going because that's free money and there have been several articles in the "atlanta constitution" that all the money that obama has given to these historic black colleges right here on c-span they had a conference and the lady said -- host: let's give you a chance to respond. we have about a minute here. guest: sure, i think we do have to advocate for an increase in pell grants as far as it can help those students. assuming the obama administration hasn't done that. while we are also looking at pell grant funding, we also need to consider ways to restrain the cost of college. we can put more money into the student aid. but if the institutions aren't going to do their job and get a more handling on their costs, we have not helped students. host: michelle cooper from the institute of higher education policy. thanks so much. we'll take you live to the house floor. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's room,

washington, d.c., december 1, 2011. i hereby appoint the honorable allen b. west 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 but in no event shall debate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. at this time the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. mcnerney, for five minutes. mr. mcnerney: mr. speaker, i

rise to address the budget gridlock that's ripping washington apart like. like every american who cares about the future of our great country, i'm upset by the partisan fighting, but i also know that the responsibility is not equally shared for proof no further than the collapse of the deficit supercommittee. washington republicans' refusal to ask the wealthiest people and the largest corporations to contribute their fair share, caused the supercommittee's failure and is putting our country at risk. middle-class families are struggling but the world's biggest corporations make huge profits and exploit tax loopholes to send jobs overseas. and the rich keep getting richer but are contributing less. this inequality is unacceptable and it hurts america's economy. for instance, the after-tax income of the top 1% rows 281% -- rose 281% from 1979 to 2007

but the total average federal tax rate fell by nearly eight points. unfortunately, washington republicans have made clear that they will not fix the injustices in our tax code. in fact, 238 members of the house and 41 senators, almost all of them republicans, have signed the infamous americans for tax reform pledge. this pledge commits its signers to oppose any plan no matter how responsible that would ask the wealthiest people to contribute their fair share. whether motivated by extremist ideology or commitments to greedy special interests, the facts are clear -- republicans who sign this pledge cannot take the steps our country needs to get our budget in order. republicans came to power on a mission to rein in the budget deficit, a bowl we all support. instead of -- a goal we all support. instead of supporting balancing policies, washington republicans forced the congress

to pass a dangerous budget agreement, and thanks to them our hands are tied. if washington republicans keep refusing to compromise, massive cuts will kick in that will harm the middle class. washington republicans won't negotiate and won't come up with a fair budget plan. instead of helping the middle class, republicans are standing up for the megarich. according to the center on budget and policy priorities, the plan put forward by republicans on the deficit supercommittee shifts even more of the tax burden from the rich to the middle class. their plan would change the tax tables in a way that benefits the wealthiest households more than the rest of us which is the chart next to me shows. as your income grows, so do your benefits. the wealthiest households will get more and more benefits. and their proposal dramatically weakens a variety of tax policies that help the middle class.

i can't support a pran like that, and the -- plan like that and the american people can't either. democrats and republicans should be working together on fair solutions, but the republicans'ness to comprow is -- republicans' unwillingness to comprow is hurting grow is hurting us. when i took my oath of office i pledged to protect and defend the constitution, and i am committed to helping the middle class getting our economy back on track. democrats have demonstrated a willingness to talk about difficult subjects like entitlement reform, but republicans refuse to negotiate. so i ask my republican colleagues, especially those who have signed the pledge, a special question -- where do your loyalties lie? with the superrich and the special interests or with the hardworking americans? thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman yields back his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia, mr. broun, for five minutes. mr. broun: thank you, mr. speaker. he turned georgia football games into larger than life experiences. he pinpointed fear in the depths of dog fan souls and shouted out those emotions on radio statewide. his voice will go down in history as the soundtrack of some of the most famous play calls, highlight reels and moments for u.g.a. that will simply never be forgotten. whether it was his describing the sugar falling out of the sky or begging the dogs to hunker down one more last time, larry munson had an unmatched ability to find words for feelings that just could not be

spoken. to call him an iconic play-by- play announcer for the georgia football team would be a vast understatement. he was a classic city treasure, an athens legend and larry munson breathed life and made the dogs dance. he was different from all other sportscasters. larry munson was very authentic. he always told it like it was even when he had given up on a red and black win. he didn't care about political correctness, and he wasn't afraid to scream about stepping on tennessee's face with a high nail boot or breaking his chair, his metal steel chair with a five-inch cushion when georgia beat florida in 1980 and then went on to win the national championship. he loved georgia football, and georgia football loved larry

munson just right back. his memory will live on forever in the body of the bulldog nation, in the hearts of all dog fans and will live on between the hedges every game day. on behalf of the united states congress, here's to you, larry, and one of the best dogs that georgia has ever known and we'll never forget. we'll miss you greatly. go, dogs. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to address their marks to the chair. the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from maryland, mr. hoyer, for five minutes. mr. hoyer: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, before we adjourn for the year, there are a number of important items we must address. the most pressing is the

expiration of unemployment benefits at the end of december. should congress fail to act, millions of americans who rely on emergency unemployment compensation will begin to see their payments disappear starting in january. 2.1 million of our fellow americans will have lost their benefits by the middle of february, and over six million by the end of 2012. however, we have the power to prevent that from happening by extending those benefits. these emergency benefits were put in place the start of the recession, in december of 2007, and with so many americans still out of work, now is certainly not the time to let them come to an end. the number one challenge we must address in the congress remains job creation. americans out of work have been

doing their part to find jobs. congress must do its part as well. some republicans have unfairly and incorrectly blame those that have been laid off for their continued difficulty finding jobs. however, there are over four people looking for every one job that is available. at the same time there are nearly seven million fewer jobs today than there were in 2007. instead of blaming the victims, we ought to work together, democrats and republicans, to find solutions. congress has never allowed emergency unemployment benefits to lapse with our jobless rate anywhere close to where it is today. if it did over 17,000 people in my state of maryland would see their lifeline cut off by february. in ohio, speaker boehner's state, 80,000 people are at

risk. among african-americans, latinos and other minorities, a disproportionate number have been affected by long-term unemployment and are especially vulnerable if these benefits were to end. every state, every state would see more americans who are out of work slip into poverty. local communities would be affected, too, with residual job losses. the economic policy institute has estimated that allowing these benefits to expire would cost us another 500,000 jobs. half a million. i sincerely hope that republicans will work with us to prevent so many americans from being left out in the cold as they continue to seek jobs but can't find them. it's long past the time they start working with us to pass a real jobs plan to get americans back to work and grow our

economy. the president put a jobs bill on our desk in september. it is now december. we have yet to see that bill or any other jobs bill put on this house floor by the republican leadership. democrats have multiple jobs plans on the table. the president's american jobs act and the house democrats' make it in america plan, both will help create jobs right away and invest in long-term economic competitiveness. if republicans continue to be unwilling to work with us on a plan to create jobs, i hope they will at least work with us to pass a measure that will prevent further losses as a result of the expiring unemployment benefits. i strongly urge my republican friends to help us stop the looming and entirely preventable disaster of millions having no support. it is the responsibility we have to our constituents and to

those looking to us for leadership during this challenging time. let us not go home, let us not go to celebrate christmas or other holidays without ensuring the extension unemployment benefits for those americans who cannot find jobs notwithstanding the fact they are looking for jobs. they're counting on us. let's be sure that their reliance was well placed, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair now 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. it's always great to follow the highly respected minority whip, and he is highly respected. i would say there is a lot of pressing problems in this country. one i'll speak about today and that's the high nuclear waste storage throughout this country. i'd also say to my friend that

part of the jobs bill has passed. we passed the free trade agreement. we passed the veterans' benefit portion. we passed the 3% withholding. so there has been movement in a bipartisan manner. now an issue i've come to the floor now six times as i go throughout the country and highlight where high level nuclear waste is stored throughout this country. today we'll travel to the state of massachusetts right on cape cod bay where the pilgrim nuclear power plant sits. again, it's right on cape cod bay. at pilgrim there are over 2,918 spent fuel assemblies on site. yucca mountain, which is the defined storage location by law in the 198 nuclear waste

policy -- 1982 nuclear waste policy act currently has no nuclear waste on site. i want to highlight the real distinct differences between the years talking about this issue and highlighting some of the arguments against yucca, comparing it to where we have nuclear waste today. . let's continue to look at the pilgrim power plant, the waste is stored above ground in pools. very similar to fuke shays-meehana -- fukeshima in japan. at yucca, it would be stored 1,000 feet underground. above the ground in pools. 1,000 feet underground. yucca is a better location. at pilgrim, the waste is 20 feet from the water table, 20 feet.

at yucca it would be 1,000 feet above the water table. i think that's a better, more safe and secure location. and you can see the pilgrim plant is right on cape cod bay, right next to the water. yucca mountain is situated 100 miles from the nearest body of water, which would be the colorado river. now, for those who have been following my time coming to the floor, this is my sixth time. so i started at hanford, a d.o.e. facility in washington state, compared it to yucca mountain. i then went to zion, got my friend from chicago right here, zion's right on lake michigan. nuclear power plant that has decommissioned plant waste still stored onsite. but wisconsin has two power plants right on lake michigan. then i went to savannah, georgia, to talk about the

nuclear waste there. and of course it's the savannah river. it's right next to the savannah river. then out to california to look at the nuclear power plant that's right on the pacific ocean. today -- before today, then i went to idaho and looked at the idaho national labs and nuclear waste stored there. today we go to massachusetts. the point being there's high level nuclear waste stored all over this country, and a single repository at yucca mountain makes sense for all the right reasons. it's over 100 miles from the largest city. it's in the desert. it would be underneath a mountain. there is no more safe, secure location. why are we not moving forward? because this administration has decided not to spend the money

needed to finish the final environmental study through the nuclear regulatory commission. so, where are our senators on this position? and i have been bringing this down to the floor through all these states. we need 60 votes in the senate to secure america's nuclear waste. right now through the states based upon the states we have identified, there's 20 yes. we have about seven who are relatively new. we don't know their position. of course we have established five that are noes. there are some in the new england states that i mentioned. susan collins voted for yucca mountain in two. olympia snowe voted for it in 2002. senator kerry voted against it. now, pilgrim is in the state of massachusetts. i guess senator kerry feels that pilgrim is a more safe and secure location than yucca mountain. based upon his statement. scott brown has no position yet.

senator sheehan has no position. and of course the independent from vermont has voted no. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair now recognizes the gentlewoman from wisconsin, ms. moore, for five minutes. ms. moore: thank you so much, mr. speaker. recently and even today we have heard a lot from both sides about the extension of unemployment insurance from both sides of the aisle, but i think the voices that we need to be listening to are the voices of the american people. so if you would indulge me, mr. speaker, i would like to read a letter from one of my constituents. ms. moore, i am writing you today to request that you pass the extension for unemployment insurance benefits. i am a single mom and experienced a layoff at my job

this past summer. my benefits are about to run out and i'm still looking for a job. last week alone i applied to over 20 jobs online and received only one call back for an interview. i have $600 left to claim on unemployment. after that i do not know what i am going to do. i pray every day that this extension will go through before the holidays. that is all i want for christmas. being unemployed has left me with a sense of low self-worth. and i find that i cry all of the time. i hope that my interview next week is successful. nonetheless, i am trying to be proactive on the job hunt. i have a web nar -- webinar scheduled today for successful interviewing skills and i'm hoping to apply those skills in my interview next week. i want some peace of mind that i will continue to receive the extension before the holiday.

sadly this young woman is of 58 will lose benefits if we don't extend the unemployment insurance. of correspond there are -- of course there are millions of stories like this across the country. hardworking americans, mr. speaker, who just want the opportunity to have an opportunity. and as the holidays aproach, the harsh realities of our failed economy become more and more prevalent. 8 -- i along with all of my democratic colleagues have been calling for the passage of an extension ever u.i. benefits for what seems like an internity, yet some would turn their backs on their fellow americans during the holidays and in these most trying of economic times. like the grinch that stole christmas, republican majority with devilish grins are tipping through hooville or in this case

across the country attempting to steal the holiday cheer from hardworking americans. with these tortured rationales as to why they oppose these much and desperately needed benefits. while continuing simultaneously to work to ensure that the rich get richer through maintaining tax cuts. the unemployment insurance program serves as a life line for millions of unemployed americans and their families, their children who are now at the mercy of the worst job market since the great depression. millions of hardworking americans, nearly two million in just january alone, and over six million in 2012 will be cut off from the emergency life line that is unemployment insurance unless congress acts. mr. speaker, these are americans who have been laid off and are desperately searching for work. but the jobs just are not there.

that is why we must pass the doggett-leaven unemployment compensation extension act. the emergency unemployment compensation extension act is just common sense. and it will continue the current federal unemployment programs through next year. the extension of these benefits will not only strengthen the safety net for the unemployed, but it will most importantly promote economic recovery by preventing the loss of a half million jobs. additionally, relieving insolvent states from interest payments on federal loans for one year will help the states, including wisconsin, which we are forced to borrow funds from the federal government to play for unemployment benefits for the thousands of unemployed or laid off. never, never before now has this been a partisan issue where congress controlled by either party has denied this life sustaining unemployment benefit.

right now we need a holiday miracle, we need a miracle to help these grinches grow hearts and vote immediately to extend the unemployment insurance program. i call on my colleagues, mr. speaker, to come together this season and bring some holiday cheer back to the american people. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. fitzpatrick, for five minutes. mr. fitzpatrick: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. fitzpatrick: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to honor one of the bucks county bar association's most ardent supporters, my dear friend, tom mellon. tom is known by many around the country for his passion and commitment to the law, but is equally known in the bucks county area as a dedicated civil servant who has spent his entire life giving back to the community. i have known tom for many years. although we come from different party backgrounds, it has never

gotten in the way of our friendship. our shared val have always trumped politics. -- values have always trumped politics. first and foremost tom is a family man. he's a loyal husband and dedicated father to four sons. tom is also one of the friendliest people you will ever meet. he has a genuine personality and warm welcoming demeanor which served him well throughout his career. tom always seems to carry with him an inner irish spirit. from day one he has championed the underdog and the downtrodden, which is truly an admirable quality. throughout the course of his legal career, tom has been the david to many corporation's goliath, taking on big tobacco, multiple pharmaceutical companies, and even global terrorists. he never waivers in his dedication to his clients or to his cause. his cases are taken not necessarily because he knows he can win but because morally they are the right thing to do.

tom is truly an inspiration to any -- to many young aspiring attorneys who want to change the world. he has been to me. as tom sees it, his life duty is to help those who are in need. he launched his legal career representing the interests of victims of crime in the united states attorneys office and he has never looked back. today he continues his representation of the less fortunate, proudly serving as a trial attorney in dolphinstown, pennsylvania. after -- doylestown, pennsylvania. after 9/11 he served as lead counsel among a national conshore shuttle columbia of attorneys retained by the victims of the attacks in order to pursue an investigation into the involvement of iran and al qaeda. in 1999 tom arranged for the first group of american lawyers to visit havana, cuba, to better understand the culture of the land and inner struggles of the cuban people. currently tom also serves on the board of directors of the bucks katrina relief project and

raised millions of dollars for the victims of hurricane katrina in hancock county, mississippi. as part of this mission tom has led over 100 attorneys and their family members on multiple trips to hancock county to clean up the devastation, rebuild homes, and assist in the construction of new community buildings like a food pantry and animal shelter. tom's morals and decorum permeate every aspect of his life. his loyalty's unwavering and unparalleled whether it be to family, friends, employees, or clients. his dedication to the community speaks volumes about who tom is as a person. 7 he's a kind, giving, unique individual and i'm truly blessed to have called him a friend for so many years and to honor him today as he will be honored tonight at the bucks county bar association. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair now recognizes the gentlewoman from ohio, ms. kaptur, for five minutes.

ms. kaptur: thank you. mr. speaker, it's no secret that wall street is rampant with cases of outright fraud, backroom deals, and very, very special political access. meanwhile, main street is pushing back hard against this tide by investing in our communities and struggling to create jobs so our economy can grow. a steady series of probing news stories have begun to expose the depth of corruption that precip stated the wall street meltdown and why it is so hard for main street to recover. bloom bloomberg just released a story detailing how hank paulson provided special insider information to well connected wall street executives in july of 2008 just before the meltdown. according to bloomberg, on the very same day the former secretary told "the new york

times" that he expected the examinations of the federal reserve and the office of comptroller of the currency into fannie mae and freddie mac, would give, and i quote, give a signal of confidence to the markets. he informed a select group of his friends on wall street later in the day that in reality there was a plan for placing, and i quote, fannie and freddie into conservatorship, which amounts to a government seizure. those firms got insider information and one can ask did they then place bets to protect their interests? i bet they did. one of the fund managers in that meeting said, and i quote, he was shocked that paulson would furnish such specific information leaving little doubt that the treasury department would carry out that plan. in the words of william black, law expert at the university of missouri, there is no legitimate reason for these disclosures. the secretary of treasury is supposed to be a public steward of our nation's financial

well-being. but when he told the public one story and then shared the insidetrack with his friends and colleagues from goldman sachs and other large firms, he broke that trust. to be blunt, this is self-serving, crony capitalism at its worst. this is the only case of special treat of insiders by washington? insiders like paulson who have been the former head of goldman sachs. earlier this week we saw u.s. district court throw out a settlement between the securities and exchange commission and citigroup. in 2008, citigroup reportedly created, marketed, and sold a fund to investors, what citigroup did not disclose is that the bank itself was actually betting against their own fund. this fraudulent deal made citigroup $160 million while costing the fund investors $700 million in losses and counting. . the response to the fraud was a $275 million settlement, a

third of the losses reported by the victims in this fraud. citigroup was not required to say any wrongdoing. the judge was absolutely correct to throw this case out. allowing large wall street firms to walk away from fraud cases without so much as admitting any wrongdoing is completely inappropriate and invites more corruption. growing reports of fraud are staggering, and they underlie the wall street dealing that has so harmed our nation. throughout november, we saw headline after headline of how m.f. global took money from its own private customer accounts as they tried to stay afloats before filing one of the largest bankruptcies in american history. there may be as much as $1.2 billion unaccounted for. we used to call that stealing. the justice department has only a handful of officials to investigate the corruption.

after reviewing the f.b.i. testimony, i introduced the financial crisis criminal investigation act to authorize an additional 1,000 f.b.i. agencies and forensic experts to prosecute white-collar crime, especially wall street. back in the 1990's when we had the f.n.l. crisis we had 1,000 agents. when this crisis started there were about a handful because they'd all been switched to terrorism investigations. when you look at these cases, what is astounding is just how well connected so many of these institutions are on wall street to the corridors in washington. it appears that newt gingrich was paid thousands of dollars by freddie mac before it went bankrupt. we need an independent commission to see what led to the eventually collapse of fannie mae and freddie mac by which wall street turned it over to the taxpayers of the united states for the next three generations. i have a bill to do that h.r.

2093. i ask members to support the act. so while real justice for wall street languishes in places from queens to toledo, real america is trying to create jobs. but it's time for washington to get its house in order to restore accountability to wall street so that full confidence can be restored to our economy. exacting justice for -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. ms. kaptur: this is long overdue. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from indiana, mr. young, for five minutes. mr. young: i rise today to speak on the overwhelming majority of my southern indiana constituents. now a year ago they sent me to this body to give a voice to their frustrations to washington. a frustration they share then

and share now more than ever. the american people's frustrations stems from a lack of real progress in addressing our nation's most fundamental challenges -- federal spending, our national debt, job creation, the decline of the middle class. our fellow citizens have concluded what i, too, have concluded -- washington is broken and no one is in a hurry to fix it. now, congress hasn't passed a balanced budget in over a decade. the senate hasn't passed any sort of budget in three years. our debt topped $15 trillion and our unemployment rate hovers around 9%. washington would rather argue about who is to blame for causing our problems. sure, there's a lot of agreement as to what's wrong with our country. but not a lot of action geared towards making anything right. our president and too many in this congress would rather demagogue and demonize than lead and legislate. washington is broken and

nobody's in a hurry to fix it. while many of our constituents are struggling to find a second and in some cases a third job, washington is failing to perform its only job, governing. is it any wonder that so many americans are frustrated? now, these aren't republican problems, democrat problems. they are not house problems or senate problems. these are washington problems. unfortunately, after 11 months on the job i've seen far too few washington solutions. many of us came to washington in this year, some of us new to government, to offer solutions. we came ready with ideas. we came ready to defend those ideas, to respond to criticisms, to make the ideas into workable solutions. and ultimately to implement those solutions to make a better life for those who sent us here. we came with the same sense of urgency that the american people expect of us. but washington is too broken.

too many in this city resist, publicly committing to hard, workable solutions because talking points is so much easier. but until we get down to brass tax we'll continue to talk past one another. so i make this in treaty to all of my colleagues, whether you are a republican or a democrat, commit to proposing workable solutions. get into the details. put them on paper. until both side put a specific, written, scoreable plan on the table, we'll never find the common ground necessary to strike that grand bargain. in the absence of specifics, we're just playing politics. that's why washington is broken. now, earlier this year those of us on the budget committee introduced a comprehensive plan that would reduce our deficit over the next decade by over $6 trillion. it would balance the budget and start paying down our debt. it would create an environment where jobs could flourish and

grow. and it would save and strengthen our safety net programs like medicare and medicaid. most importantly, it addressed our challenges with the sense of urgency they require. now, if you disagreed with that plan or you have a more optimal solution, let's hear it. introduce it. i'm open to better plans. i didn't come to congress because i thought i had all the solutions. i came to congress because my constituents wanted me to be part of the solution. but criticizing the other guy's plan is not the same as having a plan. real leadership consists of presenting your vision for america to the american people and then defending it. in so doing, republicans and democrats may discover that we have some common ground. we are not enemies but friends. let us sum it up as we have before, the better angels of our nature and rededicate ourselves to the hard work of

leadership. washington is indeed broken. let's hurry up and fix it together. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. hinojosa, for five minutes. mr. hinojosa: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hinojosa: mr. speaker, it is with great sadness that i rise to urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pass the american dream act. this past weekend i learned of the tragic death of joaquin luna, a senior student at juarez lincoln high school in mission, texas, who took his life because he believed that he would never be able to fulfill his dream of becoming

an engineer, earning his citizenship and leading a full and prosperous life in america. brought to the united states as an infant, joaquin attended our nation's public schools, played the guitar at his church and hoped to go to college and achieve the american dream. i cannot express the sorrow i feel on the loss of such a talented young man. i want to extend my heart felt condolences to joaquin's family and friends. i cannot imagine the pain they are suffering. it is heartbreaking to know that many of us in the u.s. house of representatives passed the dream act at this time last year, to see the legislation held up in the senate by a vote of 55-41.

today as joaquin luna body's laid to rest, i believe it is imperative to underscore the urgency of passing the dream act in the 112th congress and renewing hope for dream students. as a proud co-sponsor of h.r. 1842, entitled the development, relief and education for alien miners act of 2011, better known as the dream act, i urge president obama and my colleagues in the house and the senate to put their ideological differences aside and do what is right. now more than ever we must give these young people an opportunity to pursue their college and career goals, resolve their immigration status and earn their citizenship.

the dream act would allow these students the opportunity to earn legal status if they were 15 years old or younger when they were brought to this country, to america. they are long-term u.s. residents and have lived in the united states for at least five years before the enactment of the law. have good moral character, graduate from high school or obtain a g.e.d. and complete two years of college or military service and that they are in good standing. having been brought by their parents to the united states as children, these young men and women know america as their home. without question dream students exemplify the best of american

ideals such as hard work, perseverance and the desire to contribute to our nation's work force, economy and civic life. in the rio grande valley of south texas and across the country, cream students have excelled in school and have become valedictorians and advanced placement scholars and student leaders despite facing difficult circumstances. as ranking member for the subcommittee on higher education and work force training, i have no doubt that the dream students can help america achieve, president obama's ambitious high school and college completion goals by 2020. many of these students are working tirelessly to earn their high school and college diplomas and aspire to become

professionals in the sectors of our work force which need their talent, their skills and their ingenuity. in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics that are known as stem, our country must train a new generation of high-skilled scientists, engineers and mathematicians to bolster scientific discovery and to spur technological innovation. simply stated, these talented youth can help our nation increase its global competitiveness and be the innovators of tomorrow. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. mcclintock, for five minutes. mr. mcclintock: i thank you, mr. speaker. in the sierra foothills in northern california lies the little town of colfax,

population 1,800 with a median household income of about $35,000. over the last several years this little town has been utterly plundered by regulatory and litagatory excesses that have pushed this little town to the edge of bankruptcy and ravaged families. you see, they operate a small waste water treatment plant. because it does so it operates within the provisions of the clean water act, a measure adopted in 1972 and rooted in legitimate concerns to protect our vital water resources. the problem is that predatory environmental law firms have now discovered how to take unconscionable advantage of that law to reap windfall profits at the expense of working class families like the town's people of colfax. in the case of colfax an environmental law firm demanded

every document pertaining to the water treatment plant from the date of its inception. it then poured over those documents looking for any possible violation, including mere paperwork errors. by law those documents include self-monitoring reports by the water agency itself and any violation no matter how minor establishes a cause of action for which the law provides no affirmative defense even if the violation's due to factors completely beyond the local community's control, including acts of god and acts by unrelated and uncontrolable third parties. prove one such violation, and remember the law allows for no affirmative defense, and the attorneys are guaranteed all of their fees which were billed at $550 per hour. . as a result of this predatory activity the town is facing legal fees alone that exceed the

town's entire annual budget. families that are struggling to keep afloat, just above the poverty level, are fleeced by attorneys charging $550 an hour. but that's just part of the problem. the law requires constant upgrading of the facilities to meet ever changing state-of-the-art regulations that have nothing to do with health and safety and with absolutely no concern for the prohibitive costs involved. in fact, colfax is now supposed to discharge water cleaner than the stream water into which it's discharged. in colfax's case this required a $15 million expenditure divided among 800 working class residents who are now paying $2,500 per year just for their water connections. once this town's standard -- once this town has met the standard, there is no guarantee that in five years it won't be told, sorry, the rules have changed and you'll need to start over. mr. speaker, it's time to restore some form of rationality

back to this law to stop the plunder of small towns like colfax. and they are aren't alone or any community that operates a wastewater treatment plant is in the same jeopardy. no one disputes we need to maintain and enforce sensible and cost-effective protections of our precious resources, but legitimate environmental protections must no longer be used as an excuse for regulatory extremism and lit gatory plundering of our local communities. today i'm introducing legislation to offer six reforms to protect other communities from going through the same nightmare as the people of colfax. first, to limit private party lawsuits to issues of significant noncompliance rather than harmless paperwork errors. second, to shield local agencies from liability for acts beyond their control. third, to live local agencies 60 days to cure a violation before legal action can be initiated. fourth, to allow communities to amortize the cost of new

facilities over the period of 15 years before new requirements can be heaped on them. fifth, to require a cost benefit analysis before new regulations can be imposed. and sixth, to limit attorney fees to the prevailing fees of the community. like many movements, the impetus for stronger environmental protection of our air and water was firmly rooted in legitimate concerns to protect these vital resources. but like so many movements, as it succeeded in its legitimate ends, it also attracted a self-interested constituency that is driven far past the borders of common sense and into the realms of political extremism and outright plunder. and i'm hopeful that we are now entering an era where common sense can be restored to environmental law in this session of the congress. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from new york, mr. higgins, for five minutes. mr. higgins: thank you, mr. chairman. on february, 2009, tragedy

struck western new york when continental connection flight 3407 crashed outside of buffalo. the national transportation safety board found that one of the principal causes of the crash was pilot fatigue. so congress passed landmark aviation legislation to reform the system. one of the key provisions required that the federal aviation administration update flight and duty time rules and set minimum rest requirements for airline pilots by august 1, 2011. congressional intent was clear. that should have been enough time. after all, the national transportation safety board had urged that pilot fatigue rules be updated for the past 20 years. getting it right is also about getting it done. yet here we are today, 16 months after congress asked the federal aviation administration to issue these reforms and four months past the deadline we gave them and still no pilot fatigue rule.

that is unacceptable to me, it is unacceptable to my colleagues from western new york, and it is unacceptable to the flying public. i urge the federal aviation administration to complete the pilot fatigue rule immediately and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. olson, for five minutes. mr. olson: i respectfully request permission to address the house for five minutes and ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. olson: mr. speaker, at a time when our nation as -- nation's economy is struggling to recover from our deepest recession in which millions of americans are looking for work, no one would believe that we would forgo an opportunity to

reduce our reliance on middle eastern oil and create thousands of american jobs. incredibly that's exactly what happened. after the white house announced they would delay decision of approval of the keystone x.l. pipeline until 2013. after the elections of november 2012. at a time when our president faces a choice between powers within his base, labor unions, and radical environmentalists, he chose to punt rather than lead. labor unions support construction of the keystone x.l. pipeline because they understand this project has been deemed safe. and will create 20,000 direct american jobs and thousands more indirect jobs across our nation

as the pipeline is built. butle of environmentalists and hollywood activists vehemently oppose the project. in fact, they surrounded the white house in protest of the keystone x.l. pipeline claiming that the project is not environmentally safe. when these protesters made catching headlines the claims about the keystone pipeline surely are true. the keystone x.l. project has been studied extensively for over three years. when transcanada originally filed an application for a presidential permit with the department of state. the presidential permit review process was conducted by the state department, the environmental protection agency, and many other agencies within the federal government. after three years of

comprehensive review and several changes to the project to accommodate environmental concerns, the final report to the white house incorporated 57 project specific special conditions for the design, construction, and operation of the keystone x.l. pipeline. in simple terms, the keystone x.l. pipeline was designed to be the safest pipeline the world has ever known. here's the truth why the keystone x.l. pipeline promises to be the safest pipeline ever. as proposed the keystone x.l. pipeline will be monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year with the most advanced technologies. it will be buried at a deeper depth than similar pipelines to minimize risk. it will utilize multiple leak detection methods and fail-safe

shutoff systems as well as having an emergency response program in place ready to respond if needed. critics of the project further claim that the crew transported by the keystone x.l. pipeline is highly explosive, toxic sludge. this is a claim that will can only come out of hollywood with no facts to support it. in the analysis and sound science have determined these oils are not, not corrosive to steel. le of good old-fashioned common sense tells us that no company logical try to destroy someone's interest by spending billions to construct a pipeline that will be eaten up by the very products it transports.

i'll wrap up my comments with the facts about the keystone x.l. pipeline. this project has been exhaustively studied and revised to ensure its safety. three years of interview and detailed analysis by multiple federal government agencies have concluded that construction use of the keystone pipeline is safe. in august our department of state recommended that president obama approve the keystone x.l. pipeline. our economy is still teetering on a recession. it needs to be strengthened. and we need a safe, reliable supply of energy to grow it. canada can't provide it. they want to provide -- cap in a da can provide t they want to provide it. thereby reducing our reliance on middle eastern oil and strengthen our national security which we have strengthened energy security as a result.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. olson: thousands of jobs to build this pipeline. madam speaker, i urge the president to approve the keystone x.l. pipeline now. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from new york, mr. rangel, forefive minutes. mr. rangel: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, sir. mr. rangel: thank you. my colleagues, i once again rise asking that we immediately consider extending the federal unemployment compensation act. it seems as though i walked into this movie before last year and we were begging once again that we throw away the labels of being democrat or republican and reach out to make an appeal as to what makes this country different from other countries. this is the only country in the world that no one wants to leave and everyone wants to come in.

it's not because of the differences we have with the rich and the poor, it's that always in this country we extended hope. we allowed people to believe that they were never really, truly alone. when we find the circumstance that americans, hardworking americans trying to fulfill that american dream, once again not to become a wall street broker, and certainly not to be living the life of poverty, but to join that middle class that has been the engine for hope and economic advancement for our country. and we find a situation now through no fault of their own these dreams have been shattered. people have not only lost their jobs, but they have lost their self-esteem, they have lost their savings, they have not been able to take their kids to college. and so what is it that we can do since it's abundantly clear that

in this congress there is a gridlock and we don't want you to lose hope because there's things that americans can do, it's not just waiting for this congress to act because you hold in your hands the power to control this congress. and we should not have to wait until next year in order to say that you express yourself at the polls. no, indeed. every member of congress, 435 of us here, are anxiously waiting for your call and hope that call would be a call of compassion. it should be a call for the ministers, from the catholics and patriot stents and jews and -- protestants and synagogues and more mondays ands muslims saying in america we should be

hearing from our civic leaders and our voters in calling republicans, democrats, and independents saying we did not send you to washington to display just what a good republican you are or what a good democrat you are. we should talk about this sign up here, in got we trust, doesn't that mean something about taking care of the vulnerable, unemployed, those without homes, without jobs, and without hope? doesn't it mean that we have a tradition as members of congress ? and doesn't it mean our voters have a responsibility not to just say how bad we are but to say how good they are for making certain that they are monitoring our conduct not through a poll but through our action. the question is, how did your congressman vote on extending unemployment compensation? and rather than wait for the good or bad news, call now. call today. call every day this week.

they'll never have a thanksgiving or christmas that they used to have, but they can't give up hope. they can't give in. and they can't give up. and so i am saying for america, you don't have to go and protest even though i appreciate the fact that these courageous men and women are doing it, you don't have to walk those civil rights marches, but you can at least get in touch with your member of congress, remind him or her of their constitutional responsibility, and remind them of their moral responsibility to make certain that the vulnerable among us, the sick, the aged, the unemployed, those that play by the rules and we know have nothing to do with the situation they find themselves with economically, we can make a change, but it's got to take the american people to come together and say they are mad as hell and they are not going to take it anymore. let's make an appeal that

america takes the congress back, direct not ourselves to do things in order to get re-elected but direct we do things because it's the right thing to do. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia, mr. westmoreland, for five minutes. mr. westmoreland: thank you, mr. speaker, and i could not think of a more appropriate person to be in the chair this morning in yourself, to me and to others, an american hero, because, mr. speaker, today i come to the floor with the sadness but yet with a great sense of pride to honor the service of one of georgia's own, lance corporal seth scott harper. on october 13 in helmand protches, afghanistan, he gave -- province, afghanistan, he

gave the ultimate sacrifice and protection of his homeland and his family and friends. mr. speaker, he will be greatly missed by all. lance corporal harper was better known to his close friends not as scott but as boots. while a student at alexander high school he once forgot his tennis shoes for gym class and kept his boots on instead. and on that day, mr. speaker, he earned a lasting nickname of boots. but he also showed how he was prepared to adapt to all scenarios. when a marine recruiter showed up at his high school senior, boots answered the cause and chose a life of service in the united states marine corps. with the courage and motivation that most young men his age have not yet found in life. after graduating high school, he went into active duty in the

marine corps. boots served one term in afghanistan and returned safely home. he left on the second tour july 13 with the first battalion, sixth marine regiment, second marine division. on october 13 his division was struck by small arms fire while conducting combat operations. a fellow marine was shot first and boots ran into opposing gunfire to save his friend. though boots lost his life, he saved the life of his wounded friend in the process. boots was always loyal as a friend, and there is no more honor than one can give than to lay down his life for another. boots was devoted to his family and his community even when he only had a few days off, he would make time, that precious time to come home and visit his family and friends. though communications was difficult, boots was always

writing his family and called home as much as possible. the saturday before he was killed, boots called his father to say that he had decided to enroll at the university of georgia when he returned home. upon coming home for this final time, he arrived at charlie brown airfield. crowds from the community lined the streets to escort boots to his final home, to his family and to his friends for the last time. boots was accompanied by marine corps honor guard, the patriot guard, the douglasville police department and the douglas county sheriff department. and northern southern stopped its railroad cars in honor of the procession. as they passed, everyone stood and saluted the fallen marine and hometown hero. boots embodied the ideals that the marines strife to achieve. i am both honored and proud

that this soldier from the third district fought so hard for our country and for our freedom. boots was a model citizen, soldier and son. he was an extraordinary young man with incredible potential. he will be forever missed. i am proud to stand here and thank him for sacrificing his life for strangers like me and my family. and joan and i extend our sympathy to the family of this fallen hero for raising such a brave, courageous, honorable, giving son. and boots, we as a nation salute you today. semper fi. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the remainder of his time. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from missouri, mr. cleaver, for five minutes. mr. cleaver: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask permission to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, sir. mr. cleaver: mr. speaker, first

let me associate my comments with those of my colleague, mr. westmoreland. mr. speaker, on each wednesday night for probably the last 10 or 12 years, our church has provided food for those who are struggling. not long ago a gentleman came to our church, picked up food and then later that night as i was leaving the church i ran into him at a 7-11. you can imagine how troubled i was when i saw him buying a lottery ticket. i thought to myself, this guy's just ripped off the church and then using his money for a lottery ticket. so i waited for him outside the 7-11, and when he came out i said to him, look, i'm a little

concerned because you picked up a sack of groceries and then you just spent money on a lottery. and those two just don't match. and he said, well, i probably shouldn't have spent the money on the lottery. but you know, reverend, a man's got to have some hope. and while i think that hope is misplaced, the truth of the matter is he was absolutely correct. it is virtually impossible to live any kind of productive life on this planet without hope. there are millions of americans who unfortunately cannot place their hope in this body. i think that i can state without fear of contradiction

that the dysfunctionality of the united states congress is helping to erase hope from the men and women in this country who are struggling. all of the back and forth and blaming each other has nothing to do with providing hope. and quite often we allow ideology to trump logic. we decide almost every day that no matter what, i'm going to take the position of the republicans or i'm going to take the position of the democrats. and as a result we have polluted the public. this is one of the nastiest moments in u.s. history. just look at television.

look at all of the so-called reality shows, the ones that are most popular are ones where people are doing things to each other or insulting each other. you're fired, or you got to eat live spiders. that's what we are coming to. a perfect example of what we're doing is not addressing the expiring unemployment benefits. at the end of this year almost two million americans -- they have names, they have faces, they have families -- two million americans will lose their unemployment benefits by mid february. and a total of over six million

americans, six million americans will lose benefits next year unless this body decides to become functional. in missouri, my home state, 40,000 -- 40,400 citizens depend on unemployment benefits. many more are unemployed and not receiving any help at all. in missouri the unemployment rate is almost 9%. i grew up in public housing. yes, public housing. my father worked three jobs to get us out. worked three jobs to send me

and three sisters through college and my mother started college when i was in the eighth grade. and so i always resent any implication that people don't want to work. and so as we move into a holiday season, a season of hope, my hope is that the congress of the united states will not snatch hope from over two million americans. thank you, mr. chairman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from indiana, mr. burton, for five minutes. mr. burton: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, sir. mr. burton: mr. speaker, no nation, no economy can survive without fiscal discipline. printing more money is never the answer. bailout funds have already been granted to greece, ireland and portugal and the european crisis has gotten worse, not

better, and here in the united states the obama administration has cranked up the printing presses first through their $800 billion stimulus boondoggle and through the quantitative easing program. and what did it produce? 9% unemployment and a $1 trillion-plus budget deficit and we have $15 trillion in debt. now, i want to read from a couple of articles that were in the papers yesterday. first one, berlin's sin is the reluctance to write a blank check to save the euro, granting permission for the european central bank to buy trillions of dollars in sovereign debt. they'd have to print money to do that. the chant comes from unison from the bailout caucus in brussels and obama white house concerned with its re-election and liberal pundits worried about the welfare economic model that's under assault. like the rich in america who

must pay their fair share, the germans are supposed to pay up to save europe. the reality is is that the germans look with the dutch and fins are the rare europeans who understand that saving the euro requires more than a blank check. it requires a new political commitment to better economic policy, to fiscal discipline. now, let me read from another article that was in the paper. i think it was this morning in "the washington post." i'll read it in part. it says, investors have grown weary of lending money to european banks. people who invest, they don't want to invest in european banks because they're worried because they fear their firms could lose vast amounts of money in their holdings of bonds issued by cash-short european governments. so investors don't want to invest and germany does not want to invest. so what happened? the world's most powerful central banks, including the

united states, our fed, are stepping in and using unlimited ability to print money and to lend it across national borders to try to arrest that dangerous cycle. the central banks are using what is called swap lines to exchange their respective currencies. and it says the swap lines pose little risk to the u.s. taxpayer, fed officials have said, because it's little risk. the swap lines pose little risk to the u.s. taxpayers, federal officials have said, because the fed is doing business with foreign banks viewed as trustworthy. those foreign central banks in turn take the risk of loss if the banks they're lending to go under. but it goes right back up the line. if they can't make it then they go back to the original lender which would be the united states' fed. why are the germans so reluctant to invest? because they've been through hyperinflation. they know what it's like to have the e.u. central bank

printing money because they remember after world war i people took money to go buy a loaf of bread. why were the investors reluctant? because they didn't want to lose their money. they'll afraid they'll lose their investor's money and they might go out of business. so what happens? the united states comes to the rescue by bailing out those -- the central banks in europe by saying that we're going to have a swap line with you and our currency will guarantee your currency and we'll almost charge you no interest to do that. this is an exercise in futility. that is not the answer. we should not risk the american taxpayer by giving money or lending money to europe under these circumstances. . mr. speaker, i hope that the president and the fed will reconsider this and not put us in the basket with the europeans under these circumstances right now. it makes absolutely no sense and it risks the american taxpayer. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman yield back the balance of his time of the the chair now recognizes the gentleman from georgia, mr. johnson, for five minutes. mr. johnson: thank you, mr. chairman. i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. at a time when americans are not really deeply concerned about investors in european markets and what will happen to them upon greece or italy or somewhere like that, going belly up, most americans are fixated on one problem, ladies and gentlemen. it's a very personal problem. that problem is unemployment right here in america. now, while we are pondering the

difficulties that investors may face because of efforts to prop up central banks in europe, people are hurting out here. people including wives or husbands of unemployed spouses suffering. they are suffering as we close in to the holiday season when they see so many out doing for their families. and they themselves having been unemployed most of whom been unemployed for the last -- for at least six months. many for two years. they are looking and they are feeling this holiday spirit, but in a bad way. they are regretful of the fact that they are not able to fully

participate in this part of the american dream. doing for others. buying christmas gifts. in fact, people are worried about whether or not their unemployment insurance will be there for them after the beginning of the year. they realize that they are shutting, closing in on the cutoff date for expiration of the long-term unemployment benefits. and they are worried about that. not about investors and how they might fare about european countries not being fiscally solvent, allegedly. so, mr. speaker, every day it seems like i read another report from economists telling us how important it is to extend

unemployment benefits to help our fragile economy recover. and there's no doubt helping millions of unemployed americans during the worst downturn since the great depression which was caused by the very investment bankers that have been discussed today that might be hurt because of european shenanigans, it's mind-boggling. they are the ones that actually kicked this cesspool we are draining into off. and then they got bailed out but they are not willing to allow the very tea party grover norquist republican party who they control, they are not willing to let them extend

unemployment insurance benefits for the long-term unemployed unless there's a penalty involved. they want -- they can't bring themselves to fund it. they don't want to do it. as the holidays near, economics should take a back seat to our basic humanity. what about our commitment to each other? we are all in this together, but unfortunately the 47% of millionaires who populate the house of representatives don't have that same concept of how it is to hurt when you have been unemployed for such a long time. and money is not coming in.

they don't relate to that. we have got nearly 14 million unemployed workers and about five workers are applying for each job that is available. and for congress to think about going home to celebrate the holidays with their family and leaving these people out with no hope is indeed a great tragedy. i yield the balance of my time. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. davis, for five minutes. mr. davis: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, sir. mr. davis: thank you, mr. speaker. on monday, november 28, 2011, the city of chicago laid to rest

the wife of chicago's longest serving mayor, mayor richard m. daley. and while maggie daley was known as the mayor's wife, she was indeed a well-known, well liked, and revered personality in her own right. maggie daley played the role of matriarch. she was warm, graceful, elegant, eloquent, and easy to like. she was a patron of the arts and fully steeped in the cultural affairs of our city. and while mrs. daley has received acould he wladse for many of her -- accolades for many of her activities, the one that strikes me the most is her involvement in a program called after school matters.

and i think that anyone who knows anything at all about education and youth development knows that, yes, after school does indeed matter. when discussing this program, you could see maggie daley's eyes light up and feel her passion. she seemed to know everything there was to know about the program. she knew program sites, personnel, special features and activities. benefits and successes. and after a session of listening to mrs. daley explain and advocate for this program, i would often smile and say to myself, how could anyone not be in support of this great program. so i say thanks to a great lady,

a lady of grace, a lady of dignity, a lady of passion, a lady of faith, and a lady of action. my family and i, residents of the 7th congressional district of illinois, express condolences to mayor richard m. daley and all of maggie daley's family. she was a great first lady of our city and performed her role to perfection. after school does matter. it mattered to mrs. maggie daley and it matters to all of america. i thank you, mr. speaker. and yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair now recognizes the gentlewoman from alabama, miss sewell for five minutes. ms. sewell: mr. speaker, today i rise in support of workers, families, and mitt middle class americans across the seventh congressional district of alabama and this entire nation who have lost their jobs as a result of the deepest economic recession since the great depression. now, in my district, the seventh congressional district of alabama, and across this nation, the number one issue is job creation. while some progress has been made in turning our economy around, there are still so much work to be done in order to encourage job creation. recent reports indicate that the nation's private employers create approximately 200,000 jobs, new jobs during november. now, while this number shows

that our economy is slowly recovering and growing, we cannot forget the millions of americans that have been diligently searching for work but have not been successful in doing so. congress must extend unemployment benefits for the hardworking americans who lost their jobs due to no fault of their own. due to the economic downturn. now, these workers should also be given the necessary assistance to provide for their families during this difficult time. nearly 1/3 of america's 14 million unemployed have had no job for a year or more. in fact, long-term unemployment data suggests that about two million people have used up the 99 weeks of unemployment benefits but still cannot find work. congress has never allowed emergency unemployment programs to expire when the unemployment

rate exceeded 7.2%. with our nation's unemployment rate hovering around 9%, now is not the time to allow these essential benefits to expire. in my home state of alabama, unemployment and poverty rates have both increased dramatically in the wake of the most recent recession. in parts of the district that i represent, unemployment rates are as high as 19%. these persistent high unemployment numbers demonstrate the need for federal unemployment assistance, and it remains a critical lifeline to many of the constituents that i represent. the census bureau states that unemployment benefits keep nearly 3.2 million americans, including 900,000 children, from slipping into poverty last year. without action, more than two

million americans will be cut off of unemployment insurance by mid february of next year. the potential effects of these lapse in benefits would devastate millions of americans and households across this nation. we all understand that extending these unemployment insurance benefits is a temporary fix to a much larger problem. as members of congress, we must move quickly to adopt a comprehensive jobs plan that will aid businesses and communities in developing and growing. we must draft legislation that will promote a entrepreneurial climate and support american businesses globally. now is the time that we must act. the american people want a comprehensive jobs plan. and until then, we have to extend unemployment benefits to help those millions of americans who are desperately looking for work and can't find it.

i urge my colleagues to put partisanship aside, party politics has no place when we are talking about the betterment and advancement of our nation. unemployed americans struggling families, and communities across this nation cannot wait. we must act now. thank you. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess until

for me it's -- as a san

franciscan, this is the 20th anniversary of the aids memorial grove in san francisco. if you haven't been there you should go. it's a site of remembrance and renewal. it's a place that many of us and many people from around the world have come to weed the garden, to create a grove, to cry, to remember and to look to the future. it's a source of comfort to families who've lost their loved ones to hiv-aids. it's a place of community where we've had events with pink umbrellas and red ribbons and, you name it, to call attention to all that needs to be done in the future but also to remember those for whom we have lost. when i first came to congress my first day i was sworn in they told me you don't make any speeches and the speaker said, the gentlelady from california wish to address the house, i

was told i wasn't supposed to speak and if i did not to speak long. so the one thought i conveyed was that i was here to fight hiv-aids. our city had taken a big, big bite of that wormy apple. on the plus side, been the source of many community-based suggestions that we turn into legislation in terms of care, prevention and research. housing opportunities for people with hiv-aids. again, much of the care prevention and treatment -- care prevention and research captured in the ryan white care act. again, community-based solutions. very pleased to wrk with president bush on pepfar which has saved many, many lives throughout the world and i was pleased of president obama's statement this morning of a new

target of helping six million people around the world get the treatment by the end of 2013. it's a goal. something we have to strive for. i'm also glad he talked this morning about increasing the funding of the ryan white care by $15 million and the aids drug program by $35 million. one really important point to make now is that emphasis more appropriately is on not only prevention, which is very important, but early intervention. and two decades ago our office was instrumental in saying that people with h.i.v. to be eligible for medicaid not just until it became full-blown aids. now -- and that was important in our country throughout the world. that's the focus now to sustain the quality of life of people until they are secure and hopefully that will be soon. so it's an emotional day. it's a day where public policy

has made a difference, where democrats and republicans have an opportunity to work together with many in the -- on the outside. bono, for one, which has made a tremendous difference in raising the disability of not only a big challenge but some solutions to it. it turns out the business at hand this week with mr. hoyer, mr. clyburn, assistant leader clyburn and i sent a letter to the speaker calling for action on u.i., unemployment insurance, the payroll tax cut and on s.g.r., the doc fix that's so important to our seniors. i believe we cannot leave here without addressing these issues in the appropriate way. the payroll tax cut is about jobs and economic growth. the treasury department has said that passing this proposal will mean a tax cut around $

15,50 for the typical -- $1,550 for the typical family. an independent group of forecasts saying the payroll -- forecasters saying the payroll tax would cost 400,000 jobs. so this is important for passing it. for what it means to families for injecting demand into the economy which creates jobs. and the president's proposal is one that has an enhanced payroll tax cut. it has more economic growth than what the republicans are proposing. it creates more jobs. it pays for the payroll tax cut by eliminating 200,000 jobs. eliminating. by saying we are going to pay for the payroll tax cut by

eliminating 200,000 public jobs. and the president's proposal puts more money into the pockets of the middle-class families in our country. the republican proposal does less. and the president's proposal cuts taxes for small businesses . the republican proposal does not. really, i guess it's important to note that the republicans have finally felt the heat of doing something about the payroll tax cut. they have resisted it for a while and now you see that they understand it has to pass. but the constraints that they place on it have a dampening -- the payroll tax, that is about injecting demand in the economy. more money people have in their pockets, the more they will spend, the more jobs that are created. the republicans are saying, ok, but let's pay for it by firing 200,000 people. it's very interesting. this is a contrast that is worth noting, i believe.

republicans want to extend tax cuts to the wealthiest people in america. $1 million and above. we're saying up until there, you know, we should just have the situation we have now. but after people making $1 million a year, not having $1 million, making $1 million should pay more. the republicans have resisted that, and those tax cuts for the wealthy shouldn't be paid for. but tax cuts to the middle class, the payroll tax cut, that needs to be paid for. i don't know what the middle class ever did to the republicans that they're so out to get them, but whether it's job creation, economic growth, the tax code and the rest, the deck is getting stacked against the middle class. we saw on the floor yesterday their attempt to deprive workers their right to negotiate collectively. an important, important priority for america's working families.

our priority has been to reignite the american dream. we are determined to do that, and our policies must meet the test of building ladders of success, removing obstacles of participation to all who want to work hard and play by the rules. this is really important and we have important work to do to accomplish that. across the country americans have been occupying areas, and one thing is clear, their statement about the status quo is not -- cannot stand. the status quo is not acceptable. and they have occupied places across the country, we in congress must be preoccupied with job creation. as the 99% are now part of our lexicon. and in that regard, the supreme court opened the floodgates for

unlimited secret money to influence our elections and undermine our public debate. this is related to that 99-1 because many in the 1% have used that secret, unlimited, undisclosed money to affect an election, to affect public policy that again is counter to reigniting the american dream. we must give that 99% a stronger voice. in fact, we'd like to make that the case where the 100% but not in the way that the supreme court did it. and so as we go into these campaigns, we're talking about, yes, we want to amass the resources, gain the support to elect reformers to congress who are committed to giving, again, more voices, stronger voice to citizen participation in that process and to diminish, to offset, to offset, again, the

unlimited undisclosed money. one step in that direction is the disclose act, which we passed in the house last year. the senate failed to pass it, and therefore this money is secret. we must have transparency. we must shine a bright light on that. and congressman van hollen is taking the lead on that again. we have to go beyond that and study proposals for citizen -- for strengthening citizen participation in the electoral process to offset the damage done by the supreme court with their decision to say that unlimited secret money can flow into campaigns. we see the impact on the middle class and we see what it does to dampen the american dream. with that i'll be pleased to take any questions. >> given the difficulties that democrats and the -- the millionaire surtax and also speaker boehner's difficulty

telling an extension of the payroll tax holiday even with -- are democrats going to be willing to vote for something that's partially offset by spending? >> while i point out the i consistency of the republicans saying tax cuts for the rich don't have to be offset but tax cuts for the middle class do, we would be interested in talking about a proposal of that offset, that spending, that tax cut for the middle class. i don't think it's fair, but we need to have a tax cut for the middle class. but that would not include firing 200,000 people. you're saying you need the tax cuts for the middle class so it can create 400,000 jobs, and while we're doing it we're going to eliminate 200,000 jobs. it doesn't make any sense except it is consistent with

the republican principle that they're here for the 1%. but, yes, we would certainly be open to reasonable pay-fors. >> it has to deal with taking up a couple of bills -- >> ok. >> this follows the report while you were one target of the report having to deal with that question, would you support such legislation to prevent insider trading amongst members of congress? >> yes. >> would you push the republicans to bring it to the floor? how urgent is it? >> i have very little influence. i have a big agenda of things i would like them to bring to the floor that include tax fairness and the rest. but i do think that this will have a momentum and, yes, i would like to see it come to

the floor. i think it's important. i think that -- i don't think -- i would hope that it's not as necessary as the hoopty-do of what it makes it seem. we need to disclose. that's important. everything we do is a matter of record, it's in the public domain so it's not so insider, but to the extent -- and i'll be interested how the hearing will come up with it but i'm sure they'll come up with something that removes all doubt that this is not something that is acceptable in the congress. and when they do i -- to me i think it would fly through congress. i would think. you know, i always reward people who are around. forgive me if i'm repeating. >> there have been reports that

lawmakers have attempted to insert earmarks into about 10 bills throughout the summer. is this a problem and what should be done about it? >> it was an interesting article to me. i saw the article. that's all i heard about it, what i've seen in the press about this subject. i don't -- i hope that is not the case. one of the things i'm supportive of is what congressman van hollen and chairman ryan are putting on the expedited rescission. whatever they're calling it, the budget reform act -- i think it has a different name -- which would enable the president to effectively line item veto things in the bill that would then have to have an additional vote of congress to have. but i -- in the article i read i didn't see too much evidence that that was really going to happen. needless to say, we're all on the alert for those kinds of things.

if we have public policy and a budget that reflects the concerns of our communities, the competition for those kinds of appropriations -- i won't call them appropriations -- grants by the time the executive branch does them is something that i think is wholesome. yes. >> they issued a proposed legislation that would require that the health care plans cover [inaudible] >> i don't know if i agree with your characterization of what the h.h.s. put forth. but i have as a mother of five children in six years, as a devout catholic, i have great respect for our bishops when

they are my pastor. as lobbyists in washington, d.c., we have some areas of disagreement. again, i don't understand the proposal as you described it. so i won't be able to answer it. but i do think that it is important for women to have the opportunity to have full reproduckive health options available to them and their insurance wherever they receive them. i support the waiver that is there for the churches. i don't know the exception as expanded by what you're saying there. >> last question. >> the democrats are now in position of proposing a deeper tax cut than republicans. does that represent in any way an endorsement of the tax cut, economic policy that we see more from republicans in recent years? and also, what do you say to your allies in the democratic party who are concerned that deepening the payroll tax cut

will undermine social security? >> well, first of all, we've always been for tax cuts for the middle class. that is not the issue. the issue is that we want to see whatever our economic and fiscal policy is be something that grows the economy. the republicans' tax cuts for the wealthy did not grow the economy. i remind you on something i say all the time here, in the eight years of the bush administration, those tax cuts at the high end did not create jobs. in fact in the second year of the obama administration, last year, more jobs were created in the public sector -- excuse me -- more jobs were created in the private sector. in the second year of the obama administration, more jobs were created in the private sector than in the eight years combined of the bush administration. we want job creation. we want vitality. we want fairness. we want boldness in all of this but we've always been about tax cuts to the middle class. not in the mode of we tax the

wealthiest -- we give tax cuts to the wealthiest people then it will trickle down. so be it. if it doesn't, well, that's the free market. well, it's not a free market to disrupt the tax code in a way in a is favorable to the high end, give them tax cuts without any pay-fors and give the middle class a meager tax cut but we have to pay for it and we have to pay for it with jobs. i take your question -- second part of your question very seriously. i do not think that it undermines social security. >> what's the most memorable thing [inaudible] [laughter] >> well, it may not be historic public policy nature but it's one you might appreciate. when i was -- go back some years. i was now the new ranking member on foreign ops. now, when i was outside the

congress, you know, carrying picks, russians -- soviets out of afghanistan, end the wars, to me the most important place in the world was the foreign ops committee of the house. they could stop the funding of all these things or make -- not policy but statements that related to our national security. and human rights throughout the world. so to be the ranking member on foreign ops, never -- you know, it was one of the things i never expected but this, that, that, that and around here there i was. when i came to congress, i said, does anybody know anybody on foreign ops because i want to talk to that person. now i'm the ranking. so i go to make my first bill on the bill -- i wasn't the chairman. we worked closely together, sonny callahan from alabama. just wonderful. we worked very closely together.

we had some differences. one of them being international family planning. here we go again. so, anyway, i go -- i come to the floor, i have on a suit that i hadn't worn. and mind you, dave obey had been chairman of that committee for like 13 years. he knew every semi colon, dot, everything in the bill. so he's the chairman of the committee -- no, the ranking member on the committee. it's his baby. you know, he thinks of it as his baby. first person i run into is barney frank. barney frank says, that suit gives it away. [laughter] give it away? don't wear that suit anymore. i'm like, geez. i gave the bill. i was so proud. david is sitting there the way david sits there.

and david says to me, you did what you came to do. you got the job done. but it could have been more diplomatic. so this is really my day. i'm getting -- i'm getting fashion advice from barney frank and diplomacy advice from dave obey. [laughter] can you imagine? can you imagine? so i tell you one other barney frank story. again -- if you want to know what helps me by barney -- i could do all day about barney. the first words i uttered on the word were about hiv-aids and so i was in my office and one of these -- shall we say southern california, very conservative members was on the floor. this is way before most of your time. was on the floor just ranting and raving against people with h.i.v. and aids.

these are people who are sick. ranting and raving. so i called barney. i said, barney -- do you believe what he's saying? i can't believe somebody would say that on the floor of the house. and he said, what are you calling me for? you have something to say, go down to the floor and say it? why are you wasting my time? i thought, what a good -- yeah, why am i calling him? so what he trained me to do is when i would call him i would say, barney, subject, question, timing, option. you know, just talk that way. it really served me well for over 20 years as we could speak in that shorthand to each other and i wouldn't have to set it up or have a motion on the subject. this is the subject, this is the question, you know, what do you think? i'll close with this. he said -- i love barney.

as a person, i love him. i am really going to miss him. he takes great joy in the fact that he is one week younger than i am. and so i -- he said, you are always one week older than i am. but anyway, so i always get these calls from reporter about barney. i'm -- he gets a call and said, i got this call from a magazine. they're doing an article about members of -- just people. and one of the questions they have is, what is the most -- what is the most poignant statement, saying, whatever that sticks with you? and i said -- barney said, -- most of you won't know what i'm talking about -- i'll direct it to some of you on this side.

he says, i always wondered about good night, mrs. calabash, wherever you are. good night, mrs. calabash, wherever you are. you know what i'm talking about, right? so then he said, then they call me back. this is really like something from decades ago that everybody in america knew that phrase, right, jimmy durant saying, good night, mrs. calabash, wherever you are. the long lost girlfriend. so barney comes in and says, they called me back from the magazine and the reporter said -- the writer said, i took your statement to my editor and she said, can we -- can we change it to good night, ms. calabash, wherever you are? this is a generational thing.

[laughter] that was -- that was so demonstrative of the generational challenge that we all face around here. but it was -- it was good night, ms. calabash. you are missing the whole quote. i won't tell you what barney said to that. supposed to say -- [laughter] let me say this about barney frank. he really is a giant. he was an aide to kevin white. brother was mayor of baltimore. while i didn't know barney then, that whole bonding of the activist mayors was something that we bonded about later when we served together. he is -- of course, you know of his brilliance. you know his humor. but he's very -- one of the

fairest persons. he listens. he listens. he listens and tries to find a solution. and i hope that in some of the stories that are coming out about him that they recognize that he commanded the respect on both sides of the aisle and from the business community for his openness. he had his values. he had his point of view. he knew we had to have a solution that had legitimacy and that would hold. i think one of his great contributions was to be an idealist and a practicing matist -- pragmatist and do so in a way that would again take us from an idea to legislation to public policy to improving and strengthening our economy and our country. whether it was housing issues on his committee -- not just about wall street.

it's about main street. it's about housing and urban development and things like that. so his contribution is an enormous one. his personal courage is one that helped us most recently -- not most recently but in recent memory on the hate crimes bill when he told the story saying i am now the chairman of the financial services committee, captains of industry beat a path to my door. members of financial institutions want to see me. i wasn't always the chairman of the committee. i was once a teenage boy who conflicted about my gender identity and he spoke -- i don't do justice to the way he spoke. but the emotion and the sensitivity that he brought to that discussion enabled us to pass a hate crimes bill, matthew shepherd bill, that was all-inclusive to say that resorting to violence against

anybody in our country is not acceptable. so he's made a difference in many, many ways. i just give you a little sample of some of them. thank you all very much. >> the failure of the supercommittee, really the first time -- >> the supercommittee. well, it is unfortunate because it was a golden opportunity, an opportunity -- historic opportunity to do something big, bold and balanced. and our members were, as i said, they went to the table free to negotiate, recognize an opportunity when they saw it. i don't know if the other members there had on the republican side had that much discretion. but for whatever reason it did not succeed. as i said before in anticipation of the decision that the -- whatever came of it -- and this is before that we

are grateful to all of the members, both sides of the aisle, both sides of the capitol for their dedication to trying to get something done, but as long as the republicans haven't taken an oath to a lobbyist to not have any revenue as part of the package, it was never going to succeed because it would never have the balance that was necessary and it was unfortunate. the same thing that had the republicans walk away from the table with the biden talks, walk away from the president because of revenue, same thing happened here. so it's unfortunate because i think it was an opportunity to do some things that might be difficult on both sides of the aisle but in a balanced package you could justify. that opportunity hopefully is not lost. we have to always continue to work really hard to reduce

spending, to lower the deficit but to recognize that part of that deficit is caused by those tax cuts to the wealthiest people in the country who are -- and those tax cuts are not job creating. so as we go forward, job creation is the entrepreneurial spirit of america. small businesses and their prospects, that's where we should start and then look at the cuts and the revenue in relationship to how we grow the prosperity of america. they had that opportunity. hopefully we can find another way to get the job done. but no question it was a missed opportunity, very disappointing. thank you all very much. >> and the u.s. house gaveling in momentarily. members will take up a bill ending public financing in presidential elections. it nermnates the presidential election campaign -- it terminates the presidential election campaign fund. also today in the house they'll consider a bill requiring federal agencies to review existing regulations and

expanding the ability of small businesses to challenge federal regulations. the senate, meanwhile, wrapping up work today on the defense department programs and policy bills for 2012. follow that live on c-span2. and now the house floor here on c-span. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] the speaker: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered by our guest chaplain, reverend kathy jones from the parkwood institutional christian methodist episcopal church, from charlotte, north carolina.

the chaplain: let us pray. almighty god our father, because of who you are and the glory that is revealed in your only begotten son, jesus christ, we praise your holy name. lord, your word declares if any man lack wisdom, let him ask of god that giveth to all men liberally and upbraid it not and it shall be given him. we ask for your unmerited favor upon the lives of every elected member of the house of representatives to provide the wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and courage that will allow their hearts to be filled with the principles of justice, loyalty, compassion, humility, and love so that we

can continue to be united as one nation, under god. in the name of him who is able to keep us from falling and present us faultless before the presence of his glory, with exceeding joy, amen. the speaker: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance today will be led by the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pascrell. mr. pascrell: 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 --

without objection, the gentleman from north carolina, mr. watts, is recognized for one minute. mr. watts: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker: without objection. mr. watts: and to address the house for one minute. mr. speaker, i'm pleased to welcome reverend dr. kathy c. jones as the guest chaplain today for the united states house of representatives. since july, 2009, dr. jones has served as pastor of parkwood institutional c.m.e. church which is located in my congressional district in charlotte, north carolina. reverend dr. jones is a native of chatham county, north carolina. she received a associates, bachelors and masters degrees from justice fellowship international bible college in raleigh, north carolina. in may of 2010, she received her doctorate in biblical studies from justice fellowship bible college in jacksonville,

north carolina. dr. jones has been a pastor and served on different committees at the local and district levels during her time with the c.m.e. church. she's married to theodore jones and has been blessed with seven children, 19 grandchildren and three great grandchildren. on behalf of my constituents in the 12th congressional district and my colleagues here in the house, i thank her for her service to her community and for her prayer this morning. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir, pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2-h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the senate on december 1, 2011, at 9:51 a.m. that the senate agreed to house

amendment to senate amendment h.r. 394. appointments, national commission for review of research and development programs of the united states intelligence community, signed sincerely, karen l. haas. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain up to 15 further requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. poe: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. poe: mr. speaker, according to "the washington times," last december five mexican nationals armed with at least two ak-47 rifles were infiltrating the rugged desert, the american desert that is. that's right, mr. speaker, cartel soldiers were reportedly on our side of the border in arizona patrolling in single file formation with the goal of intentionally and forciblely assaults border patrol agents. they opened four on four border

patrol agents and agent brian terry was murdered. two cartel assault weapons found at the scene were connected to operation fast and furious. mr. speaker, you recall that's the operation where our government facilitated smuggling weapons to mexican drug cartels, the enemies of mexico and the united states. military-type intrusions by the cartels will only increase. we need to defend our sovereignty, protect our border patrol and first responders. it's time to send military equipment coming back from iraq to secure the southern border from the cartel soldiers. this veteran equipment includes humvees, night vision equipment and more u.a.v.'s. incidents like this will only continue to occur until washington elites realize what happens in mexico doesn't stay in mexico. and that's just the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the

gentleman is recognized. mr. sires: mr. speaker, with our economy still struggling and unemployment remaining unacceptably high, now is not the time to take money out of the pocket of hardworking americans. the majority is opposing an extension of the payroll tax holiday, enacted earlier this year that virtually gave all working americans a much-needed tax cut. the payroll tax holiday cut the social security payroll taxes of over 160 million workers. economic uncertainty here in the u.s. and abroad makes this a dangerous time to eliminate an important tax cut that is saving american families an average of $1,000 a year. failing to extend the payroll tax holiday will raise taxes on millions of americans, taking over $120 billion out of the pockets of americans. extending unemployment insurance will take an additional $30 billion out of

the economy and rob unemployed americans of much-needed income assistance. now is not the time to end these important tax cuts. it is certainly not the time to pull the plug to the unemployed in our economy. and i encourage my colleagues to pass both of these provisions swiftly as possible. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, today is the first day of crones and ulcer colitis awareness day. they are painful. they are incurable. they affect one out of every 200 people in our country. a few weeks ago congressman jackson and i formed a crones and colitis caucus to raise

awareness in the congress and to fight for additional federal support. mr. crenshaw: and crones and colitis awareness week is part of that effort. today we will file a house resolution which will support this awareness week and hopefully as we work with the crones and colitis foundation of america, all americans will use this week, this time to join in this fight to raise awareness to increase research and to find a cure for this debilitating disease. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? mr. jackson: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. jackson: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of a resolution, my friend, congressman crenshaw, and i introduced today supporting the goals and ideals of crones and colitis awareness week which runs today and runs through december 7, 2011. this resolution, which is identical to the senate version

adopted earlier, declares congressional support for awareness week, recognizes the patients living with crohn's disease and colitis -- crone's disease is a disease of the gastrointestinal track, which affects 140,000 people under the age of 18. it is caused by digestive illness. thank you to my caucus co-chair for working with me on this important resolution. my colleagues that worked with me, medical providers and researchers for their advocacy. i urge my colleagues to co-sponsor this resolution and join the bipartisan crohn's and colitis caucus which has treatment and finding a cure for these debilitating diseases that impact both patients and their families. again, mr. speaker. i thank you and we yield back the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise?

>> mr. speaker, i ask permission to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, for the past 2 1/2 years, our nation's unemployment rate has risen over 8%. the president continually develops policies that discourage and prohibits small businesses from creating jobs. just last month the administration announced the delay of the keystone x.l. pipeline, a project estimated to create over 300,000 jobs without costing taxpayers a dime. i was fortunate enough to visit alberta, canada, in october, and witnessed firsthand the canadian oil sands and the positive impact that exploration has for new american jobs. at the end of this legislative week, the republicans will have passed 25 job-creating bills. sadly they are stalled in the senate. with a growing debt of over $15 trillion, it's absolutely necessary for the congress and

the president to work together to promote job creation and ways to remove barriers to allow for small businesses to create jobs. in conclusion, god bless our troops and we will never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina rise? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize little scholars program, our nation's oldest and largest youth football, cheer and dance organization. currently more than 400,000 children perform in this which expands to three states, scotland, germany and mexico. pop warner has been the career starting point for 70% ofth current athletes. it has a long history of promoting structured athletics and instilling the qualities of sportsmanship, hard work and leadership in young cleats.

it's the only national sports youth organization that has over $100,000 in scholarships. mr. mcintyre: it works on concussion-related industries. and a medical advisory board to remain proactive on players' health and safety. this saturday, december 3, pop warner will kick off its super bowl and national cheer and dance championship at espn's wild world of sports complex in orlando. this week-long competition will feature participation from more than 12,000 athletes and we -- will be broadcast on espn3. i want to extend our congratulations, mr. speaker, on behalf of the u.s. congress to this excellent, well organized and well recognized program, on behalf of the congressional caucus on youth sports. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise? >> mr. speaker, request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore:

without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, one thing is certain, excessive government regulations are hurting america's economy and strangling job creation. mr. johnson: just this year new regulations cost our economy almost $100 billion, and this is just the cost of new regulations this year. the small business administration estimates that regulations cost our economy approximately $1.75 trillion annually. this is unacceptable. . with over 14 million americans out of work, we can't afford these excessive government regulations. but instead of creating jobs, president obama would rather create more regulations that kill jobs and burden small businesses. now house plans have done the exact opposite. as part of the house republican plan for america's job creators, we're fighting to reduce the regulatory burdens

to empower small businesses to create jobs. we passed over 20 bills that will create much-needed jobs right now. president obama and senate democrats need to work for job creation, not against it, because the people of eastern and southeastern ohio and all americans deserve better. with that, i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. despite what you might here in this -- hear in this body, i believe there are some regulations we can all support. the national regulation safe -- national aviation safety board concluded that pilot fatigue led to a crash in my district. ms. hochul: the legislation passed by this body mandated new pilot fatigue demrines to

be implemented by august 1 of this year. then we were told november 22, then november 30. those days have come and gone. the family of these victims have worked tirelessly to make sure a tragedy like this never happens again. the millions of americans who fly our skies every year are counting on us for regulations to ensure their safety. let's not let them down. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expire. for what purpose does the -- does the gentleman from texas rise? >> request permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> in november, the v.a. outpatient clinic in harlingen, texas, received the gold seal of approval. this is a standard of safe fi -- safety for ambulatory care and other standards.

mr. farenthold: there's no way to thank the people who serve our country enough but we must welcome them home. our service men and women deserve quality health care. the texas valley coastal bend health care has earned this distinction pause they showed a commitment to meeting the health care needs of all veterans. my staff and i are passionate about helping veterans. south texas is one of the most military and veteran friendly places in america and i'll work hard to make sure they receive the support they deserve. while we were served by excellent outpatient facilities, we are in desperate need of a v.a. hospital. we have bills to direct the v.a. to bring full-service, inpatient care facilities to south tax. 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. speaker, as co-chair of the congressional brain injury task force, one of my top priorities is to help our service members with brain injuries. mr. pascrell: you would think the defense department had a good system to catch injuries. they do not. despite our vote, a bipartisan vote, in 2008 to have pre- and post-deployment screenings, post-deployment screenings have not been required. 500,000 soldiers with a predeployment cognitive test were given the test before battle. coming out, only 3,000 tests were done post-the employment to compare results. we have nothing to compare.

this is a disgrace and a disservice to our troops. both sides have agreed we want something done. it has not been done, in violation of the law. the pascrell-platts-andrews-cole-or tiz-wilson-coffman amendment passed in the house defense authorization bill to address this but is not included in the final bill. that's what we're trying to do this year. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee rise? >> request permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, my constituents are rightfully fed up. president obama has managed to create an economy where the only things that are growing is power in washington, debt for our children and grandchildren, a lack of confidence for job creators an the numb of unemployed americans. when it comes to creating an environment to help the private sector create job the difference between house republicans and senate

democrats is the difference between action and inaction. this year, under the house republican's plan for job create jors -- creators, we have passed more than 25 pro growth job bills. mr. desjarlais: these are aimed at restoring the freedom and confidence of job creators by breaking down barriers preventing them from growing and creating badly-needed jobs. yet 21 are stuck in the senate because senator -- senate majority leader harry reid continues to put politics before jobs. it's time for the senate democrat leadership to join our fight for america and put them back to work. pass these job bills. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from massachusetts rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. tsongas: i have heard from

many in massachusetts who say they don't know how they'll make ends meet if congress doesn't pass an extension soon. from lowell, i am a 58-year-old man up employed for two years. finding a jobs these days is just about impossible. i'm begging you to sign on to the unemployment extension bill from westford, i have been unemployed since january of 2010. i look for a job every waking hour. cutting employment to millions of needy families at this tirle makes no sense. from haverill, if my unemployment ends i will be unable to make my mortgage payment my home will go into foreclosure and my neighbors' homes' values will be lowered. i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to work to pass this desperately needed extension. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from kansas rise? >> request 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. speaker, the american people are calling on government to help the economy grow but apparently washington still hasn't gotten the message. the onslaught of new government burdenses have become unbearable, yet federal regulators pile on more and more. so far, they have over 500 new regulations facing the nation's small business owners. complex and burdensome regulations drive up the cost of doing business and drive up unemployment. mr. yoder: a great x. of -- example of the e.p.a.'s new cross-state air pollution rule. it will not only cause rolling brownouts in places like kansas but will dra dramatically drive up the cost of energy production, increasing the cost of doing business and put manager people out of work. mr. speaker, if both parties are serious about job creation in this country, then we must put a stop to the constant

attacks on those who create jobs. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from california 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. today i rise to honor the president of california's state -- california state university at fullerton, dr. milton gordon and recognize his upcoming retirement. for over two decades, dr. depor don's outstanding commitment to higher education has left california state university at fullerton -- has let california state university at fullerton become one of the largest and most inclusive institutions in our nation. mr. sanchez: because of his vision and commitment to greater diversity, the university ranks ninth in the nation in bachelor degrees awarded to minority students.

additionally, it ranked number one in california among colleges and universities awarding bachelor degrees to hispanics. dr. gordon's caring, articulate, and collegial nature created a sense of pride, the faculty, and students advocating for excellence in all aspects of the university life. it has been an honor for me to work with dr. gordon. he has been a mentor, he has been a shining light in orange county and i congratulate him on all his awards and distinctions and i look forward to his next career, we hope to reel him in and continue to work on our communities. thank you, dr. gordon, and thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina rise? >> permission to address the

house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. butterfield: i want i want to bring attention to a silent epidemic growing our midst. the growing prices and steep decline in household incomes is now the shocking rate of food insecurity and hunger. according to usda, there are 46 million americans surviving on food stamps while congress considers reductions to food stamp funding, the usda predicts the number of people requiring food assistance will substantially increase. last week in my district in north carolina, which ranks second in the country for food and security, i greeted thousands of people outside the wilson and other food distribution centers to collect bags of food for the television holiday. ing mr. to help remedy the challenges to food security, i introduce h r. 3437, the eva

clayton fellows program act this would enable the development of solutions to world hunger and confront food insecurity head on. food insecurity is not a partisan issue. i urge my colleagues to join me in this fight. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from delaware rise? >> request permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. carney: i rise to recognize a remarkable woman. nancy cook has been a leader for the past 40 years. senator cook has been an irreblessable leader since becoming delaware's first female democratic senator. she served with distinction on the senating aicalture committee where she accomplished so much for delaware farmers. recently a legislator remarked

that no -- that agriculture had no better friend in the delaware senate than this lady and i couldn't agree more. she helped create the ag lands preservation program to help preserve 40% delaware's farmland. she helped establish the knew treebt program, a role model for the entire region in the effort to manage animal waste responsibly and protect precious bays and waterways. i would like to thank the farm bureau for his decision to honor senator cook with the distinguished service to agriculture award and join the bureau in celebrating an incredible leader for delaware. congratulations to my good friend, senator cook, thank you, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina rise? >> i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> opponents of financial regulatory reform in the senate

continue to prevent the consumer financial protection bureau from fulfilling its legislative mandate. it's taken mt.s for them to send it to the full senate. now continuing the obstructionism, 44 republican senators pledged to oppose any of the president's oapointees until the bue beau roe's mandate is weakened. such naked obstructionism is an insult to the american economy and consumers. mr. price: after a year of crisis fomented by the republican -- the tea-party dominated republican party. we need the cfdb at full strength. we need to promote the interests of main street over wall street. i call on the senate to confirm

richard cor dray at the head of the bureau now. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from washington rise? >> 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. speaker, tomorrow is a sad day, don behr wick will step down as the head of medicare. the senate republicans are happy because they believe getting rid of don will end the implementation of the affordable care act. mr. mcdermott: when they blocked the vote on dr. behr wick, they made it possible on for a recess appointment for 18 months. why do republicans fear him so much? hard to say. his career has been spent improving the quality of health care. he believe we can have good quality health care and low costs. he put patients first believing

in evidence-based medicine. his sin was he once set up -- once said a nice word about the british health care system and therefore he has to go. he's a great public servant and the republicans demonized him. republicans have cynically prevented american seniors from having the benefit of dr. behr wick's vision and experience and they ought to be ashamed of themselves. we will do the affordable care act in spite of the fact that dr. berwick is gone. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expire. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california rise. >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. hahn: mr. speaker, yesterday i came on the floor and asked my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to work with us to move forward on a new middle-class payroll tax cut. a tax cut that would put more money in families' pockets, creating more demand for our businesses and resulting in more jobs.

but time and time again yesterday, even this morning we've heard my friends on the other side of the aisle have said the only obstacle to creating more jobs is regulations. unfortunately, the evidence does not support this. last saturday, november 26, was small business saturday. i did my part by shopping all day in small businesses, and i talked to my small businesses and i asked them what did they need from the federal government to help them and their businesses, and they told me, we need customers. that's what will help our businesses. we need customers who have a little more money in their pockets this year to spend in our businesses. it's not rocket science. and you know what, we don't have much time to waste. the longer we wait the closer we get that taxes will go up by january 1. we need to put more money in the hands of americans. thank you very much.

i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the distinguished minority leader rise? ms. pelosi: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized. ms. pelosi: thank you very much, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, today across the globe people are marking world aids day. it's an opportunity to reflect upon the progress we've made in the fight against hiv-aids, this pandemic, and the dedication to ending the disease once and for all. world aids day is an occasion to family, friends, loved ones, and millions others lost to the disease. it's a solemn reminder of those still living with hiv-aids, whether in the cities of the united states, the villages of africa, asia or elsewhere. it's a reminder of the need to continue the fight to keep investing in research and medical advances, to stay focused on new treatment, care,

prevention and early, early intervention, a key element of quality of life, to expand housing opportunities to people with hiv-aids, to end discrimination. it shows how far we've traveled since the first aids day since 1988 and the first aids diagnosis which we acknowledged recently 30 -- the 30-year anniversary of the first aids diagnosis. in my hometown of san francisco, we learned early on the terrible toll of hiv-aids, the toll it could take on a community. but that knowledge, as sad as it was, drove us to action, advocacy and progress. because we had suffered so much, we could also become a model for the country and indeed the world with community-based solutions in regards to prevention to care

and to research for a cure, vaccine. this is something i'm very proud of and really found its way into legislation, the ryan white care act, housing opportunity for people with hiv-aids, growing funding, increased funding for n.i.h. research, expanding prevention, care, treatment and end to the ban on federal funds for syringe exchange, something very important if you're going to prevent aids. beyond our borders we have extended care to millions in the developing world. early in our community when we'd have an aids mobilization day, right almost from the start, and congresswoman lynn woolsey can attest to this, we understood that if you're going to meet the challenge of hiv-aids at home you had to have a mobilization that was global, that was global because

aids knew no borders, but it had to be global. so we'd have these vigils of thousands of people walking in a great solemn way to talk about ending aids globally. almost right from the start. although we were feeling it very personally, very locally in our community. beyond our borders, that's why we extended care to millions in the developing world. we've increased resources to pepfar. i commend president bush for his leadership on pepfar and the commitment that he made there. and i congratulate president obama for the statement he made this morning which increased funding for the ryan white care initiative that supports care provided by h.i.v. medical clinics across the country. and additional funding for a drug program, initiative for people with hiv-aids.

and his commitment of a new target, helping six million people around the world to get treatment by the end of 2013. it's very important, and i commend secretary chinton for her strong leadership -- clinton in her strong leadership and commitment of ridding aids, especially among children, as soon as possible. the challenges that we faced over the years, some have disappeared. when i first came to congress, i didn't -- i was sworn in a special election and they told me you're not allowed to speak. you just raise your hand, say, yes, i support and defend the constitution. but then the speaker, speaker wright, will the gentlelady from california wish to address the house? and i had been told not to address the house and if i did to be very, very brief. so i stood up and acknowledged my family, my father, he served as a member of congress, so he

was on the floor of the congress. and my family and thank them all and my constituents. and my one sentence was, i came here to fight against h.i.v. and aids, and that was about it. so my colleagues who had told me to be brief said, why would you even mention this? this was 24 years ago. the first thing you want to say to members of congress when you get here is that you're here to fight hiv-aids, why did you say such a thing? i said such a thing because that's why i came here. but i never -- i never would have thought that 24 years ago that we would project into another generation now that we would not have a cure for hiv-aids. never would have thought. but in the meantime we reduced discrimination. we expanded prevention, care, deepened our research.

actually mobilized support from bono on the outside using his celebrity, public policy, whether it's president bush, president clinton, and now with his global initiative and president obama, we are at a completely different place than we were then when they wouldn't even have an aids ribbon in significant places in washington, d.c. today we all proudly wear that ribbon. again, it's a day of reminder, but it's also a day where we act upon those reminders of the work that needs to be done. and, again, it's a global challenge, but it's a very personal issue. so the statistics are staggering, but we think of them one person at a time and that's what we have to act upon. this congress has been great on the subject. i hope we will continue to honor our responsibility. and, again, on aids day in san

francisco today, we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of aids memorial grove. this is something that this congress designated as a national memorial. a national memorial. it's of great significance to our community for sure. i think very appropriately so. but also with the issue of aids. when you go there you have to go to the aids memorial and go see it as a spirit of renewal, a garden, a grove, always that fresh new growth as we have it as a remembrance to those who have lost and a comfort to their families. so with that, again, mr. chairman, mr. speaker, i join others in calling to our colleagues' attention and those in congress the importance of fighting hiv-aids, to people, to communities, to our country, to the world, for our good

health, for our economy, for the success of individuals. and with that i yield back the balance of my time. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, maya angelou wrote, if you find it in your heart to care for anybody else you would have succeeded. mr. quigley: chicago lost a matriarch. we lost margaret corbett daley. she embodied the heart of our city and grace under fire even when her health was failing. her contribution to the arts and children, most notably through the after-school matters program, changed countless lives and will continue to do so for generations. when maggie was laid to rest this week, it wasn't just dignitaries who came to pay respects.

thousands of regular chicagoans lined up for blocks in the rain to say goodbye. that's because maggie transcended politics and reminded us that nothing is more important than family and each other. she is, of course, survived by her best friend and husband, former mayor, richard m. daley, her loving children, grandchildren and friends. may she rest in peace and never be forgotten. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from texas rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: i thank the speaker. i rise today in commemoration, mr. speaker, of world aids day, and i thank our minority leader for her eloquent recounting of how far we have come. in our best days we can look to my dear friend, magic johnson, who has been a living example of the improvements and the

courage of those who are living with the h.i.v. infection. but we recognize that the 15 million people medically recommended for anti-retroviral medication worldwide, only half of these have access to drug treatment. in the united states nearly one in five people with h.i.v. or 240,000 people don't even know that they are infected. and communities of color and young gay and bisexual men have the severe burden of aids in the united states. magic johnson on one hand, a friend who is dying, will not have a way out. i will be tested for the h.i.v. virus and i encourage others to do so. i congratulate my constituents, the harris county hospital district, and the thomas street clinic, for their 12th annual world aids day. thank you, mr. president, for recognizing that six million

more people need to have access to aids prevention drugs. and to those who have lost their lives, may i say to you on this day that your life that was lost should not be in vain. we still look for a cure, and we work for a better nation and an opportunity to provide resources to those around the world and around the united states who still suffer. it is our challenge. we accept that challenge, and i believe someday we will be victorious. to those who commemorate this day who mourn, i commemorated with you this morning. for those who celebrate life, i likewise celebrate life. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentleman from mississippi seek recognition? mr. harper: for consideration of h.r. 3463. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 3463, a bill to reduce federal spending and the deficit by terminating taxpayer financing of presidential

election campaigns and party conventions and by terminating the election assistance commission. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 477, the bill is considered as read. the gentleman from mississippi, mr. harper, and the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. brady, will each control 30 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from mississippi. mr. harper: thank you, mr. chairman. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on h.r. 3463. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. harper: thank you, mr. chairman. i ask unanimous consent to enter a letter from the committee on science, space, and technology, and a reply letter from house administration into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. harper: thank you, mr. chairman. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized.

mr. harper: i would like to thank the committee on science, space, and technology, mr. hall, for his continued assistance in ensuring these important matters are considered by the house. he has been a helpful partner. mr. chairman, we live in uncertain times, with job creation stifled by crushing debt, but there are two things i am certain of. the necessity of cutting unnecessary sd the fact that h.r. 3463 is a simple and straightforward way to do just that. h.r. 3463 cuts up necessary spending in two ways. first, it ends the taxpayer financing of presidential election campaigns and party conventions, a program growing less and less popular for both taxpayers and candidates. second, h.r. 3463 terminates the election assistance commission and -- an obsolete government agency, originally intended to sunset in 2005.

every federal program, including these, is there because someone thinks it is a good idea. but if we do not eliminate some programs in a $15 trillion debt -- then a $15 trillion debt will just be the starting point of our decline into a european style crisis. everyone talks about tough choices and we have to make them. frankly, mr. chairman, these choices are not even very tough. they are about as easy as we are going to find. mr. chairman, since 1976, american taxpayers have spent $1.5 billion funding presidential primary campaigns. presidential election campaigns, and national party conventions. my colleague from oklahoma, mr. cole, has been a loader in trying to end those campaign subsidies, and i'm pleased to work with him today to continue that effort. when taxpayer financing of political campaigns and conventions was adopted, proponents said it would

improve the public's trust in our government, clean up politics and increase the competitiveness of political campaigns. sadly, it has failed on all counts. now we find that more and more candidates are opting out of the system altogether. the federal election commission has just this week confirmed that no presidential candidate to date has opted to participate for the 2012 election. mr. chairman, we're talking about eliminating a program that literally no candidate is currently using or preparing to use at this point. that includes president obama, who in 2008, famously became the first presidential candidate ever to decline to participate in both the primary and general election phases of the program. and it's not just the candidates who don't like it. as this chart indicates, support for americans overall is dramatically low for this program.

since peaking in 1980, the percentage of taxpayers opting to participate has declined from a high of 27.8% to 7%. that means that 93% of taxpayers choose not to participate. they refuse to subsidize political campaigns. and who can blame them. it's bad enough that they have to watch campaign commercials, but should they have to pay for them with taxpayer dollars as well in the money designated by a check off on tax returns is diverted from those taxpayers' payment into this program so every other taxpayer has to make up the difference in revenue to the treasury. the 93% of taxpayer who do not participate have to make up for the money spent by the current 7% who do. mr. chairman, eliminating this system will save taxpayers an estimateders $447 million over

five years and immediately return nearly $200 million to the treasury. this is sensible and it's long overdue. also long overdue is the elimination of the election assistance commission. the e.a.c., created in 2002, as this chart indicates, was expected to sunset in 2005. instead, as you see on the chart, despite its dwindling services, mr. chairman, this agency has more than doubled its employee size in three years. this is clearly an abuse of what should have taken place. the e.a.c. was established for a noble purpose, to allocate federal grants for state voting systems swrup grades to conduct research and to test and certify voting equipment. aside from the certification services which can be carried out by another agency, the

e.a.c. has fulfilled its purpose. over $3 million has been sent to states over the years to help them modernize their voting equipment. now the e.a.c. has allocated all of its remaining election grants and even zeroed out its requests for additional grant funds in its last three annual budget requests. the national association of secretaries of state, a bipartisan group, the direct ben fashe -- beneficiary of the e.a.c.'s dwindling services, has pass not one but two resolutions calling for the e.a.c.'s dissolution. as this chart indicate the e.a.c.'s f.y. 2012 budget request devotes 51.7% of its budget to management and overhead costs. more than half. under this plan, the agency would use $5.4 million to

manage programs totaling $.5 million this bill would transfer the e.a.c.'s remaining value cruble service, its voting system testing and certification program, to an existing agency instead of paying the overhead cost of a pleat agency just to operate that program. like its predecessor bill, h r. 6 2, this bill maintains an adrisery system to give state and local election officials input into the testing and certification program. mr. chairman, since december of 2010, the election assistance commission has not had a quorum. that means it has not been able to make policy decisions requiring approval by the commissioners. has anyone even noticed? compared to the real crisis facing our country, has there been harm caused to justify keeping an obsolete agency. the e.a.c. is not merely

obsolete. it's also wasteful. i have spoken to this house before about the two hiring discrimination lawsuits against the e.a.c. unfortunately, the more time that passes, the more problem comes to light. just recently, we learned that a former e.a.c. commissioner who continued serving for a year after the end of the term and then resigned has been collecting unemployment benefits. neither the commissioner's resignation letter nor any facts we know of indicate the departure was anything other than voluntary. when we have millions of people in this country struggling to make ends meet, how can a senior government official who leaves a job voluntarily collect unemployment benefits? when we have an agency that is not needed and produces scandal after scandal, misperformance

after misperformance, it is time for this agency to go. according to the c.b.o., dissolving the e.a.c. will save taxpayers $33 million over the next five years. mr. chairman, we have a $15 trillion debt. we have to start somewhere. we now have annual deficits over $1 trillion. h.r. 3463 eliminates one government program that virtually no one uses and shuts down an agency that has completed the task that it was assigned. amazingly, we've had proposals not to shrink tweeze program bus to expand them. only in washington is the answer to this -- to dysfunction, expansion. this bill will not cure all of the problems that we have on its own. but it is one of many steps we are going to have to take. otherwise, we will sipping deeper and deeper -- we will sink deeper and deeper into debt and trap our children and

grandchildren in a downward spiral. today is the time to act this agency and this pam are the place to start. i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 3463 and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. brady: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. brady: i rise in opposition to h.r. 3463. this is not new territory for this congress. this proposal to eliminate the presidential election campaign fund has already been dealt with in this congress. this -- the legislation before us proposes to combine these two really bad ideas. in an era of rapidly changing election law, both in terms of campaign finance regulation and voting rights, these two programs are more important now than ever. the electoral landscape is much different today than it was even four short years ago. the supreme court allows unlimited cricks from special

interests and super p.a.c.s are raising vast amounts of funds with no government oversight or regulation. corporations and special interests are donating massive sums of money and some may expect return on their investment. unfortunately this return often comes at the expense of the american people and sometimes at the expense of the integrity of this body. we cannot expect to trust the electorate -- a trusting electorate if they feel they do not have a voice. we should provide transparency and accountability no secrecy and irresponsible. last congress, we passed the disclose act, to call for more transparency in how our elections are financed. that bill was killed by senate republicans. mens of -- members of the house such as mr. van hollen of maryland and mr. larsen of -- larson of connecticut, would strengthen public finance of elections, not weaken it, as this bill does. when servicers of funds are concealed what message does

this send to the country? it sends the message that we don't care where we get our contributions as long as they are secret. this is wrong. this is the best course of action. across the country states make it harder for voters to cast a ballot. new laws requiring vote identification and eliminating the days for early voting are all part of an ert to limit voter participation an turnout. voters have noticed and have already started to push back. this was the case in maine last month when they used the people's veto to throw out a law passed by the republican legislator and governor to limit the state's successful same-day voter registration program, which has been in place for 40 years. in other state, restrictive new laws may be forced onto the ballot for possible repeal and referendums in 2012. if that wasn't bad enough,

overworked and underpaid local election officials and volunteers are expected to keep track of election law changes while administering large, complex and often unpredictable elections. the election assistance commission does much of the heavy lifting for them, maintaining a database for local election officials to utilize, it produces instructional videos and materials which cash-strapped election officials claim save them thousands annually. and letters of support for the e.a.c. which have also been sent to my colleagues across the aisle are still rolling in. i ask unanimous consent to include several such letters in the record at the end of my statement. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. brady: the services do not stop there. they are charged with the testing of voting machines, the only agency tasked to do this in the federal government. who will ensure our votes are counted? who will ensure that everyone has the opportunity to cast a ballot for their intended

candidate. who will ensure we don't repeat the debacle of florida in the year 2000. it is important to remember that events that led to the establishment of the election campaign funded on the e.a.c., the watergate scandal in the early 1970's and florida respectively. these e-- eroded the public's faith in our political system. these measures are meant to restore their faith, restore accountability to washington and ensure that people were heard. all this bill will do is weaken further what little faith the american electorate has left. today, i stand with every letter writer that has pleaded with us not to terminate the e.a.c. i stand with those who cannot afford to make huge contributions and would rather speak with their votes than their wallets. i stand on the principles that voter inclusion, not voter voter inclusion, not voter exclusion, is