mr. blumenauer: i move to strike the last word. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. blumenauer: i rise in support of my amendment from my good friend from arizona. i appreciate his work over the years as we've tried to refocus attention and our resources in areas that are more productive for most american farmers and ranchers, for the taxpayer and for the general economy. i just heard my good friend talk about his concern about who's going to feed america in the future. well, the issue of having these lavish agricultural subsidies that are concentrated, 3/4 in the top 10 producers, and they are not people who are in the main producing food. the fruits and vegetables that people care about that would add to nutrition, the people that are in my agricultural community in oregon are basically shut out. they don't receive it. they are not getting support in terms that are market neutral. in terms of marketing, in terms of research, in terms of commonsense support for meeting their environmental objectives to protect clean water and habitat. being able to start tamping this

mr. blumenauer's amendments address that along with mr. flake's cutoff at $250,000 a year, that's profit. if you're an entity making a profit of over a quarter million dollars a year, should you really still be receiving taxpayer subsidies for the business that you're running? i think not. and we'll have another opportunity to consider that later tonight. . if we are serious, we should be serious about supporting this amendment tonight. and i'm happy to yield back. mr. blumenauer: i commend my friend what my friend from wisconsin is doing and i look forward to my comments. if we are serious, it's time to move in this area. and i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona rise? mr. flake: move to strike the last word. i rise in support of the kind amendment. we have heard here that we need this program to make us trade compliant. many of us learned when we did the last farm bill, when we did the level of subsidies, yet we plowed ahead and did it any way. last ap

mr. blumenauer: my friend from georgia talked about importing food from overseas. well, you know, the food that people in my state raise and i met with a blump of them last week again, the fruit and vegetables, they get zip. we are cutting back on the research funding for them. we are cutting back on marketing and helping nem comply with the environmental requirements because they are good stewards for the land and harding for them to do the work of producing food for america and lavish subsidies. we are 90%. if you care about protecting the food supply we redirect it and save $650 million and put it where it will do more good. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from wyoming rise? mrs. lummis: sfrike the number of words. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. lummis: i yield to the gentleman from minnesota. meertpeert i wanted to -- mr. peterson: it was discussed what we are trying to do what we are trying to do is the top 20 recipients and i got a copy of it, four of the top 0 resipens are those that did work. t

mr. blumenauer, is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. i would just pose questions to our panelists not to answer now because i have some others i want to get to. if you would reflect, because aappreciate mr. blhous, that we'll take over 79 million americans and freeze them in medicare as it is now, although my friend from wisconsin takes the reviled savings from the affordable care act and counts them, assumes them in trying to make his plan pencil, but we will be having a situation where there is a huge population that will grow smaller over time, but still millions of people, 30 years from now, an ever sicker, smaller population that my friend when he asked it to be scored just assumed the general fund would pick up the gap. i really appreciate it if you two experts might reflect and maybe share with the committee what that impact is going to be over time. >> just briefly? >> i don't have much -- if i have time at the end i might do it. but i just really like to be able to lock in what that means. we haven't been able to get a good fig

mr. blumenauer: it is time to stop the games. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, reserves. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, is recognized. mr. camp: i yield myself such time as i may consume. and i would just say during the eight years of the bush administration the debt limit was raised seven times for a total of 5 -- $5.365 trillion. according to the c.b.o., the congressional budget office, the nonpartisan c.b.o., the score of president obama's f.y. 2012 budget, the debt limit will have to be raised a total of $35.38 trillion during the four years he's president. that means that president obama will have raise the debt limit at twice the pace that president bush did. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. levin: i'll take 10 seconds. i think, mr. camp, s&p 500 did not down grade the threatened, let's be accurate. i now yield a minute and a half to

mr. blumenauer: as i've been analyzing the legislation coming before us, mr. farr, it appears that the legislation, if approved in the form that is before us, would have a really devastating impact upon american farmers, families and the environment. the legislation before us, as i understand it, cuts nearly $1 billion from the five main conservation programs. conservation programs that put money directly in the pockets of family farmers. over the last five years, these programs have been so popular that the list of farmers who want to participate greatly outweighs the availability. both the conservation stewardship program and the environmental quality incentives program have twice as many applicants as they can serve, and the wetlands reserve program and the grasslands reserve programs combined have over a million acres waiting to apply. these are not programs that are underutilized or ineffective. they appear to be widely popular and appear to have a direct benefit to america's farmers and ranchers. thess would appear to be exactly the same programs we shou

mr. blumenauer: it is time to stop the games. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin,eserves. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, is recognized. mr. camp: i yield myself such time as i may consume. and i wod just say during the eight years of the bush administration the debt limit was raised seven times for a total of 5 -- $5.365 trillion. according to the c.b.o., the congressional budget office, the nonpartisan c.b.o., the score of president obama's f.y.012 budget, the debt limit will have to be raised a total of $35.38 trillion during the four years he's president. that means that president obama will have raise the debt limit at twice the pace that president bush did. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. levin: i'll take 10 seconds. i think, mr. camp, s&p 500 did not down grade the threatened, let's be accurate. i now yield a minute and a half to a dis

mr. blumenauer: it is time to stop the games. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, reserves. the gentleman from michigan, mr. mp, is recognized. mr. camp: i yield myself such time as i may consume. and i would just say during the eight years of the bush administration the debt limit was raised seven times for a total of 5 -- $5.365 trillion. according to the c.b.o., the congressional budget office, the nonpartisan c.b.o., the score of president obama's f.y. 2012 budget, the debt limit will have to be raised a total of $35.38 trillion during the four years he's president. that means that president obama will have raise the debt limit at twice the pace that president bush did. i reserve e balance of my time. thspeaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. levin: i'll take 10 seconds. i think, mr. camp, s&p 500 did not down grade the threatened, let's be accurate. i now yield a minute and a half to a dis

mr. blumenauer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. mcgovern. i have some sympathy for my good friend from georgia, congressman kingston. he got dealt a tough hand by a really unpleasant, mean-spirited, unnecessary republican bill. there are real consequences for moving forward with the ryan budget. but in a sense, this is the first debate on the -- of the 2012 farm bill. we have a farm policy that spends too much on the wrong people to do the wrong thing. there are opportunities for us to rebalance the equity. you're hearing some debate about whether or not we should honor a w.t.o. commitment to brazilian farmers for $147 million a year. the only reason we're doing this is because congress in its wisdom would not cut back on the cotton subsidies that go to american farmers that are inappropriate and unnecessary. but instead of changing the system, we're paying brazilian farmers. that's goofy. and i think at a minimum, we ought to reshift that. put it into nutrition for poor women and c

mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. in their agitation over the debt, our republican friends have focused on program cuts alone. ignoring the harm to american families and the economic recovery. their mindless slashing of the budget is costing jobs while damaging communities. yesterday's news about e.p.a. cuts hurting local efforts at clean air and clean water is another example. more than a quarter of the deficit growth since 2001 resulted from the economic downturn which reduced tax revenues and increased problematic spending. you spend more on unemployment when more people are unplanned parenthood. our focus should be on job creation which reduces unemployment costs and increases tax revenue. however, in their first six months in the majority, the republicans have not passed any legislation to create jobs. the government budget is often compared to a household budget, but every family knows that expenses are just one side of the equation. how many americans in tough times take on second or even third jobs to increase

mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. today, we are starting the most important debate of 2012 in congress, the re-authorization of the farm bill. now, it's true that we are just talking about the ag appropriations bill and much of the reform agenda will be difficult or ruled out of order due to the restrictive approach of the rules, although in the past some of my republican leadership friends have had no compunction about legislating on appropriations bills. but here we will be protecting large agri business instead of american farmers, ranchers, consumers and the environment. this debate matters. each point that is made on the floor or in the media, each vote that is accumulated against the status quo and towards change and fairness is another step towards reforming the one area that almost every independent analyst agrees is right for reform. from the far right to the far left, people agree it's time. american agricultural policy is frozen in time through the past collection of farm bills. it misalindicates scarce dol

mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. it's time after a decade to wind down this american-afghanistan adventure. with his speech last night, president obama started a process america needs to accelerate, removing 100,000 combat troops from afghanistan. i supported the initial move 10 years ago against the taliban in afghanistan. it began on a very hopeful note. even with people like iran working with the united states in that critical 2001-2002 post-9/11 era. it was a tragic mistake not to finish the job and withdrawal with global support. instead, the bush administration sadly with support from too many in congress started a recognizals, flawed and ultimately tragic war in iraq. president obama recently says that we won't try to make afghanistan a perfect place. we won't because we can't. america has already invested enough. direct costs of over 1,500 american lives, approaching 1/2 trillion dollars. bear in mind, we've invested $2 trillion in the war against terror and the long-term costs are going to be between $4 tril

mr. blumenauer: i appreciate all my colleagues who represent the oregon coast in bringing this forward. my district may not touch the oregon coast but my constituents spend time there and value its beauty, the ecosystem and the economic benefits it brings to the united states. the underlying bill could allow an expedited drilling for offshore oil, a process that is expedited for those who would drill, but a process that is much worse for citizens who may object. we need to continue to respect the wishes of the people of oregon to keep oil rigs off our shores to drill off the coast of oregon. this is an appropriate safeguard to protect our coastal communities. and i yield back. the chair: the gentleman from oregon reserve? mr. schrader: reserves. the chair: who seeks time? the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. gardner: when i was seeking the opportunity to ask the gentleman to yield, section 328 applies to any offshore projects authorized under the outer continental shelf lands act. all offshore energy projects must have a permit. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the

mr. blumenauer. we must find a bipartisan solution to this. we need to be more optimistic. there have been some comments that have been made that sort of puzzle me a little bit. the question was asked earlier, why are we even paying attention to this issue? i think it is obvious from your testimony there are some major things you are expressing to all of us this morning. some may be watching c-span and do not have a life. medicare is going bankrupt. you both agree with that. it is exhilarating, true? >> yes. >> medicare's dire financial status is drastically understated. would you agree with that? >> yes. >> i would say it is very likely to be significantly understated. >> i am a share of that. -- unsure of that. if we do not take full advantage of the initiatives in the affordable care at, if we do not encourage all the innovation that is going on in the private sector and the non-profit sector -- >> it was not understated just a year ago. >> excuse me? >> it was not understated just a year ago. here we are today and we are accelerating the -- is that a yes? >> i am not su

mr. blumenauer. we must find a bipartisan solution to this. we need to be more optimistic. there have been some comments that have been made that sort of puzzle me a little bit. the question was asked earlier, why are we even paying attention to this issue? i think it is obvious from your testimony there are some major things you are expressing to all of us this morning. some may be watching c-span and do not have a life. medicare is going bankrupt. you both agree with that. it is exhilarating, true? >> yes. >> medicare's dire financial status is drastically understated. would you agree with that? >> yes. >> i would say it is very likely to be significantly understated. >> i am a share of that. -- unsure of that. if we do not take full advantage of the initiatives in the affordable care at, if we do not encourage all the innovation that is going on in the private sector and the non-profit sector -- >> it was not understated just a year ago. >> excuse me? >> it was not understated just a year ago. here we are today and we are accelerating the -- is that a yes? >> i am not su

mr. blumenauer. we must find a bipartisan solution to this. we need to be more optimistic. there have been some comments that have been made that sort of puzzle me a little bit. the question was asked earlier, why are we even paying attention to this issue? i think it is obvious from your testimony there are some major things you are expressing to all of us this morning. some may be watching c-span and do not have a life. medicare is going bankrupt. you both agree with that. it is exhilarating, true? >> yes. >> medicare's dire financial status is drastically understated. would you agree with that? >> yes. >> i would say it is very likely to be significantly understated. >> i am a share of that. -- unsure of that. if we do not take full advantage of the initiatives in the affordable care at, if we do not encourage all the innovation that is going on in the private sector and the non-profit sector -- >> it was not understated just a year ago. >> excuse me? >> it was not understated just a year ago. here we are today and we are accelerating the -- is that a yes? >> i am not su

mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. yesterday we had the inaugural briefing of the congressional neurological science caucus. the caucus seeks to involve and inform people on capitol hill about the advances, opportunities, and challenges that face us with neuroscience. i appreciate the leadership of my colleague, katherine mcmorris rodgers, who is founding co-chair of this effort and someone who cares deeply about neuroscience issues, achieved in part through difficult personal experience. i admire her courage and appreciate her adding to this important agenda. we are discovering so many areas related to the brain and so much about how the system works. how it's damaged, how it recovers, how the brain responds to our environment, understanding interrelationships between traumatic brain injury, dementia, alzheimer's. we stand to gain so much from this research. developments in neuroscience offer the greatest opportunity for the 26% of american adults who suffer from mental disorders to reduce and perhaps avoid dysfunctio