mr. dreier. mr. eier: i ask my colleagues and our guests in the gallery to reaffirm our commitment to the greatest nation the world has ever known. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will receive a message. the messenger: mr. speaker, a message from the senate. the secretary: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: madam secretary. the secretary: i have been directed by the senate to inform the house that the senate has agreed to s.con.res. 38, providing for a continual adjournment or recess of the senate and ape adjournment of the -- and adjournment of the house of representatives in which the concurrence of the house is requested. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 4 of rule 1, the following enrolled bill was signed by speaker pro tempore thortonberry on thursday, march 29, 2012. the clerk: h.r. 4281, to provide an exten

mr. dreier, who sadly like mr. sullivan has decided to move into retirement and like mr. sullivan will be missed for his institutional knowledge in the house of representatives, the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: i join the distinguished the gentleman from maryland in expressing appreciation to my friends mr. latourette and mr. dingell for taking time out to talk about john sullivan. i decided to follow the sullivan lead and i, too, will be leaving the congress. i'm going to stay a little longer than john has. i'm going to stay until january, but i will tell you that this place is much better institution for the service of john sullivan. i would like to, mr. speaker, begin by associating myself with the remarks from my friend of maryland with one correction. it is 27 years that john sullivan has served in the parliamentarian's office, so i offer that one minor correction, but very important correction to my friend from maryland, and i take the well to do something that i don't often do and that is to read, but the reason i'm doing it is i'm trying to show off the

mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i rise to extend congratulations to vladimir putin for his election to become president of russia. we saw the reports yesterday. there were nearly 100,000 web cams that followed the voting stations all across russia, and even though there have been reports from the organization from security and cooperation in europe of voting violations, we are where we are. vladimir putin is going to be the next president of russia, and i believe that in light of that fact it's important for president putin to recognize that contrary to what he said in his acceptance speech last night, we do not want to destroy russia. i believe that it is very important that we take every step that we can to encourage a strong, vibrant, growing, ippedpent, democrat -- independent, democratic russia, and i'm not going to, as president putin said last night, dictate from the west what he should do, but i do think that those of us like the united states of america, a country that has had a 223-year history of

mr. dreier, for five minutes. mr. dreier: thank you very much, mr. speaker. there are a lot of issues with which we have to contend around here. obviously dramatic increase in gasoline prices. we'll deal with the budget this week. f.c.c. reform is on the agenda for today. but one issue that hasn't gotten a great deal of attention that we are going to be addressing in the coming weeks and months is whether or not we deal with the issue of so-called jackson-vanik legislation and allow us to proceed with extending permanent normal trade relations for us to be able to trade with russia. now, mr. speaker, as we look at this issue there are a number of factors that need to be addressed. first and foremost what impact is this going to have on our nation's job creators, those who are trying to grow our economy? and equally if not more important is the impact on human rights, the development of the rule of law, and the building of democratic inconstitutions -- institutions in russia. we all heard the statement made by the president just yesterday in his off microphone

dreier is of course chair of the house rules committee. he made the announcement on the floor of the house of representatives this morning. >> mr. speaker, what i'm about to announce will not come as much of a surprise. we all know this institution has an abysmally low approval rating and the american people are asking for change in congress. i'm announcing today that i will leave congress at the end of this year. i take the unusual step of announcing it here in the house because i am a proud institutionalist. i believe that this institution is as great as it has ever been. and, mr. speaker, i announce it from here because between the rules committee upstairs where you serve with me pro tem and the house floor, this is where the people of california sent me to represent them. now, as we look at the challenges that lie ahead, they are very, very great. i deliberated over this decision. and i have to say that three years ago i contemplated leaving at the end of that congress. but ultimately made a decision that i wanted to continue to serve through this term. and i wanted to do so in hopes we would win the majority with a goal of

mrs. polk? polk has her summoned and they have a beautiful little byplay. then polk has a dinner for clay a few days later with whigs and democrats. >> what did you find with the details? >> the dreier diary. i mixed a couple of things. the book about the leadup to the civil war has this episode. he has it in a different setting. he has it at a dinner in which clay in his very elaborate manner he was always spoke in ortundity and elaborate manner. he lays a lovely compliment among mrs. polk. he says everywhere i go i hear nothing but good about how you're doing. not so much about this guy. they kind of laugh. ne vins has this at a dinner. but he has a more robust description of what was said. i combined that. my conclusion was this was in polk's diary. it happened that day. it must have happened in the parlor of the white house or he wouldn't have written it. but i took -- i could have taken polk's more clipped rendition of the language of clay or i could have taken alan's. i said i'd better take the better part. so i took the two together and a note many the footnotes that explained how i did that. >> another journalist of note john seigenthaler wrote a book on james polk. he was h

dreier, march 19, in which the c.b.o. estimates that enacting the provision would increase the deficit -- could i have five more second? ms. bonamici: yes, i yield five more seconds. mr. conyers: would increase the deficit if you use ipab by $3.1 billion. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired and we're operating under general leave. the gentleman from georgia. mr. gingrey: madam chair, i respect my colleague from oregon, and i know she's well meaning and well thoughtful, but i must oppose her amendment and at that time i urge my colleagues to vote against the amendment and i'll reserve the remaining balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from oregon. ms. bonamici: thank you. madam chair, this is a reasonable amendment. it simply asks before we make sweeping federal policy that overrides state and individual rights we know what we're getting in return. i urge my colleagues to support this very reasonable amendment. thank you, madam chair, and i yield back any time. the chair: the gentlelady yields back her time. the gentleman from georgia. mr. gingrey: madam chair, i yield back the balance of my time as well. the chair: all time ha