travelers. while i cannot comment on where money should be put, i can say that, personally, i do not see anything really wrong in giving money for health needs in other countries. i agree with you that we do have health needs here. one would like to see those well-funded as well. host: dr. stanley plotkin, america's professor of pediatrics at the university of pennsylvania, also the adviser to the history of vaccines product out of the college of physicians at philadelphia. thank you so much for being with us. we will have now to the floor of the house. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] 3, 2011. i hereby appoint the honorable michael g. fitzpatrick to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, john a. boehner,

speaker of the house of representatives. 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 debate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, for five minutes. mr. poe: thank you, mr. speaker. as we approach veterans day, the day we honor those who served and came back home and i want to talk about a very

special veteran. frank buckles, when he was 16 years of age, some say 15, during the beginning of the great world war i, wanted to join and go overseas. remember, they sang that song, those dough boys, when they went overseas. joe coburn's song "over there," and they wouldn't come back until it was over there. the marines wouldn't take him because he was not 18. he finally found an army recruiter. he said he just told the recruiter a whopper, that he was 21. the recruiter took him, swore him in and the fastest way to get to europe and to get into action was to drive an ambulance. this is a photograph of frank buckles jr. when he served in the great world war i. after that war was over with, he came back home, although 116,000 americans did not come

back. four million of them served in world war i. frank buckles joined the merchant marines. he was in the philippines when world war ii started and captured by the japanese and held in a prisoner war camp for 3 1/2 years. he was rescued, came back home to america, went to his farm in west virginia and he worked on the farm until he was 109 years old. frank buckles died this year at the age of 110. he was the last surviving dough boy from america that served in the great world war i. this is a photograph taken shortly before his death this year. frank buckles, the long survivor of world war i, a veteran of that great war, came back home and his wish before he died, mr. speaker, was that we would have a permanent memorial for all that served in world war i on the mall.

you see, we have a memorial for vietnam veterans. we have a memorial for the korean veterans, the world war ii veterans. there is a small memorial for the d.c. troops that served in world war i, but there's no memorial on the mall for all of the dough boys like frank buckles that served, and they're all gone, mr. speaker. and it's our job, it's important for us to have that memorial for them, to allow it to be constructed. there is one memorial in kansas city for the world war i dough boys but we need one here also on the mall. and it's important that we honor these great americans because they are the veterans that we honor, that we appreciate and that we should not forget although all of them, including the lone survivor, frank buckles, has died. so i hope this house will join me and emanuel cleaver from

missouri in passing legislation to authorize this memorial for those world war i dough boys. veterans day is approaching. we are approaching the 100th anniversary of the great world war i. we should remember them and we can do this by erecting and allowing a memorial to be constructed on the mall. the veterans are the greatest that we have. we should remember every one of them. those that served and came home and those that served and did not come home and those that are serving and representing us today. and that's just the way it is. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from oregon, mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: there's a drama being played out in the divorce and bankruptcy court with the mccourt family and the los angeles dodgers. it's another chapter in the sad war against fans by people who

make these multibillion dollars enterprise possible. the fans, the very people who make these multibillion dollar enterprises possible in the first place. it's an all too familiar refrain. no city is the threat from the threat of bankruptcy or being held hostage by an owner threatening to move if their demands are not met. no one except the fans of the team that is arguably the most successful franchise in professional sports, the current super bowl champions and currently undefeated and maybe the strongest team in the nfl this year, the green bay packers. packer fans will tell you they are you a unique. little green bay, wisconsin, with only 104,000 people, a metropolitan area of less than a third of a million, the smallest media market in the united states but arguably the most successful franchise.

green bay is special perhaps for another reason. it's the only franchise in all of major league sports that doesn't have to worry about some billionaire, egoman yak running the franchise into the ground, selling it off to another city or just the community being held hostage by obscene demands for even more revenue, more sacrifice from fans in the community. you know, that's been the fate. one city a year since 1950 has had a franchise change and others have been put -- have the screws put to them. but in green bay it is owned by 112,158 shareholders. each shareholder is given voting rights from the franchise and no shareholder can hold a controlling stake in the company. they can raise funds by prudent decisionmaking by the board of

directors and by offering public shares. well, mr. speaker, there's something to be said for the approach of the long-term success of the green bay packers, but, you know, sadly the billionaires who run the nfl and other professional sport franchises have decided otherwise. all major leagues formally or informally prohibit public ownership. the nfl formally -- grandfathered in green bay. major league baseball outlawed public ownership through an informal resolution passed in the mid 1980's when joan crock sought to donate her baseball team, the padres, to san diego. well, i think the sad record is that the billionaires are not always so brilliant but they

are long on money, political influence and ego and they know a sweet deal when they got it. the franchises to this point have been a ticket to even greater wealth in part because these franchises are part of a cartel that will be illegal in most other industries. guaranteed massive profits, they are the only show in town, they often can pick up and move and, of course, witness some of these egregious stadium deals. i was just in cincinnati earlier this week and people there, whether they're conservative, liberal and democrats, republicans, have an egregious new stadium that put all the revenue upside in the pockets of the owners. george steinbrenner recently passed away. he was a wealthy man to begin with with a family business but he became a billionaire based on his yankee empire and the ability to further enrich himself as part of a construction of a brand new

yankee stadium that not only cost an astronomical sum for the taxpayers of new york but further inflated the value of his ownership of the yankees. there have been critical appraisals that have suggested that it would have been cheaper for new york to simply buy the new york yankees outright for the value of the team than submit to the outrageous demands from steinbrenner to keep them there. well, the gravey train is fueled by another source of revenue. it not only having communities and fans over a barrel but they have an antitrust exemption that enables them to negotiate lucrative television contracts worth billions of dollars. for instance, the current nfl contract worth $3 billion a year to go with the $6 billion

that has been pried out of locals for stadium deals and parking. mr. speaker, i strongly urge my colleagues to look at legislation congresswoman han and i will be giving today, give fans a chance. it is good to allow democracy and the free enterprise system to work. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. dolled, for five minutes. -- mr. dold, for five minutes. mr. dold: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, the american taxpayer is facing skyrocketing debt and political partisanship here in washington. while every american family must balance the budget, the federal government does not have to do the same. additionally, publicly traded companies are required to provide financial statements for their shareholders whereas the government is not held accountable to the american taxpayer. that is why representative mike quigley and i are introducing

bipartisan legislation that would require the federal government prepare and publish online periodic financial statements that are independently audited and that are accurately reflecting the government's true financial condition. in the short time i have been in congress, i've focused my efforts on creating an environment that fosters job creation and gets our economy back on track. part of that effort involves america's fiscal house getting in order, and that is why i have worked to curb out-of-control government spending. moving forward, i believe we must also reform the way our federal accounting methods are conducted to make the budget process more transparent and accessible to every american so that they as taxpayers can truly know how their money is being spent and what our government's true liabilities are. that is why i am introducing the bipartisan truth in government accounting act, h.r. 3332. to protect private sector

shareholders, the federal government requires each publicly traded company to file periodic gap financial statements that are independently audited and that accurately reflects the company's financial condition. by contrast, the federal government's own accounting practices conseals and confuse the federal government's true financial condition especially with respect to long-term unfunded liabilities and year over year spending. to protect the federal government as much as the private sector shareholders, the federal government should require each federal agency to file periodic gap financial statements that are independently audited and that accurately reflect the agency's true financial condition. the truth in government accounting act would require the federal government to do so, to make the resulting federal government financial statements easily available online and to require zero baseline budgeting. this bill will require all federal agencies to provide

three quarterly and one annually consolidated financial statement just as the private sector must do. using the fair value acruel accounting method on all their -- accrual accounting method on all their assets and liabilities. these statements will be audited by a single entity, the government accountability office, an independent nonpartisan agency that reports to the congress. these audited statements will put online in terms of a searchable website for all americans to use and to see easily. as incredible as it may seem, there's not a simple way for the marn public to easily view our national budget with all of its liabilities, current and long term. what exists now is a system where information is scattered between federal agency and government office websites. our bill creates a simple and accessible website that can be a one-stop shop for all information related to our federal budget based off of

websites we know currently exists like recovery.gov. america deserves a transparent way to see where their tax dollars go and what they're on the hook for in the future. the bill will require the congressional budget office to use current year spending as a baseline for estimating future mandatory and discretionary changes, to determine whether the future legislation would increase or decrease federal spending. it will be measured against current year spending and not against previously anticipated and hypothetical future year spending. the american people deserve an open and transparent budgeting process, and the truth in government accounting act provides just that, by requiring agencies to provide quarterly financial statements, auditing those financial statements and putting that information in a comprehensive website as well as implementing the zero-based budgeting, we will greatly improve our federal budget practice and

enhance the public's ability to know how their tax dollars are being spent. we expect and demand that companies conduct their business in a transparent manner. we should expect and dein and no less in our federal government -- and determine no less in our federal government. the american people demands true accounting how their money is being truly spent. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes mr. gutierrez for five minutes. . mr. gutierrez: mr. speaker, i've come to the floor on sfrl occasions this year -- several occasion this is year to denounce the abuses of the current government in puerto rico and discuss where the government has taken actions to conduct business in secret, cutting the people out of the process of governance. i have discussed the current

regime, push for a dangerous and environmentally risky 92-mile natural gas pipeline. the violations of civil rights and human rights of workers and protesters, the firing up to 30,000 government employees. closing the legislature to the press and public and conducting their business in secret. the violent treatment of students who oppose a fee increase whose protest was broken up with billy clubs and pepper spray. the civil rights abuses revealed in the devastating report by our own u.s. department of justice about the systematic abuses by the puerto rican police department. the attempt to destroy the puerto rican bar association, one of the most important independent organizations of civil society. and the reaction and official puerto rico to my denunciations here in the house is telling as well. the legislature in puerto rico, both houses, controlled by the ruling party, approved a joint resolution condemning me. not condemning the abuse of tactics and oppressive practices

i denounced and that the department of justice confirmed exists but condemning me for telling you about them. now the effort in puerto rico to silence any and all opposition has reached a new low. incredible as it may sound, according to press reports published in puerto rico, the vatican sent an official to conduct an investigation on allegations of political involvement by the archbishop of san juan. conducted in secrecy until the press got wind of it this week. while no names have surfaced of who filed an accusation against the archbishop or who was in contact with the vatican, it is telling that the elite of the ruling party has been quick to saturate the airwaves and pages of local newspapers with loud public accusations against the archish yop. -- bishop. attacking the ash much bishop -- archbishop is nothing new for the ruling party. they have done it in the past.

i am a strong supporter of democratic principle of separation of church and state, but as someone who spent my life to protect the rights of workers, minorities, working class people, and immigrants, i have often been joined by people of faith and particularly leaders of the catholic church. just this year on the mainland in puerto rico there is a broad religious leadership that is joined with the people as they strive to achieve a greater degree of social justice. among those people is the archbishop of san juan. the archbishop has courageously stepped forward on very important issues in puerto rico such as the struggle to achieve peace. the need to protect civil rights and free speech. the freedom of political prisoners and the just treatment of the poor. but the one issue that has inflamed the passions of the ruling party against the archbishop has been his clear and firm stance on the need to reform puerto rican identity and

existence of a puerto rican nation. he has expressed a bold and comprehensive opinion in reference to puerto rican nationhood. that quote is motherland, nation, and identity are indivisible gifts of god's love. he's had the temerity to incorporate the flag into the catholic church, a puerto rican church. mr. speaker, this is just another instance where the regime through any means necessary seeks to silence all voices of opposition and undermine all independent institutions on the island. whether they initiated the effort to silence the archbishop or cheering it loudly from the sidelines, the current regime in puerto rico is repeating its pattern of driving all opposing forces into the wilderness. mr. speaker, i am one voice and i suspect that the archbishop is another. that cannot be silenced or driven into the wilderness. i will be going to puerto rico this friday night and trekking

to the mountains to meet with the good people of casa pueblo this sunday where we will discuss the next steps of the people's opposition to the gas pipeline project. interestingly the archbishop also expressed serious concern about the pipeline and in june participated in a meeting with leaders of the community to discuss possible actions they could take in case construction of the pipeline actually begins. i am sure that the regime's attempts in puerto rico to suppress the will of the people and impose upon them politically driven policies such as the this one or get the institution to shut up will not be happy to hear what i have to say next week when i arrive on the island. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. shimkus, for five minutes. mr. shimkus: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. shimkus: thank you, mr.

speaker. can madeian transport via pipelines play a major role in supplying the energy needs of southern illinois. two weeks ago i visited the oil sands in alberta, canada. here's exactly what we saw. on monday, of this week, i visited three facilities also but before i talk about those three facilities, daniel yergenn "washington post" said this about the oil sands of canada. oil sands production in canada today is 1.5 million barrels per day, more oil than libya exported before the civil war. canadian oil sands output could double to three million barrels per day by the beginning of the next decade. this increase along with its other oil output would make an in a da a larger oil producer than iran, becoming the world's fifth largest behind russia, saudi arabia, the united states, and china. on monday of this week i visited three facilities in southern illinois that utilize canadian

oil sands, robinson refinery, and the wood river refinery, and others. pipelines play a vital role in providing the energy needs for our daily lives. there are over 2.5 million miles of pipelines in this country. 175,000 miles on john shore and offshore pipelines, mostly oil, 321,000 miles on onshore, offshore gas transmission, 2.6 million,000 miles in main and service pipeline. keystone excel would stretch about 1,700 miles. going back to the article he says, though large, he's referring to the keystone x.l. pipeline, it would increase the length of the pipeline network in the united states by just 1%. due to the high volumes of various liquids and gas that is must be transported, pipelines are the feasible mode of transportation. imagine trying to transport this

gas, crude oil on rail, on trucks, in our major waterways. in fact, just today there was a supertanker that was just high jacked by pirates on the high seas. that's the challenge of moving crude oil other than the pipeline system. we continue to import oil from countries that are not our closest friends. further blocking others pipeline development will only increase foreign oil imports from far off places that are not our neighbor. this pipeline application is a jobs plan. five major labor unions have endorsed this project and there would be 20,000 construction jobs. as refineries expand, there's an estimated 100,000 new jobs as a whole. this keystone x.l. pipeline is supported by the afl-cio and several other organized labor groups. they have started to run ads today in support of the pipeline

and encouraging the obama administration to approve it. canadian oil sands are already creating jobs in my district in southern illinois. caterpillar which my friend, joe wilson, will talk about, this is one of their major pickup trucks , likely said, it's about four stories tall. the major place that this goes to is the oil sands in canada. the tires themselves are two stories tall. the caterpillar 797 is the largest truck they make. it's partially assembled in decatur, illinois. it is so large final assembly must be done at the delivery site. the largest concentration of these caterpillar trucks are in alberta, canada. these are manufactured in the good old u.s.a. these are great midwestern manufacturing jobs directly tied to the oil sands development. and my last stop on monday to

the condo philips pipeline, i posed this basic question to the reporters who attended, would you rather have the oil being refined in illinois come from venezuela, saudi arabia, the middle east, or africa, or would you have that oil rather come from canada? i think the answer is simple. so this administration must approve the keystone x.l. pipeline. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california, ms. lee, for five minutes. ms. lee: thank you. thank you, mr. speaker. i rise again today as i have been doing every week to sound the alarm on the crisis of poverty in america. 12 members of congress are or will be participating in the food stamp challenge which is a nationwide effort to bring attention to the needs of the 45 million americans who are receiving food benefits under the supplemental nutrition

assistance program, or food stamps. for one week we lived on the food budget of the average food stamp recipient, or $31.50 a week. $4.50 a day. which means i spent on average $1.50 a meal. this is for one week. let me thank congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz, tim ryan, joe courtney, jan schakowsky, donna christensen, alcee hastings, jim moran, jackie speier, ted deutsch, marcia fudge, and eleanor holmes norton for their participation and commitment to drawing attention to the struggle of millions of hardworking families to put food on the table during very difficult economic times. we face limited food choices. lack access to fresh and healthy foods. and were repeatedly exposed to unhealthy and inadequate food choices that promote poor health and obesity and hypertension. but of course our week will end.

i hope that every member of congress will stop for at least a moment and consider the millions of american families who will face these challenges each and every day until they can find a good job with a real living wage. now, i'm a former food stamp recipient. let me tell you that i was deeply thankful for my fellow americans who were there for me and my children during a difficult time in our lives. the benefits that were extended to us were a critical help in pro-- and provided a vital bridge over troubled waters when we needed them the most. but we didn't want to stay on food stamps forever and we got off as soon as we could. let me also say that now is not the time to gut these critical human needs programs. we are facing record poverty levels and unacceptably high unemployment rates and it is simply unconscionable to attempt to balance the budgets on the back of the most vulnerable and the neediest americans.

we must create what is being called a circle of protection around these core programs that keep american families from suffering the worst impacts of living in poverty. but we must do more than just minimize the cuts to programs. we must make bold targeted investments that will lift those families up and off of food stamps. we must improve and extend programs that create jobs and provide ladders of opportunity for all. we must commit ourselves to removing barriers, and there are many, to opportunity like poverty and hunger. so that we can reignite the american dreams. mr. speaker, on january in 2008 the house unanimously passed a resolution that i authored which committed congress to the goal of cutting poverty in america in half in a decade. now it's time to put that commitment to the test. an estimated 46 million americans were living in poverty in 2010 and according to the latest census figure, the

official poverty rate in 2010 now is 15.1%. it's simply unconscionable that the richest and most powerful nation in the world can allow so many of their fellow americans to fall to the wayside and be left with little hope and few opportunities to reach the american dream. it's clear that our policies and programs addressing poverty have not kept pace with the growing needs of millions of americans. it's time we make the commitment to confront poverty head-on, create pathways out of poverty, and provide opportunities for all. i have introduced h.r. 3300, the half in 10 of 2011. this bill would establish a federal interagency working group on reducing poverty. the working group will be tasked with developing and implementing a national blan to reduce poverty in half in 10 years. we really should be talking about eliminating poverty. they would also work to eliminate child poverty, extreme

poverty, and finally put an end to the historic and ongoing disparity in poverty rates in communities of color. it's simply unacceptable that communities of color continue to face disturbingly high rates of poverty, with 27.4% african-americans, 26.5% of hispanics living in poverty when compared to their white counterparts who have a poverty rate of just under 10%. it's time to work together to dramatically improve access to opportunity for low-income americans so that they can climb up the economic ladder and reignite the fire of the american dream. . we must put partisanship aside to protect our most vulnerable communities. we cannot and we must not seek to balance the budget on the backs of the america's poor, her children and an entire generation of young people who are really now taking to the streets to protest the fact that they are afraid that theirs will be the first generation in american history

to be left worse off than the one before. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from south carolina, mr. wilson, for five minutes. mr. wilson: thank you, mr. speaker. two weeks ago i traveled to fort mcmurray in the province of alberta, canada, with subcommittee chairman john shimkus of illinois and congressman bob latta of ohio of the energy and commerce committee. we were accompanied by the honorable cal zalas from alberta. we were welcomed to edmonton by the newly inaugurated premiere of alberta. the purpose of this visit is to see first hand canadian oil sands and see the positive impact it has for the american people. we were briefed on the keystone pipeline and how this project creates jobs. we saw the environmental stewardship where development

is subject to the environmental standards that are among the most stringent in the world. the government of alberta requires their companies remediate and reclaim 100% of the land after the oil has been extracted. this project will connect a growing supply of canadian oil with the largest refining markets in the united states and will significantly reduce america's reliance on oil from overseas as new jobs are created in canada and america. as the oil sands production grows in the next four years, the industry is expected to generate 340,000 new jobs. this is in addition to the 110,000 jobs currently provided. there are more than 900 american businesses that supply goods and services for canadian oil sands development. in my home state of south carolina, oil sands development will add up to $128 million per year to the state's economy. it will support nearly 2,000

jobs per year. companies in south carolina supply equipment, parts and services used in the oil sands projects and pipelines. in this picture we're standing in front of a 12-foot-high tire made by michelin in lexington county, south carolina. each tire is valued at $60,000. the michelin plants in lexington currently employ over 500 people in the earth mover division. the tire manufacture also has facilities in the upcountry of our state with their headquarters in greenville. there are also over 100 large mine haul trucks operating in the oil sands powered by m.t.u. engines. the engines are produced in akin county, south carolina. by next year the plant in graniteville will be producing m.t.u.'s largest engine for the haul truck market. when m.t.u. announced that akin county was to be its home for

its new manufacturing facility last year, the company pledged to invest $45 million and create 250 new jobs over four years. however, last month the plant officials said m.t.u. is already employing 250 people and will achieve its investment goal by the end of this year. it's very simple. if canadian families do well, american families do well. for every dollar the u.s. spends on imports from canada, 90 cents is returned to the american economy. developing the oil sands is clearly more jobs for canada and more jobs for america. we all know our country needs to be less dependent on oil from overseas. canada's oil sands are clearly mutually beneficial to canada and america and the security of north america. very significantly, canada's enormous deposits of 175.2 billion barrels of reserves of oil places it third in the

world. 170 billion of these barrels are in the oil sands, and these deposits place canada as one of the central sources of production growth in the coming decades. it represents about 60% of the world's accessible oil right here in our neighborhood. i am grateful that canada is our largest trading partner and the largest supplier of oil to america. canada contributes 22% of the total oil imports of america's daily use of 19.1 million barrels. congress has indicated its support for oil sands. in july we passed the north american-made energy security act. this bill urges the president to approve the pipeline. i appreciate jobs for alberta which produces jobs for america. i yield the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina, mr. butterfield, for five minutes. mr. butterfield: let me thank you, mr. speaker, for yielding

time to me this morning and thank my colleagues for their attention. before i start, mr. speaker, let me just take a moment to comment about one of the previous speakers this morning, my dear friend, congresswoman barbara lee, from the state of california. congresswoman lee has been an advocate for low-income families for as long as i can remember and especially since i first came to congress some 7 1/2 years ago. she has been tenacious on this issue. and i just want to publicly thank her for her advocacy. i represent a low-income, low-wealth district in eastern north carolina. my district is the fourth poorest district in the nation, and so i under full well the challenges she has confronted and thank her so very much. but, mr. speaker, i've come to the floor this morning to talk about voter suppression. yes, voter suppression across the country. republicans are tightening the restrictions on who can vote

and how americans can vote. during next year's elections, there will be millions of americans who will find that since 2008 they are now new barriers that could prevent them from voting. the number of states with laws requiring voters to show government-issued photo identification has quadrupled. mr. speaker, it has quadrupled in the last four years. actually over the last year it has quadrupled. in fact, at least 34 states have now introduced legislation that would require voters to show photo identification in order to vote and seven states, alabama, kansas, rhode island, south carolina, tennessee, texas and wisconsin have already signed photo identification bills into their law. before this legislative session, only two states had ever imposed strict photo

identification. under the guise of eliminating voter fraud, 21 million american citizens or 11% of citizens could be prevented, mr. speaker, from voting, all because they do not possess a government-issued photo identification. republicans are also seeking to put an end to early voting, a hugely popular voting method that is used by millions of americans. at least nine states have introduced bills to reduce their early voting periods. four states tried to reduce absentee voting opportunities. two states, mr. speaker, have reversed earlier reforms and once again disenfranchised thousands of tax-paying citizens who have passed criminal citizens while a number of other states have made it much more difficult for citizens to register to vote. these new restrictions will

undoubtedly disenfranchise young voters, minority voters, low-income voters and voters with disabilities. all of which, as we know, traditionally vote with the democratic party. in my home state of north carolina, republicans have mounted two strong efforts to suppress low-income and african-american voters. house bill 351, for example, voter i.d. bill which passed our state house and senate earlier this year, but it was vetoed by governor beverly perdue and we thank her for being strong in vetoing that legislation. senate bill 47, which would reduce the early voting period by one week, eliminates sunday voting and eliminates same-day voter registration. this bill is currently pending now in our legislature. the right to vote, mr. speaker, is protected. it is dearly protected by a

constitutional amendment. more constitutional amendments, the first amendment and the 14th amendment, 15th, 19th, 24th and even the 26th amendment. more constitutional amendments than any other right we enjoy as americans. we must continue to inform our constituents that their fundamental right in this democracy is being infringed and fight back against voter suppression epidemic. it is obvious, in closing, mr. speaker, to me that any objective observer who is looking at this will know the real motive of this effort. it is intended, it is specifically intended to diminish voter participation of some in our society who support progressive movements and who support the democratic party. i want to thank you for the time this morning, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time that i might have. thank you.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. royce, for five minutes. mr. royce: mr. speaker, i rise before you today to honor dr. milton a. gordon for his distinguished career. dr. gordon has served for over two decades as president of california's state university at fullerton. i first met milt gordon more than 20 years ago when he was in his first year as president of my alma mater, cal state fullerton. as a member of congress now, i have met countless of community leaders, including university presidents and i enjoyed a good working relationship with them. very few, however, have i come to admire and respect more than milt gordon. very few do i call my very good friend. mr. speaker, dr. gordon's

impressive achievements and commitment to education were evident long before he became the president of cal state-fullerton. as our country was undergoing the civil rights movement, milt gordon was breaking through long-standing racial barriers. he obtained a bachelors in science, mathematics at xavier university in louisiana in 1957. a masters of arts in mathematics at the university of detroit in 1960. and lastly, a doctorate degree in mathematics at the illinois institute of technology in 1968. these are significant achievements for anyone, but even more so for someone who had to overcome the discrimination of the time. it is this experience that has driven milt gordon's lifetime commitment to improving access to education for everyone.

in his first convocation address at cal state-fullerton in 1990, dr. gordon said, by providing access to professional careers for the broadest cross-section of americans, including women and members of minority and immigrant groups, our university represents a pathway into the american mainstream for individuals and families who otherwise would not have the opportunity to make this step. thus, helping to ensure the stability of all free -- of our economy and our democratic government. this was his first commitment address. well, from that commencement address, i would say that the impressive enrollment and graduation statistics and the many awards and the accolades that milt gordon has received over the last 20-some years clearly demonstrate that he more than met the challenge of his work. today, cal state-fullerton is one of our nation's largest and most inclusive institutions of

higher education. and i assure you greater quality has been the hallmark of this growth. it is no exaggeration to say that dr. gordon has transformed csuf from being a regional school to being a global one. his vision has provided an enriching environment which allows students to develop intellectual and cultural and economic curiousities well beyond orange county, california. the university in the gordon years has been an unquestioned asset to the region, to the state, the country and the world. in closing, as an alumnus and the congressman who represents this university, i have to say that i am sorry to see president gordon retire. his accomplishments are many and the university will continue to thrive because of

them. but there is only one milt gordon. but speaking as a friend, i am pleased for milt and for his wife, marg. they have dedicated their lives to dedication, -- to education, to cal state-fullerton. to that end they deserve our deepest gratitude and our most heart-felt wishes for a long and enjoyable retirement. after a job very well done. i yield back. . the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york, mr. rangel, for five minutes. mr. rangel: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. rangel: last christmas the gift that we gave to the unemployed was the shock of their lives as they thought that the congress would not extend the unemployment compensation. and so this morning i'm joined

with congressmen stark, doggett, levin, crowley to make certain that we don't do that again this year. the opposition to the extension last year was due to a large number of republicans truly believing and voting against the bill that these people really would rather receive unemployment checks than look for work. of course it's more than just the salary when you are working. it's the pride and dignity of knowing that you are taking care of your family. you are responsible for putting food on the table. clothing on your children's back. and all of those things that america has come to believe as just a normal way of life. but with the poverty numbers growing so fast and the unemployment going up so fast, we are losing a lot of people that lose hope in terms of finding a job. as a matter of fact in order to

qualify for extended for unemployment comp you have to be qualified for a job. but because jobs are so scarce and people want to remain a little bit of dignity and not sort of magically increase the rolls of poverty, we ask that this body in the name of humanity think about these people as they would think about themselves if suddenly they found themselves without work and without their savings and without health care and without the resources to save their families from disasters. but in addition to that, when we go home next week and again we will be home, talk to some of the local vendors. since we all recognize that it's small businesses that's really the backbone of our economy, it's small business that is produce the jobs. but one of the problems they are

having is, is consumers don't buy, they can't sell, and they cannot continue to hire people. which adds to the vicious cycle of unemployment. and so if those people truly believe that they want to spur the economy, allow these people to be able to buy the goods and services that they would normally buy if they were employed. and for god's sakes since yesterday or the day before yesterday we made it abundantly clear that we trust in god. so it's for god's sakes let's get a jobs bill on the floor. let's put aside our party labels. let's just put the election aside long enough to be able to get our country back to work. more and more people are not only losing their jobs but the most important ingredient, i

think, that america has is giving hope to people who don't have much. if we take that away from them by seeing the solid pillars of our society, without work, without the ability to take care of their families, real hope that it gives for those people that have been consistently unemployed as the job market sha rinks. -- shrinks. so i do hope there will come a time and very, very soon that there will be no need in this great country for unemployment compensation. because we would have been able to have a jobs bill that would include severe cuts in terms of expenditures that we make, but also would include putting revenue on the table so that we just don't balance the budget at the expense of those people who have little or no resources. the united states of america unfortunately is becoming one of

the countries that have the widest gap between the handful of 1% of the people that own almost half of the wealth of this great nation. that formula doesn't work economically. it doesn't work morally. and it doesn't work spiritually. and so we all have to come to the table to save this nation whether we are wealthy or whether we hope one day to become middle class and healthy because without the country having hope for the future there's absolutely no hope for the people that are looking for employment to raise their family and to forever protect this great nation. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from colorado, mr. coffman, for five minutes. mr. coffman: thank you, mr. speaker. as we approach the 236th birthday of the united states marine corps, i would like to take the opportunity to honor a

marine who i served with during the first gulf war. chief warrant officer, john curry, united states marine corps reserved retired, served our nation with distinction from his first enlistment in 1966 to his retirement in 1999. i met chief warrent officer curry late in the fall of 1990 when i volunteered to serve with a light armor infantry company that was mobilized for the first gulf war. from the start i was deeply impressed by his leadership, respect the subordinate marines had for him, and by his skill and the courage he demonstrated on the battlefield. his citation for the navy commendation medal reads, quote, late in the afternoon of 21 february 1991 chief warrant officer curry led his platoon in enemy indirect fires to occupy a key defensive position opposite

significant portions of an iraqi brigade. over the next two days and nights of combat, his clear reasoning, calm issuance of orders, and effective employment of supporting arms against enemy forces motivated his platoon and the entire company in their efforts to hold the center of the battalion's defenses. early on the morning of 24 february 1991, he led his platoon to a new position on the divisions extreme left flank and initiated a series of aggressive actions against enemy positions which inflicked numerous casualties. chief warrant officer curry's coolness, poise, and d.e.a. sighsive actions as he successfully gained and maintained control over a very fluid and chaotic situation caused by the surrender of more than 00 iraqi soldiers, unquote. i'll never forget him and all he did not only to lead his men so

effectively against the enemy, but in setting such a high standard for all of the officers in the command to include myself. chief warrant officer john curry is a credit to the united states marine corps and it's an honor to reflect on his service to our nation and to the marine corps as we approach the 236th birthday for the corps. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california, ms. speier, for five minutes. ms. speier: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise again today with a heavy heart to talk about sexual assault and rape in the military. a epidemic in this country that must be addressed. as i said before the department of defense by its own statistics has stated that 19,000 service members, women and men, every

year are raped by fellow soldiers. i will continue to share these stories until something changes. survivors can email me at stopmilitaryrape at mail.house.gov if they want to speak out. each of these soldiers was raped by another soldier. and each was subjected to a system of justice that protects the perpetrators and punishes the victims. the story i will tell today is the story of corporal sarah albertson. this gets to the rot -- root of the justice system in the military. and that is a commander, one person, has complete and total discretion in deciding how and if sexual assault and rape are dealt with. the corporal served in the

marine corps from 2003 to 2006. -- from 2003 to 2008. on august 27, 2006, corporal albertson was raped by a fellow marine. a man who outranked her. that's right. he outranked her and raped her. right after the rape, corporal albertson went to her commander to inform him of what had happened. instead of detaining her alleged assailant, calling in criminal investigators, or sending corporal albertson to the hospital to preserve the evidence that would corroborate her story, he told corporal albertson that, because she had consumed some alcohol, if she reported the rape, she would be charged with inappropriate barrack conduct. she was then told not to discuss her rape with anyone and was also ordered to respect her

rapist. and follow his orders. because he outranked her. it soon became clear to corporal albertson that others knew about what had happened. and her other superiors, acting with the open support of her commander, ostracized and harassed her. corporal albertson sought counseling. the military counselor that she went to in no uncertain terms advised her commander that she should not be forced to interact with her rapist. and that corporal albertson was suffering from panic attacks due to these interactions. her commander ignored the professional advice and forced her to interact with her rapist for another two years. and when she had panic attacks, she was punished. this same commander also refused

corporal albertson's request to change housing. instead, he forced her to live one floor below her rapist for two years. the commander also required her to disclose medications she had been prescribed to counter the trauma. now, corporal albertson never filled those prescriptions, but nonetheless by having to disclose those prescriptions she lost her security clearance. but what happened to her rapist? not a thing. in fact, i venture to say he has been promoted. not just once, probably twice. probably three times. i have become painfully aware at the rate d.o.d. is working to address this issue, the epidemic of military sexual assault will never end. mr. speaker, this is a national travesty. congress, the administration, the department of defense, all

of us, all of us should be ashamed of what is going on in the military. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from mississippi, mr. nunnelee, for five minutes. mr. nunnelee: thank you, mr. speaker. today i rise in support of the keystone x.l. pipeline. opponents of this pipeline claim it will damage the environment. it will ship oil from canada to china. and that increasing the supply of oil will somehow raise gas prices. the truth -- this pipeline has been through the most thorough, environmental review of any pipeline in history. the oil carried by it will go to american markets. and will help lower energy prices. by moving capacity from growing

bases in canada, montana, north dakota, oklahoma, and west texas. it is comparable in volume to nearly half of the u.s. persian gulf imports. the keystone x.l. pipeline will also benefit america by increasing the percentage of our energy supply provided by a stable neighbor and ally. more north american oil means less oil from venezuela and iran. . this typeline will create 20,000 highway construction jobs and 100,000 indirect jobs. keystone x.l. will also provide a new and stable supply access to gulf coast refiners like the one in pascagoula, mississippi. who set the price of gasoline and are vulnerable to opec and

supply distributions. we in the house are focused on jobs and the economy and this pipeline is an obvious direct example of what real stimulus looks like. stimulus that comes from the private economy and produces real value. the fact of the matter is that canada is going to develop their resources and if we do not want their oil, that supply will go elsewhere, to our competitors such as china. the canadians have the supply and we have the demand. and the keystone x.l. pipeline has gone through a rigorous environmental review. there's no reason not to move forward with this vital project. the president needs to get off the campaign trail long enough to get his administration out of the way so that the keystone x.l. pipeline can be developed. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman

from georgia, mr. woodall, for five minutes. mr. woodall: thank you, mr. speaker. i appreciate the time this morning. i came down to talk about jobs, too, and i brought with me a card that folks may have seen. i know you've seen it, mr. speaker, that goes through those house-passed job agendas, and i try to keep it here in my pocket so i'll be accurate when we talk about all of the good work that is happening in the people's house to promote jobs and promote the economy. because the truth is, mr. speaker, as you know, we only have two pockets we can dig into. we can dig in the pocket when we talk about government regulations to repeal to help job creators. we can dig in the pocket when we talk about government mandates that we're repealing to take the foot of government off the throats of small businesses. or we can dig in the other pocket and the other pocket is where america's checkbook is. because it's not my checkbook, as your congressman, you know, mr. speaker. when i dig in the pocket for

the checkbook i'm digging into your pocket. every penny that we spend comes out of your pocket so we have two choices when we talk about jobs and the economy. are we going to dig in the pocket of the american taxpayers' checkbooks or are we going to get the regulatory burden off of america's small businesses? for me the choice is easy. but the choice hasn't always been easy in this house. time and time again this house goes to the american people's checkbook to find solutions to america's problems, and i will tell you there is no problem in america than taking money out of somebody else's pocket is going to fix. the challenges in america are going to come when we get government out of the way. you know, i represent, mr. speaker, as you know, a wonderful district in georgia. i go back home. i talk what's going on in the united states house. i ask folks what they want to happen on the united states house of representatives' floor. they say, rob, stop helping. stop. just get out of the way. stop helping.

you don't have the answers. just get out of the way. if folks go as you have gone to, mr. speaker, to jobs.gop.gov, they see this house's effort to get gop out of the way -- government out of the way. we repealed the 1099 provision. the president signed that bill. we've been successful in passing three free trade agreements as the president signed. we have surpluses in every nation we have a free trade agreement. but the work still has to be done, mr. speaker. there are jobs bills languishing in the senate. we call them the forgotten 15. 15 bills that can pass tomorrow to get government out of the way and get americans back to work. two pockets we have, mr. speaker. the american taxpayers' pocket and the pocket that contains the job-killing regulations that we can repeal today.

let's choose correctly, mr. speaker. let's get jobs.gop.gov. let's get this done. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. olson, for five minutes. mr. olson: i thank the chair. mr. chairman, the president recently came before the people's house and asked whether, and i quote, in the face of an ongoing national crisis, can we stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy? end quote. well, mr. chairman, house republicans agree, circus time is over. and that's why we passed 15 jobs bills that have been stuck and the majority leader's inbox. one of those jobs bills is the

keystone x.l. pipeline which imports oil from canada and will create over 340,000 -- let me say that again -- 340,000 american jobs by 2015. 27,000 of those jobs in my home state of texas. while bringing more revenue all without costing the taxpayers one single time. when the keystone x.l. pipeline is fully operational, bringing more oil from canada than we currently import from saudi arabia, we placing opec oil with canadian oil increases our energy security. if we increase our energy security we increase our national security. if we do not seize this opportunity, china will fladly take the oil from can -- gladly take the oil from canada that the canadians want us to have. while the president tours the

nation, a half trillion dollar stimulus plan, the keystone x.l. pipeline remains stalled. mr. chairman, the president can stop the political circus by approving the keystone x.l. pipeline. the ball is in his court. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from south carolina, mr. duncan, for five minutes. mr. duncan: thank you, mr. speaker. everyone knows that washington isn't very popular right now and a big reason why is that too often our leaders make decisions that lack common sense. when we need to cut spending, washington finds a way to spend more. when we need to create jobs, washington piles on new regulations that puts americans out of work. when we spend billions of dollars to create a safe, permanent storage facility for

our country's nuclear waste, politics gets in the way and that facility is shut down. like millions of americans across the country, i'm tired that politics is getting in the way, and i'm looking to bring some common sense back to this republic. and as you know, mr. speaker, there's no better example of putting politics before country than the case of yucca mountain. yucca mountain is a multibillion dollar project that was supposed to be the solution for storing our country's nuclear materials. ratepayers in states like south carolina, ratepayers like my constituents have point of order billions of dollars into -- have poured billions of dollars into the development of yucca mountain as a nuclear repository. mr. speaker, this administration needs to understand that america runs by the rule of law and depositing our nuclear waste at yucca mountain is the law of the land. this administration does not get to make willy-nilly decisions that benefits supporters without congressional approval.

and when congress spoke in the national waste policy act, it made yucca mountain the law of the land. i was deeply disappointed when presidential candidates were recently asked about yucca mountain. i was astonished that these good folks would echo the failed rhetoric of senator harry reid. i'm re-- i would remind all presidential candidates of the federal government's promise to construct a long-term storage facility for the legacy weapons materials temporarily being stored in south carolina. and i'd remind them that this is the law of the land. i suspect many south carolina voters, including myself, will expect to hear the presidential candidates plan to solve this problem during their next visit to the palmetto state. we need to be rid of this waste. this is a federally created problem, the residual waste of our cold war weapons programs. whole towns in my district was

relocated to create this site. i'm not saying we don't want this site to continue the important nuclear nonproliferation work of the nation. and i commend nnsa's recent announcement with the recent talk about commercial reactors. what i'm saying is the nation needs to do right by south carolina and fulfill the promise to take care of the radioactive waste and get it out of our state. yucca mountain is a geologically stable location. it's the right location for the job. it doesn't get much rain. it's in the middle of nowhere. and when it does rain, the climate evaporates the water. it would require that little bit of water that doesn't evaporate to transpose through 1,000 feet of granite-like rock, and then it's going to get to our concrete vault. inside that concrete vault is

stainless steel canisters so the water erodes and transfers through 1,000 feet of granite rock, through the concrete, through the stainless steel and comes in contact with radioactive glass, glassified material that it's got to erode. it has to transfer more stainless steel, through more concrete, three 1,000 nonporous rock down to an aquifer that is a closed system. that's why yucca mountain is the right place to do the job. no one things that rolling fields next to a river that is a water source for two states, as it is as savannah river site is the long-term answer to the nuclear waste disposal. the sooner we recognize this the sooner we can deal with the real problem. now the department of energy's blue ribbon commission is circulating a draft report on the future of america's nuclear waste, including the nuclear waste currently being temporarily stored at savannah river site. it can only be a short-term home for this state. the best long-term outlook for

the waste of this sort is in a deep geological site, hence the need for yucca mountain. the waste stored at savannah river site can be processed for a number of purposes but ultimately this waste needs to go deep underground. mr. speaker, i urge representative lee hamilton and general brent, the co-chairs of the blue ribbon commission, to reconsider their draft report to include yucca mountain as the long-term disposal site that congress mandated. americans have already given billions of dollars to the state of nevada for the construction of a safe, long-term storage site for nuclear material. president obama and senator reid shouldn't be able to have it both ways. nevada must either rebate the billions of dollars already spent on yucca mountain or stand out of the way and allow the facility to open for business. it would create jobs in the state of nevada. south carolina has unfairly carried the burden for storing nuclear material for decades already. it's time for this waste to move on. may god continue to bless

america, and i yield back the balance. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from north carolina, ms. foxx, for five minutes. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, when i go home every weekend and talk to my constituents, there are two things that they ask me repeatedly. what can be done about jobs and what can be done about energy prices? my constituents understand the colossal failure of the obama stimulus bill. my constituents understand that government can create jobs only for more government bureaucrats. and those bureaucrats will have to justify their existence by creating more regulations that will kill more private sector jobs. the liberal democrats in congress keep asking for a republican jobs bill. well, mr. speaker, we have passed at least 15 jobs bills,

and we have an outline on this card, as my colleague -- two colleagues before me talked about, and they are shown on jobs.gop.gov. we passed at least 15 jobs bills that will help the private sector do exactly what americans are asking us to do which is to create jobs through growth in their businesses and allowing new businesses to form. the liberal elites keep buying in to the failed theory that government will create millions of jobs. the reality is that unless we provide the private sector with an environment that is condusive to job creation, jobs will be hard to come by. mr. speaker, i remember the cost of a gallon of gasoline when president obama was sworn in. it was $1.85.

today it is at least $3.45, an 86% increase, and it was at 100% increase until very recently. republicans have addressed this with legislation that increases energy -- american energy production, provides us with energy security and lowers our dependency on middle eastern oil. mr. speaker, republicans listen to the american people. we are acting to provide business owners and entrepreneurs the tools that they need to create jobs and at the same time reduce the cost of energy. . we advanced legislation that will help our constituents in these two very important ways. by helping businesses in their communities toe hire people and reducing the cost of energy. but what has happened to

legislation that will put americans to work and lower energy costs? democrat intransigence. the senate has had these bills for months now and has failed the american people by refusing to take action. senate democrat majority leader reid recently said, quote, it's very clear that private sector jobs are doing just fine, end quote. this failure to accept the reality that the job killing, anti-growth policies of this administration and liberal elite are the key contributors to the 9.1% unemployment rate that continues to be in the united states. the liberal democrats keep pushing for what is almost a carbon copy of the failed obama stimulus that cost the taxpayers almost $1 trillion without having the slightest positive impact on unemployment and the economy. now president obama and the

liberal elites are asking to do it all over again. more spending, fewer jobs. the administration wants to continue to pick winners and losers and fund unproven technologies that cost the taxpayers billions with little or no return. one shining example? that's the way you want to look at it, is the solyndra fiasco. the administration acted like a venture capital firm and squandered half a billion dollars leaving the taxpayer holding the bill. mr. speaker, while the liberal elites in the house and senate keep thinking that the private sector, the job creating sector, is doing fine, house republicans will continue to craft and pass legislation to help job creators to lower energy prices and to improve the economy. and i encourage americans to learn about this on their own through jobs.gov --

jobs.gop.gov. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from california, mr. herger, is recognized for five minutes. mr. herger: mr. speaker, this house has sent numerous jobs bills to the senate in an effort to get our nation back to work. i want to call particular attention to the 3% withholding repeal legislation i authored which passed the house with overwhelming bipartisan support just last week. this legislation will help many small businesses create more jobs and the senate should act on it without further delay. the house passed bill would eliminate a burden on job creators by refeeling a tax that requires government agencies to withhold 3% of all payments for

goods and services. as someone who comes from a small business background, i can attest that although this provision does not take effect into the end of next year, it hurts job creation now because businesses look several years ahead when they are deciding how to invest. it is not surprising that over 150 businesses, health care, education, and local government groups support the passage of this legislation. in addition, over 400 members of the house of representatives have voted for it and president obama has endorsed it, as well as representative black, the associated cost saving measure. instead of waiting for more stimulus bills that face bipartisan opposition, the senate should work with the

house to pass the jobs bills like this one that are supported by both parties. there are already 15 jobs bills passed by the house that are being delayed unnecessarily, and 3% withholding repeal joins those forgotten 15 in waiting in our u.s. senate -- and waiting in the u.s. senate and senate colleagues. the house version of this repeal continues to have strong bipartisan support. the senate has heard from job creators just as we have about the need for this legislation. and they should work with us in passing commonsense jobs bills starting with the repeal of the 3% withholding tax. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from nebraska, mr. terry, for four minutes.

mr. terry: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm the author of one of the bills sitting in the senate, the forgotten 15. this is a bill that will instantaneously create 20,000 jobs and spin off a potential 100,000 to 200,000 additional jobs. and put us on the path to energy security. i'm talking about the pipeline bill. the keystone x.l. pipeline. now, that bill was passed on a massive bipartisan vote, 279-174. one of the best bipartisan showings of nonsuspension bills. it was placed on the senate calendar on july 28. we held a press conference asking the senate to take it up. we sent a bipartisan letter to the majority leader asking him to place it on the calendar for

vote. this bill just simply set a timeline for the president and state department to make a decision. then it was november 1. we sit here on this day, november 4, i think it's the fourth, and the president just said two days ago to a local omaha tv station anchorman that he'll make a decision in a few months. well, i would encourage the senate to take up this bill, change the date, obviously, maybe to december 1 or december 15, or december 31, but the reality is this permit for this pipeline is 1,142 days old. that's double the record time for any other transcontinental

pipeline, double. yes, there is a political storm about environmental safety. this transcanadian pipeline has been studied more than any other pipeline. the environmental assessments say this is the most secure pipeline ever designed and has little to no impact to the environment of the sand hills of nebraska and the underlying aquifer. now, since all of the studies have shown there's little to no risk to the environment, and pipelines remain the safest way to transport oil to our united states refineries, and this puts us on a path to energy security. in fact, the 700,000 barrels that come from our friend, canada, offsets the oil we

import from venezuela and even the department of energy said that this will almost offset all of opec oil. i think that secures our nation. and should i mention the 20,000 labor jobs created by this pipeline? the fact that it doesn't impact the fragility, the ecosystem, or environment of the sand hills and the aquifer. mr. leader, bring this bill up in the senate. let's create these jobs. let's produce our infrastructure. and let's secure america's energy future. yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. fitzpatrick, for four minutes. mr. fitzpatrick: request to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. fitzpatrick: i rise today as we approach veterans day and setaside time to recognize our

nation's veterans but also to address the problem of homelessness among those who served our nation. homelessness is a problem facing many americans today, but it is particularly acute in the veteran community. while less than 10% of the population of the united states are veterans, they comprise 25% of the entire homeless population. all told, the veterans administration estimates that there are 107,000 homeless veterans nationwide. among a population that has devoted themselves to the service of our nation, these numbers are unacceptable. the national cemetery of washington crossing is located in my congressional district in bucks county, pennsylvania, and serves as a final resting place for many veterans. the location of the national cemetery is in the heart of pennsylvania's eighth congressional district and places the plight of all veterans, homelessness or not, in the collective psyche of my community. bucks county takes a solemn measure of pride in guarding both the mortal remains and honor of veterans across the

nation. while bucks county is honored and proud to provide a final resting place, a final home to our nation's veterans, our nation must ensure all veterans are are honored and sheltered while they are living as well. today i would like to share one of their stories. this past flag day i was handed a pouch could be taining spent shell casings from a memorial service at the national cemetery. the casings were from the service of u.s. army veteran john griffin who was buried at the national cemetery at washington crossing earlier this year. john served our nation in vietnam from 1968 to 1970. he passed away in february of this year at a nursing home in pennsylvania and for some period before john entered the nursing home, he was homeless. john's service was not attended by any relatives or friends much the national cemetery holds monthly services for veterans who are laid to rest without the presence of their families. at this service the flag that draped john's coffin was accepted by a group of women from the community who have

undertaken this role to provide a pressure of respect and recognition to those who have passed. despite numerous inquiries, neither i nor my staff has been able to learn any more about the life, service, or death of john griffin. we know that john was honorably discharged but beyond that his life and service to our nation have been lost for the next generation of soldiers who will serve. in his second inaugural address president lincoln looking at the wounds that needed to be healed as the civil war drew to a close charged our nation to care for him shall have borne the battle this. we must do, but we must be ever mindful that homelessness among veterans who are among the population at large is often a symptom of a deeper problem. addiction, posttraumatic stress disorder, and strained family relations can collude to leave veterans without shelter. while these factors may explain homelessness, they do not excuse us as a nation from remedying it. i do not know with any certainty

what if any roots causes led to his homelessness, but i'm certain our nation owed him better. we owed him more than a makeshift cam national park a local woods. we must rededicate ourselves to the service of those who serve our nation. the story of john griffin is not rare. but we must work to make it so because among the men and women who sacrificed and risked their lives in the service of our nation, one homeless veteran is too many. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from louisiana, mr. cast, is recognized -- mr. cassidy, is recognized for two minutes. mr. cassidy: request unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. cassidy: unemployment continues to whoever over 9%. that is a statistic, but we know it's not just a statistic, it is a family. it is a family a which is less able to provide, less able to have have stability because of this unemployment rate. now, it turns out the

unemployment rate is not generally distributed. it turns out it's principally among blue collar workers. blue collar workers have traditionally been employed in manufacturing, construction, and mining. and this is one of the reasons why i and many republicans and many democrats so strongly support the keystone x.l. project. think about it. because it will extract that oil from the ground, creating jobs there, they are then going to build a pipeline, construction, and to build that pipeline they have to manufacture steel. we are going to be creating jobs by this one project in the three areas that those who are now unemployed are principally employed in. this is not done with government subsidies. it does not put the taxpayer at risk. indeed, it will generate more tax not by increasing rates but by increasing income, more tax receipts to help lower our nation's deficit. i could go on about the increase in energy security, about how the oil sands have a better

carbon footprint than some of the oil we are importing from venezuela. the bottom line is we are in a recession of 9%. the president has the ability to create 20,000 jobs directly, and 100,000 thereafter. i think because of this and to show the kind of across the aisle support for this, this pipeline is supported by the labors international union of north america, the teamsters, afl-cio, pipeline contractors association, and other major unions. mr. president, please create 20,000 jobs directly, 100,000 jobs indirectly, total package, targeting those people who are most unemployed now without using a government subsidy and increasing government tax receipts and in so doing increase our energy security. please approve the keystone x.l. project. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule

1, the chair declares the house in recess >> wire going to show you minority leader nancy pelosi's news briefing from just a short while ago over at the capital. it's about 20 minutes.

>> good morning. speaking of morning and time, the clock is ticking for the supercommittee to make its report to the congress. the opportunity that the supercommittee has is historic, it's urgent. and we are hoping that the committee will take advantage of that opportunity that it makes the entrepreneurial spirit of america its centerpiece, that jobs and growth are where the focus should be, and then decisions about revenue and savings and the timing of them should spring from how we can create jobs which bring in revenue to the treasury. job creation reduces the deficit. we had as i have said over and over again, we want to plan for the big, bold, and balanced. i think it only way it can be big and bold is if it is

balanced. since the committee has been charged with its work, as you know, the president has put forward to the american jobs act. our members, ranking members of the committee, have sent the bill report for suggestions to the committee. the council on competitiveness has put forth some of its initiatives for job creation for our contry. and house democrats have been engaged in conversations with thousands of small businesses to review the suggestions of the president of the americans jobs act and to hear their suggestions for what they think the supercommittee can do to support and strengthen and help create many more small businesses in our country. hence our entrepreneur theme. we think that is essential to reigniting the american dream, to give many more people the

opportunity to achieve it. today i'm sending a letter to the members -- to the chair persons and members of the committee thanking them for their leadership and their service to our country. by the time and energy they have put into this work. and basically we have come down to five points of focus that we believe can reduce the deficit, create jobs, honoring the entrepreneurial spirit of america. jobs, jobs, jobs. you say how are we going to create them? we are going to create them in the public sector through small businesses. the major job creator in our country. in order for that to happen, of course, we have to have a strong public sector, education of our children, safety of our communities, and the rest. but i focus on this immediate job creation is the private sector. we must stop the erosion of the

manufacturing, industrial, and technological base. that is happening in our country now and that is unsustainable. we cannot sustain our manufacturing base at the pace that jobs are going overseas. we are hopeful we can pull them back. improve access for small businesses, this is a very big deal. provide a trained work force, access to capital, access to a trained work force, access to customers, increasing demand is a very important part of our proposal. and building america's infrastructure we associate ourselves with the comments of the president yesterday about the need for us to build the infrastructure. without going into detail on each of them, i call your attention to the provisions in the letter and the appendix that accompanies it as to the specificity of our

recommendations. again this was labor intensive for our members. on their time away from washington they engaged in conversations either individually with businesses or in groups or in their neighborhood, shopping centers, and the rest to hear technological centers, to hear what their suggestions were. so we are always in touch with our small businesses but we wanted them to be current in light of the president's proposal and in light of the opportunity that the supercommittee presents. today we are having another hearing with our small business owners to again be immediately current on what they are thinking, on what we have sent to the committee, and what the opportunities are. it's encouraged by the bipartisan letter that was sent letter to the committee. strong bipartisan -- large numbers, democrats and republicans, signing the letter promoting a balanced plan.

i think all of this can be helpful, these and other suggestions they may be receiving, most of the suggestions we have sent them have enjoyed bipartisan support in the past and that was part of their value. but they may have ideas of their own on how to, again, encourage, enhance the entrepreneurial spirit of america to create jobs and to do so in a way that reduces the deficit as we make more americans ready to achieve the american dream. as we reignite it, which is part of what this is all about. with that i would be pleased to take any questions you might have. ms. pelosi, we talk about the supercommittee but coming up on november 18, the government runs out of money. it's been showed that republicans want to attach policy riders to the appropriations bills. after seeing what the republicans have done in the last few government funding bills, do you expect there to be talk of a shutdown again and do

you feel house democrats, emboldened the last time they stuck together, will stick together and not cave too early? >> as you know under the leadership of our whip, steny hoyer, 183 democrats signed a letter to the speaker, the republican leadership, saying let's just get our work done in terms of our appropriations bills. let's not use them as riders that could be an excuse for this kind of confrontation. the public needs us to get the job done not to make every bill that should be the regular order of the house to be this kind of confrontation about a showdown. we would be passing the -- one of the many buses that has a number of the bills and then another and i would hope sanity would reign as far as this is

concerned. we'll see how long the next c.r. is. but it would be a disservice to the american people to decide that what should be the regular order of the budget process becomes a policy agenda that serves no constructive purpose. >> are you hearing things from the supercommittee? you say we are in a very late hour here. but things they are giving you and maybe speaker boehner particular options? and then your processing in your head here's what we might have to do because we have to sell this to our caucus? to actually pass this in december? >> as i said to you before, i have sent three very distinguished members of the house, our caucus has given authority to -- assistant leader jim clyburn, and vice chair and ranking member of the budget committee, chris van hollen, to

go to the table to speak for the house democrats. and for the american people. we trust their judgment. they know our values. they know the issues. and they know what the possibilities are. they know that if we are going to have a big, bold, and balanced plan there is going to be responsibility taken across the spectrum by all of us. so it isn't something that i get a report and the speaker gets a report. on our side, our people are not on a short leash. they have the authority to negotiate for the house democrats. it is hopeful that we will have a consensus and so note that everybody understanding we have to yield on certain points will see the urgency of doing sow. but again it has to be big, bold, and balanced. it has to have a jobs component,

a revenue component, and a savings component. yes, ma'am. >> to follow on, some of the information that is leaking out of the committee doesn't appear to be encouraging at all. and i'm wondering if there is anything at all that you can say that would help instill a little more confidence in those of us who are covering this and the american people? >> we have said from the start we want an agreement. that it is important to the american people to see that this committee can function. to recognize the opportunity that is there. imagine, 12 people at a table able to pass a bill, present a bill to congress, that is on expedited procedures, that can move quickly through the house, and contain many of the provision that is we have in our jobs package and again agreed upon savings that we have talked about, whether it's on all the

bipartisan commissions whether it's simpson-bowls, the gang of six, you name it. everybody has a balanced and big aproach. so -- approach. so it's just this committee that seems to be having some challenges reaching that decision. our people are there to speak for us. i'm hopeful that the time that they are taking is time that is bringing us closer to a consensus. as we have discussed before i had not put any lines in the sand. we said if it's big, bold, and balanced, many things are possible to reduce the deficit in a very significant way to take us into the future. the path of prosperity, honoring the entrepreneurial spirit of america. so we are optimistic that something can be done. when you say -- well, when they have a plan, that's when we'll

be optimistic. in the meantime we have questions and we are trying to supply some answers that have had bipartisanship in the past. but it is -- the time is drawing near. november 23. p back from there you probably have 10 days or two weeks that the c.p.o. needs. probably first or second day back after, which i don't think we should have, another break, we should be here, but the republican schedule is not to be . the nirs or second day back we have -- first or second day back we have to have something. yeah, it would be helpful -- we are not just sitting back waiting. we are trying to show members what some of the possibilities are. and if it's going to be big, bold, and balanced, and it's going to be a compromise. there's going to be some level of unhappiness across the board on our side and theirs.

but hopefully that means that we all took the steps necessary. i'd like to see $4 trillion package. i harken back, it seems a long time ago now, but the proposal that the president and speaker had worked together on is a good model, too. again, many of my members are not happy with some of the ticks in it, -- ticks in it but the results it -- the ticks -- particulars in t. but the results it gives us is great. it gave him 98% of what he wanted. i would hope that we could get to a place like that. we just have to encourage them. not -- try to keep the rhetoric down about what -- why aren't they doing this, that -- the sad news is they have the responsibility. we respect the charge that they have. democrats, republicans, house, and senate.

we wish them well and we are praying for them. let me put that in perspective foreyou. i don't know how much longer we have the room. i know we had some other questions to get to. when the president signed the bill, the $1.2 trillion in cuts, it was called for that there would be another $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction. that will happen. that will happen. how it happens depends on the table, the supercommittee. it can be -- it can happen with, again, balance and boldness and the size that is good for our country, or it can be at the $4 trillion level and with savings and revenue and job creation that makes sense. or it can happen through sequestration.

if nothing happens on the committee. so the $2.5 trillion by the time you put in interest will be achieved. it won't be achieved in the best possible way, but it will be achieved. so passing the billing and the president signed it guaranteed that there would be $2.5 trillion in trucks deficit reduction. when you -- in deficit reduction. when you say failure it's a disappointment we couldn't have done it better, but the markets should know that the deficit reduction will occur. i think we should try to avoid it at all cost, but again that's up to the supercommittee. >> i wanted to ask you why you and your husband back in march of 2008 accepted and participated in a very large deal from visa? at the time there was major legislation affecting the credit card companies making its way through the house.

did you consider that to be a conflict of interest? >> i don't know what your point is of your question. is there some point that you want to make with that? >> i guess what i'm asking is, do you think it's all right for a speaker to accept a very preferential, favorable stock deal? >> we didn't. >> at the time there was major legislation affecting that company in the house? >> first of all let me say this, what we are talking about is an industry. what we are talking about is a congress that passed more protections for credit card holders, carol maloney has been our champion on this, to the point where the industry spent $3 million to try to defeat her last time. so the issue that you are talking about, first of all, what you are contending is not true. but second of all, we are very proud of our record of what happened. now, what congressman -- senator

durbin was able to do in the senate is quite remarkable and when he was able to achieve that, then it was -- on this same issue it was included by our chairman, barney frank, in the bill. it's when we had a president who could sign the bill. and that's when we passed what carolyn maloney had. there was no interest on the part of president bush to sign such a bill. but the fact is your basic premise is a false one and it's no use spending more time on it. >> you participated in the i.p.o. >> hi many investments. >> there was a bill very unfavorable to the credit card companies. >> i uphold my record in terms of fighting the credit cart companies and as speaker of the house or member of congress. up against anyone. we had passed the credit card holder bill of rights. i don't know what your point is. you like one bill than another bill. no, this was the big powerful bill and in fact we were able to

achieve both once we were able to have a democratic president. that's really all i'm saying. it only has the appearance if you decide you are going to have a -- elaborate on a false permission to address the house for one minute -- it's not true. >> what's not true? >> that i would act upon an investment. >> it's now been one year since -- >> party of nancy pelosi's briefing this morning on capitol hill. we'll break away here. remind you you can catch it all online. and we'll show tu to later in its entirety in our schedule on c-span. we did want to show you speaker boehner's briefing as well. that happened shortly after nancy pelosi's briefing. the house is coming in in about 10 minutes. a couple of bills dealing with s.e.c. regulations nor small business. we'll have live coverage here on c-span. ahead of that the speaker's briefing.

>> good morning, everyone. this week marks the one-year anniversary of a new majority here in congress. and i think we've got a long way to go but i think it's important to note that how our members have changed the focus here in washington. rather than debating about how much more we are going to spend, the debate over the course of the last year is about how much we are going to cut. and in fact we are cutting spending. the house as an institution is more open and transparent 2457b under previous majorities, democrat or republican, and there are no earmarks whatsoever. most importantly in a change from years past, the house is keeping the pledge to america by focusing on the top priority of the american people and that issue is jobs. american families and small businesses are hurting.

14 million americans are out of work. republicans are focused on getting our economy moving again. the house has passed more than 15 bills that are currently awaiting a vote in the democrat-controlled senate. last week the house repealed the 3% withholding tax bill and we have also passed a vet rans hiring bill. again, sitting over in the united states senate. last month we sent the president's three important trade agreements that will boost exports and create jobs. and this week we'll pass two more bills based on ideas that the president says he supports to give small businesses greater access to the money they need to expand their business and to begin hiring new workers. all of these issues are part of our plan to help american job creators. the fact is we have worked this plan all year. we formalized it in may and we

continue to work to get our economy going again, to get the american people back to work. but on the back we've got these 15 bills that continue to sit in the united states senate. all of the steps that we could think right now to remove some of the barriers to job creation. i think it's time to find common ground. many of these bills have broad bipartisan support and there is no reason for the senate not to take them up. unfortunately they are just allowing these bills to gather dust and i don't think that's acceptable. so rather than pursuing common ground, the senate this week is voting on another bill that was designed to fail. rather than highlighting our differences, i think we need to focus on areas where we agree. the bill we'll mass tomorrow to help small businesses has the support of the administration and the senate should take it up when we send it over there. the withholding tax bill we

passed last week has the support of the president. the senate should pass it. the senate won't act on jobs bill where the republicans in the house and president agree, what are they willing to do to help create jobs in our country? so i think americans are tired of the posturing. they are tired of the fighting. they want us to focus on common ground and to solve this problem. i hope the president will join me. i hope he'll join republicans and call on democrats in the senate to take up the forgotten 15 so we can get this economy moving again. questions? >> the administration released this week the final numbers for the s.g.r. cut, medicare next year, is there a staff update? is there going to be a deal to overhaul or is there going to be another band-aid? >> i think the committee is looking at trying to fix the s.g.r. problem. how this fix will move i think

is still up in the air. >> you get sent to the supercommittee, the folks on your side of the aisle are nervous about what's going to come out? can we actually pull this off? are you nervous that you can garner the votes with your leadership team? what's the mood? >> i think the mood is one ofer in swrissness. i think there's pressure on both sides of the aisle on the supercommittee and frankly on leadership on both sides of the aisle. and both chambers. we have to come to an agreement. we have to -- it is important for the supercommittee to succeed. we've got democrats and republicans on this committee who have worked diligently over the last several months to try to come to an agreement. this was easy.

these issues have been dealt with in the last couple decades. if it was easy, the president and i could have come to an agreement earlier this year. if it were easy senator reid and i probably could have agreed to this in july. this is hard. everybody knows it's hard. i can't tell you how much i appreciate the work of all the members of the committee and their effort to try to come to an agreement. we are going to continue to work at this. >> grover norquist was on the hill this morning. is he a positive influence on your conversation? -- conference? >> our focus here is on jobs. we are doing everything we can to get our economy moving again and get people back to work. it's not off i'm asked about some random person in america and what i think. >> is he a random person, though? is grover norquist a random person?

>> our focus is on creating jobs not talking about somebody's personality. >> what he stands for is that a positive influence in your conference? >> what heance for? >> his notes, tax under any circumstance pledge s. that positive for your conference? >> our conference is opposed to tax hikes because we believe that tax heights will -- hikes will hurt our economy and put americans out of work. >> you have been huddling with republican supercommittee members as well as meeting with senator mcconnell. if this is coming down to once again leadership involvement, what is the hold up at this point? you talk about how important it is that the supercommittee succeeds. what is the hold up now? >> there are a lot of discussions under way and a lot of discussions will continue. we all know how hard this is. when you start dealing with mandatory spending and dealing with changes in entitlement programs, these are very sensitive issues. when you start talking about

revenue, you are talking about some -- another set of sensitive issues. simple as that. >> speaker boehner, 40 members of your conference yesterday signaled that they would be amenable to an increase in revenue. tax increases is predicated on spending cuts. does that give you more flexibility? >> i do think there is a bipartisan group of members, including those that signed the letter yesterday, who believe that we have to deal with this problem. and we do have to deal with it. so i appreciate their interest. their concern. and their help. in trying to make sure that we get to an outcome. >> could you believe that members of congress and particularly the leadership should be allowed to trade in stocks at a time when the companies they are trading have

major interest before the body? >> i think there are plenty of rules of the house and certainly rules from the s.e.c. that members should follow and i believe do follow. >> going back to the health care debate, you bought some insurance stock right before you declared the public option dead. did you make those trades based on nonpublic information? >> i have not made any decisions on day-to-day trading activities in my account and haven't for years. i do not do it. haven't done it. wouldn't do it. >> you say republicans have changed the conversation from what we spend to what we cut. what would you say the impact of that conversation, that focus has been on jobs in the last year? we have seen pretty stagnant job growth since january as austerity has gone into effect. this republican focus on

spending cuts above all else what is the impact on jobs? >> i think the budget deficit and our debt serves as a wet blanket over our economy. it has every investor and businessperson concerned about whether we are going to deal with this problem. and that's why getting this deficit and debt under control i think is critically important because it will lead to a better environment for job creation in our country. >> the supercommittee's proposal assuming they reach one should have a job creation element to it such as extending jobless benefits? >> i think there are a lot of issues on the table. i'm sure all of those and more will be discussed. as the conversations continue. thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> we showed you some of minority leader nancy pelosi's briefing. both of those available shortly in the video library at c-span.org.

the u.s. house is gaveling in momentarily for a couple of bills. a pair dealing with s.e.c. regulations for small business and particular for raising funds for small business official. and some votes expected early this afternoon, possibly late this afternoon as well. the senate is in today as well. they have votes in the mid afternoon. you can follow the senate on c-span2. now the house here on c-span. the speaker: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. eternal god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. we pause in your presence and ask guidance for the men and women of the people's house. give them wisdom, strength, and love as they face the tasks of the waning weeks of the first session.

help them to be great in heart, genuine in commitment, generous in spirit, and good in mind that the work done may be for the highest welfare of our nation and of all nations. whatever the experiences that come to them and to us all this day, grant that we may meet them with confidence and never-ending good will. keep us ever faithful to our duties, committed to doing justice in truth and loyal to our nation and its lofty ideals. bless us this day and every day and may all that is done within the people's house be for your greater honor an 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 approve the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. pitts. mr. pitts: i ask the guests in the gallery to join us in sing the pledge of allegiance to the flag. 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 requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? mr. pitts: request permission to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection -- the speaker: without objection. mr. pitts: earlier this week, "the washington post" uncovered evidence that appointees meddled with a grant to help victims of human trafficking. for five year the u.s. conference of catholic bishops provided these services and now it's been revealed the grant

renewal was denied over questions of career staff and despite recommendations that said the catholic agency was the best one to do the work. it cannot be a coincidence that the aclu is suing to force catholic bishops to offer abortion services with this grant money. it's outrageous that the administration appears to be letting the aclu dictate this funding. a complaint has been roughered to the h.h.s. inspector general and i hope there will be an investigation to determine whether religious big triwas part of this. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, this week the partisan chairs of the previous deficit reduction committee admoppished the super committee to go big with a balance of cuts and revenues. up fortunately, i think they will go small and that would be a tragic lost opportunity. it would be a lost opportunity if the super committee's legislation does not include job creating measures because the best way to reduce deficits to to -- is to create squobs. mr. higgins: 10 years ago the debate was over repaying our debt in its entirety. we had that debate because under president clinton, 22 million jobs were created and record deficits were turned into record surpluses. the super committee should be bold and include major investment in infratruck schur -- infrastructure. with interest rates at historic lows, it will never be cheaper to finance the improvements we need to make to stay

competitive. economic growth over the next two years is not expected to be enough to sustain current employment levels. that means unemployment will increase unless we act. i urge the super committee to do the right thing. go big. the american people need to work and much work needs to be done. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? >> request permission to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my rashes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, last week i was astouned to read a new gallup poll on small business owners' concerns. as you can imagine, they have many concern bus the issue they said was the most important concern for small business owners was complying with government regulations. you know what, i didn't need a fwal lineup poll to tell the what i heard from dozens of small business owners across any district. mr. hultgren: they feel threatened by the avalanche of needless red tape. we've tried to cut the red tape

and provide pro-growth, pro-jobs environments here. we've passed more than 15 bills to cut red tape, most with bipartisan support. you can see them all at jobs.gop.gov. unfortunately, now they languish in the cul-de-sac at the every end of this building called the do-nothing senate. i urge the senate to pass the forgotten 15 and get washington off the backs of small business and get americans working again. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from massachusetts rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. tsongas: 10 months ago this week, the republicans took control they have senate and we have not seen one comprehensive jobs bill to put americans pack to work. our g.o.p.-led house must show urgency where now they show indifference in helping the

millions of workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. the american jobs act will help create those jobs by investing in infrastructure and incentivizing businesses to hire new workers. i have also proposed a plan to help put people back to work and many others in this chamber both republican an democrat have other good ideas to support job creation. but the majority has thus far refused to allow any such measures to come to the floor for consideration. they are common sense and traditionally bipartisan steps that we should take today. people need jobs they need them now and congress must not delay any further. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? >> ask permission to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, defense secretary leon panetta recently warned congress that if the deficit reduction process does not succeed, the department of

defense could be cut by $1 trillion. these cuts will threaten the effectiveness of the world's greatest armed forces which provide peace through strength. according to secretary panetta, these cuts would increase america's unemployment rate by 1%, nearly 1.5 million workers. drastic cuts will limit advanced equipment that is esen torble protect service member whors defeating terrorists overseas. for the united states to successfully continue to protect its families, congress should not further cut the defense budget which destroys jobs and undermines our manufacturing base. yesterday, in roll call, army secretary john mchugh, our former colleague, advised, yet -- quote, we can't break faith with the men and women who fought for us in the last decade. in conclusion, god bless our troops, and we will never forget september 11 and the demrobal war on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from ohio rise? >> to address the house for one

minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise to address the right of every american, the right to vote. republicans across this nation are attempting to suppress certain predetermined populations of eligible voters. in ohio, they are trying to limit voting by mail which greatly affects senior the disabled and students. in 2009 in the county in which i live, cuyahoga county, we eliminated 26% of owl our precincts because of the effectiveness of our vote by mail operation. ms. fudge: we saved $1.2 million on vote magazines alone. and with fewer precincts we save $200,000 for every county wide election by having people vote by mail. yet republicans passed legislation that would restrict counties from mailing ballots. as a consequence this year alone, early voting is down 1/ from last year. with such an efficient vote by

mail system, why would republicans seek to eliminate mail ballots or confuse voters? why do republicans pass measures that have no other objective than to disenfranchise our voters? i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from new york rise? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. >> in response to the president's jobs plan, linda shemshuk from my district sent the following letter. the government's priority should be to make sure that existing programs are operating efficiently and effectively. i can't fathom how the president can ask for more revenue when there is so much waste in our government. government needs to act more like a business. it needs to be operate efficiently and effectively,, you're absolutely right.

on our list of the forgotten 15 bills that we need the senate to act on right away, there is the budget for fiscal year 2012. it has now been 918 days since the american people received a budget for the federal government because our senate has not yet acted. please call your senators across the country and call senators from new york and ask them to act on the forgotten 15, including the budget for fiscal year 2012 so that we can free our economy, free our hardworking american taxpayers and get us all back to work. i yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio 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. >> i spoke yesterday with a well-known talk show host who told me he and his listeners, who are many, are concerned that an al qaeda flag is flying over the courthouse in benghazi,

libya. mr. kucinich: it was put there by the same group we helped uste the gaddafi regime. he's right. u.s. soldiers died fighting in afghanistan but in lib ark we enabled al qaeda to raise their flag? will al qaeda now have access to libya's oil wealth thanks to the u.s.-led invasion in months ago i raised this question about elements of al qaeda reportedly being involved with so-called rebels this administration looked the other way. why? what are we doing? our international policies are a diversion from our disastrous domestic policies, 14 million unemployed, millions of small businesses at risk, social security at risk. wake up, america. the administration just helped al qaeda knock off one of the world's leading oil producers. it's time to get out of foreign

adventures and start taking care of things here at home. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from tennessee rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise to speak about legislation i'm introducing dealing with tax options for song writers and music publishers. the song writers tax simplification re-authorization act reinstates the ability of american music publishers and self-published song writers to elect to use a five-year, 20% per year amortization schedule. we had this tax option from 2005 to 2010, inadvertently, it wasn't re-authorized so under current law, tax options available to song writers and publisherers are unworkable, obsolete and prohibitive. this creates a disincentive at a

time when the music industry is under assault from illegal piracy online and as they are fighting to retain and create jobs. a 16-year-old singer-song writer bonner black came to washington last month to build support for this idea. her dream is the american dream to write sings -- songs that inspire and entertain us. we need this legislation to make sure it remains part of the mesh dream. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from texas rise? >> request permission to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. johnson: i rise to speak in spoth of the american jobs act. creating jobs and strengthening the economy is my highest priority. i strongly urge this congress to

remain focused on these goals because they are the most pressing challenges facing americans today. the president's american jobs act will cut the payroll in half for 19 -- for 98% of small businesses. the nonpartisan congressional budget office estimates that the cutting of the payroll tax is one of the most effective job creating measures. in addition, the president's proposal will completely eliminate payroll taxes for businesses that add new workers. this incentive indirect -- is directly targeted to encourage small businesses to hire new workers. mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to put partisan politics aside and pass this legislation now because american families and small businesses are in need of scrobs now. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. .

without objection, the gentleman from indiana is recognized for one minute. mr. pence: thank you, mr. speaker. well, with a national government seemingly incapable of confronting a mountain range of debt and national media preoccupied with politics, i have to tell you, mr. speaker, as i travel across the state of indiana one thing is clear in the city or on the farm hoosier families are hurting. unemployment in the state of indiana is a heartbreaking 8.9%. and hoosiers want action on jobs. the president is traveling around the country talking about his legislation. he says that the american people can't wait to take actions on jobs. let me just say i i couldn't agree more. the good news is house republicans have a plan and house republicans have taken action. since the first of this year house republicans have passed no more than -- no less, rather, than 15 different pieces of legislation to create jobs in

america. these are commonsense, bipartisan bills that have passed the house of representatives and are now languishing in the senate. we call them the forgotten 15. among the forgotten 15 there will be legislation to increase domestic energy production, reduce the harmful federal regulatory burden on jobs, help unemployed veterans and the rest. i urge my colleagues in the other body to take action on the forgotten 15. we can't wait. let's take the measures necessary to put americans back to work. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from rhode island rise? mr. cicilline: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from rhode island is recognized for one minute. mr. cicilline: i recently visited two factories, mr. speaker, in my district. a textile mill and a producer of personal care products. these businesses had a clear message, they believe in making it in america. they need an even playing field much the u.s. has the best workers in the world, makes the

best products in the world, but we need policies that allow us to compete and prevent cheating by our global competitors. rhode island businesses, american businesses can't compete with their chinese counterparts who keep their currency artificially low so their imports are cheaper than u.s. goods. it's time to end this unfair practice and i'm calling on the republican leadership in the house to allow a vote on a currency reform for fair trade act. this is a bipartisan bill that could create between 500,000 and two million new jobs. ending the cheating by our trading partners, especially the chinese, by doing so we can level the playing field for american manufacturers and create jobs. we must bring h.r. 639 to the floor for a vote now. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona rise? without objection, the gentleman from arizona is recognized for one minute. mr. flake: i thank you, mr. speaker. on monday, october 1, unesco

voted to award the palestinian authority full membership. they made a decision in spite of a u.s. law which prohibits prohibit contributions that award the palestinian authority the same standing as full member states. it defies logic that unesco would forgo one million of its budget or 22% contributed by the united states each year in exchange for awarding the p.a. full member status. this decision is especially troubling considering that it will only diminish the prospects for genuine peace between israel and the palestinians which can only be achieved through direct negotiations between the parties involved and not by fiat. nevertheless, unesco has made its decision and u.s. should stand by existing law and cut off funding for the organization. anything short of this will send a clear message to other international organizations considering similar action that congress and the united states does not follow up on what it says. it will also send a message to

america's allies, most especially israel, that the united states cannot be taken at its word. congress needs to stand by israel and all of its allies and hold unesco accountable for the decision it made. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. green: request permission to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute. mr. green: mr. speaker, members, i rise in support of the 54 million retirees, disabled workers, children, and spouses in our country who currently receive social security. for 75 years social security has served as a promise to the men and women who worked hard all their lives to make this country great and they could look forward to financial security later in their lives. social security was designed to be a one leg of a three legged stool. unfortunately the other two legs, savings and pensions, aren't there for many seniors. only 41% of seniors have employer based sponsored pensions. three out of five senior households have no retirement savings at all. one in three seniors rely on

social security for 90% or more of their income. the joint committee on deficit reduction should not look at social security as a way to pay down our national debt or a way to offset tax cuts for the most fortunate in our country. social security's not in crisis. it presently has a surplus of over $2.6 trillion. enough to pay its obligations in full for the next 25 years. social security needs to be reformed over the long term. these reforms need to be debated in proper order inside the appropriate committees in the house and senate not hastily put together. i ask my colleagues to stand together with america's seniors and support a strong, robust social security program. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? without objection, the gentleman from florida is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. december 13, 1921 in chicago illinois, byron tate jr. spent his early years working alongside his brother in a brass and iron molder.

mr. nugent: in 1942 byron answered the call for service. in service he saw action with the first army across the european theater and under the command of general omar bradley. he joined the d-day invasion force in july of 1944 and saw combat in the battle of the bulge. after he returned to chicago as a decorated and proud army veteran, he married the love of his life, mildred. and like so many of our brave world war ii heroes, went on to become part of the greatest generation the world has ever seen. on october 20, 2011, my uncle byron tate, passed away in his home in macon, georgia. with his passing, however, i'm reminded that without the hard work and selfless sacrifice and attitude of our world war ii veterans, this nation truly would not be what it is today. with that i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? mr. payne: ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for one minute. mr. payne: thank you, mr. speaker. 43 weeks, mr. speaker, 43 weeks my republican colleagues have led the house. and have failed to pass a single bill to create jobs. our national unemployment rate has returned to 9.1% after declining earlier this year and late last year as a result of the recovery act. yet my colleagues who ran on the platform of upholding a pledge to america to create jobs and strengthen the economy, have failed to do so. instead of delivering on their promise to 14 million americans without jobs, the republican congress has decided to take off and work for themselves. this republican-led congress has only been at work for 111 days, leaving 105 days off for recess. with so many of our constituents

out of work, congress should be at work on their behalf, doing its job, creating jobs for americans, and approving america's economy. that is why my democratic colleagues and i have tried to do. we have proposed commonsense legislation that would strengthen our economy, create jobs now. and we ask that this is what we were sent to washington to do. we must create jobs now. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? without objection, the gentleman from florida is recognized for one minute. mr. bilirakis: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today to speak about jobs. millions of americans are hurting and need work. our nation's veterans have been particularly hard hit by the economic downturn. with veterans day approaching, it is heartbreaking to see so many of our nation's heroes suffering. nearly one million veterans are unemployed right now and their unemployment rate exceeds the rest of the nation.

we must act now, mr. speaker. here in the house we have passed -- the veterans opportunity to work act. this legislation takes an all encompassing approach that incorporates education and training, eliminates roadblocks in the system, and helps veterans compete in a 21st century economy. putting our veterans back to work is something we can all agree on, mr. speaker. and i encourage the senate to address this important issue. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise -- virginia rise. mr. moran: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from virginia is recognized for one minute. mr. moran: mr. speaker, we can't cut our way to national prosperity. since president obama took office, private sector employment has steadily grown. but largely due to misguided priorities of many republican

office holders, public sector cuts have offset that private sector job gain. in fact, the states that took the most severe hatchet to their state budgets have lost the most jobs and faced a more severe economic downturn. but the states that increase spending in the public sector saw real and steady economic growth since the recession began. according to a study by the center for american progress, that's because there is a corresponding increase in the private sector when we pursue a responsible policy of investment in the public sector. some states have in fact slashed their way into a deeper economic slump. big cuts in public spending do have an immediate effect on quality of life, but it's worse if in addition to affecting our quality of life we are making the national unemployment situation much worse. there is abundant data to support that conclusion. mr. speaker, the fact is that president obama's jobs bill invests in teachers, cops, and firefighters because he knows that investment will 3/8 --

stimulate more private sector in our communities. that's why it should be passed. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from tennessee rise? without objection, the gentlelady from tennessee is recognized for one minute. mrs. black: i'm here today to talk about jobs. people in the sixth district of tennessee are hurting. our state has currently a 9.8% unemployment rate and we have been at over 9% unemployment since february of 2009. many of my counties are well above the tennessee average, in overton county, the unemployment rate is 10.6%. in marshal county in the southern part of my district, the percentage is 13.8% of our population out of work. the president's new slogan on jobs, we can't wait, is an odd choice. right now there are 15 passed house bills sitting on the senate desk waiting for action. since day one, i have been working with my colleagues to

create certainty in our economy, trying to cut the burdensome red tape and get government out of the way. throughout our nation's history, it's been the american entrepreneurial spirit that has pushed us forward. put simply, government does not create jobs. american small business owners create jobs. that's why i'm here today to urge speaker reid to -- and the colleagues in the senate to pass these 15 jobs that we have created bipartisanly over here in the house. america cannot wait, mr. reid, take up our bills. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from texas rise? ms. jackson lee: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady from texas is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady will suspend. the house will come to order. the gentlelady may continue. ms. jackson lee: i thank the speaker very much. we cannot forget our children and i ask that this body not close the doors on the good samaritan. let that person in. i would encourage the support of

h.r. 83 that has focused on protecting our children from bullying. i have founded and co-chaired the congressional children's caucus with my colleague from illinois, a bipartisan caucus, that wants to remember the children. h.r. 83 i would encourage my colleagues sign on to h.r. 83 so we can have a national statement against bullying and begin to fund the best practice that is our communities can work on to protect our children. then i want to ensure that the 2.5 million americans that will lose their unemployment in 2012 are protected. let's determine that those who have worked not be left in the cold without unemployment benefits. as we look toward veterans day, i want to publicly say i oppose any cuts on veterans benefits by the supercommittee. i stand in support of our veterans and declare if they gave us a promise and willingness to sacrifice their life, we must stand and promnies to them to never cut their benefits. let me say to the homeless

veterans i visited, we, too, respect your condition and service. we will not cut veterans benefits. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from oklahoma rise? without objection, the gentleman from oklahoma is recognized for one minute. mr. lankford: as we talk about jobs in america, let's talk about a positive story. oklahoma city. ranked yesterday as the number one best employment rate in america among cities of a million or more. in our federal system of government, states and cities compete for excellence and the result is a terrific city like oklahoma city. what made it work? great state and local leadership, people who love to work, commonsense regulations locally, business owners who build great businesses and a great community. in oklahoma city you see, we have traditional and new energy production working well side by side. community banks that work through the regulatory maze and do commercial lending. we have reasonable real estate development. trucking and manufacturing for all times of products.

military and civilian work force who work together, small business owners and employees who love to serve our community. pro-business, pro-family laws and regulations. there is something our nation could learn from a city like oklahoma city. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise? >> to address he the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection the gentleman is reck newsed for one minute. mr. ellison: my friends on the other side of the aisle are fond of saying, government doesn't create jobs, only the private sector. all you've got to do is talk to any small business person on any street in america and ask them if the police department didn't make sure they had a safe neighborhood, how would that affect them? or go to a trucking company and say, if the infrastructure and roads and bridges were not in place, would you ship goods? they would tell you obviously

the government helps business. this is so obvious that we have to state the obvious here on the floor of congress this anti-government, anti-public sector, anti-public employee and worker attitude does not help our country, it sets us back, it is wrong, and i for one want to salute the everyday hero the cops, the fire fighters, the teachers the people with work on our roads, the people who make sure we've got clean water and air to breathe and the fact is, go for it, public employees, we're proud of you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. trup does the gentleman from tennessee rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from tennessee is recognized for one minute. mr. cooper: as part of my tennessee job creators tour i've met with over 40 businesses.

they have a clear mess a g on how washington can help create jobs. yet government -- get government spending under control, create a fair, flatter, simpler tax code and repeal job-killing regulations that hurt theirable to do business an hire more workers. mr. desjarlais: they can invest, grow and hire. to accomplish this, we have passed a total of 17 job creating bill this is year and they are stuck in the senate. please go to jobsgop.gov and read the plan. the democrats' suggestion that poor sales are driving unemployment is shortsighted an out of touch considering the overwhelming consensus among businesses i have visitted. it's time for the senate democrats and president obama to follow the lead and pass these

17 bills. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. pascrell: just recently they produced a job loss ratio and report on the police departments throughout the united states of america. mr. speaker, it was not a pretty picture. we pat our police officers on the back, say they to a -- do a good job and watch 12,000 of them lose their jobs in the united states of america. one point i want to bring out here, mr. speaker, it's this, if we place so much homeland security responsibilities on our first responders, then how in god's name can we turn our backs

when cities an towns and rural areas are in tough financial shape. swre an opportunity to rectify and right the ship this afternoon. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> last week, we did something in this house most people tnt think we had the capability of doing. we passed, oen a bipartisan basis, a bill that will help people get back to work. we passed a bill that made it easier for companies that do business with the government to get paid. we passed it off the floor of this house on a bipartisan bay sess. mr. mulvaney: part of the president's jobs plan, the president address this is 3% withholding in its job -- in his jobs bill.

it got no attention. more importantly, it set sits at the senate with no activity on it this house has done its job. we have done our job on a bipartisan basis to pass a bill to put people back to work. but the senators, specifically the democrat leadership in the senate are not doing their job and i call on them to do exactly that. i yield back toe balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee rise? mr. cohen: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is reck noozed for one minute. mr. cohen: there's been two things that are bipartisan, infrastructure and jobs. we historically developed a great intrastructure no longer is america the top nation on the globe in infrastructure. we're 15th on the list. the president has a jobs bill to put $50 billion into roads and

bridges, infrastructure, and put people to work, 25,000 people for $1 billion of investment go to work. ray lahood a republican member of the house when i started, now the secretary of transportation, said that the republican side or at least some part of it is not here to get things done, they're here only to defeat this president and they need to pass a bill to put people to work and improve this infrastructure. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. pallone: i heard my republican colleague on the other side of the aisle talk about the senate. the fact of the matter is the senate democrats on at least two occasions have tried to bring up the american jobs act, the president's jobs initiative. they even broke it into smaller pieces. but what happens is, they vote for it but can't get the 60

votes because none of the republican wills join with them to get over that 60-vote majority rule. this is being held up by the republicans, here in the house, speaker boehner said he will not oppose the american job tissue he will not post the american jobs act. it's been 43 weeks took over the house, they haven't passed a jobs bill yet. i spent a lot of time going around the main streets in my district and talking to small businesses and they like the american jobs act because they like the fact that it has the payroll tax reduction, they like the various tax credits if they hire people, but when you ask them about regulations, regulation is not the issue, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, houmps, sir, pursuant

to the permission granted in clause 2h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, the clerk received the following message if the secretary of the senate on november 3, 2011, at 9:36 a.m. that the senate passed senate 271, senate 278, senate 535, senate 683, senate 684, senate 808, senate 897, senate 997. with best wishes, i am, signed, sincerely, karen l. haas. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky rise? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to take from the speaker's table the bill h.r. 2112 with the senate amendments thereto, disagree to the senate amendments and request a conference with the senate on the disagreeing votes of the two houses. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. the clerk: h r. 2112, an act

making appropriations for agriculture, rural development, food and drug administration and related agencies' programs for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2012, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. for what purpose does the gentleman from washington rise? >> mr. speaker, i have a motion to instruct at the desk. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: mr. dicks of washington move that the managers on the part of the house at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two houses on the senate bill h r. 2112 be instructed to insist on one, the highest level of funding for the federal highway administration, emergency relief program account within the scope of conference. and only for activities consistent with the definition of disaster relief included in the budget control act of 2011 and two, the highest level of fund within the scope of

conference for the community oriented policing services cops programful the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 7 of rule 22, the gentleman from washington, mr. dicks, and the gentleman from kentucky, mr. rogers, each will control 30 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from washington. mr. dicks: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the motion to instruct. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. dicks: and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. dicks: mr. speaker, the motion instructs conferees to provide funds needed for the federal highway administration to eliminate the backlog of repairs to highways, roads, and bridges damaged in natural disasters. the motion also instructs the conferees to fund the community oriented policing services,

cops, program. it is not unusual for congress to appropriate funds to address the backlog of disaster repairs for highways, bridges, and roads. since 1989, congress appropriated adecisional funds to eliminate the emergency relief backlog on 20 separate occasions. this motion will put nearly 60,000 construction workers to work repairing roads and bridges in 37 states. the federal highway administration needs about $1.76 billion for emergency relief repairs in states that received the presidential disaster declaration. i would remind my colleagues that the budget control act reformed the process for determining the total amount available for disaster relief funding. funding is based on objective criteria. disasters must be declared and the total amount cannot exceed the rolling 10-year historical average. if conferees provide the highest

level of disaster relief funding within the scope of conference, it will be within that range. the motion instructs conferees to remain consistent with the budget control act and the act makes clear that a disaster re-- if disaster relief funding is within the average, it does not need to be offset. the motion simply asks the house to honor the agreement on disaster relief reached in the budget control act. the motion also instructs the conferees to support the highest level of funding for cops within the scope of conference. the house bill is reported by the appropriations committee back in july included no funding for the cops program. however the budget control act provides a higher discretionary funding total for f.y. 2012 an than the allocation the committee was working with during the summer this permits the house to fund some itells that were difficult to provide for in july. and the cops program would be at the top of the list of things to

fix in the c.j.s. bill with a higher allocation. the house is support -- has supported cops on a bipartisan basis and it is needed now more than ever. the economic downturn of the last few years is straining the resources of state, local, and tribal governments across the country. public safety agencies have been affected along with nearly everyone else. according to the cops office, nearly 12,000 police officers and sheriff's deputies will have been laid off by the end of 2011. approximately 30,000 law enforcement jobs are unfilled. and an estimated 28,000 officers and deputies faced week-long furloughs in 2010. we can't fix all the financial pressures facing local law enforcement, but we can do something to help stem the tide. this motion would support the

hiring or rehiring of approximately 1,500 police officers in f.y. 2012. mr. speaker, i urge the house to vote yes on the motion to instruct and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves his time. mr. dicks: how much time did i take, by the way? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman used 3 1/2 minutes. the gentleman from kentucky is now recognized. mr. rogers: i have the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington. mr. dicks: i yield four minutes to the distinguished gentleman from new jersey, mr. pascrell, who has been a tireless advocate for both the cops program and our firefighters and for local law enforcement. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for four minutes. mr. pascrell: thank you, mr. dicks. i want to thank mr. dicks for

his leadership on this issue. i want to thank mr. rogers for his open-mindedness, as usual. hopefully as we go into this discussion. as co-chair of the house law enforcement caucus, i want to call everyone's attention to one of the glaring differences between the bill the senate passed earlier this week anti-one reported by our own appropriations committee. furneding for our local police office -- funding for our local police officer. the senate bill contained $230 million for the cops office, this bill completely eliminated funding all together. we are here today to try to rectify that situation. mr. speaker, we know that state and local governments are still slashing their budgets as a result of a recession. in fact, just last week the department of justice released a sobering report, the impact of the economic downturn on american police agencies. i think all of our members should read it.

i want to place this as xa in my presentation today, mr. speaker. -- as exhibit a in my presentation today, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. pascrell: the report revealed that nearly 12,000 law enforcement officers will lose their job this year alone. another 30,000 positions remain unfilled, and 2011 would produce the first national decline in law enforcement officers in 25 years. less cops on the beat means more crime on the streets, plain and simple. it is a very specific aspect of this particular problem. it's not going to get better. i worked very closely with my counterpart, representative reichert, who was a sheriff officer in washington state to co-chair the law enforcement caucus. early this year, 115 members of this body, republicans and democrats, supported these programs in a letter to appropriators. it is just not enough, mr.

speaker, to pat our police officers on the back. we must support them. the federal government has a particular responsibility. specifically to debate the issue and look at the issue of homeland security. they are the first there with our firefighters if there's any man-made or act of nature. they show up first before anybody from the federal government. to see the number of police officers being reduced in this country is unconscionable, particularly after 9/11. our crime is rising specifically in the towns where these police officers have been laid off, furloughed, demoted, and certainly lack of promotions. the federal government has some responsibility here. i would like to place into the record also a very strong statement on the issue of the matter of crime in our cities

and in our towns. i want to make that exhibit b as well. i will produce that with your permission, mr. speaker, with no objections. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. pascrell: i think the homeland security issue is a critical issue. let's bring it back to our hometowns. police departments in the united states now have put on a list of priorities what they are going to respond to and what they cannot respond to. listen to these. they stop responding to motor vehicle thefts in many towns. they've stopped responding to burglar alarms that go off. they've stopped responding to noninjury motor vehicle accidents. in many towns, a warrant squad, if you don't know what warrant squad is, you don't know what they do, they have been minimized, two, three people left, to try to find folks that have perfect pet waited crimes. they have reported decreases in investigations of property crimes. you talk about a response when

you talk the bliss department, what is the response in terms of investigating these particular crimes? this has all come out under the justice department. i'm not making these numbers up. that's why i submit for the record the numbers. let me just conclude, mr. speaker, in saying this has to be a priority. protecting the public is our primary priority. and i ask consideration of what mr. dicks is putting forth today. thank you very much. thank you, mr. dicks. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from kentucky. mr. rogers: i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. mr. dicks: mr. speaker, i yield three minutes to the gentleman from massachusetts, the ranking member of the transportation subcommittee, mr. olver. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for three minutes. mr. olver: i thank the gentleman

for yielding time at this point and thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise in support of the motion to instruct conferees. this motion would instruct the conferees to provide adequate funding to the federal highway administration's emergency relief program in order to eliminate the backlog of repairs needed as a result of hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and other natural disasters. since the act of 1934, congress has repeatedly recognized the need to provide assistance to states when anticipated disasters -- when unanticipated disasters occur without conditioning the support on cuts to other programs. currently there is roughly 1 3/4 billion dollars in emergency relief backlog covering disasters in 37 states.

the 2012 year has been an unusually active one for natural disasters. and 33 states have experienced declared disasters totaling $1.4 billion since the beginning of this year alone. this includes 50 million in repairs that are needed in my state, massachusetts, due to tornadoes in the spring and damage from hurricane irene. 42 million needed by iowa to report repair damage from the missouri river spring floods and the $100 million in ohio due to severe rainfalls in the early spring. mr. speaker, as we have done 20 times since 1989 during both republican and democratic congresses, we have a responsibility to our neighbors to provide the funding need and address their emergency relief needs. i have, mr. speaker, i have a chart in my hand which

references those 20 acts of congress and i'm asking unanimous consent that this chart be printed in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. olver: thank you, mr. speaker. i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support the motion to instruct conferees. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from kentucky. mr. rogers: i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman continues to reserve. the gentleman from washington. mr. dicks: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from pennsylvania, ranking member of the commerce, justice, and state subcommittee, mr. fattah. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for two minutes. mr. fattah: thank you. i thank the gentleman from washington state who is the ranking member on the appropriations committee. i thank our chairman, chairman rogers. i'm very pleased that we are having a motion to instruct in

that we are moving appropriation bills. but i rise in support of mr. talk's motion to instruct -- dicks' motion to instruct, particularly in support of additional disaster relief and also the cops program. it's critically important that we continue the national decline in crime rates and because of the layoffs or dismissals of over 12,000 police officers, and kt -- and the fact that we have over 30,000 law enforcement jobs that are unfilled today in our country, we see in many cities now a rising level of criminal activity. i want to mention that in new jersey we heard from the gentleman who used to be mayor of paterson, they had to lay off 125 police officers. a fourth of the police force there, and they have experienced

a 15% increase in crime. i think that one could draw a correlation between these two. in flint, michigan, the police force has been cut by 2/3. over the last three years and the murder rate is higher than that of baghdad. last january, camden, new jersey, was cut by 163 officers, 44% of the total force. it's critically important that we understand the direct nexus between the federal effort which began many years ago to put cops on the street and to assist local officers and the dramatic declines that we have seen for more than a decade now in criminal activity in our country, and i would hope that this motion to instruct would inform all of the conferees how important this is in addition to the disaster relief. we all know when we call 9-1-1 we want to be calling for a

police officer not dialing for a prayer. we need real help. and the conferees will have an opportunity to adjust to figures hopefully in line with what we want as an ideal. if we could put police officers in iraq and afghanistan, we could fund them in flint, and paterson, and camden, new jersey, and other cities similarly situated. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from kentucky. mr. rogers: does the gentleman have further speakers? mr. dicks: we have one additional speaker. then i will close very briefly. i have the right to close, i believe. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is correct. mr. rogers: you have a speaker other than yourself? mr. dicks: one more. i yield two minutes to the gentleman from vermont, a very distinguished member of the congress and a person whose state has been very hard hit by

disasters and we are going to do everything we can to work to assist him on this important endeavor. i yield him two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from vermont for two minutes. mr. welch: i thank the gentleman. mr. speaker, on august 28 of this august, hurricane irene left a path of destruction from the carolinas to vermont. the districts of 55 of our colleagues were hit and hit hard. and that storm did damage without regard to partisan affiliation, income distribution . if you were in the path of that storm, you suffered. the 55 members of congress who are affected by it created the hurricane irene coalition, republicans and democrats, and we are united in the single goal of getting the aid to our people back home that they need to get back on their feet. hurricane irene, mr. speaker,

saved its greatest fury to the end when it descended upon vermont. it was the biggest damaging storm that we have had in 100 years. we lost 700 homes of hardworking vermonters. many of whom had no flood insurance. 260 roads and 30 bridges were impassable. 13 communities were entirely cut off. the good news was that the vermont response was extraordinary. people came together. they started a school on the town green when they were in pittsfield unable to go north or south because the road was cut off. when the main atery was reopened so school buses could pass but they couldn't get out on their roads, they got their chain sauce out and cut a half mile path to the woods so kids could get to school. that's the kind of spirit that we find in our district. and i'm very proud in vermont and our colleagues are as well. mr. speaker, i also want to express a statement of

gratitude. i have had the opportunity to visit with mr. rogers. i have had the opportunity to visit with mr. latham. with mr. olver, mr. kingston, with mr. dicks, with mr. cantor. where they have given me the opportunity to tell them the specific story of vermont and hear my request that vermont be treated as vermonters have treated others. i rise in support of this motion to instruct so that this congress can do what it's always done, it's come forward to help people in this country who have been on the bad end of a tough storm. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from kentucky. mr. rogers: is the gentleman from washington state prepared to close? mr. dicks: i'm prepared to close and yield back the balance of my time. mr. rogers: well, mr. speaker, i recognize self for such time as i may consume.