mr. salazar. >> thank you, mr. nunes. mr. lazar, one quick question on behalf of the natural resources committee republicans. we haven't seen you yet in front of that committee and we would love to have you come and visit with us about health stimulus money is being spent on other issues. can you tell me today whether you would be willing to come and testify in front of the natural resources committee. >> the answer to that is yes and i would be remiss if i didn't say that i've worked closely with the chairman and will continue to work closely with him and if he were to request me to come before the committee i would be honored to do so. >> thank you very much. i thank the gentleman for yielding and also want to add my concern about the situation in the valley. there are rare and i do mean rare circumstances where the endangered species act should not be allowed to destroy people's lives, to destroy them and that is happening in the valley. i am a person who has a state that is very impacted by the endangered species act inclu

mr. salazar. >> thank you, mr. nunes. mr. salazar, one quick question on behalf of the natural resources committee republicans. we haven't seen you yet in front of that committee and we would love to have you come and visit with us about health stimulus money is being spent on other issues. can you tell me today whether you would be willing to come and testify in front of the natural resources committee. >> the answer to that is yes and i would be remiss if i didn't say that i've worked closely with the chairman and will continue to work closely with him and if he were to request me to come before the committee i would be honored to do so. >> thank you very much. i thank the gentleman for yielding and also want to add my concern about the situation in the valley. there are rare and i do mean rare circumstances where the endangered species act should not be allowed to destroy people's lives, to destroy them and that is happening in the valley. i am a person who has a state that is very impacted by the endangered species act inc

mr. salazar -- mr. salazar: thank you, madam speaker. i want to thank mr. edwards and mr. wamp. i don't think there's any greater champions for military vet advance and their families. all 17 -- veterans and their families. all 17 1/2 million veterans should applaud these men for their diligent fight. madam chair, i would like to bring one specific project and the bill forward and not only thank the chairman and the ranking member but also president obama and the chairman of the veterans' affairs committee, mr. filner, for including the $119 million for the new hospital in denver, colorado. this facility will provide full service to half a million veterans currently residing in my home state of colorado and many across the rocky mountain west. this new facility will be open and begin serving veterans by 2013, a 200-bed hospital will reach over one million square feet in size and provide 30 special beds for spinal chord injuries. i am proud that over a decade of waiting, the veterans of the rocky mountain west and my state will finally benefit from the state-of-the-art facility.

mr. salazar: madam speaker, i rise today to honor my mentor and close friend, mr. richard d. "dick" mccravey. after 26 years as secretary and executive director of the colorado congress, dick is announcing his retirement. throughout his tenure, dick helped enact a multitude of legislation to help protect water resources throughout colorado. as executive director, dick sought 350 of the 419 colorado water congress-supported bills enacted into law. in addition, only one of the 123 bills opposed by the colorado water congress became law. this impressive record demonstrates dick's effective leadership and dedication to protecting colorado's water. during my time in the colorado state legislature, dick took me under his wing and taught me a great deal about water legislation. as a farmer and lifelong resident of the san luis valley, i understand the importance of water. this precious resource is the lifeblood and essential to maintaining our way of life. dick understood the needs of everyone, from farmers like me in rural colorado, to those in towns like aspen, carbon dale and tel

mr. salazar. for what purpose does the gentlelady from new york rise? mrs. maloney: i ask unanimous consent to claim time for five minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for five minutes. mrs. maloney: thank you. mr. speaker, the american medical association has given a ringing endorsement of h.r. 3200, america's affordable health choices act. this legislation contains a strong public insurance option which would guarantee that quality, affordable health care is available to all americans. the a.m.a. hasn't always been onboard with health care reform. many of us remember their opposition to president clinton's efforts. yet the a.m.a. and the millions of doctors it represents now realize that the status quo system is broken. they understand the urgency of the problem and they recognize that the pending bill is a major part of the solution. the a.m.a.'s strong voice joins the chorus of americans who want this congress to pass a health care reform bill that includes a public option. nearly 3/4 of all americans want the

mr. salazar . for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? does the gentleman make a unanimous consent request? >> request unanimous consent to speak out of order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. klein: mr. speaker, i rise to commend my colleagues for passing h.r. 1933, the child is missing alert and recovery center act. i introduced this bipartisan legislation with my good friend from texas, mr. gohmert, who is the distinguished ranking member of the crime and subcommittee and former texas state judge. i should also thank the distinguished chairman and ranking member of the judiciary committee, mr. conyers of michigan and mr. smith of texas and mr. scott, the chairman of the crime subcommittee, for their leadership in moving h.r. 1933 out of committee and to the floor. mr. speaker, h.r. 1933 will expand the widely praysed a child is missing, nonprofit organization into a national program with regional septemberers under the department of justice. it would accomplish the expansion through annual grants in the amount of $5 milli

mr. salazar: i want to thank the gentleman for yielding time to me. first of all, i want to thank you for your diligence in trying to help the agricultureure community in california. -- agriculture community in california. in june, 2009, mr. chairman, at the request of chairman -- congressman costa and congressman cardoza, the secretary of interior, secretary salazar and deputy secretary hayes reclamation commissioner connor held a public meeting to address the issues of the drought in california. but previous to that, i want to also thank the administration for previously working on issues because they understood that the drought was a big concern to this country. on april of 2009, the department announced the allocation of $220 million of a.a.r. funding -- aara funding from the bureau of reclamation for water and infrastructure projects in california. of this amount $160 million was directed to projects to address the needs of the central valley. allocation of $40 million will be made for drought relief actions, most of which will go to california w

mr. salazar of colorado. mr. poe of texas. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr.ohmert: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. . this body passed a cap and trade bill, friends across the other side of the aisle said it's not going to cost jobs, it will create jobs. it says they did not read the bill. it's going to create jobs. if they had read the bill, they would have seen before the 100 pages were added there was a fund created to pay an allowance to people who lost their jobs because of the bill. it also created a fund that could help them with relocation after they lost their job because of the bill. so they just hadn't read the bill so they're able to come down and in rightous indignation say it's not going to cost jobs. they were ignoring what the bill said. but it will cost jobs. and now we're told that some of us don't care about seniors. mr. speaker, i'm here because i care about seniors and i know what that health care bill is go to do to

salazar to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, nancy pelosi, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will receive a message. the messenger: mr. speaker, a message from the senate. the secretary: mr. speaker. i have been directed by the senate to inform the house that the senate has passed s. 951, cited as the new frontier congressional gold medal act in which the concurrence of the house is requested. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 6, 2009, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour debate. the chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to 30 minutes and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and the minority whip limited to five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. lungren, for five minutes. mr. lungren: thank you very much, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, last night i had a telephone town hall with constituents in my district. as i made the call, i informed them that we were going to discuss any suggest that they wanted, but i wanted to concen