protected under the courts take it is hard to legislate that you can be positive but not be negative. wondering, is president of, this time around going to have to rely on super pacs -- as president obama at this time around is going to have to rely on super pacs or will he continue to get small donations? guest: both. they are worried that it will have to play defense, there is discussion about how much to support the pac, but the obama campaign is raising a lot of money. host: michael scherer, thank you very much, "time" magazine. now our coverage of the house. they will be voting on the debt ceiling issue sometime this afternoon between 4:00 and 5:00. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] representatives.

the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 5, 2011, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour debate . the chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to one hour and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and the minority whip limited to five minutes each, but in no event shall debate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. the chair recognizes the gentleman from oregon, mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. we begin the new year on the same sour note with which we ended 2011. fabricated crises which should not have happened but produced real-life consequences. the debt ceiling debacle being number one. the republican presidential candidate is showing a new era

of superpacs. even if you are not a republican, it's a sad indictment. we need two constructive, effective, responsible political parties, or at least as close as we can come. it's past time to respond to things that americans need and support. it really doesn't need to be this hard. i would suggest that one test going forward would be dealing with issues that could be supported by both the tea party and the wall street -- occupy wall street protestors. both movements responses to a shared concern that americans are being shortchanged, that america is on a path that is not sustainable and a political process that is unable to respond to their needs. both movements are understandable and have valid concerns. the political process is too often stacked against people trying to make changes in how we do business. the degree of overlap between

the two narratives is very encouraging, and i think is healthy that both found political expression. the question is the extent to which people who identify with these movements can eye departmentify with each other -- identify with each other in practical, achievable responses. i think they can. this year i hope that both sides of the aisle here in congress will think about what those shared objectives might be. agricultural reform ought to be at the very top of the list. we have a system that the right and the left can agree shortchanges most farmers and ranchers and is far too expenses. it's tilted toward large agri business, not to smaller businesses, the quintessential family farm. we know we can do better to help more people while we save taxpayer money, enhance the health of our children dealing with school nutrition. another major area of agreement

deals with american leadership in helping the two billion poor people around the world who do not have access to safe drinking water or adequate sanitation or tragically to both. the united states has a potential to dramatically enhance the effectiveness of the work we are already doing and the money we are already spending. i am pleased we have bipartisan legislation with my friend, ted poe from texas, as the lead republican to enhance these international water and sanitation efforts. for years i've been working to enhance the capacity of our health care system to help people when they are most vulnerable. this is commonly been referred to as end of life, but it is not just that. it is much more. it is any time people are in difficult medical conditions, when they may lose control over what happens to them. we need to make sure that people understand their choices, are able to articulate what they and their family want

and that their health care wishes, whatever they may be, are respected. this bipartisan concept got caught up in the madness of the 2009 political lie of the year death panels, but it's now time to revisit it. it's overwhelmingly supported by the american people, including the tea party and occupy wall street, costs nothing and will help enhance the well-being of our families. there's a golden opportunity to come together around a collective vision of rebuilding and renewing america. this is happening at the state and local level as people are uniting around their vision and putting up money to achieve it. this is the fastest way to revitalize the economy and protect our quality of life and the federal government should be playing. while i strongly support efforts to correct the distorting and some ways corruption of the political process by avalanches of secret

money that is now savaging republican candidates for the presidential nomination, there's another corrupting process that is taking place for which there are no constitutional barriers to remediate. the legislative redistricting process. in most states it's a scandal where politicians pick the voters rather than voters being able to pick the politician. we all ought to identify with reform efforts in a are emerging in this area. these are five simple steps that don't cost money and certainly in the long run save money while they enhance the integrity of the system. they can strengthen the country while revitalizing the political process and dealing with the frustrations of wall street and the tea party. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. shimkus, for five minutes. mr. shimkus: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection.

mr. shimkus: thank you, mr. speaker. it's great to be back down on the floor, back to be in washington, d.c., to continue what i spend most of my time last year was addressing the high level of nuclear waste issues in this country. so today we go to the great state of tennessee and identify a location where there is presently high level of nuclear waste stored and compare that to the site that was picked that is in federal law right now which is the high level nuclear waste depository scheduled to occur in yucca mountain. so here we have -- first of all this is sequoyah in tennessee. there is over 1,094 m.t.u.'s of spent fuel on site. at yucca mountain, which is in the desert in nevada, there's

currently no nuclear waste on site. at sequoyah, the waste is stored above the ground in pools and dry cast. if we were to put it in yucca mountain where it is supposed to go, the waste would be stored 1,000 feet underground underneath in essence a mountain. at sequoyah, the waste is 25 feet from the groundwater, from the table. at yucca mountain it would be 1,000 feet above the water table. and yucca mountain is 100 miles from the colorado river. sequoyah is 14 miles from the city of chattanooga and 14 miles from cickamau combmbings a lake. so -- chickamauga lake. what happened in japan with fukushima die -- nuclear waste, pools had dried up. the nuclear waste heated up,

and then you had almost a worldwide catastrophe right next to the ocean. if we were doing what was public policy in federal law and collecting our high level nuclear waste and taking it to a desert underneath a mountain, that would be a much more secure location than around our major municipalities, our streams and our groundwater locations. but, no, because of this administration and some political promises made in the last election cycle, they have defunded and pulled off the table yucca mountain from consideration. in 1982, the nuclear waste policy act made the federal government responsible for collecting waste. since that time, $9 billion was spent on 20 years studying for a suitable location. that study ended in yucca

mountain. in 1987 congress named yucca mountain the sole candidate site for a permanent repository. and then in 1994, d.o.e. published scientific support demonstrating that yucca is capable of helping public health and safety. d.o.e. to commence disposal of spent nuclear fuel, so we pay these nuclear utilities to hold nuclear waste that we should be collecting based upon federal law. in 2002 we voted here and the president and congress approved yucca as the site repository. d.o.e. issued a license application in 2008, and then in 2009, president obama announced plans to terminate yucca mountain after $15 billion spent in studying this site. i'll close with this. would you rather have nuclear waste 14 miles away from a major metropolitan, next to a lake, or would you have a

nuclear waste hundreds of miles away from the largest city, 100 miles from a river, underneath a mountain in the desert, public policy, good public policy demands we move forward on yucca mountain. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlelady from alabama, ms. sewell, for five minutes. ms. sewell: thank you, mr. speaker. today i rise to congratulate the university of alabama crimson tide for being the 2011 b.c.s. champions. roll tide. the state of alabama is still number one in college football. for the past three consecutive years a team from the state of alabama has won the national championship trophy. the university of alabama has been the national champs twice in the last three years. the championship game between alabama and l.s.u. represents college football at its finest. both schools have a proud and very rich tradition in football

history, and the l.s.u. tigers should be commended for an outstanding season. while both teams deserve recognition, in the end alabama beat l.s.u. with a final score of 21-0. i want to congratulate the coaches, staff, team and the entire university family and fans for an amazing season. it was your hard work, persistence, leadership and commitment all season long that made this decisive victory become a reality. the university of alabama has had a long-standing tradition of excellence in collegiate football. this year's victory represented the 14th national championship title for the university of balanced budget amendment. since being founded in 1892, the crimson tide football program has achieved 813 victories at the ncaa division i and 26 conference championships. the crimson tide also sets an ncaa record with 58 postseason bowl appearances. the tide leads the s.e.c. west

division with seven division titles and seven appearances in the s.e.c. championship games. this entire team deserves recognition and honor, and i want to especially acknowledge trent richardson who is the heisman trophy finalist and winner of this year's nation's mouth outstanding running back. i'd also like to acknowledge barrett jones, who was the 2011 outland trophy winner for the nation's interior lineman in college football. this championship team also includes six players who were selected for the 2011 associated press all-american team. mark barron, dante hightower, barrett jones, trent richardson, courtney upshaw and dre' kirk path rick. this year's team -- dre' kirkpatrick. this win is a unifying victory for the state of alabama who suffered so much during the devastation of the april tornados. this victory shows the

resilience spirit of alabamians and reflects our hope for a better future. i speak on behalf of the constituents of the seventh congressional district, the great state of alabama and this nation as i express how proud we are of the players, coaches and athletic staff of the university of alabama for making this victory possible and helping our communities heal. i also want to thank representative cassidy of louisiana for being such a good sport and looking so dapper today in his brand new crimson tide tie and attire. what an addition to your wardrobe. i urge my colleagues to please join me in celebrating the achievements of the university of alabama crimson tide and its outstanding athletes on their 2011 b.c.s. championship victory. roll tide. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan, mr. walberg, for five minutes. mr. walberg: thank you, mr.

speaker. when the 112th congress was sworn in on january 5, 2011, i, along with many of my fellow republicans, voted to change the status quo. instead of escalating spending, we have made and pushed for significant spending cuts. instead of forcing $1 trillion government takeover of health care on the american people, we voted to repeal it in the house. and instead of imposing costly and burdensome regulations on already struggling business economy, we passed legislation to reverse overly burdensome regulations so businesses can get back to hiring again. . these are the vows we made to our constituents when we took office a year ago. despite hit numerous snags in the do-nothing senate and leadership lacking in the white house, we delivered on the promises. in the past year the house has passed 27 job creating measures as part of our plan for american job creators.

wife remained committed to removing the onerous taxes and regulation that is are crippling small businesses and our families and are the cause for so much distrust of washington. we have begun an honest conversation about which programs are in alignment with our constitutional principles and which programs are wasteful and inefficient. we have the responsibility to make the federal government live within its means. just like hardworking families across the country. this means we have cut spending, stopped raising taxes, and eliminate wasteful spending from our outdated, overreaching government programs. when we took office last january, we vowed to reduce discretionary spending to 2008 levels and we delivered. the house passed a bill to reduce spending by $5.8 trillion over the next 10 years. we also voted to cut over 100 programs across government and save billions of dollars in the process.

in may the house overwhelmingly voted against giving president obama a blank check to increase the debt limit without spending reductions or reforms. we have relentlessly fought for policies that will encourage job creation and free our families from the burdensome economic problems of government regulation. we acted to undo duplicative permitting requirements for farmers by passing the reduce regulatory burdens act. we pushed back against the president's attempts to implement a cap and trade policy, an energy reduction policy really, through the regulatory process by passing the energy tax prevention act. as we confronted the e.p.a.'s costly and burdensome agenda by passing three regulatory reform bills that save guard our environment while keeping the americans at work. on november 16, we defeated the 3% withholding rule by passing h.r. 674. this misguided tax rule would

have required government agencies at all levels to withhold 3% of the payments the businesses for good and services. any small business that contracts with the government would have their profit margins wiped out if such a rule were allowed to take effect. we passed the rains act to bring accountability to the executive branch by requiring that government bureaucrats receive permission to congress, the elected representatives of the people, before the implementation of any major regulation. just two weeks after beginning our work in congress, the house voted to repeal the overreaching, costly, and harmful government takeover of health care that president obama forced upon the american people. h.r. 2 was one of my first votes after being sworn in. the bill cut new spending by $1.4 trillion over 10 years, and repealed the president's health care takeover. and i was proud to vote to repeal this job-killing law which will do nothing to bring stability and certainty to

american families. throughout the first session of the 112th congress, house republicans have remained committed to changing the way the government does business. we delivered on our promises to pass legislation that reins in spending and encourages job creation. going forward i'm hopeful our friends in the senate and the leadership in the white house will finally be ready to join us in passing legislation that the american people want and not let dozens of job producing bills sit idle in the senate. this year i look forward to working with my colleagues in the house as we look beyond the next election and focus on improving people's lives and creating a brighter economic future with the freedom god really intended for all of us. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from oregon, mr. defazio, for five minutes.

mr. pea yazo: pipa, protect internet privacy. -- excuse me protect intellectual property act. sopa, stop online piracy act. who could be against bills like that? to prevent the theft of intellectual property or online piracy, to prevent online piracy. clever names. great. content, not so much. now, the worst organized government sanctioned theft of international property in the world goes on day in, day out in communist china. and this government has done precious little to rein that in. we run a huge trade deficit with

china. we are buying their goods. they are dependent upon our purchasing of their goods, and yet we allow them to get away with that. this bill does nothing to deal with the organized theft in communist china, which is the greatest problem that confronts us in the left of intellectual property. now, concealed behind these really benign names and embedded in the text is something that's kind of like what we call malware. we know what malware can do to our computers. we have seen it. the black screen of death. well, this is a little bigger than malware that gets on your computer, steals your data, or crashes your computer t could crash the entire internet and the productivity in the internet. now, eventually this legislation

could threaten the existence of an entire domain because of one, one blog entry, one user link, the whole domain could be taken down. wow. that's pretty incredible. imagine how some of these user content cites are going to have to try to police things. they can always err on the side of censorship because there is broad provisions in this bill to allow you, in good faith, to censor something, because you thought maybe it was a problem. so they could start sensoring -- censoring rather dramatically. the legislation also includes very broad language for so-called anti-circumvention. that is any cite that provides information that -- site that provides information that, could, maybe, possibly help users get around censorship would be a target.

well, that's kind of an interesting contradiction for the government of the united states because actually we promote, through the state department, software that helps democratic activists in communist china, which i already mentioned, in iran, and other vicious dictatorships around the world, to get around their government's online censorship. we are not going to enshrine principles that would allow this sort of censorship, so we are mimicking some of the actions of the iranian and communist chinese, i guess, in regards to the internet here. we are going to allow private companies to impozz the censorship instead of the government imposing the censorship. they would have government enforcement behind their actions, the private right of actions, that would be allowed in this bill. this is pretty extraordinary

legislation. very poorly drafted. if you wanted to -- if you didn't care about the internet and it didn't exist, and you wanted to put in the toughest possible protections of theoretically for privacy -- for piracy and intellectual property, maybe you'd write something like this, but there is a better way to go than to kill the internet at the same time as you're trying to get at these few bad actors that are out there. i'd love to see a bill drafted to take on the chinese on their multibillion dollar annual theft of bem property in the united states. we can't take on china. no, no, they are too big. so instead we'll go after small creative people who could tread across this line unknowingly who are participating in a much larger site, they have their blog as part of that site, or they have their post as part of that site. the whole site could be taken

down. this legislation, i'm pleased to say, that it seems like the white house has woken up to the dangers here. the fact that we are essentially creating the patriot act, national security letter provisions for private companies to censor the internet. we cannot let that happen. we must stop this legislation. we also need to take on meaningfully piracy and the theft of intellectual property. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina, mr. jones, for five minutes. mr. jones: mr. speaker, thank you very much. i wrote a letter to president obama expressing outrage over the fact that afghan president karzai again stumped our country and men and women in uniform by signing an oil contract with china. how much more do the american people have to sacrifice with their young men and women?

how many more young men and women have to walk the countryside of afghanistan and have a leg blown off or an arm or killed so that mr. karzai can continue to say to uncle sam, excuse me, we don't need you, but you got to stay here so i can cut all these deals with these foreign countries? december 8, 2010, "washington post" article general petraeus and former ambassador eikenberry, president karzai said, i have three main enemies, the taliban, the united states, and the international community. karzai further stated, if i had to choose sides today i'd choose the taliban. yes, young men and women in uniform, thank you for what you're doing, but it's time to bring you home. november 14, 2010, in an

interview with "the washington post" karzai said that he wanted american troops off the roads and out of afghan homes and that the long-term presence of so many foreign soldiers would only worsen the war. very seldom do i say thank you, mr. karzai, you're exactly right. march 12, 2011, "new york times," i quote, i request that nato and american soldiers should stop these operations on our soil, he said. this war is not on our soil. if this war is against terror, then this war is not here. terror is not here. mr. karzai, president of afghanistan. october, 2011, during a television interview, president karzai stated, and i quote, if ever there is a war between pakistan and america,

afghanistan will side with the pakistanis. why are we still there spending $10 billion a month? and say to the american people, we'll cut your school programs, we are going to cut your bridge programs, we are going to cut your road programs. american people, we don't have the money. but somehow we have $10 billion a month to send to mr. karzai. this little boy beside me is named tyler jordan, in 2003, his father, gunny sergeant jordan, was killed in iraq. i have spoken to the mom, amanda. she lives in connecticut. i have asked her about tyler. i have had this picture since 2003. she says, he still misses his baddy. he will always miss his father. bin laden is dead, al qaeda has

been disbursed all offer the world. i hope the american people will call the members of congress of both parties and say get our troops out of afghanistan, do not wait until 2014, 2015. i don't know how many more will have to die for a corrupt leader named karzai. we have won. bin laden is dead. we have won, declare victory and bring them home. god continue to bless our men and women in uniform. bless the families who have given a child dying for freedom in afghanistan, iraq, and god please continue to bless america. we are in great need of your guidance, dear god. god bless america. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlelady from california, ms. lee, for five minutes. ms. lee: thank you, mr. speaker. first of all let me just say to the prior gentleman who spoke, mr. jones, that i appreciate him continuing to call for the end

of the war and occupation of afghanistan and bringing our young men and women home. because of course we know that this war has created undue hardship, so many deaths, and really has been the longest war, really, in our lifetime. so thank you, mr. jones, for your leadership. i am the founder of the congressional out-of-poverty caucus, and i have to rise today on behalf of the caucus to continue to talk about the tide of poverty sweeping our country. . as we begin the second session of the 112th congress, we must help the millions of americans in poverty looking hard for a job and working hard to move up the ladder of opportunity and have their share of the american dream. "the new york times" reported that economic mobility, the ability to work hard and make your fortune from humble begins, which is the fundamental cornerstone of the american dream, that's getting

harder and harder to achieve in america. americans are falling behind in our increasingly cut -- and are increasingly cutoff from finding a job and supporting their family. how could this happen? the failed policies of the past administration only helped the richest among us become richer. and today house republican leadership has failed to address the needs of most americans. the only way that our economy can recover and reduce poverty is to create jobs and to expand access to economic opportunities. we find that the lack of opportunity and economic mobility is worse at the bottom and without a real commitment to change, it will only get worse. the republican-led congress has been too beholden to their extremist tea party base to reach the necessary compromises to move our nation forward and to begin the hard work of rebuilding and growing our economy for all americans.

now, president obama did stop the economy from going off a cliff and congress must work with the president to put our nation back on the road to recovery and growth. we continue to have unacceptably high unemployment and we all know that the rates of unemployment and the rates of poverty in our minority communities continue to be about twice the national average. but even these painful and these shameful statistics may not completely show just how much wall street has focused their efforts on stripping communities of color of the little wealth that they have managed to accumulate over the last few decades. the pew research center found that minority households were hit hard by the financial and housing crisis. the pew center found from 2005 to 2009 medium wealth fell by 66% among hispanic households and 53% among black households compared to just 16% among

white households. as a result of these declines, the typical african-american household now has, mind you, just 5,677 dollars in wealth. the typical hispanic household has $6,300 in wealth and the typical white house household has $113,000 in net worth. so the facts speak for themselves. wall street targeted minority homeowners and minority communities and we must respond accordingly. it is long past time that we as a nation enact bold programs and policies that ensure we are a nation that truly does provide equal opportunity and access to the american dream rather than allowing, for example, minorities to be targeted for policies and programs that undermine their ability to achieve the american dream. we must begin immediately to have an up or down vote on a clean bill that extends vital emergency unemployment benefits for the 99 weeks, for the

millions of job seekers who continue to struggle to find a job and are no longer eligible for unemployment compensation. mr. speaker, the majority of americans who are struggling to find a job now are already no longer getting unemployment benefits due to the 99-week wall. people want to work. there are four people looking for one job. we must restore the dream act, a package of job creation measures and reforms introduced by the congressional progressive caucus. this bill will boost employment and create jobs in the short term and improve the fiscal outlook in the long term. it's the right thing to do. instead, this tea party-led congress has wasted an entire year without any jobs bills, without extending any new help to the millions of americans in need. we can't wait for congress.

we need to make sure that the poor and unemployed find good-paying jobs and make that our number one priority. we must remove these obstacles to reignite the american dream. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. kissinger, for five minutes. mr. kissinger: thank you, mr. speaker. when we look at the most important issues facing our country today, obviously the economy -- mr. kinzinger: thank you, mr. speaker. when we look at the important issues facing our country today, obviously the economy and jobs. national defense and energy and the lack of energy here at home. the president's jobs council talked about expanding gas and oil drilling as well as expedited energy projects like pipelines. the reports stated that the council recognizes the important safety and environmental concerns

surrounding these types of projects but now more than ever the jobs and economic and energy security benefits of these energy projects require us to tackle the issues head on and to expeditiously, though cautiously, more forward on projects that can support hundreds of thousands of jobs. the keystone x.l. pipeline does just that. this pipeline would directly create 25,000 jobs in manufacturing and construction and 118,000 total jobs. in addition, we would see 830,000 barrels of safe and secure oil each day from our friends to the north, which means we'll need less oil from countries we can no longer rely on and are not friendly to the interests of the united states. cat piller, a leading manufacture from my home state, supports securing stable energy

from the north american ally and urges approval of the pipeline. the global pipeline general manager for caterpillar said considering the economic and security benefits of these vital resources, we should continue to expand america's resources to safe and affordable energy to ensure global security and stable prices for consumers. pipelines are a critical part of our energy infrastructure and additional pipeline capacity will help consumers and businesses throughout the united states. there's a lot of talk of the need for bipartisanship today. there's a lot of talk for the need to unite different factions of people into one common goal for our country, and i agree that when you look at this project, the keystone x.l. pipeline, it has bipartisan support. there were democrats that supported this bill as well as republicans and something i believe we should move forward on as a country. manufacturers and unions are -- and union organizations are

united alike in supporting this project. last summer the state department announced the extension that this extension had passed extensive environmental reviews. but president obama has already stalled for more than 26 days to make a decision on the keystone x.l. pipeline. the fact is that someone will benefit from oil out of alberta, canada. if it's not the united states, it will be china, unless we take immediate action to expand the keystone x.l. pipeline and it will be american businesses and consumers who will suffer the consequences from our inaction. ladies and gentlemen, i'm an air force pilot. i've been overseas. i've fought in these wars, and i can tell you as much as i think we're doing the right thing, one thing we can do is to reduce our alliance on foreign oil so when iran closes the straits of hormuz, it leads to what that means for them. i strongly urge president obama

to immediately support this job-creating, bipartisan project. the time to act is now, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlelady from ohio, ms. kaptur, for five minutes. ms. kaptur: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for five minutes and to place extraneous material in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. kaptur: thank you, mr. speaker. my first reaction upon reading dr. guard gees den grading comments about the polish army was to see red, blood red. as a polish american, i fail to see the humor when the president of the ohio state university described bureaucratic turf battles at his school as administration shooting at each other kind of like, quote, the polish army. his comments revealed not only insensitivity to the suffering of the polish people over the past two centuries but a shocking lack of knowledge of history. surely the leader of a major

institution of higher learning should know better. ohio state, after all, is home to the center for slovic and east european studies. have been spent my public career trying to overcome ethnic stereotyping, i thought about how to respond. do i hold a press conference? do i make an official statement? the polish american congress quickly demanded received and accepted an apology from the president. but i kept thinking about my beloved dear friend, colonel, a true hero of poland and america who died last year at age 97. i'd known this family for almost half a century. marian's brilliant daughter, mary ann, was my friend in high school and the valedictorian of our high school in toledo. her father, marion, had commanded a platoon at the place where world war ii started on land.

september 1, 1939 against impossible odds, the polish army secured a tactical victory at the battle of mocra. there was nothing disorganized or chaotic about marion's home unit, the 21st regimen, which eventually was awarded poland's highest military honor. no, president gee, the polish soldiers inflicted surprisingly heavy losses against the more heavily equipped nazi invaders who lost 800 men. eventually the poles situation deteriorated as they ran low on ammunition and medicine. no western country came to their aid. no western country. the infantry commander considered surrendering, but the calvary commander ordered a charge. polish soldiers bravely drew

their swords, positioned their artillery and heroically charged german positions even though they were hopelessly overmatched by blitzkrieg forces on the land, including two divisions and in the air. a fellow soldier from marion's hometown thought marion had been killed and reported the sad news to mary ann's family who held a funeral for him. in fact, marion had survived, had moved east with his remaining forces to fight the red army who attacked poland three weeks earlier on september 17. my friend, marion, was grazed in the head by a russian bullet. he then joined the underground, the resistance for over two years until he was arrested, brutally tore turd and sent to auschwitz in death block 11 and then transferred to rosen and then again in 1945 for which he

escaped. a woman who revealed his name was beheaded by nazi forces. daring to write his own democratic constitution in -- two years after our own. polish lost a great percentage of their population. approximately one in five people. cities such as warsaw were erased because people fought unrelentingly until they were subdued. fleeing to germany, marion met his life-long love, a polish girl scout and a member of the downground resistance. she and her family had been arrested in watersauer and sent to the notorious prison and she had experiments performed on her. they married, they had their first child, my friend, and

immigrated to the u.s. they were sponsored by marion's cousin in toledo. he published the polish newspaper. he built a career in neighborhood and community development, working until age 80. like some generals, marion dedicated his life to the cause of liberty and community building. he was an extraordinary man. in different times, i think he might have been president of poland. he surely should have run for office here. i'm going to send a copy of the book "seven pass to freedom" to president gee. i hope he reads it. it's overtime to show respect for poland's struggle for liberty. mr. speaker, i yield back my remaining time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey, mr. lance, for five minutes.

mr. lance: thank you, mr. speaker. last week, president obama asked congress for $1.2 trillion in additional borrowing authority. and today congress has the opportunity to respond to the president's request. since the president took office, the national debt has increased $4.6 trillion. . the current federal debt now exceeds the gross domestic product and our federal government is borrowing more than 30 cents of every dollar it spends. in recent years that has been as high as 40 cents of every dollar it spends. the president's most recent request of a $1.2 trillion increase will bring the debt limit to $16.394 trillion. yet despite this fiscal outlook, admiral mullen, the recently retired chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, has rightly

called the national debt the single biggest threat to our national security. president obama and some in congress still refuse to make the difficult, long-term spending choices necessary to begin restoring fiscal discipline to the federal budget. the president publicly opposed a balanced budget amendment. and an idea about which thomas jefferson said, i would be willing to depend on that alone for the reduction of the administration of our government. the house of representatives in a majority fashion passed a balanced budget amendment late last year. unfortunately it did not receive a 2/3 vote here, as the constitution requires, and i hope we can revisit that issue. president obama has failed to put forth a credible budget plan that reins in run away federal

entitlement spending. it is the single biggest contributor toward our long-term fiscal problems. when the president releases his budget proposal for fiscal year 2013 in a few weeks, he has another opportunity to propose real spending caps and entitlement program reforms. i hope he will seize the opportunity to do so. i commend the president's attention and to the administration's attention for example, chairman ryan's budget proposals. and we would like to work in good faith with the administration and with the president to make sure that we move forward in a fiscally responsible way. but today's debate, mr. speaker, is about leadership and making tough choices. the governor of the state of new jersey, my friend, chris kristi, said, last year, leadership today in america has to be about

doing the big things. when given the opportunity to lead on issues concerning levels of spending, debt, and deficits, i urge president obama to choin with us in doing the big things to make sure that we can get our fiscal house in order, a glide path back toward fiscal responsibility toward balancing our budget over time. we need to restore that fiscal discipline in washington instead of choosing the fiscally perilous path of more spending, larger annual deficits, and mounting debt. the next generation will have to pay back this debt. it is a tremendous burden on young people and it will sap our strength in the continuing competition of the united states with the nations around the world, including, for example, china and india. mr. speaker, i will oppose the

president's request for an additional $1.2 trillion in spending. i hope that we can work together with the administration on this fundamental issue. the issue that confronts the nation of fiscal responsibility, and may the united states be restored to fiscal responsibility so that future generations might succeed as generations have succeeded, generation in and generation out, the great promise of the american nation. thank you very much, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlelady from california, ms. woolsey, for five minutes. ms. woolsey: mr. speaker, our nation is now in the 124th consecutive month of war. and while those of us privileged to serve in this body enjoyed time back home with our families for the holidays, there is no

such holiday break for our service members. who are serving in harm's way. thousands of american families had a permanently empty seat around their table this holiday season because a son or daughter or mother or father was killed in one of these senseless wars that we have been fighting. i would note as a bit of an aside, mr. speaker, how ironic it is that two days ago we celebrated a federal holiday named for a man who was a proud and principled pacifist who believed in the moral power of nonviolence resistence. martin luther king once said, a nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom. mr. speaker, it's time we paid

more than lip service to his dream. it's time we started living in. it's time also that we paid more than lip service to our veterans who are returning home from iraq and afghanistan. these men and women who have courageously sacrificed so much for us are coming home to an economy that seems to have no place for them. yes, we are in the grips of a devastating job crisis that's affecting just about every community and every group in the united states. but veterans of the afghanistan and iraq wars are feeling the squeeze disproportionately. even as the job numbers have picked up some for the rest of the economy, because it has rallied slightly, veterans are slipping further behind. overall unemployment dropped to 8.5% in december for our

country, but for veterans who served since september, 2001, the jobless rate is a staggering 13.1%. is this what we call a hero's welcome? is this how our nation shows its gratitude? closing this gap, closing this gap must be at the top of our 2012 calendar. there has been some progress, for example, in november congress passed and the president siped the vow to higher heroes act, which provides tax credits to employers who hire veterans. but, mr. speaker, we need to do much, much more because unless we take bold action, this problem is going to get much worse before it gets any better as the war in afghanistan and the war in iraq and hopefully the war in afghanistan winds

down and even more returning troops flood the jobs market. we know what to do. there is no question. we need more job training. we need more technical assistance so that these skilled young people can find the work they need. we need more career counseling and job fairs. we need to increase our investment in veterans housing initiatives. how about helping veterans become entrepreneurs by starting their own businesses and basically we need more jobs in this country. we must not pinch pennies on veterans. we must not pinch pennies on their health care, and we must make sure that wounded veterans aren't victimized by job discrimination. so let's get creative here. let's put our money where our mouth is. if we can spend billions of dollars every month on wars, then certainly we can spend a fraction of that to help the

americans who fought those wars when they come home they can have a seamless transition back to civilian life. these wars have already taken too much from all of us from or country -- our country. we can't let them also destroy the job prospects and the successful futures of the people who serve so bravely on the frontlines. it's time to bring our troops home. and at the same time providing them with the jobs they need to support their families. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, for five minutes. mr. poe: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, the united states constitution is the law of the land. it must be followed in the spirit and in the letter of the law. article 2 and section 2 gives the executive authority to appoint certain public ministers

with advice and consent of the u.s. senate. when the senate is in recess, the executive can make temporary appointments until the end of that legislative session. see, the constitution envisions cooperation by the executive with the senate over naming persons to offices that rule over the people of america. both the executive and the senate must agree prior to an official appointment. the senate within their legal prerogative has been blocking three nlrb appointments and the appointment of the head of the new consumer financial protection bureau. however, ignoring the senate the executive appointed these people anyway. he declared the senate was in recess when he made such appointments. but was it? constitutional experts disagree. the senate was in a pro forma

session, one reason they were in pro forma session was to prevent recess appointments by the executive branch. during pro forma sessions the senate can do business and meet another constitutional requirement to not be in recess without permission of the house of representatives. more from the constitution. article 1, section 5 says no chamber, the house or the senate, can recess for more than three days without the approval of the other chamber. the house did not and even could not agree to a recess of the senate because the senate was in session not in a recess. the executives claim the senate was in a recess is flawed because the house did not consent to any senate recess. thus the senate legally had to still be in session until the house agreed to a recess under our constitution.

furthermore, congress determines when it's in recess not the executive branch. there is more evidence the senate was in session. the executive says the pro forma session was not a real session but a recess so thus the recess appointments. however, during this pro forma session, the senate passed legislation. the controversial payroll tax extension law became law signed by the executive. if the senate was in recess, as executive claims, then it seems the payroll extension law is null and void. why? because congress cannot pass legislation unless it's actually in session. however the opposite is true. since the payroll tax law was passed during this pro forma session, and the appointments were made during this pro forma session, the appointments are null and void. they violate the letter and spirit of the constitution. they were made without confirmation of the senate.

these were not recess appointments because the senate was in session. the executive cannot have it both ways. the executive cannot use linguistic gimmicks to redefine the words recess and session to his own liking just so he can have it his way. the letter and spirit of the constitution had been bruced and violated by his actions -- bruised and violated by his actions. the constitution must be followed whether one agrees with what it says or not. even if the executive wins his argument, which is legally and logically flawed, he has ignored the framework of the constitution which is built on executive cooperation with congress. the executive went his own way. and that's just the way it is. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. davis, for five minutes. mr. davis: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. davis: thank you, mr. speaker. on yesterday, january 17,

muhammad ali became 70 years old, so i rise to salute the champ and to wish him a happy birthday. ali has taken a lot of hard licks during his lifetime, but has always gotten up and has always maintained his dignity. ali lived in and spent a great deal of time in chicago. he attended events, went to meetings and was part of community life. therefore i got to know him quite well. a few years ago after he had become ill with parkinson's syndrome, i sat next to ally has a community banquet and he was having difficulty holding on to his food and eating it. the person on the other side of him was trying to help. ally -- ali was becoming more and more irritated and finally in a polite but firm manner, said, thanks, but please leave me a-- alone, i can do this and i did. and i think that's characteristic of his life.

born cashes clay, ali converted tois limb, became a muslim, and changed his name. ali took hits from individuals and fans who disagreed with his position. initially categorized as not qualified to serve in the military because of poor performance on a selective service examine, ali is then reclassified but in april of 1967 he refused induction into the army. he is tagged a draft dodger and stripped of his championship and barred from boxing. . he's ultimately permitted to return. there are rumors that the fight might be canceled because of his emerging relationship with malcolm x and the nation of islam. however, the fight does take place. cashes clay wins and a month --

cacious clay wins and a month later he has a new name, ali. a friend of mine who graduated from high school with my wife, refused to -- and was a heavyweight champion, refused to address ali by his new name and ali whupped his soundly and tonighted him by asking him continuously, what's my name, what's my name? mohammed ali is known as the greatest known for his fine style in the boxing ring. but some call him the greatest because of his continuous efforts outside the world of boxing. since his retirement in 1981, he's gone to do great things to help the disenfranchised throughout the world. in 1991 he traveled to iraq during the gulf war and met with saddam hussein in an effort to negotiate the release of american hostages. on january 8, 2005, ali was presented with the presidential

citizens medal by president george w. bush. he's received the spirit of america award, calling him the most recognized american in the world. he's also been to afghanistan as the u.n. messager of peace. one of his most recent accomplishment is the creation of $61 million nonprofit ali center opened in downtown louisville. this center was reflect his core values of peace, social responsibility, respect and personal growth. these are the values that have made mohammed ali the great man he is today, and it's those values that should not be forgotten. instead, they should be passed down to future generations. and so i say, happy birthday, mr. champ. and thanks for what you have meant and continue to mean to millions of people throughout the world. and i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. ken ham, for -- mr. denham, for five minutes. mr. denham: thank you, mr. speaker. request unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. denham: this month is the 35th consecutive month under this administration's economic policies, over 8% unemployment. and if you look at an area like mine in california's central valley, we've been doubled that for that same time period. 16% to 20% unemployment is unacceptable. we need to be pushing policies that will change, not only for the central valley, but across the entire nation. now, i am a small business owner and i will tell you from my perspective the $1 trillion stimulus package, the government takeover of health care, the dodd-frank bill, are all things that created uncertainty in my business. but in the central valley, i'm also a farmer.

and as a farmer, regulations like the dust act that creates uncertainty, we're not allowed to have dust in a farming scenario, i can't shake the almonds off my almond trees. i can't even grow almonds in the central valley. i can't put a plow in the ground because tilling the dirt will create dust. the regulations of uncertainty keep jobs from being created in the central valley. as well as water. without water we cannot grow the crops that we need to feed the rest of the nation as well as the rest of the world. the water and the regulations that prohibit the water from getting to our farms creates the uncertainty year in and year out. but looking long term, we need to have the policies that allow us to have offstream storage, that will have greater water storage, greater certainty so we know we are going to have a consistent flow of water throughout california's central valley year in and year out. and once again, we call on the

president. it's fine to come to our great state and visit l.a. and san francisco. you can visit the coastline in san diego. but california's central valley, the breadbasket of the world, where we're creating greater agricultural commodities than many other regions, not only in the united states but across the world. we would ask the president to come and understand the uniqueness of the central valley and some of the battles that we face. this also comes at a time where next week we're going to see the 1,000th day since we had a budget. the most fundamental responsibility of the federal government, of the president, of congress, without a budget is going to be a president that fails to have a budget in his entire first term. 1,000 days is coming quickly, and you know, that same type of

uncertainty, you know, whether it's a business that is forced to have a budget every year or a family that is forced to have a budget, our federal government needs to have a budget as well. and i think that we, you know, need to look at the bottom line of getting both houses of congress to work together. you know, whether it's job creation or actually having a budget, it's incumbent on both houses to work together and find solutions. now, i'm one member that is providing a solution dealing with our civility of civilian property realignment act. selling the things we don't need. utilizing offices, like the post office down the street here, that cost us $6.5 million every year to maintain yet sits vacant for well over a decade. we have many people that want to redevelop it. 150 jobs just in redevelopping that one site. another 150 jobs ongoing once

that site is redeveloped. now, isn't in a a bipartisan solution that not only solves a problem with bringing in revenue but also getting rid of the cost of something that just is not needed, a cost that we don't need to bear the expense of? and at the same time if you want new tax revenue, let's put it on the tax roll. let's come together to get democrats and republicans, the house and the senate to agree on something that will create jobs, that will cut the cost of doing business and bring in new revenues. it is time that the senate works with the house. we have 27 bills sitting over there that deals with job creation. all aspects, whether it's the credit and financial markets or making sure that we're cutting regulations to end some of the challenges that we're facing in the central valley. but we have to get both houses to work together and we would call on the president, visit california's central valley,

prepare a budget that can be passed by both houses. this country's hurting right now, and we need real leadership that will bridge that gap. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from louisiana, mr. cassidy, for five minutes. mr. cassidy: thank you, mr. speaker. in the challenges we have of creating jobs, every now and then we have a light-hearted moment. congresswoman sewell, and i made a challenge over the b.c.s. championship game. i am here to pay off my end of the challenge. first, let me congratulate l.s.u. they had a tremendous season. they played nine ranked teams, four of those games were against those in the top three in the polls. coach les miles was coach of the year. there were four positions on all-american team held by the

l.s.u. tigers. two on the second team. it was a tremendous season for the fans as well. that said, i also congratulate alabama. they similarly had a great year. they are to be congratulated. they came back from their earlier defeat where l.s.u. beat them at bryant demi stadium. i would say to congresswoman sewell, she was incredibly gracious in paying off our arrangement then and enjoyed those ribs. i congratulate congressman broun when l.s.u. beat georgia was gracious. i pay off my arrangement with congresswoman sewell before we return to this serious business of congress and that is to say on the floor of the house of representatives, roll tide. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. paul, for five minutes.

mr. paul: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today to introduce a very simple piece of legislation, to repeal the infamous section 1021 of the national defense authorization act. quietly signed into law by the president on new year's day. what a way to usher in the new year. section 1021 essentially codifies into law the very dubious claim of presidential authority under -- of 2001 authorization for the use of military force to indefinitely detain american citizens without access to legal representation or due process of law. section 1021 provides for the possibility of the u.s. military acting as a kind of police force on u.s. soil. apprehending terror suspects,

including americans and whisking them off to an undisclosed location indefinitely. no right to attorney, no right to trial, no day in court. this is precisely the kind of egregious distortion of justice that americans have always ridiculed in so many dictatorships overseas. a great man named nietson became the hero of so many of us when he exposed the russian gulag system. is this really the kind of united states we want to create in the name of fighting terrorism? some have argued that nothing in section 1021 explicitly mandates holding americans without trial. but it employs vague language, radically expanding the detention authority to include anyone who has substantially supported certain terrorist groups or associated forces.

no one has defined what those terms mean. what is an associated force? sadly, too many of my colleagues are too willing to undermine our constitution to support such outrageous legislation. one senator even said about american citizens being picked up under section -- under this section of the ndaa, quote, when they say i want a lawyer, you tell them, shut up, you don't get a lawyer, closed quote. is this acceptable in someone who has taken an oath to uphold the constitution? mr. speaker, of course, i recognize how critical it is that we identify and apprehend those who are suspected of plotting attacks against americans, but why do we have so little faith in our judicial system? have we not tried in civilian court and won convictions of hundreds of individuals for

terrorist or related activities? i fully support continuing to do so, but let us not abandon what is so unique and special about our system of government in the process. i hope my colleagues will join my effort to overturn this shameful section, 1021, of the national defense authorization act, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlelady from texas, ms. jackson lee, for five minutes. ms. jackson lee: thank you very much, mr. speaker. let me join with my colleagues to wish some of our distinguished americans a happy birthday in this month but more importantly let me acknowledge and salute both mohammed ali and first lady michelle obama

in celebrating their birthdays this month. i've listened to my colleague -- colleagues speak about the question of job creation, and they're absolutely right. as democrats we've come back to do nothing but to ensure the passage of the payroll tax, decrease for working americans and as well to be able to provide for jobs for this country and our communities. my constituents have spoken loudly and clearly. so i have several points, mr. speaker, that i want to make today. some of them wind back to the culture and how we work together. first of all, i'm hoping that as a member of the judiciary committee here in the house that we'll have an opportunity to look seriously at the sulfur legislation and find a compromise. i worked on the issues of piracy from the time the late chairman henry hyde served on that committee, and i'm concerned about it. but in this new world of

startups and technology that is beyond many times our comprehension, it is important to ensure that we do not falsely or inappropriately shut down sites, stop businesses from thriving. there must be a compromise. i'm prepared to be at the table of discussion to save jobs. . u.s. is lozzing high-tech jobs to asia. in fact the ups lost almost a quarter of hits high-tech manufacturing jobs during the past decade as u.s.-based multinational companies placed a growing percentage of their r&d overseas. i'm here to fight for that r&d to come back. i frankly believe those are the jobs of the 21st century and it is time for us to fight for those jobs to come back. mr. speaker, we can do many things together. that happens to be one. and i hope to encourage the high-tech industry and others to join me as we proceed with round table discussion, to see how we

can impact all of our communities, those communities that have unemployment at the highest level. we know there are jobs in the high-tech industry not only in the famous silicon valley in california but places around the nation. houston, texas, is looking completely in great excitement about the potential of building our biotech and of course technology sectors more and more and more. let's save those jobs. i want to move to something that is quite contraretry to what i just mentioned. the reason why i started with something we can work together is because i am concerned in this element of political campaigns, this atmosphere, i have no challenge with the first amendment and those who are trying to encourage individuals to vote and to vote for them. but i rise today in the backdrop of the commemoration of dr. king's birthday, which really speaks to all of america's hearts, no matter your

background, dr. king spoke of peace, nonviolence, and harmony in this country. i love that. i'm a product of that. i was educated by aof -- by way of opportunities that had not been given to my parents. yet we find candidates like newt gingrich who simply want to throw fuel, matches, and fire to develop sort of an explosiveness in this country that is unnecessary. to suggest that president obama is the food stamp president has underlined suggestions to be able to say that the idea of substituting a new york janitor who makes $37,000 and put a bunch of kids to work, the new york school district is predominantly minority, latino and african-american, is by its very words divisive and destructive. and to insinuate that small communities and minority children have never seen people get up and work hard come to my

district and see people getting up early morning hours, single parents, trying to work hard to create opportunities for their children. mr. gingrich, i know you. you are better than that. and if not, america is better than that. i'm incensed by your action. mr. paul, our colleague, another candidate that is running, has a series of newsletters that have already been appalling to those of us who cannot understand why racial divisiveness has to be at the core of presidential politics. now we understand there is a compareson about 13-year-old african-american boys that they are wild and unmanageable. if you say that about our children they will come to believe it. i am literally appalled that our presidential politics, mr. speaker, has to be grounded in racial divisiveness. dr. king wants us as a nation to be unified. i call upon presidential

politics to get out of the dungeon and rise to the higher eagle on behalf of the american people. our troops fight for all of us. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. lungren, for five minutes. without objection. mr. lungren: thank you very much, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, when i had the privilege of serving in this house for the first time in the 1980's i joined with many of my colleagues in supporting the creation of the martin luther king jr. holiday. i recall the time because we had twice before defeated the proposition based on fiscal concerns. and i in fact had voted against it on one occasion and then reflected further on it and thought that it perhaps was more

important that we have a single holiday that celebrated the consensus that had been obtained on civil rights, the consensus in this country that we should take positive action to assure that all men and all women were recognized as being created week wall and having opportunity in this society. and i thought this consensus on civil rights was embodied in the person of dr. martin luther king and thought it was important for all americans, young and old, to be able to reflect on that and to have a period of time for that reflexion and -- reflection and that we can learn from the mix takes of the pass and the sacrifices of the past as we went forward. having said that, i must take exception to a characterization of the comments of one of our presidential candidates, former colleague, my friend, newt

gingrich, when he was trying to make a very, very important point. too often those of us in government take credit for programs that give things to people that is largess from the government to individuals rather than understanding the genius of our system which is the opportunity for people to rise to the best of their abilities to become as good as god created them to be. and that there is no greater social welfare program or social program than a job. that's a cliche at times, but it is, in fact, an important statement. the point that newt gingrich was making was that we should not revel in the fact that we have more people on food stamps than ever before. even though that has been promoted by some as evidence of

our compassion. what mr. gingrich suggested is we ought not to be beating our breasts in pride about our compassion, we ought to be looking inward about our inability to create opportunity for our fellow men and women in this society. and the point he made is that it is far better that we create an economic environment in which men and women, young and old have an opportunity to experience the satisfaction of a job well done. as newt gingrich said his daughter's first job was as a janitor in their baptist church in georgia. and he said, while that was not to which she aspired as a long-term goal, it was, in fact, the launching point of her job experience. too often we have knocked out the lower rungs of the ladder of

economic success in a manner which has created frustration, disappointment, and a lack of confidence in our young people today. that was the point that former speaker gingrich made. it is a point well made. it is a point that we should contemplate. it is a point that we should recognize and place within our debate today. and to mischaracterize it as somehow having an underlying racial meaning demeans the level of debate on this floor, the level of debate in the presidential campaigns, and frankly the reality that confronts too many of our people today. i represent a district that has higher unemployment than the national average, higher unemployment than the statewide average in california, which has for too long a period of time,

been, i think, the third worst unemployment rate in the country. we need to work harder on creating an economic environment in which the uncertainty imposed by the government is reduced so that those men and women of genius and hard work and inspiration and creativity can continue to make this the most vibrant, robust economic engine in the history of the world. that is the way that we help all in our society. men and women. black and white. hispanic, people of every color. not by questioning motivations, but by, in fact, facing the truth. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida, mr. stearns, for five minutes. mr. stearns: good morning, thank

you, mr. speaker. our economy today continues to suffer aftershocks from the biggest financial meltdown since the great depression. today we understand a series of mistakes were made in the past decade which led to our current financial crisis. now, the financial crisis inquiry commission was given the task to investigate the causes of a meltdown of our financial institutions. through the commission was unsuccessful in reaching a certain consensus of the exact cause, they did, however, conclude that the financial crisis was avoidable. and was a result of a following -- of the following factors. an explosion in risky subprime lending and unsustainable rise in housing prices, widespread reports of egregious and

predatory lending practices, dramatic increases in household mortgage debt, and exponential growth in financial firms' trading activities, unregulated derivatives, and short-term repo lending markets just among a few of the red flags. surely with all those factors chairman bernanke should have been more concerned. in fact, the title of my speech this morning is, even with the warning signs, bernanke failed to sound the alarm. in fact, he was warned by members of the federal reserve board often. the release of transcripts from the federal open market committee, fomc, the meetings in 2006 shed light on the critical failures of the federal reserve and mr. bernanke to act when the warning signs were clear and present. the first meeting, however, was spent praising bernanke's predecessor, outgoing federal chairman alan greenspan. but the fcic later concluded

that 30 years of deregulation and reliance on self-regulation by financial institutions that was championed by mr. greenspan were the factors in devastating this ability of our nation's market, stripping away safeguards that simply could have avoided this catastrophe. now, in ate leather meeting on may 10, 2006 of the fomc, the federal government -- the fed governor was one of the earliest to raise concern over the nation's mortgage sector. which offered exotic loans and increased household debt over time instead of decreasing it. now, specifically her concerns stem from the absence of home equity growth. and the consumers' ability to absorb the uncertainties of the housing market. here bernanke -- here, listen to mr. bernanke's response when she made her declaration.

quote, so far we have seeing a worst and orderly decline in the housing market. there is still a lot to be seen whether the housing market will decline slowly or more quickly. yet again another colleague, then fed vice chairwoman, janet yellen, she warns of the possibility of quote, an unwelcomed housing slump, end quote. but in the meeting of august 8, 2006, chairman bernanke remains hopeful in his prediction for a soft landing for our economy. need i say the 2008 great recession was not a soft landing? in the september meeting the fed still remained oblivious to the debt rimental effects on the housing market that will affect the rest of the economy. in the last meeting, mr. speaker, of the fomc, fed governor again in december of 2006 stated once again her concern of the housing market stating that mortgages, secure advertised in the past few years, warn additional risk that the investors have been focusing

on. despite their concern the reported increase difficulty of getting mortgages in their reasoningon, as well as a noticeable cool down in housing activity, mr. bernanke failed to see the warning signs and again predicts a soft landing. on december 12, 2006, once again this was his second statement of a soft landing in the same year. it was a failure of mr. bernanke to not pursue possible vulnerabilities and assuring us to the contrary that attributed to the economic crisis that we faced. on february 15, 2007, he stated, quote, overall economic prospects for households remains good. the labor market is expected to stay healthy. and real income should continue to rise. the business sector remains in excellent financial condition, end quote. again on march 28, twetch, he stated, quote, the impact on the broader economy and financial markets of the problems in the

subprime market seem likely to be contained, end quote. even on may 17, 2007, despite concerns raised by the governor again he said, we do not expect significant spillovers from the subprime market to the rest of the economy or to the financial system. how wrong he was. mr. speaker, i'm not sure that he being chairman is going to prevent a further crisis. and frankly i'm sure he failed to sound the alarm in 2008 great recession. . the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess until >> the 112th congress back this afternoon when the house will consider president obama's plan to raise the debt ceiling by over $1 trillion. let me -- last -- under a deal the president could raise the

debt in two stages. this is the second stage that goes into effect unless congress disapproves it. both the house and senate must pass the disaprotion motion. the house voted to disapprove the first debt ceiling debt increase last september but the resolution was never adopted in the senate and the new level went into effect. we'll have live coverage when they return in about a half-hour at noon eastern. just a short while ago at the capitol, house republican leadership outlined their agenda for 2012 at a briefing. they urged the democratic controlled senate to approve the republican jobs bills that have passed in the house last year. they also called on the president to approve the keystone xl pipeline project. >> welcome back to the second session of the 112th congress. american families and small businesses are continuing to struggle in this economy. the number one issue for house republicans is to continue to focus on those policy that is we believe, we get our economy

going again, to create jobs. we have had 30 bills sitting over in the united states senate. it's also clear that the policies that have been implemented by the obama administration and the democrat congress that had preceded us have made the economy worse and made it more difficult for small businesses to create jobs. 9 issue of job creation in our country is critically important and we are going to continue to focus on it every single day we are here in washington representing the interest of the american people. >> good morning. our members are back in town and we are about to go on our retreat and the discussion that we had today i think it could be characterized as one in which our members are united around a realization that the policies that have been promoted by this administration have not worked. when you look at the spending

and you look at the continued expansion of washington, what hasn't happened is the expansion of the private sector and job creation. some members are going to be hicher focused on how we go about creating small business jobs. we all know that the engine of jobs in this country are the small businesses. that will be our focus. we will continue to try and work with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to make sure we are doing everything we can to make small businesses the centerpiece of this country again. >> our members have come back and listened to our constituents and what they heard they want job creation. they also heard why they want the -- to know why the senate won't bring up bills in the house? our biggest creation of jobs is through small business. you may have heard me say it before, you should measure what

creates jobs in america. if you go back to the beginning of the end of the last recession, beginning of this one, 2001 to 2007, a lot of people say in america there are a lot of people working at that time. job creation during that time? small business added seven million jobs. corporations cut one million. there is an opportunity here to actually have new job creation. but we are at an all-time low. 16 years for new start-ups. the senate has got to act. you find time and time again legislation comes off this floor, not just by 218 votes, but by a bipartisan number of votes. some as high as 400. sitting on the senate you begin to wonder why would they not even allow a vote to go forward when you look across this country eager for job creation and craving to get back to work. >> three years ago this month

the president was inaugurated. we were told that if we passed his stimulus plan, the economy would improve. we would told if we passed his health care plan, the economy would improve. we were told if we passed the dodd-frank act the economy would improve. three years later, millions more have lost their jobs. unemployment remains mired at 8% to 9%. we have more americans on food stamps than at any time in our history. as our whip said, new business start-ups are at about a 15 to 16-year low. regardless of the president's good intentions, regardless of the president's motivations, his policies have failed the american people. it is a new year. it is time for new policies. we would ask the democratic majority leader in the senate and president of the united states to let our jobs bills pass.

>> happy new year, everyone. yesterday the president's jobs council issued a report it was really interesting because it really reinforced many of the proposals that the house republicans have been talking about. validated our effort on tax reform, on regulatory reform, and also on energy exploration in america, the importance of american energy, the report actually talked about an all-in energy strategy. and it talked about the importance of opening up the public lands oil, natural gas, and coal. one of the big proposals that the house republicans have been forwarding is the keystone project. it's been 26 days since the president has made a decision on the keystone project. this is a project that has bipartisan support. would create up to 100,000 jobs. and it is time for the president to make a decision. we are calling on the president to make a decision. let's get americans back to work

and let's start moving forward on those policies that are going to help america's economy. >> speaker boehner -- >> you told us that this was a do-nothing congress and that the entire 30 years he's never seen a more unproductive session than last year. can you refute that argument? >> we passed a jobs bill after jobs bill after jobs bill. the house has done its work. it takes two to tango. and that's why our members are frustrated as well. we have 30 bills that will help produce more american jobs sitting in the united states senate. it's time for harry reid and democrats to put quit the game hide the ball and instead help the american people and get the economy moving again. >> however at the same time 2011 ended on a pretty low note with your own members critical of your leadership, especially on this payroll tax issue.

how do you answer to that criticism? >> listen, we've got a lot of disparate voices in our conference and if the president wanted the payroll tax credit extended for a year, so did we. we didn't think the senate should leave. but it was pretty clear that the senate wasn't coming back, but it was -- we were picking the right fight. i would argue we probably picked it at the wrong time. >> speaker boehner, the sopa bill, it was said yesterday it would be a disservice to its users by promoting fear instead of facts. do you agree with the blackout? >> this bill is in committee. they have had a number of hearings. and it's pretty clear to many of us that there is a lack of consensus at this point. and i would expect the committee

would continue to work to try to build a consensus before this bill moves. >> do you think it was a publicity stunt by wikipedia? >> the decision could be in the nature forthcoming from president obama, the understanding is that keystone will not be approved, there are reasons that have been laid out for a long time. what would you say to that? >> the keystone pipeline has been through three years and passed every approval process as required by the law. even the president's own state department has indicated that this thing ought to move forward. it's clear that it would create 100,000 new jobs here in the united states. we also see this morning that the canadians are in conversations with the chinese. if we don't build this pipeline to bring that canadian oil and pick up the north dakota oil and deliver it to our refineries in the gulf coast, that oil is going to get shipped out to the pacific ocean and be sold to the

chinese. this is not good for our country. the president wants to put this off until it's convenient for him to make a decision. that means after the next election. the fact is the american people are asking the question right now, where are the jobs? the president's got an opportunity to create 100,000 new jobs almost immediately. the president should say yes. thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> republican leaders from this morning. the house coming back in about 20 minutes. the house republicans also have their retreat thursday and friday. democratic chauks chairman larson spoke with reporters. he focused on the president's jobs bill, extending the payroll tax cut, and changing the tax code to benefit middle class americans. he's later joined by vist chairman, representative becerra, this is 20 minutes.

>> good morning to everyone. welcome back. happy new year. good cheer in general. i'll be joined shortly by the vice chair of the caucus. and who is also one of our conferees. i'll leave it to mr. becerra to discuss some of those concerns. but we come back after a long recess with what my constituents still believe is the dark abyss of uncertainty or lack of jobs that they need vitally. with the opportunity for the leadership of the republican party to place on the floor the president's bill that will put this country back to work. instead what we read about is that instead of addressing the needs to put america back to work, we are going to be just further mired in political debate named directly at the

president. that's not how the country's supposed to work. it's most unfortunate. i hope that our colleagues on the other side of the aisle are ready as we are to roll up our sleeves and address the important issues that face this country. and the number one issue that continues to face this country is to put the nation back to work. we also understand that we have items left over from the last session, most notably dealing with the payroll tax. dealing with the extension of unemployment. and dealing with what we commonly call the doc fix to make sure we protect our seniors on medicare. we have to put choices on the table again i think that are important to the american people. not the least of which, especially as we observe the debate in the republican party, and we learn astoundingly in the case of what many consider to be

their ultimate presidential candidate, that he paid 15% in taxes. secretaries, rank-and-file citizens all across this country pay far more. is it fair to continue to protect the nation's wealthiest 1% and have those amongst us, especially in the middle class that are feeling the squeeze, have to pair the burden -- bear the burden of two war that is are unpaid for? to pay for tax cuts to the wealthy? people in this country will have to suffer and continue to see programs cut soy that the mitt romneys of the world can pay 15% in taxes? come on. there's a better way to do this. there's a fairer way to do this.

and the american people understand that. this is a time of shared sacrifice. this is a time when we need to roll up our sleeves, put this nation back to work, do what the president's asked. extend this payroll, we put money, this payroll tax, put money back in the heands of people. make sure that doctors are going to see their seniors. for those that are out struggling to get a job and through no fault of their own can't find it, extend them the benefits so they can continue to pay their tax, not see their mortgages go into foreclosure, and then have congress roll up its sleeves and address the issues of the day. put the president's jobs bill on the floor. vote it up or down if you are opposed to it or if you have a better idea bring it to the floor. but extend the courtesy of a vote. that's what the american people expect. not this political gamesmanship where they are not going -- they are going to continue to try to block everything that the president does. it's just flat out wrong. i hope our colleagues will

reconsider that as we go forward. i know that they, the conference, will go on their retreat starting this afternoon. we wish them all the good luck in the world, but we want them to come together in a way to work with us to put america back to work. with that and i know that our vice chair will be here shortly, we'll be happy to take any questions. >> mr. chair, can you talk for a moment, the rhetoric from the republican side where they are saying well, the president, is asking for this debt ceiling increase, we all know people who really understand how this debt ceiling agreement is, how they are trying to pin this on the president. secondly how would you vote on the resolution of disapproval? >> let me start with this being a manufactured crisis from the outset.

and i think that anyone who has witnessed the events of this past summer where they took us to the precipice on an issue that ronald reagan did 18 times, that george bush did eight times in terms of addressing the nation fundamentally paying its debts, that's what this issue is all about. in all this issue, the reason the republicans are bringing this up, is a face safer for -- saver for their hardlined people who make the wrong association between national debt and paying what you already owe. and so that's why we believe that this is a fraudulent issue, a totally manufactured issue with respect to the -- with respect to the debt ceiling. and do we want to really go

through another process where after we vote we watch the stock markets tumble all around the world? are we going to do the right thing this time? or will we see a repeat of what we have seen all throughout last year where the republicans bring us to the precipice of either shutting down the government or causing chaos only ultimately to relent. but not until the damage has been done to the economy and what they see and what they hope is damage done to the president. that seems to be their agenda to see what damage they can inflict on the president not what good they can do for the american people. >> how will you vote? the other part of my question. on the resolution of disapproval. >> on the resolution of disapproval? i'll be voting with the democratic party on that. look, we think that this is a manufactured crisis.

we don't -- we think and we support the president and the country's obligation to pay its debt. >> we are in an election year again, how productive do you think this congress can actually be compared to last year? >> we are disheartened by what we read in the papers to say this is going to be just a focus on aiming at the president and creating political opportunity to go after him. when there is ample opportunity -- i have to believe that when republicans went home they hear the same thing we do. i have to believe that they have town hall meetings and they hear from their constituents that they understand the need to put america back to work. and so i would hope that they would minimally, minimally put

the president, he's laid down an agenda, put his -- the opportunity to have his jobs bill have a vote. that's not a big request. that's not a big ask. if you got the votes and disagree with it, vote against it. for god's sake at least give the american people and give the president the courtesy of a vote. >> question for both of you -- >> go ahead. ask the question and i'll allow the vice chairman an opportunity. go ahead. >> do you think the payroll tax package should be paid for in its entirety? i ask because leader pelosi said yesterday in no uncertainty terms the u.i. portion of that and payroll tax extension should not be paid for. >> one of the conferees who understands this issue better than most respond. >> thank you very much. we have always treated emergency

unemployment benefits just as it applies. as an messagecy. just as we wouldn't expect a state suffering from natural disaster requesting emergency funds to have to pay us in order to get the support of americans throughout the country, i don't believe that most americans will think that americans who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own and are therefore seeking a hand up through unemployment benefits should have to find that other americans will suffer the consequence by having to pay that. the reality is that the republicans have taken both sides of this issue. they pay for some things. they don't want to pay for others. they never paid for the bush tax cuts, yet they say we must pay for the tax cuts that go to middle income americans. so there is a great discord in terms of what they say they want. unless they are saying only tax cuts for the wealthy don't have to be paid for and tax cuts for

the middle income do. so we are trying to figure out why it is that they are pressing so hard for something that's so important to americans, especially those who lost their jobs through no fault of their own. would have to start with the consequences. we'll see what happens. but i think the leader has spoken well for democrats. >> and it continues to gnaw away, certainly at our caucus and certainly with my constituents, why it is that those who pay 15%, if that is so sacrosanct, that the wealthy cannot pay more, but we will ask secretaries, we will ask senior citizens to pay more for medicare or to give up benefits? come on. we got to start getting real about the choices that are out here for people. and the people that are suffering the most during this difficult recession have been the middle class. the squeeze that they are

feeling the most and the relief is very obvious. for fellow americans who are living quite comfortably not to partake in sharing the burden of two wars and expansive tax cut is flat out immoral. and what we need to do is to make sure that that remains on the table and let the american people see the clear choice that exists. we continue to try to compromise, but compromising in the light of these facts -- when you hear something -- i have to be honest, when you hear this yesterday with mitt romney saying, yeah, i take 15% in terms of taxes, and i only earned a little bit of money last year. i earned just a paltry amount of money from book sales, $385,000. the disconnect between what's

happening to average american citizens and the race that's going on for the presidentcy of the united states -- presidency of the united states, and why constituents will always ask me, are they so dug in on this issue? why are they dug in? on protecting those who make 15% in terms of -- those who only pay 15% in terms of their taxes. it is extraordinarily troubling and disheartening, especially when we know we have a jobs bill that we can take up. payroll taxes that should be extended. doctors that need to be paid so that they'll receive -- so they'll be able to see their patients. and as the vice chair pointed out, an unemployment extension that -- for people that are out there seeking jobs already as well. >> does that mean that you want to pay for the extension for the

middle class tax cuts without hiking tax -- by hacking taxes on the wealthy or not pay for either as the republicans haven't paid for the tax cuts? >> i would prefer, speaking for myself, i would prefer and i think the democrats have long stated that we would prefer to see the taxes paid for but paid for by making sure that we go back to the clinton rate and -- when people were doing extraordinarily well and have people pay their fair share. but i know and the vithes chair -- vice chair has articulated this, we look at unemployment as an emergency. when in our history have we had to pay for unemployment before? this is a crisis. this is an messagecy. the worst recession since the great depression. all be it -- albeit our people have been at the table willing to work together to make sure that we extend the payroll tax

that they get the benefits. >> if i could just add. this is an issue of being responsible in governing. now, you also have to be consistent in how you govern. if it's an emergency and you recognize that the urgent nature of the funding means that you do it now for americans who are hurting, then it's an emergency and you do whatever you can as americans to pull together to help out your fellow americans. that's the case of the unemployment benefits for those who have lost their job through no fault of their own. when it comes to the middle class tax cut, there are ways to do this responsibly. you can treat this, if you want to be consistent, the way republicans have treated other tax cuts, where they have never paid for tax cuts, or you can

decide there are ways to responsibly pay for anything, including a middle class tax cut. there are ways to do this without harming the middle of america. and we have proposed, democrats have proposed ways to pay for the middle class tax cut in ways that are responsible, that are supported by the vast majority of the american public, and which would not undermine the recovery of our economy. if republicans choose not to join with us, then it's simply a signal that 2012 is picking up exactly where 2011 left off. we hope that's not the case because the american people send a very strong signal at the end of 2011 when republicans were trying to block the middle class tax cut that the american public get it. they are watching. and we should try to do some pragmatic, practical things that the public all agree we should

do. once again the people are way ahead of the politicians when it comes to moving the country forward. >> thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> we'll have it live for you online about 3:00 p.m. at c-span.org. the house is coming in next to consider president obama's plan to raise the debt ceiling by just over $1 trillion. we get a preview from a capitol hill reporter. >> the head line for your story says the house vote is symbolic. how so? >> under the august debt ceiling deal that congress agreed to, the lawmakers set up a three-stage process for raising the debt ceiling. it was raised initially by $400 billion and another $500 billion

in the fall, and it's set for another $1.2 trillion increase this month. and the way that lawmakers set it up back in august, congress doesn't have to approve the increases but it can try to disapprove them. that's what's happening today. the house is going to try and pass a resolution of disapproval. the thing is the democratically controlled senate is almost virtually assured not to pass it and even if it did somehow pass it, president obama could veto the resolution which would then require a 2/3 majority in both chambers to override that veto, which again is virtually assured it's not going to happen. so that's sort of the way it was set up back in august. basically an opportunity for republicans to keep this issue alive and register their opposition to the debt ceiling increase without actually having to face the consequences of another looming defought. >> you said the president's request this time is for an increase of $1.2 trillion. how long is that supposed to last? >> that's supposed to last through basically through november, through part of

november, through the 2012 election. and basically all sides have said they expect that amount of borrowing authority to last the treasury into sometime november, possibly early december. you had some private forecasters said, probably to november, december, possibly into 2013. but the only thing that seems certain right now that will get us through the election. >> you report that some republicans aren't real happy with the vote and having to vote for this disapproval, particularly you cite huelskamp of kansas. what did he say? >> he's hearing and other freshmen or tea party allies, the significant vote was back in august. and anybody who votes in opposition to a debt ceiling increase right now but voted yes back in august when that was the vote that really mattered is being kind of hypocritical. but that's the argument from a lot of conservatives right now.

it's a symbolic way to register your opposition to the way the white house is handling the debt. it's too little too late. the real vote was back in august. >> what else are you watching out for as the house moves forward? >> this vote is really symbolic. again it's sort of a campaign issue. the real debt ceiling, this year, is probably going to come 12 months from now at the end of the year or early in 2013 after the election. also the george w. bush tax cuts are expiring as automatic budget cuts are set to begin. this is really a symbolic prelude to the real fight at the end of the year which will be much more high stakes. >> on the senate, they are back next week they have to take this up next week, right? a they'll take it up next week sometime. again they are expected -- the house will probably pass this resolution today with largely unanimous republican support, maybe a couple democrats.

but the senate will block it next week. from everything we are hearing. >> read more at cqings com. thank you very much. a that vote on raising the debt ceiling coming up this afternoon in the house. it's the only legislative business for the week. the senate not in session this week. they return on monday. live house coverage here on c-span. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. loving and gracious god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. we ask today that you bless the members of the assembly to be the best and most faithful servants of the people they serve. purify their intentions that they will say what they believe and act consistent with their

words. help them indeed -- help them, indeed, help us all, to be honest with themselves so that they will be concerned not only real debt ceiling, this year, is probably going to come 12 months from now at the end of the year or early in 2013 after the election. also the george w. bush tax cuts are expiring as automatic budget cuts are set to begin. this is really a symbolic prelude to the real fight at the end of the year which will be much more high stakes. >> on the senate, they are back next week they have to take this up next week, right? a they'll take it up next week sometime. again they are expected -- the house will probably pass this resolution today with largely unanimous republican support, maybe a couple democrats. but the senate will block it next week. from everything we are hearing. >> read more at cqings com. thank you very much. a that vote on raising the debt ceiling coming up this afternoon in the house. it's the only legislative business for the week. the senate not in session this week. they return on monday. live house coverage here on c-span. .

minute and revise and extend. >> before congress left washington in december, we asked the president a simple question, will he stop blocking the keystone x.l. pipeline. congress established laws to govern pipeline approval, the

state department published regulations and typically aplufle -- approval takes 18 to 20 months. mr. pitts: however, keystone has been on the shelf for 40 months now he ordered duplicative environmental reviews to extend the approval process to 52 months. is this because keystone is unprecedented? no. transcanada has already built pipelines that extend from canada through the united states. it's time to stop letting politics stand in the way of a prompt that could deprow our economy. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from new york seek recognition? without objection the the gentlelady is recognized for one minute.

ms. schakowsky: -- >> i have traveled around new york meeting constituents. they are frustrated with the various levels of government they have to go through to get an answer if the federal government. it's been so burdensome that there are 89 different agencies, four different departments and 87 training programs. these businesses have enough on their minds without having to solve this problem. fortunately, the president has come up with a plan. ms. hochul: the president proposed combining the entities into one so they can get their questions answered without having complications. this is p something i support, my local chambers of commerce support, that's why i'm calling on this body, let's give the people in this district what they're looking for, streamline

the government, one-stop shop for businesses and for once and for all, let's demonstrate to the american people that we have the capability to work together. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? >> to address the for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, in early 2009, the president assured the nation that his bill which provides for the stimulus, which has failed, the borrow and spending, would reduce unemployment and not exceed 8%. january marks the 35th straight month that the nation's unemployment rate has remained above 8%. last year, house republicans followed through with their commitment to the american people and passed 28 job creating bills. most with bipartisan support. all of these pieces of legislation remain stalled in the liberal-controlled senate where bills are denied debate or a vote because of the gridlock in the senate and the

president's failed policies, the american people are losing faith in government officials. as we begin a new year, i hope the senate will take immediate action for the american people by passing legislation that promotes jobs. in conclusion, god bless our troops an we will never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek recognition? >> to address the house for one munn. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. >> i came here today wanting to wish everybody a happy new year but when i came, i found out that our republican congress wanted to give everybody an unhappy old year. continuing the agenda of no jobs for you. they ended last year not with a bang but a whimper as they walked out on a deal to stop a tax hike on the middle class right before the holidays. ms. chu: even though senate republicans agreed to a compromise, house republicans were willing to abandon you as you were trying to figure out

how to pay for gifts for your children. they were serious about letting the payroll tax and unemployment benefits expire. thank goodness they expressed their outrage and they were forced to change their position. they gave a two-month ex-tense. now they'll be faced with the same choice, to raise taxes for the middle class and work with democrats to give real eleaf to americans like you. make sure they do the right thing. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? >> to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> last month, i was a sick pup. this month, i am a recovering pup. during my sick pup days, i became beneficiary of cards and letters from well-wishers, personal visits, telephone calls and emails. many of these expressions originated here in the people's house. and the purpose of my one-minute today is to convey my expression

of appreciation to my colleagues. democrats and republicans -- to my colleagues, democrats and republicans, for their generous support in that period. mr. coble: i thank you for the time, mr. speaker and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. it's 2012 and this is the year we need to create jobs and get our economy moving again. without a growing economy, our budget deficit will only get worse. it's time we boldly invest in america. my friends on the democratic side want to invest in education and infrastructure, creating jobs now and building our future. ms. hahn: my republican friends on the other hand want to cut spending on social security and medicare. the democrats want the wealthiest of americans to pay their fair share and my friends on the republican side oppose

even asking the wealthiest americans to pay their fair share wetch need to make the right choice this is year. let's invest in america. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? >> request permission to address the house for one minute and unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection ethe gentleman from illinois is recognized. >> today i rise to honor the life of specialist christopher patterson. christopher a 2009 graduate of west aurora high school in illinois, came from a military family. he joined the national guard while studying music education at valparaiso university. he didn't join the guard just for money for school he joined to serve his country. his conviction to serve was so strong he chose to join his guard unit overseas when they were sent to afghanistan even though he could have stayed behind to continue his studies. three weeks ago, christopher and

three other soldiers were working in the kandahar po vince of afghanistan to clear combat -- province of afghanistan to clear combat routes when an i.e.d. detonated and took his life. mr. hultgren: we honor christopher and the ultimate sacrifice he paid for our country and give our thoughts and prayers to his family and friends in this difficult time. we are and will remain eternally grateful for christopher's service and sacrifice. -- sacrifice to our country. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? >> permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i would like to congratulate the west new york, new jersey school district in their efforts to promote healthy schools program. mr. sires: the president visited

to praise the efforts to transform the school's nutritional program. this is part of the alliance for a healthy school program to reduce childhood obesity. the president was able to see firsthand how they were embraced wellness. west new york has a history of being recognized for nutritional achievement. they received a bronze national achievement award in 2009 and a silver award in 2010 for their efforts to provide students with a fresher, more nutritional meal plafpble my alma mater, memorial high school, received the only golden award given by the gold award. and the director of the school's food program was recognized for his work. i am pleased that west new york has been recognized for their efforts. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana seek recognition? >> to address the house for one

minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> i bring to light a problem facing my constituents in indiana. fair creek floods 100 times a year, damaging the same homes over and over. in 2008, many filled completely with water leaving only their roofs recognizable. the army corps of engineers has been working on the problem for many year bus the flooding does continue. the army corps, to their credit, held a town hall last week in clinton where they heard from other 300 residents about the damage the flooding has been causing them for decades. the estimated cost of the project is $900,000. i do appreciate the willingness of the army corps of engineers, specifically colonel leonard torque meet with my staff and constituents and i urge the corps to remember what they heard in clinton, indiana, last week and complete the feather creek project as quickly as possible. my constituents deserve no less than a safe environment free

from the threats of yearly floods. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> i rise to address an issue of great importance to new york. mr. high fwins: the buffalo bills. since 196 o, bills fans -- 1960, bills fans have embraced and supported the team emotionally and financially. today they are an i want grlneefert new york state economy but harsh blackout provisions threaten new yorkers' ability to watch their bills on television. it requires the arena to sell out 72 hours in advance. last year, almost half of the bills' home games were blacked

out. this is unacceptable. this morning, i sent a letter to the f.c.c. chairman, asking that he eliminate this unfair rule which is -- disease does not provide for individual solutions to different local markets. the f.c.c. has opened a public comment period on this matter and i urge fans who feel similarly to do the same. in the meantime, i will continue this fight, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. . >> a few minutes ago the white house announced it was going to rejeck the keystone x.l. pipeline. the white house did this among a backdrop with record high gas prices in january. a major factor in these high gas prices is the continued political upheaval in the middle east and impact it's having on economic uncertainty around the world. keystone would bring nearly a million barrels of oil from our friendly neighbor, canada, to

the north and also up to 100,000 barrels of oil from the discoveries in montana and north dakota. mr. flores: it would also put more americans to work while improving our energy security. the department of energy has stated the gasoline markets -- prices and all markets served by the gulf coast and east coast refiners would decrease as a result of the pipeline's construction. the white house would be well advised to consider a poll i took in a recrept teletown hall of our constituents where 87% of the constituents said that they strongly supported the keystone x.l. pipeline. we cannot wait for more jobs and for better economic uncertainty for all generations. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for one minute. mr. altmire: mr. speaker, i rise today in support of the construction of the keystone x.l. pipeline. i ask that the president reconsider his reported rejection of this project.

this project will increase employment while reducing our dependence on overseas oil. canada has already made its decision. the pipeline is going to be built. the question is whether it lands on the gulf coast of the united states or the west coast of canada. and make no mistake, if it ends up on canada's coast, that oil will only continue westward to china and their markets. the jobs an the economic benefit of the pipeline would then be lost here in the united states. mr. speaker, this pipeline is a foregone conclusion. who will benefit is not. this is a chance to employ americans and help protect them in a volatile oil market. i ask the president to reconsider his reported rejection of this project. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yield back. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. poe: request permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute. mr. poe: mr. speaker, there is

disturbing news today regarding our national security and economic security. politico reports that the administration will say no to the keystone x.l. pipeline today. so no to thousands of union and nonunion jobs to build the pipeline and no to refinery jobs in southeast texas. no to obtaining oil from a reliable nation and ally like canada, but yes to more oil from dictators like chavez from venezuela. yes to being held hostage to middle eastern oil and dictators like ahmadinejad who now threatens to stop oil tankers from going through the straits of who are muth -- hormuth. and yes to insulting can in a dasm the prime minister of canada says he will build the pipeline and go to his west coast and that crude oil will be loaded on chinese tankers. china, our national enemy regarding -- and competitor regarding economy. isn't that a lovely decision? if the administration chooses to say no to keystone x.l., the administration chooses poorly. that's just the way it is.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from massachusetts seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for one minute. mr. markey: as we debate our national budget, we must address one of the largest costs threatening our economy and bankrupting our families. the alzheimer's pandemic. 5.4 million americans suffer from alzheimer's today. and as all the baby boomers retire, 15 million americans will have alzheimer's. we already spend $130 billion a year on alzheimer's from medicare and medicaid. at this rate in 2050 we will spend $800 billion every year from medicare and medicaid on this one disease alone. that is more than the entire defense budget today. thankfully, right now, the advisory council for the national alzheimer's project act

is developing the first ever comprehensive national plan to fight this disease. we cannot cut funding for medical research for alzheimer's today if we want to balance the budget tomorrow. we made a vow to care for our citizens as they age. n.i.h. is the national institutes of hope. we must not cut that budget or else all these families with alzheimer's will have no hope. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from arizona is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, it's not too often that a president of the united states has the opportunity with one swipe of his pen to increase private sector jobs by thousands of employees while at the same time increasing our energy independence and energy security. mr. quayle: that's what will happen with the keystone x.l.

pipeline. unfortunately the president punted it on that decision and past 2013 even though the state department said there would not be a significant impact op the environment. we gave him another chance. unfortunately there are reports that he will reject the permit for the keystone x.l. pipeline. and the thing is what's confusing, mr. speaker, is he's been saying that we can't wait for job creation. but with this decision he's saying that we can wait for thousands and thousands of private sector jobs here in the united states. and that we can wait for energy security. mr. speaker, this is the wrong decision at the wrong time. we need better decisions from the administration. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from the district of columbia seek recognition? ms. norton: to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. norton: mr. speaker, i ask the average american what should be the first vote in the house?

for sure they would say extend payroll tax, unemployment insurance, and the doc fix. what is our first bill? disapproval of raising the debt ceiling. for what? to remind americans that tea party republicans brought us the loss of our triple-a rating for the first time in american history? new year demands new start. the payroll tax is the best way to eat into congress' 84% disapproval rating. do the inevitable. no poison pills. any add-ons will be understood as just that by every american who draws a salary or whose unemployed or who is a senior. do it to get on -- get it over with and get on with a year of working on jobs. come over to the side of the street with the 99%. you may grow to like it. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yield back. for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from colorado is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, according to the

canadian government over 143,000 jobs in colorado defend on our trade relationship with canada. further, crude petroleum is our top import, and colorado is not unique, many of the jobs and energy around the country come as a rlt result of -- as a result of our relationship with canada. it's been three years since the application was filed which would create a pipeline that extends from the oil sands in alberta to the gulf coast bringing significant oil supplies into the united states. mr. gardner: the united states as a whole both economically and from a national security standpoint will benefit immensely from the approval of this pipeline. in my mind it's a very simple question. why import oil from countries that seek to do us harm? when we can get it from our neighbor to the north. i'm continuously awed at how much energy potential we have in north america and how simple it would be to advance policies that would make us more energy independent. snt that what we are trying to accomplish -- isn't that what we are trying to accomplish? apparently there is an as terrific when it comes to jobs

for this administration. not these jobs, perhaps some others. this administration has done everything it can to stand in the way of a project that will help 100,000 americans get back to work. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. gardner: mr. president, don't put a cork in our economy. let's get this pipeline built. the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to address their remarks to the chair and not to president or other members of the body. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from new york is recognized for one minute. mr. toppingo: thank you, mr. speaker -- mr. tonko: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today with the lack of compassion for middle class coming out of this body. frustrated with the lack of ideas and focus on job creation and frustrated with the continued partisanship and division that have led to some of the lowest levels of confidence and trust for this body in its history. america deserves better than this, mr. speaker. 160 million middle class individuals deserve to have their payroll tax cut extended

through the end of this year. those who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own deserve to know that they have -- they will be able to continue to have a life line in the time of need. as seniors deserve to know they can visit their doctor of choice without worrying whether or not medicare will cover the visit. america and americans don't deserve more wasted time. instead of a vote today on the debt ceiling, one that is partisan, divisive, and ultimately dead on arrival in the other chamber, we should be focusing on jobs and creating jobs and protecting the middle class. think of it, 61% of americans always or usually live paycheck to paycheck which has risen from 43% in 2007. mr. speaker, i'm frustrated with the american people being also frustrated. it's time this body come together. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. tonko: put politics aside. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i rise to address the house for one minute. ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from texas is recognized for one

minute. mr. olson: mr. speaker, while the president campaigns on his we can't wait slogan, american workers are still asking, where are the jobs? the president knows that 20,000 american jobs can be created by approving construction of the keystone x.l. pipeline. why is he rejecting 20,000 american jobs? why is he not reducing our dependence upon middle eastern sources of oil? why is he not increasing our security which increases our national security. why isn't he taking our debt crisis seriously by increasing revenue from taxpayers with american jobs? why is he not listening to the american people? mr. speaker, the american people deserve better from their president. he should focus on the 20,000

new jobs he could help create not the one he wants to keep. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from hawaii seek recognition? >> request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady from hawaii is recognized for one minute. ms. hanabusa: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, as i was home i was asked to explain the payroll tax extension. and as i did it, it was clear to me, republicans in the house are toying with the well-being of the working people, the seniors, and our most vulnerable. everyone will say we support a year's extension. the question is how do we pay for it? the bipartisan senate, only 10 voting no, gave us the two-month extension to do that negotiateation. it is time to pass that extension. people are watching this house. they want to be sure that we don't limit unemployment insurance benefits to those who only have a high school diploma because unemployment is an earned benefit for those who are unemployed through no fault of

their own. and it would just not be fair. mr. speaker, be fair. and do not make our seniors, our most vulnerable, and the middle class pay for the extension. because that just would not be fair. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from west virginia seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from west virginia is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, on january 4, the west virginia university mountaineers football team faced the clemson university tigers in the orange bowl. mr. mckinley: through an outstanding record setting performance the blue collar work ethic of the west virginia mountaineers prevailed,le 4% of the country predicted that west virginia would lose. but in case you missed it, the final score was 70-33. west virginia's unheralded players proudly showed once again that as a team they can dominate the best of schools on

any given day, just like they have done defeating georgia and oklahoma in previous b.c.s. bowl games. everyone at west virginia should be proud of their state and their flagship university. so let me end with this, for those clemson supporters who still don't know where west virginia is, look in your end zone. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from colorado is recognized for one minute. >> thank you. mr. speaker today many websites across the internet from blacked out their sites in protest of a bill before this body to stop online piracy act and accompanying bill in the senate, the pipa act. million polis: they threaten free discourse, free speech, and the very infrastructure of the internet itself. the internet has brought this country and the world so much not only in the terms of

millions of jobs and economic productivity of american citizens but far-reaching changes in terms of the arab spring and the voice of freedom, desires across the world sopa and pipa directly threaten the very internet that has brought humanity great prosperity and greater peace. i call upon my colleagues to join in solidarity with internet users across the world in making sure that we tackle online piracy in a way that doesn't throw out the baby with the bath water. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado seek recognition? . >> thank you, mr. speaker, i appreciate following my colleague from colorado who recognizes the importance of jobs. unfortunately, the president of the united states has turned a blind eye to the american people. in my state of colorado, we have 17 counties. according to the colorado

department -- we have 17 county, according to the colorado department of labor, that have unemployment in excess of 20%. we have an opportunity to create jobs in this country. the keystone pipeline will help provide energy certainty for this country in a responsible way. create american jobs on american soil, to be able to put american people back to work. today, we hear the president is throwing his hands up, turning his back on the american people. people deserve better. we must get this economy moving. we must create those opportunities for jobs for the american people. this is our time, this is our opportunity, and we call upon the president to enjoy -- to join us in putting americans first. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> muhammad ali's contributions

to the world continue to transcend his achievements in the boxing ring. though he won 3 hev -- three heavyweight champion -- championships, he never believed in solving conflict but fighting. mr. yarmuth: he's a visionary, a man of peace and grace, who changed boxing to change the world. he founded the cent for the our district, a an organization based on respect, confidence, conviction, dedication, giving and spiritually. -- spirituality. today i'm -- yesterday, muhammad turned 70. today i'm introducing an act to build on his work, it promotes global respect, understanding and communication. it well prepare leaders to contribute to global society through peace building and violence prevention and teach people to combat the pull of radicalism.

i ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this work and the man who dedicated his life to it. i urge my colleagues to support the muhammad ali act. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> i appreciate this time to report back to the body about my quick but informative weekend trip to afghanistan, where i was able to be cautiously encouraged by the progress the afghan national army is taking there. mainly my goal was to go and say thank you to the men and women of all the different branches and to let them know they will not be forgotten by me, my constituents, or the rest of us here in this body. i especially want to say thank you to our international partner, ebrits, the aussies, the germans, the dutch, the romanians, who are there with us along with many others who are pushing this effort forward. i also want to say thank you to the embassy staff for their fine work.

the men and women of the air national guard who are there, sacrificing, especially those men and women from the 82nd airborne who hosted us in kandahar and the marines at camp leather neck in he will muth progress. i now proudly carry this challenge coin given to me by a sergeant major from michigan. i want them to now they will not be forgotten. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the jeament from texas seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute ms. jackson lee: i join my colleague in saying that our troops will not be forgotten. i continue to wear a yellow ribbon as we do in our community in houston to welcome home the troops from iraq. i want to rise today to challenge those in the midst of the presidential campaign to be cautious about ill-conceived and ill-spoken words. when one of the candidates, the

governor of texas, calls the leadership of turkey islamic terrorists, that turkey is run by islamic terrorists, i can assure you that those words are ill conceived and inappropriate and absolutely wrong. turkey is one of the united states' strongest allies. it's a member of nato. it is seeking at this time membership in the european union and there is constant dialogue between our country and turkey. we are encouraging, of course, turkey's diplomacy or diplomatic efforts to engage with israel. and frankly, our troops have benefited from some of the needs taken care of through turkey. i would just encourage that we not pour fuel and fire together and recognize that turkey and others of our allies live in -- live in very difficult areas. therefore, we need to be part of

the solution and not part of the problem. check your facts. i don't believe the democrat -- the democratic country of turkey is run by islamic terrorists. you are wrong and it is inappropriate. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? >> i ask that my name be removed as co-spon or of h.r. 3261. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, by direction of the committee on rules, i call up house resolution 515 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 105, house resolution 515, resolved, that a ea motion to proceed with regard to a joint resolution of disapproval specified in subsection a-2 of section 3101-a of title 31 united states code, a, may be offered even if the joint resolution has not been reported to the house as contemplated by

subsection c-3 of such section and b, shall be in order only if offered by the majority leader of his designee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina is recognized for one hour. >> thank you, mr. speaker. for the purpose of debate only, i yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from colorado, mr. polis, pending which, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> during consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> the budget control act of 2011, enacted into law on august 2, 2011, authorized the increases in the administration's borrowing authority subject to a joint resolution of disapproval. mr. scott: the law provides for consideration of a joint resolution of disapproval with two hours of debate. amendments to the joint

resolution are not permitted under the law. h. resolution 515 allows the house to consider the resolution of disapproval in the house today rather than tomorrow as currently contemplated in the law. simply put, we are moving up consideration by one day to better accommodate the house floor schedule. mr. speaker, i rise today in support of this rule and the underlying resolution. mr. speaker, i stand before you today posing two very, very important questions. the first is an issue of scale. where i come from in north charleston, kk south carolina, we have trouble digesting exactly what $1.2 trillion really means. to help get my own head around the number $1.2 trillion, i did a little fact finding. a last-minute flight from charleston, south carolina torque washington, d.c., is about $1 rblings 100. -- is about $1,100.

you could fly pack and forth every single day for the next three million years in order to spend $1.2 trillion. i'm not sure about anyone else in the chamber but there aren't too many things i'm planning to do for the next $3 -- for the next three million years. now that we have perspective on what $1.2 trillion means, the second question. the second question is a simple question. why is it so hard to simply say, we can't afford it? simple question. why is it so hard to say that we can't afford another $1.2 trillion of debt? i asked my facebook the same question. here are two responses to the question. what's not to understand? just cut the darn budget. just like the rest of us have to

do. second response, we the people, on an individual level, have got to demand less government. it's called courage. the courage to just say no. mr. speaker, it's bad enough that through the national health care bill, the democrats raised taxes on the middle class by $500 billion and then they raise -- raid another half a trillion dollars from medicare. now they want to borrow $1.2 tl. -- $1.2 trillion. from who? unborn americans and foreign nations, in order to continue borrowing 42 cents on every dollar to spend in 2012. it's just not right, mr. speaker. the american people will not stand for the blank check culture of the past and i for one stand with the american people. once again, mr. speaker, i rise

in support of this rule and the underlying legislation. i encourage my colleagues, i encourage my colleagues to vote yes on this rule and yes on the underlying bill and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina reserves. the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. polis: thank you, mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. polis: i thank my colleague for yielding me the time. mr. speaker, what exactly are we doing here? we could be talking about creating jobs for the middle class, we could be talking about a payroll tax cut extension. we could be talking about corporate tax reform, individual tax reform and most importantly, we could be talking about solving the national deficit, reducing government spending, about solving the deficit issue. but instead, we are here playing this game of kabuki theater. rather than pursue an agenda

that isn't a democrat or republican agenda, but an american agenda, that both sides of the aisle can agree on, we're here playing a counterproductive and absurd game we're not only playing a game, we're replaying a game. we remember the debt debacle last august that almost shut down the government, and led to a downgrade, increasing interest rates costing the government billions or hundreds of billions dollars more in interest. for the first time in history, standard & poor's downgraded our credit rating, citing brinksmanship and gridlock as the reason. this is after the fact. the money has been spent. the money has been spent. 147 republicans voted in december to spend $915 billion. in the appropriations bill. the omnibus appropriations bill. 147 republicans, $915 billion.

all of which was deficit spending. 147 republicans spent $915 billion in deficit spending. december 17, that's a christmas shopping spree, and now the credit card bill has come in january and here they are saying, we don't want to pay that credit card bill. the answer, mr. speaker, is not to spend the money 23 you're -- if you're not going to make good on your bills. every american family knows that, once the money is spent, it's after the fact, political finger pointing, not looking to a solution for our deficit problem. and the republicans have not put a solution on the table. even the house republican budget, the paul ryan budget that ends medicare, creating $5.1 trillion in deficit spending over the next 10 years.

$5.1 trillion in deficit spending. how many times will the republicans have to raise the debt limit to have a deficit of $5.1 trillion? this congress and the majority of this congress on the republican side are addicted to spending, mr. speaker. until they're willing to entertain a real discussion and the president of the united states, president obama, has led the way by convening a commission, the bowles simpson commission, to take a bipartisan approach to reach a deficit solution, but rather than that, the republicans passed a budget that not only ends medicare but leads to $5.7 trillion, and spent $915 billion of deficit spending. the entire deficit for this year, essentially, around december 17 because we had already spent the money that actually came in. and here they are in january, mr. speaker, saying they don't want to pay the bills.

i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado reserves. the gentleman from south carolina is recognized. mr. scot: mr. speaker, i find it interesting to hear mr. polis, who sounds like a good republican other there, sounds like a good republican, talking about excessive spending -- mr. scot -- mr. scott: it's laughable that one would talk about deficit spending since the records on deficit spend having occurred in the last three cycles, f.y. 2009, $1.4 trillion, -- mr. polis: will the gentleman yield in mr. scot: under president obama -- -- mr. polis: will the gentleman yield? mr. scott sfk no, i won't. i will yield to my good friend from south carolina, mr. wilson. .

mr. wilson: i appreciate the leadership of congressman tim scott on this important issue. as south carolina votes in the presidential primary on saturday, our state is grateful for the leadership of congressman tim scott, along with my other colleagues who are on the floor today, jeff duncan, tray gowdy, rick mulvaney. we know that in november of last year our nation's annual debt received -- reached $15 trillion and it recently exceeded the value of the entire american economy. washington's out-of-control borrowing and spending must stop. the president has ignored our nation's spending problem and once again ask congress to increase the debt ceiling by $1.2 trillion. this request is a chilling reminder of the out-of-control debt which threatens senior citizens' retirement security and saddles young people with a mountain of debt. the president in february of 2009 said the deficit is

unsustainable, but then he proceeded to double the year's debt and has since. our nation's unemployment rate has consistently remained above 8% for 35 months. this is tragic for american families. instead of offering solutions to reduce spending and decrease taxes to encourage economic growth, the president and the liberal controlled senate continue to support legislation calling for massive tax increases and funding for programs that contribute to our growing national deficit which destroys jobs and hurts american small businesses. americans have made it clear they expect their elected officials to make meaningful fiscal reforms today so as not to burden future generations with crushing deficits and debts tomorrow. house republicans have remained committed to our promise by fighting to create jobs and crow moat job growth in the private sector. last year -- promote job growth in the private sentor. last year house republicans passed 35 job creating bills, most with bipartisan support. instead of acting on these bills

to create jobs, the liberal controlled senate refused -- refuses to consider most of these pieces of legislation. by passing today's resolution, the disapproves of the president's authority to increase the debt limit, congress can help restore the american people's faith in our nation's government by protecting future generations and limiting washington's out-of-control borrowing and spending. instead of getting the president more power to spend more money we do not have, congress should work together to find ways to reduce spending and put america back on the path to fiscal responsibility just as congressman scott has pointed out, families do. i encourage my colleagues to vote in favor of this resolution. i yield the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yield back. the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. poll cloins before -- mr. polis: before further yielding i yield 30 seconds. he complained about a lack of budget in the senate. what he failed to acknowledge is the budget the republicans adopted in this body without a single democratic vote, not only

ends medicare but leads to $5.1 trillion in deficit spending over the next 10 years. several times the deficit over the last 10 years. $5.1 trillion, larger deficit spending than this country has ever had, ever had a 10-year period was supported and voted on and enacted by the republicans in this house. mr. speaker, i'm proud to yield three minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. andrews. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for three minutes. 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. mr. speaker and colleagues, as the congress meets for the first time in 2012, the people of the country are burdened by a deficit of jobs, a deficit that in our federal budget, and a deficit of hope that things could get better. it is our responsibility to work together to try to make them better. now, to reduce the deficit of the country, yes, you should restrain spending.

the parties came together in august. and passed with about half of each party voting for it a deficit reduction plan to cut spending in our departments by about 5% each. made reasonable reductions in defense spending and some reasonable reductions in social programs. we should keep those reductions on the books. we think that in reducing the deficit that the very wealthiest and most successful in american society should have to pay a little bit more of their fair share, not everyone agrees with that. but we think that's an important part of reducing the deficit. but by far the best way to reduce the deficit is to create jobs for the people of this country. you have a hard time creating jobs when there is a deficit, but you have an impossible time of reducing the deficit when there are no jobs. 132 days ago the president of the united states came to this chamber and put forward four

good ideas to create jobs in this country. first he said we should cut taxes for middle class and working americans. well, we managed to eke out a two-month agreement to do that. let's get to work today in extending that middle class tax cut for at least the rest of the year. the president then said that we should put people back to work building science labs in our schools and fixing bridges and roads that need repaired. the congress has enacted on that proposal -- hasn't enacted on that proposal at all in this house. the president said that we should cut taxes for small business people who hire people, who create jobs. this house has not acted at all on that proposal since september 8. the president took due note that his private sector jobs has risen, police officers and teachers and firefighters have lost their jobs in the public

sector. he said to help our states and cities keep police officers on the beat, keep firefighters in the apparatus, keep teachers in the classroom, let's give some aid to those states and cities to keep those people working. the house has not acted at all on that proposal. ladies and gentlemen of the house, mr. speaker, rather than going through an exercise here where people can pontificate about how much they deeply care about the deficit, let's do something about it. let's put on the floor of this house each of the president's proposals to create jobs and let's take a vote. i would ask for 30 more seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. andrews: for those who say they have better ideas, let's put their ideas on the floor. the american people did not take the month of january off. neither should we. let's put these job creating proposals on the floor, put them to a vote, do our job to help put the american people back to work.

i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from south carolina is recognized. mr. scott: thank you, mr. speaker. one of the comments by my good friend from colorado, mr. polis, were republicans were trying to end medicare. that's a laughable comment. it's so laughable that hot off the press, the polifact find out whether or not there is truth in words. the political lie of the year is the republicans voted to end medicare. they just named the political lie of the year, the comment that republicans voted to end medicare. mr. polis: would the gentleman yield? mr. scott: no, sir. i yield three minutes, however, to the gentleman from south carolina, jeff duncan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina is recognized for three minutes. mr. duncan: i rise today to ask my colleagues to support house resolution 98, denying this president the trillion dollar draw on the nation's line of credit. just because you got the credit limit that you asked for doesn't

mean you have to max out the credit card. how dare this president come back for another increase in the nation's debt after the failure of the supercommittee. how dare he. this president did everything he could and successfully stopped the committee from producing any kind of cut to the size and scope of government. and now he wants to kick the can further down the road yet again. another year, another trillion dollars in debt, mr. speaker what has this administration done to stop the deficit spending that fuels the debt and brings about the need for an increase in the debt ceiling? nothing. mr. speaker, this administration has done absolutely nothing to rein in this federal government. this is the same president whose party controls the other body and on tuesday the united states senate will mark 1,000 days since they last passed a budget. the same day the president delivers his state of the union address. what an embarrassment. to continuously ask for more

debt without even pretending to know how you budget it. if this were a private business, mr. speaker, it would be bankrupt. this president and this congress continues to mortgage the futures of our children and our grandchildren drowning them in a sea of debt. after the failed policy of the president's stimulus package, we are swimming in deficit spending of this president's making. mr. speaker, our country stands at over $15 trillion in debt and after this increase we'll be over $16 trillion in the red. congratulations. we have now joined the club of nations whose national debt is larger than our annual national economic output. this is simply unsustainable position and the only way we'll get out of our -- get our debt under control is to stop the inisity of trillion dollar a year deficit spending. this must stop. and we in this house must be the responsible adults in the room to stop it.

now is not the time to go get another increase in the limit. now is the time for us to cut up the credit card and buckle down like millions of american families are doing across this great land. in an economy this difficult, the american families have had to tighten their belts, get back to basics, and cut things from their budget. surely now is the time for the federal government to do the same. mr. speaker, i understand the politics here. we'll thump our chest and pass this resolution and we'll say, we have done all we can to stop this increase. the other body, led by a party bent on destroying the american dream and taking us down the path of economic ruin, to ever greater government dependency, will table this. in the end the president will get his increase. and we'll spend yet another trillion dollars that our children do not have. but the bill is coming due, mr. speaker. and sooner or later we are going to have to stop this debt train from derailing our country. god bless america. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from colorado is

recognized. mr. polis: before further yielding, i yield myself a minute. mr. speaker, to hear the other side they doth protest too much. why does the party for whom 147 members voted to spend $915 billion causing the deficit, which is roughly $1 trillion in size, essentially that $915 billion they spent on their christmas spending spree, was the devers. now they are complaining about it? since the gentleman from south carolina wasn't kind enough to yield to me i'd like to ask him on my own time, the gentleman referred to whether or not the ending medicare was true. and obviously there's been a vital discussion about that. but the other assertion i made is very factual. i want to confirm with the gentleman that the paul ryan republican budget that the republicans passed did indeed contain $5.1 trillion of deficit spending. is that your understanding as well? is that true? i yield to the gentleman from south carolina for an answer. mr. scott: i do remember that the paul ryan budget came in at a number of -- $1.9 trillion in

overall spending for the year. if you are talking -- mr. polis: the 10-year figure. yield myself additional 30 seconds. the 10-year figure for that deficit from the c.b.o. itself, $5.1 trillion in deficit spending. again the same republicans who spend $915 billion here in december are again saying now that the credit card bill has come due they somehow don't want to pay it w that, mr. speaker, i'd like to yield three minutes to the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from texas is recognized for three minutes. ms. jackson lee: i thank the gentleman from colorado. i'd like to tell a fairy tale and true story of the american people. the fairy tale is why we are here on the floor even today to actually tell a little story to the american people that we are doing something to impact the deficit. the bill we passed in august, of course, responded to the need to

raise the debt ceiling to pay america's bills. but in order to cajole and drag our friends on the republicans on the other side of the aisle, that did things like cut pell grants, they required the joint select committee that did not work to reduce the deficit. and of course they wanted us to have the shenanigans on the floor so that the american people could think they are doing their job. here's the real story of the american people. first of all, the debt that was increased that we are now dealing with, $1.9 million was raised under ronald reagan. $1.5 million was raised under george bush. that is trillion. bill clinton, $1.4 trillion. and george w. bush, $6.1 trillion. what is the raising of the debt ceiling, which i think most americans care about, is responding to the debt that is now held by the public. it is doing our job. it is responding to the fact that the public should not burden america not paying her s.