and our responsibility to render unto caesar those which are caesars and to god those which are god's. it is an inspiration to me now, it has been an inspiration to me my entire life, and i would say to anyone who wants to understand the civil rights movement, to understand the promise of america that was not fulfilled and will never perfectly be fulfilled but is certainly in a better state today than it was prior to the civil rights revolution, they should read those words of dr. king and understand how that animated the civil rights movement and gave us heroes such as our colleague from georgia, john lewis. . with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves. the gentleman from georgia. mr. lewis: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield to the gentleman from maryland, the democratic whip, mr. hoyer, for five minutes.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized for five minutes. mr. hoyer: i thank my friend, john lewis, for yielding. i thank john lewis for his service to our country, to its principles, to its values, to its people. i thank john lewis for being my friend, and i thank john lewis for allowing me for the ninth time to walk with him across that bridge, and as i do i will be holding the hand of john lewis and holding in my other hand the hand of my 10-year-old granddaughter, alexa. this coming week marks the 47th anniversary of the bloody sunday for voting rights. i want to say to dan lungren, my friend, i thank him for the remarks he just gave. they were heart felt and on target. the letter from the birmingham jail to which he referred is

certainly one of the great epistles, as he refers to it, to the people of america, to the people of conscience, to the fierce urgency of now, which he referenced in that letter. on march 7, 1965, our friend and esteemed colleague from georgia, john lewis, was among the leaders of that march. he was the leader. he and hosea williams. two by two they walked some 600 with john and hosea at the front of the line. that day in an extraordinary practice of nonviolence he and other marchers were brutally beaten while trying to cross the edmund pet us bridge in selma -- pettus bridge in selma. they were on their way to montgomery, the state capitol, to protest the murder of a young man, jimmie lee jackson, who had been shot and killed while protecting his mother during a voting rights rally.

and they were marching to montgomery to say in a nonviolent way every american deserves the right to be able to register and to vote. every moment has its darkest hours when the exuberens of hopes yields to the reality of difficult and painful struggle. selma brought that reality into the homes across the country. news of that bloody sundae wakened millions of americans to the horrors of jim crow. it opened their eyes to the injustice that had cut off so many of our people from participation in their government. it made it clear that we said in our declaration of independence that we believe in equality, we hope that all men, and i hope to say all women, all people are endowed by god

by certain inalienable rights. we were not doing that in this country. that's what this epistle from birmingham jail was about. that's what this march was about. that march led to another march two weeks later that could not be stop, one that saw 8,000 americans from a diversity of backgrounds join together in solidarity and with the faith, the enduring promise of america provided. john lewis, our colleague, our friend, our brother was one of the compelling figures of that time and of this.h th privilege of traveling to selma, as i said, nine times with john lewis to worshiping in terri's church. the visit this weekend will be another instructive lesson from me and for others of how we

need to be continually aware of the discrimination and prejudice that exists today. the attempts at exclusion that exists today. frankly, the attempts to not empower people to vote even today. what happened in selma 47 years ago ought to be remembered as a moment when america chose to fight hatred with love. in his memory with a, which i hope all of you have read, "walking with wind," john lewis explains, "if you want to create an open society, your means must also be consistent with the society you want to

create. violence, he said, degets violence, anger begets anger. every minute of the day in the smallest of moments as well as the largest -- may i have an additional 30 seconds? i thank the gentleman. the speaker pro tempore: so granted. mr. hoyer: ladies and gentlemen, we remember the difficult path we tried as a nation to ensure the participation of all, and we ought to do everything we can to preserve it in our own day. it is not just history that we want to learn, it is the lesson for today that we must remember and learn. i thank john lewis for his leadership. i thank the thousands, black and white, young and old, rich and poor, who join together to make america a better place. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. lungren: thank you very much, mr. speaker. at this time it's my pleasure to yield one minute to the

gentleman from virginia, the majority leader, mr. cantor. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is recognized. cantcanlt thank you, mr. speaker. i -- mr. mr. cantor: thank you, mr. speaker. on march 7, 1965, now congressman john lewis, our colleague, led 600 brave americans in a march to protest for their equal right to vote like any other american. and they encountered horrific and despicable violence, preventing them from reaching their destination, the capital in montgomery. that day, now known as bloody sunday, set the stage for the landmark march to montgomery led by reverend martin luther king and bolstered by faith and prayer. this act of leadership, courage and bravery, culminated with congress passing the voting rights act of 1965, recognizing the right of every american to participate in our electoral

process. at that time, there were just six black members of congress. today, i am proud to serve with 44 black colleagues. as reverend king said, the arc of the mall universe is long but it bends towards justice. mr. speaker, today we will pass a resolution that will add the tms of members of congress -- testimonies of members of congress, current and past, who participated in commemorative events to the historic record of the house. their stories are part of our nation's heritage and will serve as a reminder to every american of the determination and sacrifice that shaped the stronger democracy we live in today. i'd like to thank representative terri sewell who represents selma, and representative martha roby, who represents montgomery, for offering this resolution to

preserve a powerful and transformative period in american history. and, mr. speaker, i'm extremely honored to work with congressman lewis to ensure that these stories will never be forgotten. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields backs. the representative from georgia. mr. lewis: mr. speaker, may i inquire about how much time? the speaker pro tempore: i believe you have 4 1/2 minutes. the gentleman from california has 11 1/2 minutes. mr. lewis: mr. speaker, i am pleased to recognize the gentleman from tennessee, mr. cohen, for tree minutes. -- three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank also representatives sewell and roby for sponsoring this resolution and for congressman lewis for his life. this is an historic resolution for the work and the memories need to be preserved. i, like congressman sewell, am here because of the work of congressman lewis and other civil rights leaders making

this for a better america. i didn't think i needed to go on the pilgrimage because i'm from memphis, and i've been to the mason temple where dr. king made his last speech and been to the rain motel, the civil rights museum on many occasions and to the hall where he rallied workers. but when i went to birmingham, when i went to montgomery, when i went to selma, i realized there was much history i needed to know and filled with the spirit of the civil rights movement, which one is when they go to the rosa parks museum, the dexter street church, the 16th street church, the civil rights institute and the bridge. it's hard to fathom the way the world was in 1965, but that was only a short number of years ago. this country started with a history of slavery and was accepted by the founding

fathers and others as the way things were. the founding fathers were great men and they wrote words that were great, but they were without absolute meaning because they accepted as a given that african-americans should be slaves and women shouldn't have equality. it took a civil war to change some of that, and then it took john lewis and civil rights workers to change the jim crow laws that followed up, that didn't accept the outcome of the war and continued to segregate a society, that said african-americans weren't equal, couldn't go in public places and public accommodations and public restaurants and transit just like others. well, that changed and the people who changed that, the civil rights workers, the marchers, the sit-in, bob filner was a freedom rider, a congressperson, those people made the promise that was given fulfilled.

it's still work. i introduced and this house passed in 2007 the apology for the slavery of jim crow. it took until 2007 for this house to pass it and i appreciate the fact that when i did introduce it and passed that there were two republican sponsored but there were just two republican sponsors. this year i have h.res. 3866 that recognizes all civil rights workers with a congressional gold medal. i'm sorry to say to this date there is not a single republican sponsor. there should be. civil rights is republican as it is democrat. the party of lincoln as the party of kennedy provided civil rights, and in 1965 when that voting rights act passed, there were people like dierkson who cast important votes. i urge my colleagues to support this resolution and to support h.res. 3688 and honor the civil

rights workers who had to fight their country for their rights and privileges. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california. mr. lungren: may i make an inquiry whether the gentleman on the other side, mr. lewis, has additional speakers? mr. lewis: we don't have any additional speakers. mr. lungren: and how much time do we have? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california has 11 1/2. the gentleman from georgia has 1 1/2 minutes. mr. lungren: if the gentleman from georgia needs any more time? mr. lewis: i'll just take a minute. mr. lungren: oh, ok. i would -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves. the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. lewis: mr. speaker, i want to thank my friend and my colleague from california for his commitment, for his dedication with all of his kind words today. i think this resolution is saying to all of us that we

have come a distance. we've made a lot of progress, and the members of congress participated in helping to bring about what i like to call a nonviolent revolution in america, a revolution of values, a revolution of ideas. it is unreal, it is unbelievable just to think a few short years ago in a place like selma, alabama, between selma and montgomery, the county was more than 80% african-american. there was not a single registered african-american voter in the county. today it has a biracial government. that in a city like selma in 1965, only 2.1% of african-americans were registered to vote. today there's a biracial city government. in a state like the state of mississippi in 1965, the state had an african-american population, voting age population of more than 450,000

and only about 16,000 were registered to vote. because of the acts of presidents and members of congress, we have changed, and it's my hope and my prayer that every member of congress will vote to pass this resolution. and with that i yield back the balance of my time. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. lungren: i yield myself such time as i may consume. mr. speaker, i just want to echo the words of my friend, mr. lewis. let us have all members vote for this resolution. it is a recognition, a simple straightforward, symbolic resolution recognizing the efforts of so many as embodied in the gentleman, mr. lewis, and others who worked so hard to change this country for the better. i'm honored to be here on the floor with mr. lewis today. i appreciate the chance i had to

be with him in this march several years ago. i encourage all members to take part in that either this year or in the future. and i ask all members to support this. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. all time for debate has expired. pursuant to the order of the house of wednesday, february 29, 2012, the resolution is considered as read and the previous question is ordered on the resolution and on the preamble. the question is on the adoption of the resolution. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the resolution is agreed to. mr. lewis: on that i request a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman ask for the yeas and nays? mr. lewis: yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, this 15-minute vote on adoption of the house resolution 562 will

be followed by a five-minute vote on motions to suspend the rules on s. 1134 and house resolution 556. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are --

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 418. the nays are zero. the resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. petri, to suspend the rules and pass s. 1134 on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 1134, an act

to authorize the st. croix river crossing project with appropriate mitigation measures to promote river values. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 333, the nays are 83. 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed --

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the final vote is 339 in favor, -- on this vote the time vote is 339 in favor. 80 against. 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. pitts, to suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 556 as amended on which the yeas and nays were ordered. the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 556, resolution condemning the government of iran for its continued persecution and

imprisonment and sentencing of youcef nadarkhani on the charge of apostasy. the speaker pro tempore: this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 417, the nays are one. 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland rise? mr. hoyer: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to speak out of order for one minute for the purpose of inquiring of the majority leader the schedule for the week to come. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. hoyer: i yield to my friend, the majority leader, the gentleman from virginia, mr. cantor. mr. cantor: i thank the gentleman, mr. speaker. the democratic whip, the gentleman from maryland, thank you for yielding. mr. speaker, on monday the house will meet at noon for morning hour and 2:00 p.m. for legislate of business. votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m. on tuesday and wednesday the house will meet at 10:00 am for -- a.m. for morning hour and noon for legislative business.

on thursday the house will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business. last votes of the week are expected no later than 3:00 p.m. no votes are expected in the house on friday. mr. speaker, the house will consider a few bills under suspension of the rules including a bipartisan bill dealing with counterveiling duties against china. a complete list of suspensions will be announced by the close of business tomorrow. in addition, mr. speaker, the house will consider two bills focused on job creation and are creating an environment for that to happen. the first is h.r. 2842, the bureau of reclamation, small conduit and hydropower development and rural jobs act sponsored by representative scott tipton of colorado and h.r. 3606, the jump start our business startups act, the jobs act, sponsored by representative stephen fincher from tennessee. both bills are bipartisan and i

would note that the president and many outside entrepreneurs like steve case have endorsed the pincher bill. mr. speaker, i'd hope that senator reid would move expeditiously in passing the jobs act once this house sends it to the senate at the end of next week. i thank the gentleman from maryland, the democratic whip, for yielding and i yield back. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for his information. and i would say, with respect to the bills, that he will be offering, we have, as the gentleman knows, considered four of those bills on the floor. they've passed overwhelmingly. i think they're good bills, look forward to supporting them again. there are two bills which are new. one of which was considered, of course, one of the bills was considered when it was sponsored by mr. himes. it was a good bill then and it's a good bill now.

and i believe our side certainly is going to join in supporting these bills which we think will have some positive effect on small business, entrepreneurs, business formation, capital formation. i've had the opportunity to talk to mr. steve case, good friend of mine, and i want to thank steve case, as i know you do, for his role, working with the white house, working with us on moving these bills forward. i think they're a positive contribution and i look forward to, as they have, as the gentleman knows, four of the bills received over 400 votes when they were first passed on the house floor. not too long ago. and we think those are positive steps. so, i look forward to next week being a week on which we can vote together on something. that's, i'm sure america does as well. and again i want to congratulate

steve case for the work that he's done with respect to this package. i do want to, however, say that we do look forward to additional legislation dealing with job creation. we've talked about the president's jobs bill or other jobs bills that might be offered. we would look forward to those coming forward as well. let me ask the gentleman, one of the jobs-related bills that we're talking about of course is infrastructure. in this case the highway bill, the infrastructure bill. can the gentleman tell me, that is, the gentleman did not mention that for next week. can the gentleman tell me, in light of, and i know he's concerned about and we're all concerned about the march 31 date on which the highway program will run out of authorization and as the gentleman knows there is a severe funding shortage and it is our fear, concern, that literally hundreds of thousands

of people will lose jobs if we do not act. can the gentleman tell me when he thinks we might be acting on either a big bill or an extension? i yield to my friend. mr. cantor: yes, i thank the gentleman for the question. and as the gentleman knows there's been a lot of discussion about the way forward, given the fiscal reality of the transportation trust fund. and talks are continuing to ensue as we continue to watch what the other body does on this bill, on this issue as well. knowing full well the march 31 deadline that we're facing. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for that information, i want to assure him that our side of the aisle looks forward to working with his side of the aisle towards hopefully coming together with a bipartisan bill which will certainly keep the program going. but from our perspective, more than that, be an investment, not

only in infrastructure which this country needs to stay competitive, but also in job creation which we think this bill will do as well. the export-import bank as the gentleman also knows, authorization will be coming to a close. and the financial services has shared jurisdiction with that. can the gentleman tell me what the status of the export-import bank is? as javet the gentleman knows, i think we have -- as the gentleman knows, i think we have a joint agenda because i think a lot of things on there are supported on both sides of the aisle but we call it make it in america agenda. we believe this is very important for make it in america, encouraging manufacturing here in america. and job creation. can the gentleman tell me the status of the re-authorization of the export-import bank? i yield to my friend. mr. cantor: i thank the gentleman, mr. speaker. i think the gentleman knows that both his staff and mine are in constant communication on this bill.

as late as i think last night. and have met to discuss the options of how we proceed forward. again, we are very mindful of the expiration or looming expiration or need for if you will the passage of this bill and look forward to continuing to work with him and his team to make sure that we get the resolution right and are able to proceed. i yield back. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for those comments. and we look forward to continuing to work together. next question i would like to ask is, clearly we're coming up on march 15 in the not too distant future. it's my understanding from chris van hollen who is the ranking member of the budget committee that he believes that the committee will mark up a budget on the 19th, with the possibility of reporting a budget to the floor on the 26th of this month. can the gentleman tell me, is

that a schedule that he contemplates and is that information accurate? i yield to my friend. mr. cantor: yeah, mr. speaker, the gentleman is correct. he stated the sort of series of events that we anticipate and we look to make sure that we're doing everything to facilitate that and have the budget on the floor hopefully by the end of this month. i yield back. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman. mr. speaker, in closing let me say that mr. cantor and i had the opportunity to speak on the floor today. we spoke on behalf of resolution that was passed -- the resolution that was passed overwhelmingly unanimously that spoke to commemorating the march that both the majority leader and i participated in in the past, i'll be participating in again this weekend. a march commemorating the march across the bridge from selma,

intended to march to montgomery. it was -- today was a day of unity on the floor of this house in which mr. lungren and mr. lewis and others expressed their thoughts, as did so many of the rest of us about how this is a great lesson on the fact that we have not always been where we promise to be as a nation. but that we made progress. and a reminder that there's still progress yet to be done. so i want to thank the gentleman, the majority leader, for his comments that he made on the floor today, and for his focus on this issue. i yield to the gentleman. mr. cantor: mr. speaker, i thank the gentleman and would say that the gentleman has been a huge supporter and participant in the pilgrimage to alabama, marking that event, that day in history and look forward to his

participation in the process of making sure that the house historian has the necessary information to accurately reflect the house's role, the members of the house's role, and certainly the gentleman's role in the pilgrimage to alabama, celebrating that event. and as he indicates, mr. speaker, a reminder to us all that this country didn't always get it right but we are continuing to work together to make sure that we are that land of equal rights and opportunity for all. i yield back. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for his comments and as he observes, the house members have participated in this. there's a wonderful organization known as faith in politics. we believe strongly in the separation of church and state, but as i tell people, we do not believe in the separation of the values our faiths teach us and the policies that we pursue. and there is that discussion. multifaiths represented in those discussions. as the majority leader and i are

different faiths, we are of one mind with respect to ensuring the values of our respected faiths are realized in our public policies. and unless the gentleman wants to say something further, i yield back the balance of my time, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? mr. cantor: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that when the house adjourns today it adjourn to meet at noon on monday next for morning hour debate and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the chair will entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. poe: request permission to address the house for one minute, to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. poe: mr. speaker, two

american soldiers were killed today in afghanistan. and while our amazing troops are still in the rugged field of battle fighting people who kill in the name of religion, a new field is getting ready for its grand opening at guantanamo bay. finishing touches are being put on a swanky high-dollar soccer field for criminal terrorist detainees at gitmo. and of course americans are picking up the $750,000 tab for the recreation facilities for these criminals. now, isn't that lovely? the u.s. government has given these radical extremists access to the soccer field for 20 hours a day. what follows, a terrorist soccer league? these radicals should be doing hard time, not soccer time. our government has no business building this tropical caribbean recreation facility for terrorists. it is disrespectful and insulting to all who are victims of these killers. what's next at this terrorist

playground? a tiki hut and bar on the beach? this ought not to be, but that's just the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas yielded back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from nevada rise? ms. berkley: i rise to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. ms. berkley: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today on behalf of nevada's struggling out of work families who understand that this nation's top priority must be putting people back to work. one way that we can do this is by bringing clean energy manufacturing jobs to our state. my clean energy jobs bill does just that, by transforming our state's abundant wind, sun and geothermal energy into good-paying jobs that can't be shipped overseas and it does this by getting our priorities lined up with our values. the bill extends a 30% tax credit for clean energy manufacturing companies that are paid for by eliminating the

billions of taxpayer giveaways to big oil companies. last year big oil made $137 billion in profits. they don't need our money. unfortunately washington republicans just don't see it that way. in fact, the republicans vote time and again to protect taxpayer funded handouts to greedy oil companies. those are the wrong priorities for our nation and they're certainly the wrong priorities for the state of nevada. with rising gas prices, it's time to hold big oil companies accountable and make nevada the hub of our clean energy jobs future. i urge swift passage of this bill and i yield back the balance of my time. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from nevada yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana rise? >> ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: so ordered. mr. pence: mr. speaker, there is a lot of issues being debated

here in our nation's capital, but hoosiers are talking about just one thing and that is rising prices at the pump. the average price of gasoline in indiana right now is $3.82 a gallon. that's 10 cents higher than the national average. and it's worth noting when president obama came to office the average price of gasoline nationwide was $1.79. this administration pushed cap and trade, national energy tax that the president said would cause utility rates to skyrocket. they pushed it through regulations even though it didn't make it in the congress. they suspended deep water drilling in the gulf of mexico for a time. they placed the entire pacific and atlantic coasts off-limits to drilling. refused to explore alaska. decreased production across the western part of our nation, and most recently rejected the keystone x.l. pipeline. i say and i take no joy in saying this, mr. speaker, but rising gasoline prices are a natural result of the policies

of the obama administration and this administration must change course. it's time that we enact an all-of-the-above energy strategy that includes more access to america's energy reserves, more alternative energy sources, encouragement of conservation. that's how we will tackle this crisis. i rise on behalf of hardworking hoosiers and everyday americans who are struggling with the prices at the pump on this first day in march to say to this administration, except keystone pipeline, approve more domestic exploration, abappedon your headlong rush toward regulation and national energy tax and let's give americans real relief at the pump as this spring begins. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from missouri rise? >> request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. carnahan: thank you, mr.

speaker. i rise to pay tribute to the bosnian people as they celebrate their independence. the founding member and co-chairman of the congressional bosnian caucus and having the distinct honor of representing a growing vibrant community of bosnian americans in st. louis, missouri, one of the largest bosnian american communities in the u.s., i'm pleased to recognize the bosnian independence day with my constituents and people of bosnia. yesterday our caucus co-chair, representative chris smith, and i had a meeting with secretary of state hillary clinton to discuss progress and continued challenges in bosnia. i am encouraged the elected leaders have begun to do what is in the best interest of their country, to form a government, begin to pass law that is will help put bosnia on a path to membership in nato and the european union. in the face of tremendous challenge, bosnia has made great progress over the past 20 years, but there is much more to be done. yesterday i urged secretary clinton to continue active u.s. involvement in the country and

to strengthen u.s. support for the bosnian people as they embark on a wide range of needed reforms. i'm proud to represent thousands of bosnian americans in the st. louis region. it's been with great pride i continue to stand with them today and offer a hearty congratulations on the 20th anniversary of independence. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: with that the gentleman from missouri yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from texas rise? without objection, so ordered. ms. jackson lee: i wanted to rise to the floor to add my appreciation and celebration of h.res. 562, directing the office of the historian to compile all histories from members of the house, representatives involved in the historic and annual selma to montgomery, alabama, march and certainly those who started in 1965. let me first of all thank the sponsor of the bill, terry sewell -- teri -- terri sewell

and say i had the privilege of marching over the bridge for almost two decades. just a couple weeks ago i was in marion, alabama, receiving an award from an organization with the commissioner on commemorating jimmy lee jackson day, who is the first person shot who went to a rally that dr. martin luther king held simply to express his right to vote. he was shot trying to protect his mom and his grandmother. dragged out of the place and stomped to death. now some 45 years later we are able to commemorate but we must recount the stories of those who were there and those who still march today. as we proceed to improve on voting today and ending the oppression of voter i.d., it is appropriate to celebrate this resolution and to march across

the edmund pettus bridge this coming bloody sunday. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from texas yields back. the gentlelady from california, for what purpose do you rise? >> to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. >> mr. speaker, i rise this morning to say to rush limbaugh, shame on you. ms. speier: shame on you for being the hatemonger that you are. shame on you for being misogynistic. shame on you for calling the women of this country prostitutes because that's what he did. 98% of the women in this country at some time in their lives used birth control. and yet he went on the air recently and called sandra fluke a slut and prostitute because she was trying to access birth control pills as a third-year law student at georgetown. so i say to the women in this country, do something about this. i say to the women of this

country, ask century 21, quicken loans, legal zoom, and sleep number to stop supporting the hate mongering of rush limbaugh and if they do not do that, then i ask them to boycott those companies. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california yields back. the chair lays before the house leave of absence. the clerk: leave of absence requested for mr. shimkus of illinois for today. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the request is granted. under the speaker's announced policy of january 5, 2011, the gentleman from michigan, mr. conyers, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to revise and

extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. conyers: i rise today to pay tribute to my friend, my brother, the one and only harry belafonte whose birthday is today. his fame as a singer, poplarizing the caribbean becausical style -- musical style with an international audience and is best known for singing the "banana boat song" with its signature lyric,, day-o. he's a movie star and was in pictures, film with dorty dandrige and carmen jones which

was otto permission to address the house for one minute minger's hit musical. -- which was otto preminger's hit musical. throughout his years he's been a civil right advocate and leader in humanitarian causes, and for me his close counsel and advice and support to the late dr. reverend martin luther king jr. is something that i think will go down in civil rights history. he's been a leader in humanitarian causes for many years. he helped organize the grammy award winning song, "we are the world." a multiartist effort to raise funds for africa when they needed it most.

he performed in the live aid concert that same year. in 1987 mr. belafonte received an appointment to unicef, as a good will ambassador. following his appointment he traveled to da car -- dakar, senegal, where he served as chairman of the international symposium of artists and intellectuals for african children. he also helped to raise funds with dozens of other artists in the largest concert ever held in sub-saharan africa. and then he went on a mission to rwanda and launched a media campaign to raise awareness of the needs and the troubles and the nutritional challenges of rawandan children.

in 2001 he went to south africa to support the campaign to reduce hiv-aids. the next year africare awarded him the bishop john walker distinguished humanitarian service award for his efforts to assist in africa. in 2004 he went to kenya to stress the importance of education for the children in that area. in 2006 he was the recipient of the b.e.t. humanitarian award and was named one of the nine award recipients by aarp magazine. happy birthday, harry belafonte. i love you, america loves you,

and the entire world will always love and admire your artistic genius, your steadfast devotion to causes of justice, peace, and your enduring spirit to transform both our country and the world so it is a more compassionate, soulful, and just planet. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman yield back? mr. conyers: i'm going to yield at this time to the gentlelady from texas, ms. sheila jackson lee, as much time as she may consume. ms. jackson lee: i want to thank the gentleman from detroit and with his own august history in

the civil rights movement. as they say he is no short man when it comes to the work that he has done more than one that we have known him for and thank him for in the hiring of rosa parks and the friendship of dr. martin luther king, john conyers has proceeded with his legislative history from the time of his embracing of the 1965 voting rights act as an ongoing where we have joined on that committee dealing with issues of police brutality, dealing with issues of voter protection, dealing with the re-authorization of the voting rights act, dealing with the maintaining of the constitution through proceedings for john

conyers. we know from which they have spoken and beyond a whole litany i could give in terms of giving rights to people, his dear friend, harry belafonte, is about to approach a wonderful birthday. since i count him both hero and friend, i wanted to join briefly for a moment in some other issues i'm going to discuss is to, again, thank a warrior for peace and justice and one who -- let me just say that he would not say sacrifice, who wanted to ensure that the movement leaders , dr. king, jose williams, andy young, the soldiers and the mississippi and alabama, south carolina, georgia, north carolina, and places beyond have the kind of financial and hollywood structure that they

would argue that they were not walking along. harry belafonte, a significant and monumental talent of music, a boy that hailed from the caribbean who came to the united states with style and smoothness of voice, still kicking, still strong, still standing for truth. we know of his recent message that he did not mince words on wars he thought we should not be in, but he certainly has not traveled any way -- anywhere away from the distance of the dirt canny that dr. martin luther king walked. as martin fell at the age of 39 in 1968, harry belafonte never gave up the flag and continued that battlefront to ensure that those who could not speak for themselves were heard through his wonderful and sweet

resounding voice, his ability for lyrics and his acting talent of the many movies that he allowed us to enjoy. . so i'm delighted to join you in wishing harry belafonte a very happy combirget day and again let -- birthday and again let him know that he's too long from seeing us. we saw him just recently but any time he wants to come to the united states congress and share with us in our fight for justice , in the desire to pass legislation that makes sense, whether or not it is dealing with the rights of women, whether it is to fight for the overdue passage of the equal rights amendment or to ensure the re-authorization of the violence against women's act or to make sure we fund the office of civil rights, or we ensure that the stamping and trampling

on the rights of 96-year-old grandmother to be able to vote in the 2012 election is now stomped out because of voting i.d. laws, we want harry belafonte to know that we welcome his voice on any of these and we would argue vigorously that he remains in our hearts and continues to be cherished by america, but also an american hero in the historic role that he plays in our history and in our musical history and the history of civil rights. so i want to thank you for allowing me to be yielded to as i proceed to utilize a continued part of this special order and this hour. that i wish to do. and i want to have the appropriate break so that, mr. chairman, i think you are well aware that you spent your lifetime fighting for rights of women. and we have done a number of legislative initiatives that have passed through the house

judiciary committee that i've been privileged during the short time that i've been there to be on and the constant renewal of the rights, dealing with violence against women, has been imperative. the recognition of the court cases such as roe v. wade and the issues of dealing with employment discrimination. and so it calls for a immediate response to a showman that has a show, the rush limbaugh show, and it calls for a response that is bipartisan, that is humane, that really does not, if you will, pander to the skis muches that many in this -- skisms that

many in this congress but many people in america think we have. many people don't realize that when we go home to our district, we're embracing people from all walks of life, whether it is encountering in our service, whether or not we're engaging with our chamber, whether or not we're at our schools. we are embracing our constituents, we're there to provide for them. so i come to the floor just as an american that finds it very difficult that when there are two points of view, which in the procedure of the house, if i might explain, when a committee holds a hearing, the majority has the opportunity to select a number of witnesses. in most instances if it is a panel of four, then you can select -- the majority selects four witnesses. excuse me, three witnesses. courtesy says that you yield to the minority. in the house it happens to be democrats. and we're allowed, as in mr.

connier's judiciary committee, when he was chairman, they're allowed a witness, now we're allowed a witness. the oversight hearing on the question dealing with the compromise of the president to ensure no religious institution ever has to engage against their view, which i will fight to the death to ensure that happens, there was a witness proposed by the democrats of that committee, a young woman law student. the last time i heard she was a private citizen, she was a law student, accredited or in good standing, of one of the nation's major law schools and she was blocked from testifying. shortly thereafter the democratic policy in the steering committee was led by leader pelosi, they held a hearing and gave this private citizen an opportunity to be

heard. she was called before the democratic policy and steering committee which is an appropriate vehicle in order to have people heard on her views about the necessity of having access to women's health. that was the framework of her testimony. there were no accusatory words, as i understand it. there was no blaming. it was a simple, pure testimony of the dert meant to blocking women -- debtry plent to blocking women to -- detriment to blocking women to having health care. we have determined that contraceptives have influenced and impacted the decrease in cervical cancer, as addressed by ob-gyn's in this nation. so her testimony was a factual testimony on the basis of her experience and i will tell you that that happens all the time, mr. conyers.

when we call witnesses to provide testimony on their own experience. and as i understand it, it was a civil proceeding that is now documented for members to review and i think that is the process of this house, that witnesses are allowed to be in support of a particular position and to be against, let me be very frank, sometimes the hearings get very feisty, but we're always cognizant that we're appreciative of witnesses who are willing to come before us and to in fact share their thoughts. we just had one here in the judiciary committee, i was delighted to see an array of witnesses and almost to the extent it looked like we had a resolve when one of the faith witnesses said they would have no concern about any person that worked for them that secured access to contraceptives through some other way, as long as it did not cause that religious entity to have to be involved.

what a simple acknowledgment of how america can resolve things. so it is a resolvable question. but lo and behold we look to the airways of which we the federal government provide and certainly we know the fairness doctrine does not exist, but i might say that on the february 29, 2012, show of mr. limbaugh we understand that he repeatedly used sexually charged, offensive, obscene language to malign the character of a courageous young woman, a private citizen, not running for anything, in law school, attempting to be a contributing citizen to this country, paying her taxes, graduating, i'm sure she has a family that loves her, and just was willing to accept the call of a committee to do her duty, to give testimony under her own words, to provide a life story to an issue that we

are grappling with. and so i know that i'm standing here in the face of the fairness doctrine that does not require any media to offer a contravening point. some time in the last couple of decades we eliminated the requirement that if you said such and such you needed to bring so and so on to the radio or tv to say that. we're still grappling with that because this allows, of course, the maligning of the vial statements and one cannot answer. those of us who are in the kitchen, we know that if you're in the kitchen you're in the fire. those of us who are elected, we understand that our task is simply to respond by way of our works and our deeds. and to allow the national discourse to come. but i rise to the floor today

because the vileness of the statement that was made by mr. limbaugh was, and pardon me for having an enormous cold here, so rush, the statement thats that you made, i think are not appropriate to a private citizen who came before a hearing that was called by members of congress asking to secure the appropriate balance where you were refused in the regular order of the house, where you are allowed to have witnesses by the majority, witnesses by the minority, it is an accepted process that no one objects to. this young lady was blocked and so the leaders of our house, leader pelosi, the democratic policy and steering committee which i'm a member of and support wholeheartedly, called this young lady. if i might just deviate for a moment and then give an opportunity.

this connects to my morning visit this morning, women that thrive and i want to acknowledge my full passion for supporting the international violence against women act that we are fighting to pass. in this morning's breakfast we herd that -- heard that one in three women will experience violence in their lifetime. they will be prostituted, they will be sold, they will be enslaved, they will be beaten, they will be killed. and we have to stop this around the world. in my own jurisdiction i've seen in the last couple of days and weeks men shoot their children, their wives or a whole family. this is in the united states. i remember sitting down with madeline albright on the border of bangladesh looking at the freed recently recaptured prostitutes who had been beaten and sold by their family for the

lack of survival and these young girls were trying to regain their dignity in life. we cannot tolerate that. and so i am committing myself wholeheartedly to the passage of the international violence against women act and i would commend rush limbaugh to invite us on and talk about constructive ways of helping women. i give him every opportunity to have some guest where we can call in. i don't think that is possible but i will challenge all the women of the house, let's try to dial that number. and see if we can provide some light on this topic. dealing with what women face beyond the caring and having the joy of bearing a child but then sometimes raising them as a single parent and having to have food stamps and having to have children's health insurance or

the affordable care act to survive and to raise these wonderful children. and how many have testified from soldier to president that have testified about a single parent that have brought them this far and said, if it wasn't for my mother, some will say, if it wasn't for my single parent father, but if it wasn't for my mother, i wouldn't be here today? she was a single parent, and i just can't imagine why mr. limbaugh would carry on this characterization. let me finish on this, mr. conyers, that has determined -- disturbed me and reflects on my word of instruction. i know that we have a schedule for the war in afghanistan and i co-chair the afghan cause -- caucus and let me pronounce now my desire for an immediate upsurging, meaning upsurging out, speeding up, expediting the return of our heroes home. i thank the president for his honoring those soldiers from iraq, i have been wearing for a

number of months and i'm not sure if i still have it on, there it is, a yellow ribbon to acknowledge the soldiers who have come home from iraq. i look forward to many parades coming forward. but it is time to bring our soldiers home from iraq, to thank the nato partnership. and it is time to express outrage. i offer the deepest sympathy, i have no problem with apologies. i am a grown person that is not diminished by saying i'm sorry. that i'm sorry that a mistake in the channel of instructions and commands allowed korans to be burned. we all know that they were collected, first of all, because they thought they were communicating dastardly instructions that would harm either those who were the officers over the detention

prison or that they were sending messages. we understand that. but there is no reason not to offer an apology. we have sacred documents from ther toa to the bible to the koran because there are people in the united states of different faiths. so we have no problem with that. but when we have a government, as much as we try to encourage and to applaud and to support, that allows the reckless spreading of violence and that the taliban celebrates by permeating the population with ugliness and rioting and when you shoot point blank my officers of the united states military, enough is enough. . there is no reason for me to be able to accept individuals who are there to help build up a society. my understanding where they are unarmed.

then you cause violence on four other soldiers. and then there are allegations that food is being poisoned. there are allegations we can't even walk the streets. the sadness is that women in afghanistan have come to me and said, we can't even walk the streets. babies, girl children are killed. parliamentarians have spoken to me and said i can't go home to my home district. how will that be for my distinguished colleague when i yield congresswoman capps or any of the women that we cannot go home to our districts because we are afraid of being killed by the men in that region? so i would argue that we have been valiant. we are heroes. we have done what we have been called to do. the commander in chief has in fact brought the demise of osama bin laden and other high dollar targets, and i would believe that it is appropriate that congress gathers and i am now looking and contemplating a

resolution that we ask for a more expedited return of our soldiers and that we ask that the president of afghanistan in the appropriate way denounce and call for the end of the violence. that the taliban be addressed by the afghan national security forces as we have trained them. so i would say in my closing remarks we have much to do. many women suffer. and in this country we can at least acknowledge that we are civilized and that we respect women and the choices they have to make, respect the faith that has its own position, and we as a nation will insist on that firewall, but we will also have access to women's health care and it makes no sense that a talk show host that is on the airwaves provided by the american people and by the tax

dollars would go after an innocent law student who simply was called as an american citizen to be heard in the halls of congress and had no other angst but to be able to present her life story. i conclude, mr. conyers, by saying i see that by the men and women in the united states military all they have asked to do is to serve their nation under the orders of the commander in chief in afghanistan, and i'm now saying to them, i salute them and it's time to bring our men and women home in dignity, in health, in safety, and with their life for their loved ones. with that i'm happy to yield back. mr. conyers: i want to thank the gentlelady from texas for her wide ranging comments, her very closely held beliefs, and her very articulate way of joining me in the dialogue this morning.

mr. speaker, i would yield now to the gentlelady from california, lois capps. mrs. capps: i thank my colleague from michigan very much for yielding me this time. mr. speaker, i rise to correct the record. i mistakenly voted no just a few minutes ago on roll call 94 when i intended to vote yes. and i ask unanimous consent that the congressional record reflect that correction. i do support h.res. 556 and strongly condemn the government of iran for its state sponsored persecution of religions minorities. i concur with the resolution in calling for the exoneration and immediate re-- release of youcef nadarkhani and all other individuals held or charged on account of their religion.

i yield back to the gentleman from michigan and thank him for his courtesy. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i have no further requests for time. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. under the speaker's announced policy of january 5, 2011, the gentleman from michigan, mr. mccotter, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. mccotter: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise to observe the loss of my friend, andrew, at the age of 43. in endeavoring to eulogize anyone, there is truly no more eloquent testament than their family, and to his wife suzy and their four beautiful children, our prayers, our thoughts and

our acts are with you. professionally in andrew's genius that was his life's work, he tirelessly fought the good fight. and in the end, gave his all with every fiber of his soul to serve his fellow human beings and the country numbered with shock and loss at the word of his passing. and in reflecting upon the pleasure of his company which i and so many others shared, i do find that i'm at a loss for words and will instead rely upon those of the poet rupert brook. now god be thanked who has matched us with his hour and

caught our youth and wakened us from sleeping. with sure hand, clear eye, and sharpened power. to turn as swimmers in the cleanless sleeping. glad from a world grown old and cold and weary. leave the sick hearts that honor could not move. and the half men and their dirty songs and dreary and all the little emptiness of love. oh, we who have known shame we have found release there. for there is no ill, no grief but sleep as mending. not broken save this body lost but breath, nothing to shake the laughing heart's long peace there but only agony and that has ending.

and the worst friend and enemy is but death. goodbye and god bless, brother andrew. you are loved and mourned and ever remembered. you never wasted a day of our finite time called life. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 5, 2011, the gentleman from indiana, mr. burton, is recognized for the remainder of the hour of the designee for the majority leader. mr. burton: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. mr. speaker, i was talking to my good friend on the other side of the aisle, a democrat, greg meeks, the other day. greg said that if we were to

raise taxes, put taxes on the table, that he would be willing to put cuts in entitlements and other things on the table in an equal measure. and i told him that there was no way we could raise taxes enough to offset the things that really needed to be dealt with. we've got to control spending. we've got to cut spending. we have to look at the entitlements and the rules and regulations that we have to live by and make dramatic changes in government if we are going to balance the budget. this year we have reached over $15 trillion in debt, $15 trillion. that goes right past most people because they can't imagine what $1 trillion is. but $15 trillion is to put it in perspective. it took the presidencies of george washington all the way to

bill clinton to amass the same amount of debt that president obama has racked up in 32 months. think about that. from george washington to bill clinton the amount of money in debt that we have added has been reached in 32 months by president obama. we have to get control of spending. it's absolutely essential, otherwise we'll be in the same shape as many of the those countries inure -- many of those countries in europe, like greece. the president's solution to the burgeoning problem is to increase taxes, as i said. so i went through the amount of taxes it would take and what we would have to do to reach the goals that the president talks about. now, if you raise the taxes on everybody that makes over $250,000 to 100%, in other words you take every dime that they make over 100% above $250,000,

that would yield about $1.4 trillion and that would keep government running for 141 days. so if we took all the money that people make over $250,000, you'd still only run government for less than half a year. and if you gave the $400 billion of profits that was reached -- reaped by the fortune 500 companies and gave them the same 100% tax treatment, you would add another 40 days to the amount of time that we could run the government. so taxing is not going to solve the problem. now, herbert hoover when he was president decided, a republican, he decided that the way to help stop the economic tragedy that was about to occur was to raise taxes on business and individuals. and what happened? we ended up with the greatest depression in the history of this country. now, president obama said the one thing you don't want to do

during a time of recession is raise taxes, and yet that's what he's advocating and my democratic colleagues are advocating right now. raise taxes during a time of economic recession. and when people talk about unemployment in this country, they say, well, now it's 8.2%. if you look at the people who dropped off the unemployment rolls and those who are underemployed, the unemployment rate's probably closer to 15%. so the figures we are getting from the administration is really not that accurate. it's extremely important that the administration and my democrat colleagues here in the house and especially in the senate take a hard look at where we are going. the projections are over the next 10 years we are going to increase the deficit by at least $1 trillion a year. we cannot afford that. this country will go completely bankrupt. you'll see inflation that you

won't believe. right now the fed is printing money to cover the expenditures that we are incuring day after day after day. and that money they are using, they are buying bonds with it, treasury bonds. so that money's not actually being seen in circulation, but the fact is we are increasing the debt by printing money at the fed on a daily basis. in europe, the european central bank's doing the same thing with the euro. so this country and the rest of the world's heading toward an inflationary problem that's going to be unbelievable. now, people say in this country right now we haven't seen any inflation. if you look at the figures that are coming out from the administration, inflation last year went up 1% to 2%. they are including in that figure all the new technology that is are taking place. they are not going to the grocery store. i went to the grocery store last week and bought four apples and it cost almost $5. three tomatos cost almost $5. you go to the gas pump today and my colleague from indiana, mr.

pence, talked about that just a few minutes ago, you go to the gas pump today, it's almost $4 for a gallon of gas. so the inflation rate on staples, on things that we use on a daily basis, is probably well over 10%. maybe higher than that. we don't know. but the administration says it's only 1% to 2%. but talk to the wives and husbands of people who are really strapped for cash right now and you'll find that it's costing them a great deal more than that on a daily basis for gasoline, food, clothes, and everything else. so it's extremely important that we get control of spending. this is not the time to raise taxes. the president has said that himself, especially back in 2008 and 2009. now they are taking a different tact and saying we need to raise taxes. that would be like throwing gasoline on a fire. not -- we should not be raising taxes. we should be addressing the spending side of the ledger, if we do that we'll get this country back on the right track. i just got back to europe, i

took a could he dell over to bruss -- could he del over to brussels -- codel over to brussels to find out where they are heading. if greece goes belly up it's likely you'll see other countries go belly up. we have investments in money market funds and bonds that we purchased in those countries, and if those countries default, it's going a effect the united states as well. so we need to get our house in order so that we don't end up in the same bailiwick that europe is in right now. . that could cause severe economic problems in this country. i'll end by saying, it's important that we get control of spending. this is not the time to raise taxes. a poll was taken recently by the "politico" magazine here on capitol hill and 75% of the people in this country that were polled said not to raise taxes. so the people get it. i just hope the white house will. and with that i yield back the balance of my time.

i yield back to the chair. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. under the speaker's announced policy of january 5, 2011, the gentleman from virginia, mr. wolf, is recognized for the remained rt of the hour as the dessing -- remainder of the house as -- of the hour as the designee of the majority leader. mr. wolf: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. mr. speaker, just today we heard reports that two more american service members in afghanistan were gunned down by the very security forces they are helping to train. unfortunately this is not an isolated incident. last week two army officers were gunned down inside the afghan interior ministry. attacks by afghan soldiers and security forces have accounted for nearly 70 deaths since 2007. u.s. military did a report on this phenomena referred to as green on blue attacks and determined that they are turning into a growing systematic threat

to our military personnel in the region. these are not u.s. deaths from combat or taliban or other insurgent groups although some of the perpetrators likely hold taliban sympathies. these attacks are by the very forces that our military is trying to train to take control of their own country. a significant component of the obama administration milltary drawdown strategy. what are american forces to do when they doubt whether they can trust those who wear the uniform of an ally we are spending blood and treasure supporting? these attacks further compliment u.s. strategy. mr. speaker, congress and the obama administration need to realize that these things are not going well in afghanistan. and it has nothing to do with the capabilities of our troops. not only are afghanistan security forces gunning down their american advisors, terrorists, insurgent groups continue to find sanctuary in tribal wilderness areas of

pakistan. in january the most recent national intelligence estimate printed a very bleak picture of the war in afghanistan and the future of u.s. operations in the region. it reflects concerns that i have expressed numerous times as secretary of defense -- to secretary of defense pa net arks especially the importance of -- panetta, especially the importance of understanding afghan tribal forces. last week "the washington post" reported that u.s. ambassador to afghan ryan crocker wrote a cable describing the fragile situation in the region. the cable described many of the problems in the region including terrorist sanctuaries in pakistan, where militants continue training to attack u.s. forces. and ryan crocker has a tremendous history in that region, also having been ambassador to iraq but also ambassador to pakistan. secretary panetta has stated

that u.s. forces are, quote, working hard with pakistan to improve the level of cooperation , end of quote so, that terrorist groups no longer find safe haven in the country. while i appreciate the hard work being done by our forces in the region, i'm afraid that the complexity of the evolving situation may necessitate that we take a very close examination of how we're operating. mr. speaker, i do not have the answers to these extremely complicated and dangerous chank challenges. but last -- challenges. but last year the congress gave the obama administration the ability to create an afghanistan-pakistan study group, an independent panel of five democrats and five republicans who love their country more than they love their political party. the afghanistan study group would put their expertise to work and offer constructive recommendations to the administration to achieve our mission and to be successful in afghanistan.

this panel will be modeled after the iraq study group which was convened during the worst violence in iraq. the panel was formed only after three years of fighting in that country. it was called the baker-hamilton commission where the iraq study group, it was an amendment that i offered and i made a constructive difference, it was five republicans, five democrats . secretary gates served on the commission. secretary panetta served on the commission. fine people, distinguished people. people of integrity and good judgment. and they came up with some good recommendations. i've urged secretary panetta repeatedly to embrace this tried and tested model. this time for the nation's longest war. five republicans, five democrats, all people who are no longer involved in the political process but have understanding and knowledge both from a diplomatic and a military point of that region. both with afghanistan and with

pakistan. u.s. forces have been on the ground in afghanistan for over 10 years now and it is clear that things are not going well. given the challenges i have discussed, i find it difficult to understand why secretary panetta and president obama refuse to use the authority it right now has to establish the afghanistan-p.c.a. study group -- afghanistan-pakistan study group. such a group already has the support of congress. this bill passed the united states congress and ask what harm can come from a group of independent experts looking at our missions with fresh eyes, fresh eyes on the target? secretary panetta and the administration gets to select the group, the five republicans and five democrats. so those who serve on this study will be selected by the administration and particularly by secretary panetta, who i have great respect for. it's hard for me to understand why secretary panetta was willing to sit on the iraq study

group, which was going to evaluate a war that had been going on for 3 1/2 years under a republican administration, but is not willing to do the same thing, to have an outside group look at a war that's now been going on for over 10 years. this would be totally bipartisan, it would be objective. it would be fresh eyes on the target. ryan crocker, before he was appointed ambassador to afghanistan, supported this concept and many very patriotic americans have, with the idea of how can we be successful in afghanistan and also in pakistan? i do not know what the recommendation of the panel would be. maybe they will examine the current policy and determine that it is the best possible way

to achieve success. but the fact remains that congress provided the resources and the authority for the obama administration to conduct an independent review and they are refusing, as of this moment, to take action. again, it was interesting, during the iraq war, secretary rumsfeld was willing to have the iraq study group go forward. general peter pace, who was the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, was willing to have the iraq study group go forward. mr. conaway:, the secretary of state -- cond -- condaleeza rice, the secretary of state, was willing to have the iraq study group go forward. the national security advisor was willing to have the iraq study group go forward. they picked two outstanding americans, probably could not have had finer people, former secretary of state jim baker, and former congressman, lee

hamilton, who was head of the -- co-chairman of the 9/11 commission, was chairman of the intelligence committee and has done a lot of very good things. it was a bipartisan effort. again, we had people like secretary gates and we had attorney general mace and they came together with a very constructive proposal and as many members may remember, the surge was in the iraq study group. it was on page 73. so why would secretary panetta, who was willing to judge activities for a war going on for 3 1/2 years during the bush administration, not be willing to have 10 objective people that he proposes, not that the congress proposes, not that any partisan group proposes, but that he will propose, to bring fresh eyes on the target, to look to see how we can deal with the issue in afghanistan and pakistan and do it in a way to make sure we are doing everything we can to protect the

men and women who are serving so honorably and so well for our nation? i believe also, mr. speaker, it's a moral issue, too. i believe we owe this, we owe this to the men and women and their -- who are serving and we also urge it to the families. if other members care, i would ask you to look at the language and then also write a letter to leon panetta. he's a good man. i served with him here in the house. he loves his country. i think he's working very, very hard. the people serving in the military at the pentagon are very committed, very capable people. but like anything else, sometimes a fresh approach, a fresh eyes, again, i think that would be very good for our country and something that we owe to the men and women who are serving in the military and to the families and with that, mr.

speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 5, 2011, the gentleman from texas, mr. gohmert, is recognized for the remainder of the hour as a designee of the majority leader.

mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. so much going on in this country , so many great folks, some not so much. there are stories out indicating that this administration is considering releasing the blind sheik. he's credited with helping mastermind the first attempt to bring down our world trade centers. he is credited as the islamic fanatic who issued the fatwa

that was considered by the radical extremist jihadist to justify killing thousands and thousands of americans. what they hoped would be tens of thousands of americans in the world trade centers and in the pentagon. one report indicated that with regard to the pentagon, if the plane had not just brushed across the parking lod before it hit, it probably would have gone all the way into the interior, do a massive amount more damage that it actually did. because of the valiant work of so many first responders, they weren't tens of thousands killed in the world trade centers. but the loss of 3,000 murdered because of some religious fanatics, the blind sheik being

one of them. the stories was out yesterday and today that the administration is considering the release of the blind sheik and other american murderers so that we can obtain the complete release from egypt of people that went there to try to help the egyptians have free and fair elections. and in return for going there and providing the billions of dollars this country does to egypt and continues, in return the people in charge, that this administration welcomed in charge of the egyptian government as they stabbed an ally with whom they had written agreements, namely mubarak, not saying he's a great man, i'm

saying this country, this administration had agreements with that man and this administration broke those agreements, stabbed him in the back and as a result now we have americans in harm's way, some of them in the embassy in egypt and now the reports are that the administration is considering releasing murderers, people who planned and were complicit in murderers and attempted murders of americans and this administration is considering releasing them and may be negotiating that. now i'm hoping that this report is what this administration has done many times and that is release a trial balloon to see how people react and if people react violently enough, they believe, that is, against it, then they will say, hey, we

never planned to do that and i'm hopeful that that will be the case here. people who have been responsible for murdering and attempting to murder americans have no business being used as bargaining chips. if the rule of law, if justice is going to mean anything in this country going forward, we cannot be bargaining with american liberty. now, some of us recall very well in 1979 when an act of war occurred by the people -- by the government of iran, in tehran, against the american embassy. everyone's idea of international law indicates that the soil on which an embassy exists is the soil of

that country. you attack the embassy, you have attacked that country. and it was my recollection, and those of us that were stationed at fort benning at the time, we knew it meant that many of the people, many of us at fort benning may have been sent to iran if a war broke out. everyone was watching to see if, as the term was used, the flag were to go up, who's going to go. nobody was dying to go, but everyone was willing to go and die in defense of our country. the carter administration instead began pleading with the iranian government to let our hostages go. it was my recollection back then, as we watched from fort benning, not sure what the fate of those at fort benning would

be, but the spokesman for the iranian government kept saying, the students have the hostages, the students attacked the embassy, and it just seemed to me as a captain in the army at the time, you know what it sounds like, the iranian government is trying to give themselves a back door so that if president carter stands up and finally becomes a great leader and shose great leadership and stands up and -- shows great leadership and stands up and says, all right, you say the students have the american hostages, well, then here's the deal. an act of war has been committed, and either you release -- you deal with those students and you get those american hostages released or we are bringing the full weight of the american military against tehran for the release of those people, and if those

hostages are harmed before we get there, then we will overthrow your government and we'll leave. we're not going to nation build. you can pick whatever government you want. it's your business unless you attack the united states of america, because when you attack the united states of america, it is our business. we won't nation build, but we will take down any government of any nation anywhere that commits an act of war against us. that's what president carter should have done. and now these rumors swirl around, these reports from media resources that tell us they're reliable that this government now is thinking, well, maybe we'll dodge what the carter administration did that got president carter defeated for a second term.

maybe if we just release murderers of americans, maybe if we'll just give them whatever they want, they'll release these people or allow them to leave the embassy and travel back to america and we'll be ok. wrong. you release people who declared war on america, who declared war on the world trade center, on new york city, on washington, d.c., you are you lease -- you release those people, you have not made america safer. you've endangered far more lives than you got released. i like ray lahood. he's a good man. we haven't agreed on some things, but he's a good man. i know that, and it broke my heart that i saw that his wonderful son who believes in liberty and freedom were being kept against his will from

leaving egypt. he went over there to help them have a free and fairer election . from what i know, having not met ray's son, i don't think he would want the lives of tens of thousands or millions of americans jeopardized because this administration might be trying to avoid losing an election as president carter did. the thing to do is the thing president carter didn't try. he tried the negotiations. he offered all kinds of things, but the thing to do is say, egypt, we have given you american treasure, we supported your efforts in electing leaders, but here's the deal. we sent you people to help you have free and fair elections, and if you are going to hold them hostage, then that's an act of war on us. and we will come to egypt.

we're not going to war with the nation. the whole nation of egypt is not against america. but if the regime in power is going to take americans who came over there to help them, who were participating in helping a process so that egypt could continue to get u.s. funds to stabilize their country, if they're going to declare war on those individuals, then we'll take out that which is presiding, attempting to govern. we won't nation build, but we will allow you -- you put whatever government you want in place, but if they come against america we will come against that government. not against the people but against the government. we'll take that government out and then you pick some other government. we don't care who it is. we don't care what kind of government you have. as long as they're not at war with america. but you commit these kind of criminal acts of war against

american citizens, against america, we'll take that group out that's governing in that manner and then you find one that won't declare war on america. that's what needs to be done. not releasing the blind sheik, not releasing american murderers. those are not the things to do. and i hope and pray that tens of thousands, millions of american lives won't be jeopardized by this administration just hoping to avoid a hostage crisis like arose in tehran. that arose because of a weak administration refusing to do what it should have in response to an act of war. because what we saw after those initial periods where they said, no, the students have those -- the students have them. we're trying to negotiate. we're trying to work with them. well, eventually they saw this administration, the carter

administration wasn't going to do anything. so they began saying, we have the hostages. we have the hostages and started making demands and thets and -- threats and things like that. we need to say, look, we need to live in peace with every nation in the world. if you have -- you pick what government you want and we'll live in peace as long as they don't declare war on us. they do we're coming. we'll take them out, and then you pick your next government. that's what should be done. not the release of murderers of those complicit murderers such as the blind sheik. i hope that enough in america will rise up and make their voices heard. don't be releasing people who declare war on america, who

have american blood on their hands. we do not want to put the future of america in foreign hands that are covered with american blood. es that not the course to take. one other thing i wanted to mention before i get to a tribute and that is with regard to the selma march, that is with regard to the civil rights movement. there are some in america who think people like martin luther king jr., john lewis, others who were such participants in the civil rights movement, people see that, that was a movement by blacks or african-americans, you know, to try to have equal civil rights. but having read a great deal about martin luther king jr., it's very clear. this was a christian minister,

an ordained christian pastor. and i haven't heard anybody in the wonderful tributes that have been paid here today as we commemorate that march in selma, hadn't heard anybody mention this, but as a christian minister those that martin luther king jr. and those who participated did more than help african-americans move closer toward having full equality, to equal rights. he did more than that. for those of us who were young, white, christians, for those who would come behind us as

euroamericans, white americans, they did something wonderful for us. they created an environment in which all christians, whites, all christians would be able to treat brothers and sisters as being brothers and sisters. they did a great service for all americans, and so i talk in tribute for the service that was done for all americans and anxiously long for the day -- we're getting so close -- but long for the day when people are judged by the content of

their character and not the color of their skin, where there are no quotas, there is no need for a justice department to review everything because people are acting and treating each other in ways of equality so that we finally achieve the dream. now, i want to turn to a tribute to a great man. this nation, and freedom has lost a great proponent and defender and he reportedly died

early this morning in california is and was an american hero. this man in what appeared to be in the prime of his life knew that keeping our endowed freedoms, was shining the bright rays of sunlight on whatever issue was stealing our nation's prosperity and liberties. many came to know andrew as the brains and the will behind the exposure of a cancer on our system that was exemplified by some of the things going on with acorn. they were not bothered by the thought of underaged girls being placed in the bondage of sexual prostitution, they were not bothered by the idea of

getting people in the country illegally for immoral and illegal purposes. he figured out a way to deal with these issues and to address what was sucking the nutrients and the life from this host country is really a cancer. he figured out how to shine sunlight inside offices of what was going on and gave a good dose of keep owe therapy to the cancer. he -- chemotherapy to the cancer. the media was holding itself out as being objective. we have freedom of speech. we have freedom of the press, but there should be some degree of honesty if someone is

expressing an opinion, it should be reflected as an opinion and not as unbiased journalism. andrew had been in the process of exposing that as well as so many other issues that were weakening our nation and infringing on our liberties, were dereceiving rank and file americans of the -- dereceiving rank and file americans of the -- dereceiving rank and file americans of our history. he was trying to seek truth, justice and the american way. visiting numerous times with andrew, he was so excited. he could see that he was literally and profoundly making a difference for truth. often when innovators or impassioned innovative visionary people depart this world, they have not had the benefit of seeing any of the fruits of their labor.

god had favored andrew with a glimpse of the difference that he was making. in this book, i acquired this copy from the library of congress, "righteous indignation," andrew breitbart, this is a new conclusion to andrew's recent books. he wrote this new conclusion himself. these are andrew's words. i love my job, i love fighting for what i believe in. i love having fun while doing it. i love reporting stories that the complex refuses to report. i love fighting back. i love finding allies. and famously i enjoy making enemies. three years ago i was mostly a behind-the-scenes guy who linked

to stuff on a very popular website. i always wondered what it would be like to enter the public realm to fight for what i believe in. i've lost friends, perhaps dozens, but i've gained hundreds, thousands whoer, who knows, of allies -- thousands, who knows, of allies. ed a ath the end of the day i can look -- at the end of the day i can look myself in the mirror and i sleep very well at night. he now sleeps in the arms of god. andrew was being denalized by those who were profiting from their deceptions of people and their cronyism with the government. he was rallying like-minded americans to seek and take back the liberties with which they were endowed and upon which liberties vast encroachments have been occurring. i would like to speak straight

from the heart, but i typed these lines up just moments ago because the difficulty, it's easier to read. let me finish with what i wrote moments ago. andrew had two films coming out in the near future in which he was so proud. as he showed me and my friend steve king here the trailers very recently. those films can and will be quite powerful in firming the cause of sunlight on darkness, though they may now have to be modified because of his passing. but andrew was so kind to be an encourager to my daughter in california, was always complimentary of her when we talked. he knew how to make a father proud. in considering andrew's works, the life and death of john quincy adams coming to mind -- comes to mind.

adams had been elected president in 1824, first son of a former president to be so elected. in 1828 he was defeated by andrew jackson. in 1830 john quincy adams did the unthinkable. he had been president of the united states and yet he was driven by a god-placed feeling, a need to stop slavery in america. so after having been president, he lowered himself to run for the house of representatives and was elected in 1830, sworn in 1831 and served until 1848 just down the hall in what we now call statuary hall. he was driven -- he was a driven man. he believed god had called him, as he did, to bring an end to

slavery. wilberforce in the british aisles, united kingdom, and adams in america. he was concerned appropriately that it would be difficult to expect god to keep blessing america if we were putting brothers and sisters in chains and bondage. he gave powerful speeches over and over down the hall in trying to convince the other members of the house to pass bills that would end slavery, that would free slaves and he never got it done. in fact, at one point he had so alienated the rules committee that they passed a rule, he couldn't even bring those types of bills anymore. so then he had to fight the rules so he could go back to filing bills to end slavery and free slaves and eventually he did. and he preached those powerful sermons down the hall against

slavery. in 1846 a young man, not particularly handsome, some at gettysburg heard him years later said he didn't have all that pleasing a voice to listen to, he didn't have a beard at that time, but a young, skinny, some would say homely looking guy, was on the back row just down the hall of the house of representatives. adams liked this guy. adams was not necessarily referred to as being a warm and fuzzy, cozy kind of guy. easy to warm up to. a bit can tank rouse at times. but he liked lincoln. in 1848, having spent so many years devoted to many great causes, but particularly to the cause of trying to end slavery, sitting at his desk, john quincy adams had a massive stroke. he was moved back into the

speaker's suit, just off the floor, died two days later. 1848. 13 years later abraham lincoln was sworn in as president of the united states. it was reported that someone had asked lincoln, was there anything me memorable that happened during your two brief years in the house of representatives? he was reported to have said in essence, not other than those powerful speeches of john quincy adams on the evils of slavery. lincoln knew it was wrong. it tore at his soul that slavery existed in america. after he lost after one term,

went back, tried to make a little money, did, practiced law, represented the railroad sum, the compromise of 1850, allowed new states to come in that would have slavery, lincoln had thought perhaps he was done with slavery but he couldn't stand it. he got back involved in politics, lost, lost again, got elected president and then had to bring about an end to slavery. in the united states. john quincy adams did not bring an end to slavery as he had hoped. he profoundly affected that young skinny less than handsome looking guy named abraham

lincoln. andrew breitbart is gone. i will be interested to see what the autopsy says. but i can't help but think his devotion to truth, to preserving liberty will have inspired so many who will pick up that banner and potentially, as was the case with john quincy adams and abraham lincoln, do far more than adams himself could have done. and in this day, in the years to come, do more than andrew could have done by himself. though andrew did great service to himself, his family and his nation, it's my prayer that his greatest contribution to this, the greatest nation, with the greatest freedoms in the history of the world, will not be those specific and amazing

accomplishments he achieved but that his greatest accomplishment will be the inspiration he was and is to so many who saw his devotion, saw his commitment, saw his goals and will, just as did john quincy adams and accomplish more through those he inspired than those he could ever have accomplished individually. at a time like this, there's sometimes a temptation to blame god and ask, why did god take such an individual so soon? i direct your comments to our creator -- our directed comments to our creator should instead be, thank you, keer god, for the gift of andrew breitbart. we wish we could have kept him longer, but thank you for this

marvelous gift. god be with his family, comfort his family, andrew will be missed by seekers of truth. his departure will be welcomed by those he was exposing, but they shouldn't be too comfortable. he was a patriot, he was a lover of liberty, he was a lover of family, he was a lover of god, a lover of this nation, he was also a friend and encourager to me. with that i would yield to my friend, steve king from iowa. mr. king: i want to thank the gentleman from texas. the timing of circumstance is, mr. speaker, brought me to floor here simultaneous with this

wonderful tribute that mr. gohmert has provided to andrew breitbart and the life and the thinths that he stood for and believed in. i don't know how i can add to the completeness of the message that louie gohmert has delivered here. i had the privilege of calling andrew breitbart my friend as well. and i think of the last time louie gohmert, steve king and andrew breitbart were in the same room and it was over in the place that i affectionately call the bunker, the house a couple of blocks east of the supreme court, very fitting by the way. just almost within gaze of the east port could he of the supreme court where -- portico of the supreme court where moses sits there looking down upon all of humanity with the tabulates on his knees, with the 10 commandments in his arms and saying to all the world, we're a nation of laws, not a nation men. and that our laws come depr god. and this profound belief in that

. as we were there, i remember i was invited to a dinner over at breitbart's. now some might think that a dinner with andrew breitbart could be somebody sitting at the table with cuff links, for example -- cufflinks, for example. it's possible but it's unlikely that there's going to be a table. it's more likely that there's counter in the middle of the kitchen and on that counter and on the counter over on the wall where refreshments of all kinds, tea totals and nontea totaling refreshments, on the other counter are ribs and ching, i think the ribs were there for -- chicken, i think the ribs were there for louie gohmert personally. and i are the only two members of congress and in that room is a constant incident and within that incident you always would noo know what's on andrew breitbart's mind. he was very much a person engaged in the moment, he was driven to no end, i know when i walked in the room he played a trumpet with his hand just to get the attention in that

incident that i'd arrived. but what i remember was that it was an engaging conversation about liberty and freedom and freedom of the press and truth, justice and the american way, as louie has said, and when it was all done, the refreshment bottles were empty and the ribs and chicken were bones and we'd had one of the most engaging eveningings -- evenings you could ask for to have in washington, d.c. and we have -- washington, d.c., and we have some here. that does describe andrew breitbart's life, engaging. i don't know who was more engaged than andrew breitbart. i look ath back at it, just for example this morning, i got up and got readied to go and i put my constitution in my pocket here and i put my keys in this pocket and here than that the only one other concert was i had to look around this morning and i couldn't find it and i went over to my backup storage and i pulled this out and put it in my pocket this morning. let the record show, mr. speaker, this is an acorn. i've carried this acorn, an acorn, around in my pocket for

about two years. i wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for the influence of andrew breitbart. in fact, we might not even know about the threat to the underpinnings of our constitution, the legitimate electoral process we have in this country, if it hadn't been for andrew breitbart. some came together and they went out and got some brilliant tape of the unconscionable activities of acorn that produced over 400,000 false or fraudulent voter registrations. how many other false votes went up? we don't know. i believe andrew's belief is the constitution is the foundation of american liberty, but underneath that foundation it sits on the bedrock of legitimate elections and any entity that threatens those legitimate elections threatens the very constitution itself and american freedom. and it was andrew's brilliance that took those tapes of anna and james' and said you rules

these out, you will be under attack. we need to give them a little bit and then they'll attack you and say, that's the only one. it's an anomaly. the unconscionable acts of acorn would be discredited immediately. it was andrew that put together this strategy. first, you have to know the man to know you have instant confidence that he knows and instantly thinks ahead. he never was, i don't think, a len ear thinker. some may say, a, b, c and maybe get to z. he said, this is a and this is z and knew the letters in between. he could aspire you to step forward. that's one of the reasons i will carry this acorn in my pocket until they are gone, and as i put out, this is what i

thought about the life of andrew. words do not describe the man that andrew was. i use the words dynamic, brilliant, fearless, visionary, altrueistic, passionate, unconventional, trailblazer, patriot, lost friend. all those things describe andrew brietbart and as louie gohmert said, his influence will be across this civilization and culture i believe in perpetuity just like the influence of john quincy adams has had that influence. i will say also, andrew had a real sense of righteous indignation, the righteous indignation when the obamacare debate was taking place here and the effort was staged to cast aspergses on the tea party as being racist. i remember in the middle of this that practices gallery

when people were hoggering the n word to the congressional black caucus, i said, who reported it, they couldn't name who heard it. andrew brietbart understood that it was a manufactured story, created to discredit the tea party and put $100,000 on the table for anybody that could produce an audio or video that could confirm the false allegations of racial ep theys being thrown at the tea party by anybody. he shot that story down, and he's provided us tremendous amount of credibility for the tea party in the process. pig ford farms, another story. the list goes on. andrew breitbart understood the science behind the communications in the world. he understood the internet before many knew the internet existed. he understood its potential. he opened it up with big everything, with big ideas and global ideas had them grounded

in the full spectrum constitutional conservatism with the effort to provide protection for everybody as god gives us those rights. i am also tremendously saddened by the loss of our good friend and some of us see ourselves, and it's a big breitbart family that grieves today and prays that he will be nestled in the hands of god and his close family will be well taken care of and energized and nurtured by the profound belief that they had a wonderful privilege to have andrew brietbart as their father, husband, friend and that his influence moves on and we dedicate ourselves to the renewed effort to follow through on those efforts. and we will seek to do what we can to match and emulate the brilliance of andrew brietbart. i appreciate my friend, louie gohmert, coming to the floor and starting this beginning of a national conversation about the long reach of andrew

breitbart. it reaches into the future. i thank andrew for his life. i thank god for andrew's life. i thank louie gohmert for yielding to me. mr. gohmert: i thank the gentleman from ohio -- iowa. we pay tribute to a big man who is now, as jesus said, he's now been carried by the bosom of abraham by the angels. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair announces the speaker's reappointment. pursuant to section 703 of the social security act, 42, u.s.c., 903, and the order of the house of january 5, 2011 and upon the recommendation of the minority leader of the following member on the part of the house to social security advisory board for a term of six years. the clerk: ms. barbara kennelly of hartford, connecticut.

the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 5, 2011, the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from the district of columbia, ms. norton, for 30 minutes. ms. norton: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i come to the floor today to begin a series of half-hour conversations containing information that i believe many members -- simply do not have. especially considering how often the constitution and the framers have cited. i have no reason to believe that there is any intention on the part of any member to deny democracy to any american citizen in our great country. so during these half-hour special orders i will be offering some evidence and information that go all the way

back to the framers and come forward into the era when the district of columbia was granted home rule in order to try to inform members of the standing of the district of columbia, which is often referred to as the federal district. it is of course not a federal district. it is a hometown of 600,000 residents which has been granted full and complete authority to govern itself, too late in this era but not too late in the history of the country because as the cunigan, the -- because as the country began, the citizens indeed had that right. the framers, of course, were confronted with a dilemma.

they wanted a capitol to be located in the district of columbia and they wanted that capital to have the same rights as any other americans. they had had an experience in philadelphia where there was some concern when veterans had marched on that capital about who would defend the capital. they would try to sort out this dilemma and thought they had by creating the district of columbia with the same rights as every other american citizen . but giving the congress authority over the district. let me indicate how that happened.

no one who has any knowledge of the history of our country can believe that the framers fought for -- against representation -- against taxation without representation for everybody except for the people who happen to live in the nation's capital. that would be sacrilig to say that of the framers of the constitution. people from this very area now known as the district of columbia went to war on the slogan of no taxation without representation and fought and died under that slogan, they didn't die under that slogan so that everybody but themselves could be freed from england and

have full democracy. it's also clear from looking at the constitution where there were two maryland and two democratic signers made clear in the land they gave to the district of columbia they weren't given away their citizens' rights. and so there were citizens in maryland and virginia during the 10-year transition period, in fact, voted for members of this body and had the right to vote in maryland and virginia. some would call what congress has done in intervening years an abuse of power. i believe it is a failure to come to grips with what the framers intended.

madison, federalist 43. james madison says at the very beginning -- have the very beginning, and i'm quoting his words, that there would be a municipal legislature for local purposes derived from their own suffrage. that's, of course, the man in the document we rely on when we need some legislative history about the constitution. it is very important to note that the first government in the city of washington was established in 1802 when the district of columbia became the nation's capital. at the time the city was created as the nation's capital . at that point, contemporaneous

with the constitution there was a city council elected by the people of the district of columbia to fully govern this city the way the districts and the jurisdictions of the members of this body are fully governed. in 1812, the city council was permitted to elect the mayor. before that, the mayor was appointed. and in 1820 and thereafter, the mayor was elected by the people. that continued until 1871. it should be said that the status of the district of columbia, until home rule was granted, was constantly a part of the mix of the long tortured part of our history about racial segregation.

many of the perpetrators who denied home rule were southern democrats. it was only when a southern democrat, after the voting rights act was passed, was defeated, that the district was granted home rule in 1973. so this has not been a matter of parties. if anything, the republican party had much cleaner hands until recently when for its own purposes it adopted the posture of deciding that there would be home rule, when it decided and when it wanted that there would be no home rule, would violate every standard, every principle of the framers and founders and simply step in and try to abolish democratic policy and laws enacted by local government which they were not accountable. it's important to note that it's important to note that when