and the my honor to welcome to the chamber pastor henderson who just gave us the opening prayer. pastor henderson contacted me when he was planning his family's trip to washington, d.c., and it had been a dream of his to give the opening prayer and i was pleased to be able to recommend him to the speaker to have that privilege. in addition to his duties at his home church of first baptist church located in my district in lincoln, illinois, he's also a pastor for memorial medical center located in springfield, illinois. in addition to that, he's a public servant in his own right, being elected to his second term now for the west lincoln school board. he's in a whole host of organizations, constandly giving back to his family -- constantly giving back to his family. a member of the orchestra, an officer of the can you be scouts organization in his

the bill would withdraw a 640-acre site near the sun city anthem community in henderson from being made available for mining purposes. the proposed mining operation would cause air quality deterioration, a serious concern especially for seniors and children who are vulnerable to respiratory diseases. the proposal is also water intensive and will increase traffic in the area. residents of nearby communities which are in district three would be most directly impacted by this. that's why i attended a public meeting in april of last year with more than 400 concerned residents of the area. i heard loud and clear that the proposed mine was unacceptable. this act would ensure an aggregate mine is not developed in this site and it will protect the health and well-being of my constituents in henderson. so i urge its passage. thank you very much. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker, i rise today to honor scott from minnesota. he was

robert henderson, first baptist church, lincoln, illinois. the chaplain: our father, deliver us from shallow words and impure motivations as we pray to you this day. forgive us of our arrogance, selfishness and greed. this morning we ask for your blessing upon our nation, restore our hope, strengthen our faith and teach us your love, enable us to be a nation that cares as we pursue peace, practice mercy and offer compassion. we pray, o lord, that you would establish the cause of the faithful, give comfort to those that suffer and set right the injustices within our nation and the world. protect those that defend our cherished freedoms as they serve within our military branches. give wisdom to our community leaders, our courts and our national representatives. renew our commitment of service to the people of our nation and to the greater good of all humanity. these things we pray in the name of our lord, jesus christ. amen. the speaker: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house her approval the

host: wendell henderson did that in minnesota back in the 1970's, i believe it was, and i believe he lasted about your before he got -- he lasted about a year before he got defeated. this is the article from "the washington post." "with the death of senator byrd, west virginia gov. joe manchin must select an interim replacement for a legend who many in the state and elsewhere consider one of a kind of work in the state law appears to state that the replacement will likely hold the seat for the remainder of the late senator's ninth term through 2012, therefore, the death would not impact the partisan makeup of the chamber, nor depending 2010 elections. however, there is some ambiguity in the law that has left some experts questioning what what happened with the secret state law mandates that if a senate vacancy occurs more than 2 1/2 years before the term is up, a special election should be held to fill the seat. however, the law states that the special election would only occur after a candidate has been nominated at the primary election next following such a timely filing and has th

but i asked the group of senior advisers including chris henderson in my office to do a concept for me on how we need to reorganize mms. they reached out to the ministers of energy in norway as well as the uk, and in those particular nations there was a reorganization that occurred after there was a incident that was -- a horrific incident for those nations. and so we are -- that was one of the reasons why we ended up with this organization that is in front of you. in addition, i feel strongly that it is important to separate out what's in the organization, those who are involved in terms ofeasing the resource and those who are involved in bringing in on average $13 billion a year into the federal treasury from those who are involved in actually doing the inspection and enforcement and environmental compliance part. i think that's an important division that has to be made. as i said earlier in my testimony, mike brown will work closely with me and with other people who have been involved so that we tailor the organization closely and we'll work with your staffs to make sure the organiz