black rock solor, which came out of burning man in gerlach. the school is closing down because they do not have any kids. the economy has been based on mining. there are some tourists that come through. hunters. some of our people come through and leave money in their wake. a little town like that does not know how to make money. but they have learned in certain ways. we have made significant charitable contributions. i do not want to great -- take much credit for this, but we are helping to keep them alive. the thing about our event, we do not do commercial things at the event. it spreads out the economic development to our neighbors. the piutes down the road are now doing in the in taco stands now and we know them. there was the day when we were considered scary, coming from san francisco, you know. it is much easier to break into a big city. but we are well accepted and respected because we talk straight with everyone and we have benefited everyone. >> one more question and then one final question for you. >> something my friends have talke

the department of labor and regulation says the company reports of gerlach -- reported the furloughs on friday. the union estimates as many as 2000 workers could be affected. the company has told union leaders that work would restart in the first quarter of next year. maryland gets negative news on the comes to the housing market. for the third year in a row, residential property values decline in maryland with 2010 being the highest drop at an average of 22%. the biggest drop in the area was 19% in baltimore county. area of realtors say assessed value has nothing to do with the sales price of a home on the open market. proper is eight being driven by demand and homes are still selling in desired neighborhoods. >> real-estate sales definitely have been on somewhat of a decline the past couple of years but i would say the volume and prices are starting to pick up. >> meanwhile, the national association of realtors fills announced its monthly sales report today which shows the number of americans to sign contracts to buy bonds in november rose to its highest level in a year and half. >

. >> heath was an adviser to the 2002 gerlach campaign. he said shirrick has always been above board. >> i have no thoughts on julius henson. he will have his day in court. today, we are here to support paul shirrick. >> the defense will call two more witnesses on monday and then the jury gets the case. >> baltimore city firefighters spent the night battling a three-alarm apartment fire. crews were called to the 6300 block of red cedar place. before 11:00 last night. they were met with heavy flames shooting from the four-story buildings. residents say the fire, the mob guard. >> somebody knocked them off -- on my door and nobody answered. i heard the alarm. i grabbed my pants. i was in my underwear and i grabbed my pants and put a shirt on but not shoes. i rushed out. >> officials say nearly 100 people were relocated. no word of any injuries or what started the fire. >> maryland state police are calling a house fire in queen anne's county suspicious. flames broke out friday afternoon along the 200 block of queen and club drive in stevensvi

gerlach, who is also a member of the ways and means committee. the chair: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for one minute. mr. gerlach: i thank the chairman and i also want to thank congressman davis of kentucky for his great leadership on this important legislation. while our small business owners are focused on meeting payroll and their employees are working hard making products, and delivering for customers, unelected bureaucrats in washington are putting in overtime coming up with new rules and regulations. in 2010 alone the federal government issued 3,200 new regulations and rules, that's roughly nine rules per day. complying with all these regulations costs small business owners, as was mentioned, an estimated $10,500 per employee each year. at a time when we're trying to create jobs, we need to have a better accountability and transparency in congress for the regulatory burdens of the federal government places on businesses. as we try to rejuvenate our economy, the reins act is a commonsense measure that would do just that, gi

field hearings leading up to the drafting of this legislation, my colleague from pennsylvania, jim gerlach, suggested ways in which we can use state and local government personnel as force multipliers to supplement federal pipeline safety inspectors. we have built on this idea and in this bill we included a provision that will allow femmesa to allow training and to establish regional training centers paid for by the pipeline industry at no cost to the federal government. there is great interest in this approach to my home state -- in my home state of pennsylvania. and i will be following the implementation of this provision. pipeline permitting issues was not included in the final bill. we have big issues with the army corps of engineers in pennsylvania in the permitting of pipelines. the corps is encroaching on the pennsylvania department of environmental protection and led to increases in timelines with projects with limited environmental impacts. my colleague from west virginia, mr. rahall, has experienced similar issues in his home state and all related to the marcellus shale gas. in t