mr. cohen: i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from california. mr. lungren: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lungren: it is interesting we have heard of justice brandeis' commitment to the first amendment. one can only wonder what he would think of the current state of interpretation of the first amendment where, unfortunately, it appears we give greater protection to nude dancing than political speech. one would hope that the supreme court as it -- as we anticipate its decision in the most recent challenge to aspect spekts of mccain-feingold might listen to some of the interpretations and wisdom of louis brandeis with respect to the essence of the first amendment. one would hope that we would once again regain the notion that protection of political speech is at the forefront of the first amendment not an after thought to the -- afterthought to the first amendment.

mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. i join with my friend from texas in urging that we pass this resolution and that we do mourn these brave officers who lost their lives. and stand with the people of lakewood, washington. i also ask us to think about what happened, why these people lost their lives. we may never know. but we do know that the person who killed them should have been behind bars. he was a criminal who was released from prison in arkansas through executive clemency. and it's -- while there are certainly people who committed victimless crimes who are unnecessarily kept for long periods of times in incarceration and should be -- have clemency or some type of executive relief, people who commit crimes of violence as this person did, they should not be released unless there is some extra circumstances that are beyond anybody's thought that it was appropriate. this gentleman was not reformed. he committed other crimes. he should have still been in jail. you got to think about mental health. the man was a crimin

mr. cohen: thank you, madam speaker.nt to thank the gentleman for his working with us on the amendment. i'd like to yield as much time as he needs to the chairman of the full committee, mr. frank. the chair: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. frank: i thank both my colleagues. the ranking member is exactly right in the concerns he's expressed. that's why at the committee the chairman of the subcommittee, mr. kanjorski, and i tentative ty agreed to this. we later heard some questions raised in particular, some i think whom we have an amount of respect, the long time texas securities administrator, who really goes back four, five texans administrations in a bipartisan way. on we half of the north american securities administration association, she raised concerns. they were worried that this might at some point be too much of a delegation and therefore, i appreciate the gentleman's comments, we agree with me we do -- always to buff up investor protection. clearly there is a role for fenra. i think we may h

he won't return, but i promise i will and i know the chairman of the committee, mr. cohen, he will be here because he, too, is a kentucky colonel. with that i'll yield to the gentleman. >> i wanted to ask mr. hildebrand in the normal bankruptcy, if you have a yacht , and it's upside down and you owe more than the value of the yacht, what happens? >> the implication in the question is can bankruptcy judges, can a bankruptcy plan structure and recognize the economic reality that you mentioned in your opening remarks that the collateral is the extent of the secured claim, whether it's a yacht or a piece of business equipment or whether it's an airplane for united airlines or whether it's the plans for general motors. braptsi judges are entrusted with the ability to make these valuations and determine them for everything except the home mortgage. >> on the yacht, you could reaffirm the debt, but you would only have to reaffirm the debt up to the value of the yacht, is that right? >> if i could distinguish reaffirmation would contain a voluntary consent on both sides. on a chap

he won't return, but i promise i will and i know the chairman of the committee, mr. cohenbe here because he, too, is a kentucky colonel. with that i'll yield to the gentleman. >> i wanted to ask mr. hildebrand in the normal bankruptcy, if you have a yacht , and it's upside down and you owe more than the value of the yacht, what happens? >> the implication in the question is can bankruptcy judges, can a bankruptcy plan structure and recognize the economic reality that you mentioned in your opening remarks that the collateral is the extent of the secured claim, whether it's a yacht or a piece of business equipment or whether it's an airplane for united airlines or whether it's the plans for general motors. braptsi judges are entrusted with the ability to make these valuations and determine them for everything except the home mortgage. >> on the yacht, you could reaffirm the debt, but you would only have to reaffirm the debt up to the value of the yacht, is that right? >> if i could distinguish reaffirmation would contain a voluntary consent on both sides. on a chapter 11, 12

mr. cohen: thank you, madam speaker. i want to thank the people i've worked with on this amendment, mr. kanjorski, mr. frank, mr. sarbanes. the fact is the sarbanes-oxley section 404 is one of the more important pieces we have in our portfolio to protect american consumers against corporate fraud and corporate corruption and when it wased it was passed by an overwhelming majority almost unanimous in this house. over the years it hasn't been implemented completely but now it needs to be implemented. for smaller companies, $75 million or less, as large as the -- as well as the large companies, and as mr. sarbanes said, the loss to investors from small companies is just as important and potent to them as the loss from large companies. we have so many investors that will be at risk if they're not proper accounting procedures and safeguards for the american public. as the former chairman of the s.e.c. said, overturning the most pro-investor legislation in the past 25 years is deeply disturbing. those who vote against investor

mr. cohen: today ends the first year of the 110th congress, a congress tried to prove its place among the nations of the world, work toward against the global warming problems we have and protect our planet. so much we have has been a group effort. congressman robert wexler of florida, i was privileged to sit next to him in the judiciary committee. he was 13 years in this years. i watched him, i was sad to see him leave because he was an outstanding member of congress who are dedicated to making this country better, working hard, speaking his opinion to try to make this country a better place. i'm proud to have served with robert wexler and proud to have been a member of congress and you have been an outstanding member of congress. we'll miss you. the speaker pro tempore: does what purpose does the gentleman from colorado rise? mr. coffman: the democratic majority voted to raise our debt limit. that vote we took today to raise the debt limit, roll call 988, served as a terrible reminder of all

the u unfinished business is th vote on the motion of the gentleman from tennessee, mr. cohen to suspend the rules and agree to h. resolution 905 on which the yeas and nays were ordered. the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 905, resolution recognizing the 70th anniversary of the retirement of justice louis d. brandeis from the united states supreme court. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agree to the resolution. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-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-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 423, and the nays are one. 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to

mr. steve cohen of tennessee. >> i thank the distinguished gentleman from massachusetts for that discussion that he led and for the time he spent and for his many good words and years of service to the bay state as well as the united states. i'm sure is he is disappointed as i was in the vote today. there were several votes that i was disappointed and. sarbanes-oxley was not fully implemented. and the cramdown position, loan modifications were not pass, but we passed a bill. you do not get everything. i appreciate you all being here. if you can bring something to us to consider, it looks like -- although you can put these provisions on other bills. that is the only time you can get good bills into law. the system has the methods to this map that. i thank you for your time today. without objection, members have 5 legislative days to submit additional questions. they will be made part of the record. without record -- without objection, the record will remain open for five additional days for additional material. i thank everyone for their time and patience. i wish everyone a happy i wish ever