mr. boehner asked hhs house republicans to let him to the office of majority leader. it is the second highest office in the u.s. house of representatives. and they did so. on that occasion, mr. boehner circulated a letter among his republican colleagues in which he wrote, "one thing that is tough to defeat in the process is the commitment many of our members have to protect the life of the unborn and ensuring that our nation's laws reflect a belief in the sanctity of life. i write to you today is simply for the purpose of reaffirming proudly that i share this commitment commitment -- completely, totally, and without equivocation. it is a commitment i have felt deeply throughout my life and it is a commitment i will uphold unapologetically it then went i am chosen to be your next majority leader. i have always voted to protect the lives of unborn children and as long as i am in an elected official, i will continue to do so." in january 2007, majority control of the house shifted to the democrats and mr. boehner's republican colleagues elected him their leader as the mi

mr. boehner relentlessly used his leadership of this to put a spotlight on his attempts to smuggle into lawand a ray of sweeping pro-abortion and pro rationing provisions. mr. boehner is skillfully employed the procedural tools at his command to make things difficult for the pro-abortion opposition for their a -- opposition. he boldly confronted nancy pelosi in the other pro-abortion democrat leaders as they ran their deadly bill through the house. it is a testament to mr. boehner'skills as a leader of that on a final vote not a single one of the 178 house republicans voted for that deadly pro abortion obamacare bill. [applause] on behalf of every pro-lifer and here, we thank you, john boehner. >>>thank you all very much. thank you. i am deeply honored toobe here today with all of you. i know of the program says i'm here to and accept an award. really, it is not my work we should be celebrating today. it is your work we should be celebrating. it is the energy of the national right to life committee in the state affiliates around america that has made the real difference. i want to thank eac

mr. boehner. the speaker pro tempore: the republican leader is recognized. mr. boehner: i thank my colleague for yielding. consider, my colleagues, that the president, on february 1 sent up a supplemental spending request to fund our activities for our troops and the state department in afghanistan. for five months, this chamber has wallowed around trying to find a way to bring this bill to the floor. and look at how we've done it. we have a rule that provides for the consideration of this supplemental that self-executes a lot of wasteful spending here in washington right into the rule itself. but if that isn't bad enough, there are four amendments made in order and if any of those or if all four of those amendments were to fail, it's if as if the house hadn't even considered the bill. it's as if this debate we are having right now has never happened. how could such a rule providing for the consideration of an important supplemental spending bill have in there this escape clause that if we don't get our way on at least one of these amendments, then this really di

mr. boehner: unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. boehner: mr. speaker, the american people are asking where are the jobs. and just this morning we found -- found out that housing starts fell in the month of june to their lowest level in eight months. consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest level in the last 11 months. we need to get americans back to work and we need to get american businesses back open again. but we're not going to get there if the president continues to take money and freedom away from american employers. whether it's through the stimulus bill, obamacare, the national energy tax, or this natural regulatory bill. with three million jobs lost and unemployment at 9.5% and with trillion dollar deficits it's clear to everyone except the president that his big government agenda is not working. we need to cut spending now in order to help create jobs in america. but we have no budget to clean up the mess. we have no plan to move free trade agreements that could create

mr. boehner circulated a letter. one thing that has touched me during the process is the commitment many of our members have to protecting the lives and insuring our nation's laws reflect a belief in the sanctity of life. i write to you today simply for the purpose of reaffirming probably in that i share this commitment completely, totally, and without equivocation. it is a commitment i have felt deeply the run my life and it is a commitment i will uphold unapologetically if and when i am chosen to be your next majority leader. i have always voted to protect the rights of unborn children and as long as i am an elected official i will continue to do so. as you know, in january 2007 the majority control of the house shifted to the democrats and his republican colleagues elected him their leader as the minority leader. he has been a major impediment to the enhancement to the pro- abortion agenda. [applause] as soon as obama took office in january 2009, mr bohner and mr. cantor coordinated a letter signed by house republ

mr. boehner's -- the president's comments in wisconsin about mr. boehner. and i will just refer those comments that mr. boehner equated the financial bill that we passed yesterday, the regulatory reform bill that so many americans are yearning for, he said it was a nuclear weapon to be used on an ant, the problem was an ant. well, my constituents certainly don't think they were ants until they started being walked over by wall street. mr. speaker, at this time i'd like to yield three minutes to the gentlewoman from tennessee, ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from texas is recognized for three minutes. ms. jackson lee: i ask to address the house. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. jackson lee: mr. cardoza, i thank you for sharing with us what is not a funny anecdotal story or cartoon. i think from your words you are saying to the american people that their predicament is not a cartoon. and it is interesting when one of my colleagues comes to the floor of the house and poses the question -- what do we say to the unemployed

mr. boehner who recently did an interview. let's listen to his prescription for social security. >> i think instead of using the wage in fleet were -- and later, increases based on consumer price index. i think that is a more accurate reflection. over time it will have a significant impact on the actuarial soundness of the program. and certainly i think we have to look at the american people and explain to them that we're broke. host: to look at the american people and explain to them that we're broke. he actually had a three-part prescription. talking about targeting the increases to the wage price increase, and also talking about changing the eligibility age to 70, and also finally means testing. three prescriptions. guest: thank you, mr. boehner. what we are mixing up as apples and oranges. right now we have a deficit. we have a commission appointed by the president who says we should look at the deficit. we are not saying look at the solvency of the social security program but for some reason people were saying we are just

mr. boehner already calling for the repeal of the reform that just passed on wall street. people don't realize in that reform, you say, look, we have had meat inspection 100 years ago. they didn't like it. people will look back and say, why shouldn't we have some consumer entity looking at whether or not you can give someone a mortgage with no documentation. a teaser rate, no down payment. people don't know that. just like -- people don't know a lot of what is going on in the recovery act. understandably. because this has been -- so much stuff has been flowing our way. and we're facing a bunch of guys who are good guys, but they're all about repeal and repeat. repeal what we're doing and go back. repeal the incentives for industry to invest in solar energy. repeal the health care bill that allows you to keep your kid on your health care policy. pre-existing conditions cannot deny you health care. it is just going to take time. this is july. the election is in november. and i think we're going to have to make our case. i think we can make it. and especially in the context o

mr. boehner and minority whip, mr. cantor, not to mention all the other members of congress who have co-sponsored this resolution for their encouragement and support in finding an appropriate way to honor ms. lee. her family, as well as the wonderful people of monroeville, alabama, a town of approximately 7,000 people, which i am proud to say i represent in alabama's first congressional district. without a doubt, the people of monroeville and monroe county all join with me and this body as we celebrate this proud moment, for as people all across america know, monroeville provided the real-life setting for the fictional town of makom where the fictional tale comes to life. i am pleased to offer this resolution which offers the remarkable achievements of a pulitzer-prize-winning south alabama author whose words have not only inspired generation bus have helped change our nation and the world for the better. born on april 28, 1926, to a.c. and francis finch lee, nell harper completed her first and only novel in 1960. in f

mr. boehner, that was a mighty big ant that came my way. and not more than half of the nation's working adults who report that they have been pushed by the recession into, and i quote, unemployment, pay cuts, reduced hours at work or part time jobs, closed quote, according to a research center survey reported in today's washington "post." -- "washington post." some of you may think it was an ant that walked through here, but some of you think it was a pretty big elephant that squashed them and hurt them. i don't mean an elephant in the symbol of your party, respected animal with a long memory, but we have differences. the differences are, as i've said before, that you perceive regulation as harmful. my analogy is, if you take the referee off the football field i guarantee the split ends are going to leave early and try to get the advantage and the little guys on the field are going to get trampled on by the big guys because there's no referee to say, time out, you broke the rules. this bill is about putting the referee back on the field and

mr. boehner, that was a mighty big ant that came my way. and not more than half of the nation's working adults who report that they have been pushed by the recession into, and i quote, unemployment, pay cuts, reduced hours at work or part time jobs, closed quote, according to a research center survey reported in today's washington "post." -- "washington post." some of you may think it was an ant that walked through here, but some of you think it was a pretty big elephant that squashed them and hurt them. i don't mean an elephant in the symbol of your party, respected animal with a long memory, but we have differences. the differences are, as i've said before, that you perceive regulation as harmful. my analogy is, if you take the referee off the football field i guarantee the split ends are going to leave early and try to get the advantage and the little guys on the field are going to get trampled on by the big guys because there's no referee to say, time out, you broke the rules. this bill is about putting the referee back on the field and

mr. boehner, suggested that we could pay for the wars out of the social security trust fund, that we should raise the retirement age and whatever savings we have should not go into the social security trust fund, should go to pay for our wars, while our senior citizens who paid into the system year after year after year should be robbed of a solid program and instead the money should go to pay for the wars. when they talk about deficits and debt, it is laughable. because they inherited from bill clinton one of the biggest surpluses in history and they squandered it. on tax cuts that weren't paid for, mostly for the rich, mostly for their big contributors, and on wars that were not paid for. with this president and this congress -- what this president and this congress is trying to do is clean up their mess. i'm sorry that bothers some of my friends on the other side but we're going to clean up their mess and move this economy forward. with that, i reserve think him -- my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlewoman from virginia. ms. foxx: as i have said before on

mr. boehner encouraged all of us under his leadership to say that we will have a moratorium on earmarks. . it was not until the 110th congress, not until this congress under the rules established by the democratic majority did we have these tariff measures included under the earmark designation. so while there's criticism leveled and at us over here, the fact is, you-all, mr. speaker, your party actually designed this new definition which included these measures under earmarks. so the majority knew full well that those of us who were opposed to this dramatic expansion in earmark spending would come to the conclusion that we would not be supportive of this measure as much as we would like to. as much as we are passionately committed, i believe more so than many ofure colleagues on the other -- of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, we are more committed to the notion of breaking down tariff and nontariff barriers to encourage the free flow of goods and services around the world. as much as we would like to do that, the majority knew full well that creating under their new defin

my colleague from the house, leader painter -- boehner, mitch mcconnell, and mr. steele , thank you for riegger. i would like knowledge that people from the congressional black caucus, and barbara lee here today. john lewis has been called the conscience of the congress, and to date -- and today the challenge is that this injustice has been partially corrected by giving the recognition that we do. it is -- also like to recognize at least two leaders from the african-american community. the clerk of the house [applause] and terry is the ceo of the capital visitors center. thank you, terry. and i do not know where lorraine is. still working. making sure everything is every -- going ok. over the past decade, the slave labor task force work to document the history of slavery constructed walls of the united states capitol. we know that and the contribution of the reid family. it was a dark chapter in our past, and with equality denied, rights reviews, a dream not yet realize, they gave us this house of liberty and the beacon of hope for our nation and indeed the world.

then john boehner and gop leaders talk about their opposition to the democratic policies. . . >> senator rockefeller, mr. president, firstly the third day off first lady, a first imamam.. sign it to make this announcement official. robert c. byrd was a giant. he can never be replaced. the only hope we can follow in his footsteps. admitted to make this appointment because it is important to do this right. i want to thank the white house. i want to thank majority leader is senator harry reid for making this procedure and process work so flawlessly, for allowing west virginia to go through the process we have. they have been most gracious. the time has come to appoint someone to the senate who will look out for west regina, who won't work hard -- four west virginia, who will work hard. i am very proud to appoint him to the united states senate. [applause] regardless of whoever occupies this seat now and in the future, it will always be known as west virginia is united states senate seat that was occupied for nearly 52 years by our beloved some. i am truly confident that he will look out for west virginians