mr. dreier: does my friend have any -- mr. arcuri: i have one more speaker. mr. dreier: mr.peaker, at this time, i'm happy to yield two minutes to our good friend and hard working colleague from tennessee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized for two minutes. mrs. blackburn: i thank the gentleman for yielding and i say thank you to our colleagues across the aisle for bringing forward a pay-go statute. it is of concern to me, though, that the statute, the way this is written, the way they are approaching pay-go could lead to tax increases, because what we are not seeing from our colleagues on the other side of the aisle is a willingness to reduce spending. and we know that you are going to have an effective pay-go policy, that you have to be able to reduce what you're spending. that is a requirement. and every appropriations bill that we have, i filed 5% across-the-board reduction amendment for a spending cut. and the reason i do that is what we have learned from our states, what i learned from being a state senator is that across-the-board spen

mr. dreier: mr. speaker.

mr. dreier: mr. speaker, this evening i have taken out this special order to talk about an issue that is of grave importance to the american people. there is no doubt about the fact that the american people are hurting. we are seeing tremendous losses across this country. people are losing their homes and in california, the state i'm privileged to represent, we have an unemployment rate statewide of 11.5%. people are losing their jobs. people are are losing their businesses. and people are are hurting. it's something that has been recognized by democrats and republicans alike. we right now are witnessing the implementation of policies that i believe very sincerely are are exacerbate the problem. -- very sincerely will exacerbate the problem. we were promised when we were provided with the so-called economic stimulus bill of -- including, $787 billion, if you include interest $1 trillion, $1 trillion stimulus bill, we were promised by the president of the united states if we implemented that measure w

mr. dreier: will the gentleman further yield? mr.en: why would we think that the native americans have any interest in this or knowledge of this when those of us in washington inside the beltway have superior knowledge? mr. dreier: i thank my friend for yielding and thank him for his contribution. madam speaker, one of the things that's important to look to is at the beginning of the appropriations process about which my friend from grandfather community, north carolina, was speaking when she began her remarks. we were told by the chairman of the appropriations committee that we had critical legislation that had to be addressed before we complete our work by the first of august. we needed to get the appropriations process done. and there's a bipartisan consensus that article 1, section 9 places on us the responsibility of getting that work done, and we did not in any way want to stand in the way of completing the appropriations process. and so today having been told that we did not have time for an open amendment process, which has e

mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i thank my colleague for yielding me the time and i appreciate her time on the rules committee. sadly, she's on the minority side presiding over another very, very, very sad day for democrats and republicans and the american people. mr. speaker, if we pass this rule today, if we pass this rule we will again set a record. the record that we'll be setting is the largest number of restrictive rules for consideration of appropriations in the history of the republic. now, in the past we've had restrictive rules that have come about after an open amendment process has begun on the floor and the rules committee has taken action. in 1997 it happened on four occasions, and we ultimately did in fact put into place restrictive rules. this is the fifth rule for consideration of an appropriation bill, and so by virtue of the action that i suspect this house will take, we've got to remember that the rights of the american people, not the rights of republicans, the rights of the american pe

mr. dreier. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. dreier: i'll yield to him after i make a couple of points. first, the gentleman has ended his remarks by talking about the need for some kind of outside time limit. in fact, just yesterday i pulled out of my coat pocket the schedule that we have seen, and we all understand that getting the appropriations work done is important. it's a priority for democrats and republicans alike. the fact of the matter is the rules committee with a great deal of ease could in fact simply report out a special rule which would establish an outside time limit on the amendment process at all and we could proceed as has been the case for the last 220 years with an open amendment process. now, my friend also referred to the fact that -- and i know that my friend from marietta said -- he didn't say it was unprecedented to have structured rules when we deal with appropriations bills, but it is unusual. and i will remind my friend who talked about the history that back in 1997 when we did in fact have five appr

mr. dreier: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. the amendment is adopted. the question is on adoption of the resolution as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. mr. dreier: on that i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman request the yeas and nays? mr. dreier: i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having risen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes for this five-minute vote by electronic device. [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 241. the nays are 185. the resolution is adopted. without objection the motion to reconsi

mr. dreier. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for as much time as he might consume. mr. dreier: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. dreier: madam speaker, i as always thank my friend from miami for yielding me this time, and i have to say that i was sitting downstairs watching the proceedings here on the floor, and i have to admit, i've been privileged to serve for two decades on the house rules committee and for eight of those years i was privileged to serve as chairman of the house rules committee. and i think we've moved into unchartered waters. i know there have been difficulties and the challenge of trying to amend rules before in the past and it has been done. it's often been done by unanimous consent where we had a bipartisan consensus that some minor technical change needed to be made. . he well, doesn't appear to be the case right now. as i listen to the exch

mr. dreier: mr.peaker marking anniversaries is a very important thing to do and we do that on a regular basis. in fact, just this past week, a great deal of attention was focused on that marvelous achievement when we saw neil armstrong 40 years ago take that first step on the moon. we, in just a few months, are going to be marking the 20th anniversary of that amazing achievement, which many of us throughout our lifetimes thought would never happen, and that was the crumb bling of the berlin wall. and there are countless other events that take place that are regularly remembered. and the importance of remembering events that have taken place, mr. speaker, is that we want to do everything that we possibly can to learn from those very tragic experiences and also the good experiences so that we can ensure that the world is a better place. 11 years ago, 11 years ago at this very moment, there was a tragic occurrence here in our nation's capital. and i remember it just as if it was yesterday. it was when w

mr. dreier and i have worked closely with the committee leadership and staff as well as the leadership of the indonesia caucus, mr. wexler and mr. burton of indiana. a week ago last friday, july 17, two terrorists detonated suicide bombs inside two hotels in the central business district of djakarta. killing themselves and seven others and wounding over 50. it was the first successful attack in indonesia since 2005 and it comes at a time when the country has made substantial progress in the fight against terrorism. the attackers appear to have been targeting a conference of western businessmen meeting at the marriott and citizens of over a dozen countries, including eight americans, were injured in these horrific attacks. the majority of the victims were indonesian citizens going peacefully about their daily affairs. for my colleagues and me, these attacks hit pretty close to home because our commission had visited djakarta just two weeks before to continue. -- to continue the partnership we've been forging with them since 2006. we met with parliamentary leaders along with a number of new

mr. dreier. mr. dreier: i thank my friend for yielding. as i listen to the thoughtful remarks coming from my friend the majority leader, i'm remind head dime congress a few months after i came in 1980. i'm reminded how we stood here on opposite sides, engaging in the first oxford-style debate if you recall, mr. speaker, if the gentleman recalls on the issue of trade policy being used to enforce human rights. that was the discussion we had two decades ago. and i simply put that forward, mr. speaker, in an attempt to underscore the fact that we are both institutionalists. we both served nearly three decades here and we feel strongly about this constitution and the responsibility that we have to the american people. and i know that my friend understands full well that if one looks at the constitution and the precedents that have been set in the past, there is a clear differentiation between the ways and means committee's work and the appropriations committee's work. there's also clearly an understanding of the disparity between the notion of

mr. dreier. mr. paulson. mr. scalise. mr. scalise: thank you, mr. speaker, i request to address the house for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. scalise: today in the energy and commerce committee, we started having hearings on president obama and speaker pelosi's bill, the proposal to create a government takeover of he health care system. i think the components of this bill and some of the things that have been talked about need to be discussed here on this house floor because the bill itself will actually lead to rationing of health care for americans across this country. the bill will absolutely raise taxes on every american in this country, and every small business in this country. in fact, there are over $580 billion in new taxes in this bill. this bill was just filed earlier this week. the congressional budget office hasn't even been able to do a full assessment of it. there was a meeting held yesterday in the energy and commerce committee with the c.b.o. unfortunately, t

mr. dreier: last night i talked to one of my constituents. this man is an unemployed truck driver. and his statement to me was a very clear one, where are the jobs? where are the jobs? he said, you guys back there in washington are putting together -- you put together a so-called stimulus bill that cost me -- he's still a taxpayer, $1 trillion and now you plan to take over the entire health care system in this country. he said it would be devastating. and i'm looking for a job as a truck driver again. and with what you have done on cap and trade, it's going to undermine my ability to do that. the message is loud and clear. it's not coming from anyone putting together talking points, mr. speaker. it's coming from the american people to democrats and republicans alike in this congress. where are the jobs? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from idaho rise? >> address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. milk milk mr. speaker, today congress will consider a law requiring that

mr. dreier: thank you very much, madam speaker, and let me express my appreciation to mr. lungren and mr. barro and my rules committee colleague, the gentleman from from florida, mr. hastings and i want to chime in and say that four decades of extraordinary service to this institution is frankly quite rare. i see the dean of the house sitting here and we all know he has been more than a decade, but it is still extraordinary when we have someone who has taken on what is one of the least recognized, but what is clearly one of the most important responsibilities in this institution. bringing the office into the 21st century has been something that has been made possible because of that four decades of experience. members have the task of trying to put together legislative packages and often work as we all know is done very late at night, often many changes are made which are challenged on both sides, but the professionalism that has been shown by mr. barro and the entire office is something i can say as a minority member of the house committee on rules does not go unnoticed o

mr. dreier: it's outrageous to say publicans want to do on health care reform. we want to expand health savings accounts, and we want to do more to help small businesses who are out there, working, and struggling carning pool together and purchase health insurance for their employees. we want to do everything we can to allow people to, on the internet, purchase health care insurance across state lines. the fact is, it's no message machine or talking point to realize that the congressional budget office has said that contrary to speaker pelosi's line, this is going to dramatically increase thes to the of health care -- cost of health care. and robert samuelson, no republican , said in with the the post," he said if you listen to president obama, his plan will satisfy everyone, it will insure the uninsured, preserve choice for patients and improve quality of care. he said these claims are self-serving exaggerations and political fantasies. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from florida rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the s

mr. dreier, california. mr. defazio, oregon. mr. mccotter. ms. berkley, mr. franks. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009, the gentleman from iowa, mr. king, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. mr. king: thank you, madam speaker. i appreciate being recognized to address here on the floor of the house of the house of representatives. this is often been described as the world's greatest deliberative body and here in these chambers we engage in this debate and dialogue but the dialogue that comes to these chambers is a dialogue that's designed to be filtered through our committee system, through our subcommittees, through our full committee process, whether it be the appropriations subcommittees and committees and onto the floor or whether it be through our standing committees and what we've seen happen instead is that this process, it's under the process of a wrecking ball that's been taken to the traditions of this house and each day that goes by it seems that there's another one of those oppo

rules ranking member dreier and i also offered to help ranking member lewis rein in any err ant members. i really hoped that the majority would heed mr. lewis' thoughtful suggestion and accept his offer to help move the process along, if an open debate process was returned to. however, majority instead once again blocked members from both sides of the aisle from offering amendments. mr. speaker, the majority has simply not understood the damage unnecessarily that it is causing this house by closing debate on appropriations bills, by breaking two century's of precedents. how sad. we reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california. mr. cardoza: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield one minute to the chairwoman of the committee, mrs. lowey. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i rise today in strong support of the rule and in support of h.r. 3081. this is a very good bill. it was drafted in a bipartisan manner and it should enjoy the support of members of both sides of the aisle. i know that my colleagues on the other side would have preferred an o