mr. connolly: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, deutsche bank, the biggest bank in europe, recently issued a report on global clean energy investment opportunities in which it stated, and i quote, countries with more t.l.c., transparency, longevity and certainty, in their climate policy frameworks will attract more investment and build new clean industries technologies and jobs faster than their policy lagging counterparts, unquote. the train act is one more step in the wrong direction. by the same republican house which has held over 110 anti-environmental votes. this unprecedented assault on the environment has devastating consequences for our economy. as the deutsche bank report said, germany and china have emerged as global leaders in low carbon technologies and investment. the net effect is that while congress stumbles the u.s. stands to fall behind, unquote. this investor report from europe's largest bank identified several policy failures that are impeding job growth here at home. first, congress' not established a

mr. connolly is also drawing attention to the "snakes on a plane" hearing as a way of pointing out that the republicans are not really working on jobs right now in congress. they are instead working on stuff like this and calling it jobs. and while i'm sure it is a cool perk of being a congressman that you can have the snake breeding guy with the amazing hair in your hearing room, that is in fact what the republican-controlled house is convening hearings about right now while the president, on the other hand, is touring the country promoting his $450 billion comprehensive jobs legislation. so far the response from the house republican leadership to the president's big jobs proposal has not taken the form of legislative action or hearings like the ones they held on the snake guy. it's rather taken the form of speeches like the one house speaker john boehner gave today, where he derided the united states senate as if the senate is the place where they are really working -- the senate is not the ones working on jobs while the house is. the senate hasn't been doing anything and the house, well,

mr. connolly, five minutes. the chair: the gentleman from virginia voiced for five minutes. mr. connolly: thank you, mr. chairman, and i thank my good friend and the distinguished ranking member of the energy and commerce committee. mr. speaker, mr. chairman, this bill is extraordinary even for the most antienvironmental house of representatives in american history. republican leadership has attempted already to pass over 110 environmental -- antienvironmental bills, amendments and riders, but the train act would be one of the most destructive for america's environment and our public health. it appears that the republican leadership took every antienvironmental bill, rider, amendment and nighttime fantasy of the koch brothers and drafted it into a single legislative package called the train act. this bill would block clean air public health standards for mercury, smog, soot and other toxic pollutants and we're supposed to believe no, no, all we're doing is just delaying and studying. 21 years is a long time to study. and if you have a loved one whose health is at stake, that dela

mr. connolly, for five minutes. mr. connolly: mr. speaker, we need a real jobs program that builds an actual success. the president tonight will be putting forward his job creation proposal. unfortunately, some of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have already decided they are not even going to come and respect the president's joint appearance tonight. talk about closed minds. according to reports, middle-class tax release through an extension of the payroll tax cut. policies we know can create jobs. i look forward to working with the president and those who are willing to work with us on the other side to jump-start our economy and get jobs creating again. . during the last two years, every federal dollar we invested we leveraged 41 dollars of private sector support for more than 2,000 projects in every state and created hundreds of thousands of jobs. build america bonds is the kind of public-private partnership that republicans generally support and we know from the recovery act they create jobs. lending venture capital

mr. connolly. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. connolly: i thank my good friend from michigan. thank you, mr. speaker. let me take this opportunity to thank the 174 republican members of this house who voted with us at the bipartisan fashion just last month to avert the first federal default in the nation's history. may not have been an easy vote for some, but it was the right thing to do to prevent a catastrophe that would have certainly shaken further our fragile economic recovery. today's vote is no different. and i urge my colleagues to not give in to political gamesmanship, the standard & poor's cited as the very reason for its downgrading of the united states credit rating. we must reaffirm our commitment that america will meet its obligations. and we don't want to find ourselves politically explaining how we were voted for it before we voted against it. make no mistake, voting in favor of this resolution will in fact lead to the very default we voted to avoid the budget control act. you cannot now being for a default after h

mr. connolly. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. connolly: i thank my good friend from michigan. thank you, mr. speaker. let me take this opportunity to thank the 174 rublican members of this house who voted with us at the bipartisan fashion just last month to avert the first federal default in the nation's history. may not have been an easy vote for some, but it was the right thing to do to prevent a catastrophe that would have certainly shaken further our fragile economic recovery. today's vote is no different. and i urge my colleagues to not give in to political gamesmanship, the standard & poor's cited as the very reason for its downgrading of the united states credit rating. we must reaffirm our commitment that america will meet its obligations. and we don want find ourselves politically explaining how we were voted for it before we voted against it. make no mistake, voting in favor of this resolution will in fact lead to the very default we voted to avoid the budget control act. you cannot now being for a default afteraving jus