mr. flores: mr. chairman, i rise to offer my amendment which would address another restrictive and misguided federal regulation. section 526 of the energy independence and security act prevents federal agencies from entering into a contract for the procurement of an alternative fuel unless its life cycle greenhouse gas emissions are less than or equal to those -- fuels from conventional petroleum resources. my amendment would stop enforcing this ban on federal agencies funded by the energy and water appropriations bill. the initial purpose of section 526 was to stifle a defense department's plan to buy and develop coal-based or coal-to-liquid jet fuel based on the opinion of environmentalists that they produce more greenhouse gas emissions than traditional petroleum. i recently offered my similar amendments to the milcon-v.a., ag appropriations bill and each time those amendments passed by voice vote. my friend, mr. conaway, added language to the bill. but section 526's ban on fuel choice applies to

mr. flores and talk about union labor sometime . there's a lot more notes i have here, but, you know, i'm ready to get on with it. i'm going to make a motion to approve the project. commissioner moore: second. president olague: on both? commissioner sugaya: both. >> i'll second that. >> planning code text amendments, zoning map amendments and requests for conditional use authorization. president olague: commissioner fong. commissioner fong: thank you. i just wanted to share a few comments. i'm very familiar with the area, having spent -- lived in the area for most of my life. and remember the captain video across the street. but i want to hear a little bit more -- i don't know if there will be an opportunity, but i'm curious about the house rules. i am curious. i'm actually encouraged to know that each of them have leases. i think that does a lot of different things. promotes responsibility, as well as keeping them employed. i was a little bit under the misconception by reading some of the public comment emails that there are going

mr. flores: mr. chairman, i rise to offer my amendment which would address another misguided federal regulation. section 526, the energy independence and security act, prohibits federal agencies from entering into contracts for the procurement of alternative fuels unless their life cycle greenhouse gas emissions are less than or equal to a conventional fuel produced from conventional petroleum sources. simply stated, my amendment would stop the government from enforcing this ban on the department of defense. the initial purpose of section 526 was to stifle a defense department's plan to buy and development coal-based or coal-to-liquids jet fuel. this section was based on the opinion of environmentists that coal-based jet fuel produces more greenhouse gas emissions than traditional petroleum. i submitted this amendment to the milcon and ag bill and they passed both times. my friend, mr. conaway, had similar language added to the defense appropriations bill. we must ensure that our military becomes mor

mr. flores. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. flores: madam speaker, on july 15, 2011, just four days ago, president obama said, we don't need a constitutional amendment to do our jobs. but the president clearly does. let's go through the facts which the other side has conveniently forgotten. in the 30 months that he's been president, the short 30 months, he's added almost $4 trillion to our national debt. that's $133 billion a month, $3.1 million per minute, $51,000 per second. we have seen the destruction of medicare through the enactment of obamacare making medicare inol vent by more than $-- insolvent by more than $60 trillion. you can right over here and see medicare destruction. we have almost 40 million americans on food stamp, the most ever. we've spent $1 trillion on a stimulus plan, but we still have one out of every six working age americans either unemployed or underemployed. this is what mr. obama calls winning the future. that's what he threatened in his veto of cut, cap and balance. he wants to win the future. well,

mr. flores? >> i meant to ask one more question. this may be grossly out of order, but i was wondering if this was her testimony she provided to the forest service, talking about drilling on the george washington national forest. >> that would be probably -- did your organization provide testimony? >> no, we have not. >> ok, disregard. >> ok, the committee will stand in recess, will be adjourned. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> today on c-span, the president and congressional leaders discuss the latest unemployment figures and negotiations over the federal budget. following that, live, today's "washington journal" with your phone calls. and later this morning, wikileaks founder julian assange. >> who is really going to get fired up? they are shorthand for the incredibly narrow range of choice that we actually have in political -- in elect officials. >> in "the declaration of independents," reason.com editor-in-chief nick gillespie takes on the two-pa

mr. flores. >> i believe ipab has a flaw built into it, but before that, i want to get to questions quickly you started your comments talking about the insolvency of medicare and medicaid >> we know that part a of medicare is running a cash flow deficit now. parts b, c, d were never set up to be on their own footings. they plan revenues, and we have something over $280 billion to keep it alive. >> into that time frame? my understanding is that medicare is insolvent to the tune of $160 billion; is that right? >> these are games, but let me give you the sad fact. medicare grows so quickly, there's no interest rate to do a discounting exercise to cause it to convert. it is in-- infiently -- >> more than $60 trillion? >> only a miracle -- >> we'll get to that. medicare is similar in the neighborhood of $15 $$20 trillion? five times our national debt? one of my first professors said the laws are of gravity it. the worse you violate them, the harder the impact at the end, and it's essentially what we're in right now. if you look at what has been claimed to be the benefits of ipab it says that we

mr. flores: the time has come to pass the colombia, panama, and south korea free trade agreements. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? mr. johnson: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from georgia is recognized for one minute. mr. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. cut, cap, and balance is not a jobs bill, it's a job-killing bill. it's a new way of trying to ramrod the ryan budget proposal down our throats. it's the ryan budget with lipstick. and it's really just slash and burn politics with a new face. today the republicans will vote unanimously for this draconian slash and burn ryan budget plan that they now call cut, cap, and balance. for the third time the republicans will vote unanimously to cut medicare and change social security to a voucher program that puts our seniors at the mercy of the for-profit insurance companies. and that's real. we need jobs and economic growth. not cut, cap, and balance. which is, again, j

mr. flores: we are all air wear that every additional barrel that can be produced in north america is one fewer barrel that we need from the middle east. this pipeline extension would help bring up total capacity up to more than 1.2 million barrels per day into our markets. also, as we look for opportunities to address our struggling economic recovery, this project will create an estimated 100,000 american jobs and help grow our economy. canada's vast oil resources have also attracted interest from other energy-hungry nations. if we do not tap this valuable resource, the chinese or other countries will. the obama administration has already delayed the decision on this project for almost three years, and it is time that they may act and make a decision. the choice is clear. by passing this bill we will increase our energy security with a more stable supply of efficient and affordable international trading partner and we will lessen our dependence on middle eastern oil. i ask my colleagues to support this critical legislation. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the g