mr. hall?anks use them and the increases and the amount to land and some of the other things the were done have been pretty important, and banks have used that pretty aggressively through the economic environment to make loans. i think that is the primary thing other than just the more global economic things we have to continue to work on, and that will take care of a lot of it in the process. >> mr. hall makes an excellent point in your testimony if there was no sba lending now there we would have almost non-and our industry. have you ever done it alone? >> no i have not. >> could you tell the difference in terms of the paperwork involved behind getting an sba loan and a traditional loan? mabey mr. kottler can help on that was well because it is not apples to apples it is different in an sba loan and an ordinary free market alone. >> of the amount of credit; information that is requiredxx from the bar where, the basic credit information is the same. in order to do your due diligence in the

mr. hall is a very queen franchisee and he has five locations in texas i believe. mr. hall serves on the board of directors for the franchise association and chairs are credit access to many. we appreciate you being here today. odyssey came along when we look forward to your testimony. >> thank you chairman and i want to thank you as well as ranking member velazguez and the rest of the committee. thanks for having me here. as you said i'm a very queen franchisee and forward texas and a member of the international franchise association board of directors but i want to talk about the important role the u.s. economy franchising holds. as ms. velazguez mentioned, small businesses, startups are important part of our economy and franchising meets that need but with a little bit of a lifeline for the first role in the business because they do have a system of training and at allows a start of business without being in business totally by themselves. the franchise world grew faster pace up to 2008 when we had a financial meltdown. since then recovery has been very slow. markets

mr. hall serves on the board of directors for the international franchise association and chairs the credit texas committee. we appreciate you being hit today. we look forward to your testimony. >> i want to thank you and ranking member velazquez. it is hard to say hello in five minutes but i will do my best. i've made dairy queen franchisee in texas and a member of the international franchise board of directors. i want to talk about a roller u.s. economy franchising holds. as ms. velasquez mentioned, small-business start-ups are important part of the economy and franchising meet that need with a little bit of a lifeline for the first role in business because they have a system of training and it allows someone to start a business without being in business themselves. the franchising world grew at a faster pace through 2008 when we had a financial meltdown. since then recovery has been slow. markets have been frozen. difficult to obtain any financing. we greatly appreciate the work you did on

know i'm more pessimistic than mr hall on two points first i think that there is no basis for common vision beyond getting rid of the current regime. everybody agrees on that a lot of people ground that they don't agree what comes next they're competing visions and i don't see any serious chance that they can come together and work. combined on our joint future secondly i don't think that we in the west have any substantial friends in yemen and mr hall referred to a turkish stalinist lama's party well they're no friends of ours they've turned into quite a hostile them and i don't think we have a base there so where's he would try and construct a apology that is that we can work with i think it's probably wiser to preempt and say that this is a state whose population is hostile and therefore we should put it on notice you have it detained i think it can i just mean it's just coming out of the can i can interject i mean sala is because he is perceived as an american ally doesn't that create the anxiety in the in the dislike of the united states in the west just by the very fact that he

mr hall referred to a turkish party were there no friends of ours they've turned into quite a hostile them and i don't think we have a base there so where is he we're trying to construct a polity. that is that we can work with i think it's probably wiser to preempt and say that this is a state whose population is hostile and therefore we should put it on notice you have it did they tend to make you think and i just think it's just coming out of the can i can interject i mean sol is because he's perceived is an american ally doesn't that create the anxiety in the in the dislike of the united states in the west just by the very fact that he's been very small around america thirty thirty thirty three years he's been in power and basically been called a friend by the united states maybe not the best friend but a friend. well not probably was not a wise thing to do but he wasn't as i tried to stanford earlier really an ally he was someone we could work with no more than mubarak was and i like this people could work with we have no shared. values or vision with them the saudis the same thin

but putting in one of these, and i think mr. hall has done this, you can cut a hole in your property line wall ware windows are not allowed. you can put this in and get a view of the golden gate bridge. have you done this? >> yes. i have to fantastic view walls in the east side of my bedroom. i have this kind of transparent wall material that allows me to view the bay bridge and downtown, which otherwise would not have. i am not sure i want to tell city planning about this, but it is great stuff. it is expensive per square foot, but by comparison to the improvement of equality in my like having them view, i will take it. >> how much is a view of downtown worth? >> and lot more than the roughly $200 a square foot. >> this is an odd piece of value enhancement. >> that would not necessarily be considered a window from the planning department. >> that is correct. it is a wall. it is made with special high- temperature glass with coating between layers. how about that? there is a thin steel that goes around inside. it is not structural. w

and finally, two giants living legends, hall of famer mr. willy makati and hall of famer, the greatest mr. willie mays. [applause] how about a big hand for all of our special guests, everyone? [applause] we would like to thank the city and county of san francisco and our community partners, bank of america, caw, levi's, coors and miller, sales force.com, diamond foods, and charles schwab who helped make this possible. we would like to recognize broadcast partners knbr 680, the sports leader, comcast sports net bay area and nbc bay area, who bring giants baseball to our fans all season long and who have made it possible for today's event to be watched by giants fans throughout northern california. now, everyone, let's get this show on the road. let's get this party started. it is my great pleasure to introduce two members of the best broadcast team in all of baseball -- please welcome dave fleming and john miller. [applause] >> thank you for that. i always thought that this must be what it is like to be code, to go out to st. peter's on the ba

i do have a question to you mr. hall. you mentioned earlier and i heard this, too, about possible bias out there against making it harder for franchisees. i've got friends who are trying to get loans on startups that are new franchises, and they get that impression that there is a bias against that or it's that much tougher. can you expand on that? and i'd be very curious to hear what the others have to say in the banking community. >> well, you know, i think historically people have had a negative thought about restaurant industry and about startups just in general. because the sba program is not about giving away money to loans that will pay back. it's a program where you really have to pay the money back. there has to be a plan in place. so, i think there probably has been traditionally a bias against the franchises, but i think we are turning that around with partially the work the -- we look at it as the glass is half full rather than half empty. we're not putting the blame on you guys. this is our responsibility. we

it has been handled inconsistently, exactly what mr. hall was saying as far as the classification of the loan risk rating. naturally, it affects how much capital as reserved. >> mr. jacoby? one question. in your estimation, what are the economic policy silver bullets that would enhance capital and help us to sustain a growth environment? >> i wish there were silver bullets. two things that would really help, the first is stabilizing the housing and real-estate markets. as you hear from bankers in terms of how these loans are made, these bankers tell me the same thing always, it is the lack of collateral that has led to the housing situation. the second thing has to do with education. when we did our polling, prior to the recession and financial crisis, we found that small businesses have a problem finding people that were skilled and had the skills that they needed so that they could grow. it remains a problem. when we polled recently among its other problems, they still could not find the skilled and talented people that they needed. those

the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from texas, mr. hall, is recognized for one minute. mr. hall: mr. speaker, i'm honored today to again recognize our guest chaplain, the reverend dr. joe c. pool, pastor of my home church, hometown, first united methodist church of rockwell, texas. he spansd more than 0 years in texas and served in pastor in urban and gainesville prior to serving in my hometown. reverend pool earned a bachelor of arts degree from the southwestern university in georgetown. earned both a master of theology degree and doctor of ministry degree from perkin school of theology at southern met disuniversity. he's been a long time member of the executive board. over the past quarter century reverend pool has led mission trips to the appalachian region, mks, and been involved in hurricane recovery and rebuilding efforts throughout texas, louisiana, through hurricanes andrew, katrina, and rita. active in community service he was selected as an outstanding young man of america three times and also selected for inclusion in who's who

he says yesterday mr. hall, that's the publisher, wrote that the proofreader was improving my punctuation, and i ordered him shot without giving him time to pray. [laughter] now, in order to give you a sample of what are roughly 11,000 letters, i thought i would just take a small category, begging letters, answering or not answering. this is one in reply to someone who's asked him to support an orphanage. i beg to wish the best success and a long career of usefulness to the infant asylum, but words are empty. deeds show the earnest spirit. therefore, i am willing to be one of a thousand citizens who shall agree to contribute two or more of their children to this enterprise. [laughter] and he goes on and gives it a very nice signature, it's called a double signature, not always that way. mark twain's not cheap. he knows what they will do with it, they'll sell it, and they will get their $200 contribution. now, mark twain didn't always answer such letters, and when he didn't, he often wrote what he would have sai

. >> don't play games in city hall. >> mr. washington, can you please let us continue with the meeting? >> good morning, supervisors. in order to get greater community participation, i think that you are enabling legislation -- that the enabling legislation should mandate must comply with the sunshine ordinance. the city attorney has said that you are not subject to this ordinance, but i do not believe that this is correct. the task force has already given the opinion that the district is subject to this. you should mandate that all of this is subject to the sunshine ordnance. these to get grants from the city, for the funding. at a minimum, if the object is to get greater community participation, he must mandate and comply with this ordinance. thank you. >> the next speaker? is there any other speaker who would like to speak? please come forward. please line up so that we can keep the meeting moving. thank you. >> good morning. i am speaking to u.s. treasurer of the fillmore district, on fillmore street. >> please continue. >

mr. walter hall, who is the general counsel. i apologize for the tardiness of our oral statements and appreciate your indulgence. va supports the extension of eligibility for health care coverage for children until the age of 26. this would bring va's health care benefits for children in line with coverage available by the private sector under the affordable care act, which was enacted last year. this is an important program that will benefit all the 60,000 children of veterans. we appreciate the intent of f666, the dramatic brain injury and care act of 2011 which would require the secretary to provide a report. we appreciate the concerns about making these viable services available. i am pleased to report that we are expanding our service is by establishing enhanced support teams in four pierson, montana. we expect to have the staff in place to be providing services by the end of the year. we have taken steps to address the concerns of the veterans equal treatment act of 2011 which prohibits the secretary from excluding service

thank you, mr. hall. our next witness is lynn ozer.he executive vice president of the small business and sba lending at susquehanna bank in to the venue. she is representing the national association where she is bird -- served on may courses 1988. i let ford to hearing what you have to say. -- i look forward to hearing to what you have to say. all the members of the committee, as chairman graves mentioned, i am the exact a vice president of susquehanna bank, where i and manage sba and all government-guaranteed lending to allow our banks four state footprint for it is a state- chartered bank with -- which operates about 223 branches throughout the middle states. we are active in both sba and programs, currently holds of portfolio and government guaranteed loans. i'm also here representing more than 700 members of the national association of government guaranteed lenders, naggl, for the past 23 years. i have served on the board of directors. i've also served on their executive committee and is chair of the technical issues committee. nag

hall in the past few months he has been chief of the city. ladies and gentlemen, my dear friend, please join me in welcoming the 43rd mayor of city and county of san francisco, mr. edwin lee. [applause] mayor lee: thank you. thank you very much. welcome to the people's hall in san francisco. i want to first of all say -- i have always wanted to say this. the commissioner is such a wonderful person, and she has been our commissioner on immigrant rights commission, but you could see her when we walked in. she was hustling around getting everybody settled, doing what we needed to do to have a successful event, but she has been a wonderful adviser to me for so many years and a great asset to the city. i want to give you a round of a free shares applause. -- appreciative applause. thank you so much. it is my personal pleasure to welcome all of you here to celebrate nowruz. this has been something that supervisor mirkarimi and i talked about for so many years, to make sure we on this day and make sure all of you feel so warm and welcome, so, we are joined by supervisors wiener, farrell, cohen, and there will be other surprises that will come in as well. they know and

mr. walter hall, who is the general counsel, and i apologize for the tardiness of our oral statements and appreciate your indulgence. the va supports s. as 90 for the coverage of children under the program until the age of 26. this would bring the the va health care benefits for children at the line of coverage available by the private-sector under the affordable care act which was enacted last year. this is an important program and would potentially benefit almost 60,000 children of veterans. we appreciate the intent of s. 666, the traumatic brain injury act which would require the secretary submit a report on the advisability of establishing a broad polytrauma presence in northern iraq and we appreciate concerns about making these valuable services available in this area, and i am pleased to report based on the assessment, we conducted last year we are expanding our services by establishing the polytrauma support clich team and for terrorism, montana. we expect to have the stuff in place to begin providing the services by the end of the year. we support the intent of s. 760 - have taken

. >> and some of you remember a congressman who now works down the hall, mr. waxman, work their criminal cases and civil cases going in the falluja four and in the pat tillman case? were to both of those when the chairman of this committee brought both of those before the congress, including testimony? didn't they both have other activities going on? anyone remember the? i mean i do but i want to make sure i am remembering correctly. >> i remember that, just. >> so it seems like we do have a strong issue. i think, mr. fisher, at one point you had talked in terms of the political and i think mr. tatelman did, too. political versus legal and political versus constitutional. our investigation about whether the policy including a 20 year old policy or 22 year-old policy at atf, has been asserted to say that it's okay for guns to walk. it's okay for deadly weapons to get in the hands of people have been could kill a federal agent or some other innocent bystander. that questioning, that policy which is at the heart of this investigation, should we wait while the atf

hall hiring scandal. >> it is inappropriate for you to be asking me questions as a witness in this case. you are a witness in this case. >> mr. brown, you are a delusional. >> sulaiman brown was refusing to answer questions by a council member. brown claimed that he was promised a job and was paid money to run a smear campaign against adrian fenty. a civil action filed against council member harry thomas jr.. thomas is accused of misusing hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars. the d.c. attorney general says thomas diverted $300,000 in youth baseball funds for his personal benefit. he says the money went to travel and golf outings and nearly $50,000 for luxury suv. thomas says he is innocent. >> i am confident once we have the information that has been provided to my legal counsel in this civil suit, which has been presented by the government, we will be vindicated. >> attorney general is asking $4 million of reimbursement of punitive damages and the fbi is investigating. >>> new this morning all three underground cables on north capitol street that lost power last tuesday are prepared now. it's go those streets will rema

hall. and i put as many bookshelves in as mrs. mcalister will allow me to put in. but i have in these two shelves, these are my civil war collection. like, i think, southerners are different than other americans in that -- that we're really more concerned with our history. and the question keeps coming up, you know, why don't you folks get over this civil war. well, i think we're over the civil war but what we aren't over is american heritage. and we have so much more history available to us about the civil war period than we do, for example, the revolutionary war period. here's one that shows the savannah connection. this fellow sneaden was a map maker and was captured as a p.o.w. and then was transferred over various parts of the south. and frequently he was at liberty and was able to make drawings and all. here's a drawing he made of the confederate p.o.w. camp in savannah. he was here in september of 1864. if he had been here in december, he could have greeted general sherman when he came to town, but this is apparently in forsyth park because we have here the

mr. chairman. the be yourself or she can reflect on this. the the just and pressing a bit when i am noticing when the county hall, in response to the efforts, who they are adjusting it. and you give me a little bit of contrast about what they are doing that looks like a response to our own strategies and how this seems to respond to their playing games. >> we will get into design of what we recommend to be the program designed in light of the presentation you have just heard. but they have proposed changes to their redesigned, both collapsing the tears -- tiers and proposing to flatten in the generation component of rates. i will get more into that as we talk about program design. >> some of the tiered structure is that happening everywhere? >> it is happening territory- wide. we can only distinguish between customer classes and not locationally. >> this slide shows you the pg&e generation rate for 2011 residential customers and our climate zone. it shows you on the blue line the rates that pg&e currently houas for the generation component of rates. you can see how it steps up based on the increase in consumption month-to-month. that is the

this is an area are where i made use of my entrance hall, and i put as many book shelves as mrs. mcallister will allow me to put in. but i have in these two shelves, these are my civil war collection. like i think southerners are different than other americans in that we're really more concerned with our history. the question keeps coming up, you know, why don't you folks get over the civil war, well, i don't -- i think we're over the civil war, but what we aren't over is american heritage. and we have so much more history available to us about the civil war period than we do, for example, the revolutionary war period. here's one that, you know, kind

hall meeting at 1:00. cnn reports that after new hampshire, mr.ravel to south carolina on wednesday and florida on thursday and as you have heard, he will be back in utah and nevada on friday. ♪ [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] >> mr. huntsman is heading to new hampshire for his first appearance as a candidate in a town hall meeting at exeter. other candidates include ron paul will be in iowa and will begin the day and council bluffs with supporters and then he travels to sergeant bluff in iowa for a meeting this afternoon. rick santorum is in iowa today for a meet and greet and in oskaloosa this morning. this afternoon, he is in creston. he will be at council bluffs this afternoon. we want to keep track of the candidates and follow the recent video including the recent video for the weekend for the republican leadership conference in new orleans. you can go to our campaign website, c-span.org/campaign 2012. [no audio] cspan has launched a new easy to navigate website for politics and the 2012 presidential race with the lates

mr. president, you are the germ, this crowd in damascus chanted in. in the northwest hundreds gathered outside the town hall. words won't help you, they cried. what do we want? freedom. that is the hope among more than 10,000 refugees now camping across the border in turkey. assad urged them to return. the state is like a father and mother, he said, promising they would be safe. the response here, more protests against him. and in this camp, another shoe was whacked at the president's face. >> we have been listening to such speeches for 41 years. we have been listening to promises of unity, freedom and socialism, but nothing has been changed. >> reporter: today assad gave no hint of stepping aside. and will stay on t seems, unless his own army turns against him or an extraordinary-- gives him no choice but to go. >> late today the president of turkey >> sreenivasan: late today, the president of turkey, abdullah gul, said assad's speech was "not enough." he said the syrian leader should agree to establish a multi-party system. greece suffered through rolling power blackouts today as part of new protest again

mr. farr: i'd be curious at your town hall meeting if you said, would you rather take $604 million out of the program that feeds women, infant and children or would you like to take $604 million out of the defense department for a war we're putting on a credit card? for an afghan war we're putting on a credit card, the iraq war we're putting on a credit card or the prescription drug program that wasn't paid for under the republican plan? how about asking people about their choices. we authorized a defense bill in committee where we talked about billions and billions of dollars. and those were all borrowed money. so why don't we get our priorities straight. we spent three hours here last night discussing what the implications are of cutting the w.i.c. program. i don't think this is a country that wants to balance its budget on the backs of the poorest people in the united states. on the people most vulnerable, on the people that need basic services. that's what this amendment does. mr. broun, i know you're interested in cutting, squeezing, and trimming but there are places to do that and t

mr. speaker, as you go through the halls of congress, and the offices of the house, you'll see many such posters as this. listing those who have given their lives for america in the war in iraq. but next on this list is sergeant brandon bury. he was a member of the united states marine corps. he was killed at the age of 26 on june 6, 2010. june 6. d-day. he was killed on the anniversary date of d-day. he was from kingwood, texas. he was a big guy. he was 6'6" and he was all marine. he was an impressive individual and his friends say even back in middle school he knew what he wanted to do. he wanted to be a million of the united states marine corps. next to him, number 32, specialist matthew catlett, united states army. at the age of 23 years of age -- 23 years he was killed on june 7, the very next day, after sergeant brandon bury was killed. he was from houston, texas, and he fought for liberty, he fought for people he did not know in a land that he had never been. he was an american. that rare breed that gave his life for people far, far away and for americans in this land. staff serge

mrs. roosevelt's visit. the first thing they all answered was, she was very tall. you figure the japanese americans who were not very tall. one told me a store of her entering the mess hall where no whites were supposed to be and asking for a blast of butter milk, and all the japanese americans were staring out her, and she drinks the milk and says, this milk is sour, and they all looked at her and said, who is going to tell her it's always sour as soon as she got back from the camp, she went to los angeles, the pele -- belly of the beast as it were, and if we didn't get the japanese our -- out of the camps we will have another india on our hand, and she wrote a column on the japanese americans and on their contributions. so, her story is largely a positive one, although there was a limit to what she was able to achieve with president roosevelt. yes, sir? [inaudible question] >> the question is whether in hawaii other cultural groups, such as the chinese and koreans and filipinos -- did they speak out on behalf of the japan americans in hawaii. the answer is yes. part of my research on eleanor roosevelt is her exchanges at a chinese american ymca director by the name of

every town hall round table and civic club in my district, the four letter word on the lips of everyone's tongue was debt. mr. president, tax the biz who can pull out the slump, say it's time to cut up the american credit cards. they'll tell you washington doesn't back away from the cliff of more debt, more spending, more regulation, we might cease to recognize our great nation in the future. today two years after that economic recovery, supposedly started years after we spent $820 billion against all republican objections, that stimulus, we have fewer americans working today than when the stimulus began. 1.5 million people fewer working than when all that stimulus was supposed to jump-start the economy. manufacturing's down. factory orders are down. consumer confidence is down. we would promise our unemployment rate would be 6.5%. it's almost 9%. we have the lockest -- longest number of people out of work, unemployed. it's almost at historic levels. we have fewer people working today than almost a quarter of a century ago. fewer people in the work force than almost a generation. the stimulus failed. it's ti

mrs. obama finds a supporters. but first, several people under arrest for a bay area filter. we have a look at what is happening. >> five teenage boys in juvenile hallon-with the sexual assault. they're accused of assaulting others who into during a field trip, that was to a park in redwood city. not too far from where the campus is located, kennedy middle school in redwood city. in the police say the attempted rapes were not reported until the end of the school year. they were part of the volunteer newcomer program for students that have been in the u.s. for less than one year. we find out how the school district is handling the situation in tonight's top story at 6:00 p.m.. >> the reports--the tax reported the happened here at a park back in march. now i'm wondering if the policies will change when it comes to field trips. >> how are you dealing with parents that are asking how could this happen? >> we have notified of the parents that it had students involved. >> the school district is conducting its own investigation but would not go into details because of confidentiality reasons. they're looking to see if safety details were carried out correc

hall. sanchez will have an mri today. he hurt himself last night in the 5th inning. the giants are wait, for the mr, results.become the fifth member of the opening day starting lineup to go on the disabled list. >>> sanchez's injury came during another close game for the giants. they were down in the 5th inning when the double scores. then in the 9th, bases loaded, nate comes through with a walkoff single, and beat the reds 3-2. that's the giants' ninth walkoff win and they're tied for the most in the majors this season. game 3 of the series today at 1:10, here on ktvu. >>> in chicago, the a's were locking to give bob melvin his first win as their manager. they came from behind to do it. and the single pulls the a's within one. and then two batters later, curt suzuki was hit by a pitch. that loaded the bases and they didn't stay loaded for long. scott sizemore brings in all three runners with a double. a's win 7-5. >>> there's more tallout this morning in the anthony wiener sex-ting scandal and this time it involves an underage girl. >>> good morning. live look over the oakland estuary, dealing with mostly g

mr. dicks, been a real privilege to work with you on this. but above all, extraordinarily proud to serve as subcommittee chairman under my chairman hall rogers of kentucky. -- hal rogers of kentucky who i count as a role model and mentor to me. he's been a good fren and great leader for this committee and is a stalwart fiscal conservative, committed to make sure our men and women in uniform are -- continue to be the very best military in the world. it's my privilege to be here tonight to present this bipartisan bill to the house. i reserve the balance of my time. happily -- the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from georgia. mr. bishop: thank you, mr. chairman. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i am pleased to join chairman culberson as the house takes up the fiscal year 2012 appropriations bill for veterans construction, veterans affairs and related agencies. the v.a. bill is critically important to the strength and the well-being of our military, our veterans and the families who sacrifice so much to defend our country. working with chairman culberson and the members of the subcommittee, we've crafted a bill that will a

mr. president, is falling, not rising. people come into my town halleetings and say, "i've done everything that i could do over the last decade but i'm earning less at the end than i was at the beginning." and saying to me, "you know, michael, we sent our first kid to the fancy school but we're not going to be able to send our second kid there." or "we can't send our kid to the best college that they got into." we need to be working on that. we have an energy policy in this country right now -- or maybe it's better to say a lack of an energy policy in this country right now -- that forces us to ship billions of dollars a week of our treasure to the persian gulf to buy oil. that doesn't make any sense. i was on a call last week with farmers from my state that were saying to me, they are being driven out of business by the broken immigration policy that we have. now, i think the people at home are sick and tired of the screaming match. i think the people at home are sick and tired of the partisanship. i believe that people don't think it's going to addre

another town hall meeting tomorrow, a telephone town hall with my constituents to talk about these issues and what our national priorities should be. mr. carnahan: the republican extreme ideological war is a disturbing trend, using national emergencies, the full faith and credit of the united states and our seniors' health care as if they're bargaining chipping. the american people and the missourians i represent deserve better. it's time we come together like adults to find serious solutions to our complex problems and it's time to stop threatening medicare. important institutions, our national credit and the national commitment to lend a hand to those in need and especially those suffering through natural disasters. we can solve this wouth trying to scare markets or scare seniors. let's get serious about -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. carnahan: and growing jobs. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado rise? >> for permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlema

mr. dicks, been a real privilege to work with you on this. but above all, extraordinarily proud to serve as subcommittee chairman under my chairman hall rogers of kentucky. -- hal rogers of kentucky who i count as a role model and mentor to me. he's been a good fren and great leader for this committee and is a stalwart fiscal conservative, committed to make sure our men and women in uniform are -- continue to be the very best military in the world. it's my privilege to be here tonight to present this bipartisan bill to the house. i reserve the balance of my time. happily -- the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from georgia. mr. bishop: thank you, mr. chairman. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i am pleased to join chairman culberson as the house takes up the fiscal year 2012 appropriations bill for veterans construction, veterans affairs and related agencies. the v.a. bill is critically important to the strength and the well-being of our military, our veterans and the families who sacrifice so much to defend our country. working with chairman culberson and the members of the subcommittee, we've crafted a bill that will a

hall because he represents the living embodiment of the united states senate. during his time in office, his powerful position as chairman of the senate armed services committee aptly rendered him the label of mr. defense, a role for which he continues to be remembered. he was known as one of the nation's leading experts on military and defense policy, acting as advisor to six presidents. valued for his knowledge and judgment, he was called a great patriot who never failed to facilitate the united states when its security was an issue by then-president richard nixon. in a dedication speech given on this very floor 15 years ago, my good friend senator sam nunn recalls senator russell's strong belief in independence and co-equal role of the congress of the united states. and his insistence that he had not served under six presidents but rather senator russell served with six presidents, and there is a real difference. senator russell later served as this body's senior senator, becoming president pro tempore of the senate, putting him fourth in line to the succession of the presidency. but beyond all of his accomplishments, what truly set senator russell apart from other men was his commitment to

mr. president, last night, between 6:00 and 7:00, i did a telephone town hall meeting back to georgia. we had a little over 3,000 people on the call and i was able to handle 16 questions. as i listened to the answers that i was giving to the questions, i was struck by what a real problem we have in washington. washington is making things worse. georgians are frightened for their jobs, the value of their home, the education of their children. they are uncertain about everything, and as you give them answers about what's happening in washington, you realize washington is making it worse, and i want to give a couple of examples based on my experience. first of all, let's talk about legislation for a second. you know, we have high unemployment, 9.1%, high unemployment. we have people without jobs or underemployed. we have a law in the united states called the work force investment act. i'm on the subcommittee that overseas it in the education committee. we have basically had an agreement on the expansion and reauthorization of the work force act for months, but it languishes in committees