this story. i may believe herbalife might change its practices a little bit. i am very upset with ackman. stockholders in the hedge fund makes a billion, who pays? i would guess if you look into herbalife's open market stockholders, you will see 401k 's, pension funds. selling short should be banned from the free market. this is not a free market situation. host: i have to let you know because the house is about to come in and gavel in. we have to leave it there. that will be your final thought. michael schmidt, thank you very much for talking to our viewers about your story. it can be found on new york times.com. appreciate it. and now, live coverage of the house as they gavel in this morning. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] 2014. i hereby appoint the honorable

ileana ros-lehtinen to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, john a. boehner, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 7, 2014, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour ebate. pursuant to the order of the house of january 7, 2014, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority eaders for morning hour debate but in no event shall debate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. gutierrez, for five minutes. mr. gutierrez: thank you, madam speaker. the young lady in the white dress in this picture is a role

model for all young people. her whole family are role models. they are the family you want living on your street. they always shovel and salt their driveways, their house is spotlessly clean. they make me proud to live in chicago. er and her three old siblings are u.s. citizens. when citizens say to me that it really doesn't matter whether they vote or not, i want them to think of liz. lizes that a father who is facing deportation. he's lived in the united states for more than 20 years and raised a beautiful, healthy, outstanding american family. but, luis, all of this deportation nonsense it in your head. the administration is looking like they're enforcing the law, they say. but hundreds of families are being split up.

during a two-year period, 200,000 parents of american citizens, like liz's parents, were deported. and i hear how my colleagues in the judiciary committee, they talk about latinos, especially immigrant latinos, they're all criminals and drug cartels king pins and therefore we have to arrange our immigration system that we are all thugs. liz is not a drug kingpin in her fourth grade class. her parents are not meth heads and meth chemists. but according to republicans, they are willing to sue the president in federal court if he takes action to spare this father of four american citizen children from deportation. but luis, i hear my democratics colleagues say, for several years president obama has instituted programs at homeland security helping them from the deportation co-2. and they talk about -- deportation cueue.

and they talk about combang bangers. but that doesn't change the reality of liz and her family. this is stuff that families like liz's face every day. they are just a broken taillight or an unlucky encounter from losing their children. and what about going back out and coming in quote-unquote the right way, as the republicans always suggest? despite 20 years in the u.s., despite four u.s. citizen children in his family who are willing to petition for their dad, congress two decades ago made it impossible for this family ever to live together in the u.s. legally unless we change the law again. but republicans refuse to allow a vote on immigration reform when they know a majority of members of the house of representatives would vote to allow family like liz's continue to live together and prosper. sorry, liz. politics is more important than an american family or two or 00

american families or even 200,000. and the president has said he cannot do more to alleviate the fear that american kids, like liz, face. the political price of helping americans like liz is too high. it is shameful that the speaker of the house and the president of the united states are putting politics and election calculation ahead of liz's family. to liz the solution is clear. if you will not act she will. she said recently, no child should ever have to be separated from their parents. when i grow up, i want to be a u.s. senator, because i want to be in a position to help people when they need it and pass laws that are good for people. i wish my colleagues felt the same way, this young lady, liz feels. i don't know if she'll ever be a u.s. senator when she's eligible to run in 20 or 30 years. but i tell you one thing i'm pretty sure of. in less than 10 years she will be old enough to vote and her older siblings even sooner than

that. mr. speaker, do you think she'll remember which party threatened to sue the president if he spared her dad from deportation? take a look at the picture. republicans, they're hoping that dad gets deported and the mom never becomes a citizen, but the four children are americans already and will someday have a vote. and from the looks of it will be voting for decades to come. i suggest, mr. speaker, you do the math. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. marino, for five minutes. thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, earlier this week our friends on the other side of the capitol, the democrats, burned the midnight oil in a strange effort to call attention to global warming.

unfortunately for some of our friends in the senate, hot air from the chamber will not bring down the temperature in our atmosphere. instead of stoking the rhetorical flames through hours of meaningless grandstanding, i hope the democrat senate will use some of its time to hotline the critical job-creating bills that have been put on ice on harry reid's desk. mr. speaker, our constituents don't want to be left out in the cold. we need action today on bills to create jobs. madam speaker, i hope members of this body will join me and hold the democrat senate's feet to the fire by calling on them to pass bills that will refire america's economic engine, and i yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. quigley, for five minutes. mr. quigley: thank you, madam

speaker. madam speaker, nearly four years ago i stood in this chamber and talked about a deficit that was chipping away at our government. no, it wasn't the fiscal deficit, though that certainly is weighing us down. rather, i warned of the deficit of trust that has caused the american people to lose faith in government and quite simply give up on washington. back then scandals of ethics violation was in newscast and trust in government was at 19%. now trust in government is still 19%, though congress' has gone to 9% in recent polls. little has changed. if illinois politics has taught me anything, it's very hard to lead without that trust, and the only way to earn it back is to increase transparency and openness throughout our government.

as justice brandite said, justice is the best ineffectiveous. i introduced legislation that will strengthen our democracy and promote an efficient and open government. because the fact is the mission of government matters. what we do here in this chamber matters. so much so that it's written in the very bedrock of american government. we had been sent here to form a more perfect union, to promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our prosperity. but how we execute this mission matters. the transparency and government act utilizes 21st century technology to expand access to information, strengthen oversight of federal spending, increase disclosures from both lawmakers and lobbyists and improve judicial transparency. the t.g.a. will bring unprecedented accountability to the federal government and empower everyday citizens to be

the government's best watchdog. american taxpayers have a right to know how their hard-earned dollars are being spent so t.g.a. will force them to post their expenditures online, allowing every constituent to scrutinize their representatives' office budgets and spending reports. it also requires members to be upfront about their personal finances, providing greater details about foreign travel and giftings. and when it comes to knowing who is working to influence the legislatively process, the t.g.a. establishes new definitions for lobbyists and stricter rules governing how and with whom they meet. this bill also ensures americans have access to the same expert nonpartisan information that shapes the policy decisions we make every day. it makes taxpayer funded reports available for free to the public and requires all committees to make public hearing schedules, witness testimony and even transcripts

and recordings available online. in the executive branch, the t.g.a. requires clear and prominent disclosure when communications and advertising are sponsored using federal funds. and it improves access to visitor logs for the white house and agency heads so we know who's meeting with our nation's highest leaders. it strengthens the freedom of information act, requiring agencies to put all completed foyer requests online in a format that's searchable, sortable and downloadable. and ensures that all agencies utilize the website foia online to log, track and publish the status of requests. finally, the t.g.a. calls for the judiciary branch to meet similar financial disclosure requirementes that are already applied to the executive and legislative branches and make those disclosure statements publicly available online for anyone to review. for the first time this bill inscribes into law the public's right to hear oral arts in the supreme court as they are

delivered. and in an effort to use 21st century technologies, this legislation calls for a study on using life stream video to air supreme court proceedings. these are just a few of the bills many reforms that will pull our government out of the past and modernize public access to information. the transparency and government act has ambitious goals, but these reforms are no less than what our constituents expect and deserve. it's been four years since i first introduced this bill, and we can't waste another minute allowing the status quo to erode the american faith in government. the time to act is now. let's usher in a new era of open government, win back the people's trust and prove to our constituents we're worthy of the responsibility we've been entrusted with. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. olson, for five minutes.

mr. olsor: -- madam speaker, 2014 started out the exact way president obama wanted. ver $2 trillion of more debt piled upon our kids and grandkids. president obama is very different than senator obama. these are his words, the senator's words on the senate loor march 16 of 2006. quote, the fact that we're here today to debate raising america's debt limit is a sign that leadership -- of leadership failure. it's a sign that the u.s.

government can't pay its own bills. it's a sign that we depend on ongoing foreign snabs from foreign countries to continue our reckless fiscal policies. over the past five years our federal debt has increased by $3.5 trillion to $8.6 trillion. that's trillion with a t. that is money we borrow from the social security trust fund, rrow from china and japan, borrow from american taxpayers. numbers that large are sometimes hard to understand. some people may wonder why they matter. here's why. this year the federal government will spend $220 billion on interest, end quote. senator balm -- senator obama

later explained, quote, that is more money to pay interest on our debt this year than we will spend on education, homeland security, transportation and veterans' benefits combined, end quote. . after talking about hurricane katrina, senator obama shifted to the debt tax. quote, the cost of our debt is of the fast growing expenses in the federal budget. hidden ng debt is a domestic enemy. robbing states of critical investments and infrastructure like bridges, ports, and levees. robbing our families and our children of critical investments in education and health care reform. robbing our seniors of the

retirement and health security they have counted on. every dime we pay in interest is a dollar that is not going to investment in america's priorities. astead, interest payments are tax on all americans, a debt tax that washington doesn't want to talk about. end quote. senator obama brought up our debt to unfriendly nations. quote, now there's nothing wrong with borrowing from foreign countries, but we must remember that the more we depend on foreign nations to lend us money, the more our economic security is tied to the whims of foreign leaders whose interest ight not be aligned with ours. increasing america's debt leaves us domestically and

internationally, it means the buck stops here. instead, washington's shifting the burden on bad choices today on the backs of our children and grandchildren. america has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. americans deserve better. i therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase america's debt limit, unquote. today america's debt is over $18 trillion with a t. clearly president obama has forgotten senator obama's words. but the american people remember and on their behalf as president obama -- ask president obama to decrease our debt by working

with congress to end the debt tax by growing our economy and shipping american natural gas to friendly countries like ukraine, like india, like japan, like south korea. yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. neal, for five minutes. mr. neal: thank you, mr. speaker. permission to address the house for five minutes. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. neal: mr. speaker, as the world prepares to celebrate saint patrick's day, and this afternoon we welcome the irish prime minister here to the capitol, i want to pause for a moment to recognize the anniversary of a pivotal event in the peace process in the north of ireland. 20 years ago against the advice of his own state department,

president bill clinton granted a visa to the leader of sinn fein and its president, jerry adams, to visit the united states. it was at the time an unpopular decision but history has protch it to be a catalyst for the peace process which proved to be most durable. it helped to bring an end to the longest standing political dispute in the history of the western world. simply put, bill clinton took an extraordinary risk that has paid huge dividends. i was one of a handful of members of congress at the time who urged president clinton to approve the visa. when jerry adams arrived in the united states after stopping in boston, he made his way to my hometown of springfield, massachusetts, and addressed a core group of thousands at the john boil o'reilly club, and he thanked them for their support. during his campaign for president, we urged then candidate clinton to make peace in the island of ireland a stop

foreign policy priority if he was to be elected. after his inauguration to our great and pleasant surprise, he sent his national security advisor at the time, tony lake, to capitol hill to tell us that they were to elevate ireland in the same category of priority as the middle east. a year later on jean 31 of 1994, the visa was issued to jerry adams, and the american dimension to the irish peace process was born. 14 years later the good friday agreement was signed and society in the north of ireland was transformed overnight. on the night that mr. clinton offered that visa, it was one of the more memorable events in my career. i defended the clinton administration that night on the bbc's news night hour, which would be the equivalent of night

line-- "night line" here in america. i debated the leader of the u.u.p. later today i'm hosting a briefing with jerry adams and the congressional friends of ireland and i urge our friends to visit with them if they can, and later on to meet the irish prime minister at 3:30 this afternoon. when we contrast where america and ireland were in this special relationship that dates to three centuries, it's important to recall what it looked like in the north of ireland for 30 years ago. there were 30,000 british soldiers in an area the size of the state of connecticut. there was a police force that held the position that nationalists need not apply, the royal constable larry. the british soldiers are gone and the constables are gone today. the watch towers that monitor the activities largely of the

nationalist community have been taken down and you can cross rom derry to donagal without knowing you moved from the north of ireland to the republic of ireland without being stopped, searched, and in some instances being frisked by british soldiers. america's role in bringing about this success story provides an argument for the reach and role of the united states in addressing some of the most difficult issues in the world. ireland represented the longest standing political dispute in the history of the western world, and america's role was pivotal to helping make that change. that model has become today something that could be emulated worldwide, and in fact the people who participated travel the world to talk about how they found a common ground and a path forward. there is a representative democracy in belfast today in

what is known as storemont where parties sit, some days in disagreement, other days in agreement, but always with the idea that they are in charge of their own destiny and their own future. that's the genius of representative democracy. i call attention to this issue today because of the many stubborn problems that plague the world. with the understanding that men and women of good will in the crucible of politics can indeed chart a path forward and not to miss the fact that it was still the risk taking of the clinton administration that took up the notion that the nationalist voice on the island of ireland and north of ireland in six small counties should be heard. today the result is all around us. so as the political parties visit on the eve of st. patrick's day, all across the island of ireland, we can satisfy ourselves with this achievement. the notion once again that good

will and understanding the other side's arguments can, in fact, be heralded as a sense of achievement but also again in the storemont government that has been duly elected. so today we in america take great satisfaction as to the role our men and women played in bringing about this success story and recognize something on a personal basis. i and many others here were allowed to participate in all of these it can never happen moments. thanks, america, for help, once again, in leading the way. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from florida, ms. ros-lehtinen, for five minutes. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, mr. speaker. and i rise today with a great sense of urgency over the critical need to have more custom border protection

officers at miami international airport, known as m.i.a. m.i.a., which i humbly represent, is not only the busiest airport in the state of florida, but it is also the second largest international gateway in the nation. in fact, international passenger traffic at m.i.a. has steadily grown over the last few years, far more than any other u.s. international gateway. however, the insufficient custom and border protection officers, known as c.b.p. staffing levels at m.i.a. pose a threat to this welcomed growth of travel and tourism into our country. passengers are experiencing long wait times for immigration and customs processing. for example, just a few days ago last wednesday, the thousands of passengers who arrived at the federal inspection service at m.i.a.'s north terminal experienced almost a four hour

wait time. out of the 72 lanes available to assist passengers, only 20 were opened. and there's only one simple explanation for this problem, c.b.p. staffing does not meet the numbers needed for the safe and efficient processing of passengers and cargo going through our airport. as time passes by, this endemic problem has only proven to deteriorate. the miami-dade congressional delegation and m.i.a. officials have long been focused on how to fix this problem while ensuring a safe and seamless travel experience for our local residents on our many, many visitors. earlier this week i wrote a letter to the secretary, secretary johnson, of the department of homeland security asking for his immediate action on alleviating the ongoing and age of c.b.p. officers back efforts to make florida competitive, and it hurts our

travel and tourism, two vital engines to our nation's economy. the entire miami-dade congressional delegation, including our senators, is united on this bipartisan, bicameral effort. with the strategic location to handle connections between the americas and europe, a. m a. serves as the doorstep to the -- m.i.a. serves as the doorstep to the united states. 30 million passengers passed through m.i.a.'s doors as they made their way to their final destinations. these people come to our port of entry either to visit south florida or make connections to other national or international destinations. we need to welcome them with the world class airport that m.i.a. can be and not with long lines, hassles, and congesttons. under the leadership of dr. gonzalez, the director of the miami-dade aviation department, m.i.a. has taken a number of steps to ease the lack of c.b.p.

officers. how have they done this? installing automated passport controls, self-service kiosks, also increasing miami-dade aviation department staffing. participating in a reimbursable fee agreement pilot program approved by congress which allows for needed overtime, and by closing certain gateways in order to concentrate c.b.p. officers in appropriate areas. however despite m.i.'s' innovative approach, c.b.p.'s insufficient staffing levels continue to pose serious challenges to the airport's daily operations. with the growing number of passengers arriving or transitioning through m.i.a., and with the world cup in brazil approaching, m.i.a. will have an even busier summer. we need to be prepared. that's why we ask for secretary johnson's assistance in providing much needed c.b.p. staffing and to remember that m.i.a.'s success is our nation's success.

mr. speaker, i cannot stress enough the pressing need for federal staffing at m.i.a. which will only allow for a further streamlining of long lines and will also help in the reduction of wait times for visitors and for residents alike. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. mcgovern, for five minutes. mr. mcgovern: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. as part ern: this week of my end hunger now series, i wanted to focus on one of the most important programs, the w.i.c. program, the special sflell nutrition program for women, infants, and children, commonly known as w.i.c. is a fantastic program celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. it truly is an amazing program. one that has been a tremendous success for 40 years. w.i.c. is a short-term

intervention program designed to influence nutrition and health behaviors in a targeted, high-risk population. what does that mean? well, mr. speaker, it means that it provides nutritious food and nutrition education among other services to pregnant women, infants, and young children. specifically w.i.c. provides quality nutrition education and services, breast-feeding promotion and education, a monthly food prescription, and access to maternal prenatal and pediatric health care services. not only has w.i.c. been around for 40 years, it has served millions of women and children over that time. for example, more than 10,000 served 8.7 million women and children each month in 2013. . 595,000 breast-feeding women, two million infants and 4.6 million children. and those are monthly figures,

mr. speaker. let's be clear, this is an important anti-poverty program. t helps poor pregnant women, postpartum mothers and their children to receive both nutritious food and it helps poor women. callify for w.i.c., their income must be on medicaid or about $36,000 for a family of three. we are not talking about wealthy people here, mr. speaker. they live with incomes below the federal poverty level. that means most people are making less than $36,000 of three. the average income of a participant was $16,842 a year. the services w.i.c. provides are critically important, and they are based on sound science. for example, we know how important it is for women to breast-feed their children. breast milk contains important

nutrients infants need to grow and to develop. and we know that breast-fed infants tend to be healthier because they receive antibodies from the best milk. did you know that breast-feeding has also been proven to save money. that's right. if 90% of u.s. mothers exclusively breast fed their infants for six months, the u.s. would save $16 billion annually and prevent 900 deaths a year. another important part of w.i.c. that is based on science is the food package that's made available to each client. they are designed specifically for each person. whether you are a pregnant mother, nursing mother or child. and the foods available are approved by the scientists and researchers at the institute of medicine. that's right. not members of congress or nonscience-based administrators and a federal agency that approve foods from the w.i.c. package. we know that proper nutrition can make people healthier,

reduce instances of illness and disease and reduce hospital visits and stays. i guess my mother was ride when she said an apple a day keeps the doctor away. that's why it is so maddening when special interests try to change the w.i.c. food package just so they can save a little bit more money for their product. proper nutrition can save money, something that i think should be popular in this congress. and ignoring science because special interests want to make a quick buck is just wrong. and that's why i'm so proud of this program. a few years ago there was an attempt in the house of representatives to underfund w.i.c., to deny these important services to poor women and their children. the backlash was fierce. that funding was quickly restored and we haven't seen an attempt to cut w.i.c. since. i wish that were true for other federal anti-hunger programs. mr. speaker, this program is what is best about america. ironically it was a program born in the nixon

administration. in fact, it came from the only white house conference on hunger, something i wish this president, president obama would convene before his term is over. for 40 years w.i.c. has ensured that poor women and their children have access to nutritious food and nutrition education. it's just that simple. these women and their children have a lifeline to making their lives healthier and better. it's safe to say the millions of people served by w.i.c. would be worse off if it weren't for this program. i am proud of this program. i am proud of the people who work at w.i.c. clinics and administrators -- and those who administer the program in every state. i'm proud of the people who advocate and fight for this program. i look forward to the day when we don't need w.i.c. because we've eradicated poverty once and for all. but until that day comes, i'm proud we have w.i.c. to help make the lives of the women and children they serve just a little bit better. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. duffy, for five minutes.

mr. duffy: thank you, mr. speaker. today i rise to discuss the issue of medicare and medicare reimbursement payments to doctors who provide health care for our seniors. currently the reimbursement formula for our doctors who provide these services is one that has become so low that many doctors in america aren't providing services and care to our seniors. it brings me to a bill that's coming up tomorrow in the house. it's the doc fix. it's a fix to the s.g.r. what that means is there is on the horizon a 24% cut coming to medicare reimbursements for our doctors who provide care for our seniors. if that cut goes into effect, it's going to have a devastating impact on the care that our seniors can receive.

so tomorrow we are going to have a fix on the floor that takes away the threat of the 24% cut and we pay for it. what we do is we bring certainty to the doctors who provide this care for our seniors and stability to the payment system. now, this isn't the first time this issue has been brought up. this has been an ongoing oblem, and so today on throwback thursday we are going to take a trip down memory lane. four years ago during the obamacare debate, house republicans brought up this very issue and said, listen, let's not hold our seniors hostage. let's actually come forward together and have a doc fix that is paid for to make sure our seniors don't get cut in regard to reimbursements. my colleagues across the aisle said no to this fix that was paid for and in the end we had

to have short-term fixes that i think threatens the care for our seniors. i hope all my colleagues tomorrow will stand with us to have a long-term fix to this program to make sure our seniors aren't held vulnerable to potential inaction by congress. but i also want to talk about what happened with regard to our seniors in the medicare debate -- sorry -- the obamacare debate. instead of fixing payment in medicare to our doctors for our seniors, instead of shoring up a plan that helps our seniors, instead of doing that, what my friends across the aisle did in obamacare is they looked for a pay-for and they saw a pot of money in medicare and they took almost $1 trillion out of medicare to use for obamacare. and news flash, the c.b.o. and the president, everybody acknowledges that medicare is on a pathway to going broke.

12 years from now it runs out of money. so instead of shoring up the fund, making sure that we meet the promise to our seniors, my friends across the aisle took almost $1 trillion out of it, making it more vulnerable, making it more vulnerable. and then a program that works well, especially for my seniors back in wisconsin, medicare advantage, taking money out of medicare advantage, a program that actually works. given some choice -- giving some choice and control it our seniors. listen, i think our seniors deserve better than that. the war on seniors should stop and hopefully will stop tomorrow with a bipartisan effort that does what we should have done in the obamacare debate and fixes payments to doctors so they can continue to provide life-saving health care to our seniors. let's stand together as a house, let's stand with our seniors, let's get this done tomorrow. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back.

the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee, for five minutes. ms. jackson lee: let me thank the speaker for yielding and thank my colleagues. this morning we are now in the midst of women's history month, and i want to associate myself with the women's history special order that was on the floor last evening. i look forward through the rest of the month of march to continue or to acknowledge women from my own congressional district. this morning, however, i wish to comment on a woman that has loomed large in our political eyes and i thought out of fairness, to give the record of former secretary hillary clinton a fair shot. the reason why i chose to do

that, mr. speaker, is over the weekend, as many occurrences occur, political meetings abound in this nation and the conservative political action conference met. interestingly enough in the reporting, the newspapers said that hillary rodham clinton had the presence of the largest gathering of conservative activists. interestingly enough, former secretary clinton was not there, obviously not invited, but i think it is important to take note of some of the comments that were made that really require some kind of addressing. one comment was that women should not be used. mohr came from the former speaker and charged that if secretary clinton decided to

run for president, it would be like a prison guard for the past. words i think that may be political rhetoric but really does a great kiss service to a woman with a strong historical record. early earlier in her life, she met dr. martin luther king, born to chicago to parents whose political beliefs -- part of their political beliefs were different than secretary clint op's today. but she was an active young woman and through her church had the opportunity to meet dr. martin luther king. i can imagine her thoughts a few years later that dr. king was assassinated. may have had a major impact on her belief and serving her country and helping america. she is a graduate of wellesley college and yale law school. she worked on the migrant worker issues on senator walter

mondale's staff. also, she was on the law review editorial board. i would suggest at that time, certainly one of the pioneering women at yale law school. of course, many of us know that she worked for the children's legal defense fund and really honed her skills of concern about making children a number one -- our number one priority. i would offer to say that when i came to the united states congress, former secretary clinton was first lady. and at that time i organized and founded the congressional children's caucus. during the period after the 1990's or in the 1990's, it was very clear that the first lady at that time was very concerned still with children's issues and held one of the first conferences on the 0-3 -- 0 to 3 months and how a baby could learn and how we should be nurturing our infant, to focus

our legislative agenda for that agenda, it was the time that mary edelman continued to work with former secretary of state on issues dealing with the whole comprehensive child, what a child needs from 0 onto adulthood. and even today i would argue that we do not have a children's agenda, and i will soon be offering a briefing promoting a children's budget. came out of the efforts and collaboration with the former secretary of state during her tenure in the white house as first lady. as first lady, she traveled to emphasize the importance of freedom for women around the world. she was not yet secretary. and one of the first acts that we remember, among the acts that we remember is her going to china and declaring that

women's rights are human rights . i would venture to say that the words at the cpac convention do not in any way characterize the leadership at hillary rodham clinton. certainly she's gone on to many other successes, which include her leadership as secretary of state, the constant work of freeing women, women's rights and i would say, mr. speaker, that she's a fine example of a mother, a wife, a leading national figure, historic figure that represents women's history month. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from tennessee, mr. duncan, for five minutes. mr. duncan: thank you, mr. speaker. i request permission to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized. mr. duncan: mr. speaker, president kennedy in the 1961 speech at the university of washington said, quote, we must face the fact that the united

states is neither omnipotent, that we are only 6% of the world's population, that we cannot impose our will upon the other 94% of mankind, that we cannot right every wrong or reverse each adversity and therefore there cannot be an american solution to every world problem. the major difference now is that we are only 4% of the world's population and we are over $17 trillion in debt. president kennedy was right then and we should listen to his words today. we are supporting policies that will commit us to spend billions we do not have in ukraine. we don't need to be sending billions to the ukraine, and we especially should not escalate this situation into some type of military confrontation. .

we should have cultural exchanges with other countries and have to a limited extent during humanitarian crises, but we cannot be the policemen of the world. the ukrainians are going to have to solve most of their problems on their own, and we need to start taking care better care of our own country and our own people. in fact, mr. speaker, we are long past the time when we need to start putting our own people first and stop trying to run the whole world, creating a lot of resentment toward the u.s. in the process. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. swalwell, for five minutes. mr. swall well: i seek unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. swalwell: for the bay area law enforcement community, few days are sadder and more tragically memorable than saturday, march 21, 2009. it's a day that everyone in the community will always recall where they were when they heard

the news. march 21 will always be remembered as the day that four brave police officers of the oakland police department were killed in the line of duty. in service to the people they swore an oath to protect. i rise to recognize four men who died five years ago the same way they lived, as heroes. i rise to recognize sergeant mark tunican. sergeant irvin romans. sergeant daniel sakai, and officer john henky. we lost these officers on the same day at the hands of the same murderer, but we make sure today that they were not taken in vain and that this killer did not extinguish their memories. sergeant mark was devoted to the east bay. raised in pleasantton, he graduated from college and served the department for 18 years. he worked in the patrol

division, homicide unit, and traffic operations section. he loved driving through the streets of oakland on his harley-davidson, making sure the east bay was safe. he was even a part of the oakland police department's motorcycle drill team which went all over the state of california. not only was sargent dunican a terrific officer, he was a loving husband to his wife who also served as -- served as a dublin police officer. he was a father and friend. he also was an avid sports fan, rooting for his ohio state buckeyes and pittsburgh steelers. officer john hefment. nky had been with the oakland police department for 10 years. before joining the force, he taught at tennyson high school. even after he became a police officer, he continued to serve his community by working with kids as a high school baseball umpire. john always wanted to work as a motorcycle officer. a few months before his tragic murder, he reached that goal. a great neighbor and friend, john was willing to help someone

in need. this continued even in death. for as an organ donor, his organs were used to save the lives of four other people. sergeant romans' life was full of service. for nine years he served our country and kept us safe as a distinguished member of the united states marines. irv continued his service with the oakland police department, a dream job for him, for 13 years. he was a dedicated member of the swat team, always striving to improve and keep up with the latest training. in 1999, after helping residents escape a fire, he was awarded the medal of valor. finished his career serving the public. following his graduation, he worked as a community service officer with the u.c. berkeley police department. after five years there he joined the oakland police department in 2000. described as a rising star, dan quickly progressed in the oakland police department, including serving as a patrol

officer in the k nine unit and eventually the swat team. it's not surprising he was the first class -- he was the class valedictorian of his police academy class. decides being a terrific member of the oakland police department, dan was devoted to his family and friends and as a resident of castro valley in the 15th congressional district, he enjoyed all kinds of outdoor activities. it's hard to believe that it's already been five years since that fateful day when these four heroes were taken from us. i was working that day as an alameda county prosecutor, when we lost them, and i like so many, was shocked and shaken by the news. the magnitude of loss that the murder of these four officers caused was unmeasurable and hit everyone in the community. equally unmerbleshurebl was the community's -- unmeasurable, was the community's response. in the hours and days after the news the law enforcement community came together to support the families of the officers and colleagues they served with. immediately after the news, hundreds of bay area law

enforcement community members held an informal vigil at the only place they knew to gather, the warehouse, a grill around the corner from the oakland police department. the following days the oakland police officers association with the support of brothers and sisters from neighboring bay area police agencies grieved together and put on a funeral at the oakland arena worthy of the officers. i attended that funeral and was stunned to see officers from not just the bay area but across the united states. i'll never forget the boston police officers who crossed the country to attend and lifted the spirits of the mourners. in the house chamber today, representing the police officers association of california, is john rudolph, president of the alameda county deputy sheriff's association. he's in town to support the law enforcement officers memorial fund. the following year i had the opportunity to attend the 2010 law enforcement officers memorial in washington, d.c. to witness each officer's name permanently placed on the marble wall with 19,000 other officers

who have given their life across our country in service to the public. their names are etched into that wall, their memories are deep in our mind and their courage is stitched forever in our hearts. mark, irv, dan, and mark, you were taken too young but forever we'll remember your service. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california, mrs. capps, for five minutes. miss caps: i ask unanimous consent to address the house, and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. capps: mr. speaker, i rise today to call attention to a critical issue that's hurting our communities. it's hurting our economy, and our environment. and that issue is climate change. climate change is already having real impacts affecting real people in real communities with more extreme storms, severe droughts, heat waves, and more. and we are beginning to see long-term and serious impacts on

public health, on agriculture, and natural resources. of course climate change not only impacts us here on shore, but offshore as well. ocean acidfication, one of the most serious impacts of climate change, is changing the chemistry of our oceans and threatening the economic future of our coastal communities. as our oceans absorb more and more carbon from the atmosphere, they grow more and more acidic, threatening many marine organisms and the communities that depend upon them. experts are telling us that today's rate of ocean acidfication may be unprecedented in the earth's history. it's estimating -- estimated to be increasing 10 to 100 times faster than any time in the past 50 million years. ocean acidfication threatens everything from the typey plankton that form the foundation of marine food webs, to the larger shellfish we all

enjoy. these impacts will not only hurt our ocean's ecosystems and environment, but they'll significantly hurt our economy as well. the oceans support one in every six american jobs. without healthy oceans, we stand to lose a lot of american jobs and economic opportunities. not to mention the cultural, ecological, and recreational losses to our coastal communities. in my district, there is a diverse array of fishermen, scientists, and nongovernmental organizations who are all serious concerned about this issue, and they are coming together to find ways to better understand and mitigate the effects of ocean acidfication on key fisheries and ecosystems. while the initial costs may be felt locally, the long-term costs of ocean acidfication will be felt around this globe. we simply can't afford to continue ignoring this critical problem. while we certainly must cut the greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change and ocean acidfication, we must also

prepare for the inevitable impacts. and that's why i'm working with my colleagues to find bipartisan solutions to increase our understanding of ocean acidfication and to develop adaptation strategies. that means supporting efforts to increase research and to monitor better understanding of the problem, and it means coordinating and planning on a local level to prepare communities for changing coastal landscape. that means forming strategic partnerships to increase our capacity to find creative solutions. there are many things we can do to help, but there's one thing we must all agree upon, inaction is not an option. mr. speaker, we have a responsibility to help prepare our communities and our economy from the impacts of climate change. we cannot afford to sit on our hands and do nothing. so i urge my colleagues to join me in taking action to save our oceans, to combat global climate change. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the chair recognizes the

gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. hompson, for five minutes. mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today to acknowledge a story of hardship and compassion. josh hardy, the young boy from fredericksburg, virginia, survived a battle with cancer when he was just nine months old. today at the age of 7 he's currently suffering from a life threatening infection acquired during his cancer treatment at st. jude's children's hospital. a farm company produces a medication josh's doctors believe could help save his life. the drug was still in trial testing and the company has been unable to provide access due to the number of requests for the drug and the rate of production in the testing stage. physicians at st. jude's hospital and members of the josh's family pleaded for josh to obtain access to the drug. last friday matt hardy, josh's

uncle, a constituent of mine, contacted my office to request our support of seeing in the drug could get approved. josh's story has become widely known across the country and yesterday the company agreed to provide both access to their experimental antiviral drug for his treatment. this small business should be commended for their compassion and making tough decisions. we hope they can continue with the expedience to bring their product to market in order to help others like josh. mr. speaker, through these tough times our thoughts and prayers remain with josh, his family, and the countless individuals committed to making lives better through cutting-edge medical research. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california, ms. speier, for five minutes. ms. speier: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for five minutes and

revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. speier: mr. speaker, i rise today to tell a story of 17-year-old catholic school girl from the seattle suburbs whose dream to join the marine corps were destroyed by sexual predator. the girl's recruiter after discussing sexual harassment policy with her decided to give her a big hug. then lifted her on his lap and fondled her breasts. he then tried to get her to perform oral sex on him at another visit to the marine recruiting office, and on a third occasion he had her fondle his genitals while the girl was riding in his car. she told the king county district attorney's office she felt pressured into the sexual contact to get a position within the corps. while king county investigators found the girl's claims to be credible, the recruiter's chain of command within the marine corps did not. and returned him to his job

after a brief suspension while the high school student was denied justice and denied the job of her dreams. just google marine sex scandal and you'll find this article and several other scandal stories about soldiers who hold these positions of trust. and these are exactly the type of stories that prompted defense secretary chuck hagel to issue a directive last may to require the screening of sexual assault counselors, recruiters, and drill sergeants in all the services looking for any criminal wrongdoing or unethical behavior. it appears the army took secretary hagel's directive seriously as it screened 20,000 soldiers, disqualified 588, and is moving to get rid of at least 79 soldiers in these sensitive posts for offenses that include sexual assault. between the navy, air force, and

marine corps, however, only a handful of service members were disqualified. the navy after screening more than 10,000 soldiers first said it only disqualified five, but just yesterday we have learned that the number has skyrocketed as the navy is actually disqualified 151 sailors from these positions of trust. the air force just revealed tuesday it disqualified two soldiers after it first initially reported none were disqualified. and the marine corps so far has disqualified absolutely no one. . we all know that sexual assault in the military is a crisis and it is not simply limited to the army. it appears to be quite clear that the services used widely divurnlent methodology in assessing the -- divergent methodology in assessing the suitability and it