mr. duncan: mr. speaker, i request permission to address the house and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. duncan: mr. speaker, you can never satisfy government's appetite for money and land thefment always want more. now we are $17 trillion in debt and headed to $25 trillion in less than a decade under the best case scenario. these are figures that are humanly incomprehensible. yet our estimates of our future of unfunded pension liabilities are much, much higher. probably at least $75 trillion or more. the nonpartisan congressional budget office is the one that's put out these estimates, and they estimated recently that interest on the national debt will quadruple in less than 10 years to an astounding $857 billion in just one year. if we allow that to happen, the federal government could then pay only for social security, medicare, medicaid, and interest on the debt. nothing for defense, national parks, interstate highways, and so forth. obvious

mr. duncan: i won't need that much time, mr. speaker, but i do appreciate the gentleman from alaska yielding me this time and i rise in support of this amendment. small businesss struggle to stay in business every day and they should not have to compete against their government on top of all the other challenges they face. in fact, sometimes i think we should pin a medal on anybody who is able to survive today in small businesses. yet every day in almost every congressional district, big government agencies are competing with small businesses. in almost every white house conference on small business since the mid 1950's, they have listed unfair government competition with small businesses as one of the top issues. this is not a new problem. in fact, since the eisenhower administration in 1955, it became official u.s. policy that, quote, the federal government will not start or carry on any commercial activity to provide is service or product for its own use if such product or service can be procured from private enterprise throu

mr. duncan. for two minutes. the chair: gentleman from tennessee is recognized for two minutes. mr. duncan: thank you, mr. speaker. i first want to say that i rise in strong support of this bipartisan jobs and infrastructure legislation. and would like to commend chairman shuster and chairman gibbs and ranking members rahall and bishop for working together to bring this very important bill to the floor today. this is one of the most fiscally responsible infrastructure bills that this congress has ever seen. i think it's fair to say that in my 25 years of service in body, i have one of the most fiscally conservative voting records possible, so i'm proud to support this type of legislation. every day tons of goods are transported across our water ways, without basic infrastructure in place, much of these goods would be transported on our already overly congested highways. according to the inland waterways foundation, a 15-barge tow can transport the same amount of goods as 1,050 tractor-trailer trucks. it's one of the most fuel efficient and environmentally sound method of transportati

mr. duncan. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. a big part of the great smoky mountains national park is in my district. and without objection i would like to place a statement by the county mayor ed mitchell in the record. mayor mitchell has been a great leader in trying to find ways to open the park back up, and he's asked the park service to let the county operate the park, and have said they could do so just as capably if allowed to do so. of course, they weren't allowed to do so and now unfortunately our state has come up with really more money that is necessary to open the park back up until sunday. there's a private community in the smokies called top of the world. two dozen schoolchildren are picked up each day to go to school on the school bus. they were picked up when the government, the morning the government shutdown, and then the park service closed the road so that the schoolchildren could not get back home on their school bus after school, which i thought was a very sad and needless thing to have done. i've said many

mr. duncan: i'm thankful for him and the inspiration of his generation. and, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from florida seek recognition? without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for ne minute. ms. wilson: mr. speaker, it's now been more than 1,000 days since i arrived in congress and republican leaders have still not allowed a single vote on serious legislation to address our unemployment cry sills. we've lost millions of jobs throughout -- through outsourcing and technological changes. we've lost millions of jobs due to the great recession. we're losing millions of jobs through sequestration and state budget cuts. and now we have the nerve to shut down the government, risk default and bring our employees to the gates of hell. mr. speaker, open up this government. raise the debt ceiling and get us back to dealing with the real crisis -- job creation. mr. speaker, the mantra of this congress should be jobs, jobs, obs. the speaker pro tempore: the speaker lays before the

mr. duncan: house republicans are working and will continue to work to fund important government functions -- functions like medical research and benefits for our veterans. we hope the senate and the president will join us in these efforts. it's time for the president and the senate to stop playing games at the expense of the american people. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from vermont rise? mr. welch: to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. welch: vermont's institute of national science, an institute that's provided environmental education to -- it provided help through education, research, wildlife and rehabilitation programs. thousands of children in new england have grown up have taken the lessons they learned from environmental education throughout their lives. it requires persistent work and agile leadership. john dolen has succeeded. he served as president for eight years and retired october 1. john led them through

mr. speaker, can i associate myself and my constituents with the victims of terrorism in nairobi and andrew duncan? and of course, accolades to professor higgs. mr. speaker, can the prime minister confirm that less than a third of families will benefit from is tax break? >> what i can confirm is that all married couples paying basic rate tax will benefit from this vote. it is not about the money. it is about the message. i think marriage is a great institution and i think we should be supporting marriage through the income tax system. minister, with the disappearance of the minimum practice and crumb -- income death not by a thousand cuts but by one cut. they serve elderly residents and indeed a number of children. will he investigate this issue and ensure that my constituents will not be isolated and that they will continue to receive the excellent service that they do from their doctors? >> i will look at the application -- case that he makes. a large rural constituency. i think it is a k-fed many more doctors are operating many more services. we want to see a growth of that to make sure people

mr. chair i waive my time. >> thank you. we go now to jeff duncan from south carolina. >> thank you mr. chairman and let me just remind the folks that al-shabaab has been around for quite a while. a merger in february 2012 with al qaeda so they are not just a franchise. they're actually part of the whole structure now so in past hearings mr. chairman we have learned of various network some of them affiliated with al-shabaab involved in smuggling somalis into the united states through mexico. dr. jones is this still happening and for what purpose do you think al-shabaab smuggle people into the united states? >> my understanding is it is happening. i cannot give you specific numbers on how many may be smuggled right now but i think your question on the purpose there may be several purposes, people wanting to return home and people intent on recruiting or fund-raising. i think those are the primary reasons. >> anyone else like to comment on that on the panel? besides the 2010 attack in kampala al-shabaab is focused most of its attention on somalia. this attack in kenya fits exactly the att

made to the victims of terrorism in nairobi and to the treaty under duncan, and, of course, offer up congratulations to the professor. mr. speaker, can the prime minister can from the less than a third of families will benefit from his mild tax break? >> i can confirm is all married couples paying basic rate tax will benefit from this move. i'll tell you what i think this is important. it's not about the money. it's about the message. i think marriage is a great institution and i think we should be supporting marriage including through the income tax system. >> nigel evans. >> prime minister, with the disappearance of the minimum practice income guarantee, many doctors surgeries serving remote rural areas like the one in my constituency faced death by one guy. this are a lot of elderly residents and, indeed, a number of children who don't have access to great public care, transport to go into neighboring areas. will investigate this issue and ensure that my constituents will not be isolated and less they will continue to receive the excellent services they do from their doctor a surgery? >> i will look carefully of the

military, my colleague, duncan hunter, who played a role in making sure that the captain was awarded this great honor as the recipient of the congressional medal of honor. thank you again, mr. speaker. and thank you, mr. wenstrup for what you have done for veterans tonight and what you continue to do every single day that you're hear. may god bless you and may god bless those you have honored this evening and may god continue to bless the united states of america and i yield back. mr. wenstrup: thank the gentleman from illinois for that fine tribute. i would like to share a story m.d. john pryor, joined the army reserve in 2011. seeing his nation was attack, he got in his car and hitch hiked to ground zero. after he drove as far as he could, he took care of people. after that, he started thinking there is more he could do. he joined the army reserve and we served together in iraq and after returning we did a trauma conference in cincinnati. john returned to iraq in 2008 and on christmas day after attending mass, he walked out and was hit by a mortar and killed. john was the type of person that did all for others. left behind unfortunately a wife and three children. he had