mr. dreier, for five minutes. mr. dreier: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. dreier: madam speaker, the cover of this week's economist magazine covers it truly well. rebuilding america's economy is its point. we all want to do everything we can to create good american jobs. well, unfortunately we are on the verge of losing a potential market of 140 million consumers. the reason i say that is just last week and today debate is taking place in the duma, the russian parliament, and the duma's lower house and the federation first down sill is the upper house, the duma has passed it and the federation council today is debating, they may have already voted on it, they are going to be joining the world trade organization. and this economist publication talks about the fact that is the market is exports. we know forcing russia to live with a rules-based trading system is something that can inure to the benefit of u.s. workers. that's what accession to the w.t.o. is. guess what? russia is going to be a member of

mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i rise to discuss an issue which i hope we are going to be addressing in the coming days. there is a great deal of confusion about the possibility of our passing permanent normal trade relations for russia. -- pntr for russia. some are laboring under the impress this is a reward to putin and russia, and in fact the opposite is the case. we know that putin, in fact many people say they look at him and when they are reminded of is the k.g.b. we know that putin, according to many reports, is attempting to reassemble the former soviet union. we know that he has grossly violated human rights. we know that they have a massive bureaucracy, crony capitalism, and very corrupt court system. that's why, mr. speaker, that's why it's very important for us to make sure that we pass russia pntr. according to the "wall street journal," an editorial last week, they mad

mr. dreier, for five minutes. mr. dreier: thank you very much, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, nearly three decades ago one of my great heroes, ronald reagan, famously said, in all of the arsenals of the world, no weapon is so powerful as the will and moral courage of free men and women. for the last year and a half, no development on the world stage has drawn greater interest or sparked more passioned debate than the upheaval in the arab world. what started in tunisia in december of 2010 has spread throughout north africa and the middle east, leafing virtually no arab nation un-- leaving virtually no arab nation untouched. tunisia out ofed a dictator. libya fought a civil war. rid itself of its dictators and held elections. in both cases, particularly in libya, blood was shed but it has so far not been in vain. as real hope for democracy and improved quality of life prevails. other countries such as morocco and jordan have seen more modest changes but in the same direction toward greater openness. elsewhere in the arab world, this unprecedented chain of events has thu

mr. dreier. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for three minutes. mr. dreier: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. thank you very much, mr. speaker. i'd like to express my appreciation to the distinguished vice chairman of the committee on rules, our friend from dallas, mr. sessions, for his superb management of this rule. i'd like to say as we look at where we are going, contrary to arguments that have been propounded here on the floor, it's important to note that everybody wants to do everything we possibly can to ensure that our fellow americans have access to the best quality, affordable health care in the world. we have the best health care system in the world. we all know that. we want to make sure that we continue to see that health care system improve. we just come to the conclusion that the massive expansion of government is not the answer to the goal of ensures the people have access to quality health care. the supreme court made the decision. we know what the supreme court's decision was. i think that that decision pointed

mr. dreier: mr. speaker -- force mr. dreier: august 22 is a very important date. august 22 is the date that russia will become a member of the world trade organization. it's a done deal. both houses of the russian parliament have passed it and it's been agreed to. and i point to this day because there are many who believe that as we look at a vote on permanent normal trade relations with russia that will be on the who are ayeson -- horizon, we are not going to be able to do it this week. we'll do it shortly after we come back in september, there are some who believe we are playing a role in getting russia into the world trade organization. that is not the case. that's not the case. all we are saying, mr. speaker, is that since russia is already going to be a member, will be as of august 22ed in of the world trade organization, we want -- 2 nd of the world trade organization, we want to make sure u.s. workers and business will have the opportunity to have access to the 140 million consumers in russia. so, mr. speaker, it's important for us to note the question is o

dreier. together, these bills will ensure that no american faces a tax hike on january 1, while providing our small business men and women with the certainty to grow and create jobs. finally, mr. speaker, the house may consider legislation related to programs and disaster assistance under the expiring farm bill legislation. i thank the gentleman and yield back. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for that information. as the gentleman knows, he was unable to have the colloquy last week, and so mr. roskam and i talked about the schedule. and last week the chief deputy, the majority whip, mentioned we would be voting on the tax bill, as you have done, and he also mentioned that we would be given the opportunity to offer a substitute amendment on the floor of our choosing. is that still the plan of the majority so that we'll be able to offer that legislation? i yield to my friend. mr. cantor: mr. speaker, i didn't understand the gentleman's question. mr. hoyer: my question is, last week we had a colloquy and mr. roskam indicated that we would be offer an amendment, not just an m.t.r., but an amendment to the bill. now we want to know whether it was in the form of a substitute or am