madam speaker, i rise today to honor sergeant rodriguez of the key west police department. this dedicated officer has been named the 2009 key west police officer of the year. sergeant rodriguez has served our community proudly since he joined the department 10 years ppago. his commitment to keeping key west a safe place within which to live and visit has been truly extraordinary. as a police officer of the year, sergeant rodriguez was specifically recognized for his tireless work to combat the negative influences of illicit drugs. this is an important and noble goal, madam speaker. and i know that the entire keys' community is proud of his selfless service. i thank sergeant rodriguez and all of his colleagues in the key west police department for all they have done and will continue to do for our wonderful monroe county-key west community. congratulations, sergeant rodriguez. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the house is not in order. will all members remove their conversations from the house floor. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise?

what general rodriguez is pretty referring to is a new evaluation system that has been brought on line. he is the one who oversees the fight. general caldwell does the training, the equipping and the infrastructure, and then provides those forces, or the afghans provide those forces to partner outside the wire along with our forces who are under the command of general rodriguez. i think rightly, he has taken this on. this is a subjective evaluation of, can they fight and can they do it on their own? how much assistance to the needy? and so forth. i think that is where the debate is, and general caldwell is trying to point out rightly that over the past seven months or so there has been substantial progress in turning it over to afghanistan. the fact is that what we were doing was recruiting police and then putting them in to fight. we were basically recruit, a sign, and then train when you get to it as a model. but that just cannot be. you have to recruit and then train and then assigned. the afghans are police -- fully supportive of that. i think these are the changes that have been m

what genal rodriguez is pretty referring to is a new evaluation system that has been brought on line. he is the one who oversees the fight. general caldwell does the training, the equipping and the infrastructure, and then provides ose fces, or the afghans provide those forces to partner outside the wire along with our forces who are under the command of general rodriguez. i think rightly, he has taken this on. this is a subjective evaluation of, can they fight and can they do it on their own? how much assistance to the needy? and so forth. i think that is where the debate is, and general caldwell is trying to point out rightly that over the past seven months or so there has been substanal progress in turning it over to afghanistan. the fact is that what we were doing was recruiting police and then putting them in to fight. we were basically recruit, a sign, and then train when you get to it as a model. but that just cannot be. you have to recruit and then train and then aigned. the afghans are police -- fully supportive of that. i think these are the changes that have been made with

rodriguez: thank ou, mr. speaker.thank you for allowing me this opportunity to say a few words on cybersecurity in this particular exercise done by universities. i rise today in support of h.r. 1244, recognizing the national collegiate cyberdefense competition for its now fifth year effort to promote cybersecurity curriculum and instruction in higher learning. the cybercollegiate defense competition focuses on the operational aspects of managing and ppotecting an exciting commercial network infrastructure. students get a chance to test their knowledge in the operation environment and network with industries -- industrial professionals who are always on the lookout for up and coming engineers. on february 27 and the 28 of 2004, a group of educators and students, government and industry representatives gathered in san antonio, texas, to discuss the feasibility of establishing such a program. and this particular cybersecurity exercise with a uniformed structure for postsecondary level students. the center for infrastruct

they are thought to include general rodriguez, commander of the nato headquarters in kabul. another possibility is general demsey, who has extensive experience. another potential successor is general james mattis. some have suggested that general david petraeus could take over the afghanistan mission himself. "the new york times" in other publications talking about potential successors to general mcchrystal. in that meeting today with his national security team, president obama will have hillary clinton, joe biden, tim geithner, rahm emanuel, and the list goes on of those who will be meeting with the president about afghanistan and pakistan. we want to know what you think this morning. should president obama fire general mcchrystal? marsha on the line for drepublicans, what do you think? caller: i do not think general mcchrystal should be fired. this is nothing but a witch huntt pt is awfully funny that he is making these kind of comments about the war when his own fiancee was murdered by al-qaeda insurgenns. none of the quotations else was directly related to general petrae

his great grandson, james irvin, is now co-owner of the company along with alexander rodriguez, who started as an apprentice and worked his way up to become a journeyman and maeser electrician. madam speaker -- and master elect -- electrician. madam speaker, these are two companies that provided economic opportunities to diverse groups of people and delivered products and services to a worldwide marketplace. florida's small employers in 2006 represented 99% of the state employers and 44% of its private sector employment. of the even greater significance, however, is that small businesses created nearly 60% of my state's new jobs in recent years. think of that figure. 60% of the new jobs in the state of florida were created by small businesses. it is my understand and my privilege to recognize today the many dedicated and hardworking employees of small businesses who have done so much over the years to serve their neighbors in so many ways. i thank the speaker or the time, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. m