and appropriated levels. we accomplish this without impacting the mission. the savings were achieved through a whole series of joint work and effort by many to merge services and find savings that would bring efficiencies, as i said again, madam chair, without impacting our mission, the mission of the intelligence services. the bill curbs unnecessary personnel growth, the cost of additional personnel would squeeze funding for high-tech investments which is our competitive advantage in intelligence. while the bill denies most of the administration's requested personnel increases, it adds some key positions in high priority areas such as cyberdefense. the bill also provides major

operating efficiencies in a number of areas, including data processing, i.t., and office leases, finding over $100 million in savings. this bill also makes only best value investments and shaves $1 billion from a handful of very large ticket hardware items and programs that the intelligence community is involved in. the bill protects investments in cutting-edge r&d and redirects $500 million in savings to invest in some game-changing technologies. the bottom line is this bipartisan bill preserves and advances national security and it is also fiscally responsible. secrecy is a necessary part of our country's intelligence work, so the intelligence committees must conduct strong and effective oversight on behalf of the american people. that oversight is impossible, however, without an annual intelligence authorization bill. madam chair, that's why we stand before you today with a bill that i think this body can be proud of, america can be proud of, and our intelligence

community can take to the bank that we are investing in their mission success. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from michigan reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from maryland. mr. ruppersberger: madam speaker, i rise today in favor of the intelligence authorization act for f.y. 2012. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. ruppersberger: when chairman rogers and i took over leadership of the house permanent select committee on intelligence we made a commitment to getting back into the passage of passing intelligence budgets. we made a commitment to the men and women of the intelligence community to do what is right. to give our intelligence professionals the resources, capabilities, and authorities they need to keep us safe. we on the intelligence committee have a responsibility to provide effective oversight, to help build up the community, not to tear it down. to hold the community accountable for performance while upholding the constitution and protecting civil liberties. this is even more important

today as we approach the 10th anniversary of the -- of 9/11 where close to 3,000 innocent americans lost their lives. the bill makes smart choices by trimming where possible, eliminating duplicative efforts, and ensuring we do not effect the current critical capabilities that protect our nation now and in the future. the bill aligns our resources with our current threats in a fiscally responsible manner. after the debt debate this last summer, our committee trimmed our budget even further to keep its costs in check. the bill curbs personal growth when appropriate, never affecting the core mission. invest in new positions for select high priority needs such as, f.b.i. surveillance officers to keep watch on terrorists, n.s.a. cyberprofessionals to protect computers from malicious intrusions, and treasury financial analysts to unravel terrorist plots. we found major savings in operating costs, pushed down the

price of programs through intense oversight, required acquisitions to come in on budget and on schedule. and invest it in research and technology to keep our competitive edge. we fully funded the president's major satellite program as well as commercial imagery to ensure our intelligence professionals, the war fighter, and our allies have the information they need on the frontlines around the world. right now this bill includes two controversial provisions relating to guantanamo bay detainees and another making the director of national security agency a senate confirmed position. these provisions garnered a veto threat from the white house. chairman rogers and i worked together to come up with a solution. today's manager's amendment withdraws the gtmo and n.s.a. director provisions. i encourage all members to vote in favor of the manager's amendment. if these provisions can be successfully eliminated, i will support this bill and look forward to seeing it become law. this bill will make great investments in space, cyberand

the war fighter. republicans and democrats work together with their senate counterparts to make this a good bipartisan bill. intelligence is clearly the best defense against terrorism. this is even more important as we approach the 10-year anniversary of september 11 attacks. if this bill is signed into law, it will be the third time in three years that the intelligence committee passed an intel authorization act. for the five years before that we do not have an intelligence bill. with this bill we are giving the intelligence community guidance and critical direction. we are doing our job. with the passage of the manager's amendment, i believe this is a good bipartisan bill that makes important decisions to protect our families and communities. i urge my colleagues to support it and i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from maryland reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan. mr. rogers: waiting for a speaker, madam chair. i'd like to reserve my time if i

may. the chair: the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. ruppersberger: yes. madam speaker, i yield four minutes to the gentleman from california, the vice chair of the democratic committee. the chair: the gentleman from california is recognized for four minutes. >> thank you, mr. ruppersberger. madam chair, i rise in support of h.r. 1892, the intelligence authorization act for fiscal year 2012, as amended by the manager's amendment. mr. thompson: as the ranking member of the subcommittee on terrorism, human intelligence, analysis, and counterintelligence, i'm pleased that we are able to work together to bring a bipartisan intelligence authorization bill to the floor today. h.r. 1892 will support critical u.s. intelligence capabilities by strengthening funding for our intelligence collection programs , enhancing counterintelligence efforts, and improving upon critical training operations vital to the future of the

intelligence community. this legislation also includes two provisions that i authored. the first provision requires that the director of national intelligence to compile a threat assessment of foreign drug traffickers that are increasingly turning public lands in the united states to further their operation. last year alone, over three million marijuana plants were eradicated on 62 of our national fors -- forests. the effect of these illegal drug grows has been profound, leading to unacceptable levels of violence and the devastation of our environment and our natural resources. our public lands have been taken away from us. this is wrong and it must be stopped. this threat assessment will examine the ability of law enforcement and intelligence community to gather, process, and share critical intelligence information regarding the presence of foreign drug traffickers on our public, our

federal public lands. this coordination between the intelligence community and local law enforcement is extremely important. the second provision that i authored requires the director of the central intelligence agency to provide congress with a full report on the events surrounding the may, 2011, osama bin laden, raid. this record, once complete, will provide an official account of a critical point in our country's history. we are all proud of the intelligence community's extraordinary effort in carrying out the bin laden operation. i believe it is necessary that we never forget what actually happened in the raid and to be able to recognize the amazing contribution of the intelligence community and this important success. the historical significance of this mission cannot be understated. that's why we must make a determined effort to document and preserve all that went into

this operation so that in the future the history books will be accurate and complete. i'd like to just take a moment to thank my friend, former committee colleague of ours, representative eshoo, for her work on this important part of the bill. madam speaker, our intelligence community must be prepared for any and all threats. while osama bin laden may no longer pose a direct threat to our country's safety and security, the remaining elements of al qaeda and other emerging terrorists organizations are more determined than ever. it is critical for congress to pass an intelligence authorization that furthers our national security which i believe this bill with the manager's amendment will do. this legislation is necessary, will enhance the capabilities of the intelligence community, specifically our counterterrorism efforts, and will make our nation stronger. i urge my colleagues to support the amended bill. i yield back the balance of my

time. the chair: the gentleman from california yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan continues to reserve. mr. rogers: i continue to reserve. the chair: the gentleman from maryland. mr. ruppersberger: i yield three minutes to the gentleman from ohio, mr. kucinich. the chair: the gentleman from ohio is recognized for three minutes. mr. kucinich: i thank my friend from maryland. madam speaker, i rise in strong support of the dedicated public servants of our intelligence community. they work to ensure national security to be commended. however i must oppose the intelligence authorization act of 2012. 10 years after 9/11 the united states continues to use its intelligence and defense apparatus in ways that undermine the rule of law at home and

abroad. plenty of examples in pakistan, afghanistan, iraq, and libya. a recent pbs frontline feature featuring a top c.i.a. official was at the agency for over 34 years was quoted as saying, quote, the obama administration changed virtually nothing with respect to existing c.i.a. programs and operations, unquote. last month the associated press reported that the new york police department was using domestic surveillance methods in conjunction with the central intelligence agency to spy on local communities in a way that signaturely undermines civil liberties. . the united states uses drones. earlier this year we rubber stamped three provisions of the patriot act that allows them to demand records from innocent americans are impunity, even

those with first and fourth amendment rights. russian missiles could shoot down civilian airliners. had gone missing from warehouses, now, think about this. who has control over libya right now. the c.i.a. was involved in the overthrow of the -- of government, of gaddafi. now, whether you agree with the overthrow or not, that's not the point here. didn't we know about these weapons -- warehouses ahead of time? there's one news report that said there might be as many as 20,000 surface to air missiles that could be in jeopardy of being lost, missing, gone to the black market and who knows whose hands.

now, i'm also concerned about that because of the stories of al qaeda's connection to the rebels from the beginning of the insurrection. despite the drones, intelligence personnel were on the ground and nearly $1 billion we spent on the war in libya, no one seems to know who took the missiles or who has them. how has this allowed to happen? and who needs to be held accountable? and that's the debate we should be having over this legislation. what happened to the missiles? the chair: the gentleman from michigan. mr. rogers: thank you, madam chair. that's interesting in the business for intelligence

because so much is classified. it's easy to throw around and the condemnation is easy to heap on the very brave men and women that -- they said all of the kinds of things because the political rhetoric isn't true. they were following the law. they were comporting with the missions and guidelines and objectives in accordance with the law of the united states. so they are in fact following the law. there is -- was absolutely no role for the c.i.a. to overthrow the gaddafi regime. that is just false. so i think we need to be careful about making these assertions. they are pretty damning if you will. we may believe that happened. i can tell you -- on the intelligence committee and my friend, dutch ruppersberger, we

watched this closely and one of the reasons i hope you'll change your mind on the bill is that we need the ability to have oversight of these 17 agencies. this bill allows us to do it. for six years no authorization of the bill was passed. that's when problems part. so this gets back to regular order. it gets us back in the business of conducting proper oversite in the classified annex which i would urge the gentleman to come down and review in the house intelligence committee which every member has the privilege, and i argue responsibility to do that if that's what they desire to do lays out very clear guidelines on spending and objectives and policy. so i would argue that the gentleman's position is misstated. i understand his frustration, but, again, this gets us back to regular order and i praise the administration for continuing the programs that we

know that were put in place under the last administration that are keeping americans safer today. and with that, madam chair, i would reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from maryland. mr. ruppersberger: i yield the gentleman from ohio for 30 seconds. mr. kucinich: i honor the gentleman's service and the dedication to our country. it's time we have the discussion about the role that the c.i.a. had in libya and the fact that these missiles that really we should know ahead of time all of a sudden we have surface air missiles that can't be accounted for. i think the c.i.a. has responsibility for that. i want to thank the gentleman, know, for the way in which he's conducted the point that he's made. the chair: the gentleman from michigan. mr. rogers: again, i thank the gentleman for his comments.

i too have concerns about weapon systems in libya but one of the problems is you can't be against the intelligence service, be -- wonder why they're not in a place to get the information that we might need. and that's part of the problem here. there was no c.i.a. involvement in the regime change, none. it did not happen. i don't know where that got started. that is inaccurate information. and i would be careful about throwing out that the agency was involved in some regime change. they were not. we have pressed the agency and the administration to be more aggressive on accounting for and rendering safe weapons systems that are all scattered around libya. we saw this in iraq. when the regime uses these weapons caches not to protect the citizens of its own state but to protect its regime it makes it that much more difficult to get a handle on it. we should be celebrating the

agency's work in trying to determine where these systems are and how we render them safe and how to account for them. and one way we can do that is by passing the bill that gets the resources to do exactly that. i would hope the gentleman would have a change of heart. mr. ruppersberger: i respect your view. our work is oversite. if we find out and there are allegations of concern, let me know and we will try to do what we can do to get information. i know of know situation that we have not been told in the last couple of years. i think it's important for the united states of america to remember this. the best defense against terrorism is intelligence but it's got to be done the right way and protect civil liberties. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman from michigan. mr. rogers: i thank the gentleman from ohio's position as well. i hope we can work out these

digses. i will continue to reserve my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from maryland. mr. ruppersberger: i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from new york, mrs. maloney. the chair: the gentlelady from new york is recognized for two minutes. mrs. maloney: i want to thank chairman rogers for his lifetime commitment for protecting americans even as a former f.b.i. agent. i want to underscore what the ranking member said. the best defense against terrorism is intelligence. and we need to support this bill in every single way. we were reminded of the need of intelligence yesterday when mayor bloomberg announced there was a credible threat against new york and washington. and why did this information come from? it came from the information community. after 9/11 the 9/11 commission report said the biggest failure in presenting a future and

preventing 9/11 was a failure in our intelligence system. and this congress came together, and i was proud to have worked with and helped author a bill that was the first major re-organization and the most fundamental since 1948 where it brought all 17 agencies together under homeland security and one director to gather information to make us safer. this bill very critically supports the task force, the joint terrorism task forces that are sharing information and protecting our citizens. and this bill approaches and focuses on cyberattacks which is one of the most serious attacks that we have in our country now. on the pentagon and on financial institutions, foreign, countries are hacking into our information system.

and so this bill addresses that and focuses resources and oversight in that area. i congratulate this bipartisan effort. i consider it one of the most important bills that we have an opportunity to vote on, and i support it completely. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman from michigan. mr. rogers: madam chair, continue to reserve. the chair: continues to reserve. the gentleman from maryland. mr. ruppersberger: madam speaker, i yield three minutes to my good friend, jim langevin from rhode island. the chair: the gentleman from rhode island is recognized for three minutes. mr. langevin: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. langevin: i want to thank the gentleman for yielding. let me say how proud i am to support the f.y. 2012 intelligence authorization act and i appreciate the leadership of both chairman rogers and ranking member ruppersberger in crafting this bill. this has truly been a

bipartisan effort which i have been proud to be a part. i am pleased that this bill includes funding to accelerate implementation that insider threat detection program and that's both on the cyber front but in cases like the had a san case that was tragically in the news and that occurred not long ago that cost many lives. this bill basically requires best practices, implemented with the army to be reviewed for inclusion across the intelligence community. that's referring to their insider threat detection program. in addition, the bill supports a critical resources needed, the cybersecurity threat. a threat which demands the attention of our national security specialist. and the entire country. as the successful operation against osama bin laden showed us earlier this year, the intelligence community has made significant strides towards working together to counter the most complex threat facing our

nation. this productive -- this was made after the tragic event of 9/11 and i'm encouraged to see the progress in information sharing. while the sharing of classified information is imperative to keep our country safe under unregulated access can put our country at risk. as we've seen the damage of wikileaks, the threats from the malicious insider is very real. we are beyond paper documents being carried out. the question is how much information can a potential leaker or a spy fit on a u.s.b. drive or c.d.? although technological advances have strengthened our opportunity they have increased the risk. now with this serious concern in mind i'm proud this bill requires the d.n.i. to improve it and consider implementation

of these practices across the entire intelligence community. in addition, the bill accelerate other initiatives within the insider threat program. i believe it's imperative that we ensure our security officers collects important information. protecting classified information and securing networks across the globe, it also makes sense to protect our investments by taking advantage of the auditing software already available today. the access to classified information deals with a significant -- bears with it significant responsibility one that i and members of the committee take seriously. the other serious threats are the risks posed by -- to our broader cybernetwork. the -- it addresses the threats of our critical infrastructure. i know that this is something

also shared by my colleague, congressman ruppersberger. while i applaud the administration's work, i think we need to go forward. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. langevin: i think we need to go further to raise awareness and work with both public and private sectors. we cannot afford to continue to operate with with the massive vulnerabilities to not just our sensitive information but also important intellectual property that makes up the foundation of our innovative economy. it must become a national priority and we must work quickly to grow our current and future cyberwork force to fill the rising demand. it helps secure our sensitive information and vital networks from any malicious actors. because of these important provisions, along with the other merits cited by my colleagues today, i urge

members to support this bill. i thank again chairman rogers and ranking member ruppersberger for the outstanding bipartisan cooperation. we've seen in their leadership and also with the other members of the committee, the committee i'm proud to serve on and i thank them and the committee for their work. i urge members to support this bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from michigan. mr. rogers: madam chair, i'll reserve to close. the chair: continues to reserve. the gentleman from maryland. mr. ruppersberger: i'll reserve to close, also. . mr. ruppersberger: you going to close? mr. rogers: i would reserve to close. do you have another speaker? mr. ruppersberger: no. i reserve. the chair: the gentleman from michigan. does the gentleman from maryland yield back? mr. roops: i yield back. -- mr. ruppersberger: i yield back. mr. rogers: does the gentleman yield back all his time?

i think i have the right to close. mr. ruppersberger: i have no more speakers. the chair: the gentleman from maryland to close. mr. ruppersberger: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. ruppersberger: it took a long time for us to get here today. days of important hearings, analyzing the intelligence community, hours of critical meetings, making important decisions of what to include and not to include in the bill. and lots of time pulling it together. republicans and democrats came together to make important choices to do what is right for the intelligence community and for our country. i commend everyone who participated in this effort, especially the bipartisan leadership of chairman rogers and other members of the intelligence committee. i would like to thank both democrat and republican staff for the countless hours they spent helping us make this happen. with the passage of the manager's amendment, i fully support this bill and urge my colleagues to do the same. the stakes are too high not to. thank you, i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yield back the balance of his time? the gentleman from maryland

yields back his time? mr. ruppersberger: yield back. the chair: the gentleman from maryland. mr. rogers: thank you, madam chair. i want to thank mr. ruppersberger who is not only a colleague but a friend in working so diligently over the course of the summer and at the beginning of this year to re-establish the intelligence committee as a force for oversight over the 17 agencies. it is a tremendous amount of money and amount of responsibility because most of what we do happens behind closed doors and is classified. and i think working together we have come to one of the best products, certainly i have seen since on the committee, of the most thorough review from line by line by line of both the national intelligence program spending as well as the military intelligence program spending. we have had very good cooperation because we have cooperated together from the agencies themselves. and there really was, i think, a unity of effort here that i think americans can and should

be proud of in an effort to make sure that our men and women horrificing their lives today to protect the united states of america have the resources they need and the commitment on behalf of this congress and the american people to be successful in their particular mission. i want to thank the staffs on both committees for the first time we had joint briefings with both republican and democrat staff on the very difficult budget issues that worked through the process of the intelligence authorization bill. they were at the same table at the same time which is something that should happen more often but it did not and we have re-established that. we have re-established the quarterly reviews on all the programs so that we have regular and consistent oversight on what happens in the intelligence community. and that all wouldn't have happened without the leadership of mr. ruppersberger and his team and my team as well. and there are too many to name who spent countless hours on

this particular bill, the leadership team here, and all the folks on the intelligence staff, honorable mention, to brian smith, our budget director, who gave a lot of his heart and soul to go through every line and find every penny for us. i know mr. ruppersberger' staff -- rupe's staff they have sat behind him to make that happen. without further ado we'll get to the amendments. i do think this is a product that reflects the best of what congress can do when we work together and the best of the most amazing people in our intelligence community and what they have to offer in the protection of the united states of america. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from michigan yields back the balance of his time of the all time for general debate has, spired. pursuant to the rule, the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute rule. in lieu of the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the permanent select committee on intelligence printed in the bill, it shall be in order to consider as an

original bill for the purpose of amendment under the five-minute rule an amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text of the rules committee print dated august 31, 2011. that amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be considered as read. no amendment to the amendment in the nature of a substitute made in order as original text shall be in order except those printed in part b of house report 111 -- 112-200 and amendments en bloc described in section 2-f of house resolution 392. each amendment printed in part b of the report may be offered only by a member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and the opponent, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to demand for division of the question. it shall be in order at any time for the chair of the permanent select committee on intelligence or his designee to offer amendments en bloc consisting of amendments printed in part b not earlier disposed of.

amendments en bloc shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for 10 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the permanent select committee on intelligence or their designees, shall not be subject to amendment, shall not be subject to demand for division of the question. the original proponent of an amendment included in such amendment en bloc may insert a statement in the congressional record immediately before disposition of the amendments en bloc, and it is now in order to consider amendment number 1 printed in part b of house report 112-200. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? mr. rogers: madam chair, i ask unanimous consent to modify the manager's amendment to include a clarify case at the request of the ranking member. the modification is at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 1 printed in part b of house report number 112-200 offered by mr. rogers of michigan. the chair: the clerk will report the modification. the clerk: modification to amendment number 1, offered by mr. rogers of michigan, after

the amendment, line 15 of page 24 of the bill, insert the following. strike section 401, page 26, line 12, through page 29, line six. the chair: the clerk will suspend. does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? mr. rogers: no on the resignation, madam chairman, thank you for the offer. i would ask unanimous consent that the modification be crid. the chair: is -- be considered as read? the chair: is there objection? no objection, hearing none, the clerk will continue. modification, without objection, is considered. mr. rogers: madam chair -- the chair: without objection, the modification is agreed to. and pursuant to house resolution 392, the gentleman from michigan, mr. rogers, and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan. mr. rogers: thank you, madam chair. from michigan. this is the manager's amendment

to the bill. this is the last few details that we were able to work out in a bipartisan way to bring the bill to the floor. the manager's amendment is primarily intended to remove three provision that is have been the subject of a veto threat by the administration. in addition it makes a number of largely technical clarifications and adds provision on authority to fill vacancies that was admitted from the rules committee print of the bill. madam chair, as i explained during the general debate, moving this bill forward is critical to ensure comprehensive oversight of our intelligence activities and just as importantly intelligence budgeting and spending. while i regret our efforts to reach accommodation on these provisions which were originally included in the senate intelligence committee's bill, it is important that we remove these contentious provisions now so that the detailed spending and oversight recommendations in the classified annex can go forward. the first contentious provision would have required senate confirmation of the national security administration's director.

the other two contentious provisions subject to veto would have required the production of certain state department cables related to detainee negotiations. while i support the production of these materials, the committees seeking them have other tools at their disposal to obtain them and the bill should not be held up over that dispute. in addition the manager's amendment includes a clarification to clarify section 310 on mitigating risks in the supply chain to ensure that those authorities cannot be delegated but level ofal service ack whichation executive. the change is important to ensure the appropriate level of management is involved in such important decisions. this change reflects the committee's understanding that these acquisition authorities will not be used lightly and that all decisions under this provision will be carried out by responsible senior officials within the intelligence community and coordinated and overseen by the director of national intelligence. finally, the manager's amendment contains a modification request -- requested by the ranking member to a provision concerning

our products trafficking on public lands. it is needed to clarify the intended scope of the provision to ensure it is not read too broadly. with that, madam chair, i ask members to support the manager's amendment and would reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the question is on the amendment as modified. the gentleman from michigan, does any member seek recognition? the gentleman from maryland. mr. ruppersberger: i strongly support the manager's amendment. the manager's amendment deals with the issues that the chairman talked about. also it was our negotiation to resolve certain issues and that has been done. i fully support it. i reserve. the chair: the gentleman yields back? mr. rogers: i yield back. the chair: any other member wish to be heard? if not, the question is on the amendment as modified offered by the gentleman from michigan. the aye vs. it. the amendment as modified is agreed to.

for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia rise? mr. wolf: i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 2 printed in part b of house report number 112-200, offered by mr. wolf of virginia. mr. wolf: i have a modification at the desk and ask unanimous consent for its consideration. the chair: the clerk will report the modification to amendment number 2 printed in part b of house report number 112-200. the clerk: modification to amendment number 2 offered by mr. wolf of virginia. strike the entire text of the amendment and insert the following. at the end of the title 3 add the following, section 312, counterterrorism competitive -- mr. wolf: i ask unanimous consent to dispense with the reading. the chair: without objection, the reading of the amendment as modified is suspended. without objection, the amendment is modified. mr. wolf: thank you. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 392, the gentleman from virginia, mr. wolf, and a

member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from virginia. mr. wolf: thank you, madam speaker. i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. . the chair: without objection. mr. wolf: secondly, i want to personally thank mr. rogers and his staff for helping with regard to this amendment with regard to radicalization. and also want to thank mr. ruppersberger. also as somebody who served here for a number of years, i want to say i don't think there have been two fine chairman and ranking member of the intelligence committee since i have been here. i think it's very impressive to see that. i just want everyone up here, particularly in the country, to know that. very briefly this amendment deals with radicalization. i won't go into the whole statement, but i would just read several examples of radicalization that have taken place in northern virginia. in october, 2010, someone from my district in vienna was

arrested for plotting attacks for plotting metro stations to find optimal times to kill as many team as possible. in july of 2010, zachary, a graduate of observington high school, close to where i live, was arrested. late laster he pled guilty to providing material support to terrorists communicating threats and soliciting crimes of violence and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. in november, 2009, five american teenagers from fairfax county, virginia, were arrested in pakistan attempting to join islamist organizations. they were sentenced to 10 years in pakistan prison. in 2009, virginia native hassan attacked fort hood in texas and was charged with the shooting deaths of 13 service men and women. he was a graduate of virginia tech and grew up in arlington county and roanoke, virginia.

in 2004, abdul from falls church, virginia, was convicted on three charges of terrorist financing and conspiracy, conspiring to cincinnati saudi crown prince abdullah, and was sentenced to 23 years in jail and in jail now. in 2003, omar a northern virginia resident and islamic saudi academy's 1999 valedictorian, was arrested in saudi arabia and was later convicted in federal district court in alexandria for conspiracy to commit terrorism, including a plot to assassinate president bush. he was sentenced to life in prison. and probably the number one priss threat today is alack which, an american citizen, went to college on american taxpayers' money, was with a mosque in northern virginia, falls church, which used to be my old congressional district. so this issue of radicalization is very important. with it again i want to thank the chairman and his staff and

mr. ruppersberger and his staff. with regard to that i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time of the the gentleman from maryland. mr. ruppersberger: just want to thank my friend, mr. wolf. the chair: does the gentleman claim time in opposition? mr. ruppersberger: yes. i want to thank my friend, mr. wolf, for his involvement in all national security issues. we served together on the commerce and justice subcommittee and appropriations and we work together on gangs. i appreciate your focus on this area to protect our citizens ever our country and district. i reserve the balance of my time. yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. . the question is on the amendment as modified offered by the gentleman from virginia. those in favor say aye will say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the amendment as modified is agreed to.

it is now in order to consider amendment number 3 printed in part b of house report 112-200. the chair understands that amendment number 4 will not be offered. it is now in order to consider amendment number 5 printed in part b of house report 112-200.

for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. holt: yes, i have an amendment, number 5, at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 5 printed in part b of house report 112-200 offered by mr. holt of new jersey. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 392, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. holt, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes and the chair now recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. holt: madam chair, many have expressed deep concern about the security situation in the middle east. there are many hopeful signs from the so-called arab spring, but there are also concerns about the security of israel and neighboring states. several -- several among us and among my constituents express

concerned some months ago about what would happen with a weakened border between egypt and israel. as we all know on august 18 several groups of terrorists killed eight israelis, wounded several more in attacks along the road leading to allat. this is just one example of what we need to pay attention to in the area. will egypt become a staging ground for more terrorist attacks against israel? can al qaeda gain new safe haven in any of the countries undergoing massive political change? we hope not. i would like to think not. but it is important that we have good solid intelligence assessment of the situation. my amendment would direct the director of national intelligence to submit to congress within half a year of

passage of this law an estimate on the implications of these revolutions for the security of the state of israel and to report to congress in a way that is accessible to all members of congress on the implications of the so-called arab spring and the changes in the countries around the area. this amendment is for obvious reasons. israel is an important ally and really is founded on principles of law and fairness and justice and we want to see those values upheld and extended. i recognize in conversations with the chairman, chairman rogers and the ranking member

that an amendment to this legislation is perhaps not the best way to accomplish this. so in a moment i will ask unanimous consent to withdraw the amendment giving notice to the chair but with the understanding that we will make this same request of the director of national intelligence by way of a letter and that we will have available to members of congress this estimate of the security situation. i thank the chairman and the ranking member very much for their cooperation on this. they are fully aware of this which is partly why it is not necessary to offer an amendment to that effect. i'd be pleased to yield to the chair or perhaps the chair would like to claim time on his own.

mr. rogers i appreciate the gentleman working with us. you have the commitment from myself and the ranking member to coordinate this particular report and it allows them -- and i appreciate the gentleman's consideration because it will allow the community to prioritize. it may take three weeks or longer or three weeks shorter than an amendment might call for. it allows them to adjust according to the demands at the particular time on the intelligence community and for that i want to thank that gentleman and look forward to working with him on this issue. mr. holt: reclaiming my time. having served on the intelligence committee for many years until this year i am very much aware of the constraints that are sometimes placed on the agencies by lots of reports due on lots of dates. i look forward to working with the chairman and the ranking member to see that we get this estimate done in the most constructive way. with that i ask unanimous consent to withdraw the amendment pending.

the chair: without objection, the amendment is withdrawn. it is now in order to consider amendment number 6 printed in part b of house report 112-200. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? mr. hunter: madam chair, i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 6 printed in part b of house report 112-200 offered by mr. hunter of california. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 392, the gentleman from california, mr. hunter, and a member opposed, will each control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. mr. hunter: thank you, madam chair. my amendment is pretty simple. it requests that the director of national intelligence and the secretary of defense 120 days after passage of this bill submit a plan and execute the plan to develop a coordinated strategy between our

intelligence communities and our department of defense to go after i.e.d. manufacturers and i.e.d. transporters between pakistan and afghanistan. the majority of i.e.d.'s in afghanistan come from pakistan. we know where a lot of those i.e.d. manufacturers are, but our d.o.d. is not able to execute the strategy of going after those i.e.d. manufacturers and the people that transport them across the border on their own. they need the intelligence community and the 16 agencies which make up that community to be on their side. more than 80% of the improvised explosive devices used against our troops in afghanistan has home made explosives and is almost exclusively derived from fertilizer produced from pakistan. home made explosives are known as h.m.e. commercial explosive radio control triggers and h.m.e. precursors are sourced from and/or transmitted to --

through pakistan. other precursor materials flown into afghanistan from pakistan is the most significant factor contributed to the afghan i.e.d. problem. over 70% of our casualties in afghanistan come from these home made i.e.d.'s. since january of 2011 more than 500 people have been killed and over 14,000 people have been injured by i.e.d.'s in pakistan. the afghanistan i.e.d. threat cannot be defeated without addressing the networks and precursors in pakistan. to defeat the pakistan produced h.m.e. it needs combined authorities, policies and capabilities, many agencies of our government, coalition partners and especially the intelligence community. we need to identify the key facilitators into afghanistan and we need to identify specific financial networks for these h.m.e. networks as well

as identify these key finance -- financiers. we need to work on the same page because right now there is a severe gap between what the d.o.d. considers number one priority, our defense guys over there, our soldiers and marines on the ground, their number one priority is different from the intelligence community's number one priority. the intelligence community right now goes after high-value targets, they go after the bad guys, wherever they might be found. but we need to work together on these i.e.d.'s from pakistan. it's the only way we can defeat them. with that, madam chair, i ask my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to accept my amendment. and i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from maryland. does the gentleman claim time in opposition? mr. ruppersberger: i claim time in opposition. first, i want to acknowledge -- the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes.

mr. ruppersberger: i am not opposed to the amendment. i just want to acknowledge that your service, you have been on the field. i think that i.e.d.'s -- i strongly support that we move forward with your amendment. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. hunter: thank you, madam chair. i would like to yield the balance of my time to chairman rogers. the chair: the gentleman from michigan. mr. rogers: i'd like to thank the gentleman from california. this is an important amendment. these are issues we have been working on in the committee. we have been a tad bit frustrated at that lack of coordination. i think it's unfortunate it took this amendment as part of the intelligence bill to continue to put pressure on the administration to get their act together on this particular issue. it is an issue we must and absolutely must solve. not only for the safety and security of the men and women who serve in our armed forces in afghanistan but also for the greater impact on the war on

terror. and i would strongly urge the support of the hunter amendment. the chair: the gentleman yields back. is any other member wish to speak on the amendment? if not the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from california. and those in favor will signify by sayingi. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the -- by saying aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. mr. rogers: i ask for a recorded vote. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from california will be postponed. it is now in order to consider amendment number 7 printed in part b of house report 112-200. for what purpose does the gentleman from delaware seek recognition? mr. carney: madam chair, i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 7 printed in part b of house report 112-200 offered by mr. carney of delaware. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 392, the gentleman from delaware, mr. carney, and a member opposed, each will

control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from delaware. mr. carney: thank you, madam chair. madam chair, i again rise to recognize the importance of rail security in the effort to assess, prepare for and neutralize terrorist threats to our critical infrastructure. while roughly 1.7 million passengers ride in domestic and international air flights daily, every weekday 34 million americans ride on trains and transit systems. we've seen the tragic consequences of attacks to rail and subway systems in britain, spain and india. we know al qaeda was looking to target american rail systems this year. an attack on our rail system here in the united states would simply be devastating. earlier this year the house adopted an amendment i offered to the fiscal year 2011 intelligence authorization act. there is broad bipartisan support for making rail security an intelligence priority. i continue to believe we must address the security vulnerabilities in our rail and

transit systems. our intelligence community does great work to coordinate with those who own and operate trains and raillines. in particular the office of intelligence and analysis within the department of homeland security develops a threat assessment for critical infrastructure. my amendment is a simple amendment. it affirms the importance of assessments and information sharing conducted by intelligence analysts. it expresses the sense of congress that the intelligence community must continue to prioritize rail security in identifying and preventing terrorist threats. as a near daily rider of amtrak myself, i want to know that the united states government is doing all it can to keep my fellow passengers and rail passengers across the country safe. i urge my colleagues to support this amendment. thank you for your consideration. i yield to the ranking member. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan.

mr. rogers: i claim time in opposition. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. rogers: again, i appreciate the gentleman's concern for the rail. it is an incredibly important issue. i continue to believe, and as i did the last go round, this is not the right place for this. i have agreed not to officially oppose his amendment. i just want to, again, remind individuals that this is 17 agencies across the whole spectrum of intelligence work. . rail priority does not make a lot sense to me and i know it won't to them as well. i again agree that rail security is incredibly important. we have segments of the intelligence community and i want to re-emphasize segments and here in our homeland security that worry about rail security. i argued that would be a better place for this amendment. as i said i will not officially oppose it. i have made no official recommendation.

again i appreciate the gentleman's position. i'll be voting no. but i would tell the rest of the members to do what they see fit. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from michigan yields back. the gentleman from delaware yield time to the gentleman from maryland. does the gentleman from maryland wish to be recognized? does the gentleman from delaware yield back? >> i'd just like to thank the chair. i appreciate his position on this. thank him for not officially opposing it and ask for support from everyone in the chamber. mr. carney: i yield back. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from delaware. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. the noes have it. the amendment is not agreed to. mr. carney: ask for a recorded vote. the chair: a record the vote is requested. pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from delaware will be postponed.

the chair understands that amendment number 8 will not be offered. it is now in order to consider amendment -- it is now in order to consider amendment number 9 printed in part b of house report 112-200. for what purpose does the gentleman from mismass seek recognition? mr. keating: i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 9, printed in part b of house report number 112-200, offered by mr. keating of massachusetts. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 392, the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. keating, and a member opposed, will each control five minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. keating: thank you, madam speaker. thank you, mr. ruppersberger, for allowing me to present this timely amendment to the fiscal year 2012 intelligence authorization.

madam speaker, there are 72 fusion centers throughout the united states, including one in massachusetts. which is also the home of the sole joint terrorism traffic force that's housed in an airport. however as noted yesterday by mr. lee hamilton, vice chair of the 9/11 commission, during the committee on homeland security's hearing, which dealt with looking back 10 years after 9/11, all 72 fusion centers have varying degrees of quality, this results in serious gaps in communication. gaps in sharing such as agency failure to link information about the individual who attempted december 25, 2009 airline coming prevented him from being included into the federal government's terrorist watch list, the tool used by d.h.s. to screen for persons who pose a significant security threat. this week the t.a.o. released a report to the department of homeland security recommending that d.h.s. improve its assistance and services to state

and local homeland security partners and streamline some of the information sharing mechanisms. furthermore, in july, 2011, d.h.s. reported that it established performance measures for assessing its information sharing efforts and these measures include, for example, the percent of intelligence reports customers rated as satisfactory, enabling customers to anticipate emergency threats. d.h.s. plans to report on the metrics beginning in fiscal year 2012. while these are positive steps, g.a.o.'s work has shown developing outcome based performance measures that engage information sharing efforts are really necessary to strengthen the accountability of these efforts. and we are still waiting for d.h.s. to implement these steps. now, as a district attorney i understand from my own experience, former district attorney, of over a decade, how critical it is to share information and now not -- how not sharing that information

enhances and enables criminal activity. that indeed carries over to terrorists themselves. this amendment encourages this type of streamlining process by further integrating, leveraging fusion centers to enlist all the intelligence, law enforcement, homeland security capabilities of the united states in a manner that's consistent with the constitution to prevent acts of terrorism against the united states of america. it was just a few months ago that secretary napolitano in testimony before the homeland security committee said that the threat of terrorism is at its most heightened state since 9/11. that's what she's saying now. so i encourage all members to vote for this amendment as well as the manager's amendment to strengthen this bill and incorporate all the elements of the intelligence community, particularly trying to merge information, enhanced sharing information with state and local officials who have their ear to the ground. thank you, madam speaker.

i yield back my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan, do you claim time in opposition? mr. rogers: i do, madam chair. i appreciate the gentleman's interest here. i don't know any organization that we establish not to operate under the rules and construct of the constitution of the united states. it is a little bit redundant in my perspective, and also we deal with these issues through i.g.'s, through congressional oversight, and we deal with this in the classified annex. i would encourage the gentleman to look at the classified annex. a lot of the work we do is to make sure that these organizations are functioning according to rules, regulation, and constitutional law. i would -- i am not going to oppose his amendment. i have no recommendation. i do think, however, it's probably not well placed in this particular piece of legislation. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the question is on

the amendment offered by the gentleman from massachusetts. does the gentleman from maryland. mr. ruppersberger: i i yield myself such time as i may consume. first, this amendment -- the chair: does the gentleman from massachusetts reclaim his time by unanimous consent? mr. keating: yes. the chair: without objection, the gentleman from maryland. mr. ruppersberger: i reserve as much time as i may consume. first, i support this amendment. the amendment would include a sense of congress language to encourage the director of national intelligence and secretary of homeland security to integrate the intelligence sharing capabilities of fusion centers and leverage participation from all intelligence law enforcement and homeland security agencies to prevent acts of terrorism against the united states. i thank the gentleman for this amendment which is very timely as we approach the 10th anniversary of september 11. the intelligence committee is holding a series of open hearings in order to acknowledge the progress made in the

intelligence and national security community since 9/11 and identify areas that need improvement. one area we will explore is federal collaboration with first responders at state and local levels. the bipartisan policy center and former co-chairman of the 9/11 commission, hamilton recently issued a report about our national response to 9/11 over the last 10 years. they found that federal, local information sharing is still not as good as it could be. it's consist tent with the findings of numerous organizations that our nation still requires better integration of intelligence. i urge a yes vote and yield back. also i acknowledge the fact that you were a former prosecutor. i was a former prosecutor. our chairman was a former f.b.i. agent. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. does the gentleman from massachusetts yield back? mr. keating: yes. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from

massachusetts. those in favor will signify by saying aye. those opposed will say no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. -- the amendment is agreed to. pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, proceedings will now resume on those amendments printed in part b of house report 112-200 on which further proceedings were postponed in the following order. amendment number 6 by mr. hunter of california. amendment number 7 by mr. carney of delaware. the chair will reduce to two minutes the time for any electronic vote after the first vote in this series. the unfinished business is the request for recorded vote on amendment number 6 printed in part b of house report 112-200

by the gentleman from california, mr. hunter, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the yeas prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 6, printed in part b of house report number 112-200, offered by mr. hunter of california. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 397. the nays are 0. the amendment is adopted. the unfinished business is the request for recorded vote on amendment number 7 printed in part b of house report 112-200 by the gentleman from delaware, mr. carney, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote.

the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 7, printed in part b of house report number 112-200, offered by mr. carney of delaware. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for recorded volt will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a two-minute vote. a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 303. the nays are 92. the amendment is adopted. the question is on the amendment in the nature of a substitute as amended. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it.

the amendment is adopted. accordingly under the rule, the committee rises. the committee on the state of the union has had under consideration and has reports the bill back to the house.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair of the committee of the whole house on the state of the union reports that the committee has had under consideration the bill h.r. 1892 and pursuant to house resolution 392 reports the bill back to the house with an amendment adopted in the committee of the whole. under the rule, the previous question is ordered. pursuant to clause 1-c of rule 19, further consideration of h.r. 1892 is postponed.

the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair would ask all present to rise for the purpose of a moment of silence. the chair asks the house now observe a moment of silence in

memory of the victims of the terrorist attacks on september 11, 2001.

spoipt house will be in order. -- the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the house will come to order. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? mr. cantor: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the committees on armed services, foreign affairs, homeland security, the judiciary, oversight and government reform and transportation and infrastructure and the permanent select committee on intelligence be discharged from further consideration of house resolution 391 and ask for its immediate consideration in the house. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 391, resolution expressing the sense of the house of representatives regarding the terrorist attacks

launched against the united states on september 11, 2001, on the 10th anniversary that have date. the speaker pro tempore: is there objection to consideration of the resolution? without objection, the resolution is agreed to and a motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. pursuant to clause 1-c of rule 19, further crucial of h.r. 1892 will now resume. the clerk will report the title. the clerk: h.r. 1892, a bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2012 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the united states government, the community management account and the central intelligence agency retirement and disabilities system and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: is a straight vote demanded on any amendment to the amendment reported from the committee of

the whole? if not, the question is on adoption of the amendment in the nature of a substitute as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. the question is on the engrossment and third reading of the bill. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. third reading. the clerk: a bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2012, for intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the united states government, the community management account and the central intelligence agency retirement and disabilities system and for other purposes. >> mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york rise? >> i have a motion to recommit at the desk. the speaker pro tempore: is the gentlewoman opposed to the bill? >> i'm opposed to the bill in its current form. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman qualifies.

the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: mrs. hochul of new york moves to recommit the bill with instructions to report the same back to the house forthwith with the following amendment. at the end of title 3, page 26, after line 6, add the following new section, section 312, prioritization of funding to counter the threat posed by transnational drug trafficking, in obligating and expending funds to be authorized in this act, the head of each element of the tense community shall be include as a priority activities in support of countering the threat posed by transnational drug trafficking and the protection of the united states borders from drug-represented crime, violence and gang-related activities in connection with transnational drug trafficking. the speaker pro tempore: the

house will be in order. the gentlewoman is recognized for five minutes. mr. hoekstra: thank you, mr. speaker. -- mrs. hochul: thank you, mr. speaker. my amendment will very simply help the intelligence community prioritize its funding and ensure we direct it toward securing our borders. the speaker pro tempore: the house is not in order. members, please take your conversations off the floor. the gentlelady may resume. mrs. hochul: my amendment len sure that the priorities used by the intelligence community in distributing its funding ensure that we protect our borders from many threats, terrorists as well as drug dealers. i seek order, mr. chairman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is correct. the house is not in order. the house will be in order.

mrs. hochul: i want to reaffirm that support for my amendment, people can vote for my amendment -- >> mr. speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is correct. ladies and gentlemen, please take your conversations off the floor. the house will be in order. the gentlelady may continue. mrs. hochul: thank you, mr. chairman. i want to be clear. that support for my simple amendment which is a statement of our priorities, we want to ensure that our intelligence community cooperates fully to protect our borders against terrorists as well as the scourge of drug dealers. if support for my amendment is passed, we can also vote on the underlying bill immediately following. my amendment does not harm the bim. i want to make that clear. but last night, as we sat in this chamber, we all became aware of the continued threat that we all face as intelligence reports were coming out about

this unspecified threats to new york city and in washington, perhaps putting us in danger. and while the president laid out his comments and how we need to get our country back to work, and people off the unemployment lines, i will tell you today there is a group of individuals i'd like to see on the unemployment line and those are the terrorists and the drug dealers who are trying to do harm to this country. so my amendment is simply a statement of our priorities. just two days ago in my district in upstate new york, we have the largest drug bust come over from canada in our history. it equated to $9 -- nine million doses of cocaine that was going to be spread to our communities. mr. chairman, that is intolerable. we've got to do more to secure our borders and we can work harder with our intelligence community and their resources to secure our borders and that's exactly what my amendment would do. not just the northern border. we all know what's occurring on

the southern border. military operations are being conducted in our country by mexican drug cartels even as we speak. we have to do more to protect our borders. the murder capital of the world is not in some far eastern country, middle east, it is miles away from the u.s. border in el paso, texas. i have a real problem with that as an american citizen. we need to do more to protect our borders. as the president spoke last night, we have to do so much more to get our economy going again. has anyone ever calculated the true cost to our economy of what the drug problem is doing, this illegal drug trafficking that's coming through our borders, what it's doing tower communities on the southern border and the northern border? ladies and gentlemen, we've got to do much more. and my amendment is simply an opportunity, if you support this it is a statement of saying the intelligence community will make a higher priority of protecting our borders from the drug

dealers and terrorists who want to do us harm. so, mr. chairman, i yield back the balance of my time, i think this is a simple amendment, again, support for this will not hurt the underlying bill, question vote on this amendment and immediately support the bill following. thank you very much. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? >> i rise in opposition, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. >> this goes, i think, to the heart, the fundamental heart of why some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, and i think their intentions are good, but fundamentally do not understand the role and function of the intelligence community to protect the united states of america. mr. rogers: just as the gentlelady reported, that the newspaper reported a very credible threat to the security of the united states and to the violence of the citizens and maybe two prominent cities here on our homeland. so every day somebody gets up around the world with a sole

intention of killing innocent americans in this country. through an act of terrorism. in addition to that, people are trying to penetrate our cybernetworks all over this country, not only for intellectual property but to cause harm and daniel. we have nunal -- damage. we have nuclear treaties and nuclear proliferation that we ask and push and nudge our intelligence services to be on top of it and not to make a mistake, don't make as it ache -- mistake that would result in a catastrophic event anywhere in the world, let alone here in the united states of america. and i know some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle don't want to deal with the hard issues of the border. but taking it from an open, aggressive, build a fence, put more resources on the border, getting serious about policing our southern border to take it into the classified, nobody can see it, see we're doing something is the wrong thing to do for this country.

we need to stand up for these men and women who we ask every day to protect this country. when you try to divert resources to gang violence from our intelligence services, that send as very clear signal to america you don't get it. i want terrorists caught, i want a great raid on somebody like osama bin laden, i want all of the resources the intelligence -- of the intelligence community geared to keeping us safe. we have a border patrol, we have national guard, we have lots of other ways to secure our border, let's not waste the resources, let's not slap in the face to every member of our intelligence community who is risking their life today to get a piece of information to take an action that keeps us safe here in the homeland. i strongly urge the rejection of this misguided amendment. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. mrs. hochul: mr. chairman, i ask for a recorded vote.

the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the previous question is ordered. the question is on the motion to recommit. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. mrs. hochul: mr. chairman, i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. pursuant to clause 9 of rule 20, the chair will reduce to five minutes the minimum time for any electronic vote on the question of passage. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house

proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 145, the nays are 257. the motion is not adopted. the question is on passage of the bill. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no.

the ayes have it. mr. cantor: mr. speaker, i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman asks for a recorded vote. those favoring a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

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the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 384 and the nays are 14. the bill is passed.

without objection a motion to reconsider is laid on the table. does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? >> i do, mr. speaker. i would ask unanimous consent that in the engrossment of the bill, h.r. 1892, the clerk be authorized to make such technical and conforming changes as necessary to reflect the actions of the house. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir, pursuants to permission granted in clause 2-h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the senate on september 8, 2011, at 6:20 p.m. tharkts senate passed without amendment h.r. 1249. with best wished i am, signed

sincerely, karen l. haas. the speaker pro tempore: the claire lays bmp the house a communication. -- lays before the house a communication. the chair: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir, pursuant to permission granted in the rules of the u.s. house of the representatives, the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the senate on september 9, 2011, at 9:04 a.m. tharkts senate agreed to without amendment house con rurnt resolution 67, that the senate agreed to senate concurrent resolution 28. with best wished i am, signed, sincerely, karen l. haas.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland seek recognition? mr. hoyer: mr. speaker, i rise to ask unanimous consent to speak out of order for one minuter to the -- for the purposes of inquiring of the majority leader the schedule for the week to come. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. hoyer: i thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield to my friend, the majority leader, mr. cantor from virginia. mr. cantor: mr. speaker, i thank the gentleman from maryland, my friend, the democratic whip, for yielding. mr. speaker, on monday the house will meet at noon for morning hour and 2:00 p.m. -- mr. hoyer: mr. speaker, the house is not in order. i can't hear the gentleman. the speaker pro tempore: the house will come to order. mr. cantor: thank you, mr. speaker. on monday the house will meet at noon for morning hour and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business with votes postponed until 6:30

p.m. on tuesday and wednesday the house will meet at 10:00 a.m. for morning hour and noon nor deathive business. on thursday the house will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business, last votes of the week are expected no later than 3:00 p.m. on thursday. on friday no votes are expected in the house. the house will consider a few bills under suspension of the rules on monday, a complete list of suspension bills will be announced by the close of business this afternoon. as for the remainder of the week we have a number of items to consider. we will complete action on h.r. 2218, the empowering parents to quality chartered schools act, we expect to consider an additional f.a.a. extension, whether he vote on a resolution of disapproval relating to the president's debt limit increase request and we will consider h.r. 2587, the protecting jobs from government interference act , the first bill in our fall agenda, mr. speaker, relating to job creation. i thank the gentleman from

maryland and i yield back the balance of my time. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for the information that's given to us. can i inquire, as the gentleman knows when we left for the august break, there was a very substantial issue with respect to the f.a.a.. does the gentleman know whether there will be any policy writers on the f.a.a. bill? i know there's a reduction in authorized levels but are there any policy writers -- riders in that bridge bill? mr. cantor: mr. speaker, i'd say to the gentleman that we are still in discussions with the other body and the other side of the capitol as well as the committee on exactly the construct of that bill. but i do intend to bring that forward next week. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for that information. i certainly hope that we can do so and i'm pleased to they're that we're having discussions so that -- hear that we're having discussions so that will not be a matter of contention.

as you know with had 4,000 f.a.a. employees and 7,100,000 or so contractors, private sector employees who were laid off for peard of time because of the failure to get an agreement with the rider that was included in the bill that we passed over to them. so i'm hopeful that we don't have a recurrence of that situation because it would be very harmful not just to those 7,500 to -- 75,000 people but to the f.a.a. and the generaly. so i'm hopeful we can work that out. the president, mr. leader, spoke to us last night about a jobs program. i know that you have made comments with reference to shifting focus from cuts to jobs .

we think that's appropriate, we appreciate that observation. but do you have any idea of how soon we may get to the president's proposal on job creation and trying to get our economy growing again? you made some, i think, positive comments, the speaker has made some positive comments. i think those are welcomed. but can you give me some idea, given the president's sense of urgency, and i think the sense of the american people of the urgency of trying to create jobs and give them some more resources with which to support themselves and their families and to invest and to comprehensively try to staunch the loss of teachers and police and fire personnel that each one of our communities is experiencing and i yield to my friend. mr. cantor: i thank the gentleman and, mr. speaker, i

respond by saying, first of all, the president has not sent a text of his bill and we will be awaiting that. i would also like to respond by saying that the president came last night and there were several things and proposals within his speech that seemed to reflect some areas that we can both agree on and build towards consensus. i would say to the gentleman that insisting that this body and the two sides here agree on everything is not a reasonable expectation but that i feel and have said so many times since the president's speech that this is an opportunity for us to set aside the differences that we have because good people can differ and begin to focus on things like allowing for tax relief for small businesses, like allowing for the rollback

of regulatory impediments that stand in the way of small business growth. as the gentleman knows we put we put forward a fall agenda that's focused on those goals. proposals standing in the way of job creation and affording tax relief for small businesses to create an environment for middle class jobs. i yield back. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman. i would hope that we could also have hearings. i understand the gentleman's correct that the text has not been sent up. i expect that to happen in the very near future, probably i would hope before we get back on monday night. i would hope we could start hearings on all segments of that and see that on which we could get agreement. certainly investing in our infrastructure, investing in our schools and highways, critically important. we believe, and i think that will not only create jobs but it will create jobs that will have

a meaningful, positive impact on our infrastructure and our economic competitiveness. the president mentioned about making it in america. as you know we have a make it in america agenda which includes a large number of items, including a manufacturing strategy, the president mentioned, and we all -- it was one of the few times we all stood very enthusiastic when he mentioned it whether it was making cars or refrigerators or other goods here in america that having made in america goods was something that i think we all support. that's part of his agenda as well. and i certainly -- our agenda, and i hope our agenda writ large on a bipartisan basis. if i might ask you on the front page of the "washington post" today, as you probably saw, is a picture of my district in upper marlboro, maryland, where great

flooding as a result of the rains that we received and irene , the supplemental for the fema is coming hopefully from the senate relatively soon. i would ask the gentleman, as you know there are 484 million remains -- $484 million remains in fema's disaster relief fund. not enough to meet the disasters. in the aftermath of 9/11, as the gentleman knows, we appropriated such funds as were necessary. and we did so without paying for them because, in fact, they were real emergencies, real pain, real displacement, real dislocation, real costs immediately incurred by people as a result of the disaster. in that case of a terrorist act, but this case of a disaster. can the gentleman tell me whether or not we will be able

to pass in a relatively accelerated fashion sufficient resources for fema without getting into arguments about how in the short term we'll pay for them? we have to pay for things in the long term, i'm for that, but i would ask the gentleman whether or not he would anticipate getting that supplemental done as early as possible and hopefully a clean supplemental next week if that is at all possible because we need to respond to the emergencies that confront us. i yield to my friend. mr. cantor: first of all, he knows as well my district was the epicenter of the earthquake and damage there for that as well as extremely hard hit by the high winds associated with irene, and had almost 900,000 people without power. still people without power. i understand the situation that people are suffering and we need to get them their relief.

the gentleman knows i share his commitment to making sure that happens. i also applaud the gentleman for saying that, yes, because he has always been, mr. speaker, someone who says we have to pay for what we do here. and i don't think that the two are mutually exclusive. i don't and have never said we should be holding up any relief at all for people who need it. i also think we can work together to act responsibly. the gentleman has been an advocate always for paying for what we do. and so i would say as to the request as to where and when we were doing the supplemental, we still have not heard from the administration because as the gentleman knows there's a process that goes on at the local and state levels to make a determination about the need and to make a determination that the need exceeds the capacities of the local and state governments. so as to then turn to fema and the federal government to come in. so i say to the gentleman we

need to understand exactly what the costs are going to be. and we will make sure that we find the money. i will also say that we continue to try and get out of these sort of ad hoc way of appropriating for such emergencies. the fact is in the past that we in this congress have not adequately funded the disaster accounts and if found ourselves caught short-handed when disaster hits. and as the gentleman knows, part of the debt ceiling agreement included a 10-year rolling average to now be the amount for which we will budget for the disaster fund and hopefully that will get us on a much more even keel and allow for the adequate funding of what's needed, both in the short-term and long. but as for the supplemental, still waiting for the administration's determination of what it needed, and if it is

f.y. 2012 moneys, we will have the opportunity to roll that into the process of budgeting for the disasters the way we set out to do that in the debt ceiling agreement. i yield back. mr. hoyer: i appreciate the gentleman's observation and also his reference to the head room that we gave in the agreement that was reached in raising the debt ceiling, understanding there are emergencies that occur and you need head room to deal with those emergencies. i'm appreciative of the gentleman's observation. i understand as well, i want to acknowledge that his district was hard hit not only by the earthquake but by irene and i presume by the rains as well that have compounded that issue. but in any event i appreciate his willingness to ensure that we do, in fact, get a supplemental that will meet the needs, the immediate needs of those people throughout

certainly the atlantic coast, but in other parts of the country as well. i appreciate and will look forward to working with him on that objective. as i will look forward to working with him on realizing the early passage of a jobs bill which will in fact get americans back to work and get our economy growing is essential. unless he has anything further to say i yield back. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? mr. cantor: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that when the house adjourns today it adjourn to meet on monday next when it shall convene at noon for morning hour debate and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered.

the chair will entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from oregon seek recognition? permission granted, without objection. mr. blumenauer: mr. speaker, i voted against the intelligence re-authorization act reluctantly. on the eve of the 10th anniversary of 9/11, there's still nothing more important than the security of our people, but i am troubled by a clear lack of progress in getting our arms around this sprawling intelligence bureaucracy. there are 856,000 people with top security clearance in the united states. think about it. that's nearly the population of the entire state of delaware. it's more than the number of people who live in san francisco. over 10,000 locations scattered across the country, there are

1,200 government organizations, 1,900 private companies that focus on intelligence gathering and homeland security. but unfortunately we have an inability for anybody to know exactly what is going on. and the flood of information that is generated by hundreds of thousands of people with opportunities for leaks and mistake is troubling. it can be a source of vulnerability. after all, parts of the bureaucracy were well aware of the threat from osama bin laden immediately prior to 9/11. it's time for us to give this the scrutiny it deserves. the speaker pro tempore: are there any other one-minutes? for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas rise? without objection, permission granted. ms. jackson lee: today we

introduced a resolution to honor those whose lives were lost on 9/11. as a member of congress, i vividly remember as we rushed from this building and glared at the pentagon and saw the remains of the plane that had attacked this nation, from pennsylvania to washington, d.c., to new york our lives were changed as america watched. today as i stand on this floor i offer my deepest remarks and sympathy to the families who still are in pain. to the first responders whose memories are still glaring in their attempt to find those who were lost and save what might be left and the pain they have and the health conditions they suffer. but what i will say to america that we are still america. strong, patriotic, and believing in all that we are, the great

diversity that we are. thank you to the muslims who are on the capitol i right now providing the gift of life, giving blood. thank you to the city of houston that will be honoring those this coming weekend. we will be together because we are america. we will not be deterred. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. clarke: mr. speaker, nearly 10 years after the horrific events of 9/11, americans are still at risk. especially at risk of being poisoned, poisoned by terrorists who would choose to dump large

amounts of chemicals into our drinking water supply. so in order to protect the safety of our people, especially metro detroiters who drink water from a large municipal water system, today you i'm introducing legislation to better secure or municipal water systems all around this country from such a terrorist threat. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. are there any other requests for one-minute remarks? the chair lays before the house the following personal request. the clerk: leave of absence requested for mr. ber leta of pennsylvania -- berleta of pennsylvania for thursday, september 8, and for today. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the request is granted. under the speaker's announced policy of january 5, 2011, the

gentleman from nevada, mr. heck, is recognized for 30 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. heck: thank you, mr. speaker. we have all have our own stories, personal stories on how 9/11 affected us. where we were, what we were doing. for my generation, i'm sure the day will go down in history as our day of infamy. my perspective is as a first responder on that day. and someone who grew up in new york. i was working for the department of defense at the time leading a counterterrorism medical response organization, and my partner, paramedic jason kapp, was conducting some training with the u.s. park police over at their aviation facility in anacostia, when they saw a low-flying plane and heard the loud explosion. jason quickly jumped on a u.s. park police helicopter and was one of the first first responders to arrive at the pentagon and provide aid.

i was traveling and in st. louis when i turned on the tv that morning and saw the first tower in flames and was watching as the second tower was struck by another aircraft. i knew that i needed to get back to my office in bethesda as quickly as possible. a tsk made more difficult by the fact that aircraft had been grounded nationwide, so i remained on the phone, coordinating my teams, dispatching them to the various sites, and preparing for what might come next. . i carried that out until i made my way back to my office here and then subsequently on my way to new york city. the tragic events showed us the darkest side of humanity. my drive up the new jersey turnpike along with my partner, paramedic kepp, from here to the world trade center site as we drove past the liberty state park and look aid cross the

river to -- looked across the river to see the gaping hole in the new york city skyline where the trade towers once stood, now a cloud of dust sting hanging in the air, illuminated by the bright lights that had been set up for the rescue operation. crossing through the then desslat and closed off tunnel because all traffic in and out of new york had been stopped. and then the devastation on the scene. the twisted wreckage of what was two of america's tallest buildings. the debris field scattered widely. and the coating of pulverized cement that lay on the ground like a blanket of snow. but it also showed us the brightest side of humanity, the hundreds of people who lined up along west street every day holding up signs and cheering on the rescuers as they made their way to and from the scene to carry out response operations.

the restaurant owners in the area who were closed down for business to the public but opened up to provide hot meals to the rescuers who had previously been eating cold switches and m.r.e.'s -- sandwiches and m.r.e.'s. and the thousands of men and women who came to new york city to help. red cross volunteers, medical providers, public safety personnel, construction workers, heavy equipment operators among them. on behalf of the nearly 3,000 victims of that day, 246 were on the four planes, over 2,600 in new york city in the towers and on the ground. the 125 at the pentagon. those numbers including 55 military personnel, 343 firefighters and paramedics from the fire department of new york, 23 officers from the new york

police department, 37 officers from the port authority police department and eight e.m.t.'s and paramedics from private sector e.m.f. sess. i invoke a quote of then president george bush. our grief has turned to anger and anger to resolution. whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done. i offer my remarks today in memory of fire captain patrick "paddy" brown, ladder three, an american hero. remembered november 9, 2001, at st. patrick's cathedral in new york, recovered december 14, 2001, from the rubble of the north tower. thank you, mr. chairman, i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. mr. heck: mr. speaker, i would like to yield time to the gentleman from the empire state, mr. grimm. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman ask unanimous consent to reclaim his time? mr. grimm: i do. the speaker pro tempore: without objection werks. -- without objection, so ordered. mr. grimm: thank you, mr. speaker. as we approach the 10th anniversary of 9/11, i appreciate an opportunity to recognize those lost in the attacks. i think about our heroic emergency responders, the families of those who lost loved ones and those themselves that never returned on that tragic day. i was a 9/11 first responder and

i remember it like it was yesterday. i remember the despair, the feeling that it wasn't actually happening, it was surreal. i didn't believe it. but most of all there was an inscribeble look in the eyes of those that were walking away from the pile. and i can tell you without any uncertain terms that during this time and for the weeks that followed throughout the rescue and recovery, the vast majority of us turned to prayer and for many of us it was prayer that got us through dealing with the wreckage and the carnage and the reality that it was not a movie set, it was not surreal, it was in fact an attack on america. it was in fact a beautiful day where ordinary americans,

mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters went to work one day and never came home. and it was during this rescue and recovery that a perfectly in tact cross beam was found among the wreckage and that cross beam was believed to have been from tower one. and the cross was lifted out of the pile and was put on display. it became much more than a cross beam, but rather a similarble of hope and a similarble of -- symbol of hope and a symbol of comfort for all those on the pile and all those watching in despair, wondering if they would ever see their loved ones again. there's a lot to be said about 9/11 and it's very visceral, very person for everyone that was touched by it. but i can tell you that if there

was one common thread, one common bond it was the prayer, the symbol of hope, the feeling that we all came together and this cross is part of that. this cross beam this steel taken from -- beam, this steel taken from trade center one was a part of the story and the journey that all of those involved went through. and now that cross beam has been placed in the museum to be memorialized as an artifact, to remember everything that happened. but it's under attack by atheist groups that simply want their moment, their spotlight in the news. and that's why i put forth legislation to make it a national monument. this cross beam, the steel itself represents solace at a

time of one of the darkest moments in our history. it should be preserved. it is a part of that history. it is a part of the comfort that we sought and for that purpose i am very hopeful that my legislation will secure this cross beam's place at the museum so that we can all remember our nation's strength and resilience in the aftermath of this attack. and we can move forward as a stronger and better america. god bless you and god bless america. i yield back. mr. heck: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd now like to yield to the gentleman from the garden state, mr. lance. mr. lance: thank you very much,

mr. deck. mr. speaker. 21st century began for all intents and purposes on september 11, 2001. it did not begin well. the war against terrorism is among the greatest public policy challenges of our generation. the deceased were casualties of war, to the same extent as any person serving on the battlefield. the terrorists made no distinction between members of the armed forces and civilians. terrorists made no distinction between small children and infants and adults and they killed their victims at will. we in new jersey lost roughly

700 people, second only to the state of new york. i stated on the floor of the new jersey state legislature 10 years ago and i repeat here today on the floor of the united states house of representatives, that it will take the genius and the tenacity of a free society to overcome the scourge of terrorism but overcome it we shall. we have made much progress in the last 10 years, but, mr. speaker, more progress need to be made. -- needs to be made. on december 8, 1941, speaking here in the house of the people, the house of representatives, franklin roosevelt said famously , that no matter how long it may take us to overcome this

premeditated invasion, the american people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory. that is as true today regarding the war against terrorism as it was when franklin roosevelt spoke it about world war ii. so many years ago. in one of the subsequent stanzas of "america the beautiful," the author wrote of thinal pasters cities greem, undimmed by human tears. but of course that is not true. human tears are still shed based upon what happened on 9/11 and alabasters cities gleams no knot as brightly based upon the

horrific acts of the terrorists. at the national cathedral on september 14, 2001, the president of the united states, george w. bush, said this, there are prayers that help us last through the day or endure the night, there are prayers of friends and strangers that give us strength for the journey and there are prayers that yield our will to a will greater than our own. this world he created is of moral design, grief and tragedy and hatred are only for a time. goodness, remembrance and love have no end and the lord of life holds all who die and all who mourn. the president went on to state at the conclusion of his remarks words that i believe are from

the romans, the president said, as we have been assured, neither death nor life nor angels nor prince pallets nor powers, nor things present nor things to come nor height nor death can separate us from god's love. mr. speaker, this weekend we honor the memories of those who were lost on 9/11. we also honor the brave first responders to the horrific acts of a decade ago. and recall the tremendous heroism and self-sacrifice of so many in new york, at the pentagon and on an airplane over western pennsylvania. may god bless all of those who died on 9/11 and their families.

those who bravely responded to the tragedy and those who were ever put on the nation's uniform to serve and protect us from the dangers we have faced and continue to face. and, mr. speaker, may god continue to bless the united states of america. thank you very much, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. mr. heck: thank you, mr. speaker, i would now like to yield to the gentleman from the keystone state, mr. meehan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. meehan: i want to thank my good friend from nevada, dr. heck, and i want to thank him for opportunity of organizing this moment for us to recognize the significance of this weekend in which ceremonies and

memorials all across our country will be held, we'll come together as a nation to honor the lives of the -- the thousands of innocent lives that were lost 10 years ago. and there's no doubt that at the events of september 11 forever changed our nation, the lives that were lost on that horrific day continue to live in the hearts and the minds of millions of americans and people around the world who continue to honor their memory, i know for many this is a personal issue as well , those who knew and lived with people who gave their lives for me, it's a remembrance of the very special family, the bavis family and mark bavis. one of the individuals on the plane who went into the world center, maybe of the boston bruins and a wonderful young man.

these are act of heroism and courage from that day that will continue to be honored, and our brave first responders who risked their lives to help others will be the first among them. you'll hear many of us tell stories about the opportunity to be a participant in the aftermath of that immediate event and a small opportunity, and i think really it was a bridge just a few days thereafter to have had nomination of the president of the united states honored and passed on by the senate to become the united states attorney to go to work in the justice department just days after and to participate in playing a role in the nation's response to this horrible act of terrorism. i think of my role as being really quite minimal in respect to but it became a front seat on the ability to watch so many others who rallied around as a nation and who frankly then

went into harm's way and with the objective of keeping our nation safe from the continuing threat of terrorism. and i'm particularly focused on the war fighters who were bravely overseas now putting their lives on the line and the vigilance of the members of our law enforcement and others who -- the testament of their effect has been we are a decade later still recognizing not just their memories but the reality that we as a nation have not been similarly attacked. it's my hope not just on this anniversary of 9/11 but every day we'll remember the lives lost. those who were left without fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters. over 3,000 children lost one or both of their parents that faithful day including 32 babies who were born after

9/11. their incredible strength and resilience and the courage of their love and lost is an inspiration and i will trust we as a grateful nation will keep them all in our prayers. i yield back. mr. heck: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd now like to yield to the colleague from the house armed services committee, the gentlewoman from missouri, ms. hartzler. ms. hartzler: you know, 9/11 changed our world forever. it is this generation's pearl harbor and will live on in infamy. most of us will remember where we were. i was at home with our then 1 1/2-year-old daughter who was just finishing breakfast and it was a bright, clean, sunny day

in the fall. the doorbell rang. my neighbor was on my doorstep saying he just heard on the radio that a plane had hit the world trade towers and thinking of a tragic accident we turned on the tv and were horror find to watch a second plane crash into the second tower. this wasn't an accident. america was under attack. the hours after that were surreal as we learned of the attack on the pentagon, the brave passengers who intervened on flight 93, the airplane trails in the sky that did an about face, that dissipated and were no more as planes were grounded all across this country. and then watching on horror on tv as the towers collapsed and thousands lost their lives. my neighbor left and i, like most americans, turned in prayer to the one who gives comfort, strength and hope during times like this, and i

held my daughter close wondering what the future would bring. since that time our men and women in uniform, our intelligence community and our law enforcement have confronted the face of terror head on and have presented another attack. for that we are so grateful. we recognize their service and their sacrifice and pray a similar attack never occurs again. this sunday we commemorate 10 years since that faithful day. we each will remember the day in our own way but one theme is prevalent. we will never forget. we mourn the loss of the life of thousands of innocent americans whose lives were snuffed out in a senseless act of terror. we commend the first responders and volunteers who intervened in the hours and days following the event to get us back on our feet again. we commend their service and their colonel, but we must remain -- courage, but we must

remain vigilant. forces of evil still want to kill innocent civilians. we will not be deterred. we will continue to uphold the principles of freedom. we will not turn back. with god's grace we will prevail and continue to be a beacon of hope for generations to come. thank you. i yield back. mr. heck: mr. speaker, i'd now like to yield to my friend and a member of the house permanent select committee on intelligence, mr. conaway. mr. conaway: i thank dr. heck for yielding. mr. speaker, 10 years ago this sunday our nation endured one of the worst attacks that it's ever seen. like so many americans i watched in total disbelief at the horrific tragedy that was unfolding on american soil. i stood with shock as these were being broadcasted on our

television sets. we mourned the loss of life. these coordinated attacks were not just directed at buildings and people but at the very fabric of our country. this enemy sought to create mass fear and uncertainty but their heinous efforts are in vain and were in vain. they attacked men, women and children. they attacked our military and civilians without hesitation and reservation. while in our shock we saw strength that's not been seen since world war ii. we affirmed the commitment to freedom of ourselves and friends abroad and that commitment remains strong today. this unwaiver of commitment can be seen in the armed forces. it's seen in our police officers, our fire minnesota, our emergency personnel and all first responders. it's actually seen in the members of this body and those that you and i represent.

our commitment to liberty and freedom is as strong and unwavering as all of us today. today we remember those who parished and thank those who have laid down their lives to defend us. we mourn the mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters and sons and daughters and the families that were broken and lost that day. we honor those first responders who risked their lives to save their fellow americans and we praise the commitment of our service members and their families to continue to keep the fight over there and not at home. we remember how we felt that day and the sense of patriotism that we found. as americans today we look forward knowing that although we face daunting challenges as a nation we have the resolve to meet those challenges. much has been accomplished since that day. the world is safer and more free. but, mr. speaker, there's much yet -- there's much work that yet remains to be done. let's renew that patriotism that we felt that day and move our nation forward. god bless this great country.

and may i -- may god bless this great country. i yield back. mr. heck: mr. speaker, i'd now like to recognize the gentleman from california, mr. denham. mr. denham: mr. speaker, thank you, and thank you to the gentleman from nevada for yielding. in the midst of our nation's pressing economic troubles and our political disputes, let us all pause for a minute to take a moment and reflect on what happened to our great nation 10 years ago on september 11. americans experienced the most horrific attack in the western world. on the 10th anniversary of september 11, let us remember the great heroism that came out of this horrible tragedy, the brave first responders, the men and women that serve in the police departments, men and women that serve in our fire departments, those brave men and women that quickly

responded at that horrific time. let's also think of the original passengers of flight 93. those passengers that showed bravery at a very difficult time, the extraordinary action that they took. let's think of the same service men and women that put their lives on the line every day and put their lives on the line after those attacks and continue to put their lives on the line for the last 10 years, protecting our countries from the wars that ensued after. and then millions of americans that came together at this tough time, put their differences aside, put their political differences aside, put all of the difference together and came together as a country. we can all remember what we felt that day, where we were. i was traveling away from my family. my daughter was 3 years old at the time. i can remember the disbelief as

i saw what was happening on tv before my eyes. the sorrow that i felt for the pain that you could see in the faces of those individuals that were wondering whether their family was safe when they went to work that day. the fear that i had as a father and as a husband away from my family not knowing what was happening in my home state or to my kids. and then the anger that set in after i found out my family was safe, the anger that i felt that terrorists would attack our great nation. and then the pride that i felt as america came together united, the strength of a great nation, understanding that freedom doesn't just come free, that those that attack us, we will fight back, fight back for our freedom and strength as a

nation. i will ask all to remember these stories, the service men and women that are bravely serving our country, to stand pride proud -- proud, to renew their commitment to what happened that day and let us make sure that america never suffers in that way again. mr. chairman, i yield back. thank you. mr. heck: mr. speaker, i thank all my colleagues for coming down this after and sharing their feelings and experiences from that faithful day of september 11, 2001. we've heard a range of emotions, each telling their own story on how that day affected them. i ask that we all take a moment of silence on that day, september 11, 2011, on the 10th anniversary remembering those

nearly 3,000 victims, their families and those affected. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will receive a message. the messenger: mr. speaker, a message from the president of the united states. the secretary: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: mr. secretary.

the secretary: i am directed by the president of the united states to deliver to the house of representatives a message in writing.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house a message. the clerk: to the congress of the united states, section 202-d of the national emergencies act, 50 united states code, 121622-d, provides for the automatic termination of a national emergency unless prior to the anniversary date of its declaration the president publishes in the federal register and transmits to the congress a notice stating that the emergency is to continue in effect beyond the anniversary date. consistent with this provision i have sent to the federal register the enclosed notice stating that the emergency

declared with respect to the terrorist attacks on the united states of september 11, 2001, is to continue in effect for an additional year. the terrorist threat that led to the declaration on september 14, 2001, of a national emergency continues. for this reason i have determined that it is necessary to continue in effect after september 14, 2011, the national emergency with respect to the terrorist threat. signed, barack obama, the white house. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the committee on foreign affairs and ordered printed. the chair recognizes the gentleman from nevada for a motion. >> mr. speaker, i now move the house do now adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. accordingly the house stands

adjourned until noon on monday next for mornin aviation programs, current authorization expires next friday. monday, the house dabbles in for general speeches at noon eastern time with legislative business at 2:00 p.m.. live coverage when the house

returns here on c-span. >> in 1844, henry clay ran for president of the united states and lost. but the changed political history. he is one of the 14 men featured in c-span's new weekly series " the contenders." this week, live from henry clay's kentucky home, live at 8:00 eastern. this weekend, the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 on the c- span networks with live coverage from each of the memorial site -- new york city, of pennsylvania, and the pentagon. here is the live schedule. saturday at 12:30 p.m. eastern, the flight 93 national memorial dedication ceremony. sunday morning at 8:30, memorial ceremony from the world trade center site with president obama and former president bush. when c-span2 at 9:00, vice- president biden from the pentagon. on c-span 3 at 9:30 a.m., honoring those who lost their lives on united flight 93.

9/11 remember, this weekend on the c-span networks. >> fed chairman ben bernanke says that the federal reserve board will consider new steps to promote economic growth at the september 21 meeting. speaking yesterday at the economic club of minnesota, he calls on congress to pass a long-term deficit reduction program and avoid cuts in the short term that could hurt economic growth. this is just over 35 minutes. >> thank you, richard, for the nice introduction. if i speak quickly, we can -- [laughter] i am happy to be back in minneapolis. i been here a number of times. i have -- the president of the

central bank of minneapolis is here and i am very delighted to be kicking off your speaker series of the economic club of minnesota. thank you for inviting me and thank you for coming. what i would like to do today is provide a brief overview of the u.s. economic outlook and conclude with a few thoughts on monetary policy and the longer- term prospects for our economy. in discussing the prospects for the economy and for policies in the near term, it bears recalling briefly how we got here. the thant -- financial crisis that gripped global markets in 2008 and 2009 was more severe than any since the great depression. economic policymakers around the world saw the mounting risks of a global financial meltdown in the fall of 2008 and understood the extraordinarily dire economic consequences that such an event could have. governments and central banks consequences -- consequently

were forcefully and in close cooperation to avoid the looming collapse. the actions to stabilize the financial system were accompanied both in the united states and abroad by substantial monetary and fiscal stimulus. despite these strong and concerted efforts, severe damage to the global economy could not be avoided. the freezing of credit, sharp drops in asset prices, dysfunction in financial markets, and the resulting blows to confidence sent global production and trade into a free-fall in late 2008 and early 2009. it has been almost exactly three years since the beginning of the most intense phase of the financial crisis, in the late summer and fall of 2008, and a bit more than two years since the official beginning of the economic recovery in june 2009 as determined by the national bureau of economic research. where do we stand today? there have been some positive developments in the past few

years. in the financial sphere, our banking system and financial markets are significantly stronger and more stable. a credit availability has improved for many borrowers, although it remains tight and some categories such as small business lending and which the balance sheets and income prospects of potential borrowers remain impaired. given the source of the crisis, a structural reform is moving forward in the financial structure -- sector with domestic and international effort underway to enhance financial regulation and supervision, especially for the largest and systemically most important financial institutions. nevertheless, it is clear that the recovery from the crisis has been less robust than we had hoped. from recent comprehensive revisions are -- of government economic data we learned the recession was even deeper and the recovery weaker than we had previously thought. indeed, aggregate output in the united states has still not

returned to the level it had attained before the crisis. importantly, economic growth over the past two years has, for the most part, bid at rates insufficient to achieve sustained reductions in the unemployment rate, fluctuating a bit over 9%. the pattern of sluggish economic growth was particularly evident in the first half of this year, with the real gdp estimated to have increased at an annual rate of less than 1% on average in the first and second quarters. some of this weakness can be attributed to temporary factors, including the strains put on consumer and business budgets by the runups early this year and the prices of oil and other commodities, and the affects of the disaster in japan on global supply chains and production. accordingly, with commodity prices, and off of their highs and manufacturers' problems with supply chains it well along toward resolution, growth in the second half seems likely to pick up.

however, the incoming data suggest that other, more persistent factors, have also been holding back the recovery. consequently, as noted in its statement following the august meeting, the federal open market committee, fomc, now expects a somewhat slower pace of recovery over coming quarters than it did at the time of the june meeting, with greater downside risk to the economic outlook. one striking aspect of the recovery is the unusual weakness in household spending. after contacting -- contract thing never sharply during the recession, consumer spending expanded moderately through 2010, only to decelerate in the first half of 2011. the temporary factors i mentioned earlier -- the rise in commodity prices, which has hurt household purchasing power, and the disruption of manufacturing following the japanese disaster, which reduced auto availability and hence sales, are partial explanations for this deceleration.

but households are struggling with other important headwinds as well, including persistently high level of an endpoint, slow gains in wages for those who remain employed, falling house prices, and debt burdens that remain high for many, notwithstanding that households in the aggregate have been saving more and borrowing less. even taking into account the many financial pressures they face, households today seem exceptionally cautious. indeed, readings on consumer confidence have pauling's -- fallen badly in recent months as people become more pessimistic about both economic conditions and their own financial prospects. compared with the household sector, the business sector generally presents a more upbeat picture. manufacturing production has risen nearly 15% since its trough, driven importantly by growth in exports. indeed, the u.s. trade deficit has narrowed substantially relative to where it was before the crisis, reflecting in part

the improved competitiveness of u.s. goods and services. business investment in equipment and software has also continued to expand. corporate balance sheets are healthy, and although corporate bond markets have tightened somewhat of late, companies with access to the bond markets have generally had little the vocal the obtaining credit on favorable terms. but problems are evident in the business sector as well. business investment in nonresidential structures such as office buildings, factories, and shopping malls, has remained at a low level, held back by elevated vacancy rates at existing properties and difficulties, in some cases, in obtaining construction loans. also, some business surveys, including those conducted by the federal reserve system, 0.2 weaker conditions recently with businesses reporting slower growth in production, new orders, and employment. why has this recovery been so slow and erratic? historically, recessions have tended to sow the seeds of their

own recoveries as reduced spending on investment, housing, and consumer durables generates pent-up demand. as the business cycle bottomed out and confidence returns, this pent-up demand, often augmented by the effects of the militant monetary and fiscal policies, is meant through increased production and hiring. increased production in term boosts business revenues and increased hiring raises household incomes -- providing further impetus to business and household spending. improving income prospects and the balance sheets also make households and businesses more creditworthy, and financial institutions become more willing to lend. normally, these developments create a virtuous circle of rising incomes and profits, more supportive financial and credit conditions, and low or uncertainty, allowing the process of recovery to develop momentum. these restorative forces are at work today, and they will

continue to promote recovery over time. unfortunately the recession, besides being extraordinarily severe as well as global in scope, was also unusual in being associated with both a very deep slump in housing market and i historic financial crisis. these two features of the downturn, individually and in combination, had acted to slow the natural recovery process. notably, the housing sector has been a significant driver of recovery from most recessions in the united states since world war ii, but this time, with an overhang of distressed and foreclosed properties, tight credit did -- conditions for builders and potential home buyers, and ongoing concerns by both borrowers and lenders about continued house price declines, the rate of new home construction has remained at less than one-third of its pre- crisis peak. depressed construction has also hurt providers of a wide range of goods and services related to housing and home building, such

as the household appliance and home furnishing industries. even as tight credit for builders and potential homebuyers has been one of the factors restraining the recovery, the weak housing market hasn't turned adversely affected financial markets and the flow of credit. for example, the sharp declines in house prices in some areas have left many homeowners under water on their mortgages, creating financial hardships for household and through their affects on rates of mortgage delinquency and the thought, stress, for financial institutions as well. as i noted, the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009 played a central role in sparking the global recession. a great deal has been and continues to be done to address the causes and effects of the crisis, including extensive of financial reforms. however, although banking and financial conditions in the united states have improved significantly since the depths of the crisis, financial stress continues to be a significant drag on the recovery, both here

and abroad. this draft has become particularly evident in recent months, as bouts of sharp volatility and risk aversion in markets have reemerged in reaction to concerns about european sovereign debt and related strains as well as developments associated with the u.s. is the situation, including last month's downgrade of the u.s. long-term credit rating by one of the major credit rating agencies, as well as the recent controversy surrounding the raising of the u.s. debt limit. it is difficult to judge how much these events and the associated financial volatility have affected economic activity so far. but there seems little doubt that they had heard household and business confidence and that they pose ongoing risks to growth. while the weakness of the housing sector and continued financial volatility are two key reasons for the frustratingly slow pace of the recovery, other factors also may restrain growth in coming quarters. for example, state and local

governments continue to tighten their belts by cutting spending and reducing payrolls in the face of ongoing budgetary pressures, and federal fiscal stimulus is being withdrawn. there is ample room for debate about the appropriate size and role of the government in the longer run but in absence of adequate demand from the private sector a substantial fiscal consolidation in the shorter- term could add to the headwinds facing economic growth and hiring. the prospect of an increasing fiscal drag on the economy in the face of an already sluggish recovery highlights one of the many difficult trade-offs currently faced by fiscal policy makers. as i have emphasized on previous occasions, without the inevitable policy changes to address the increasing fiscal burdens that are associated with the aging of our population and ongoing rise in health-care costs, the finances of the federal government will spiral out of control in coming decades, risking severe economic

and financial damage. but while prompt and decisive action to put the federal government's finances on a sustainable trajectory is urgently needed, fiscal policy makers should not as a consequence disregard the fragility of the economic recovery. fortunately, the two goals, achieving fiscal sustainability, which is the result of responsible policies that and place for the longer-term, and avoiding the creation of fiscal headwinds for the recovery are not incompatible. acting now to put in place a credible plan for reducing future deficits over the long term, while being attentive to the implications of fiscal choices for the recovery in the near term, can help serve above objectives. let me turn now from the outlook for growth to the outlook for inflation. prices of many commodities, notably oil, increased sharply earlier this year. higher gasoline and food prices

translated directly into increased inflation for consumers, and in some cases, producers of other goods and services were able to pass through their higher costs to their customers as well. in addition, the global supply disruptions associated with the disaster in japan put on board pressure on motor vehicle prices. as a result of these influences, inflation picked up significant -- significantly. over the first half of the year the price index for personal consumption expenditures rose at an annualized rate of about 3.5% compared with an average of less than 1.5% over the preceding two years. however, inflation is expected to moderate in the coming quarters as these transitory influence is waning. in particular, the prices of oil and many other commodities have either leveled off or come off their highs. meanwhile, the step up in automobile production should reduce pressure on car prices. importantly, we see little indication that the higher rate of inflation experienced so far

this year has become ingrained in the economy. longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable according to the indicators we monitor, such as the measure of household longer- term expectations from the michigan survey, the 10-year inflation projections of professional forecasters, and five-year forward measures of inflation compensation derived on the heels of inflation protected treasury securities. in addition to the stability of longer-term inflation expectations, the substantial amount of resource slack that exists in u.s. labor and product markets should continue to have a moderating influence on inflationary pressures. notably because of ongoing weakness in labor demand over the course of the recovery, nominal wage increases have been roughly offset by productivity gains -- gains, leaving the level of unit labor costs close to where it had stood at the onset of the recession. given a large share of labor cost in production, subdued unit labor costs should be an

important restraining influence on inflation going forward. although the apple one c expects a moderate recovery to continue, and indeed, to strengthen over time, the committee has responded to recent developments, as i already noted, the marking down its outlook for economic growth over coming quarters. the committee also continues to anticipate that inflation will moderate overtime to a rate at or below 2% or a bit less than mall -- most fomc dissidents consider consistent with the dual mandate to promote maximum employment and price stability. given this outlook, the committee decided at its august meeting to provide more specific for guidance about its expectations for the future path of the federal funds rate. in particular, the statement following the meeting indicated that economic conditions, including low rates of resource utilization and a subdued outlook for inflation over the medium run, are likely to

warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at least through mid-2013. that is, and what the committee judges to be the most likely scenarios for resource utilization and inflation in the medium-term, the target for the federal funds rate would be held at its current low level for at least two years. an addition to refining our for guidance, the federal reserve have a range of tools that could be used to provide additional monetary stimulus. we discussed the relative merits and cost of such tools at our august meeting. my colleagues and i will continue to consider those and other pertinent issues, including, of course, economic and financial developments, at our meeting in september, and we are prepared to employed these tools as a program to promote a stronger economic recovery in the context of price stability. let me conclude with just a few words on the longer-term prospects for our economy. as monetary and fiscal policy

makers consider the appropriate policies to address the economy's current weakness, it is important to acknowledge its in during strengths. notwithstanding the trauma of the crisis and recession, the u.s. economy remains of the largest in the world, with a highly diverse mix of industries and a degree of international competitiveness that, if anything, has improved in recent years. our economy retained its traditional advantages of a strong market orientation, a robust entrepreneurial culture, and flexible capital and labor markets. and our country remained a technological leader, with many of the world's leading research universities and the highest spending on research and development of any nation. thus, i did not expect the long run growth potential of the u.s. economy to be materially affected by the financial crisis and the recession if, and i stress if, our country takes the necessary steps to secure that

outcome. i cannot policymakers face a range of difficult decisions, and every household and business must cope with the stresses and uncertainties that our current situation presents. these are not easy tasks. i have no doubt, however, that these challenges can be met, and that the fundamental strengths of our economy will ultimately reassert themselves. let me assure you that the battle reserve will certainly do all that it can to help restore high rates of growth and the employment in a context of price stability. thank you for your attention today. [applause] >> i will allow the chairman to state to answer these questions. i have been assigned the task of

posing questions submitted by others. and i am going to start to one from our cove -- co-chair, bill frenzel, who is also co-chair for the committee of a responsible federal budget and therein may lie the nature of his question. bill's question is this -- in your excellent presentation at jackson hole news said the country would be well served by a better process for making fiscal decisions. the negotiations that took place in the summer disrupted financial markets and probably the economy as well. here is the conclusion of bill's question -- individuals and groups have had little apparent success with process changes. policy makers don't seem to like change. what form might these policy changes take, and can you tell us where we might look for the first signs of possible federal budget process improvements?

>> so, as i discussed in my speech at jackson hole, this policy is difficult because it involves multiple objectives. first, and very importantly, we need to have long-term sustainability. our budget is not on a sustainable path. we need to address that. it is a long-term and very important issue. secondly, as i mentioned today, in doing so we need to also be attentive to what is happening in our economy today, to make sure what we do is constructed in terms of our recovery. third, kristol -- fiscal policy is very important for long-term growth. we have to make good choices and we have to think about how to address on the spending side, how to reform and improve our tax code on the revenue side, so that our fiscal policies are most conducive to long-term growth. finally, and very importantly,

we have to do this all in a way that is not disruptive to financial markets, as the discussions over the summer did prove to be. we need a better process so we don't have the same consequences that we saw with the downgrade and with some of the financial volatility that was associated with the process this summer. i am really not going to be able to give you a detailed recipe for a new fiscal process. of course, that is a priority of congress. but i can make a couple of observations. first of all, as i indicated, fiscal sustainability is a very long run process. it takes a long run outlook to think about how we are going to address the rising cost of health care, pensions, military, all the various aspects of our budget, and therefore, i hope that in thinking about their fiscal policies, congress will look at a long horizon and think

about the entire horizon in that process. secondly, it is important that there be some kind of died -- guide, some kind of metric. there are many possibilities. one possibility is the amount of debt outstanding relative to gdp. there are other possibilities. but we need to have some new charts. economists love metrics, so we need something to measure our success and failure in terms of both actual and predicted monetary policy. now, the actual process -- again, i can't get into great detail. we have seen some interesting devices supplied with the super committee, the upper down vote, said was based -- sequestration, and so on. there are a number of people -- countries around the world -- switzerland is one example -- where fiscal rules have been put in place and they helped at least provide a framework for policymakers to make good,

coherent long-term decisions. but i do think it is very important that we all get together and make sure that in the future we are making our decisions in a way that is not as destructive as it was the last time around and will provide a good, sensible fiscal outlook that will help our economy both recover from the recession and also grow in the long term. >> our second question was submitted by andy of the founding properties, llc. he spoke to this in part just now and touched on this briefly during your remarks. but the question is a bit more detail. do you think the recent market convulsions were more a function that the u.s. credit was downgraded or that the debt limit agreement had minimal expenditure cuts in 2012 and the bulk of the cuts, 55% to 70%,

according after 2016 it? >> well, this has been an interesting experience, the downgrade. as indicated in testimony sometime ago when i was asked about this, i pointed out that a downgrade is really not going to provide any information. everybody knows what needs to be done. in that respect, there's not much information. treasury interest rates are actually lower today than they were before the downgrade. it has not, so far at least, been a permanent impact on our interest costs, although some of the downgrade effects of floated through to some other -- have flowed through to some other borrowers besides the u.s. treasury. if you listen to what s&p said, they did not make the claim that the u.s. did not have the

economic resources to achieve fiscal sustainability. i mean, we do. it is not a question of economics. country. sure, we can find ways to achieve our objectives and to have a sustainable budget. what s&p pointed to was the process, again. they said they were concerned that, given the way things had evolved, there were concerned that there was not an adequate political consensus or political process that would bring about the necessary changes. let me not make light of that in any way. there are real political controversies, obviously, real disagreements, and those need to be worked out. but we do need to work together to find solutions and to achieve what we know we can achieve, which is a sustainable sustainable budget for the u.s. government. >> there's a second part to andy's question, and i would

preface it by saying, respectful of your remarks about the near- term fragility of the economy, his question is, do you have a sense of the magnitude of this goal expenditure reductions that should take place in the next 10 years? the super committee has been charged with a $1.50 trillion in some groups, including the committee to the responsible federal budget has said some the closer to $5 trillion or $6 trillion. how do you view that? >> well, these are not numbers that have come from the responsible budget committee -- they have come from the congressional budget -- congressional budget office and so on. i would not hazard a cardigan number, but i would say there's general agreement among all the players. among congress, administration, cbo, outside experts, and so on it that the steps that were taken, while certainly

constructive, are only first steps. more needs to be done to create long-term sustainability. but clearly, we have to move in that direction. an exact number depends on how quickly we want to stabilize the debt-to-gdp ratio. there are other considerations we have. but the dollar sign1.2 trillion or $1.5 trillion is depending on the measure and is one step toward sustainability. >> the next question is from ronald offett. there is a related question from john lindal from northwest equity partners. i will merge the two because i have to do with the policy in the value of the dollar. there has been much in the press about the value trend of the u.s. dollar and the potential for other reserve currencies to emerge. kind of a two-part question.

how important is it to the fed's effectiveness that the u.s. dollar remained the world's primary reserve currency? and you see the fed changing its position on the dollar to try to strengthen it, vis-a-vis other currencies around the globe? >> well, i would make the general disclaimer that the u.s. treasury speaks for the u.s. government on dollar policy. i think that is important to say. a couple, response to the question -- first of all, the fact that the dollar is the primary reserve currency does provide some benefits to the u.s. economy. and makes our interest rates probably lower than they otherwise would be. so there is some effect there. the dollar does remain by some margent still the currency in which the majority of international reserves are held. there is, after all, no official reserve currency.

it is a choice made by each government, by each central bank, and by huge private sector investor or company. again, the dollar, at this point, remains the currency of choice. i suspect that will continue to be the case for some time. a lot of reasons for that, including the underlying strength and vitality of the u.s. economy, but also very important, the size of the liquidity in our financial markets. which is something we do not want to lose. we want those markets to be liquid, reliable, and indeed. and the ability to buy and sell and transact easily is very important to holders of liquid assets. that is one of the reasons that the dollar has remained a key currency. the federal reserve's policy is mandated, according by congress, to address two objectives. one is maximum employment, by

which i mean is trying to promote recovery and reduce unemployment. and the second is price stability that is keeping inflation low. and those are the objectives that we address. price stability, low inflation actually is saying something about the dollar. low inflation means that the buying power of the dollar in terms of domestic goods and services remains stable over time. and we have achieved, the federal reserve generally, not just the current fed, but the federal reserve going back to the mid 1980's, has maintained a good record of low and stable inflation, which means stable purchasing power for the dollar as measured in terms of domestic goods and services. low inflation domestically does not always mean, to me at least, the foreign-exchange value of the dollar will be high or low. that moves according to a variety of factors, including how much risk aversion there is in the markets, what is

happening to our trade balance, and a variety of other things. but in the longer term, there is a very close connection between our mandate and the value of the dollar, specifically in the medium term. the valley of the dollar depends on two things. it depends on our inflation rate relative to other inflation rates in other countries. and it depends on the strength of our economies. again, we set inflation low. inflation in the u.s. has been lower than most countries in the last couple of years. on that account, by keeping inflation low and purchasing power stable, we're going to enhance the dollar. our policy of trying to promote recovery and trying to get the economy to a point where it can grow and be strong again, that will make the u.s. and attractive destination for investment, and that will, you know, the the other half of the equation. ultimately, the policy of maximum employment and price stability is consistent with a

strong dollar policy, and that is the way we think about it. >> i am going to take the moderator's prague to to inject a question of my own. there have been publicized in recent weeks the fact that there was dissension at the open markets meeting in august. it may not be a new development that there are disagreements within the committee, but it seems knew that it has become a more public conversation. -- it seems new that it has become a more public conversation. how should we look at that development? >> there is a reason why it is a committee. there are 19 people around the table when we meet to discuss monetary policy. and my attitude has always been that two people always agree, one of them is redundant. [laughter] so the reason we have a

committees to bring different points of view and different analytical approaches, different perceptions of the economy, different views on communication and on strategy. i have always tried -- i think this is the best way to make policy, i have tried to encourage, both inside and outside, debates and discussions about what is the right approach. now, one thing is certainly evident, that currently we are in a situation, which in many ways is unprecedented. the problems afflicting our economy, the nature of monetary policy given that we have already reduced the short-term interest rates close to zero, and we have been looking at alternative ways to stimulate the economy, different views on what the problem is in some sense. so it is natural to have some disagreement, and we have had different points of view. there is obviously no hiding that, and i have no desire to

hide it. again, it is ultimately constructive, and i encourage debate and discussion. and i would add, and i think this is very important, that when we have these discussions internally, dizzy always with the highest level of collegiality in mutual respect. conversations are extremely cordial. i think that represents the best that policymaking committee can do, which is to bring all the points of view together and try to fashion as best we can a consensus. they will not always be available, but we will do our best to find the middle ground. >> and a closing question, this one submitted by steve singer, former ceo of general mills and a member of our economic club board. how would you raise an wouldpaul giamatti's portrayal of view, and for that matter, the bridge rail of other principals in the recent movie "too big to fail"?

>> i did not see that movie. i saw the original. [laughter] [applause] i think paul giamatti is an excellent actor. in fact, i met him. he asked to meet with me. we had lots of the federal reserve. the first thing i found out about him is that his father is the commissioner of baseball. so what do you think we talked about the whole lunch? [laughter] >> i think that will do. help me thank chairman bernanke for his presentation [applause] today] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> house minority leader nancy pelosi told reporters this morning that she that president obama's speech was a home run and that she's committed to passing the package she outlined through congress. she made her remarks at her

weekly legislative briefing. it is about 20 minutes. >> good morning. how are you? things are moving along quickly on the floor, so we will move along quickly year as well. the quickest way for me to give you my reaction to the president's speech is to say that last night after his speech i went home and was flipping between the nfl game, the green bay packers and the new orleans saints, and the u.s. open, and the both reminded me that the president's speech, i think, was definitely a touchdown, an ace serve, a home run, out of the

park, strike, any sports analogy you want to come up with. i think he achieved it. when the president began his speech, he talked about the fact that, he said that the press is asking -- i think he referenced all of you, what does the speech made to the president? what does the speech made to the congress? after listening to the speech, it is clear that what is important is what the speech means to the american people. i think it was a speech about hope and confidence about doing what is doable. initiatives that echo some of what we said earlier this week when we came before you about the a, b, c's, getting back to basics. make it in america, a bill that in america, do so in a way that respects the public role, public education, public safety. we were pleased with that. but it did so in the context of the initiatives that will get

bipartisan support on a regular and ongoing basis and recent cases as well. so i thought it was the doable initiative. and his appeal to pass the american jobs act now is one i think we must respond to. for that reason, as you may know, i had already written to my ranking members, asking them to ask their chairmen for hearings on the president's proposals. also, i have written to speaker boehner, asking him to initiate those hearings on the legislation. you should have it come up but -- you should have it, but it would be a sign of our commitment to acting quickly and in a bipartisan way, and if you would similarly urge the chairman to move expeditiously to pass legislation and began trading -- creating jobs. the hearings would be a first

step. one other point i want to make is that this proposal comes at a time when it should, again, enhance the possibility for the table of 12 -- i do not know how the have been characterized, but everyone knows who i mean, and the actions they take. some have said it will increase the challenge. well, if it increases their challenge to create jobs, all the better. this should be the centerpiece. how do we create jobs, grow the economy, and how do we use the tax code, the timing of cuts, or investments, to create jobs? i have called upon the table of 12 to act in a way that favors the entrepreneurial spirit of america and the world of small businesses play in creating jobs. i am particularly happy that that was part of the emphasis of the president, recognizing that small businesses are the job creators.

and reducing the disparity and ownership our it -- in our country, and equity is very important in making sure many more americans participate in that. the response we received is overwhelmingly favorable. some of the reports have said this will create in 2012 1.9 million jobs at around 150,000 jobs a month, and it will increase the rate of gdp growth by 2%, taking us to around 4.5% in 2012. that would be absolutely great, and it would reduce the unemployment rate from more of riches, 9% + to 8%. again, whether it is in terms of initiatives that we have been

fighting for or the bipartisan nature of the president's appeal, i think it was a home run, out of the park, touchdown, ace serve, what else? pinstripe. again, this all happened at a time when our country is feeling, again, the memory and sadness of 9/11, at a time when many communities have been affected by natural disasters, whether it is forest fires in the west or floods in the east in the gulf coast area. so it is a somber time for us in terms of the human toll that all of that has taken and is taking. i, myself, i will be leaving to go to california for our ceremony that we will have tomorrow morning in san francisco and then get on the plane and go to new york for the

9/11 ceremony observance their. other members and leadership will be observing 9/11 all over the country. again, it is a very sad time for our country, but one that speaks to our sense of community and our sense of strength as to how we go forward to honor our first demint -- commitment to the american people to keep them safe. >> [inaudible] -- of the press, but the you believe the government is prepared to handle any sort of an attack -- [inaudible] >> let me say that, even before hearing about the threat than being briefed about it, i think everybody thought there was a possibility, with the significance of the 10-year

anniversary. so i think there was a heightened alert any way of asking people to be aware of their surroundings and to report any strange behavior. and of course, at the sites of the observances of 9/11. so i do not know how much it has changed things. i saw the report from a year bloomberg, the mayor of new york, last night -- the report from mayor bloomberg. but i do not know -- i would have thought that everyone was pretty much in high gear in terms of what the possibilities were for this. >> [inaudible] >> yes, i have. >> [inaudible] >> i really cannot speak to that. again, it is the 10-year anniversary of 9/11. >> republican said that the way to create jobs is to roll back

-- [inaudible] on social security, advocates say the payroll tax would damage the structural integrity of the program. >> well, because we have boats, i am glad your colleagues have allowed you two questions. first of all, in terms of the social security, i think we pretty much have gotten to a place where there is general acceptance that that is going to be part of the initiative. i do not know. there may be some. it does not mean that every part of everything the president said that everybody said, i am so glad about that. this is, again, a compromise. the president feels very committed to it. what is important about the speech last night was that, not only what he said that how he

said it and he is taking it to the american people. he believes that this initiative has an integrity to it. he introduced it as one bill. again, it fits comfortably in what he is proposing it you have heard what i have heard leading up to this, but i think there's a comfort level as to what it would achieve. tell me the second question again. >> [inaudible] >> i do not think we should have any regulations that we should not have, but there are plenty we should have. the president has said we should subject any of those regulations to review as to if they're accomplishing the purpose they set out to do or if they're just a hindrance to business is growing and jobs being created. but when you're in and irina, right now where one of -- when you are in an arena where some on the extreme right in the country wanted to with all regulation, clean air, clean

water, food safety, and the rest, the president was clear that he will protect the american people in that regard. but again, what is the purpose of it? the president has his own review and has made some significant recommendations about reducing regulations were their duplicative, obsolete, or not fulfilling the purpose. >> [inaudible] that the republicans are ready to work with you on a number of these issues or do you expect some of the same? >> i hope not. i think that the president's appeal what i was on the basis of proven initiatives, proven to have had strong bipartisan support, republican support in the near and the historic past. so he did not reach for things that were divisive. he had a values-based speech,

which is unifying, and proposals that have enjoyed bipartisan support. as the speaker said, and i have his words in a letter that i sent to him, and his remarks the will-i said, i am courage to buy your statements of the proposal the president outlined tonight merits consideration. and i hope that we can work together to create a better environment for long-term economic growth and private sector job creation. i am encouraged by that remark, by speaker boehner. again, others on the republican leadership and the conference have spoken in favor of some of the initiatives, including payroll tax holiday. >> [inaudible] get a bill of this side to the house --

>> well, it may be part of what the table of 12 recommends. but i would hope that we could get some of it passed sooner than that. some of it has not been controversy all. the issues are well known. we have asked for hearings on some of the specifics in the bill as they got two different committees of jurisdiction. i think that we can advance it. the american people cannot wait very much longer for some relief. the proposal has been put forth. pass it, change it, make your own suggestions, adding to it. but let's act upon it. so, in any event, i think a great deal of it can be done. it is like 98 days, almost 40 legislative days, that we have before the big committee has to act, and another month after

that that congress can continue to act. >> is there concern that in this large bill and limited time, are democrats concerned that the republicans will -- [inaudible] some of the things that your caucus has called for? >> we are about job creation. what i think the most encouraging thing from last night is that the president was taking this to the public, so that they understood the values upon which is proposals were based, the suggestions were bipartisan in their nature and their history, and that he is going out there. what we have heard during the break is that house members are always home, putting their hand on the very hot stove. what the president said last night response and actually takes the lead on many of the concerns that the american

people have. i think it is about the american people. i think that will give an opening to work in a bipartisan way. i think we have to be respectful. i do not think we have to put up the front. it should be where we can find our common ground, go through those, see how we go forward, and what other proposals could take the place of it if somebody has a better idea. what i do know is the ideas that have been put forth thus far, that the republicans of that the majority, have not created one job. if it is just more tax cuts for the wealthy or the job crater, that did not work during the bush administration. so we will have that debate. i think it will be a healthy one by the tone of the president said. >> [inaudible] boehner showed some -- the you

see and times that republicans would support any increased spending? >> that has been a bipartisan issue inside and outside of congress, whether it was over and over again, the afl-cio and the u.s. chamber of commerce have come together to support infrastructure initiatives. that is probably as blow a partisan issue as you can come by, in terms of the outside constituencies for it. many people outside, whether they're cement mixtures -- mixer's or whatever it is, everybody knows that there is a multi trillion dollar deficit in our country in terms of infrastructure. that is not roads, highways, and high-speed rail. it is bob broadband, water systems in the country. many of them are ancient, and it is a health issue as well as an infrastructure issue.

it is a very exciting initiative, as the president acknowledged. we would like something a little broader, but that is the congressional debate in terms of an infrastructure bank on how we can finance these things in a way that leverage is the taxpayer's dollars. there can never be enough taxpayer dollars to do the job without the public-private partnership and the leveraging. if there is any issue in the whole panoply of proposals, the infrastructure initiative has the most longevity in terms of bipartisan support inside and outside the congress, and i would hope that that building would be in our trades jobs here in america, and at the same time, build the infrastructure, including our schools, which was a special emphasis of the

president had last night. in conclusion, i have to get going, i think that the president made a masterful proposal to the american people last night. modulated by the need to be bipartisan, enthusiastic in terms of the urgency to get the job done, and one thing that we were very happy about is that he would be taking it to the public. so their feedback on it would further validate the need or other proposals they might have on it. but at the end of the day, which is a short day, you'll have legislation passed that addresses many of the proposals that the president put forth, hopefully all of them. in any event, i hope you will get home safe and sound in all of the weather. again, we began our caucus this morning with a moment of

silence. that will be the tenor of this weekend now as we observe the 10th anniversary of 9/11. a really incredible time in our country's history. maybe some of you were there a month or so ago when they brought the flag that flew over the world trade center. it has been touring the country. two people took the initiative themselves to take it around the country, and it is being repaired by other remnants of other flags, fragments of our history. here, we had the opportunity, many of us, to stitch the flag. one of the most incredible parts of it is that they had stitched into it some of the threads from the flag that covered president abraham lincoln after his assassination, tying our country together again. president lincoln spoke in one of his earlier speeches about the silent artillery of time. i hope that the silent artillery

of time helps ease the pain for those affected by 9/11 very directly, the whole country, the whole world was affected, but have immediate personal loss. while it may hopefully the dull the pain, it will never less than the memory and the regard that we have for those who lost their lives that day. thank you all very much. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> in 1844, henry clay ran for president of the united states and lost, but he changed political history. he is one of the 14 men and featured in c-span's new weekly series. this week, henry clay's kentucky home, tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern. >> this again, the 10-year

anniversary of 9/11 on the c- span networks, with live care rich from each of the memorial site, new york city, shanksville, pennsylvania, and the pentagon. here is our live schedule. saturday at 12:30 p.m. eastern, the flight 93 national memorial dedication ceremony from shanksville, pennsylvania. sunday morning at 8:30 a.m., a memorial ceremony from the world trade center site with president obama and former president bush. on c-span2 and 9:00 a.m., a vice president biden from the pentagon. on c-span3 and 9:30 a.m., honoring those who lost their lives on united flight 93. 9/11 remember, this weekend on the c-span networks. >> next, a forum on anti- terrorism efforts cents 9/11. at the treasury department, administration officials said that al qaeda is suffering financially, making it more difficult for the group to plot the tax in the u.s.. speaking first is treasury secretary tim geithner, and then

the treasury undersecretary, and white house counter-terrorism adviser. altogether, this is about 40 minutes. >> we meet today, of course, in the shadow of a tragedy 10 years past. on september 11, 2001, our nation suffered a terrorist attack that killed thousands and shook the nation. i want to start by asking all of us to observe a moment of silence in remembrance of that day.

>> those attacks were brutal. there were sophisticated, and they were well-funded. in the aftermath of those attacks, our government revamped its national security structure to fight the terrorist threat more effectively. as we began to fully understand the complexity of al qaeda and other terrorist organizations, it became increasingly clear that it was crucial to disrupt their ability to fund their operations. while terrorism is very different from conventional military threat, it has something significant in common

with them. it needs cash and money. 25,500 years ago, the greek historians wrote of a spartan king who said war is a matter not so much of arms as of money. and two and half years ago, the chilling echoes words, a senior al qaeda leader in afghanistan explained, without money, jihad stops. and that is why the work of the people in this room and the subject of this symposium are so important. the long arc the treasury's efforts to counter terrorist financing began before 9/11, with the work of secretaries rubin, summers, and neil to combat money laundering. to prevent the illicit use of the formal financial system. after 9/11, it became evident that we needed a dedicated effort to disrupt the funding networks of terrorist organizations.

secretaries no established treasury's office of tourism and financial intelligence, which we call tfi. in president bush appointed stuart levy as the first undersecretary. stuart, together with a remarkably talented group of individuals, were armed with an innovative and powerful set of tools. and their accomplishments have a fundamentally changed and it strengthens the way we fight terrorism. that team, which is led today by david, dani, leslie, adam, and jim continues to carry on the work that stewart and secretary paulson were instrumental in establishing. let me explain how this noble endeavor works. it brings together four key things. intelligence, targeted sanctions, international cooperation, and private sector engagement. a comprehensive strategy to

identify donors, financiers, facilitators of terrorist organizations, and to disrupt their ability to fund them. we are obtaining, analyzing, and acting on intelligence to constrain the activities of those who would fund terrorism and to hold them accountable for sanctions -- through sanctions. in the harsh and direct consequences of those sanctions have succeeded in deterring the owners across the globe. international cooperation is critical to the effectiveness of this work, whether we're providing intelligence that another partner can act on or we are receiving intelligence that we can use it ourselves. multilateral institutions, including the g-20, have institutionalized this focus on combating terrorist financing, both through the adoption of new standards and through visible public support for increased financial transparency. and of course, finally, the private sector plays an important role, acting as the

key partner for national governments. the vigilance of financial institutions to identify block money for terrorist activities, reinforces the ability of governments to target their founders. because of this strategy, donors, financial institutions, and facilitators across the world are no longer free to fund and facilitate terrorism activities. the pool of money for terrorism has -- is shrinking, and it is growing harder to hide and moved funds. this is no small accomplishment. 10 years ago, al qaeda's ability to access a large network of the pocket donors and move money to the formal financial system allowed to carry out the deadliest terrorist attack in our country's history. today, however, al qaeda struggles to secure a steady financing. it can no longer rely on a big

rolodex and a symbol bank transfer. of course, in may, its leader and its most effective advocate for donations, osama bin laden, was killed by u.s. forces. al qaeda is a determined and sophisticated organization, and it will continue to find ways to access funding. so as al qaeda and other terrorist groups look for new methods to raise and move money, we will continue to develop creative and inspective strategy is to stop them. today's for provide us a chance to reflect on the state of the thread in the best ways to defeat it as it evolves. terrorism office of commenters financing and intelligence, has become an integral part of the u.s. national security architecture and has dramatically expanded the options available to the president to respond to threats. tfi's success in the recognition

it has received around the world helps make sure that combating terrorist financing continues to be a central part of our nations and other nations counter- terrorism strategies. and as we all move forward together over the next decade, increasing international cooperation will be essential to the success of this effort. credit for this progress is opposed to many of the people in the room today and to the hundreds of other dedicated and talented people here in treasury and across the u.s. government. they have helped make our nation safer, and will continue to do so in years to come. we owe them our gratitude, and this is a solemn gratitude. thank you. [applause]

so good morning, again. first, please join me in thanking our first panel for a very informative and stimulating discussion. [applause] quinn al-qaeda struck the united states on september 11, 2001, killing thousands, the american people demanded a swift and powerful response. to punish those behind the attacks, to leverage all elements of national power, to protect the united states and its citizens, and to ensure that nothing like the acts carried out that tuesday morning ever happen again.

our military, with the help of our intelligence community, quickly swung into action, driving al qaeda from its safe- haven in afghanistan, destroying its training camps, and disrupting its ability to plan, coordinate, and launch another attack. but it was also understood that more could be done and needed to be done to fight al qaeda, including its financial foundations. so in the decades since 9/11, the u.s. government has undertaken an unprecedented effort to unmask and choke off al qaeda's financial support networks. the strategy is developed by treasury's office of tourism and financial intelligence have placed the department squarely within our country's national security community and at the forefront of the battle to deprive al qaeda and terrorists of the world over of the financial world and how it operates. treasury is not alone in this

fight, not by any stretch. this is truly a whole government effort, involving our colleagues in the state, justice, and defense departments, the intelligence community, and the law-enforcement community. nor is the u.s. alone in this fight. we work closely with the u.n., which has established an extensive legal framework for combating terrorist financing of the global level. and we work closely with dozens of countries, many of whom are represented here this morning, to stem the flow of funds to terrorists. and we work closely with the international banking community and others in the private sector to prevent terrorists from using the formal financial sector to receive, store, move, and use funds. this morning, i would like to briefly shared the treasury department's assessment of al qaeda's current financial situation and sketch out where we will take treasury's counterterror financing efforts

in the months and years to come. in the last few years, it became clear that al qaeda was encountering financial difficulties. by 2010, we believe the organization was in its worst financial position in years. we assess that al qaeda posing increasingly precarious financial situation would not only impair its ability to operate, but would also likely send al qaeda and its affiliates in search of new sources of funding. recent intelligence confirms that al qaeda devotes a great deal of attention and effort to raising money and managing its budget. for example, we have learned that al qaeda kept meticulous accounting statements on operating costs, such as weapons, fuel, tracking expenditures that amounted to a little more than $1. we also learned that al qaeda's shaikh the bottom line attracted the attention of al qaeda's senior leaders, who in early 2010 at lamented that al qaeda

was experiencing great financial hardship. these difficult is or not simply a theoretical concern for al qaeda's leaders. the shortfall had began to affect al qaeda's operational capabilities. new information revealed that early last year, al qaeda not only was stressed financially, it was struggling to allocate funds on plant and to execute a attacks against the u.s. and western interests. this financial squeeze led al qaeda to explore new avenues for funding. by early last year, the terrorist group was seeking to fund raise through another method, kidnapping for ransom. the picture we have been able to piece together from recent intelligence includes both good and bad news. while it was heartening to get confirmation on global efforts to disrupt al qaeda's financing had begun to pay off, we are reminded that al qaeda remains an innovative, resourceful, an adaptive thing. we will need to continue to

innovate and adapt, and to maintain the impact we began to see in recent years. with that in mind, let me turn now to the key areas where we will be focusing our energies and efforts. first and foremost, we will keep the pressure on. the recent deaths of osama bin laden and others, capping off a decade's worth of comprehensive efforts to attack -- attack the kind that has lifted weekend, but now's the time to let up. for as the treasury, that means continuing to concentrate on disrupting al qaeda's financial and material support efforts. just yesterday, we designated three senior pakistan-based al- qaeda leaders, including the commander and a longtime al qaeda fighter in charge of al qaeda's external operations as recently as last year, who was

arrested by pakistani authorities just a few days ago. these actions follow a set of designations we announced in july, targeting a key financial pipeline for al qaeda, which runs from kuwait, qatar, through iran, and into pakistan, which depends on agreements between al qaeda and the iranian government to allow this network to operate within iran's borders. so job one is to continue our intensive focus on shutting down al qaeda's pipelines of money, men, and material. second, we will step up our efforts with our allies and partners around the world, particularly in the gulf, to encourage more consistent and comprehensive counter-terrorism financing efforts. we need other countries to work with us to combat al qaeda, its affiliate's and other terrorist organizations. this is especially true for kuwait and qatar, which unfortunately have become

permissive environment for extremist and raises. there's no question that kuwait and qatar are strong allies of the united states and that we share many important goals and work closely together on many important initiatives. but the fact remains that kuwait is the only country in the gulf that has not finalized tears financing. in a recent evaluation, the international monetary fund emphasize that this the efficiency substantially hampers to wait's ability to combat terrorist financing. although catarrh enacted a good terrorist financing law year ago, implementation has lagged. the approach taken by kuwait and qatar poses a danger to them and all of us. so we will continue to work with kuwait and qatar and urge them to take the necessary steps that as it -- that others in the region have done over the past decade. third, alza and -- as al qaeda

evolves and the nature of the threat posed changes, we will continually adapt and expand our counterterror efforts to meet this shift in challenge. most importantly, we are increasing efforts to combat the financial support networks for al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, al qaeda in the islamic area, al-shabab, and others inspired by or possibly affiliated with al qaeda. attacking these groups, financial support present new and different challenges, because their means and methods of funding and facilitation are different from the traditional donor-based fund raising model for al qaeda, and they differ among one another. working with our colleagues in the intelligence community and our partners around the world, we will have destruction strategies tailored to the ways in which each group raises, stores, and moves money.

fourth, we're focusing on emerging trends and how terrorist to raise money. most importantly, the increased use of kidnapping for ransom, which is quickly becoming a critical funding source for al qaeda and its affiliates. for example, we have information that aqim has raised tens of millions of dollars since 2008 through kidnapping for ransom operations in africa. , betting kidnapping for ransom is notoriously difficult. at the policy level, it is easy enough to say that no one should pay ransoms. but at the personal level, when one citizen, a colleague, our child is being held hostage, is hard to adhere to the no ransoms policy. few do, which is one reason that al qaeda and its affiliates are trying increasingly to kidnapping for ransom. the u.s. government has a policy against paying ransoms, and we believe this has dissuaded

terrorists from targeting millions. our information reveals that earlier this year, aqim was planning to target mainly europeans, not americans, for kidnapping for ransom operations, because they believe european governments would pay ransoms, while the u.s. government would not. in addition to bolstering the no ransoms approach, the international community must also make kidnapping harder in the first place, to improve security measures, and if ransoms are paid, we will make them more difficult for terrorist groups to move, store, and use that cash. finally, as we sharpen our efforts to combat new sources of terrorist financing, we will also continue efforts to stay ahead of new ways terrorists store and move money. our growing success in driving terrorists out of the formal financial sector has led terrorist facilitators to rely increasingly on informal methods

of moving money, notably cash courier's. but it has sparked an interest in exploiting new technologies and new payment methods, such as stored value card in transactions by cell phones. these technologies hold great promise to bring people around the world into the formal financial sector. unquestionably, a critically important goal. but these new methods of storing and moving value also create new vulnerabilities, if not adequately covered by anti-money laundering and counterterror as finance and regulations. as we continue to disrupt specific actors and networks, we will also work to build a more transparent financial system with a robust safeguards that is increasingly inhospitable to terrorist financing. in closing, as we remember the victims of the 9/11 attacks, this important milestone also

provides us with an opportunity to reflect on the progress we have made in finding al qaeda and in the broader threat of terrorism. counterterror said financing is contributing importantly to that progress, more so than anyone would have predicted 10 years ago. that is thanks to many of the people in this room, throughout the treasury department, across the u.s. government, and around the world who have dedicated their careers to this cause. as we survey the challenges ahead, from terrorism to other threats to our national security, the effective deployment of financial measures will continue to be central to our strategy and our success. i know i speak for all of my colleagues in the treasury department when i say we relish the opportunity to use these tools to help make our country safer. thank you. [applause]

[applause] >> thank you for those very kind words, and thank you for inviting me to this distinguished meeting here today. which i am honored and privileged to be a part of. i know that my boss called david away. something i can attest to to what he just said now. but i think david's roll and value in the counter-terrorism efforts throughout the government are evident to all of us who work with them. i also want to thank the office of tourism and financial intelligence for the extraordinary work that you do every day to deprive our adversaries of the funds that feel they're dangerous ambitions. you're on the front lines of the fight for our national security, and our nation is much safer because of your service. i also want to thank secretary

geithner for hosting in sponsoring this symposium today. it is pleasing to see so many friends and colleagues. this is the first time i have seen stuart levy since he left the government. i see the color is back in his cheeks. he looks much younger. his clothes are a step up from what he had in government work. it does show that there's life after government service. good to see you again and good to have you here. in three days, we will mark the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, so it is right we take a hard look at the work we have done to disrupt the finances of terrorist networks. but what i would like to do this morning as first summarize the threat we still face and the broader strategic environment within which our counter some efforts take place. the death of bin laden marked a strategic milestone in our effort to defeat al qaeda, but beyond bin laden, al qaeda's leadership ranks have been decimated. over the past two and a half

years? he leaders have been eliminated in rapid succession than any time since 9/11. virtually every major al qaeda affiliate has lost its key leader were operation commander, and more than half of al qaeda's top leadership has been eliminated. put simply, al qaeda is on the ropes, and it continues to get pummeled. however, bin laden's death and the debt than capture of many other al-qaeda leaders and operatives do not mark the end of al qaeda or its continued plotting against the united states and other countries. the preeminent security threat to the united states remains of that and its affiliates and adherents. since september 11, the principal captors and objection of the united states has been aimed at preventing the recurrence of an attack by al qaeda on u.s. homeland. al qaeda and its affiliates continue to try to identify operatives overseas and develop new methods to bring them into the united states to attack us at home. affiliated movements have taken

move far beyond al qaeda's core leadership in afghanistan and pakistan, including in the middle east, east africa, central asia, and southeast asia. although each group is unique, all aspire to advance al qaeda's regional and global agenda, by the stabilizing the countries in which they operate, attacking u.s. and other western interests in the region, and in some instances, pledging to strike the u.s. shumlin. in south asia, al qaeda poses a threat from its base of operations in pakistan's federally administered tribal areas to use that as a launching pad to carry out attacks against the homeland, as well as our interests, as well as those of our allies and partners in pakistan, afghanistan, india, and europe. in the arabian peninsula, the u.s. faces two counts tourism -- counter-terrorism challenges. there's a large volume of financial support from

individuals and charities that flowed from that region to al qaeda and its affiliates around the world. on this point particularly, and want to emphasize that severing the illicit financial pipelines throughout the gulf region as a major counterterror is a priority for this administration. in northwest africa, al qaeda in aqim has shifted its activities to the relative safe haven of the northern area where it has trained fighters. aqim's tactic of kidnapping for ransom not only endangers western tourists but supplies the group with an influx of cash to underwrite terrorist activities. in addition to plotting and carrying out specific attacks, al qaeda seeks to star border conflicts with the u.s. and many of our allies and partners. al qaeda has had some success in rallying individuals and militant groups to its cause. in addition to plots directed in plan from overseas, al qaeda's

adherence, individuals inspired by al qaeda but not directly connected to it, has engaged in violence on the u.s., and, as we saw so drastically in fort hood. these groups seek to undermine the security and stability of allied and partner governments with regional conflicts, traffic in narcotics, or engage other activities. hamas, which ignores world demands to renounce violence, receives a vast support from the government of iran and has an expansive network of donors and non-governmental organizations in the gulf states and europe that provide it support. hezbollah also receive support from iran and supplements its budget through drug and criminal activities, as well as remittances from pager it costs remittances from pager it costs --