kind of falls off, because no one wants to spend money to adopt that program and bring it into the field. an example of a program that is going to be adopted for sure is the unmanned stealth aircraft that recently landed on the aircraft carrier -- host: all right, joe come i'm going to interrupt you, and i apologize, because the house is about to come in. joe pappalardo with "popular mechanics." his cover story, "the future of for." tank you for joining us on -- thank you for joining us on "washington journal." guest: thank you, had a good time. host: and now that spending bill with a debate on afghanistan. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute] the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's room, washington, d.c., july 24, 2013. i hereby appoint the honorable

daniel webster to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, john a. boehner, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 3, 2013, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour ebate. the chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to one hour and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and the minority whip each, to five minutes but in no event shall debate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. the chair recognizes the gentleman from virginia, mr. wolf, for five minutes. . wolf: mr. speaker, today i've come to the floor to raise the seventh in a series of critical but unanswered questions about the terrorist attacks on the consulate in

benghazi last september 11, 2011. the american people still do -- september 11, 2012. the american people still do have w if the answers been questioned. i'm increasingly concerned that none of these questions will be answered by the one-year anniversary of the benghazi attack. ccording to a recent excerpt "under fire" which is published in this month's "vanity fair" magazine, the ambassador asked for help after reaching the safe room on the consulate compound. as we well know now one call was placed to gregory hicks who was at the u.s. embassy in tripoli. hicks provided a powerful testimony about that final conversation with stevens. he also called local militia and public security commanders

in benghazi pleading for help. what i found interesting in the "vanity fair" excerpt is he made calls to nearby embassies on a blackbery. the congress must have the phone records from stevens and the foreign consulate that night. this raises the porn question of what foreign consulates did he call and how -- this raises the important question of what foreign cons lates did he -- consulates did he call? did people help respond to the attack? furthermore, did the pentagon connect any nato allies with military assets in the region that could have provided assistance that night? given how close many of the european allies are to the mediterranean, would they have planes or response teams stationed in locations in or near the region that could

immobilize upon a request from washington? after speaking with some, if another incident happened like september 11 that we're prepared to respond? we're less than two months away from the 9/11 anniversary but the american people don't know whether we're anywhere capable in sponding to anything africa or the middle east? we can help restore confidence with a bipartisan select committee. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from maryland, mr. hoyer, for five minutes. mr. hoyer: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i've come to this floor nearly every week sibs the sequester took effect -- since the sequester took effect in march to highlight its dangerous consequences to our national security, its harmful impact to our economy and the pain it is causing the most vulnerable people in our

country. now with the sequester in its 21st week, this congress has still not achieved big, balanced and bipartisan solution to deficits that we need to replace the sequester and put america back on a sound fiscal path. only such an agreement, mr. speaker, can provide a viable alternative to the irrational cuts this sequestration has imposed. those cuts are already exacerbated in the many challenges we face as a nation. later this week i will be delivering meals to seniors in my district for the meals on wheels program which could be cliffering four million fewer meals nationwide -- delivering four million fewer meals nationwide as a result of sequester. one small business owner in my district recently reached out to my staff to say he was personally impacted by meals on

wheels when the grandmother who raised him was diagnosed with cancer and came to rely on meals on wheels during the final part of her life. he couldn't believe that after all the good work the prince george's county meals on wheels office had done that they were forced to reduce their operation significantly as a result of the sequester. surely, mr. speaker, the richest country on the face of the earth does not lead -- need to leave people, particularly seniors who can't get out, hungry. other harmful effects include an 11% cut to emergency unemployment insurance payments and 125,000 fewer rental assistance vouchers. mr. speaker, as many as 70,000 children could be kicked out of head start. there -- they are only going to be 4 once. including approximately 800

children in my own state. i read on monday in "the the gton post" about whitney head start in yonkers, new york, mr. speaker, which has served primarily hispanics teaching them english and providing them medical services and meals. it closed down on friday, a victim of sequestration. and on monday an article in "the huffing post" drew an attention to sequester that addressed a quss undermining of justice -- addressed a dangerous undermining of that and it is those represent those in the court system. this fulfills the constitutional requirement that everyone is entitled to legal representation. it can't be waived. that report in "the washington post" and i quote, the public defender system hasn't just been stripped bare by

sequestration, its bones have been chizzled away as well. mr. speaker, can we risk delaying justice for victims and their families because our country can't afford public defenders? do we want cases dismissed against people who've done wrong because the constitution says they have to have a defense that we can't afford apparently? i met yesterday with maryland district court judges, about eight of them, and they raised this issue as one of critical importance and one of the judges, a reagan appointee, was obviously very animated at how we were undermining the very essence of the judicial system. surely no one on this floor intends to do that. at the defense department 650,000 vifflian workers are already -- civilian workers are already being furloughed two days a month. that's an effective cut and pay by 20%. the hardworking people whom we

rely to maintain the national security of our country. on july 2 i visited with pax ian defense works from and talked with those who were forced to stay at home without pay. they were concerned about their family's finances but, mr. speaker, these hardworking and patriotic public servants were far more worried about support for our troops on the field on friday when many are forced to stay at home. they can't legally come to work and volunteer their time. the sequester is hurting morale and putting our national security at risk, mr. speaker. at a moment when our troops are still in harm's way every , otherwise ridays known as furlough days, included. i'll be going to another installation on maryland's fifth district, mr. speaker, on

friday, indian head to meet with civilian employees there. them that congress has the ability to end the furloughs they are experiencing. now we have the ability to keep those kids from losing head start, and our seniors from losing meals. we have that ability now. we can do so by coming together in a bipartisan way to replace the sequester with a balanced alternative that includes spending cuts and, yes, revenues. this is what budget committee ranking member chris van hollen has put forward seven times, mr. speaker, only to see it prevented by the majority from receiving a vote. the speaker says let the house work its will. well, perhaps this is the will of the house. i hope not. i urge my colleagues to work together across the aisle so we can end the sequester, end the sequester and restore fiscal

discipline in a way that does not harm our security, our economy, the most vulnerable in our country or america itself and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded not to traffic in the well when someone -- when someone is peaking from the well. the chair recognizes the gentleman from virginia, mr. rigell, for five minutes. mr. rigell: i thank the speaker. i come to the floor this morning to call for a change in the house calendar. r. speaker, leader set priorities. they identify the challenges and opportunities that face their organization. and they assess them and put them in the right order and then they align their rganization's calendar to make sure that those top priorities get addressed. that's what the american people rightfully expect of each of us. overall our calendar and the priorities of the house are

right on track. i'm so proud of the legislation we passed that would move america to energy independence and create hundreds of thousands of jobs, but in one very critical area we're seriously off-track our calendar doesn't reflect the challenges and the top priorities of our country. specifically, we're not on track to pass all 12 appropriations bills that fund the federal government for 2014. the fact is we are not even close to passing those bills, and with our current congressional calendar, i cannot possibly see a way that we can pass those bills by september 30, which is the end of the current fiscal year. this is not without consequence. it damages our economy, job creation. it damages our military in a very real way, and ultimately it hurts hardworking american families. now, let's look at the status of the 12 bills and then look

at the time that remains on the congressional calendar to debate and pass those bills and time to avoid what's referred to as a continuing resolution. and make no mistake here, a continuing resolution is wholly inadequate as a financial vehicle to fund this government. it has serious adverse consequences. and that's why this topic merits careful attention of this body and that's why it merits a change in our congressional calendar. well, here are the 12 bills that must be passed. we passed four of them. well, that leaves eight. my math is pretty good. this past due here, they're not past due right now but they surely will be. at least some of them. as i mentioned this has serious repercussions. i spent a tremendous amount of time in our district listening to the hardworking men and women who keep our country safe and those who support them. every time we pass a continuing

resolution, our military reels with uncertainty. we have a deep obligation to the young men and women around the world who are keeping this country safe to use every dollar wisely to ensure that we get the very best equipment and support to each of them. that's why i feel so strongly out this issue, and it burdens me when we fail the american people in this respect. well, let's look on at the calendar and see what we got to ork with here. mr. speaker, we have 15 calendar days. they're indicated right here in the teal green color. these areas mere represent

constituent work periods. i work very hard in our constituent work periods and i know really every member here does. it's important we're in our districts. there's value to that, to listen to, to be accountable to the good folks who sent us up here. that said, a principal function and what the american people are expecting of us is that we pass these 12 appropriations bills, so what is referred to as the august recess is brought to this body for a vote, i will vote no. i'll encourage every member of this body so vote no, democrat, republican. . when an organization is facing profound challenges, you do what you must do to set it in a better course. it may be house tradition to break, but i submit that it's not wise. mr. speaker, i really believe we

ought to be in session six days a week, start it at 8:00 a.m., earlier if it was up to me, then meet leave around 7:00 p.m. six days a week. i'm convinced just that pressure alone would help us find common ground that i know exists in this place. that's why i called for a change in the calendar. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from oregon, mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. i listened to my friend from virginia. i respect his opinion, but with all due respect, i think we have got a more fundamental problem than the calendar. the republican leadership refuses to allow a conference committee on the budget between the house and the senate to reconcile our differences. we can be here 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but if the republican leadership refuses to allow the process to work, we

are not going to get anywhere. and that's right where here right now. -- right where we are right now. my friends on the appropriations committee refuse to deal with the budget level that was passed into law two years ago. that chartered us on a course. they have a level of funding that is literally slashing and burning federal spending. the latest manifestation of this battle is putting in jeopardy the very existence of public broadcasting. now, i would have hoped we were past that last year when the last congress targeted n.p.r. and tried to defund the corporation for public broadcasting. luckily then, the 170 million americans who don't just listen or watch public broadcasting, ut depend on it unleashed an unprecedent show of support. as a result the republican leadership walked back then. one good thing about that budget

battle two years ago was that it called for a study to look for alternatives for the 14% of federal money that supports public broadcasting. the study's in and it clearly shows there is no viable alternative to those 14 cents on the dollar. many of the proposals that have been suggested would actually result in less money overall for public broadcasting in the long term. yet, house appropriations bill we are told is going to eliminate corporation for public broadcasting funding. last summer i had a fascinating conversation with my -- when my friend, ken burns, who pointed out his six projects in the pipeline would never have been made let alone seen without funding for the corporation of public broadcasting. i hope you enjoyed his show last fall about the dust bowl because if the republicans have their way, you'll never see his

program about the roosevelts, jackie robinson, vietnam, or hemingway. remember how well it worked for governor romney when he singled out public broadcasting as one of the five projects that he would defund? the republicans, sadly, pandered to a tiny fraction of the american public that is even a minority in their own party. polls show 2/3 of republicans surveyed would either keep funding for public broadcasting where it is, or increase it. what resonates with some republican primary voters is not what america wants, needs, or believes. the unprecedented threat comes at exactly the time when america needs public broadcasting the most. npr news, the object of greatest republican scorn, is the most trusted brand in american news media. pbs shows like "sesame street" have helped raise three

generations of children -- parents raise their children with effective commercial free educational programming. locally owned news is becoming only a memory for most america as large corporations buy up local stations and newspapers. there is no money to be made by commercial stations that cater to the special needs of rural and small town america. luckily, public broadcasting is there because their mission is to inform and serve not just make a profit. we must stop this attack on the critical service, especially for rural and small town america. it's time for the 170 million americans who depend on public broadcasting every month to again fight back and for ongress to finally listen. the radical proposal to slice public broadcasting, defund npr, terminate public broadcasting as we know it is a powerful signal of how far out of step the republican leadership is from the country they are supposed to

represent. there is no reason to make public broadcasting, which barry goldwater helped launch, into a partisan issue. public broadcasting has broad support from republicans, independents, and democrats alike. that's why pbs and its member stations were named number one in public trust and an excellent use of tax dollars for 10 years in a row. it's time for the people who believe in public broadcasting to stand up to this extremism and settle the question once and for all about the future of public broadcasting. unless we fight now, there may be nothing to defend. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona, mr. gosar, for five minutes. mr. gosar: thank you, mr. speaker. i'll keep it brief. mr. speaker, i rise today to shed light on attorney general eric holder's blatant disregard for the rule of law. mr. holder's violation of the law are egregious and he should

not be immuned from the prosecution or given license to act without restraint. an ordinary citizen would go to jail for selling guns to mexican drug cartels. an ordinary citizen would go to jail for secretly obtaining phone records and emails. an ordinary citizen would go to jail for lying to congress about an investigation. what would happen to an ordinary citizen for lying to a judge? this is just a small part of what attorney general eric holder is responsible for. as supreme court justice brandeis said, in a government of laws, the existence of government will be imperiled if it fails to observe the law scrupe pew lussly. if government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law, it invites every man to become a law unto himself. it invites anarchy. i ask you, as attorney general eric holder invited anarchy. i will continue to make this case here in the people's house at the people's pulpit, and folks i will be back. i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. quigley, for five minutes. mr. quigley:thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker -- mr. quigley: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, we can do better. when it comes to establishing a national energy policy to address climate change, we can and must do better, but we are not. as members of this body, we are not doing anything. why? we are hamstrung by our inability to work together, to do great, important, vital things here in this chamber. things like addressing our national debt, tackling comprehensive immigration reform, and to ever, ever in the history of this nation, establish a national energy plan. the only way forward is to establish an national energy plan to address climate change, something this great nation has always lacked, and to work with public and private entities alike to get this done. and for the climate doubters out there who still question climate change, i remind them that over 200 peer review stein tisk

studies say that climate change is real and man contributes significantly to it and zero scientific peer review studies have said the opposite. we must craft a plan that focuses on working with the business community hand in hand to be competitive internationally. we must go toe to toe with india and china. we must craft plan that focuses on public transportation and green infrastructure. we must pass a multiyear transportation bill. we must focus on conservation as demonstrated so adeptly by our own president's increase in corporate average fuel economy standards. and its call to action on climate a few weeks ago. above all, we must compromise work together, we must be invan hollenive and creative. i'm not calling on the president for another executive order. i'm not calling on the senate to move one more piecemeal energy bill that lies holed up in committee. i'm calling on this house. i know what the critics will say and my argument is the same as theirs, it's about jobs. standards for carbon pollution limits for coal plants under the

clean air act will not shutter all u.s. plants as some would have you believe. on the contrary, it will set achievable standards for existing plants until we can use a patchwork solution to transition to cleaner sources. some will say a clean air act is a draconian doctrine that kills jobs, and sets us back as technology advanced nation. right? wrong. the clean air act has been the impetus for the only existing technologies that currently exist for power plants. having been required to reduce emitance by 90% by 2015. without such directives coming out of the e.p.a. over the last 40 years, such advancements by polluting power plants would never have been voluntarily made. we can transition with incentives and a patchwork approach and compromise. several weeks ago when the president made a major drive on combating climate change, it's too bad he had to bypass congress to do it. as a member of this body, i

don't blame him. i'd love to say we here in this chamber could be part of the solution, but i understand why he believes we cannot. since congress has abdicated its desire to pass climate legislation, natural gas has become a panacea for fossil fuel. it's dirt cheap and cleaner, they say, but it's brought about a renaissance of dirty extraction like hydrofracking or xtracting gas from shale and oftentimes neglect and toxic manner. also our nuclear energy can't compete with china's solar energy. china provided over half of the solar panel cells in the u.s. that's over $3.1 billion within our domestic market. $3.1 billion we could be capitalizing on. infusing small and mid-sized solar companies across the country creating and retaining green jobs. our attempt to deregulate or fight rules promulgated from the e.p.a. isn't working either. take the bill we are considering this week. the reduce and management act

which would set up a separate management stream bye-r which would bypass the e.p.a. per thing onal research service, this federal minimum standard as established by the bill pays no mind to public health. the c.r.s. memo written at the request of the house energy and commerce committee states that, this bill fails to establish minimum national safeguards, fails to establish federal backstop authority, fails to define what facilities the bill applies to, fails to contain any minimum federal requirement to protect health and the environment. relevant e become advocate for problems that plague our nation today before we lose a chance for tomorrow. thank you, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. thompson, for five minutes. mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker.

mr. speaker, it's been a tough week for the american consumers. yesterday it was reported that under the federal bureau of land management, new proposal onshore hydraulic frakturing regulations -- fracturing regular laces, businesses will suffer. yes, a clean and affordable resource, gas. reuters news reports, i quote, the obama administration hopes the rules on public lands will serve as a model for state oversight of drilling on private lands, end of quote. this plan is no secret. the u.s. interior secretary said as much in her testimony before the house natural resource committee in july. make no mistake, these federal regulations are being developed as a model to be used across the country. the development of our nation's domestic energy resources has been one of the few bright spots in a struggling economy. it's very clear now why this era

of growth and innovation came to be. take a look at production states on state and private lnds versus federal, you'll see why. production is up on the former and way down on the latter. unfortunately, the administration wants to close this gap by putting the federal government in control and imposing costly new mandates everywhere that production is taking place. it's bad for business, mr. speaker. what's worse it's bad for consumers by making the cost of heating their homes that much more expensive. it doesn't stop with natural gas. coal is also in the administration's crosshairs. the white house has a hair trigger and scope and silencer. case in point, a sweeping new coal regulation quietly being put forward by the administration known as the stream buffer zone rule. yesterday, the director of the federal office of surface mining reclamation enforcement at the u.s. department of interior testified before the house natural resource committee on the new role.

the interior department has largely stonewalled the committee's regulation into the rewrite of the coal regulation and failed to supply with mutt tim subpoenas. similar to the director's testimony, the entire rule making process for this regulation has lacked transparency. what we do know is that the administration has failed to even consider the new rule's economic impact on local economies such as those in my home state of pennsylvania. as many as 220,000 jobs are at risk in the appalachian region alone as a consequence of the proposed rule. thousands more are at stake nationally. d.o.i. regulations require that o.s.m. collaborate, quote, to the fullest extent possible, end quote, with states developing the rule. it require that o.s.m. collaborate with states, quote, at the earliest possible times, end quote, so that all stakeholders can evaluate it

and consider possible alternatives. yesterday when asked whether or not states have been provided with information regarding the new related changes, the o.s.m. director stated he does not believe there had been any contact within the last year with impacted states. when asked whether his offices talked to other agencies, the director said he was unaware of any such communications. mr. speaker, this white house will stop at no end to assault the fossil fuels industry along with the millions of jobs it supports and the low energy costs that it provides. mr. speaker, protecting the environment and developing our abundant natural resources such as coal and natural gas are not mutually exclusive but this is not something the administration would like to admit. this week the administration continued to move ahead with the policies that will cost more jobs and further harm family budgets through higher electricity rates. this week the administration continues to grossly

underestimate the cumulative impact of the regulatory actions. and this week was another tough week for the american consumer. thank you, mr. speaker and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlelady from texas, ms. jackson lee, or five minutes. without objection. ms. jackson lee: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i listened to many of my good friends and to colleagues, we are in fact good friends and colleagues hoping to do what is right on behalf of the american people. and i always appreciate and respect those individuals who have chosen to serve the nation , so i take issue very briefly with my good friend and colleague about the criminal acts of one of the most honest and fortright attorney generals the united states of --

forthright attorney generals of he united states of america. attorney holder has been noted civil great leader on rights, fighting against human trafficking and certainly he has been one who have stood up for our children in this nation and also the many law enforcement officers who are on the front lines protecting us here in america. i hope that we can respect those who offer themselves to the service of this nation for as long as general eric holder has done. i have listened to friends as well speak about the devastation of the sequester and i again suggest to my colleagues that through h.r. 900 a simple bill that eliminates sequester and goes back to the budget reconciliation of 2011 and as well to push this republican majority to move to conference

will be the better approach. i, too, have gone and delivered meals on the meals on wheels and i see the faces of seniors who will now face serious cuts in this effort. . see the loss of 750,000 jobs i see the impact on the economy where unemployment has stayed almost static and when you go into the business community and the hesitation, even though wall street is thriving, it all points to the fact of sequester. it's become a dirty word. it's become one that has victimized the american public. it's victimized young families. it's victimized college students. it's victimized seniors. it's victimized those who are ill, and yet we continue to piece by piece fixing the f.a.a. problem but not addressing the 70,000 children that are suffering and losing seats in head start. i remember as the head start seats were being lost fathers

crying when they were told by the head start facility that their child would no longer have a seat. it seems sad that we would cut head start or disaster aid by $1 billion because we have head start. the department of transportation, $1.9 billion when many of us know those are the basic reasons for job creation is building america's infrastructure. we have yet as we plot along with sequester, as see we good public workers not being able to work -- and might i just say, let me thank our own staff, which gets condemned all the time. you work for a u.s. member of congress, and every day our staff fights to help some constituent keep their house from being foreclosed on or keep a medicare recipient continuing to get their benefits or veterans and yet we're furloughing them. we're cutting people who are mere workers that are working for us, and they can't make ends meet. they are getting second jobs.

it's a disgrace. it's an absolute disgrace. i will not condemn our staff, committee staff, government staff. they're working for the american people. then, i want to offer disagreement, mr. speaker -- i know the senate will vote on a student loan project or program. they say it's a compromise. well, i got to tell my students, because i held campus meetings. we met. i got to tell them and i got to tell the parents, yes, they're going to get a low interest rate today, but watch out for tomorrow, because it's a trigger. before you know it they may be paying 10%. they say it's a cap, but i don't know what the cap is going to be as it relates whether a student will pay 6% or 7% when they can stay at 3.4%. as someone said, why should the federal government be making money on the backs of students? i'm concerned about that. finally, mr. speaker, let me say there's been a lot of discussion this week about issues of race, issues of a tragedy of trayvon martin. i intend to introduce the

justice exempt for all act, a review of, as senator mccain suggested, the stand your ground legislation across america. it will increase public safety. it will reduce the gun violence. to amend it to require a duty to retreat. for states that do not require duty to retreat, we will question their federal funding and assess their justice department funding and reduce it by 20%. we'll also decrease the incident of gun violence resulted by vigilantes by 20% to any state that does not require local neighborhood watch programs to be registered with a local enforcement agency and require the attorney general, mr. speaker, to study stand your ground laws. let's speak to the pain of the american people. let's look at ways of fixing the law. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to commend an extraordinary young man from tennessee's fourth congressional district. mr. desjarlais: eric wolf, since middle school, he's been preparing for a career in the military. he follows the path of both his grandfathers, one who was a marine and other a world war ii veteran. eric said he felt the call to serve his country after reading the book "lone survivor" which led him to look at to give back to our great nation. eric built a solid reputation in his hometown of cleveland, tennessee. he graduated from high school with a 4.1 g.p.a. and was a star athlete. eric's drive and unabashed patriotism exemplify the best of our country. i wish him the best of luck and know he'll make us all proud. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. mcgovern, for five minutes. mr. mcgovern: i ask unanimous consent to address the house

for five minutes and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. speaker, for the 19th time this year i rise to talk about my effort to end hunger now. nearly every week this year i stood on the floor and talked about hunger in america and how we can end hunger now. today i want to talk about a group of people who are fighting hunger around this country. at first they may seem like an unlikely group of anti-hunger advocates but look deeper and it's easier to see how their connection to good healthy food makes them natural allies in our efforts to end hunger now. mr. speaker, i'm talking about america's chefs, the culinary artists who cook for us. america's chefs have recognized that hunger and obesity are problems in america and they know how important access to healthy food is for proper development no matter what age, a hungry malnourished a person is.

sam katz has rallied behind michelle obama's let's move campaign and also the healthy eating component of her campaign. they understand that healthy food is critical for healthy bodies and minds. what's less well-known is these same chefs have picked up the mantle of hunger in america. they realize that hunger and owe boosity are at the opposite sides of the same coin, that it's possible to be hungry and obese simply because you lack options. uy healthy that's why chefs have worked to eliminate food deserts. where there isn't access to low-cost healthy and nutritious food and have been working with food banks and other anti-hunger organizations on ways to provide food to poor and needy americans. this includes vigorously defending snap and the child nutrition programs. one of the great members from the culinary industry is tom, someone i call a friend and ally. he's a successful

restauranteaur with restaurants from los angeles to new york and he's a television celebrity with his role as judge on "top chef." but more recently and more importantly to millions of americans who may never have the opportunity to eat at one of his restaurants, tom is an advocate for the hungry and for those who are trying to improve their lives. he was a vocal supporter of the child nutrition re-authorization act that increased funding for school meals in order to improve the nutritional quality of food served at schools. he's also a producer of the documentary "a place at the table," a beautifully filmed heartwrenching movie about hunger in america. his role in our fight to end hunger now cannot be understated and his efforts are needed and appreciated. then there is my dear friend, chef jose andres. he's dedicated himself to challenge policymakers and giving back to the communities in both ways large and small that have really made a difference to ending hunger in america and around the world. he's not alone. chefs like mark murray, rachael

ray, charlie palmer, just to name a few, all lend their names, their restaurants and themselves to fight to end hunger now. working through anti-hunger organizations like share our strength, founded and run by good friend, billy shore, these chefs are reducing hunger in so many different and unique ways. it's not just the famous celebrity chefs who are helping. share our strength is a program called cooking matters where chefs teach low-income families healthier ways to cook food. together with their shopping matters program with these same families can learn how to navigate their local markets to purchase the healthiest food they can afford, they are fighting hunger at local levels. from arkansas to colorado to massachusetts are using their expertise to teach these families the healthiest ways to cook food. chefs are just one of the nontraditional groups that are out in the real world fighting hunger. they're leading by example and their actions need to be highlighted not just on the house floor but at the white house. chefs should absolutely be part

of such a conference where they can talk about their efforts and ways to help low-income families improve their cooking and eating habits. these chefs and the organizations they partner with are a key part of our fight to end hunger now. i commend them for their dedication and i look forward to working with them in this effort. thank you and i yield back the alance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlelady from california, ms. sanchez, for five minutes. ms. sanchez: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. thank you, mr. speaker. today i rise to honor the life of lillian kawasaki who proudly served the los angeles community for more than three decades working tirelessly to protect our environment. lillian was an inspiration and a trail blazer. in 1990 she was named general manager at the department of

environmental affairs for the city of los angeles, becoming the first asian american in city history to be appointed a department chief. it is because of lillian's leadership and her vision that los angeles launched major initiatives in air and water quality protection and environmental cleanup. local businesses began investing in renewable energy thanks to lillian kawasaki. i had the privilege of working with lillian when she served as board of director for the water replenishment district. it would be hard to find a public official more involved in her community than lillian was. on a personal note, it was an honor for me to call her a close friend. lillian was an extraordinarily giving person. she always remembered birthdays and anniversaries. how - she asked me often my family and my son were

because she truly cared. i offer my condolences to lillian's husband, to her family and to her loved ones. she was a tremendous public servant, a shining example for others and a generous and truly kind human being and i will miss her greatly. . thank you, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan, mr. kildee, five minutes. thank you, mr.

speaker. last week the city of detroit became the largest municipality in our nation's history to file or bankruptcy. and without a doubt detroit, the situation in detroit, is extreme , and their problems in part have been driven by local mismanagement, but it would be an oversimplification, and i think a dangerous oversimplification, for folks to continue to lay the entire responsibility for detroit's situation on the failure of management. since last week detroit's been on the front page of america's newspapers. it has become the recent, i guess, poster child for municipal decline and insolvency. for the few cities like detroit that have actually filed bankruptcy, there are many other legacy cities in this country that continue to struggle day in and day out to provide basic

services for their residents. many municipalities are facing not just physical insolvency but service level challenges, perhaps not on the same scale as detroit, but that does not mean that they are immune to the problems that detroit are facing. my own hometown of flint, michigan, is on that same path. and is struggling every day to provide basic services and an increasing period of fiscal stress. detroit's bankruptcy should be a call to action. to have a much bigger conversation in this country about how we support and fund our cities and our great metropolitan areas. cities where our creativity takes place and where much of our wealth has been generated in the past and that can and should be the future for america's cities. let me be clear, bankruptcy for detroit will not be a solution to its problems or for any other city. while it's arguable that this bankruptcy may be necessary, it

will not be sufficient to solve the problem. it may bring order to an otherwise chaotic situation, but it will not solve the problem itself, and it will have real consequences for people in detroit, in southeastern michigan, and the entire state. you can simply dissolve a corporation through bankruptcy. but you can't dissolve a city which is a place where hundreds of thousands of people in this case live and raise their families. lots of factors have contributed to the decline of a whole subset of america's city. population laws, trade policy that moves jobs out of those communities overseas, or out of those cities into the metropolitan areas through land use practices. a municipal finance system that fails to recognize the realities of the 21st century. this is a big issue, and one that calls for a much larger national conversation about how we support our cities.

but first, mr. speaker, we have to make sure to do no harm. to these place that is are struggling. the republican budget that will come to this floor within the next few weeks proposes deep cuts to programs like the community development block grant program and the home program. 40% cuts for programs that are intended to help communities reposition themselves in this challenged economy. yet, at a time when cities are facing distress, like the city of detroit, my hometown of flint, many others, the federal government could provide some help that would be in our national interest. we see cuts proposed to these really important programs. so whether at the state or federal level, we all have a role to play. it's time that all levels of government start thinking about the long-term sustainability of our cities not just because it's wood -- it's good for those places but in our national interest. detroit's bankruptcy should be a day of reckoning for all of us.

not just the residents of the motor city, but for everybody. rethinking the way we support our cities and metropolitan areas is not an easy conversation for us to have. it will be tough. it will cause us to challenge conventional thinking and challenge our own views of the importance of cities. these may be tough conversations, but they are absolutely necessary that we have to take on as a nation. we cannot sit idly by and pretend that detroit won't matter, and it won't affect us, and wait for the next detroit to happen. it's important for our nation. it's important for our people. it's important for our competitiveness. it's important for our economy. it's important that we be a competitive place. the only way to do that is with vital and rich growing communities and we have to get places like detroit and flint and saginaw and pontiac and other places that are important to this economy back on that trajectory. thank you, mr. speaker.

i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlelady from ohio, ms. kaptur, for five minutes. ms. kaptur: mr. speaker, i rise today to draw attention to the recent rising unacceptable unemployment numbers in some regions of our nation. the fact is republicans control this house and they are not only doing nothing to create jobs in america, they are actually creating more unemployment. in my home state of ohio the unemployment rate jumped up to 7.2%. in the city of cleveland, the unemployment rate rose from 9% to 10.1% over the past month. in the city of lorraine, unemployment dramatically rose from 8.7% to 10.6%. and in the city of toledo, we saw an increase in unemployment from 8.7%, to 9.3%.

nationally the unemployment rate remains stalled, stuck at 7.6%, but in too many neighborhoods across our country, unemployment is a daily reality. when you incorporate labor underutilization, the real national unemployment rate is ctually 14.3%. there are currently 11.8 million, nearly 12 million unemployed people in this country. 4.3 million people have been jobless for 27 weeks or more and are considered long-term unemployed. new federal government employment has declined by 65,000 persons over the past 12 months. 65,000 more people t the unemployment rate for the construction industry is 9.8%. manufacturing employment has declined in the past four straight months. to those job numbers sound like

an economic recovery to you? what is the republican response to these deebous and response numbers. block the president. what do they do? let's repeal the affordable care act 38 times. and they tried to do that. let's not appoint budget conferees so we can negotiate a budget deal that puts people to work and strengthens the middle class. no, let's ignore the harmful effects of sequestration. sequestration is arguably the primary driver of these poor job numbers and the budget office estimates just the unemployment resulting from sequestration costs our economy an additional 1.5% in lost economic growth. remember when the nonpartisan congressional budget office estimated that sequestration would reduce economic growth and cost about 750,000 jobs? well, they were right. we are seeing the effect of that today. the sequester was the largest cause of the negative gross

numbers in the fourth quarter of last year. according to the bureau of economic analysis, the economy is growing far slower than exspected despite the fact that personal consumption and business inventory spending has increased. you would think if consumer and business spending is up, we would see strong g.d.p. growth given our economy is based on consumer spending. unfortunately this is where the sequester and republican policy of cut and run, cut and run, cut and run comes into place. government spending has declined in 11 of the last 13 quarters since the first quarter of 2010. we may have seen robust growth if we took a sensible, long-term approach to deficit reduction instead of using a meat ax republican shortsighted sequester and steep unfair budget cuts. they are even kicking thousands ill ntal -- mentally citizens out of their assisted housing. over 27,000 people who can't make it on their own being

kicked out of shelters across this country. with the republicans refusing to replace their mindless sequester, 600,000 civilian defense workers are currently being furloughed. the economic impact of these defense furloughs will be the loss of ov an estimated $2 trillion for our economy. just in ohio, 22,000 furloughs in the civilian defense sector. the policies of this republican house are hampering robust economic growth across our country. the federal reserve agrees with what i am saying. in a recent hearing the chair of the fed said the economic recovery has continued at a moderate pace. in recent quarters, despite the strong head winds created by federal fiscal policy. unfortunately republicans will likely continue to refuse to compromise and focus on slowing the economy even further. we have already cut spending by $2.5 trillion. that has real impact on job creation.

discretionary spending is at its lowest level in 45 years. the federal deficit is projected to be at its lowest level in recent memory, and the treasury has actually even recently made payments on the national debt. we need a jobs bill here not more reckless cuts. the president has a plan, the republicans don't. i would urge my republican colleagues, bring to the floor the president's jobs agenda, let's show america which party is committed to job creation in this country not more stalling. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from puerto rico, mr. pierluisi for five minutes. without objection. mr. pierluisi: mr. speaker, as we approach the birthday of the the r. jose cervosa, father of the statehood movement in puerto rico, i rise to update my colleagues on the progress that has been made to resolve the territory's political

status. last november puerto rico held a referendum. as i described in a floor speech the following week, the results showed that a majority of the u.s. citizens of puerto rico do not support the current territory status, a supermajority favors statehood among the three alternative options, and more voters want statehood than any other option, including the current status. these results are now part of the historical record and they cannot be dismissed or diminished by those who find them inconvenient. now that american citizens living in america territory have informed their national government in a free and fair vote that they do not consent to a political status that deprives them of the most basic democratic rights, it is incumbent upon the federal government to take appropriate action in response. for the president and congress to do otherwise would be to contravene the principles that have made this country a light

to the world. today i can report positive steps have been taken. in april, the administration requested an appropriation of $2.5 million which would be provided to the puerto rico elections commission to conduct the first federally funded status quote in the territory's history, with a specific purpose of resolving this issue. the administration's action was favorably received by members of congress from both sides of the aisle who rarely find common ground. earlier this month thanks to the leadership of congressman wolf, fattah, and serrano that funding was approved by the appropriations committee, confirming that the effort to secure fair treatment for puerto rico is not and should never become a partisan issue. the committee's report endorses the conditions proposed by the administration stating that federal funding will not be obligated until d.o.j. has certified that the ballot and

voter education materials are compatible with u.s. laws and policies, thereby ensuring the vote will deal with one or more status options than can actually be implemented and would settle the issue. i will continue to fight for the approval of this appropriation by the full house and for its retention in any conference negotiation with the senate. there is additional progress to report on another front in this struggle. in may i introduced stand alone legislation that proceeds from the indisputable premise that statehood obtain more votes than any other option in the november referendum. the bill outlines the rights and responsibilities of statehood and asks voters in puerto rico whether they accept those terms. if a majority says yes, the bill provides for the president to submit legislation to admit puerto rico as a state after a transition period. two months after its introduction, this bill already enjoys support from 100 members of congress, from both parties,

and every region of this country. despite the predictable opposition of the status quo party in puerto rico and its allies in congress. i always find it ironic when some of my colleagues from the states who along with their constituents enjoy all the benefits of statehood, seek to prevent my constituents from exercising those same rights and responsibilities. i have concluded that these forces cannot be reasoned with. they must simply be defeated. and they will be. next week i will appear as a witness at a senate hearing on the november referendum and the federal response to that vote. just as i told a united nations committee last month, i will testify that i have faith that the federal government will fulfill its obligation to facilitate puerto rico's transition to a democratic and dignified status but deeds not words are required.

like any civil rights struggle, it will not be easy. we are closer to finally realizing dr. barbosa's dream for equality for the u.s. citizens of puerto rico. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess until th

>> president obama today travels to the midwest to knox

college in gales brurg, illinois. and also going to williamsburg, missouri. he will deliver a series of economic speeches in which he'll highlight previously released proposals on jobs, health care, education and homeownership. you can watch the president live at knox college scheduled for 12:55 p.m. eastern over on c-span3. and we'll also have live coverage of the congressional men and boys holding their first hearing on the status of black men in the united states. tracy martin, the father of trayvon mearnt, is among -- martin, is among those. that's live at 3:00 p.m. astern today on c-span3. >> that role of the first lady, she becomes the chief confident. she's the only one in the world he can trust. so he unloads to her, talks to

her. they've all done that. hey're all strong women. they accompany a strong man. obviously that's their main role as confident to the president. >> our original series "first ladies influence and image," their influence on the presidency. watch the encore presentation of "first ladies" from martha washington to ida mckinley starting august 5 on c-span. >> former president jimmy carter was here in washington, d.c., on monday speaking at the carnegie endowment for world peace on the subject of middle east peace talks. this is about an hour.

>> good afternoon and thank you all for coming. to have ly honored with us three distinguished members of the elders club even though the elders club has been formed about six years ago by president nelson mandela of south africa, this is the first event, the first public event and we're very honored that it takes place in washington. so of course we have with us president carter, a nobel laureate. i don't need to go through the introduction. president martti ahtisaari of finland. and lakhdar brahimi, the u.n. nvoy to syria. nobel t antisaari is a

ureate and hopefully brahimi will be a future nobel laureate. the chosen focus for this meeting is the israeli-palestine conflict. given secretary kerry's announcement friday that bilateral talks will resume in washington shortly. the delegation is visiting washington at the start of the planned engagement over the coming year or so with the five members to explore how they can be helpful. from washington they'll go meetings o london for with foreign minister hague and they plan to visit moscow, visits to paris and beijing will follow. today they'll have talks with secretary kerry and susan rice mainly on the middle east and

while, you know, they are not in a position to tell us what they -- what they told them exactly, we will be hearing from them about standards regarding the peace process and what needs to be done. and i thought i'd turn first to president carter to ask you of your impression, sir, of where matters stand, what can we expect from kerry's latest initiative and upcoming negotiations. a lot of people in this town are still skeptical whether negotiations are going to lead to a break through or whether we'll see another endless process. you've been, you know, a peace negotiator, a leader who has been able to bring the two sides together. what can you tell us about this

latest round and what can we look for that might offer us more hope this time an agreement might be reached? >> thank you for letting us come. thank you, audience, for coming to be with us. i think it's accurate to say that the elders have taken upon ourselves the responsibility of probing for progress in the middle east since our very first day of meeting. this is the primary charges we got from melancon mandela when we were organized and we pursued this with numerous visits to the middle east, to israel, to the west bank and also to gaza as well as to jordan and to lebanon and to egypt. and so i think we have been able to keep in close contact with all those countries and those leaders as best we can. of course, as you may know, with brahimi, has been

responsible under the united nations and african nation for the peace process in syria. before that kofi annan, who is now the chairperson of the elders, was the envoy for peace in syria. so in many ways, the elders have remained quite deeply involved in the struggle for peace. we have a few characteristics -- first of all, none of us are involved in politics directly. many people have described us as has been politicians. we have had important positions in the past, but one of our requisites for membership is we don't hold any public office. one member stepped down when she was elected to the parliament. that's one of, i'd say, opening to freedom. we go where we wish, we meet

with whom we wish and say what we wish. so that has given us an pportunity not only to meet, as we wish, with the leadership in hamas. and we also request to north korea to try to bring some better resolution -- relationships with north korea. i need not go down the list of the things we go. we go where we wish. so we have an insight which we always share at the end of our sessions with leaders who are directly involved and still holding public office. and that includes the president and secretary of state and quite often the secretary general of the united nations. always send them a personal report very soon after we get back from any trip in which i'm involved with the elders. so all the elders have our own organizations to pursue. mayor robinson is the former president of ireland, as you

may know, and was the united high commissioner on human rights. and she has now been given a charge by the united nations security council to deal with the great lakes region which as you know, tanzania, congo and also uganda. so she's working on that. she was with us today. to had to leave us and go another meeting. kofi annan has been in russia to meet with the foreign minister of russia to talk about some of the same subjects. our next visit to a member of the permanent members of the security council, that will be going to moscow. so that's what the elders do in general. we have seen with great pleasure and excitement the intense effort that john kerry has made to recommence the peace process in the middle

east after five years of -- no one has known what he was doing exactly because as mentioned has been very quiet. we do know also from the news media -- i'm not quoting anything that john kerry has told us, but we've known that netanyahu has a coalition in israel with right-wing groups that are not in favor of a two-state solution but move to a one state controlling the area from the jordan river to the mediterranean sea. he's quite dependent on his government for their support. and that opens up a very good chance that if he should conclude a peace agreement based on the 67 borders or based on anything controlling settlements, he'll probably lose his support and form a new coalition.

abbas has very little support politically speaking from his own people and certainly not from hamas who now concentrated their presence, at least, in gaza. both leaders in the two adversarial worlds in the holy land seriously constrained by their constituency. if and when they do come to the peace talks they will have shown a great deal of courage politically and personally in chance if out this they make concessions. we've been very much impressed by things we've heard indirectly about the massive effort that is being made not just to bring them to the peace table but also try to correct some of the devastating blows hat have been done against the palestinian community economically and there are so

to things that can be done improve their economy and make sure they have some assurance no matter what they can do, they can at least survive and have a -- and have a -- i'd say an economic life of their own. so this is what's been going on so far. c.e.o. this th a morning. and he explained what he thought was some of the attitudes of the american jewish community and others with whom he's familiar. and i believe from my own experience and from what we've learned today that if and when progress is being made which we pray will happen toward a two-state solution with an independent and free and safe israel living next door to a palestinian state that they will have support not only on a worldwide basis but even from those who might in the past may

thought was feasible or advisable. i think we'll reserve my time later to any questions specifically you might have. thank you very much for giving me this chance and i've outlined things i'm sure most of you already know. >> thank you, mr. president. i'd like to turn now to mr. brahimi to give us an update of the latest efforts to bring negotiated into an extremely problem area in syria. >> thank you. it's a pleasure and honor to be here and to see many friends and very distinguished people. it's always a pleasure to meet. i'm sure everybody here is familiar with the situation in syria. recite the to depressing numbers that characterize the situation.

100,000 dead. two million at least refugees. maybe three million, four million, five million i.d.p.'s. the destruction which you see on your screen every night that makes cities in syria look like pictures of berlin in 1945. so to say that the situation is bad would be an understatement. the situation is bad and getting worse and it has been bad and has been getting worse for now two years. the important thing to mention here i think is that at long last the russians and the americans have got together and they have said a little bit of what i just told you. the situation in syria is bad.

it is extremely dangerous, not only for the syrian people but also for the region. we believe, we americans and russians said there is no military solution, but a political solution is necessary and possible. and we, americans and russians, are going to try and work together and with others to see that these political process happens. we saluted these developments with great deal of hope. when it happened on the seventh of may of this year. secretary rs and kerry has met several times since. i think they'll meet again maybe in a couple of weeks because one is visiting new york and washington.

we, the united nations, have .et with both of them they met with russia twice. to e been trying to see how bring about that will make a conference, an international conference, a u.n. conference with a good ible chance of success. we -- i don't think we have -- but nditions already i think everybody is working to conditions. the elements of a solution are already there.

they have been there for exactly one year. one year and a few -- few weeks. on the 30th of june, last year, there was a conference that was organized thanks to my predecessor, kofi annan. and the result of that conference has -- was a detailed sketch of what the solution for syria -- what the solution for syria should be. the idea now is to organize another conference that is alled -- that is referred to -- as renortheasta two. must be serious delegations because geneva one had said that what is needed is to bring the syrian present regime and the opposition together so that they can put

together a plan and process to implement the decisions of dejeefa one. -- geneva one. so this is what we're trying -- these are the conditions we're trying to create. we are not there yet. we are discussing with -- directly or indirectly with the overnment of syria in damascus with the opposition, with the i hbors of syria because because s not a secret into dangerously mutating regional conflict. ask the lebanese and jordanians and they'll tell you these two countries are really -- i don't now what word to use, thinking

. i think you perhaps have one million in lebanon. more than one million in jordan. somebody was telling me the other day that tripoli in lebanon, the second city of importance in the country, is now inhabited by almost 50% of its inhabitants are syrian. if you're a member of the flow f -- the refugees that went to libya, the whole of arms was -- was up in arms. they can't receive these 20,000 people. little jordan and little lebanon having already more than one million refugees and i think that the flow of refugees is more or less, you know,

every day -- and it is still continuing 3,000, 4,000, 5,000, up to 6,000 refugees going into jordan and little bit also elsewhere. so, you know, the situation once again is extremely bad. it is -- you know, the country is being destroyed. criticized by both -- heavily criticized by both sides. both the ore, address opposition and the government to o show some kindness their people, to their country and also to their history. if any -- i'm sure there are many of you who know syria know

how rich culturally this country is. now there is a church that goes back to the year 57. it has been destroyed or damaged. destroyed.has been the mosque in bela has been destroyed. halepo has n the -- been burned. and, of course, in situations like this, you have a lot of artifacts that are stolen and taken out of the country. so it's not only the present and future of syria that is under threat. it's also their past. and our common history really

that is being destroyed. thank you. how far are we that a solution will be found? we are very hopeful. there is no better way but to work for a solution but also lie to ones self it's not going to be easy. thank you. >> thank you very much, sir. president ahtisaari, i thought we could ask you about the linkages between israel and pal stan, including the role iran could play. is there an opportunity for iran to be a more constructive player? what do you make of all these interlinkages in the region? >> [inaudible] i was asked about my elders' colleagues to come to new york and to talk to members of the

security council and to find out what their attitudes in the case of syria were. and i did come -- i was in new york from the 22nd to the 24th of february last year. >> so i met the permanent representative or deputies ecause -- american and chinese

were in the capitals. and i must say -- and while i was there, then kofi annan took p the special envoy's task while i was in new york. i was extremely disappointed that the permanent members were so incapable of starting to talk. because they are permanent u.n. -- and i'm an old hand, as many of you know. i always say that permanent members have important and responsible tasks which they have to fulfill. they have more responsibilities than ordinary members of the security council. and from my talks with the permanent members, i didn't feel it would have been impossible to find a common position.

without going any further on the details. you heard lakhdar brahimi happened t what has and how the situation has deteriorated, but when i thought about these interlinkages i am today much more optimistic than perhaps a few months earlier for various reasons. me have nothing to do with the three countries that our chairman mentioned. if i look at how i see that the permanent members are getting their act together on other issues as well, i mentioned north korea. it's today i see that we may have a situation developing where the americans, chinese and russians can actually

cooperate in the denuclearization. every opening that leads to positive cooperation will help n the other areas as well. there is now a serious effort week on hopefully this israel and palestine and that is an important element here as well. d what we hear lately -- not only here in washington but in start that finally we hearing that we should seriously start looking for political solutions in syria and not talk about military solutions because i think far too little has been discussed

and thought what will happen if one really seriously starts pursuing a military option in syria. because what are the consequences? we also have a positive development. as you mentioned, the new president in iran which definitely keeps an opening, i think this is the moment that we have to actually talk to everybody. and start the dialogue, not only on nuclear issues but other issues as well. nd therefore i hope that these developments that i have mentioned now will actually -- it will take time but we will finally start looking for political solutions which i think we should have -- i was disappointed a year ago because -- they there would

would be getting done. but as special envoy with a number of missions in the past, i know how brilliant the special representatives are. f they don't have the main support, they can't do a damn thing. that's something that is very important for you to nderstand. i don't think when kofi annan started he didn't have the support of the permanent -- i mean, support that would have actually led to a concrete result, and it took a long time before the -- now the united states and russia are talking and we hopefully are ending up in geneva and see where we go from there. >> thank you very much. we'll open it up to questions.

there is a lot of people in the room so please make your questions short. we have about 20, 25 minutes of question time. so -- yes, please. >> thank you, mr. president. i'm a journalist. i want to ask you, sir. after meeting with secretary kerry today, what gives you hope that this time around there is a push on a momentum forward and it's not a deja vu that hearkens back to previous negotiations? thank you, sir. >> well, i'm not referring to anything that secretary kerry said, but it seems to us having met with him and having been involved in it for a long time that this is certainly a pernicious time because there's been almost a five-year absence of bringing the two parties

together. there have been resistant to any move toward accommodation. enough to sit in the same room together with the americans' president. that in and of itself is an encouraging sign. i mentioned earlier, which i need not repeat, how terrible the pressure is on both of the leaders not to go to the negotiating table if it involves the most crucial single element and that is borders. so the question is, will the united states insist on 1967 borders with modifications based on land swaps? that has been the crucial unanswered question for a long time. know, the arab peace initiative which began in 2002, has now been modified to include the phrase, with land swaps. so to some degree, both sides know that might be on the table. the israelis cannot say it

publicly. netanyahu cannot admit it publicly because he's been promised that his two major supporters on the right wing will abandon his government if he does. so he's going to stay mute on the stand. of course, the united states is going to be asked by the palestinians to repeat our position and is compatible with international law that it's 1967 borders only to be changed with good faith negotiations and agreements by both sides, land swaps. that's a key issue. if they can address that in a substantive way, then other will or will not be resolved. the other thing that is always difficult is jerusalem. so that's an encouraging thing. the other thing that's very important is with the stepdown of the prime minister, there has been a negative reaction all over the western world to the possibility of the

palestinians having any sort of economic progress and it's been announced in the press at least that some of the major breakthroughs has been that the israelis and others, europeans and other members, are dedicated to helping the palestinians survive even if the israelis cut off their income from customs and so forth. so this will put the palestinians back on the basis of being self-supporting during the troublesome time when they might make concessions that are not popular back home. i think those two things are the most important for me. nobody knows what's going to happen. they might meet the first time and adjourn. i don't know about that. there's been pressure from the palestinian people and from the israeli people to have a resolution of this issue. the hamas, with whom we meet

regularly, posing any sort of peace talks. my experience in meeting with the hamas leaders is they are willing to accept a peace agreement that has been negotiated between the p.l.o. and israel. if those terms will be submitted to the palestinians for a referendum and that can be a major step if the peace terms are concluded at the negotiating table. so that is at least a chance to bring hamas onboard even though they're not going to be onboard in the interim period. that summarizes my reasons for being much more hopeful than i was a month ago or five years ago. >> what happened to resolution 242? [inaudible] if you may remember at camp

david, the israelis agreed to abide by 242, the key part is acquisition by territory by force and that means they'll withdraw from the west bank and other occupied territories and that is part of the camp david accords in 1978 which was ratified by the israeli parliament and also by the egyptian parliament. that commitment by the raelis have been violated. i think if it does prevail, as we just hope for that that's still to come, i think that would be in effect to honor the basic thrust of 242. that is israelis must withdraw from palestine and live in peace side by side with a two-state solution. deal with could 242. >> we have a domestic issue receiving international attention. do you think that we have a

orm of two states and/or apartheid in the united states? >> no, we don't have two states in the united states. we have separation between red and blue states and representation of the constituency brought about in my opinion brought by the massive inclusion of money most of which is spent on negative advertisements that creates division and the two parties and carries over to washington. the thing about which i'm most concerned, though, is the growing separation in america between the richest americans and the poorest americans. and also a basic negative attitude toward people who are different from us. one example, and that is that a number of presidents -- persons incarcerated in america is 700% more than it was when i left office. we are now putting people in prison and keeping them there. i think there is a difference

in our country, but i have confidence that our country will survive, will overcome this problem even if it takes a new majority in the supreme court who made the stupid decision, in my opinion, on citizens united, and i don't think the congress is going to change that. if we see a more enlightened and wise and judgmental supreme court, we'll see the citizens united reverse and return back to a more honest election. so it's a complicated question you've given me. i don't think there is apartheid in this country. >> can i please say something on that issue? because i have during the last one year read three books which i recommend. , if politics vel"

is good for everybody. price of inequality. nowadays when i speak in my own country -- and i very often say we don't in today's world need capitalism. we don't need socialism. we need responsible market economics which the countries represent at their best. i hope some of you read the economist a few months ago. there was one of the subtitles which said if you want to experience the american dream, go to sweden. [laughter] they could have mentioned any of us in the minorityic countries. -- in the in orderic countries. -- in the nordic countries. >> i have a couple of questions for mr. brahimi. can you explain what is the holdup on geneva?

is it the u.s. and russia agreeing on the invite list or is it the u.s. hoping to shift the balance to favor the opposition? and do you envision any solution to syria with russia staying in power? >> very easy question. ou know, what is holding the conference is i think frank he -- i osition is divided think frankly the opposition is divided. that's not a secret. they are trying to get their to together, work their way a truly representative delegation to represent the pposition in the conference. so that is one of the problems. there is no doubt i think it is

fair to say the russians and the americans have gone very, very long way to wear they are now. it is really great but they are saying things i said a while ago. this is a problem. there is no military solution. there can be -- there must be and there can be a political solution. think they are still working their differences. they are talking to us. i think we are moving forward a ittle bit. the opposition is working its they owly, but i think if get there, it is not time wasted. it is time gained. there is no doubt there are differences about who should

attend this conference. that hasn't been worked out yet. so these are the problems that are holding up the holding of the conference. of u look at the 30th june, 2012, geneva declaration, u will see a very detailed genda for -- to get from where we are in syria to what i call the new republic in syria. and one of the things that are clearly stated there is that, you know, the idea of getting these two delegations together is that they will agree on the creation of what is called in geneva one declaration, the governing body with full

executive power. i think this is very clear. we are going to have an is utive body i think another name for a transitional government. that transitional government will have full executive power and that it will govern the country until the time comes for an election to take place. there is a lot of details there , but i think geneva one did ot speak about president assad. but i think it will lead to a new syria. i think they have been saying all along -- hasn't been popular with a lot of people -- that the time for cosmetic change in syria and elsewhere

in the region is past. and that people are demanding real change, transformation of society and syria is no exception. >> ok. et me see. in the back. >> i have a follow-up to mr. brahimi, if you don't mind, on syria. is impression in washington that if you look at the situation on the ground it looks like he's making progress on the ground. if he's winning militarily, how do you think we're going to convince him to go to geneva, to have transition that's going to undermine [inaudible] and my other question, i've

been here for a year and a half, two years now, no olution. [inaudible] thank you. >> you know, when i briefed the security council in november, people were extremely critical of me because i refused to say that the opposition was winning last at regime was in the few days. i think most people in november of last year were convinced that the regime had lost and it that the opposition was winning and that it was a question of months, perhaps weeks. think that was not correct.

now you have a lot of people saying that the government is winning, the regime is winning. the regime is doing much better than it did in november of last year. that is true. but in situations like this, making progress and winning is wo different things. look at how long it took them regain -- there was about 500 people in a town. it took them weeks and weeks before they took it back. look at hamas. the two or three tiny little parts of humas that's still in the hands of the opposition, i think they said 2,500 people there.

it has been four, five, six weeks. they haven't got anywhere. so they are doing well at the moment. they are not doing well everywhere and that is why i and a lot of other people including now the united states of america and the russian federation, we say there is no ilitary victory for anybody. there is a lot of destruction. the opposition has the upper hand, the next day the government. but the war is going on, the killing is going on. get out of the vicious circle to a political process that can end this conflict. >> perhaps we can take three or four questions at a time.

>> let me say one aspect. i don't want to -- when the fighting goes on in a conflict for such a long time that we have seen in syria as well, it becomes very difficult for those who have been opposing the sitting government to accept that they should organize the elections. and to negotiate so that the interim or transitional government is extremely complicated as we have seen in many, many situations. so i hope that one does not give up entirely the possibility if it can't be used and it can't always be used but ask the u.n. to organize the elections because u.n. is capable of doing that and then monitor even if the u.n. doesn't it should be monitored properly, that there's enough eople.

>> [inaudible] >> i haven't seen an election yet in the world where it would not be involved. and i want to compliment president carter. >> we won't get involved in the u.s. election. the united states does not qualify. >> hi. good evening, gentlemen. thank you for being here. i have a quick question for mr. brahimi and president carter. mr. brahimi. i was born and raised in lebanon. i've been following the conflict closely and your work on the conflict closely as well. you mentioned the issue with geneva two and the holdup is the members who will or will not come to the table. if you could by some miracle convince everybody to get along and come to the table, who do

you think would be a crucial member at the table? and then once if the transitional government is created, how do you convince the people on the ground who have a problem communicating with the outside world that these are their legitimate representatives? and president carter, you have been a strong advocate of the peaceful solution in palestinian-israel for years. i was just wondering, is it any easier today than it was when you were president? [laughter] >> let's take one more question in the back. lease. jat with the glasses. >> -- the gentleman with the ghasses. >> thank you. i'd like to ask you. my sense from speaking with palestinian civic leaders is there's a lot of resistance to those that have been sort of understood in the past. for example, an extended israeli military presence in

the jordan valley, demilitarized palestinian state, only a token return of refugees, that there's more resistance to that of the palestinian people than there was perhaps years ago. do you think that's true and if so do you think that's too big an obstacle to overcome especially in light of the hamas demand for public referendum? >> well, i don't think it's easier now than it was when i was there. you have to remember when i became president there was no demand on me to be engaged in peace talks. there had been four terrible wars during the previous 25 years. we felt when one was elected that was the end for any peace talks. but i found that sadat and the other was strong enough and courageous enough and wise

enough to reach an agreement. so we proceeded to make an effort. i think what john kerry faces now is even more formedible than it was back in those -- formidable than it was back in those days. it's hard to judge between those two times. very difficult. the question is whether the palestinian people and the israeli people want peace enough to prevail. let's make compromise for peace. i think as far as the palestinians are concerned, the jordan river valley was never mentioned as being part of israel or controlled by israel i believe until bill clinton was in office and went to camp david and so forth. t i never dreamed when i was negotiating back in the earlier times that israel would control the jordan valley. we anticipated that jordan go east of the 1967 green

line or borders. so that's a difference now. and i'm not sure that the palestinians will ever accept israel controlling the jordan river valley as well as major portion of the rest of the west bank. what they're talking about now is some land swaps. and that's been a very interesting thing because i met with one of the most conservative leaders that israel has ever had and he pointed out a land swap i thought was intriguing that the audience might find interesting and that is that the pals would grant israel -- palestinians would grant israel an equal acreage of land that would be granted to the palestinians to form a land corridor between gaza and the west bank which is about 36 miles. on that land corridor would be built a railroad and a highway

whose security would be guaranteed by israel but it would be owned and operated by the palestinians. that looks like a very wonderful future possibility that might occur. i think the things that you mentioned are very effective. the last thing that you mentioned was the right of return. i don't think there's going to be any amount of refugee returning to israel except a few families that israel might grant like a handful or a dozen. a token. i think the return might be, though, just in the west bank r just in gaza and nowhere else. those are the three things that you mentioned. they are all difficult and i think that the referendum is good because, as you know, netanyahu said he's not going to agree to anything, even in the latest kerry proposal unless he smits it to the israeli people to approve in a

referendum. that's exactly the position that hamas has had ever since i've been meeting with them personally for the last 10, 12 years. that whatever peace agreement is reached between the p.l.o. and israel they will accept it basically if the palestinian people and a referendum approve it. i think that's kind of a good way because eventually if the leaders at the negotiating table accept a peace agreement i believe it almost guarantees that the people back home would accept the same thing. >> you know, the syrians do not deny the fact that their society is breaking up, that they are divided in so many ways and so many different ways. wanted, the main

groups that comprise of the opposition agree ton a political platform -- agree on a political platform and a widely represented delegation. i think that the syrian people and also the opposition, they understand that it is impossible to represent everybody in a process like this. i don't know of any process in a complicated situational conflict where the people only negotiated accepted as fully represented by all of the people. when we were in afghanistan -- in afghanistan when we concluded the meeting, i told the afghans that were there, you are not fully representative of your people. but you come to an agreement. you've come to an agreement. if we go back to afghanistan

and mplement this properly allow this process, nobody will remember that you were not represented. but if we say, of course, this agreement was signed by 35 people -- so this is, you know, a similar situation. f we get to geneva and we have a fairly represented delegation, there is a lot of ork to do. >> would you like to say anything? >> no. >> i'm afraid that's all the time we have. let me first say a few words. you're all invited to a reception which will take place on the first floor, on the grand floor. all our guests will have media interviews for 10 minutes and then after that they will join

the reception. but i would like to ask you to, one, remain seated until they are able to leave the room and go to the media interview. and i hope you join me in thanking what has been truly a -- [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> that role of the first lady, she becomes the chief confident. she's really in a way the only one in the world he can really trust so he unloads to her, talks to her. they've all done that. they're all strong women. of course they accompany usually a strong man to where

he was. but i would say that's their main role is confident to the perfect. >> our original series "first ladies: influence and image" examine the public and private life of these women and their influence of the presidency. watch the encore of "first ladies" from martha washington to ida mckinley starting august 5 on c-span. >> the u.s. house is gaveling in next. they will start with short speeches, including one by speaker john boehner on jobs and the economy. this in reaction to the president's speeches today. the first one coming up at 12:55. that will be on c-span3 at knox college in galesburg, illinois. also in the house, they'll resume the defense 2014 spending bill, including amendments that would blockade to the syrian opposition and the egyptian military and also the amendment by justin amash of michigan which would limit

the n.s.a.'s ability to store, collect and store data records. that's coming up later this afternoon. but they will begin legislative work this afternoon by debating the rule for two separate environmental bills, one focused on coal ash regulations. the other on e.p.a. rules. live to the house floor here now on c-span.

the speaker: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered today by our guest chaplain, reverend john rempleds, baptist church, orange city, florida. the chaplain: father, we are humbly grateful for your blessing on our lives and on our nation. we ask your forgiveness in every area where we have failed

you. i pray these honorable representatives elected to serve you here in this house will seek, find and follow your wisdom. we can have simple solutions to problems. our country needs reliable solutions. i pray, also, for the needs of all in the house today. bless them their families, their constituents with your oving care and protection. please bless those serving in our military, striving to maintain the peace and freedom we enjoy. may we not neglect nor abuse those blessings. my father, at your instruction, i pray for all those in authority over me and i ask that you help your people to be good citizens for your glory and the good of this nation. in geez yuss -- in jesus name i

pray. 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. for what purpose does the gentleman from montana rise? mr. daines: mr. speaker, pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, i demand a vote on agreeing to the speaker's approval. the speaker: those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the journal stands approved. the gentleman from montana. mr. daines: mr. speaker, i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and i make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will e postponed. the pledge of allegiance today will be led by the gentleman from south carolina, mr. duncan. mr. duncan: 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 remind the house that on july 4, 1998 at 3:40 p.m. officer jacob chestnut and detective john m. gibson of the united states capitol police were lled in the line of duty defending the capitol against an intruder armed with a gun. at 3:40 today, the chair will recognize the anniversary of this tragedy by observing a moment of silence in their memory. the chair lays the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir, in light of the fact that i have been working with alabama governor robert bentley to find the earliest possible date for the special election which will occur following my resignation so that my successor can be seated at the earliest possible time during the 113th congress, i wish to inform you that i

will resign my feet effective 11:59 p.m., august 2, 2013. signed sincerely, jo bonner, ember of congress. the speaker: without objection, the gentleman from florida, mr. mica, is recognized for one minute. mr. mica: mr. speaker, it's a great honor today to introduce to the house our guest chaplain, dr. john reynolds of orange city, florida. to our good fortune in florida, he was invited by four families to find a commurch in orange city, florida, in -- church in orange city, florida, in 1996. it now has 1,500 members, one of the largest congress recombations in volusia -- congregations in volusia county, florida. in addition to his pastorial work, dr. reynolds has preached at conferences across the nation and foreign countries. his leadership and willingness

to help others is an inspiration to all. dr. reynolds graduated in 1964 from tennessee temple college in chattanooga and started his church ministry. he returned to temple baptist 1968. y and graduated in his life experiences include many positions which include president of a christian recording company, vice president of development and -- of his alma mater and minister of music. dr. reynolds is married to his lovely wife, beth -- becky, and n 1964 they were married and they have four children, two of whom are preachers. i ask you to welcome dr. reynolds and his wife, becky. we thank him for offering the prayer in the united states house of representatives and am pleased to yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain up to 15 further requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle.

for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio seek recognition? the speaker: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. the speaker: mr. speaker and my colleagues, i was interested today to hear that the president was going to give a speech about the economy. after all, republicans have a plan for growth and jobs. we've been focused on that plan and we certainly welcome the president's ideas. but the white house says it's not expected to say anything new and are no new proposals in this speech. it president himself said isn't going to change any minds. so exactly what will change? what's the point? what is it going to accomplish? probably got the answer. nothing. it's a hollow shell. it's an easter egg with no candy in it. now, if the president wants to help, he ought to approve the ystone x.l.line that has bipartisan support -- pipeline that has bipartisan support in the house.

and delay the health care bill to give the american people their families and individuals the same break he wants to give to big businesses. and he ought to stop threatening the shutdown of the government unless we raise taxes. because americans aren't asking the question, where are the speeches, they're asking, where re the jobs. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland seek recognition? mr. hoyer: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. hoyer: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, as the speaker has said, later today members and staff from both parties will come together to remember the tragic shooting that occurred 15 years ago in this capitol. a lone gunman tried to enter the building through what we now know as memorial door. john gibson and officer jacob

chestnut. gibson from virginia, chestnut from maryland, courageously placed themselves between the gunman and not only all of us who serve here but all of us who visit here. they gave their lives, mr. speaker, to protect this institution that is the foundation of our democracy. and they died protecting the many people who come here each day to serve our country, to see their government in action and put much of themselves into making america better and stronger and safer for us all. on this day and every day let us remember detective gibson and officer chestnut, heroic sacrifice, and let us appreciate the dedicated and often unsung service of the united states capitol police personnel who stand watch every hour over our safety, our lives

and our ability to perform our duties without fear or violence. may god bless their families and keep us safe. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina 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 gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. in the runup to the american revolution, american colonialists were concerned over the english government's use of general warrants, giving british authorities to enter into private homes or businesses without evidence of wrongdoing to search for and seize anything they considered contraband under english laws and taxation. mr. duncan: this land including this and the -- included this in the united states constitution, amendment four, the right of the people to be ecure in their houses, effects against searches and seizures and no warrant shall be issue

but upon probable cause supported by oath and affirmation. that is why this debate over n.s.a. programs is so important. americans should be secure in their private papers, electronic or otherwise, against unreasonable searches and seizures and with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from rhode island seek recognition? mr. cicilline: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. cicilline: mr. speaker, earlier this year the united states senate passed a bipartisan immigration bill that brings each of our 50 states under the umbrella of a single uniform immigration policy that's easy to understand, it's fair, focuses on uniting families, protects new immigrants from exploitation, secures our borders and creates a path to citizenship for new americans. it's critical for us to seize this moment. a group of republicans and democrats are working to craft a bipartisan house proposal that establishes a road map that's achievable and accompanied by a demonstration of the responsibilities of

citizenship for the millions of men and women already living here today who aspire to become citizens of this great nation. and the american people deserve a vote on comprehensive immigration reform. according to the american for center progress, immigration reform would create 125,000 bs each year for the next 10 years. fixing our broken immigration system will reduce the federal deficit by about $200 billion over the next 10 years and $700 billion in the next decade after that. too many years congress has failed the american people on this issue. i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do what's right for our country and for families all across america and fix our broken immigration system. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio 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. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i come to the floor today to talk about the benefits of cancer research and the importance of the national institutes of health, n.i.h. in my home state of ohio,

66,000 people will be diagnosed with a cancer this year and over 25,000 will lose their battle with this devastating disease. ohio receives essential funding from n.i.h. each year. it funds life-saving medical esearch that is is preventing, diagnosis cancers. this takes place at universities, hospitals, labs across my case, including the cancer center and the james cancer center at the ohio state university. mr. gibbs: in addition to combating cancer and so many other diseases, they provide tens of millions of dollars. every dollar invest to biomedical cancer research translates to $2.21 investment in the local economy. in 2012 alone, ohio received over $800 million of n.i.h. funding. cancer disease does not discriminate against age, race

or many people, friends or loved ones that have been affected by this terrible disease. i urge my colleagues to support cancer research. thank you. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? mr. higgins: 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. higgins: mr. speaker, the 2014 transportation-housing and urban development appropriations bill, which is currently awaiting consideration on the house floor, has a devastating 50% cut to the community development and block grant program. these grants provide eligible communities with funding to increase economic activity and create jobs. many regions, including western new york, have benefited from the availability of community development block grants that support neighborhood reinvestment, affordable housing and economic development. mr. speaker, this program has a strong history of bipartisan support since its creation by president gerald ford in 1974. shamefully, the amount funded this year is actually $1

billion less. $1 billion less than what was allocated to the program 39 years ago. i'm proud to have joined over 100 of my house colleagues to express concern with this funding cut and urge block grant funding to be fully restored. these cuts that come at the expense of our local communities would have a negative impact on the national economy. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. pitts: every week i hear from constituents who are being hurt by the implementation of the affordable care act. the law's imposing new costs on businesses and workers, reducing take-home pay, reducing the number of jobs available, reducing the number of hours employees are working. survey after survey confirms that the anecdotes i hear from back home are true for americans across the country. a survey of 300 accountants finds that employers are holding back on hiring workers and that

some are even parring back their payrolls. cnbc reports that doctors are skeptical and confused by -- about the implementation of the law. workers, doctors and employers have every right to be confused, since the affordable care act is being implemented haphazardly and without regard to the law as it is written. beneficiaries will sign up for subsidies without income verification. we won't truly know what we'll get until october, but we can say with confidence that it won't be what the president promised years ago. americans won't be saving $2,500 a year, many will lose the coverage they have, others will have to switch to a new doctor. many promises have already been broken. and more disappointment is bound to happen. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from new mexico seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, recently one of our republican colleagues made remarks about the hispanic community and children have no

place in our public discourse. mr. lujan: this offends our entire nation. in talking about dreamers, representative steve king said, quote, for every one who is a valedictorian, there's another hundred out there who weigh 130 pounds and they have calfs the sinde size of cantaloupes because they're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert. mr. speaker, i don't know what's more disappointing. the most extreme voices in the house republican conference continue to make appalling comments about the hispanic community, or that the rest of my republican colleagues are silent on this kind of offensive and outrageous rhetoric. at a time when we should be, working together to address our broken immigration system, these hateful words only seek to divide rather than bring together and find common ground. it's no wonder that the american people continue to see house republicans as out of touch. when comments like these are made. i yield back the balance of my

time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. johnson: mr. speaker, energy vision 2020rks it's an all-american, all-of-the-above energy vision that puts our nation on the path to energy independence and security. how? we don't take anything off the table. we harvest and explore all of our energy options, not stifle them. we do this through real regulatory reform, cutting red tape and empowering private market innovation. we work to keep our projects and technologies safe. if a venture is dangerous or environmentally unsafe, then say no. but the key is, no can't be the final answer. regulatory agencies must become partners in progress with america's industries and businesses, striving to reach our full potential and finding the answers we need to get there. there will be opponents to progress, environmental extremists will throw their tired rhetoric around with no

basis in scientific fact. but we can't sit idly by letting america remain dependent on foreign energy sources and letting other countries seize our businesses and innovation opportunities. energy 2020 will get us focused. it's the next great horizon of american exceptionalism and with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from florida seek recognition? without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. wilson: mr. speaker, it's now been -- it has now been 934 days since i came to congress and there has not been a single vote on serious legislation to address our unemployment crisis. amidst the distractions, amidst the scandals, amidst the tragedies, the single overriding focus of the american people remains the same -- jobs and the economy. the polls speak volumes.

mr. speaker, today i'm taking an important step to end distractions and get the congress back to work for the people, for the unemployed, for the suffering. today i'm reintroducing president obama's americans job act which expired last year without even reaching the house floor. the american jobs act is popular for a reason. independent analysts have shown it would create 1.9 million jobs . mr. speaker, bring this bill to a vote and you will restore public trust in the congress of the united states of america. the american jobs act deserves a vote. mr. speaker, our mantra should be jobs, jobs, jobs. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman rom arkansas seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman s recognized for one minute. >> more than 100,000 arkansans

work in the retail-restaurant-lodging and other service sectors. these service industries have helped keep the american economy afloat in recent years, from restaurants like u.s. cafe where i flippedburgers and fried fish as a teenager, to the convention hotels in hot springs, arkansans rely on service industries every day as both employees and customers. unfortunately the obama administration's many failed policies are emperiling our service sector. nowhere is this more true than with obamacare. service-oriented companies often have large and shifting work forces, they operate on extremely thin margins and they cannot thrive in uncertainty. mr. cotton: obamacare brings nothing but uncertainty. the house took an important step last week by voting to delay both the employer and the individual mandates in obamacare. but the only real solution is to repeal this awful law. otherwise service sector

employees and businesses will suffer continued setbacks which means our economy will suffer yet another blow. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from massachusetts seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i rise to discuss a bahraini prisoner of conscience, a prominent human rights activist and the president of the bahrain center for human rights. when he was sentenced to three years in jail simply for engaging in nonviolent political protests. is he not alone. scores of prisoners are incarcerated in bahrain because they have called for meaningful reforms. his abusive treatment by bahraini security forces starkly contradicts bahrain's pronouncements of full-fledged support for human rights. i ask for the immediate release of this man and seek the full support of congress and the obama administration. he is the focus of the defending freedoms project, a collaborative initiative spear headed by the tom lantos human rights commission that invites members of congress to stand up for prisoners of conscience around the world through various

actions. today i invite my colleagues to take part in this important nonpartisan opportunity, our voices can make a difference in the release of these prisoners. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from montana seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. daines: after spending 12 years in the technology sector and more specifically cloud computing, i know firsthand the power that data holds. i also understand the potential for abuse and the threats to americans' civil liberties that come with mass collections of data. recent reports of the n.s.a. blanket collection of american phone records demonstrate the serious need for reforms to protect liberty and prevent abuse. that's why i'm proud to support congressman amash's amendment to prevent the n.s.a. from using the patriot act to collect the records of americans who are not subject to a patriot act investigation. this amendment helps protect law-abiding americans from government overreach.

the status quo is not acceptable and i hope this amendment will be a driving force for much-needed reforms and greater transparency and accountability. we've seen what big government looks like. no one would have thought that the i.r.s. would turn against the american people and yet here we are. we must always be vigilant and guard against the overreach of power while continuing to fight to defend liberty and urge my colleagues to support this amendment and stand for americans' fourth amendment protections. thank you and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. swalwell: this weekend st. anne catholic parish in union city is celebrating its 40th anniversary festival. st. anne's was founded in 1860 as a mission, before the city of union city even existed. the current parish was established in 1973 and has been serving the surrounding community ever since. today st. anne is one of the

largest parishes in my congressional district with over 5,000 parishioners led by my friend, father geoffrey. with father geoffrey's guidance, st. anne helps serve the ethnically and culturally diverse city of union city and helps to ensure that the church lives up to its core mission, to lead with compassion. through its parishioners, youth ministry and hardworking staff, st. anne continues to help the homeless and the hungry of its community. this annual festival serves as a celebration and a reminder of the hard work and selfless service that went into building st. anne's. and the funds raised during the festival will help the church continue to serve with collaboration, fellowship and stewardship. i wish st. anne all the best and i hope they have a great 40th anniversary festival. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman s recognized for one minute. mr. fleming:ke a

american can be tried in a u.s. court and sent to an american prison for violating an obscure foreign law. yes, you heard that right. that's already happened under a little-known provision in the lacey act. law in y act became a 1900's as a good protection against poachers. but it's been expanded since. now if you unknowingly import a product that violates a regulation from an exporting country, you can end up in a u.s. federal courtroom and sent to a federal prison. one seafood importer spent six years in jail for importing lobsters that violated a regulation in honduras. a few lobster tails were too small and they were shipped in a plastic -- in plastic instead of cardboard. even the hon douran government said these rules were obsolete. then, a man had to pay $350,000

to settle federal charges that the company bought wood from madagascar that was 1/6 of an inch too thick. it's time to end this unreasonable and unconstitutional prosecutions of americans on american soil for obscure foreign laws. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. hinojosa: mr. speaker, america expects members of congress to exemplify what is great about our country. they expect us to represent virtues of tolerance, respect and intelligence, generalizations about children, about entire races of people are intolerant. this respectful and -- it's disrespectful and not very intelligent. our country expects better from us. recent comments made by one

colleague across the aisle are far below those expectations. forget for a moment that the dream act is the right thing to do and will help grow our economy. forget that most dreamers are the best and the brightest of our country and that passing the dream act will increase dreamers' earnings by an aggregate of 19%, totaling $148 billion in wages by 2030, triggering more spending on goods and services throughout $181 onomy and generating billion in increased economic growth by 2030, creating millions of jobs for americans. forget that providing a strong incentive for dreamers to further their education will add 223,000 college diplomas to the work force and open doors to better paying jobs. forget all that and remember that these are children. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from north carolina seek recognition? ms. foxx: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute.

ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. the federal government is not the master puppet ear of higher education, though a litany of burdensome regulations suggest that's what it's angling for. we all want college to be more affordable and we want tone courage students who -- and we want to make sure that students who work hard have the opportunity to attend a higher education school. those goals are counterproductive and costly. restrictive regulations stifle pioneering institutions at a time when forward-thinking solutions are desperately needed to meet the changing demands of an increasingly diverse american student body. with less punitive federal intervention, congress will be able to work carefully with students, families, educators and higher learning institutions to address the issues of college affordability, accountability and transparency during the re-authorization of the higher education act. the administration should think outside the box with us so that education can be more accessible and affordable.

we should start by reducing the size of the costly regulatory footprint in higher education. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek recognition? without objection, the gentlelady is recognizes -- the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. mrs. capps: mr. speaker, yesterday i was dismayed to see the interior environment appropriations subcommittee approve a 2014 funding bill that cuts e.p.a. funding by 34%. such a drastic, unnecessary cut would prevent e.p.a. from addressing critical air quality, water quality and climate change issues that have direct impacts on human health. as everyone knows by now, we are already feeling the impacts of climate change. stronger storms, more severe droughts, hotter heat waves, but it's our children and our grandchildren who will bare the brunt of these impacts in -- bear the brunt of these impacts

in the future. we've already seen that there are higher rates of asthma and infectious diseases in children and these propose cuts to e.p.a. will only make things worse. mr. speaker, we have the opportunity and the responsibility to act now, to protect our children and our grandchildren from the impacts of climate change. i urge my colleagues, let's stop these short-sighted political games and start taking action to address climate change, protect the long-term health of future generations and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to ask once more that my colleagues in congress will help protect children by co-sponsoring the colin davenport child protection act. until recent changes by the north carolina legislature, the punishment of someone who calls permanent, severe, mental injury to our child in a state was just four to six years.

sadly inadequate and ambiguous child abuse laws are not unique to north carolina. my little friend was abused by her caretaker which smashed her head against a wall. as a father and a grandfather, i was deeply moved by her situation, as i'm sure you are. : now is the time to protect america's children. this new legislation focuses on child abusers guilty of the most heinous acts of abuse. those who destroy a child's future should receive much more than a slap on the wrist. may god bless kyla and her family and all who we seek to protect. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. . sires: mr. speaker, i rise

today to speak on the disgraceful remarks made by another member of this body. you know, my parents brought me to this country at the age of 11. they brought me here for the freedoms. they brought me here for the opportunities. and they never told me to strap 75 pounds of marijuana on my thighs so we can sell it in america. it is disgraceful that a member of this body would demean this house and what this country represents when you make remarks like that. i recognize not all members of this body feel the same way. you know, i represent ellis island, the statue of liberty, two monuments that symbolize the history of america as a nation of immigrants. so when you make remarks like

one of the members made, it's not only ignoreant but quite frankly stew -- ignoreant but quite frankly stupid of not recognizing the history of this country. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to bring attention to the plight of one. mr. hultgren: he's a prisoner of conscience, unable to enjoy the fundamental freedoms enshrined in the universal declaration of human rights. an advocate of democracy, fu helped find the unrecognized democracy party of china. for this he was arrested for inciting subversion of state power. fu cannot speak for himself so others, including myself, must advocate on his behalf. my own effort in support of him are part of a project created by the tom lantos human rights

commission through which members of congress can bring attention to the plight of prisoners of conscience. through this work we seek to pierce the darkness and shatter the silence that has enveloped him and others like him. silence is not an option. silence means he will likely remain in prison and the government of china will elude accountability for its deplorable human rights violations. i call on all people of conscience to raise their voice on support of him. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from nevada seek recognition? without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. titus: this past weekend i was shocked to hear the new standard for productivity, leadership and good governance set here in the house of representatives. rather than looking at the success of the american people, the speaker of the house said we should be judged by the number of laws we repeal.

this isn't a standard. it's an excuse for failure. good governance is not measured by the 38 times we voted to repeal health care. it's measured by the ability to compromise and create substantial solutions to the issues facing this country. while house republicans continue to obstruct, repeal and repeat 11 million undocumented immigrants remain in the shadow. seven million students bear high student loan rates. 6.7 million children risk going to bed hungry and every single woman in this country makes 77 cents to the dollar made by a man. i say it's time that we need a new agenda and certainly a new standard for success. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i come to the house floor to recognize the contributions of

wo great women from new york's 27th congressional district. tonight, helen filliman and the late flousy bragg will be honored in south wales for becoming the first female firefighters in erie county's 50 years ago. it was back in 1963 when helen and flossy decided to join the ranks of what was then an all-male department. in doing so they made history in not only south wales but all of erie county. they became pioneer for women in the fire service in western new york, leading the way for women to join the ranks to volunteer fire companies which is now commonplace. today it is estimated that 35,000 to 45,000 women are involved in volunteer fire service across this great country. i want to thank and acknowledge helen and flossy for helping to lead the way. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida 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 inute. > thank you. mr. deutch: a new nbc poll says that 83% of americans disapprove of the job congress is doing, but that shouldn't be surprising when we're not doing any job at all. house republican leaders are working off of a to don't list. don't pass gun violence legislation that could save lives. don't pascual pay for women that could boost -- don't pass equal pay for women that could boost families income. don't pass immigration reform that could grow our economy. don't create a national infrastructure bank that could create new jobs. and don't pass a green energy bill that could finally tackle climate change. it doesn't have to be this way. but when your agenda is to do nothing, it's easy to get -- to get nothing done when you

operate off of a to don't list. solving problems and reaching compromise may be hard work, but it's the work the american people sent us here to do. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from west virginia eek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. mckinley: later today the president will once again refocus his efforts on jobs. well, house republicans never lost our focus on jobs. we have a plan to create jobs, growing our economy, secure our future for all americans by expanding opportunity, not expanding government. our plan holds the government accountable to hardworking taxpayers. our plan raines in runaway government spending. our plan combats waste and abows in government. our plan promotes an all-of-the-above, all-american energy strategy that will create jobs, lower energy costs and sfrengen our national security. -- strengthen our national security. these are commonsense solutions that the american people deserve.

it's not fair that washington liberals keep offering up only more spending and political games. real solutions to real problems, that's the american commitment. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from new york seek recognition? without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. mrs. maloney: mr. speaker, did you know last sunday marked the anniversary in 1917 when 16 omen demanded the right to vote in front of the white house? they were sentenced to 60 days in the work house for demanding universal suffrage for women. did you know that tomorrow is doris when in 1892 bernies was born? she was become to the first married woman to get a passport in her own name and to get her daughter's name on her birth certificate. did you know that the famous ginger rogers-fred astair

partnership ended in part because she was angry over gender pay standards? she grew tired of being paid half of what her male colleagues were made in films in which she was starring. these are the sorts of things that one day visitors will learn about at the national women's history museum when it opens its doors. a goal of educating, inspiring and empowering women. after all, american history is her story too. that is why i have introduced with marsha blackburn 863, a bill to create such a museum. join it and make your mother proud. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from california 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 is recognized for one minute. >> thank you very much. representative king's recent

comments about children, children of immigrants are a disgrace to this constitution, these comments are unacceptable and just plain wrong on so many levels. we may not all agree on the best way to fix our nation's broken immigration system, but we can all agree that it's broken. comments like representative king's don't do anything to solve problems or bring us closer to a true bipartisan solution on immigration. they only exacerbate the problem of extreme partisanship and inject needless divisiveness in the conversation on how to best reform our immigration system. this sort of ideologically driven and hateful rhetoric has no place in this institution and it must stop. mr. ruiz: it's time for both parties to put down the partisan talking points and make a good faith effort to work together to have a conversation and not a

confrontation. we need to act and we need to act now. we don't have time for this partisan gamesmanship. we must reduce our deficit by passing this comprehensive immigration reform. thank you very much and i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. >> thank you very much, mr. speaker. ms. pelosi: mr. speaker, on the floor today we heard from some of our colleagues in the majority starting with the speaker of the house demand that the president work with congress to create jobs and grow the economy. if republicans were willing to spend time on these issues that would be really good news. i think there's really -- it's necessary for us to have a reality check. in the six months of this

congress that the republicans were in the majority, there has been no jobs bill brought to the floor. there has been no budget bill brought to the floor. the budget is the blueprint for job creation, for deficit reduction, for growing the economy, for creating jobs, for keeping america competitive, making sure that america is number one. at the beginning of the year the republicans said we want regular order, we want to pass a budget bill, we'll want to -- and we did. and then the senate will pass a budget, that is not a good budget, not a statement of our values, but nonetheless a bill passed the house. they said we want regular order, we want the senate to pass a budget bill before we can proceed with any jobs legislation. over three months ago, nearly four months ago, the senate passed a budget bill. again, a blueprint for job creation, deficit reduction, growth in the economy. the minute the senate passed the bill, the republicans said

never mind, never mind. no. it is our business to mind, to mind this congress to make sure that we create solutions, that we get results, that we're in the business of job creation in the public and private sector with public and private partnerships with no budget, with no jobs bill that cannot happen. so whenever the speaker of the house comes to the floor and makes demands on the president which the president has made offer after offer after offer, he's extended the hand of cooperation so many times i want to count his fingers to see how intact his hand is because of the reaction from the republicans. the republicans' response to the president's offer of cooperation, nothing, nothing is our agenda. does nothing work for you, mr. president?

our timetable? never. does never work for you? because that's the only time that we are going to work together with you to pass a jobs bill. previous speakers spoke about jobs being created. why? by giving tax cuts to the wealthiest people in our country? i'm so glad that the president's out there today saying that we're going to build jobs and build our economy from the middle class out. it's really important that the prosperity of our country is enjoyed by many more people and in fact inspired by their ingenuity, their creativity, their entrepreneurship, and we have to have policies that incentivize that. he will put -- the president today will put more ideas on the table to grow our economy. he recognizes, and i think we all agree, that the economy best works when it grows from the middle out. we on the democratic side. not the trickle down, top down. our friends on the other side say trickle down, what's wrong

with that? if it trickles down it could create jobs. if that happens, that's create. if it doesn't, that's the free market. if it doesn't create jobs, in their words, so be it. so be it? no, i don't think so. our country has come a long way since the departments of the great recession, which -- depths of the great rescission, which was caused by these very sake trickledown policies. tax cuts for the rich, that is the republican jobs program. and you know what? what's interesting to me is because we're going to be coming up in september with the five-year anniversary of the meltdown, of the announcement of the meltdown, during the bush administration. under the trickledown policies laissez-faire attitude of republicans in congress and in the white house. we were facing -- we were fatesing a great meltdown -- facing a great meltdown of our financial institutions, a great

wrecklessness by some, not all, but by some on wall street, causing joblessness on main street. and what's interesting about it is, when we were notified finally, when we asked what's going on here, and they finally told us what was happening, no less a person than the chairman of the fed in response to a description given by the secretary of the treasury, secretary paulson, about the seriousness of the meltdown that was occurring, the chairman of the fed said, we could -- this is thursday night, we could by monday, we could by monday have no economy, have no economy? that is the place that these trickledown policies, this laissez-faire attitude toward no regulation, no supervision, took us in our economy. coming up five years ago in

september. that's why it's really important for the president to be out there, for the public to understand. not so that we can create divisions between democrats and republicans, but so that we can come together as a people to make the decisions here about a budget that does grow the economy, by creating jobs and reducing the deficit at the same time. keeping america number one. that we have a deficit that builds the infrastructure of america, that makes it in america, by giving intendtifics for jobs to stay here -- incentives for jobs to stay here rather than as republicans suggest tax breaks to businesses that send jobs overseas. build the infrastructure of america, make it in america, have our communities suggest how they would like to grow with the proper education of our children, the safety of our neighborhoods, the security of our people. and so, really, it's almost like

another universe to listen to the republicans talk about the economy when they have had a complete never-nothing agenda and timetable for bringing a to the floor that really does address the challenges that working families in our country face. on the positive side, i'm very pleased that the president's strategy for growth, of course, is centered around the middle class, ensures that every american has the opportunity to have a good job that pays enough, to support a middle-income life, a strong education that equips our youth for the job market, a home that is not at risk of being taken away as it was five years ago, a retirmente-free financial anxiety, secure health care with decent benefits, a higher minimum wage, and when i talk about what happened five years ago, what's interesting to me is the republicans still have the

nerve to be asking the question, are you better off now than you were five years ago? five years ago we weren't going to have an economy by monday. we weren't going to have an economy by monday. under their policies. the president has led us out of that great recession, he did so in the first two years with a democratic congress that had a recovery package and initiatives to grow the economy. since then it's been again the never-nothing timetable and agenda of the republicans, how much faster our economy could be growing if the republicans would cooperate, with their ideas and the president's, working together. in a bipartisan way to get the job done for the american people. and while i'm at it, i want to put in a word for our democratic women's agenda or agenda for america's women and families.

when women succeed, america succeeds. it's an agenda that recognizes and values the work of women in the workplace by having pay equity, by raising the minimum wage, by rewarding work. an agenda that helps women balance home and work. by saying that while we have and we'll be celebrating the 20-year anniversary of the implementation of family and medical leave, that we need some paid sick leave as well. aid maternity leave as well. and, third, the need, and a bigger issue that will take a longer time facing the challenge of affordable, quality child care for all of america's families so that our children can be learning while their parents are earning. an important component of it is the entrepreneurship of women in the workplace. the ownership -- women's

business ownership is the fastest growing rate of small business growth in our country. minority women's owned businesses as well. so we do believe that our economy will grow, our families will prosper, our nation will continue to be number one, to the textent that we invest in the middle class and those aspiring to it. and that we place a special emphasis on women in the workplace, because, again, when american women succeed, america succeeds. and that's how we want to ignite the american dream, to build ladders of opportunity for all who want to work hard, play by the rules, take responsibility. we have work to do, let's do it instead of living in a world of illusion where we don't -- the leadership won't bring us real jobs bill to the floor that can be enacted into law. the speaker had said it isn't a measure of success as to how many bills you can enact, it's

about how much -- how many -- how much law you can repeal. well, you haven't even succeeded in that. you haven't repealed anything. so let's get to work on the positive side, to create jobs. that's the best thing that we can do for the american people. and let's do it soon. never doesn't work for us. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. burgess: ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. burgess: well, i'll be happy to address some of the revisionist history. if we want to talk about reality testing, how about the fact that in september of 2008 democrats controlled every lever of power in the united states congress for some 20 months. lehman brothers failed and oh, by the way, who was on the watch of the new york fed when what that happened? timothy geithner, for which he was awarded by becoming president obama's press secretary. the first two years of this administration, the obama administration, was so

anti-employer that no wonder the recovery was indeed a jobless recovery, and continues in that mode until today. and don't get me started about the affordable care act. that has been a wet blanket on job creation in this economy. the president knows it, which is why he revised things last week and oh, by the way, if he wants to reach out his hand to us, how about sending people from the agencies to our committees that at least will stop the propensity for preverification? when they will not admit to the fact that they have contingency plans in place for delaying and downsizing the implementation of the affordable care act when they were in fact planning that very measure when those people came to the committee and spoke under oath. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? the gentleman is recognized for ne minute. mr. denham: thank you, madam speaker. i'd first like to ex tebbeds some thanks to chairman gowdy and ranking member lofgren. not only for giving me the

privilege and the honor to speak before their subcommittee on immigration yesterday, but as well to have conversations in my district, have conversations in my state with a number of constituents that are affected by our immigration policy. this is something we have to act now on. this is something that we need to make sure that we've got a top-to-bottom approach that republicans and democrats can actually come together on an issue that's vitally important to our economy and to the greatness of our country. making sure that our border security is actually secure, not only with a fence and greater law enforcement, but actually redeploying the security technology and surveillance equipment from afghanistan. making sure that we've got the internal security as we move forward. an e-verify system, making sure that we can actually verify the jobs within our communities. so we can address not only jobs but the high unemployment in so many areas. making sure that we actually have a temporary worker program,

so that we can address our ag economy and make sure that we have a top-to-bottom approach. i ask that this body address this in a bipartisan fashion and yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. burgess: madam speaker, by the direction of the committee on rules, i call up house resolution 315 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 47, house resolution 315, resolved that at any time after the adoption of this resolution, the speaker may, pursuant to clause 2-b of rule 18, declare the house resolved into the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of the bill, h.r. 2218, to amend subtitle d of the solid waste disposal act, to encourage recovery and beneficial use of coal combustion residuals and establish requirements for the proper management and disposal

of coal combustion residuals that are protective of human health and the environment. the first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. all points of order against consideration of the bill are waived -- waved -- waived. general debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on energy and commerce. after general debate, the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute rule. it shall be in order to consider as an original bill for the purpose of amendment under the five-minute rule the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the committee on energy and commerce now printed in the bill. the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be considered as read. all points of order against the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute are waived. no amendment to the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be in order except those printed in part a of the report of the committee on rules accompanying this

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

section 2, at any time after the adoption of this resolution the speaker may, pursuant to clause 2-bnchings of rule 18, declare the house resolved into the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of the bill h.r. 1582 to protect consumers by prohibiting the administrator of the environmental protection agency from promulgating his final certain energy-related rules that are estimated to cost more than $1 billion and will cause significant adverse effects to the economy. . the first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. all points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. general debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on energy and commerce. after general debate, the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute rule. in lieu of the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the committee on energy and commerce now printed