we all know the story of salvatore giunta, our most recent recipient of the medal of honor to all iowansuttons proud of this young iowans for his bravery, courage and resolve. [applause] [applause] i doubt that many of you know sergeant anthony sellers of burlington, but i was privileged to meet him introduced to me by his proud father, kent. kent is a veteran himself confined to a wheelchair but in burlington team is beaming when he introduced me to his son who has completed two tours in iraq and is now at fort benning preparing for another deployment. anthony, like thousands of other iowans has answered the call of freedom and he embodies the spirit of selfless service that makes our state and our country that shining city on a hill that tom paine wrote about over two centuries ago. surely we can use their example as an inspiration to us all. [applause] third, it's time to restore transparency and integrity to our government decision making process. in iowa we pride ourselves on a limited government services. when government said it would do something we did it and for the right reason

brave troops such as medal of honor recipient staff sergeant salvatore giunta. and citizens who illustrate policy points, such as gary allen, who used stimulus dollars to create a business to manufacture solar shingles. >> we're paying, actually paying salaries with the stimulus moneying, buying equipment and tooling. >> reporter: and diane, a source close to the president says that because of the urgency of the last couple of years, president obama has felt he really hasn't had the opportunity, nor taken it, to explain in one coherent narrative why he is doing what he's doing and he hopes to solve that problem with the speech tonight. diane? >> okay, jake, thanks to you. want to bring in now our chief political director and abc's "good morning america" anchor george stephanopoulos. so, george, we were both at the white house today. what was your sense of the strategy? >> reporter: i think that's part of it right there. the president does want to lay out his vision for the future. something he believes he hasn't done well enough in the last couple of years. but

i rise today as a co-sponsor of house resolution 49, the staff sergeant salvatore giunta medal of honor flag resolution. as the first living medal of honor winner since the vietnam war, staff sergeant giunta richly deserves to be honored by this house. the resolution is simple. it provides every medal of honor winner or their family with a flag flown over the capitol in tribute to their service. in addition to this resolution, tomorrow we all have the opportunity to join the chief of staff of the army and distinguished guests at a ceremony and reception in the congressional auditorium to honor this soldier of whom all iowans and americans are incredibly proud. i'm not surprised in spite of this praise that sergeant giunta has humbly refused to be seen as exceptional. he has at every moment sought to deflect recognition onto his fellow soldiers, men and women in uniform, who serve as bravely every day to support and defend giunta is right and every day the men and women in uniform are courageous and deserve to be recognized. my hope is as we honor sergeant giunta for gallantry above and

medal of honor winner salvatore giunta helped new york city mayor michael bloomberg lower the crystalall. pop star kesha was one of the acts, keeping the crowd entertained. they came from all over to be part of the biggest new year's party in the nation. >> 2011, woo! >> no better place to welcome in the new year. >> reporter: many showed up early to get the best views of the stage. >> been here at this spot since 7:00. >> reporter: security was tight. nypd says there were no specific terrorism threats, but dogs looked for explosive and some officers carried radiation detectors. the security plan for times square gets tweaked every year. the last threat here was eight months ago in a botched car bomb attempt. a welcome change this year was the weather. temperatures in the 40s brought out even more people than expected. >> this is warm. the last week has been freezing. this is great! >> reporter: good weather and hopefully a good start to the new year. >> 2011's going to be better! >> reporter: many are just excited to see what the future brings. manuel gallegos, cbs news, new york. >>

we all know the story of salvatore giunta, our most recent recipient of the medal of honor.ncing our buttons proud of this young iowan for his bravery, courage and resolve. [applause] i doubt that many of you know sergeant anthony sellers of burlington, but i was privileged to meet him introduced to me by his proud father. kent is a veteran himself, now confined to a wheelchair, but in burlington he was beaming when he introduced me to his son who has completed two tours in iraq and is now at fort benning preparing for another diplomat. anthony, like thousands of other iowans has answered the call of freedom and he embodies the spirit of selfless service that makes our state and our country that shining city on the hill that tom paine wrote about over two centuries ago. surely we could use the example as an inspiration to us all. [applause] to a third, it's time to restore transparency and integrity to our government decision making process. in iowa we pride ourselves on limited but from the government services. when the government said it would do something, we did it or an

we all know the story of salvatore giunta, our most recent recipient of the medal of honor. are bouncing our buttons proud of this young iowan for his bravery, courage and resolve. [applause] i doubt that many of you know sergeant anthony sellers of burlington, but i was privileged to meet him introduced to me by his proud father. kent is a veteran himself, now confined to a wheelchair, but in burlington he was beaming when he introduced me to his son who has completed two tours in iraq and is now at fort benning preparing for another diplomat. anthony, like thousands of other iowans has answered the call of freedom and he embodies the spirit of selfless service that makes our state and our country that shining city on the hill that tom paine wrote about over two centuries ago. surely we could use the example as an inspiration to us all. [applause] to a third, it's time to restore transparency and integrity to our government decision making process. in iowa we pride ourselves on limited but from the government services. when the government said it would do something, we did

house that the senate has agreed with s. 3, honoring the service and sacrifice of staff sergeant salvatore giunta, a native of iowa, in the first living recipient of the medal of honor since the vietnam war. in which the concurrence of the house is requested. the speaker pro tempore: the committee will resume its sitting. choipt chair sees the gentleman from illinois on -- the chair: the chair sees the gentleman from illinois on his feet. are we going to go -- it will be the chair's inclination to represent the gentleman from california at this moment in time if you're going to do it all at the same time but the gentleman from california, mr. lungren. mr. lungren: thank you very much, mr. chairman. if it hasn't been requested already, i would ask that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the chair: it's already been requested in the house. we can move on. mr. lungren: mr. chairman, i rise today in support of h.r. 359 which terminates the taxpayer financing of presidential election campaigns and party conventions. at the outset i want to mention in response to

house that the senate has agreed with s. 3, honoring the service and sacrifice of staff sergeant salvatore giunta a tive of iowa, in the first living recipient of the medal of honor since the vietnam war. in which the conrrence of the house is requested. the speaker pro tempore: the committee will resume its sitting. choipt chair sees the gentleman from illinois on -- the chair: the chair sees the gentleman from illinois on his feet. are we going to go -- it will be the chair's inclination to represent the gentleman from california at this moment in time if you're going to do it all at the same time but the gentleman from california, mr. lungren. mr. lungren: thank you very much, mr. chairman. if it hasn't been requested already, i would ask that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the chair: it's already been requested in the house. we can move on. mr. lungren: mr. chairman, i rise today in support of h.r. 359 which terminates the taxpayer financing of presidential election campaigns and party conventions. at the outset i want to mention in response to some