mr. fleming: mr. speaker, for 50 years, the st. jude's children's research hospital has been one of the leading facilities for treating catastrophic diseases in children. nearly 8,000 children are treated at st. judes. i'm proud of a group of friends who for 36 years have been raising money through an annual auction. when the auction started the first goal they set was reached was $10,000 that has long since been eclipsed. this year was another record-breaking year. the auction held earlier this month raised $1,065235 to help the ongoing work to save children's lives. thanks to the co-chairs of the st. jude auction and pete treat who after suffering the terrible loss of his five-year-old daughter to leukemia, started the auction and now has had the privilege of watching the auction raise more than $1 million for st. jude's children's research hospital. thank you, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas rise? without objection. ms. jackson lee: thank you very much, mr. speaker. mr.

mr. fleming: mr. speaker president obama's mandate on abortion-inducing drugs and contraceptive services hat not gone away, i repeat not gone away. it has not been settled. there is no compromise. the administration's assault on the first amendment continues. the deeply-held beliefs of people are still under attack. let's be clear. the president remains as determined as ever to force insurance companies and their customers to pay for services which define the moral fiber of their beings and contrary to religious beliefs and sacred teachings. despite what you have heard no rules have changed. there has been no accommodation. president obama is simply hoping to cover this issue with a smokescene to push it pass election day so he can still get his way. this congress needs to act and act right now to put in conscience protections that the administration cannot violate. we need to safeguard our religious liberties against these attacks by the obama administration. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: an

mr. benishek: i appreciate that, dr. fleming, and thank you for your comments. i just thought i'd make a few comments of my own about your discussion of the ipab board and i want to make sure that the american people know what this is. independent payment advisory board, a board of bureaucrats appointed by the president without appeal that will determine whether or not procedures that they will overprice will be available to the american people. you know, i've talked to patients in many difficult situations where i have a very sick patient, myself taking care of the patient, and the patient's family. where difficult decisions are being made, you know, affecting the life or death of the patient. and these decisions are not easy to do. you know, you have to discuss the alternatives with the patient, with the patient's family. and usually through a coordination of what the patient wants, what the physician recommends and the discussion with the family, we come to a decision. and the independent payment advisory board may decide completely different from what we dec

mr. fleming: i will briefly respond to that. the point i would like to make on that very question is that coverage is not the same thing as access. there are countries around the world that have 100% coverage, yet they have no access to care. and i'm not talking about communist or socialist countries. canada, takes a year to get a ct scan and yet everybody is covered. that is the fine point we need to understand and take away. and i will add in response to the gentleman talking about the independent payment advisory board is that it will have more power than congress itself. will take a 2/3 vote from both bodies to overturn their decisions. and i don't think that americans are ready to put all of that power in the hands of 15 bureaucrats who may or may not be physicians. and with that, i yield back. mr. benishek: thank you. let me ask my colleague from georgia if he has any other comments he would like to make. mr. gingrey: i thank the gentleman from michigan, mr. speaker, and i did want to comment before we close tonight and i'