it i crease -- increases madam speaker, the opportunity for error. i would say they investigate the voting irregular larets of august 2 2007 -- irregularities of august 2, 2007 and involving roll call number 814 it makes very clear that one of the factors involved in this was the fact that there were 11 two-minute votes held leading up to that. and i know full well, as i look at the wonder flee dedicated and hard working rostrum staff what a litany of two-minute votes is imposed on them and we want to make sure what happened on august 2, 2007, never happens again. and allowing the chair to impose two-minute votings does create the potential for that. and i also have to say madam speaker, that i'm very concerned about the fact that this rule does create a scenario that puts people in an awkward position. i have a number of very, very close friends with whom i've been privileged to serve here. one of them is my colleague from north carolina, mr. price, who works very closely with mr. rogers in a bipartisan way dealing with the issue of our nation's hom

whereas the president's budget for f.y. 102010 proposes toin crease the national debt to $23.1 trillion by fiscal year 2019, more than doubling it from its current levels. whereas on march 11, 2009, the president sign into public law h.r. 1105, the omnibus appropriations act of 2009. whereas the omnibus appropriations act of 2009 constitutes nine of the 12 appropriations bills for f.y. 2009 which had not been enacted before the start of the fiscal year. whereas the omnibus appropriations act of 2009 spends $19.1 billion more than the request of president bush. >> madam speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is correct. members on both sides of the aisle will remove conversations from the floor. members will take their seats. the gentleman from georgia. mr. price: whereas the omnibus appropriations act of 2009 spends more than extending the resolution for 2009. whereas the house considered h.con.res. 25, the democrats' budget proposal for 2010. whereas the congressional democrats' budget proposal for h.r. -- f.y. 2010 proposes the sixth high annual def

it is very desirable in the crease process -- that the peace process and the middle east gain momentum. we want to send a positive message to those forces in the middle east that are not ready to be peaceful. we will work closely together on those, and questions related to arms reductions. a partnership with russia is very important. it is also important for the european union. we have every interest in seeing a very good relationship between the united states and russia. we need russia, looking at the problems we have with iran, and the need to forge a common position with russia and china. it needs to be continued. we dealt with the preparation of the g-8 meeting that is coming up, the pittsburgh meeting, and i think there has been progress. we have made a very important steps here in the united states for financial market regulation. in the summer this year, we can take stock and see where the regulations meet and try to create a level playing field for the rest of the world. the crisis of this magnitude -- we're very grateful that we can work with the united states on principles as

for sure, one reason for an in crease, 10 million increase in the turnout compared to the last turnout in the previous election rounds has been the same factor, the fact that people thought and mentality, all this were involved. they came to the scene and they identified the person they wanted, and they voted. these televised debates also, they were conducted. they found their way into homes, to streets. this shows, this strengthens people's right to choose. this helps them nurture their minds and their thoughts. and it gives them a better decision making power. this is favored by the islamic establishment. i should add the point here that such talks and debates should not lead to the point that results in carrying a grudge against one another. if it was the same way as it was that day, well, that was good. but if it's going to be turned into arguments, then gradually it will turn, it will bring grudge with itself and hard feelings. that's debate shuled be conducted at different levels. they should continue. of course by emitting and putting aside those negative parts they should conti

transmission lines may be easier than that than above-ground lines, the costs are significantly know creasedprojects undertaken in north america over the past 15 years, utilities have found ways to increase the utilization of their existing facilities to meet increasing demands without adding significant high-voltage equipment, end quote. clearly, there is a significant need for an increase in transmission capacity. this need is amplified as we consider adding more and more renewable energy to the grid. while i'm fully supportive of adding more capacity, i believe we do need to keep in mind the legitimate desires of localities to preserve green spaces and historic sites. my district includes some of the most pristine, historic landscapes in the mid atlantic. my district also has some of the most productive farmland in the united states. chester koirnths the home of valley forge in the brandywine county where i come from is one of william penn's original three counties. the tradition of preserving land and being good stewards of the earth have been passed down from generation to generation. w

it it's not two years of increase after ten years of small increases or creases.'s year after year after year-double-digit inflation. our small businesses which are unable to be part of a large pool as we've structured health care in this country can't benefit, have the highest administrative cost, nearly one out of three dollars goes to private health care for a small business. that's an incredible wasteful use of our health care dollars. prevention. many have mentioned prevention is essential for health care. and yet our current system doesn't value prevention. we treat illness. we treat disease. but we don't invest in prevention. disease management responsible for 70% of the costs in our health care system. and yet we with treat the disease when it becomes a major disaster. it's a broken health care system, and we can do much better. well, now our former president george bush said, i'm not sure what everybody is talking about. we have a health care system for everyone in america because you can always go to the emergency room. the emergency room is not a health

second, there is a did he creasing literacy rate in this country. a constantly decreasing literacy raft. there is a constantly increasing number of hours in the day that americans work. when you put these two things together, you have, as a journalist, a problem in attracting an audience. once again, you are led to sensationalism. now, carolyn, could we do two now? ok, this gentleman and then you sir. >> i'm wondering if in your research you found some of the fabricated stories were actually well written and if you thought that now in retrospect, there's still like a value to looking at them even if it's a kind of subjective history and if you felt it was still worthwhile and interesting if that way? >> well, some of them are interesting. i still -- i say still, because i've phone it for a long time. here's a story that's fascinating. h.l.milken, one of the most interesting men who ever lived when he was writing or not writing. the japanese war was going on at the time and milken was very interested in it and wanted to publish his account of a very

over the past 20 years the proportion of white americans has dpe creased from 83 percent in 1970 to 69 percent now in 2000. during that same period, african-americans have increased slightly from 11 to 12 percent, however, the proportion of hispanics has jumped from 5 percent to nearly 12-and-a-half percent, this makes our health care issues uniquely different from comparable nations around the world. the u.s. census bureau, in fact, had originally estimated that by the year 2050 nearly 1 in 2 americans will be a member of a racial ethnic group, however, now they indicate this could occur as early as 2037. currently we have four states who already

well, he gave a good try out there the other night in game 6 in the crease there.cadari is one of tose guys who doesn't get a lot of attention in pittsburgh. he is a guy who is there really just to make a safe play on his end and defense against other teams top players. an interesting story. he came out of long island. we don't have a lot of hockey players in long island, new york. he played college hockey at boston college. i saw him play at boston college. i wasn't sure he would ever play in the national hockey league. but he's been in the league for a couple of years now. he will be called up again. him and hal gill to show down the red wings top guys. a lot of what happens on friday night will be determined by some of the guys we don't talk about all the time. >> that's always the way it ends up being with a game 7. there is extra time between game 6 and 7. what are foth both teams saying about the momentum? >> well, mike bob babcock has gone out of his way that momentum, he doesn't buy into it in the series. things happen in hockey games that change momentum o

challenges and the hope with that was that we would be able to cut back on spending, not just in crease spending every year. and the real problem with funding shortages for programs authorized for too long is that congress has been irresponsibly passing additional authorization bills. authorization, just authorization. without considering the budget airy implications for the existing programs authorized. but looking back, removing effective programs or find ways to trim line the execution of existing programs just doesn't v so i don't see how this can be fiscally responsible. and i don't think we have a cbo score on this new direct spending. but it seems to me like we ought to be lowering the cost of health care, not raising it. and while we talk about prevention doing that, we're all in agreement that prevention will do it. what we're down to is not having any specifics on how this money will be spent which is the reason i call it a slush fund. and in this time of raising deficits and trillions of dollars in debt, i don't think we ought to be increasing the spending here without specif

in addition to that, the bill sin creasing spending by 12% to $41 billion over a two-year period. there's a pay raise in there. i understand these people work very hard but we're having difficult times here at home. people in this country are suffering. they want to give a 23% increase in pay to overseas foreign service officers. i just don't get that. maybe a pay raise of some size should be realized but 23% when this country is suffering economically? it makes no sense. it also create -- creates an office for global women's issue and it's likely this office will include the advancement of abortion advocacy abroad. i don't think this body ought to be doing that. especially those who believe so strongly in the right to life provisions that we have supported in the past. it would require -- are we out of time? ms. ros-lehtinen: i'd like to yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman. mr. burton: i thank the gentlelady for reading. of course it has a sexual orientation language which would require the tracking of discrimination related to sexual orientation for actual or perceiv

i thank the chairman for included in the bill my language toin crease fund for our nation's volunteer firefighters and i ask my colleagues to support. the chair: the gentleman from kentucky. mr. rogers: i reserve. the chair: the gentleman from north carolina. mr. price: i would like to yield one minute to mr. cohen of tennessee who likewise is the initiator of one of our amendments. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cohen: thank you, madam speaker. this amendment would include language increasing funding to the urban area initiative for nonprofit security grant program. it's an important program that helps fund support for the not for profits that could be subject to attack. nonprofit organizations like hospitals, which are vital to our community's ongoing health and safety and if you have research facilities attacked there other concerns of the community. the nonprofit entities could include other historic landmarks. there's st. jude and other great hospitals. new york has many too. that's why, i think, mr. weiner was introinterest -- interested in this, the terror caused b

transmission lines may be easier than that than above-ground lines, the costs are significantly know creased perhaps as $3 million per mile. mandating technologies on states and regions have significant ramifications. again, i share the goal of ensuring the critical investments are made in our transmission system, but we must proceed with caution not undermining existing efforts that are already working in this process. thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back. >> great, the gentle lady's time has expired and the chair recognizes mr. pitts. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for holding this hearing on the national transmission policy. the official report on the 2003 northeastern blackout concluded that, quote, as evidenced by the absence of major transmission projects undertaken in north america over the past 15 years, utilities have found ways to increase the utilization of their existing facilities to meet increasing demands without adding significant high-voltage equipment, end quote. clearly, there is a significant need for an increase in transmission capacity. this need is amplified as

those who are afraid to bring new people into the system because they fear that this is going toin crease their own costs, well, what i talk about when i have town meetings about health care, again, they're already paying for people who don't have health insurance in a variety of ways. when that individual shows up at the emergency room, the cost shift takes place because the person without insurance gets their treatment, somebody else pays for it. those of us who have health insurance pay for it. it's why an aspirin costs $10. i had a knee surgery many years ago and to make sure they operated on the right knee, they put a black magic marker that said l on my left knee. when we got the bill, i saw that that black magic marker to put that l on cost $20. that's because of the cost shift that takes place. now, that's one example. every american who has had to deal with the health care system has a similar example. if everybody is covered and everybody is in the same risk pool, we're not going to have that type of cost shift that takes place. but that's only one example of how we're paying fo

the markets are improving, confidence in the economy sin creasing, this is the wrong time to jerk the rug out from under the stimulus package, which has gone a long way in achieving this progress. i oppose the amendment and yield back the balance of my time. the chair: all time having expired, the question son the amendment offered by the gentleman from kansas. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it the amendment is not aegroo -- agreed to. mr. tiahrt: i ask for a recorded vote. the chair: the gentleman asks for a recorded vote and pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18 further proceedings are postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman rise? >> i have an amendment at the desk. the clerk: amendment number 102, printed in the congressional record offered by mr. cuellar of texas. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 552, the gentleman from texas and a opposed will each control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. cuellar: thank you, mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentlema