mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. this is a special moment for american agriculture as well as an opportunity to address the major challenges america faces, our long-term government spending, environmental protection, health problem of our families. it's also key to improving the economy which should be our number one priority. helping more people at less cost by reducing subsidies to large agri business also speaks directly to the frustrations of protestors from coast to coast, whether they are occupying wall street or they're tea party protestors. now, there's no doubt that america's massive investment in farm support, hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money, the special rules and regulations and tariff protections have all contributed to the success of american agriculture. it's boosted productivity and made a difference in providing plentiful low-cost food. left unaddressed is whether this patchwork of complicated and excessive programs is the best we can do. the answer from independent analysts is overw

mr. blumenauer who is a lead sponsor of this bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. blumenauer: thank you. i appreciate your courtesy, mr. levin, as i appreciate e opportunity to work with my friend, mr. herger, no moving this bill forward. -- on moving this bill forward. it was only a couple months ago we were having a press conference in the triangle with a bipartisan group of members of congress, representativesrom some of the coalition members that my friend, mr. herger, referenced, to be able to focus on the need to repeal this legislation. mr. speaker, i think it is important to mark this critical step today. it will pass on the floor of the house in a strong bipartisan vote. reaffirming the bipartisan cooperation that got us to this point. i think that this is an example of what potentially we could do because a number of the members of the coalition that mr. herger referenced and that he's entering into the record are likese people who have a vision about how congress and the federal govern

mr. blumenauer: thank you. unbalanced the package of measures moving forward is a constructive balance for the country and my state of oregon. the people i represent will increase sales of machinery, agricultural products. this in turn will lead to increased activity at our ports. beef exports will help our state's farmers and ranchers. engineering, design, legal sector all will increase. the free trade agreement means jobs for oregonians. some people have complained this process took too long, but i commend the administration and particularly my colleague, mr. levin, who didn't wish -- rush to approved trade deals that weren't good enough. dramatic improvements have been made to the korean free trade agreement where blatant unfairness to american automobile sales in korea have been addressed. indeed, this agreement is supported by the american workers who make cars. and i commend mr. levin for his untiring efforts. in total, these agreements represent improvements that we can build upon but do not signal we ca

mr. blumenauer who is a lead sponsor of this bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. blumenauer: thank you. i appreciate your courtesy, mr. levin, as i appreciate the opportunity to work with my friend, mr. herger, no moving this bill forward. -- on moving this bill forward. it was only a couple months ago we were having a press conference in the triangle with a bipartisan group of members of congress, representatives from some of the coalition members that my friend, mr. herger, referenced, to be able to focus on the need to repeal this legislation. mr. speaker, i think it is important to mark this critical step today. it will pass on the floor of the house in a strong bipartisan vote. reaffirming the bipartisan cooperation that got us to this point. i think that this is an example of what potentially we could do because a number of the members of the coalition that mr. herger referenced and that he's entering into the record are likewise people who have a vision about how congress and the federal

mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. today's "washington post" has an interesting article about the possibility of congress will jettison the transportation enhancement funding. best known as providing resources for bike and pedestrian activities, they open the door to a wide range of important benefits. sadly the language in the article betrays a lack of understanding on the part of those who would eliminate these important programs. for instance, they single out somehow this was forcing the creation of wildlife corridors, turtle tunnels. passages that don't just rely -- comply with our environmental responsibilities, these aren't something to trivialize. more americans die in collisions with moose, with deer, or for that matter swerving to avoid a turtle in the roadway than die in our airplanes and buses in a given year. . these are not trivial issues. these are issues to give choices to be able to deal with meaningful transportation problems. right now as i speak there are millions of americans stuck in traffic, burni

mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. i appreciate the gentleman's courtesy in permitting me to speak on this. i must say i could not agree more with the gentleman from florida about if we were really concerned about creating job opportunities and strengthening the cement industry, we would be moving forward with legislation to rebuild and renew america. to deal with crumbling roads, inadequate transit systems, unsafe bridges, water and sewage treatment plants that need investment. sadly what we have seen since the new majority assumed office that in fact they have been involved with a series of initiatives that actually are cutting back on that initiative. that are reducing resources for infrastructure at exactly the time when america needs it the most. now, i'm sorry but this bill continues an agenda that we heard articulated a great deal last week that is not willing to take the 21-year delay from the amendments to the clean air act and move forward to have something in effect by 2013. they want to delay, to start over

mr. blumenauer who is a lead sponsor of this bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. blumenauer: thank you. i appreciate your courtesy, mr. levin, as i appreciate the opportunity to work with my friend, mr. herger, no moving this bill forward. -- on moving this bill forward. it was only a couple months ago we were having a press conference in the triangle with a bipartisan group of members of congress, representatives from some of the coalition members that my friend, mr. herger, referenced, to be able to focus on the need to repeal this legislation. mr. speaker, i think it is important to mark th critica step today. it will pass on the floor of the house in a strong bipartisan vote. reaffirming the bipartisan cooperation that got us to this point. i think that this is an example of what potentially we could do because a number of the members of the coalition tha mr. herger referenced and that he's entering into the record are likewise people o have a vision about how congress and the federal govern

mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. i note with sorrow the passing the roger kennedy last friday. roger had a long and storied career that exemplified notions of public service. he was, indeed, a renaissance man. it's hard to think of anything that roger had not done in his lifetime with the possible exception of hold elective office. he was director of the national park service, director of the smithsonian's natural museum of american history, vice president of finance for the ford foundation. he was special assistant to three cabinet secretaries, a lawyer, a journalist, and somehow found time to write 10 books. actually he had run unsuccessfully for congress against fellow minnesotan, gene mccarthy, over 60 years ago. how might history have been different if he had won. you found out about roger's exploits in bits and pieces. when you were engaged in conversation you would reach back into the past to illustrate points with very tangible, concrete, easy to understand examples, often with himself having been in the midd

mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i certainly agree with my colleague from north carolina that it is time for us to not just reassess but readjust our policies in afghanistan, scale it down, bring the troops home. there's another area of consensus that i hope we can focus on, most people agree that employment, jobs ought to be a priority for this congress, for the government, for american business. but much of what you hear on capitol hill about creating jobs and employment is very, very contentious. yet, what is complex and controversial in congress is not so hard when you move off the hill, when you look at what the experts suggest, when you look at what the american people will support. for the shape of a future recovery is emerging in terms of a consensus about what we should do. i think we probably will. the question is when. first and foremost, it is important that we rebalance our long-term programs and priorities, but in the short term it is not only important to keep the spending levels where they ar

mr. blumenauer: thank you. unbalanced the package of measures moving forward is a constructive balance for the country and my state of oregon. the people i represent will increase sales of machinery, agricultural products. this in turn will lead to increased activity at our ports. beef exports will help our state's farmers and ranchers. engineering, design, legal sector all will increase. the free trade agreement means jo for oregonians. some people have complained this proce took too long, but i commend the administration and particularly my colleag, mr. levin, who didn't wish -- rush to approved trade deals that weren't good enough. dramatic improvements have been made to the korean free trade agreement where blatant unfairness to american automobile sales in korea ha been addressed. indeed, this agreement is supported by the american workers who make cars. and i commend mr. levin for his untiring efforts. in total, these agreements represent improvements that we can build upon but do not signal we can relax

mr. blumenauer earlier talked about things that were kind of done in the dark of night. and this provision, the %, if it wasn't the dark of night, it wasn't fully in the daylight. but the oil and gas provision in section 199 was added, indeed, in the dark of night. and it provided some relief to the oil and gas industry in a bill that related to manufacturing. when oil and gas did not fall within that purview. and it was essentially put in in the dark of night, and it would be much preferable to address that issue and pay for the bill that needs to pass rather than essentially starting on a path that mr. crowley has described, and according to c.b.o. and the joint tax committee, is likely to lead to a half a million people having no health coverage at all. everybody should understand that price. and everybody can make up their own mind. but they should understand what's involved here. this is not a technical change. it isn't a glitch. it is a tax definition, by the way, as mr. crowley has pointed out, also applies to other areas where i think we need to be very careful i

mr. blumenauer is recognized. >> i appreciate getting to this point with these issues. trade in the international community is important and i have been proud of my history of trying to work on a bipartisan platform dealing with trade in china and vietnam and peru and have been pleased to have efforts to work to make these things better. we have seen some who are cranky that things did not proceed with the agreements were negotiated. i think the time was well worth it and i appreciate what has happened with the administration in a number of areas of clarification and i thank the countries involved for moving forward. it will make a difference for the community i represent. in terms of korea, the panamanian agreement dealing with environmental protections which are of interest to me. and there has been progress made with colombia. i would take modest exception to the point of my good friend from illinois because we're not talking about murder rates per se although i think all of us are concerned about st. louis and bogota. but the notion of violence targeted toward speci

mr. blumenauer for your support as lead co-sponsor on the other side of the aisle. thank you very much. i would like to take a moment to review the content of the ways and beans committee receive from business and organizations across the country demonstrating why repealing 3% withholding tax is critical to lay in a stable foundation for job creation. buffalo supply inc. of boulder colorado rights, quote, we are 28-year-old small business that sells high-value medical equipment at a low margin with a very significant part of our sales going to the federal, state and local government. the 3% withholding tax would feed our company's tax liability which will destroy cash flow and ultimately hinder our ability to grow the business and add new employees. principal and founder of eee in virginia says if enacted this would mean withholding of approximately $130,000 of revenue using our projected 2,011 revenue. this 3% withholding would essentially be a loan to the government for the year until taxes are filed. worse still it might require a company to secure a loan to help us cover operating e

mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. for two decades, documentary filmmaker ken burns has been helping america understand who we are. tonight in the visitor's center there's a 5:00 reaccepting and 5:30 special screefpk his new documentary on prohibition. he's had amazing productions dealing with the civil war, baseball, jazz, the national parks, but this i think is going to be perhaps his best. based on what i saw last night nothing is more timely or profound for the challenges we face today and i can't wait for the next two episodes that will be aired tonight and at 8:00 p.m. tomorrow. thank you, mr. burns. thank you, pbs. thanks to previous congresses for support and prefunding that allows long-term projects like this. this is another example of the unique and critical role played by public broadcasting and congress should make sure that it continues. thank you, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. burgess: i ask permission to add

mr. blumenauer: i very much appreciate it. i get a little wound up on this, but we have been working on it for a long time. but i want to conclude by saying that i hope we don't allow some strategic differences on the floor of the house between the two parties in terms of priorities, as i say we will end up approving both these approaches because the scale of our deficit is such that we need to do it, the administration will support it, both parties will ultimately get there, and i think the american public will support it, but we need to come together to make sure that this legislation that we are working on this week does not fall victim to crossed signals on the other side of the capitol. we need to work with the other body. we need to send a strong signal here to make sure that this mistake from 2005 is corrected now and spares unnecessary hardship for our business community, but also for state and local government and indeed for the federal government itself. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the

mr. blumenauer who is a lead sponsor of this bill.pons >> gentleman from oregon is recognized. >> thank youreciate your courtesy, mr. levin, as i appreciate the opportunity to work with my friend, mr. herger, on moving this bill forward. it was only a couple months ago that we were having a presshis conference in the triangle with a bipartisan group of members o congress, representatives from some of the coalition members that my friend, mr. herger, referenced to be able to focus on the need to repeal this legislation. um, mr. speaker, i think it ismr important to mark this criticalo step today.ep it will pass on the floor of the house in a strong bipartisanong vote reaffirming the bipartisan cooperation that got us to this point. i think that this is an example of what potentially we could do because a number of the members of the coalition that mr. herger referenced and that he's entering into h the record are likewise people who have a vision about how congress and the federal government could help rebuild and renew america. the contractors, the engineers, the architects that we have hea