>> finish this sentence -- spending cuts should or should not happen because -- two members of congress will join us this morning to discuss the budget and sequestration matters. and we want to hear from you during this first section of the washington journal. the numbers to call are on the screen. you can also contact us electronically. you can send a tweet. you can make a comment on our facebook page. or send an e-mail.

this is in the hill newspaper this morning, this article --

now this is --

again, we want you to finish this sentence this morning on "washington journal" -- "spending cuts should/should not happen because --." we will start with an independent in lancaster, pennsylvania. john, what do you think? caller: yes, they should happen. budget cuts should be done. first and foremost, the defense department. it has doubled in the last 10 years. included in that or not included in that but under defense, nsa should be cut, homeland security should be cut, and oil subsidies should be cut. the defense department is the biggest waster of money in the government other than medicare. and medicare should be cut.

cut by waste, fraud, and abuse. $70 million a year in waste right there or more. and there should be tax cuts that obama is asking for. host: finish this sentence, bob, a democrat. caller: they should happen. your first caller completely stole my thunder. instead of repeating what he just said, and i agree with him entirely, i am sitting back and listening and saying to myself, this is never going to happen. all the things we need to happen are never going to happen because the gridlock, the contradiction of campaign contributions going in to both parties' pockets, yet with the

reality of legislation that we need to pass to eliminate, for example, what the first caller said, oil subsidies. it is a major contradiction. we are all asleep at the wheel except for c-span. i am listening and i am saying it is a vicious circle and we are on a merry go-around. host: hal is an independent in washington, d.c., good morning. caller: thanks for taking my call. the spending cuts definitely should happen. all this gridlock is our friend in this case. i look forward to sequestered because it's the only way we will get the level of cuts we need. the reason we need the cuts is because the burdens of government are weighing the economy down and why it's not recovering the way it should.

i wish sequester include non discretionary spending as well. host: thanks for calling. from "politico" -- george in miami, good morning to you. spending cuts should or should not happen? caller: good morning.

they should not, without a fair or equal amount of tax cuts on the other side. host: all right, thanks for calling. from the hill newspaper --

franklin, north carolina, clyde on our independent line. spending cuts should or should not happen? caller: i think they should happen. i think the military is too big. we have set ourselves up as the police force of the world and the world presents us for it and we wonder why. god bless c-span. host: this is from national journal as well, from july 18 --

the senate passed that, by the way, by a voice vote last night. in mexico to the white house for a signature. honolulu is on the line. caller: i believe the spending cuts should happen, but in a fiscally responsible way. we don't want to cut social services, which our country, the backbone and the american people rely on. a lot of people rely on these services. when we find out that federal grants to the various cities and states are being cut, we are, also, learning that we are not helping our states and local governments deprive. -- to thrive. our whole economy will not make it in turn.

>> that was chase calling us from honolulu. if you cannot reach us on the phone, you can contact us on facebook -- those are just some of the comments that we are receiving on our facebook page. there have been some reports out about what could happen if the budget sequester actually takes place in january of 2013.

agencies are already making plans on that. here are some of the articles about some of the agency's. some veterans affairs funds could be sequestered. this is from "politico" -- and this article --

those are some of the predictions by hhs if sequestered goes through. next call comes from cornell, a democrat in annapolis, maryland. "federal spending cuts should/should not happen because --."

gloria? we will have to move on to kensington, maryland in the suburbs. ken on our republican line. caller: good morning. of course we need spending cuts, but not through the sequester. the sequester has come into play because we had a super committee that basically it could not find a single government program that. they wanted to that we have a member of congress, chris va n jobless, who could not find a single government program to cut. i am his opponent. i would like to see some equal time on c-span and so we could actually discuss these issues. host: that was ken, running as a republican, the republican opponent to chris van hollen, who was on the program a couple days ago.

this from the washington post --

that is in the washington post. our next call comes from tim on our independent line in maine. caller: yes, the spending cuts should happen. for 63 years the american taxpayers have been paying for

the security of europe. it's time to stop funding nato and the europeans should start paying for their own security. that would. save a lot of would we need to get out of afghanistan. we don't need to be there. osama bin laden is dead. . it's time to. host: mobile, alabama, bill on our democrat line. caller: paul krugman wrote a book recently ine 2012 recent 2012. his concern is premature spending cuts would send us into another depression. paul krugman is a nobel prize- winning economist. is feeling is that before we do draconian measures to cut spending we should get some income. i agree with him.

is putting the cart before the horse. let's get out of the depression before we do things like putting us into another recession, which would not be good for the country. thank you. host: a couple twitter comments that we have received -- from the wall street journal, a member of congress from texas, republican, writes about dodd- frank --

that is in the wall street journal this morning. next call on whether or not spending cuts should or should not happen is abraham in upper marlboro, maryland. you on c-span. good morning. caller: good morning. my suggestion is the budget cuts should go ahead. if they can cut their own paychecks, they can cut the

department of defense. if they love their country so much, they can cut 50%. there's so much waste. there's no telling how much waste the department of defense has. host: all right. a republican from virginia will be out here a little later this morning. randy forbes will be talking about defense spending and sequestration issues as well. from "usa today" this morning --

>[video clip] >> i am mazie hirono. >> while we don't see eye to eye on much, we have worked together. >> when education programs in hawaii and were at risk in congress -- >> we got together and put partisan differences aside and solved this problem for our people. >> once we joined together as a

republican and democrat, i had to join our own party leadership to get our amendment passed. >> it's true. let me tell you, nancy pelosi is one -- >> don. >> if you are looking for someone who knows how to work with republicans and democrats who gets things done, she will be that senator. >> thank you, i appreciate that. >> one more thing about nancy pelosi -- >> don't push it. i approve this message. >> now that the cameras are off, can i really say something? >> we love you anyway. thank you so much. that was really great. aloha. >> we will be there, friend. host: that was representative

don young and representative hirono doing a commercial. carroll is on our democrat line. we're asking for you to fill in the blank on this sentence this morning -- "federal spending cuts should/should not happen because --." caller: i think that the defense contracts and for all these military industrial things, i think they should be cut. i, also, believe that the congress should have to pay their own health care and their own retirements pay and they could actually work for the people instead of the military- industrial complex. i back obama all the way. i think all the republicans should be voted out and let him do his job. host: all right, thanks for calling this morning, carol.

jerry is calling for an independent line in tennessee. caller: good morning and thank you for c-span and what they do. it is not going to happen because the core issue has not been addressed. the core issue is this money the federal reserve is printing. it took 200 years to get to a $16 trillion national debt. but our program under george w. bush -- the tarp program under george w. bush, the federal reserve printed $15 trillion to pass that budget. this money going out the back door from this government agency, nothing going to happen. is my comment. host: on twitter, john in north carolina finishes that sentence

-- he says perhaps boring $400 million a day might being a little disruptive in the long run. maverick says we should have spending cuts because america cannot afford the bush tax cuts which is paid for by borrowing. finally, another comment, but of course, spending cuts that will definitely happen are the cutting and repeal of obamacare. now our next caller. caller: spending cuts should not happen. government is everywhere. i mean that in a good way. in the structure -- in philadelphia we had a water main break because the infrastructure

is never maintained. people believe they want to return to the wild west. there was very little government, but people died at the age of 40, there was tribalism, the nomophobia was everywhere. people say that they want to pick government out of medicare. but government is all around us. it's easy to point to a lowly government clerk and say that all government is bad and point to reach individual and say a private life is good. but people don't realize if government is gone and we return to democracy that exist like it does in mexico, people don't want mexican government's. people really want it as it is in canada. people keep saying cut government. to cut the least of us is hurting the whole of boss, they

don't understand that. all they see is the lower half. there will always be lower half. people don't realize they are bringing the whole thing down. as we obliterate poor people, we wonder why the middle class sinks. when people say keep government out of medicare, they don't realize they are asking for a return to the wild west. host: thanks for calling this morning. if you would like to call in, we will put the numbers up on the screen -- "federal spending cuts should/should not happen because --." you fill in the blank.

you can also contact us electronically via twitter. you can make a comment on our facebook page. and you can send an e-mail. lead story this morning in washington post --

again, the lead story in the washington post. this story is in the new york daily news --

that again is in the new york daily news this morning. here's the front-page of the new orleans times picayune --

and the wall street journal and talk about some of his remarks -- and the front page of the boston globe -- we want to show you a little about the president said in orleans and what romney said in london. [video clip] >> i believe the second amendment guarantees an individual the right to bear arms. we recognize the tradition of gun ownership, passed on from generation to generation, hunting and shooting being part of a cherished national heritage. but i also believe a lot of gun owners would agree that ak-47's

belong in the hands of soldiers and not in the hands of criminals. >> with regard to the aurora, colorado, disaster, we are wise to continue a time of memorial. political and legal implications are something to be sorted out down the road, but i don't believe america needs new gun laws. a lot of what is demanded is clearly against the law. but that did not prevent it from happening. host: back to your calls on whether or not spending cuts should or should not happen. j.w., a republican in oklahoma. caller: i think that the government should strike off the board every government agency strayed across the board and let people start struggling and living their lives and stop depending on the government for

everything they need. it is terrible. the spanish and everything that comes through this state and the radio station tells them how to get on food stamps and how to get benefits and it has to stop. that's all. host: thanks for calling. a tweet from jim -- i just wanted to clarify my earlier editorial comment. c.j. is in boca raton, saying spending cuts should be implemented because we are broke and nothing from nothing leaves nothing and what part of broke don't people understand? those who call in to c-span saying we are not laden with

debt are in denial. and another message received says i did the government should do an audit and eliminate waste and fraud. senator coburn of oklahoma has done a lot of work finding $9 trillion it in ways that he is documented. mike is on the line with c-span. caller: spending cuts should definitely not a cut for the middle-class and poor. i worked for the u.s. treasury 30 years. i still have friends working there. it's unbelievable, the amount of debt we are in. what we need to do is president obama need to sit back and let everything gets through, get reelected, and let the bush spending cuts expire. and let sequestration take place. those two things alone would save our country over a period

of four years. we would cut our debt and get back to where we should be. spending cuts should not be cut for the poor or for the middle class. thank you. host: front page of the chicago tribune --

that the front page of the chicago tribune. and this is the front page of the financial times -- this picture is also on the front page of the financial times and in many other newspapers. this woman, it turns out, is the wife of the north korean leader kim jong owun. next call on whether or not

spending cuts should or should not happen comes from baltimore, anthony, good morning. caller: good morning. i believe the spending cuts are being directed towards minorities instead of the majority, based on the fact any spending cuts that actually happens, it revolves around an issue of most conglomerate companies being excluded, instead of us minorities not having an opportunity. we do depend on most government all the way from food stamps to temporary cash assistance. at the end of the day, it revolves around us going back to

the wild west. it goes against the principles that we stand for, based on the issues of it was freelance issues backed in the wild -- having to deal with as far as us not having an opportunity to go get these different resources with it being so many different things we have to do. host: anthony, and you feel you pay enough taxes? caller: i don't feel we should have to pay any more taxes it is more coming out of our pockets than is going in. america oralist millions of money and i don't feel it is putting into the pot of minorities. more minorities nowadays are becoming poor.

-- america barrault's millions dollars - america borrows millions of dollars and i don't feel it is being put in the pot of minorities. host: and this is from a republican in gainesville, florida. tyler. caller: i think the spending cuts should not happen. we have a capitalist economy. that works best when we allow the government's to step out and allow people to make the decisions with what we spend our money on. with government spending, it's more of the government for

thinking they can make the best decision for us. as individuals i believe we can go ahead and make decisions that better ourselves and better our economy. we can make the decision not to do those things and that would balance things out. the government stepped in and pretty much brings everything down. this will be my first election year to vote. i just graduated from high school, but i have learned through studying economics and the history of our government that it works best when the people have the more power. it really was a nation of the people. that's what i believe. host: do you plan on going to college? caller: yes, i'm leaving to attend emery university in the fall. host: even though you live in gainesville, you are going to atlanta? caller: yes sir. host: good luck and thanks for

calling. a couple more facebook comments -- in maryland, charles is on the democratic line. spending cuts, should or should not happen? caller: i believe spending cuts should happen. i think it's going to be painful for the economy. painful enough that it really

has to and discussed the american people to the point where we get rid of the gridlock in washington. as an active duty military member, i can say that we need to do a better job of budgeting for the mission that we choose to execute, rather than have a large machine that we try to [unintelligible] what we are really cutting is people. the military has been doing more with less for decades. as a 29 year veteran, i have watched the manning on ships and an aviation diminish the point of multiple deployments. i think the cuts should happen simply because we need to shake

the tree of liberty. we have some rotten apples in congress that will not get together to serve the good of the american people. host: that was charles in maryland. from the new york times this morning -- today mitt romney is meeting with david cameron. he will meet with prime minister david cameron in london.

treasury secretary tim geithner will testify again in congress, this time in front of the senate banking committee. that will be live at 10:00 a.m. on c-span 3 and on c-span.org where you can watch all of our videos. kansas city, kansas, william on our independent line. "federal spending cuts should/should not happen because --." caller: we should not make any budget cuts right now the way our economy is going. if there were to make budget cuts, the areas that need cuts would not happen. it would be passed on to the lower tier. men and women in the military would be sent home without any jobs to come home to. a lot of money that needs to stay on american soil would be sent overseas when we need it

here at home. basically, we have fallen to a failing education system and failing health care system, things the american people need. when we are spending billions of dollars on foreign soil when we have people here that need it and aren't children need it to get their education, to maintain good jobs, to put money back in the economy, to support themselves. our elderly who need help and cannot support themselves, cannot do it because our health- care system has gotten so out of hand that diabetics cannot even afford insulin to keep themselves alive. if they were to cut the budget right now, a lot of jobs would be lost. a lot of money that needs to come back into the united states would not come to us. it would go to people that would spend it on foreign soil. host: that was william in

kansas. city, kansas finally this twitter comment -- the house is coming in and clyde a.m. this morning in possession and they will work on a resolution about what happened in aurora, colorado, and some other issues. we will go live to the house at 9:00. we have to remember is of congress coming up. randy forbes is a republican from virginia, a member of the armed services committee. after that, representative jim heinz, a democrat from connecticut. he is on the financial-services committee. he is a former vice president of goldman sachs. -- jim himes. we will be right back. >> the first weekend in august, visit the kentucky city named for louis the 16th on "book tv

and american history tv. >> welcome to the historical society. we have been collecting since 1884 and we have amassed over 128 years and absolute phenomenal collection. every bunny has heard of the lewis and clark expedition. what many people don't realize is that the lewis and clark expedition has very deep roots in louisville and in kentucky. many historians believe this is the only verified animal artifacts from the expedition. it is born of. a of. horn from a infor-- it is a bighorn sheep. >> exploring the literary culture of kentucky's largest city. on "book tv and american history tv. >> it is the tradition of commonwealth judges not to reply criticism.

i cannot tell you how many wonderful letters i have written to the washington post just for my own satisfaction and then wrapped up and thrown away. you don't send them. that's the tradition. you don't respond to criticism. >> supreme court associate justice antonin scalia reflects on over 25 years on the bench and interpreting legal document in his latest book sunday at 8:00 on c-span. >> "washington journal" continues. host: now joining us on the set is representative randy forbes, a republican from virginia and a member of the armed services committee. i know that you were in our green room a few minutes before you came out here. i don't know if you listened to the show, asking our viewers "federal spending cuts should/should not happen because --."

acting maybe you heard some of the comments they made. what is your reaction? guest: peter, there's no question we have to make spending cuts, because we are spending too much money and this that is strangling job creation and will impact our interest rates and everything else across the country. the key is how we make those. we need to do them with a little more analysis than we do. they will have a staggering impact strategically it for us and economically. right now if you look across the board we have already made about $800 billion of cuts. these are cuts that are taken place. with the automatic cuts that will happen in january with sequestration, another half a trillion dollars of cuts will happen. strategically, what that will do to us, the air force has said they will be on the ragged edge, so we can all lager guarantee air dominance.

the navy says we'll have the fewest ships in 100 years. we will be out man in the pacific and submarines in eight years. the army and navy says we could be given pink slips to 250,000 active-duty military. economically, that's where it's on to be absolutely devastating. we have had studies that showed we could lose as many as 2.1 million jobs if these automatic cuts come into play. the secretary of defense has said 1.5 million people. not a way, that's direction we want to go. the house has passed a budget that would stop these cuts from coming into play for national defense. the senate will not do anything and the president says he will veto. host: representative forbes, do you regret the sequestration process that was put into play? guest: i did not regret it,

because i voted against it it. i told everyone at the time this is where it would put us. it was not a smart thing for congress to do. that's why i suggested that we not ourselves in that corner. host: what is the alternative? guest: the alternative is there could be a number of alternatives. one of them has been passed by the house of representatives. they passed a series of bills the locwill curtail increase in spending in some areas but give us time to do analysis to see where we should, and to do it on an intelligence bases instead of thwacking of national defence. if the senate has a better approach, they ought to put something on the table and votes something out of the senate, so we can settle the differences.

the president is the commander- in-chief. he cannot just walk away from this when his own secretary of defense says this could be catastrophic. yet the president has put nothing on the table. host: the defense budget passed and there was an increase from last year. do you see areas where defense can be cut? guest: there's no question. here's the problem, we have had a sea change. used to be the way we did defense was we will look at our national strategy appeared that is what are the trips to the u.s.? -- what are the threats? then we would say what resources do we need to defend and protect the u.s.? and then how do we get those resources to them as efficiently as possible? . that slipped now we are picking arbitrary numbers out of the

air. you cannot do national defence like that. when we had national cuts in the 1990's to defense, we went from 50 major defense contractors down to six. we cut down on some of our platforms and ships and other things from seven manufacturers to 3. what happens is when you do it in an arbitrary basis, you don't get a planned workforce to make sure you are getting the talent and core capabilities you need in the areas you need. so you end up with an unbalanced work force that does not meet the needs we have as a nation. host: we have the numbers on the screen if you would like to participate in our conversation with representative randy forbes, republican from virginia, member of the armed services committee. we will get to calls after i ask you about this. this is from the national journal this morning, about more

budget matters -- are you aware of this? guest: a lot of discussion on this. a feeling is if you punch it down the road six months, you enable a new administration, if you have and where administration, to come in. some folks on the other side of the aisle want this issue moved down the road for six months. the problem is if you do that it still does not stop the huge impacts that will come from these defense cuts. under the warrant act, which says defense contractors have to give notices 60 days or 90 days

before they will make determinations for cuts into their employees. -- the warren act. those will be going out in october. they will have a huge impact on the economies across the country. we have heard from governors and car dealers and restaurants that will have its impact in our economy. right now it's very unstable anyway. so we need to give certainty to people as to the direction of where this economy will grow and what we will do with national defense. the only way to do that is to have a plan that staves off sequestration and not just punch it down the road. host: if it is pointed down the road six months, so by october 1 u.s. pass it, what does that do to lame-duck session when it comes to the tax issue and some other issues congress faces? and why would that automatically

start the sequestration process? guest: actually, sequestration is the law. it's coming into place in january. so you are going to have a lot of these systems, with newt are talking about ships that are being built or manpower, those decisions have to be made on an earlier basis. -- whether you aere talking about ships being built or manpower. this is just a huge instability right now in that entire industries that having an impact right now. some of these subcontractors, it's very difficult for them to hold on for an extra six months or 12 months. it's not the big guys that will be impacted as much as the second tier contractors with the bill out of business. it's very hard to replace many of them who are in specialty

areas. host: will the six-month deal happen? guest: that is one of the more probable arguments we see on the table. it is growing in support for people that want to do that. host: what would that do to the lame-duck session? guest: that would punt a lot of pay stubs from the lame-duck session instead of making -- a lot of people would be looking and saying we will do that in january or march instead of trying to get it done. host: randy forbes is our guest. cleveland, ohio, karen is on the democratic line. caller: thanks for taking my call. when you say we need to talk more about cuts and spend more time talking about how it's going to be, then -- host: go ahead, karen, we are listening. caller: we talked it to death

before. we are in this position because you guys could not agree. nobody could compromise or agree on anything. that's why we are here. one more thing i would like to say is that the waste and abuse in all of our programs, if we could just start there and do it across the board in everything. in the medical and the military. if you just start with a waste and abuse and fraud, let's just see how much we get. some say that will not solve the problem, but let's just see how much we can really find in that and make up the rest someplace else. we never try that because we always say it will not work. i think maybe billions host: thank you very much.

guest: i think you have some valid points. we do need to look at fraud and waste and we need to cut that out. we have fraud and waste at the department of defense. we made sure we are auditing the department of defense. there is a statute that requires the books be audited every year. they have refused to do that for years. we are trying to hold their feet to the fire. we should let taxpayers know where the money is spent. it is important on national defense issues that we do the analysis to make sure that we're asking two questions -- how much we can afford to spend, but we

have not been asking the second question, what is the rest of the united states if we do not supply some of these resources? that is the analysis we think we should have. host: if sequestration happens, here is the affect on the defense department. mobile, alabama, you're on with randy forbes of virginia. caller: thank you and good morning. i have spent many years in the military and i am more than just vaguely familiar with various grades of gasoline, diesel, clearing the sophisticated

types. why is our navy paying $26 a gallon for biofuels? why is my federal tax dollar subsidizing e-85? number three, i have heard on television that's our fuels for our jet aircraft is going to increased drastically also. if you have time, would you please define the two words "subsidy" and "tax credit." i wish you well. guest: we should not be paying $26 a gallon for biofuels. you are right. the department of the navy has paid as much as $454 a gallon

for biofuels. the navy spent millions of dollars to create an artificial market for biofuels. i think the air force had the right approach. they have done testing on their engines to see if these products would work. if the private sector creates the market, they will buy them from them. the studies suggest there is still going to be about four times as much as fossil fuels. despite the fact they are spending those millions of dollars, once our ships are deployed, 90% of the fuel they purchase is from overseas purchases anyway. if you have a home run with these biofuels, because they are blended, the maximum you can use it would be half of the 10%

you put in before they leave the docks. they have not done any analysis. jet aircraft -- fuel is going up because of spikes in fuel. the air force has a good proposal so that they will be protected from these spikes. subsidies versus tax credits. subsidy is money that is given to an entity to utilize. a tax credits, they get to write that off. both have the same end product. on your tax dollars for e-85, i think we have to be careful how we subsidize these markets for products and we should let the

private sector create their own markets. >host: randy forbes of virginia. guest: we go from the north carolina line and continue to virginia beach and norfolk up to the richmond area. a diverse area with military and great suburban areas and manufacturing and farm interests. host: c.t. on our independent line. caller: i am delighted to participate in this question and answer matter. one of your initial remarks was that we need to spend less. i fully agree with you. one of the members of congress

for whom i have immense admiration and have so for many year and that is ron paul and he is recommended that many of the federal agencies and bureaus and departments, etc., be eliminated and that includes the department of education. he even mentioned the federal reserve. if you look at the constitution of the united states, there is no call for a lot of these elements of our government. i would say 90% of our federal government is completely unconstitutional and i think that these agencies should be systematically eliminated and i

mean soon. guest: i think you are right in that there are people who advocate tebet different in streams -- two different extremes. other people who want to create a new agency every time you turn around. maybe there is a great middle ground and it starts with this. one of the things the new republican majority put into effect is that at least our legislation now has to cite the constitutional authority as to why you can do what is in that piece of legislation. that is something we should have been doing for decades. having a national discussion about our priorities. i cannot tell you whether or not the government should be involved in these bailouts and

stimulus programs. i'm one of 70 members of congress who have voted against the bailout because i did not think they would work and i thought that would put this into the debt situation that we're in today. we should set our priorities and what the top party should be the national defense of this country. we should make sure these agencies are doing what they are supposed to be doing. that should be the minimum. then we should make sure we are auditing the books to make sure we know where those dollars are going. i think taxpayers do a pretty good job of saying whether they are effective or not. host: this e-mail for you. guest: i do not know about that, peter.

if you look across the country, the number-one concern for most americans today is the economy. if you look at the number-one concern about the economy, it is the creation of jobs. regardless of how we got there, we have had 41 straight months of unemployment in excess of 8% . we're getting ready to unleash three huge job killers on this fragile economy. one will be these tax increases, if these rates go up. we could lose 700,000 jobs, according to one study. these numbers the congressional budget office and we could lose 800,000 jobs. we could lose 1.5 million jobs.

the be concerned about us is about jobs and we do not want to see 700,000 jobs lost. host: dana milbank writes about mitt romney and his speech in reno. i want to play a portion and get your reaction. [video clip] >> we are months away from an arbitrary budget reduction that would saddle the military with $1 trillion in cuts, but shrink our force structure and impair our ability to deter threats. don't bother trying to find a series rationale behind that unless that rationale is wishful finkel. strategy is not driving the massive defense cuts. the secretary of defense warned

that these reductions would be devastating, and he is right. writees in milbank ri this column -- guest: well, i did not think they passed with the encouragement of governor romney. i voted against sequestration and against these cuts. i thought they were wrong. these cuts did not just began with a sequestration. he had the rebellion dollars -- he had $300 billion of cuts in 2009. it has been a total of about

$850 billion in cuts. regardless of who agreed to what, at this point, we know that the secretary of defense has said these would be catastrophic. the president has signed these into law. at this point, i think he has the obligation to do what the house has done. the house has put a proposal to stop it. the present has been absent. we have to stop this. you are the commander in chief when you're helping to create and make sure we have the infrastructure and the things we need to help protect the united states. host: randy forbes is our guest. grey, you're on the line -- greg. caller: hello.

thank you for taking my call. we have heard prosperity through austerity. the commerce been articulated well how these cuts in the defense department will lead to job losses. a second point about citing the constitution for each bit of legislation pushed through. i did not see the republicans having done that. it seems like you try to argue the opposite when it comes to the defense department. i did not understand the rhetoric to cast these things in simple language that they think people can digest. an're basically using

orwellian attempt -- host: i think we got your point.. guest: we need to make cuts in an intelligent manner. it is important that we sent the necessary priorities before we make these cuts. the number-one priority is the national defense of this country. what does it take to defend the united states of america? at setting the priorities. we had the stimulus package and then you add $347 billion of interest on that. the argument that we're making is not the department of defense should be involved in job creation. the role of the department of

defense is to defend and protect the united states of america. but we did argue. we spend that $825 billion in one year, which was ineffective, we will not be forced to take these defense cuts over 10 years, which is going to cost us 1.5 million jobs. that does not make any economic sense or any strategic sense. we cannot continue this maddening spending that we're doing and continuing to borrow money and get deeper and deeper in debt. we have to make careful decisions based on analysis and not by polling numbers out of the air. host: david from virginia beach.

caller: hello. thank you for taking my call. you mentioned something about end auditing a few minutes ago. and an auditor. i was reading a report from mr. david walker, the chief accountant. he made the case that the defense department is so out of control such that they cannot produce financial statements which means the federal government cannot produce financial statements. $50 billiong about in annual cut from the sequestration and that is it closer to $100 billion. given the state of the defense

department, how are we only cutting $50 billion to $100 bil lion -- i am supporting you guys as a republican. if there's that much waste, fraud, and abuse in the defense department, what is wrong with cutting $50 billion to $100 billion? guest: you are right in terms of the department of defense having not audit their books the way they need to do that. is a statute that requires them to audit the books and that audit is supposed to accompany their budget request every year. i have been on them, secretary gates, ascham over and over

about auditing his books -- i have asked him over and over. secretary panetta has put a big priority on moving the department closer to where they will be any position to audit those books. in addition to the oddity that we think is important to have done, -- in addition to the the figure is about $55 billion for one year. au're looking about half trillion dollars on cuts that will take place on top of the cuts that we have made. that will be devastating to the fore structure that we have in the united states. it doesn't make sense for us to do that.

you talk about reducing our having fewernd submarines than the chinese. does it make sense to do that. you're talking about putting our air force on the ragged edge. host: we have 8 tweet about defense cuts. joseph, another tweet. guest: i think it is difficult for some people to do that. i think you find more members who delineate what the pledge is. some believed the pledge was simply for one term and others think it is for the entire time they are in congress. each member has to enter that about whether that pledge binds

them. host: do you feel that way? guest: i do not feel it binds be for ever. i have not supported tax increases. i think at this time when with the economy shaking, even the president acknowledged how difficult it was to raise taxes during this time. bill clinton said the same time and i agree. if you look at the study, which could be losing about 700,00 0jobs. host: we have been talking with congressman randy forbes from virginia, a member of the armed services committee. up next, congressman jim himes, a member of the financial services committee and we will

talk with him for about 40 minutes after this news update from c-span radio. >> 8:21 eastern time. mitt romney sat down with tony blair as he began a day of meetings in london, including the current prime minister david cameron. competing's horse is in the olympics. governor romney said, "i have to tell you that this is ann's sport." jeb bush says he thinks senator marco rubio is ready to be vice president. he added that mr. romney did not indicate which way the search

for a vice-presidential candidate was taking him. mitt romney is overseas. president obama is in washington where he will hold a cabinet meeting at the white house later in the day. tim geithner will be on capitol hill this morning testifying for a second day about the u.s. financial system. live coverage at 10:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span radio. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. [video clip] >> what is the nature of the clash between macarthur and truman? is this a clash over -- is it a clash over personalities? >> eliot cohen on the

relationship at the height of the korean war. more from "the contenders" on sunday. this week, adlai stevenson. one said he had a bad case of hereditary politics. his great-grandfather was first to suggest abraham lincoln as president. "american history tv" is weekend on c-span3. >> "washington journal" continues. host: on your screen is jim himes, a member of the financial services committee. welcome back to the "washington journal" table. i want to asking the same question i asked representative

forbes. you can change my verb, if you want. do you regret changing? guest: not for a second. these cuts are profoundly damaging and they are not smart. they are across the board. you now have these hammers hanging over the congress of the united states. yes, i am glad the hammers exist and i'm hopeful the hammer's will cause us to do the big deal. without those hammers, to the hard to imagine that congress does what it needs to do without them there. host: do you think sequestration

will happen? guest: i do not. randy forbes was very focused on defense cuts, which are terrible. medicare doctors will see a 2% reduction. all the bush tax cuts expire on everybody. that is a good thing because this brings all your members of congress together to do what we all know what needs to be done, which is simpson-bowles. host: do support the call for higher taxes on 250 k and over? guest: i support the principle. i voted for the simpson-bowles budget on the floor. simpson-bowles approaches taxes at the right way.

keep rates as low as possible and get rid of the gunk in the code. it is some stuff that will be a little bit painful for people. do it that way. to some degree, it is not the way to fix the tax code. k the pentagon to make tough cuts. there will be at the table helping us solve this difficult deficit problem. host: from "the national journal" this morning --

would you support this? guest: under one condition. the preferred solution is for us to come together right now and pass something that looks like simpson-bowles. most members of congress will say behind closed doors that is what we need to do. all the stock in simpson-bowles -- a reform of the tax code -- that does not get done in a lame-duck period. i supported under the condition that those hammers stay there. an extension in principle makes sense. let's put it into the future.

host: if the cr passes, that's the sequestration still began? guest: we could pass a continuin resolution. instead of starting on december 31, they start on june 1. in principle, that is not a bad idea. the outcome that is a catastrophe is if congress weasel's out from these hammers. "let's just get rid of them all." now we're a year down the road and we do not have any hammers. the rest of the world says the united states cannot govern itself. then we're doing it because we have to do would.

we don't have money to invest in infrastructure and to invest in the education of their kids. host: 19 legislative days between now and the adjournment in early october for congress. what do you think will get done in those 19 days and what do you think the lame-duck is going to look like? guest: in a perfect world we would start the process is moving towards a simpson-bowles- like deal. it would need to be negotiated by 535 people. that would be the perfect solution. this congress is remarkably partisan. we have to deal with the fact that we have an expiring budget process. in a world where we have millions of people unemployed

and we need to be investing in our bridges and highways and we should lead on energy, look where we've been in the last couple of weeks. not get any help. i understand why it occurs, but what a sad thing for the republic. host: jim himes is our guest. graduate of harvard. he worked at goldman sachs for 12 years. worked his way up to vice- president. currently in his second term. record and stanford are some of represent ine brec connecticut. front-page of "the financial times." want to get your reaction. sandy wile of citibank, break up the big breaks. guest: are remarkable statement.

no individual is more closely associated that created -- creating these behemoths'. this is really remarkable. this is a debate we had for a long time. some very smasmart people have made this argument, paul volcker. it is not the approach we took, but we should continue to have that debate. it is still clear while dodd- frank did some very smart offerithings, derivatives contrn protecting consumers, that we have more to do and thinking about these institutions that they failed to risk bringing down the economy. i am not at a point personally where i am aware stand while is. i am not sure how we would do that. it worries me if we did that unilaterally, and now we of smaller banks competing with german and british and chinese

banks that of scale that our guys do not. it is a debate we should continue to have. host: finally, a house panel questions the treasury secretary on the handling of the barclays rate gain. questions on the scandal that have consumed the big industry. guest: well, now the libor has become a focus. i think then for 97 best -- ben bernanke said it best. a bunch of banks were putting forward estimates of what they thought they may be able to borrow at. come on. the incentive there to game the system is so clear. should the fed have done more? probably. i do not know. did the guide the raised his hand and talk with british authorities. this is 2008 when people's hair

is on fire because they may go under. hard to put yourself back in the shoes of 2008 but it should have been more in focus. >> first call comes from louisville, ky. john on the democrats' line. >> good morning. before he were on there was a gentleman who called on the republican line that saying how much you like ron paul. i like him, too. if you notice, he is the guy always telling us not to get into the waters unless we need to. these neocons are so anxious to get into war, that would be a good way to save money. i think everyone knows we will have to cut on both sides of the ideal. one thing that concerns me is senator mcconnell. i think obama -- i am glad obama will be reelected. mcconnell in kentucky, the tea

party has all of the energy. mcconnell is scared to death he will have an opponent it the republican primary in two years or two or three real strong democrats that want to run. the point i'm trying to make, i do not think people will compromise as much as people think they're born to next year. the republicans argue well that the military will cost jobs, but on the other side they say we a to cut these other programs. like thelike thf simpson-bowels approach. i just did not see it coming. i wish i was more optimistic, but i am not. >guest: looking at the past couple of years, you would be justified in being more cynical than i am. ron paul has been a critic of the involvement abroad of the

afghan war and afghanistan war. i think most americans would tell you we should never have gone into a roiraq. afghanistan was a different situation because that is where the people hurt us on 9/11. we got into nation-building that i do not think was ever going to be successful. we also set everyone needs to be at the table giving it a little bit, and that is how we get this done. you are also right about the minority leader in the senate. i look at where the republican party is today, where a gobble -- i like bob bennett of utah gets taken out because he's not conservative enough. the list goes on. yak, a guy like mitch mcconnell is probably looking over his shoulder and that makes it harder for him to come to the table. talking about the cameras hanging over head right now. ask mitch mcconnell what he

thinks about taxes rising on everyncome taxpayer in the country or very brutal cuts hitting the fence automatically, and i bet he chooses to compromise rather than let them happen automatically. >host: round rock, texas. caller: i am really ashamed of this two-party that has infiltrated the real republicans. when you come to the table and says the matter what your opposition says he will be against it because you are more concerned about winning the next election instead of helping people, i cannot be sure nothing but ashamed of you. -- cannot be nothing but ashamed of you. until we do something that drastic, i do not think american people are going to stand up

here yet it is divided. we need a lot of stuff done and cannot get it done. i'm a vietnam vet. when i served in vietnam, we have no outsiders. it was strictly military. why do we need so many of these people over in afghanistan right now? they are making $160,000 a year, when of military private is only making $12,000 a year. that is waste. the military should fight the wars, and private contractors should get out of it. he raises above the point, and one of that was really afford, getting back to the edge of that everybody, every agency needs to come to the table. what the principles underlying simpson-bowels is very important. the programs that rely on food or housing should not be asked to sacrifice.

ien we talk about the fed's, had the good fortune to set next to did shelves. he started talking about the waste in the military. there are not a lot of people who care as much about the integrity and capability as it jones does. he told stories about what years to build a fighter plant. billions of dollars of cost overrides. we got all hot and bothered about the gsa conferences. did jobs said guess what? the pentagon has walked away from the $50 billion of procurement problems. said we spend the money and have nothing to show for it. not a single person was held accountable for that. the point i am trying to make is the american people should never think we're talking about every dollar coming out of the

pentagon. like every other from agency, in fact, more the government agencies, we could do a lot more to make an efficient, on a point department of defense. that is key part of the process. the other thing is a lot of the department of defense is still, and they have done wonderful work to recreate themselves, but they are fighting soviet. thousands of nuclear warheads that were built to fight the soviets. platforms that are all about defeating the soviet union. you look at the areas and say we could make the fed cuts without hurting our security. >host: jim tweets in should the 50% or so paid no income tax to balance of the? guest: we have to remember people are paying taxes. they're paid sales taxes, the social security taxes.

we're talking about people at the lower end of the aid of street. when you talk about the porous, and obviously not the% of the population, but they are paid a negative income tax. we have this program that was put in place by the crazy wild- eyed liberal democrat richard nixon called the earned income tax credit, which for poor families give them is monday. it is one of the successful poverty alleviation programs we have. i do not think you want to do away with that. when we start looking in the middle there, then it is an open question. by the way, let's look at the fact that the very wealthiest in this country are paying tax rates, the senate headed in my district, a very wealthy woman, release her tax returns, 15 percent signed tax rate. if you are a middle-class family making 75,000 a year, you probably 20-30% tax rate.

we have a lot of work to do to make it there. host: fairfield, conn. chavis of the independent line. caller: good morning. i have met with you wanted your office, and whenever i see you at an event, i will shake your hand. my statement is our district is really fortunate. we are fortunate to have congressman himes representing as, but i want to know what are we doing for the city of bridgeport? you mentioned there was the congress st. brigid upright position for the longest time, and i just want to know the status of the project, and also, did not forget it was the city of bridgeport that got you elected to the last election, and it is very important to pay attention to this area of the county. think you very much. guest: it is a very interesting

district. are represent some of the wealthiest people in the world. i also of the city of bridgeport, but which is what i poorest inhe top fores the state. this was stuck of the upright position. we manage to get that taken down. more importantly, we're starting to see some development, and i am glad i was able to play a role in this. this used to be a huge industrial city. there is now brownfield's and such. we have a development going up and what is called steel point be anbraass pro will anchor retail outlet right there downtown and we will put grocery stores around that. what is wonderful as those stores create jobs, and that is what bridgeport needs. a lot of people working.

people start to focus more on the quality of schools. it is a challenge in my district, i think we're moving of the right direction. >host: just to further what the calller had to say about sequestration, and he wants you to look out for bridgeport, and then bill treats in, i want you to get more of our federal taxes back. tired of paying for other states bad management. is this a constant push and pull for members of congress? guest: it is an interesting thing. i represent a very affluent area, and there are a lot of people in that position in new york city and those in the wealthier cities, because we have a progressive income tax. if you have a lot of high-income earners, you are probably a net donor to other states.

what most of my people say is do right by the state of connecticut. we have huge challenges around transportation infrastructure. if you are in my district at rush hour, a little bit light of being on the beltway. we need to fix that. it is a real drag on economic growth. they say let's fix this and make sure we have good schools, and that i am -- that i understand i am contributing to the national pop the defense this country which provides pell grants for students to go to college. most people do not say it is all about me. they understand we are country that has different needs and wealthier areas will be helping out less will fear areas. ier area.ealthe host: cheryl on the democrat line. caller: i would like to make a statement about taxes. i do not think the 1% should get

any type of special tax break because they're already getting billions and billions in profits, and people the in the middle class are suffering because these people are motivated by greed. there is no way that the working class or middle class will win that when you have the republicans to have signed all of these pledges and promises they were not born to raise taxes or do anything. therefore they are getting all of these millions of dollars so that they can be reelected. toy do not of anything the middle class. i do not see why in god's name anyone would listen to what these people have to say. they have already sold their souls for a dollar. i feel like rich people did not deserve anything. there are no statistics that have proven there is any trickling down of jobs based on the rich income. the fact that president bush

left office we were 700,000 people losing jobs per month. now that the current president is in there, he has had 70,000 people getting jobs, and people say he is doing a lousy job. i do not see why. i do not feel like the rich people deserve anything. i feel like they have gotten a lot and need to let other people get a chance at success in life. guest: i would say two things to that. i would want to quibble a little bit with the notion that the 1 percent said is totally motivated by greed. too often we fall into the trap of creating a situation where we're shaking our office and saying they're motivated by greed. we want all of americans to have the opportunity to succeed and be successful, and that can mean making money. does that mean everyone in the one person is honest? no, there is corruption there

like everywhere else. your overall statement is exactly right, and this is a profound difference for the democrats are and republicans are. in the past 30 years in this country the top 1% and 2% have done in extraordinarily well. incomes have skyrocketed. the amount of the wealth of this country they own, and i say this without any hint of the location, and this has been staggering. the middle class is hanging on by its fingernails. the poor are doing worse. the notion that fixing that problem involves protecting that from any retribution is one that thematically problematic, and morally wrong. we have a middle-class barely hanging on. the education, jobs, all of the thing that help the middle class be there, they need the support of the government and thriving

little sector, and we all have to come together to make sure we restore the kind of opportunity there for everybody. host: 12 minutes left in the program. the house of representatives, and that 9:00 this morning. congressman jim himes is our guest. caller: hi. i have been a republican all my life, but for one time i agree with you 100%. the previous calller, and i agree with the obama philosophy of lead and hit one class against another -- pit one class another and storm the banks. the programs that the democrats

put in place in the 1960's by lyndon johnson. we have not progressed a bit. it has been a fraud is what it has been. the only way you can make better for yourself or yourself and pull your bootstraps up, get up and go to work. lot about hittingis one class against another and marching the banks and storming the banks and taking the money from the rich because they are evil and irresponsible, i think that is a brilliant idea. another thing, let's drop a line. on the one side you have all of

these people busting their butts to pay their taxes. it is tough out here. it is hard out here. i thank god every day i am in the position i am in, but i work for it, too. guest: i do not know if you listened carefully to what i was saying. the notion that we should storm the banks and take the money away from the rich people, that is not this conversation the country needs to be having. the conversation we need to have is what we need to do to make sure every child born in america today as the opportunity. grow up to be rich. the answer to the question is that the partnership between the private sector between businesses small and large and the public sector. i want to public school. that was a government program. i am protected by the united states military, a government program.

it is a partnership. the argument we have is prosperity disparity is stupidn be. government puts in place the foundation, the skeleton to allow kids like me to get well educated and succeed. it is a partnership. it is about government making sure no one starves in the wealthiest country of the world and that people have opportunity. host: congressman jim himes, this tweeter referring back to your position of vice president goldman sachs. goldman sachs would vote for simpson-bowels, that tells me it is bad for the 99%. guest: the logic that corporations are people and should have full first amendment rights. the next up is they should also get a vote, right? isn't that logical? i am not quite sure what the point of that was. it is not goldman sachs.

it is senators from both sides of the idle better on the commission voted for it. -- both sides of the aisle voted on that. you have union died and ceos, democrats and republicans saying this is the deal. i do not care what goldman sachs thinks, you have people across the spectrum saying this is the deal. host: maverick tweets in many say we need to return to better policies. guest: that is a pretty broad question. this is what i do day to day, and it really bothers me. people are saying things that are political. they are saying that president obama does not believe in the private sector. they are stayinaying mitt

romney wants to offshore america. that makes it that much harder for us to do what we've done in this town for 220 years, stand by our principles but close the doors and make a deal. would we vilify each other -- if you are republican, i can deal with you. when we let the rhetoric go to where it has gone today, except hard for us to govern, because governing is about compromise. host: stanford, north carolina. david on with congressman jim himes. caller: thank you, c-span for this opportunity. i am glad to have the opportunity to speak with you. i think all of the leaders in washington need to take america into consideration instead of their sold so much and worried about getting elected the next time.

the main thing is you need to use common sense, like in the military. our military budget, we subsidize european nation military. they are working class citizens to get retirement and thein ther 50's. here my social security wants to be cut and raise my retirement age to 67 or 69. that is a slap in my face. that is all i have to say. guest: this brings us back to a question of how we think about the military. a lot of our colleagues agree we need to have an economy large enough to guarantee the security of their american people, and even though we are not quite where we were in 1960, we're the only super power out there, the

chinese and russians have been rising. we're still the guarantors of world security. that means we spend a lot of money to protect people that are 10,000 miles away from us, and that has to change over time. as these countries get wealthier, they need to contribute more to local security. i mean, if anyone is making the argument that the defense department cannot sustain cuts, they need to remember if you add in cia and intelligence and wars and everything else, you of a figure of 800 billion in spending last year, more than every single country on the planet combined spends on defense or security. they talk about republicans in particular that talk about growth out of control in the government. the non-defense programs in the country have been flat over time. in the last 10 years our spending on defense after 9/11, defense spending has doubled over that time.

department of defense is led to be there at the table when we do the deal we need to do. host: suzanne tweeds, how about a 10 percent flat tax on corporations? and opera medicare as an insurance alternative? -- and offer medicare as an insurance alternative? guest: there is no doubt we need to restructure our tax code. corporations have every incentive to keep the money they make offshore offshore. that means they're building factories and plants outside of the united states of those jobs are not done right here. so we should look again at the corporate tax code and reform to make it more competitive. what she said about medicare as an option, that is a very complicated proposition. one thing is very clear, which as we did a health care reform that is really good things. there's a lot more that needs to

be done. people no longer being turned away with pre-existing conditions. parents no longer -- seniors no longer paying the doughnut hole penalty on their drugs. we of a long way to go in terms of making the health-care system more efficient and less costly. host: would you support taking the cap off of fica for social security? guest: i think we need to raise that. part of the deal that make social security sustainable will involve raising the cap for $108,000. that is part of the deal that will go up. host: derrick, a democrat in montana. one minute left. caller: i recently did a college research paper and found that if we grew half as a country we would no longer have to buy

foreign fuel. it would eliminate cutting down trees and making paper, and does not pollute one return, only makes more jobs. our forefathers knew it was a good policy, and i think we need to use it. host: great point. every once in awhile we get a call about hemp. guest: we would all be a lot mellower and eat a lot more junk food, too, right? host: i will let you make that comment. we want to report jobless claims have come in, and the number of americans applying for unemployment benefits dropped by 35,000 last week. that figure may have been distorted by seasonal factors. the labor department said thursday applications fell to a seasonally adjusted 353,000, down from a revised 388,000, and

the biggest drop since february 2011. how would you describe the economy of your district? guest: like much of the rest of the country, we have recovered in the past two years. two years ago a lot of people in my district work in the financial-services industry and were wondering if the big bank'' record to exist on monday morning. we are past that. we've seen some of the get recovery. 24 months strait of job recovery, but not of the rate we want to see it, so we have a lot more to do. host: congressman jim himes has been our guest. house of representatives is coming into session shortly. they will be working on a resolution for what happened in colorado and some other things. thank you for being here on the show.

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] the speaker: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. we give you thanks, o god, for giving us another day. please help us to use it well. we ask your blessing upon this assembly and upon all to whom the authority of government is given. help them to meet their responsibilities during these days, to attend to the immediate needs and concerns at the moment all the while enlightened by the majesty of your creation and your eternal spirit. we give you thanks that we all can know and share the fruits of your spirit, especially in

this time, the virtue of tolerance and reconciliation of justice and righteousness of good will and understanding of patience and loving care for others. watch over this house and cause your blessing to be upon each member that they might serve all the people with sincerity and truth. may all that is done within the people's house this day be for your greater honor and glory. amen. the speaker: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1 the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance today will be led by the gentleman from ohio, mr. johnson. mr. johnson: 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 five requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia rise? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker: without objection, so ordered. >> mr. speaker, congress faces looming deadlines at the end of this year set to take effect in the first days of 2013. mr. wittman: just as we ring in a new year with a new sense of optimism, if congress does not act, looming defense cuts will cripple our military and this nation. our military will be forced to cut an additional 10% from its budgets, an additional 10% of resources supporting our troops deployed overseas fighting for our freedoms. an additional 10% of budget supporting new technologies, training and ships, already lacking maintenance and behind schedule. an additional 10% of our national security. while the house passed and i

proudly supported legislation in may to avert these cuts, action is still needed by the senate and the administration. why does congress continue to wait? why does congress procrastinate on an issue so pressing and so important to this nation? who will answer the call leaving this issue to the last minute is irresponsible and failure is not an option. i urge the leaders of this nation to stop the delay. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from new york is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. engel: in 1972, palestinian terrorists broke into the israeli olympic compound and murdered in cold blood 11 i veily athletes. in the 40 years since shamefully the national olympic

committee has refused to have a minute of silence to commemorate these 11 martyrs. they have rejected it time and time again and tomorrow at the olympic games are starting in london and they rejected it again shamefully. so i will use the rest of my one minute to do the moment of silence for those who lost their lives at the 1972 olympic games. mr. engel: thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from nevada seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from nevada is recognized for one minute.

>> mr. speaker, 71 years ago today, president roosevelt inducted over 40,000 filipino troops into the united states army to counter the japanese threat. following the occupation of the philippines, 1,000 more filipino would join the resistance as recognized guerrilla forces working in coops with the u.s. army. the service and sacrifice of these brave filipino veterans would go unrecognized by the u.s. government for the next 63 years. mr. heck: congress finally acknowledged the servicemen when they had the equity compensation fund in 2009. this compensation fund provided the recognition they deserved. yet, today bureaucratic roadblocks continue to block nearly 4,000 of these aging world war ii veterans from collecting the benefits they are due. five of these gentlemen pictured here reside in my district. they range in age from 83 to 100 years old. regrettably, two passed away.

many more will pass without obtaining the recognition they deserve if they don't receive the benefits they earn. we need to make sure they are appropriately recognized. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from new york seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady from new york is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i use my time to observe a minute of silence for the munich 11 who lost their lives at the 1972 olympic games.

mrs. lowey: thank you. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio seek recognition? >> request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from ohio is recognized for one minute. mr. johnson: mr. speaker, take a look at this. take a look at the regulatory red tape that's strangling america's small businesses, our job creators. every time i try to go up and down the ohio river, businesses both large and small tell me that regulations and new ones are threatening to keep them from hiring and expanding. unemployment has been above 8% for the past 41 months and americans want certainty. they want to grow and expand, and as a small business owner

myself i know firsthand the destructive burden of excessive regulation. today this house will take an important step toward freeing america's job creators from these excessive regulations. the red tape reduction and small business job creation act puts a stop to president obama's unchecked power to issue costly and job-killing regulations at a whim. i encourage my colleagues to stand with me in supporting this legislation that will empower job creators to put america back to work, and with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from georgia is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize george kitchens jr. from augusta, georgia, who will be representing our state and our nation at the london olympic games beginning tomorrow. mr. beiro: a former clemson

tidean, he will be the first of the long jump team to advance to the olympic games. they are made up of 530 minute and women. mr. barrow: for the first time it will feature more women than male athletes. we look forward to watching george win the gold when the long jump team will take the spotlight on friday, august 3. i know i speak for all of my colleagues in wishing the american team the best of luck in london. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman seek unanimous consent, does the gentleman seek unanimous consent? the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to express my concern that our agenda, the president of belarus continues to rule over europe's

dictatorship. despite continuing reform, he continues to deny the people of belarus their basic freedoms and human rights and after his fraudulent election in 2010, 700 political opponents and activists were arrested during demonstrations. mr. turner: this is just one example of the type of persecution the people of belarus have been subjected to in these past 18 years. his total disregard for the people he swore to protect is appalling, alarming, should not be tolerated, i'm here today to draw attention to this matter and publicly condemn his regime for their continuing oppression of the people of belarus and offer my support for the country's civilians and democratic forces. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for

what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman seek unanimous consent? >> yes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. wals: i rise today with a very simple message from rural america, we need a farm bill and we need it now. with the current farm bill set to expire at the end of october, it's crucial we provide certainty to them. it's all the more crucial to our farmers we do this as they're staring at dried out soil resulting from the worst droughts in modern history. the newspaper "politico" looked back 50 years and found that never before has a farm bill been this close to being passed and blocked by house leadership. this is absolutely unacceptable. southern minnesotans can't afford to deal with the uncertainty that follows out-of-date policy extension or lame-duck sessions. lame for sure. don't kick the can down the road. the senate has passed a bill. the 2012 farm bill passed out

of committee on july 12 with a bipartisan vote of 35-11, saving $36 billion for the taxpayers. my farmers in southern minnesota are up before dawn working until after dark. we are leaving at noon today. we have 17 days between now and november 6 to work here in washington. that is so unacceptable. no one will agree to that. pass the farm bill. pass it now. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. poe: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. poe: mr. speaker, the draft of the u.n. arms trade treaty called a.t.t., is an attempt by third world country an attempt to control guns worldwide including those personal firearms in the united states. under the section of scope, the treaty indicates that the covered items include small arms and light weapons. the language is so broad that nations are expected to track

all weapons movements from the time they're manufactured until their destruction. the language is vague so the treaty could be interpreted to restrict the ability of the u.s. to help arm its allies like taiwan and israel. the treaty presents a clear and present danger to the second amendment of the u.s. constitution. it allows the u.n. to steal our liberty. it is unbelievable that this administration is even considering signing this document. the senate should never approve it if the president does sign on to it. the president should ignore the treaty because he took an oath to the u.s. constitution, not to the u.n. charter, and that's just the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> 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. speaker, today the house will vote on legislation to block all new federal regulations. mr. higgins: i'm concerned that this bill will damage our

ability to improve aviation safety which the bipartisan western new york delegation approved. due to their passion and dedication, congress passed historic aviation safety reforms two years ago. but this bill would prevent many of those reforms from becoming reality. our colleague, kathy hochul, attempted to offer an amendment to protect these reforms from this moratorium. inexplicablely, the rules committee blocked her amendment. these reforms have the support of both parties, but now partisan politics is getting in the way of life-saving regulations. i urge the defeat of this anti-safety legislation, and i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman from colorado seek recognition? >> thank you, mr. speaker. pursuant to the order of the house on july 25, 2012, i call up house concurrent resolution 134 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the concurrent resolution. the clerk: house concurrent resolution 134, concurrent resolution condemning in the strongest possible terms the heinous atrocities that occurred in aurora, colorado.

the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 25, 2012, the gentleman from colorado, mr. perfect mutter, and the gentleman from colorado, mr. coffman, will each control 15 minutes. mr. coffman: we can never explain nor fully comprehend evil. but last friday we were reminded of its existence. the face of evil emerged when a cold-blooded calculating mass murderer trapped unsuspecting movie patrons packed in a darkened theater in my hometown of aroara -- aurora, colorado. today on the floor of the united states house of representatives we pause to again remember the victims of this horrendous crime and to honor the courage of so many who put their own lives at

risk to limit the carnage. the victims who lost their lives in the early morning hours of last friday are veronica moser, age 6. alex teves, age 24. jessica ghawi, age 24. alex sullivan, age 27. matt mcquinn, age 27. micayla medek, age 23. john larimer, age 27. a.j. boik, age 18. rebecca wingo, age 32. jon blunk, age 26. jessica childress, age 29.

gordon cowden, age 51. aurora is a proud suburban community. mostly working class and middle class families who share basic american values, the values of hard work and of faith in god and of family. my family came to aurora, colorado, in 1964 when my father, a career soldier, was sent to fits simmons army medical center for his last assignment in the u.s. army. back then aurora was just a small town surrounded by three military bases. in the 1970's aurora transitioned away from being a military town, although it still has an air force base. aurora's grown to become the third largest city in the state of colorado. with a population of over 300,000 residents. aurora has grown -- has also grown to become the most

racially and ethnically diverse city in the state of colorado. aurora has received the all-american city award by the national league of cities in recognition of being a community whose citizens work together to identify and tackle communitywide challenges and for having achieved uncommon results. a couple weeks ago i was at a meeting with the aurora board of realtors where the mayor was speaking. he proudly informed the audience that aurora was recently ranked as the 8th safest city of its size in the country. no doubt we are still in shock and trying to understand why this happened to our community. the theater where so many lost their lives and injured, lies in the heart of our city. the vacant ground beside the

theater has been designated by our city's planners to be the future site of the city septre -- center. aurora will never be the same after this horrific act of evil that occurred last week. the citizens of aurora are caring and resilient and the long process of healing has already begun. we will stand together and come back stronger than before this attack. when i think of all the victims of this tragedy, and how much our community has suffered, i'm reminded by a refrain from a hymn that i have often sung in church. and he will raise you up on eagle's wings, bear you on the

breath of dawn, make you to shine like the sun and hold you in the palm of his hand. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from colorado, mr. perlmutter. mr. perlmutter: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you for the opportunity the other day for us to have a moment of silence. i know it was important to the members of our delegation as well as to the people of our community in aurora, colorado, and the whole metropolitan area. and i had a chance to speak on tuesday, i have a number of things to say, but i know each of us in our delegation bears a heavy heart as a result of all this, and i would like others to

be able to share some of their thoughts. so with that i yield two minutes to my friend from boulder, mr. polis. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado, mr. polis, is recognized for two minutes. mr. polis: thank you. i want to thank my colleague, mr. perlmutter, from colorado, not only for bringing forward this resolution but for spending time those affected in the aftermath of this. i'd also like to thank president obama for immediately changing his plans and coming to colorado to express on behalf of our nation grief and provide what comfort he could to the victims and their families. i think one thing that's important for americans to understand is awe -- aurora is a community just like yours. my district is several miles from aurora, i have been to movies myself from aurora, drive through it frequently on the way

to the airport. this could be anyone. it's a safe community. it's a community of loving families. it's a growing city. and the tragedy that occurred could have been at any one of our neighborhood theaters. going to the movie theater, an expression of joy, something people have grown up with for generation, the magic of the silver green. and lives torn apart. not only -- silver screen. and lives torn apart. not only those who lost their lives tragically, not only those who were injured, some of whom remain in the hospital, but all the others that were terrified, scared, in the other theaters, in the other movie theaters that night, in the community at large. this was in many ways a crime against innocence, and a crime against enjoyment and diversion. people turn to movies, turn to

entertainment for a moment's respite, a moment's entertainment from their daily lives. in this tragic really represents an end of innocence for so many people that were affected. but so, too, we have seen many great heroes rise to the occasion. the courageous responders, the community aurora, mayor hogan, the families of those affected, our criminal justice system. we all come together in difficult times. we all come together and together with the love and respect and support from american families across the country, the victims' families know they are not alone. that's important. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado, mr. coffman. mr. coffman: thank you, mr. speaker.

i'd like to yield four minutes to the gentleman from colorado, mr. tipton. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado, mr. tipton, is recognized for four minutes. mr. tipton: i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. speaker, i think that we all struggle to be able to find words, to be able to address a flash point in time in the city of aurora to where we saw the absolute worst of humanity and senseless slaughter of inknow september people. -- innocent people, but we also saw the best of humanity. as people rose to be able to protect their loved ones, as we saw emergency service personnel rush to the scene to be able to operate -- to offer aid. in the hospitals where doctors

and nurses fought valiantly to be able to preserve life. as we look back on that day, we can't help but be reminded that too many lives were cutter short -- cut short. chapters that were yet to be written, and needlessly and mindlessly were cut off. the hearts of all coloradoans and what we have seen demonstrated on this floor, i think speaks to the heart of this country. as people rose as one to be able to express their empathy and their concern. we saw neighbors and strangers reaching out with helping hands. all praying for that opportunity

and the ability to be able to find the right words, if there could ever be such words, to offer some moment of comfort to those who suffered such a tragic loss. this is a day that certainly our state and people of aurora will never forget. it has touched each and every one of our hearts, and you cannot help but condemn, obviously, the act. but each one of us, i think this day and for days, weeks, monts, and years to come -- months, and years to come will continue to offer up prayers for those who lost their lives, for the families that were affected, and our thanks, our thanks for those who showed such love and

concern, and for all the emergency service personnel who were there to defend people who just were out for a good evening. mr. speaker, i applaud this resolution and this colorado delegation standing together today to be able to express this and thank this house for the support that they have shown as well for the people of colorado. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado, mr. perlmutter. mr. perlmutter: thanks, mr. speaker. i'd like to yield three minutes to my friend from denver who had a number of constituents in the movie theater that evening, and i'd like to yield three minutes to ms. degette from denver. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for three minutes. ms. degette: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i'd like to thank my dear friend and colleague, mr. perlmutter

for yielding to me. this is a difficult week for all of us from colorado. there were two movie theaters in the denver metro area that were showing this premiere at midnight last thursday night. so there were people from all over the community in that theater. they are with their families and their friends. almost the entire employees of a restaurant in colorado, they went to have a fun evening on a summer night and tragedy of course struck that night, unexpectedly, to everybody. i have been overwhelmed as we all have in the delegation by the support of the community for all of the victims of this shooting and their family. the way the communities have come together, aurora and denver and engelwood and all of the communities has been a blessed thing to see for all of us. no one can make sense of the tragedy like this, and the stories that heroism are still

coming out every day. the stories of miracles, babies born just a day or two after in the same hospital where the father lies in a coma. . while we hear all these stories of heroism and the first responders rushing to the scene and helping even within 90 seconds, at our heart we say, how can this happen and what can we do. i did have a number of constituents in that theater. some who were just injured. some who were in the nearby theaters who will be scarred psychologically forever by this. a close friend of my daughter's and others. i had at least three constituents who were killed by this terrible crime. the little girl, veronica moser, age 6, whose mother lies

in critical condition. alex teves. it's wonderful to see the entire house delegation from colorado. we consider ourselves to be close allies although we often disagree on different issues. i just want to say something to all of my colleagues and to everyone in this house, mr. speaker. we have now had as of today 25 moments of silence as we respect victims of gun violence since the columbine shooting. i was here for that too. we had two moments of silence just the other day. one for aurora and one for the anniversary of the capitol police officer who was killed 10 years ago here today. so we can have our debates, we can have our discussions, we can mourn for the victims, which is appropriate this week, but it is our challenge as

leaders of our state and leaders of our country to go on from today and to say, what can we seriously do as a nation to make sure that no tragedy of this scope or horror ever happens in this country again? and with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado, mr. coffman. mr. coffman: mr. speaker, i yield three minutes to the gentleman from colorado, mr. doug lamborn. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado, mr. lamborn, is recognized for three minutes. mr. lamborn: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank representative mike coffman and representative perlmutter for leading this this morning. the entire delegation, bipartisan delegation, is here as just a small reflection how the people of colorado are coming together and the people of aurora are coming together after this senseless tragedy. we heard a lot of stories of bravery, both on the part of the first responders and the parts of everyday citizens, but i want to tell a story of one

of the victims. i'd like to share the story of caleb medley. today, he lies in a medically induced coma after being shot in the face. in the day since that horrific shooting, his wife, katie, has given birth to their first child, hugo. caleb spent his teen years in florence and after high school he married his high school sweetheart, katie. he went to work at a local grocery store. like most people, he and katie have big plan and dreams for their lives. from the time he was in the eighth grade, caleb has wanted to be a standup comedian. katie wants to work in veterinarian medicine. they moved to aurora to pursue their dreams. just two days before the shooting, caleb appeared at the comedy works and did well

enough to advance to the next round and they were looking forward to their baby's birth a few days later. but before little hugo could be born, caleb and katie made the faithful decision to go out one last night before becoming parents. according to a website that caleb's family has posted, the two spent too much on popcorn and soda. they endured the movie trailers and they watched the beginning of the movie and that's when evil struck. evil came to them from a man that opened fire on that theater. katie and baby hugo made it out uninjured, but caleb was struck in the face by gunfire. caleb has lost his right eye, has some brain damage and doctors have put him in a medically induced coma. so, mr. speaker, i ask that the people of america would be praying for caleb and his family. we are pulling for you, caleb, and for all the victims of this senseless tragedy.

i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado, mr. perlmutter. mr. perlmutter: i thank my friend, doug, for describing in detail one of these injuries. i'd like to introduce, mr. speaker, if i could, for the record some brief bigraphical information of each of the victims who was killed. jon blunk, alexander "a.j." boik, gordon cowden, jessica ghawi, john larimer, matt mcquinn, micayla medek,

veronica moser, alex sullivan, alex teves and rebecca wingo because i want our record in this congress to have their names and some information about them. and i appreciate you talking about somebody specifically. these are hard moments for all of us. these are good people and some very bad things happened to some very good people, but i want to talk about some of the positive aspects that came out of this dreadful night. 13 years ago diana degette mentioned columbine and my district on the southwest side of my district, i have columbine on the northeast side of my district have this theater. and colorado is a good place. i mean, all of us love where we come from.

we've had some violent incidents that have taken our innocence, as mr. polis had said. we heal from these things but you're never quite the same. you're never quite the same. but one of the positive aspects of that terrible incident 13 years ago at columbine high school was that our law enforcement, our first responders, our police, our firefighters, our medical teams learned some real lessons. and we have in the aurora area a community college called aurora community college where we have gone through a number of exercises to deal with a mass casualty incident such as this where the police, the fire, law enforcement agencies from across our communities, denver, adams, arapaho counties

working together with the medical school to address these kinds of incidents. you know, as the chief of police, dan oates, who deserves a higher place in heaven for the way he has managed this terrible time on behalf of law enforcement, they prepared and prepared and prepared and unbelievably this terrible tragedy happened, but because of that preparation, because of what we've gone through before and the terrible lessons we learned lives were saved. there's no question about it, lives were saved that otherwise would have been lost. i want to applaud again the aurora police, firefighters, the medical teams. casualties were taken to six or seven different hospitals in our area, but they all did an outstanding job. the dispatchers. can you imagine all the 9/11

calls that -- imagine all the 911 calls that came in that might? our bureau chief, was outstanding on behalf of the federal response to deal with both the shootings that occurred in the theater and the elaborate boobytrap that was set in this apartment that i drive by at least once a week right across from the university of colorado. this is something that we will heal from this but we will never be the same. and i just -- i want to thank the aurora schools who provided a place of safety for all of these individuals to go at the time of this incident. i want to thank the minute tearial alliance. as mr. coffman said, this is a community of great faith. and our churches and our synagogues have responded in a tremendous fashion to the sorrow that we all feel.

there are many stories, some beautiful ones. the president shared one. and before i go further, mr. speaker, can i inquire as to the time on both sides, because i know i have a couple other speakers that would like to -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado, mr. perlmutter, has 4 1/2 minutes. the gentleman from colorado, mr. coffman, has four minutes remaining. mr. perlmutter: i would just mention the story, and this is one i am so proud of people from colorado. there were two young women in the back of the theater when the gentleman came in and threw a tear gas canister across the theater. and the taller of the two noticed that it really was something other than a smoke bomb and a stunt and she stood up to warn people and she was shot in the neck immediately. and she -- blood started to spirt out. her smaller friend pulled her

down, compressed that wound, and the older one said something -- the one who had been shot something like, you need to leave, you need to get out of here and the friend said, i'm not leaving without you. and continued to press. police responded very quickly, but it probably seemed like an eternity, but the young lady who was shot in the neck is on the mend and is going to recover fully. and her friend basically saved her life and the quick actions of the police and the fire department. despite these terrible losses that we suffered, and there are so many heartbreaking stories. there are heart-warming stories as well. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves his time. without objection, the bigraphical material referenced by the gentleman from colorado, mr. perlmutter, shall be entered into the record. the gentleman from colorado, mr. coffman.

mr. coffman: thank you, mr. speaker. i, too, rise in support of mr. perlmutter's comments in relationship to our own aurora police department as well as all the other law enforcement entities that helped in this terrible tragedy. i now will yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from colorado, mr. cory gardner. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado, mr. gardner, is recognized for as much time as he may consume. mr. gardner: i thank the gentleman from aurora for yielding time and sharing time and thank the gentleman from colorado, mr. perlmutter, for your leadership and your comfort and encouraging words during the incredible tragedy. and to the president, thank you for sharing your love with colorado as well as to the governor for the leadership that you have provided, he has provided throughout this past week. this chamber has seen its incredible days of victories,

of celebrations, of great triumphs for this country. and today we discuss a resolution that talks about one of our nation's great tragedies. and so we join together as a delegation to talk about an event that we in colorado know we will not let remain a tragedy but wl turn into remembrance of those who are good in our state and our country. we oftentimes in colorado forget because the great beauty of our state that sometimes the hearts of all people don't match that beauty. but as we sat at the prayer vigil this past sunday and looked out as the rays of sun broke through the clouds on the

choir, on the many people of faith that gathered, we know that this one dark moment in history will be matched by far greater light. and it's our obligation to make sure that that indeed happens. as a father, i can't imagine the great loss of families, friends, the victims of this horrendous crime. and our hearts, our prayers, our thoughts go with them as we build a stronger community going forward. the many people of faith who have prayed, the people in this body who have shared their prayers and thoughts with the people of colorado remind a passage in the book of matthew where jesus went out onto the lake in the middle of a storm with his disciples and he looked out upon the stormy waters and he said, peace, be

still. and we ask that those who are troubled, those whose hearts have yet to heal, we ask for the peace that we all so desperately need. i yield back. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado, mr. perlmutter. mr. perlmutter: thank you, mr. speaker, aid like to yield one minute to the leader, ms. pelosi. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california is recognized for one minute. miss -- ms. pelosi: thank you very much. i'm very sad to join my colleagues in expressing the deepest sympathies of the house of representatives to the families and loved ones of the victims in aurora, colorado, and the entire community as it grapples with its grief. my colleagues have spoke very movingly from the standpoint of faith and hopefully that plathe will be a comfort to those -- faith will be a comfort to those who are affected. as you know, mr. speaker, when

we learned of this tragedy, the president ordered flags to be flown half-staff for one week to commemorate the tragedy that aurora, these individual families, and our country had suffered. that was done as a mark of respect for the 12 innocent victims and all who were affected. the victims who were murdered, that's just the word, that day, the vast majority were very young people. the one, gordon cowden was a father in his 50's. the others were very young whose last words to his daughters were, to tell them he loved them. a story that deserves to be told, each was beloved, each left home with a different expectation of what would happen that evening.

so did the rest of the country. several died protecting their loved ones, including john blunk, alex teves, and matt mcquinn. alex sullivan was about to celebrate his one-year wedding anniversary. that was celebration, going out to the movies. a.j. boik had just graduated from high school. jessica ghawi dreamed of being a sports journalist. micayla medek and rebecca wingo were pursuing education at a community college. jesse childress signed up to risk their life to protect our freedoms. who could have ever thought they would lose their lives going to the movies. as a child, veronica mose, will

now forever be remembered as the -year-old. what a sad tragedy. most of us here in this body are parents and grandparents, in steny's case great grandparent, every person knows the feeling of sending a child off to a movie with their friends, excitement of an opening night, and then the worry when the minutes tick by and someone hasn't come home. it is with heavy heart that we send our thoughts and prayers to the many greefing today and we continue -- grieving today and we continue to pray and thank you for taking us down that path. we continue to pray for the healing of those who survived, both their physical pain and their emotional scars. that's probably the hardest. we send our gratitude to our first responders. within minutes, when minutes counted, when seconds counted, they responded with bravery and with professionalism. in the words of this resolution, the congress honors the

resilience of the community of the city of aurora and state of colorado in the face of such adversity. may you feel the support and love and prayers of our nation. may those tragically taken from us be honored and remembered. may time heal our grief. i hope it is a comfort to those who are affected by this tragedy, who lost loved ones or have injuries in their families, but so many people throughout the world mourn their loss and are praying for them at this sad time. i yield back the balance of my time. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado, mr. coffman. mr. coffman: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on house concurrent resolution 134. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. so ordered.

the gentleman from colorado, mr. perlmutter. mr. perlmutter: mr. speaker, i again inquire about the balance of time because i would like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from maryland. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado, mr. perlmutter, has 2 1/2 minutes remaining. the gentleman from maryland is recognized for two minutes. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman from colorado who has been so involved and so eloquent in expressing the grief that his constituents share and all the members from colorado on either side of the aisle who have come together to share this grief. mr. speaker, when tragedy of this kind strikes our hearts go out to those who lost loved once. we have seen both an outpouring of love and support for victims and their families and the quickness to point out what might have been done differently. that is our nature as americans. always seeking answers. searching for corrective action for a measure of logic and the irrational.

the first question we ought to ask and is already being asked, how can we draw closer as a community? not just the community of aurora, but the community of americans. as president obama said on friday, and i quote, if there's anything to take away from this tragedy, it's the reminder that life is very fragile. and what matters at the end of the day is not the small things, ultimately it's how we choose to treat one another and how we love one another. i would add it is also how we commit to live with one another as neighbors. we may not share the same faith or politics or philosophy, but we do share a fundamental belief that our people should feel safe in our theaters and malls and schools, in their homes and on the streets. wherever they go. today we share the pain with the

people of aurora. but we also share in the hope that the city whose name is the dawn, would find in our sympathy and prayers the comfort it needs during the dark hour to begin the process of healing and to believe again in a brighter tomorrow. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado, mr. coffman. mr. coffman: mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from colorado, mr. perlmutter. mr. perlmutter: i'd just like to end, mr. speaker, by thanking my friends, and they are my friends and colleagues, from colorado. i just want to say that for all of us, aurora, and everybody who has been so affected by this senseless act, we are praying for you. we love you. and i just want to end, this act actually affected people from one coast to the other, a lot of people from all over the nation

were in that. in fact, at the time, mr. speaker, from a nearby military base, there were 53 members of our military, army, navy, air force, and marines were in that theater that night. this is something that touches us all. something that we'll all remember. we will heel -- heal. and let's hope and pray something like this doesn't happen again. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. all time for debate has expired. pursuant to the order of the house of wednesday, july 25, 2012, the previous question is ordered. the question on adoption of the concurrent resolution. mr. perlmutter: if i could, i also have another poem i'd like to introduce as part of the record if i could. i ask unanimous consent. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the question is on adoption of the concurrent resolution. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the concurrent resolution is agreed to.

the the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will receive a message. the secretary: mr. speaker, a message from the senate. the secretary: i have been directed by the senate to inform the house that the senate has passed h.r. 5872, cited as the sequestration policy act of 2012.

the speaker pro tempore: trops the gentlelady from north carolina seek recognition? ms. foxx: mr. speaker, by direction of the committee on rules i call up house resolution 741 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 152, house resolution 741.

resolved, that during further consideration of the bill, h.r. 4078, to provide that no agency may take any signature regulatory action until the unemployment rate is equal to or less than 6.0% as amended, pursuant to house resolution 783, the further amendment printed in section 2 of this resolution shall be considered as adopted in the house and in the committee of the whole. section 2, the amendment referred to in the first section of this resolution is as follows. in section 102-b, strike employment and insert unemployment. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one hour. ms. foxx: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the resolution be amended by the amendment i have placed at the desk. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by ms. foxx of north carolina. strike all after the resolving clause and insert the following,

that during further consideration of the bill, h.r. 4078, to provide that no agency may take any signature regulatory action until the up employment rate is equal to or less than 6.0%, as amended, pursuant to house resolution 738. the further amendment printed in section 2 of this resolution shall be considered as adopted in the house and in the committee of the whole. section 2, the amendment referred to in the first section of this resolution is as follows. in section 102-b strike employment and insert unemployment. the speaker pro tempore: is there an objection? mr. frank: i reserve the right to object. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized on his objection. mr. frank: mr. speaker, i think we should have an explanation here. the clerk read the technical language, but as i understand it what happened was that the bill that we were voting on yesterday and will vote on today has an

error, and gets employment and unemployment confused, and this is a bill that would correct the error in the bill we debated yesterday. so i wonder why do we now need a unanimous consent, are we correcting the correction? it's the old latin phrase, who guards the guardians. i guess today the question is who corrects the correcters? i would ask -- i yield to the gentlewoman from north carolina to explain why we had to get a bill to make a correction and now we have to have a unanimous consent apparently to correct the correction. what is the error -- i guess i should say what's the error of the day? we know what yesterday's error was. what's today's? i yield to the gentlewoman. ms. foxx: mr. speaker, if i might respond to the gentleman

from massachusetts. and i appreciate his asking the question because it gives us an opportunity to do a mea culpa, that's my ability to quote latin this morning in response to the gentleman from massachusetts. yes, there was a very minor error in the rule that was passed the day before yesterday. and that was that two letters, the letters u, the letter n, were left off of one word -- mr. frank: if that's the case, if the letters u and n were left out, knowing the animosity on that side to u.n., i can understand why psychologically that would have happened. i yield again to the gentlewoman i yield again to the gentlewoman from.