mr. berg: mr. speaker, senate bill 2039 is a bipartisan bill sponsored by senators from north dakota conrad and hoeven which passed the senate by unanimous consent in january of this year. this bill will provide a great deal of help to the citizens of our state. the text of 2039 allows for a process of building permanent levees on federal land in north dakota. with the approval of fema and the army corps of engineers. i want to highlight the unique situation we have in north dakota. and this legislation tends to address just that. first of all, fargo, north dakota, it's faced repeated flooding along the red river which runs through the heart of the city. the city is constructed to permanent -- has constructed a permanent levee. however, over the years some properties have been bought out along the river bank with federal funds. as a result, we have a patchwork of properties that exist along this levee system with gaps in the system. recurring flooding along the red river requires temporary levees t

an amendment by mr. berg of north dakota. an amendment by mr. garamendi of california. amendment number 1 by mr. mulvaney of south carolina. amendment number 9 by mr. mulvaney of south carolina. amendment number 5 -- an amendment by mr. stearns of florida. the chair will reduce to two minutes the time for any electronic votes after the first vote in this series. the unfinished business is a request for a recorded vote on the second amendment offered by the gentleman from iowa, mr. king, on which the ayes prevailed by vose vote. -- voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: second amendment offered by mr. king of iowa. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. and this will be a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-capti

the chair: the gentleman from north dakota, mr. berg, is recognized for five minutes. mr. berg: i have the distinct honor to represent several military installations in my state of north dakota, including the my knot air force base, and -- the minot air force base, and the fifth bomber wing, which relates to the amendment i have to offer today. the amendment i offer today along with my colleague mrs. lummis and representative rehberg of montana, it's very straightforward. it prohibits the fiscal year 2013 funds from being used to implement plans under the new star treaty. -- under the new start treaty. to reduce the number of nuclear weapons, which reduces america's ability to develop and use our nuclear defense capabilities. we all know that during the 2010 lame duck session, the senate ratified the treaty and president obama made a promise to congress that as long as he was president, we will continue to invest in nuclear modernization. mr. chairman, since then, he has backed away from his promise. we all heard the president's unsettling off-mike comments that he would ha

mr. berg. mr. berg: i thank the gentleman for yielding the time. madam speaker, i request unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. berg: thank you, madam speaker. today i rise to urge congress to grant permanent normal trade relations with russia. also known as pntr. russia will soon join the world trade organization. this will increase trade with russia and create significant export opportunities. however, before we can take advantage of these trade benefits, we must grant permanent normal trade relations with russia. this is a great opportunity for our state of north dakota to increase trade with the ninth largest economy in the world. in 2011, last year, north dakota had over $46 million worth of exports to russia. this impacts 160 jobs in our state directly. that number will grow significantly if we grant pntr to russia. on the other hand, failing to grant pntr will significantly impact north dakota businesses as well as all american businesses. it will put us at a competitive disadvanta

mr. berg: thank you, madam speaker. last night the house ag committee finished its work on the farm bill late last night, and i applaud chairman lucas and the ranking member peterson for their work. i rise today to call for full consideration of the farm bill before the house. agriculture is the backbone of north dakota. and north dakota farmers and ranchers deserve the stability and certainty that a long-term re-authorized farm bill would provide. when the farm bill passing through committee with bipartisan support, including strong crop insurance, now is the time for the full house to act on it. i urge my colleagues to join with me and work together to get this bipartisan farm bill passed. thank you and with that i yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from oregon rise? >> i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. blumenauer: thank you, madam speaker. a beloved wife of our de

mr. green berg or before there was any public announcement of the probe against greeneberg and aig. i know the date and remember it clearly because i was in the attorney general's office that day to meet with spitzer and his staff concerning the march probe. i was representing a client with connection to his investigation and i there was to speak to him about that. >> did you say anything to him about his comments at this meet something. >> frankly i was taken aback because i was not there to talk about them, i was there to talk about their role in the investigation, and i was really surprised after referencing some comments that hank greeneburg ma made recently. they were prosecuting him for murder for essentially jay walking. but what followed was a wrath ir startling personal attack that was i was surprised by. i really was just quite surprised at the nature of his comments. >> a couple things, just to be clear, are you saying the only reason that elliott spitzer went off hank greenberg was because of a personal vendetta? >> i wasn't there to talk about this, but it wasn't that h

. >> mr. berg, my firs comment reflects the previous questi neloent cpeat a bi.f es aroam f qur ieteti thes a lot of difference for the unemployed and the disabled. the habits that are developed in d dil nt.iods of unempymt psa aha oreo cowondre are lot of other -- once we agree we have a social welfare structure weave decisions that will not go away. e tis wh reliv quen f sbefi whwo bth the other thing which is much broader and -- our social welfare benefits expandg every year. puan draut wthert is ar o 3yes ev orrebls w and 110% more democrats and is growing. weaken orient that growth not so much for conmption of adequacy alareiren o findft me wa nt tdsk rioferrolst i don't want to take much time on. >> if we a going to have means nc rwhisse fuonafe have marginal tax rates. the best we can do is have the phase out be as long and gradual possible. era eoitst eele t aias ftamps whthrginal tax rate is kept low. work support the critically important as we mentioned earlier. transportation and child c emh mo itaha hat wrk.r quvaabily bs more to the demand side. i ce

mr. berg: last week, the house ag committee reported out of committee an ag bill. i ask for this important measure to be brought to the floor for a vote as soon as possible. agriculture is the back bone of north dakota's economy. our great state leads the nation in nine different commodities. this farm bill takes into consideration the unique things within our state and within many other states as it relates to agriculture and those commodities. specifically, it implements a strong crop insurance program. that would be so beneficial in times like these where we're facing severe drought in much of our nation. north dakota's farmers and ranchers need the stability that this farm bill can bring. it needs to be a long-term authorization. it's now -- now is the time for the house to act. for farmers and ranchers across this country, now is the time to ensure that we act on this important piece of legislation and get it re-authorized for the long-term. the time for the farm bill is now. thank you. with that, i yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore:

mr. perfect was given the honor by tony la russa. he will be opposed by justin berg lander.e has been one of baseball's best all year. a 9/3 record. the first all-star game that he will pitch. >> and onto the graphic that you see before you. this decision already being criticized. as great as he has been, the mets have more wins and strikeouts and complete games and a lower earned run average. >> we want to reward matt came for a career of excellence, it is getting better and better. it was a tough call. but i think that when anyone pitches for either side, i think it is a great experience. only a little more special to start the game. >> i found out yesterday when i was getting over to the hotel. i was extremely excited about the whole thing and just hard to think about what their lineup would be and what i wanted to do. when tomorrow comes around. and just kind of relax and take it all in. >> he makes it for giants' starting the game. buster posy catches and basked 6. paulo san of all at third and will bat seventh for the national league. the a's fans hope that ryne coke g