the chair: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. capps: mr. chairman, this is a straightforward amendment. as we know the bill, and as my colleague from colorado has just ill straighted, the bill -- just illustrated, the bill creates a redundance of bureaucracy and standards that are not even yet proposed by the e.p.a., clearly designed to postpone pollution cleanup. . this amendment is a straightforward amendment which says if the energy department analysis of e.p.a. quality rules is not feasible or not useful we should not be spending taxpayer resources on it. and i would note again these e.p.a. air quality rules that would be analyzed aren't even on the books yet. we shouldn't be wasting agency time and resources on tasks like the ones proposed here so this amendment is common sense, straightforward, very simple,

so i hope my colleagues will support this amendment and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from colorado. mr. gardner: e.p.a., that's part of their job, analyzing rules. we just found out just a couple days ago that one program at the department of energy is costing $1.2 million per job created. they got the resources to do it within existing funds. this isn't going to cost any new money but what it will do is make sure we are protecting consumers before cost increases occur. with that i urge a no vote on the amendment and yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. all time having expired, the question is on the amendment offered by the gentlelady from california. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. mrs. capps: i would ask for a recorded vote. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings

on the amendment offered by the gentlelady from california will be postponed. it's now in order to consider amendment number 24 printed in house report 112-540. for what purpose does the gentlewoman rise? ms. hanabusa: thank you, mr. speaker. i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 24 printed in house report 112-540 offered by ms. hanabusa of hawaii. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 691, the gentlewoman from hawaii, ms. hanabusa, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from hawaii. ms. hanabusa: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, this amendment adds to title 3, the graud renial federal onshore energy production strategy, by --

quadrennial federal onshore energy production strategy which addresses the indian tribe lands, and this particular amendments -- amendment includes the hawaii home land. hawaii is a unique situation in that in 1920 this congress created the hawaiian homes commission act and there was a special body of land 203,000 acres, approximately, which are the control of congress. congress approves whether or not things can be amended in the act even upon statehood, that right was retained. as such we would like to have included -- and this is what this amendment seeks -- to have all the alternative and renewable sources, including joe owe thermal, solar, wind and other renewable energy on

lands defined as available lands in the hawaiian homes commission act to be included in the strategic review. we believe this is not expanding this. it has no implications other than the fact it has a body of land which somehow have been forgotten. it falls under the federal jurisdiction. with that, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. -- the gentlelady reserves. for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado rise? mr. lamborn: i ask unanimous consent to claim time in opposition although we are not opposed. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. lamborn: native hawaiian home lands are not managed as tribal lands by the federal government which is why they were not included in the underlying legislation. however, hawaiian home lands can provide another great source for domestic energy development. therefore, we are prepared to accept this amendment. and thank you, mr. chairman,

and i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentlewoman from hawaii. ms. hanabusa: thank you, mr. chairman, i yield back. the chair: all time having expired, the question is on the amendment offered by the gentlelady from hawaii. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. it's now in order to consider amendment number 25 printed in house report 112-540. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? ms. speier: mr. chairman, i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 25 printed in house report 112-540 offered by ms. speier of california. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 691, the gentlewoman from california, ms. speier, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from california. ms. speier: mr. chairman, thank you. i rise to introduce an amendment to the strategic

energy production act. this bill is being pitched as an all-of-the-above energy bill when in reality it is an oil-above-all bill, full of giveaways to big energy companies. mr. chair, title 4 of h.r. 4480 would impose arbitrary deadlines on the interior department's review of applications for permits to drill for oil and gas onshore. after 60 days, if the interior department has not completed its review of an application to drill, the permit would be deemed approved regardless of whether the department ensured that the drilling was safe. my amendment is quite simple. it would just strike this unwise and unwarranted provision. first, a little context would be helpful. the united states is in the middle of a great drilling boom. in fact, the obama administration has issued more drilling permits in the last

three years than the first three years of the bush administration. at a recent citigroup report suggests the u.s. is already the world's fastest growing oil and natural gas producer. counting the output from canada and mexico, north america is the, quote, new middle east, unquote. meanwhile, the top five oil companies made $137 billion in profits last year. they are reaping the benefits of this revival and they are doing just fine. oil and gas companies are currently sitting on 6,700 approved, and i underscore approved, drilling permits that are not being used. issuing more drilling permits more quickly is not the answer. what we should not be doing is tie the hands of interior department regulators by imposing an artificial and arbitrary shot clock in

approving these drilling permits especially when the risk of safety problems remain high. in fact, oil companies are already committing scores of serious safety violations when drilling on public lands onshore. according to a recent natural resources committee report, more than 2,000 safety and drilling violations were issued to 335 companies drilling in 17 states between 1998 and 2011. overall, the analysis shows that only a very small percentage of these violations ever receive fines. in fact, all of the fines issued generated $273,000 only out of the 2,000 violations. here's an example. on dozens of occasions oil and gas companies began drilling on federal lands without formal approval to do so. many violations were issued because companies failed to keep proper records or conduct routine safety tests but some significant ones, included in

twine, an operator in mississippi was found operating a well without any blowout preventer or any equivalent well control equipment. in 2010 an inspector in new mexico well-found out one of the valves responsible for mitigating pressure and flow was leaking. so we have many examples where the safety was not put first. instead of preventing these sorts of safety violations, this bill puts profits first and safety and oversight last. i'm pleased that the majority has acknowledge the important role the national environmental policy act and the endangered species act play in the proper role of drilling permits and has included language of deemed approved after 60 days. however, i think it's important for us to look at the unintended consequences. if this provision is enacted it could actually lead to more applications for drilling permits to be rejected because

the secretary may have no choice but to reject any application for a permit to drill that was nearing the 60-day time limit if the safety review was not complete. the bottom line here is if the united states oil and gas production is at an all-time high, allowing for proper safety review of permits is necessary safeguard for the american people, and this is a prudent step. taxpayers deserve a process that ensures that any drilling on their public lands is held to commonsense safety standards. let's not compromise the safety of drilling on public lands in a head strong rush to give the oil and gas industry a free pass it demands. i respectively urge all my colleagues to support this amendment and i yield back. the chair: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado rise? mr. lamborn: mr. chairman, i rise to claim time in opposition to the amendment. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. lamborn: mr. chairman, i do oppose this amendment. the legislation we're looking

at today, h.r. 4480, aims to reduce bureaucracy and ensure much-needed certainty to allow energy production and job creation to move forward. it will give permit applicants assurance that their permits will be processed by the government in a timely fashion and ensure that needless bureaucratic delays are not hampering energy production as they are sometimes today. the department of interior is plagued with delays in permitting energy projects on federal lands. these delays result in developers abandoning federal lands to develop energy only on private land. this hinders the creation of thousands of american jobs. this legislation simply requires that a decision on a drilling permit be made. it does not require an approval but simply a decision. the government must answer yes or no. it's not acceptable for the government to stall, drag its feet or even not respond. these are decisions that state

agencies are making in days while the b.l.m. is taking months. this amendment, however, would delete this deadline for the government to provide an answer. under this amendment, the federal government could literally take forever to respond. a deadline is absolutely necessary to give energy producers the confidence they need to seek out federal land for development rather than seeking to exclusively develop on private land. an identical amendment to the one offered by the gentlewoman from california failed during the natural resources committee markup and it failed on a bipartisan vote. so i would ask the same response here that we vote this amendment down and i urge its opposition and, mr. chairman, i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. she's yielded back. mr. lamborn: i yield back. the chair: all time having expired, the question is on the amendment offered by the gentlelady from california. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no.

in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. the amendment is not agreed to. ms. speier: i ask for a roll call vote. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentlelady from california will be postponed. it is now in order to consider amendment number 26 printed in house report 112-540. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from connecticut seek recognition? ms. delauro: i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 26 printed in house report 112-540 offered by ms. delauro of connecticut. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 691, the gentlewoman from connecticut, ms. delauro, and a member opposed, will each control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from connecticut. ms. delauro: thank you. this amendment would restore full funding for the president's request of $308 million to the commodity futures trading commission.

the additional $128 million in funds would be raised through the sale of new leases. the current funding level for cftc sets the commission up for failure. the current fund funding level will remain as is. wall street -- big oil will continue to enjoy inflated profits every year due to erratic and artificially swollen oil prices. the losers will be the american people who will pay more at the pump or even worse. at this funding level, the house majority sets up taxpayers to pay for yet another costly bailout of wall street. republican and democratic experts agree that the cftc needs to be fully funded. republican gene guilford, president and c.e.o. of the connecticut petroleum association, served in the commerce and energy departments under ronald reagan, he had said that the funding level for cftc is, quote, horribly counterproductive. it would, quote, weaken its ability to enforce the

oversight laws necessary to protect the american people. according to the former chair of the cftc, the commission is, quote, desperately in need of additional funding. it would lead us vulnerable to future financial crises. the current chair of the cftc, the agency is only 10% larger than it was in the 1990's. even as the futures market has grown to approximately $37 trillion. and through the dodd-frank reform, congress has added oversight of the $300 trillion swaps market which is even more complex and increased the number of trades under the jurisdiction by 334% in 2011. one said, and i quote, it's as if all of a sudden the national football league expanded eight times to play more than 100 games in a weekend with the same amount of referees. we know for a fact that the risky behavior in derivatives market is what precipitated the

2008 financial meltdown. it's still happening. we have seen m.f. global, jpmorgan. we also know for a fact that excessive speculation in oil markets causes gas price to os late wildly. even the c.e.o. of exxon has said as much. i urge my colleagues to support this amendment, to help to make sure that the cftc has the resources to do the job and i reserve the balance of my time. . the chair: the gentlelady reserves. for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado rise? the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. gardner: thank you, mr. chairman. this bill is trying to deal with the rising prices of gas, energy, by addressing a very important issue of supply and demand. and while i think there's nothing wrong with looking into the possibility of market manipulation, i do think this bill's trying to address another very important part of the price equation, and that is supply and demand. this issue has been studied and it will continue to be studied. i'll remind the gentlelady we

are dealing with an agency that has over $2 million already in its budget and this amendment adding $128 million would be a significant, significant increase in funding for f.y. 2012, the cftc budget. so i would urge a no vote on this amendment. if you just look at what the cftc task force has said, going back in 2008, the task force's preliminary assessment is current oil prices and increase in oil prices between january of 2003 and june of 2008 are largely due to fundamental supply and demand factors. 2009, we find little evidence that hedge funds and other noncommercial speculator position changes cause price changes. the result instead suggests that price changes do perceive their position changes. and so we can go on and on about what the cftc has already said. but this bill deals with the issue of supply and demand. i know there is another gentleman in the chambers on tremendous work on this issue. on this issue over at the cftc

and commodity issues and great leader from the state of texas, mr. conyahweh -- conaway, i yield. mr. conaway: i am the chairman on the commodities that does have oversight of the cftc, i expected arguments for this amendment to go in a different direction, but it does occur to me we are chastised, most of us on authorizing committees, mr. chairman, are chastised off for trying to appropriate in a bill. this seems like the appropriation process they are trying to write policy is not aloud, this is appropriating in an authorizing bill. it makes no sense whatsoever. the subcommittee on agriculture on the appropriations committee goes through these spending requests in detail. over and over. until a few weeks of committee work and they'll come to a conclusion.

they'll bring this bill forward next week. it's a bit presumptuous to come in here and ask this body to spend another $128 million on an agency that the appropriations subcommittee on agriculture has already spent plenty of time deciding how much that agency needs to spend over the coming year. i would urge a no vote on this amendment. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentlelady from -- ms. delauro: in fact this amendment was made in order and the body of the language just talked about being subject to appropriation. can i ask how much time we have left? the chair: you have 2 1/4 minutes. ms. delauro: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. markey. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. markey: i thank the gentlelady. back 10 years ago, about a third of all of the interest in this oil futures marketplace was controlled by speculators, but 2/3 was controlled by the airline industry, the trucking

industry, industries that are dependent upon oil. today it's just the flip. today 2/3 of that oil futures marketplace is controlled by speculators and only 1/3 is controlled by airline industry, trucking industry, and others dependent upon the price of oil. what happened? what happens is all of a sudden you have this crazy volatility where experts say that upwards of 20% of the price oil in the futures marketplace is dependent -- related to speculation. it's not related to anything in the real marketplace. and so what happens? that has a dramatically negative impact on truckers, on airline industry. because there are games being played out there. by the way, with the speculators, they make money on the way up and they make money on the way down. that's not true for ordinary companies because they are not in there playing a game.

they are not speculators. they are not doing this as part of some kind of casino that speculators thrive in. and here's the rule. on the way up the big guy cleans up. on the way down, the little guy gets cleaned out. that's what we are seeing over and over and over again. the president has asked to i crease the number of cops on the beat, the cftc cops on the beat that can patrol to make sure that the games that are being played don't hurt the little guy. what are the republicans saying? they are saying they want to cut the president's request for more cops on the beat sixfold. and what happens then? we are going to be deep-sixing of the hopes, dreams, aspirations of ordinary companies who are still going to see thes games being played. the delauro amendment makes it possible to put the cftc cop back on the beat. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from colorado. mr. gardner: thank you, mr.

chairman. again, we have to understand the best things this congress can do to drive down the cost of gasoline is increase our supply right here. drive down the cost of energy production is to increase -- drive down the cost of energy, increase our production right here. i urge a no vote on the amendment. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from connecticut has 15 seconds. ms. delauro: i thank the gentleman. we are not here representatives of wall street but we are representatives of the american people. we need the cftc to oversee the risky behaviors, to enforce the law. we are here to represent the american taxpayer not wall street or big banks. the chair: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from colorado. mr. gardner: i urge a no vote. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentlelady from connecticut. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.

mr. gardner: i request a recorded vote. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentlelady from connecticut will be postponed. it is now in order to consider amendment number 27 printed in house report 112-540. for what purpose does the the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: does the gentlelady rise as a designee for the gentlelady from texas? ms. bass: i do rise as the designee for the gentlelady from texas. representative sheila jackson lee. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 27

printed in house report number 112-540, offered by ms. bass of california. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 691, the gentlewoman from california, ms. bass, and a member opposed will each control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from california. ms. bass: thank you. mr. speaker, i rise today as the designee to present representative sheila jackson lee's amendment number 27 to h.r. 4480, which would establish an office of energy employment and training as well as an office of minority and women inclusion that would be responsible for all matters relating to diversity in management, employment, and business activity. this amendment simply recognizes the importance of developing a diverse and highly skilled technical work force within the department of interior. the department of interior reviews permits, examines lease sales, and ensures that each application meets the highest safety standards. we should be focused on providing the department of

interior with trained technical engineers and other such necessary personnel to review drilling permit applications both carefully and thoroughly. given the aftermath of the b.p. oil spill, it is easy to understand the importance of addressing all safety concerns prior to the issuance of oil and gas leases. since the disaster, safety -- federal safety regulations have been tightened, spill containment responsible capability has been enhanced, and lessons have been learned. these lessons must be understood by everyone involved in reviewing and approving each and every application for permits and lease sales. responsible on shore drilling includes having our best minds working to carefully and diligently review each application. this amendment is intented to through both women and minorities in the process. this amendment is designed to ensure that d.o.i. is able to recruit, retain, and train skilled professionals, many of whom require a science

technology, engineering, or math background. the d.o.i. will be encouraged to reach out to high school students, college students, and professionals. it establishes an office of energy employment and training which will oversee the efforts of the department of interior's energy planning, permitting, and regulatory activities related to this act. this office would be responsible for issuing quarterly reports for the secretary which would include the amount of jobs created by the d.o.i. as well as the reporting what types of job training programs that have been implemented or proposed. this amendment also addresses the need to encourage diversity within the d.o.i. by creating the office of minority and women inclusion, which is specifically designed to encourage diversity by reaching out to both women and minorities. specifically the d.o.i. will have a director appointed by the secretary of the interior who will develop clear standards for equal employment opportunities and will address the need for increased racial, ethnic, and gender diversity at both the junior and senior management

levels of the department. this amendment would require the d.o.i. to take affirmative steps to seek diversity in the work force of the department at all levels. the department of the interior will be required to sponsor job fairs in urban communities and partner with organizations that are focused on developing opportunities for both minorities and women in the energy industry. again it is the job of the d.o.i. to ensure that all lease sales meet the highest reasonable standards for safety. this amendment is meant to ensure that women and minorities have a fair opportunity to participate in making these types of decisions to the interior department. i support my colleague jackson lee's amendment and urge my colleagues to do the same. the chair: the gentlelady reserve? ms. bass: i reserve. the chair: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from colorado. mr. lamborn: i rise to claim time in opposition to the amendment. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. lamborn: i rise to oppose this amendment reluctantly. i understand the gentlewoman's intentions of this amendment and

portions of this idea have strong merit. let there be no doubt that the department of interior can do a better job of both hiring and contracting in these areas. but this debate today isn't the most appropriate place for us to consider these particular reforms. every provision in this legislation has been carefully vetted through the legislative process. the house natural resources and energy and commerce committees have both held oversight and legislative hearings and committee markups on the underlying legislation. this subject while it is something definitely worth considering has not had this level of review under the legislative process and would insert a major programmatic and bureaucratic change in a simple bill that is geared towards expanding american energy production and jobs. also as currently drafted the proposed is over 12 pages long and would add significant new federal bureaucracy. if the gentlewoman is willing to

withdraw her amendment, i would commit the natural resources committee to seeking to work with her to address this subject. and if she will not withdraw, then i must reluctantly oppose this amendment. thank you, mr. chairman. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from california. ms. bass: yes. thank you for your offer, but given that i am the designee for representative jackson lee i don't feel it's appropriate for me to withdraw the amendment and i would simply close by saying that the purpose of the amendment is to recognize the importance of developing a diverse and highly skilled technical work force within the d.o.i. and all studies have ipped kated that there is a serious lack of diversity. with that i yield back my time. the chair: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from colorado. million lamborn: thank you, mr. -- mr. lamborn: i now yield two minutes to my friend and colleague, representative gardner from colorado. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. gardner: thank you, mr. chairman. thank you my colleague from colorado for giving me the time on this amendment.

i want to tell a little story. a year ago i had the opportunity to visit a hydraulic fracturing site in my district. and when you are dealing with hydraulic fracturing what happens about 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning the crews that are overseeing the hydraulic fracturing n. this particular area, get up, they go to their trucks that actually have this panoramic view of the well site so they can monitor everything that's taking place, monitor all the equipment they have, the computers inside the truck that explains wheaps happening in the operations at that point filled with engineers. and this particular tour site that i wept to, hydraulic fracturing, the production engineering was a woman and i'm pretty sure i would have been rejected by her college for the engineering before before i even applied. it was an incredible opportunity to learn from her the work she was doing. .

there were many women members of that particular crew. i think the best way we can get more women, more minorities working, whether it's in energy or not, is to create more opportunity. more opportunity means more jobs. more jobs means more hiring. and when you have more hiring, we're going to put more people back to work. men, women, minorities. that's the opportunity that this bill presents. it's an opportunity to create jobs and opportunity to lower the price of gas so that men, women and minorities are able to afford the price of a gallon of gasoline to get to their job. and i would thank the gentleman again for yielding time and i'd yield back the remainder of my time to the gentleman that controls time. the chair: the gentleman from colorado. mr. lamborn: i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlelady has yielded back. mr. lamborn: we yield back. the chair: all time having expired, the question is on the amendment offered by the gentlelady from california. those in favor say aye.

those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. the amendment is not agreed to. for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado rise? mr. lamborn: i move that the committee now rise. the chair: the question is on the motion that the committee rise. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. accordingly, the committee rises. the speaker pro tempore: mr. chairman. the chair: mr. speaker, the committee of the whole house on the state of the union having had under consideration h.r. 4480 directs me to report it has come to no resolution thereon. the speaker pro tempore: the committee of the whole house on the state of the union having had under consideration h.r.

4480 directs me to report that it has come to no resolution thereon. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess subject to the call of the chair.

>> the only thing that we knew outside of the government program was that guns from when government was sanctioning these >> sunday night at 9:00, part of "book tv" this weekend on c-span2. >> how do you report book interviews than news interviews? >> i see it as gathering history. i think of interviewing when i'm working for the news side

as gathering contemporary information. >> how difficult is it to remain impartial in your reporting and not get caught up in the hype of one campaign or another? >> i'm going to try to as best as i can give people as full an understanding of what is happening in this campaign. it's not that difficult to put your biases to the side. >> how has social media change your line of work in terms of reporting and getting your news information? >> twitter in particular is now a primary news source for anybody who covers politics and anybody who pays attention to politics. twitter didn't exist are four years ago for all practices. >> the newspaper business covering presidential elections, what's news worthy and the rise of social media sunday at 8:00 on c-span. >> once again, the house is in recess subject to the call of the chair.

we are expecting them back later this morning to continue debate on oil and gas legislation and, of course, we'll have live coverage of the house when they gavel back hear, hear on c-span. the supreme court handed down a number of decisions earlier today, but they didn't decide on the constitutionality of the nation's health care law. that is still pending. we talked about the health care law this morning on "washington journal." host: and joining us on "washington journal" is michele bachmann representing the sixth district of minnesota. congresswoman bachmann, it's a long way from the iowa straw poll, isn't it? >> -- guest: it's almost a year ago. i announced my candidacy for the president of the united states. host: and you won the straw poll that year. guest: i did the i was the first republican woman to win the straw poll.

i don't think democrat or republican, no woman has ever won before. that was the very first presidential contest and was very glad to win that. host: have you endorsed romney? guest: i did. i supported him down in virginia. i think he has an excellent way forward. again, his focus is on turning the economy around and creating jobs and i know he has wonderful experience doing that. he's very savvy. very optimistic. i think a lot of people can trust him because he has the background to do what exactly needs to be done. host: would you like to be considered as vice president? guest: i have ever confidence in mitt romney to turn the economy around and i of ever confidence on who his vice president will be and i trust him on that decision. host: one of the political decisions is health care and the supreme court could very well put out its ruling today on health care.

guest: they could. we're fully prepared it come today, next monday or we're hearing rumors that a few days could be tacked on and it could go into next week. it's very possible. 70% of the american people now say they either want the current president's health care plan reformed or completely repealed. people are not happy with it. i think the reason why is because people are seeing into the future what this will mean for them. already we've seen huge spikes, upwards of 9% or more and we've seen people have denial of care. they've been told, no, you can't have access to something. that's not a pretty future for a lot of people. the real problem is cost. that's what has to be addressed and unfortunately the president's health care plan took it in the opposite direction. rather than costing less for health care, now under the president's health care plan we are paying a lot more for

health care and that's meaning less access to care. that's what really has to change and i think that's what the american people are demanding. host: depending on what are the supreme court decide, if they overturn the individual mandate , does -- is there a plan among house republicans to do something on health care or to leave it as is? guest: oh, there's absolutely a plan. no one wants to leave it as it is. the problem is cost. it costs way too much for the average american, and that's what we want to do. i have a plan. a number of members have a plan. and mine is very brief. it's let any american by any health insurance policy they want anywhere in the united states with no requirements, minimum requirements from the federal government. then, let every american pay for it with their own tax-free money, whether it's their deductible, their premium, their co-pay, whether it's going to the chiropractor, have true medical malpractice

reform. it's an 18-page bill. simple to understand. that will dramatically drive down the cost. that's what people are crying for. will congress bring down the cost of health care, that's what my bill accomplishes. host: representative michelle backman is our guest. -- michele bachmann is our guest. dial in to talk with her, she is a graduate of winona state university and got her law degree at orel roberts university, plus has a masters from the college of william and mary, right? guest: it's a postdoctorate degree in tax law. i spent years litigating tax law. high taxes are devastating on the economy and devastating on individuals. and that's one thing i want to do, reform our tax code. host: representative bachmann, congressional approval ratings around 12%, 10%.

guest: are they that high? they must have spiked. host: the republicans are in charge in the house. guest: they are and harry reid is in charge in the senate. he's a democrat leader, and you're right, i think that the american people are rightly very upset with the united states congress because they don't see a lot of action happening right now. the house of representatives has passed just -- we passed all sorts of bills that we sent over to the senate where they have gracefully died at the door of harry reid's democrat-controlled senate. this really shouldn't be about partisanship right now. it honestly shouldn't, because the congress needs us to come together and get some things done so we can turn the economy around. i don't really want to see us wait until november for an election. people can't wait that long. people are suffering. they are suffering in my state and my district and so that's what we want to do is see things happen. the house has passed a budget. unfortunately in the senate still haven't passed a budget

for years now and that's really malpractice. that's negligence of duty and it's time they get with it. host: first call for our guest comes from richmond, virginia. cheryl lynn on our independent line. caller: good morning. thank you all for taking my call. my initial call for michele bachmann was going to be a question about the economy, but in listening to her talking, talking about the partisanship in washington and how we need to work together. and that kind of threw me for a loop because it seems like it's so much bickering going back and forth. why are you willing to say to the republican party, we need to put all this bickering aside and we need to come together and work out our differences and compromise? it seems like you guys are always talking about the need to work together. however, when someone says compromise it's like a dirty word to you all.

and i've seen none of you all step up and hold the republican leadership accountable for working towards compromise. are you willing to do that, michele bachmann? guest: well, cheryl, not only am i willing but i have done it this year. let me tell you how. one of the most significant pieces of legislation went through and it was something i was lead on. i brought together republicans and democrats from two different states, we were able to finish the longest unfinished bridge project in the history of the united states. this was not easy, cheryl lynn. we had to have 2/3 of the members of the house of representatives vote in favor of this bill. and i actively worked with democrats to get this done. as a matter of fact, i even reached out to former speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, and she voted for this bill as well. so i want you and all of the c-span viewers to be encouraged because it can be done. when you can have michele

bachmann and nancy pelosi agree together to get a bill done and when you can have michele bachmann and our united states senator, al franken, agree to get something done, you know you've had a good day of compromise. so of course it can happen and i just want to give you and c-span viewers an opportunity to know that we did get it done, and i am just on the cusp of introducing a brand new bipartisan bill. i'm reaching out to democrat co-sponsors first on my bill because this is very important. one thing that we see is that a lot of poor people need to have health care services. they're suffering. but what we discovered in minnesota, there's a stunning amount of fraud going on in medicaid. not medicare. medicaid. that's health care for poor people. and so we're coming together because we found out something really shocking, cheryl little. it's that in literally decades there hasn't been a third party

audit of where this money is being spent. it's not going to the poor people who need it but somebody is getting this money and so i'm trying to bring republicans and democrats together, get this bill on the floor because when the president's health care plan is in full flower, that will expand medicaid just in my home state of minnesota by 21%. if we're seeing billions of dollars in just my home state potentially lost to fraud, imagine when we make that pot of money 21% bigger. that means 21% more fraud in all likelihood. that has to end. that's why we have to come together and do something good for the american people. and that is to make sure your money, because it's your money, not mine, let's make sure that your money is spent right and so that's why i want to bring democrats and republicans together to do just that. host: and you recently called for an audit of all of minnesota's medicaid programs. guest: i did. i did. i called on c.m.s., that's the

federal agency of tasked -- >> see "washington journal" every morning at 7:00 eastern here on c-span. we'll go live now to capitol hill for house minority leader nancy pelosi. she's hosting her briefing. >> >> abusive power in the house of representatives. instead of bringing job-creating legislation to the floor, the transportation bill, they are holding the attorney general of the united states in contempt of congress for doing his job. it's really important to note how this is connected with some of their other decisions. it is no accident. it is no coincidence that the attorney general of the united states is the person responsible for making sure that voter suppression does not happen in our country, that issues that relate to the civil liberties of the american

people are upheld. these very same people are holding in contempt are part of a nationwide scheme to suppress a vote. they are closely aligned with those who are suffocating the system, special interest, secret money, and they are poisoning the debate. they are poisoning the debate with that money. and so what does the average citizen say? they throw up their hands and they say, that is a victory for the special interest. our founders had in mind a democracy where the government of the many, the vote of the many and the voice of the many determined our government. these folks, instead of the

voice of the many, the checkbooks of the very, very few determine the outcome of the elections. and so what you see is diversionary tactics. let's not talk about the transportation bill which is only nine days until it expires. student loans, 39 days until the interest rate -- the lower interest rate will expire. instead -- instead, let us tie the hands of the person who is assigned to make sure that the american people have the right to vote, who have the right to vote are able to vote and that their vote is counted. it's all tied together. combined with their threat on the debt ceiling, the republican delay injects not only uncertainty. that has prevailed for a while. paralysis.

paralysis in our economy. we hear it over and over again from businesses, large and small. any threat to our credit rating, the full faith and credit of the united states of america contributes to a paralysis on the part of businesses who want to hire but are not. why would they do such a thing? because it's their philosophy. they are the party that makes adam smith look like a keynasian. they are lay say, lay say, lay -- lay zeh fair laysa fair. no discipline. to those who would exploit the system for national -- for privatizing the game and nationalizing the risk.

and our financial transactions, laisse fare. food safety, public safety, public education, public housing, public transportation, public health, medicare, medicaid, social security, this is what they believe eb, no government and bless their hearts, they act upon their beliefs and their beliefs are dangerous to a thrive middle class in our country. so we see this coming together. why would they oppose initiatives to create jobs? the president's american jobs act? some people call it obstruction. it is obstruction but obstruction is orthodoxy. they don't believe in a public role. so they don't -- it's not that they're obstructing this way to get it done. it's no way for them. that's why they take pride in

being the do-nothing congress. everybody knows that our founders had in mind that there would be a public role, that with wee have a public-private partnership and that the education of our children, incentives for the creation of jobs and then later economic security for our seniors, economic security for our seniors, i think we all believe that kids should be in clean, safe flabeds. the security of our country -- safe neighborhoods. the security of our country, all done in a fiscally sound way. has no political bias to it. that isn't partisan in any way. but if you're orthodoxy -- if your belief is that there should be no public role, and the only role of government is to give tax breaks to the wealthiest people in our country and let something

trickle down. if it does that's ok. and if it doesn't, as the speaker said, so be it. what we do not say, amen, true that. their approach under the bush years, george w. bush years, created the deficit, did not create jobs, took us to the brink of a depression. it's very hard to grow out of. not to assign blame to him, which i think the whole world already has done, but when they bring this up again as their approach, then you have to say this didn't work before. it will only make matters worse for america's thriving middle class. so we are saying to them, pass the transportation bill, take away the uncertainty to students for the interest they pay on student loans. pass the middle income tax cut

so we can remove all doubt that that will exist and not be held hostage to tax cuts for the wealthiest people in the country. we've seen it all in their budget in which they have enshrined unfairness which is their goal, unfairness. how else would you describe the elimination of medicare, making seniors pay $6,400 more while getting fewer benefits while you give over 300,000, maybe $400,000 tax cut to people making over $1 million a year? now, do you think it's fair for students to pay double interest on their student loans while you give that same several hundred thousand dollar tax break to the wealthy? so you see, it is all coming together. diversion from not doing their job of helping us come together on a transportation bill. for 35 years it has always been

bipartisan. it has always been a job creator and it always contributed to the safety of transportation in our country, the promotion of commerce, the quality of life of moving people and product to and from home and work, but now it's been held up. nine days to go. let's hope that we can -- there's still a chance that there can be some interest on the part of the house republicans to support what 74 members of the united states senate -- one was absent who's on record saying it would be 75, 3/4 of the senate are on record supporting a bipartisan bill that is unacceptable to the house republicans. so thiis -- this is a serious time, especially as we go into the fact there are approximately 140 days until the election. under 40 days until the

election or maybe a monday off, 140 days until the day after the election. 140 days very important, not only to our economy, which is very important, not only to our one in five kids who live in poverty in america who are just being cast aside, not only to those who are looking for jobs and this paralysis is preventing them from being unleashed, but also important to our democracy. suppress the vote, suffocate the debate with unlimited dollars, poison the debate, the victory for the special interests. enshrine unfairness in favor of the special interest at the expense of a thriving middle class. it's a very important week. the next nine days, as we go into a celebration of our own independence, it is important for us to understand that you

cannot change the policy unless you change the politics, unless we, as i've issued to you before, unless we dare, unless we dare by disclosing -- i'm nancy pelosi and i approve this ad, as i should do they should do. amend the constitution to overturn citizens united. reform the system to remove money completely as possible from the process and elect reformers who will do that for both parties. we're -- we are at a crossroads, but it's important to note this is nothing accidental, coincidental or just happened to happen. the decision to suppress the vote, to validate policies that has increased the deficit and increased unemployment in our country and that is exactly

what they had in mind. >> the democrats have been pretty tough on george w. bush's attorney general, michael mull casey and gonzalez before that. what's the difference between what republicans are doing to eric holder right now and what the democratic majority did to michael mull casey and -- mukasey? >> in the house our contempt of congress it was addressed to josh bolten and ms. meyers. i can't speak to the other cases. they never came to a vote on the senate floor. in the house, however, we did take a vote on the floor and the circumstances are quite different. >> leader pelosi giving her weekly briefing. we'll leave it at this point and go back now live to the u.s. house. 4480. will the gentlewoman from missouri, mrs. emerson, kindly

take the chair? the chair: the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for further consideration of h.r. 4480 which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: a bill to provide for the development of a plan to increase oil and gas exploration, development and production under oil and gas leases of federal lands under the jurisdiction of the secretary of agriculture, the secretary of energy, the secretary of the interior and the secretary of defense in response to a drawdown of petroleum reserves from the strategic petroleum reserve. the chair: when the committee of the whole rose earlier today, amendment number 27 printed in house report 11-540 offered by the gentlewoman from california, mrs. bass had, been disposed of.

pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, proceedings will now resume on those amendments printed in house report 112-540. on which further proceedings were postponed in the following order. amendment number 1 by mr. hastings of washington. amendment number 7 by mr. waxman of california. amendment number 8 by mr. connolly of virginia. amendment number 9 by mr. gene green of texas. amendment number 11 by mr. rush of illinois. amendment number 12 by mr. holt of new jersey. amendment number 13 by mr. connolly of virginia. amendment number 14 by mr. amodei of nevada. amendment number 15 by mr. markey of massachusetts. amendment number 16 by mr. landry of louisiana. amendment number 17 by mr. rigell of virginia. amendment number 18 by mr. holt of new jersey. amendment number 19 by mr.

wittman of virginia. amendment 21 by mrs. bass of california. amendment number 23 by mrs. capps of california. amendment number 25 by ms. speier of california. amendment number 26 by ms. delauro of connecticut. the chair will reduce to two minutes the minimum time for electronic vote after the first vote in this series. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 1 printed in house report 112-540 by the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 1 printed in house report 112-540 offered by mr. hastings of washington. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support for the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device.

this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 253, the nays are 163. the amendment is adopted. the house will be in order. the house will be in order. the committee will be in order.

the committee will be in order. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from florida rise? was was madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to speak out of order for one minute. the chair: without objection. was was thank you, madam speaker. well, i wish -- ms. wasserman schultz: well, i wish i was standing before you this morning to announce the congress women's softball team's second big victory. unfortunately i can't share that good news with you but i can share the news with you that our bipartisan team with the bad news babes raised over $50,000 for the young survival coalition. so we are very proud of that. we are proud as congressional women that we play in a bipartisan spirit, that we have

built a bipartisan and bicameral -- we have built a can camaraderie and a team spirit and friendships that we never would have had an opportunity to mr. if not for playing this game. hopefully i know we all feel strongly that we use the friendsships that we build on the field and take those into the chamber here so we can work together on the problems facing our country. that's such an important priority for all of us. we do want to congratulate, although not too enthusiastically, the bad news babes for their victory this year in the game, 13-10. heartbreaking. we kept it close. we were coming back in the last inning. we had aeal opportunity but came up short. we all as women members want to thank the fabulous indam nabble madeline mackanin who came out with us at 7:00 a.m. she's on the floor with kevin mccarthy every day here. we love natalie.

tori barnes, our co-chair year in and year out. mckenzie smith on my staff and cate who is on my staff, but is battling leukemia right now and who we all played for on both teams and she's coming through and getting healthy. but, madam speaker, thank you for your friendship, thank you for -- to all the women and thank you all, as a breast cancer survivor, the leadership of both the house leadership teams came out to the game, continued to support us and it means so much to me personally and i just wish everybody a wonderful summer and we'll be back next year so we can take that trophy back. thank you, madam speaker, i yield back. . the chair: without objection, two-minute voting will continue. the unfinished business is request for recorded vote on amendment 7 printed in house report 112-540 by the gentleman

from california, mr. waxman, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the ayes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 7, printed in house report number 112-540, offered by mr. waxman of california. the chair: recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for recorded vote will rise. and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 163, the nays are 250.

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 154, the nays are 249. the amendment is not agreed to. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment 8 printed in house report 112-540 by the gentleman from virginia, mr. connolly, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 8 printed in house report 112-540 offered by mr. connolly of virginia. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes

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

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 175, the nays are 243.

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 177, the nays are 242. the amendment is not a-- agreed to. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 9 printed in house report 112-540 by the gentleman from texas, mr. gene green, on which further proceedings were postponed and which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 9

printed in house report 112-540 offered by mr. gene green of texas. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. and this will be a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 174. the nays are 244. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for recorded vote on amendment number 11 printed in house report 112-540, by the gentleman from illinois, mr.

rush, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 11, printed in house report number 112-540, offered by mr. rush of illinois. the chair: recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 154. the nays are 255. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for recorded vote on amendment number 12 printed in house report 112-540 by the gentleman from new jersey, mr. holt, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 12, printed in house report number 112-540, offered by mr. holt of new jersey. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 154. the nays are 256. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for recorded vote on

amendment number 13 printed in house report 112-540 by the gentleman from virginia, mr. connolly, on which further proceedings were postponed and which the noes prevailed boy voice vote. the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 13, printed in house report number 112-540, offered by mr. connolly of virginia. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for recorded vote will stand and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 190. the nays are 230. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for recorded vote on amendment 14 printed in house report 11-540 by the gentleman from nevada, mr. amodei, on which further proceedings were postponed and which the ayes prevailed by voice vote. the the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 14, printed in house report number 112-540, offered by mr. amodei of nevada.

the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 257. the nays are 152. the amendment is adopted. the unfinished business is the request for recorded vote on amendment number 15 printed in house report 112-540, by the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. markey, on which proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice i vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 15, printed in house report number 115-540, offered by mr. markey

of massachusetts. the chair: recorded vote has been requested. those in support of request for recorded vote will stand and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 153, the nays are 256. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 15 printed in house report 112-540 by the gentleman from louisiana, mr. landry, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the yeas prevailed by voice vote.

the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 16 printed in house report 112-540 offered by mr. landry of louisiana. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 244, the nays are 173. the amendment is adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 17 printed in house report 112-540 by the gentleman from virginia, mr.

rigell, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the ayes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 17 printed in house report 112-540 offered by mr. rigell of virginia. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 2 of 3, the nays -- 263, the nays are 146. the amendment is adopted.

the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on on amendment number 18 printed in house report 112-540 by the gentleman from new jersey, mr. holt, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 18 printed in house report 112-540 offered by mr. holt of new jersey. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 158, the nays are 250, the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 19 printed in house report 112-540 by the gentleman from virginia, mr. wittman, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the ayes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 19 printed in house report 112-540 offered by mr. wittman of virginia. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a rordsed vote is

ordered. -- recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 256. the nays are 151. the amendment is adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment 21 printed in house report 112-540 by the gentlewoman from california, ms. bass, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 21

printed in house report 112-540 offered by ms. bass of california. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 186. the nays are 233. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment 23 printed in house report 112-540 by the gentlewoman from california, mrs. capps, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 23 printed in house report 112-540 offered by mrs. capps of california. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 152. the nays are 254. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 25 printed in house report 112-540 by the gentlewoman from california, ms. speier, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 25 printed in house report 112-540 offered by ms. speier of

california. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 152. the nays are 255. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the

request for a recorded vote on amendment number 26 printed in house report 112-540 by the gentlewoman from connecticut, ms. delauro, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the ayes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 26 printed in house report 112-540 offered by ms. delauro of connecticut. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 180, the nays are 235. the amendment is not adopted. the question is on the amendment in the nature of a substitute as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the amendment is adopted. accordingly under the rule the committee rises. the speaker pro tempore: madam chair. the chair: the committee of the whole house on the state of the union having had under consideration h.r. 4480, i report a recorded vote back to the house. the speaker pro tempore: the chair of the committee of the whole on the state of the union reports to the committee, has had under consideration the bill h.r. 4480 and pursuant to the

house resolution 691 reports the bill back to the house with an amendment adopted in the committee of the whole. under the rule the previous question is ordered. is a separate vote demanded on any amendment to the amendment reported to the committee of the whole? if not, the question is on the adoption of the amendment in the nature of a substitute. as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it and the amendment is agreed to. the question is on the engrossment of the third reading of the bill. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the third reading. the clerk: a bill to provide for the development of a plan to increase oil and gas exploration, development and production under oil and gas leases of the federal lands under the jurisdiction of the secretary of agriculture, the secretary of energy, the secretary of the interior, the secretary of defense in response to a drawdown of petroleum

reserves from the strategic petroleum reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york rise? ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i have a motion to recommit at the desk. the speaker pro tempore: is the gentlewoman opposed to the bill? ms. slaughter: i am in its present form. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman qualifies. the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: ms. slaughter of new york moves to recommit the bill, h.r. 4480, to the committee on natural resources with instructions to report the same back to the house forthwith with the following amendment. at the end -- add at the end the following -- ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, may i ask unanimous consent to dispense with the reading? the speaker pro tempore: is there objection? no objection, so ordered. the house will be in order. the gentlewoman is recognized for five minutes. ms. slaughter: thank you, mr.

speaker. mr. speaker, -- mr. speaker and my colleagues, with every decade that passes, the middle class has faced higher and higher prices at the pump. meanwhile the world's five biggest oil companies have recorded lot of -- have recorded record profits year after year. between 2001 and 2011, the five biggest oil companies made more than $1 trillion in profit. despite these rorled profits, the majority -- record profits, the majority continues to put the wishes of big oil before the needs of the middle class. instead of balancing our nation's budget by closing tax loopholes on big oil, they have repeatedly told the middle class that they should sacrifice the programs on which they rely to live. twice the majority has passed the ryan budget which would end medicare as america knows it. and in its place seniors, and picture this for your mother or your most elderly relative, each place they would be given a health care voucher and sent

into the marketplace on their own to find health care on their own. >> mr. speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is correct. the house will be in order. the gentlelady can proceed. ms. slaughter: meanwhile, they work hard and we call all the time for votes, not to protect the billion-dollar big oil subsidies from any cuts but again to protect our vanishing middle class. i think this approach is not only wrong headed and will hurt us all, but it's morally wrong. a year ago speaker boehner told "60 minutes" that ending subsidies for big oil companies is certainly something we should be looking at. i couldn't agree more. he continued, we're in a time when the federal government is short on revenues. we need to control spending but we need to have revenues to keep the government moving and they ought to be paying their fair share. speaker boehner was absolutely right.

and this is the time to do it. by voting in support of my amendment, the whole house will finally have the opportunity to demand that big oil pays its fair share. last year the five biggest oil companies in the world made a combined record profit of $137 billion. and during that same time, thousands of middle class americans slid out of the middle class and into poverty. while exxonmobil was busy using at least 20 tax shelters to lower their tax rate to a mere 13%, over 20 million people were living on less than $9,000 a year. that's not america. i think we need to balance our budget by asking those who have benefited the most simply to pay a fair share. not by taking from those who have the least. our country was never based on that. with my amendment, the world's biggest oil companies will begin to pay their fair share.

they will be barred from receiving new drilling issues until they gave up their oil and gas subsidies. in addition my amendment would require each big oil company that obtains an oil and gas lease to use american-made products. and hire american workers who are more than ready and willing to do the job. this amendment will do much of what we've been striving to do this whole term. my amendment will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. if we approve this amendment the bill will immediately proceed to final passage. it's up to us, ladies and gentlemen, we can return home this weekend and tell our constituents that finally we voted for the middle class, which is what they want us to do. or we can turn our backs on this opportunity before us and go home and explain why this congress would vote to cut -- gut medicare but won't ask big oil to pay their fair share. i urge my colleagues to support the motion to recommit and stand

up for the middle class and the suffering americans. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado seek recognition? >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in opposition to the motion to recommit. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for five minutes. mr. gardner: the gentlelady is correct on one point. that it is up to us. it is up to us to protect and defend the middle class, it's up to us to develop -- to work toward the development of american jobs. it's up to us to reduce the reliance on foreign oil. it's up to us to make sure that we have an opportunity to buy american. from north dakota, from pennsylvania, from new york, from colorado. we have an opportunity to buy energy from those states. what about ohio? what about pennsylvania? this will allow us to produce energy in this country, to buy energy from this country.

instead of growing our dependence on overseas energy. the keystone x.l. pipeline, opportunities to look at our federal resources for coal, for solar, for wind, traditional and renewable energy. this bill is about american jobs, about lowering the price at the pump. we have seen over the past three years, as gasoline prices have gone up nearly 100%. we talk about putting people back to work, we talk about protecting the middle class. you know what will help people rise above it? you know what will help people move forward? it's making sure they can afford the gasoline that they put into their tank. that they're not trying to sacrifice groceries for gasoline. one penny, one penny increase in the price of gasoline will cost american consumers and businesses millions and millions of dollars a day. you want to talk about things that we can do to help this country? it is an abundant and affordable

energy policy. one that weans us off of foreign energy to make sure we are producing it here. one that makes sure we're taking advantage of all our energy. renewable, traditional. that says we're not just looking at quick-fix politics but we're looking at long-term supply solutions. but once again we are met with opposition that includes more politics, less energy. more rhetoric, less opportunity. this isn't about smoke in mirrors. this is about putting americans back to work, producing american energy and making sure we are watching out for our constituents to lower the price of energy so that they kim prove their lives and that of their families. mr. speaker, i urge opposition to this motion to recommit. let's move forward with american jobs, american energy and support the domestic energy jobs act. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. without objection, the previous question is ordered. the question is on the motion to

recommit. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the noes have it. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, on that i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. pursuant to clause 8 and clause 9 of rule 20, this 15-minute vote on the motion to recommit will be followed by a five-minute vote on the passage of the bill. if ordered and the motion to recommit of h.r. 4348, this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 166.

the nays are 243. the motion is not adopted. the question is on the passage of the bill. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. >> mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. markey: on that i request a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is requested. those favoring a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]