unemployment insurance with the expiration of the federal program. thrown out of work through no fault of their own, and desperately, desperately looking for a job. they are powerless. and to many in washington they are nameless, only a number. extending this unemployment benefit may talk about compassion, but they are throwing people to the wolves, whether hunger, helplessness or even homelessness. promise to try to change that. when wal-mart advertised 600 jobs in d.c., 6,000 people

applied. when a dairy reopened in maryland, 1,600 people apply forward fuzz dozen jobs. this shouldn't be a partisan issue. republicans are making it such with their cold shoulder and stone wall in this house. it is unconscionable for republicans to close down this house without lifting a single finger to help 1.5 million americans. and to prevent a vote by those of us ready to act. it is unconscionable. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan yields back. the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. cole: i yield two minutes to my friend and colleague, the eat member from mississippi, mr. palazzo. mr. palazzo: this is a product of months of work on the part of appropriators under regular

order to give us the framework of this bill. i have the pleasure of serving as chairman of the subcommittee on space as well as being one of the lead sponsors on the underlying indemnification bill. this allows our space industry to remain tpwhrobally competitive as they support and service satellites americans rely upon every dayism welcome this three-year extension and also appreciate the consideration this package has given my nasa re-authorization bill. the larger package also begins to address issues facing homeowners across the nation, not just in coastal areas. y including the pa la sea -- palazzo-cassidy-gramm-richmond amendment. this provision halts all fema work to implement rate increase on some of the homeowners affected by flood map changes. this provision sets the stage for broader reforms we are working toward later this month or the next. with this bill we also maintain our commitments to our men and

women in uniform by restoring damaging defense cuts, we address cost of living adjust. cally retired. me i plan to work on increasing cost of living increases for all our military retirees. we provide far well-deserved 1% increase in troop pay and provides for the seventh and eighth national security cutters for the coast guard. finally this bill continues the pattern roaf responsible cuts to government waste, fraud, and abuse and represents $165 billion in total discretionary cuts in 2010 as part of our commit as republicans to continue cutting spending responsibly. i thank my colleagues for their work on this bill and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the secret from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: the gentlelady

from california, ms. waters. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. waters: this fails to ignores fund, and the global economy. while the securities and exchange commission need more resources to oversee wall street, this bill only provides flat fund to the already underfunded s.b.c. and a nominal amount for the cstc. no furlough bus no new increases either. it offers minimum increases for section 8 vouchers but not enough for americans struggling with long-term unemployment and foreclosure. finally, republican isolationists have excluded the international monetary fund reform package. democrats and business agree, a well equipted i.m.f. that leverages billions of global dollar source national interest. despite these concerns, we must pass this bill, reluctantly i

support this bill, we have to stop the sequester and prevent another government shutdown. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. cole: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: i'm happy to yield to the gentleman from california, mr. swalwell, far unanimous consent qusm the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. swal peg -- mr. swalweg: i ask unanimous consent to bring up h.r. 3824 to end the republicans' refusal to extend unemployment benefits that in my district. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma does not yield therefore the unanimous consent to cannot be entertained. mr. mcgovern: i yield to the gentleman mr. kildee for a unanimous consent request.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan. mr. kildee: i ask unanimous consent to bring up h.r. 3824 to end the republicans' refusal to extend unemployment benefits that protect 49,965 workers in michigan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma yield for poumps unanimous consent request? mr. cole: i do not. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman does not yield, therefore the u.c. cannot be entertained. mr. mcgovern: i yield to the gentleman from new york, mr. tonko, for unanimous consent request. the speaker: the gentleman from new york. mr. tonko: i ask unanimous consent to bring up h. reform 3824 to end the republican majority's refusal to extend unemployment benefits that would protect 137,315 workers in my home state of new york and that number is growing as we speak. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman from oklahoma yield for if you weres -- purposes of unanimous consent request? mr. cole: i do not the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman does not yield therefore the yams consent cannot be intertained. mr. mcgovern: i yield to the

gentleman from new york, mr. engel for unanimous consent. mr. engel: i ask unanimous consent to bring up h.r. 3824 to end the republican's unconscionable refusal to extend unemployment benefits that protects 137,315 in my home state of new york. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman from oklahoma yield for purposes of unanimous consent. mr. cole: i do not. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman does not yield, the unanimous consent cannot be entertained. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: i yield to the gentlewoman from nevada for a unanimous consent request lt. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from nevada. ms. titus: i ask unanimous consent to wring up h.r. 3824 republican's refusal to extend unemployment requests. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman from oklahoma yield in mr. cole: i do not. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman does not yield, the

unanimous consent request cannot be entertained. mr. mcgovern: i yield to the gentleman from california, mr. takano. mr. takano: i ask unanimous consent to bring up h.r. 3824 to end the republican's refusal to extend unemployment benefits that affect over a quarter million people in my home state of california. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman from oklahoma yield for purposes of the unanimous consent request? mr. cole: i do not. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman does not yield therefore the unanimous consent cannot be entertained. mr. mcgovern: i yield to the gentlelady from new hampshire, ms. shea-porter, for a unanimous consent request. ms. shea-porter: i ask unanimous consent to bring up h.r. 3824 to end the republican leadersship's refusal to ex-ten unemployment benefits. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman from oklahoma yield? mr. cole: i do not. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma does not yield, the unanimous consent cannot be entertained. mr. mcgovern: for the pup of a unanimous consent request, i

yield to the gentlelady from california, ms. roybal-allard. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. roybal-allard: i ask unanimous consent to bring up h. reform 3824 to end the republican's refusal to extend unemployment requests. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman from oklahoma yield. mr. cole: i do not. the speaker pro tempore: ma'am, happy to yield to the gentlelady from california ms. loretta sanchez for a unanimous consent request. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california. ms. sanchez: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to bring h. reform 3824 to end the republicans' refusal to extend unemployment benefits that rotect 238,855 workers in my home state of california. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma yield? mr. cole: i do not. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma does not yield therefore the unanimous consent cannot be entertained. mr. mcgon: i'm proud to yield

to the gentleman from massachusetts, my colleague, cookman kennedy, for unanimous consent request. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. kennedy: i ask unanimous consent to bring up h.r. 3824 to end the republicans' refusal to extend unemployment benefits that protect nearly 63,000 workers in massachusetts. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma yield for purposes of this unanimous consent request? mr. cole: i do not. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman does not yield, therefore the unanimous consent cannot be entertained. mr. mcgovern: i yield to ms. eshoo for a nam consent request. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california. ms. eshoo: i ask unanimous consent to bring up h.r. 3824 to end the unfortunate, the unfortunate republican refusal to extend unemployment benefits 238,855 workers in my home state of california. the speaker pro tempore: does

the gentleman from oklahoma yield for purposes of this unanimous consent request. mr. cole: i do not. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman does not yield, therefore the unanimous consent cannot be entertained. mr. mcgon: i yield to the gentlelady from california, ms. water. ms. waters: i ask unanimous consent to bring up h. reform 3824 to end republican shameful refuse tool extend unemployment benefits that protect 238,855 workers in california, my state. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma yield for purposes of the unanimous consent request? mr. cole: i do not. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma does not yield, therefore the unanimous consent cannot be entertained. mr. mcgovern: i yield to the gentleman from nevada, mr. horseford. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from nevada. mr. horseford: i ask unanimous consent to bring up h.r. 3824 to end republicans' refusal to extend unemployment insurance benefits that protect 19,285 workers in the great state of

nevada. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma yield to this unanimous consent request in mr. cole: i do not. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman does not yield. therefore the unanimous consent cannot be entertained. mr. mcgovepb: i yield to the gentleman from california, mr. ruiz, for unanimous consent request. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. ruiz: i ask unanimous consent to bring up h. reform 3824 to end the republicans' refusal to extend unemployment insurance that protects 238,855 workers in california who lost their job through no fault of their own and who actively seek work. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman from oklahoma yield for purposes of this unanimous consent request? mr. cole: i do not. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman does not yield. therefore the unanimous consent cannot be entertained. mr. mcgovern: i yield to the gentleman from california, mr. car denass -- the speaker pro tempore: the chair would make a statement. the chair advises that even though a unanimous consent equest is not entertainment --

entertained, embellishment will become an imposition on the time of the member who yielded for that purpose. mr. cardenas: i ask unanimous consent to bring to this floor h.r. 3824 to end republicans' refusal to extend unemployment benefits that protect families in the san fernando of of which i represent. these individuals deserve the right to eat and should not be tossed out on the street. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman from oklahoma yield for purposes of the unanimous consent in mr. cole: i do not. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman does not yield, therefore a unanimous consent request cannot be entertained. time will be charged to the gentleman from massachusetts for the last request. mr. mcgovern: i yield to the gentlelady from florida, ms. frankel, far unanimous consent. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from florida. ms. frankel: i ask unanimous consent to bring up h.r. 3824 to end the republicans' very cruel refusal to extend

unemployment benefits that would protect more than 80,000 floridian jobs in my home state of florida. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma yield for purposes of the unanimous consent request in mr. cole: i will not. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma does not yield, therefore the unanimous consent cannot be entertained. mr. mcgovern: i yield to the gentlelady from california, ms. brownley, for unanimous consent qusm the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california. ms. brownley: i ask unanimous consent to bring up h.r. 3824 to end republican's refusal to extend unemployment benefits that protects nearly 239,000 workers in the great state of california. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma yield for purposes of the unanimous consent request? mr. cole: i do not. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma does not yield. therefore the unanimous consent cannot be entertained. mr. mcgon: i yield to the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. cartwright, for a unanimous consent request. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. cartwright: thank you, madam speaker. i ask unanimous consent to bring up h. reform 3824 to end

the republicans' refusal to extend unemployment benefits at protect 80,473 workers in my home state, the commonwealth of pennsylvania. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman from oklahoma yield for purposes of this unanimous consent? mr. cole: i do not. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman does not yield. therefore the unanimous consent cannot be entertained. mr. mcgovern: i yield to the gentlelady from new york, mrs. maloney, for a nam consent request. ms. mali noah: i ask unanimous condition sent to bring up h.r. 3824 to end the republicans' refusal to extend unemployment benefits to our neediest families, including 157,357 workers in the great state of new york. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman from oklahoma yield for this unanimous consent request? mr. cole: i do not. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman does not yield, therefore the unanimous consent request cannot be entertained.

mr. mcgovepb: i yield to the gentleman from rhode island, mr. cicilline, for a anonymous can sent -- unanimous consent request. mr. cicilline: in hopes of a change in the response of my friend thope other side of the aisle, i ask one more time for unanimous consent to bring up h. reform 3824 to end the republican's refusal to extend unemployment benefits. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman yield. mr. cole: my good friend on the other side of the aisle hasn't dealt with a lot of native american the answer is pretty much the same, i do not yield. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman does not yield, the unanimous consent cannot be considered. mr. mcgovern: i yield to my colleague from massachusetts, mr. tierney. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. tierney: i move to. bring hundred h.r. 3824 to end the refusal to extend unemployment which would benefit 962,000 workers in

search of work. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman from oklahoma yield for purposes of this unanimous consent request. mr. cole: i do not. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman does not yield therefore the unanimous consent annot be entertained. the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. cole: i want to thank my friend for giving me the opportunity to renew so many acquaintances with my good friend on the other side and make new ones so i appreciate that. all time yielded for is for purpose of debate only and we're not yielding for any other purposes. i would like to make the point, this legislation is genuinely bipartisan. the legislation my friends have asked for consideration was not within the scope or consideration of this legislation. have no doubt it's being dealt with in the senate right now, but simply not appropriate, in my opinion, to bring it into this debate, particularly since we're under time constraint. if we failed to pass this rule and the underlying legislation in a timely fashion, we'd risk

a government shutdown which i know my friends on the other side of the aisle want to avoid as do we. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: we're not asking that we amend this bill. we're asking the right to be able to bring up a bill to extend unemployment insurance. let's be clear so everybody understands this. e majority,, if they agreed, could allow -- the majority, if they agreed, could allow us to bring this up at anytime. we could bring this up after we pass the omnibus. there's no reason at all that we shouldn't have a right to debate the issue of extending unemployment insurance to millions of our fellow citizens who are looking to us for help. you know, it is very difficult in this -- during these economic difficulties to be able to find employment, and we have many of our citizens who have tried but have been

unsuccessful in finding employment. they ought to be able to support their families during this difficult time, and all we're asking for is the right to be able to bring this up and be able to vote on it. we're not talking about delaying passing the omnibus bill. we're talking about unemployment insurance. we're talking about doing our job and not skipping town and going home for a week while people who are unemployed, who have lost their benefits have nothing. with that, madam speaker, i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from massachusetts, who, if we defeat the previous question, we could bring up his legislation to extend unemployment insurance to the millions of americans who have been impacted. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts for two minutes. mr. tierney: some 1.3 million workers have lost their jobless benefits as of december 28. that number grows as an estimated 72,000 a week and in massachusetts alone some 62,915 families have been adversely impacted and that includes 20,000 veterans. we can hear the urgency of

families who've exhausted every avenue, have exhausted their savings, the generosity of family and friends. about four million people have been cut out of work for 27 weeks or longer and have a 12% chance of finding a job in any given month. there's still not enough jobs to go around. that's worse than the ratio at any point during the 2001 recession. if the fate of individuals doesn't move, the members of this chamber, perhaps a look at the economy would. for every $1 of unemployment insurance, the impact is $1.52. that would buy essential services and products of our local small businesses who greatly need that demand. 17 times over the last decade or so we've extended benefits in a bipartisan manner. of those times were under bipartisan in nature and five times under george w. bush.

the urgency is now. the need is critical. i've introduced, madam speaker, the responsible legislation called the emergency unemployment compensation act, h.r. 3824. it has over 140 co-sponsors already, only it's been done so in a matter of days. speaker boehner should bring this bill to the floor for a vote. we need to help our neighbors help themselves as we help our nation. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. cole: thank you, madam speaker. want to remind my good friend that this legislation comparable to this is actually under consideration in the united states senate right now. and frankly, my friends on the other side of the aisle control the majority there. i'd also like to remind them when the president first raised this issue about a week before the end of the year, the speaker said if you'll help us find a way to pay for it, then we'll consider it. so far i don't recall that that offer's been taken up in any

serious way by anybody. the cost of this is extraordinary. $25 billion over a year, temporary three-month extension would cost between $7 billion and $8 billion. we're trying to deal with what would have been deficits that have been extraordinary. this program has been extended for five years. five years. so i'd love to continue our dialogue with our friends. we hope something productive happens in the united states senate. right now i'll keep the focus where it belongs and it's on the up business spending bill which is a bipartisan accomplishment which the president has urged we pass and i know many of my friends on the other side also favor. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma reserves. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: madam speaker, before i yield to the next speaker on our side, i think it's important to point out that, yeah, we do control -- the democrats do control the majority in the senate, but a minority of republicans right now are fill bustering consideration of -- bill f.s.u.ering consideration of it led -- filibustering

consideration of it led by mitch mcconnell. we can show some leadership here and demonstrate to these millions of americans who are -- have fallen on tough times that somebody cares, that we're not just going to let them dangle and be without any kind of compensation during these difficult times, that we're going to step up to the plate and let them know that we understand that the economy's still going through hard times and that there is a need to extend this benefit. i mean, i don't know how we can just turn our backs on these people who are struggling. i mean, our job here is to help people, not to ignore their problems, not to turn a cold shoulder when they fall on difficult times. i know we are emerging from one of the worst economic crises in our lifetime. these aren't normal times. so we ought to be there to provide some help. let's show a little compassion.

i don't think that that's unreasonable. i don't care what your ideology is. we ought to not turn our backs on those who are unemployed in this country. with that i yield one minute to the gentleman from nevada, mr. horsford. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from nevada is recognized for one minute. mr. horsford: thank you, madam speaker. i thank my colleague for yielding. i urge my colleagues to vote no on the previous question so we finally have a chance to bring up unemployment insurance, which is what the majority of americans want us to be addressing at this time. it is completely insensitive, unjust and flat out wrong that congress would deny 1.4 million americans unemployment insurance benefits, including over 19,000 nevadans. and this is the week that unemployment checks stop coming. this is the week where families will be faced with very unnecessary hardships and impossible choices. why? because this congress fails to

act. republicans are holding unemployment benefits hostage, and it's completely hypocritical. on december 14, 2002, in his weekly radio address, then-president george w. bush scolded congress for failing to extend unemployment insurance benefits. he said, these americans rely on their unemployment benefits to pay for their rent, to pay for food and other critical bills. will the gentleman yield another -- mr. mcgovern: i yield an additional 30 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for an additional 30 seconds. mr. horsford: to pay for their rent, to pay for their food and other critical bills. they need our assistance in these difficult times and we cannot let them down. the unemployment rate then was 6%. it's much higher now. that congress voted 416-4 to extend unemployment benefits, and under george w. bush they did it five times and they didn't ask for one pay-for because it was important for the american public.

it's time for us to do the right thing on behalf of 1.4 million americans. i yield back the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. cole: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cole: thank you very much. i want to remind my friends -- i have no doubt about my friends' compassion. i genuinely do not. we have an opportunity to serve on the rules committee. the compassionate thing to do would be to start creating jobs. this recession ended in 2009. been a lot of years. we have 140 pieces of legislation stacked up in the united states senate waiting for the senate to act on it that we think would generate jobs. everything from keystone pipeline to enhanced energy production. there's disagreement. think if the senate would act proactively and do what we both want to do and create jobs. the other thing i'd suggest, look, i have sympathy with my friends on the other side of the rotunda in my party.

they have not been allowed to present any ideas. i think they'd like to work with my friend in that regard. let's just see. i suggest today we should concentrate on the thing we can do in a bipartisan fashion, pass an omnibus spending bill. it will prevent a government shutdown. it would provide a firm foundation for the economy and the president has agreed it's the right thing to do in the country. you usually make progress one step at a time and i believe it's an important step and passing the rule -- in passing the rule. i will not yield. with that i yield back -- i reserve -- excuse me -- the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma reserves. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: and i appreciate the gentleman from oklahoma's comments and i appreciate, you know, his expressing the frustration of the minority in the senate not being able to express the frustration to be heard. i feel that here because we have completed a year in which

i think there have been more closed rules this year than at any given time in history. i think we all on the minority side understand what it feels like to be shut out. at this point i'd like to yield one minute to the gentlewoman from california, ms. roybal-allard. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california is recognized for one minute. ms. roybal-allard: the omnibus bill is far from meeting the needs of the people in our country. nevertheless, i'll support the bill because this compromised measure does make important improvements in health promotion, medical research, head start and job corps. i commend ranking members lowey, delauro and their staff who fought to protect the critical programs decimated by sequestration. i'm particularly grateful the bill continues the progress we made against the public health crises of underaged drinking and i'm pleased it has newborn screening programs that save he lives of babies and genetic

disorders. unfortunately, this bill falls short of truly reflecting those values. and critically underfunded programs like healthy start and hispanic serving institutions. my hope is that our 2015 appropriations bill will in fact reflect our commitment to investing in a better future for all americans, including the most vulnerable among us. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. cole: thank you, madam speaker. far be it for me to debate too much about what goes on in the united states senate, but i think it's worth adding to the record since july of this year, republicans in the senate have been allowed to submit exactly four amendments. so i think we know who holds the world's record in keeping the minority off the floor. with that i'd like to yield two minutes to my distinguished friend, my colleague, my former chairman on interior committee and the new chairman of the energy and water subcommittee on appropriations, the gentleman from idaho.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from idaho for two minutes. mr. simpson: i'd yield to the gentleman from california. mr. mccarthy: thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for putting your hard work on this bill. it includes three environmental funds that had very little accountability since enacted. the central valley improvement act, restoration fund, the cal fed program and the san joaquin river restoration fund. i remain concerned about the expenditures in this program and whether they're going tore he intended purpose. i urge an investigation into these programs and urge you, mr. chairman, perhaps you could contact the government accountability office to conduct an information into these. mr. simpson: i yield to the gentleman, mr. mccarthy. mr. mccarthy: as many of you

know, the challenge we have in california and the devastation of the drought, what is wreaking havoc throughout the valley the bread basket, we find many times much of this money is going -- not being held accountable and the lack of water that is not being supplied throughout california. we appreciate your work on this. mr. simpson: i thank both my friends from california for their attention to these issues. we have been discussing these issues with both of you and your concerns for some time now. i look fwrd to exemployering the issues further in a hearing and working to provide further oversight of these programs. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will receive a message. the messenger: madam speaker, a message from the senate. the secretary: madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: madam secretary. the secretary: i have been directed to inform the house that the senate has agreed to h.j.res. 26 making further continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2014 and for other

purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: i'm proud to yield to our distinguished minority whipe. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hoyer: i ask unanimous consent to bring up h.r. 3824 to end the republicans' refusal to extend unemployment benefits that protect 25,092 people in my state of maryland. the speaker pro tempore: the chair would advise the distinguished minority whip we understand the gentleman from oklahoma has not yielded for that purpose therefore your equest cannot be considered. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: i would like to yield one minute to the gentleman from texas, mr. cuellar. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas, one minute. mr. cuellar: i thank the

ranking member for yielding and i want to thank chairman rogers and ranking memberlow wie for their hard work on this funding package, specifically their help in add an accountability provision to make our government more efficient and more effective this accountability language will for the first time direct each agency into preparing funding requests as part of the president's annual budget in consultation with the g.a.o. to directly link the agency's performance plans and performance goals to such funding. it will require that performance measures examine outcome measures, output measures, efficiency measures and customer service measures this will provide the american tax pay we are results-oriented government this first-time accountability language represents a real step forward for the integration of the performance based budgeting and government operations. i thank you and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. cole: i reserve the balance

of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: i'm happy to yield one minute to the gentleman from michigan, mr. kildee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. kildee: thank you and thank you to the gentleman from massachusetts for yielding. i'm here to express my disappointment that we are not bringing up h. reform 3824, a bill that would extend for three months the emergency unemployment compensation and it causes me to think of what the american people would expect of us here in congress if we were facing a national emergency of some type that resulted in the immediate loss of basic support for the basic needs for 1 ppt 3 million americans. what -- 1.3 million americans. what would we do? especially if that national emergency somehow caused, every week, 72,000 additional americans to lose the basic help that they need to provide rent, to provide heat, to put food on the table tosh take care of the basic human necessities.

we would act. sure, as the gentleman pointed out, we would discuss ways to prevent future national emergencies that would cause this sort of problem, we would find ways to prevent those sorts of things from happening. and the gentleman referred to job training for economic development programs like job train, we would co-those things for sure but in the meantime, we would and today we should act to restore those benefits thank you, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from yk. mr. cole: madam speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: i yield one minute to the gentlelady from noverbing, mrs. maloney. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york. mrs. maloney: i commend chairman rogers and ranking memberlow wie for their tremendous leadership in putting together this compromise budget. the intill a step forward. it increases funding for important priorities like housing, authority operations, section 8, we've got an

affordable housing crisis in new york city and these additional resources will help. the bill also makes important infrastructure investments. it fully funds the president's request of $14.6 million for the second avenue subway in the district i represent and $ 15 million for the east side access that will help create thousands of jobs in our nation's largest city and is in the district of mr. king and my district. i am also pleased to see that there isn't a single anti-woman rider that would threaten women's access to comprehensive health care. this bill isn't perfect but it's a step forward. i had hoped it would increase -- include an extension of unemployment insurance and refund the cuts to the national institutes of health but it is a vast improvement over the current budget and i will be supporting it. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. cole: i continue to reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma reserves. the gentleman from massachusetts.

mr. mcgon: i yield to the gentlelady from texas, ms. eddie bernice johnson, for a unanimous consent request. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. johnson: i ask unanimous consent to bring up h.r. 3824 to extend unemployment benefits that protects 72,000 texans. the speaker pro tempore: the chair understands that the gentleman from oklahoma has not yielded for that purpose. the request cannot be entertained. mr. mcgovern: i yield to the gentleman mr. rhode island. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cicilline: nearly 1.5 million americans have been cut off from unemployment benefits and tens of thousands more will lose their benefits every week without congressional action. the what "wall street journal" reported that 2.3 million children live with a long-term unemployed parent, triple the number since the recession started in 2007. losing unemployment benefits will be devastating to so many of these families. his is unconscionable.

what have my republican colleagues in the house done to address this issue? nothing. speaker boehner's refusal to have a vote is shortsighted, bad for our economy and devastating to the 1.5 million americans who have been cut off from this vital lifeline. congress is set to adjourn in 24 hours. instead of offering a solution to extend emergency unemployment benefits this rule does not allow taos presthemb important assistance and ignores the needs of our constituents. it's outrageous that the house of representatives would leave town again without taking tooks renew this critical program to help struggling american families. i urge my colleagues to defeat the previous question so we can brick this important legislative fix to the floor without delay to resolve this problem for our constituents. i thank you and i yield back. the speaker: the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. cole: thank you, madam speaker. i remind my friends on the other side of the aisle that supposedly we're in the fifth year of a recovery and we have

extended these extraordinary benefits for five years. at the cost of hundreds of billions of dollars. the speaker has indicated that if our friends, either the administration, our friends on the other side of the aisle, our friends in the senate, have an idea of thousand pay nor extension, he would give it due consideration system of far it doesn't appear such an idea has been forthcoming. with that,ry serve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: madam speaker, let me just remind my colleagues that republican president george bush extended unemployment benefits on a number of occasions and never paid for it and i don't recall my friends on the other side of the aisle raising a big to-do over that. but bottom line is that to simply say that we've extended them multiple times so tough luck to these people who are still struggling in this difficult economy is unacceptable. that? we do sna -- do

we're here to represent these people. to make sure that they have enough to get through these difficult times until the economy gets bet sore they can get a job. but this should not be controversial this shouldn't be a big deal. i mean, i'm stunned that extending unemployment insurance to the unemployed of this country is a controversial issue. only in this republican-led house of representatives. our priorities are all messed up. nobody talks about pay-fors for tax cuts for donald trump or subsidies to big oil or any special deals for corporate donors to the republican national committee. no one says a word about that. but when it comes to extending benefits to unemployed americans, we've got to find pay-fars. -- pay-fors. let's take the initiative in this house to figure out how to get this thing done rather than leave town tomorrow and we don't come back for a week and a half and just leave these people hng hanging. with that, madam speaker, i

yield one minute to the gentleman from new york, mr. meeks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york for one minute. mr. meeks: thank you, madam speaker. while i intend to support the omnibus appropriation bill, i wanted to voice my deep concern and disappointment that the omnibus bill fails to approach -- to address the unemployment insurance issue as well as it fails to address the rising flood insurance premiums facing millions of those who have been impacted by superstorm sandy. sflood an amend the insurance act in a comprehensive way, it delays flood insurance premium increase farce year and for just a segment of policyholders. after that year, flood insurance premiums could continue to rise exponentially for newer policies. this is crippling our housing market recovery in areas like noverbingt, new jersey, connecticut and other areas hard hit by superstorm sandy. though this may be better than

nothing, it's not the certainty that the nation's 5.5 million flood insurance owners deserve and need. again, i call on congress to bring up a comprehensive flood insurance reform legislation quickly in order to provide economic certainty to at-risk neighborhoods across our great country. i yield back the remaining balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. cole: i reserve the blaps of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma reserves. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgon: i yield one minute to the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. fattah. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania for one minute. mr. fattah: i want to thank the chairman and ranking member on the house appropriations committee, i want to speak in support of the underlying matter, the appropriations bill, there is a lot that i can say a lot of progress we have made on a number of issues but i want to at this moment talk in particular about the investments we're making in science and innovation, world economic forum says the american economy is an

innovation-driven economy and throughout this appropriations bill at nasa, in terms of federal laboratories and across a whole spectrum of activities, including car pa and others, we are making significant investments. i want to say working with chairman woeful over the last three -- chairman wolfe, we have launched programs on neurorow science and brain research. we have added to that each year. this bill is no exception. we have worked to internationalize this collaboration in important ways because the e.u. and others have launched similar initiatives in terms of understanding the complexities related to the human brain and diseases and disorders therein. so i thank the chair and ranking member and i yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. cole: madam speaker, could i inquire of my friend if he has additional speakers?

mr. mcgovern: i do. mr. cole: in that case, i restemb the balance of my time. the speaker: the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: i yield to the gentlelady from connecticut, ms. delauro, far unanimous consent request. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. delauro: i ask unanimous consent to bring up h.r. 3824 to end the republicans' refusal to extend unemployment benefits that who tect over 26,000 workers in my state of connecticut. the speaker pro tempore: the chair understands that the gentleman from oklahoma has not yielded for that purpose. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. cole: in a few moments i'll offer an amendment to the rule. the amendment is necessary due to a late request submitted by the administration to ensure the fix for disabled military retirees works as it was intended. the moment amendment was fully vetted by the relevant house

and senate committees, majority and minority, and the administration. congressional budget office has confirmed that the change does not affect the cost of the bill. this amendment will ensure that we properly execute the agreed upon compromise. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgon: i yield myself the remaining time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognize. mr. mcgovern: just to summarize here, my colleagues are being asked to vote on this, over 1rks500 pages that nobody has read and again, from -- coming from the party that talked about reading the bill, i'm a little surprised that they wanted to present it this way but i'm urge my colleagues to vote no on the rule simply because under the process that we have before us, nobody has an opportunity to amend anything in this bill. or change anything. i'm willing to bet that probably in a week or so, we're going to read an article about something that was in here that nobody even knew about but yet

if they did they would have wanned it out of the bill so i think the process that my republican friends have utilized in this house of representatives really is very disappointing. the way they have shut down debate and even the way we have got to this point. so i'd urge my colleagues to vote no on the rule. the underlying bill, at the end of the day people are going to have to vote for this bill anyway because the alternative is shutting the government down or going back to the sequestration levels which my republican friends embraced which were unacceptable, so unacceptable they couldn't pass a transportation appropriations bill on this house floor, they couldn't bring an h.h.s. bill to the floor because the numbers were so unacceptably low that even their own members couldn't deal with voting for a bill like that. as far as the underlying bill goes, i guess the best that can be said about it, it begins to

chip away at sequestration. the numbers are still awful, but the alternative is even worse. so i would also urge my colleagues again to vote no on the previous question so that we can bring up a bill to extend unemployment insurance for those who are unemployed. i'm fascinated by the debate on the other side of the aisle saying, well, you know, we're reluctant to do it because we've done it a number of times. that seems more important to my republican colleagues than whether or not people are in need, whether or not it is necessary to extend these benefits to keep families afloat. you know, because congress failed to act, more than 1.3 million struggling unemployed americans were cut off from extended emergency unemployment benefits in the middle of a holiday. we all went home for christmas, and the gift we gave to these struggling americans was, we cut off your unemployment compensation. another 1.9 million americans will lose the support in the

first half of this year if we don't do anything. so too many families are still struggling to rebuild and regain what they had before the economic crisis. it's both unfair and devastating to cut off these a 7% s at a time of unemployment rate. we should not leave washington tomorrow on a thursday and go home for a week and a half and not address this issue. and to blame the senate, you know, maybe it's an easy way to kind of just brush this off, but the bottom line in the senate, if you want to be of any help, talk to the minority leader who's leading a filibuster so this can't be brought up over in the senate. but that's no excuse for us in the house not to act. that's no excuse for us to turn our backs on millions of americans who desperately need our help. they are going through difficult times. our job here is to help people,

not just those who are ll-off, not just who are superpacs, who write out checks for our campaigns. it helps those most vulnerable and struggling during this economy. madam speaker, i'd like to ask unanimous consent to insert in the record an editorial that appeared in "the new york times" entitled "no jobs, no benefits and lousy pay." the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcgovern: i'd like to ask unanimous consent to insert in the record "economic new $400 million drained this week alone." the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcgovern: by not extending unemployment benefits, we are not only hurting these families unemployed, we are hurting the economy of the nation. our job is to stand up for those in need. on too many occasions, this republican-led house has turned

its back on those who are most vulnerable. so i'd urge my colleagues, both republicans and democrats, to vote no on the previous question. this is our only opportunity before you go home on a recess to be able to deal with the issue of extending unemployment insurance. vote no on the previous question so we can bring up the extension of unemployment compensation so we can help millions of families in this country who are desperately in need of help. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. cole: madam speaker, i yield myself the balance of the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cole: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, in closing, i would again like to thank my friends, chairman rogers and ranking member lowey, on their efforts to bring an important product to this floor, a product which fulfills our constitutional responsibility of appropriating funds for the government for the fiscal year 2014. and while this is not the bill

i would have drafted or i'm sure that my friend would have drafted, i believe it strikes an appropriate balance between key republican and democratic priorities and i believe it will attract the majority of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle as well as the majority of my friends on my own side of the aisle. i want to thank my friend in the sense while we've had a contentious debate, we're actually going to be on the underlying legislation voting together. that might have gotten lost in the debate. and i'll be voting with, again, the majority of his colleagues and at the urging of the president of the united states. we ought to recognize while we've had had partisan differences here, the legislation itself was crafted in a bipartisan manner. it was brought to this floor. i would agree with my friend, i would have preferred 12 different bills and a lot more time but we have a limited time frame here, brought in a cooperative manner. both the ranking member and the chairman urging its passage.

so it's something we ought to take frankly some pride in and certainly congratulate those who had their hand in it. i want to also point out to my friend on the unemployment issue, here we probably do disagree, but the speaker's made it apparent, if there are appropriate pay-fors, he's willing to consider that. without questioning my friends on the other side of the rotunda, you know, so far they just simply haven't provided that. i think the speaker's offer has been out there for quite considerable time, sips before the end of the year, before the benefits ended. it's also worth noting this does not affect regular unemployment benefits. those are still there for all americans. this is the program that's been extended five years. we're now at a time when the recession is four years in the rear-view mirror. unemployment has been coming down. if it still needs to be extended for some people, we ought to find a way, in my view, to pay for it and i think the speaker's made it apparent he would consider any serious

proposal in that regard. so far we haven't had that. sometimes, madam speaker, the smart vote and the easy vote are the wrong votes. i know some of my friends on the other side, you know, might decide to vote no on the underlying legislation. i never quibble with a rule vote. i respect that process. and because from their perspective there's a lot to criticize here. certainly from my side of the aisle a lot to criticize as well. we are going to have some no votes. i don't think this is' not much question that the right vote here is -- this is not much question that the right vote here that's the right thing for the country and the right for the process, to get back to regular order, to be considering the bills in the manner i know my friend would like them to be considered in, to have an open amendment process, which we do on appropriations legislation.

this is an essential first step to doing that. i think that chairman rogers and ranking member lowey from probably done more in this legislation to restore the process and rebuild upon, they've given us a foundation for the next fiscal year that will allow us to do precisely the things that my friend would like us to do and i agree with my friend, in a normal process ought to be done. i would obviously urge support for the rule but more importantly after the rule passes, assuming it does, the underlying legislation so that we can work together in a bipartisan fashion, we can make sure we have no government shutdowns next year. i think that will actually do more to create jobs and economic certainty than probably any single thing we could do. our appropriations committee working in a bipartisan fashion under the leadership of chairman rogers and ranking member lowey has done that. i would suggest it's probably something that all of us should reflect upon and congratulate upon and then then try to

spread throughout the institution. if we work the way they worked in putting this bill together and bringing it to the floor on every other piece of legislation, i think the country would be well-served and frankly all of us would have a great deal to be proud of. so with that, again, i urge the passage of the rule and the underlying legislation. i yield back and, madam speaker, i do offer an amendment to this resolution. the speaker pro tempore: and the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. cole of clooge. page 6, line 2, insert as modified by section 6 of this resolution. at the end of the resolution add the following -- section 6, the modification referred to in the first section of this resolution is as follows, page 363, strike lines 12 through 16 and insert the following. one, combat related special

compensation. section 1413-a-b-10 united states code is amended. a, in subparagraph a, adjusts subparagraph 2 of section 1401-ab of this title to which the member would have been entitled but without application of paragraph 4 of such section. after under any other provision of law and, b, in subparagraph b, by striking whichever is applicable to the member and inserting with adjustment under paragraph 2 of section 141-ab of title to which the member would have been entitled but without the application of paragraph 4 of such section whichever is applicable to the member. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma is recognized. mr. cole: madam speaker, i yield back the balance of my time and i move the previous question on the amendment and the resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on ordering the previous question on the amendment and on the resolution. those in favor will signify by

saying aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the ayes is. mr. mcgovern: madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: i'd ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. and pursuant to clause 9 of rule 20, this 15-minute vote on ordering the previous question will be followed by five-minute votes on adopting the amendment, if ordered and adopting the resolution if ordered. this is a 15-minute vote. a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 228 and the nays are 195. the previous question is ordered. the question is on the adoption of the amendment. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the ayes have it. the amendment is adopted. the question is on the adoption of the resolution, as amended. those in favor signify by

saying aye. those opposed, no. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: madam speaker, i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is requested. and those favoring a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered, and members will record their vote by electronic device. this will be a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 230. the nays are 191. the resolution is adopted.

without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table.

the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. members are advised to take their conversations off the floor. for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky seek recognition? mr. rogers: madam speaker, pursuant to house resolution with call up h.r. 3547 the senate amendments thereto and i have a motion at the desk. the speaker pro tempore: the

clerk will report the title of the bill, designate the senate amendment, and designate the motion. the clerk: h.r. 34 -- 3545, an act to extend the application of certain space launch liability provisions through 2014, senate amendments. motion offered by mr. rogers of kentucky. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 458, the motion shall be debatable for one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking member -- ranking minority member of the committee on appropriations. the gentleman from kentucky, mr. rogers, and the gentlewoman from new york, mrs. lowey, each will control 30 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from kentucky. mr. rogers: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and and include remarks extraneous material on the consideration of h.r. 3547, and

that i may include tabular material on the same. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. rogers: madam speaker, i -- i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. rogers: i rise today to bring to the floor, madam speaker, an amendment to the senate amendment on h.r. 3547. this is the consolidated appropriations package that will fund the government for the remainder of the 2014 fiscal year. this omnibus contains all 12 regular appropriations bills for fiscal year 2014, funding every aspect of the federal government , from our national defense to critical transportation infrastructure, to the education of our kids. in total, it provides $1.012 trillion in discretionary funding, the same level delineated in the ryan-murray budget agreement.

i'm pleased that senator mikulski and i were able to come to this fair, bipartisan agreement on funding the government. although our differences were many, and our deadlines short, we were able to come together to draft a solid piece of legislation that meets the guidelines of the ryan-murray agreement and keeps the government open. i understand that not everyone will like everything in this bill. that's the nature of compromise. but i believe this legislation reflects the best possible outcome. we made responsible choices to realign the nation's funding priorities, targeting precious tax dollars to where they are needed the most. we have continued the four-year trend of reducing federal discretionary spending. making a total of $165 billion in cuts since fiscal year 2010.

in fact, this is the fourth straight year that we have cut discretionary spending. that's not happened since the korean war. and we have remained committed on our side to our republican principles. reducing regulatory burdens, fortifying our national security, and enforcing stringent oversight on the executive branch. throughout the bill we have maintained pro-life policies and protected senate amendment rights. we have made sure that this bill provides no new funding for obamacare, and have even cut existing obamacare funds to the tune of over $1 billion. the appropriation's committee in the house and senate working side by side went line by line through thousands of agencies

and the like, through the 12 regular appropriations bills to ake sure that each program was waived individually and received a funding level that supports their most current needs. we prioritized funding for the most important and effective programs. and reduced lower priority programs at the same time. for example, we did not include ny funding for high speed rail or three new department of homeland security buildings, but we targeting -- targeted funding to he essential defense activities, critical law enforcement programs, and lifesaving efforts such as medical research. this bill also includes an important provision fixing the bipartisan budget act to ensure that those who have given the most in military service, the

approximately 630,000 medically retired personnel and survivor benefit plan recipients, our disabled veterans. that they will receive their full yearly cost of living increase. before i close, madam speaker, i'd like to take a moment to thank the many, many people who were integral in getting this bill to the floor today. first, the ranking member of the appropriations committee, mrs. lowey. thanks to her partnership, her dedication, we were able to wrap up this omnibus by the deadline, and i know her drive extends to our next challenge, the 2015 bills that we'll start next month. in fact, the pass ang of this bill -- passage of this bill will allow the appropriations committee to get back to regular order, as they say. get the train back on track so

that next year, this coming year, we can do 12 individual bills, brought to the floor separately, as is the practice and is required. i want to thank her for her leadership in helping us get to that point. secondly, our counterparts in the senate, whose open minded approach to negotiations, led to many honest and reasonable discussions throughout the many stages of that process. i don't know of any appropriations bills that has gone through as much reasonable tests, and i think wise decision processes as went into this bill. so i appreciated the work of the gentlelady and -- on the senate side, the chairman of the committee there, ms. mikulski, and senator shelby of alabama. we had wonderful times at

christmas and new year's. listen, next time, as much as i love these people, i'd rather be with my family. lastly, i want to thank the members and staffs of the committee. they gave up countless hours of family time at christmas, during the holidays, new year's, in order to complete this bill. they really are an a-team and i'm lucky to have all of them working for this committee. without their hard work, their expertise on the issues, and their commitment to this legislation, we would not be here today. and we should all be grateful for their service, and i hope that you will say something to them as you pass. i'd particularly like to recognize the clerk of the agriculture subcommittee, martin delgado. after 16 years, this is his last

bill with the committee. and how fortunate we have about to have had him until the end. no one knows the ins and outs of agriculture appropriations like he he does. he's a true expert in every sense of the word. we'll miss him dearly and wish him godspeed. let me also mention the clerk of the committee, the chief clerk, will smith, who sits beside me. he has led the effort from day one. he's put in untold numbers of hours, day and night, weekends, all nights, and the like to bring us to this point. he has been a great staff leader and he has done a fantastic job, and i want you to say something to him. on the other side of the aisle his counterpart, david pomerantz, has been just a terrific asset to the committee and to the piecing together of

this very difficult complex bill. we want to say thank you to david for his great work. and jim, who also sits beside me, the number two clerk in the committee, has been valuable, invaluable, if you will, in getting us to this point. madam speaker, in closing i'd like to once again remind our colleagues that providing funding for our federal government is one of our chief duties as members of congress. in fact, i think it's the chief duty. one that we can't shirk. the people elected us to fulfill this duty and govern. and to govern you've got to pass these funding bills for the government. and as we pass these funding bills, the imprint of members of congress on these funding bills directs agencies of the executive branch to follow the

will of the people represented here in this body. and so this bill is a reflection of the need for members of congress under the constitution decide how and when and why money is spent by the executive branch. the people elected us to fulfill that duty and this bill does just that. and 3 1/2 months into the fiscal year, i would say it's just about past time that we pass this legislation. so i urge an aye vote on the omnibus. we can send it to the senate today for their approval and get it to the president for his signature as soon as possible. certainly before saturday. with that, madam speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the chair lays before the house an enrolled bill. the clerk: h.r. 3527, an act to

amend the public health service act to re-authorize the poison center national toll free number, national media campaign, and grant program, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york is recognized for 30 minutes. mrs. lowey: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. lowey: congress' misguided rush towards austerity has hurt our economy, slashing critical investments that create jobs and make us more competitive. discretionary spending, which represents only 1/3 of the budget, has borne a disproportionate share of cuts. the december budget agreement and this bill set us on a path to fulfilling our basic responsibility of annual spending bills. chairman rogers, i commend your

leadership. it has been a delight working with you and i, too, look forward to a holiday season where we won't be in constant contact. thank you, it's been a pleasure. this bill makes key investments that will bolster job creation and economic growth. . we should not have federal furloughs again this year. education, head start, new pre-k initiatives will help working families and restore teaching slots. and infrastructure investments will support construction jobs and safety upgrades. other vital priorities fell short. it's incredibly disappointing this package doesn't restore unemployment benefits to the long-term unemployed. in addition, i was very pleased that we received $1 billion more than last year for

biomedical research at the national institutes of health, but it is still funded below the 2012 level, forcing scientists to shelf promising research. by not authorizing a change to the quota for i.m.f., the international monetary fund, we neglect the united states' vital role in the global economy. it is an important tool to promote international financial stability and support u.s. jobs, exports and markets. this is not the bill that i would have written, but it is the result of the negotiation that required significant compromise and protected the appropriations process from political warfare by dropping most of the new contentious riders. finally, i would like to praise the tireless work of david

pomerand and all of the appropriations staff on both sides of the aisle. this bill was a huge undertaking, possible only with the hard work of such dedicated staff, including one of our longtime professionals who will soon be leaving the committee. and on behalf of the entire appropriations committee, i thank david reisch for his 30 years of service to the house and 17 years of exceptional contributions to the full ppropriations committee, the labor-h and other subcommittees. thank you and we wish you luck. now, at this time before we close, i also want to recognize judy terry, the chief clerk of

debate. as i understand it, unfortunately, she will be retiring and go on to other things and we thank you for your service to the house. now, in conclusion, i wish we had completed this process last october when this fiscal year actually started, but better late than never. the president's budget will likely arrive late, giving congress' tardyness in completing our work -- tardiness in completing our work for fiscal year 2014, but i hope that the bipartisan spirit within which the omnibus has been reached has been preserved in the cycle to come. i will support this omnibus and work in the coming year to address the shortcomings. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves and the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: madam speaker, i yield three minutes to the very

hardworking and longtime classmate of mine, frank wolf, chairman of the commerce, justice, science subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is recognized for five minutes. mr. wolf: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. wolf: i want to thank mr. rogers. we came here together in 1981. i think what mr. rogers and mrs. lowey have done, along with senator mikulski and senator shelby, have been amazing. i want to thank mr. fattah for his partnership and help and, you know, just thank you. you've done a great job. i want to acknowledge the staff diane, as lie, jeff, well as bob and matt. they have done an incredible job. if the american people could have seen the hours, and i want to thank them. this bill totals $51.6 billion which is $1.4 billion below the

enacted 2013 level. we have reduced spending by more than $12 billion for agencies funded in the c.j.s. there's no reason why anyone would vote against this bill. we're even $200 million below f.y. 2008, and so it's done an incredible job. the bill includes $8.3 billion for the f.b.i. to fight crime and protect the nation from further terrorist attacks and expand the f.b.i.'s capabilities. also, in addition is $1 million for an independent review to report to congress, to be conducted by an outside commission to look at the progress made over the last decade on the implementation of the 9/11 commission. i lost several hundred people from my district who died and we lost 3,000 americans. we want to find out what recommendations were made, how well the f.b.i.'s doing and so that is very, very important. i expect the f.b.i. to cooperate, and i know they will. we also establish, and i

appreciate mr. fattah and mr. mull has, who is not here -- mr. mullihan, who is not here, a task force on federal corrections. we cannot put men and women in prison for years and do nothing. i think this provides an opportunity to reform the prison commission system. then, mr. goodlatte and the judiciary committee can do amazing things. the bill brings about repatriation, programs that brings jobs back to america, not to have companies go abroad, and i appreciate the secretary of commerce really cooperating and working. lastly, it funds the science at a very, very high level. and with regard to nasa, the bill includes $17.65 billion for nasa, including funding for america's next generation space launch system. the owe ryon vehicle as well as full -- orion vehicle to keep

america competitive. i want to close by congratulating and thanking mr. rogers. we came here in 1981. we were considered reagan robots. i wasn't supposed to be here. chris smith is still here. mr. rogers. they will be the leaders of the class that's left. we have 54. i just want to thank him for what he's done and the staff on both sides and the members for bringing this bill and the returning to regular order. again, mr. fattah, my fellow from native philadelphia, thank you for everything you have done. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. and the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: madam speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from ohio, ms. kaptur, the ranking member of the energy and water committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from ohio is recognized for two minutes. ms. kaptur: i thank the ranking member from new york for yielding me time. madam speaker, i rise today in support of the fiscal year 2014

omnibus appropriations measure. critical, critical step in the direction of regular order. and my hat is off to chairman rogers and to ranking member lowey for their diligent efforts to bring this important agreement to the floor. i also want to thank chairman simpson, our subcommittee members, our senate counterparts as well as our exceptional staff, rob blair and tonya berklam, for their dedication and hard work over the holidays in crafting this legislation. the energy and water bill makes america work. for example, it keeps the west alive, funding critical water projects across 17 states. we support science activities necessary to americans' manufacturing and future competitive and contributes to our national defense, importantly. over the last 10 years, our country has spent $2.3 trillion importing foreign petroleum rather than being energy independent here at home. in fact, those imports are a key strategic vulnerability.

we must have the wisdom, the will and the fortitude to invest as the solution for our people. this agreement restores an all-of-the-above energy strategy, including renewable energy programs and help on sustainible energy programs for the next generation. the bill increases funding for the corps of engineers, one of the most important jobs programs we could support in our nation, to improve our nation's waterways that provides foundation for economic growth. in terms of job creation, this bill makes critical investments in this country from coast to coast. you can't really move cargo unless you have open harbors. the compromised bill that we will vote on today is an important step in that direction, and even more importantly a step toward regular order which this member certainly welcomes. again, i rise in support of this legislation and urge my colleagues to join me in voting for the entire measure but certainly on the energy and water portion of this bill, so

vital to america's future, and i yield back my remaining time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york reserves and the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: madam speaker, most of the provisions in this bill was written by the subcommittees on the house and senate side and worked out between them. and one of the chief writers of the bill is rodney frelinghuysen, the new chairman of the defense subcommittee of the appropriations committee. his part of the bill was by far the biggest of anybody else's. it was only $572 billion, so the gentleman is recognized for two minutes to explain it. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for two minutes. mr. frelinghuysen: i thank the chairman for yielding. i thank him for his leadership and i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. frelinghuysen: first of all, it's a pleasure to rise to support this bill, and let me say specifically address the defense portion, which is indeed our primary constitutional responsibility,

a strong national defense. first, i want to thank my ranking member, mr. visclosky, for helping craft this bill. it was a hard task given the short deadline. i think this meets our national defense needs. thank all of the committee members and our professional staff for their hard work. a few words about our allocation, which is the direct result of the decision we made in mid december, the base allocation is $486.9 billion, which is $29 billion below the president's budget request. $25.7 billion below the bill we passed -- defense bill we passed in july. the overseas contingency allocation was $85.2 billion which is $4.5 billion above the request. even with the small increase in the overseas contingency allocation, which we essentially used for buyback readiness, the subcommittee's task was formedible. we cut $24.5 billion from the administration's budget

request. i want to assure my colleagues that not many programs were left untouched. we did our best to protect critical major weapon systems to avoid significant disruption to vital programs. importantly, we gave our military leaders much badly needed predictability about future expenditures and preserve jobs in our defense industrial base. and most importantly, too, we protected residents, our constitution's first priority is to provide for a strong national defense. if the commander in chief needs to call our troops, they'll be ready and prepared. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves, and the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: madam speaker, i yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from indiana, mr. visclosky, he is the ranking member of the defense subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana is recognized for two minutes. mr. visclosky: i thank the ranking member for yielding time, and i want to begin my

remarks by expressing my great appreciation to chairman rogers and ranking member lowey. the fact that we're standing here today on the verge of passing a 12-bill omnibus measure is a testament to their acumen as legislators. further, i would be remiss if i did not thank every staff member of the appropriations committee for their dedication, hard work and sound judgment in helping develop this package. with regard to the defense portion of the bill, it was a pleasure to work with chairman frelinghuysen in crafting a bipartisan and collaborative piece of legislation. he and his staff have ensured that the defense subcommittee continues its long-standing tradition of collegiality. the agreement that we're here for today implements the bipartisan budget act. as a result, substantial reductions were made to the department of defense programs.

in total, overall spending in the defense portion of the bill, including base funding and the overseas contingency operation account is $572.6 llion which is $61.1 billion below fiscal year 2012 level. while the agreement makes substantial reductions, it does protect the readiness of u.s. forces, provides for personnel and their families and supports national programs that reflect bipartisan congressional priorities. overseas contingency operations of funding total $85.2 billion, an increase of $4.5 billion. the increase is essential to ensure the readiness of u.s. forces. it provides for orderly retrograde and reset of equipment from theater and supports deployed forces still serving in afghanistan. the agreement also includes $25 billion above the request to implement a sexual assault special victims program.

the agreement also includes language that prevents the use of funds in controvention of more severe language and penalties in the fiscal year 2014 national defense authorization act. finally, the bill protects technological edge for u.s. forces. it includes $175 million above the request for the defense rapid innovation program, to incorporate small business development. i ask my colleagues to please support this bill and i'd yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york reserves, and the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: madam speaker, i yield 1 1/2 minutes to the chairman of the subcommittee on appropriations for transportation and housing and urban development, the gentleman from iowa, mr. latham. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from iowa is ecognized for 1 1/2 minutes. mr. latham: i thank the speaker and thank the chairman for the time and thank him and chairman oyd for -- and thank him and

representativelow wie for their work on this madam speaker, representatives a return to regular order, an example of fair negotiation between the house and senate. we strive to maintain important infrastructure and transportation investments and maintain housing programs for low income citizens and veterans. we authorize the map 21 authorized levels for highways and transit. for the f. ample a. we provide funding to fully support operations of air traffic controllers. we also include the next round of investments and the so-called next gen air traffic control system. we do not fund high speed rail as we have yet to see any plan that outlays how such a system would work and how it would be paid for. for rail we added policy

reforms and oversight mechanisms for amtrak to ensure that resources provided to amtrak are put to best use. for housing we provided assistance for 2.2 million families serviced by the housing choice voucher program. e also provide $75 million for 10,000 new veterans' housing vouchers. finally we provide a little over $3 million for the community development block grant program. this program has many flexable -- flexible uses and helps strengthen communities across the country. i urge members to support the bill and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves, the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from new york, mr. serrano, the ranking member of the financial services subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes.

without objection. mr. serrano: i thank ranking memberlow wie for yielding me timism rise in support of this legislation. as ranking member of the financial services subcommittee i wanted to discuss many of the improvements we made to that section of the bill. before i begin, i want to thank chairman rogers and crenshaw and ranking memberlow wie for their hard work and diligence throughout this process. i also want to thank the staff on both sides of the aisle who spent time away from their families during the holiday season to work out a compromise thing both sides can support. my colleagues know that the sequester put the appropriations process under an unworkable financial strain and this legislation helps fix that problem. the financial services section of this bill is funded at $21. billion, more than $1.5 billion above last year's sequester level and almost $5 billion higher than what was approved by the committee last summer. with this increased funding,

this subcommittee was able to resolve nofe most urgent funding problems created by the sequester. we kept postal service six-day delivery, restored funding for the election assistance commission and included additional funding for numerous priorities of the district of columbia this bill also removes many harmful riders, riders that would have impacted the implementation of the affordable care act and riders that would have affected thee theable of the s.e.c. and i.r. stomplet do their jobs properly. this is not a perfect bill but on balance it is a good bill and i intend to vote in favor of it and i urge my colleagues to do the same. i want to take a second in bidding a certain early farewell to my colleague, mr. wolfe, to thank chairman wolfe and to thank ranking member fattah for allowing language in their bill which was asked for by the president which was at times a little hanging on the ropes, language that would

allow for the first time in 115 years the neesm commonwealth of puerto rico to vote on their political future. i thank personally for that and i stand ready to vote for this bill as soon as it comes up for a vote. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i yield two minutes to the distinguished chairman of the agriculture subcommittee on appropriations. the gentleman from alabama, mr. aderholt. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. aderholt: thank you, madam speaker. for the time. mr. chairman, thank you for the time. and also madam speaker, i want to just personally thank the chairman for his work and his staff because shepherding all 12 of these propings bills is no easy task. as it comes down to the issues that are the toughest issues to discuss and come to a conclusion to at that time, so mr. chairman, thank you for

your work and your staff and how you conduct your staff in these negotiations. i'd also like to echo something that mr. rogers said in his opening comments about one of our subcommittee chair, or clerks, martin delgado. he's retiring from the subcommittee after 16 years as was mentioned, he is someone who knows the subject matter of agriculture very well he gos beyond and has gone beyond the call of duty in his job as clerk of the appropriations subcommittee on agriculture and so he is someone that's going to be missed and from this body, but we wish him the best and wish him well in his new endeavors. and of course i do want to rise in support of f.y. 2014 consolidated appropriation act this agreement encompasses the work of, as i mentioned, all of 12 appropriations subcommittees and is the culmination of work that began last spring when we first started hearing after the

president's hearing -- president's budget was submitted. i would like to assure my colleagues that contrary to what they may have heard, the bill has not only been read but every word and every number has been scrutinized and there are no surprises in this bill. as has been said, this legislation, while funding the federal government for the remaining part of the fiscal year, it continues to reduce spending and that the overall spending level in this agreement is lower than the f.y. 2009 enacted spending level. most important it's $191 billion less than president opa ma submitted in his f.y. 2014 budget request. the agricultural division of this agreement, which i worked most closely with other the last year, has critical funding for the department of agriculture, the food and drug administration, the commodities future trading commission and the farm credit administration. funding in this agreement will

ensure that american producers can continue to produce the most abundant and safest food supply in the world. agricultural research is funded at $2.6 billion, which will keep america at the forefront of the cutting edge of reserge and competitive around the globe. i would encourage my colleagues to vote yes on this bill and again, i thank the chairman for the him. -- for the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: i yield two minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from connecticut, ms. delauro, ranking member of the labor, health, and human service subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for two minutes. ms. delauro: while i will vote for this budget despite having major reservations, i'd like to say a few words about how labor, health and human services and education programs are handled here, keeping in

mind that of the 12 subcommittees of appropriation, the labor-hhs subcommittee never even had a subcommittee markup of the bill. after defense, the labor-hhs subcommittee has the largest portfolio of programs that deal with people's everyday lives, the lives of ordinary americans. the allocation for labor-hhs was only $217 million above the 201 presequester levels. only 12% of the nondefense funding increase even though labor-hhs makes up 32 noveget nondefense budget. and this also despite the fact that we had over $1.4 billion in funding holes that had to be filled. the holes existed primarily because of some critical problems living off money appropriated a number of years ago and that money is now all gone. unlike all of the other appropriations bills, we were prevented from using all

options at our disposal to ensure reasonable funding levels for our important priorities. as a resultmark critical programs here are still seeing deep sequester cuts. national institutes of health, the key driver of biomedical research in america, spurring innovation, economic growth and hope for millions of merps. yet only 58% of the cuts are restored in this budget, it's $700 million short. job training services part of the core essential role of government, help responsible people succeed because of their hard work. businesses secure the employees they need to grow. job training programs only restored by 81%. title 1 which is at risk children. idea for children with disabilities, two fundamental building blocks of our k through 12 education, only restored by 85%. this bill does include welcome and funding for other priorities, to that i am grate to feel ranking member lowey

and the devoted staff david and lisa. those priorities include mental pelt -- mental health, head start, child care. we need to do more. given the decades-long trends downward, labor funding is not enough. we endanger our families and future by shortchanging these programs and while i support this budget as we move forward, we can and we must do better by america's families. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. ms. rogers: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: may i ask the time remaining on both sides? the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york has 17 1/2 minutes remaining. the gentleman from kentucky has 12 minutes remaining. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from virginia, mr. moran, ranking member of the interior subcommittee.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is recognized for two minutes. mr. moran: i thank my good friend and committee ranking member for her leadership. so this is a bill that should have been supported from the beginning. in fact, no offense to the budget committee, but at the appropriations -- if the appropriations committee had been given these numbers from the beginning there wouldn't have been sequester or shutdown or furloughs. we could have gotten this done because this is a package of chosen priorities and funding compromises. that's what we do in the appropriations committee. so that's why we ought to support it. and in fact we ought to have such a strong vote that we send a signal to all those ankle biters and naysayers who say we can't get anything done. we're going to get this done. we're going to fund the agencies on the superior committee, we met all our obligations, we paid for the

fire costs from last year that had been incurred. we provided sequester ref leaf for every agency funded in this bill. there won't be any agency furloughs. every agency is going to be able to carry out important if you thinks without the sort of sequestration hanging over them. it provides $5.8 billion, more than the initial house allocation which chairman rogers himself pointed out was inadequate. these numbers, while they're not as much as i wish they were, they're reasonable. it's a compromise. and we're table provide adegreesal resources to a host of important programs, they range from clean air and water, natural resources, native americans and the arts. a whole host as well of some of the worst environmental legislative riders that shouldn't be in an appropriations committee that are more appropriate for the authorizizers if they have that kind of debate.

but those aren't in this bill and didn't belong in this bill in the first place. i want to commend our new subcommittee chair, ken calvert, carry the very high standard set by mike simpson. we like to work together when we're given a reasonable allocation. that's the way this congress as a whole ought to work. i want to thank chairman rogers and ranking memberlow wie and all of my colleague -- ranking member lowey and all my colleagues and i want to thank the appropriations staff. they worked every day through the hollidays. one member of the staff had a gallbladder operation and she didn't ms. any work. they were in every weekend. they deserve a round of applause and let's give it to them. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i yield one and a half minutes to the gentleman from idaho, the chairman of the energy and water subcommittee on appropriations. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one and a half minutes. mr. simpson: i rise in support

of this incredibly important piece of legislation. it's an important move back to regular order. the energy and water total is an increase of $77 million. the bill provides critical increases for our nuclear weapons stockpile and our nation's water infrastructure will supporting a balanced fsment -- investment in our energy resources. i want to thank the ranking member, marcy kaptur and former chair of the subcommittee, rodney frelinghuysen, for bringing this to the house floor in regular order. i would like to recognize senators feinstein and alexander for their work in put together a bipartisan bill. these members are passionate advocates for their positions and their prior triities are not always the same as mine but the long hours we have put in in the last month have paid. they energy and water portion is a true compromise. the largest increase in the

energy and water bill is the support for our nuclear weapons stockpile. there is no room for mistakes in this work. the reliability of the most destructive weapons ever developed depends it as does our national security. the bill also increases funding for the army corps of engineer lissbrs -- by $749 million over the 2014 spending level. these will go to support our neigh's waterways, work which literally touches every one of our districts. finally let me say, madam speaker, that i want to second what mr. moran just said. while most americans, in fact, most of us, were enjoying the holiday wours families the staff of the appropriations committee on both sides of the aisle and both sides of the rotunda were here at work trying to get this done and we owe them our gratitude for the incredible time that they spent doing this. the speaker pro tempore: the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves and the gentlewoman from new york is recognized.

mrs. lowey: madam speaker, i yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from north carolina, mr. price, the ranking member of the homeland security subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina is recognized for two minutes. mr. price: thank you, madam speaker. i rise in support of the bill. i want to commend chairman rogers, ranking member lowey for reminding the house that members can work together on a bipartisan basis to get the people's business done. we didn't merely set aside our differences. we laid them on the table and we worked through them. the result is far from ideal. it bears the marks of the majority's misguided budget strategy, which has cut appropriations time and time again while leaving the main drivers of the deficit, namely tax expenditures and mandatory spending, largely untouched. the dire results are most evident in the labor-health-education title of this bill with devastating cuts to community health centers, medical research and other

vital investments. but it could have been worse. the december budget agreement allows us to avoid another mindless round of sequestration and to stitch together 12 bills that have gone through at least some of the appropriations process. along with chairman john carter, i've had particular responsibility for the homeland security title, and i want to thank him for the open and cla are a tiff process he's led -- collaborative process he's led on our subcommittee. we worked cooperatively to make the most effective possible use of constrained resources. the agreement provides substantial increases for new customs officers at ports of entry, to improve security and expedite travel and commerce. it provides significant increases above the request for coast guard operations, for new aircraft and vessels, to help the coast guard fulfill its critical homeland security and maritime safety missions. it provides increases for i.c.e., to pursue domestic investigations, including those related to human trafficking,

child exploilt ace, money laundering. the bill provides -- exploitation, money laundering. the bill provides anti-terrorism grants, for cyber, infrastructure programs and for research and development of new technologies to improve capabilities across a full range of the homeland security enter prices. i urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan agreement. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york reserves, and the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: madam speaker, i yield two minutes to the subcommittee chairman that drafted the financial services part of the omnibus bill, the gentleman from florida, mr. crenshaw. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized for two minutes. mr. crenshaw: i thank the chairman for yielding and, madam speaker, i rise in strong support of this omnibus appropriations bill. i think it demonstrates that even though we have a divided government, when we get together we can sit down, we can set priorities, we can reduce spending and we can meet

our constitutional responsibility of funding the federal government. as chairman of the financial services subcommittee, i'm proud of the work, along with my ranking member, mr. serrano, and other members of the subcommittee, the work we've accomplished. we produced a bill that in the end is a lean funding. we provide critical moneys for those high-performance agencies, and we rein in spending on some of the programs that aren't quite as efficient or downright wasteful. i think we all remember the i.r.s. scandal when the i.r.s. was singling out individuals, groups of individuals based on their political philosophy and harassing and bullying them. they were wasting money on lavish conferences and videos. well, we said we're going to reduce your funding, i.r.s., until you demonstrate to us that you can spend money in a wise and efficient way. we say no more can you spend money to harass individuals,

groups of individuals based on their political philosophy, but we do carve out money to provide taxpayer services, to have moneys to pursue people that cheat on their taxes. we adequately fund the federal judiciary. we adequately fund -- fully fund the small business administration loan program. we help small businesses, we help entrepreneurs because we recognize about 75% of all the new jobs in our country are created by these small businesses. and finally, the regulators, like the s.e.c. and the f.c.c., we fund them at lean, mean level. we ask them to do more with less. we ask them to provide smart regulation, not job-killing, excessive regulation. at the end of the day, there's been a lot of hard work, a lot of negotiation but mostly a great deal of cooperation. i urge my colleagues to support this bill. i yield back my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: madam speaker, i'm delighted to yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. fattah, the ranking member of the commerce, justice and science subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for two minutes. mr. fattah: i want to thank the committee, the staff and my fellow members of the appropriations subcommittee. this helps move our nation forward, and i rise in support of the bill. i want to also thank my great friend, the chairman of the subcommittee, which i have the privilege of being the ranking member of. chairman wolf has done an extraordinary of and will continue to. i want to extend to him my public thanks for his cooperation through this entire process. receipt me say a couple things -- let me say a couple things very quickly.

i introduced the american discoveries, american jobs act, suggested where we finance investment with taxpayers' money we should require new product that imnates from, the manufacture in america. the impulse of that is embodied in the c.j.s. bill, and i want to thank chairman wolf for that. i want to join with him on the prison reform effort, because it's so critically important that our nation think anew about our criminal justice system. i think that this is an action forcing event that will pay great dividends for our nation through the task force that's embodied in the bill. i want to indicate again that one of our highest priorities on the committee has been youth mentoring. again, we have a significant investment in that regard. the boys and girls clubs of america, the big brothers, big sisters, all of our national youth mentoring programs and i

know we as a nation want to see many more of your young people be successful. that. thankful for working with ranking member bishop on the suicide prevention efforts. this bill represents a lot of progress on these issues. legal service. and then in terms of my day job, nasa, both in terms of space technology and commercial crew and the james webb telescope. i look forward to voting, supporting this and hopefully having the senate support this so the president can sign it. i thank chairman rogers and ranking member lowey for their great leadership on this effort. thank you and i yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: madam speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentleman, the distinguished gentleman from georgia, mr. bishop, the ranking member of

the military, construction and veterans administration. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for two minutes. mr. bishop: i thank the gentlewoman pour yielding. the milcon-v.a. portion will provide $1.3 billion above 2013. the milcon portion provides funding for military facilities, including family housing, which is adequately funding to meet their needs. the v.a. portion is funded at $63.2 billion. it meets the discretionary budget request in all areas of administrative expenses, research, information technology and facilities. in addition, it contains $55.6 billion in advance of appropriations for medical services, medical support and compliance and medical facilities which is $1.1 billion above the amount provided in f.y. 2013. the bill also takes concrete steps to pinpoint and address the serious issues of the

v.a.'s claims backlog and interoperability of d.o.d.'s and d.a.'s electronic health record system. for example, addressing the claims backlog, the agreement includes a 10-point action plan which we believe will give the v.a. additional tools to reinforce resources, training, quality oversight as well strengthen equipment and broadening access through electronic medical records. this plan not only focuses on increasing productivity, it also have claims process accuracy. it will make sure that veterans receive fair compensation at the outset without delays from having to appeal decisions. regarding the merging of the d.o.d.'s electronic health record systems, the agreement makes it very clear that both departmentes that an interoperable record system that actually works is the chief end goal for congress. no health record system -- new health record system is an important project for both departments to undertake, but the effort will be a futile

exercise if the result is not the development of two interoperable systems defined as computer information electronically. before i close, madam speaker, i'd like to recognize our staff, donna and her team on the majority side, matt, on the minority side and michael on my personal staff, for all of the amazing work and time they have put into this bill and supporting our subcommittee's efforts. i want to thank mrs. lowey, mr. rogers, the distinguish ranking member and chairman of the committee, and a special thanks to the chairman of the subcommittee for a bipartisan work product. it's a good bill and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i yield two minutes to the author of the homeland security portion of the omnibus bill, the chairman of the homeland security subcommittee, mr. carter from texas. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for two minutes. mr. carter: thank you, madam speaker. thank you, chairman rogers. thank you for the time and thank more importantly for the

leadership that you and ranking member lowey have shown and completing this process and giving us a physical 2014 appropriations bill. i rise in support of that bill. mr. speaker, the homeland security division of this bill is built on three -- madam speaker, is built on three things. funding the essential security and enforcement, increasing legitimate travel and trade and demanding fiscal discipline and accountability. homeland security division includes nearly 10% increase in office work force, 5% increase in i.c.e. investigations, funding to support i.c.e.'s statutory mandated 34,000 detention beds, more than 13% increase in privatization of airport screening, nearly 14% increase in cybersecurity, a total of $404 million for the national bioagro defense facility in kansas.

significant increases to the border patrol assets, coast guard operations and acquisitions, secret service operations and investigations, fema, first responder grants and bombing prevention efforts. in addition, this bill does more to address the wait times, trade and resource shortfalls in our ports, ports of entry and including a landmark provision for a public-private partnership authority to mandate for them to work with industry on performance of metrics, maintain operational plans for our nation's busiest ports. however, this bill cuts overall d.h.s. budget by nearly $400 million below fiscal year 2013 level and it holds administrative overhead at 2% below the current sequester level. in addition, the homeland security division requires 31 departments to provide

expenditure plans, terminates i.c.e. public advocacy programs, zeros out three headquarters offices, new headquarter offices and mandates the most comprehensive accounting in d.h.s. history. madam speaker, this is a bill that's worthy of support. i rise in support of this great work and thank both the majority and the minority staff for their work. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlewoman from new york s recognized. mrs. lowey: i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from florida, ms. wasserman schultz, ranking member of the legislative branch subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for two minutes. ms. wasserman schultz: thank you, madam speaker. i rise in support of this legislation which funds our government and its many important programs for the remainder of fiscal year 2014. i want to congratulate ranking member nita lowey and chairman hal rogers for working so hard to achieve balance and

compromise this legislation begins to reverse some of the devastating cuts caused by sequestration. it ensures we avoid the nightmare scenario of another government shutdown and invests in strengthening the middle class by investing in areas like education, scientific research and infrastructure. these will help create jobs and boost our economy which remains the number one priority of most persons -- americans. i'm thrilled that this bill sets the stage for regular order, which i know my federal appropriators so look forward to, and makes sure we can begin to work again together in the appropriations process. it's been a privilege to work with my good friend tom cole, the chair of the legislative branch committee. i'm pleased that the bill includes two critically important initiatives which work to combat the threat and danger of one of the deadliest diseases, cancer. it includes $5 million in that the breast cancer awareness for

young women program. as a young survivor, diagnosed at 41, i know how important it is for women to know the risks early on and get the health care they need. the bill also includes report language call on the defense department calling on a research force to study metastasized cancer of all types. with better understanding of the causes and treatments of metastatic cancer, we can save lives. i thank chairman lowey who created the original program today. s in the defense i hope that my colleagues can support this bill and i commend it to them. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i yield a minute and a half to the supervisor of the interior portion of the bill, the gentleman from california, mr. calvert. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is

recognized for one minns. mr. calvert: thank you, mr. chairman, thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in strong support of the fiscal year 2014 omnibus appropriations bill. as new chairman of the interior environment committee, i could not be more close pleased we are on the verge of passing the first interior spending bill since fins call year 2012. the interior decision of the omnibus is well balanced, reflects what could be achieved when all sides work together to ind common ground. mr. speaker, i especially want to thank mr. moran for his support. i hope passage of this bill is a sign of good things to come and look forward to working with mr. moran as we move forward on 2015 interior bill. i'm sorry to learn that he will be leaving congress at the end of this year but i'm happy to have the opportunity to work with him in the coming months. i also want to thank chairman rogers for his incredible support and leadership for his role in bringing this omnibus

bill forward and restoring order to the appropriations process. i want to thank you especially, mr. chairman, and i want to thank our wonderful staff who worked so hard in the holidays, virtually every day, including christmas day, to bring this bill forward. it's a good bill, i urge members on both sides of the aisle to support it. with that i thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: i am pleased to yield one and a half minutes to the gentlelady from california, ms. barbara lee, a member of the appropriations committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized for one and a half minutes. ms. lee: thank you very much. thank you, madam speaker. let me thank ranking member nita lowey for yielding. i want to thank her for her tremendous leadership on this committee and also i want to thank chairman rogers. both of these brave individuals really have worked together, day and night, to bring this

bill forward on a bipartisan basis. i just have to to the salute and thank you both for that. i know it was very, very difficult but we did it and so thank you so much. also to the staff, i, too, want to salute and thank the staff, including my staff for their tremendous work and trying to balance all the priorities so we can have a bill all of us can support. while i voted against the budget resolution i'm encouraged that this bill will restore the majority, not all, but a majority of the harmful sequester and bring relief to struggling communities and family whors living on the edge. as a member of the budget and appropriations committee, i'm encurmed that passing this bill will get us out of the cycle of governing by crisis this bill makes important investments in early childhood education, h.i.v. and aids, law enforcement, and increase ours support for the united nations and humanitarian relief efforts in syria. even with these increases, funding for these critical

programs still are main much too low. yet this bill provides $5 billion more than what the pentagon asked for while failing to extend emergency unemployment insurance for the 1.3 million individuals who lost on december 28 their unemployment. this is just wrong. finally, madam speaker, let me just say as a member of the labor-hhs subcommittee, i think it's shameful that our subcommittee failed to receive a proportionate increase in our total allocations. mind you, labor-hhs is the largest subcommittee after defense and supports programs that impact nearly every household, every community and every congressional district. but this bill is a step forward in our appropriations process. hopefully we can come together and fully refeel the sequester, restore order in our budget and propings work in fiscal year 2015. may i have an additional 10 seconds. ms. low wook: i yield the gentlelady 10 seconds. ms. lee: i really hope that we

don't set until accepting this new norm, quite frankly, that this spending bill sets because it is really far too low for too many people to really achieve the american dream. but i thank you both for coming together and doing the best you can do given the fiscal circumstances, again thank you for yielding. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york reserves and the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i yield one and a half minutes to the chairman of the house science committee, the gentleman from texas, mr. smith. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one and a half minutes. mr. smith: i thank the chairman of the committee for yielding me time. for more than 20 years the american commercial space industry has benefited from the ashureps of the u.s. government through federal aviation administration launch indemnification authority. under this arrangement, commercial launch providers are required to purchase up to the maximum probable loss.

beyond that the government will cover up to $1.a 5 billion and any amount above that is the responsibility of the original commercial launch provider. the three-year extension of the sharing shm will help the commercial space industry and our economy. the next three years, space launch providers will have the stability and assurance they need to compete in the international market. madam speaker, i urge my colleagues to support this bill and yield back the balance of my time to the chairman of the committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from kentucky. mr. rogers: i yield one minute to the gentleman from pennsylvania, a member of our committee, mr. dent. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. dent: thank you, madam speaker. i rise in strong support of this omnibus legislation today for a number of reasons. first, for the fourth year in a row, we are cutting overall

discretionary spending, that is significant. spending levels will be lower than they were for the first time since fiscal year 2009. again, very, very significant. it's also important that we're not passing another continuing resolution which wastes a lot of money. in this legislation we're putting money where it should be and cutting money where we must. so that's important. finally i want to say this. this legislation will help bring about greater predictability, stability and certainty not only to the budget process but the appropriations process and most important of all to the american people, many people are watching our actions, it will create a better environment for business investment, job creation, extraordinarily important. finally we roll back onerous regulations, those on incandescent light bulbs, very important for many of us. finally we fixed the issue with the military pentagons where we make sure those who are disabled and survivors will not be impacted in any way by the

recently enacted budget agreement. for all these reasons i urge support of the underlying legislation, commend the chairman and ranking member and all those involved with the process for a job well done. thank you, i support the bill, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlelady from new york reserves. and the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i yield one minute to the gentlelady from washington state, a member of our committee, ms. herrera beutler. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. herrera beutler: thank you for your work on this bill. there's two reasons i rise in support of this bill. first it will protect and promote the things that residents of southwest washington hold dear. second, it helps us do something that no congress has done since the korean war. which is it reduces appropriated spending for the fourth year in a row. dollar over dollar. many people have been understandably discouraged with

the partisan bickering in washington, d.c. and i believe if we focus on finding common ground and fixing problems we can find solutions we can be proud of. with this bill, i believe we do just that. you north korea i've seen the ports of chinook and others will have critical dredging funds made available. we're improving veterans programs and support for our nation's bravest heroes. we're protecting access by not decommissioning roads and keeping our commitment to cleaning up nuclear waste at hanniford. there's much for folks in southwest washington to like in this bill. while we still have more to do in terms of reducing spending and getting results, i believe if we work together there's no limit to what we can accomplish. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from kentucky reserves. the gentlelady from new york. reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i yield one minute

to the gentleman from ohio, mr. latta, for purposes of a colloquy. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. latta: thank you, i'd like to engage the chairman of the appropriations committee in a brief colloquy regarding the corps of engineers. i was pleased to see the explanatory statement for the water portion of the omnibus which states there are additional funds available to support flood control studies, particularly those that lead to significant economic benefits by avoiding daniels caused by flooding. local communities are often left with economic development plans that may not move forward when these flood control projects face significant delays due to lack of funding. it appears the committee intends that the corps support flood control project studies nearing completion and have local funding available for match. is that correct and will the corps consider economic impacts in its decision making? i yield to the chairman. mr. rogers: i thank the gentleman for yielding. yes, the gentleman from ohio is correct. the bill includes additional

funding for flood control studies and the report direction encourages the corps to consider economic development and job growth when allocating these funds and individual studies. i yield back to the gentleman from ohio. >> i yield back. thank you very much. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. she has five and three quarter minutes remain, the gentleman from kentucky has four minutes remaining. mrs. lowey: in closing this debate, i want to take the opportunity again to thank chairman ronellers, to thank senator mikulski and senator shelby on the other side of the aisle. it really has been a pleasure to me to work with chairman rogers and all the ranking members on both sides of the aisle to produce this bill that i think we can be very, very

proud of. i also want to thank again the appropriations staff on both sides of the aisle who are looking forward to a good night's sleep tonight. they have worked incredibly hard through the holidays but because of them, and because of the partnership, we are very proud to present this bill. 2015 and forward to we will have more time to consider the suggestions from all of our colleagues in working on this bill, i know that we will continue to invest in programs and projects that strengthen our economy and create jobs. although we could not include it in this bill, i do hope that we will have the opportunity very, very soon to pass an

extension of unemployment insurance. oh. and in closing, the great ranking member, mr. farr, has just returned and i would like to yield you the remaining of my -- remainder of my time, mr. sam farr. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. farr: thank you very much. i have no idea how much my time is, but it's the remainer. thank you, mr. chairman, for getting us back into regular order. i praise the work of this committee, i'm proud to be on it, i'm proud of the ranking member. while we celebrate success and this is one, we have to remember that we're still underfunding americale while we're praising america's need to grow, we're cutting, trimming and squeezing government's ability to meet that growth. population growth, particularly

in my state of california. we've got to get back to regular order and allow increases in revenue. we've got to mind the store and cut, squeeze, and trim but what we're doing is leaving the poorest populations in this country at risk. i came out of the war on poverty. there's still a lot of poverty in america. secretary vilsack, chair of the committee that i'm the ranking member on, there's 4 -- pointed out there's 400 counties in the united states that are by census the poorest counties in the united states, that are really, really poor, they're in the third world and they're in the united states. our committee, agriculture outreach and food program sdz and economic development, water and rural electricity and all those things are the solutions and in the communication systems, broadband and so on, we've got to address this an we don't have enough must be to do that. i praise the chair's ability to get back on order but while i'm going to support this bill, let's hope next year we get back in order and bring the fiscal affairs of the united

states in good, sound position, not just cut, squeeze, and trim. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. lowey: how much time do i have remaining. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman has two and a half inutes remaining. mrs. lowey: i'd like to thank again the distinguished chairman rogers and all of the appropriations committee and i'd like to say another word in following up with our ranking member, mr. farr. i, too, re-entered government after i raised my children and i ran the anti-poverty program in new york state. and i felt so passionately that what most people want is a hand up, not a handout and that's why the temporary extension of unemployment insurance is so important. just this week i met with a man years old, a licensed

electrician. he said for the last 10 years he wanted to work every day as e always d -- did before but he never worked a complete year because in my district, in rochester and rockland, there's 40% unemployment in the construction trade. so i would ask my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, let's pass this extension of unemployment insurance and make sure as we consider these bills next year, we focus on investments, strengthen the economy, create jobs and make sure that we give every person that opportunity to fulfill their dreams. thank you again, chairman rogers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york yields back the balance of her time, and the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: madam speaker, if i were allowed to make reference to people in the gallery, which

i'm not allowed to, i would say we have over my right shoulder up there most of the staff of this committee who's responsible for this bill. and if i were allowed to say so, i would want to congratulate and thank them for giving us their christmas and new year's and all of the heart and desire they have to bring us to where we are. madam speaker, when you think about this room, this hallowed chamber, where we came together during times of crisis and in times of noncrisis, a place you can almost hear the words echo of mcarthur addressing this body or churchill or president wilson and you remember that this is the chamber where we all came together to survive the depression, world wars

beginning with i and the dire days of world war ii and all the other wars, this was the place where the nation found itself coming together. and i can't think of a more saving time than i've had in this chamber in these years than now in helping bring together across the aisle and across the capitol members of the senate and the house doing what we're supposed to do and that's governing and deciding how we want to spend the taxpayers' dollars for the country and i want to thank all who took part in that. it's been a great chore. had 30 days to put together $1 trillion-plus spending bill, get it approved in the senate, controlled by another body, and , be signed by the president

another party from ours on this side. and it's been a great pleasure working with all of you. this bill's not perfect, i hate to tell you, but it is a good one and it represents the best traditions of the country in coming together, recognizing our common problems, then finding a way out of it. i want to thank mrs. lowey, our colleagues in the senate for all the work they put into it and i urge an aye vote and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. all time for debate has expired. pursuant to house resolution 458, the previous question is ordered. the question is on the motion by the gentleman from kentucky, mr. rogers. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is agreed to. and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on

the table. mr. rogers: madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky. mr. rogers: i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman ask for the yeas and nays? mr. rogers: i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes y electronic device. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, this 15-minute vote on the motion will be followed by a five-minute vote on approval of the journal, if ordered. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 359 and the nays are 67. the motion is adopted. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the unfinished business is the question on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal which the chair will put de novo. the question is on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it and the journal stands approved. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? >> madam speaker, i ask

unanimous consent that when the house adjourns today it adjourn o meet at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. please take your conversations off the floor.

the house will be in order, please. please take your conversations off the floor. ut of the chamber. he house will be in order. members are asked to please take their conversations utside of the chamber.

the house will be in order. please take your conversations outside the chamber.

the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. please take your conversations off the floor. please take your conversations off the floor.

he house will come to order. the chair will now entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? the gentleman is recognized for one minute. the house will come to order, please. please take your conversations outside the chamber. he house will come to order.

the house will please come to order. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. garrett: i thank you. today we remember a somber moment in our nation's history. we must also remember what values our nation was founded on, remember that we must always protect those values. our declaration of independence promises life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and as the chairman of the constitution caucus, i pledge to fight for those liberties recognized by our founding fathers. for 41 years, since roe v. wade, more than 56 million unborn children have been denied the inalienable right that we hold so dear. for pro-abortion advocates, they want americans to believe that abortion is an ordinary medical procedure. but ending a human life is

never ordinary and denying the most basic of rights, the right to life, to unborn children is not and never will be normal. discrimination against a person based upon their age, their size or development should never be acceptable. so i join my colleagues tonight to speak out for the value of human life, because we must speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. we must continue the fight to protect that most fundamental right, the right to life. ith that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the house will please come to order. please take your conversations off outside of the chamber -- conversations outside of the chamber. the house will come to order. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? the gentleman is recognized. without objection.

mr. rangel: you know, my colleagues, if someone was to read the history of the united states, they would think that all the democrats in this country were poor and all the republicans were rich. but it just mazes me how in the last few years -- amazes me how in the last few years, since we've had this president, how the republicans decided that they're not going to support -- >> mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. please come to order. please take your conversations outside of the chamber. mr. rangel: the republicans have done a pretty good job in making certain that we don't close the tax loopholes for the very wealthy, and that we don't raise any type of revenue through taxes, the things that they have fought against, moneys for jobs, the affordable re act, the affordable

housing, there's just so many things. but when it gets to the basic moral things, which doesn't concern what label or how you vote, it's just what happens to a person when the only thing they're relying on, this unemployment compensation, what happens when 1.3 million of these people no longer have that check? well, i can tell you because unfortunately i don't come from a wealthy district. but sometimes they can't pay their rent. sometimes they get evicted. sometimes they can't get to their jobs. sometimes their car doesn't -- the bills haven't been paid. then we find people drifting into poverty and that's where we really pay. not only in the misery and pain and hard work of americans, but we pay in terms of welfare. please, republicans, pass to give some assistance for 1.3 million americans.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? mr. thompson: mr. speaker, request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, today the house took a positive step towards restoring fiscal discipline in washington, with passage of the consolidated appropriations act for fiscal year 2014. in years past, congress has relied on continuing resolutions, which is no way to run a government, and it cedes all spending decisions to the white house. this measure restores the role invested by the constitution in the legislative branch, the power of the purse. the ability to authorize and appropriate public money for the national government. furthermore, the bill reduces regulatory burdens, protects our national security and enforces stringent oversight of the executive branch. the bill protects our constituents from arbitrary and drastic flood insurance rate increases and maintains pro-life policies and protects second amendment rights. the bill creates efficiency by

eliminating areas of waste but it also makes critical investments in areas most in need. congressman jim langevin of rhode island and i, co-chairs of the bipartisan caucus, have led the charge for yull funding -- for fully funding technical education. i want to thank my colleagues for their work and call on the senate to pass this important bill and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas seek recognition? without objection the gentlewoman is recognized for ne minute. ms. jackson lee: mr. speaker, today i rise to plead for the restoration of food programs like snap that have been targeted for reduction by billions of dollars due to sequestration and direct cuts. in 2013, according to the houston food bank's map the meal gap report, the overall

insecurity for houston food bank's eight-county service area was 8.5% and for children it was 22%. there are 48 million women living in poverty and 22 million children. the houston food bank reports that 415,000 children, one in four children in their area, are food insecure. when we had a meeting with the crncally unemployed, the food bank acknowledged the social network is overworked and overserviced. though i know they'll work to do their best, 11,000 more children are food insecure than in this year and 24,000 more duts are food insecure. that's why i'm introducing h.r. 3888, a new chance to start life act. i also want to salute, mr. speaker, the alpha kappa alpha, this is their founder's day on january 15 as well as the

birthday of martin luther king. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> our founders ubbed that we're all endowed with certain inalienable rights, including the right to work. it's been over 40 years since the tragedy of roe v. wade and the march for life has brought together pro life advocates every year since. congress has made critical gains in the fight to protect life but there's still work that must be done. mr. shuster: we have a duty to stand and fight for the protection of the urn born. i believe that life begins at contraception and should be protected at all stages. every day more and more americans join us in this battle to protect life and the movement to protect the unborn grows stronger each year.

we must continue to build on the gain that was been made and work to building a future where the sanctity of life is upheld across the nation. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? >> i i -- address the house for one minute and rhett meth -- revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> the good book says man does not live by bread alone. mr. davis: but i can tell you if you don't have any, and you don't have milk, and you don't have baby food, and you don't have all those essentials that provide good nutrition, you don't live healthy. i urge my colleagues, let's not cut snap. let's not take food out of the mouths of those who are hungry. let's make sure that they cannot only have bread but milk and cheese and everything else that goes with it. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the

gentleman from illinois seek reck fission? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise to remember the 41st anniversary of roe v. wade. every year on january 22, students come to washington, d.c. and host a rally on the national mall to celebrate life. to me, the march for life means renewed hope and faith in our nation's young people as i see hundreds, many from parishes like mine, come to our nation's capital to stand for life. i want to recognize all the groups from illinois, including my former priest, father dan willenberg, from my district in nokomis, illinois, and his group of 160 students who will travel almost 800 miles to participate in next week's march for life. mr. davis: i am praying for safe travels and wish i could be here with you. as father of a 16-year-old daughter and 13-year-old twin boys i want to thank our youth

for their commitment to life. i hope my children have the same opportunity to come to washington to stand up for what they believe. in i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition? >> i unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: weather the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. cohen: before i was elected to congress i served in the tennessee state senate. i worked hard to create a tennessee state lottery, an opportunity for students to go to college and come out without debt and without having to have a job while they were in college to succeed. next monday will be the 109 anniversary of the tennessee education lottery. it's raised over $2. billion for education, yet with education costs rising it's still not enough. we in congress need to work hard to make sure pell grants increase and that pell grants go to students that not for profit schools and at those

for-profit schools that gradge wait students and get them gainful employment. ladders of opportunity for the middle class are paved through education. the the tennessee will thery is one of those ways. i continue working for pell grants and other opportunities to give students an tun to improve their lives. thank you and i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from tennessee seek recognition? or new mexico, i'm sorry. the chair apologizes. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new mexico seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. lujan grisham: in western states like new mexico it's become clear that water is a resource that can no longer be taken for granted. we must recognize how essential it is for for household, businesses, the veerment, because new mexico can and should be the next innovation hub for water management

technology. new mexico is reported to have approximately 15.4 billion acre-feet of brackish water, enough to sustain three million people for 300 years. our communities could greatly benefit from investments in se sal -- in desalination technology which would create a new water supply while also lead to more jobs and more economic development. mr. speaker, we must continue investing in water technology initiatives, not only to better manage existing water resources but to unlock alternative water resources. i eagerly anticipate input from my constituents and colleagues as we set a dynamic course that will demonstrate to the region, to the country, and the world, that new mexico can respond to adversity and become a leader in water resources management. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to

address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection the gentleman s recognized for one minute. >> i rise today because thousands in my home state of michigan are looking for work and we are making their process harder. so many families are desperately trying to make ends meet while trying -- struggling to find work. tomorrow congress leaves for another 10-day recess while another 100,000 americans will lose their lifeline and be left out in the cold. this is unacceptable. i am circulating a letter to speaker boehner to cancel this break. we are all prepared to stay in washington to get this done. extending unemployment benefits is a proven economic return. it's the right thing to do for michigan families, for families across our country and for our economy. the clock is ticking. let's cancel this recess now and get to work.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. the clerk: leave of absence requested for mr. rush of illinois for january 13 through january 16. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the request is granted. under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2013, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. smith is recognized for 6 ominutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. smith: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of our special order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. smith: i yield to the gentlelady from north carolina, s. foxx. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank my colleague,

chris smith, for his leadership on developing this hour and all my colleagues who are here to speak on this very important issue. this week marks the 40th -- 41st anniversary of a supreme court decision which has denied 56 million children the right to life and denied the people of this nation the ability to govern their country in a manner that aligns with their conscience. i thank my fellow members for speaking today and marking this somber occasion. life is a gift from god and should be cherished. it is my strong belief that life begins at conception and few things demean the sanctity of human life more than elective abortion. the unborn are the most innocent members of our society and the fact that they're right to exist has not been recognized in 41 years is a stain on our nation's character. as members of the pro-life caucus, we have worked to eliminate taxpayer funding for abortion. fought to preserve pro-life

health care providers' rights of conscience, we have followed medical research that indicates infants can feel pain in the womb as early as the 20th week of pregnancy and passed legislation that would eliminate abortion after that time. these are worthy pieces of legislation. i hope that the day will soon come when the supreme court sees fit to overturn row and allow the people -- to overturn roe and allow the people the ability to eliminate the practice of elective abortion entirely. for as long as i have the privilege of serving in congress i will work to ensure unborn children, the most vulnerable members of our society, are protected. i thank my fellow members here today who share that goal. let us continue to work for the protection of innocent life. with that, i thank my colleague again, mr. smith, from new jersey and i yield back. mr. smith: i thank the

gentlelady from north carolina for her very eloquent remarks and for her leadership on behalf of the unborn and their mothers. i would like to yield to martha roby, the gentlelady from alabama. mrs. roby: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank the gentleman from new jersey for his leadership in the pro-life caucus and for organizing today's discussion. of course next week will mark 41 years since the landmark supreme court decision in roe v. wade. since then approximately 56 million unborn children vn -- have been aborted in the united states. 56 million unborn children aborted. recently, important legislative actions have been take ton defend the unborn and protect women from the brutality of late-term abortions. these include measures to tighten restrictions and raise health and safety standards for

abortion providers. as we fight to increase protection for life under the law, i believe it is equally as important to promote the respect for life emphasizing adoption as a loving alternative to abortion. mr. speaker, i want to take a moment to highlight the very special organization in my state called agape. agape provides adoption services, counseling and outreach programs to mothers to be across central alabama. talk to anyone who has gone through either side of the adoption process and they'll tell you how challenging it is. and that's where agape comes in. agape is there to find permanent, nurturing families for children and to make sure all involved in the adoption process have the support they need. it's groups like agape that help a woman with an unplanned pregnancy know about the loving, nonjudgmental way

adoption works. it's groups like agape that give children the hope and opportunity to grow up healthy and happy. it's groups like agape that make it possible for families who don't think they can ever have children to experience the unique blessing of adoption and be made whole. mr. speaker, adoption is humanities recognition of the miracle of life, an affirmation that every life matters and each person has value in this world. as we here amongst my colleagues today reaffirm our commitment to protect life under the law, let us also take this opportunity to promote life by supporting birth mothers, adoptive parents, and organizations like agape that connect them. thank you, mr. speaker, and thank you again to mr. smith for your leadership as always. i yield back. mr. smith: mrs. roby, thank you

very much. and for underscoring this a viable option that's available that is far too seldom selected and that's the loving option of adoption. thank you so much. mr. latta: i appreciate the gentleman for his leadership on this all-important issue and your time here today. and, mr. speaker, next wednesday thousands from across the country, including hundreds from my constituency, from northwest and north central ohio, will gather in washington, d.c., in recognition of the 41st anniversary of the supreme court's roe v. wade -- roe vs. wade decision. while this marks a somber occasion to reflect on the tens of millions of lives lost and the harm that's come as a result of legalized abortion, it also represents an opportunity to strengthen our voices and renew our efforts in support for life across the

country. we must make certain that our fight does not end here with the march. we must continue to be daley engaged and vigilant -- daily engaged and vigilant in protecting the life of unborn children and ensure that federal policies that openly seek to threaten those rights or curb them through limitation or veiled eil -- assaults on conscious rights are defeated. let us not forget that the reamble to our declaration of independence proclaims that life is our first absolute right. thank you to the tens of thousands of americans who spend their time and continue to dedicate their efforts to this vitally important cause. i am committed to fighting with you and defending the sanctity of life and, mr. chairman, and, mr. speaker, i yield back. thank you. mr. smith: thank you very much for your leadership and for your compassion for the weakest and most vulnerable. i'd like to yield to the co-chair of the congressional

pro-life caucus, the gentleman from illinois. mr. lipinski: mr. speaker, i want to begin by thanking chairman smith for all of the work that he does on not just this issue of protecting life of the unborn here in the united states, but on human rights around the world. we all know that the first human right is the right to life, without which nothing else is possible. i am very proud to support the legislation mrs. foxx has talked about that we are trying to move forward here in the house to protect life, to do what a large majority of the american people want to do, to stop taxpayer funding of abortion. but today i want to talk about at's going on outside of the capitol. we have next week the march for life here in washington. many people thought 41 years ago, with roe v. wade, that it

was over. that the decision had been made and there would be abortion and abortion on demand here in the united states forever. but a year later there was the first march for life. now the 40th march for life, we will see hundreds of thousands of americans come out here, so many young people coming out here to show their support for life. and i want to thank them for taking the time, making the effort to come out and speak for those who can't speak for themselves. i will be here next week to address the crowd before the march. in chicago on this coming sunday there will be tens of thousands who can't go to washington who will be out for a march for life. i will be there to address the crowd. and again call for all of our leaders to embrace life and protect life.

mrs. roby talked about the other issues, the other things that people who are doing in a pro-life movement that was just so vitally important, because it's not just about legislation. it's just not about protecting life through law, which we must do. but it's about adoption. mrs. roby talked very eloquently about all those involved in adoption out there, tens of thousands who give their time, give their lives to adopt babies. we also have the crisis pregnancy centers, who not only tell women who are pregnant about the option for them they provide for them, they provide food, they offer to provide the diapers, other things, trips to the doctor that are needed for women who are pregnant and who are considering having an abortion. i want to thank them for the work that they do.

so here we are 41 years after roe v. wade and there's a vibrant pro-life movement still going on. i want to thank everyone who is part of that movement and i will keep working for changing the laws in this country and we have the change the hearts and minds of our leaders. we can can change the laws and take care -- we can change the laws and take care of the unborn and all those women out there who face this most difficult choice. i want to thank all of my colleagues who are standing up here with me today for the work that they are doing to protect the unborn. mr. smith: i thank my good friend and colleague for his leadership. for standing so strong, and for reminding everyone about the importance of the crisis pregnancy centers which are a lifeline to so many women who might otherwise abort and make that irreversible decision. so thank you for this. i'd like to yield to my good friend and colleague from nebraska who has also been a tremendous leader in the cause

of life and human rights in general. >> first of all, mr. speaker, let me thank my good friend from new jersey, mr. smith, for his tireless leadership on this essential civil rights issue, to protect women and to protect children. mr. fortenberry: let me also thank my good friend, mr. lipinski from chicago. each day members of congress come down here and push and shove rhetorically, poke one another in the eye and i think america's looking for a way to transcend this political bickering, this acrimony that exists down here. so it's very moving to me that danley pinsky would come here, join with -- dan lipinski would come here, join with us and say that women deserve better than abortion, we can do better in this body. i'm very grateful for your leadership as well. soon a joint session of congress will gather for the state of the union address. celebrating our american republic. we have much to celebrate as a country. but there are also very deep philosophical divides. and sometimes the tone of disagreement makes me wonder

what happened to respect for the cherished notion of political opposition and the intellectual diversity that makes america truly great. but, mr. speaker, abortion is probably the toughest issue will you not hear about in the state of the union address -- you will not hear about in the state of the union address. the violence of abortion has wounded our society deeply. for instance, the gosnell case, which profiled late term abortion atrocities in urban philadelphia, shows what can happen when people become dessens advertised to death -- dessens advertised to death. many of the -- dessens advertiseed to death. so many persons are hurt by the act of abortion. they suffer silently when the culture that enticed them into an irreversible choice turns its back and refuses to acknowledge their pain. but, mr. speaker, with that said, there is also some good

news. those who have been hurt by abortion are speaking out. they are silent no more. and advances in ultrasound technology are also providing a window on the delicate beauty of human life in the womb. mr. speaker, droves of young people are responding to the truth of science. they are increasingly pro-life. and many are coming here next week to celebrate that beautiful gift of life at the march for life. these young people are recognizing that the womb is a sacred place where children should be safe. they believe that we should do everything possible to save both the mother and her child. they refuse to choose between mothers and their children. but they are also not naive about the difficulties that some vulnerable women face when they find themselves pregnant,

alone, or worse, threatened, coerced by an uncaring boyfriend or worse yet a medical doctor into having an abortion. to those of who you do not stand with us, i would like to say this. i offer a hand of friendship. i'm pro-life. i believe that women deserve better than abortion. but maybe there's some areas where we can work together. where possible. to let, first of all, the healing begin. as my good friend, dan lipinski mentioned, maybe it's important in this area to end the taxpayer moneys that go to abortion providers. because so many americans oppose that use of their money as well. and there's one other area we should work on. let's don't wrongfully discriminate against people, people of faith or of good conscious or who through reason led themselves to a deeply held ethical belief, that does not

allow them to be complicit in any way in health care in their health care policy, in paying for the act of abortion. these are a few areas where i think we can transcend the political divide and do what is right and fair and just for women, children and our society as a whole. thank you, mr. smith. mr. smith: i thank my friend for his very, very eloquent remarks. i'd like to yield to the gentlelady from minnesota, michele bachmann. mrs. bachmann: thank you so much to my colleague from new jersey, mr. smith, who has long been the fearless leader of the issues, standing for the sacred right to life. one thing that we know in 41 years is that there's been a profound change in the united states. we can't lose 56 million innocent american lives and not be changed. just put it in context, 56 million means the entire state, the speier population of my

state of -- the entire population of my state of minnesota, over 10 times over. that's how many of our fellow brothers and sisters have been lost to the carnage of abortion. that's the unborn. but the other calculus is the loss to 56 million american women. women who have had ongoing precious innocent human life literally pulled from their body. i'm a woman. one thing that god has done, the creator of all life, he privileged women to be the receptacles and the bearers of the next generation. i've been privileged to bear five beautiful children. to be a foster mother to an additional 23 children. i've been a mother 28 times over. is there any greater privilege? i weep and i mourn for women who have been lied to, women who were forced into undergoing this very violent procedure

that for many people altered their life forever. they can't deal with the guilt. they've turned to maybe drugs or alcohol to deal with the guilt. the good news is, a wholly for giving god makes a way out. he forgives and he provides a way of opportunity for them. so 56 million unborn children, 56 million women, also 56 who on fathers, 56 million their child is the one who was unborn. i think we can do better. ideas have consequences. when we embrace the idea that human life isn't sacred, that it's expendable, this is the result. i know that we can do better. we will do better. and i thank god that with the march of life that's coming up next week, that we will stand together saying that there is a future and there is a hope. and i yield back to

representative smith. mr. smith: thank you very much, michelle, for those very sensitive remarks and really appreciate your leadership. i'd like to now yield to my friend and colleague from michigan. mr. huizenga: i appreciate the gentleman from new jersey and his leadership, that he has provided all of us in the pro-life caucus. and i'm looking here at my phone, i wish i could share this on tv with everybody and everybody up in the gallery and with my colleagues. it's of someone very special named sloane and i'm going to tell a little story about her a little later. but this is an inspiration, as i'm coming up here today to talk a little bit about this issue. and the numbers, the statistics have been shared and sometimes they ring hollow, right? it's just numbers. and we have to attach the lives that have been affected by that. not only those children whose lives were lost, but the

mothers, the fathers, the grandparents, those that lost that and have that void in their families. so, of course we must continue to fight for the unborn. but there's another story to be told as well. and that story is about those children that we cannot forget, who need permanent loving homes. . there is about 120,000 families that navigate the adoption process. i'm pleased to report that adoption rates in west michigan where i represent are among the highest in the country. bethany christian services is located in grand rapids, the largest adoption agency in america. the lake shore pregnancy center, which i have a personal connection with. my wife serves on the board of that fine organization, and so many others that are out there trying to provide those services. our own church this past sunday set up a pack n' play and the

challenge is, let's fill it. let's fulfill two of those with all the needs that these mothers and these children have so we can provide that alternative to those young ladies, oftentimes, who are desperate and looking for a way out. they're looking for an answer and they don't know where to turn so often and have the pregnancy center there to offer alternatives to death and destruction is something that we need to take very seriously and i take seriously as a believer. the right to life group -- i served for over 10 years, to be able to be that voice and tirelessly promote the culture of life and strong families. i think that is something that we need to continue to do. i'm struck by families in my own church, who have done not just one international adoption but multiple international

adoptions. friends from school, my roommate in college and best friend from high school who has adopted through bethany christian services very early on. and i think we cannot forget those faces and those lives that have become so productive and have changed our culture. i was especially touched this year -- and this is where sloan comes in -- especially touched this year as i watched the life of a member of my own staff change when she and her husband ato wanted a little baby girl. when she sent me this photo a couple minutes ago and the caption was, need some inspiration, and the photo of sloan came up and, yeah, i think she's got spa ghetto o's smeared on her -- spaghetti o's smeared on her face in her high chair, but these are the things when we talk about life and the culture of life and let's

change those statistics where more stories like this one can be told, more stories about sloan and steve and others that have been in our lives. so these are stories that change lives, not just of those children but it changes the lives of those adoptive parents and the grandparents and the aunts and the uncles and the friends and we're thrilled and celebrate those families that have made that choice and we pray that the work that we do here can continue to help them make that choice. and i yield back. i thank my friend and gentleman from new jersey for allowing me to be part of this. thanks. mr. smith: thank you very much for your story of sloan. it was great. i'd like to yield to the distinguished the gentlelady from missouri, former u.s. ambassador, ann wagner. mrs. wagner: thank you very much. i thank the gentleman for yielding and for organizing this special order. defender of reater

the unborn than representative chris smith from new jersey. i thank all that you do every single day for all of us. mr. speaker, i rise today in support of life. one week from today, sadly the 41st anniversary of the supreme court decision that made abortion legal in this country in roe v. wade and even though the house will not be in session next week, i will be here to join many of my constituents as we march on the mall. the first time that i marched of the all in support unborn, i was a 28-year-old pregnant mother, pregnant with my second son, steven, and i'll be honored to march again in the mall in memory this time, sadly, of 56 million abortions that have taken place since that dreadful day 41 years ago.

that is roughly 1/5 of the united states population who we will never know. we will never derive the contributions to society that these nameless angels could have brought to the world. and even worse is the emotional and the physical pain that millions of women have endured in the days, months and years after their abortion. 41 years after roe v. wade, i am heart broken for the pain this decision has caused over the years. i am also hopeful and i am inspired. inspired by the many young people who energize this movement, who will join us next week in the mall in washington, d.c. i will be very pleased to host and to lift up. i am energized that this movement will have these young people standing beside me, and i stand beside them next week when we march.

and together we will continue to work towards the day when abortion is not only illegal but that it is unthinkable. i yield back. mr. smith: thank you, ann, very very ambassador, for your eloquent comments. i'd like to yield to my good friend and colleague from tim wal berg. mr. walberg: i'd like to thank my friend for standing up for life. it will be exciting to see the demonstration, and i say that in the positive sense, a demonstration that's going on this next week again of people demonstrating that there is a love for life, for children, for women and for men who've been caught in a lie of abortion.

who've been sold a message that goes against in most their cases goes against their normal commonsense thought. a thought that says life is something that should be sustained, it should be seen as a blessing, we should praise that opportunity. mr. speaker, my wife and i have always seen it as a high privilege to stand on the platform and look out across the crowd of hundreds of thousands of individuals who have love on their faces for life, for fellow humans, for people caught in very difficult situations with a great desire to tell the truth that there is a difference, there is an opportunity that they can share with others that could experience hope. today, mr. speaker, we sit in a

chamber that has above your rostrum the motto of the united states of america that says in god we trust, and so rather than going on with further comments that i would make from my own thoughts, i would turn to the thoughts of god himself. more specifically, words that were uttered by a man, a king, a very wise king who's very human as well. a king who was classified by god himself as being a man after my own heart. nd so what this man would say, i think who was honored by god by this statement is something we should hear. these words that king david 1:39 are words that can be uttered by not only the 56 million aborted babers,

but every baby in the past and the future who experience being a gift of god. david said, i would give thanks to you for i am fearfully and wonderfully made. wonderful are your works and my soul knows it very well. my frame was not hidden from in secrets. s made your eyes have seen my unformed substance, and in your book we're all written the days that were ordained for me when as yet there was not one of them. that talks of life as planned and gifted by god, in the womb, made for a purpose intended, and i thank god that i can stand here today as a member of ongress, as a father, as a husband, as a grandfather and as one who loves life in all

made by god anly as a gift. i thank the gentleman for allowing me this opportunity. god bless you. mr. smith: thank you, mr. walberg. i'd like to yield to randy hultgren, the gentleman from illinois. mr. hultgren: thank you, chairman smith. thank you for your incredible work on this issue. i rise to remember the sadness, 41 years since the sweeping roe vs. wade decision. more than 55 million have lost their lives to abortion. but after that fateful january, the pro-life movement was born. as americans united for life put it, the pro-life movement desires a nation in which everyone is welcomed in life and protected in law, and many warriors have taken up that cause. next week, many thousands will make the pilgrimage to the march for life in washington to

and protest the havoc roe v. wade has left in its wake. pro-life warrior, nelly, started the march and this annual event has exposed the brutality of this procedure. a country complicit in taking thousands of lives each day tarnishes a legacy of liberty and justice for all. defending human life at all stages shouldn't be a political issue. defending human life is a moral issue. it is a moral outrage and a violation of religious liberty for any american to be forced to participate in the funding of abortion. no one believed this more than the late honorable henry hyde, another warrior for life and my hero and mentor. henry hyde represented the illinois' sixth congressional district for 33 years. his crowning achievement, the hyde amendment, barred the use of taxpayer funds for abortion. congress has reaffirmed this amendment over and over again.

we must protect this principle by passing bills like the no taxpayer funding for abortion act, a bill which would make the hyde amendment permanent and governmentwide. no one should be coerced into paying for a procedure that violates their conscience. another warrior for life, irene napier, is a woman who lives in the district i represent, the 14th district of illinois. this crystal lake resident has dedicated her life to defending the unborn. now president emeritus of the right to life of mchenry county, through the years irene has stood up to the truth that every child should be given a chance to be loved and wanted. every human life has inherent dignity that is worth protecting. when we allow abortion, we're really saying that human lives are disposable, that we can throw away anything or anyone that inconveniences us. but people like irene, henry

and nelly and all of us who claim to be pro-life know that notion is repugnant and we reject it. each child, each mother is a unique gift. no one, no one should throw that gift away. i yield back. thank you. mr. smith: thank you very much. i say to my friend from illinois. i'd like to yield to mr. huelskamp. mr. huelskamp: thank you, mr. chairman. i certainly appreciate your leadership and long before i came here to this body, i've always considered you my personal hero so i thank you for that continued leadership. next week we'll see the 41st march for life. i've been attending marches nearly all of the last 20 years, either here or in kansas because protecting life is something i strongly believe in i believed in it enough to take part in the summer of mercy in wichita, kansas, despite the heat, ridicule and threat of arrest and i believe in it enough that my wife and i met doing pro-life work, helping and encouraging women in cries

cispregnancies. and we believe in protecting -- pregnancies. and we believe in protecting life enough we have four adopted children. i still remember meeting our two daughters for the first time in apettings of all places. in miami looking for that first glimpse, the first time we were going to hold our eldest daughter, or in kansas city two years later. this time my oldest daughter in one hand, the dozen roses in the other waiting for my wife to step off the plane with our second daughter. i still remember that ride home nd my wife had a 3 and 5-year-old. if we put their car seats together they'll get along. we arrived in home just in time for christmas eve mass. what a christmas gift from a mother who chose life. each day more and more eyes are being opened to the horrors of

abortion and the blessings of adoption. each day more and more young people are making the choice so stand up and defend life. and each day brings us closer to the time when it will no longer be legal for a mother and father to kill their baby just because a throw-away society tells them, that little girl or that little boy doesn't fit in their plans. we are getting closer to that goal, protecting all innocent life from conception to natural death, but it will not happen without action. action in congress, yes, but more importantly, action at home, action in our hearts, action in our families. we need to be talking and praying with our friends, our neighbors, our co-workers about the importance of protecting life and helping families in crisis pregnancies. . the end of abortion will be because our actions are changed by our hearts and minds and i

yield back. mr. smith: thank you for your work on the pro-life caucus and it's deeply appreciated. i would like to yield -- we have a number of pro-life doctors here in the u.s. house of representatives and two with us oday, first the gentleman from tennessee, dr. roe. mr. roe: i must spend a moment or two talking about congressman chris smith, who has been down here for three decades, three decades of his life advocating for life tirelessly. this nation and the unborn owe this man right here a -- thanks and gratitude and thanks for your work on this. it is truly amazing. it's with a heavy heart that i once again in my five years in congress, return to the house

floor on this date both as a father of three, a grandfather f two and professionally a gynecologist. have delivered close to 5,000 babies and i strongly support the sanctity of life. 3-d ultrasound has giving us a ook into the life of a human being. i have looked in that window thousands of time. i have seen human development at the earliest stages of a baby's life all the way through birth which strengthens my conviction in the right to life and lived in a small rural community and watch these children i have delivered grow up to be doctors, nurses and professionals and teachers and to have their own children and families. life is a precious miracle from god that does begin at

conception. it's our responsibility and privilege as legislators to protect those who don't have a voice. i will always fight for the right to life because it is my conviction and belief that we are all unique creations of a god who knows us and loves us before you are even conceived. what a loving and caring god that is. tonight we mark one of the most tragic misguided supreme court cases in our nation's history, roe versus wade. since 1973, more than 55 million babies have been denied the right to life. we must make our laws consistent with our science and restore full legal protections to all who are waiting to be born. if government has any legitimate function at all, is to protect those most innocent among us. for over 30 years, congress has

prevented taxpayer-funded abortions. unfortunately this door has been reopened with the pass eaming of obamacare, largest expansion since the pivotal roe versus wade decision. we are protecting those who don't have a voice and look forward to working with both sides of the aisle to ensure this promise is kept. we can expect to restore the trust that the american people have in their own government and in doing so ensuring that taxpayer-funded abortions remains closed. i'm glad to be here tonight with other legislators fighting for the rights of the unborn. i ask that hearts and minds are changed. with that, i yield back my time. mr. smith: thank you, dr. rowe for your kind remarks and for delivering those 5,000 babies.

i yield to dr. andy harris, the gentleman from maryland. works often at johns hopkins and great defender of life and spokesperson. mr. harris: mr. speaker, we are here tonight on the 41st anniversary of roe v. wade and put simply as my colleague from tennessee said, the science is just wrong. roe v. wade, the decision, they just got it wrong. ou know, i entered pre-medical study 1973, the year that roe v. wade was issued by the court and i remember taking courses, remember learning about genetics and human genetics and in 1975

when i went to medical school, i did a research proper ject with one of the scientists mapping a human genome. we took one of our cells and stained d.n.a. and i have the picture at home of my d.n.a. i remember the scientist telling me, you know, you look at that d.n.a. and that's human d.n.a. it cannot be mistaken for any other d.n.a. in fact now, mr. speaker, as you know, we can map the entire -- a person's entire d.n.a. and any scientist looking at hat map of any human being's d.n.a. will tell you that's a lume being, it's not a cat, dog, monkey, but a human being, it's the only thing that that d.n.a. could belong to.

well, that's very interesting, because, of course, if you go back to the roe v. wade case and read about norma who was jane roe. she was pregnant at the time with her third child and difficult pregnancy and problem pregnancy. unplanned pregnancy. well, norma ran into two lawyers who wanted to overturn, who later she would go on to say, she was the pawn of two young ambitious lawyers who told her that her fetus was just, and i quote, a blob of tissue. mr. speaker, we know much better than that. science knows much better than that. this was not a blob of tissue, but a human being.

it had the same d.n.a., the same genetics as you and i, any scientist in the world could tell that that's a human being, in fact, from the moment of conception, the scientific truth is, we are dealing with human beings. the case of roe v. wade, 56 million human beings whose lives were ended as a result of that decision. now, we are going to celebrate and i mean celebrate with a pro-life rally next week. and in the end, we are going to win this struggle, because in the end, what the justices determined were legal beings are going to be determined to be human beings for their protection. and i will tell you why there are going to be so many of the nation's youth at that rally. because our nation's youth grew

up knowing that roe v. wade is the law of the land and in fact, he law says legally, their existence, they have been threatened. mr. speaker, i have told this story before, if anybody doesn't believe it, i want them to meet jennifer. my wife volunteers at a pregnancy center. one of those places where women with troubles, troubled pregnancies, in a bad situation, they know in this country it's legal to have an abortion, but what they really want is help. and my wife is fluent in spanish. she was raised in puerto rico and only person in that pregnancy center in maryland who speaks spanish. wasn't supposed to be there that political ria on

asylum on her third baby and she was having a hard time because her husband had left her and she called the clinic because honestly, she was looking for an abortion referral and maria doesn't speak english. speaks a few words not fluently enough to be understood and my wife was there. my wife talks to her and helps her. and maria who didn't want an abortion but knew it was an option, gave birth to jennifer. jennifer's now in middle school. great kid. i would challenge anyone to look into jennifer's eyes and say that roe v. wade got it right. mr. speaker, next week,

thousands and tens of thousands of young people are going to be on the mall to join with us to say simply put, roe v. wade got it wrong. i yield back my time. mr. smith: thank you very much, dr. harris. i would like to now yield my good friend and colleague from colorado, mr. lamborn. mr. lamborn: 41 years ago, the supreme court issued its tragic roe versus wade decision that legalized abortion on demand in the united states. since that ruling, there have been 56 million abortions performed. this practice remains one of the most common medical procedures in the u.s. it is perpetrated by a perverse logic that the life of an unplanned child does not possess the same value of that as any other child. as the parents of five children and grand parents of two, my wife and i understand just how

precious each and every child's life is. i believe every life is a gift from god and i remain committed to protecting the sanctity of human life. today, i want to recognize the more than 2,300 pregnancy care centers in the united states and providing critical services and support for women who find themselves in unplanned pregnancies. sadly, many women facing an unplanned pregnancy in the u.s. are told and believe abortion is the only way. pregnancy care centers respect these women and the lives they are carrying throughout their pregnancies. in my congressional district, we are fortunate to have one of these champions working to defend the sanctity of human life. life networks has been serving colorado springs for over 25 years. through the support of selfless men and women devoted to a culture of life, life network,

through the colorado springs pregnancy center, provides pregnancy tests, counseling and ultrasounds and diapers, formula and baby clothing. all of these services are free of charge. these centers have and will continue to reduce abortion rates, save unborn lives and provide assistance and resources to women so they can change life. i mourn the lives cut short by abortion. continue to pray to god that he griff his grace and comfort to those touched by this awful practice. i will continue to be among those fighting to stop it. thank you, representative smith, for your leadership on this issue, and i yield back. mr. smith: i would like to now yield to my friend from texas,

mr. neugebauer. mr. neugebauer: i thank the gentleman. next wednesday is a very solemn day in america as the 41st anniversary of roe versus wade. and i think that that was a day that a blemish was put on america. a blemish put on a country that was founded on the principles of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but unfortunately, we denied almost 56 million individuals that opportunity. a lot of people use the word choice when they talk about abortion. but unfortunately, we didn't give 56 million people a choice. one of the great pleasures of my life is spending christmas with my family and my children and grandchildren. i have two sons and four grandchildren. one of the pleasures that we

have on our mantle at home are the seasonograms of each of our grandchildren, our first glimpse of what our loving grandchildren were going to look like and clear indication that life begins at conception. so my hope is while i'm here in congress and i'll continue the fight is that we remove this blemish from this great nation, that we make this a nation, recommitted to those principles that was founded on of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. if we cannot be a nation of life, truly can we uphold any principles? thank you. . . i'd like to yield to the gentleman from california, mr. lamalfa. mr. lamalfa: thank you, my colleague from new jersey, and for leading this discussion here tonight. tone , it's a very somber

on a very ld be here sad subject matter on the 41st anniversary of roe v. wade as brought forward here in our history. you know, i rise today in strong support of the sanctity of human life, and i know we have as a society an obligation to protect life in all of its orms, especially the unborn. we're confronted today by a culture that takes life for granted and the sanctity of it. since the 41-year history of roe v. wade, a decision made by a court, legislated by a court, that 56 million unborn had which i think en

is an unconscionable thing. i'm pro-life. i join my colleagues in preserving the sankity of life. i'm a christian, father of four, daughters, have sisters, have nieces. a lot of women in our -- my life, my family's life. of course, nothing replaces the great joy you would have in holding one of your own newborn or those of relatives or friends and what that means. a miracle that god has given us. watching them grow, wave them go on to become successful. how would you want to take that away, i don't understand it. now i know obviously it's a controversial subject, but we're -- we fall short as a

country sometimes, a lot of times, many times that women are in a position to have to make a difficult decision sometimes, that they may believe the only position they have is the termination of a pregnancy. at the very least we ought to be able to stand here and make sure they have all the information on all the implications, all the options. instead sometimes they rush to make what can be a very tragic and long-lasting decision. the fight goes on. it won't end anytime soon. , t in the long term picture standing up for the rights of the unborn as well as for the sanctity of all human life i think is essential if we're to have a belief system in

something bigger than ourselves . so i hope we as a nation can do those and i appreciate folks willing to stand for it, the doctors that spoke here tonight that are there providing women's health and the health of the unborn and those already born, that they have that perspective they brought to us as well. so with that i appreciate the time and i yield back. mr. smith: i thank my friend. i'd like to now yield to mr. pittenger. mr. pittenger: thank you. i'm thankful for your eadership. [inaudible] the spirit in which you come and your dedication. -- peaker, i was before

before i got into congress, i spent a lot of time committed to the pro-life mission, and my interests really was elevated about 25 years ago when i was in london with my family and we visited the british museum. after a long day we were tired and we went into a little booth and sat down on a number of chairs and there was a tv screen. i pushed the button to see what was there and what came on but a little film about life and about birth and about this little baby and they referred to the baby time and again, the baby is week old, the baby is 2 weeks old, the baby is 3 weeks old. this is a chart, mr. speaker, at shows that baby and three weeks, four weeks, eye and a heart. five weeks, greater development

with the limbs. six weeks, adding the teeth and the palate, the ear. and then -- and you'll see there, mr. speaker, about the 16th week, the brain is fully formed. and at that point, fully formed, the nervous system is in. that baby can feel pain. so i want those who can see us today and feel the heart and commitment that this is a baby. and this is the life of that baby. this is process. the lord said i knew you even when you were in your mother's womb, and this is something that we cannot remove ourself from. you know, as you think of this baby and loss of these babies, mind's illion, your eye looks through all of recorded history and what has happened in the period of history that those babies were

born, what would have happened with their lives? did we eliminate the life of one who would have helped cure cancer or diabetes or any other disease? was that life taken that god had put in that little baby's mind and heart, the knowledge to do what it -- was needed to be done to cure a major disease today? we'll never know that till eternity, and for that i think it's a very sober thought to now that the lord watches over us, day and night, and the thoughts are out of good and give us a future. he has hope to all. we need to respect the fact and know the fact that that loving god provided this life to be a blessing on this earth. and it is something that we should consider very seriously,

the impact of what's happened in god's plan for this earth by what we have taken away from the life that he's given. so i share this time with you and i'm grateful for your leadership. as i join with you next week, this will be a moment to continue to ask god to help preserve these lives. thank you. mr. smith: thank you, mr. pittenger. i yield to chairman franks, chairman of the judiciary committee subcommittee on the constitution and a very -- inquire of the chair how much time has left? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has about two minutes remaining. >> i ride today to support the ife of the unborn and do everything within my colleague's legal power to protect the defenseless. i served as a doctor for nearly

30 years in northern michigan and i know that life begins at conception and protect for that life must start at conception. i have been blessed with a miracle of my own family. i think everyone believes that the government should protect children. we ensure their health, their -being and their well believe that life is precious inside the womb and must be protected. mr. benishek: i've voted to prevent taxpayer money to support abortion and supporting h.r. 7, a no taxpayer funding for abortion act. your hard-earned tax dollars should not pay for abortions, especially since highly uncontroversial practices are opposed by taxpayers. next wednesday marks the 41st anniversary of roe v. wade, the supreme court decision, 41 years of passion and engagement, i'd like to commend the grassroots effort of our

local communities, led by the michigan advocates for the unborn. thank you for all you do of educating our community about this important debate. thank you. mr. smith: thank you, mr. benishek. 41 years ago next week, january 22, marks the supreme court inhew man abanned on thement of women and babies to abortionist. 41 years of victims, wounded woman, shattered families and sanctions against women and children. since 1973, more than 56 million children have been killed by abortion, a staggering loss of children's precious lives, a death toll that equates to the entire population of england. the passage of time hasn't changed the fact that abortion is a serious, lethal violation of fundamental of human rights and that they deserve better and that generosity and compassion require that the right to life be guaranteed to

everyone. ather than doll or consciousness to the under mitigated violence of abortion, the passage of time has enabled us to see and frankly better understand the innate cruelty of abortion and its horrific legacy. victims, while making us more determined than ever, to protect the weakest and most vulnerable. all life is sacred, mr. speaker. no one, regardless of sex, race, religion, disability or condition of dependency is a throw-away. all of us, especially lawmakers, and policymakers everywhere in this town and throughout the country have a profound moral duty to protect the innocent and the inconvenient. i yield back the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2013, the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. pocan, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the

minority leader. mr. pocan: thank you, mr. speaker. and it's an honor to be here on behalf of the progressive caucus and lead this special order hour. last week we were here as the progressive caucus talking about the need to extend unemployment benefits for the 1.3 million americans that lost them at the end of december. and we had so much -- we filled the entire hour people talking about the need to extend the benefit and real personal stories affected by us, in this house, not extending benefits. it looked like for a while the senate would do the right thing in a bipartisan way and extend those benefits, and unfortunately this week we saw the republicans in the senate refuse to go along and extend benefits to needy americans, people who are without work simply trying to pay their rent, pay for their groceries and pay for things like gas so they can go and get a job. it's been a very unfortunate week, and yet this house we

have tried time after time this week to get a vote so we can get unemployment benefits extended for that 1.3 million americans. and the 72,000 americans each and every week that are going to lose those benefits, and unfortunately we have had no success. the leadership in this house has not allowed us to have that vote. so we are here again today to talk about not only the need to extend unemployment benefits but also to talk about a fast track deal that's going through this house, a fast track deal on trade that many of us see as a fast track to losing even more jobs and having an even more detrimental effect to the very same people we're talking about right now who are becoming more and more long term unemployed. i'm joined by a number of my colleagues today, and i'd like to right off the bat yield to a colleague of mine who's served in the california legislature, now proudly serves the long

beach area here in congress, my good friend and colleague, representative alan lowenthal from california. mr. lowenthal: i thank you. i thank the gentleman from wisconsin for yielding to me. i rise in support of the 1.3 million americans who have lost or will be losing their benefits by the calous efforts of this congress not to extend unemployment benefits, especially for the long-term unemployed. as you pointed out, as of -- mr. pocan, congressman pocan, that as of december 28, over 1.3 million americans lost their -- have been kicked off unemployment insurance. we're talking about -- and i'm going to speak in a few minutes about the personal impacts of this. we're talking about family members. we're talking about friends. we're talking about people in our own -- in each and every community of every member, regardless of political affiliation in this congress. in my own community in the

state of california, we're talking about if we look at and we continue this callous effort not to extend unemployment benefits, we're looking at over 325,000 californians losing their benefits in the next six months. we're talking about -- let's talk about jobs. people say that, you know, people should be working. we're talking about the impact if we do not extend unemployment insurance of the loss of over, in my state alone, over 240,000 jobs. we are just coming out of the holiday season and it is interesting in the holiday season, in the christmas time, that there was a lack of compassion by the majority party in the house, who did not put up a bill to extend unemployment insurance.

ngressman poe can and i -- pocan are looking at this. the president of the united states is going to be talking about the state of the union and nothing more important than people to be able to buy food and feed their children, to be able to hold their head up with dignity. so last year, the house democrats invited as their one guest, people who are victims of gun violence. this year, congressman, i applaud you for taking the lead and i'm pleased to have joined you in a letter to ask democrats and republicans to use their one additional seat to bring to congress to let the president and the rest of the nation hear the stories and put a face to those people who have lost their unemployment insurance to see

these are people like our neighbors. that's who we are talking about. and i urge every member of congress to bring a member, a person with them to listen to them who doesn't normally have a chance to impact our government, to bring with them a person who has lost their unemployment insurance. i want to talk about some of the people in my community. letters, people that i have met, people i have gone and talked to. i'll give two examples. i have a constituent who recently spoke to me about being 76 years of age and widowed and her daughter is 52, a civil engineer, has worked for many years at good jobs in the construction industry building water streement plants around the state of california. she was laid off three years ago and hasn't been able to find work since even for jobs that

pay much less and she would be willing to take a job that would pay less than a third of her previous salary. after her unemployment checks ran out she moved in with her mother. luckily she says when she and i were both employed, we paid it off. she, her daughter, has pretty much given up hope for another job and i'm somewhat crippled now. between my social security and my savings, we survive. my point is, i'm writing to you not to help us. she did not ask for any help, but she said we're doing ok but she knows so many people in her community are not doing well. are going through the same thing that she and her daughter have gone through, but don't now have insurance. and she asked me, she pleaded with me to extend the benefits and to extend their unemployment

checks. another constituent wrote to me recently and said i'm 58 years of age and telecommunication analyst laid off in january of 2013. i have worked for over 30 years in this field. now i need the government to help me through this rough time nd you and your pers are letting -- peers are letting me down. i'm soon to be homeless if you don't do something. i would take any job available. but all i hear is that i'm overqualified or i don't fit well into the job. think we have to really hear this. the person said i'm not a lazy person. i'm out there every day. i would give up one of my fingers to get a job. please she said keep fighting to help us out. both of these stories tell us

how we have a responsibility to help the women and the men and families in our community who are the foundation of our society and who are raising the next generation, who really are saying, i've worked hard. please at this tough time, don't abandon me. and they are saying, if we cannot provide adequate support for our families to make it through difficult times, they are saying, why if you are not here to help us, why are you there. when we extend unemployment insurance, the u.s. economy goes up, poverty goes down and working families are protected. now is not the time to turn our backs on the most vulnerable in our society. thank you. and i yield back the balance of my time. mr. pocan: thank you for not . ly putting those stories

i'm glad to be joining you and others who will be bringing someone to the state of the union. the president talks about income inequality and need to extend unemployment benefits. you will have someone from california and hopefully a lot of other people to share their stories. mr. lowenthal: thank you for that leadership. mr. pocan: i yield to a colleague of mine who has represented people across not just her state of california, but this country. chair of our democratic whip's task force on poverty and opportunity and done a tremendous job in speaking out about what we need to do to make sure those who are living in poverty have access to every opportunity. i yield time to representative lee from california. ms. lee: thank you, gentleman.

thank you for your leadership on so many issues which address and affect the american people across the board but thank you for being here every week during these special orders raising the level of awareness on the critical issues of our day. it takes a lot to do this, but thanks for giving us a voice. i join you and our colleagues in the congressional progressive caucus really in strong opposition to the transpacific partnership. and we are talking about trying to ensure that people do not fall into the ranks of the poor, but also people have pathways out of poverty into prosperity. we are looking at another bill, h.r. 3080, which is called the bipartisan trade priorities act of 2014, which would provide the administration with fast track authority. once again, this is not a progressive trade policy. it will not allow for people to be employed and get good-paying

jobs but just the opposite. looking at this really worries many of us that we will fall backwards in terms of more people becoming unemployed. let me just be clear up front, i do not oppose all trade agreements. i support fair and free trade. the notion that congress should provide a rubber stamp for complex free trade agreement is irresponsible and dangerous to our economy and to our constituents. they elected us to provide a voice into all of these policies and to shut the congress out of having that seat at the table to me is downright undemocratic. the t.p.c. will have a devastating effect on working class families and communities of color that many of us represent. it would sacrifice the well-being of working americans for the wealth of multinational corporations not to mention that

in its current form, it would lock in higher prices for drugs, including hiv-aids drugs for millions of poor and low-income individuals and families around the world. by exporting american jobs to countries where the minimum wage is just 28 cents, 28 cents an hour, c.e.o.'s will continue to get richer while working americans lose their only source of income. we have seen this happen before. past trade agreements have lready cost us $-- 3.4 million service-sector jobs, many in california. we simply cannot afford to lose more. nafta alone resulted in a net loss of one million u.s. jobs that led to a trade deficit of $181 billion and it devastated the manufacturing sector. these agreements have allowed corporations to ship good american jobs overseas while

wages, benefits and workplace protections and environmental protections are really declined and denied. rather than focusing on trade agreements that will hurt the middle class, we really should be focusing on job creation, eradicating poverty, and imimproving economic mobility. c.e.o. oomplet were paid the salary 42 times. in 2012, that number exploded to 354 times more than the average worker, 354 times. this is unacceptable. it's unconscionable, rather than building ways to prosperity, we are debating measures to make the 1% richer while holding working families down. i stand in firm opposition to fast track authority and any

final deal that sacrifices american jobs and environmental protections in the name of international corporate profits, this must be defeated. finally, as many of us are talking about tonight, we have 1.4 million people who did not receive their unemployment compensation checks this week. the republican tea party house has totally, totally abandoned these people who are living on the edge. they want to work. they want to work. so it's incumbent upon us to do the right thing on behalf of these people and immediately extend unemployment compensation. first of all, it's the correct thing to do, the american thing to do, the moral thing to do and also economically wise to do this. so we hope that during the district work period next week that republicans hear from their constituents because it's not only democrats who have people

who lost their unemployment compensation, republican constituents, all americans who are seeking to work and want to work and need that bridge over fwoubled waters, they lost their unemployment check also. i hope people of faith that they really draw from their faith and understand that here's the moment, now's the time to think the least of these and we are our brothers and our sisters' keeper and need to pass unemployment compensation right away and move forward and increase the minimum wage. and hopefully one day increase the minimum wage to a living wage because that's what the american people deserve. thank you for your leadership and giving me the chance. mr. pocan: thanks for talking about the fast track and wage erosion that is going to come out of that but for all the words as we talk about fast track and the need to stop it,

because if that goes forward, we are going to lose our voice and the people lose their voice in trade agreements. so thank you so much. i now would like to yield some time to my colleague, someone who has been an outstanding member of this body for so many issues. one year here, every time there is a major issue there is someone at the forefront of it. rosa delauro is exposing what fast track is really about and i yield time to representative delauro from the state of connecticut. ms. delauro: we owe you a debt of gratitude. i know what it means. i have been in this body -- this is my 24th year and years ago, i would spend my days in terms of one-minute speeches in my evenings in special orders and i know what it means and kind of

time and effort that it takes but it's about your value you you -- value u.s. and who you are are and we owe you a bit of gratitude for spearheading this effort. every generation has faced their own time of testing, whether it's an economic panic, great depression, slavery, jim crow, civil war, cold war, there are times when our country is confronted with a crisis that poses a threat to our nation and our way of life. and congress needs to stand up and act. the test of our time is inequality. it is not too much to say that inequality threatens the continued existence of the middle class in america and even the american dream itself. the question before us now is are we going to continue to be

the land of opportunity, social mobility and the nation that has the largest middle class in history during the 20th century or are we going to be have a of ion of "v"s and millions "v"-nots. we could have democracy or great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both. the current trend lines on inequality should serve as a wakeup call to e in this institution. according to the congressional budget office in 2011, while the top 1% of americans have seen their income triple over the past 30 years and now make 23% of the total, middle, working-class americans have seen their wages stagnate and median income fall. the year after that report, 2012, saw the highest corporate profits after taxes and the lowest salaries and wages as a

percentage of our gross domestic product. and this is in our history. the inequality we see in america today is not a crisis because some are rich and many are not, it is a crisis because the compact has been broken that allowed hard work to pay off and allowed future generations to do better. as a result, the middle class in america is under siege. . . a working class family could move up the ladder in america. they could buy a home, send their kids to college, have money to take a vacation and know when they reach retirement, that they would be ok. it's a story of my parents and probably yours, who worked hard all their lives so i could go to college, follow my aspirations, that is the american dream. for far too many families, that dream is fading away. american workers are being squeezed, their paychecks have stagnated, their benefits cut,

their homes are debt-tracked, their job security has been weakened, their wage and hour protections have been violated and the safety net under them to help them back on their feet in case they slip is being willfully, willfully shredded by some members of this body. so, yes, inequality is a crisis of our time. history will judge this congress terribly if we do not do everything in our power to restore the middle class in america. to create good, well-paying obs, promote opportunity and upward social mobility. there are many things that congress can and should do to remedy this cry sills. we can stop trying to -- crisis. we can stop tryinging to savage the safety net but cutting unemployment insurance and food stamps. my colleagues have talked about 1.3 million people without unemployment benefits. and the temerity of leaving this institution, going home

for the holidays, having a wonderful time with your families and no one denies that you should have time with your family. but to leave these people on the roadside, by themselves, with nothing to be able to take care of themselves or the families. that's not the united states of america. that's not the congress. that is not who we are. or what we are about. we can pass a budget in this place that invests in ow fewer you to, in our fundamental priorities, education and job training and we can't talk about cutting food stamps. $8 billion, $9 billion, $0 billion, $40 billion. it's wrong. it is wrong. we can support initiatives that create jobs, grow the economy, infrastructure, manufacturing,

biomedical research. we can pass a comprehensive economic agenda for women and families that reflect the way that americans live today. and we can recognize as lyndon johnson did 50 years ago with the war on poverty that the federal government plays a hugely important role in alleviating hardship and inequality and we should do everything we can to support these efforts. and given the deep hole we're in, one of the most important things we can do is stop digging. namely we can think twice, again, about extending the unemployment benefits. but further we think twice before signing off on another free trade pack, the transpacific partnership, that threatens to aggressively accelerate the inequality and job insecurity that americans are already experiencing. we have seen this movie, we know how it ends. this year marks the 20th anniversary of the north american free trade agreement and we know how that affected our economy and hurt our

workers. so many of us were here during that debate. we cried the night of that vote. because of what we knew it was going to mean to workers in the united states. and the recent study estimated that as much as 39% of the observed growth in u.s. wage inequality since nafta is attributable to trade trends. since nafta went into effect two decades ago, the share of national income collected by the top 10% of americans has risen by 24%. the top 1% share has increased by 58%. meanwhile manufacturing jobs to help forge america's middle class have been aggressively offshored. millions of manufacturing jobs have disappeared in our country, they've been replaced by low-wage service sector work. bureau of labor statistics, two out of every three displaced manufacturing workers who was rehired in 2012 experienced a wage reduction, most of them more than 20%.

despite the trenleds, we are now being urged to pass fast-tracked legislation, introduced last week by senators bachus and representative camp. grease the wheels of the transpacific partnership. this agreement with 11 nations in the pacific is of unprecedented scope and it threatens to be nafta on steroids. even this agreement -- the agreement being negotiated in secret, members of congress have been left out of the loop. even though the agreement will create binding policies on the future congress and countless areas. we have the evidence that suggests that this agreement will only accelerate economic inequality and job insecurity for american workers. we're being told that we need to rubber stamp it, that it's vital, nine out of 11 nations in this agreement have wage levels significantly lower than ours. if there is pressure at any direction on already stagnant wages, it will be down. harold mierston wrote in the

very poignant column in today's "washington post," when the case for free trade is coupled with the case for raising u.s. workers' incomes, it enters a zone where real incomes and -- numbers and real americans lives matters -- mattered. in that zone, the argument for the kind of free trade deal enbombied by nafta, permanent normal trade relations with china and the transpacific partnership, completely blows up. such deals increase the incomes of americans investing abroad, even as they diminish the incomes of americans working at home. they worsen the very inequality against which the president rightly campaigns. nafta has had a deep and a lasting impact on our community. it has depressed wages, it has led to offshore jobs, it has meant more economic security, less mobility for american

workers, it has fed a rising tide of inequality that threatens to engulf the middle class in america. for good. we cannot continue down this path. that pushes that american dream into on live on. and i want to say -- oblivion. and i want to say to my colleagues and others, and i apologize for taking so much time, but we need to understand, it is not one program here, one program there. this is a pattern, a pattern that is overwhelming middle class america and unless this institution has done what it has done in the past to change that direction, we will have a nation that no longer has the economic advantages that it has had in the past. and people will no longer enjoy economic security, nor will their families. i thank the gentleman for doing what he does and for inspiring us to come down and talk with you.

thank you. mr. pocan: thank you so much, representative delauro. for your absolutely tireless advocacy on behalf of the middle class and people aspiring to be in the middle class. thank you so much for being here tonight. i now would like to yield to another colleague of mine who is tireless in her efforts, she is the senior most woman in the house, the longest serving woman in the ohio delegation in history, but to me the most important thing, she's a graduate of the university of wisconsin-madison. and coming from wisconsin, you can't go wrong with that. it's a real honor to have representative marcy kaptur joining us tonight. ms. kaptur: thank you. congressman pocan, you are such a breath of fresh intelligence and fresh energy in this congress of the united states. i am so proud of the people of the badger state for sending you here and for the hard fight that you have exhibited from day one on your swearing in for the improvement in our economy, for the creation of jobs in this country, for the re-employment of all of those who coast-to-coast are looking for work but can't find it.

thank you very much for your service to our country and for bringing us together here tonight. i would like to say that trade olicy is the major reason that america can't employ all of the people seeking work. our trade policies are the major reason that we can't balance our budget. if we take a look at the additional pressure on outsourcing more u.s. jobs, that is going to come because of the recent introduction of the t.p.p., the transpacific partnership, or fast track, as it's called, is employing the same old failed trade model. and that model is, when you have more imports coming in here than exports going out, you're in the negative. and when you're in the negative on trade policy, you lose jobs. and in fact we are losing jobs by the containerload. on average, every day, because

of fast tracked agreements that have already been passed, we're losing on average about 15 american manufacturing establishments closing every day. you can go into any town in madison, wisconsin, in cleveland, ohio, in toledo, ohio, and we see shuttered companies. and what's amazing is if you go to newton, iowa, and see where maytag used to be located and then you go down to monterey, mexico, just outside monterey, you'll see maytag operating down there. all the workers in newton lost their jobs. that was a great product. and we can look at industry after industry and see the same thing. i've got bridget helping me hold this chart up and i'm going to refer to this in a second and i want to thank her very much. she's a member of congressman pocan's staff. the fast tracked model was established in the 1970's before any of us even got here, as a way for the executive branch to exclude congress from trade negotiations. how about that? it's just another overreach by e executive branch here,

inside this congress, and our ability to exert our legislative authority under the constitution of this country. now, since that fast track process was adopted, this failed trade model of executive branch control over our country has racked up over $9 trillion in trade deficits. $9 trillion. people go, why do we have a budget deficit? well, a budget deficit is only a reflection of our economy, not being able to produce enough income to pay the bills. because we've lost so many jobs. and this trade deficit that has gotten worse every year has racked up since the mid 1970's $9 trillion, more imports coming in here than exports going out. indeed, through this period america has lost nearly -- just in the merchandizing sector, seven million jobs, 1/3 of the manufacturing jobs of this

country, because of the fast track process. and what fast track means is, when the executive branch sends one of these trade deals up to congress, they tie our handles, we can't amend it. the rules committee, shut down. they bring it to the floor, we can't do anything about it, because they've negotiated in secret and we can't know what it is. what kind of a crazy process is that for the people of the united states of america? now, fast track has changed america's way of life. this amount of trade deficit, $9 trillion, all right, translates into lost jobs, it translates into poor quality goods. i tried to buy a coat over the holiday season. go find a quality material. go find it. i'd be real interested if you can. i was interested how sleazey the fabric has become, how poor the craftsmanship and crafts womanship. i know the people who make those are paid almost nothing for the work that they do. and we see our middle class

shrinking, and who's making the money off that transaction? surely not the person making it in some other country and surely not the person who is buying it here in our country. free trade agreements such as nafta, which was passed back in pntr, 1970's, and china which was then passed in the late 1990's, and then korea which was just passed a couple of years ago, were passed under the fast track procedure and we were promised that these agreements would create jobs and help balance our trade deficits in an effort to strengthen our economy. it's interesting to go back and read what the proponents said. you would think if we hadn't passed those agreements the entire western world would collapse. well, guess what? it is. parts of it inside this country are collapsing. let me go through some of the promises that were broken. they said nafta, which was passed back in the early 1990's, was supposed to create 200,000 jobs in our country.

find them. because what actually happened was we've lost nearly a million jobs. if you look at this chart, the hole that just got deeper in terms of trade deficit related to our trade with mexico and canada. the united states ended up being the loser. one million americans lost their jobs because of nafta, and if you go to these other countries, you can actually find the plants. i saw a manufacturing company that used to make wind shield wipers in buffalo, down south of the border. the workers couldn't buy cars much less the windshield wipers. interesting, it's a pattern that is repeated, repeated and repeated. they said korea which was past a couple of years ago was supposed to create jobs under the korean free trade agreement.

america has lost 40,000 jobs to korea and all the cars they were supposed to buy from us, 50,000 cars, they aren't buying them. they aren't buying them. there is a huge additional trade deficit being racked up with korea because of that agreement. fta had the exact opposite factors. nafta increased our trade deficits and same is true with korea. but nafta and china, if we look at mexico-canada trade agreement, we have accumulated 1.5 trillion of red ink. the same can be said for the korean deal and the year after the korean fair trade agreement, america's trade deficit increased by $5.8 billion. every billions tran lates into

whether up to 10,000, it was the industrial sector. america doesn't need fast track agreements because the model is wrong. it is destroying our middle class. what this country needs is investments in key industries like manufacturing to create jobs and grow our economy. i want to say one thing about this big dip which happened after we signed the agreement with china. if you look at the amount of goods that are coming over our borders now, 99.5% of the shoes coming into this country come from there, come from countries that have no ability where citizens can speak freely and have added to the angst. we need investments in key industries and we know if investment in manufacturing,

more jobs are created in other sector. three jobs for every single job created in a manufacturing plant. thank you for bringing us tonight. we need a pro-american trade policy that begins to result in trade surpluses like we used to have after world war ii. this is the wrong trade model. we need a new trade model and thanks for fighting for the fast track defeat on the t.p.p. mr. pocan: thank you for your work and make sure we stand up for the middle class in this country. i would like to yield some time to another colleague of mine whose background as a manager. he was the mayor of providence, rhode island and expert when it comes to budgets and knows how budgets and i yield

time to david cicilline. mr. cicilline: i thank you for organizing this special hour -- order hour and for the work you have done in your early days here in congress and thank your constituents sending you to fight, fight on behalf of the middle class and families who are struggling. and i want to spend a few moments tonight to speak about the expired unemployment insurance issue and the unwillingness of our friends on the other side of the aisle to address this issue and the notion that we are going to leave tomorrow and go back home for a week, take another recess without addressing this urgent issue which has impacted my state and americans all across this country. what's so frustrating about the

refusal to extend emergency unemployment benefits is that it puts families in a very, very difficult position. these are folks who are looking for work, who are struggling to make ends meet as they navigate a difficult job market, who have relied on unemployment compensation, modest assistance to help put food on the table, pay their bills and keep the roof over their head and have now seen their unemployment insurance cut off. this is impacting 1.5 million americans so far and will impact about 72,000 additional americans every single week. 72,000 americans will lose their unemployment insurance, according to analysis by the ways and means committee. tens of thousands of americans living on the edge to help get them through as they actively look for work and being cut off. not only painful for the families and incredible hardship and really devastating, it is

also bad public policy. it hurts our economy, because as you know, folks who are receiving unemployment insurance take that money and inject it back into the economy and buy goods, food, groceries, pay expenses, they inject that back into the economy. the congressional budget office estimates that our failure to extend unemployment insurance will cost the economy 200,000 jobs and economic policy institute present difficulties that the failure to extend unemployment benefits will cost 300,000 jobs. this is not only devastating to families and really imposing terrible hardships, but it's bad public policy. it's costing us jobs. it was reported today that two million children in america live in families who are relying on long-term federal unemployment benefits. two million children. so this has a real impact.

in my home state, there are 4,900 rhode islanders who are put out in the cold because congress failed to act. to give you some examples, i had the opportunity to speak with constituents that wrote to me or called me or met in person. i want to give you examples because we heard examples on the other side who these folks are who are looking for work and some have been unfair in describing. i want my colleagues to understand who we are talking about here. one is a constituent of mine from north providence, a graphic designer. she has been looking for work and laid off and looking for work and she wrote to me and we met afterwards and she said one month of help can be the difference between someone getting a job and getting back on their feet or falling further into debt and hopelessness. she talked about how

unemployment helped her continue her job search and whether or not it was going to be that and hopefully landing a job or falling further into greater debt. i met with a constituent of mine from rumford, worked two, three jobs at the same time just to make ends meet and take care of herself and her family, just two children and lost her unemployment benefits and worried about how she is going to take care of her family. margaret, a mother of four suffering from parkinson's disease and she said i never asked for help from anybody. this is the time i need it and lost her unploim. these are examples and i know you have examples in your own district, all of our colleagues do -- we tried everything, unanimous consent consideration,

previous question, we tried every task ta call to force our friends to bring extension of unemployment benefits for a house floor for a vote and blocked us every single time. they aren't hurting democrats but the american people. my senior senator has led the fight in the senate relentlessly making the case of what this impact is for individuals, families and for our economy. it is difficult to understand how seeing the hardship that this expiration of unemployment benefits causes to families and what it will mean to people who are wondering, am i go go to be able to stay in my apartment, pay my mortgage or food on the table. they have exhausted their state benefits and as a condition of these benefits, they have to continue to actively look for work. this notion they would rather

get this modest check than a job is absurd. every single person i have met with, i want a job, i want to be able to support myself and my family. for every job that exists, there are two or three people for that job. when i hear my friends say, we have jobs bills. bring it to the floor. invest in infrastructure, science and research, invest it in the make it in america agenda to support the rebirth of manufacturing. this jobs bill we ought to do that and at the same time, we ought to protect people who are particularly hard hit. this is part of the american tradition. on the one hand, we have this self-determination and this strong american individualism, we have a sense of taking care of each other. and i thank you for continuing to raise this issue and giving us an opportunity to make the

case for the american people and hopefully to our colleagues on the other side of the aisle and demand that before we leave tomorrow that we take action to extend unemployment benefits. and i thank the gentleman for yielding some time. mr. pocan: thank you, representative. when you talk about the 72,000 people every single week. as we try to talk to our colleagues trying to get this vote this week, speaker boehner's district, hamilton, ohio and springfield ohio, 60,000 and 62,000 people, it's like that entire town losing their benefits. lambeau field, every week losing unemployment benefits. we need to act. it's now my pleasure to yield some time to my colleague from the great state of minnesota, although those of us from

wisconsin aren't gover fans. nolan was ive rick elected in 1974 and served three terms when he was first hear representing the state of minnesota, he came back. he wanted to fight for the middle class. my honor to yield some time to representative rick nolan. mr. nolan: thank you, mr. speaker. i want top commend you for the tremendous service that you have been providing, bringing to the attention the important issues that relate to the working men and women in this country. in particular, i want to address the failure to renew emergency unemployment benefits. clearly, it's unconscionable, it's unforgiveable as you and others have pointed out, it's bad economics. and the characterization of

these people as somehow not wanting to work is the cruelest and unfair part of all of this. we need to remind ourselves that in order to be eligible for unemployment compensation, you have have to have gone to work every day and you could not have left your job voluntarily. you could not have been removed from your job for fault. you were a good worker, who by virtue of facts that you had no control over, lost your job, that you were someone who was willing to go to work every day and in the 32 years in my hiatus between when i served and came back, i employed anywhere from 25 to 50 people at all times. and we paid unemployment insurance because we know in

business, the cycles that flow and from time to time, layoffs are necessary. and i was always happy to pay that unemployment insurance knowing that these good people who showed up for work for me every day had some protection in the event of circumstances that were beyond my control and their control. and to deny these benefits is so unconscionable and such bad public policy and so unfor giveable. we are leaving 4.9 people out there and i remind everyone out there, workers that they are going to lose the benefits that they earned, that they insured themselves against, together with their fellow workers and employers. and here they are. maybe going to lose their home

because they can't make their mortgage payment. diabetic n into a coma and can't buy their medicine and children go hungry because they can't buy food. that's not america. we know better than that. so i implore my fellow colleagues and our speaker to bring this unemployment benefit extension before the house so we can have a vote on it, because i have no doubt the heart and the goodwill that is in this house, we'll extend them. we will extend those benefits, because we know for a fact, the simple truth is, the simple truth is, only one job for every three people out there. and until we put together the pro-growth, pro-job economy that we need to put everybody back to work, we need to provide those who are in need and have earned

the benefits and are workers in our society, the benefits so they can take care of their families and their needs. and if the speaker will allow this to come up for a vote, i predict there is enough goodwill here among democrats and republicans so we will pass this. mr. pope can, thank you for -- pocan, thank you for bringing this to congress. we'll pass it and do the right thing. . . mr. pocan: thank you very much. mr. speaker, how much time is left? the speaker pro tempore: 11 minutes. mr. pocan: thank you very much. i'd like to try to split that time a little bit. a little bit on unemployment extension as we've been just talking about the last several speakers, and a little bit about the fast track bill as well. both of those go hand in hand

in what's going to happen to the american economy. i just want to share a few stories, some from my district and some from across the country, again, of real people. not talking about the numbers, the 72,000 people a week, but just real people and their stories about what this means when we don't extend those benefits. one of the reasons why, i'm going bring someone's state of the union speech from my district to talk about this person with, but let me share some stories that i've received. one is a woman from baraboo, wisconsin. she's a surgical nurse and she lost her job more than six months ago. and since that time she's done everything she can to look for work and apply for jobs. and unfortunately up to this point she hasn't been successful. and now due to this congress' inaction, mr. speaker, she has lost her unemployment benefits. without this insurance, she's unable to afford her rent. and she's in danger of being kicked out of her house in just two weeks, meaning that she may have to move into a homeless shelter. she doesn't know where else to go and what else to do. that's a real person from south

central wisconsin who is affected by this congress not eakting and extending those benefit -- acting in extending those benefits. let me read another letter. she says, my husband has been out of work since mid june. he's a union steam fit who are makes a decent wage -- fitter decent wage when working. there's not enough work right now. he applied for nonunion jobs every day and most days doesn't even get a call back. he's now lost his unemployment benefits. we are a middle class family. i work for a communityback but can't support our -- community bank but can't support our family on just my wage. we're now having to apply for free and reduced lunches for our two high school students. we're applying for food share. this is going to start creating a real crisis for the programs designed to help those in need. they will not be able to keep it up. it's not that people don't want to work. it's that there aren't enough jobs. we'll soon lose our house as we are not able to make our payments. grown people should be able to work together towards a common

goal. my husband and i have worked hard all of our lives to make ends meet. now, when we need help, there is none. that's just two of many letters i've goten from my district from people who are directly impacted by this congress not acting on ex tendsing unemployment -- extending unemployment benefits as we have so many times in the past. under president bush, five times we extended benefits without strings attached, when the unemployment rate was even lower than it is now. we've acted so many times in this nation's history to extend those benefits to people who need it most. and right now, instead, we're going to somehow play politics and not be able to get that vote. and i agree with representative nolan. if we have that vote, it will pass. there are enough good people in this body, democrat and republican, who will pass it. but it has to come to the floor for a vote. it can't continue to be blocked by the republicans. mr. speaker, in addition to the need for unemployment extension, there's an issue

that really works hand in and hand -- hand in hand. just introduced last week is a fast track bill to fast track the trade agreement that's being finalized and negotiated by this country and other countries around the pacific rim. this is something that we have seen such failure from past earth -- efforts, like nafta and the korea agreement and others, that we would hate to see this happen at a time this country is still bleeding jobs. we need to do something to help people get back to work. and while we've slowly seen the economy improve, we've also noticed there are people being left behind. there's a dual track going on and that's why we need to help every single person. there's a couple charts i want o show people. and i want to thank the communication workers of america, the union that, like other unions in this country, do so much on behalf of the middle class, fighting for their workers, making sure they

have a say in their workplace. it's one of the reasons why i've had a union specialty printing business for 26 years. union does so much for the middle class, we need to do everything we can to support the average family working in america and these are some charts that they put together with statistics from the bureau of labor statistics. this shows where wages were along a continuum, if you look in the red, that's where the real average weekly earnings are. right now at about $637. back in 1971, $731. it was more in 1971 than it is right now where we're at. if we had wages tied to the same percent that we've had to productivity in this country, the wage would be at $1,183 a week, in the yellow zone. that's what we're not getting. we're still producing that in output in this country but it hasn't gone to the average

worker. unfortunately what we've seen in this country is something just the opposite. which is the money going to just the top in businesses. not to the average worker. in 1980 the average c.e.o. made 42 times what the average blue collar worker made. 42 times. and around the world in countries like japan and germany, it's always been around in that 25 and 40 range. that's where a successful economy is at. in 2012, c.e.o. pay has grown median mes what the pay is in this country. 354 times. thtsgrap where workers haven't gotten that money. instead it's gone to that top 1%. we have wage inequality. we have wage erosion happening. and finally, let me show you something that ties directly to what we're talking about in fast track. when you look at net exports as a percentage of the gross

domestic product, you'll notice we've had a surplus for many years, from 1950 to about 1974. what happened in in 1974, this country's first use of fast track. and that's when we noticed our first dip going into a net importing company rather than an exporting company. then when you look at this, the graph, how it goes, another big dip right about here. what happened around the mid 1990's? in the mid 1990's we passed nafta, the w.t.o., and sure enough we watched our exports dwindle even more. then in 2012 when we passed the u.s.-korea free trade agreement, we were promised 70,000 new jobs in this country. instead we lost 40,000 american jobs after we passed that. so what members of the progressive caucus and members of this congress are trying to get across, democrats and republicans, that when we do a fast track authority, as explained by representative delauro and others today, we are essentially giving up our

congressional oversight to the president who has negotiated this, we haven't even had a chance to really see the documents yet. they're not even finalized and they want us to give a rubber stamp authority that takes away our ability to have debate, to be able to amend these agreements. and if this agreement looks anything like we think it's going to, like nafta and other agreements we've had in the past, you're going to see this graph go farther and farther down and we will be a net importer, not a net exporter, and it will cost more american jobs. so, mr. speaker, the progressive caucus today was here for this special order hour to talk about two issues. one, the real need to extend emergency unemployment compensation benefits to people who need it so much in this country, the 1.3 million people and 72,000 more each and every single day -- every week that we don't act. but also to talk about the fast track legislation that's coming down the pike. because i think the average american isn't aware of what's happening. we need to talk about this

more. because when this vote happens in this house, we could be rubber stamping an agreement that will continue to not only cost us jobs, but to continue to have other impacts on everything from food safety to the financial industry and other things across the board. so, i'm honored to have been joined by so many colleagues from the progressive caucus tonight. we are going to continue to fight for the middle class and those aspiring to be in the middle class and, mr. speaker, i just want to thank you for these minutes that we've had tonight to talk about these issues with the american people. thank you so much. the speaker pro tempore: the entleman has yielded back. under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2013, the chair now recognizes the gentleman from arizona, mr. ranks, for 30 minutes. mr. franks: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, in coming days, we

will have the anniversary of roe vs. wade upon us. that will be the 41st anniversary of abortion on demand in this country. and, mr. speaker, just to be clear, roe vs. wade was a supreme court decision that was handed down, that no one voted on except the supreme court themselves. this was not something that went through the congress, this is not something that the people supported. in fact, every state in the union at that time protected innocent, unborn children. and when roe vs. wade and others were handed down january 22, 1973, america was plunged into the crimson tragedy of abortion on demand. and since then 56 million little unborn americans have lost their lives. in fact, it was this year, mr. speaker, that the world learned of the gruesome acts committed

by dr. kermit gosnell, an abortionist in philadelphia, currently serving a life prison erm for murdering three babies that survived his attempts to abort them. when these babies survived dr. gosnell's attempts to kill them before they were born, he would sever their spinal cords with a pair of scissors. testimony from former gosnell employees described babies screaming in pain as their lives were taken moments after they were born. mr. speaker, born or unborn, we now know that these babies feel pain. it is an incon tro veritable, scientific fact that an unborn child can feel pain by at least the start of the sixth month after fertilization. mr. speaker, very credible research shows that they feel pain much sooner than that.

the graphic accounts from gosnell's trial remind us that abortion is a brutal, tortuous tragedy. yet such gruesome acts happen daily in abortion clinics all across this country. perhaps the most astonishing thing about learning about the torture chamber that kermit gosnell presided over was the tragic reality that it happens all over america, even as we speak. i know, mr. speaker, that historically great intensity has surrounded debates over protecting the lives over those who through no fault of their own find themselves obscured in the shadows of humanity. but it encourages me greatly that in nearly all of those cases, the collective conscience of this nation eventually shifted and when we focused on the humanity of the victim and the inhumanity of what was being done to them,

our hearts began to change. mr. speaker, that same thing is beginning to happen in america in this debate. i don't know what happens when we finally wake up and see something for the tragic reality that it is. i don't know what changed our mind in all of the other great genocides of the past. but it did happen and that gives me great hope. and today in america we are finally considering the real question and the real question s simply this, does abortion ? ke the life of a child we're finally beginning, mr. speaker, we're finally beginning to realize as a nation that it does. and we're finally beginning to realize that the brutal killing of innocent, unborn children liberates no one an that 50 million -- and that 50 million little lost american lives, 56 million now, mr. speaker, is enough.

mr. speaker, this legislative day has come to an end. and sunset approaches fast in washington. and i stand here one more night and i offer this house what i call a sunset memorial. to remember the vic films -- victims of roe vs. wade. because you see, mr. speaker, before the sunsets today in erica, almost 4,000 more defenseless unborn children will have been killed by abortion on demand. >> that is more than the lives lost on september 11 in this country and it happens every day. it has now been 41 years since the tragedy called roe versus wade was firsthanded down.

since then, mr. speaker, the very foundation of this nation has been stained by the blood of almost 56 million of its own unborn children. some of them, mr. speaker, many of them, cried and screamed as .hey died but because it was amniotic fluid going over the vocal chords instead of air, we couldn't hear them. all of them, mr. speaker, had four things in common. first and foremost, they were just little babies that had done nothing wrong to anyone and each of them died a tragic and profoundly lonely death and each one of their mothers will never be the same. each one of their mothers is a victim in -- and this society can't see that either sometimes. and all of the gifts these

children might have been bringing to humanity are lost, mr. speaker. who knows which one of them might have found a cure for cancer or who knows maybe they would have just loved flowers, you know. even in the glare of such tragedy, this generation still clings to a blind invincible ignorance while history repeats itself over and over again and r own silent again side gets rid of the most helpless victims, those yet unborn. irronicically i have heard president obama speak such poignant words that whether he ows it or not applies so profoundly to this abortion on demand in america. i would like to quote some portions of his comments because his words moved me deeply.

he said this is our first task, caring for our children, it's our first job. if we don't get that right, we don't get anything right. that's how as a society, we will be judged. the president went on to say, quote, and by that measure, can we truly say as a nation that we are meeting our obligations? can we honestly say we are doing enough to keep our children, all of them, and i'm quoting, mr. speaker, all of them safe from harm. can we say we are truly doing enough to give all the children of this country the chance they deserve to live out their lives with happiness and purpose. i have been reflecting on this the last few days, he said, and he said if we are honest with ourselves, the answer is no. we are not doing enough. and we will have to change. oh, how true the president's

wordsr mr. speaker. the president also said, quote, we can't tolerate this anymore, these tragedies must end. and to end them, we must change. and then the president asked, quote, are we really prepared to say that we are powerless in the face of such carnage that the politics are too hard? are we really prepared to say such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of freedom? unquote. mr. speaker, is this not the most relevant question we should all be asking in the midst of this genocidal murder of thousands of unborn children in america every day? the president has said, quote, our journey is not complete until all our children,r quote, cared for and cherished. and all safe from harm. that is our generation's task,

he says, to make these words, these rights, these values of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness real for every american, unquote. mr. speaker, never have i so deeply with the words spoken by president obama as those i have just quoted. and yet, this president in the most distortion of logic, reason and humanity itself refuses to apply these majestic words to helpless unborn babies. oh, how i wish that somehow, mr. obama would open his heart and his ears to his own words and ask himself why his words that should apply to all children cannot include the most helpless nd vulnerable of all children.

when barack obama took his oath of office, he put his hand down on the same bible that abraham lincoln placed his hand upon when he was sworn in to take his presidential oath. mr. speaker, we should remember that we honor abraham lincoln most because he found the courage as president of the united states in the days of slavery, he found the humanity within himself to recognize the image of god stamped on the soul of slaves that the supreme court said were not human and that the tide of public opinion didn't recognize as protectable under the law. could it be, could it be, mr. speaker, that president obama might consider that perspective as well as his own legacy and even eternity itself, mr. speaker, and recognize these little unborn children look so

desperately to him now for help. could it be that the president might finally remember that on the pages of the bible on which he laid his hand were written you have done d, it under me, whether he does or does not, it is time for those of us in this chamber to remind ourselves why we are really all here. thomas jefferson said, quote, the care of human life and it's happiness and not its destruction is the chief and only object of good government. let me say that again, mr. speaker. thomas jefferson said, the care of human life and it's happiness and not its destruction, is the chief and only object of good government, closed quote. the phrase in the 14th amendment talks about our entire

constitution and says no state shall deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law. mr. speaker, protecting the lives of all americans and their constitutional rights is why we re all here. foundation f this is that all human beings are created equal and have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. every conflict, every battle our nation has ever faced can be traced to our commitment to this core self-evident truth and made us the beacon of hope for the entire world, mr. speaker. it is who we are. d yet today, another day has

past and we have failed again to honor that foundational commitment. we have failed our sworn oath and our god-given responsibility as we broke faith with nearly 4,000 more innocent american little babies who died today without the protection that we should have given them. so, mr. speaker, let me conclude this sunset memorial in the hopes that perhaps someone new who heard it tonight will embrace the truth that abortion really does kill little babies. that it hurts mothers ways we can never express or understand or even fathom. and that it is time we stood up together again and looked up to the declaration of independence and that we remember that we are

the same america that rejected human slavery and marched into europe to arrest the holocaust and find the compassion for mothers and their unborn that abortion on demand -- it is still not too late for us to make a better world and america lead the rest of the planet just as we did in the days of slavery from this tragic genocide of murdering nearly 4,000 of our wn children every day. so now, mr. speaker, as we consider the plight of the roern, after 41 years under versus wade, maybe we can each remind ourselves that our own days in this sunshine of life are all numbered and that all too soon, each of us will also walk from these chambers for the

very last time. and if it should be that this congress is allowed to convene on yet another day, may that be the day, may that be the day when we will finally hear the cries of these innocent unborn babies. maybe that will be the day we can find the humanity, the courage and the will to embrace together our human and constitutional duty to protect these, the least of our tiny little american brothers and sisters from this murderous scurge upon our nation called abortion on demand. now peaker, the sun is setting. it is now 41 years almost to the day since roe versus wade first

stained the foundations of this nation with the blood of its own children. this, in the land of the free and the home of the brave. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's yielded back. under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2013, the chair now recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. gohmert, for 30 minutes.

mr. gohmert: important day in the history of one time the greatest nation in the world, egypt, come a long way since those days, thousands of years o, but there is a lot of misunderstanding about what's been going on in egypt, including by people in this administration, which also means, of course, "new york times," "washington post," ainstream media, other liberal bastions. "new york times" had an editorial dated december 4, 2013 that talks about the election that is happening today -- yesterday, today, in egypt, 14th and 15th, egyptian time. this editorial from the "new

york times" editorial board talks about the egyptians squandering another chance to build a broadly inclusive democratic system with the latest constitutional revisions. mr. speaker, what these intellectual giants at the "new york times" don't understand is when you are in the middle east and you decide to try to build a democracy, a democratic republic as we have here and you decide to be inclusive of people who , lieve in utilizing terrorism there were religious fanatics who believe if they kill innocent children, women, men, then they may have just earned a place in paradise.

that is so foreign to american way of thinking, the western way of thinking, to israeli way of thinking, european way of thinking. historically, that is. historically, that is. but radical islam, not to be confused with the mod rat muslims -- moderate muslims, such as those trying to establish democracy in egypt, radical islam, if included, will use terrorism, will use violence, will use anything they can to take over and there will be no democrat -- democratic republic, there will be no democracy of any kind. it will be top to bottom totalitarian, a religious extremist country. i know the editorial board has people that are extremely

intelligent, but it is amazing to read these kinds of things. broadly inclusive. so, they're wanting the people of egypt to do things like release a man who is acting outside the constitution, who ordered the murder, he's charged with ordering the murder of so many who just wanted to have liberty in egypt , and morsi was playing the new version of chavez in venezuela. get elected and then pull all power to you. i asked general alcici if it was true what the former intelligence agent had told -- american intelligence agent had told me, that morsi, president hire, take rying to out a contract basically to have general alcici killed and

he beat around the bush, but eventually he said, in the presence of other u.s. representatives, that, yes, they had evidence that morsi was trying to have generalal ceasey killed. so it may be a shock to some, say at "the new york times," "washington post" and others, but when you have a religious fanatic as the leader of a country, even though he may have been, and this is arguable as well, but may have been acting when he starts outside the bounds of the constitution, then the people have to act. and the constitution that the muslim brotherhood shoved through in egypt, after the so-called arab spring, was one

that did not even provide a provision of impeachment. now, that seems strange to most americans, i'm sure it doesn't to "the new york times" and "the washington post," but to most americans, not having a way to remove someone who is the highest official in the land, who is acting outside the bounds of their authority, is -- it's a problem. how do you remove the highest leader in a country if your constitution, if you have one, if your constitution does not rovide for civil impeople much -- impeachment and removal of the leader? and egypt's constitution, that the muslim brotherhood shoved through, did not. because the muslim brotherhood ants -- once they seized power there was going to be no need for impeachment. because radical islam would be in charge.

and it's reported by credible people there are videos of the supreme religious leader dictating terms that president . rsi would have to follow the arab spring, under esident morsi, did not yield the kind of republic, democracy that had been hoped for. but this "new york times" editorial says the new charter defies the revolutionary promise of the arab spring by re-enforcing the power of institutions that have long . ld egypt in an iron grip apparently not realizing that the muslim brotherhood had

seized egypt in its iron grip and the only way around it, since there was no impeachment provision in the egyptian constitution, was exactly what happened. it was not a military coup. a military coup is when the military rises up and takes over. what happened in egypt was one of the most beautiful acts of an some cratic efforts have reported that this was the largest gathering, the largest rebellion in the world's history, reports of a $20 million -- 20 million people gathering and demonstration by egyptians, a country with 90 million or so people. another report of another effort, 30 million, 33 million,

one report said, morsi only claimed to have gotten around 13 million votes when he seized power and said if the opponent, well, the muslim brotherhood made clear, if the opponent tried to contest and say there was any fraud, they would burn egypt down. so they got control. they had a constitution that wouldn't allow them to remove morsi. not to impeach him. so this was a real revolution. fairly peaceful as revolutions go, until the muslim brotherhood began to carry out what they had promised previously, that if people who wanted true democracy in egypt tried to contest morsi being the supreme leader there, then they would burn the country down. well, they began burning down

churches. now, some people when they hear the word church think in terms, well, maybe it was like a rural southern church, they maybe had a trailer or something. this is in an area where there have been christian churches or nearly 2,000 years. these are incredibly historic places, some of them, and the muslim brotherhood could have cared less. now, we have plenty of muslim brothers here in the united states and so far they say, look, we've been in essence, their position is, we have not really needed violence in the united states because we're getting so much control without violence. but certainly violence is an

appropriate tool in places like egypt where they got ousted so they couldn't follow through with pursuing a new ott monday empire, new world -- ottoman empire, a new world caliphate, as the 12th imam believers wanted to take over and began right there where the ottoman empire used to exist as it began its way around the mediterranean. but for those who believe the 12th imam is going to emerge out of chaos, even if it's elf-inflicted nuclear chaos, those that believe he'll emerge and begin ruling and take over a world caliphate, they know they can't afford to lose egypt as an important lynch pin. 90 million people there in egypt, that is critical if

they're going to take over and have a royal caliphate. got to have egypt. so last july when i took to um and or and this pode talked about the incredible uprising, how deeply touching it was to hear personal accounts, to see the photographs, to hear and see the videos of what was going n, where moderate muslims, christians, jews, secularists were coming together, figuratively and literally hand in hand, to protest against radical islam being in control egypt, as some of you indicated, if they had waited, if the egyptian people had waited another year to try to out of morsi, he would have gathered so much power they would probably not have been

successful. it was critical that the people of egypt rise up as they did and we owe them a debt of gratitude for rising up and saying, we're not going to have radical islam in charge. moderate muslims did not want radical islamists in charge. and that's true throughout the middle east. it's true in afghanistan. where our allies who fought and by 2000, he taliban with less than 500 -- 2002, with less than 500 americans in country, imbedded with weapons we provided, aerial support we provided, under the lead of general dustham who some in this administration now call a war criminal, they defeated the taliban. these are moderate muslim friends, allies, because their

enemy is our enemy. the taliban. and they do not want radical islam taking back over afghanistan. and what does this administration do? it empowers the group that will end up allowing the taliban to take right back over, when we ought to be empowering our friends in afghanistan, not with 100,000 precious american men and women's lives, but empower the enemy of our enemy and let them protect their own country. they can do it. but not when you call the enemy of our enemy war criminals. and do everything you can to marginalize them. "new york times" editorial says the constitution approved by a 50-member citizen committee on sunday replaces one imposed last year by the government of

president morsi who was deposed in july and his muslim brotherhood allies. it is expected to be ratified by popular vote in a referendum within the next 30 days. this was written december 4. published december 4. the editorial goes on toward the end to say, this new constitution is equally flawed because it was drafted within minimal input from islamists and could further crush the brotherhood by banning political parties based on religion. ll one needs to do is just little bit of investigation, open-minded investigation. if you're taking your lead there al jazeera, from the muslim brotherhood, the head of islamic society of north america, just a muslim

brotherhood front organization, or from leaders of care which federal courts in this country have called a muslim brotherhood front organization, and with which or to which is given great honor and credibility by this administration, but if you're listening to them, then oh, yeah, this is a terrible constitution because they're not going to allow a radical islamist political party to take back over. now, if you -- again, if you do a little bit of research, you find out this is something that was fought against and was able to overcome in turkey. so many decades ago. d because he was able to overcome and overwhelm radical islam in turkey, turkey has surged to the forefront over kinds t decades in all

of areas. d now we see the scary creeping of radical islam back nto control in turkey. but the way they advanced as rapidly as they did in turkey, after this great leader forced out radical islamist leaders, was they prevented those type of people from taking over. and it's the same thing. these are smart people. the chairman of the constitutional committee, convention, whatever you want to call it, of 50 very diverse people, but, no, it did not include the muslim brotherhood. they don't want a radical islamist group taking over egypt. and i know it's hard for some in this country to believe, who

read too much of their own political anning a party based on religion in the constitution and recognizing other religions in their constitution and recognizing the absolute right of belief religiously in this new constitution should be hailed as a good thing. and i was shocked, i believe it's article 235, perhaps, in the new constitution, these moderate muslims and secularists are so, so bent, so dedicated to try to have a democracy that they can build on and grow in advance, they even put this article in there that says in essence the country is going to rebuild the

churches that the muslim brotherhood destroyed during their radical, violent, temper tantrum after a president, acting outside the bounds of the constitution and charged with ordering the death of so , after he ns there went so far astray. they don't want that kind of people back in charge. now, something that "the new york times" says at the end in the final analysis, the real test of any constitution is how it is carried out in practice. and that's true. that is so true. i once heard justice scalia telling a group, one of which had asked, is the reason we're the greatest country more

freedom than any other country in history because we have the best bill of rights in history? and justice scalia, he can be so blunt,, he said, no, the soviet union had a better bill of rights than we do. that's why the statement in the "new york times" is so true, it's how the constitution is carried out. i'm glad they recognize that by the end of the editorial. but one thing is clear if a constitution is pushed through by the muslim brotherhood, it is going to be radically religiously based on radical islam. and the first elected leader could very well end uh up being the last -- end up being the last until he's gone. of course in iran, where we have radical islam in charge, off supreme leader and then you have the token president that's elected that serves as long as he supreme leader is ok with

it. "the washington post", an editorial published january 13, says, criticism of the egyptian government currently, they have a judge who is the interim president and talking with him, meeting with him a couple of times, i think he's really trying to do right by the people in ejipt. but "the washington post" says opposition media have been shut down and three cairo based journalists from al-jazeera have been imprisoned without charge. one of the things that's so hard for some pseudo intellectuals here in the u.s. o realize is, something that franklin roosevelt grasped, even with his unconstitutional

interning american citizens, if you have media that's helping the cause of anarchy or the overthrow of the constitutional democracy, democratic republic as we have here, then they are enemies of the state and they're guilty of treason and they can be stopped. some in this country think freedom of speech means, whether it's khalid sheikh muhammad down in guantanamo or some other religious fanatic that wants to destroy our freedom here, they think, you have to give them free come of speech. whereas -- freedom of speech. whereas for most of this country's history, people understood, if you're

advocating for the overthrow of the constitutional government we have, it is treasonous. if you're advocating by peaceful means using the government as some -- or trying to do, let's move toward progressivism, let's move toward what's really socialism, where the government gets to dictate everything, they know everything you're doing, as i said earlier today to a group, it appears that the main thing george orwell missed was the date he said 1984 when it turns out it was closer to 2014 where you have the government spying on their people, taking whatever actions they want. saying if congress doesn't do it, we'll just do it without congress. which is violation of the constitution.

most cases. but this editorial from "the washington post" comments that the military's repressive methods cannot stabilize egypt much less address its severe economic and social problems. nd that is true. and that's -- that is a wise comment. because egypt is suffering severe economic and social problems. we need to be concerned. because what egypt had become is a social welfare state. what we're trying to become here in america, a social welfare state, where most of the country is dependent upon the government for at least part of its means of living and that cannot long endure. it is always doomed to fail.

the only reason socialized medicine opportunity completely fail is because socialized medicine ultimately ends up putting people on lists to get the treatment they need they die on -- while they're waiting on the list, enough people die, so it doesn't go broke. under a ntry that is socialistic authority as the soviet union was, it eventually will fail because the model can never work in this world. and egypt tried to do that. , had a tyrannical leader charged by many. different leaders. but in order to buy loyalty, more and more welfare was provided and they have severe

economic and social problems. but it's my hope and prayer, mr. speaker, that the people of egypt will continue to show the courage they did when they rose up last summer and said, we're not going to allow radical islam to rule this country. we want religions to live in peace and they will not live in peace when radical islam is in charge. that's why you don't find a synagogue in afghanistan. for heaven's sake, all the blood and treasure of americans that's been lost and spent in afghanistan for freedom's sake, and because we were ok with them having a constitution supreme ria law with ower basically in a very tight

federal government, then it becomes corrupt. it becomes easy to take over as the taliban will if this administration doesn't change its policies. christians are persecuted in afghanistan, for heaven's sake there ought to be religious freedom anywhere america sacrifices that much american lives and treasure. iraq, where christians are persecuted and we're providing -- we provided so much american lood and treasure there. "the washington post" says president obama believes the united states should sanction a new autocracy in egypt. he should make a case for doing so. otherwise his administration should side with those egyptians who continue to fight

for genuine democracy, starting with those who have been imprisoned. they have imprisoned radical islamists who have killed christians and burned churches and here we have a newspaper advocating let those people go that terrorized christians and jews and people who are secularists that don't want to follow any religion. let them out. let them back in charge of the country and the people of egypt have spoken in greater numbers than percentage wise we have had in this country in so many years when they went to the streets. we're not having radical islam in egypt. they're to be congratulated for that. but they're a long ways from being out of the woods. people need to understand that this is a big deal. i got a letter today from the p.l.o., the palestinian liberation organization

delegation, that's here in washington, and they expressed concern with my comments on the ouse floor january 10. u.s. academics to it are end based on nonhatred of jews. they're either liing or they're not reviewing what children are being taught in israel in the palestinian schools. they're teaching hatred with money we're providing. they're naming holidays, they're naming buildings in areas after terrorists who killed innocent women and children. i've got a tremendous amount of

material that i could use but time does not permit here today but i am going to take some time to talk about the hatred that is being taught in -- among the palestinians. here's a palestinian summer camp named after the first woman suicide bomber who murdered one injured -- murdered one, injured 150 in jerusalem on january 22, 2002. a girls camp. naming it after a woman who went out and killed innocent -- an innocent person and injured 150 innocent people. palestinian soccer tournament named after a suicide bomber. s that camp for 14-year-old palestinian boys and it's named after -- -- it's named after -- the soccer tournament, he was a suicide terrorist who killed 31

on passover and the children are participating in this ournament named for this horrendous human being who ought it so grand to kill 31 innocent people on a religious holiday, a passover. and people from the p.l.o. want to try to tell me that they're not using hatred? for heaven's sake start spending some of that money to teach love and afeck and we'll have peace in the mideast. as netanyahu said right here at this podium, if the palestinians lay down their arms, there'll be peace in israel. among the palestinians. and if the israelis lay down their weapons, there will not be an israel in which there are jews.

now i get it. the p.l.o. and others say, oh, yeah, we recognize israel's right to exist. prime minister of the palestinians told me that a few years ago. we recognize their right to exist as a jewish state, that's why they were created after the holocaust killed six million jews in europe. and that hatred of jews is araising again in europe among academics in the united states. shame on you. you're allowing that hatred to grow. and it's fomenting more hatred. it has to be stopped. talking about a boycott of anything israeli so you want the jews out there without a country so they can be killed in another holocaust? or you want iran to have a nuclear weapon so they can, with one weapon, have another holocaust? this is where it's going. and if people's voices are not heard as the iranian gas

chambers are being constructed now, despite this ridiculous deal that's allowing them to keep the centrifuges going and developing, then the blood will be on our hands and mr. speaker, we should not, cannot allow that. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: thank you. does the gentleman have a motion. mr. gohmert: at this time i move that we do now hereby adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. accordingly, the house stands adjourned until

>> watch our program on first lady nancy reagan on c-span.org or see it on saturday on crmbing span. an our series continues live on monday as we look at first lady barbara bush. >> as the president stated in march and re-emphasized on tuesday night, the goal in afghanistan and pakistan is to disrupt, and defeat al qaeda and prevent its return to both countries. the international military effort to stabilize afghanistan is necessary to achieve this overarching goal. >> robert gates served two presidents as defense secretary from 2006 to 2011 and the .i.a. in the early 1990's.

on c-span2, on friday, a live booktv event. in a few week look for women's history for beginners author bonnie morris who will take your questions and comments live on "in depth" february 2 and noon eastern. and online, join our booktv book discussion on mark levin's "the liberty amendments." go to booktv.org and click on book club to enter the chat. >> earlier today the president traveled to north carolina where he announced a new high tech manufacturing hub will be established in raleigh he gave these remarks at north carolina state university. it's 20 minutes.

[applause] > hello raleigh! thank you so much! thank you. it is good to be back in north carolina! go ahead and have a seat. if you don't have a seat, don't. it is good to be here at the ome of the wolfpack. [applause] i want to thank your chancellor randy woodson for the introduction and the great work he's doing for students across the system. i want to recognize my secretary of energy, ernie monise who is here. give him a big round of applause, he's doing good work. your governor, pat mccrory is here.

the mayor of raleigh, nancy mcfarland. e mayor of chapel hill, mark klein submit. the mayor of durham, bill bell. and we've got congressman mike mcintyre doing great work. your senator, kay hagan, couldn't be here but i want to thank her publicly for the great work she's doing. i want to thank all the students for coming out, we're doing this event nice and early against n't run up the game. i've learned a few things as president and one of them is to not compete with college basketball down here on tobacco

road. you don't do that. this is actually my second stop in raleigh-durham. i just took a tour of a company called vicon where workers design the drives that power everything from elevators to the giant fans that help cool buildings like this one, although i think we're kind of saving money on this one. which is a smart thing to do. so this company's making these engines and systems more efficient, saving businesses big bucks on energy costs, improving the environment, those savings get passed on to customers, puts money in people's pockets and growing companies that need the products that the company makes, they're benefiting enormously. it's a good news story but in a global economy, that company just like every company in america, has to keep inventing and innovating in order to stay on the cutting edge. and that's where all of you

come in. here at n.c. state you know something about innovation. you've got one of the largest undergraduate engineering programs in the country. that's worth cheering for. chaustchaust -- [cheers and applause] i'm a lawyer by training and that's nice but we need more engineers. so companies like cisco and i.b.m. come to this school when they're looking to hire because of the quality of the engineering program. over at centennial campus, some very smart people experiment in state of the art facilities to figure out everything from how to design better fireproof fabrics to how to better protect our computer systems. so the reason i came here today is because we've got to do more to connect universities like n.c. state with companies like

vicom to make america the number one place in the world to open new businesses and create new jobs. we want to do that here in north carolina and we want to o this all across america. it's been more than five years since a devastating recession cost this country millions of jobs and it hurt north carolina pretty tough. but everyone here knows that even before the recession hit, the middle class had been getting hit on the chin for years before that. here in north carolina, factories were shutting their doors, jobs were getting shipped overseas, wages and incomes were flatlining so fetch you had a job, you didn't see your standard of living going up very much. meanwhile the cost of everything from college tuition to groceries did go up. so when i took office, we decided to focus on the hard

work of rebuilding our economy on a newfoundation for growth and prosperity and to make sure that everybody had a chance to get ahead. and thanks to the hard work and sacrifice of the american people, the good news is the economy is growing stronger. our businesses -- our businesses have now created more than eight million new jobs since we hit bottom. because of an all of the above strategy for american energy, for the first time in nearly two decades, we produced more oil in the united states than we buy from the rest of the world. that hasn't happened in a very long time. we now generate more renewable energy than ever before. more natural gas than anybody on the planet. we're lowering energy cost, reducing pollution, health care costs are growing at their slowest rate in 50 years. for the first time since the 1990's, health care costs ate

up a smaller chunk of our economy and part of that, yes, has to do with the affordable care act. [applause] and so over time that means bigger paychecks for middle class families, bigger savings for companies that are looking to hire and oy along with all this, since i took office, we cut our deficits by more than half. so we made progress. and that's what i mean when i say this can be a breakthrough year for americans. the pieces are all there. to start bringing back more of the jobs that we've lost over the past decade. a lot of companies around the world are starting to talk about bringing jobs back to the united states, bringing jobs back to places like north carolina, partly because we got cheap energy cost, we've got the best workers in the world, we've got the best university systems in the world and we've got the largest market in the world. so the pieces are there to

restore some of the ground of the -- that the middle class has lost in recent decades, start raising wages for american families. but it requires us to take action. this has to be a year of action. and here in north carolina, you're doing your part to create good jobs that pay good wages. congress has to do its part too. because restoring the american dream of opportunity for everyone who is willing to work for it is something that should unite the country, that shouldn't divide the country. that's what we should be aspiring to, that everybody has a shot if they're willing to work hard and take responsibility. so in the short-term, one thing congress can do is listen to the majority of the american people and restore unemployment insurance for americans who need it. and let me just make an aside here, north carolina still has a higher than average unemployment rate so this is important to this state.

folks aren't looking for a handout. they're not looking for special treatment. there are a lot of people sending out resumes every single day but the market, the job market is still tough in pockets around the country and people need support. a little help. so they can look after their families while they're looking for a new job. so congress should do the right thing and extend this vital lifeline to millions of americans. of course, that is just short-term. long-term the challenge of making sure that everybody works hard can get ahead in today's economy is so important we can't wait for congress to solve it. where i can act on my own without congress i'm going to do so. and today i'm here to act. to help make raleigh-durham and america a magnet for the good, high-tech manufacturing jobs that a growing middle class requires and that will continue to keep this country on the cutting edge.

[applause] we've already got some success to build on. manufacturing is a bright spot in this economy. for decades, we've been losing manufacturing jobs. but now our manufacturers have added other the last fur years more than 550,000 new jobs, including almost 80,000 manufacturing jobs in the last five months alone system of we want to keep that trend growing. we want to build on the kind of work that's being done in places like n.c. state to develop technology that leads to new jobs and entire new industries. so a little over a year ago, we launched america's first manufacturing innovation institute in youngstown, ohio. what it was is a partnership. it includes companies and colleges, they came up with a

joint plan, they were focusing on developing 3-d printing technology and training workers with the skills to master that technology. now, that was a great start. we got one going. some of the folks from youngstown are here today and we congratulate them on the great work they're doing. we created one. but in germany they have about 60 of these manufacturing innovation hubs. so we've got some catching up to do. i don't want the next big job-creating discovery, the research and technology, to be in germany or china or japan, i want it to be right here in the united states of america. i want it to be right here in orth carolina. so what i said was, in my state of the union address last year, i said to congress, let's set up a network of 15 of these manufacturing hubs, focusing on different opportunities where we can get manufacturing, innovation going, create jobs,

make sure that the research is tied to businesses that are actually hiring and those synergies are going to grow the economy regionally and ultimately across the whole country. last summer as part of our push to create middle class jobs, i said, let's not settle for 15, let's do 45. republicans and democrats in the house and senate introduced bills to get this going. that's good. but they haven't passed the bills yet. i want to encourage them to continue to pass the bills that would create 45 of these manufacturing hubs. in the meantime, i'm directing my administration to move forward where we can on our own. so today, after almost a year of competition, i'm pleased to announce america's newest high tech manufacturing hub which will be focused on the next generation of power electronics is going to be based right here in raleigh, north carolina.

[cheers and applause] that's good news. hat's good news. so -- that's good news. t's great. [applause] so just like the hub in youngstown, what we're calling the next generation power electronics innovation institute, is bringing together leading companies, universities, and federal research all together under one roof. folks at this hub are going to develop what are called wide band gap semiconductors. now i was just schooled on all this. i'm not sure that i'm fully

qualified to describe the technical elements of this. raise your hand if you know what it is. see, we got some. for all you nonengineers out there, here's what it means in the simplest terms. semiconductors are at the heart of every piece of the electronics we use every day. your smart phone, television set, everything. public research helped develop them decades ago and then that research allowed commercialization, new products, new services, and obviously not only improved the economy but greatly enhanced our lives. so we want companies to run with the ball also but first we've got to make sure that we're also doing the research and linking it up to those companies. wide band gap semiconductors are special because they lose up to 90% less power. they can operate at higher

temperatures than normal semiconductors. so that means they can make everything from cell phones to industrial motors to electric cars smaller, faster, cheaper. there are going to be applications for traditional semiconductors but these can be focused on certain areas that will vastly improve energy efficiency, vastly improve the quality of our lives. and the country that figures out how to do this first and the companies that figure out how to do this best, they're the ones that are going to attract the jobs that come with it. so this manufacturing hub right ere, focused in north carolina - go pack. this hub is going to make it easier for these wide band gap semiconductors to go from the drawing board to the factory floor to the store shelves.

or not necessarily store shelves because what i just saw were these really big pieces of equipment that are attached to utility companies or help windmills translate the power they're generating and get transmitted to where they're going to be finally used. it's going to bring together ship designers -- chip designers, manufacturers, with companies like delphi that stand to benefit from these new technologies. this will help big companies but it's also going to help small companiesful they're going to use equipment they otherwise wouldn't be able to afford to test and pro toe type new products and of course american workers will be able to come right here to north carolina to learn the skills that companies are looking for. and the next generation of manufacturing will be an american revolution. so in the coming weeks we're going to be launching two more of these innovation hubs. we've already got them planned out. one is going to focus on

digital design and manufacturing. another is going to be developing lightweight metals that could transform everything from wind turbines to military vehicles and together they're going to help build new partnerships in areas that show potential. they'll help lift up our communities. they'll help spark the technology and research that will create the new industries, the good jobs required for folks to punch their ticket in the middle class. and that's what america is all about. you know, we have always been about research, innovation, and then commercializing that research and innovation so that everybody can benefit. then we start selling our staff -- our stuff all around the world, we start exporting it. and we create good jobs and middle class families are able to buy the products that result from this innovation. cycle where