mr. berman: mr. speaker, i rise in strong support of this resolution which recognizes and honors the life and career of one of america's most potent diplomatic assets, ambassador richard c. holbrooke, and for opening comments i'd like to yield to someone who is a close and great friend of his, the chair of the foreign operations subcommittee, the house appropriations committee, the chief sponsor of this resolution that the ranking member and i have joined, mrs. lowey of new york, for such time as she may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.con.res 335, a concurrent resolution in remembrance and appreciation of ambassador richard holbrooke. the passing of ambassador holbrooke on monday, december 13 is a great loss american people. one of our nation's most talented diplomats, richard holbrooke possessed a fierce determination and unsurpassed brilliance in advocating for american security, diplomatic and developme

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask -- first of all, if we could have order. the presiding officer: the members of the senate please take their seats, clear the aisles. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: all consent agreements that i've been involved in over the years have been imperfect but this is the best we could do and i think it's a pretty good one. so i would ask unanimous consent that at 3:00 p.m. today, all postcloture time be considered expired and the reid motion to concur with the amendments be withdrawn and that no further amendments or motions be in order and without further intervening action or debate, the senate proceed to vote on the reid motion to concur in the house amendment to the senate amendment to h.r. 2965. that upon disposition of the house message, the senate then resume executive session and the start treaty -- resume executive session on the start t

mr. berman: mr. speaker, i'm very pleased to recognize -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. the gentleman is recognized. mr. berman: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to recognize for three minutes the distinguished ranking democrat on the foreign affairs committee, the chairman of the middle east and south asia subcommittee, mr. ackerman of new york. mr. ackerman: i thank the chairman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for three minutes. mr. ackerman: this resolution is absolutely vital. it should be called a peace process preservation act because that is exactly what it's all about. i understand that for many israelis and many palestinians there's enormous frustration and disappointment and impatience with the peace process. but there is absolutely no acceptable alternative to it. only negotiations can promise a real and durable peace, a peace with security for israel as a jewish and democratic state and independence for a sovereign and vi

mr. obey: mr. speaker, i happen to agree with the gentleman from virginia on the substance of the issue. but the fact is that the interior appropriations subcommittee voted in open session with open debate to adopt the cole amendment. now, as chairman of the full committee, i don't have the luxury of producing bills that represent my own priorities. it is my obligation to try to find the center of gravity that enables to represent the views of the house. that's what we did on this issue and for the gentleman to suggest that there's anything corrupt about it is scarulous. mr. wolf: what this is is it will bring major expansion. again -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. the gentleman from wisconsin reserves the balance of his time? the gentleman from california. mr. lewis: i yield the gentleman 30 seconds. mr. wolf: thank you. this will bring major expansion of gambling and i don't care what subcommittee, the average member came down here and were told tomorrow that they voted for

mr. inhofe: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call in progress be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. inhofe: mr. president, it's my understanding that in 45 minutes, we'll be having a couple of votes, one on my amendment number 4833, and one on the thune amendment 4841, having to do with the delivery system, mine having to do with verification. and i -- i -- that would mean that we would have 45 minutes to talk about this. we have already covered it pretty thoroughly. i just think that we need to have an understanding of what we're talking about in terms of verification. there are only 180 inspections that are authorized by the new start treaty, and that's over a ten-year period, so we're talking about 18 per year. versus the 600 inspections over 15 years in start i. if you do your math there, that would be 40 a year in start i down to 18 a year in start ii, or in new start. one of the arguments for that is that we have fewer sites to inspect, and for that re

mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. we are told that in a few minutes we'll resume the debate on child nutrition where we left off yesterday. before we were abruptly interrupted by the majority's strategy to prevent legislators from ledge stating. i urge my colleagues -- from ledge stimulating. i urge my colleagues if you support this support our commonsense motion to recommit. listen to the national school board association who in a letter today wrote, quote, the motion to recommit recognizes that federal regulation of the paid meal price is not in the best interest of the school districts implementing school meal programs, close quote. they are urging congress to support the motion to recommit. . listen to child care experts who today announced strong support for the motion to recommit. to inquire background checks on all child care providers who participate in federal child nutrition programs. and, mr. speaker, i'd ask unanimous consent to have both of those letters entered into the record. the speaker pro tempore: w

mr. kerry: mr. president, the senator -- mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. kerry: mr. president, the senator from tennessee is absolutely correct, obviously. the key question here is, is there sufficient support to ratify the treaty? and once we get to that sort of question postcloture, when and if that is invoked, that's what the threshold would be for the passage of this item. it is not as if you have cloture and all of a sudden, boom, 51 votes necessary to pass it. secondly, i would sty my colleague -- i want to emphasize this -- if the majority leader were to put the cloture motion in this evening, it doesn't ripen until tuesday. and so we would have the rest of today, all of tomorrow and tuesday to have amendments, continue as we are now, and then if it did pass, we'd have another 30 hours, which as we all know, takes the better part of probably two days. so we're looking at conceivably thursday under that kind of a schedule -- and i know a lot of senator

mr. smith: mr. speaker, it's hard to imagine a worse example of the media bias than the national coverage of the so-called dream act. seldom were the facts given to the american people. the national media set it deprived quote 65,000 youngsters. it would give amnesty to at least one million to two million illegal immigrants up to the age of 30. and no one in the national media mentioned that no hearings had been held on the bill and no committee had approved it. the dream act would mean fewer jobs for american workers. and the congressional budget office said it would cost taxpayers billions of dollars. but you won't hear that from the national media. even if the national media won't, congress should put the interest of american workers and taxpayers first. that's what the last election was all about. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker

mr. van hollen: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to havworked with congressman pomeroy and chairman levin on the amendment we will be voting on later tonight. while this house recently passed and democrats have been fighting to ensure that tax rates do not go up on 98% of the american people, senate republicans made it clear that they will raise, that they will raise taxes on every american if they don't get a special bonus tax break for the very top 2%. in order to break that, president obama concluded he needed to cut a deal. what this amendment we will be voting on later tonight is give the american people a better deal. specifically it asks all of us to consider this question. in an era of $1 trillion deficits, with our national debt approaching $14 trillion, barely two weeks after the bipartisan fiscal commission's moment of truth report, should we really be borrowing $23 billion from china to give the wlthiest 6,600 estates an average tax break of $1.7 million year? think about it. $23 billion for the weal

mr. dreier: mr. speaker, at this time i'm happy to yield three minutes to my very hardworking colleague from columbus, indiana, who offered some very thoughtful remarks and endured the committee on rules last night. three minutes for mr. pence. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana is recognized. mr. pence: thank the ranking member for yielding. i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. pence: thank you, mr. speaker. since last summer i have been among those voices in this congress calling for action to prevent a tax increase that would affect every american. just a few short weeks from now. so i rise with a heavy heart today to say that as i look at this short-term tax deal negotiated by the white house with congressional leaders, that i have concluded after much study that it's a bad deal for taxpayers. it will do little to create jobs. and i cannot support it. let me say, though, that i have the deepest respect for my co

mr. smith: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for such time as he may consume. mr. smith: thank you very much. madam speaker, first of all, i want to thank the gentleman from virginia, mr. moran, and the gentleman from illinois, mr. manzullo, for providing us this opportunity to recognize the contributions of the national council for international visitors, particularly on this 50th anniversary, and the importance of citizen diplomacy to the united states. while taking the person-to-person contacts, madam speaker, when they have an opportunity to live and work alongside americans is often more than opinion change gsing, they can be life changing. the diversity, industry of our people can shatter stereotypes and shatter prestigious far more effectively than press statements and media campaigns. for these reasons, citizen diplomacy is an important tool for increasing global understanding of american values. one significant compo

mr. reid: mr. president? mr. president? the presiding officer: without objection, the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: we're in a position now, we don't have the consent agreement completely fixed, but we know what we're going to do. we're going to have three votes, three different amendments. it will be a half-hour debate on each amendment. so we likely will have another series of votes at 8:15 or thereabouts tonight. we'll have -- senator kerry will offer a consent agreement to that effect very shortly. in the meantime, we can start debating one of the amendments. mr. kerry: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. kerry: mr. president, i understand there will be three amendments that we'll proceed with. two will be by senator kyl and one by senator wicker. i believe senator wicker is prepared to call up his amendment at this point. i think we're going to proceed -- i would ask unanimous consent that on each amendment there be a half-hour equally divided -- no, hold it. okay. mr. p

mr. pence: mr. speaker, i appreciate the distinguished ranking member for yielding and the passion that's been expressed on both sides of this issue. but let me state the obvious if i can. we are a nation at war. we have soldiers that are in harm's way at this hour forward deployed at bagram and helmand province, places i visited just a few short weeks ago. and so this business is not taking place in a vacuum. we are a nation at war, and let me say to the distinguished gentleman from massachusetts who just spoke who suggested that those of us who oppose a repeal of don't-ask, don't-tell would commit some libel against americans with whom we differ on lifestyle choices. nothing can be further from the truth. as a conservative, i have a particular world view about moral issues. they do not bear upon this question. this is an issue exclusively that is about recruitment, readiness, unit cohesion and retention because we are a nation at war. now, i'm not a soldier but i'm the son of a combat soldier. i t

mr. leahy: mr. president, thank you. i know in a couple hours we'll be voting on a repeal of don't ask, don't tell. i know we've been able to go past the filibuster of it, and i'd like to speak about that just for a few minutes. partisan rancor seems to seize the senate on so many issues this year, but i want to at least this one count, i'm encouraged and i'm hopeful. there is yet sufficient bipartisan agreement to repeal the discriminatory don't ask, don't tell policy before this congress ends. and i commend the senators who havhave pledged to support the repeal. of course, i renew my own commitment to this worthy effort. it is well past time to put an end to this discriminatory and harmful policy. today in the united states senate, the stage is set again for one of the major civil rights victories of our lifetimes. and years from now, i hope that historians will give good cause to remember this day as the day when the two parties overcame superficial differences to advance the pursuit of equal rig

as mr. pallone said and mrs. capps will reiterate, that it is not standard practice or was not standard practice to perform early detection for hearing loss on newborns. usually parents after about a year would recognize something isn't right, that maybe speech was delayed and that's when testing would occur. we found that early testing has benefits. however our side of the aisle must recommend a no vote at this time due to the authorizing of appropriations with the language of, quote, such sums as necessary, end quote. this type of open-ended authorization advocates or duty to budget for programs responsibly. the bill would re-authorize the newborns and infants hearing loss program. it would enable the secretary of health and human services to assist and recruitment, retention, education, and training of qualified personnel in hearing and health care providers. unfortunately in re-authorizing this program, the bill contains no limits on authorization of spending for the program. as my colleagues know, authorizin

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: mr. president, senators should expect a series of up to four roll call votes beginning at 10:30 this morning or thereabouts. the first vote will be on cloture with respect to the dream act. if cloture is not invoked on the dream act, the senate would proceed to a cloture vote with respect to the don't ask, don't tell repeal. following the cloture votes, the senate will proceed to vote on two confirmations, albert diaz of north carolina to be a united states circuit judge, evan hollander of maryland to be a united states district judge. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that two additional staff members from senator lieberman's office be granted floor privileges for the duration of the debate to invoke cloture on the motion to concur in the amendment to the senate amendment. one problem, senator lieberman didn't supply the names, so that makes it a little tough. i will pretend i didn't say that. oh, i see. what the d

mr. reid: mr. president? mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, we were under the -- members on both sides anticipated tonight my filing cloture on the spending bill that would take us through next year. everyone knows we're operating under a continuing resolution now that expires saturday night. midnight. senator inouye has worked so very, very hard for the entire year, working on a bipartisan agreement and a bipartisan -- in a bipartisan manner to put together a bill that will responsibly fund our government for the next fiscal year. he hasn't done this as king. he's done it working with democrats and republicans. senator cochran has been in all the efforts that senator inouye has made. the product was filed a few days ago. the overall spending level on that bill was suspected by 40 republicans earlier this year. in addition, the bill contains priorities for

mr. sessions: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, last week i stood here right -- right here to do the rule and pointed out that my democratic colleagues continued to use unprecedented, restrictive and closed process on the house floor. and i'm here today to tell the same story. but at least it's very consistent behavior. all two years we have had nothing but closed rules and here we are today in fact the same plation. except what we're doing here today is discussing a long-term resolution, a resolution that went nowhere in the senate and yet here again today doing another continuing resolution so there are -- so our government does not shut down on saturday. last week the rules committee under democratic leadership reported out an unprecedented long-term martial law rule. they gave themselves 11 days, 1 days to bring up any bill under a rule that same day and just yesterday they reported out an additional martial law rule through christmas eve. this only continues the backlog, backroom deals, the closed zreels been been pur

mr. speaker. and principally we have in north wales a chief constable who is prepared to live within his financial means. >> questions to the prime minister. >> question number one, mr. speaker, thank you, mr. speaker. i'm sure the whole house will wish to join me in paying tribute to private john howard from third battalion the parachute regiment who died sunday on the fifth of december. he was an incredibly gifted and popular paratrooper. we shall send us. condolences to his family and friends. i met the two brave paratroopers who were wounded at the same time he was killed. i know their families will be relieved to know that they are doing well and in extremely good spirits. mr. speaker, this morning i had meetings with ministerial colleagues and in addition to my duties in the house i shall have further such meetings later on today. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i would like to associate myself with the condolences with the prime minister does my right honorable friends that it's agreeab

mr. sablan: mr. speaker, did -- let me close. mr. speaker, i ask for support on h.r. 5012, as amended, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from kentucky. mr. guthrie: mr. speaker, i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5012. as amended. all those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from the northern mariana islands seek recognition? mr. sablan: mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to senate bill 3817 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 3817, an act to amend the child abuse prevention and treatment act of family violence and prevention serv

mr. levin: mr. speaker, it's now my real pleasure to yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from kentucky, mr. yarmuth. the speaker pro tempor the gentleman is recognized for two minute mr. yarmuth: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding. this is kind of a comical debate in a way. we hear time after time after time why would we want to pass job-killing tax hikes? well, i would ask my colleagues on the other side of the aisle why did they write them into the law? because these are republican tax hikes thate are dealing with. trying to decide what makes sense both from a fiscal standpoint and from a fairness standpoint. i love the fact that people talk about job-killing tax hikes as if every small business is going to make decision based on what their personal tax rate is. i come from a family ofmall businesspeople. my father was a small businessperson -- business person who built a small company, i have a sister who is a small business person. i ran a small business. not

mr. tanner: thank you, mr. scott. i, too, have, as mr. king said, enormous respect for the ethics committee. it's a job none of us asked for and none of us want. it has to be done to protect the house of representatives. as a lawyer, i also believe in precedent and i have searched this record and find no activity involving moral turpitude or any activity that could be classified as one with criminal intent. therefore, i think a -- an appropriate action that would protect the house as well as punish congressman rangel, would be a reprimand. i think that is the appropriate punishment commensurate with what has occurred here unfortunately. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. mr. scott: i yield to the gentleman from ohio, mr. boss well, one minute. mr. boswell: thank you, mr. speaker. i concur with what was last said, i have great respect for the committee. nobody wants your job. i came here 14 years ago and looking back on years that have gone by, i met charlie rangel as a colleague here and then i learn

mr. dingell. mr. dingell: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous matter into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. dingell: mr. speaker, i now yield to the distinguished chairman to the committee of energy and commerce, mr. waxman, four minutes to speak on behalf of the legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california, mr. waxman, is recognized for four minutes. mr. waxman: thank you very much, mr. speaker. mr. dingell, i appreciate you yielding to me. i want to commend you, representative delauro, congressman pallone and stupak, mr. barton, mr. shimkus and former representative deal for the work on this legislation. for a third time today the house considers legislation that will dramatically improve the safety of our nation's food supply. the house first passed this bill in july, 2009, on a strong bipartisan vote with 283 supporters. on november 30 of this

mr. reid: mr. president, i'll use leader time. the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: mr. president, i say to people in the united states senate and to the american public, to hear my friend, the distinguished republican leader, talk about our having done things procedurally brings a big yawn to the american people. everyone knows how we have been stymied, stopped and stunned by the procedural roadblocks of this republican minority. so, mr. president, we're where we are today. we're where we are today. number one, we

mr. risch: mr. president, i also -- mr. crapo: mr. president, i also have honored to join this bipartisan group who is speaking to the nation tonight about the fact that we cannot any longer delay dealing with the most significant problem our nation faces -- our debt and our fiscal difficulties. i was one of the members of our president's commission on fiscal responsibility and reform and had the opportunity over the past year to work on a bipartisan basis with people on that commission who took testimony from experts, evaluated the issues, studied the economies of the world, studied the details of what was happening in the american economy and came forward with a plan. this plan got 11 of the 18 votes on that commission. it was required by the president's order to get 14 of the 18 votes in order to force that plan to congress for a vote. and i was disappointed that that didn't happen, but let me make a couple of points of clarification. 11 of the 18 votes represents over 60% of the votes of the commissioners on that commission. that'

mr. filner: mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to unanimously support house resolution 1622 and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. and the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1622. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? mr. filner: i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5953 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5953, a bill to correct the secretary of veterans affairs to display in each facility of the department of veterans affairs a women veterans bill of rights. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from california, mr. fil

not just mr. skelton but mr. spratt, mr. ortiz, mr. snyder, mr. abercrombie, we lost a lot of folks on the top row of the armed services committee. they have worked our country so well. they have my admiration and the admiration of all americans. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california. mr. mckeon: mr. speaker, i'd like to echo the words of mr. smith in honing all of those men that he just mentioned that served for so many years on this committee. at this time i yield two minutes to the gentleman from arizona, mr. franks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona is recognized for two minutes. mr. franks: well, thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, i wanted to echo the comments that have been made here regarding ike skelton. you know, it is fairly rare when someone so nobly transcends political party and even persuasions to try to do what he or she believes is right for the cotry, for the future of humanity, and i congratulate him and wish him the best god can give him every

mr. bennet: mr. president, as -- mr. udall: i ask unanimous consent that the banking committee be discharged from further consideration of s. 2919, the business lending enhancement act, and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration, that a udall of colorado substitute amendment which is at the desk be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time and passed, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there an objection? mr. sessions: i object. the presiding officer: the senator from alabama objects. mr. shelby: i object. the presiding officer: the senator from alabama objects. the senator from colorado. mr. udall: i would like to talk briefly about the legislation that i asked for unanimous consent. this is a bipartisan bill. i filed it, and it's -- mr. shelby: i object. the presiding officer: objection has already been heard. mr. inhofe: there are two motions, but go ahead. i am objecting to a discussion of the amendment at this time

mr. dingell: mr. speaker, i thank the distinguished the gentleman from michigan who is leaving us at the end of this congress for his outstanding leadership and chairman of the oversight subcommittee and the outstanding work he did so we can pass this legislation. at this time i yield to the distinguished the gentlewoman from connecticut, ms. delauro 1 1/2 minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from connecticut is recognized for 1 1/2 minutes. ms. delauro: mr. speaker, i rise today in support of this continuing resolution and especially the food safety provision. they represent a good first step in reforming our food safety system and reducing foodborne illness. this house passed much stronger food safety legislation in july, 2009. the bill before us today still includes critical reform and deserves our support. it provides the f.d.a. with several authorities that will help the agency better prevent food-borne illness, including increased inspection to inspect records relating to recalls, t

mr. wilson: mr. speaker, american enterprise institute fellows, peter wallison and edward pinto, says that the u.s. will use taxpayers as a checkbook again for down payments and overstretched credit limits. leading into the 2008 financial crisis, these loans will continue contribute to a housing bubble. they go on to state, the goal of congress and regulators should be to foster the residential mortgage markets return to the standards that used to prevail in 1990 before the affordable housing requirements were imposed by fannie and freddie. we should fix the current problem. for starters, the dodd-frank act needs to be amended so that quality standards are applied by f.h.a. and other government agencies. this should not impair credit availability for the important home building and real estate industries. as a former real estate attorney, i know the governors -- the government should not overwhelm homeowners with mortgages they cannot afford. this destroys neighborhoods and families. in conclusion, g

mr. kerry: mr. president? mr. president, let me say to the senator that for better or worse, are the way it works, and i think the senator acknowledged this in answer to my question, you do have to go back to the russians and you have to have negotiation, there has to be an agreement on that. if it was changed further or if there was something further, we would then have to come back and go through the process again, the entire process again in order to review the -- the -- a new treaty because it would have been changed, be a different treaty that would be submitted to us, no matter what the changes, however irrelevant. now, let me say to the -- to the chair and to my friend that that said, i want to clarify, it's not the weight of the words that makes this complicated and -- and it's not -- you know, i'm not trying to have it both ways and say that words are irrelevant, but, you know, therefore he's saying, why don't you change them? it's the process. it's what happens as a consequence in terms of when we ratify

a senator: mr. president? mr. corker: mr. president? mr. kerry: madam president, i would yield for a question because senator dodd is next in line and i don't want to abuse his time. but i'm happy to answer a question from my friend. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. corker: i have two questions, madam president, through you to the senator from massachusetts. it's my understanding that we have a cloture vote in the morning and should cloture be reached on a provision, we would then be on that matter for a couple of days; is that correct? the presiding officer: the senator is correct. mr. corker: so to talk about -- i just want to get it straight. there's not going to be any debate on start should one of the two matters that will be taken up in the morning pass cloture, the whole weekend will be spent on other issues. mr. kerry: i would be happy to answer. the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. corker: let me ask -- the second question is -- mr. kerry: may i answer the first question? madam president,

michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: i yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from north dakota, a member of our committee, mr. pomeroy. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pomeroy: madam speaker, for the last five sessions, i have worked to try to clarify the rate of estate taxation in this country. i felt the right approach was ultimately to take the twine levels and make them permanent. the amendment that carries my name in this debate would take the twine levels for estate taxation instead of the levels contained in the senate compromise. the rationale for the 2009 level is pretty compelling. the estate tax in 2009 was the smallest rate of taxation on estates in 80 years. my friend just referenced an estate tax situation encountered in his family. he did not say it was at a level much lower -- a much higher rate of tax than was ultimately a cheeved in 2009. in fact the rate in 2009 means 99.8% of the families in this country have no estate tax. zero. it went gradually lower and lower and 2009

mr. baucus: mr. president? mr. president, the national is not in order. the senate is not in order, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, could you -- the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. the senate will be in order. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, according to the strange logic of democratic leaders in congress, the best way to show middle-class americans that they care about creating jobs is to slam some of america's top job creators with a massive tax hike. today's votes were an affront to the millions of americans who are struggling to find work and a clear signal that democrats in congress still haven't gotten the message of the november elections. mr. president, the senate still is not in order. mr. baucus: the senate is not in order. the presiding officer: senators, please, the senate will be in order. the senate will be in order. mr. baucus: mr. p

mr. thompson: mr. speaker, request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, a recent headline in "the atlanta journal constitution" talked about the scarcity of heating fuel which sent prices through the roof. by contrast, "the philadelphia inquirer" reported a drop in utility bills due to a plant. heating fuel in atlanta is due in great part to the production of oil reserves in the gulf of mexico. unfortunately last week, vast amounts of oil and gas reserves off the atlantic and pacific coasts were placed off-limits by the white house limiting production as a result of supply. the secretary of interior salazar removed all of our vast offshore oil and gas reserves from the production process. the result, not one barrel of oil or cubic feet of natural gas owned by our citizens will be produced until at least 2022. in pennsylvania, recent development in

mr. sessions: mr. president, reserving the right -- the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. sessions: -- to object. i would say to the question raised by my esteemed colleague, i respect his economic judgment, but i respect the economic judgment more of mr. zandi of moody's, mr. pwraoeurpbd of princeton -- blinder of princeton and mr. taylor of the taylor rule. they all have said without exception, do not raise taxes in this kpheurbgs and -- this economy. and those persons who might be making higher incomes most likely are people who have the most employees and they could pay for that by reducing employees. i would also cite him to mr. peter orszag, president obama's own former budget director. therefore, i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. schumer: i yield the floor to my colleague from missouri. mrs. mccaskill: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mrs. mccaskill: mr. president, sometimes we selectively around here like certain testimony an

mr. reid: mr.sident? the presiding officer: mr. majority leader. mr. reid: following morning business -- i'm sorry. following any leader remarks, the senate will resume consideration of the house message to h.r. 4853, which is the legislative vehicle for the tax cut extensions. under a time agreement there, up to two hours of debate prior to a cloture vote on the motion to conditioconcur on the baucus am. if the cloture is not invoked, the senate will proceed to a cloture vet on the schumer amendment. senators should expect the cloture vote to occur at 10:30 to amendment. senator schumer will control the time on his amendment. senator baucus will control the time on his amendment. they will each have 30 minutes. mr. president, s. 4006 is at the desk. it's due for its second reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 4006, a bill to provide the for the use of unobligated discretionary stimulus dollars to address aids drug assistance program, waiting list and other cost cont

mr. murphy: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. murphy: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. murphy: this is a re-authorization and improvement on the 811 housing program. passing this program today would send the legislation to the president's desk. i think this is the third time we've had this bill over the house in the past four years and it would pave the way to provide thousands of more affordable housing units each year across this country to low-income persons with physical and mental disabilities. and importantly, the bill before us today costs the same amount as the existing 811 program. just makes some very important efficiencies to expand the use of these important dollars. that's why i want to first just thank all the people who have brought this bill before us today. senators men

mr. peterson. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. duffy, this article that was referenced earlier, as i understand it, i guess you didn't respond or i don't know if they call a or not about this article. but you were offering the citadel service. and is it true that they couldn't get people to sign up? >> we had in offering the citadel investment company roughly a year come year and half ago to bring to the market trading of credit default swaps initiative and we did not receive any traction on that initiative with citadel investment firm for a whole host of reasons. in outcome we've had a lot of businesses that we invest in and we try. somewhere, some don't. you know, we test products -- hundreds of them and maybe one could be successful at of hundreds or thousands, so this was another venture that did not succeed. >> you agree with the carrot or a station to reason it is because of the so-called secret committee of nine bankers frozen now? >> i don't know any facts to support that to be honest with you. i would not know that. but i

mr. burton: mr. speaker, i yield to our very good friend and colleague, the author of the measure, mr. royce of california. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for five minutes. mr. royce: thank you. as author of this resolution, i rise in support of house resolution 20 calling on the state department to list the socialist republic of vietnam as a country of particular concern with respect to religious freedom and i want to say i appreciate very much the assistance of chairman berman in bringing this to the house floor, the assistance of ranking member ros-lehtinen and mr. burton. but also the assistance of congressman joseph cow and i would like to -- cao and i would like to share that the house of representatives has the opportunity to send a very strong message to the communeist government in vietnam and that message is that its abuses against peaceful practitioners of all creeds are unacceptable. as reflect for a minute on some of the conditions that those who pra

mr. lugar: mr. president, let me just state at the outset that the amendment offered by the distinguished senator, senator risch, would in essence determine nature the treaty. we have been down this trail yesterday with a long debate about missile defense, but in fact the net result of amending the preamble and the text of the treaty is to kill it. that's the issue before the senate. there may be members in our body who do not like the treaty. there have been some, apparently, from time to time who have not been prepared to support any treaty with russia. i've recited at least from my recollection of previous debates that many senators simply said you can never trust the russians. you can't deal with the russians. simply what we ought to be doing is to build up defenses of our own so that regardless of what the russians have, what the russians intend to do, that we are prepared for that. indeed, that was some of the argumentation at the time that president ronald reagan first seriously got into thes

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: following leader remarks there will be a period of morning business. senators will be allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each during that time. republicans will control the first 30 minutes. the majority will control the final 30 minutes. we're going to recess from 12:30 until 3:30 today to allow for a caucus the democrats are having. mr. president, there are two bills at the desk due for second reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 3991, a bill to provide collective bargaining rights for public safety officers employed by states or their political subdivisions. s. 3992, a bill to authorize the cancellation of removal and adjustment of status of certain alien students who are long-term united states residents and who entered the united states as children, and for other purposes. mr. reid: mr. president, i would object to any further proceedings with respect to these two bi

mr. obey: mr. speaker, i call up joint resolution h.j.res. 101 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the joint retslusion. the clerk: house joint resolution 101, joint resolution making further continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2011 and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 1741, the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. obey, and the gentleman from california, mr. lewis, each will control 30 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from wisconsin. mr. obey: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous done sent all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on h.j.res. 101. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. so ordered. mr. obey: mr. speaker, i yield myself two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. obey: mr. speaker, this legislation is one page long, it does only one thing, it changes the date so we can keep the governm

mr. schiff: mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 628 and i want to begin by acknowledging the leadership of my colleague, mr. issa from california in developing this bill. i joined with mr. issa to introduce this important legislation back in the 109th congress. it has not been a short road to get here today, to hopefully enact this bill. but we would not have made it without his leadership. i partnered with mr. issa on the bill because we share a deep interest in improving the efficiency of the patent process. in reducing litigation costs and inefficiencies in patent review and also improving the quality of patents. this bill in part grew from a hearing in the 109th congress on improving federal court adjudication of patent cases. at the hearing a number of proposed options to address the issue were discussed, serious concerns were expressed about a number of proposals, including those that would create new specialized courts and those that would move all patent cases to existing specialized court

mrs. schmidt: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that today following legislative business and any special orders heretofore entered into the following members may be permitted to address the house, revise and extend their remarks and include therein extraneous material. ms. poe for five minutes and mr. jones for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. for what purpose does the gentleman from missouri seek recognition? mr. carnahan: i ask unanimous consent that today following legislative business and any special orders heretofore entered into the following members may be permitted to address the house for five minutes, to revise and extend their remarks and include therein extraneous material. mr. yarmuth of kentucky for five minutes. mr. klein of florida for five minutes. ms. richardson of california for five minutes. ms. kaptur of ohio for five minutes. ms. jackson lee of texas for five minutes. mr. defazio of oregon for five minutes. ms. woolsey of california for fiv

mr. pane: -- mr. payne: mr. speaker, the dream act would not only benefit undocumented students but it would benefit the country as well. it is estimated that about 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high school after living in the united states for at least five years. unfortunately because of current law only 5% to 10% ever these students attend college. the remaining 90% to 95% remain unable to find employment appropriate to their level of academic potential and become victims of the criminal justice and social welfare system. earlier this year my home state of new jersey passed the state version of this law recognizing that these students deserve to be rewarded for their hard work and allow opportunity just as their pearce. furthermore, -- peers. acknowledging the fact that more than 30% of the state's sign continueses and engineers with advanced degrees were foreign born in 2006, the economic benefit was taken into account. it was under stood that beyond this measure being morally just, it is an eco

mr. scott, and the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, each control 20 minutes. the house is not in order. the chair urges members to remove their conversation from the well and the aisles. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from virginia. mr. scott: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. scott: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. scott: the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is correct. the house is not in order. members will remove their conversations from the well of the house and the aisles. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. scott: thank you, madam speaker. the primary purpose of this bill is to provide for the specific program to assist children who are victims of the brutal

mr. cronin, mr. peterffy, your quick comments. >> i would submit is one of the dimension other than buy and sell, and that his quotes. why are there participants allegedly quoting one stock 4000 times in a second? was the intention of there? so i do believe that there is activity that goes on that is trying to get institution or retail orders to react without in fact taking the risk of taking an offering for that day. i think that is out there and certainly needs to be looked at. >> mr. peterffy, please, quickly. >> there is disruptive trades. it's very real. there is no justification for continuing naked access. we should stop it now. there is nothing to stop it. only irresponsible brokers who make it access. and there is no justification for continuing it. >> thank you. if i may just say, i've never heard of mr. narang before come and as far sign of his reputation is impeccable. [laughter] >> well, thank you very much. >> i second that thought. >> does not reflect on the record? >> what's interesti

mr. scott: mr. speaker, i served on the special subcommittee appointed to investigate this matter and descended from the subcommittee report and i rise to oppose the pending motion to adopt the resolution. i believe that under precedence of the house, imposingsen sure on one of our members for violating procedural rules of the house would be singularly harsh and unfair and without precedence. mr. rangel acknowledged his mistakes and he's asked to be punished fairly, punished just like everybody else similarly situated. accordingly, i believe punishment is appropriate but i believe censure is in appropriate. congressman charles b. rangel is a dedicated public servant and dedicated soldier who made outstanding contributions to the people of the united states and to this institution. yet he has has made mistakes which resulted in violations of the rule of official conduct for members of the house and he will be punished for those violations. the question is, what is the appropriate punishment? we need