mr. connolly: you would. mr. tonko: no one brought to the attention or carried anger or expressed concern to the level you hear today and here's a situation where we're attempting to correct a wrong that was allowed to occur and close that doughnut hole to allow for more freedom and have a sensible outcome. i, at one of my health care forums in my district this august recess, heard from people who are not taking medications simply because of that doughnut hole. there are situations where i heard that, you know, from a couple again who testified at our -- one of our forum, that indicated for cardiopulmonary purposes, the husband needed to take medication, pre-existing condition, denied them insurance coverage and they could not afford out of pocket to pay for the medications system of she tearfully shared with us that he simply doesn't take it. it has put undue stress onto the family, it's caused economic hardship, and they're without insurance. and for those who would argue that that system should be maintained,

mr. connolly: thank you, mr. speaker. this summer many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle lined up to criticize the recovery and reinvestment act on the floor of the house claiming it wasn't working. in an august 21 newsletter, for example, the minority leader stated, i quote, by any objective measure the trillion dollar stimulus spending bill isn't working. let's examine some of those objectives measures. the number ever new unemployment claims dropped in august for the lowest total of the year. in addition, the number of people claiming continuing unemployment benefits for more than one week decreased by 123,000. unemployment remains a challenge, of course, because as we all know, unemployment is a lightning indicator. because of the recovery act we saved one million jobs that otherwise would have been lost in this economy. this june home sales increased by 11% over may. the largest increase in eight years. a total home sales this year have increased by 3.4% over 2008 indicating that market is stabilizing.

mr. connolly. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is recognized for two minutes. mr. connolly: i thank the distinguished speaker. i rise in support of s. 1707, the enhanced partnership with pakistan act of 2009. mr. speaker, this is a national security bill. it authorizes military assistance to assist pakistan, disrupt and defeat al qaeda and insurgent elements and requires the majority of such assistance be focused on critical counterinsurgency and counterterrorism efforts. additionally the bill requires all military assistance blow to the democratically elected government of pakistan. the legislation authorizes $1.5 billion each year for development in economic assistance. in order for complete release of these funds, the president's special representative must certify that pakistan is making progress toward achieving the principal objectives of u.s. assistance. the legislation also authorizes funding for military education and training in the $150 million to equip train and professionalize the pakistani police. military funding in this bill has the specific purpose