mr. berman: mr. speaker, i yield myself 15 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 15 seconds. mr. berman: the gentleman from michigan just spoke on behalf of the republican substitute but he's a major co-sponsor of the reconstruction opportunity zones. unlike the bill in front of us, the republican substitute does not contain the r.o.z.'s, the reconstruction zones. i'm wondering how the gentleman squares that with his position. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. berman: i now yield two minutes to the gentleman from massachusetts who has done remarkable work on the issue of how the $12 billion given to pakistan over the past seven years -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for two minutes. mr. tierney: i thank mr. berman for allocating the time. i sometimes wonder listening to this particular substitute whether some people here wlrks it's the administration or our friends on the other side of the aisle have be

mr. berman: would the gentleman yield? mr. rohrabacher: i yield. mr. berman: i appreciate it. the answer is that i certainly do agree. in the case of china under our legislation all satellites and related components must remain on the united states munitions list. mr. rohrabacher: thank you very much, mr. chairman. i thank you and the ranking member. this is a vitally important clarification for our aerospace industry which is -- and at the same time while opening up better trade and technology with friendly countries, it ensures that we do not send technology to the chinese. i yield. mr. berman: the gentleman's remarks are worth elaborating on. the whole notion of a domestic commercial satellite industry is very much at stake if we can't in appropriate situations export and arrange for those kinds of transfers. i think it is part of what the gentleman pointed out that is why both the satellite industries association and the aerospace industries association support this legislation. mr. rohrabacher: thank you very much. thank you to the ranking member as well. i yield back the

mr. berman: mr. chairman, i rise to take the opposition even though i do not oppose the amendment. the chair: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. berman: mr. chairman, the gentleman's amendment encourages the administration to create a comprehensive interagency strategy and implementation plan for sudan. i have spoken with mr. mccaul about his proposal and agree that developing a coherent approach to this situation in sudan is critical. the united states must make every effort to address the ongoing and interrelated crises in sudan. the u.s. should work toward a stable and lasting peace in the region that has seen so many tragedies in recent years. i have no objection to this amendment. i look forward to working with mr. mccaul on this provision as the bill moves through the process, and i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. mr. berman: i reserve. the chair: the gentleman from texas. mr. mccaul: i urge support of this amendment and i yield back the balan

mr. berman: mr. chairman, i'm very pleased to yield to a great member of the committee, the gentleman from missouri, mr. carnahan, one minute. the chair: the gentleman from missouri is recognized for one minute. mr. carnahan: thank you, mr. chairman. i rise in strong support of this foreign relations authorization act. it provides the necessary resources for the state department to fully carry out its core mission, u.s. diplomacy, based on smart power. as advanced by president obama and secretary of state clinton. from authorizing funding for the u.n., peacekeeping operations, for international organizations to establishing a critical study abroad program and doubling the size of the peace corps. this bill provides critical support for the state department and helping to restore our image around the world, all critical tools for u.s. diplomatic power. one of my particular interests is looking for ways to increase and enhance study abroad programs. having studied overseas myself in undergrad i'm very

mr. berman: will the gentleman yield? ms. johnson: yes. mr. berman: i just want to express my strong support for this. this issue is an important one and i appreciate you raising it along with other contributions of other members on this issue and i strongly support the resolution. ms. johnson: thank you very much, i yield. the chair: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the question is now on the amendment offered by the gentlelady from texas. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. poe: i have an amendment the at the desk. the chair: it it is now in order to consider amendment number 26 printed in part c of house report is 111-14. the collect will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 26 printed in part c of house report 111-143 offered by mr. poe of texas. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 522, the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, and a member opposed will each control five m

mr. berman 13k mr. chairman, i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the -- to my friend from california, the member of the committee, the gentlewoman, barbara lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. ms. lee: thank you, mr. speaker. first, let me thank the chairman for his very effective work on this bill and for your leadership. and for really bringing this forward to the committee so that all of us could have an opportunity to weigh in and talk about and amend and include many of the provisions that we believe allowed us to come to this floor today to support this bill. i believe, like many, i believe that by addressing pakistan rather than an escalation of the war in afghanistan is a much more effective way to address terrorism and our national security. i'm greatly encouraged by the goals of this legislation, which aims to put the united states smart power to work, which many of us have been talking about for many years. the smart power. this helps to reshape our rela

mr. berman. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. berman: thank you, madam chairwoman, and i rise to join the ranking member in supporting very strongly the amendment from the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. lynch. we have, i think, a general obligation to deal with the issue of the refugees as a consequence of these conflicts both in iraq and in afghanistan. but we have a particularly strong duty to deal with the status of people who were displaced or objects were persecution or retribution or retaliation because those individuals helped either our military or our diplomats or our a.i.d. people in terms of the conflict in either one of those countries. this is an issue that i personally was very involved with in the last couple of years. the gentleman's amendment, i think, helps to spur us to deal with some of the problems in the program now and to do more in this regard and it's certainly an amendment that if it is passed, i would want to see in the final legislation and urge its adoption. the chair: the gentleman's time has expir

mr. berman: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on h.r. 1886. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. berman: mr. speaker, at this time, i would like for purposes of opening general debate, yield to the chairman of the house armed services committee, of whom we have -- whom we have work very closely with in putting together a bill we can bring to the floor a very good bill, his help and he help of his staff working with our staff has really been just indy spenceable to the progress of this effort, three minutes to the gentleman from missouri, the chairman of the house armed services committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. skelton: i thank the gentleman for yielding. this measure before the house today is very well one of the most important pieces of legislation we will consider regarding national security. i first must compliment the ch

mr. berman: mr. chairman, i'm pleased to yield oto another new member of the house and of the committee, a great member, mr. mcmahon, one minute. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. mcmahon: i would like to thank the gentleman from california, chairman berman, for working with all the members of this committee, the more senior and the junior as well. and in particular for including provisions raised by so many of my constituents back home. as we know, effective diplomacy requires a defense strategy and requires a combination of several important efforts. as my colleague, the great gentleman from gentleman, mr. connolly, was mentioning, secretary gates himself said long-term security challenges require the government to operate with unity, creativity and agility and committing more resources to nonmilitary instruments of national power. mr. speaker, the united states must be more serious about its dip plo lowe mattick commitments, responsibilities, and presence overseas to ensur

mr. berman: mr. speaker, i yield myself one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. berman: mr. speaker, my friend, my ranking member correctly cited a whole series of very important issues that we the united states has with the government of iran. and she is correct. this resolution, the reason i worked to bring this up on this quick notice, is about what she pointed out at the end of her comments. this resolution is not about a recitation of all those issues. it's about an affirmation of something that this house of representatives has done in places all over the world. whether it is in tibet or in cuba or in eastern europe or in the middle east or any other region, to reaffirm our commitment to stand for certain fundamental principles involving human rights, participatory democracy, and the affirmation of the rights of the people of any country. today it's about the people of iran and with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

mr. berman: will the gentleman yield? mr. hunter: yes. mr. berman: while the gentleman has broken the podium, his amendment does not break the task force. it improves it. the secretary of defense should be a member of that task force. this amendment essentially establishes that rather than leave it to the secretary of state's discretion. that's fine with me. i support the amendment and urge its adoption and yield -- i thank the gentleman for yielding and yield back. mr. hunter: thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from california. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is fwred to. -- agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 5 printed in part c of house report 111-143. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? mr. nadler: mr. speaker, i have an amendment at the desk made in order by the rule. the chair: the clerk will designate t

mr. berman: mr. speaker, thank you. what we see -- the speaker pro tempore: is the gentleman opposed to the motion? mr. berman: jim strongly opposed to the motion. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. berman: what we see in the offering of this motion to recommit is a political party or the leadership of a political party that, number one, is not serious about pursuing an effective strategy to stop iran from developing a nuclear weapons capability. and two, is using the pretext of iran to strike every single provision of the bill that we have been -- we have presented and debated on. the very first provision of this bill is to strike all that follows after the enacting clause. then my friend from indiana takes a bill that i'm the sponsor of, along with congresswoman ros-lehtinen and a number of people on both sides that now has something like 155 co-sponsors to focus on the issue of refined oil products going to iran and eviscerates that bill by taking every single trade sanction, all the financial institutions s

mr. berman: mr. chairman, when you -- i'm very pleased to yield two minutes to the vice chair of the subcommittee on terrorism, nuclear nonproliferation and international trade of the foreign affairs committee, the gentleman from georgia, mr. scott. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for two minutes. mr. scott: thank you very much, mr. speaker. mr. chairman, thank you very much. this is really the most critical, the most important piece of legislation facing us right now. the situation in pakistan is very ten with us. it is a -- tenuous. it is very critical. we have before us a very significant piece of legislation that has been expertly crafted. yes, trade is a part of it because trade is important at this time to make sure that we are able to help sustain the economy of pakistan at this very critical time. pakistan is in a fragile situation. military aid is in here. yes, because pakistan needs this. but we have the safeguards here because let me just -- the other side

mr. berman. mr. berman: every day since iran's election, the streets of tehran have been filled with demonstrators and each day this past week, the numbers seem -- the number seems to be growing. even state-run media in iran has put the number of demonstrators in tehran at hundreds of thousands. one british newspaper reports that there were a million demonstrators in tehran yesterday. what do these demonstrators want? are they simply in favor of the candidate, or are they making a more profound statement about the iranian regime? nobody knows exactly. we do know one thing, though. the demonstrators feel their intelligence was insulted and their dignity assaulted by the high handed man for the which the results of the june 12 election were handled. they want justice. this morning the supreme leader offered none. it is not for us to decide who should run iran, much less determine the real winner of the june 12 election. but we must reaffirm our strong belief that the iranian people have a fundamental ri

mr. berman: mr.chairman, the united states now confronts the most complex array of threats in many decades, if not the entire history of our nation. afghanistan and pakistan, iran, north korea, terrorism, nuclear proliferation, drug trafficking and climate change all pose major challenges to our national security. we must confront these threats in the midst of a global financial crisis with enormous ramifications both at home and around the world. our brave men and women in uniform are making unbelievable sacrifices to protect our security interests around the globe. they and their families deserve our deepest respect and gratitude. we should not expect the military to shoulder the entire burden. the state department and our other civilian foreign affairs agencies have a critical role to play in protecting u.s. national security. diplomacy development and -- diplomacy, development, and defense are the three key pillars of our national security policy. by wisely investing resources to strengthen our d

mr. berman: mr. chairman, for the life of me,ky not understand why the gentlelady's amendment seeks to cut what may be one of the most important processes that could take place to learn how to do things better and i strongly oppose the amendment and i yield three minutes to the gentleman from massachusetts. who is sort of the originator of this proposal. in some ways. >> i thank the gentleman for yielding and rise in strong opposition to this amendment as well. this provision is intended to improve the effectiveness of the state department and usaid, to save taxpayer dollars. so that there is greater firktcy, improved capabilities, less waste, more bang for the buck, if you will. to do that, we've taken a page from the military. section 303 is modeled after lessons learned centers in the armed services. these are mechanisms if you will, which allow our men and women in uniform to learn from the successes and as importantly, the mistakes of their colleagues. by cutting down on the need to reinvent the

mr. berman. california is recognized for three minutes. mr. berman: thank you very much, mr. speaker. and, again, to my friend from florida for yielding me some additional time. i'd like to use this time to deal with one of the points made by friend from florida, mr. diaz-balart, and more substantially to the issue raised by the gentleman from new jersey, mr. smith. mr. diaz-balart cited a letter signed by the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and the secretary of defense that was sent a number of weeks ago long before a series of changes were made in this bill. at the time that letter was sent we had a very elaborate resolution of disapproval process for the presidential determinations. that has been struck. we had a very high waiver standard vital to national security interests. that has been struck. we had a great dispute that was existing over how the pakistan counterinsurgency cooperation fund should work. those issues have all been worked out with the house armed services committee. the house armed services committee has worked through all of these issues with us. they are r

mr. berman: i thank my ranking member for yielding. i want to add my support. the fact is, i had a chance to go to mexico city and the gentlelady from arizona is absolutely right, the guns are one issue, but the huge amounts of cash that are transported are another. and her amendment makes what i think are some good provisions in this legislation on strengthening the initiative even better and i urge its adoption. ms. ros-lehtinen: i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlelady from arizona. mr. kirk: madam chairwoman, i thank the chairman and ranking member for their help with this amendment. i ask my colleagues to support this amendment that addresses the key part of the fight against key drug trafficking organizations and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the gentlelady from arizona. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it and the amendment is agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 19 printed in part c of house report

mr. berman, one minute. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. berman: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank my friend for yielding. i have tremendous respect for my friend and colleague from massachusetts. i know he always has the best interest of the nation and our armed services at heart. but i must oppose the amendment. as much as all of us would like to have our brave men and women home again reunited with their loved ones, we don't have a choice but to keep the troops on the ground in afghanistan for some period of time. the only way we can succeed in afghanistan is to create an environment conducive to development and good governance. our u.s. military is an essential component of that. requiring president obama to develop an exit strategy only a few months after he increased the number of u.s. troops in afghanistan and launched a new strategy would raise questions about our commitment to the afghan people and complicate our efforts to help them create a stable and secure nation in a way that would supersede whatever benefits we could get from th

mr. chairman. i thank chairman berman for bringing this bill to the floor. simply stated, my amendment would remember the secretary of state to report to congress within 60 days on potential changes in treaty language and related u.s. laws that would improve other countries' compliance with the hague convention on international child abduction. let me briefly explain why this amendment is necessary. since 1980 the hague convention on the civil aspects of international child abduction was created to ensure in a child is wrongfully removed from his or her country of habitual residence from one parent by another parent, they would have an internationally recognized means by recovering the abducted child. unfortunately, one of my constituents has come face to face with the very real limitations of the current hague convention. in his efforts he's been trying to recover his kidnapped son from brazil which, like the united states, is a signatory of the hague convention. five years ago, five years ago this month mr. david goldman from central new jersey was trying

mr. berman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for three minutes. mr. berman: i thank the gentleman from florida for yielding me this time and i rise in strong support of the rule authorizing the foreign relations act to come to the floor. h.res. 522. this rule covers both h.r. 2410, the foreign relations authorization act for fiscal years 2010 and 2011, and h.r. 1886, the pakistan enduring assistance and cooperation enhancement act of 2009. these are both critical measures. h.r. 2410 provides the resources necessary for the president to realize his vision of making vigorous diplomacy a cornerstone of our strategy to promote u.s. national security. by wisely investing resources to strengthen our diplomatic capabilities, we can help prevent conflicts before they start and head off the conditions that lead to failed states. this approach is a much more cost-effective one than providing massive amounts of humanitarian aid, funding peacekeeping operations, or in the most extreme circumstances, deploying u.s. troops into harm's way. i think the rules committe

mr. berman, and the gentlewoman from florida, ms. ros-lehtinen, each will control 20 minutes. each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the >> mr. speaker, the streets of tehran have been filled with demonstrators, and each day this past week, the number seems to be growing. even state-run media in iran has put the number of demonstrators in tehran at hundreds of thousands. one british newspaper reports that there were a million demonstrators in tehran yesterday. what do these demonstrators want? are they simply in favor of the candidates

mr. speaker, i thank the gentleman from florida for yielding and at the outset let me thank chairman berman and ranking member ros-lehtinen for the support they've given me on this resolution and for bringing to to the house floor. also, let me thank my colleague from new york, mr. meeks, for being the prime co-sponsor of the bill and for his support in pushing it forward. of course, mr. faleomavaega, who does a truly outstanding job as chairman of the subcommittee. i want to thank him as well. mr. speaker, when i first introduced this resolution back in march, it was clear then obviously that korea was a major threat to world stability and a major threat to the national security of the united states and, of course, also to its asian neighbors. well, since then the situation has only gotten worse. as mr. bilirakis pointed out, it's been step after step, step after step, after progressive action, provocative action, action defying world opinion, defying resolutions to the united nations, and absolutely defying agreements that have been made with the six parties over the previous years. mr. s

mr. berman. he has said he's still holding to the position that he's not going to push it right now because president obama's policy is to reach out to iran and still seems to be the policy. but that bill is out there and may attract new support. there are other ideas e emerging such as sanctioning, trying to get other companies to stop selling telecommunications jamming and internet monitoring gear to iran. these are some new ideas that arose out of what we've seen. some other ideas, some members are interested in looking at, you know, iran's connections with china, latin america, russia, some of the other countries that have been somewhat skeptical about sanctioning iran or ian entering -- even entering alliances with iran, so some in congress are interested in looking more closely at those countries, so the unrest has manifested in congress not necessarily directly on the unrest itself although some resolutions have passed, but rather on going back and maybe advancing some of the sanctions ide

mr. berman, myself and many others in urging that this pattern of lowering to what we believe is a more fair rate or helping lower to what we believe is a more fair rate in fact flies in the face of terrestrial broadcasters continuing to say that the only fair amount to pay in the way of royalties to music producers, actual performers, is zero. the public today, mr. speaker, when they hear this, they hear this, will be shocked to find out that when they listen to terrestrial radio, nothing is paid to the artist. if they listen to internet radio, more than half of the gross revenues of these internet broadcasters is paid to the performers. as mr. inslee said, i do believe that perhaps it is too much, that there is in fact a point at which when you tax something too much, even if it's taxed to pay the performance, you may get too little of it. to that extent we need to find an amount that balances fairly, compensation for the creative artist who brought us this fine music and those who would seek to make it available to the public. i hope that this piece of legislation will help for those doin

finally i want to thank chairman berman, chairman gordon, mr. ehlers from michigan, and mr. carnahan for their work and want to at this point ask unanimous consent to insert an exchange of letters between chairman berman and chairman gordon into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. baird: i would also be remiss if i did not acknowledge the hardworking staff who contributed to this legislation namely dolly on the majority staff. malay williams on the majority staff, and also my personal staff as well. they have done an outstanding job on this piece of legislation. h.r. 1736 is a good bill. it doesn't cost anything. it just makes sure we apply our existing activities and resources as wisely as possible to the benefit of our security and prosperity. i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 1736. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. ole son: thank you -- mr. olson: thank you, madam speaker. looking around i have no further requests for time o

intellectual property subcommittee chairman howard berman for facilitating discussions between the parties. i'd like to also commend judiciary ranking member, mr. lamar smith, for his leadership in making this a truly bipartisan effort. and i urge my colleagues to support this important legislation. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california, mr. issa, is recognized. mr. issa: thank you, mr. spker. it's now my pleasure to yield for our response to the gentleman from south carolina for such time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i appreciate the gentleman from california yielding. h.r. 2344, the webcasting settlement act of 2009, grants limited statutory authority to sound exchange. the government designated entity that is responsible for disbursing webcast royalties to

mr. president, the resolution that i, on behalf of myself, senator lieberman, and others, is exactly the same as has been introduced by congressman berman and pence in the house of representatives. it's the exact same resolution, expresses support for all iranian citizens who embrace the values of freedom, human rights, civil liberties and rule of law, and for other purposes. the resolution expresses its support for all iranian citizens who embrace the values of freedom, human rights, civil liberties and the rule of law. it condemns the ongoing violence against demonstrators by the government of iran and progovernment militias as well as the ongoing government suppression of independent electronic communication through interference with the internet and cell phones and affirms the universality and the importance of democratic elections. basically, mr. president, what this is is a resolution that has been introduced in both houses which affirms america's fundamental respect and commitment to human rights to people no matter where they reside in the world. it's unfortunate in a way that this resolution is required since the administration

berman, and i ask our colleagues to support u.s. efforts in afghanistan and oppose the mcgovern amendment. the chair: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: i yield myself 15 seconds. mr. chairman, all we are trying to do is to fill in the holes of the strategy that president obama has already articulated. i think the american people would welcome that. i think the afghan people would welcome that. the notion that we are sending our men and women into harm's way without a clearly defined mission which includes a beginning, middle, and end to me is a mistake. mr. chairman, i'd like to yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from north carolina, mr. jones. the chair: a minute and a half. mr. jones: i thank the gentleman from massachusetts. i respect everyone's position and everyone's right. but i would like to say that to die for a mystique is an article written by andrew who i quote add few minutes ago. subtitle, the lessons our leaders didn't learn from the vietnam war. . here we are extending an eight-year commitment of our troops in afghanistan. what's going to happen three or four years from now if we are in the same situ

mr. berman: yes, mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield two minutes to an excellent member of the house foreign affairs committee, the gentleman from minnesota, mr. ellison. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota is recognized for two minutes. mr. ellison: i want to thank the crafters of the legislation. it's carefully crafted. it's clear that the universal values of freedom that are expressed in the resolution are done with a great amount of prudence and i think that's right. i think it is also important to understand that when the congress of the united states speaks, a lot of people listen, and so it's important to not allow the congress to be used as a tool in what is essentially an eternal -- internal fight in iran. so i would urge caution and urge the united states congress to stand up and speak about the universal values that we care about, democracy, freedom, due process of law, lack of violence in terms of solving political disputes, and not allow ourselves to be used as a weapon agains

mr. berman, for his efforts on this bill. as i do congresswoman ros-lehtinen on her efforts on what i think is the most pressing national security issue we face today. pakistan. and when you look at the troubles that they face and what a unique country it is, they are a nuclear armed sovereign nation that has expressed concerns about the eastern neighbors, the indians. and all of the efforts, both diplomatic, economic, militarily, intelligence that they apply to what they view as a problem set. and to the west of that country, even in their constitution, they treat differently, they give it special atonomy, the federal administer tribal areas. and that's the area that's caused afghanistan and the united states untold misery, danger, something we ought to worry about. and this bill in the most arrogant way says you know what, we know better than you, pakistan. we are going to make you set up a teacher pay scale, a teacher's pay scale if you want our federal money, if you want u.s. money to help us in the fight against terroris

mr. berman: seek to oppose the motion. i made a mistake earlier, i objected to the reading of the motion to recommit. i should have asked for a reading of the bill. as much as i admire the gentleman, the one thing clear to me is he didn't read the bill. we have absolutely no conditions or restrictions or efforts to earmark or tie up any of the economic assistance in this bill. why you would say that is only because someone told you that because when you look at the bill, we have some principles, some suggestions, we lay out things that need to be done to rebuild or to build democratic institutions in pakistan, to build a school system. we know that we are providing up to $12 billion, much in economic assistance for schools who have no teachers. we are providing money for teachers who have no education and don't know how to teach science and math. so we suggest in this bill some guidelines and tie no one's hands. we don't tie the secretary's hands. we don't tie the pakistanis' hands. when we put our pakistan bill, we went t