mr. defazio, oregon. ms. kaptur, ohio. ms. woolsey, california. mr. engel, new york. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009, and the previous order of the house, the following members are recognized for five minutes -- mr. poe of texas.

mr. defazio about the issue. tommy vietor said that. where are we on this? did the president make those calls. >> oh, he's making calls. i don't know exactly what he has said because he hasn't called me. i was in a meeting with a group of members when one member said that. we didn't quiz him, did he exactly say that! but i can tell you from what vice president biden said last week. they were talking about catastrophes if we don't vote for this. catastrophe for the democrats, catastrophe for the president if we don't pass this. the president may have said more on the lines of what vice president biden said it. the point is they've pulled out all of the stops on the mcconnell tax package here. the republicanses' priorities in a way that i've never seen before and never on anything that i care about or anything that you know would had been better for the people they represent and better for the country. >> congressman peter defazio, thanks for working so hard on this and keep up the fight, my friend, you're doing the right thing. >>> let's bring in new york con

mr. defazio found out from his office a few minutes ago didn't get that call himself. he reports that he got it -- he heard another member got that call. mr. capuano, is anybody that you know getting calls from the president saying if you don't give me this tax fight -- vote i'm losing the job? anybody that you know hearing that junk. >> i've not heard that. >> okay thank you very much, mike capuano from the eighth in massachusetts. great to have you on for that for that great district, and mr. fattah, thank you. merry christmas to both of you, gentlemen. >> american merry christmas to you. >> thank you. >>> coming up president obama says that the war in afghanistan is on track. whoa, whoa, whoa. we're making significant progress, i'm not sure. how can we say that with al qaeda holed up in the pakistan border where we can't get after them? that's the tough question. that's the question. >>> the other question is what will we do with a corrupt afghanistan. we've got the polls. does the war make sense? the people don't think so. what's that? oh, you mean this giant check

mr. defazio. mr. defazio. the gentleman from new jersey, mr. smith. >> madam speaker, i request unanimous consent to assume the time of mr. smith. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> madam speaker, several years ago, they sent us to a civility conference because they didn't think that democrats and republicans were getting along well enough in the congress and i have never forgotten something our first speaker said, david mccullough, the great historian, told a story about a russian vis tore who came into the house gallery in 1948 and watched for a while and then he went out and shook his head and he said, the house is a strange place he said a man stands up and says absolutely nothing, no one pays any attention and then everyone disagrees. and they say there is a little bit of truth in the best humor and i guess there is some truth in that humor, but david mccullough was kind enough to go on from there, and say, but if he had a chance to live his life over again and he could choose what he wanted to do, he would choose to be a membe

mr. defazio: i thank the gentlelady for yielding the time. it's fairly extraordinary to listen to the debate coming from the republican side of the aisle. we're headed toward a $1.-- well, before this vote, $1.3 trillion deficit next year. with this single vote we will increase the deficit, the debt of the united states by $430 billion this year and $430 billion next year. republicans want to pretend that somehow if you cut your income you can still balance your budget. that would surprise most americans. most americans don't cut back hours at work when they can't make ends meet at home unless they're forced to by their employer. these tax cuts, the bush tax cuts, were put into effect at a time of surplus. the rational was give people back their money, we have a surplus, as far as the eye can see. now we're teetering on the edge of having the united states' debt rating downgraded. . if you increase the debt next year by $12.7 -- $1.7 trillion. don't worry, we'll take care of it with cuts, cut $450 billion in one year? i don't think so unless

mr. defazio's case or a statement of the president's? >> i don't know if the president's saying. if the president's actually saying that, it's hyperbolic. the president's trying to get a bill passed and scaring people into passing it. he may believe that, the people in the white house may believe that. i don't know whether or not they do. but i think a defeat here, there's no question there would be a news cycle or several news cycles of sort of histrionic rending of garments about how he couldn't get his deal through. but in the long run, something the president has said over and over again, good politics is good policy. and the question is, is this substantively good on the merits? and if you don't think it is, that shouldn't be foremost in your mind if you're casting a vote in the united states congress tomorrow. >> he had this choice between this defeat and a larger one later. he chose the larger one later. he'll get them both. chris hayes, the washington editor of "the nation," thank you, chris. >>> if what the western nations are tig to do to julian assange is not evidence

mr. defazio. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon is recognized for two minutes. mr. defazio: the lack of response on the republican side is a bit interesting because we're about to add $430 billion to this year's deficit if this bill passes. $430 billion borrowed, probably from china, added to the deficit. record $1.75 trillion. we've been told this is the only deal, the best deal. no, we've offered an altern tiff and earlier today i thought we had some prospect of voting on it, one that's much less expensive, more targeted to working families, average americans and those who are unemployed, would have created real jobs with substantial investment in infrastructure prospects, not the jobs you'll get by giving people tax breaks saying, go buy some goods from china, that will put america on the path to recovery. every other major economy on earth is talking about buckling down and having a sustained recovery. no, not here. we got out the credit card. trillion dollars. it's only $858 billion. guess what, our kids and grandkids will be paying that bill for 30 years and th

mr. defazio of oregon. mr. burton of indiana. mr. grayson of florida. under the speaker's announced policy, the gentleman from georgia, mr. gingrey, is recognized for 60 minutes. clbclb mr. gingrey: thank you for your patience as we tried to get our act together here this evening, not realizing, of course, that here it's almost christmastime that our pages have all gone home and it reminds me of what a great, great job these young men and women do for the members in so many ways, not the least of which, of course is helping during these special order hours. but mr. speaker, thank you for your patience. i want to, of course, thank my leadership on the republican side for allowing me and my colleagues in the house g.o.p. doctor's caucus to lead this special order for the next hour and we're going to do that, mr. speaker, on health care. and on the recently passed, i say recently, 10 months ago, march of this year, the passage of obamacare. i know it's referred to as patient protection and affordable care act. but this is a piece of legislation, mr. speake

mr. defazio and mrs. woolsey. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009 and under a previous order of the house, the following members are recognized for five minutes each. mr. jones of north carolina. for what purpose does the gentlelady from north carolina soak recognition? ms. foxx: secretary permission to address the house for -- seek permission to address the house five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. foxx: today, i rise to honor the rich and transformative legacy of jerry long. mr. long died earlier this month after serving as a leader in winston salem, north carolina civic and business life for decades. from his years as serving at the head of r.j. reynolds and the head of the chamber of commerce or his philanthropic efforts, jerry long was nothing short of a catalyst for dramatic and positive change for the people of winston-salem. thanks for his advocacy, the area is today a better place to live than it would have been had jerry long not taken such keen interests in

mr. defazio. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. defazio: i thank the gentleman for the time. thank him for his leadership on both the issues before us regarding social security. the protection of our social security numbers is vital. i once had a reporter come to my office and say i have something to show you. she pulled out a piece of paper and she said, here's your social security number. i bought it for $15 on line. that should not be allowed. that should be an illegal activity in this country. but the other issue just -- that preceded this is equally important to 40 million people who collect social security and a number of people who collect veterans benefits and that is a meaningful and well deserved cost of living adjustment for real increases in the cost of living for seniors in america. now you have the pointy heads down at the department of labor have this chiggered up cost of living index which puts heavyweight on buying a g4 iphone and second generation and third generation of expensive computers and things like that, bu

mr. defazio. mr. moran from kansas. merchandise woolsey from california. -- ms. woolsey from california. mr. diaz-balart from florida. mr. grayson. ms. ros-lehtinen. mr. franks of arizona. under think speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009, the gentleman from texas, mr. gohmert, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. mr. gohmert: thank you, madam speaker. it's been an interesting day here on the floor. as always, it's an honor to have a chance to speak here. what we have just witnessed was not a pleasant event. it's terribly sad. tragic when anybody in congress, especially a leader, a chairman, is found to have engaged in conduct inappropriate to such a degree as a member of congress, particularly as the chairman of the tax code writing committee. we've heard some things that were a little bit surprising. i heard chairman rangel say there was no self-enrichment. i heard people talk about the lack of precedent for something like this to have such a horrible sentence as to have to stand before the speaker and be told to pay the

mr. defazio from oregon, ms. woolsey from california, mr. grayson from florida. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009, and under a previous order of the house, the following members are recognized for five minutes each. mrs. water -- wasserman chicago bulls -- ms. wasserman schultz. the speaker pro tempore: mr. poe of texas. mr. mitchell of arizona. mr. mitchell: mr. speaker, i ask for unanimous consent to address the house for five minutes and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. rohrabacher: thank you very much. mr. speaker, tonight this congress passed the so-called dream act. several of us on the floor of the house said that this act would be more accurately referred to as the affirmative action amnesty act. the bill is a piece of legislation that the american people should -- that the american people should pay close attention to. and they should see whether or not their representatives in congress are indeed representing their interests. or if they are

mr. defazio, for five minutes. mr. defazio: i thank the chair. well, the senate has acted on the so-called tax cuts proposal . they acted the way the senate usually acts when confronted with a problem, they add ornaments to the christmas tree. they actually increased the cost. this legislation will cost $858 billion over two years. that is bigger than the much-reviled stimulus passed in the beginning of the obama presidency. $858 billion. that will add approximately $430 billion a year to the deficit. in the next two years. that's $430 billion more borrowed probably from china. now, the question is -- is this the best possible use of this money? will this put america and americans back to work, get us more firmly on the path to recovery? i think not. i think much of this money is wasted and will create zero jobs. now, if you think that the bush era tax cuts worked well, they didn't create any jobs, but for some reason you think they worked well, then you're going to like this. it's even a bigger giveaway than the bush era tax cuts. or if you thin

mr. defazio of oregon. mr. flake of arizona. ms. woolsey of california. mr. lincoln diaz-balart of florida. mr. mcclintock of california. and mr. gingrey of georgia. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6 of 2009, the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. ms. jackson lee: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i am saddened by the occasion of which i come to the floor of the house. but it is a privilege to be able to speak about a great american. for if we do not capture the life and the legacy of great americans, we find out -- find ourselves forgetting and some would say if we don't remember the past, we are doomed to repeat some of those hills and valleys in the future. tonight, i want to remember ambassador richard holbrooke, of whom this nation lost on monday evening. it is important that his story be told, for i would like to know him and for this nation to know him as america's peacemaker. but many will say that peacemaker had a tough edge. before i start, i want to mention h

mr. defazio, oregon. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? without objection. the gentleman is recognized. mr. klein: madam speaker, i rise today to thank all my colleagues here in the house and especially my constituents back home in south florida. the opportunity to serve in this body has been the privilege and honor of a lifetime. i truly have been honored and feel honored to have been entrusted with the responsibility of fighting for families, businesses, seniors and veterans in our community every single day. and fight we did. when i came in four years ago we were challenged with a war. we were challenged with a lot of other things. as those years have passed there have been new challenges, the economy and others. together we fought to take on skyrocketing homeowners insurance costs in florida and other places. we wrote a commonsense solution that makes insurance look and work like its supposed to. it wasn't easy but we brought together every single member of florida's delegation, republican and democrat alike, as well as allies from arou

mr. defazio of oregon. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to speak out of turn. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in strong and continued opposition to the federal aviation administration's airspace redesign plan. mr. engel: and frankly it just gets worse and worse and worse. first they say there will be hundreds of new air flights from new wark airport flying over my constituents in rockland county, new york, and now we learn that they have changed the plan and made it even worse. they are now redirecting an additional 100 flights per day through j.f. kennedy international airport through rockland county. they did this without consulting any elected official whose constituents are affected by the increased traffic. more so when we originally requested that the redesign be altered so that the flights would be directed over less populated areas, the f.a.a. had the gull to say that the plan could not be changed because it could then be opened up to lawsuits. now we fin

mr. defazio: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. defazio: today, the senate with one vote will increase this fiscal year's deficit by $430 billion under the pretense that it will get our economy back on track, create millions of jobs, and, yes, there is a santa claus. thank you very much. two years, $858 billion in total, financed with money borrowed in good part from china to pay for an extension of the stimulus tax cuts with a new twist, the money will be stolen from the social security trust fund, and a large dose of bush era trickled down tax cuts with new breaks for estates over $10 million. let's week the democratic caucus spoke almost unanimously against this. and this week under pressure from the white house and the republican leader of the senate, it appears our leadership is attempting to avoid our wishes and bring this bill forward without major changes. it will be a disaster for the american people, and it is a bad deal for taxpayers. people are unemployed. and our kids and grandkids. the speaker pro tempore: for wha

mr. defazio. the chair: the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. defazio: what we are about to do here is extraordinary and the impact will be felt by our kids and grandkids. with one vote we are going to increase the already projected record deficit of $1.3 trillion to $1.7 trillion. every penny tonight will be borrowed, much of it from china and some of it from our social security trust fund for the first time in our history. for what? for continuing the failed economic policies of the last nine years. we have these tax cuts in place today. how many jobs are they creating? but you tell me we can't afford to invest and can't rebuild our nation's crumbling infrastructure. we know we have the money. we can increase the productivity of our nation and we can compete better worldwide if we invest in our infrastructure, our education system and our people. but no, we are going to have debt financed, consumption-driven recovery as people buy goods made in china and of course $112 billion taken out of social security. and the republicans made it clear that

mr. defazio from oregon. under the speaker's announced policy january 6, 2009, the gentleman from texas, mr. gohmert is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. mr. gohmert: it's an honor and a privilege to address thr house especially when you know the history of this place. i would like to comment about our friend across the aisle who was talking about the 9/11 first responders. those were heroes. they are here oorsloost. they are -- they are heroes. and they are true test taments to the good in america. so many as first responders were going up the stairs to rescue people as most everyone else was fleing, they are true heroes. what is not as heroic, in fact, not heroic as all, is to bring a bill before the floor and say here is a bunch of heroes we need to help. we're not going to cut spending in any other areas. we know there's massive waste, fraud and abuse all over the place. we know there are entities that really have not been able to show any real benefit to the american econom

mr. defazio, ms. woolsey for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009, and under a previous order of the house, the following members are recognized for five minutes each. mr. burton of indiana. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? mr. shimkus will be recognized for five minutes. mr. shimkus: thank you, madam speaker. i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. shimkus: thank you, madam speaker. i come down tonight to put into the record names of some fighters who have been jailed not only politicians, but also members of the news media after the elections in bella ruse of two nights ago. the opponents of the dictator were as follows and their locations are unknown, some have been jailed. victor, nick lay and dim my try. tens of thousands converged in the capital heeding opposition leaders that called sunday's election a farse and locked in a dictatorship. they gathered on the 19th and on the 20th. also arrested are pro

mr. defazio of oregon. ms. woolsey of california. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009, minutes as the designee of the minority leader. mr. gohmert: thank you, madam speaker. well, down the hall, we have the senate as they have been taking up the start streety to help limit our defense of ourselves with a country that is not the country we're most concerned about. we seem to keep ignoring the fact that iran continues to move forward developing nuclear weapons and once they have them , then that is the game changer. of course, we know that even in and it's nothing to fear if we act appropriately and don't stick our head in the sand as the treaty apparently attempts to do. for example, we've got people in the senate that do not understand that the president has the power to negotiate in advising and consenting, but they don't have the power to amend the treaty. our president. so they can make suggestions, but that language is not binding unless the other country agrees to it. so all this frivolous stuff, all this disc

mr. defazio and mr. schrader from oregon, for their work in getting this bill to the floor. i ask members to support it and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from utah. mr. chaffetz: i thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. chaffetz: thank you, mr. speaker. as a matter of policy operating 99-year lease terms from tribes, we have no objections to this bill. we'll verve the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from washington. mr. larsen: does -- mr. speaker, could i ask the gentleman from utah if he has any further speakers? the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from utah. mr. chaffetz: mr. speaker, we have no additional speakers. and we'll yield the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gen