the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 227. the nays are 174. the question of consideration is decided in the affirmative. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek

recognition? mr. camp: mr. speaker, i rise to ask of the chair -- mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i ask of the chair that he get regular order in the house. the speaker pro tempore: members, please take your conversations from the floor. the house will be in order. members are reminded to take their conversations off the floor. the house will be in order.

the gentleman from california is recognized for one hour. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, there still is not order in the house. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. members are reminded to please take their private conversations off the floor. the gentleman from california is recognized for one hour. mr. dreier: for the purpose of debate only i yield to my friend from worsty, mr. mcgovern. and mr. speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is correct. the house will be in order. the gentleman deserves to be heard. the gentleman from california

is recognized. mr. dreier: and, mr. speaker, during consideration of this resolution all time will be yielded for debate purposes only. and i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. dreier: thank you very much, mr. speaker. and i yield myself such time as i may consume. mr. speaker, house resolution 491 is a closed rule which is as we all know is customary under democrats and republicans for a measure that's emerged from the ways and means committee. mr. speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. dreier: thank you very much, mr. speaker. the resolution is considered under a closed rule which has been the standard operating procedure for measures that emerge from the house ways and

means committee, but we have chosen in this rule to expand the debate time so that both democrats and republicans will have an opportunity to be heard so we've expanded debate from 60 to 90 minutes, a 50% increase because of the gravity of this measure, because there are members that will be heard. we'll have an hour of debate on the rule itself which will get at the substance of the legislation and then we will have an additional hour and a half, so a total of two hours. mr. speaker, we all know what our job is here. right now our job is jobs. our job is jobs. we have a responsibility to put into place policies which will encourage job creation and economic growth and that's exactly what this legislation is designed to do. our fellow americans across this country are hurting. i have part of the area i represent in southern california has a 14%

unemployment rate, substantially larger than the national average. we have people in my state of california and across this nation who have lost their jobs, who've lost their homes, who've lost their businesses. we, today, are dealing very sadly with a chronic unemployment rate. it has been sustained for a longer period of time than has been the case since the great depression, and it seems to me as we look at where we're going on this we have to recognize what it is that gave us this positive number of a reduced unemployment rate from 9% to 8.6%. it was because very sadly hundreds of thousands of americans decided to give up looking for work, and that's what allowed the unemployment rate to drop, but we know that it is not acceptable and

especially as we go into this holiday season, mr. speaker, to have so many americans who are suffering is not acceptable. and that's why we are here today to take steps to ensure that we first and foremost put in place job opportunities and, second, to address the needs of middle-income working americans and those who are struggling to make ends meet and don't have jobs. and that's why we have chosen to not only extend unemployment benefits, and we're doing so, i'm happy to say, with very important reforms that deal with things ranging from drug testing to encouraging people to qualify for their g.e.d.'s. it doesn't mandate it. it gives states to waive it if they chose but it encourages people to move in the direction of seeking opportunities. our goal, as we extend

unemployment benefits, is to encourage re-employment of our fellow americans who are having a difficult time trying to make ends meet. and this measure also, as we know, mr. speaker, puts into place a policy that will allow for the extension of the so-called holiday for the payroll tax. now, i will admit i am a supply side growth-oriented guy. i came over here three decades ago with ronald reagan believing very strongly that we need to put into place pro-growth economic policies and the extension of the payroll tax holiday, based on analyses from economists from both the left and the right is that it's not necessarily a pro-growth measure. but, mr. speaker, as we look at where we're headed today during difficult times, it's important for us to realize that anyone who opposes what we are doing here today is standing in the

way and preventing us from moving ahead with providing that payroll tax holiday for americans, for our fellow americans. and i know that there are a lot of people who will say, and as i look at my friend from worcester, i recall last night in the rules committee when he said we've been doing everything under the sun here except focusing on job creation and economic growth. well, mr. speaker, as i think everyone knows, democrats and republicans alike, our fellow americans know there are 27 pieces of legislation that have passed the house of representatives which happens to be with a republican majority and at this moment all 27 of those measures sit in the united states senate and they have not passed and the senate, of course, has a democratic majority. bipartisanship is what we want. that's what the american people want, and i'm happy to say that this measure is a bipartisan bill. one of the things that makes it a bipartisan measure beyond extending unemployment

benefits, beyond extending the payroll tax holiday is this thrust towards creating jobs by proceeding with the keystone x.l. pipeline. we know there has been controversy around this earlier, but when we look at the imperative of ex-panting the payroll tax holiday and ensuring that the american people who are struggling have the benefits that they desperately need, we need to get at the root cause of the problem. and the root cause of the problem is that we have not put into place policies, we have not been able to pass out of both houses of congress and get to the potts -- president's desk policies that can jump start and get our economy going. i'm looking at my friend from new jersey, mr. andrews, here, we have talked about our shared goal of putting into place tax reform, reducing the top rate on job creators from 35% to

25%, while closing loopholes. i know my friend from worcester regularly talks about subsidies and loopholes that exist for the oil industry and a wide range of other areas. we want to do this in the context of overall tax reform. i hope we can get to the point where in a bipartisan way, we can do that. that's a policy that both president obama and former president clinton have talked about. dealing as mr. andrews and i discussed in the past with this issue. these are the kinds of policies that can enjoy bipartisan support, democrats and republicans working together to ensure that we can get this economy growing and i will say that this keystone x.l. pipeline is one of those items arks we all know, that enjoys bipartisan support. it would immediately create jobs, based on the projection of that construction. and, when we look at our request, i don't think we should -- we're going to gain

oh total energy self-sufficiency in this global economy, but we'd have greater energy self-sufficiency working closely with one of our closest allies, our ally in the north, canada, in ensuring that we can proceed with this. we know the question mark over whether or not we're going to proceed with the pipeline has raised an understandable quest to the canadians to deal with the chinese. so, mr. speaker, as we look at these challenges, this is a bipartisan measure, let anyone stand up and start pointing the finger of blame at republicans, but i will tell you that we have 90%, 90% of the items in this measure, have enjoyed bipartisan support. many of these are proposals that president obama has made within his jobs package. so that's why we've got an opportunity to do this, i believe, mr. speaker, that we can do it, unfortunately, we can't simply legislate full

employment in the united states. legislating full employment is not an option. now i know that some of my friends on the other side of the aisle might like to figure we can legislate full employment. if we could do that, we wouldn't be faced with the difficulty we have today. what we can do is we can encourage america's innovators and entrepreneurs with pro-growth policies an that's what we have repeatedly september to the senate. i hope that our colleagues in the other body will report those out, so mr. speaker, i i'm going tone courage my colleagues to support this very, very important, bipartisan legislation, get it to the other body so that our senate colleagues can consider this and get it to the president's desk so that the american people who want to have a degree of confidence that they're not going to see a tax increase take place and that they're going to, in fact if they're struggling and don't have a job opportunity, have their benefits continue, and to

ensure that we get at the root cause of the problem by putting into place opportunities for private sector jobs to be created. so i urge an aye vote. with that, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from massachusetts. >> before we begin, i have a parliamentary inquiry. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will state his parliamentary inquiry. >> can you tell us how many -- mr. cohen: can you tell us how many democrats have co-sponsored h.r. 3730. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman hasn't stated a parliamentary inquiry. mr. cohen: i raise the issue because the gentleman said this is a poirn bill and i don't know of any democrats that co-sponsored it. i yield back my time. i want to reclaim him time. let me thank the chairman of the rule committees, mr. dreier, and i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my

remarks. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman veck niced. mr. cohen: i rise in strong opposition to this closed rule and the underlying bill this bill an process is so lousy, i barely know where to begin today. let's start with the process. the way this bill was conceived, drafted and brought up may be the worst yet under this republican-controlled congress. mr. mcgovern: simply it's shameful and an embarrassment. it was presented on friday afternoon, i say, the gentleman says this was -- reported by the ways and means committee. it was presented by the chairman of the ways and means committee, it was not reported out of that committee. i use the word presented because it was introduced on a day when no committees met, and we had no votes in the house. it was reported to 12 committees. 12 different committees. more than half the committees in the house of

representatives. not a single committee held a hearing or markup on this bill, it never saw the light of day in any committee. there are 348 members who sit on the committees that have jurisdiction over this bill, that's 348 members of the house who should have had an opportunity to offer amendments and questions, and question witnesses about this bill in committee hearings and markups. not one had an opportunity. last night in the rules committee, members came up, 12 amendments were offered, every single one was reject. mr. levin, the ranking member on the ways and means committee, asked far democratic substitute to be made in order. that was rejecked too. the gentleman from california says it's traditional when ways and means bills are presented that they be done so under the a closed rule. that's a tax bill. this is a tax bill plus 1,000 other things that have nothing to do with tax issues. this lousy process, i say to my colleagues, leads to bad

legislating. look at this bill. it's long and it's sloppy and the republicans who rushed to put this bill together have found an error, which we're trying to correct in the rule. who knows how many other errors there are. last year, speaker baber an majority leader cantor, whip mccarthy and other members of the republican leadership rolled out their pledge to america, the campaign pledge to run the house in a more open way. yet all year long, they have been the chaplain: chipping away at their pledge and we have this bill that flat out break theirs pledge. in their pledge they promise to, and i quote, end the practice of packaging unpopular bill with must-pass legislation to circumvent the will of the american people. instead we'll advance major legislation one at a time, end quote. that's what they sasmede yet we have three provisions, extension of the payroll tax cut and s.g.r. or doc fix that are must pass by the end of this year and do we have a clean bill that is free from

unrelated provisions? of course not. that would be logical and make too much sense. no, mr. speaker, the bill we have before us is loaded up with goodies to mollify the extreme right wing that's in charge of this house. along with the extension of the payroll tax cut and doc fix, bill includes the following. rirpes the approval of the controversial keystone pipeline, requires millions of seniors to pay more for health care. increases taxes on working families by forcing large end of the year health care payments. slashes prevention funding that actually reduces medicare and medicaid costs. undermines air quality, endangering the herlt of children and families by blocking mercury pollution reduction, cuts retirement programs for federal workers and extends the pay freeze for federal workers. each of these provisions are different. they have nothing to do with one another, why are they all bunched together in this one bill? and these policies are bad for america. they are bad for the american people. yet the republican leadership

continues to push these extreme and harmful policies. and even though the unemployment insurance program needs to be extended, this bill actually erodes this important program by cutting unemployment insurance benefits for one million americans who lost their jobs through no fault of their own and it oppose -- imposes now limits on unemployment compensation by restribblingting benefits employees have paid for. why is it so difficult nor republican controlled house to help the middle class. and those struggling to get into the middle class. why do they throw roadblock and roadblock in front of middle class meshes -- americans who are trying to make their lives better. why do they continue to make it impossible for us to help average people while they do everything in their power to protect subsidies for big oil companies and tax cutters in donald trumps of the world? extension of the payroll tax cut, extension of the unemployment insurance program and the doc fix should not be

controversial. these extensions should have been done a long, long time ago. my friends on the other side of the aisle are playing a risky game. we know failure to extend the payroll tax cut will mean a $1,500 tax increase on middle class americans. we know that 160 million meshes will see taxes go up if we don't act before the end of the year system of why are republicans bringing a bill to the floor that we know won't pass the senate and we know, by the way, the president will not sign it. i have a statement of administration policy which i ask unanimous consent to put in the record which basically makes it clear that the president would veto this bill. so why are we wasting precious time? the republican leadership insists on playing chicken with the american people just to score cheap political points. this is not a time for political theater. this is the time for responsible leadership. it's time to do the right thing for the american people and drop these controversial provisions from this bill. this is not the time to

increase taxes on middle class americans. it's time to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance and the doc fix. mr. speaker, this house needs to get back to doing the people's business and the people's business is jobs. it would be nice if my republican friends would allow the president's jobs bill to come to the floor for a vote rather than bills to reaffirm our national motto or make it easier for unsafe people to carry concealed weapons from one state to another. i say to my republican friends, the american people are outraged, outraged at republican indifference to the middle class, outraged by republicans' callus attitude to the most vulnerable in this country, they're outraged that republicans are playing politics with their lives. i urge my republican colleagues to do the right thing to pass the clean extension of the payroll tax cut, properly extend unemployment insurance and the doc fix, do the right thing and do it the right way. that's all the american people are asking for. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. mr. dreier: i yield myself 30

seconds to say to my colleague that he's performed just as i had expected. pointing the finger of blame when we're trying to work in a bipartisan way to make sure we get this done. we want the doc fix, we want to ensure that people who can't make ends meet and are looking for benefits have ways. we also feel it imperative we get at the root cause of what my friend just said, creating jobs and everyone knows, democrat and republican alike, many leaders in organized leader focus on the fact that the keystone x.l. pipeline is a job creator and can go a long way to doing exactly what my friend and i share in common as a goal. with that, mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to a hardworking new member of your class, mr. speaker, the gentleman from south carolina, mr. duncan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. duncan: thank you, mr. speaker. there are about two points i want to bring up in support of the bill before us today.

thomas jefferson said this a wise and frugal government which shall restrain men from injuring one another which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned, that is the sum of good government. i believe that america works better when hardworking americans keep more of the money that they earn. keep more of their paycheck. that's why i support the payroll tax cut provision in this bill. the second point, mr. speaker, is this. the administration can be for jobs or the administration can support a radical environmentalist policy. mr. speaker, i believe they are mutually exclusive and you cannot support both. the keystone pipeline is a segue to job creation in this nation. do you remember the jobs created in the 1970's with the alaskan pipeline? i do. the keystone pipeline will create bolt construction jobs and long-term jobs as our nation refines the hydrocarbon

into energy products here in american refineries. failure not to do this means the possibility that this canadian oil will be refined in and used by china. today, we can pursue north american energy independence by partnering with our closest ally and largest trading partner, canada, or we can continue the same failed policies of this administration which lead to higher prices at the pump for americans and the continuation of sending dollars overseas for middle eastern oil. this bill cuts taxes, it reduces spening, it ends the regulatory quagmire for mesh businesses and provides a path forward for american energy security. i support its passage and ask that god will continue to bless america and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i am very proud to yield one minute to the democratic leader, ms. pelosi.

the speaker pro tempore: the democratic leader is recognized for one minute. ms. pelosi: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding and appreciate his presentation on why we are here today and why the rule that is being brought to the floor is not the right one because it does not allow for us to have options for the american people to be considered. one of those options i want to talk about has been described by the president. president obama last week in kansas made a glorious speech, hearkening back to president roosevelt's speech about the middle class and its importance to america's democracy, how it is the backbone of our democracy. president obama said last week, we are greater together when everyone engages in fair play, when everyone gets a fair shot and everyone does their fair

share. this isn't about one percentage and another percentage. it's about all americans working together. president obama put those words into legislative action with his proposal for a payroll tax cut for middle-income families as well as unemployment insurance for those who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. democrats have a proposal today which we cannot take up on the floor because the republican rule is perhaps afraid of the vote we might get because it does so much for america's working families. i want to remind our colleagues that for a long time the republican leadership did not support a payroll tax cut at all. rhetoric coming from the republicans was, we don't believe in extending the payroll tax cut. however, we do want to make

permanent the tax cuts for the wealthiest people in america, those making over $1 million a year. so the president taking this to the public and the reinforcement of that message, by democratic colleagues in the house and the senate has made the payroll tax cut an issue too hot for the republicans to honoredle, so they're bringing a -- to handle. so they're bringing to the floor today the seeds of its own destruction because it has poison pills which they know are not acceptable to the president and do not do the best effort. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, will the gentlewoman yield? ms. pelosi: you have plenty of time, mr. chairman. the -- i'm not going to yield to you because you make your points all day. i'm making mine now. and one of the points i would like to make is about the democratic substitute which the

chairman of the committee said we could not bring to the floor, but it's important for the american people to know that this is what the -- it mirrors what the president has proposed. the bill would cut taxes by $1,500 for the typical american family. it would secure a critical lifeline for those who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. it would ensure that seniors still get to see the doctor of their choice with a permanent doc fix that's contained in the bill. our proposal would protect and extend the tax cuts for 160 million americans. 160 million americans while asking 300,000 people, those making over $1 million a year, 300,000 people to make -- to pay their fair share. the republicans not only said no to the bill, they said, no,

your substitute cannot even be considered on the floor. we have said, the president has said and we agree with him, democrats in congress agree with him we cannot go home unless we pass a tax cut for the middle class. we cannot go home unless we pass the unemployment benefits for america's working families. across the country families are sitting at the table. christmas is coming. i say it over and over, christmas is coming and for some the goose is getting fat. for others it's very slim pickings for families. they're sitting around the table having to make difficult choices. can we put gas in the car and still afford to put food on the table? as the holiday season comes upon us, can we buy toys for our children during the holidays and be able to pay the bills when they come in january?

democrats, as families gather around those tables making those decisions, democrats have put our ideas on the table. we are willing and ready to reach across the aisle to complete our work and give 160 million american families the gift of greater opportunity and security, hope and optimism during the holiday season of the new year. you cannot do this by saying we're going to put something in the bill that the president says ell not sign. -- he will not sign. it's hard to understand why you can say you're for something except you'll put up obstacles to its passage. the macroeconomic advisors have said that the proposal that the president has put forward would make a difference of 600,000 jobs. 600,000 jobs to our economy.

if we fail to do this, we are, again, risking those jobs and we're missing the opportunity, as the previous speaker said, let's put the money in the pockets of america's workers. welcome, welcome to the payroll tax cut, i say to our republican colleagues, which you have long resisted but that the president has demonstrated the public support for. and so let's reject this rule so that we can -- have a fair debate on the president's proposal which is fair to america's workers, stronger in terms to the macroeconomic impact it will have to inject demand into the economy, creating more jobs, and making the holiday season a brighter one for many more americans. let us reject this rule. let us consider -- put the republican proposal on the

table, the president's proposal on the table which has the full support of democrats and republicans in the house and senate as opposed to thes' proposal they put forth in the senate which didn't win a majority of the republicans. so let's come together. let's find our common ground. let's get the job done. but let's understand that we cannot leave congress, we cannot go home until we meet the needs of the american people. i urge my colleagues to vote no on the previous question and to fully support the best possible payroll tax cut for the middle class, unemployment benefits for our workers as well as our seniors having the ability to have the doctor of their choice. i yield back the balance of my time. once again, thank the gentleman for the time. thank mr. levin for his leadership on this important

legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i yield myself one minute. i'd be happy to yield to my dear california colleague, ms. pelosi, if she wants to respond to anything i have to say here. the democrats have a title to a motion to recommit. that is provided in this measure. we also were denied that when we were in the minority. so she began by saying there was no opportunity for democrats to have a proposal that is considered. second, mr. mcgovern did in fact propose we have a substitute made in order. mr. speaker, since last friday since this bill was made in order, mr. levin, the ranking member of the committee, never came forward for a substitute for us in the rules committee. we only received one just a few minutes ago. and to the important point about the so-called poison pills that my california colleague, the distinguished minority leader, mentioned. the idea of saying that we want to encourage those who are unemployed to move towards g.e.d. qualification does not seem to me to be a poison pill.

mr. speaker, the idea of saying that we should have drug testing and that's, again, optional, drug testing so that people who are receiving these unemployment benefits are not using those resources to purchase drugs is obviously not a poison pill. and, mr. speaker, the idea of having millionaires benefit from the program which we eliminated in this program should not be a poison pill. so, mr. speaker, with that i'm very happy to yield two minutes to another hardworking member of the freshman class, the gentleman from bryan, texas, mr. flores. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. dreier: 1/2 -- 2 1/2 minutes. the speaker pro tempore: 2 1/2 minutes. mr. flores: mr. speaker, i'm here to talk about options for american middle-class jobs and american energy security. i want to talk about two real-world examples that highlights the differences

between president obama's plan and the g.o.p. plan for america's job creators. option a is obama's plan. option b is the g.o.p. plan. here are the examples. under option a, solyndra. option b, the keystone x.l. pipeline. how many part-time jobs were created under option a? 1,000. they've come and gone. under keystone x.l. pipeline, over 20,000. how many full-time jobs from solyndra? none. they're gone. how many full-time jobs from option b, the keystone x.l. pipeline? thousands. what did option a do for americans' improvement energy security? nothing. how about for option b? yes, we get improved american energy security. reduce demand for middle eastern oil. solyndra provided none. keystone x.l. pipeline will reduce our demand or offset middle eastern demand by 700,000 barrels a day. the cost for american taxpayers

for solyndra, over $1.5 million wasted. for keystone x.l. pipeline? nothing. nada. what was the return on solyndra? nothing. what's the taxpayer return on the keystone x.l. pipeline snts infinite. who befitted from solyndra? the president's political contributors. who benefits from the keystone x.l. pipeline? the american middle class. how do you get nor information? go to g.o.p..jobs.-- jobs.gop.gov. mr. speaker, we can't wait for more middle-class main street jobs, and i urge my colleagues to both for both the rule and the underlying bill. h.r. 3630, the middle class tax relief and job creation act of 2011, is just the answer that we need at this critical time. i also wish all americans a very merry christmas. thank you and i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i'm proud to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from new york, the ranking member on the rules committee, ms. slaughter. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for two minutes. ms. slaughter: thank you. i thank the gentleman for yielding to me. mr. speaker, there are no democrats on this bill. i don't know what this bipartisan talk is about. mr. levin didn't even see it. mr. dreier: will the gentlewoman yield ms. slaughter: no. we heard this all day. i understand that there is a great hope for a number of democrat votes. i don't know how that will turn out. but frankly, i don't think this bill will ever see the light of day anyway. there's no support for it in the senate and the president said he won't sign it. so what i'm hopeful for is when we really get down to business here we can have a bipartisan bill. it's possible to do that. just invite the democrats to take part in it. let me make it clear that you cannot call anything bipartisan

if there is not a single democrat on it. and also a motion to recommit is nowhere near a substitute bill which we were not allowed to do. but instead of extending the tax cuts to the middle class and assistance to the unemployed, this majority is holding the middle class hostage in order to extract concessions for their friends in big oil. furthermore, instead of asking those with the most to help with those with the least which is what we were supposed to do, today's bill asks millions of seniors to pay more for health care. in exchange the majority will graciously continue the federal unemployment insurance programs, although they are grievously cut, and 10 states will get a waiver to not to have to pay unemployment insurance at all. so that's a sort of russian roulette idea. they cut the maximum number of weeks and makes them as -- christmas is the time of good will toward men, women and children who are out of work through no fault of their own.

and in a country where there are four persons applying for each and every available job that gives us some idea how dire it is to face this christmas and the rest of this year without a job. why can't the grand old party help the middle class without having a quid pro quo? will i have another minute? mr. mcgovern: i yield another minute. ms. slaughter: why are they playing secret santa? today's bill flies in the face of regular order, makes a mockery of the majority's cut-go rules for all bills. we've seen in the rules committee the fact it's been waived many times today, it is waived yet again, and says to the office of management and budget and the congressional budget office that they count the savings in this bill but not the cost. . if only middle class families could use that kind of accounting. this is hardly a deliberate and thoughtful legislative process.

a process that the majority promised us when they assumed office almost 12 months ago. because of the rushed process, legislative acrobatics used to mask the true cost of the bill, i strongly oppose today's rule and the underlying legislation and urge my colleagues to vote no and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: may i inquire of the chair how much time remains on each side? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california has 15 minutes. the gentleman from massachusetts has 19 minutes. mr. dreier: in light of that, mr. speaker, could i encourage my colleague to offer comments from some of our friends on the other side? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. mcgovern: i would like to yield three minutes to the gentleman from new jersey blrks andrews. mr. andrews: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. andrews: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank my friend for yielding. 98 days ago the president of the united states came to this

chamber and proposed to create jobs by cutting taxes for middle class families. by about $1,500 per year. for 98 days the majority refused to take up legislation that would enact that jobs plan. so finally today we have their version of it which, unfortunately, does not cut taxes for middle class people the way we proposed, but at least avoids a tax increase on those families which is looming on the first of january. but i can't support this bill because of how it pays for that middle class tax relief. first, let me say this. i agree as a general rule when we cut taxes here on anyone, we ought to pay for it, not increase the deficit. but the majority has never subscribed to that principle until today. so when the wealthiest people in america got an enormous tax

reduction in their tax rates in 2001 and again in 2003, there was no requirement that we offset that in order to pay for it. but now that middle class families are getting some relief, all of a sudden there has to be. so let's talk about what that offset is. one major portion of it essentially reduces unemployment benefits for americans down the line, and as i understand this, there are some reforms that ought to take place. i hear about g.e.d.'s and drug testing, i think that's fairly sensible. but it isn't sensible to say to someone, if you have been looking for workday after day and week after week and trying your best to find your next job, it's your fault if you didn't find one. that's essentially what this bill says. if you are unemployed, look in the mirror. it's your fault. i don't think the authors of this bill know many unemployed

people. i know they don't know that for every four unemployed people in america today, there is one job. for every one job that's listed as being opened, there's four unemployed people for that job. i don't think they understand even though there is a law against age discrimination in this country, age discrimination in this country is an everyday painful fact of life for a lot of people over about 40 years old in this country. so i would say to all those who are about to vote to extend middle class tax relief by blaming the unemployed for their own plight, that they'll walk for just a day or a week or month in the shoes of a 50-year-old man or woman who has been out of work for a year and a half, who circled every want ad, gone to every website, taken every job interview he or she could get, and still couldn't get a job.

vote against this bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: i would like to continue to reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, at this time i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from michigan, the ranking member of the ways and means committee, who was denied his right to have a substitute on the rules committee, mr. levin. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, two minutes. mr. levin: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. levin: you know, when there's an issue as serious as this, you'd think the majority would let us introduce the substitute. instead the answer is a stone wall. so i want --- mr. dreier: will the gentleman yield? mr. levin: i want to explain in my substitute. you won't let us introduce it. let me finish.

i want the american public to know what would be in it. a one-year extension of the employee payroll, 3.1%, as the president proposed. a one-year extension on the bones freshation -- bonus depreciation, and a one year extension of the unemployment insurance as in the bill mr. doggett and a lot of us introduced, 3346, and a 10-year s.g.r. fix. and i want the american public to understand what's at stake here and how we pay for it. this chart shows very vividly what the republicans essentially are doing. i want everybody to look at it. under their proposal, seniors sacrifice $31 billion.

under their proposal federal employees sacrifice $40 billion. under their proposal, unemployed americans, unemployed looking for work, sacrifice $11 billion. and under their proposal essentially people earning over $1 million bucks sacrifice nothing. nothing. they don't pay for this bill while seniors do, while everybody else indicated here, federal workers -- i ask for an additional 30 seconds. and the unemployed. i just say to the majority, get in the shoes of the unemployed.

if you don't, i think those who key nigh it -- deny it deserve their unemployment. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, at this time i'm happy to yield three minutes to my distinguished colleague from the committee on financial services, the gentleman from fullerton, california, mr. royce. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california for three minutes. mr. royce: thank you. thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of this rule. this is a question as it relates to this keystone pipeline project of whether we are serious about an economic recovery in this country. frankly, it's a question about whether or not we are serious about our national security. now, we have a shovel ready

project here, the keystone pipeline, that will create tens of thousands of jobs by the chamber's estimate and estimate of the unions involved in supporting this, it's actually hundreds of thousands. in terms of the consequences in developing this resource and bringing it down from alberta, canada, these are good jobs. good jobs for men and women in this country that are involved in manufacturing pipe and earth movers and frankly when you think about it, why? why do we keep delaying this at a time when unemployment is as high as it is? i can tell you the canadians aren't waiting. the chinese are not waiting. make no mistake about it. the canadians will develop and export the oil they are developing in western canada. the prime minister metle with hu jintao of china and the deal they are talking about striking is one that accrues to the

benefit of china to the expense of the united states. if this energy does not transit the united states and go to refineries here, it will go to china and it will fuel their manufacturing sector. that is what we are concerned about. we are concerned about throwing away this opportunity. and i don't know about you, but it sure bothers me to see china playing in our hemisphere. and the administration does not seem to care. americans have been told about the importance of energy independence. we have been on the hook, my friends, to middle east producers for decades now. and we are sending billions every year to that cartel. and these countries in that cartel are unstable. and they all included to control prices. and we have a chance instead to get this oil from our allies, and we are being told by this administration and the other

side of the aisle that despite the jobs that this would create, that this is going to be stopped. well, today we have a chance to develop an energy resource in the americas. working with our canadian allies. creating good jobs. creating access to cheaper energy here. energy in china is 20% higher than energy here in the united states. why would we want to inverse that? why don't we want the cheaper source of energy here? yet the administration stalls. and gives the advantage to china. i just want to tell you, colleagues, support this rule, support the underlying legislation, take a stand for jobs, take a stand for american security, and consider the fact that china has already advantaged itself in africa and elsewhere. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired.

the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i'd like to yield 1 1/2 minutes to the gentleman from new york, mr. engel. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york. mr. engel: i thank the gentleman for yielding to me. i rise today in strong opposition to this act and in opposition to the rule again. it's really a shame that the majority is playing legislative chicken with middle class tax cuts on a bill that will never be signed into law. i'm open-minded on the keystone pipeline. but it has no place in this bill. it's mixing apples with oranges, it's a poison bill. it's designed to kill it. the president has already said he won't sign a bill like this. so what do my republican colleagues do? they give us more so they can score some political points with their base. the american people want us to meet in the middle. the american people want us to approve things to move the country forward. we need to pass a simple extension of middle class tax relief.

we need to pass a simple extension of unemployment insurance. this is what we should do. this is what the american people want us to do. unemployment is hovering around 9%. people need help and we are not helping them. this bill also forces millions of seniors to pay more for health care while giving the 300,000 wealthiest americans another free pass. that's not right. this is unacceptable. we cannot solve our dealt problem on the backs of -- debt problem on the backs of working families. mr. speaker, i always pride myself as a moderate and someone who wants to work across the aisle. the chairman knows that. we have spoken many, many times. i plead with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, i think the american people want us to do some good work in the closing days of this session. we need unemployment extension. we need the middle class tax cut extension. let's not mix apples with oranges. let's pass a clean bill. go home and say we did something good for the country. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. dreier: i would be happy to

engage my friend if heed like to. let me make a couple comments. first i think as we look at the issue of keystone x.l. pipeline, a notion saying somehow we are trying to appeal to our base when we know the most outspoken, enthusiastic supporters of the keystone x.l. pipeline happens to be the labor unions, organized labor in this country. we know because they want to create jobs and they are a supporter of this so we can create jobs. people throw around terms like poison pill, why are we using this issue? as we extend unemployment women fits -- benefits to people who are unable to find jobs, mr. speaker, and as we extend the payroll tax holiday, we feel it's essential that we get at the root cause of the problem. we have protracted unemployment in this country. very, very sadly. we know it's gone on for an extended period of time. the end of the last administration into this administration. he woo all know we were promised if we passed the stimulus bill the unemployment rate would not exceed 8%. now it's at 8.6%.

i'm gratified it went from 9% to 8.6%. why did it do that? because hundreds of thousands -- an additional 30 seconds, mr. speaker. because hundreds of thousands of americans have chosen to give up even looking for work. so we are saying, yes, we will agree to extend unemployment benefits. yes, we will agree to extending for another year the payroll tax holiday, let's get at the root cause of the problem. that's why we see these as being very closely intertwined. it's true, the president did say he would reject this, but i believe that if we can pass it through this house with bipartisan support, pass 2 through -- it through the united states senate and get it to the president's desk, that extending unemployment benefits at this time of year, especially, and that payroll tax holiday, the president has indicated support for dealing with the x.l. pipeline that the president will in fact sign it. with that i reserve the balance of my time. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. mr. mcgovern: i'd like to ask unanimous consent to insert in the record a letter of the

director of government affairs at the afl-cio in strong opposition to h.r. 3630. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcgovern: at this time i yield two minutes to the gentleman from virginia, mr. connolly. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia. mr. connolly: i thank my friend. mr. speaker, unrelated riders have received scores in the past. in 2008, now speaker boehner mentioned his strong distaste stating, attaching these riders is the sort of stunt that's made americans extremely cynical about washington. but when finally agreeing to a vote on a payroll cut for 160 million americans this bill is riddled with riders. preventive health care, for example, prevents illness and lowers cost. when getting free preventive service recipients enrolled. this bill cuts that.

why? it's a rider. what does payroll tax cuts and oil have in common? one said we should debate the keystone pipeline and payroll tax cut separately. it's a rider in this bill. mercury, arsenic and other toxins, what does gutting the clean air act have to do with payroll tax cuts? nothing. it's a rider. i strongly support extending the payroll tax cut to help 160 million americans, but first we need to cut the partisan riders. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, at this time i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from illinois, mr. davis. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois for two minutes. mr. davis: thank you, mr.

speaker. i want to thank the gentleman from massachusetts for yielding. mr. speaker, i rise in strong opposition to the rule and to the underlying bill. this rule rejected all attempts to amend the bill, limits the general dewait time and contains egregious provisions which allows states to apply measures such as drug testing. , you got to have a high school diploma or be enrolled in a g.e.d. program. well, i can tell you, mr. speaker, people who are addicted to drugs don't need testing. what they need is treatment. people who are sick need health care. people who are unemployed need a job and the opportunity to work. or they need benefits until such time they can receive it. this bill goes in the wrong direction. i strongly oppose it and yield

back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, at this time i'm happy to yield two minutes to my very good friend from omaha, nebraska, mr. terry. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. terry: i thank you, mr. chairman. i think that coupling, putting the unemployment extension, the tax holiday, the doc fix in a real jobs bill together, which is what the american people has been telling congress for the entire year, we want to see tangible job creation, there's no better job creator in the pipeline, pun intended, than keystone x.l. 1,700-mile, $7 billion shovel ready, not the fake shovel ready in the stimulus, but real ready, earnesty -- earnestly,

ready to start right now. the only holdup in the keystone pipeline is the politics of the election. what we say is in this bill state department, use the information that's been sitting on your desk, collecting dust. you said you'd make a decision by december 31. we just want you to make it 60 days after the permit is, again, requested, a carveout for the nebraska exemption. why is it so important? well, it really does displace 700,000 barrels of imported oil, almost the entire size of venezuela or about half from saudi arabia. it creates 20,000 jobs nearly instantaneously, 20,000 new jobs. it seems to me that as we're talking about putting food on

the table and christmastime that this is meat and potatoes. the potatoes will sustain you like the unemployment insurance , but what people really want is the red meat of good, high-paying jobs, labor that they could go to. and i bet you that the afl-cio wants this keystone pipeline built. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, again, the afl-cio still opposes this bill. i'd like to yield at this point, at this time two minutes to the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from texas for two minutes. ms. jackson lee: i thank the gentleman from massachusetts. i don't think anyone disagrees my good friend who discussed the keystone pipeline this that we want to create jobs. there's nothing that has been said that will suggest that the appropriate time of review that

that project would not go forward. but what we're talking about today is the crisis in the american public dealing with two major issues. continuing a tax relief and tax cut for working and middle-class americans, number one. and number two, to keep six million americans from rolling into the street and falling on their own spear for lack of unemployment insurance being extended. disallowing them to pay their mortgage, disallowing them to pay their rent and in essence saying to them there is no light at the end. it is also about republicans and their commitment to the american people. and their pledge to america, the g.o.p. leadership indicated in september that they would end the practice of packaging unpopular bills with must-pass legislation. this is must-pass legislation, and look at what they're doing besides a pipeline that is, yes, supported in a bipartisan

manner. they have broadband spectrum. they are ending jobless benefits to the extent they're requiring burdensome drug testing on college persons who can't find a job. they are suggesting that you can't find a job, it's your own fault. changes to medicare, burdening senior citizens. and on top of that we have an appropriations bill to deal with. my friends, there's a simple way of doing this, payroll tax can be increased by the surtax on just 300,000 for 10 years, allowing 160 million americans to get payroll tax relief. how do we do the $6 million? we called -- excuse me -- six million persons for unemployment? it's an emergency. how do we fix reimbursement for our doctors? we use a savings from the stopping of the iraq war. simple, clean process. voting to help americans. how can they violate their pledge, mr. speaker, of not putting everything under the

christmas tree on a bill that must pass on behalf of the american people? that's the challenge today. i'm against the rule and the underlying bill. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, may i inquire of my friend how many speakers he has on his side? mr. mcgovern: we have at least two more. mr. dreier: in light of that, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i yield to the gentlewoman from new york, mrs. maloney. mrs. maloney: we cannot leave congress without passing an extension of the middle-class tax cuts and extension of unemployment benefits. now, originally the no new taxes folks in the g.o.p. republican senate said that they couldn't do that, that they were going to lift the middle-class tax increase expire. they were going to refuse to

raise taxes on the superrich. now, if you were not superrich, this was bad news for 99% of all americans, and they spoke out and they said they would like this tax cut. now, the republicans have come back with all types of riders that the president does not support. we need a clean bill. the payroll tax cut that the democrats are supporting would mean that a typical middle-class family would have $1,000 extra to spend, and a report from the nonpartisan congressional budget office -- may i have an additional -- the budget office found that the payroll tax cut is one of the most powerful tools that we can use to increase the number of full-time jobs. the other policy option that they supported for stimulating the economy was extending the unemployment benefits. so it's time for our colleagues across the aisle to get with the spirit of this season, pass

the tax cut without the harmful riders, pass the extension of unemployment benefits, and excuse my dickens, stop with all the hum bug and let's get forward with helping the economy and helping the american people. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california still reserve? the gentleman from massachusetts? govecombove -- mr. mcgovern: at this time i yield 1 1/2 minutes to the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. fatah. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. fatah: i thank the gentleman and i thank the house. there is a time and a place and a season for everything. i would argue to the house that this is not a time for us -- mr. fattah: i thank the gentleman and i thank the house. there is a time and a place and a season for everything. i would argue to the house that this is not a time for us to be hurting the 160 million americans. the payroll tax cut that we would like to extend going forward in the next year. now, we've had some 21 consecutive months of private

sector job growth in this country. now, i know that the president has almost had to lift this economy single handedly, that the g.o.p. has decided they don't want to do anything to help move the american economy forward. but the idea that you would actually stand in the way of at a minimum keeping this tax cut in place and to do it in the holiday season. as we prepare our christmas tree at home and my wife and daughters have been decorating it, we all need to understand that in this christmas season that it is wrong for us to approach the holidays and to create this uncertainty. we got so much concern about uncertainty in the business community, but no concern about uncertainty in the homes of 160 million americans. now, if we want to pass any bill on any day, you have a majority, you can do it. you don't have to merge the pipeline with this tax cut.

you don't have to tie the for turns of 160 million americans, economic fortune together with the pipeline. we could move this today. the president's prepared to sign it. i would urge my colleagues to let's do this in the appropriate way. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california. continue to reserve? mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i would inquire of my friend how many speakers he has? mr. mcgovern: i think i'm the last one. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i'll close after the gentleman does. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts has 4 1/2 minutes. mr. mcgovern: thank you, mr. speaker. i would like to ask unanimous consent to insert in the record an article entitled "g.o.p. takes packaging pass," talking about how my republican friends have broke their pledge to america. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, the house republicans have designed a bill to fail and it contains

poison pills which will result in tax hikes for 160 million workers and loss of existing jobs. they say they're for extending the payroll tax cuts for middle-class americans, they say they want to help the unemployed but yet they demand a ransom for us to get this passed and the ransom they are demanding is quite high. you heard from members of our side of all the poison pills that are in this bill. i introduced in the record the statement from the administration saying they would veto this bill because it is so awful if it comes to the desk of the president. we know that the united states senate will not move on this bill, so why are we wasting our time with precious few days left in this session? why aren't we doing what most americans want us to do and that is extend the payroll tax cuts for middle class americans, extend unemployment insurance for the millions of people who are out of work through no fault of their own

because it's the right thing to do? my friends on the other side don't have a problem bailing out big banks on wall street but when it comes to helping middle-class families and the working class they squawk. you heard this is the christmas season. we are supposed to be generous in our hearts. i don't feel the generosity from the other side. i don't feel the passion. i don't know if they understand that americans are struggling, what it feels like to be out of work. people in their 50's and 60's who have lost their job and can't find another job. and my colleagues are trying to make it more difficult for them to be able to get benefits so they can keep their homes, put food on the table. my friend from california talks about, well, mr. levin, the ranking member of the ways and means committee, didn't submit a substitute. he only asked for one. well, this bill, i again remind everybody, was presented to us on friday when members were home and we had an mother-in-law rules committee which bypasses the normal procedures and norm -- and we

had an emergency rules committee which bypasses the normal procedures and everybody was stacked against anybody offering a substitute. i will offer an amendment to the rule to make in order mr. levin's amendment in the nature of a substitute which extends middle-class tax relief, the unemployment insurance and doc fix the right way. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the amendment in the record along with extraneous materials immediately prior to the vote on the previous question. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i will just close again by urging my colleagues to stand with working people in this country, to stand with those who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. i mean, it's so easy for the other side to stand with big oil companies that protect tax breaks for the wealthiest in this country. let's have a little justice in our taxes, a little fairness. i urge my colleagues to vote no and defeat the previous question so we can amend this bill and make it actually address these urgent issues in a thoughtful, reasonable way.

i urge a no vote on the rule and i yield back the balance of my time. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. the gentleman has 8 1/2 minutes. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i rise in strong support of the rule and underlying legislation. mr. speaker, there is a way to ensure that president obama will sign this legislation. there is a way to ensure that he will sign this legislation. and that way is if we have democrats join with republicans in an overwhelming bipartisan vote. now, the message that we have gotten is that poison pills, hostage is the term that both the president and my colleague has just used in trying to move forward the important provisions of expanding the payroll tax so that working americans can keep more of their own money. and the doc fix to ensure that doctors are reimbursed and

medicare beneficiaries are able to have access to the health care that they need. and of course for those at this time of year who are struggling, struggling and need their unemployment benefits expanded, there is a way to get that done. our goal is to get at the root cause of the problem. as i said in the opening, mr. speaker, right now our job is jobs. our job is jobs. and that's exactly what we are trying to do. tragically, tragically we are dealing with a protracted unemployment problem in this country. we know it's been going on for an extended period of time. the only reason we saw the unemployment rate drop from 9% to 8.6% is that hundreds of thousands of americans have given up looking for work. now, as we listen to people say that this time of year we need to make sure that we create

jobs, we have to make sure that there are opportunities out there. my friend from new jersey, mr. andrews, was talking about the fact that there are four people looking for one job. let's put into place the kind of -- kinds of policies that will allow us, allow us to see the private sector create jobs. we cannot legislate full employment. we cannot legislate full employment, but what we can do is we can pass legislation that will lay the groundwork for america's entrepreneurs, for america's innovators to have success by creating job opportunities. there are 27 pieces of legislation that we have passed from this house that is in the republican majority that are now sitting in the democratic senate, democratic controlled senate. those measures, increasing access to capital for small business men and women to create opportunities, making sure we decrease the regulatory burden

which we all know has undermined job creation and economic growth in this country, these are the kinds of measures that are out there that we hope very much will be considered in the senate. now, as we look at the issue of so-called poison pills, which my california colleague, ms. pelosi, the distinguished minority leader, talked about and i tried to engage in a discussion with her on the house floor, i yielded to her, and she chose to walk off the floor rather than engaging in a discussion, and i guess the reason is that it's sort of hard to claim that encouraging individual to move forwards g.e.d. qualification is a poison pill. isn't it hard to claim that saying that we should allow states to engage in drug testing for people who are on unemployment, how could that be a poison pill? making sure that we reimburse for overpayments, reimbursement for overpayments, to recapture those hard-earned tax dollars, how can that be a poison pill?

these are commonsense proposals to deal with the fact that we have a $15 trillion national debt. and the american people know that big government is a problem. just this morning i read the gallup poll which shows that we are at near record levels with both democrats, republicans, and independents being suspicious of big government. what we need to do is we need to unleash this potential that is out there, and this measure will do that. now, we keep hearing that politics is being played with this. mr. speaker, we've gotten the word today that the majority leader of the united states senate, mr. reid, has chosen to prevent members from signing the conference report for the absolutely essential spending bill that is out there, the mini bus spending bill because of this measure that's before us right now. if that isn't playing politics i don't know what is. right now we are faced with a threat of a government shutdown

on friday. if the democrats don't sign that appropriations conference report, which has been negotiated in good faith again between both democrats and republicans, with the house and the senate, we are going to be faced with a government shutdown that leader reid will in fact have created by preventing members from signing that conference report. we need to come together and do that. sign that conference report. get that work done. and this measure, this measure once again, mr. speaker, will get at the core problem, the core problem that we face and that is the lack of jobs that exist. the keystone x.l. pipeline will create, as has been said, 20,000 to 25,000 jobs if not more immediately, immediately. and it will allow us to decrease our dependence on overseas oil and it will allow us to work closely, as my friend, mr. royce said, with our close ally to the north, canada, rather than seeing them, understandably,

engage in a stronger relationship with china. so, mr. speaker, there are so many benefits to this. so many benefits all the way across the board that i believe that since roughly 0% to 90% of the provisions have been proposed by president obama. many of which were discussed in this jobs bill that 98 days ago he proposed here in his address to the joint session of congress. we are bringing these items up. we keep being told, bring up the jobs bill. bring up the jobs bill. this measure does just that. so, mr. speaker, i urge my democratic colleagues to join with republican colleagues so that we can do what the american people want us to do, especially at this time of year as we go into the holiday season, dealing with these issues, it would be a very important message to send around the united states of america and throughout the world. so i began as we were debating the point of order by raising

the famous quote of william shakespeare and i'll close with that, mr. speaker. in such business action is eloquence. with that i yield back the balance of my time. i move the previous question. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on ordering the previous question on the resolution. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, on that i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts has requested the yeas and nays. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. pursuant cho clause 8 and clause 9 of rule 20, this 15-minute vote on ordering the previous question will be followed by five-minute votes on adoption of house resolution 491, if ordered, and on motions to suspend the rules with regard to h.r. 3246, if ordered. and s. 384, if ordered. this first vote will be a 15-minute vote followed by three

five-minute votes. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this question, the yeas are 236, the nays are 132, the previous question is orered. the question is on topping of the resolution. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no.

in the opinion of the chair the ayes have it. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is requested. those in favor of taking a vote -- a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having risen a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote, followed by two additional five-minute votes. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] 6

the speaker pro tempore: the yeas are 236, the nays are 180 the resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the unfinished business is the question on suspending the rules and passing h.r. 3246, which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: h.r. 3246, a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 15455, manchester

road in baldwin, missouri, as the specialist peter j. navarro post office building. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill? those in favor say aye. in the opinion of the chair 2/3 of those present -- for what purpose does the gentleman rise? >> i request a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: those favoring a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having risen a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 415. the nays are zero. 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the unfinished business is the question on suspending the rules and passing s. 384 which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: senate 384, an act to amend title 39, united states code, to extend the authority of the united states postal service to issue a

semipostal to raise funds for breast cancer research. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative -- the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: mr. speaker, i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. excuse me. this will be a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 417. the nays are one. 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the house will be in order. the house will be in order. the noise will be in order. the chair will ask members to clear the aisles, take their seats, remove their conversations from the floor. the house will be in order.

for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? mr. davis: mr. speaker, clause 2-a, paragraph 1 of rule 9, i rise to give notice of my intention to offer a resolution to raise a question of the privileges of the house. the form of the resolution is as follows. whereas all though our nation's economy is gradually improving after one of the worst economic crisis in our nation's history, the economic crisis remains a daily reality for the 13.3 million unemployed workers and for the millions of americans experiencing record levels of food insecurity, poverty and

foreclosure. whereas the national unemployment rate is 8.6% with over 42.8% of all unemployed workers, more than 5.7 million people having been out of work for more than six months and whereas while there were 1.8 unemployed americans for every job opening in december, 2007, when the great recession began, data recently released by the department of labor shows that as of october, 2011, there were over 4.3 unemployed americans for every job opening. and whereas data recently released by the department of labor show that as of october, 2011, there were 3.3 million job openings which is well below the 4.8 million job openings in march, 2007, when job openings were at their

highest point during the most recent business cycle. and whereas recent data demonstrate that most un-made americans no longer receive -- noes unemployed americans no longer receive unemployment benefits, reflecting the crisis for millions of americans who have exhausted their benefit and still cannot find work including the 100,000 illinoisans estimated to have exhausted their benefits in 2010 and the additional 100,000 illinoisans who it is estimated would exhaust their benefits in 2012 if current law were extended. whereas unemployment benefits are a critical lifeline for our citizens and our economy, including by keeping 3.2 million americans, including nearly one million children from falling into poverty in 2010 alone. generating $2 in economic

stimulus for every $1, the -- $1 the federal government spent during the recession and saving or creating 7.1 million jobs as of the fourth quarter of 2009, and whereas all members of the house of representatives have a responsibility to protect americans in our country from physical and economic harm, especially during times of national crisis. and whereas the recently introduced republican proposal to address the unemployment crisis facing our nation fails to protect americans by drastically cutting 40 weeks of unemployment assistance and imposing new restrictions that would make it more difficult and costly for employees to receive the benefits for which they have paid. whereas the republican proposal fails to protect americans by cutting the number of federally funded weeks of unemployment

benefits from 73 to 33 in high unemployment states, abandoning over one million americans in 2012 by slashing their benefits, and whereas the republican proposal would likely result in the following states with elevated unemployment rates, losing 40 weeks of unemployment benefits in 2012 -- alabama, california, connecticut, the district of columbia, florida, georgia, illinois, idaho, indiana, kentucky, michigan, missouri, nevada, new jersey, north carolina, ohio, oregon, rhode island, south carolina, tennessee, texas and washington. and whereas the republican proposal would cause all other states to lose between 13 and 43 weeks of federal unemployment benefits. whereas the republican proposal would erode the unemployment

safety net by undermining the requirement that unemployment dollars fund unemployment benefits to help individual workers cover basic necessities such as food and housing. and whereas the republican proposal would further erode the unemployment safety net by undermining the eligibility standards that unemployment benefits be determined solely on the basis of a claimant's unemployment. and whereas the republican proposal demands untested punitive measures that hurt unemployed workers including deducting money from one's unemployment check to pay for required re-employment assessment and delayed or prohibitive benefits depending on educational attainment. and whereas the republican proposal would disproportionately harm groups of americans who are hardest hit by unemployment and

long-term employment, including older americans, low-income americans, americans from racial and ethnic minority groups and americans without a i high school diploma. whereas now emergency steaps is about to expire, the republican proposal reflects comfort with the $180 billion in tax breaks for the wealthiest 3% of americans for 2012, but not the $50 billion needed to help millions of the neediest americans who still cannot find a job. whereas, the economic policy institute estimates that the republican proposal would result in as much as $22 billion in lost economic growth and the center for american progress estimates that the republican proposal would lead to a loss of approximately 275,000 jobs in 2012, and

whereas it will tarnish the dignity and integrity of the house proceedings if the house considers a bill that cuts critical emergency assistance to millions of americans, hinders economic recovery, and disproportionately harms older americans. americans from racial and elt nick minority groups, low-income americans and americans without a high school degree, whereas it will tarnish the dignity and integrity of the proceedings, if the republican leadership holds hostage the 2.5 million americans who the department of labor estimate will loser that benefits by march, 2012, if congress fails to act in order to push a radical agenda for the americans that they have already rejected and whereas failure to allow consideration of amendment to protect

vulnerable americans during consideration of a bill that substantially and permanently changes federal unemployment benefits, tarnishes the integrity of the legislative process, now therefore be it resolved that the house of representatives recognizes the immediate need to extend current emergency unemployment benefits to promote our nation's economic recovery by stimulating purchases, creating jobs and preventing the loss of jobs. be it further resolved that it recognizes the immediate need to extend current emergency unemployment benefits to help the approximately six million unemployed americans who will lose benefits if current emergency unemployment benefits are not extended through 2012. be it further resolved that it

disapproved of drastically limited federal unemployment benefits until economic growth is robust and the nation is in a period of full employment and it calls on the leadership of the house to bring a vote to a clean extension of all current emergency unemployment benefits for a full year to protect the millions of americans who will lose benefits if the current statute sunsets at the end of december, 2011, or if h r. 3630, as posted by the committee on rules on december 9, 2011, is enacted. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman from illinois wish to offer the resolution at this point? mr. davis: i do. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: whereas our nation's

economy is gradually improving after one of the worst economic crises in our nation's history, the crisis remains reality for millions of merps experiencing food insecurity, poverty and other problems, whereas the national unemployment rate is 8.6% with more than 5.7 million people having been out of work for more than six months. whereas while there are 1.8 unemployed americans if for every job opening in december, 2007, when the recession began, data show that as of october of 2011, there were over 4.3 unemployed americans for every job opening, whereas data released by the department of labor shows that as of october, 2011, there were 3.3 million job openings, which is well below the 4.8 million job openings in march of 2007, when

job openings were at the highest point in the most recent business cycle, whereas recent tai ta demonstrate that most unemployed americans no longer receive unemployment benefits, reflecting the crisis that exists for millions of americans who have exhausted -- exhausted their benefits and cannot find work, include 1g00,000 illinoisans estimated to have exhausted their benefits in 2010 and the additional 100,000 illinoisans it is estimated would lose their benefits in 2012 if benefits are not extended, whereas unemployment benefits are a critical lifeline for our people and the economy, keeping millions from falling into poverty in 2010 alone, generating $2 in economic stimulus for every $1 the federal government spent during this recession, and saving or creating 1.7 million jobs as of the fourth quarter of 2009 alone, whereas all members of

the house of representatives have a responsibility to protect americans in our country from physical and economic harm, especially during times of national crisis, whereas, the recently introduced republican proposal to address the unemployment crisis facing our nation fails to protect americans by drastically cutting 4 weeks of unemployment assistance and imposing new restrictions that would make it more difficult an costly for employees to receive the benefits for which they have paid. whereas, the republican proposal fails to protect americans by cutting the number of federally funded weeks of unemployment benefits from 73 to 33 in high unemployment states, abandoning over one million americans in 2012 by slashing their benefits. whereas the republican proposal would likely result in the poll lowing states with elevated unemployment rates losing 40 weeks of unemployment benefits in 2012, alabama, california, connecticut, the district of columbia, florida, georgia,

illinois, idaho, knill, indiana, kentucky, michigan, missouri, nevada, new jersey, north carolina, ohio, oregon, rhode island, south carolina, tennessee, texas, and washington. whereas the republican proposal would cause all other states to lose between 14 and 34 weeks of unemployment benefits, whereas the republican proposal would erode the unemployment safety net by undermining the requirement that unemployment dollars fund unemployment benefits to help individual workers cover basic necessities such as food and housing, whereas the republican proposal would further erode the unemployment safety net by undermining the eligibility standard that unemployment benefits be determined solely on the basis of a claimant's unemployment, whereas the republican proposal demands untested punitive measures that hurt unemployed workers including deducting money from one's unemployment check to pay

for required employment assessments and delayed benefits depending on educational attainment, whereas the republican proposal would disproportionately harm groups of americans who are hardest hit by unemployment an long-term unemployment including older americans, low income americans, americans from racial and ethnic minority groups, and americans without a high school diploma. whereas now that emergency assistance is about to expire, the republican proposal reflects comfort with $180 billion in tax breakers in wealthiest 3% of americans for 2012, but not the $50 billion needed to help millions of the neediest americans who still cannot find a job, whereas the economic policy institute estimates that republican -- that the republican proposal would result in as much as $22 billion in lost economic growth and the center for american progress estimates that the republican proposal would lead to a loss of approximately

275,000 jobs in 2012, whereas it will tarnish the dignity and integrity of the house proceed physician the house considers a bill that cuts critical emergency assistance to millions of americans, hinders economic recovery and disproportionately harms older americans, americans from racial and ethnic minority groups, low income americans, and americans without a high school degree. whereas it will tarnish the dignity and integrity of the house proceedings if the republican leader ship holds hosstamming the 2.5 million americans who the department of labor estimates will lose their benefits by march 2012 if congress fails to act in order to push a radical agenda the american people have already rejected and whereas failure to allow consideration of amendments to protect vulnerable americans during consideration of a bill shah substantially and permanently changes federal unemployment benefits, tarnishes the integrity of the legislative

process, now therefore, be it resolved, that the house of representatives, one, recognizes the immediate need to extend current emergency unemployment benefits, to promote our nation's economic recovery by stimulating purchases, creating jobs and preventing the loss of jobs, two, recognize the immediate need to extend current emergency unemployment benefits to help the approximately six million unemployed americans who will lose benefits if current emergency unemployment benefits are not extended through 2012. three, disapproves of drastically limiting federal unemployment benefits until economic deprothe is robust and the nation is in a period of full employment and four, calls on the leadership of the house to bring to a vote a clean extension of all current emergency unemployment benefits for a full year to protect the millions of americans who will lose benefits if the current statute sunsets at the end of december, 2011, or if h. reform

3630 as most posted by the committee on rules in december, 2011, is enacted. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman from illinois wish to present an argue on why the resolution is privileged under rule 9 to take precedence over other questions? mr. davis: i do. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will present those argues. mr. davis: mr. speaker, in order to qualify as a question of the privileges of the house, under rule 9, the resolution must address the rights of the house collectively, its safety, dignity, and the integrity of its proceedings. the resolution i offer seeks to express the position of the house that the republican proposal to address the unemployment crisis facing our nation and the procedures used to bring it to the floor, tarnish the dignity and integrity of the house proceedings and the integrity of the legislative process.

all members of the house of representatives have a responsibility to protect americans and our country from physical and economic harm. especially during times of national crisis. yes -- yet, contrary to this mandate, the republican proposal to address the unemployment crisis threatened to damage our national economy as well as the well being of millions of americans. by drastically cutting benefits, especially for employees and states, hardest hit by unemployment by 40 weeks and imposing punitive restricks on access to benefits, the republican proposal will almost certainly harm. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois, the argument must be confined as to

whether the resolution is privileged under rule nine, not the substance of the resolution. mr. draves: given the unemployment crisis that does in fact exist in our country an given the great needs that exist for people to feel a sense of comfort and security, given the fact that older americans, low income americans, americans from racial and ethnic minority groups, and americans with -- the speaker pro tempore: the chair would again ask the gentleman to address whether or not this resolution is privileged under rule 9. mr. davis: mr. chairman, it is my position and my belief that the republican proposal tarnishes the legislative process by making substantial permanent changes to federal unemployment benefits and that

when passed, if passed, that the country will have experienced difficulties that could have been avoided. the speaker pro tempore: the chair would ask the gentleman if he has any additional observations relative to the question of privilege. mr. davis: mr. chairman, let me thank you for your comments and actually i'm at the end of my comments and i would yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair thanks the gentleman for his creativity. does any other member wish to be heard on the question of privilege? the chair is prepared to rule. as the chair ruled in similar circumstances on october 2 and october 3, 2002, a resolution expressing the sentiment that congress should act on a specified measure does not constitute a question of privileges of the house under rule 9. the mere invocation of legislative powers provided in the constitution coupled with a

desired policy end does not meet the requirements of rule 9 and is a matter properly initiated through introduction in the hopper under clause 7 of rule 12. accordingly, the resolution offered by the gentleman from illinois does not constitute a question of the privileges of the house under rule 9. i thank the gentleman. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, pursuant to house resolution 491, i call up the bill h.r. 3630, the middle-class tax relief and job creation act of 2011 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 3630, a bill to provide incentives for the creation of jobs and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 491, the amendment printed in house resolution 112-328 is

considered adopted and the bill, as amended, is considered as read. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, and the gentleman also from michigan, mr. levin, each will control 45 minutes. and the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp. mr. camp: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the subject of the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. camp: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. camp: there are four important facts everyone should know about the middle class tax relief and job creation act. first, it will strengthen our economy and help get americans back to work by lowering the tax burden for middle-class families and job providers alike. second, it prevents massive cuts to doctors working in the medicare program to protect america's seniors and those with disabilities, providing more stability in the doctor payment schedule than there has been in a decade. third, it adopts a number of the president's legislative

initiatives which represents the bipartisan cooperation americans are demanding. and fourth, it's fully paid for with spending cuts, not job-killing tax hikes. the c.b.o. tables show the bill is fully offset and saves about $1 billion. when you add in the floorns provisions, the savings are -- flood insurance provisions, the savings are closer to $6 billion. it would help the unemployed help and get a job. it helps seniors. it is bipartisan and it is paid for. the house should and i expect it will overwhelmingly pass this measure and the senate should quick low pass it so americans can get what they truly want this holiday season, something that helps create jobs while helping those most in need. while this bill includes a priorities of a number of committees, many of the provisions in h.r. 3630 are within the purview of the ways and means committee. this bill will extend for one year the payroll tax holiday to

help middle-class families struggling in this economy. while fully protecting the social security trust fund. meerbling, i have a letter from the social security chief actuary confirming this fact, and i ask unanimous consent that it be inserted in the record. without an extension, a worker earning $50,000 would see his or her take-home pay decline by $1,500 in 2012 as compared to 2011. employers are helped, through. job creators down the supply chain will see more demand for their products. this will help boost economic activity and job creation. the president has endorsed both of these tax policies. the bill will also extend unemployment benefits that are scheduled to expire at the end of the month. but does so while permanently adopting the program. since 2008, extensions of unemployment benefits have

added $180 billion to the debt. we're putting an end to that deficit spending. this program is fully paid for and it contains significant reforms such as allowing states to screen and test unemployment insurance recipients for drug abuse, overturning a 1960's era labor department directive. requiring all employed recipients to search for work. be in a g.e.d. program if they have not finished high school with reasonable exceptions and participate in re employment services. it also implements a program integrity measure such as new data standardization to crack down on waste, fraud and abuse. and just as we did in connection with welfare reform, we're giving the states flexibility to design their own re-employment programs similar to the sorts of programs the president has touted like georgia works and wage subsidies. why are we making these reforms instead of just passing a straight extension? because we know that a paycheck

is better than an unemployment check. these bipartisan reforms will help get americans back to work while providing them with the assistance during hard times. and that should truly be the focus of unemployment programs, getting people back to work. in addition to reforming u.i., we extend federal benefits but reduce the maximum number of weeks of all benefits from 99 weeks to 59 weeks in most states by hid 2012. this -- mid 2012. this reflects a more normal level following a recession. i should point out phasing out 20 of those weeks is the president's policy. as a result of this extension, an estimated five million out-of-work americans will receive an average of about $7,000 in assistance they need in this tough economy. a no vote today is a vote to deny those americans who are out of work those benefits. we also say if you earn $1

million you have to pay back your unemployment benefits. though not in the jurisdiction of the ways and means committee, the bill applies similar policy to food stamps. together these policies save taxpayers $20 million. additional savings are found by freezing the pay by members of congress and other civilian government workers for one year. next, the legislation prevents a 27% cut to doctors serving medicare patients and replacing it with a 1% payment update in 2012 and 2013. the two-year update is the longest congress has provided since 2004 which will give us time to develop a permanent solution. in addition to the medicare doc fix, the legislation reforms and extends temporary medicare payment programs. since 2002, congress has blindly extended as many as a dozen of these programs. given that we're running $1 trillion deficit and borrowing 40 cents out of every dollar 1 we spend, the american taxpayer

cannot afford of having congress skip out on proper oversight. that's why we're extending only four of those provisions and requiring additional studies from the centers of medicare and medicaid services and the government accountability office to get better data on how they're working. these programs are the therapy cap exceptions process, premium assistance for low-income seniors, ambulance payments add-ons and geographic payment for physician office visits, sometimes called gpci. in the health care field, the legislation also adopts a recommendation from president obama that reduces subsidies to high-income seniors by requiring them to pay a greater share of their part d and b premiums. this single change reduces spending by $31 billion in the next decade. saves $13.4 billion in wasteful overpayments of exchange subsidies similar to previous good government changes enacted by overwhelming bipartisan jorts and signed into law by --

majorities and signed into law by the president. and repeals provisions in current law that hurt physician-owned hospitals. with regard to the nation's primary welfare program, the legislation extends through september 30, 2012, temporary assistance for needy families, tanf, which is set to expire on december 31 of this year. the tanf extension includes bipartisan, bicam rell reforms to ensure that -- bidemeanor calseral reforms to ensure that they have -- welfare funds cannot be accessed at a.t.m.'s in strip clubs, liquor stores and casinos. in california alone, nearly $4 million was withdrawn from a.t.m.'s in casinos between january, 2007, and may, 2010. another $20,000 in benefits was withdrawn from a.t.m.'s in adult entaintment establishments. i think we can all agree that this reform makes sense for

taxpayers and for those on welfare. finally, the legislation takes two additional steps to better protect taxpayer dollars. first, it makes necessary changes to the additional child tax credit program by requiring the individual or at least one spouse to include a social security number on their tax return to claim the credit just as you would have to do when filing for the earned income tax credit. this will reduce federal spending by $10 billion in the next decade alone. second, this legislation reduces social security overpayments by improving coordinations with states and local governments, incorporating another recommendation from president obama. the middle-class tax and relief and job creation act incorporates more than a dozen proposals that the president has either offered, supported or has signed into law in one variation other another. the list of job creating provisions is almost too long

to list. but let me list a few. a payroll tax cut by every working american that also protects social security. a bipartisan energy product -- project, keystone x.l., that will create more than 100,000 jobs and is supported by both employers and unions. a bipartisan tax cut for small and large businesses to invest now in new machinery and equipment to grow their businesses and create jobs. bipartisan reforms to make sense of federal regulations like boiler mact which will protect as many as 20,000 jobs. bipartisan health care reforms that will help ensure a strong health care industry. a bipartisan push for spectrum options that will unleash new growth and create new jobs in the technology sector. bipartisan reforms that help americans find work faster instead of just giving them an unemployment check. the list goes on and on. but in short this bill is about jobs, jobs, jobs. creating jobs and helping americans find a job. it's paid for.

it is bipartisan. it will help get our economy back on track. i strongly urge my colleagues to vote in favor of the middle-class tax relief and job creation act. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. levin: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. levin: there are fewer than three weeks until the new year and yet here they go again. republicans are seeking a path of confrontation instead of collaboration. if republicans were serious, truly serious about trying to come together on behalf of american families, they would have reached out to democrats in this house. they've done nothing of the sort. they've made a sham out of bipartisanship. instead, they once again targeted millions of seniors

and middle-class families for cuts without asking essentially anything of millionaires and billionaires. they've singled out medicare premium increases. they've permanently increased seniors' costs by $31 billion. the bill also, when you look at it carefully, spends $300 million on a special interest provision that helps a handful of specialty hospitals while cutting billions from community hospitals. they've targeted the unemployed , slashing 40 weeks of unemployment insurance, impacting millions of families still struggling under the weight of the worst economic downturn since the great depression. 22 jurisdictions, 22 with the highest unemployment rates would be hit the hardest --

alabama, california, connecticut, d.c., florida, georgia, illinois, idaho, indiana, kentucky, michigan, missouri, nevada, new jersey, north carolina, ohio, oregon, rhode island, south carolina, tennessee, texas and washington, and the result would be in the state that mr. camp and i come from, michigan, the result would be a maximum of 46 weeks of unemployment insurance. and what do they ask of the wealthiest americans? basically nothing. not even after the wealthiest 1% saw their incomes nearly triple in the last three decades while salaries for middle class families barely budged. on average, there are more than four unemployed americans for every job opening. never on official record in our

nation's history have there been so many unemployed americans out of work for so long. there is nothing normal about this recession. nothing normal. one gentleman from my district, phil of clinton township, put it this way, quote, i am by no means unintelligent, i am by no means lazy, and i am by no means giving up. the unmoed are not people who can ante up $10,000 bets or spend lavishly on jewelry at tiffany's. these are family scraping by on average of less than $300 a week, trying to keep food on the table, a roof over their head and clothes on their backs and the backs of their children as they look for work. republicans are out of touch with the families of america.

i hope after today's exercise that is going nowhere in the senate and the president opposes house republicans will get serious, get serious about addressing very pressing end-of-year issues on behalf of the american people. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp. mr. camp: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time, i would note that the ways and means committee has held 16 different hearings or markups on provisions contained in this legislation and i would yield two minutes to the distinguished chairman of the health subcommittee, the gentleman from california, mr. herger. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. herger: mr. speaker, it's critically important that we act to prevent physicians' medicare payments being cut by 27.4% on december 31.

such a drastic cut would result in many physicians ending participation in the medicare program and many senior citizens would no longer be able to obtain the care they need. the bill lfer us would prevent cuts for the next two years with physicians receiving a 1% inflation upfwrade in each of those years. as i've said before, we need to do away with s.g.r. once and for all so that doctor do not have to constantly worry about cuts to their medicare payments. i'm disappointed we have run out of time to consider permanent reform this year, but the ways and means committee has been carefully examining different options for replacing the s.g.r. and i'm hopeful we can move forward with these efforts next year.

for now, this legislation gives physicians the longest period of payment since 2004 and it is fully paid for with reforms to medicare and other federal health programs. many of these reforms have bipartisan support and were included in the president's deficit reduction proposal. i hope we will have a strong, bipartisan vote for this bill. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: i yield one minute to the gentleman from washington, mr. mctermot. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. mcdermott: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcdermott: mr. speaker, well, it's getting close to the christmas tree and here we

come, finally getting around to dealing with unemployment. with the most drastic attack on the unemployment system that we've had since 1933. without any hearings, i hear people talk about the ways and means committee has talked about this. there hasn't been a single hearing on the proposal that's put here before us on the end of the session cutting federal programs from 73 weeks to 33 weeks. you're taking 40 weeks of unemployment away from people who have thought this country cared and it turns out the republicans don't care at all. this is bait and switch. this is like going to a used car lot and the guy shows you a

chevrolet over here and says that's a thousand bucks -- mr. levin: i yield the gentleman 30 seconds. mr. mcdermott: and you get there and find another car that's worth nothing, been in a wreck and you think you've got the $1,000 car. this is a phony attack on employment. the press releases will say we extended unemployment benefits. yeah, well you pulled the rug out from under the long-term unemployment. this is not the usual unemployment. this is unemployment that really has the highest long-term unemployment in the history of this country in the last 50 years. it's a bad bill. vote no. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp. mr. camp: mr. speaker, at this time i yield three minutes to

the distinguished gentleman a member of the ways and means committee, the gentleman from texas, mr. johnson who is an author of the reform to the refundable child tax credit. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. johnson: thank you mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding. i rise in support of this bill, i'd like to begin by thanking the leadership and the chairman for including in this bill a provision of mine that will help eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse with respect to the refundable child tax credit. this simple, common sense provision will save the american taxpayer $9.4 billion by stopping illegal immigrants from getting the refundable child tax credit. i first introduced this provision as a bill in january, 2010, and reintroduced it this past may. my legislation is based on the good work of the treasury

inspector general for tax administration, which said in its report on the credit thatall though the law prohibits aliens residing without authorization in the united states from receiving most federal public benefits and in-- an increasing numb of these vims are filing tax returns claiming this refundable credit. according to the i.g., illegal immigrants bilinged $4.2 billion from the u.s. taxpayers last year. and i think it's time we fixed it. currently, if individuals do not have a social security number, the i.r.s. will give them an individual taxpayer identification number to get the credit this provision will root out waste, fraud, and abuse by the i.r.s., requiring individuals to provide their social security number in order to claim this refundable credit.

mr. speaker, there's been a lot of debate regarding the extension of the payroll tax cut and social security. given this debate, as chairman of the social security subcommittee, i'd like to take this opportunity to briefly talk about the importance of securing this program's future. last year marked the first time since 1983 that social security paid out more in benefits than it took in in payroll taxes. 1983 was also the last major reform of social security. as a result, over the next 10 years, social security will be in the red by over half a trillion dollars. as a result, social security must rely on general revenues to pay back with interest the social security surpluses that washington has spent. that means treasury has to borrow more, according to the c.b.o., we do so at our own

economic peril. mr. speaker, the american people want, need, an deserve a fact-based conversation about how we can fairly and responsibly fix social security for good. that would send a powerful signal that we are serious about getting our fiscal house in order. let's do it now. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman is expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: it's my privilege to yield two minutes to another distinguished member of the committee, mr. neal of massachusetts. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. neal: thank you, mr. levin. mr. speaker, i'm in opposition to this so-called middle class tax relief and job creation act largely because it's neither. mr. camp is correct, he said there have been 16 hearings at the ways and means committee. but never once has there been a

conversation. that's the important matter to consider. there's been no give and take in this legislation. this was brought to the floor in a manner to ram it through the house to protect talking points as we move to the new year. if we don't act, 160 million americans will see a tax increase. with families working americans seeing a tax increase of up to $1,000 in 2012. we need to extend unemployment insurance to assist millions of unemployed americans and to fix the medicare physician payment rate to ensure that seniors have access to their doctors. i'm also opposed to this proposal that they offer today. while i support eliminating the ski swruled reduction of 27% in medicare payments to physicians, this is the wrong way to do it by offsetting it, taking $17 billion away from hospital funding. people in america rightly ask, how come it's so difficult to get something done in congress. we're going to quibble with people today, 8.6% of the american family who are without

work. we're going to quibble over extending their unemployment benefits. and yet just three years ago, the head of merrill lynch, after the company was run into the ground, left with -- left with $69 million. but a month ago, at hewlett-packard, for nonperformance, thed of the company is dismissed, not like the unemployeed are dismissed by somebody escorting them to the door but he was dismissed with $10 million worth of salary and $13 million worth of stock for nonperformance. at enron, everybody at the top held on and locked down that stock so people at the bottom couldn't get out. that's what this is about today. picking on the unemployed. 15 million members of the american family without work as we proceed to this holiday season. we need a tax holiday for middle income americans and that's what we should be doing

today. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp. mr. camp: i yield one minute to a distinguished of me ways and means committee, the gentleman from texas, mr. brady. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. brady: no bill is perfect but this has much to admire in it. moving the unemployed back to the work force after a year makes sense. so does allowing states to drug test, stopping taxpayer fraud, helping small businesses invest in equipment, paying doctors fairly for treating our seniors and telling the president he expect wait to approve the job crease ated by the keystone pipeline. all that is very good. like many in congress, i'm very troubled by -- about reducing social security revenue another year. the bill's awe fors have responsibly included reforls that fill this hole and then some. but over the long-term, cutting social security contribution makes an already fragile program more fragile. in support, i want my constituents to know, 2012 is

it. i'll not support another ex-tex of the social security tax holiday. i'll work to replace it with tax relief of an equal amount that doesn't impact social security or make it harder to preserve this program for future generations. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman is expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: it's my privilege to yield two minutes to the gentleman from south carolina a leader in our party. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. davis: thank you very much. thank you, mr. levin, for yielding me this time. mr. clyburn: the clock is ticking, woking families are worrying, and my republican colleagues are paying political games. this cuts unemployment benefits for hardworking folks who lost their jobs through no fault of their own. my home state and district

contains some of the hard etc. hit families and communities in this country. and it is unfair to blame these folks for the economic hard times they're experiencing. this bill proposes drug testing for unemployed workers to draw from insurance funds they paid into. that is unfair and insulting. i don't see anyone in the republican majority demanding drug testing for folks who receive oil and gas subsidies. the president will veto this bill if it ever reaches his desk. this political game that's being played is just another round of a brinksmanship we're seeing time and again this year. we need to pass a clean extension of a payroll tax for working americans. we need to pass a clean extension of unemployment insurance for those who have lost their jobs. we need to pass a clean

extension of the s.g.r., the doc fix, so medical -- medicare patients will no -- know that their doctors will be there for them. we need for my republican friends to stop playing political games with people's lives. i urge my colleagues to vote against this partisan bill. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp. mr. camp: mr. speaker, i would just note that this legislation incorporates more than a dozen proposals that the president either offered, supported or signed into law, in fact, more than 90% of the bill is paid for with such policies. with that i would yield three minutes to a distinguished member of the ways and means committee, mr. davis. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. davis: thank you, mr. chairman. i rise in support of h.r. 3630 and tire of the empty rhetoric that i hear over and over again as the chairman just pointed out. this bill includes many provisions that your party's president recommended.

this is a bipartisan piece of legislation and we're politicizing something at the expense of working families which is a sad thing to see happen in this chamber. it includes important provisions in this legislation designed to promote job creation, but i'd like to focus on the bill's provisions to reform and improve unemployment insurance or u.i. these commonsense reforms expect u.i. recipients to search for work and make progress toward a g.e.d. or other training they need to get back to work. we let states make reasonable exceptions but the message is clear. u.i. needs to change, to do a better job of helping people get back to work. the bill also lets states apply for waivers of federal law so they can test better ways to engage the unemployed. our colleagues are right. there are too many long-term unemployed today and we need to hold government programs more accountable for helping more of them find work sooner, including through wage subsidies and other innovative approaches that have received bipartisan support. also contained in this bill is a program integrity provision to improve data standards in the u.i. program to help operate

more efficiently and effectively across states and to help it better coordinate with other programs. the same provision was included in the bipartisan child welfare legislation signed by president obama in september. and it is included in another section of this bill covering temporary assistance for needy families programs. h.r. 3630 also makes reasonable reductions in temporary federal u.i. benefits. while extending that program for another year and maintaining up to 59 weeks of benefits by the middle of 2012. first it extends 20 weeks of federal benefits that were added to the program when the national unemployment rate was at 9.9% or well above today's 8.6%. second which adopt the president's call to phase out a second 20 weeks of federal u.i. benefits in the early months of 2012. so instead of cutting or slashing and so on as many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle dubiously claim, the facts show that u.i. benefits extended in this bill would aid

over five million people at a cost of $34 billion. all paid for through other savings. that's an average of almost $7,000 in federal help for every person aided. in fact, with this bill, total u.i. spending since the start of 2008 will stretch to an astounding $546 billion. that's not a typo. u.i. spending now totals over a half trillion dollars in the past five years, that's over five times, listen to this, five times as much as it costs to put a man on the moon in today's dollars. i urge support of this much-needed legislation and most importantly its long needed reform so the u.i. program does a better job helping americans get back to work sooner. i thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: i must say to talk about a man on the moon to essentially disregard the needs of millions of people who are on the ground unemployed in this country is, i think,

unconscionable. i now yield two minutes to the gentleman from oregon, another member of our committee, mr. blumenauer, two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon is recognized for two minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. levin. a year ago our republican friends talked about reforming the process so that we wouldn't have legislation that was must-pass category, that was laden with items that were unrelated or unnecessaryly -- unnecessarily complicated it. here we are, less than a year after they adopted their rules, and we have legislation that unemployment insurance has always been, i think, in times of economic stress when benefits are threatened to be expired, that that would be must-pass legislation. if you ask the american public, being able to keep $1,000 or

more in the pockets of the average family by keeping the payroll tax reduction, that would be must-pass legislation. and the s.g.r., the sustained growth rate problem, to avoid a draconian cut in physician reimbursement, which immersefully say i did not support when it was proposed by my republican friends and enacted into law some 15 years ago, that certainly must pass -- that's certainly must-pass legislation. and here we have a hodgepodge of jamming all of these together, plus, wait a minute, the keystone pipeline, a variety of things that are complicated, expensive and unfair jammed together in a must-pass ledge -- legislative situation. mr. speaker, i am opposed to draconian cuts in benefit levels .

in a state like mine it's going to be very hard on rural and smalltown, america, where those extended benefits make a big difference, that jobs ancht there. now, you may -- aren't there. now, you may force some of these people who don't have a high school education to start a training program which you're not willing to pay for, you're going to impose very significant cuts on hospitals. for example -- mr. levin: i yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds. mr. blumenauer: the evaluation in management cap is going to impact dramatically hospitals that a number of us represent. it's going to scale up much higher costs for senior citizens who don't think they're high income. with all due respect, i think it's the wrong approach to serious problems that we face. we ought to deal with them one at a time, in a baled --

balanced and thoughtful way, reject this christmas tree and do it right. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp. mr. camp: i recognize the gentleman from georgia, mr. kingston, for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. kingston: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to enter into a colloquy with the distinguished chairman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. kingston: mr. chairman, i thank you for including language in this bill would thank would remove current barriers for states to strengthen the insurance program through optional drug testing. by doing so we can help increase individuals' ability to gain future employment and help ensure benefits are not being used to finance an individual's drug dependency. it is my understanding that the intent of this language is to provide flexibility to states to establish drug screening methods if they choose so. mr. camp: that's correct. the language in the bill provides states with the option to screen and test u.i. program applicants for illegal drug use. mr. kingston: thank you. i would like to call state's

attention to the national institutes of health that identify individuals of having a high probability of drug use. i introduced individuals to be high risk would be required to complete and pass a drug test in order to receive benefits. general tax dollars help fund payments after 26 weeks. so people who are unemployed should be looking for a job and should not become voluntarily ineligible by taking illegal drugs. in this tough environment, we must maximize tax dollar spending efficiently and effectively. i appreciate your commitment to hold a hearing on this issue no later than the spring and i thank you for pointing towards further action. mr. camp: that is a helpful reminder, especially to those states that look to take advantage of how this legislation removes current bureaucratic barriers, preventing them from doing that sort of screening and testing if they so choose. mr. kingston: i look forward to working with the committee on this proposal and i thank the chairman and the subcommittee

chairman, mr. davis, for their support. and discussions of this language and thank you for your colloquy. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: i now yield three minutes to our distinguished minority whip, mr. hoyer of maryland, three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized for three minutes. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i rise in opposition to this bill. we are in now overtime. the scheduled date for ending this session was december 8. that date of course was substantially later than we normally suggest ending the session. notwithstanding that fact, we did not meet that deadline.

in the pledge to america, our republican colleagues, when they were running for office to seek the majority, which they got, they pledged to america that they would not put nongermane items in must-pass bills. that apparently was a campaign pledge not to be honored in practice. in the pledge to america, they also said that they -- we needed to do appropriation bill it's one -- bills one after another. that apparently was a pledge to be honored during the campaign but not in practice. and so we have ourselves confronted with a bill that must pass. we must not leave this city and our responsibilities without extending unemployment insurance. we must not leave washington, d.c., for this holiday season to

deliver a block of coal in the stockings of our constituents by failing to continue the tax cut from their payroll taxes. and we must not leave washington, d.c., without affecting a continuation of the proper reimbursement of doctors to ensure that medicare patients will be able to get their doctors' services. so we have three items to focus on to get done. and nine appropriation bills. now, one of those appropriation bills has not even been reported out of subcommittee in this house. the labor health bill. hasn't been considered by subcommittee, hasn't been considered by full committee, hasn't been considered by this house. and so we have a lot of business to do in essentially the next 72

hours. and so what are we confronted with? we're confronted with a bill of over 350 pages filed just a few days ago. we heard a lot about reading the bills. i'd be shocked if any member has read this bill. shocked. by contrast, the bill that was so criticized, the affordable care act, was up for review for over a year, hundreds of hearings and thousands essentially of meetings around this country. this has not had a single town meeting, a single hearing and a single perspective around -- mr. levin: i yield the whip an additional minute. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for yielding. so my tea party friends, i'm sure you lament the fact and think this bill ought not to be

passed. but i haven't seen you. i haven't heard you, i haven't gotten a letter from you. i tell my friends on the republican side of the aisle, i have demonstrated throughout this year that when we had the opportunity to work together, i worked to get the votes so we could pass legislation together necessary to run this country. so i don't take a seat -- back seat to anybody in this chamber. willing to work together in a bipartisan fashion. but this bill was not worked together in a bipartisan fashion . this bill seeks to poke the fingers in the eye of the president of the united states who has said, i will veto this bill. not because of the three things that i said were absolutely essential to pass, but because of something that is not essential to pass. now, the majority leader lamented last week that this was five thousand -- 5,000 jobs if we passed this keystone pipeline. but a bill that would create at

least a million jobs, the american jobs act, lays languishing in the bowels of the committee. do you have additional time? mr. levin: i yield the gentleman -- mr. hoyer: 30 seconds. mr. levin: 30 seconds. mr. hoyer: so i can conclude. yes, the gentleman asked for regular order. i lament the fact that we're not pursuing regular order. we could act in a responsible, bipartisan fashion to accomplish the objectives i set forth and the appropriation bills. but no, we are playing politics. we're up and down toring a base. we're having a pretense that this bill could pass. it cannot. let us defeat this bill and then let us come together in a responsible fashion as the american public wants us to do and act on their behalf, not on the behalf of our politics. i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp. mr. camp: i yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from montana, mr. rehberg. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. rehberg: i support h.r. 3630 and no it doesn't put a block of coal in the socks, it puts a barrel of oil in a pipeline. in fact it puts 150,000 barrels of oil in the pipeline daily. the american people need jobs. they want congress to work together to help the private sector create those jobs. keystone x.l. is shovel ready, it will create thousands of jobs, all we need a federal permit, something that's already taken three years. so why have the president and his allies in the senate said no? it's not for the cost, it's privately funded. it's not for the environment, it will utilize the cleanest and safest technology available and it's not private property concerns, 97% of the landowners

came to friendly settlements in earlier settlements. this is pure politics. with thousands of jobs hanging in the balance it's time to put politics aside and do the right thing. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back, the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: it's now my privilege to yield two minutes to the gentleman from texas, the lead sponsor on our unemployment insurance bill, mr. doggett. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. doggett: i thank the gentleman. this proposal certainly does represent a visit from the ghost of christmas past. last christmas, to be specific, when republicans stood here and said, only a lump of coal for the unemployed unless you stop every -- stuff every stocking to overflowing. today's republican bill would eliminate up to 40 weeks of unemployment coverage with the biggest cuts coming in states like mine, texas, with high unemployment rates that means

that next year, over three million unemployed americans and their families will p shortchanged if this bill is enacted. long-term unemployment in america today is at its highest level for so long in 60 years. we have over six million fewer jobs now than when the recession began, and more than four workers for every job opening. and in 10 states this bill responds by making it possible to no longer require that unemployment insurance funds are used for unemployment insurance benefits. under the democratic alternative that i have introduced, unemployment would be available only to those who are actively searching for a job, getting job training, or who are out there in a temporary layoff situation. nor is an unemployment check

any substitute for a paycheck. as "the new york times" edtorialized this morning, when was the last time that any republican lawmaker tried to live on $289 a week, the amount of the average unemployment benefit? and this same measure also offers a lump of coal for medicare. i believe in seeking efficiencies in medicare. that's why we voted for the affordable care act to ensure that billions of dollars were safe. but the billions that are cut from other health care providers in today's bill come on top of across the board cuts that are already enacted into -- to be effective in the next year. do you have another 15 seconds? mr. levin: yes. mr. doggett: at some point cuts mean seniors and the disabled will be unable to access the quality care they need than cut to preventable chronic disease programs like heart disease an

diabetes is short sight and will cost us more in the long run than it saves. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman is expyred. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp. mr. camp: i yield one minute to the gentleman from ohio. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. renacci: the bureau of labor statistics reported there are over three million job openings in america. according to earlier studies, 27% of businesses are looking for employees and ready to hire if they can find the right people. matching willing employers with able workers is an absolute must. in this uncertainty -- uncertain economy, help regular cover the risk of training a new employee will help get the unemployed back to work. using unemployment dollars to subsidize that training of a new employee to re-enter the

work force is just good public policy. in june, i was proud to introduce the bipartisan support employee act to give states the flexability to do precisely this. i remain proud today that my concept is included in this package and support this bill which gives states like ohio the flexibility to use unemployment dollars for squob training services and i want to thank the chairman for working with me. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: i yield two minutes to the very dwisht member of our committee, mr. lewis from the state of georgia. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. lewis: i want to thank my friend and colleague mr. levin for yielding. and thank you foral your great and good work. mr. speaker, i rise in strong opposition to this bill. it is a very sad day for this body, day in and day out,

unemployed americans beat the pavement applying for jobs, everywhere and anywhere. sending hundreds of resumes, applying for many jobs. these people lost their jobs through no fault of their own. they don't want a handout. they want a job. in atlanta, we have a job -- we had a job fair where more than 4 50rks0 people from as far away as new york showed up with the hope hoach -- with the hope of just getting an interview. this bill is an insult to them. it is an affront to their dignity. it says that millions of americans do not want to work and they are not searching hard enough for a job. instead of extending unemployment benefits before the holiday break, giving equal treatment for struggling

americans as we do for the wealthy and large corporations. this legislation strips programs -- these programs down to its bones. this is not right. it is not fair. it is not just. this body represents the people and we should not stomp on the soul of our fellow citizens. we can do better. we must do better. we must do better for the sake of our fellow citizens. mr. speaker, is this the spirit of the season? last night, we offered an amendment to the rules committee that the republicans refused to even consider. these amendments said in effect stop the politics. stop the games. stand up for the people. for the people that voted for us. for people that need our help. they're depending on us.

mr. levin: i yield the gentleman 30 seconds. mr. lewis: mr. speaker, we should stay here, don't go home but stay here until we meet the preponderateations. we must come together, let's do what is right and do it now. i urge my colleagues to oppose this bad bill and come -- bad bill and come together and pass a long-term, clean extension of unemployment benefits. that's the thing to do. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp. mr. camp: i yield myself such time as i may consume. we think it's important to extend unemployment benefits. that's what this bill does. but we do it with common sense reforms, reforms that will help those unemployed get not just a paycheck from the government but to get a job and get a paycheck from the private sector. these common sense reforms are things like requiring unemployment insurance recipients to search for work. and if they don't have a g.e.d.

to get a g.e.d. but we have a common sense exception provision so that if you're an older worker and you've been a pipe fitter for 30 years, obviously a g.e.d. isn't going to help you in a job search. but for those who are younger and don't have the skills they need, it's clear if you have that certificate, your chances of losing your job are much less. and third, we think they should participate in services to get them reemployed. those are important. states need more flexibility in this area to get waivers from the federal government so they can enter in reemployment programs. there are many ideas in the states out there. we aren't mandating this from washington. we want the states to be the laraer tos of invention here. we also think it's important to allow states to screen applicants for drugs. there's been a 1960's department of labor ruling saying states can't even look

at this area. but with screening you can get workers the proper health so they're not bounced from a job because they fail a drug test or don't get hired because they fail a drug test. these are all important, common sense reforms and they will help reduce our unemployment rates. they will help people get jobs. and let me say in terms of job search, it is important that people -- to that there be requirements in legislation to do that. florida, for example, now requires those claiming benefits to report online each week for the five jobs they've applied for or met with a job counselor. the result? the first three months of the new law, 65% of the claimants did not meet that obligation. they need to be out therecy acysting in finding -- out there assisting in finding jobs they need.

those are then keeping those resources for those who truly are unemployed, who truly can't find a job, and this era of limited resources, we need to make sure that they're used in the best, mostesquive, most efficient possible way and these common sense reforms that give states the flexibility to design programs that meet the needs of their state, whether it be in drug screening, whether it be in searching for work, whether it be in reemployment services or even states designing programs that allow employers to receive part of the unemployment check so the worker gets hired. those are the kinds of innovations that don't happen in washington because they're saying, extend the 99 weeks as is. we can't afford to continue to deficit spend as the other party did $180 billion worth since 2008 of unpaid for unemployment benefits. this is an important program.

it's an important program that must be extended, it should be extended, it will be extended if my colleagues vote for this legislation and i urge support. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: i yield myself 30 seconds. mr. camp, we've just received information from the department of labor that the republican bill would cut unemployment benefits for 3 ppt 3 million americans next -- for 3.3 million americans next year compared to an extension of current law. in the narme of reform, don't cut the rug out from the unemployed of this country who are lacking for work. that is in one -- that is, in one word, inexcusable. inexcusable. i now yield two minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pascrell. the speaker pro tempore: the chair would remind all members to direct his or her comments

to the chair and the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for two minutes. mr. pascrell: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to commend mr. camp and mr. levin for working hard on these issues. i think they do try to put the country before the party. but this bill is terrible. it is terrible. the holidays must havely for the majority. what we have here is a serious proposal, it's a stocking stuffed to the brim with ideology. and i thought we could put that aside and put the country first. more important than parties, more important than idea ol. i adeprow with you, let's weed out those people who literally are crooks and try to steal from the public trouf and take advantage of unemployment. when i went to an unemployment office yesterday, i went in my area, my district, major city,

paterson, i went to the unemployment center, i looked through all those folks that were waiting online and working and looking and seeking work and being trained for specific jobs, particularly in health care, i looked through those records. if you think you're going to reduce the amount of money that americans have to spend to help their brothers and sisters you are dead wrong. dead wrong. what we've done in the bush tax cuts, they were for the least needy. now we're talking about the most needy. the unemployment rate in new jersey is 9.1%, the average in the united states is 8.6%. i'm asking, i'm begging you, let's get beyond that, and why did we put employers in this? what if employers had their part shaved like the employee that we are suggesting here? how many jobs would be created if the employer had not to pay 6.2% -- had to pay 6.2% instead

of 4.2%. i agree with the president shah hough been reduced to 3.1%, we could have put a lot of people to work. $1,000 in my pocket or your pocket, mr. speaker, may not be the end all but $1,000 in many people's who work every day for a living who love this country is not, is an insult and we're not just making matters worse, mr. speaker, we are not making them better. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. mr. camp. mr. camp: i ask unanimous consent for mr. upton to control 15 minutes of the time. the speaker pro tempore: is there objection? without objection, the gentleman from michigan, mr. upton, will control 15 minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. upton: mr. speaker, i would yield myself two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. upton: mr. speaker, this bill does a lot of things. it has real reforms, it's driven in large part by the unemployment reforms, extending

the payroll tax and the payroll tax cut and it's all paid for. you know, most americans don't really want unemployment, they want a job. the spectrum provisions in this bill help our first responders with the allocation of the deblock and creates perhaps as many as 100,000 jobs. the keystone pipeline decision is part of this bill, too. it requires the president to review and make a decision, either way, within 60 days of enactment. just this morning there were a number of press accounts that perhaps iran will soon be conducting exercises to close the straits. the keystone pipeline will connect canadian oil sands with refineries here in the united states, adding 20,000 private sector jobs. and perhaps as many as 118,000 indirect jobs. it reduces our reliance on

nonnorth american oil which is a good -- non-northern american oil, which is a good thing, and it brings perhaps as many as a billion barrels of -- a million barrels of oil a day, a million barrels a day, into the united states that we don't have to import from someplace else. canada is going to develop this no matter what. and that oil is either going to come a million barrels a day, it's either going to come to the united states or it's going to go to a place like china. we want it here. this is a good thing. it creates jobs, it reduces our reliance on oil from overseas. and it is something that ought to be part of this bill and it is and i would urge my colleagues to support it and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, will lev -- mr. levin. mr. levin: i now yield two minutes to another member of our committee, a distinguished active member indeed, mr. crowley of new york. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes.

mr. crowley: mr. speaker, i want to thank my colleague and friend from the state of michigan, mr. levin, for yielding me this time. mr. speaker, i rise in strong opposition to h.r. 3630. today the republican party's true colors are fully exposed and on display. and it isn't pretty. the g.o.p. argues time and time again against tax increases. but now it's clear that policy only applies when we are talking about increasing taxes on those making over $1 million a year. now, i don't begrudge anyone for making a buck in this country. i do, however, begrudge those who want to help america's wealthiest at the expense of america's middle class, especially when working people are hurting so much as they are right now. where is the shared sacrifice? where is the shared responsibility? i believe americans of all economic classes want a federal

government that has the vision for our future. a vision for how to keep america strong. that is why democrats have a plan to provide an immediate cut in middle class taxes. we are pushing to cut the payroll tax in half for all working people, as well as expand it to small businesses, the engine creator of jobs in america. unfortunately this g.o.p. bill denies any payroll tax relief to small businesses. my friends on the other side of the aisle argue taxes impede growth, hurt american businesses and stunt the economy. but apparently those arguments don't apply when we're talking about lowering taxes for the middle class or small businesses. president obama and the democratic party are championing cutting the payroll tax in half for all workers. my republican colleagues refuse to even consider that. democrats want to expand and enhance the payroll tax cut for all -- for employers. yet there's no such relief for small businesses in this bill. but aside from what is not in

this bill, i also want to object to what is in this bill. a new tax on senior citizens. if this bill is signed into law, seen yors' premiums for medicare will go up and go up dramatically. the true colors of the republicans are clear. seniors making $40,000 a year, can i just have an additional 15 seconds. seniors making $4,000 -- 40,000 a year are considered wealthy and deserve to see their medicare costs go up but a small temporary income tax surcharge on people earning $1 million a year, that's not acceptable? let's reject this bill, hardworking americans deserve better, they deserve middle class tax relief that doesn't come at the expense of our seniors. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. upton. mr. upton: may i -- may i inquire of the chair how much time is available on each side? the speaker pro tempore: mr. uptop has 13 minutes remaining.

mr. upton: and then with mr. camp the total is 18. the speaker pro tempore: mr. levin has 19 minutes remaining. mr. camp has 4 1/2 minutes remaining. mr. upton: at this point i will yield two minutes to the chairman of the communications subcommittee, mr. walden. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon is recognized for two minutes. mr. walden: i thank you, mr. chairman, and, mr. speaker, the american people have waited long enough for this congress to act to create jobs. this legislation does that, it does that through the jumpstarting opportunity in broadband spectrum act of 2011. there is no reason to delay this bill any further. this unleashes spectrum, both licensed and unlicensed, and would put into service would unleash new technologies, new innovations and the chairman of the federal communications commission has said this part of the bill we're debating today could create as many as 700,000 new jobs. other estimates say between 300,000 and 700,000 american

jobs. it generates upwards of $16 billion in companies who want to buy this broadband and pay the taxpayers for it. because it is america's spectrum. and it does something that the democrats, when they were in charge of the house for four years failed to do, it makes this spectrum available and it begins the process of building out an interoperable public safety broadband network as called for by the 9/11 commission. now, this legislation didn't just drop out of the sky. thoughtfully and creatively crafted and it finds the right balances. its provisions were improved as a result of input and counsel from five separate public hearings we held, 11 months of negotiations and discussions with members of both sides of the aisle. the f.c.c. and the ntia. but at some point the american people say, stop talking, get it done, and that's what this legislation does as part of this bigger bill. hardworking middle class taxpayers want transparency, accountability, they don't want a blank check to anybody, so this legislation has the proper protections for the taxpayers,

it builds out the public safety network, it creates 300,000 to 700,000 american jobs. our economy needs the help, americans need the jobs and we need to generate revenue for the american taxpayer in a productive way as this does. this legislation does all these things and does them well. i urge your support of this legislation. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: thank you. i now yield one minute to the distinguished gentleman from ohio, mr. kucinich. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. kucinich: thank you. as i'm preparing to speak i'm thinking about a debate we had three years ago where banks received $700 billion, about the fed a month ago printing $7.7 trillion for banks in this country and abroad. and here we're telling the american people who happen to be unemployed, you know, we're thinking of cutting benefits 40 weeks. people want work, not welfare. people want work, not unemployment compensation.

but when people do not have work , unemployment insurance is essential. it is a lifeline. and this legislation significantly cuts unemployment insurance, that safety net that millions rely on. it reduces the number of weeks unemployed workers are eligible for it by as much as 40 weeks. we need more jobs and yet we have more long-term unemployed. we know the unemployment rate is actually higher because people have stopped looking for work. nearly 14 million americans are out of work. and among the long-term unemployed, more than half have been out of work for over a year. the problem is not a lack of effort for those seeking a job, the problem is a lack of jobs. let's get america back to work, not be cutting unemployment compensation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. upton. mr. upton: i yield at this point two minutes to the chairman of the health subcommittee, mr. pitts, from pennsylvania. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two

minutes. mr. pitts: mr. speaker, we are all well aware of the inadequacies of the sustainable growth rate formula as a payment policy for reimbursing physicians. unfortunately the greatest threat arguably facing the medicare program, if not the entire health care system, was left out of the new health reform law. in 2010 congress passed five temporary fixes to a pending physician payment cut. some were retroactive and some lasted mere weeks. in other words, congress kicked the can down the road five times last year. physician practices need more certainty than week to week patches. when this legislation becomes law, it will be the first multiyear fix to medicare physician rates since 2003. instead of just addressing the

next oncoming payment cliff, the middle clacks -- class tax relief provides a level of stability and predictability in payments for providers not seen in years. and will allow congress and the administration to work together to develop a long-term answer to the medicare sustainable growth rate. this two-year fix, with a 1% increase in the next two years, is the first step in a long-term solution to eliminate the s.g.r. and develop a more equitable and affordable medicare payment policy for physicians. not voting for this and supporting this two-year fix may leave physicians facing just a one-year patch or more kicking the can down the road. with no plan on how to move forward. i urge my colleagues to support this legislation. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman yields back. mr. levin: i'm privileged to yield one minute to the very distinguished gentlelady from california, lynn woolsey. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. woolsey: thank you for yielding to me, sir. i walked in the shoes of those who are needy. i know what it's like to go without. i know what it's like to struggle. 40 years ago i found myself, no fault of my own, a single mother with three young children all under the age of 5 and barely a dime to my name. i was one of the lucky ones. i had a good education and so i was able to get a job and i didn't need unemployment benefits. but my job wasn't enough to feed those three little kids. i needed afdc just to make ends meet. nobody asked me to take a drug test, nobody asked if i had a g.e.d. i was in trouble and a generous, compassionate government helped me get back on my feet. that was over 40 years ago, my

friends. and i can assure you that my children and i have more than paid back for that generous help that we received. the republican bill is not consistent with american values, as i have lived them and understood them during my 74 years on this earth. we're all in this together, i believe. there before the grace of god -- mr. levin: i yield the gentlelady an additional 30 seconds. ms. woolsey: it's time for this congress to stop coddling millionaires and start standing up for all families and all children who are suffering in today's economy. and with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from michigan, mr. upton. mr. upton: can i inquire again on the time? i think we're ahead. i think we're a couple of minutes ahead. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. upton, has nine minutes remaining. remaining. the gentleman from