interesting to track progress and measured change. this was a snapshot of where we are in general, and it will be interesting going forward to see how the numbers change. host: jesse ellison. if you want to look at the interactive maps, go to newsweek.com. the house begins the day with morning our, a time set aside for short speeches on every topic they want. legislative work begins at noon today. members will continue their debate on trade agreements with colombia, panama, and south korea. it will take up the first part of that of the afternoon and then move to a bill blocking epa rules of mercury and other toxic air emissions. both -- boats are expected sometime after 5:00. -- votes are expected sometime after 5:00. thank you for watching today. we will be back tomorrow.

the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 5, 2011, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour debate. the chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to one hour and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and the minority whip limited to five minutes each but in no event shall the debate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. the chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina, mr. jones, for five minutes. mr. jones: mr. speaker, thank you very much. and, mr. speaker, yesterday i had the privilege and the humbling experience of going to walter reed at bethesda. it's a magnificent medical complex and our young men and women deserve that kind of treatment. i was so impressed. visiting the wounded i

encountered a lance corporal who was wounded during his second tour in afghanistan standing there in his room with his mother, he asked me, why are we still in afghanistan? and i looked at his mother and i looked at his face. i said, i don't know. i said, there are a few of us in the house trying to get our troops back home before 2014, 2015. mr. speaker, i have beside me a photograph of a triple amputee, a soldier with his wife who's lost both legs and an arm. yesterday, i noted to the doctor who was escorting me around that i saw more double amputees than ever before. saw some down in the rehabilitation -- excuse me -- rehab center and saw those in the rooms that have not gotten to that point yet because of

their severe wounds. he said, congressman, the number of double amputees is going up every week, every month and it will continue to go up. my question to the leadership of the house, why don't you speak out? both parties and call on mr. obama to bring the troops home before 2015. it's kind of ironic. we got hit pretty hard, like most of the states, all the way up to vermont by the hurricane. and it was so ironic last week that we passed a continuing resolution that had $2.65 billion for fema to help those who have been hurt by wildfires and hurricanes.

$2.75 billion. yet, we found billions to spend in iraq and afghanistan. how does that equal out? the american people get shortchanged as we send $18 billion to iraq and afghanistan. it makes no sense. that's why it's so ironic that the american people have given all of us in congress an 18% approval rating. and here we will be passing trade bills today to send jobs overseas. that will be great. the american people are tired and fed up. and what bothers me more than anything are those young men and women over at walter reed who are 0, 22, 25 -- 20, 22, 25 and i met a gunny sergeant who was in his early 30's, both legs gone trying to learn to walk. i hope the house and senate will join jim mcgovern and many of us in both parties who are

speaking out to get our troops home before 2014, 2015, and, mr. speaker, i hope the american people -- i want to say to those people who are protesting wall street whether i agree with you or not, you have the right to protest. join us in protesting the war in afghanistan. we are beginning the 11th year, and as the 22-year-old lance corporal said to me, why are we still there, i couldn't answer him. i don't know. i don't know. karzai gets $10 billion a month and the people that have lost so much in the hurricanes and tornadoes, they get a measly pen abc to what karzai gets. penance to what karzai gets. mr. speaker, my close is this, i ask god to please bless our men and women in uniform. i ask god in his loving arms to hold the families who have given a child dying for freedom

in afghanistan and iraq. i ask god that we will do what is right in the eyes of god for his people today and his people tomorrow. i ask god to give wisdom, strength and courage to president obama that he will do what is right in the eyes of god for god's people today and god's people tomorrow. and three times i will ask from the bottom of my heart -- god, please, god, please, god, please continue to bless america, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair reminds members to direct its responses to the chair. the chair recognizes at this time the gentleman from oregon, mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i certainly agree with my colleague from north carolina that it is time for us to not just reassess but readjust our policies in afghanistan, scale it down, bring the troops home.

there's another area of consensus that i hope we can focus on, most people agree that employment, jobs ought to be a priority for this congress, for the government, for american business. but much of what you hear on capitol hill about creating jobs and employment is very, very contentious. yet, what is complex and controversial in congress is not so hard when you move off the hill, when you look at what the experts suggest, when you look at what the american people will support. for the shape of a future recovery is emerging in terms of a consensus about what we should do. i think we probably will. the question is when. first and foremost, it is important that we rebalance our

long-term programs and priorities, but in the short term it is not only important to keep the spending levels where they are, it would be disastrous to cut it further. chairman bernanke said last week that short-term increases can strengthen economic demand with a long-term adjustment to strengthen our balance sheet by reducing the deficit. one of the first places to start is rebuilding and renewing america. experts agree we have vast unmet needs. the society of civil engineers suggest $2.3 trillion that should be spent in the next five years on repairing our roads and our bridges, extending and enhancing our transit system. there are two dozen cities across america that are looking at reintroducing a modern

streetcar which can be done quickly and will spark investment in those communities that have that opportunity. we have aging and inadequate water systems that leak six billion gallons of water a day. enough to fill 9,000 olympic-sized swimming pools that would stretch from washington, d.c., to pittsburgh. we have an aging and ineffective electrical grid. we have pipelines that need to be upgraded for safety. there is environmental cleanup, especially expensive superfund sites that otherwise will continue to put a cloud over the adjacent businesses and governments. this will create millions of family wage jobs in the course of the next year. it is important to deal with our health care system which is

creating jobs but unfortunately it's creating jobs now very inefficiently. we pay more than anybody else in the world by far and compared to what other developed countries produce, we have mediocre results as a whole. spectacular for some americans, but overall americans die sooner, get sycamore often, stay sick longer. by accelerating the health care reforms to provide value instead of volume of health care, we can squeeze more value and the right type of employment that will be sustainable over time and help make americans healthier. there is, mr. speaker, no question that we need in fact to pay for this over the long term, but the path here is something that most of the american public will in fact agree on and the experts have a

consensus that this isn't back where we start with tax equity, having making sure everybody is paying their fair share, adjust user fees for infrastructure for inflation. not anything immediate, but over the course of the next year or two to be able to have the cash flow to meet our obligations. for transportation, for water. reinstituting the superfund tax that expired in 1995 leaving communities with the toxic legacy. it's important to consider a financial transaction fee, something that other european countries have that england has had since -- for over a century that would in fact give stability to our markets. this is something that's within our capacity, mr. speaker. i hope we do it sooner rather

than later. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlelady from alabama, mrs. roby, for five minutes. mrs. roby: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask to extend and revise my remarks. i come to the floor today to talk about the need to pass the three free trade agreements that we will be voting on today. these agreements will mean more export opportunities, access to raw materials at a lower cost for american manufacturing and make american companies and farmers more competitive in additional market where they currently face high tariffs. free trade agreements results in jobs and profits for american businesses. in 2010, the second district of alabama saw 4,927 jobs directly supported by exports. of the two billion in total merchandise exports, $769.4 million was to free trade agreement partners.

the colombia, panama and korea free trade agreements will open up opportunities for businesses all over the nation, including in my home state of alabama. in regards to the korea free trade and what it means to alabama, in 2009 alabama did $300 million in exports to korea, making cree -- korea the 11th export market for alabama. the bill we will be voting on today it will make more than half of alabama's merchandise exports to korea to be duty-free. the immediate tariff eliminations in this bill gives alabama exports a $3.1 million cost advantage over similar products exported by competitors who do not have free trade agreement with korea. additionally, agriculture in alabama will benefit from the korea free trade agreement. currently u.s. agricultural products face tare i was up to -- tariffs up to 500% in south korea. by eliminating these tariffs,

agriculture will see over $23.3 million in additional gains in sales to south korea. in particular, it is estimated that alabama's export of poultry will rise to $4.4 million to year and cattle and beef $3.7 million per year. in regards to the colombia free trade agreement, in 2010 colombia was alabama's 21st largest export market with $154 million in exports. the agreement we will be voting on today will mean an estimated $72.-- 72.3% in exports from alabama to colombia and 56.4% in fabricated metal products. and finally, panama is one of the fastest expanding economies in latin america. in 2010 america saw a 7.5% growth in exports to panama. in regards to the agriculture, the united states exported more than $450 million to panama in 2010. the three agreements that we are voting on today in total

are expected to increase direct agriculture exports from alabama by $22.8 million per year and increase marketing opportunities will add more than 200 jobs to the alabama economy. it is unfortunate that these agreements have taken so long to be considered by congress, and they will have a significant impact on our economy. this delay has already put american businesses at a disadvantage with the south korea-european union free trade agreement going into effect later this year. we do not need stimulus programs that do not work. i have come to the floor several times to talk about how american businesses are being stifled by overreaching and burdensome regulations. american businesses have already been stifled by the slow-moving administration and ensuring that our businesses have the same advantages as those in other countries. these agreements remove the high tariffs that have been in

place in important and expanding markets. i will continue to work to protect jobs here in the united states and in my home state of alabama and will be voting yes on all three trade agreements and i ask my colleagues to do so as well. thank you and i yield back the remainder of my time. . the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina, mr. kitsle, for five minutes. mr. kitsle: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today and speaker of the opposition i will have to the free trade agreements that -- we'll be voting on today. and to speak some of the details about those free trade agreements that seem to not be discussed. that we seem to want to talk about these free trade agreements will be good without understanding the details of what we'll be voting upon. mr. kissell: my opposition to these trade agreements is not based upon any type of partisanship, that negative force called partisanship that there's too much a part of our lives in washington, i don't

deal with. this is not partisanship. this is not some type of blinded protectionism that somehow we need to close our shores. i'm very well aware of the global impact of our modern economy. and it's not based upon any type of ignorance of the potential good that these so-called free trade agreements can present to us. indeed, i have lived in a part of the country that has suffered immensely from free trade agreements. i worked 27 years in textiles and watched the jobs leave. my district, north carolina's eighth district, is still suffering as it has for the last 10 years, because of the results of free trade agreements. indeed, if you look at the facts of our nation, where we are in our economy, it's hard to say that since free trade agreements have become part of our life that it's been good for the nation. we look at our working families and it was reported last week

that our working families are now at income levels of the mid 1990's. we have lost so much of our industrial base, we have lost hundreds of thousands of jobs. and we tiven to see our trade -- continue to see our trade deficits climb and climb and climb. mr. speaker, we have the world's greatest economy. we need trade agreements but not these trade agreements. we need for people to come to us and say we'd like to play in the united states market, and that we should say what terms that we should have for that. what are the details of the korean free trade agreement? we hear it will create 75,000 jobs. the economic policy institute tells us we will lose over 150,000 jobs. we'll hear a lot about the jobs that were created. but we won't hear too much about those jobs that were lost, of which 40,000 jobs are estimated

to be lost in the textile industry. we won't hear about how 65% of something can be made in another country. and brought to south korea and finished there and then brought into the united states. we recognize that china is the next door neighbor to korea. how much transshipment will come out of china? the 65% to south korea. we'll hear that north korea will be allowed to send goods to the united states as a part of this trade agreement. we won't talk about the currency manipulation that south korea engages in just like china does. we won't talk about the tariffs that will stay in place protecting korean goods while we drop ours immediately. we'll talk about we can sell more cars in korea, up to 75,000 if they choose to buy them.

there is no guarantees. when we know that south korea now is selling in the hundreds of thousands of cars in the united states. mr. speaker, we need trade agreements. we need trade agreements that work for us. this is not a reflection on the country. it's a reflection on the old nafta, cafta-type trade deals that were negotiated years ago in the bush era that have been dusted off and brought to us and being told to us, this is good for the american worker. this will create jobs. unfortunately the history of our trade agreements has been anything but that. i was with an administration official in north korea a year ago and i was told how good free-throw had been for north korea. -- free trade had been for north carolina. i said i can't address that but

i can address free trade has not been good for my district. i was told they could show me the numbers. i told them i could show them the empty buildings, many of which are not even standing now. they have been torn down, not replaced with jobs. which retrain our people for what? to ship more jobs offshore? mr. speaker, i ask my colleagues to look at the details of this. look at our economy, and look at the jobs we have lost and say is this good for america? no, it's not. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes mr. gibson from new york for five minutes. mr. gibson: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of the free trade agreements we'll vote on later today. i commend the obama administration for their work ensuring that our businesses and workers get the best agreement possible to grow the economy and create jobs. while these agreements have been in the works for years, our country has benefited from the

improvements garnered by the u.s. trade representative, ron kirk, and his team. this is particularly evident in their refining of the south korean agreement so that our farmers and automobile manufacturers get a fair deal. of course each trade agreement is different and they all have to be evaluated on their merits. details matter. overall these agreements will help increase u.s. exports by an estimated $13 billion, adding $10 billion to our annual gross domestic product and creating nearly a quarter million jobs. including many in my district in upstate new york. and will do that without adding a single dollar to the deficit. in fact, these fiscally responsible agreements will help cut the deficit. our farmers in particular stand to gain significantly from these agreements, opening up nearly $30 million in new business a year for our farmers in new york, these agreements are enthusiastically supported by our new york state farm bureau

and by my agricultural advisory panel, comprised of farmers from across the 10 counties and 137 towns i represent. a congressional district with over 1,000 family farms. mr. speaker, we have the smartest, hardest working farmers in the world. their issue is profitablity. we help farmers when we attack the impediments to growth, taxes, regulation, health care costs, and energy costs. we help farmers when we have access to quality infrastructure not only roads and bridges but also access to high speed broadband. we help farmers when we expand markets to help them sell their goods. these agreements enhance our farmers' profitablity. supporting our farmers is supporting the american way. our family farmers represent the best of our country. and this is also a national security issue. no farm, no food. we must ensure or family farms can compete or we risk losing them in relying on imports with

the attendant food security risks. that's not what my constituents want, that's not what the country wants. that's why we need to pass these agreements. in addition to helping the farmers, the independent nonpartisan u.s. international trade commission estimates key u.s. manufacturing sectors are also poised to gain. this includes increase of u.s. exports of motor vehicles and parts by about 50%. metal products by over 50%. chemical, rubber, and plastic products by about 40%. machinery and equipment by over 30%. this will directly help companies in my district who are already relying on exports with expanding markets for selling their products. companies like b&b forest products in green county, esco products in duchess county, and hudson river stove works in my home county, columbia. what's often missed in these conversations about trade with some of the key points. right now over 90% of the products coming from colombia and panama are already duty-free

when less than 40% of our goods currently go duty free to these countries. our goods to south korea suffer under tariffs about four times higher. with passage of these free trade agreements we will address these imbalances. these agreements will add to our g.d.p., strengthening existing jobs, and create new ones. let's recognize what's at stake and let's not fool ourselves. if we fail to pass these free trade agreements and do nothing, we will fall behind. in south korea we have seen our beef industry lose more and more of that country's share of business year after year since the 1990's. south korea is poised to increase agricultural trade with australia and the european union. if we don't pass these agreements, we'll continue to fall behind while other countries gain. same with colombia. in 2007 our farmers accounted for 44% of the agricultural business in colombia. by 2010 that number fell to 21%. these agreements are about the future. as americans we have enjoyed an

unprecedented quality of life because we make things other people can't. and we make common goods better than anyone else. that's still the case. in my district we make the world's most advanced waivers in the semiconductor industry and advanced medical devices. we are poised to continue our excellence if we make the right choices. today making the right choices means working in a bipartisan way. working with the obama administration and acting a key provision of the president's job plan. it means passing these free trade agreements before the house this week. i urge my colleagues to support these bills and help get america back to work. i yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlelady from nevada, ms. berkley, for five minutes. ms. berkley: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to give special recognition to the las vegas chamber of commerce as it celebrates its 100th anniversary on october 21, and marks a century of success in working to help build and sustain southern

nevada's business community. i'm a proud member of the las vegas chamber of commerce and as someone who grew up in southern nevada and who represents her hometown of las vegas here in congress, it has been remarkable to see firsthand so many outstanding achievements of the chamber and its thoses of members and how they, we, have shaped our community throughout the years. from designing some of the very first tourism campaigns for las vegas to helping pass major small business legislation in recent years, the chamber has always played a key part in facilitating the growth of las vegas and in supporting the business community in southern nevada. today's economic engine of the great silver state. i had had the pleasure to know and work with many of the chamber's leaders and participants from its members' businesses who serve the families of my community every day and who serve the nearly 40

million visitors drawn to las vegas each year. the las vegas chamber centennial marks a milestone for an organization that had its humble beginnings a century ago in a dusty railroad town, now known around the globe as the entertainment capital of the world. many of the chamber's early leaders were instrumental in getting legislation passed to create the first highways being built to and from las vegas, making the city more accessible to northern nevada, southern california, arizona, and utah. chamber leaders advocated for the building ever hoover dam, this modern marvel still operates today creating electricity for millions of homes and businesses, drawing millions of tourists for recreational opportunities at lake meade, and creating thousands of jobs for the region. chamber leaders were early supporters of the aviation

industry in las vegas, being the first -- creating the first air field to las vegas in the 1920's, establishing the -- mccarrion air force location. later the chamber worked to secure financing for a modern airport built in 1960. these early leaders recognized the need for air travel to keep las vegas accessible, competitive, and relevant and their sport led to mccarran airport growing to mcone of the busiest airports in our nation. the las vegas chamber of commerce was instrumental in creating the modern method of promoting las vegas through the initiation of the live wire fund. created in 1944, the live wire fund eventually led to creative marketing campaigns and the initiation of the las vegas news bureau to promote las vegas tourism and hospitality to the nation and to the world. what happens in las vegas stays in las vegas.

the chamber has always been and remains the voice of business in southern nevada. with over 80% of the jobs in the united states created by small businesses, it is my commitment to continue to honor the businesspeople of nevada by working toward the fair business environment where made in america and especially made and sold in nevada drive the philosophy of our business mindset. this will create jobs, put people back to work, and continue to provide the kind of opportunities on which our nation was founded. . the las vegas chamber of commerce has embodied these ideals for a century. i look forward in the great things they are doing beyond. in recognition of the las vegas chamber of commerce's success and they are here today in number on capitol hill in helping to make las vegas a brand recognized around the world and for their unwaivering

commitment to local businesses, i ask my colleagues to join me in salutinging the las vegas chamber of -- saluting the las vegas chamber of congress and wishing them another century of extraordinary success. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair at this time recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. murphy, for five minutes. mr. murray: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks -- mr. murphy: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. murphy: most americans would be surprised that that number is $27 billion, divide that between states and you barely have enough to put some tar and chips on the road. as the president is out touting this jobs bill and talk about our crumbling infrastructure, it just isn't going to do the job. how about this number -- $129 billion to build roads and

buildings and water projects. unfortunately that number is not being spent in the united states. rather that $129 billion is the number what americans pay in foreign aid to opec countries to build their roads, their palaces, their buildings. now, unfortunately that money goes to more than just their infrastructure. it also goes to countries like iran who fund their nuclear weapons programs threatening israel and the neighboring countries. it goes to iran to fund their assassination attempts by saudi ambassadors. they use it to fund weapons of mass destruction and i.e.d.'s that kill our soldiers. we pay for both sides of terror. in the meantime our roads are crumbling, our bridges are rusting and croding, our water and sewer pipelines are collapsing. and listen to the cost. according to the american society of civil engineers, the numbers are staggering. $935 billion are needed to fix

our roads and bridges. $87 billion for aviation. $12.5 billion for our locks and dams. $255 billion to fix our drinking water. $75 billion for energy infrastructure. $50 billion for inland waterways. $50 billion for levees. $265 billion for transit. where is the money going to come from? what is being proposed are long-term and permanent taxes about 30 years worth of more debt and borrowed money from china for a small $27 billion to do this. it's not going to do the job. and raising taxes and creating warfare between classes is not going to do it. here's what can do it. we have off of our coast about 85 billion to 115 billion barrels of oil. trillion cubic feet of natural gas. trillions. we have massive amounts of money off our coast. unfortunately the administration says no. we can't use our money. we have to continue to borrow from china, increase debt or raise taxes.

those approaches to rebuilding america will not do. what we need to do is free up american resources, use our resources, use our funding to rebuild america. and think what comes out of it. from the royalties, the leases and from the income fax that come from hiring, yes, millions -- tax that come from hiring, yes, millions from civil engineers and operating engineers, laborers, architects, steam fitters, welders, people that work on the rigs, you create $2 trillion to $3 trillion worth of revenue over the next 20 years. what we need to be doing is making the commitment to invest that money into american infrastructure, american resources, american funds for american infrastructure. think of what this also does for our manufacturing. when you create that kind of demand for steel and concrete and that kind of demand for equipment to be purchased over a long time, this is a real jobs plan. we don't need to be going back

hat in hand to other countries and say, please, let us borrow more from you. we don't need to be having class warfare. we don't need to be saying, let's attack people making a certain amount of money. we don't need to be saying, let's take these corporate jets and use it for a lousy 1:45. this is not a jobs plan. america wants us to work and america wants us to use our resources. america wants us to stop funding both sides of the war on terror. we can do it and it doesn't take a superplan to do it. it just says that america has all the resources. i call upon my colleagues to continue to push for ways that we can free up american resources, stop saying no to american jobs, stop simply using political rhetoric to block these things. but really create this mechanism by which we can pay for rebuilding america. we can do it. we have the resources to do it.

we have to have the way. and we have to have the will. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes at this time the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. altmire, for five minutes. mr. altmire: i recently i had the honor of being reappointed to the house education and work force, a committee which i served my first two terms in congress. caucus rules had me to step down from the small business committee where i proudly serve for five years. i want to discuss a few of the important initiatives on which the committee has played a meaningful role during that time. some of the most important initiatives have been to support the brave men and women who have served our nation in uniform. the small business committee over the past five years has led the way in helping small business owners deal with the loss of key employees during long-term overseas deployments and has helped incentivize the hiring of our military

veterans. committee successes include the enactment of my legislation to increase business opportunities for veterans and reservists and support business owners who employ them. this bill was signed into law by president bush in 2008 and has since helped countless veterans and employers. we also successfully enacted laws to help returning veterans access job training programs and learn entrepreneurial skills to help them transition back into the work force. as chairman of the subcommittee on investigations and oversight, i was able to convene hearings that gave voice to all sides on pending issues in congress, including bringing more than a dozen people from western pennsylvania before the committee to make sure that their voice was heard and their point of view understood during the critical early stages of the legislative process. our subcommittee held hearings that brought to life the unintended consequences of the consumer product safety commission's lead regulations on small businesses and

home-based toy manufacturers. we also held hearings that raised concerns about the devastating impact that skyrocketing gas prices could have on businesses and consumers. when c.m.s. proposed a flawed medicare bidding program that would harm medical equipment suppliers and negatively impact patient access and quality of care, our subcommittee heard the concerns of small businesses across the country and when necessary our subcommittee also convened field hearings to discuss important issues such as a hearing we held in western pennsylvania to discuss ideas on how to increase access to capital for small businesses. when flooding impacted businesses in western pennsylvania, we brought the s.b.a. to personally inspect the damage and improve the s.b.a.'s response in aliquippa. when the nation looked for solutions to to our energy crisis, i looked to mary fallon

to co-chair a field hearing in tulsa to hear directly from the oil industries their explanation of why gas prices were so unacceptably high and what we can do to help bring them down. our subcommittee passed my bill to expand access to private capital investment through the sbir program. and we held the first hearings in either chamber of commerce on the controversial credit card interchange fee, an issue that since has grown into a top priority for businesses, consumers and banks. we worked in a bipartisan way to successfully advocate for repeal of the onerous 1099 reporting requirements included in the health care reform law. all in all, quite a record of bipartisan success. as i leave the committee, i want to thank ranking member velazquez for her help and support during my time on the committee, and i look forward to continuing to work on small business issues through my new committee assignments in the months ahead.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. thompson, for five minutes. mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. request permission to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i rise to recognize matt porter of state college, pennsylvania, the 2011 recipient of the national down syndrome society dan piper award. dan piper was a young man born with down syndrome who spent his life advocating on behalf of himself and others. he sadly passed away in 2002. in order to celebrate dan's life, the dan piper award was created to recognize and celebrate an individual with down syndrome that has made similar contributions to down syndrome awareness and advocacy. today i'm pleased and proud to recognize my constituent, matt porter. as the 2011 recipient of this great honor. i met matt porter on several

occasions. most recently i joined him and others at the center county down syndrome annual buddy walk. when he visited my washington office in mid february with his brother, andy. matt was visiting congressional offices to raise awareness for the down syndrome society and to advocate on issues most pressing to those who are living with down syndrome. matt's personality and attitude towards life embody the spirit of the dan piper award. much like dan, matt's accomplishments have opened so many doors to those with down syndrome. i find matt to be an inspiring individual and i commend him on the hard work with his employment, participating in the special olympics, volunteering in the community and advocating on behalf of others with down syndrome. we all stand a lot to learn from this young man's example and character. congratulations, matt porter. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. quigley, for five minutes. mr. quigley: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today because i feel like i have a case of deja vu. two years ago i stood on this floor on the eighth anniversary of our invasion of afghanistan and asked, have our eight years, 791 american deaths and billions of u.s. dollars spent in afghanistan made america safer? today i stand in the same place asking the same question. now, 10 years have passed, 1,800 american lives have been lost and we spent almost half a trillion dollars, and i have to ask again, have 10 years in afghanistan made america safer? sadly, just as i concluded two years ago, i must conclude again today, they have not. we went into afghanistan under the mantle of protecting america's national security.

the perpetrators of september 11, al qaeda, were in afghanistan and we had to go after them. but just as was the case two years ago, al qaeda is no longer primarily in afghanistan. in fact, only 50 to 100 al qaeda operatives are estimated to be operating in afghanistan. al qaeda's primary hub is still located across the border in tribal areas of pakistan, and other al qaeda cells are operating around the world in yemen, north africa and through affiliated groups in southeast asia and uzbekistan. they are from ungomped spaces around the world, even right here on american -- ungoverned spaces around the world, even right here on american soil. it shows the widespread origins of u.s.-centered terrorist attempts. the times square bomber received training in the

waziristan region of pakistan. the cart ridges for my own district in chicago was shipped from yemen. the christmas day airline bomber was a nigerian inspired by anwar al-awlaki. and the fort hood shooter, an american citizen born in virginia. now, one of these terror plots originated in afghanistan and every major recent victor the u.s. has had in the fight against terrorism has come not on the ground in afghanistan but through targeted attacks such as those that killed osama bin laden in pakistan and the recent strike that killed anwar al-awlaki in yemen. there have been at least 45 jihadist terrorist attacks plotted against the u.s. since 9/11, and each one of them was

foiled. not by our mass ground forces in afghanistan but through a combination of intelligence, policing and citizen engagement. according to terrorism expert eric doll of the naval postgraduate school, quote, when it comes to domestic terrorist attacks and securing the homeland what works is really good old-fashioned policing, law enforcement, tips from the public, enforcement. not only is our military action in afghanistan not making us safer, but research indicates it could actually be making us less safe. as counterinsurgency expert david cohen points out, rather than reducing the number of terrorists, the u.s. presence in afghanistan could actually be spreading new terrorism as locals ban together to resist foreign occupation. it's called accidental guerrilla syndrome. further, a report issued last year by the gentleman from massachusetts, representative tierney, revealed the u.s. military is funding the

multibillion dollar protection racket. a good portion of the $2.16 billion transportation contract is being paid to corrupt public officials, warlords and the taliban to get needed splice to our troops. . -- supplies we are funding the very insurgency we are fighting. we went into afghanistan to make america safer, but for several years now we have known that our enemies are no longer concentrated in afghanistan. al qaeda is an enemy without borders and so now we must have a strategy without borders. the question now is, will we adjust our strategy to reflect today's circumstances? or will we continue to live in the past repeating this destructive cycle of sending dollars and troops to a mission no longer central to american security? we have to end our military presence in afghanistan now because i don't want to stand in the same spot a year from now with another case of deja vu.

thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from louisiana, mr. landry, for five midgets. -- five minutes. mr. landry: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. landry: mr. speaker, with the free trade agreements being debated this week, some of my democratic colleagues have been talking about our trade deficit. however if they really want to reduce the trade deficit, they will help me end the president's de facto moratorium on offshore drilling. you see, if oil was a country, it would be our biggest trading partner. oil makes us 65% of our trade deficit. and it's simple, drilling equals jobs. it equals american jobs. you see what i have here is a parking lot to one of the heliports down in my district. in 2004 the parking lot was

full. last year, the parking lot is empty. you don't have to worry because that parking lot when we are drilling offshore is this full 365 days a year. here is a port in my district which supplies over 30% of the oil and gas that fuse this nation. you can see the boats in 2004 in the busy port. and today it's empty. if we really want a jobs bill, this is it. in the past year deep water permits issuance is 39% below the monthly averages observed over the past three years and shallow water permits, permits that were supposedly never impacted by the moratorium are off 80% over historical

averages. as a result of this de facto moratorium, 11 offshore rigs scheduled to drill in the gulf have relocated to countries like brazil, nigeria, egypt, congo, french guinea, and liberia. what does this say about american policy when businesses prefer the regulatory certainty offered by egypt over the bureaucratic uncertainty of our -- off our own shores? while 11 rigs might not seem like a lot, each drilling platform sports -- supports 200 to 300 workers every month. additionally each exploration and production job supports four other positions. therefore 900 to 1,400 jobs per idle rig are at risk if production does not resume as soon as possible. and wages for those jobs average

$1,800 per week. so the potential for lost wages is more than $5 million to $10 million per month per platform. drilling equals good paying jobs. according to the obama administration's own estimate, the six-month official moratorium on drilling costs up to 12,000 jobs. however the long-term impacts of the defactor moratorium could be significantly higher. a study from the louisiana university prodicts that a de facto ban on deep water drilling were sustained for 18 more months then we could lose 36,000 jobs nationwide. 24,000 of those along the gulf coast region alone. if the administration would accelerate the permit issuance instead of continuing this de facto moratorium, we could create a quarter of a million

jobs in this country. we could increase g.d.p. by $8 trillion over the next 10 years. and as i said, the solution is actually very simple. at no cost to the taxpayer the ability to bring revenue into the federal government it's simple, mr. speaker. drilling equals jobs. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair at this time recognizes the gentlelady from ohio, ms. kaptur, for five minutes. ms. kaptur: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for five minutes and include extraneous material in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. kaptur: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i rise today to talk on two subjects. one, liberty and justice. and number two, our economy. on the first as co-chair of the house ukranian caucus i stand today and join my voice to the citizens of the free world who stand in solidarity with freedom

lovers in ukraine seeking liberty and justice for all. it is with the deepest concern that we raise strenuous objection to the political decisions by ukraine's court that sentenced former ukranian prime minister to prison this october 11. the court's guilty verdict sentences her to seven years in prison, bars her from holding office for three years, and effectively stops her from participating in ukraine's upcoming elections. ukraine's actions also should call into question ukraine's accession to the european union. i join with the members of the ukranian congress of america in supporting immediate congressional hearings on what has transpired in ukraine. i urge our leadership to allow the passage of a resolution expressing u.s. objection to the actions of ukraine's politically driven judicial system that seem to have more to do with politics

than justice. in furtherance of these objectives i place on record on behalf of the ukranian caucus the official statement of the ukranian congress committee of america. which represents over one million americans of ukranian descent, equally incensed at what has occurred. from their statement the ukranian congress states, they call upon the government of the united states to take appropriate measures to support democracy and human rights in ukraine. they urge the united states government to restrict visas and freeze assets of the current anti-democratic regime, and to hold congressional hearings on sanctions and future foreign assistance to the government of ukraine. mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to join me, to join our caucus, to speak out, and act on behalf of the advance and democracy in justice in post soviet ukraine. i also wish to address today the

u.s. economy. we have heard a lot about the trade agreements that are going to come before us today dealing with so-called free trade for south korea, for colombia, and for panama. i want to put some information on the record. i served in congress a while now and fought against the nafta trade model back in the 1990's when they said it would create jobs, it would result in trade surpluses, and we would have all this extraordinary growth in the united states. and then after nafta was passed what we saw, we saw the beginning of hemorrhaging trade deficits with mexico, with canada, and indeed with the world. in 1997 and 1998 when the china permanent normal trade relations which are anything but normal kicked in america went into greater trade deficit with each $1 billion of trade deficit representing thousands and thousands of lost jobs. as we look at the period we are living through over the past 20, 25 years, as the so-called free trade agreements kick in, with

every single one we go deeper and deeper into trade deficit which kills our growth, economic growth in our country, and now today we are being delivered three more. three more, south korea, panama, and colombia. when we look back at cafta, which was passed in the irl will 2000's, what happened? did we get trade balances with those countries? no, there were certain industries that made out like bandits. i'm grad some industries can export and generally agriculture is able to sell a little bit more, but the net is negative. the net is negative. we have lost over seven million jobs in this country because these agreements are not fair trade agreements. they don't result in balances for our country. let's just take a look at what happened with mexico alone. they told us, the same people who are arguing nor these agreements today -- for these arguments today, back when nafta was passed, we had a trade surplus. don't worry, it's going to be better. no, no, it's not going to be better because there's no real

rule of law, no respect for the peasant class in mexico, and the agriculture adjustment will be horrendous. it is at the basis of the exodus of mexican farmers and peasants into our country. that is what is fueling illegal immigration is the lack of a resolution to what occurred during nafta when agriculture adjustment was not allowed to occur in a humane way in mexico. and what a pity to go to the communities and to see how people are living there, disrupt interested their land. in our country to see the jobs outsourced from the united states out there or the united states to almost any where. china,ets. to the low wage havens with no rule of law. every year the trade deficit with mexico has grown greater and greater. and when we began with nafta we had a trade surplus with mexico. and now just take a look at korea. they say it's going to make

trade better? we already have a trade deficit with korea, and this agreement isn't going to solve it because korea sells over half a million cars in this country and we only get a few there now. this agreement will not change these numbers. mr. speaker, i yield back my remaining time and i ask the members to vote no on the agreement dealing with korea, colombia, and panama. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. gutierrez, for five minutes. mr. gutierrez: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to talk today about two people opposed to the colombia free trade agreement, al lay han dough, a teacher, union organizer, spokesperson for fairness for his fellow educators, in a country where getting a decent education can be difficult to impossible. and also i want to talk about

anna core dobea, an advocate for the displaced, an advocate for returning stolen land to those from whom it was taken. anna and alejandro were part of a group of colombians who stood up for what they believed in. they stood up for dispossessed, for trade union members, and those who wanted to join trade unions. like many colombians they were tremendously concerned about a free trade agreement that reflected the interest of large corporations but not those of workers and farmers and poor people that fought every day. anna and alejandro if they could would be with us today to voice their opposition in person to the colombia free trade agreement. but they can't voice that opposition because they were both murdered in colombia. aa was shot dead on a public bus. alejandro was tortured and hung with barded wire. these are tragic facts,

unacceptable facts, but they are not isolated facts. sadly the faces of anna and alejandro are the faces of colombia today. nowhere in the world is it more dangerous to be a union organizer fighting for wages and rights for working people than in colombia. 23 trade unionists were killed this year, 51 were killed last year. and over the last several years, hundreds more have been threatened, driven out by violence or simply disappear. in 2010 more than more trade unionists were murdered in colombia than in the rest of the world combined. in colombia there is an organize ed and intense campaign to prevent working men and women from working together to fight for better wages and working conditions and it seems to be working. why would the united states want to endorse this behavior and reward companies working with the government who have unleashed this violent assault on workers' rights? that, after all, is what a trade agreement is really about, a

partnership. this is not a partnership the united states of america should enter into. i'm voting no on the colombia free trade agreement. i urge my colleagues to vote no on the colombia free trade agreement. i believe the facts are simple. voting for the colombia free trade agreement is a vote for violence, union busting for driving people from their land, for setting the american working men and women up to compete on an unlevel playing field that will cost us jobs and livelihoods. i know that it is difficult to look at the pictures and hard to accept the reality of danger to people who speak up in colombia, but we cannot ignore the facts. and in colombia trade union activists are targeted for assassination and murder, that's not easy fact to accept but it's a fact. approving the free trade pact with colombia says the united states can live with this fact. it brings the blood of union activist victims from bogota to washington, that blood won't be easily washed away.

let's think about the movement for free trade agreement happening in cairo and damascus and tripoli, we congratulate the protestors. the union leaders in wisconsin and ohio and puerto rico who stand up for their rights against oppressive state government, my democratic colleagues they applaud those workers. when angry tea partiers bash our government and talk about individual rights, my republican colleagues applaud them. today we have a chance to do more than applaud, we can stand with people who are standing up for freedom in colombia. i suggest that everyone in the house who has ever celebrated or supported a popular pro-democracy movement in the u.s. or abroad think long and hard before they vote yes on the colombia free trade agreement. because what we see is what we get when it comes to free trade in colombia. we get a partnership with a country where speaking your mind is a death sentence. . i want free trade. i want to protect workers and

environment and the rights of farmers and men. there is not that agreement. this is an agreement that turns a blind eye to violence and oppression and injustice so i ask my colleagues to do what alejandro and anna who were murdered cannot do. say no to f.t.a. with colombia. the speaker pro tempore: this time the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york, mr. rangel, for five minutes. mr. rangel: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. rangel: thank you, mr. speaker and my colleagues. i stand up once again to make a plea to our spiritual leaders throughout the united states to be heard and to speak out for the gridlock that exists here in the united states congress. i do this feeling very

comfortable since we open up the session with a prayer. as anyone can see and many have taken for granted, it says in god we trust. clearly the protestors have caused quite a bit of inconvenience for my colleagues and the constituents in new york. but the fact remains that they speak out for a frustration that most all americans have, uncertain as to what the future holds for them. many have lost their jobs, their savings, pulled their kids out of school, and they are frustrated that we in the congress how we talk to each other because of the depth of polarization. and yet beyond the politics of it all, whether it's democrats or republicans, when you think about it, this recession can only be stopped and unemployment lowered by a

combination of two things -- the reduction of our spending and the raising of revenue in order to increase not only the confidence that people have but the necessity of having economic growth so america can regain its status among civilized nations. and yet we find very little movement here because there are some that have already embarked on the 2012 campaign. they do that even though millions of americans are suffering painfully, seeking relief now and not waiting until the end of next year. it seems to me whether we're dealing with the koran or whether we're doing with the bible or the taurean -- toran, one thing that is abundantly clear, one would know that one of the things that we have a

more obligation to do is to take care of the vulnerable among us. this great nation now has broken all records in terms of our middle class actually being shrunk as people are forced into poverty. one out of every five kids in the united states of america are born into poverty. and we find that a smaller number of people in our country are controlling nearly half of the wealth. there's something wrong with that equation. and certainly this is the time to fill that vacuum for those who believe there's no direction to the protestors. there may not be direction but they certainly expect that their government should be there for them, their government is grid locked, our spiritual leaders could

encourage them not just to pray but to become active. find out who the members are that represent them in the congress, ask them to be voting on these bills that can create economic growth, that can create jobs. and so whether you're protestant or catholics or jews or gentiles or mormon or muslim, this is a time that america needs you. this is why our forefathers never written out religion. while we cannot dictate which religion, if any, you should have, certainly we have freedom of religion, and as the protestors have a constitutional right in order to speak out to release their frustrations, i think we have a spiritual responsibility to take those parts of the proclamations that they're

making the protestations that they're making and those parts that take care of trying to get the vulnerable to get a fair shake out of this economic disaster we find ourselves in, let us take care of our aging, our sick, those that are in poverty. let social security and medicare and medicaid not be a gamble but something that the american people can depend on. let the churches and the synagogues and the mosques and the temples be open so people can express themselves. and let this congress attempt to be more civil and recognizing that we have a responsibility that goes beyond the election. we have a responsibility to the american people. so i conclude my remarks and make my plea and i thank the speaker for the time and yield back whatever time is left.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair at this time recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. costello, for five minutes. mr. costello: mr. speaker, thank you. mr. speaker, it is my honor and privilege to pay tribute to a leader and a warrior, general duncan j. mcnabb, commander of the united states transportation command. general mcnabb is retiring after honorably serving this great nation for over 37 years with the distinguished career. general mcnabb graduated from the united states air force academy in 1974. as a command pilot, he has more than 5,600 flying hours in transport and rotary ring aircraft. in addition, general mcnabb has held command and staff positions at squand ron, group, wing major command in department of defense levels and is considered the finest mobility and logistics expert

in the department of defense. i've had the pleasure of working with general mcnabb from 2005 and 2007 when he assumed command of the air mobility command at scott eyre force base in the congressional district that i am privileged to represent. and, again, when he returned to scott air force base in 2008. u.s. transcom is part of our military operations. it provides the coordinated transportation, distribution and sustainment which projects and maintains our national power. as a global combatant commander, general mcnabb has made supporting the american war fighter his top priority. under general mcnabb's leadership, u.s. transcom has moved over 1.5 million passengers and over four million short tons of cargo in supporting operation enduring

freedom and operation iraq freedom. to put this in perspective this is the equivalent of moving the entire population of southwestern and southern illinois and all of their household belongings halfway around the world. america truly has a military deployment and distribution system that is unmatched anywhere in the world. under general mcnabb's command, u.s. transcom has provided humanitarian relief to hurricane victims in the united states, earthquake victims in haiti and japan, and flood victims in pakistan, just to name a few. the medicines, supplies, equipment and personnel that u.s. transcom has delivered in the wake of these and other natural disasters ultimately save lives and eased human suffering. in addition to conducting some of the largest military moves since world war ii and provided unparalleled humanitarian relief, general mcnabb has made it apriority to transform our nation's deployment and

distribution system, enduring our ability to inject power wherever needed where greatest speed and agility and the highest efficiency and most reliable level of trust and accuracy. general mcnabb actively took on the role as the distrebution process of d.o.d., providing interoperability across d.o.d. and the supply change. general mcnabb developed the arctic overflight route and expanded multimoto logistics throughout the northern distribution network. he's improved combat readiness while saving hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars. troops are leaving the battlefield faster at less cost. general mcnabb will be the first to tell you he did not accomplish these feats alearn. he had collaborative joint solutions to today's complex --

it will miss his leadership and mentorship. they'll miss the stories and humanors he used to get his message across. we in congress will miss his straightforward approach and sound counsel. the nation will miss his devotion to duty, ceaseless drive for improvement and unwavering support for the men and women serving in our armed services. mr. speaker, i want to recognize general mcnabb for serving the air force with honor and distinction for 35 years. i also wish to recognize his wife, linda, and wish her the very best in the future as well. the air force will lose not one but two exceptional people upon general mcnabb's retirement. general mcnabb and linda, we wish you well in your future endeavors and those who follow in your footsteps will have unprecedented support for our great nation. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess until noon today.we wr phone calls as we finish this discussion. we spoke this morning on journal how the debate will proceed with

the free trade agreements. is a congressional reporter with "the associated press." we told you about those free trade deals. do you expect all free to pass? caller: they should all passed by fairly easy margins. columbia might be closer in the house. host: what do these deals do? what do they say? ller: basically, american goods, many countries already have lower tariffs when they ship to the united states. namely, that benefits u.s. producers. host: what will be the outcome of this, when it comes to jobs? caller: they are sensitive over

how many jobs it will produce. the administration does say that tens of thousands will be produced. host: when is this expected to be signed into law? caller: id should be signed b the president very quickly. i believe that the south korean parliament still has to vote on it and of the deal. host: what happens after that? once these are signed, what does it take for them to get implemented? caller: it should take a couple of months for them to work out e final details for the other side's parliament to to sign off on the deal. once that happens, it depends on the agreement. some tariffs are only immediate. some, five years and 10 years, depending on the product.

host: which american companies will benefit from this trade deal? host -- caller: a wide range. service products. manufactured goods. adjustments that make it easier for american investors. there have been many obstacles fo u.s. investors. host: what about the taa program? was that included in these deals? caller: not directly. it helps workers that were displaced by foreign competition. the democrats and thehite house were very consistent on the expansion of trade adjustment assistance. thsenate has already approved. the house will do that today.

>> and, again, the house coming back at noon eastern. debate also this afternoon in the senate. the senate's live on c-span2 and the house here on c-span. military historian lewis sorely recounts the career of general westmoreland who led troops in vietnam from 1964 to 1968. mr. sorley is speaking live at booktv.org. >> of course i am delighted but not surprised by the final repeal of the 18th amendment. i felt all along that when this matter was properly submitted to the rank and file of our people they would readily see that it has no place in our constitution. >> he served as governor of new york four times, though he never attended high school or college and in 1928 al smith became the first catholic nominated by a major party to

run for president. and although he lost the election, he is still remembered until this day by the annual fundraiser by various catholic charities and the stop for the two main presidential candidates each year. al smith is one of the 14 men featured in c-span's new series "the contenders." friday at 8:00 p.m. eastern. >> it's been almost 30 years since the small group from the alpha phi alpha fraternity proposed building a memorial for dr. martin luther king. and watch the dedication of the martin luther king jr. memorial in washington, d.c. live coverage begins at 9:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> to meet current and future threats, our military must remain the finest in the world. it must be an agile and full force that can deter conflict,

project power and win wars. now, that's a great challenge, and that challenge will bring about difficult times and difficult decisions, but i would tell you as well it's also an opportunity, an opportunity to shape, to change, to transform the army, not just to come to terms with the fiscal constraints of today but to better meet the challenges that we know somewhere sometime we will face tomorrow. >> with possible defense cuts in the near future, army secretary john mchugh discuss how the army could shrink and still maintain its capabilities. watch the entire event online at the c-span video library archived and searchable. it's washington your way. the u.s. house coming back at noon eastern, but until then we're going to show you a conversation from this morning's "washington journal" on the justice department's announcement yesterday of that foiled plot to kill a saudi ambassador to the u.s. this is about 45 minutes and

we'll show you what we can until the house resumes at noon. guest: actually, only the chairman and ranking member were briefed ahead of time because, as you know, the suspect was arrested a number of days ago. this is a sort of gang of eight where just a few people on the congress are briefed. but yesterday we were given a cursory briefing. we wanted to hear more about it. but it's career that the f.b.i. in its days of interrogation and the f.b.i. is the cadillac standard of doing these kinds of interrogations. they don't use any of these

enhanced techniques. it was clear that the suspect cooperated. we got lots of information not only about this plot but other things that were learned and i think it was just a great example of good work that was done by the f.b.i. the other thing, it seems pretty clear this is connected to the iranian government which is part of the iranian army was involved in this and there's clearly going to be follow-up with the iranian government to hold them accountable. i think it has some effect on russia and china in terms of cooperating with the sanctions that we have and more -- even more rigorous sanctions against iran. host: you say it's clear that there's a connection to the iranian government. what makes you confident of that connection? guest: let me put it this way, the information that we have

right here certainly -- and according to what the attorney general said that the iranian government and its units within were part of this -- part of this plot. i only know what i've been -- what i heard and what i was told. host: what do you expect to hear next? i mean, do you expect to hear more? guest: oh, there will be more. i think that the issue will focus more on sanctions, on even stricter sanctions from the iranian government which right now is denying any kind of plot against the saudi ambassador. host: they said this is fabricated by the united states. your reaction to that. guest: i think that we have good information that it was very careful work done to establish this connection and i think that absolutely that we have correct information.

i think we'll continue to get more information from this individual and it will probably be a movie. host: here is "the wall street journal" editorial this morning. do you agree with that? host: yeah, i do. when you want to do an assassination within the united states, within an embassy within the united states, certainly an act of terror. i don't know the law in terms of an act of war, but it's certainly a serious act of aimpression. host: less reassuring is the last seriousness by the political leadership of iran's threat.

guest: i think all of those gaps will be investigated right now and if they need to be closed that the door will be slammed as soon as possible, yeah. host: and will that take an act of congress, legislation to do so? guest: i don't know now. i know there will be unanimous support for that. host: what happens now after this developing story? guest: well certainly the intelligence committee will be fully briefed on the operation and finding them. although a good deal of it now is in the public press. i think it's a good thing for people to know how successful our intelligence work is but i think a lot of it will be informing some of the members. and then taking the next steps to hold iran accountable for that.

host: how do you do that? guest: i think the first step will be enhanced sanctions and these travel issues, financial, tying up their finances as much as possible. host: all right. and on intelligence gathering, how has it improved since 9/11 when it comes to a situation after we're seeing after the announcement of the attorney general yesterday? guest: you know, we had a good deal of updates since 9/11 of how the intelligence work has improved. i think the main thing is the connectivity, making sure -- we talk a lot about how the dots were not connected. we're doing a much better job in connecting all the dots and communicating with all levels of law enforcement, including the local level, so that we have people on the ground, local police departments that are informed about what to look for. i think we are much safer. host: what about the ties to the mexican drug cartel and

their influence or participation in potential terror plots? guest: that is really part of the really interesting kind of scary thing about this. this individual thought he was dolling and plant a deal with the mexican drug cartel and that connection to terrorists will also be investigated. host: i want to move on to jobs because you also sit on energy and commerce, manufacturing and trade committee. looks like these trade deals with south korea, panama and colombia will pass out of the house and senate. the president is expected to sign it. this is a story in "the hill" newspaper. how do you plan to vote? guest: i plan to vote no on the trade deals. we have lost 55,000 manufacturing plants and six million manufacturing jobs in the last decade.

the trade deals that we had in the past, beginning with nafta, have only caused more american jobs to be lost, have not really been good for workers and our trading partners either. the chamber of commerce believes that we need to create more jobs, more manufacturing jobs here in the united states of america. that's what i think we should do. it is estimated that just the trade deal with korea would cost 159,000 jobs. that's by the economic policy institute. host: so you disagree with the president who said this will provide jobs? guest: you know, i don't see it. the american people, most of them don't agree. we don't have any experience in that. the deal with korea, for example, requires only 35% of the content of automobiles to be american made. that means that downstream the

steel manufacturers and the parts manufacturers. they can be made anywhere. in colombia, this is still the most dangerous country to be a unionist trade union, members, 51 of them were killed last year. look, gretta, if 51 c.e.o.'s had been killed in colombia last year, do you think we would be doing a trade deal with colombia? i don't. and there's impunity, meaning there's very little punishment as a result. host: all right. let's get to phone calls. harvey in stafford, new jersey. good morning. caller: hello. it's nice to see you back. you are a frequent visitor on c-span. i wonder if you would be so kind as to tell us why you were one of the persons who voted against the simpson-bowles recommendations. please be specific. guest: i'm happy to. i not only voted no, but if you

ask allen simpson, he'll tell you that i proposed my own alternative which did not cut middle class and low-income people and have an affect on them but still did reach primary budget balance which was the goal of the simpson-bowles commission that i sat on. and so i made a number of cuts. even some cuts, for example, on medicare. i said, we could save a lot of money if medicare were able to negotiate with the pharmaceutical companies for lower drug prices. so i looked at expenditures and cutting those and also reasonable and fair increases in revenue. i did look carefully at the defense budget and didn't do anything to harm our national security or our soldiers or, you know, our -- the families

of soldiers. but i offered a complete plan that achieved the goal but didn't do it 3-1 cut, many of which i felt hurt, further hurt middle class and low-income people. host: david is next. democrat in cooksville, tennessee. caller: hi. host: good morning, david. you're on the air with congresswoman jan schakowsky. caller: i wonder why the bill didn't pass 50-49? anyone else in our democratic system, if there's 99 people voting, 50 vote one way and the 49 voted no, 50 passes. host: talking about it fell short by 10. guest: the filibuster has been used to change the idea of majority rules. and now in the arcane rules of the united states senate, in order for debate even to proceed forward, it needed a

supermajority of 60 which really means that the minority can block the will of the majority. i think we need a change in this filibuster rule, and do exactly what you said. actually it was 51-46 was the ultimate vote. all of the republicans, all of them voting against the jobs legislation. legislation that even the chamber of commerce says in terms of creating more jobs in infrastructure that it would be a good thing to do. so i agree with you, david. host: democrats, also, joined republicans to vote against it and virginia democrat, jim webb, had this to say. he voted to move forward on debate on it. he said, i again emphasize my belief that increasing taxes. it should raise the capital gains rate or ending costly

subsidies and tax loopholes. guest: well, the bill was paid for in the senate by one of the most popular elements which was be a increase in taxes -- which was an increase in taxes on people earning more than $1 million a year. taxes on millionaires and billionaires is something that's very, very popular. it cut the holiday payroll tax and putting money in the pockets of ordinary people. i believe what businesses need right now primarily is not so much confidence, not so much tax cuts. they need customers. they need people who can go out and spend and that's why the chamber of commerce says we need to create infrastructure jobs and they call it a two fer because you not only put people back to work like fixing weak

bridges but you're able to put money in the pockets of people that then go out and spend it. host: you had a similar jobs legislation to what the president has proposed. 14 million americans unemployed right now, according to the september jobs numbers. how many jobs would actually be filled with construction jobs? guest: well, let me just say on my bill, my lgs, the emergency jobs to restore the american dream act, would have put 2.2 million people to work. how do i know? because every dollar had to be connected to a job. we're talking about fixing schools. hiring more teachers or retaining firefighters and police officers. part of the president's bill. restoring our parks. hiring more health care workers and childcare workers. things that we need. but every dollar had to be connected to a job. mark zandi, who was a -- who is

an economist that was a consultant -- worked for -- consulted with john mccain when he ran for president said that the president's bill, he estimates, would create 9.9 million jobs or reduce -- and reduce the unemployment rate by about 1%. a little bit more than that, mine. well, that would be enough to jump-start the economy. it's the hope. but in any case it would lower that unemployment rate and put more people to work. that's exactly what we need. host: massachusetts governor mitt romney at last night's debate in new hampshire talked about the president's jobs plan. here's what he had to say. >> the stimulus bills that the president comes out with that will supposedly create jobs, we've now seen this play to the theater several times and what we're seeing hasn't worked. the american people know when he went into office and borrowed $800 billion for a massive jobs stimulus program that they didn't see the jobs. some of those green jobs we

were supposed to get, that's money down the drain. the right course for america is not to keep spending money on stimulus bills but instead to make permanent changes to the tax code. look, when you -- as the president does, if you give a temporary change to the payroll tax and say we're going to extend this for a year or two, employers don't hire people for a year or two. they invest in a person that goes for a long period of time. host: congresswoman. guest: well, first of all, that's one of the most repeated falsehoods that the stimulus bill did nothing to create jobs. the congressional budget office, all the objectives, nonpartisan estimates are that it created between 1.9 million and three million jobs in our economy. we were bleeding jobs before the stimulus bill. so that is just incorrect. and i did not hear one thing about how the republicans or mitt romney propose to create jobs. all they say is that we should

end regulations, not just the ones that are redundant or useless which the president has already said. 500 of them he's identified to get rid of. but right now what they want to do is end regulations so that mercury can be put into the atmosphere. i've been fighting that for a week now on the floor of the house of representatives to take away the clean air act, the clean water act and get government out of the way is what they say. well, that is a danger to our health of our country. host: back to phone calls. harold, republican in roswell, georgia. caller: good morning and thank you for c-span. i just have a question. i'm one of those republicans that crossed over for obama in the last election. with high hopes about things like trade. i keep hearing congress and the president talk about the need for high skilled jobs. i was working in a high tech industry back during nafta and

i saw this exact same kind of trade deal set up occur with the expectation of bringing in new jobs and trade into our country and what i saw was that the trade with these nations ended up siphoning off the exact kind of jobs that we're hearing -- that we're trying to create. i'd like to hear your comment on that. thank you. guest: i agree with you. i'm very skeptical about these agreements creating american jobs. i'm worried that the exact same thing will happen. that in fact jobs will be siphoned off to korea and colombia and panama as opposed to created in the united states of america. we need to make things in america. we need to do advance manufacturing. where we take these great innovations that we invent right here in our country and bring them to products and sell them to the rest of the world. that needs to be the emphasis.

and i'm going to be voting against those trade agreements. host: we'll go next to becky, democratic caller in north carolina. caller: good morning. guest: good morning. host: good morning, becky. caller: hi. yeah. i just want to say that america today is the number one terrorist nation on this planet. plotting and plotting. always plotting. dropping bomb after bomb after bomb. i mean, i never heard any coverage of the harlem war march. you hear every day on the news, they're reporting all the protests elsewhere in the middle east and all around the world. i mean, we're not -- when is the american people going to wake up and stop electing these people who want to bomb and drop and kill little kids all around the world? it is so hurtful to be part of this country. guest: well, i certainly don't agree that the united states is a terrorist country.

what i do agree is we need to wind down the wars, which we are doing in iraq and afghanistan. we need to not just build schools in afghanistan. we need to build schools at home. we need to bring our young men and women out of harm's way. we need to do it as soon as possible. host: maya, republican. caller: actually it's anaya. host: sorry. go ahead. caller: it's ok. i don't believe a word of this iran stuff. i read about too many u.s. falsified missions for me just to believe it's got a translucent very near. it's got -- veneer. i'm not sure if the iranian government was involved because he wanted to try to get out of it or trying to make a deal but it's too convenient for the united states. and it's -- it strikes me as a

lie to try to put things in -- host: on her sentiment, we heard that during the first part of our program this morning the distrust of the american government and what they're alleging here. guest: well, we're certainly going to see a trial. we're going to see the full investigation. we're going to see the evidence , and i do have trust in the attorney general. but we don't -- that's not how we do it in america. we want to see the full details as they evolve. i don't think that you'll be correct, but all of us will be able to see whether or not you are. host: james writes this on twitter. if the mexican drug cartels are now terrorist organizations that holder -- did holder give arms to terrorists? referring to the fast and furious program. guest: well, there is going ton an investigation to make sure

exactly what happened there. i really don't have the inside story on that. host: do you have confidence in attorney general eric holder? guest: i do have confidence in the attorney general. if mistakes were made we're all going to find out about that. host: we'll go next to germany. chris is joining us. caller: you know, if you go to any of these third world countries that we have trade agreements with, you won't find anything that says made in america on it. now, the reason why is because the only thing we're selling and sending to the -- trading with these countries is raw material. these countries actually buy our -- they actually bid and buy our jobs from us. and so what they do is they buy the raw materials from us to assemble the work for cheap labor and so these trade agreements are about us removing the tax. they actually charge us a tax for the raw material that we send down to their countries for them to assemble the raw

materials. so it's all about working jobs at the end of the day. guest: i don't think that these trade agreements are a good thing. especially if you look at the average income of consumers in those countries, it's hard to imagine that the kinds of products that we want to export other than raw materials and agricultural products are things that they're going to buy from us. so i think it can have a downward push on manufacturing in the united states as we've seen over the last decade with the flood of jobs, the flood of companies taking their jobs overseas. host: otis is next, independent in omaha, nebraska. caller: hi, yeah. i just want to ask what schakowsky -- was her husband a convicted felon and what was he indicted on? that's it. i can listen to the answer off

the phone. guest: you know, something we've never -- my husband, who is the head of a public interest organization was convicted of check kiting, essentially. borrowing -- but no institution lost any money. nobody did. and he went to prison for five months. paid his debt to society. there was no money owed because no bank and nobody lost any money in the deal. so in order to try and prop up an organization, he served his time and that's in the past now. host: walter, democratic line, long island, new york. caller: hi. i just wanted to make a comment about the iranian situation. and, you know, the intelligence community today.

i have family who -- i'm not going to -- who does overseas intelligence work and they're -- the current situation in terms of the privatization of intelligence work is insane because there's no such thing as a loyal corporate spy. you know, the c.i.a. might have been -- the c.i.a. might have been corrupt, but at least they were loyal to america. but the current privatization of intelligence work is really messing a lot of things up. some of the privatization of the military -- host: well, let's give the congresswoman's thoughts on that because she serves on the select intelligence committee. guest: i have been a great proponent of stopping outsourcing of our intelligence work and of our security work in iraq and afghanistan to private companies. i am constantly talking about and asking our intelligence

agencies whether or not we are moving toward people who wear the badge of the united states of america, not outside contractors and i think you are right. i think there are certain things that are inherently governmental functions that we should have people that are explicitly hired by the united states of america, accountable to us, loyal to us and i think that the intelligence area is one area where we need far fewer outside contractors. host: ed werder, a republican in savannah, georgia. you are on the air with congresswoman jan schakowsky of illinois. caller: yes, i was calling to say that i feel that the united states needs a new form, branch of bank that anyone could come and they could put money into but it wouldn't be like sun trust or wachovia where you have a debit card. you would be able to put the

money in and you'd have certain groups that could be formed within this new branch of bank but this bank would be mainly to help support the existing banks that's there today. and that's my main thought on thasheue. host: falls church, virginia. democratic caller. caller: yes, thank you. i want to thank you and commend the representative on her work on clean air. i am aghast as a mother, grandmother, teacher, that couldn't understand the importance of that. i'm sorry. are they ignoreant about the facts of how we breathe and what we breathe and the effect? how can normal people -- what can normal people say to representatives? guest: i really hope you do because i don't think that members of congress are hearing

enough from people who are concerned now that we're turning back the clock. we're going to be poisoning our air with things as toxic as mercury. and i ask my colleagues yesterday. you say things like, well, you don't want to leave the debt to your country. to your grandchildren. well, do you want to leave brain damage to your grandchildren and to your children? that is exactly what mercury, for example, it's a neurotoxin that affects pregnant women and their fetuses and newborn babies and children as they develop. many women in the united states already have mercury in their body because they eat fish that are contaminated with mercury, that comes from the air. i don't get it. i don't understand how we can sacrifice these health regulations in the name of job creation. that's really false anyway.

when you ask for pollution controls, those are job creation industries. and we built those up over the years. and now we're seeing a complete rollback of decades of work to get our air and our water and our land to be cleaner. so, please, contact your legislators. host: on our line for independents, phyllis. caller: good morning, gretta and jan. what i'd like to discuss is war and imports. as far as war is concerned, gretta, i told you back in 2003 that my girls club -- i tell them, don't vote for bush or else we'll go to war in the middle east. it's all over oil. it continues to be the same thing because saudi arabia needs to get a pipeline through iraq, iran, afghanistan and into china. that's what's going on there. bring all our troops home. that's $2.10 trillion a year

we'll save. as far as imports go, put an import tax on it, jan, a big one, equalizing $20 an hour and you'll see the japs come back here. ok? guest: well, we certainly need to do what we can to have fair trade, not just free trade but fair trade for american workers. the president has constituented that we can -- that has promised we would save $1 trillion by winding down the wars. that's part of our budget proposal. i think we need to go even faster and more aggressively in bringing our troops home from afghanistan. but i am worried they may be replaced by private contractors like the previous caller was talking about. we want to make sure that our footprints is actually smaller in those countries. host: democratic caller in orlando, florida. caller: yes, good morning. i'd like to speak a little bit

about how congress' so paralyzed, not being able to get much done. and, you know, the first day of the session, the house of representatives this year, they read the constitution from the floor, if you recall. and as far as i know the word filibuster does not appear anywhere in the constitution. and i really believe that the filibuster is being used to make like a charity of the minority, it's been referred to as. this is a very serious problem, and i know that senator harkin has been trying for many years to try and change this situation. we've been unable to because it's inconvenient for both parties. and i really hope c-span could do some kind of a special program about this because i really think our nation's in danger because we're coming up with suboptimal solutions, as

thomas friedman says. guest: well, there were actually efforts, i agree with you, to change the filibuster rules. there were a couple of very minor tweaks that haven't really been able to get this clog out of the way, this huge barrier of this legislation getting passed. i do believe there is a reasonable amount of time that people ought to have debate in the senate, but once that time has elapsed, and that was part of the harkin proposal, then i think you have to be able to have a majority vote to get things through the united states senate. elections matter. elections count when you have a majority. i think that those rules -- you know, we ought to change the rules so that the majority can work its will. host: congresswoman schakowsky represents the ninth district of chicago, evanston area.

republican in new jersey. alfred, are you there? caller: yes. host: go ahead with your question or comment for the congresswoman. caller: thank you. host: we're listening alfred. caller: yes, good morning. i just want to ask you -- let's agree first of all that the philosophy of yourself, people like you and the president has definitely failed. why is it that you continue to try to extract money for productive people in our country? the expenditures, the money that you have spent and waste that -- is humungous, creating a gigantic debt. your answer is, let's continue to tax successful people. guest: first, let me say you may not remember that george bush was handed a surplus when he came into office.

and by the end of his administration, not only was there a huge debt, but the markets had failed, a blind eye to wall street had allowed the economy almost to go into a great depression. and so now to blame barack obama for something that was inherited by his administration and to -- the republicans blocking all efforts to try and make the economy better. but here's the thing. you talk about taxing productive people. the tax rates on wealthiest americans are at their lowest level for some 50 years in our country. the idea is fair taxation, to allow people to pay their fair share. it's not about punishment or revenge or envy. it is about making sure that those who have benefited from the common good and elizabeth warren had a great comment

saying, great, you have a factory and you make a lot of money or business you make a lot of money, your employees were educated by the public, by our tax dollars. you take your goods over roads that all of us have paid for. you are protected by police and firefighters that all of us pay for and now you can keep the bulk of your money but you need to pay your fair share. and that's all that this conversation is about. 81% of americans agree that we need to tax the wealthiest americans right now. we have the greatest income disparity in our country since 1928. middle-class incomes have fallen. the middle class is disappearing, and the very rich are getting richer. the poor are getting poorer. this is not good for our economy. it's not good for our democracy. it's not good for our

competitive edge in the world. we need to have economic fairness in our country, and that means everybody, everybody has to pay their fair share. host: "washington times" front page story. host: one republican, senator tom coburn of oklahoma, did not vote, by the way. there is other news reports this morning that the next sfrat gee will be in the senate -- strategy will be in the senate, that they will try to break up the president's jobs bill, will try to pair things that they like with what the republicans like. guest: what republicans don't like about the bill is the jobs part, actually creating more jobs and putting people to work doing things that we need. and, again, this sun of the issues i really don't -- this

is one of the issues i really don't get. don't republicans drive over squeaky bridges as well? kids in the car, don't they want these things done for their own family as well as for the country? so i don't understand why there's not support for direct job creation. these would be construction jobs and union jobs and teacher jobs and all kinds of good work in our community. so i'm a little concerned about breaking up the package. i would like to see it all as one piece, but, you know, we'll see as we go forward what we can get done. host: fred's next. democratic caller. orlando, florida. caller: yes. can you hear me? host: we can hear you, fred. caller: yes. i'd like to know the job proposal not pass, what will we do? will it be like a nothing deal?

will we get this country moving forward or is it just going to stay still until after the election? guest: well, you heard the president in his speech about jobs that americans really can't wait for now it's 13 months in order to get back to work and the economy get rolling again. and that's why he proposed his bill when he did and asked the congress to pass it right now. my concern is yours. are the republicans so much against creating these jobs and helping the economy because they want to defeat barack obama, because they want to defeat the democrats that they're willing to vote against the economy and against jobs and wait for the next election? frankly, i think that that is a risky political decision on their part because i think the americans want to see something happen. people of all walks of life

right now are really suffering, losing their homes as well as their jobs as well as their health care and i think that we do need to move ahead, not wait for the next election. i'm hoping that they'll see the light when their constituents let them know, we need your help. host: here is a tweet from one of our viewers. george bush is gone. obama made things worse. you had control of the house and senate, referring to the democrats, over the last two years of the bush years. some playing the blame game. guest: the kinds of actions that he took, including the stimulus bill, which put up to three million people back to -- back to work or prevented layoffs, i think was the thing that actually saved the economy from actually falling into the abyss. and so i just -- i disagree.

with the tweeter that this is a blame game. it's just a fact. people forget how bad things were when the president raised his hand and took that oath of office, and i do not believe that the president in any way has made it worse. it's -- the situation was worse than we even thought it was. host: darrell -- >> congresswoman schakowsky and her colleagues in the house will be gaveling in shortly as they begin legislative business. this afternoon they will be taking up the -- resuming debate on the three free trade agreements with colombia, panama and south korea and they'll also finish up a bill blocking e.p.a. rules on mercury and other toxic air emissions. votes on all of those measures expecked sometime after 5:00 p.m. eastern. the senate today is also debating the trade agreements. both the house and senate are expected to pass the measure. before the south korean president addresses a joint

meeting of congress tomorrow. of course, we'll have live coverage of that here on c-span. president obama following the defeat of the jobs bill, of moving forward with the jobs bill in the senate said this morning on the jobs bill, "we will not take no for an answer." that tweet from mark mueller of cbs news. he made those comments at the latino forum. we'll show that to you later. also a house hearing, the small business committee meeting this afternoon to look at broadband technology and the g.p.s.. that's at 1:00 on c-span3. now to the house floor here on c-span.

the speaker: the house will be in order. prayer will be led by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. loving god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. we pray this day, oh lord, for peace in our world that righteousness will be done with freedom and freedom will flourish.

the work of these days has concerned the interchange of goods, talent, and resources with other nations of the world. in your wisdom, you created many peoples and have asked us to live and work together so that all might know and experience your blessings. send your spirit upon the members of this people's house, that they might judiciously balance seemingly irreconcilable interests. help them to execute their consciences and judgments with clarity and purity of heart so that all might stand before you honestly and trust that you can bring forth righteous fruits from their labors. bless us this day and every day and may all that is done be for your greater honor and glory, amen.

the speaker: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1 the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance today will be led by the gentleman from virginia, mr. forbes. mr. forbes: 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: the chair will entertain up to 15 one-minute requests on each side. for what purpose does the gentleman from west virginia rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker: without objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker. this past week west virginia experienced a tremendous loss. milan, former c.e.o. of milan labs in morgantown and the

namesake of the stadium passed away. mr. mckinley: he was a visionary entrepreneur who grew milan into the largest generic drug manufacture in america but also is a beloved philanthropist who is passionate about our mountain state. he was an extremely big supporter of the university and gave his time to the academic and athletic programs there. milan had a kind heart and lived his life with the utmost integrity. the life he lived and the legacy he leaves behind have made west virginia a better place for our children and grandchildren. my wife, mary and i, as well as all west virginia virginians and mountaineer fans will keep him in our hearts and prayers. he will be missed by all. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: jabs. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? mr. sires: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. sires: mr. speaker, i rise

today to condemn the violence in egypt. muslims and christians fought for democracy, religious violence continue to plague the country. violence against catholic christians is rising. this weekend over two dozen people were killed in cairo. most of them catholic christians. demonstrators have gathered to protest the catholic church and other christian properties. the military drives vehicles into crowds and shoot off live ammunition. in all 26 people were dead and hundreds were wounded. this brutal crackdown puts into question the ability of the military government to bring democracy to egypt and protect the minority catholic population. these military attacks are unacceptable and the resulting deaths are absolutely appalling. the catholic christians want respect for their churches,

homes. the united states must do everything it can to pressure military leaders to end the violence, punish those responsibility and uphold the equal rights of all egyptian citizens. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado rise? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. >> mr. speaker, today i rise to honor a soldier who made the ultimate sacrifice and laid down his life for our freedom. united states army private first class david a. drake. private first class drake enlisted in the united states army in january, 2011, in the army he served as a combat engineer, leading from the front with his unit the 515th engineer company, fifth engineer battalion, fourth maneuver enhancement brigade and deployed in support of operation enduring freedom.

mr. coffman: on september 28, 2011, he gave his life in afghanistan conducting operations against the enemy. david is required not only for his remembered for his heroics on the battlefield but the tremendous impact he had on his family, friends and community. his brother recalls david's absolute devotion to others and described why he joined the army. for him it was pride in serving our country, serving the people, keeping our freedom. his character and patriotism are an example for us all. private first class david andrew drake personifies the honor, self-lessness of service in the united states army. his bravery and dedication to duty will not be forgotten. as a marine corps combat veteran, my deepest sympathies go out to his family, his fellow soldiers and to all who knew him. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california rise? >> i ask permission to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. chu: mr. speaker, i rise today to voice my support for older americans and pledge to protect the program they have paid into, have been promised and deserved. throughout much of the year we have heard how congress needs to cut medicare, medicaid under the guise of deficit reduction. i reject that premise. i do so for dale, the sacramento resident who is 70 years old, recently retired with his wife. ms. matsui: home repair bills started piling up. and if this weren't enough, both dale and his wife have suffered deteriorating health which has increased their medical bills to levels they cannot afford. cuts to medicare or social

security would, as dale put it, "take from the poorest of the poor." . that is unacceptable. any proposal to meet our deficit must meet the test of protecting our seniors. thank you and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia rise? >> i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. -- >> mr. speaker, i rise to note the important of prayer in our nation's history. on october 12, 1844, 167 years ago today, john chambers, the governor of iowa territory, issued a proclamation declaring a day of thanksgiving to god. chambers said in part, i deemed it proper to recommend the day of general thanksgiving to almighty god for the many and great blessings we enjoy as a people and individually and a prayer and splications for the continuance of his mercy and goodness towards us all.

and for the prosperity, happiness and ultimate salvation of the american people. mr. forbes: we are told that rightousness exalted by the nation and taught that thanksgiving and prayer is acceptable to our father in heaven. let us then unite our voices and hope they will reach the thrown of grace and have a continuation and increase of blessings. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california rise? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. ms. bass: i rise today to recognize national physician assistance week which is observed annually from october 6 through october 12. the first p.a.'s graduated from duke university. today more than 40 years later legions of practicing p.a.'s have reached over 83,000 people and reached the numbers of over

83,000 and 307 million patient visits p.a.'s last year alone. i know firsthand the key role of the p.a. system and the delivery of care. before serving in office i worked for nearly a decade as a p.a. and trained future p.a.'s. creating a response to a shortage of primary care physicians, the p.a. profession today is crucial to developing a strong primary care work force. not only do p.a.'s provide high quality, cost-effective care in virtually all health care settings, p.a.'s also extend the reach of medicine to understood community throughout the u.s. with -- communities throughout the u.s. with health care expanding access to 33 million americans, p.a.'s are needed now more than ever. mr. speaker, as we mark the final day of p.a. week, i ask my colleagues to join me in celebrating the contribution as well as the promise of the p.a. profession. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. 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 for one minute. mr. poe: mr. speaker, the house today will vote on a jobs plan that will create thousands of jobs for americans. i'm talking about the pending free trade agreement with colombia that has been waiting for years to be voted on. in my great home state of texas, new jobs will be created in exporting the -- the exporting sectors like petroleum, chemicals and machinery. texas is the number one state that exports to colombia. but in my district alone, the 22 companies that exported to colombia last year paid almost $is it million in unnecessary -- 12 million in unnecessary tariffs. when these tariffs are removed, they will be able to expand their markets, export more product and create more american jobs. and america will become more of a competitive country in the international marketplace. i've been to colombia and unlike some south americans, they like americans. they are a u.s. ally. it helps both nations and slit fice our joint -- solidifies

our joint efforts. it will create jobs, pass the free trade agreement with colombia. it's good for americans and it's good for colombians and that's just the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from rhode island rise? mr. cicilline: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. cicilline: thank you, mr. speaker. social security, medicare and medicaid were created because they reflect the values of our country and we should be incredibly proud of these programs which provide a vital safety net for our seniors and we should commit ourselves to strengthening them. seniors like one in my district who depend on social security, medicare and medicaid. rita is 8 years old. suffering -- 82 years old suffering with cancer and she lives in central rhode island. she was recently laid off from her job at central falls housing territory and relies on social security and medicare.

rita would not be able to afford her cancer medication without the support of medicare. we should do everything we can to protect and strengthen social security, medicare and medicaid for seniors like rita all across this country. our seniors deserve and have earned the benefits provided in these programs. they deserve to live their retirement years with dignity. we should not ask seniors to sacrifice benefits or asking the wealthiest americans and largest corporations to pay their fair share. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia rise? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise to honor the 39 wounded and the memory of the 18 killed who were aboard the u.s.s. cole who were killed by terrorists this day 11 years ago. i had the privilege of representing norfolk naval

station. on the morning of 2000, the u.s.s. cole was off the coast of yemen. around 11:18 a.m., a small craft ripped a 40 by 40-foot gash of steel by the destroyer. the galy, where the crew was gathering for lunch, took a direct hit. it was executed and planned by osama bin laden and his death justice was served. but at the dinner table of 17 american families, there sits an empty chair which should be a joyous family gathering. so we pause today and rightly so to honor and remember those who stand boldly in defense of america and defense of freedom. we must meet our deep obligation to them, to our veterans and the families of the fallen and may god forever bless the crew of the u.s.s. cole, past and present, and may god forever bless the united states of america.

i yield back. . the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. schakowsky: this would turn medicaid into a block grant. those same proposals are willing discussed in the select committee on deficit reduction. seniors are terrified and speaking out against cuts. people like debbie a public schoolteacher whose husband was diagnosed with m.s. and forced to sell his business at a loss. she says, my husband only gets $1,800 a month now. there's no way we'll be able to keep our house and pay our bills. we are worried. unquote. or arlene from chicago who lives on her social security check. she says, medicare helps with my medication, i run out of

food before the next monthism miss the cost of living increase because my rent takes half my money each month. let's reject benefit cuts. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from mississippi rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> i rise to once again urge the administration to issue drilling permits in the gulf of mexico in a more timely and efficient mapper. as demonstrated in today's hearing, there's a critical need to correct the regulatory back log. the subsequent regulatory slowdown will reduce oil and gas production levels in associated employment in the gulf south's subcommittee. recent reports show that up to 20 deep water drilling rigs could leave because of the slow

pace of the process. this will only exacerbate the trend as operators reallocate resources to other provinces. mr. palazzo: president obama said over an over that it's the number one priority, the gulf of mexico sits ready to work, let's put her to work for america. the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to direct their remarks to the chair. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize the association of and its founder. i -- together, disabled veterans and other people with disabilities took to the water and learned to sur wf the help of local surfers.

mrs. capps: this proved the power of the ocean can inspire, empower and rehabilitate people, especially our veteran workers -- warriors. earlier this year i'd met one of those veteran warriors at bethesda naval hospital. before he enlisted in the marines, he'd volunteered with ampsurf there on pismo beach an it was a special treat to see her mother at the beach supporting those in the water as her son rehabilitates. i know coty and others are resolved and determined to get back in the walter and they'll be able to do it. cody's story brings his cause full circle. mr. speaker, colleagues, please join me in honoring this organization and what it does for our veterans and those who share the powerful forces of sacrifice, perseverance and healing. i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from missouri rise? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. the president has proposed the american jobs act to get people back to work. the bill will revitalize american manufacturing and invest in infrastructure to create jobs now. it contains proven ideas for job creation that have received bipartisan support, and economists agree. mark zandi at moody's said it will create two million jobs and won't add a dime to the deficit. why aren't we passing the bill now? sadly last night, senate republicans stood with house republicans to stop the american jobs act from coming to a vote. mr. carnahan: in 40 weeks that they've been in charge of the house the republican leaders have never called a vote on the jobs bill. it's time to put the country first in the face of the economy.

last month i welcomed some amazing world war ii veterans to their memorial, they shared with me the channels of those in favor say aye time and pulled together for the good of the country. now, mr. speaker, it's time for us to pull together for the goofed the country, for the great economic challenges we face today. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from kansas rise? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman veck niced for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to praise a not for profit organization in kansas i recently visitted. cottonwood provides a service to the community by providing employment opportunities to those with developmental disabilities. they have earned a reputation as for quality services and care. workers make natural of consumer products including industrial strength cargo straps that are used by our troops here at homes an

overseas. mr. yoder: thanks to cottonwood, our soldiers are have a much-needed tool to do their job. cottonwood is a shining example of what can be done if the community teams together to create products. i praise cottonwood and others who provide meaningful employment for people with disabilities across the country. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman veck niced for one minute. >> as policymakers it is our job to learn if the mistakes of the past and not repeat them. nearly 700,000 american jobs have been lost as a direct result of nafta. in my district, the 43rd congressional district, we have lost over 2,000 jobs since the pass amming of nafta and other trade agreements. mr. baca: the united states has

gone from a $1.6 billion trade surplus to a $97 billion trade deficit with mexico. yet we stand this -- stand this week ready to pass three more nafta-style trade agreements, korea, colombia an panama. my constituents face a 14% unemployment rate. they need us to create jobs, not ship them overseas where thousands of jobs will be sent over. ask yourself, who benefits from these trade dreel deals? not the american working families. major corporations are the ones who benefit with these misguided afreems. this is a debate about the haves and have nots. it is time to stand up for working family, it's time to stand up for working families and do the right thing for the american people. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one

minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. last month, americans around the country commemorated the 10th anniversary of the september 11 attacks. i had the honor and privilege to spend the day with some of the prave police, firefighters, e.m.t.'s, paramedics and first responders that put their lives on the line every day to protect us from harm. mr. gardner: i had the opportunity to speak with local firefighters and police as we remembered the tragedy of 10 years ago and the sacrifice and los of so many lives. the lapel pin i have on this morning was lent to me by a friend of mine, it's a pin given to new york police officers in the wake of september 11. the pin is the remainder of that day and the understanding that firefighters and police officers share, the understanding that every day they go to work willing to give their lives for others. we remember the victims and

devastation, the fear and anger of that time. but we also remember me unity, the sense of understanding that existed across the nation in the days after that horrible tragedy. the people that have observed september 11 over this past month, september 11 through today, the people that i saw that weekend, the firefighters, the police, and the citizen, re-- remember those days as well. in today's political environment we could do well to focus on how it should not require a national tragedy to bring us together. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky rise? >> request permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. >> we talk a lot about the different concerns for the future of our nation but there's one grave threat that exists in every single congressional district and could cripple future generations and the long-term strength of our nation. more than 12 million american citizens, children, 17%, are currently obese. in my home state of kentucky, the number is even worse with obesity affecting 37% of

kentucky kids. that's millions of children who are at a significantly higher risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer, millions at risk of having their dreams cut short and millions who may not get a chance to contribute their potential to our nation's growth. mr. yarmuth: i'm proud to applaud the work of children's hospital in louisville, one of dozens of children's hospitals educating kids about the importance of eating healthy and getting active. children's hospitals are essential allies in the battle to stop childhood obesity. i urge mu colleagues to support these initiatives and every effort to get our kids focusing on a filter future. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker. unemployment numbers just came out for our country and again we see the country at 9.1% unemployment. the number one issue we face here in this body is jobs and the economy.

this week, we have an opportunity to come together in a bipartisan fashion. the president has talked about the trade agreements with both south korea, colombia and panama and i think this is an opportunity for us to level the playing fields, to allow the american worker to win. mr. dold: we know the american worker can win and if we take south korea alone this is an opportunity for us to add $10 billion to our g.d.p. for every $1 billion we send in exports we create 625,000 jobs here at home. 95% of the consumers are outside of the united states. we want to make sure we're selling american abroadful this is an opportunity for us to put american workers back to work, to try to lower the unemployment rate from 9.1% and move the country forward. i ask my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to come together today and this week to pass free trade agreements and move our cupry ahead. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from can connecticut seek recognition?

>> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. >> free trade deals are not an industrial policies. unlike most industrial countries in the world the united states is the only one with no overall stratswri for bringing back the five million manufacturing jobs we've lost in the last decade or reopening the 50,000 factories that have been shuttered. without enforcing current trade laws or pressuring china to adopt fair currency policies or using u.s. taxpayer dollars to benefit u.s. companies, we are on the losing end of free trade before the deals are even negotiated. where's the focus on industrial education? where's the focus on requiring other countries to live up to their trade obligations? where's the focus on making sure that u.s. taxpayer dollars are spent on u.s. jobs? now i get the benefits of free trade but come to waterberry, connecticut, new britain connecticut, and what you'll hear is a cry for help, not for

more trade deal bus for a country that recognizes what every other country has in this world that we need a domestic, industrial policy to protect and support our manufacturers here before we engage in free trade deals abroad. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland rise? >> permission to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks -- my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. when it comes to job creation, the american people are not waiting for the right speech, but rather, the right leadership. while the obama administration claims to seek common ground on which to help employers hire workest, house republicans have already produced an passed more than a dozen job creating bills through the house this year. we're going to do that later today with the free trade bills that will create 250,000 jobs. unfortunately, these measures have long been ignored by the senate and white house. where was the leadership?

if president opaw ma is serious about help creag ate jobs, he must listen to what job creators are actually saying. mr. harris: more than anything else, they need long-term confidence that washington will stop punishing them with reckless red tape and threatening them with new taxes. house republicans are ready to work with the president but not if it means supporting policies that only work against job creators and job seekers. i yealed back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> some few weeks ago, the president addressed this congress in this hall about jobs and introduced the american jobs act. something that would help small businesses, something that would help put policemen, firemen and teachers to work, something to help rebuild schools. a bill that would appropriately put americans back to work and address our problems.

mr. cohen: but the senate killed it yesterday. we should have known and we did know the senate would kill it because senator mcconnell said right after the president was sworn in, our main job is to see that he's not re-elected. the president supports these free trade agreements. i'm not. he is. the republicans are but they don't give him credit for. they condemn him today, the previous speaker, and yet he's for the trade agreements. he couldn't do anything for him even if he made them a kidney transplant. there's nothing he could do that they think is right. we need to create jobs is the main issue in my district and this nation and we need to work together to create jobs in america and the millionaires need to pay their fair share. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. ellison: thank you, mr. speaker. last night i was disappointed,

though not surprised, to see the senate fail to arrive at the number of votes in order to bring closure so that the american jobs act could be debated. they've not only do not want to pass a jobs bill, they don't want to debate a jobs bill. i thought that was an embarrassing moment for the u.s. congress because with 9.1% unemployment, with people who have been chronically unemployed for so long, one would think that we would want to get down here and talk about jobs, bring forth our ideas, offer amendments, do everything we could to try to help spur the american economy on. and yet we saw that jobs bill go down. mr. speaker, the american people know that congress can bring things up and they can bring things up again, and as long as americans are unemployed at the disgraceful rates that they are today, our congress will never stop fighting to continue to bring jobs bills back to this

congress. the republican majority in this house has yet to bring a republican -- a jobs bill. we hope to see one one day soon. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> i ask permission to address the house for one minute and ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. olson: mr. speaker, passing the south korea, colombia and panama trade agreements will decrease our trade deficit and make it easier for u.s. companies to compete on a global level. specifically, the u.s.-colombia trade promotion agreement translates into a potential duty-free savings of $180 million for this fast growing regional market. for example, in the district i represent, texas 22, some experts say $7.1 million in machinery parts and paid over

$336,000 in duty fees. in texas 22 alone, over 107,000 jobs are directly supported by over $57 billion in exports. free trade means more money. money that stays with the companies in america. money that can be used to expand american businesses and grow american jobs. i urge my colleagues to level the playing field for american businesses by supporting these three free trade agreements. let's export american goods and services, not american jobs. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from hawaii rise? -- the gentlewoman from hawaii rise? ms. hanabusa: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. hanabusa: thank you, mr. speaker. the trade agreements are front and center for us now. but i have to ask you, what are you waiting for? we ask about deficits, we talk about debt, we talk about trade

agreements, but what really would have an impact? and that is if you would set for hearing, the whole concept of currency manipulation. we have got to address china's manipulation of its yuan. i kept running from the armed services committee and one of the issues raised there was, we have got to do something about the yuan. china is outbuilding us, china is going to try to take over the pacific, china's building ships, china's doing all of these things that puts our defense and our people at risk. so, mr. speaker, i ask you, again, what are you waiting for? let's hear that currency manipulation bill that has 226 of us bipartisan support. let's hear it. time to really come to grips at what is truly our problem. how this bill will then affect issues such as the deficit and the debt and increase our g.d.p. think about it, mr. speaker.

thank you, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: jeaments. -- the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from washington rise? mr. mcdermott: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from washington is recognized for one minute. mr. mcdermott: mr. speaker, it's a very important day today. 519 years ago columbus discovered america. he was on a trade mission. but the problem is that today instead of dealing with trade missions and all the rest we ought to have a bill out here that the president presented on creating jobs for american workers. now, this congress has been in session for 300 and son-odd days. with the republicans talking -- and some-odd days. with the republicans talking about the president's plan has not worked, they have yet to bring to this floor a

presentation of a way to create jobs for american workers. these trade agreements, they say, well, if we have the level playing field with korea and all these other places, suddenly we'll have all these jobs here. there is a much better way and a much surer way to provide jobs here in this country. my previous -- my predecessor here talked about manipulation by the chinese of our currency which has been estimated to create or cut out a million jobs. there's other things we ought to be doing today than these free trade agreements. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir, pursuant to the 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 october 12, 2011, at 9:11 a.m., that the senate passed senate 1619. with best wishes i am, signed sincerely, karen l. haas. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 1-c of rule 19, further consideration of h.r. 3078 will now resume. the clerk will report the title. the clerk: union calendar number 156, h.r. 3078, a bill to implement the united states-colombia trade promotion agreement. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, has 30 minutes. and the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. camp: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i yield one minute to a distinguished member of the ways and means committee, the gentleman from north dakota, mr.burg. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one

minute. mr.burg: mr. speaker, we have been waiting for this trade agreement for a long time. it has been a missed opportunity. at a time when our economy is struggling, these trade agreements means more opportunities for americans. they mean more american exports and most importantly they mean more american jobs. we've already seen the benefits of trade in north dakota. our exports have more than doubled over the last five years. because of our renewed commitment to free trade. these trade agreements before us today could increase exports by $23 million in north dakota alone and $13 billion nationwide. if we're serious about creating jobs, if we're serious about getting our economy back on track and allowing the u.s. to stay competitive in a fast-moving global market, passing these trade agreement is a critical first step. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting them. thank you and i yield the remainder of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, is recognized. mr. levin: i yield one minute to the very distinguished the gentlelady from california, mrs. capps. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. mrs. capps: i rise in opposition to the colombia free trade agreement. first, colomboa does not meet the high standards we should be demanding of our trading partners. while colombia has made progress, trade unionists continue to be brutally murdered and attacked. we can't look the other way and hope things will get better. it makes permanent the trade preferences that has hurt california's cut flowers industry. it has millions of dollars in subsidies for colombia flower growers but has no support for our domestic growers. now, california's growers have planned to cut costs and compete globally but they can't do it alone. it's only fair that our

domestic growers get a little help from their government too. this f.t.a. is a huge missed opportunity to help this valid domestic industry. for these and so many other reasons i urge my colleagues to vote no on the colombia free trade agreement, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, is recognized. mr. camp: well, thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i yield a minute to the distinguished member of the ways and means committee, the gentlewoman from kansas, ms. jenkins. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. jenkins: thank you, mr. chair, for yielding, and thank you for your leadership in this area. it's been five years since we signed our trade agreement with colombia and although i'm disappointed it took this long i am so pleased we will be ratfying this agreement today. once this trade deal is passed we will finally have what our trade subcommittee chairman, representative brady, has correctly labored as sell american agreement with the third largest agreement in

south and central america. exports of american goods will increase by more than $1 billion, and the i.t.c. expects our stagnant g.d.p. will get a boost of at least $2.5 billion. not to mention kansas wheat farmers can look forward to an even larger share of the colombia green market. it is five years in the making but we are finally here. i urge my colleagues to come together and support the pro -jobs, pro-growth colombia free trade agreement. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, is recognized. mr. levin: i yield three minutes to mr. lewis of georgia. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. lewis: mr. speaker, i want to thank my friend and colleague, mr. levin, for yielding. mr. speaker, i rise in strong opposition to the united states-colombia free trade agreement.

now, some of my colleagues do not believe that the issue of human rights and the issue of the rule of law should be addressed through our trade policy. some believe it is not about stolen land, ran shacked homes. it is not about activists whose family and friends were harassed and disappeared. it's not about murders of labor leaders, it's not about a crisis that is only akin to sudan. trade for the trade, money for the money, let someone else care, let someone else do it. let someone else work on human rights. let someone else fight for justice. let someone else worry about peace, order and tranquility.

all we need to do is find the cheapest, fastest and easiest way to make a buck. my friends, we're mistaken to believe that this is not about us but the crisis in colombia affect every part of our region. it affects millions forced from their homes. it helped create the drug cartels and international gangs. it impacts the costs of crack and cocaine on every single street in america. we cannot ask someone else to address the violence. we cannot lead the question of corruption and impunity to another leader, another generation. we must demand these answers now. if we don't who will? it is up to us. we can do better.

it is on our watch. mr. speaker, today is a very sad day. we could have taken our time and done it right. today, we are banning our duty to the -- abandoning our duty to the people who elected us and to the millions of colombians who now know that their cries fell on deaf ears and cold hearts. we can do better. we must do better. . this congress this administration must have the courage to stand up and do what a right and be the right side of history. it is a missed opportunity for change, for good, to do what is right. thank you, mr. speaker.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp. mr. camp: i yield two minutes to a distinguished member of the ways and means committee, the gentleman from illinois, mr. schock. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. schock: let me say thank you to the chairman for his leadership in support of these agreements and let me say, i agree with the president. the passage of the colombia, panama, and free trade agreements will mean 250,000 new jobs at a time when our economy needs them most. but these trade agreements, mr. speaker, aren't just about new jobs. they're about the millions of americans who rely on new markets and new customers. in my district in central illinois alone, illinois' farmers depend on customers in south korea, in panama, and in colombia. and when the united states of america does nothing, we lose market share. since the five years that this

agreement was negotiated, five years ago, colombians purchased 60% of their wheat from united states farmers. today that number is 30%. it's costing jobs, and it's costing opportunities here in our country, in manufacturing in my home area, caterpillar, one of the major manufacturers of our country, employs a lot of high wage, union jobs, manufacturing jobs, eight out of 10 of the tractors built in my district are sent to customers around the world with only 5% of the world's population in this country, it takes a pretty defeatist mentality to believe our country would be better off not selling to the other 95% of the world. mr. speaker, today the house of representatives will pass a jobs bill. a jobs bill that can pass the house a jobs bill that can pass the senate and a jobs bill, mr. speaker, that the president of the united states has already said he'll sign into law.

this jobs bill, mr. speaker, does not require a tax increase. it does not require us to go into debt. this jobs bill has bipartisan support and is good not only for current americans, but more importantly, it's good for future americans and the future generation of america. i urge passage of these three bills and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: i yield three minutes to the ranking member on the trade subcommittee ways and means, mr. mcdermott of washington. the speaker: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcdermott: mr. speaker, we are all proud members of the united states congress. we consider this the preeminent legislative body in the world that sets the standard for how the world should create laws an how we should govern or country. we believe in the rule of law, we talk about it all the time. we're for the rule of law.

well that is the nub of this argument about why so many of us will vote against the colombian free trade agreement. now, we all know the horrors, we'll hear them repeated again and again, but the fact is, we forced the government of colombia, president obama did, to sit down and write a labor action plan in which they said what they would do. we didn't listen for a couple of years to the previous administration, the uribe administration, promise, promise, promise, nothing happened. so this president said, i want it in writing, write down a a labor agreement. it set out the precis -- resice steps colombia had to take to address the problems faced in that country. for example, steps colombia could take to detect sham subcontractors and punish employers for using them to suppress worker rights. we went down to very special --

very specific things. why was that? many of us who have been here a while were here when we passed and a half tasm we thought we'd read it and understood what it meant but we didn't understand a lot of what happened. because we agreaed that we wouldn't put the labor into the agreement, we'd write a side letter and we wouldn't put the environment into the agreement, we'd put it in a side letter. maquiladores would be taken care of, the rio grande would be cleaned up, but it department happen, it wasn't in the agreement. it did not have the force of law behind it. when it came to this, we didn't seal the deal. we said to the president, we want that in there. the president talked to republicans, back and forth it went, and the republicans were absolutely implaqueably opposed to putting in any mention of

the colombia action plan. now if somebody says they're going to do something, you take them at face value. sure they're going to do it. then write it down here. put it there so there's never any confusion about what it was you said you were going to do. but the republicans insisted that this be as wide open as the nafta agreement. that it not have built into it the one thing that makes this so difficult for us to deal with. if we believe in workers' rights and we believe in human rights in this place and we talk about it all the type, we talk about it for every country in the world, but when we write a trade agreement for colombia, we're unwilling to write in the demands for the colombian workers. that's what's wrong with this and that's why most of us will vote against it. i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp. mr. camp: i yield one minute to the distinguished gentleman from arizona, mr. quayle. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. quayle: i want to thank the chair for his excellent leadership in this. it's taken fiviers too long but finally the house will have the opportunity to vote on three pending free trade agreements. we have to understand that america competes in a flobal economy. if we ignore this we ignore it at our own peril. while these trade agreements have been languishing on the president's desk for five years, we have lost market share to the e.u., to canada. those will keep the economy from growing again. look at the colombia free trade agreement, since we have drafted that agreement, $3.85 billion in unnecessary tariffs have been put on american products. when we have these agreements in place, we're going add to our economy and add to the jobs here in the united states. in my home district, we have a very robust high tech sector,

depends heavily on trade. last year we had $10 billion of free trade going out in exports. a will the of -- a lot of them have been going to countries we have free trade agreements for. 35,000 jobs are directly related to that. i think this is a jobs bill. i urge my colleagues to support all three free trade agreements and i urge its passage. the speaker: the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: how much time on each side, please? the speaker pro tempore: mr. levin has 23 minutes, the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, has 25 minutes. mr. levin: how many? the speaker pro tempore: he has 25, you have 23, sir. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp is recognized. mr. camp: at this time, mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the distinguished member of the ways and means committee, mr. ryan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized.

mr. ryan: i thank the gentleman for yielding and i thank the gentleman, mr. camp, for his leadership. this is long overdue. this creates jobs. there is an issue that comes to the floor that has bipartisan support rarely these days. the obama administration estimates that will create 250,000 new jobs, and we agree. with respect to colombia in particular, they have free access to our markets, but we don't have free access to theirs. this gives us a level and equal playing field. colombia is our strongest ally in the region. colombia has done so much to help stop the proliferation of drugs coming into this country. they've helped us at the u.n. more importantly, they want to buy our products. where i come from, mr. speaker, we make things and we grow things. 20% of all the manufacturing jobs in wisconsin require exports.

$16.7 billion of our agricultural products in wisconsin in 2009 were in exports, creating 200,000 jobs in wisconsin alone. 95% of the world's consumers, they're not in this country, they're in other countries. if you're standing still on trade, you're falling mind. all our trade competitors are going around the world, getting better agreements and better deals for their exporters, freezing us out. it's high time we pass these agreements to break down barriers so we can make and grow things in america and sell them overseas so we can create jobs and that's exactly what these tree three agreements, especially colombia, does. i urge its passage. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, is recognized. mr. levin: it's my pleasure to yield three minutes to a very active member of our committee, mr. doggett, of the great state of texas.

mr. doggett: i thank the gentleman. we need a new 21st century trade policy that encourages more trade without encouraging a race to the bottom in conditions for our workers and the quality of the air we breathe and the water we drink. trade agreements should not be measured solely with regard to how many tons of goods move across a border. but they must consider the impact on how our workers are treated, how our environment is treated. and that's the very kind of trade policy that president obama has said repeatedly he's committed to. trade adjustment assistance is just not a substitute for a new trade policy that recognizes too often american jobs, too often american jobs have been a leading american export. all three of these bush-cheney trade agreements are deficient. but this one in particular shows just how far those who

think that the only thing that matters in trade policy is the volume of goods from one country to another to the exclusion of everything else, how that narrow view insists today that we must have totally free trade with the trade union murder capital of the world. yes, supporters of this free trade agreement have forgotten, it's not free. it's not free to those who attempt to represent workers in colombia. last year, 49 trade union members were murdered in colombia and this year it's already up to 20. human rights watch has just reported that there is virtually no progress in securing murder convictions. they got six out of 195 union member murders that were actually convicted. in nine of 0 cases, the colombians have haven't -- haven't even identified a suspect in these murders. you can talk to have an action plan an that's fine. but it's just like talk of a

new trade policy. it's just talk and nothing else. this agreement denies any enforcement provision on the action plan that would make it actionable. lulac, the league of united latin american citizens opposes this agreement, quite rightly calling for a new american trade policy that promotes living wages and sustainable jobs, encourages human rights, labor standards and a healthy environment, not only here but among each of our trading partners. instead, today's agreement emplaces the principle that those making the goods being traded willing disregarded, will be overlooked, if we can increase the trade volume of what they make. reject this misguided agreement. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, is recognized. mr. camp: i yield myself such

time as i may consume to clear the record up. obviously the murder of any citizen in any country is something to be avoided but let's set the record straight that the homicide rate since 2002 against union members has declined 85% in colombia. this is an example that the efforts of the colombian government are succeeding. the homicide rate for the general population has declined by 44%. and it's now -- kidnappings as well have declined. the i.l.o. has removed colombia from their labor watch list they did that in 2010. and recognizing their collective bargaining rules, recognizing the measures they've adopted to combat violence against trade union members, we have a different picture being painted by the reality there. i would also point out that three main labor confederations have called the labor action have called the labor action plan the