the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois reserves the time. the gentleman from missouri. mr. clay: madamyield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. clay: thank you, madam speaker. i rise in support of h.r. 4631, the government spending and ability act as amended. this legislation will improve congressional oversight of the federal government spending on meetings and conferences. it is modeled on similar reporting requirements contained in the data act which passed the house of representatives earlier this year with bipartisan support. this legislation will help rein in the type of wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars that we have witnessed over the past several months. in april the committee held a hearing to examine the g.s.a.'s expen die tures of $800,000 on a single -- expenditure of $800,000 on a single conference in las vegas in 2010. the gross abuse of federal funds must not be repeated and one way to avoid that is to monitor more closely how federal agencies use their funds on such activities. we all are aware that conference

. >> let me, let me kabul madame mr. speaker, on such a butch answer. [laughter] and what do we get from mr. blitch, mr. speaker? because he briefed -- preached against the new international secretary, the former transport secretary. he was knocking back the clerics while backing the welsh secretary. and when it came to the environment secretary, mr. speaker, she was attacks because she was too old and replace by a man who was older. very good, mr. speaker. the reality is this. the prime minister is going to have to answer between now and april but he didn't answer the question as to whether he's going to get the top rate tax cut, a tax cut for millionaires by millionaires. the reality is this, their plan is failing. they stand up for the wrong people. plan a is not working. he should change course. >> on a day when we hear that this economy has created 1 million net new private sector jobs, all we have learned from the labour party is they have learned nothing. they are still committed to the spending, the borrowing and the debt that got us into this me

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey. mr. garrett: madam speaker, at this time i would like to yield to the gentleman from oklahoma three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma is recognized for three minutes. >> thank you, madam speaker. mr. lankford: let's review. we have -- $16 trillion in debt. and it's climbing every single day. we have no budget from the senate for the last three years. the president's budget got exactly zero vtes in the house and in the senate. and the federal government has dramatically increased spending which has led to this spending-driven crisis. let me show you what i mean by that five years ago in 2007, federal treasury received $2.5 trillion in revenue. the same amount that's estimated to ce in this year in revenue. $2.5 trillion. five years ago, $2.5 trillion now. five years ago, total spent by the federal government, $2.7 trillion. now, $3.7 trillion. that almost looks lik $1 trillion difference in spending. which equals the same amount as our deficit. it's amazing to me. when we proc

mr. dreier: thank you very much, madam speaker. i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. dreier: madam speaker, back in 2009 my good friend and the co-chair of the house democracy partnership, david price of north carolina, and i had the opportunity to visit former general and at that time u.s. ambassador carl eikenberry. ambassador to afghanistan. we were at the ambassador's residence in kabul and i was struck with the same that -- statement that was made. negotiation. to men and women in uniform. those men and women who served in our nation's armed forces around the world. but too rarely do we extend our appreciation to the men and women who represent the united states of america in the foreign service. as diplomats around the world. . and general eikenberry encouraged us to do that and mr. price and i have consistently done that in the visits of the house democracy partnership to the 17 con2riss with which we partnered over the past seven years. . mr. price and i wer

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey. mr. garrett: madam speaker, at this time i would like to yield to the gentleman from oklahoma three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma is recognized for three minutes. >> thank you, madam speaker. mr. lankford: let's review. we have -- $16 trillion in debt. and it's climbing every single day. we have no budget from the senate for the last three years. the president's budget got exactly zero votes in the house and in the senate. and the federal government has dramatically increased spending which has led to this spending-driven crisis. let me show you what i mean by that. five years ago in 2007, federal treasury received $2.5 trillion in revenue. the same amount that's estimated to come in this year in revenue. $2.5 trillion. five years ago, $2.5 trillion now. five years ago, total spent by the federal government, $2.7 trillion. now, $3.7 trillion. that almost looks like $1 trillion difference in spending. which equals the same amount as our deficit. it's amazing to me. when we

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey. mr. garrett: madam speaker, at this time i would like to yield to the gentleman from oklahoma three minus. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma is recognized for three minutes. >> thank you, madam speaker. mr. lankford: let's review. we have -$16 trillion in debt. and it's climbing every single day. we have no budget from the senate for the last three years. the president's budget got exactly zero votes in the house and in the senate. and the federal government has dramatically increased spending which has led to this spending-driven crisis. let me show you what i mean by that. five years ago in 2007, federal treasury received $2.5 trillion in revenue. the same amount that's estimated to come in this year in revenue. $2.5 trillion. five years ago, $2.trillion now. five years ago, total spent by the federal government $2.7 trillion. now, $3.7 trillion. that almost looks like $1 trillion difference in spending. which equals the same amount as our deficit. it amazing to me. when we process

mr. van hollen: madam speaker. mr. garrett: the american public is looking -- the american public -- the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman seek recognition? mr. van hollen: i would ask unanimous consent to bring up the substitute amendment so we could vote on it. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey. mr. garrett: the american public is looking for leadership from washington and they are not seeing it from the president who has failed to present a budget that would get any single votes in either the house and senate. 97-0, 414-0. they are looking to the senate to demonstrate some degree of vision, some degree of leadership by taking any of the bills that we sent over to them, whether it's the budget or the sequester legislation and showing that they can pass that legislation. they are looking for some degree of vision from the other side of the aisle in the house as well on these matters to make sure we can stand up fiscally and a long defense and they are seeing a lack of vision from the other si

madam speaker, the house will act. now we need leadership, mr. president, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the majority leader, the gentleman from virginia, yields back his time. the gentleman from maryland. mr. van hollen: thank you, madam speaker. it's hard to know where to begin. because i hope everyone was listening very carefully. that if we allow these spending cuts to take place, we will lose hundreds of thousands of jobs in virginia alone. thousands of jobs aroun the country. you know, i've heard a lot of complaints from our republican colleagues about the recovery bill. and the fact that we had to do some emergency spending to prevent the loss of millions of jobs. you know what? that worked. and here our republican colleagues here today are saying, we have to make sure the spending cuts don't take ace because if we do, it will result in a lot of lost jobs. you know what? it takes jobs to build an aircraft carrier, absolutely. it also creates jobs when you invest in trying to repair and modernize our roads and our bridges, our infrastructure. the president s

madam speaker, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from florida. mr. nugent: madam speaker, i certainly do appreciate the gentleman's comments because as a former law enforcement officer i want to make sure that we protect americans. but i'm not so sure i want to protect those in foreign countries that are not americans. those in foreign countries that would do harm to america like they did on this day, on this day 11 years ago. fisa, our good friend mentioned about 2008, but prior to 2008 americans could be entrapped within the fisa context. and in 2008 that changed. and what it said is that if an american becomes involved in a fisa investigation where their name comes up, the information comes up, that it has to be minimized and then they have to go to a federal judge and the fisa court to get an authorization to do what they need to do as it relates to a warrant to receive and recover that information. . what the president has asked is that we just continue to do what we did from 2008. the protections that were put in place for american citizens that

mr. price is, to ensure that the promise we saw several weeks ago in libya will not be shaurd by the tragic -- shattered by the tragic death of ambassador stevens. madam speaker, i'm pleased to be joined by my dear friend and colleague, mr. price, and i'd like to yield to him at this point. mr. price: i thank my colleague for yielding. mr. dreier and i have partnered for many years and the work of the house democracy partnership which we and many others in this body believe in very deeply, that we need to be good colleagues, not just nationally but internationally and we need to reach out in ways that can strengthen democracy, strengthen institutions in countries that are friends of our country and we can help bring those parliaments along. that's exactly why we visited libya back in the spring. a delegation led by mr. dreier. we were there a few weeks before ambassado stevens arrived and i think it's fair to say that we were struck by the promise of libya. of course they've had 42 years of dictatorial rule. the country has been liberated. there's still major challenges. obviously security challenges as we are lening in a tragic way today, but the country is

mr. poe: thank you, madam speaker. yesterday was the 11th anniversary of the attack on america from 9/11 in 2001 where americans were killed and it was an act of terrorism. but yesterday americans were attacked again. in two attacks, in egypt and in libya. apparentry terrorists attacking us again on 9/11. the embassy in egypt was stormed. the american flag was brought down and a black flag was raised by those who came into the compound. in libya, the consulate was attacked, set afire and our ambassador to libya, chris stevens, was murdered. and according to the bbc hi body was brought through the streets in benghazi. the groups are individuals that committed these acts must be found. there's no evidence yet there was any act by either one of these two governments but by individuals or even by groups. in libya, al qaeda cousins, as i call them, claims responsibility for the murder of our u.s. ambassador. it's no coincidence that these two attacks occurred nearly at the same time and they both occurred on the anniversary

speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. does the gentleman have a motion? to adjourn? mr. gohmert: madam speaker, at this time i move that we do now hereby adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is agreed to. according to the -- accordingly the house stands adjourned until >> the bill limits the energy departments's ability to issue such loan guarantees and adds penalties for officials who fail to comply with the bill's requirement. the bill passed in house 245-161. the house returns next tuesday for morning hour speeches, 2:00 p.m. for legislative work here on c-span. president barack obama vice president joe biden and first lady michelle obama met this morning with members of the 2012 olympic and paralympic games. the athletes presented obamas with the u.s. flag. the u.s. won 104 medals in london, 46 of them gold. the paralympics which came immediately after attracted 2.7 million spectatorsÑi a recoi bob woodward will be our guest monday on washington çójournal, the washington p

mr. duncan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for four minutes. mr. duncan: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, madam chairwoman for your leadership on this very important issue. i want to pause to thank the gentleman from new york, mr. high fwins, for his leadership on the other side of the aisle. last week, congress took a rare break if our work here and from partisanship, we came together to remember those who died on 9/11. and during the war on terrorism. we stood together on the capitol steps and pledged we would never forget the heartbreaking events of that fateful day. one of the ways we can honor the memory of those who lost their lives is to be prepared. so that our country will never experience such a tragedy again. that's why i'm standing before you today, mr. speaker, thanking you and the members of the body for putting partisanship aside and working together to keep our families and communities safe from new and eernl many -- emerging threats to our nation. we are all aware of the iranian nuclear threat in the mideast and globally. but there's another potential threat from iran and its p

mr. speaker, a message from the senate. the secretary: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: madam secretary. the secretary: i have been directed by the senate to inform the house that the senate has passed h.r. 6336, to direct the library to accept a statue detricting fed rick douglas from the district of columbia and provide for the permanent display of this statue in emancipation hall of the united states capitol. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida, mr. stearns, for five minutes. mr. stearns: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. stearns: good morning, mr. speaker. my colleagues, later today we will begin debate on the rule for h.r. 6213. the no more solyndras act which along with my chairman, fred upton of michigan, i'm proud to sponsor. now, this legislation is a culmination of an intensive, thorough, 18-month investigation by the subcommittee on oversight investigation, which i chair, and will fix the problems we uncovered. specifically the no more solyndras act will phase out the de

mr. speaker, a message from the senate. the secretary: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: madam secretary. the secretary: i have been directed by the senate to inform the house that the senate has passed s. 33 -- 3552, to re-authorization the federal inspect at thisside act in which the concurrence of the house is requested. the speaker pro tempore: the committee will resume its sitting. the chair: the committee will be in order. the gentleman from michigan. mr. upton: thank you, mr. speaker. i just remind my friend from california that the department of justice tells us there are still an active criminal investigation as to the solyndra matter. i yield one minute to the gentleman from kansas, mr. pompeo, member of the committee. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pompeo: i come down to support this piece of legislation. it's important to america and taxpayers to protect them. i want to thank chairman stearns and chairman upton for letting me participate this this important investigation. just yesterday two facts support completely in passing this legislation. yesterday that conse

madam speaker. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from virginia. mr. scott: i yield myself such time as i may consume. mr. scott: it requires the department of justice and department of homeland security no later than 180 days after enactment of this law to jointly provide a report to congress on those departments' ability to track, investigate and quantify cross-board violence along our country's southwest border and provide recommendations to congress on how to accurately track, investigate and quantify cross-border violence. it seems like a good idea and i know that the bill provides that we will receive budget recommendations along with the report. as some have suggested that we can, quote, reduce the size of government with unspecified cuts, but then we are often surprised to see what those cuts are. tracking, investigating and responding appropriately to cross-border violence will require personnel and equipment which will require increases and not cuts in the budget. i thank the gentleman from texas, mr. canseco, for his work on the bill. i loo

mr. chairman. virginia casts 118 votes for barack obama. washington. washington, where it true legend, speaker tom foley, speaks among us tonight. you have 120 votes. how do you cast them? >> madamthese other hometowns of these great washington state delegates, the great state of washington casts its 114 votes of the current and future president of the united states, barack obama. >> washington casts 114 votes for barack obama. west virginia. my home state where ivo from barack obama -- where i vote for barack obama. you have 47 votes. >> madam secretary, also from the great state of west virginia, where more than 70% of elected officials are hard- working democrats who get the jobs done. might he did i turned 18 this week -- i am 18 this week and i am a proud to be the youngest delegate ever from west virginia. our young people are committed to being part of the democratic team that will make our future bright. i am honored and our delegation is honored to cast our 44 votes for president barack obama. >> thank you, west virginia. west virginia casts 44 votes for barack obama. wisconsin. you have 111 votes. >> madam secretary, i and the chair of the great -- i am the chair of th

speaker boehner owes it to them to take up this bill and pass it. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: madam president, i thank the distinguished senator for her kind comments. as she knows, this is an issue that whether it is washington state or the state of vermont, it is a major, major issue that she has voted for and supported the leahy-crapo bill, as has the distinguished presiding officer. and i've said so many times on this floor that violence is violence is violence, abuse is abuse is abuse. and this should not be a partisan issue. two weeks ago, in tampa, republican leaders from congress and around the country sought to make clear their commitment to advancing causes important to women. well, i'll say as a democrat i was pleased to see that commitment from the republican party, but now i hope to put those words into action and prove that this was not just campaign rhetoric. and so i would -- they have not asked me for advice, i would give some advice to my republican friends. if they do want to show their commitment to women, one significant step republicans take would