mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 2693, to cut spending, maintain existing commitnts and for other purposes, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 2693, a bill to cut spending, maintain existing commitments and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from massachusts rise? >> parliamentary inquiry, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. the gentleman will suspend. the house will be in order. the house will be in order. the gentleman has the right to be heard. the gentleman from massachusetts will state his inquiry. mr. mcgovern: mr. spear, is it true that a bill considered under suspension of the rules denies the minority party the right to offer any amendments or even a motion to recommit? the speaker pro tempore: a motion to suspend is not liable to amendment on the floor. mr. mcgovern: further parliamentary inquiry, meerks. the sp

mr. polis: mr. speaker, this smoke and mirror bill before us today stands to increase, yes, increase the deficit of the united states of america by over $100 billion. let me walk the speaker through the math here. this is why credit ratings matter. countries that have a.a. credit ratings, this is a group of them, pay an average interest on their sovereign debt of 3.75%. countries with a a.a.a. rating, this is a 10-year, pay 2.89%. that's 1.75%, almost 2% difference between a.a.a. and a.a. in passing the bill today which only has a six-month extension we are jeopardizing our a.a.a. rating that will be incredibly hard to ever earn back. the addition on paying an extra two percentage points on your mortgage, two points more on your credit card debt, two points more on your car debt, in addition to that, mr. speaker, the government, the biggest borrower in the country, will pay more on the debt. in 10 years that 1.75% difference, which is just taking the average, between a.a.a. and a.a., costs over $100

mr. nadler: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, many of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle would not be here today if president jefferson had not borrowed to finance the louisiana purchase purchase. -- purchase. mr. speaker, this bill promises all the fun of a constitutional amendment without actually amending the constitution. it simply says that the united states should default on our debts and destroy our economy if we don't amend the constitution. if we default on our debts we will do more damage to our economy than large deficits, tax increases and da conian cuts combine -- draconian cuts combined. right now we enjoy low interest rase rates because we're the most stable, reliable country in the world. even though we are certainly wealthy enough to pay our debts, nothing else will matter. interest rates will climb, homeowners and businesses will be pushed out of the credit markets, the stock market will crash. never before in the history of this country has anyone been irresponsible enough to play chicken with o

mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. to say to my very good friend from massachusetts that as i listen to those remarks, i am really struck with the fact that our view is that we are in this together. i will say for the record we care about absolutely everything that my friend said we don't care about. we as a nation have a challenge that needs to be addressed in a bipartisan way. the measure that is before us today is one that was, and i underscore the word, was agreed to by the senate majority leader, harry reid, and the speaker of the house, john boehner. now, i know that senator reid is not at this juncture supportive of this measure, but it's important to note that we need to bring about greater spending cuts, and i know i speak for most all of my republican colleagues when i say that this is really the beginning of a process towards reducing the size and scope and reach of government. we feel passionately about the need to expand individual initiative and opportun

>> i think mr. yates asking mr.wallis that on one occasion was enough times. >> thank you. >> your head of public affairs. you see your response those include marketing. and you knew mr. wallis as another pr consultant. i mean, i may be naÏve in this but wouldn't it be better if the met concentrate on catching criminals? >> they are concentrate on catching criminals spent watching of the 50 odd or whatever it is people npr? why not just concentrate on the basic? >> i don't believe so. like it or not they me have a strong interest in policing. they put significant demands on the metropolitan police and officers are doing their investigation, wanting information. the police officers would be spending their time trying to deal with that approach. and i feel a having press officers in place, that we are able to take the pressure off the investigative officers to get on with their jobs, and if the main press officers -- [inaudible] >> could some savings be made in your department? >> there's always savings to be made. my

mr. dicks: mr. chairman, i believe this is an important debate in the house today as we appropriately authorize congressional oversight in the use of force an the cost associated with our presence in libya. the president's initial commitment to support the international effort was appropriate and certainly within his power as commander in chief. in march, the president clearly outlined the rationale for involvement in the military action. now, if i were advising the president, i would have said, send up a resolution and get approval from the house and the senate. there's no question that would have been the pevered course of action. the u.s. effort was undertaken in concert with the broad coalition of nations and it followed a resolution adopted in the united nations security council authorizing all necessary measures to protect libyan civilians attempting to overthough the -- overthrow the oppressive -- oppressive regime of gaddafi. the gaddafi administration's response was to use force and the bru

mr. polis: mr. speaker, this smoke and mirror bill before us today stands to increase, yes, increase the deficit of the united states of america by over $100 billion. let me walk the speaker through the math here. this is why credit ratings matter. countries that have a.a. credit ratings, this is a group of them, pay an average interest on their sovereign debt of 3.75%. countries with a a.a.a. rating, this is a 10-year, pay 2.89%. that's 1.75%, almost 2% difference between a.a.a. and a.a. in passing the bill today which only has a six-month extension we are jeopardizing our a.a.a. rating thawill be incredibly hard to ever earn back. the addition on paying an extra two percentage points on your mortgage, two points more on your credit card debt, two points more on your car debt, in addition to that, mr. speaker, the government, the biggest borrower in the country, will pay more on the debt. in 10 yes that 1.75% difference, which is just taking the average, between a.a.a. and a.a., costs over $100 bil

mr. ryan: mr. speaker, may i ask how much time is remaining between the two sides? the speaker pro tempore: you have 17. he has 15. mr. ryan: i would like to yield two minutes to a gentleman from oklahoma, mr. lankford, member of the budget committee. mr. lankford:. i speak in support of this bill. i came on as a freshman and in january of this year, we were already talking about th moment. and for months the conversation has been, how do we reach a point of agreement. there have been lots of ideas that have been floated around and very few put down in writing. but the ideas seem to circle around a central theme, how can we find a middle ground to be able to resolve this issue. i propose this bill is that middle ground. the debt reduction that's in it was the framework that was formed in the biden talks. the select committee that's in it is something veryimportant to the senate that harry reid raised that idea. the proposal to have a balanced budget amendment is very important to republicans who sa

mr. paulsen: mr. speaker, i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 4 printed in house report 112-172 offered by mr. paulsen of minnesota. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 358, the gentleman from minnesota, mr. paulsen, and a member opposed will each control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from minnesota for five minutes. mr. paulsen: mr. speaker, i rise to offer this amendment really to help ensure that we maintain prudent regulation of the financial services industry. mr. speaker, under current law there are five nonvoting members of the financial stability oversight council, including a state insurance regulator and a state bank regulator. this seeks to ensure and only clarify that these regulators on the financial stability oversight council who do not have voting rights still have the authority to challenge any regulations that are brought forward or put forth by the consumer financial protection bureau.

mr. levin: yes. mr. dreier: i say the action we are about to do here today is see the process that senator mcconnell and senator reid work together. why? mr. levin: i take back my time. mr. dreier, that is pernicious nonsense. the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to address their comments to the chair, not otherwise. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: i didn't hear you, madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: i said members are reminded to address their comments to the chair and not to others. mr. dreier: i will not only address you, madam chair, i won't point my finger at you as i address you. the speaker pro tempore: thank you. mr. dreier: let me say, madam speaker, that senator mcconnell has just minutes ago asked senator reid to bring the reid proposal to the floor of the united states senate and a decision has been made by senator reid not to bring the measure up. on at least three occasions senator mcconnell has asked since senator reid has said that his proposal is the only one th

mr. poe: mr. speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule 1, i demand a vote on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on -- the speaker: the question is on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it, the ayes have it. the gentleman from texas. mr. poe: i demand the yeas and nays. the speaker: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of lule 20, further -- rule 0, further proceedings on this question are postponed. the pledge of allegiance today will be led by the gentleman from missouri, mr. clay. mr. clay: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker: the chair will entertain requests fo

i'm not going to listen without my counsel. >> mr. mladic, mr. mladic, mr. mladic, mr. mladic, the court orders that you be removed from the courtroom. could security please escort mr. mladic out of the courtroom. could mr. mladic -- >> translator: who are you? you're not allowing me to breathe. >> we adjourn. we adjourn for the moment. we adjourn for the moment. curtains dourngs please. we resume -- we resume soon. >> you beerch watching live pictures fromming from the hague where the criminal court has been listening for the hearing of ratko mladic. he is present there for a second hearing on his plea where he wants to plead guilty or not guilty to charges including genocide and crimes against humanity. you can see that ratko mladic was removed from the courtroom by alphons orie. let's go to correspondent dan rivers for more insight as to what happened. dan, those are some pretty dramatic scenes there. >> yeah, i mean it seems completely true to form, the way he's behaving is in line with the way he's behaved all the way since he was arrested and indicted. he is just

mr. wilson: mr. speaker, sadly with the unemployment rate riding -- rising on friday, today's investors business daily lead editorial is correct. with unemployment now at 9.2% and job growth at a standstill, is there anyone not blinded by ideology or rank partisanship who can't see that obama's spend and regulate plan has been an utter failure? citing the unemployment rate has dipped below 9% in only five of the president's months in office, the verdict is clear. no president since the great depression can match that record of failure. on friday the hill proclaimed the president's campaign responds that people won't vote based on the unemployment rate. i believe that the american people know better. even worse, now liberals are pushing harder for tax increases that will kill jobs, liberals do not understand peoples' incomes belongs to -- belong to them, it does not belong to the government. tax increases hurt small businesses an kill jobs. in conclusion, god bless our troops and we will never forget

mr. scott: mr. speaker, as i stand here, georgia, since 2008 financial difficulty started in this country, we've now lost to bank failure 67 banks that have failed, which makes us the leader in the nation in this area in our state. we have some very capable business people in georgia and in atlanta. very sterling leaders of the financial services industry worldwide. based out of atlanta. we're grappling with the recovery. but mr. speaker, there is nothing, there's no more important sector of our economy than our banking system. it is indeed the heart of our economic system that pumps out the credit, that pumps out the capital that makes our economy go around. so it is very important that we really deal with an area and with information and with an effective study so that we can grasp the full meaning of what caused this to happen, what were the characteristics in atlanta or in georgia that caused this disproportionate number of bank failures and indeed we can learn so much so that we can prevent thi

mr. graves: mr. speaker, mr. chairman, i want to bring up the fact that in the house, over the last five appropriations bills, there have been 250 amendments offered. only 11 cutting amendments have been passed and eight of these were by voice vote. here on the floor of the house, and i guess i'm speaking to my colleagues in the republican party, we are not cutting any more than what comes out of the committee. so far out of these five appropriations bills, there's been $691 billion spent and yet we've only cut $304 million in addition to that. so mr. speaker, mr. chairman, as i think about where we are, i brought the analogy and trying to put this in context of where we are as a nation, that's two cents, just two pennies, out of a gallon of gas , just two pennies. mr. chairman, i'll leave you that. my two cents' worth on this amendment. the chair: the gentlelady from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. chairman. i would like to yield one minute to the gentleman from california, mr. mcclintock. the chair: t

mr. rahall: mr. chairman, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: without objection. the gentleman is recognized. mr. rahall: i rise in support of h.r. 2018. for far too many years now my state and others throughout the appalachian region that produce coal to power our nation have been struggling under the weight of an uncertain federal permitting process. that uncertainty has left coal miners and mining communities living in an untenable limbo. the result has been the creation of a atmosphere of worry, distrust, and of bitterness. i had hoped that under this administration we would finally find our way to some fair -- clarity and common ground, unfortunately that has not been the case. rather than bringing sides together and fostering balance, the e.p.a.'s actions in recent months have widened the division. they have spurred the tension of divided opinion over service coal mining to fracture what should be a cooperative relationship among the federal and state agencies with permitting

mr. ryan: mr. speaker, let me -- i yield myself two minutes. the gentleman, my friend from maryland, keeps talking about the reid plan, that the senate majority leader, i've got the c.b.o. score, it says $2.2 trillion. $2.2 trillion increase that means it doesn't raise the debt limit less than we cut spending, so it cuts less, but more importantly, $1.3 trillion of that money is accounting tricks and budget gimmicks. mr. speaker, the american people are tired of all the accounting tricks and the budget gimmicks that go on in washington. let me explain what $1.3 trillion of this does. it says that, imagine that we're at war for 10 years, in afghanistan and iraq at surge levels. we assume we're going to be fighting this war for 10 more years, with over 100,000 troops in afghanistan and oh, gosh, wait, we're going to withdraw our troops in 2014. $1 trillion in savings. i've got a better idea. let's pass a bill to cover the moon with yogurt that will cost $5 trillion today. and then let's pass a bill t

mr. lewis: mr. speaker, voter rights act made it possible for all of our citizens to become participants in the democratic process. mr. speaker, voting rights are under attack in america. there's a deliberate and systematic attempt to prevent millions of elderly voters, young voters, students, minority and low-income voters for exercising their constitutional right to engage in a democratic process. voter i.d. laws are becoming all too common. but make no mistake, voter i.d. laws are a poll tax. people will struggle to pay for basic necessities cannot afford a voter i.d. the right to vote is precious and almost sacred and one of the most important blessings of our democracy. today we must be strong in protecting that blessing. we should be making it easy, simple and convenient for people to vote. before the voting rights act of 1965, people stood in the line. sometimes people were asked to count the number of jellybeans in a jar. people were asked to pass a so-called literacy test. lawyers, doctors,

mr. lee: mr. president, a number of us, myself included, have been arguing since january, ever since we arrived here and were sworn in in this very room, that the national debt is a permanent problem. the almost $15 trillion that we now owe as a nation is permanent. it's going to take a long time to pay off. there are people who are not yet old enough to vote, there are people who will be born in a few years who are not even here who will one day have to assist in paying off that debt. now, the fact that this is a long-term problem means that it requires a long-term solution. that's why we've been saying all along that we ought not to raise the debt limit again. extending our national debt by another $2.5 trillion more or less, without a permanent solution in place. herein lies the problem. it's difficult or impossible for one congress to come up with a setf budget numbers that will necessarily bind future congresses. we can come up with a plan to cut $2 trillion or $3 trillion over a 10 or 15-yea

mr. durbin: amen. mr. mccain: number two is that to insist, to insist that any agreement is based on the passage through the united states senate of a balanced budget amendment to the constitution of the united states, as i said before, is not fair to the american people because, because the terrible obstructionists on this side of the aisle, the terrible people, their flawed philosophical views about the future of america is not going to allow to us get 20 additional votes from your side, assuming that you get all 47 since it requires 67 votes to pass a balanced budget amendment to the constitution. so i think it was not only wrong assessment, continuing's not fair to the american people to -- i think it's not fair to the american people to say we can pass a balanced budget amendment to the constitution through the senate at this time. now maybe after the senator is defeated in the next election and we get rid of a lot of -- maybe that will happen. but certainly let's not tell the american people that tha

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: we are here today right now for this reason: it's spelled f-i-l-b-u-s-t-e-r. it's a filibuster. they won't allow us to have an updarn voton our amendment. that is filibuster. by the any other term, it is a filibuster. that's why we're here. i hope that the negotiations go on. we're willing to be as fair as we can, but there has to be something that the president and vice president biden and the rest of us think is a step in the right direction. i guess talking is a step in the right direction, but that's about it. so, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the matter that we have before us which is amendment number 589, that we have an up-or-down vot on that, no -- as we have all the time, of course. there would beo points of order and like we do here all the time. have a vote on it right now. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, reserving the right to object, these are direct quotes from my friend, the majority leader. he

mr. cole: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, in april, the draft executive order was circulated that would force companies as a condition of applying for federal contract to dispose -- to disclose all federal campaign contributions. in my opinion, if implemented, this executive order would lead to a significant politicization of federal procurement process. instead of judging companies on the basis of their past work performance, their demonstrated ability to do the job or the price, we would actually introduce potentially the element of their political participation and contributions and activities into the consideration process. this executive order would not in fact lead to more object tift in the evaluation -- objectivity in the evaluation process. it would protect the constitutional right for people that contribute to whatever political candidate or party they choose to. the draft order claims that these burdensome and intrusive disclosure requirements are necessary to ensure that contracting decisions are, quote,

mr. peters: mr. speaker, i'm pleased today to rise in support of h.r. 440, a bill to establish a special envoy to promote religious freedom -- freedom of religious minorities in the near east and south central asia. as a co-sponsor of this bipartisan legislation and as a member of the religious minorities of the middle east caucus, i strongly support its passage. while many parts of the near east and south east asia are predominantly muslim, historically these areas have been home to a diverse group of ethnic and religious minorities. whether it is syrians in iraq, bahi in iran or the hindus in pakistan, religious minorities have for centuries lived and worshiped alongside their muslim countrymen and women. unfortunately instability in the middle east has had a disproportionately negative impact on religious minorities, the most striking example of this has been in iraq where more than half of the iraqi christian population has been forced to flee the country since the invasion of iraq in 2003. those

mrs. davis: that's why, mr. speaker, i'm disappointed that instead of addressing the urgent debt crisis we are on the floor debating a bill that will gut pollution controls and public health protections in order to boost profits, the profits of america's biggest polluters, the last people who probably need a hand right now. this bill does a number of things, mr. speaker. it blocks even modest pollution control standards that could mitigate climate change. the bill also erases 40 years of federal laws that protect clean air, water, lands and wildlife and it cripples the budgets of the federal agencies we've charged with protecting our constituents. as a mother and grandmother i'm appalled that this bill signals a willingness to leave our families a more unhealthy environment than we have today. isn't the idea always to leave things better than we found them? but instead of protecting our citizens and shorelines, this bill exempts oil companies from complying with clean air act for offshore drilling. instead of pr

mr. lewis: mr. speaker, if it were not for the remarks of my colleague from california as well as his colleague from the rules committee, i wouldn't be making these remarks. i'll begin with a quote. the factshat we are here today to debate raising america's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. increasing america's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. leadership means that the buck stops here. instead washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. america has a debt problem and a failure of leadership, americans deserve better, unquote. senator barack obama, march of 2006. by 2009 senator obama had become president obama. in two years since he became president, federal spending has ineased by over 5ds00 billion a year -- $500 billion a year. in the past two years he has added nearly $4 trillion to our national debt. now president obama is in favor of increasing the national debt limit. when, oh, when will the real barack ob

mr. petri: mr. speaker, i ask fleak that -- unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on h.r. 2018 and include extraneous material in the congressional record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. for what purpose does the gentleman from -- >> excuse me, mr. speaker. mr. petri: it was 2553. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 2553, a bill to amend the internal revenue code of 1986 to extend the funding and expenditure authority of the airport and airway trust fund, to amend title 49, united states code, to extend the airport improvement program, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. members, please remove your conversations from the floor. the gentleman from wisconsin seeks to call up h.r. 2553? mr. petri: yes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 357, the bill is considered as read. the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. petri, and th

mr. ken mcdonald.ons officer, please come forward to help me present the second place trophy. second place, ladies and gentlemen. mr. frank ware. and before we announce the winner i'm going to drag this out even longer. i'm going to take a moment to thank the kind people who made the 47th annual cable car bell ringing contest possible the the vice chair of the sfmt board of directors. and friends of the cable car music, union square association, trophy masters shanghai restaurant, ghirardelli chocolatesing,

we have mr. paul, ms. woolsey, mr. jones, mr. conyers. mr. burton, ms. barbara lee, mr. poe. mr. stark. mr. mcclintock. mr. nadler, mr. nugent, mr. johnson, mr. honda. the support is growing. and members can call either mr. amash's office or my office right now if they want to co-sponsor. this is our moment, in congress. this is our moment to reclaim the constitution of the united states which the founders envisioned that under article 1, section 8, we have the power to determine whether or not this neigh gos to war. not some rebel group in benghazi because when you reduce it to its ultimate, a group of bengaw zero rebels made the decision to go to war against its own government and before you know it, nato joins in, we're pulled into it, the administration went to everyone except getting the approval of the united states congress. this is our moment to reclaim the constitution. will we rise to the occasion? this isn't only about this congress right now. history will judge us. whether or not we understood. the imperative of article 1 section 8. this is about the constitution. cer

mr. watson, we have given all our files and all our knowledge and everything to the police. they have not given us the diaries, so we do not know what was in that. there was a page which appeared, appeared to be addressed to him. again, that's my son's -- >> mr. watson, perhaps if it would be helpful to the committee if you would like to go through any of the particular detail around why decisions were made by the management team at news international and the precise chronology, it would be more helpful perhaps if i could answer those questions as the chief executive of the regional businesses across europe. i have somewhat more proximity to it. >> i understand the detail points. >> i'm simply offering to help to clarify these matters. >> your father is responsible for corporate governance and it's revealing in itself what he doesn't know and what executives chose not to tell him. so with respect to you i will come back to you later. mr. murdoch, why was no one fired in april when news in

mr. broun: mr. speaker, in the midst of all the talk about raising the debt ceiling, i don't hear anyone talking about the most important factor in this equation. our unsustainable national debt. everyone is focused on raising the debt ceiling. but if we truly want to get our economy back on its feet, we need to begin paying off the debt that president obama and his predecessors have created. it's obvious that our democratic leaders in the white house and the senate care more about making campaign speeches than about the livelihood of the american people. liberals want to raise taxes, but of course not until after the elections. and they want to sham us with talks about future cuts that we will never see materialize. it's like one big ponzi scheme and they're trying to get the american people to buy into it. we need spending cuts we need spending cuts now and pay down the outrageous debt. i urge both my colleagues and the american people not to fall for the accounting tricks. i yield back. the speak

mr. woodall: mr. speaker, at this time i'm pleased to yield three minutes to a gentleman who held a very persuasive special orders on this topic last night, the gentleman from arizona, mr. franks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona is recognized for three minutes. mr. franks: i certainly thank the gentleman. mr. speaker, all financial budgets will eventually balance. no individual, no family, no business and no government can indefinitely continue to spend more money than they take in without someone having to make up the difference. mr. speaker, that includes the federal budget of the united states. neath plr obama nor congressional democrats can repeal the laws of mathematics. the federal budget of the united states government will eventually balance. the question is whether the white house and those of us in this body will balance this budget ourselves by wise policy or national bankruptcy and financial ruin will do it for us. on the day barack obama walked into the white house his

mr. udall: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: mr. president, i come to the floor today as i think many of my colleagues have to speak to the topic at hand, which is the debt ceiling debate that we're having here in the congress of the united states, and i've got to tell you, i think americans across the country are looking at us today with disbelief, anxiety and i think rightly anger. they awoke this morning hoping to find that cooler heads had prevailed and that all of us here were working together on a plan that keeps our country from default and our economy from a looming collapse, and instead the headlines read that the speaker of the house was again refusing to negotiate and that he is in fact delaying action in the house because of republican upheaval against his own plan. i have to say even if the house of representatives passed a bill preventing default this evening, within hours, we would still be pushi

mr. thune: mr.ak to the issue that the senate is going to be considering now for the next couple of days and ultimately voting on, it sounds like possibly some time on saturday, and that is the cut, cap, and balance proposal that has been put forward by the house of representatives. the house passed this particular proposal the night before last. it is now pending under consideration in the senate. and what i would suggest to my colleagues in the senate is this: it is the only proposal out there. it is the only plan that we have to vote on. we've had now over 800 days, 813 i think is the correct number of days now, 813 days since a budget was passed in the united states senate. the democrat majority has not submitted one for consideration here. we've not had votes on a budget. so we've been operating without a budget. the house of representatives, on the other hand, passed a budget earlier this year. it was criticized by many people here, democrats, as being something they didn't want to support, bu

mr. young: mr. chairman, thank you very much. this amendment is very, very similar to one that the house rejected earlier today. the project that would be funded by this amendment, by the shifting of this money, is not an authorized program to begin with. but even if it were, the army's o&m account in the portion of the bill is funded at over $39.1 billion. and should this project remain in the final authorization bill, the department concurs that if the department -- if the department concurs it is a high enough priority then there are ample funds to cover it with the $39.1 billion and so i see no reason for this amendment and i oppose the amendment an yield back. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from new york. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. the amendment is not agreed to. mr. nadler: mr. speaker. the chair: pursuant to clause -- mr. nadler: i ask for a recorded vote on that. the chair: yes, the gentleman

mrs. kennedy had just lost her son patrick who had been born prematurely a week before and had died of a lung ailment. .. 20% of american households had televisions. by 1960 when president kennedy is elected 80 percent of american households had televisions. mind you, there were all black and white. remember those days? we only had two channels. my students could not comprehend such a thing. we only had two channels. that is true, but the kennedys or on television a lot. mrs. kennedy and president kennedy where beautiful on television. they were even more beautiful in the glossy life magazine cover. think about those. practically every week one or more of the kennedys, and this is is president and mrs. kennedy. the brothers and sisters and sisters and laws and brothers and law and nieces and nephews, always being portrayed in one way or the other. so as is typical of icons of pop culture icons they both reflect the time in which they live and become a lens by which we view that time in whi

mr. ryan: mr. speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the house is not in order. the gentleman is correct. the gentleman is recognized. mr. ryan: mr. speaker, i yield the remainder of my time to the gentleman from ohio, the speaker of the house. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized from ohio. the speaker: my colleagues, i'd like to cut through all the fog here rather quickly. today's report on the economy reminds us that our economy is still not creating enough jobs. americans are worried about finding work. they're worried about our economy, and they're worried about the mountain of debt that's facing them and their children. today, we have a chance to end this debt limit crisis. with this bill i think we're keeping our promise to the american people that we will cut spending by more than the increase in the debt limit. the congressional budget office has certified this commonsense standard and has been backed by more than 150 distinguished economists from acro

mr. ken mcdonald.ons officer, please come forward to help me present the second place trophy. second place, ladies and gentlemen. mr. frank ware. and before we announce the winner i'm going to drag this out even longer. i'm going to take a moment to thank the kind people who made the 47th annual cable car bell ringing contest possible the the vice chair of the sfmt board of directors. and friends of the cable car music, union square association, trophy masters shanghai restaurant, ghirardelli chocolatesing, and the american automobile association and the $250 cash prize, deluxe sightseeing. let's bring up gilberto gad oy with the hand-crafted bell. and the winner is -- >> mr. leonard oates. congratulations. >> leonard oates. he retains the crown. [applause] that concludes the 47th annual cable car bell ringing contest. thank you, everybody, for coming. don't forget next year the 48th annual cable car ringing contest. stay tuned for details.

mr. lee: mr. president, a number of us, myself included, have been arguing since january, ever since we arrived here and were sworn in in this very room, that the national debt is a permant problem. the almost $15 trillion that we now owe as a nation is permanent. it's going to take a long time to pay off. there are people who are not yet old enough to vote, there are people who will be born in a few years who are not even here who will one day have to assist in paying off that debt. now, the fact that this is a long-term problem means that it requires a long-term solution. that's why we've been saying all along that we ought not to raise the debt limit again. extending our national debt by another $2.5 trillion more or less, without a permanent solution in place. herein lies the problem. it's difficult or impossible for one congress to come up with a setf budget numbers that will necessarily bind future congresses. we can come up with a plan to cut $2 trillion or $3 trillion over a 10 or 1ye peri

mr. scott: mr. chairman, i offer this amendment today to propose what i believe would be a proactive solution for homeowners when they face unforeseen disasters. my amendment would ask the g.a.o. to report to congress the means and effects of facilitating a market for all peril insurance policies. this amendment comes directly from an issue faced by many of my constituents and nearly 4,000 households a around the country. problems associated with the unforeseen disaster caused by toxic chinese drywall. over the last five years nearly 4,000 homes in over 40 states have been discovered to contain toxic chinese dry wall. this dry wall has been tested by the consumer safety commission and found to be responsible for hazardous chemicals oozing into homes, americans living in these homes have experienced everything from cold and flu-like systems to migraine headache, chronic nose bleeds, gastrointestinal problems and other debilitating systems. zsh symptoms. home owners have had the expectation that the c

mr. webster: mr. speaker, by the direction of the committee on rules, i call up house resolution 337 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 50, house resolution 337. resolved,that at any time after the adoption of this resolution the speaker may, pursuant to clause 2-b of rule 18, declare the house resolved into the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of the bill h.r. 2354, making appropriations for energy and water development and related agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2012, and for other purposes. the first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. all points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. general debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on appropriations. after general debate the bill shall be considered for

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks, the senate will resume consideration the motion to proceed to the bill h.r. 2560. the time until 10:00 a.m. will be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. at 10:00 a.m. i will be recognized to make a motion to table the motion to proceed. therefore, senators should expect a roll call vote at approximately 10:00 a.m. to accommodate senators on both sides on what will take a little longer than usual. this, i say to you, mr. president, and to everyone at the sound of my voice, this is an effort to move this piece of legislation off the floor. it's interfering with the negotiations between the white house and the house of representatives, and it is without merit, this legislation. this is a motion to table. it is a vote on this bill. and we on this side of the aisle are going to look at every vote cast. we feel comfortable where we are on this issue, and i would s

mr. mcgovern: mr. chairman, i rise in support of amendments to this title that cut funds, reduce our military footprint and move to bring our troops home from afghanistan and i rise in opposition to the underlying bill. i want to commend the ranking member of the committee, congressman dicks from washington, for his leadership in calling for a fresh look at how we carry out military operations in afghanistan and the need for a strategy that brings our troops home sooner rather than later. i just returned from a trip to afghanistan. i cannot describe how impressed i am with the commitment, the dedication and the work carried out every single day by our men and women in uniform and those in the civilian services. i met and spoke with them in kabul, bases and air force bases and small villages. quite simply, they are incredible. but over and over and over again, i heard the same message, this is not sustainable. the strategy that we are pursuing in afghanistan is not sustainable and it is costing us too m

mr. polis: mr. speaker, our country is facing an incredibly important moment as critical decisions need to be made regarding the national debt and our long-term deficit and how to constrain spending. members on both sides of this aisle recognize the reality that we need to restore fiscal responsibility in our budget. however, mr. speaker, in times of national importance we need to stay focus on what our country needs and what's best for the american people and avoid the temptation to play politics as this bill does. far too much has been carried out by the majority party under the guise of cost cutting and the deficit when it's actually policymaking to implement a hard right radical environmental agenda which can actually cost more money in both the short, medium and long term. mr. speaker, the cuts proposed by the majority in bill has everything to do with implementing radical anti-environmental ideology. the bill makes sweeping cuts to critical programs to protect the public's health, reduce our e

mr. whitmore used by 98 journalists. is it not obviously the case of logging, hacking, dsa private investigators for illicit purposes wasn't actually a culture in the news of the world participated with the sense of entitlement -- the same entitlement in this book because everybody else is doing it. is that not the case? >> we thought a lot over the last -- well, 10 years. i particularly the committee held an inquiry to which is incredibly extensive with this committee and as far as i was concerned, that failing up on newspapers and not understanding the extent of the use of private investigators which was held to account then. they're in many changes because of operations most meant to be to the data protection act. and then i said the authority of the observer is far better than mine, but they had a very good editorial in this about three months ago with addressing -- again, readdress the impact climate then and how different it is now. >> in 2003, there were despicable practices across

mr. mcclintock: mr. chairman, this amendment saves $166 million by relieving taxpayers of having to subsidize yet another year of handouts to the solar industry. solar power is not some fragile new technology. photo volume take electricity was created in 1839, more than 170 years ago. and in more than 170 years of continuing research and development and technological advancement, not to mention untold billions of taxpayer subsidies, we have not yet invented a more expensive way to generate electricity. yet we're perfectly comfortable telling our constituents that we're taking another $166 million from their families this year to throw at this 19th century technology for no particular reason other than it makes us feel good. not only is this most expensive way we've ever invented to generate electricity, it also adds nothing to our baseline power. our electricity systems operate on an integrated grid, meaning we have to costly match the power going onto the grid with the power coming off the grid. and sin

mr. polis: mr. speaker, there are ongoing negotiations about how to deal with our nation's budget deficit. and while we need to make the top cuts as part of the package, we also need new revenues, one idea for new revenues would be to regulate and tax marijuana and hemp across the country. 15 states and the district of columbia have various degrees of medical marijuana or legalized marijuana. rather than have any taxes at the federal level that produces income, we effectively have 100% tax. it's confiscated by the federal government if discovered. by reducing the tax rate to be in line with alcohol and tobacco, we will generate tens of billions of dollars for revenue to he lee dues the deficit and it won't make marijuana or hemp legal in any jurisdiction in this country where it's currently illegal. it will simply collect revenue from the states that have chosen to go the route of medical marijuana and create revenue for the taxpayers to bring to the table as part of this deal. i encourage my collea

mr. watt: mr. chairman, my amendment to the legislative branch bill would decrease funding for the office of congressional ethics, the o.c.e., by 619,200 and transfer these funds to the spending reduction account. i have offered this amendment because i believe there is a substantial bipartisan consensus, one that the responsibilities of the o.c.e. are redundant and duplicative of the house ethics committee. two, that the o.c.e.'s operations are substantially staff driven. and the staff has taken the o.c.e.'s mission well beyond what was intended in the statute that created the entity. three, that the procedures of the o.c.e. are unfair and sometimes abusive of the rights of members of the house. four, that a substantial part of the funds we spend on the c.o.e. waste taxpayers' money. and five, that using those funds to reduce our debt and deficit would be a far better use. in these difficult budget times, i believe we have an obligation to judge the o.c.e. on the same criteria on which we measure

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i move to concur in the house amendment to 627 with an amendment. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, proposes an amendment numbered 589 to the house amendment to s. 627. mr. reid: i ask for the yeas and nays on my motion. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be a sufficient second. mr. reid: i also, mr. president, have a cloture motion which is at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion. we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the reid motion to condition occur in the house amendment -- concur in the house amendment to s. 627 with an amendment numbered 589. signed by 18 senators as follows. reid of nevada, baucus, boxer, levin, harkin, cardin, schumer, durbin, leahy, warner,