to make an observation. i am independent. if obama wins, he needs the control of the house and the senate in order to get anything accomplished. or if there is a republican who wins, they will need the control of the house and senate. otherwise they are not going to get their agenda pushed. all the promises, all the things that they wanted -- to do, they will not get it done. it is obvious from everybody sees this. the big thing that is going on that people really have to realize is if you go the democratic way -- the democrats want to actually a decision over our lives. host: we got your point. that does it for today's "washington journal." 2012. i hereby appoint the honorable daniel webster to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, john a. boehner, speaker of the house of representatives.

the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 17, 2012, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour debate. the chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to one hour and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and the minority whip limited to five minutes each, but in no event shall debate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan, mr. walberg, for five minutes. mr. walberg: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, we've had -- all had to dig a little deeper in our pocketbooks when visiting the gas station lately. gas has now reached $4 a gallon in my district. combined with the stub orangely high unemployment -- stubbornly high unemployment rate in michigan, i know my constituents are hurting. however, the pain at the pump

has sparked more conversations than ever about domestic energy development. even the harshest critics are starting to realize that american oil, american gas and american coal are viable solutions to our energy crisis with countless benefits. the time is right for our country to embark on a new chapter in energy production. american energy. an overhaul of this, if you will. right now we are faced with abundant expansion possibilities all there for the taking. new developments in science and technology make this possible. you've probably heard at least of a few. terms like fracking, 3-d mapping and horglontal drilling. these practices allow producers easily extract natural gas, coal and oil from the ground all while doing it cheaper, safer and with less disruption

to the landscape above. so why has this administration, contrary to their rhetoric, chosen to obstruct progress, energy independence and security for our nation? house republicans remain committed to addressing this abundance of energy production and development. that's why we're trying to open up new areas for exploration and development. american energy production is good for the economy because it creates american jobs. good for the deficit because of new american royalties, and good for our american because it brings american energy costs down. if president obama had chosen to acknowledge this reality three years ago, we'd already be seeing more american jobs and cheaper energy. instead, he's chosen to do little, sometimes even standing in the way of potential growth by letting big government be the arbitor of job creation. for proof, just look at the

solyndra foes a could he, the rejected keystone pipeline project, or mounting job-killing e.p.a. regulations. the private sector, not government, is and will always remain the real job creator for our country. if producers are given more liberty to pursue these techniques it could put america in a position to become one of the largest energy producers in the world. and why not? we're america. and that would mean more money, more jobs, greater security and you can bet lower energy prices. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from oregon, mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. everywhere you go in america education is a hot button issue. everyone has opinions about what should be emphasized, changed, adjusts, where we

should spend more and where we should spend it differently. americans know what goes on in our school is very, very important. we are building america's future for our communities, our economy, for our families. this deep commitment to our children should extend to one area in schools where we should be building a future that is focusing on the help of these children -- physical fitness, their health habits and importantly their diet. when it comes to the health of our children, our legacy is unfortunate. too many come from families that are food insecure. one half of american children will be on food stamps in their lifetime. 63% of teachers report each month they buy food for children in their classroom. over 20% of american households

are just plain hungry. sadly in my state, those percentages are even higher. many children who aren't hungry, per se, are hungry for the right foods. they consume far too many empty calories. pizza, soda and baked goods are the top three sources of calories for our children. since 1980, maybe that's why childhood obesity has doubled so that today one in three children is overweight or obese. one of the most direct ways to attack the problem is in our schools where over 31 million children receive over five billion meals every year free and reduced lunches. and actually they're not just

lunches anymore. they are increasingly school breakfast and now school dinners. far too many low-income children, this is frankly the only place they are going to get the food they need. we have to attack this problem because food in school is too often high in starch, there's not fresher fruits and vegetables. indeed, 40% of american children do not get fresh fruits and vegetables every day in school. congress, you know, held up funding for the new traditional -- for the new nutritional guidelines. it's time for us to get our act together here in congress. i would suggest that we might honor this national school lunch week to build upon the hunger-free kids act that we had last congress. don't we think we can do more

than adding six cents per meal to the reimbursement rate? can't we allocate more than $40 million for mandatory farm-to-school funding to help promote the use of local fresh fruits and vegetables? isn't it time to establish stronger national nutritional standards for all foods provided throughout the school day? maybe even the house would reconsider and pass my amendment to declare that pizza is no longer a vegetable for school lunch purposes. we know what to do. i see it in my community in abernathy school. there are more than 40 other schools that are providing education and nutrition and gardening as well as math, reading and science skills that help kids grow, prepare and learn to appreciate healthy food. and this is healthy not just for the kids but for the local

economy. not just only strengthening local farms and ranchers, it creates -- ranches, it creates more than 1 1/2 jobs off the farm. there are now over 9,000 school programs nationally that are dealing with providing this vital connection between food nutrition and how kids learn. i think that it is time for us in congress to stop being awol, to step forward, be more deeply involved, resist the special interests and make kids nutrition a priority. you know, i they our generation ought to be thinking about what we're feeding kids now when you think about kids might be feeding us later. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will receive a message. the messenger: mr. speaker, a message from the senate. the secretary: mr. speaker.

the speaker pro tempore: madam secretary. the secretary: i have been directed by the senate to inform the house that the senate has passed s. 1986, an act to prevent counterfeiting and drugs in which the concurse of the house is requested. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from south carolina, mr. jones. in jones: i was joined by my democratic and republican friends. it calls on the speaker of the house one time at a month, at this time, ms. pelosi, that she would stand at the speaker's stand and ask the members of congress to remember our troops in afghanistan and iraq. i want to give her credit and thanks that she did it for the whole time she was speaker of the house. after we, my party, the republican party, became the majority, i wrote speaker boehner and asked him if he would continue that moment of

remembrance of all of our troops in afghanistan and iraq, their families and those who gave their life and those who were wounded. i regret that i must say that the last time we did this was december 16 of 2011. i intend to prepare a letter to mr. boehner and ask him, himself, not one time do i remember, maybe one time, that he was in the speaker's chair and he asked and said we thank you, we thank you, those who served and those who have given so much. i don't know if this is just because the war's not on the front page, but last week two army captains from fort bragg, north carolina, who were trying to train the afghans were shot point blank in their fort and they were killed. we have lost 40 americans who have been in afghanistan trying to train afghans to be police

and soldiers, 40 have been killed by the trainees, and when you factor in the coalition troops who have also been there to train the afghans, 70 have been killed. that's including the 40 americans. we need to continue this process of remembering those who've given so much to our country because too many times we get so wrapped up with major issues like the debt, the deficit, jobs and so many important things, but there's nothing more important than those young men and women over there in afghanistan who have given their limbs and life. i went to walter reed about three weeks ago, saw three marines from my district, camp lejeune marine base, all three have lost both legs. so i hope when we get back from the next break next week that again i intend to hand deliver a letter to the speaker of the house as i did a year ago and i

want the speaker himself to stand at the speaker's stand and ask and read the words, thank our men and women in uniform for their service in nation and remember those children who gave their lives dying in freedom. i hope he intends to follow through on this and i hope friends on both sides of the aisle will ask the speaker to continue this recognition for those who have given so much. with that i'll ask god to please bless our men and women in uniform, to please bless our men and women in uniform. i ask god to please bless the house and senate that we will do what is right for the eyes in god here in the united states of america. i will ask god to please bless the president of the united states that he will do what is right in the eyes of god. and three times i will ask god, please, god, please, god, please continue to bless

america and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. mcgovern. mr. mcgovern: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for five minutes and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, you're recognized for five minutes. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, just yesterday the former top u.n. humanitarian aid in sudan said the government of sudan's military is carrying out crimes against humanity in the country's southern nubea mountain and the -- nuba mountains and the southern state of core court fan. he saw a scorched earth policy. he said the attacks reminded him of what he witnessed in sudan's darfur region in 2003 and 2004 when the predominantly government of khartoum targeted tribes.

he said that the world must act now to prevent another darfur type situation in the nuba mountains. mr. speaker, the people of blue nile along the southern border are facing a hunger crisis. they have not been able to plant because the president of bashir are bombing them in their fields. they are refusing to let humanitarian aid in the region. the united states, the united nations and other governments have condemned these attacks against civilians. my good friend and colleague, congressman frank wolf, traveled to this border region at the end of february. he interviewed refugees and recorded their stories of terror, bombings from the skies and soldiers burning villages and shooting defenseless civilians, mothers fleeing for their lives with their children, abandoning their homes. i urge my colleagues to go to the website of the tom lantos human rights commission and watch the video he has posted there, that's www.

tlhrs.house.gov. we need to speak out, mr. speaker. we need to let our government and the world know that people care and we demand protection for these people from khartoum's murderous policies. this is why i and my colleagues, congressman frank wolf and mike capuano, are introducing today the sudan peace security and the accountability act. this bill calls for a comprehensive approach towards sudan to address and end the massive human rights violations that are taking place across that country. . no lopinger should we allow president bashir to black male the community by threat yep -- blackmail the community by threatening them. we need a comprehensive strategy and comprehensive sanctions against khartoum if the violations continue. we need to let other countries know that if they welcome and provide comfort to president bashir and members of his government who have been

indicted for crimes against humanity, including genocide, that they, too, will face sanctions. we need to provide the obama administration with all the tools and all the authority they need to seek a comprehensive peace in sudan and human rights violations and bring those guilty of crimes against humanity to justice. for decades the powers that be in khartoum have toyed with the international community while its own people have paid the price over and over again. it has to stop, mr. speaker, it simply has to stop. let me end, mr. speaker, with a few other remarks. no one can come to the house floor today and speak about sudan and protecting the people of sudan from their murderous government without paying tribute to our clear colleague donald payne. he passed away yesterday from cancer, he would have been an original co-sponsor of the bill i'm introducing today. no one fought harder for human rights in sudan. he was among the very first to call attention to the genocide taking place in darfur. he traveled there, often alone,

with just one or two aides to talk to refugees inside darfur and camps along the border and stand witness to their suffering. he was tireless in his commitment to the people of africa and their well-being. we all look to him for leadership, for advice, and for help. he extended the same commitment to the people of african descent in our own hemisphere. i personally know how much he did to promote their rights and protect their leaders and communities. we will miss him. we will miss his leadership. but, mr. speaker, he believed that human rights ought to matter and he believed as we all should believe if the united states of america stands for anything, it ought to stand out loud and foursquare for human rights. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlelady from north carolina, ms. foxx, for five minutes. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i'm extremely disappointed by the president's fiscal year 2013 budget proposal which would dramatically increase health care costs for

our nation's veterans and military personnel. while i applaud the pentagon's willingness to make tough choices, these changes are simply unacceptable. the president's plan would hike annual tricare premiums by up to 78% in the first year alone. every five years beneficiaries would face premium hikes ranging from 94% to 345%. 345%, mr. speaker, this means that a retired army soldier with a family could see his annual premiums jump from $460 to $2,048. this is disgraceful. it's wrong to impose crippling rate increases on our nation's heroes while leaving benefits for unionize the defense workers untouched. it is wrong to surreptitiously dismantle tricare in an effort to funnel beneficiaries into obamacare's subsidized health care exchanges. it is wrong and it is shameful. mr. speaker, i wear a pin every

day that says i support veterans. every american should be supporting veterans. it is the reason we are here and allowed to speak freely and the reason americans are able to speak and go about their business every day doing what they do because of the sacrifices that have been made by those who have served. in every generation, the men and women of america's armed forces have answered the call to service. they have sacrificed greatly and they deserve better than this. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. gutierrez, for five minutes. mr. gutierrez: here's how sorry rush limbaugh is for his attacks on a law student who dared to give her opinion about access to contraceptive coverage. he's so sorry that a full transcript of his tirade, including the words he's apologized for, was available yesterday under the heading,

most popular on the homepage of his website. he he's so sorry that the verbatim document of his march 1 rant in which he repeated his name-calling of sandra fluke and mocked democrats for criticizing him is right under his website today under the title, lefties out over fluke remarks. and today is democrats are desperate, obama calls sandra fluke the 30-year-old victim. i don't mean was on his website. before he decided to apologize. i mean it's there today. just click on the link. and this is monday, limbaugh talked at length about the -- apparently in rush limbaugh's world part of apologizing is researching and criticizing the person you are apologizing to. i want to give you a sample of limbaugh and his crack research team's eye opening discovery.

here's limbaugh verbatim on march 5, quote, this woman, we have looked her up. i mean she's a full-fledged activist for women's causes and she's been to berkley. she's traveled all over the place, cornell, she graduated from courses there. she's a full-fledged feminist activist, end quote. america, are shocked at the discovery of these facts. she's traveled all over the place, she's even taken women's study courses at cornell. women's studies? no wonder she giffs her opinion in public and thinks that women should have some say over their health and reproductive choices. you mean, what would you expect from somebody who went to cornell? there's more. see, i did my own research, limbaugh. it shows that tony morrison, ruth bader beginsberg, and may jamison went to cornell, too. what do they have in common? it's obvious, they are women.

women who somewhere in their lives most likely at cornell, the same place that brain washed -- brainwashed sandra fluke got the idea they could accomplish anything they wanted to and speak about it in public and have their opinions respected. morrison, nobel prize. ginsburg, the support of the united states of america. may jamison got that crazy idea she could be the first black woman in space. shocking. mr. speaker, here are the facts. a glance at rush limbaugh's website makes it obvious he continues to spew nonsense and he's not sorry for what he said. it makes plain that he deeply resents women who speak their mind. those who do are full-fledged feminist activists who deserve only his scorn. there are, however, some things to visit mr. limbaugh's website for. if you want a bumper sticker calling obama the president of the united states, a socialist, or a t-shirt promoting rush

limbaugh for the nobel peace prize. then his website is the place for you. if you want a sincere apology from a man who is sorry that he called a decent young woman a slut, you are looking in the wrong place. now, the truth is would a radio talk show host thinks about sandra fluke really doesn't matter except for one important point. the republican party respects and fears rush limbaugh. the three leading republican contenders for president of the united states won't take him on. these men are so tough they compete daily with each other to say the most disparaging things about president barack obama, these tough talkers who promise to keep us safe from terrorists, these tough guys are struck speechless and cowardly by a man sitting behind a microphone in his mansion out in palm beach, florida. when a talk show host calls a decent american woman a slut and prostitute, that's sad and wrong. but when mitt romney, the

republican party's frontrunner for president, is asked about it and all he can say is, quote, it's not the language i would have used, then it's a leadership crisis. i guess mitt romney would have said she was a lady of the night. what he should have said is rush limbaugh, you're dead wrong. stop it. it's time for all americans to say enough is enough. and it's time for anyone who wants to be a leader even republicans who are terrified of rush limbaugh to stand up for treating every woman with decency and respect. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from louisiana, mr. landry, for five minutes. mr. landry: ask unanimous consent to address the house for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. landry: thank you, mr. speaker. it is with great sadness that i rise today as louisiana mourns the loss of another member of the greatest generation. yesterday evening mr. lewis me

show -- michaud jr. passed away. he passed away at the ripe old age of 89. as i visited with his son this morning on the telephone, he had a nice remark saying, my dad would constantly say if he knew he was going to live that long he would have taken better care of himself. imagine that. he was born in 1922 in south central louisiana, at the age of 24 he bravely served our country during world war ii in the marine corps. and after serving his country, he came back and began living the american dream. he became a entrepreneur. he started his own businesses. in 1958, he bought a restaurant franchise which he expanded across all of south louisiana. he he ventured into other businesses from cattle ranching to real estate to oil and gas. later in 1960 mr. michaud sought to serve his community and his

state. he was elected to the statehouse to representatives where he served for four years before making a run for governor. he re-entered the political career in 1968 where he won a seat on the louisiana state board of education and went on to serve the state as the state superintendent from 1972 to 1976. outside the political sphere, mr. michaud was an add meryl -- admiral community leader, a faithful husband, loyal friend, and a proud father of 10 beautiful children. he passed on his belief of civic responsibility and serving his community to his children where three of them served in public office. one continuing to serve as a district judge. another as a state senator. and another on the parish council. he was a long-time member of the lafayette chamber of commerce and he received the esteemed lafayette civic cup for his many

community service efforts in 1994. as mr. michaud is laid to rest, it is my hope that we reflect upon his life and learn from the shining examples of his selfless service and civic duty that he set forth. though i'm sure he will be missed by many, i'm confident that his legacy of hard work and determination will live on through -- for many generations through his children and their children. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia, mr. burro -- burrow, for five minutes. mr. burr he yo -- mr. burrow: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today on the 47th anniversary of bloody sunday to recognize the courage of our colleague, congressman john lewis, and the many forgotten heroes of the civil rights movement. nearly 50 years ago in selma, alabama, some 600 demonstrators

marched for equal voting rights for african-americans. they got only as far as the edmund pettus bridge where state and local law men attacked them with clubs and tear gas and drove them back into selma. journalists captured the brutality of these attacks sparking the public outrage that eventually led to the passage of the voting rights act of 1965. this sunday congressman lewis returned to that very bridge that changed history, again he was met by a large group of police, but this time they served as his congressional escort. mr. speaker, we have come a long way in the last 50 years, but we still have a long way to go in order to ensure quality and justice for all. i ask in a my colleagues join with me -- i ask that my colleagues join with me in that work. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. canseco, for five minutes.

mr. canseco: mr. speaker, when it comes to our economy one thing is abundantly clear, president obama's policies have failed. we are experiencing the worst stretch of unemployment since the great depression, despite $1 trillion stimulus plan that the obama administration said would hold unemployment below 8% and despite record low interest rates. . the unemployment rate has been above 8% for 36 consecutive months and the jobless rate will remain above 8% through 014. almost 13 million americans are out of work, and the share of unemployed people looking for work for more than six months or the long-term unemployment topped 40% in december of 2009 for the first time since 1948

and remained above that level ever since. the only solution president obama can come up with involves more spending, more taxes, more government. these are the policies that failed in the first place. house republicans have a plan for america's job creators. it's time for the president and democrats in senate to stop blocking our jobs bills. this week the house will consider the jobs act, a legislative package designed to jump-start our economy and restore opportunities for america's primary job creators. these are our small businesses, the startups and the entrepreneurs. in the state of the union address, president obama asked congress to send him a bill that helps small businesses and entrepreneurs succeed, and the jobs act does exactly that.

i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from vermont, mr. welch, for five minutes. mr. welch: thank you. i seek permission to address the house for five minutes and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. welch: thank you. mr. speaker, i rise today to discuss the proposed fiscal year 2013 cuts to the air national guard. and let me preface my remarks by acknowledging that into country does have a serious debt problem. it requires that everybody tighten their belt. it requires in my view that we have more revenues so we can have a sustainable budget and where everybody does their share from taxpayers to every department in the government. the air force has to be included, but under the budget control act, the proposal that the air force has made to address the cuts that would be required there is to single out

and focus its knife on the air national guard. now, that would affect 5,100 guardsmen who would lose their position. it would also demobilize scores of aircraft. now, as i mentioned, the air guard is not by any means entitled to be exempt from the challenge of coming in compliance with the budget control act. here's the issue. when any agency, whether it's the air force, the army, whether it is the department of education, is making its recommendations to comply with the budget control act, it should be doing so on the basis of what makes most sense to strengthen that agency, not to weaken it. the studies that had been done with respect to the air force demonstrate that the air guard is extraordinarily cost -effective. the air guard is getting the

job -- for less money than any other part of that guard, and obviously the full air force's extremely important, but why in the world would you focus on the guard when the guard is doing the job in a highly professional and successful way, widely acknowledged by all studies done and is doing it for less money? so, number one, when studies have shown that guardsmen and reservists cost far less than active duty members and you are trying to meet budget constraints, don't demobilize the effective method. the air guard is the key to the term reversibility. that means they can serve as a critical operational and strategic reserve should a larger force be needed in the future to meet unforeseen

circumstances. es that an essential requirement of military -- that is an essential requirement of military readiness. third, the air guard can deliver. the air guard has delivered. their record in afghanistan and iraq has proven that the force can mobilize quickly and accomplish the mission with great professionalism. mr. speaker, i don't doubt that these are very difficult, challenging choices for the air force command to make. and cutting the defense budget always involves very difficult choices, but these cuts that focus as significantly as they do on the air guard which has proven to be efficient and effective in my view are unwise. i look forward to working with the house armed services committee and the defense appropriations subcommittee to address my concerns. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan, mr. huizenga,

for five minutes. mr. huizenga: thank you, mr. speaker. i appreciate the opportunity to address the house and to address the nation today. as a small business owner i know the importance of fostering and creating an environment that promotes job creation, economic security and opportunity and allows especially small businesses to grow. i also know that americans and michiganders and those in the second district in my home state of michigan across the country are looking for real solutions that will grow jobs now. well, that's why i support the jobs act. it will jump-start our economy and restore opportunities for america's job creators, small businesses and entrepreneurs. i've been here long enough to know that sometimes you have to repackage ideas and put a different colored bow on it for people to accept it because what we're going to be passing

has been passed. i sit on the financial services committee. we passed a number of these bills and all of these bills, i believe, and it's part of what america's job creators plan that the house republicans have put forward. but what we're doing today is we are going to be putting this jobs act. it's comprised of six bills that have been approved by the committee. very quickly, those six bills are, one, reopening the american capital markets to emerging growth companies act. what that's going to do is it's going to allow temporarily -- temporary relief from some of the onerous s.e.c. or securities and exchange commission regulations that are on those small businesses. number two, the access to capital for job creators act is going to allow small companies raise capital by again reducing some of the regulatory bans that are in there and say a small business can't use advertisements to try to get and attract investors. well, in an age of internet and those kinds of things, that has a huge impact. it also brings along a concept

that's been out there called crowdfunding. that's the third bill. entrepreneur access to credit act is also going to ease the requirements that allow things like crowdfunding. people being able to go and spread this out on facebook and twitter and on the internet and to their friends and to pull in those small-dollar investors that are going to be able to give them the capital that they need to launch that innovative idea. the fourth is a small company capital formation act and allows small businesses to go public by elevating the threshold that the companies are exempt from $5 million to $50 million. that is going to be able to really truly impact those small entrepreneurs and small business owners who are looking to take their business to the next step. the fifth one is the private company flexibility and growth act and that's expected to give small companies more room to grow before having to go public. currently there's a regulation that says you can have no more than 500 investors in your

small company. this doubles that. this says you can have up to 1,000. we also believe that will allow those small businesses who are in transition, who are in that acquisition mode, who are in that growth mode to be able to go up there and be successful. and finally, number six, the capital expansion act would increase the number of shareholders allowed to invest in a community bank from 500 to 2,000. and why would we include this part? well, community banks really are the backbone of many of those small investors. they are the ones that they go to church with and shop at the grocery store with. they know their businesses. they may know it may be a long-term relationship with that local community bank. to be able to expand the footprint of those community banks we're going to be able to expand their lending power as well to those small businesses. while it's interesting here we actually have a bipartisan package of bills. this isn't just something that's the republicans' ideas. in fact, in the financial

services committee we had this as bipartisan votes. really it's truly going to help create a healthier environment for small businesses to hire and expand. in fact, president obama's administration released what's called a statement of administration policy yesterday supporting this very act. we welcome his support and recognition of this bill's innovative solutions to ensure that small businesses can access capital needed to expand, hire and invest. again, that's because you, the american people, us here in the house of representatives are looking for those real, honest solutions. while, it's far time we get government out of the way of small business as well. the engine of our economy. we need to focus on the real economy and our priority has to be that focus. according to the kaufman foundation, startup companies created nearly 40 million jobs, 40 million jobs since 1980 and the small business administration shows small businesses generate over 60% of all the new jobs created here

in the u.s. 60% of all those jobs that we are hoping to have in this country are created by these small businesses. in fact, even the world bank has a report. it's called "doing business," and it showed that the united states has fallen to 13th for the, "ease of starting a business." so with that, mr. speaker, i appreciate this as a key to lasting economic recovery and america needs these real jobs, real solutions and real results right now. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlelady from california, ms. speier, for five minutes. ms. speier: thank you. i ask unanimous consent to address the house for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the lady is recognized. ms. speier: mr. speaker, i rise again this morning to highlight the epidemic of rape and sexual assault in the military. i'm here to decry a code of dishonor that protects rapists and punishes victims.

i'm here to call out an entrenched chain of command that squashes reports of sexual assault because they bring unwanted attention to the unit. i stand here today as i have 15 previous times to tell the story of a u.s. service member who was raped by a fellow service member and then robbed of justice by an unfair system that puts too much power in the hands of a single commander. the current system of injustice is shamefully unfair. the story i'm about to tell is of airman first class jessica of the united states air force whose attempt for justice was snatched away by a single commander who was only on the job for four days and reversed a decision to move forward with a court martial. the department of defense estimates that more than 19,000 service members were raped or

sexual assaulted in 2010. yet, only 13% of them actually reported the rape, and of those 13%, only 8% of the perpetrators were prosecuted and an even smaller number were convicted. airman first class jessica nicole hemis was raped in 2009 by a co-worker who broke into her room through the bathroom at approximately 3:00 a.m. she sought medical care and bravely reported the rape. friends of the rapist began harassing her. but she was not intimidated. a rapist was scheduled to stand trial in this court martial. but the airman who raped her was never prosecuted. his new commander intervened and halted the court martial. the new commander had only been on the job for four days and

had no legal training, but still dismissed the prosecution and the man who raped airman hemvis was never brought to justice. only four days on the job and the new commander intervened the judicial proceedings. so what happened next? well, the rapist was given the award for airman of the quarter and airman hemvis, who was then transferred to another base, now suffers from severe panic attacks and anxiety. who can blame a victim for not wanting to report a rape or other humiliating assault? the current process for adjudicating sexual assault and rape in the military is shockingly unjust. it is more likely to punish a victim than a perpetrator. airman hemvis was a victim of a violent crime. in response she did everything right, but one commander's decision stood in the way of a fair proceeding against the

perpetrator. in the current military chain of command, commanders can issue any punishment or any this case the rapist was not pun eshed -- punished at all because the commander has complete authority and disgregs of how a degrading and violent assault under their command is handled. it goes forward to court martial. the same commander is in power to determine which j.a.g. officer will serve as prosecutor, which will serve as defense counsel, who oversees the investigation and even serve as convening authority and in nonjudicial cases determine disciplinary action. all these functions are given to the discretion of one person. simply put, command discretion sets up a dynamic fraught with conflict of interest and potential abuse of power. this chain of command must be disrupted. we can no longer accept the victims of rape and abuse are beholden to the judgment of a single superior.

instead, victims should have the benefit of impasch yalt by objective -- impartiality by objective experts which is what the stop act does. it would have the reporting, oversight, investigation and victim care of sexual assaults out of the hands of the normal chain of command and place the jurisdiction in the hands of an impartial office, staffed by experts, both military and civilian, by retain it in the military. . i will continue to tell stories like hers until this broken system is fixed. i promise to continue to speak out for those who have been victims of sexual assault of rape in the military. i urge you to write me at stopmilitaryrape at mail.house.gov. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes mr. meehan for five minutes.

mr. meehan: thank you, mr. speaker. let me take a moment to associate myself with the remarks of the gentlelady from california and commend her for her efforts in this point to identify the steps that can be taken to alleviate the issue of unaddressed rapes in the military as a former prosecutor, i commend that effort and urge my colleagues in a bipartisan fashion to pay attention to this issue and hope we might be able to find common ground a leaveate this injustice. mr. speaker, i rise today to honor 36 remarkable young people in my own district. the following students from pennsylvania's seventh congressional district will receive my nomination for the united states service academies. nominated to the united states military academy are dominick luciany, nichlas from reed henderson high school, andrew from la salle college high school, evan harkins from westchester high school, cumo from delaware county christian

high school, daniel mccormack from the episcopal academy, dean from the havord school. nominated to the united states naval academy are maxwell from the westchester east high school. sean from miles an hourle mountain newtown high school. timothy bell from archbishop john carroll high school. michael. fletcher chris well from spring ford senior high school. michael darnell from monsignor bonner high school. andrew from garnett valley high school. peter from conestoga high school. joseph from william catholic high school. william from episcopal academy, alexandria la bruno from st. joe sf's. brian from the marm newtown high school. luke from westchester. michael from pen crest. eric from monsignor bonner high

school. john from malvern preparatory school. joseph cabbage from st. joseph's preparatory school, and eric from strath haven high school has been nominated to both the naval academy and air force academy. nominated to the air force academy are katelyn, rebecca, kevin, megan, and carl. and lastly to the united states merchant marine academy, are kell will i and peter. mr. speaker, it's my privilege to nominate these fine young men and women to our united states service academies. some of the finest institutions in the world. niece exceptional -- he's exceptional students have demonstrated themselves to be the best of the best. i invite the people of southeastern pennsylvania to join me in honoring them for their willingness to serve their country. i wish each and every one of them all the best in their right futures ahead.

mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlelady from california, ms. woolsey, for five minutes. ms. woolsey: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, today marks exactly 125 months to the day that we have been at war with afghanistan. that's 125 months that we have been sending brave young men and women to be maimed and killed in a conflict that is not advancing our values but actually degrading them. i never believed more fervently this war is a national security disaster as well as a national tragedy and moral catastrophe. what we need, mr. speaker, is a greater commitment to peace and security. what we need is a more generous humanitarian spirit. what we need is diplomacy and international dialogue, cooperation, and conflict resolution. what we need is to cherish human life and human dignity here in the united states and on every

corner of the globe. yesterday we lost one of this body's fierce champions for these values, our colleague, donald payne. he was a peacemaker. a man of conscience. and a man of decency and compassion. he would not tolerate genside and despair. he didn't -- genocide and despair. he didn't turn a blind eye to human suffering and he didn't care if it was happening in newark or nigeria. he went to some of the most dangerous places on earth to make lives and conditions better. he was a voice for the otherwise voiceless. he used his power to advocate for people who were otherwise powerless. in the mid 1990's, i observed representative payne at a hearing with the state department, the bush state department. he was arguing, he was pleading

with the state department to designate dar fur genocide. -- darfur genocide. he actually had tears in his eyes and tears in his voice and this is the man known for being very mild mannered. his compelling arguments and his compassion and passion actually made it possible for convincing the world to condemn the sudan darfur government's role in planning, executing the malicious campaign to kill. and his leadership had an indelible impact on african nations. congressman payne shared my belief that the wars we have been fighting for the last decade are dreadful mistakes. he was one of those who stood with us in 2005 when the war in

iraq was still popular, to say, no, this is wrong, we have to bring our troops home. but he also understood that it wasn't just about ending war, mr. speaker. it was about also leaving something else behind. hope, opportunity, democracy, and human rights. he knew that the key to ending violence, terrorism, and instability was to build up human capital, to fight hunger and disease, to defend and advance women's rights, to build strong schools, and provide decent health care worldwide. we have lost donald payne, but in his honor let's not lose sight of the ideals he made his life's work. let's not lose sight of the goals he fought for so tenaciously. because of donald payne's example, i will fight for -- forever for peace and for

stability worldwide and believe me, the beginning of this effort will be to bring our troops home from afghanistan. i yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, for five minutes. mr. poe: mr. speaker, i request unanimous consent to address the house for five minutes, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. poe: mr. speaker, like many members of congress i receive thousands of emails from my neighbors each month about the issues that are important to them. since i work for them and i'm their advocate, it is important that i bring their words directly to the house floor and let other members hear what i call the pulse of texans. bill baggy from texas recently wrote me about the deteriorating condition of our southern border with mexico. here's what he has to say. i own and operate a heavy specialized trucking company and

transport specialized freight around the united states and canada. 1/4 of my freight ends up in the south texas towns of mcallen, farr, and brownsville, and other towns. over the last 10 years i have watched the border in south texas deteriorate with not only undocumented crossing, but much worse, the cartels. i know from many of my business customers along the u.s. border that this cartel issue is becoming a very serious issue. many speak of a bloodbath to come on the rio grande river. i urge you to ask the congress and our president to not stop the deployment of people on the southern border, but to increase them tenfold to protect our u.s. citizens living in america. this is much more serious than the media and the government want to admit. does the u.s. government want a bloodbath to take place before they protect our u.s. southern

home front? we must stop the infusion of these cartels at the rio grande, or they will infest the whole united states as the chicago cartel did back in the mob days. families are not arming themselves for fun in south texas, they are preparing for the worst to come. many believe the u.s. government will not be there when the time comes and we need them. if we don't stop them in south texas, then houston and dallas will be infested with cartel influence. i have great concerns that they are already operating in the highlands, bay town area of southeast texas already. thanks for your past support and future drive to protect u.s. citizens. mr. speaker, mr. baggy tells it -- us that he's scared to even go to the south texas border region. he is a businessman and he sees firsthand as the citizens who live on the border, the problem with the drug cartels.

he is not alone. mexico is quickly becoming in my opinion a failed state and texas towns are in danger because the federal government just does not adequately defend the homeland. bureaucrats in washington should listen to the people who actually live and work on the southern border. unlike what our government wants us to believe, the drug cartels do not stop at the mexican-texas border. even just last week our border patrol came under gunfire on the border in texas from the mexican side of the border. mr. speaker, we send troops to foreign nations to protect their borders, why don't we protect our own? local sheriffs and border patrol do the best they can with what they have, but it's just not enough. it's really past time for the federal government to step up and make mr. baggy and all americans feel safe again. after all, the constitution actually requires the federal government to protect the

homeland. and that's just the way it is. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from washington, mr. mcdermott, for five minutes. mr. mcdermott: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcdermott: mr. speaker, this week is yet another week in which the house of representatives has done virtually nothing. we heard my colleagues say they are repackaging some bills, putting a bow around it and pass it out of here. it's a press release for the week they go home. after 14 months of running the house, republicans haven't passed a real jobs bill. give a great example, economists and businesspeople know that the biggest growth markets for american companies are exports. where we export u.s. exports we are supporting u.s. american economics. but to support we need the export-import bank. the ex-im bank is a wonder, it provides extremely low-risk loans for businesses for

exports, small business, medium size, and big. the u.s. import bank does not cost the american taxpayers one penny. it actually makes money. and it helps american businesses and workers sell hundreds of billions of dollars of american goods. in short, the ex-im bank does just what we need to be doing, compete in the world economy with every tool we have. study after study, year after year says that american export efforts need a huge overhaul, the president is doing all he can. he stood in this well and talked about it and has put forward proposals, but simple legislation like the extension of the export-import bank, we could do very much more. the export-import bank is septre of our export strategy. now, how does it work? general electric was recently

bidding on a $500 million rental project to support 150 diesel electric locomotives to pakistan. pakistan officials told g.e. they would have preferred the g.e. locomotives and willing to pay a premium for their high quality and dependability, but there was a complication. the bid for the chinese locomotive manufacturer including a financing package with longer terms and drastically reduced fees that g.e. could not match on its own with private sector financing, the export-import bank stepped in with the financing package that matched the chinese financing package and abled pakistan to make its decision on a true apples to apples comparison of america and chinese goods. we can win that one. we can win always when we have a level playing field. that's what the export-import bank does, it helps us compete. it's not just big businesses,

g.e., boeing, but it also every office in the congress receives a letter once a month from the export-import bank telling you the companies that got that service in your district. nola fisheries, american wine trade, coastal environmental systems, international lubricants, all in my district received the businesses -- the support of the export-import bank, without it, they couldn't have done business on their own. . now, in the past year, not only had we supported $34 billion worth of exports and 227,000 jobs in 3,300 companies in this country, the u.s. treasury has gotten back $3.4 billion in fees from the lons they make. so -- loans they make? so where are we?

54 countries in the world do this. china is using every tool available to it, including this one, but the house republicans sit over there with their heads stuck in the sand and allow the export-import bank, we have about a month before it expires. now, we should increase the amount of money we allow the export-import bank to use. remember, the export-import bank uses money at extremely loan-risk loans to support tens of thousands of jobs in the united states. why are we working on this kind of -- why aren't we working on this kind of jobs legislation? well, it's because the president asked for it. they are so determined, mr. speaker, to prevent the president from being re-elected they won't do what's good for american business and what's good for american workers.

this is not -- this is not partisan. these small companies are all over our districts. they want to make loans. they want to make sales overseas. they need the help of this bank and the republican leadership sits -- i don't know where they are. somewhere in a darkroom. somebody should turn on the light and tell them there is stuff that should be done and get out here and pass a real bill, not this jobs cockamamie thing we are going to do to pass stuff we have already passed. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlelady from texas, ms. jackson lee, for five minutes. ms. jackson lee: i thank the speaker. this is a month that we note as celebrating women and women's history as a major component of the wonderful history of the

greatest nation in the world. how proud we are of a nation that supports people's rights no matter your walk of life or religious background or ethnic background and how proud we are now in 2012 to note that there are men and women on the front lines, on the battlefields defending america's freedom. so i rise today to continue my advocacy for women's rights and note that i've been a proponent of women's rights from the earliest part of my career as a lawyer, as a civic participant, civilian in my hometown of houston, as a mother and certainly as a wife and as a public servant now and a member of the united states congress. and so i am delighted to acknowledge the congressional women's caucus and to note that

it is to improve the lives of women and their families and since 1977 the caucus has focused on issues that is pertinent to women, from equity pay, retirement income, preventing domestic violence at home and internationally and, of course, preventing sexual assault. so i rise today with the degree of consternation and a resounding stand against the siege and onslaught of women's access to health care. and let me be very clear -- women's access to health care, not a battle about a woman's choice or the utilization of contraceptives or family planning. simply women's access to health care. the issue of birth control is an issue of women's health care. let me give you a recent study's commentary by the national women's law center, found that 25-year-old women have been charged up to 84%

more than their male contemporaries for individual health plans that specifically exclude maternity coverage. let me be very clear. 84% higher than a male's plan to allow a woman to have access to health care. their lives are the purpose of the affordable care act, not individual mandates, but to be able to even the playing field for women's health care. therefore, let me indicate that using or not using birth control or family planning is an individual matter, but you cannot obtain those without a prescription. it should be a decision between a woman, her conscience, her doctor and certainly her faith. so i wish to address the recent tenure of the debate on birth control. a young law student, sandra fluke, came before this body, members of congress testifying regarding coverage for family planning and contraceptives.

she was publicly derailed as being a slut and a prostitute. i would hope the days of derogatory terms to silence women's opinions are over forever, particularly when they speak about truth. she recounted the story of a young friend who lost an ovary. let me repeat, she, ms. fluke, recounted the story of a young friend who lost an ovary which can be managed by contraceptive through prescription. unfortunately, that young woman could not afford contraceptives and had to endure terrible pain. as a result of asking for help to address female law students' health concerns, ms. fluke, coming to this body as an american citizen, her right to petition and speak to the members of congress was called a slut and prostitute by an entertainment talk show host, calling women these sorts of names is no more than vial, underhanded and a way of

defeating one's right to speak. i do not deny the right of entertainers and flamboyant conversationalists to speak all day, but there has to be a defining moment of dignity and respect to anyone's disagreement. and so i hope more and more advertisers will recognize that the woman's power is greater than the individual entertainer's power. drop off of that show. drop off one by one, day by day. leave them to the old-fashioned medicine of the 1800's, the pills that will cure all. let the old doc medicine be their advertisers. that's about the level that they should be at. women's health is so very important, and at some point reproductive health is very much a part of it. polycystic ovarian syndrome is helped by contraceptives.

endomitre owe cis, lack of menstrual periods, premenstrual syndrome, mr. speaker, all those are helped by treatment by access to women's health. let me say in conclusion, when you cut medicaid you cut poor women's access to health care. i will stand up and fight for women's access to health care and their own decision because it is part of the american way. and so let us stand together united as a nation, being fair and open to all opinion but never denying a womack sess to health care along with every other american. mr. speaker, i yield back. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair dec

[applause] >> what a fabulous welcome from massachusetts. thank you so much and what carrie said is so true, where we're winning best, we're winning by 72%. so far three wins tonight and counties so here we go. we have 10 states to thank people in and i'm going to see if i can get through this list so let me see if i can do this. in alaska -- by the way, they haven't even caucused yet but we are going to thank them

anyway. lieutenant governor, senator lisa few could you say key, eric, thank you. idaho, governor butch otters, senator jim rich. frank van der sloot. diamond watkins, travis watts. in north dakota, thank you to senator. in ohio, here we go, senator rob portman, the linder family, eddie crawford, ron and honorary buckeye donald trump. [applause] he was on the radio for us all the time in ohio. in oklahoma, thank you to senator tom coburn, thad, ryan leonard, fred hall. in tennessee, governor bill haslim, senator alexander and

commissioner bill haggardy. in vermont, darcy and state senators brock and vince aluzzi. thank you. more states, guys. sore owe. in virginia, a big thank you to governor bob mcdonald. we love him. [applause] also, our wonderful friend, lieutenant governor, house majority eric cantor. eric, thank you for that endorsement. bobby kilborn, jack and tom. and finally, massachusetts, thank you! [applause] >> we want mitt! we want mitt! we want mitt! we want mitt! we want mitt! >> i have to thank senator

scott brown who's going to be your next senator. some of our favorite governors, bill well and paul. our hearts go out to paul and all the health struggles he's been to. house majority leader, oh, thank you, brad jones. chris collins, sandy and paul edgerly. a special thank you to the thousands and thousands of volunteers all across this country. 10 states tonight. we have thousands of people making phone calls. thank you. we could not do it without all of you. so thank you and we're going to wait for more returns and more good news. thank you. now -- >> mitt! mitt! mitt! mitt! mitt! >> i have -- i have something to say about some of the women that i'm hearing from, and

we've been all across this country. and do you know what women care about, and this is what i love, women care about jobs. [cheers and applause] >> women care about the economy. they care about their children and they care about the debt and they're angry and they're furious about the entitlement debt that we're leaving our children. and so this is what we're hearing when we're out here. this is our message. it's an economic message. it's about the future for our children and that's what i'm hearing out there. so from all of that, we know the guy that knows how to do and fix all of that. i said, mitt, i'm never going to do this again, but here we are and the reason i'm here and the reason i am behind mitt and the reason i am fighting so hard and out there is because i believe he's the only person that can turn around america. so let's let him do that. [cheers and applause]

>> she is the best. she is the best. thank you. >> go, mitt, go! go, mitt, go! >> wow, she is the best. and that was my son with her and his wife and their children, ally and joe and thomas. great to have my family back in our home of massachusetts. it's wonderful to be able to go home tonight for the first time in two months. and and ann said it right, what a great night. there are three states now under our belt and counting. we are going to get more before our night is over. on our way. we're so excited to be in the big state tonight celebrating with family and friends who worked just tirelessly on this campaign.

and, of course, it's such an honor to have the citizens that i served as governor as part of our cause. your support really means everything to ann and me, and i'm not going to let you down. i am going to get this nomination. [cheers and applause] tonight we're doing some counting. we're counting up the delegates for the convention and it looks good and we're counting down the days until november and that looks even better. we are going to take your vote a huge vote tonight in massachusetts and take that victory all the way to the white house. [cheers and applause] >> go, mitt, go! all the way! all the way! all the way! >> now, it's been -- it's been a long road getting to

supertuesday. let me be honest, and my opponents have worked very hard. i want to congratulate newt gingrich on a good night in georgia and rick santorum on his good night and ron paul for his steadfast commitment to our constitution and his strong support almost everywhere you go. he's got good followers. thanks, you guys. nice races. now, we officially started our campaign about nine months ago. not very far from here at a farm house in new hampshire. it was a beautiful spring day, full of hope and promise, a day that made us all recognize once again how lucky we are to be americans. what we launched that day was an effort not just to win more votes or delegates. it was the start of an effort to restore the promise of america, a promise that we now has done -- during these difficult times. we started our call across the country from airport, tarmacs,

factory floors, to door to door, heart to heart, face to face across the country. i met with moms and dads and teachers and students and factory workers and business owners. i listened and i learned. i hope i'm a better candidate for having done all that. i will forever be grateful to you for the help you have given to me and for those that helped me in this process and taught me along the way. i met someone named norm burn who exemplifies the innovative spirit. norm didn't go to college, didn't get an engineering degree but he does have 100 patents in his name and he turned a small shop in his basement into a very successful company that employees a lot of people -- employs a lot of people. it's entrepreneurs like norm burn who are going to get america's economy back on track if we can get the government

out of the way. i met parents like david mckarter. maybe you saw him on the huckabee show whose children in his case have served their country in war. david's son was seriously injured in afghanistan. as he described he only returned from the frontlines to face a new fight, to get the medical care he needed and he surely has earned. and as i told david, i believe that to those who put everything on the line to us we owe everything to them that they need. [cheers and applause] you know, america's veterans, they deserve a lot better than long lines and reduced benefits and as president i will make sure they get the care they deserve.

so in running for office, i had the chance of meeting people like norm and david and their stories, of course, are inspiring. but i also met some people who are hurting under this stagnant obama economy and their stories are heartbreaking. some of the people have lost their jobs. others are working two jobs just to make ends meet. some used to be middle income and now they are struggling again. as you know price for gasoline and food and clothing and health care keep going up but their paychecks stay the same if they're lucky. president obama keeps telling these americans that the recovery is here but for them the recession is not over, that's for sure. >> boo! >> you know, from generation to generation in this country, americans have always known that the future will be brighter and better. we've always believed in a tomorrow full of -- possibility and prosperity and security.

that deep confidence in a better tomorrow is the basic promise of america, but today that promise is being threatened by a faltering economy and a failed presidency. to the millions of americans who look around and can only see jobs they can't get and bills that they can't pay, i have a message. you have not failed. you have a president that's failed you and that's going to change. president obama -- >> we want change! we want change! we want change! we want change! >> you know, when he was campaigning, president obama said he'd create jobs but for 36 straight months unemployment has been above 8%. he also said he'd cut the deficit in half and he's

doubled it. as you know, the debts today are too high, the opportunities are too few, and we've seen enough of this president over the last three years to know we don't need another five of this president. [cheers and applause] >> we need mitt! we need mitt! we need mitt! we need mitt! >> this president's run out of ideas, run out of excuses. in 2012 we are going to run him out of the white house. now, president obama seems to believe he's unchecked by the constitution. he's unresponsive to the will of our people. he operates by command instead of by consensus. in a second term he woos unrestrained by the demands of

re-election. it's four years of barack obama with no one to answer to is something we cannot afford. so these days you hear the president and his team telling us that things keep getting better but 24 million americans are still struggling for work, they are high-fiving each other in the west wing. but, my friends, 8% unemployment is not the best this country can do. it's the best this administration can do. look, when i'm president this american economy will not be lagging behind. this american economy will be leading the world as it has and as it should and as it will do in the future. >> go, mitt, go! mitt, mitt, mitt, mitt, mitt!

>> you know, this administration, the unemployment numbers is just another statistic standing in the way of a second term. but those numbers are more than data on a spreadsheet. they're worried families and anxious faces and tonight i'd like to say to each of them, you are not forgotten. we will not leave you behind. our campaign is on the move and real change is finally on the way. >> we need mitt! we need mitt! we need mitt! >> these times -- these times may be tough, but our citizens still believe in the promise of america and they deserve a president who believes in them. that's why our campaign is more

than just about replacing a president. it's about restoring america's promise, and we will do it. >> go, mitt, go! go, mitt, go! go, mitt, go! go, mitt, go! >> we won't settle for this president's new normal. i'm offering a real choice and a new beginning. i have a plan that will deliver more jobs, less debt and smaller government. president obama raised the national debt. i will cut, cap and balance the budget, finally. he passed obamacare. i will repeal obamacare. [cheers and applause] >> he lost our a.a.a. credit rating. i will restore our a.a.a. credit rating. amazingly, he rejected the

keystone pipeline. i will approve it. you know, he has stalled domestic energy production. i'm going to open up our lands for development so we finally get the energy we need at the price we can afford. when it comes to our economy -- >> go, mitt, go! >> when it comes to this economy, my highest priority will be worrying about your job, not worrying about saving my job. and by the way, i got a pro-growth tax plan, jobs plan that's going to jump-start the economy. president obama wants to raise your faxes. i'm going to cut them. -- president obama wants to raise your taxes. i'm going to cut them. that starts with a 20% across the board rate. and by the way, i'm also going to repeal the alternative

minimum tax and i'll finally abolish the death tax. the president has proposed raising taxes for job creators. i will cut taxes for job creators. the president wants to raise taxes on savings and investments. i will help milt-class families to save and -- i will help middle-class families to save and invest tax-free. it's interesting, after three years this president does not have a single serious proposal for saving medicare or social security. i have a plan that saves both of them and i have the courage to put that plan on the table and will win with the truth. as president i will get our economy back on track and get our citizens back to work, and unlike president obama, i

actually had the experience to deliver on that promise. as you know, i spent 25 years in business. i've been the leader of this great state that we're all in tonight. i cut taxes 19 times here. i turned a budget shortfall into a surplus. i know how government kills jobs and, yes, i know how it can create jobs. i stand ready to lead our party and i stand ready to lead our nation to prosperity. >> all the way! >> i've said this before and i'm going to say it again. this campaign is not just about a name on a ballot. it's about saving the soul of

america and it's driven by an unshakeable optimism that lies within the heart of every american citizen. we know our future is brighter and better than these times. we've been knocked down and tested but we don't accept that an america like this nation has limits. we now america's the land of opportunity. we still get up every morning and thank god we're americans and we know -- >> u.s.a.! u.s.a.! >> we also know with hard work and with strong leadership, with a president that will tell the truth, that our greatest days as a nation are ahead of us. and tonight we've taken one more step towards restoring the promise of tomorrow. tomorrow we wake up and we start again and the next day

we'll do the same. and so we go day by day, step by step, door by door, heart to heart. there will be good days. there will be bad days. always long hours. never enough time to get everything done. but on november 6, we're going to stand united, not only having won an election but having saved the future. it's time to believe in ourselves. it's time to believe in ourselves. it's time to believe in america and i'm asking you to join our cause. we need your energy and your conviction and your commitment. i'm asking for you to pledge your support at mittromney.com. get online. we need your support and your help in this campaign and i'm asking you to join in the fight for freedom and ensure that tomorrow will be better than today. let's go forward together and restore the promise of america.

together, let's fight for the america we love. thank you and god bless this great land. thank you, guys. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] ♪ born free born free ♪

>> mitt romney and supporters last night in boston after he won six states in supertuesday. massachusetts, ohio, idaho, vermont, alaska and virginia. meanwhile, rick santorum, it was a close one in ohio. he got 37% of the vote. mitt romney, 38%. rick santorum did win in oklahoma, tennessee and north dakota. comments from last night from stubenville, ohio.

>> thank you, thank you. thank you. thank you for coming out, stubenville, ohio. i thank you for being here. dd for the folks listening at home, we're at steubenville, ohio. not too many presidential candidates come to

steubenville, ohio, much less hold their victory here in steubenville, ohio. we are at a high school gymnasium. i just came from our war room which doubles as the weight room for the high school. and we just prepared our talk where many talks we're preparing for the gym's floor in the coach's room. this is our roots. here behind me is, well, part of our family, because this is where we're from. we're from down here in the areas of southeastern ohio, west virginia and southwestern pennsylvania where the folks that worked hard and built this

country that lived for many, many decades. i'm particularly excited to be here with my family. when i say my family i mean not just my family, our immediate family, but my mom who's right here. that's my mom, kay. 93. and ken and betty. thank you. i got my brother here and his family and karen has, well, several -- karen is one of 11 children, so you can imagine brothers, sisters, nieces, nevada use, we got a -- nephews, we got a great crew

behind here all behind us, all behind us because this campaign is about the towns that have been left behind and the families that made those towns the greatest towns across this country. [applause] this was a big night tonight. lots of states. we're going to win a few, we are going to lose a few, but as it looks right now we are going to get at least a couple of gold medals and a whole passage full of silver medals. we can add to iowa, missouri, minnesota, colorado, now oklahoma and tennessee.

we have won in the west, the midwest and the vouth and -- south and we are ready to win across this country. i want to thank again my wife. i know, you know, those who have seen her on the campaign trail, the common refrain is more care and less rick. but i'm working on it. i'm trying to get as good as she is at this political stuff. she has been an amazing partner for me and my conscience, my biggest supporter, my most important -- my most honest critic and someone who kept our family together and continues to do remarkable and incredible things to all of me. thank you very much, my love.

we have almost all of the kids here. we have john, sarah, maria, where are you? patrick, peter, elizabeth and daniel and they are wearing buttons for our little bella so we have everybody here. we went up against enormous odds. not just here in the state of ohio where who knows how much we were outspent but in every state. there wasn't a single state in the list i just gave you where i spent more money than the people i was able to defeat to win that state. in every case we overcame the odds. here in ohio, still too close to call.

so just like the folks in steubenville and throughout the ohio valley and all the valleys of this country that is the heart and soul of this country, they worked hard and they overcame odds and that's what -- that's what we're here to talk about and that's why we came to steubenville. that's one of the reasons i am so proud to have my mom and father-in-law and mother-in-law up on stage with me. they are part of the greatest generation of america. they preserve liberty by sacrificing immeasurablely to keep this country free from dess -- despites.

ladies and gentlemen, it's a different battle we are engaged in today but not hard enough for the basic liberties this country was founded on. we have a group of people in washington and in other places around the country that believe the elites in washington are the ones that should be making decisions for all of us and they have systematically gone and grown the scale of government with is unrecognizable. we are running deficits where we're borrowing 40 cents of every dollar, and as you look at the young people here, the leaders in washington are saying to you on your tab and you will pay for this the rest of your life. what right does a government have to do that to the next generation. we have people who believe that

america's best days are behind us. they believe that it's no longer possible for free enter price, a free economy and free people to be able to build strong communities and families and be able to provide for themselves and their neighbors. no, we now need an increasingly power federal government to do this for us. >> boo! >> the reason that karen and i ultimately decided to get into this race was because of that issue and in particular one issue. i said it almost speech i've given. if it were not for one particular issue that to me breaks the camel's back with respect to liberty and the country and that is the issue of obamacare. >> boo! >> what we will go to in a very short period of time the next

two years, a little less than 50% of the people in this country depend on some form of federal payment, some form of government benefit to help provide for them. after obamacare, it will not be less than 50%. it will be 100%. now, every single american will be looking to the federal government, not to their neighbor, not to their church, not to their business or to their employer or to the community or nonprofit organization in their community. we'll be looking always to those in charge, to those who now say to you that they are the allocator and creator of rights in america. ladies and gentlemen, this is the beginning of the end of freedom in america.

once the government has control of your life, then they got you. that's why we decided to step out. as you look, karen and i, seven children ages 20 -- [applause] >> ages 20 to 3. not exactly the best time to be running for president of the united states. we've given up our jobs. we're living off our savings. yeah, we're making a little sacrifice for a very, very big goal, and that is replacing this president on -- in november of this year.

in order to make that happen, the republican party has to nominate somebody who can talk about the broad vision of what america is. as i talk about in every one of my speeches i talk about how important it is that we remember who we are. ronald reagan in his farewell address to the american people, worried about whether america would remember what made us great, that we are not a great country because a great and powerful government. we are a great country because we believe that rights don't come from the government but in

our founding document, the declaration of independence says, our rights come to us from our creator. the government's job and the constitution of this country was spended to do one thing, protect those rights, so each and every one of you will have the opportunity to build their own life, to take their own path, to create a strong family, strong neighborhood, community, state and country, that's what made america great. we built a great country from the bottom up and we need people to go up against

president obama and his vision of a topdown government control, of not just health care but of energy and of manufacturing and a financial services and who knows what else is next. this is a president who believes, who believes that he simply was able to do this, that he will be fairer than you are with your fellow man. ladies and gentlemen, this is an election about fundamental liberty and the signature piece, the signature piece of legislation that points this out that have economic rights created by the government and the government using its heavy hand to force you to buy insurance, to force you to take policies that you don't want and of course to force you to take coverages that may even violate your faith conviction.

in this race there is only one candidate that will go up on the most important issue of the day because i've never been for an individual mandate at a state or federal level. i've never -- [applause] i never passed a statewide government-run health care system when i was governor because while i wasn't governor, but governor romney did. not only did he pass it in massachusetts, he advocated for it to be passed in washington, d.c. in the middle of the debate on health care.

it's one thing to defend a mandated topdown government-run health care program that you have pose on the people of the state. it's another to recommend and encourage the president of the united states to impose the same thing on the american people. and it's another thing yet to go out and tell the american public that you didn't do it. we need a person running against president obama who was right on the issues and truthful with the american public. this race provides a great opportunity for a great contrast. big things have to happen in

this country to bring us back from the brink of insolvency. big things have to happen so we can secure our freedom and as i talked about this morning in front of apac that we have a president that stands with our allies and defends this country and does not apologize for america around the world. we need a fighter. we need a fighter and someone who learned what america was about by growing up in communities just like this. understanding how america, neighborhoods and families work. and believing in them. understanding they're under a lot of stress and strain right now.

much of which is put upon them by the government. understanding that that's the greatness of our country. my mom and my mother-in-law and father-in-law represent here on this stage the greatest generation and. mom's hamming up a little bit over there. ok. but the greatest generation was the greatest generation not because they had greater character or courage or perseverance than those of us today. the greatest generation was great because when freedom was at stake, they rose to meet the call to defend this country.

[applause] we are at a time in this country when freedom is at stake and you are all blessed as i am to be here at a time when your country needs you, to be here at a time, like the original founders of this country who signed that declaration of independence, to be here at a time when freedom was at stake and people wanted to go out and do heroic and courageous things to win that victory. i want to thank all of you here in ohio for overcoming enormous odds, to make this a great night for us here in the buckeye state. [applause]

i want to thank in particular up here mike for standing up and fighting for me during the course of this time. thank you. today, it's clear. it's clear. we've won races all over this country against the odds, when they thought, oh, ok, he's finally finished. we keep coming back.

we are in this thing. we are in this thing, not because i so badly want to be the most powerful man in this country. it's because i want so badly to return the power to you in this country. thank you, steubenville. god bless you and god bless america. thank you. [cheers and applause] ♪ it's time to take a stand

remember who we are remember who we are ♪ ♪ there's a call remember who we are remember who we are ♪ ♪ we are sitting on a hill candle in the dark we have come so far ♪ ♪ where does it all go ♪ ♪ we go the distance emember who we are ♪

♪

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>> thank you so much for being here. >> we're happy you're here.

>> rick santorum and supporters in steubenville, ohio, last night. he was edged down by mitt romney. rick santorum did win in oklahoma, tennessee and north dakota. you can watch this and all of last night's speeches on our website, c-span.org/campaign201. the u.s. house is gaveling back in momentarily to continue work on amendments on a bill dealing with hydropower facilities, conduit facilities under the bureau of reclamation to be developed for hydropower. they'll take up a bill that will deal with regulations for companies that are going public. reps and others calling it their jobs bill. that's later this afternoon. now live to the house -- republicans and others calling it their jobs bill. that's later this afternoon. now live to the house floor.

bless the members of this people's house, inspire them as representatives of the american people to labor for justice and righteousness in our nation and our world, mindful of your concern for those most in need. for all the riches of our human experience, o lord, we give you thanks. make us aware of our responsibilities as stewards of your divine gifts and empower us with your grace to faithfully and earnestly use our talents in ways that bring understanding to our communities and our nation and peace to every soul. may all we do be done for your greater honor and glory, amen.

the speaker: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings an announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, the journal stands approve. the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. thompson, will lead us in the pledge of allegiance. mr. thompson: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker: the chair will entertain up to 15 requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. poe: request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker: without objection, so ordered. mr. poe: mr. speaker, last week congresswoman janice hahn and i hosted the inaugural event for the bipartisan congressional ports caucus. the ports caucus currently includes a bipartisan group of 4 members of congress

representing 19 states and two territories. i represent several ports in southeast texas, and i'm pleased that our nation's ports now have a voice in congress. ms. hahn represents ports on the west coast. ports are critical to our national security and our economic security. they are america's link to the rest of the world, whether it's the food we eat, the car we drive, the light bulb we use in our homes or the clothes we wear. every american household is impacted by some activity at our ports. the ports caucus will raise awareness and educate others about the major issues important to american ports and i look forward to working with congresswoman hahn, and i want to thank her for thinking of this idea. and i look forward to working with other members of congress to ensure economic growth in america. and that's just the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from rhode island rise? mr. cicilline: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore:

without objection. mr. cicilline: mr. speaker, i rise today to honor the girl scouts of rhode island, a program that strives to help young girls become model citizens. in honor of the 100th anniversary of the girl scouts of america as well as national women's history month, i'm pleased to recognize the contributions that the girl scouts have made in rhode island where it has reached 9,400 girls with 772 troops in the past year. more than just going door to door selling thin mints and tag-a-longs, the girl scouts takes part in a group that builds girls of honor, confident, courage and character who make the world a better place, giving them a foundation for success later on in life. the girl scouts of rhode island should take great pride in the work they do every day. i congratulate the girl scouts of rhode island on their incredible work and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? mr. wilson: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, last

month the congressional budget office released a report which stated that our nation's unemployment rate is not expected to dip below 8% until 2014 which reveals the president's policies have failed and destroyed jobs. america's experiencing the longest stretch of high unemployment since the great depression. the study also concluded that if every american searching for employment were counted, sadly our unemployment rate would be around 15%. when the president lobbied for his economic plan, he promised that our unemployment rate would not exceed 8%. instead, february marks the 36th month where the unemployment rate has been above 8%. this is a tragedy for american families. house republicans are focused on putting american families back to work. i urge the president and the liberal-controlled senate to take immediate action of the dozens of job-creation bills that have passed the house with bipartisan support. in conclusion, god bless our

troops and we will never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> i ask permission to address the house for one minute, mr. speaker, and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. green: mr. speaker, last friday marks the texas independence day. 176 years ago, the texas -- declaration of independence was amended on the brazos. the dictatorship refused to provide trial by jury, freedom of religion, public education for its citizens and allow the confiscation of firearms, the last being the most intolerable among texans. it violated the sacred contract between government and its people. texans stands up for its rights. the mexicans waged a war on the land and people, enforcing the

decrees of the military dictatorship through force and without any democratic legitimacy. as governor sam houston, along with other delegates signed the texas declaration of independence, general santa ana went to the alamo. yesterday, 176 years ago, the alamo fell with lieutenant colonel william barrett travis, former tennessee congressman, davey crockett, and 200 defenders. texas achieved their independence on april 21, 1836, roughly 900 members of the texas army overpowered a larger mexican force. i'm proud to represent the san jacinto battlefield and the state park. god bless america and god bless texas. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from west virginia rise? mrs. capito: to address the house for one minute.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. mrs. capito: we are going to be debating the jobs act. it is a legislative package designed to restore our economy and help small businesses, startups and entrepreneurs. these measures create capital formation, will spur the growth of startups and small businesses and pave the way for more small-scale businesses to go public and present and create more jobs. as i said, this has broad bipartisan support. of the six bills only 32 members voted no on all six of these bills as they moved through the house or the committee. in his state of the union, the president asked us to send him a bill that helps small businesses and entrepreneurs and that's exactly what the the gentlewoman yields back act does. we're presented with an opportunity to act in a truly bipartisan fashion that will promote job growth across our nation. so we should join together, democrats and republicans, house and senate, to give the president the piece of legislation so he can sign it

into law. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina rise? >> i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. butterfield: today i rise to congratulate cashes -- cascius s. williams, an alumni for an outstanding contribution to the university by destoig them with the watagua medal award. recipients understand the enormous value of education and their commitment to that idea has generated immeasurable prosperity for communities across america. wataguar medal recipients are candles in the dark, men and women of great purpose who injected their talent in the life, blood of north carolina state university. mr. speaker, this week cascius s. williams of greenville, north carolina, joined the ranks of great servants as its newest honoree.

without a doubt his work will continue to foster a better education for our children that will create a brighter future for north carolina. the house of representatives appreciates cascius williams. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? >> ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, yesterday i had the opportunity to meet with many of my constituents who were here to advocate for continued support for israel. i had the opportunity to listen to prime minister netanyahu's remarks on the importance of american-israeli alliance and friendship. i tell them i could not from more and has no time has the bond between our countries been more important. mr. hultgren: in an unstable region of the world, israel has proven time and again to be a steadfast friend. in a recent -- with uncertain futures and by worse by brutal

dictatorship, israel is a champion of democracy and freedom. but today israel is surrounded by increasingly unstable neighbors. and just over the horizon they're faced with an iranian regime that threatens them with annihilation. in these circumstances we must do what is right and stands with our friends and allies, the israeli people. i have been proud to do so in this chamber and i will continue to do so in the weeks and months ahead. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. costa: 56% of americans thinks congress should be creating jobs, number one priority. but since taking control of the house, the republicans have yet to pass one single jobs bill. republicans have been more interested in obstructing than finding solutions, i said, than finding solutions. they said no to the america jobs act, no to the america

jobs act. and then a transportation bill that was cut. now with the gas prices on the rise, they refuse to roll their sleeves and get to work. we should be voting today on legislation to cut billions of tax breaks for big oil companies, crack down speculators who are inflating prices at the pumps and invest in new resources such as solar energy and new energy. but instead, we have more of the same partisan gridlock from the party of no. our constituents deserve more, america deserves more. lower the gas prices and create jobs. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from kansas rise? >> i seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you. mr. speaker, today i rise to call attention to the millions of families and small business owners across america who are feeling the impact of higher

energy prices. mr. yoder: the national average of a gallon of gasoline stands at $3.77 with no sign of relief in the near future. couple this with higher utility rates and americans are struggling under the weight of ever increasing energy costs. yet, washington continues to attempt to pile more regulations and higher taxes on energy producers in this country. let's be clear, higher energy taxes, more utility mandates and bigger regulatory burdens drive up the cost of energy production. washington will not lower energy costs for americans by placing further roadblocks in the way of energy production in this country. as workers sit idle waiting to construct the keystone x.l. and we remove government burdens and barriers, the american people are losing. it's time we get the federal government out of the way and work together towards bipartisan solutions that get america producing domestic sources of energy in all forms. let's lower energy costs for all americans and let's get our

economy growing again. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california rise? >> i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. chu: have you been to the gas station recently and been shocked? gas is about $4 a gallon in many parts of the country and climbing. that's 29 cents more than only a month ago. families everywhere are feeling the pinch. but why? it doesn't make sense. supply is up. we've quadrupled u.s. drilling rigs over the past three years. oil production is at its highest in a decade. and last year the import of oil fell to its lowest level in 16 years. the answer is wall street speculators who buy oil and horde it. they take it off the market and lower supply until the price goes up. way up. then they sell it and make a killing off the american people. that's not fair.

we can't drill our way out of this problem, we must end wall street speculation, end subsidies for the oil companies and end the political rhetoric. let's have real solutions to the problem. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? without objection, the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for one minute. mr. pitts: mr. speaker, on february 23, the journal of medical ethics published an article entitled "after-birth abortion: why should the baby live?" they argue that an infant child can be killed since they don't have the same moral status as a "person." they go even further to say that adoption is not always in the best interest of an unwanted child. the fury over this article has been immense. they defend this article on the basis there should be reasoned engagement on this subject. the article may have the form of scholarly argument but its substance is madness. the authors maintain that a

baby can be granted personhood through the recognition of other human beings. they reject something we all hold dear, that all men are endowed by their creator with the right to life. the amount of debate over this article is not only natural but right. it is shocking and sad to see such arguments given credence in a premiere medical journal. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? >> to address the house for one minute an revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. this is supposed to be the people's house but for 428 days of republican leadership, the american people have been stuck on the outside looking in. house tea party republicans have locked millions of americans out of this economy and thrown away the key. republicans have gambled on tax cuts for millionaires, oil

company, an special interests an fought to lay off teachers, cops and firefighters all in an effort to see president obama and our recovery fail. now after two years of private sector job growth under president obama, republicans claim that they now have a jobs plan. well, i'm going to tell you, rooting against the president, hoping that he will fail, is not a jobs plan. that's called sabotage. republicans have defaulted on their promises to the american people that they would work to create jobs. instead they have started a war against women's health. how much longer will americans with no jobs, no hope, and no money have to wait before -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time is expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from illinois rise? >> i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore:

without objection, the gentlelady from illinois is recognized for one minute. ms. schakowsky: at a forum on women's rights to birth control i solicitted comments from the audience. reverend luke rights, i believe it's necessary we promote the health care and livelihood of families to people in this country. providing contraception to women is the right and moral thing to do. a young anonymous woman said, i am a virgin, i take birth control because i have polycystic syndrome -- ovarian sin drope. it will help prevent uterine cancer.

another woman rights, we have a 6-year-old child who is on the autistic spectrum. after that time, we have decided it's time to add tour family. if we had had to risk an unwanted pregnancy, we wouldn't have been able to give our son the care he needs. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from california rise? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today to pay tribute to a true champion for education, january hall dmini who passed awhat this last -- away this last month. she was serving our community for more than 35 years with the parent-teacher association and eventually became the head of the p.t.a. in 2007. ms. sanchez: the national p.t.a. during her time with the p.t.a., she facile titted

collaborative partnerships with many education, health, safety and child advocacy groups to benefit children and provide valuable resources to p.t.a. members. as president, she raised the level of parent involvement nationwide by increasing p.t.a. membership an also by accessing very diverse communities. january was a -- jan was a product of public schools in orange county and knew firsthand the intricate needs of our community an children. after serving as national president of the p.t.a. she returned to anaheim and became a trustee on our anaheim union high school board. she was a role model. she was a family fren. i remember as a young child my mother would get calls from jan if i was out of line. both locally and nationally we are better off because of jan and i am honored and hope that my colleagues will honor her

also. thank you, mr. chairman, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia rise? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from virginia is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, we need a multiyear funding before the enof the year. mr. moran: slst no question but gas prices are too high. when the world oil price starts to decline, the price of oil won't go down proportionately because it'll be seized by the oil companies as an opportunity to further pad their profits. that's when we need toimplement a substantially but gradually funded federal gas tax. that's what we need to fund our nation's infrastructure that has deteriorated for the last 20 years while that gas tax has not been increased. that's what we need to do, mr. chairman, because the fact is the big oil companies have been taking us for a ride on a

pothole filled highway. it's time to get into an energy efficient vehicle on the road oeconomic prosperity and energy independence. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to thank my congressmen colleague ted poe for giving me a shoutout to the ports caucus, showing this country that we can work together on somebody has a -- on issues that matter to people of america. yesterday was super tuesday but this year's campaign has been anything but super thanks to the supreme court's misguided decision in the citizens united case a handful of super p.a.c.s have dominated this year's election. ms. hahn: it doesn't have to be this year. four years ago, the republican nominee for president, john mccain, was a leading voice in reforming how we pay for

campaign. chris shays fought to clean up elections. that's why i've come to the floor today to ask my republican friends to join with me and people like john mccain and chris shays in supporting the act that would shine a bright light on the super p.a.c.s. it would require the invisible power brokers to appear in their adds like the candidates do. if we came together to change this, it really would be super. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky rise? >> permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. chandler: i rise today to support national teach ag day, to raise the need for more agriculture teachers. encourage people to consider a

career as an agriculture teacher and celebrate the contributions these teachers make in their schools and communities. every day, agriculture teachers help students develop skills necessary to become leaders and contributing members of society. they teach by doing, not just telling an by sharing their passion with young people they prepare students for successful careers, whether they choose to do go into the field of agriculture or not. there are currently over 10,000 agriculture teachers serving almost one million students in all 50 states an puerto rico but it is estimated there will be hundreds of unfilled positions across the united states this year. national teach ag day is a nationwide effort to bring attention to the need for more agriculture educators in the u.s. an raise awareness of the valuable role these teach evers fill in our schools. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expire. for what purpose does the gentleman from alabama rise? >> ask unanimous consent to

address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> i want to talk about gas prices. i represent a poor, rural congressional district where unlike in the big cities you have to have an automobile to get around. an in the 10 years i have been in congress, i have not had any issue that has upset my constituents more, including the war, than the gas prices we had three years ago. and here we are back in the same situation with prices $105 per barrel, $3.75 for a -- for a gallon of fass. nothing has been done by the administration to deal with the issue. more recently, the keystone pipeline, which would have helped bring a lot more oil on the marketplace by bringing it down from canada to the refineries on the coast has been denied by the president. he needs to be doing some things to help us. he says -- people say drill, drill, drill, that won't solve our problem, well the fact is it might have if he'd started three years ago when we had the

last burst of high gas prices. it won't deal with the current problem but it will be a perpetual problem if he doesn't make changes. he needs to authorize drilling in the outer continental shelf and anwr. and pass the keystone pipeline. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from hawaii rise? >> ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. >> thank you very much, mr. speaker. gas prices are rising and we'll see an average some predict of $5 a felon by summer. some places are already there. voices are rising, asking us what are we doing to bring gas prices down? ms. hanabusa: mr. speaker, we can agree, we must go beyond short-term fixes and we must cure ourselveses of this nation's petroleum addiction. yes, it is an addiction. our constituents are asking, what's causing it? what's causing these gas prices? we know when iran threatens to

close the strait of hormuz prices soar. this is because 1/5 of the world's oil supply gos through those -- goes through those straits. our vision must go beyond the next gas pump. we must look at the fundamentals of a new policy. yes, diplomacy is part of that, but more importantly, it's us. we must join hands to self-sufficiency and truly be committed to renewable resources. the president proudly pointed out to marines in the state of the union the sustainability. let's adopt that policy. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from california rise? >> address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized. >> i rise today to speak on an international issue that merits our attention here in congress. this month, hundreds of thousands of concerned

citizens, 140,000 and counting, signed a petition to the white house. it calls on the administration to stop ex-panning trade with vietnam at the expense of human rights. mrs. davis: i know it's hard to imagine for all of us here in this chamber, but in vietnam, the mere act of composing songs can be sufficient grounds for the communist government to put someone in jail. in fact, that's exactly what happened to viet king, a vietnamese citizen being detained for merely composing and singing two protest songs about his own country. this arrest and many others in recren years have to be at the forefront of our trade gos with the government. i join my colleagues in -- i urge my colleagues to squoin me in putting freedom an human rights first. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from the american samoas rise?

mr. faleomavaega: unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. faleomavaega: the president announced new funding as part of his research statty to reduce our reliance on foreign oil and provide vehicles that don't rely on gas lean this crucial investment in advanced energy research will promote america's innovation to diversify energy resources and create new jobs. urn president obama's leadership, america is produce manager oil than at any time in the last eight years and our dependence is at a 16-year low. over the last' three year the obama administration has approved dozens of new pipeline and opened millionings of acres for oil and gas exploration. they have also instituted the toughest fuel economy standards in history that will cut oil con sums by 12 billion barrels and save american families $1.7 trillion for the next 10 years.

mr. speaker, i commend president obama for taking these important steps to promote and enhance our nation's energy needs. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. poe: by -- >> by direction of the committee on rules i ask for -- to call up house resolution 572. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. caller: house resolution 572, resolved that at any time after the adoption of this resolution the speaker may, pursuant to clause 2b of rule 18 declare the house resolved into the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of the bill h.r. 3606 to increase american job creation and economic growth by improving access to the public capital markets for emerging growth companies.

the first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. all points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. general debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on financial services. after general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute rule. in lieu of the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the committee on financial services now printed in the bill, an amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text of the rules committee print 112-17 shall be considered as adopted in the house and in the committee of the whole. the bill, as amended, shall be considered as the original bill for the purpose of further amendment under the five-minute rule and shall be considered as read. all points of order against provisions in the bill, as amended, are waived. no further amendment to the bill, as amended, shall be in

order except those printed in the report of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution. each such further amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered only by a member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the house or in the committee of the whole. all points of order against such further amendments are waived. at the conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendment the committee shall rise and report the bill, as amended, to the house with such further amendments as may have been adopted. the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill, as amended, and any further amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to

recommit with or without instructions. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for one hour. mr. sessions: thank you, mr. speaker. for the purpose of debate only i yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman, my friend from colorado, mr. polis, the 30 minutes pending which i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. sessions: during consideration of this resolution all time is yielded for the purpose of debate only. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks . the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. sessions: mr. speaker, today i rise in support of this rule and obviously the underlying bill. house resolution 572 provides a structured rule for h.r. 3606, the jump-start our business startups, or what we call the jobs act. it was introduced on december 8, 2011, by the gentleman, the

bright young man who is one of the brand new leaders of our conference, the gentleman from tennessee, stephen fincher, and was reported by chairman bachus on february 16, 2012, by near unanimous vote of 54-1. members on both sides of the aisle have had an opportunity and will have opportunities to submit perfecting ideas. thank goodness the rules committee allows this sort of thing to happen now that republicans are in charge. the structured rule before us allows for 17 amendments, mr. speaker, 13 from democrats, three from republicans, one which is a bipartisan amendment meaning that republicans and democrats, members of this house, have a chance to work together on legislation for jobs for our country. the chairman of the rules

committee, david dreier, has once again allowed the house to work its will through this important legislation by allowing us to have a rule, not only where members of congress can come and share their ideas with the rules committee, but once again have them made in order where they can come down on the floor, express their ideas, work with colleagues to perfect the legislation and then to vote for the bill because they were a part of it. those are ideas that i think are good for this body, and david dreier as chairman of the committee, deeply believes this is the way the floor should operate. today we're going to consider a package of commonsense job-creating bills that stand out for unique reason, and that unique reason is the president of the united states now supports what we're doing also.

unfortunately, senate democrats have yet to give their blessing on this bill and the package that's included. so we're just going to have to do the best we can and then hope for the best. maybe the senate will decide they want to take action on bills that will better not only able our country to have jobs and job creation but work in the best interest of the american people. so house republicans are on the floor again today as we have been doing now for a year and a few months to persistently make the case about job creation. why jobs are important to our country, why congress should be about working with the free enterprise system, work with members of congress who see the big need for jobs not only at home but all across this country in every single state so that we could have job creation as a major goal of what this congress and

hopefully the president would be for. over 30 bills that we've already passed through this body over the last year and couple months await consideration by senate democrats. that means that this body, just like the bills we're going to handle today, we've been on the floor for a year talking about jobs, job creation, the way we can aid and abet the free enterprise system, investors and opportunities back home. those bills are waiting over in the senate, and today we're simply going to add to that. the big difference is the president has now said, you guys got a good idea. the day the president agrees with house republicans and house democrats is a great day for our country. so the good news out of washington today is stephen fincher had a good idea that the president agrees with and

we're going to do something about that. our economy has a credit problem, too, mr. speaker, not just a jobs problem. companies are unable to receive the credit they need to grow their businesses, and as banks and other traditional credit providers face stricter federal restrictions by the obama administration, it decreases the ability for lending to take place and companies that need lending and cash and capital available to them are looking for innovative funding mechanisms that will provide the liquidity necessary so that they can keep their businesses current, so they can expand their business, so they can meet the needs of the marketplace. this administration continues to promote policies that slow economic growth and make it more difficult for businesses

and in particular small businesses to obtain capital and have a source of funding. so republicans believe that we must create an environment that changes that, that encourages investment in small business, and small business as we know is really the engine of our economy and really the national job creators. the underlying bill does just that. the jobs act consists of numerous pro-growth provisions, and i'd like to talk about those because it's important for us to remind our colleagues that a pro-growth bill or a pro-growth environment that our free enterprise system would be involved in encourages not just the creation of capital but also the ability of that formation of capital to make jobs in america to come about as a result of that. this bill, from congressman fincher, creates a new category

of what's called emerging growth companies that will reduce costs for small businesses to go public. great idea. the legislation from our majority whip, kevin mccarthy from california, that will allow small business to advertise for the purpose of soliciting capital from potential investors. in other words, this was not allowed by law. small companies that have great ideas need the opportunity to advertise in the marketplace and have people see that there are good ideas. kevin mccarthy is right. a bill from congressman mchenry from north carolina would allow what is called crowdfunding for initial public offerings under $1 million. in other words, it opens up the ability to gather more capital to come in and congressman mchenry is right. we need to utilize market-based solutions and we need to make

it legal. two bills from congressman schweikert from arizona, one that would allow more businesses to go public, gather investment and growth and a second bill which raises the threshold number of shareholders required for mandatory securities and exchange commission registration for all companies. and finally, a bill by congressman quale from arizona, also, which -- congressman quayle from arizona, also to invest in community banks. in other words, bringing more investors to an important part of our economy and that is called community banks, banks that exist for the purpose of trying to make our communities, local communities stronger and better. the banks and small business of the district which i represent, the 32nd congressional district of texas, which is primarily

dallas, richardson, addison and irving, texas, consistently describe to me about how they have an inability to raise capital investment. not due to a lack of willing investors but as a result of burdensome regulations that are placed on them by the federal government. and oftentimes we discuss the need for the s.e.c. limit on individual investors and we know that it restricts their ability to raise funds through community participation and local business creation. i am proud to tell them now that as a result of this bill today and the legislation included, help is on the way. these important changes not only provides businesses with the necessary ability to expand but also they provide individuals with new mechanisms to invest and grow with their own personal assets in companies that they know best.

the rules adjusted in the underlying bill have proven restrictive to economic growth, so we got to adjust these problems in the marketplace and come up with new and creative ideas. we must push these constructive proposals without political delay, and this is why members of this body, including i believe the gentleman, mr. polis, support this bill. the reason why we can work together is to make sure we push constructive ideas that are good for people back home. mr. speaker, our nation is still in crisis. we do not have enough jobs. we are in a dwindling marketplace because of the excessive number of rules and regulations that have been passed by prior congress with unemployment persistently over 8%, we cannot continue the

failed government policies, the inability to pass laws that help job creation to overcome these problems. the underlying bill will do exactly that. it will help foster not only an environment but provide the underping through law -- underpinning through law that will allow the private sector to more fully participate. the future success of this economy rests in our hands of small, private business, not the federal government, and what we're doing today is unleashing their potential so they can focus on the things which they do best. this is part of having a republican majority. pro-business, pro-economic development for jobs, the formation of capital and the ability for american entrepreneurship to flourish. the result is going to be an economic environment that promotes growth and generates more revenue for the federal

government. i am delighted not only to be on the floor once again talking about economic growth but once again trying to act as a sound piece for the american people who are asking the united states congress to please understand the plight that we are in, to please help work on what will help the free enterprise systems job creation. so today as we are on the floor, we offer a harty reminder to the american people that there are people who get what this is about. that's partally why this -- partially why this republican has been successful. we will push for reform, a pro-grote environment and an opportunity -- pro-growth environment and an opportunity to help people at home. the ability to do things on their own. i urge my colleagues to vote for this fair rule and i reserve the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the chair will receive a message. mike: mr. speaker, a message from the senate. the secretary: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: madam secretary. the secretary: i have been directed by the senate to inform the house that the senate has passed without amendment h.r. 4105, an act to provide the countervailing conditions for market economies and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: thank you. the speaker recognized the gentleman from colorado. mr. polis: thank you, mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. polis: i rise in support of this bill, mr. speaker. i would like to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who have worked long and hard on a number of these bills. in my remarks today, mr. speaker, i want to talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly. the good that these bills can do to free up our capital

markets, but the bad and the ugly of issues that are more substantial to job creation and the fiscal integrity of our country which this congress continues to ignore. first to respond to my colleague from texas, who several times blamed one particular party in the senate for advancing these bills, ill just like to remind my colleague that many of these bills are in fact sponsored by democrats in the senate. it's not democrats or republicans in the senate, it is the senate that needs to pass this as we know, the senate requires 60 votes. i would hope the gentleman from texas will amend his future remarks to call upon the senate to pass the jobs act, rather than just the democrats in the senate, of course recognizing that republican votes are kneed to reach the necessary 60 votes to advance any legislation. i'll be happy to yield. would the gentleman amend his remarks? mr. sessions: i remind the gentleman that the republican

minority leader mr. mcconnel has asked for the jobs bill to be on the floor. i don't think a jobs bill would be a problem for a republican to object to. i would once again advise the gentleman, i think my statement was correct. the senate minority leader has asked for every single one of these 30 bills that have been passed by the house to be debated and voted on and republicans have pledged their support -- mr. polis: reclaiming my time. just as many are sponsored -- just as many are sponsored by democrats as republicans. it will take votes from both sides to get to 60 votes, i think they can do that if however many of these members, many of the bills have had over 400 votes, 09% of this body, hopefully they will command similarly large supermajorities in the senate comprised of both democrat, many of whom sponsor these bills, an republicans who may be opposed to certain

elements but hopefully in the name of moving -- moving the country forward will pass this jobs act. here's what this bill will do. first of all, it's not a jobs act per se, the jobs name san acronym. it actually is called jump start our business startups act, or jobsa, i guess jobs sounds better, but it's a capital markets bill. it is a good bill. it has several components that passed the house my colleague outlined several of them. i want to explain why they're so important. first an foremost, it makes it easier for many small companies to go public. it rolls back some of the sarbanes-oxley regulations put in place in 2002 for small and immediateup cap companies. again, when you're looking at the compliance cost of sarbanes-oxley they don't scale with the business. it's the min muss for a $10 million business but it's

substantial and a deterrent to accessing the capital markets for a $300 million business. 24 rolls them back in a thoughtful way. i would call for further thoughtful examination, of course, for businesses of all sizes but this will allow many small an mid cap businesses to access the public capital markets. in addition, it allows people to invest in startups, a concept that's called crowd funding which is very exciting, of course, heretofore essentially investing in startups are limited to accredited investors. that's not just some investor who goes through some possess of getting acredited, it's somebody who is wealthy. they have to be worth several million dollars an then all of a sudden they're acred. we know that some wealthy people are poor investors an some are good investors, one's wealth has nothing to do with how accredited or how good an investor one is and falllies

who are worth $100,000 or $300,000 are perfectly within their rights under current law to go to las vegas or atlantic city and bet their entire life savings on one roll of the dice, and yet they're not aloud urn current law to invest in startups. we, with this bill, would allow families of all means to invest in startup companies, some of which will work out and some of which will not. american families will enter this with being aware of the risk bus it is their money they earned it, they pay taxes on it and should be able to invest it or gamble it as they see fit. another thing we do under this bill is increase the numb of share holers that is required for mandatory registration from the s.e.c. from 500 to to 1,000. this is a good practice because many companies use stock poppings options, it gives employers a way to have equity. but companies have been limited because once they have 500

shareholders, they're forced to file as public. we're allowing them to stay private longer as the need fits them and not have to scale back on their option policy with their employees. inevitably, some of those options get exercised and employees become outright owners over time. this would prevent them from being forced into a back door i.p.o. in addition, we again allow community banks to raise additional capital. we remove some of the requirements around that. community banks are important lenders in our community an that's an important step as well toward allowing capital to flow more freely. so in sum, the several bills most of which have already passed this house that we are packaging in the jobsa act, this act we are doing here today, are good bills that will free up the capital markets an in the heed yum and long-term there will likely be jobs created. where will the capital go?

it will flow to businesses that encourage jobs growth. this is not something that happens overnight but something ha happens as the fute of the investment. some of the startups funned through crowd funding might be employers of 1,000 people in five years or 10 years. that's what's so excited about the potential of these mechanisms to key ate value in the economy. but what are we not doing? what would be a real jobs bill? in my opinion there's several things holing back our private sector recovery. first an foremost, our budget deficit and the questions about the fiscal integrity of this country this congress continues to avoid taking action on a default scenario under which debt as a percentage of g.d.p. would rise from about 70%, where it is now, to about 200% of our g.d.p. by 2040. a far worse situation than many of the fiscally beleaguered

nations in europe undertaking bailouts. this is widely known on both sides of the aisle and the solution is widely known as well. there are several that have been presented, there's a bipartisan group that eamericaed from the senate including democrats and plans that proposed a plan to reduce the deficit as a percentage of g.d.p. down to 1.9% by 2021. there's been a similar effort on behalf of the bowles-simpson commission to rein in spending so that debt as a percentage of g.d.p. would be 35% instead of 200%. this house has passed an operational budget that only serves to continue the deficits through the next 10 years. again, giving fiscal certainty around the integrity of our nation would do a lot more to free up capital and improve the flow of capital in credit

markets and create jobs than these relatively minor but still important bills we are considering here today. the other reform that would create a lot more jobs than this bill and would better be called a jobs act if they can come up with a fancy acronym for it is business tax reform. i would like to submit for the record a letter from the white house on a framework for business tax reform. i ask unanimous consent to insert it into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. polis: the president oproposed eliminating loopholes an special interest tax reductions to lower the rate to 25% to 28% from 35%. american corporations are currently among the highest taxed in the world. most of our peer countries tax their corporations in the 20% to 25% range and capital can flow across borders. operations of companies in a global economy can flow across borders. why would a for-profit company

with a fi douchenary responsibility to its shareholders choose to domicile in an area with a 35% tax rate when they can be somewhere with a 20% tax rate and be in compliance with the law. we have been cawing for the reforms other the last few years to remove many special interest tax considerations put by lobbyists in our tax code and bring down our overall rate to 25%. companies can reinvest in their get. the more profitable companies that are therefore paying highest corporate tax are the growth companies. it affects job creation to say that profitable companies should be paying 25% to 28%, discouraging them from outsourcing jobs, discouraging them from domiciling overseas an discouraging the improper

allocation of capital through special interest tax breaks in our tax code that give money arbitrarily to everyone from manufacturers to oil and gas industry simply because of some central plan for the washington determined that that's where capital should go. again, if we want a jobs act, solve the deficit, reform our uncompetitive business tax code as the president has indicated but let's also move forward with these bills to free up capital flow for startups that will hopefully lead to the next great american companies but by no means does somehow this congress think that just because there's some letters that stan for the word jobs that somehow the jobs issue is solved or addressed by allowing companies to stay frivet with 1,000 instead of 500 shareholders, allowing a few small margins to go public because of relaxed sarbanes-oxley requirements. let's pass this bill, i'm confident it will pass it but

let's not pretend this is a jobs bill for our country or that this in any way, ship, or form restores the fiscal integrity of the nation. the speaker pro tempore: the chair would ask members not to traffic the well while members are under recognition. the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: thank you from texas, i applaud the gentleman, my friend from colorado, mr. polis, for not only coming to our defense and aid in this but aiming for things that people all across this country need and it's called action by congress for jobs. mr. speaker, at this time, i yield four minutes to the young gentleman from tennessee, mr. fincher. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. fincher: thank you, mr. chairman and my colleague from texas for yielding. keeping the main theme, the main theme, jobs and the economy. i rise in support of this rule. as an original co-sponsor to h.r. 3606, the jump start our business startups act, i rise in support.

since last year, the gentleman from delaware and i, along with many members of the financial services committee, have worked in a bipartisan manner to develop legislation that would enhance job creation an expand access to capital for america's job creators. title one of this bill is legislation i introduced with congressman carney, the reopening american capital markets to emerging growth companies act which would help more small an mid sized company tosegow public. in the last 15 years, fewer and fewer startup companies have pursued initial public offerings because of burdensome costs created by one-size-fits-all laws and regulations. according to testimony from the i.p.o. task force chair kate mitchell from 1990 to 1996, there were 1,272 u.s. venture-backed companies that went public on u.s. exchanges in that six-year time frame. however new york six years from 2004 to 2010, there were