mr. ellison: would the gentlelady yield for a quick moment? ms. hirono: i will. mr. ellison: it shocked me that because i thought only people who are struggling, and the progressive caucus is all about fighting with poverty. i thought this was just a poor folks' problem. but this study seems to say something else. the debtors were well-educated, owned homes, had middle class jobs. ms. hirono: it points out how broken the welfare system is. people who are work, people who are well-educated, people who have good jobs cannot afford their health care. again, it points out there are things we need to do. i mentioned earlier in my remarks i had -- many of us have been having forums, health care forums in our communities. i had one in my community last week on the big island of hawaii. we had representatives from hospitals, from the medical profession, from -- the dean of our medical school. and while this whole health care issue is very complicated, certain common themes came out. first of all, of course, the recognition that the cost is astronomical, no end in sight, and i

mr. ellison: it sure helps. ms. woolsey: this particular industry has wielded a lot of money and a lot of power around this congress and -- but it's mostly that they've been able to choke off the information at the -- that the grass roots has -- was not able to receive the first time around. that is not going to happen again. we are not going to let that happen. all the money in the world is not going to be able to close down our voices, the thousands of people that are emailing us on our congress.org and they know we're with them and we're going to keep this. the democrats are with them for the most part. we are going to make it happen. the president is with them. mr. ellison: if the gentlelady will yield back, i want to remind everybody by saying that president obama did say if we were starting a health care system from scratch, he would be pushing single payer, but we're not. you have people who have vested interests, who have settled expectations, and so, you know, if people aren't committed to the plan they hav

mr. ellison: the gentlelady is right, thank you for taking off our subject tonight on health care. you have done a fabulous job. none of us are surprised. but let's get one of our great champions from the great state of illinois, a fighter from chicago, let's say that january schakowsky has been a dedicated advocate for people for many years, not just in congress, but before that when she was a social worker. ms. schakowsky: i was a community organizer. mr. ellison: this public option, congresswoman schakowsky, any views you would like to share before you launch into any prepared remarks? . ms. schakowsky: i've had people come into my office day in and day out saying they can't get the health care they need, they have a child or disability or a

mr. ellison. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. ellison: mr. chairman, i rise today to do two things. one, to offer condolences and thanks to the family of officer johns, for his brave sacrifice, and also to point out that officer johns dedicated his life to protecting the staff and visitors of an institution dedicated to remembering both the depths of human depravenity and the heights of courage and bravery. as we must understand that the holocaust museum was not simply a place to remember loss, awful loss, but also courage and standing up to great adversity. may we all celebrate the life of officer johns and the six million jews who were murdered and memorialized at the holocaust museum by going to the holocaust museum, by supporting that museum and by showing defiantly that we will not be coward and we will not be deterred from standing up for

mr. ellison: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. ellison: mr. speaker, the american people don't need to be told there's a health care crisis in america. they are the ones living it every day. they are the ones who for decades have been -- have seen the price they pay out of every paycheck for health insurance skyrocket while their coverage has sha runge and been denied altogether. they have seen the increasing co-pays and premiums. but we can give every american a choice. we can offer an alternative to the mountains of medical debt that so often lead to bankruptcy. we can offer an alternative to the fear or -- that they or their children might be denied a doctor visit simply because it is more profitable to deny them coverage than to see them get well. i want to encourage all americans to stand up to the same fear mongering attacks that have prevented them from getting -- the health care they deserve for decades. we can offer a public option that helps all americans. i implore the american people to remember that we are not the

mr. ellison: well, mr. speaker, welcome to the progressive message. this is the hour that the progressive caucus comes forward to offer a progressive vision for america, where we put down markers and we signal to the american people that there is a progressive vision, there is a way forward, and that way forward does include generosity, vision, openness, fairness, sharing, not a vision of fear, not a vision of oh my goodness, what's going to happen, but a vision of saying, you know what? we can include people, we can have peace and a society where people are treated equally and fairly. a few weeks ago, we had a special order where the premise was why i'm a progressive and we detailed how important it is to take note of the great contributions that progressives have made to america. i want to introduce the ruffle array of leaders we have with us tonight. and i have to start with the co-chair of the progressive caucus, the person who has given more five-minute speeches than anybody ever on the issue of peace including iraq and afghanistan, none other th

mr. ellison of minnesota, ms. hirono of hawaii, and ms. roibled of -- and ms. roybal-allard of california. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives. madam, pursuant to section 4-b of house resolution 5, 111th congress, i am pleased to appoint the following members to the house democracy assistance commission. the honorable david dreier of california. the honorable john boozman of arkansas. the honorable jeff fortenberry of nebraska. the honorable judy biggert of illinois. the honorable bill shuster of pennsylvania. the honorable kay granger of texas. the honorable charles w. boustany jr. of louisiana. the honorable k. michael conaway of texas. the honorable vern cannon of nebraska. i am pleased to fulfill their requests. signed sincerely, john a. boehner, republican leader.

mr. ellison, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. ellison: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. speaker. this is congressman ellison claiming the time on behalf of the progressive caucus. i have to set up a bit. i'll be back in about 10 seconds. mr. ellison: mr. speaker, this is the progressive message. the progressive message is the progressive caucus' effort to come before the american people at least once a week for 60 minutes or so to talk about a progressive vision for america. not a vision based on fear, not a vision based on a denial of science, not a vision based on division, not a vision based on escape goating some minority group, but -- scapegoating some minority group. a vision that says science is something we should rely on and have some faith in and some really confidence in because we understand that whether you come from a faith tradition or whether you don't, we're giving -- we have minds that we should use and it's human nature to discover, inquire and find out the facts. a vision that says that, yes, we are entru

mr. ellison: mr. speaker, i rise today to talk about the importance of building a clean energy economy for america. americans are fed up with tax breaks for oil companies that postrecord records while working families are stuck paying exorbitant prices at the pump. americans want a new energy economy, a green economy to take us into the new future, to take us into a carbon neutral economy, to take us into jobs, to take us into a future in which we are not dependent upon the automobile for every transportational decision. the time has come to transform our economy for decades to come. the time has come to create american jobs with new clean american-made energy. the clean energy jobs plan is the next step in creating millions of american jobs in clean energy efficiency, modernizing a smart electric grid. we can reduce our dependence on oil. we can do this. yes, we can. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas rise? ms. jackson lee: to address the house for one minute. t

mr. ellison. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota is recognized for two minutes. mr. ellison: i want to thank the crafters of the legislation. it's carefully crafted. it's clear that the universal values of freedom that are expressed in the resolution are done with a great amount of prudence and i think that's right. i think it is also important to understand that when the congress of the united states speaks, a lot of people listen, and so it's important to not allow the congress to be used as a tool in what is essentially an eternal -- internal fight in iran. so i would urge caution and urge the united states congress to stand up and speak about the universal values that we care about, democracy, freedom, due process of law, lack of violence in terms of solving political disputes, and not allow ourselves to be used as a weapon against the people who we are in effect trying to help which is the people of iran. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlewoman from florida. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you. i'm proud to yield 30 se