mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. include extraneous material in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentleman is recognized. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i'm going to do something that is somewhat unusual. i would like to as i did in the rules committee yesterday associate myself completely with everything that has been said by the distinguished chaiof the committee on rules. as i said yesterday in the rules committee, it's difficult to fathom a challenge a young person would go through hearing that whistle and knowing that there was difficulty ahead and the threat of the loss of life. and that's the reason that we are very proud to stand here having an exchange with mr. miller and i see mr. rahall here who obviously has suffered greatly through this, mrs. capito is here as well. to say that we would have been extraordinarily proud, mr. speaker, to have done this instantaneously under a unan

mr. dreier: i recognize the gentleman from georgia, mr. linder. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. linder: i would like to express my sincere sorrow to the families of those killed or wounded in that accident and in all mining accidents this could have been done under unanimous consent without a rule, but since the rule is here, i propose defeating the rule to consider mr. price's motion. the welfare reform act successfully reduced welfare dependence and poverty and increased work and earnings. but despite that success, congress has spent years to undermine welfare reform. they saw an opening in the 2009

mr. dreier for today. mr. moran. mr. poe today. mr. posey on may 5 for five minutes. mr. poe on may 11 and mr. jones on may 11 for five minu+ on may 11 for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina. >> i ask unanimous consent that following today's special orders the following members may be permitted to address the house and include extraneous material. mr. price of north carolina. ms. woolsey of saffle, ms. kaptur of ohio, mr. defazio of oregon. 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. price of north carolina. the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. price: thank you, madam speaker. i rise today to honor a man who has served his country and this institution with distinction as an officer in the united states marine corps and i will be joined by my friend and colleague from the house democracy partnership, mr. dreier of california. he joined the marine corps legislative

mr. dreier: thank you, mr. speaker.were all promised, this institution and the american people were promised, back in 2006, a new direction for america. mr. speaker, that was in fact the title of a publication that then majority leader, my california colleague, nancy pelosi, put forward. what did it promise? it promised a new era of transparency, disclosure, and accountability. a new era of transparency, disclosure, and accountability. well, mr. speaker, i will inform you that exactly 47 minutes ago at 9:00 a.m. eastern time, we were handed this amendment to the rule. now, as i look at this morning's "c.q. today" i did read the quote to which my friend and distinguished chair of the committee on rules referred when asked this was a precooked measure, she responded by saying, are you kidding? are you kidding me? we're democrats. that's the quote. that's the quote that appears in this publication. now, mr. speaker, as i read this quote i'm reminded of the statute we always encourage our constituents to look at and rub the

mr. dreier used, ms. matsui, but we could look to muftiah, i could look to muftiah to give good advice and to bring a calming influence to the committee and certainly to me. as we were going through the whole list of parliamentary procedures, what's in order, what's not in order, why is it in order, she stood out as somebody who really knows the rules, understands the policy and is willing to work with both sides of the aisle and with all the members certainly on the democratic side of the rules committee to make sure we do the best job we can do. i thought i brought a lot of experience from the practice of law, having served also in the legislate pour that colorado, but the rules and the approach that's taken in the congress, there are many more layers and many more things that have to be understood and i would say to you, muftiah, you are a heck of an advicer, you are a great teacher and i just wish you the best as i know all the other members of the rules committee and the members of the house just wis

mr. dreier. vice president biden: the senators will escort felipe calderon hinojosa, senator nevada, mr. reid, senator connecticut, mr. dodd, the senator from massachusetts, mr. kerry, the senator from north dakota, mr. dorgan, the senator from new jersey, mr. menendez, the senator from alaska, the senator from texas, mr. cornyn, and the senator from texas, ms. hutchinson. the speaker: members of the escort committee will exit the chamber through the lobby doors. >> madam speaker, the acting dean of the diplomatic corps. >> madam speaker, the president's cabinet. >> madam speaker, the president of mexico. the speaker: members of congress, i have the high privilege and distinct honor of presenting to you his excellency, cal cal, the president of -- felipe calderon hinojosa, the president of mexico. president calderon thank you. president calderon: thank you very much. madam speaker, mr. vice president, honorable members of congress, and as we say in mexico, amigas, amigos. it's a great honor to sta

mr. dreier: thank you, mr. speaker. our friend from columbus, indiana, the distinguished conference chairman said it perfectly when he talked about the challenges that families are facing across the country and trying to put together their own budgets. he also pointed out the fact that for the first time in history, since the implementation of the 1974 budget and empowerment act we have seen no budget provided from washington, d.c. mr. speaker, it's not surprising that that has been the case. how can you put together a road map of where it is you are going when you have no idea where you're going? and that's really whe we are today. i'm happy to say that we have a wide range of very positive proposals that we put forward. we just talked about the youcut program, there are lots of things we need to do. tragically today we are dealing with very anemic job creation and economic growth, and there's something that we can do that will help deal with national security as well, and that is the challenge of -- and thats the chal

mr. dreier: i thank my friend for yielding. let me just say we continually hear that the penultimate, the highest priority is to ensure everything we have before us is paid for. to his credit the chairman of the energy and commerce committee, mr. waxman, proceeded to engage as mr. latta has just said in the goal of trying to come to some kind of agreement. now, the thing that i found very troubling, and again the american people for the first time in a long period of time are focusing on process. and what took place in the rules committee last night is once again an indication of the arrogance that we continue to see from the leadership of the rules committee and of the democratic majority here in the house. let me say that mr. waxman, again to his credit, came before the rules committee and said the following. he, referring to mr. latta, said he has submitted to you an amendment he wishes to offer. these again are mr. waxman's words. i would like to express to the rules committee that i support his right to offer that amendmen