jenkins: the u.s. has lived beyond its means for too long and it will take commonsense ideas to restore responsible spending in washington. but we can start by identifying what we need to fulfill the duties of the federal government and eliminate everything else. the federal government is the largest property owner in the u.s. according to the o.m.b., we have $18 billion in assets that we do not need. rather than selling unnecessary assets, like the american people do to live within their means, the federal government gives property free of charge to other government entities and nonprofits, including a building in las vegas to use as a mob museum. the american people have spoken. we cannot continue ignoring our debt. i urge my colleagues to stand with the folks at home to use common sense and vote to sell excess federal property and take a necessary step towards a sustainable future. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from colorado.

jenkins: thank you, madam speaker. over the past six weeks, over one million americans have demanded action and house republicans have listened. unfortunately the majority in the house has not. and while there are many issues that these people in this body disagree on, there are some issues that we should all agree on. we should agree that skyrocketing debt is a priority. we should agree that we cannot continue spending money that we don't have. we should agree that it's wrong for taxpayers to pay for salaries of employees who answer to unions instead of the american people. and we should agree on this very simple bill that says union activities should be funded by unions. i urge my colleagues to stand with the american people, to vote to save $1.2 billion and to end the abuse of taxpayer money. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: madam speaker, i hope we -- i hope the minority get on the floor and retract the statement that we shoul