mr. gohmert for their leaership in it. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. van hollen: are you prepared to close? can i inquire how much time remains? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland has four minutes. mr. van hollen: thank you, mr. speaker. i think we've had a good debate and there have been a couple of things, one is that this bill in and of itself, i think everyone acknowledges, won't save the taxpayer one penny. it doesn't do that. in order to save the taxpayer money and reduce the deficit, we have to make the tough decisions that mr. hoyer and mr. ryan mentioned. there are obviously disagreements as to how we go about doing that. we've talked about the importance of trying to make sure that as we go forward we have a budget that reflects the values and priorities of the american people and one where we're covering our costs and that means paying our bills. a lot of us believe that in order to do that, we've got to get rid of the tax break for the folks at the very top, we need to close a

mr. gohmert, for 30 minutes. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. i come tonight to deeply troubled about the situation in the middle east as so many people are. and also about the response of this country to our dear friend israel. it's been quite interesting to see, as iran comes ever-closer to having nuclear weapons, just how much of a friend this administration has, at least from its viewpoint in israel. in recent days we have seen the story a number news services provided a story reported from "the washington post", traveling with defense secretary panetta. "the washington post" columnist and this article from fox news says, traveling with the defense secretary in brussles to cover his meeting with nato defense ministers. "the washington post" writer writes, quote, panetta believes there's a strong likelihood that israel will strike iran in april, may or june. that's awfully specific. there's some in iran that have believed that we're a paper tiger and so is israel and that we will prevent israel from ever striking at all and that if there were

mr. gohmert. as we wrap up this hour, recognizing the importance of national marriage week, i want to conclude, recognize my own life's partner. february 13 will mark the day little over three decades ago that i thought i was going out to eat dinner with a blind date. what i was doing was being introduced to a friend, a life-long friend. as we talked that night we found out that the things we shared we wanted to share with one another. and i've learned so much from my now bride of 30 years, tori, but i think one of the things that i've learned from her that applies to national marriage week, i've heard her say time and time again, love's not a feeling, it's an action. and you can't help how you feel about something. you can help how you act. there's another young family i'm reminded of as i celebrate national marriage week. young couple that a little under six years ago i sat at a church, watched their families smile with excitement, watch them exchange promises to one another and here in their ea

mr. gohmert, for 30 minutes. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. i always learn something when i hear from my friend, professor bishop. it has been staggering to hear the testimony over the last several years as to what has gone on on our border. we used to be a law and order country where the law meant something. but we've seen that eroded. our democratic friends, before mr. bishop spoke, speaking of selling our birth right and i enjoyed hearing them talk about how you know what we ought to use our energy in this country. well, welcome to the republican position. that was great to hear. that's just fabulous, to hear our democratic friends because as we know, one of the things that mr. bishop pointed out, there have been regulations and government bureaucracies used to not only prevent us from enforcing our immigration laws but also to prevent us from utilizing our own resources over and over and over. for heaven's sake, somebody's got 800 safety violations like b.p., prevent them from drilling. but don't prevent everybody from drilling. the things

mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. one of the things going on in the mideast -- a lot of things going on in the mideast, a lot of things needing to be addressed at this point. i have great concerns with the man for the which this administration is handling the things in the mideast. maybe continuing with the policy on international affairs of this administration, which is apparently, from what we see them doing, if you've been an ally to the united states, if you've been our friend, if you have fought with us, if you have had friends and family that fought with us and lost their lives then this administration's message is, we're going to throw you under the bus, and we're going to negotiate and help your enemy and our enemy. so it almost looks like the best thing to do for people in the united states that want help from the federal government, move to an island, declare war against the united states and then this administration will send you all kinds of money and help, buy you an office in qatar, all kinds of things t

mr. gohmert, for 30 minutes. mr. gohmert: thank you mr. speaker. interesting days in which we live. there's supposed to be an old chinese cuffers that says may you live in interesting times and as if that curse has been placed on us. we certainly live in interesting times. on 9/11 2001, this country suffered the worst attack in its history on its homeland. its worse since december 7 of 1941. it left thousands of people dead and left a nation reeling from the feeling of vulnerability and it pushed the federal government to respond quickly. now there are a number of things that could be effectuated more effectively in iraq and afghanistan though that will be a subject of another time. i recall after 9/11 bill bennett coming to my hometown of tyler texas and speaking at tyler junior college and there was a huge crowd that turned on it. people in fact turned out during those few months after 9/11 in record numbers to their churches, to places of worship in record numbers. because much like the children of israel after a disaster, they realized they needed to get back closer to our creat

mr. gohmert, for 30 minutes. the gentleman is recognized. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. it's wonderful to talk to my friends and colleagues on the floor discussing what is so important to this nation, responsibility and if you want to talk fiscal responsibility, it would certainly seem in the first place to start with the repeal of obamacare. if you want to talk about freedom individually, once again, best place to start is with repeal of obamacare. there are so many things that have been going on, the federal government encoaching into individual liberties, individual freedoms. it begins to get quite scary that we are encroaching on the very things that our original founders were willing to fight and die to ensure that we had the freedoms to do. that we would have the freedoms to avoid doing damage to our conscience. it's so ironic that so many came to this nation in its earliest days and then through its history seeking relief from persecution as christians. so many groups. they came here believing that this could be a place, a promised land of sorts where fleem could

mr. gohmert, for 30 minutes. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. it's an honor to be here before you tonight. there's so much going on in this country. so many threats to our national security and energy is one of them. and i am so proud to be a member of congress with the freshman that i've heard here tonight. they make the rest of us look good. and i'm so grateful for their discussion about energy. it doesn't make any sense to have more energy overall than any country in the world and then to pay billions and hundreds of billions of dollars to people many of whom don't like us, they want to bring down this nation and yet we're enriching them, actually engorging them on our money. and then we have a solution. one little part of the solution is a keystone pipeline. more oil coming from our friends in canada who actually are our friends. they don't want to see this country taken down. they don't want to see this country attacked again like it was on 9/11. and then we have a hearing today on energy and our natural resources committee -- in our natura

mr. gohmert, for 30 minutes. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. these are the best of times and some ways, the worst of times. our freedoms are under assault and some people in places of leadership do not appreciate the threat to our freedoms and therefore, assisting those who are taking them away. we know that in recent days, in afghanistan, we had some soldiers who were given the responsibility to burn korans, which were being used by prisoners to write messages of an nature to other prisoners. it's my understanding of shria law that to write in such a koran could be considered a december creation -- desecration. yet there has been snow outrage over prisoners using the koran to pass inflam tower messages to other prisoners. and we've also seen the death of americans as a result, two officers, along with others, have been killed and injured. our commander in chief has seen fit to apologize to those who are house the killers of our two american officers. when i think about the feelings of those family members of the two american officers who were

mr. gohmert, for 30 minutes. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. it is such an honor to serve with such an honorable man as colonel allen west. i've known him for a few years going back to his previous efforts at election to the house of representatives and i'm just delighted that he's here. i'm delighted to call him a friend, and he has been a fantastic addition here to the house of representatives. i would like to regress -- to address something my democratic colleague had referenced and that was with troord medicare my friend was taking issue with what my republican doctors were addressing here on the floor with regard to medicare. and it was interesting to hear a democrat say that actually obamacare strengthened medicare. it's interesting. i guess the definition of is means something to some folks and in this case, i guess the definition of strengthen would have to be what was at issue here. the democrats strengthened medicare. cut $500 billion, with a b, billion dollars out of medicare and are proud to report to the american people that they s

mr. gohmert, for 30 minutes. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, happy valentine's day for you. thank you for this time. so much going on. and we have had in recent days the testimony of the director of c.b.o., congressional budget office, making projections. we have had the white house dictating what religious beliefs people could observe and practice and which they could not. and then what was said to be a compromise so that individuals, actually institutions, could practice religious beliefs, the insurance companies, which they utilize, will have to provide the coverage that the president dictates, even though it is against the religious beliefs. and then naturally the way things work, insurance companies will spread out the costs and help pay for them any way, which will be once again in breach of their religious beliefs. it's quite interesting and i have been trying to take this in, mr. speaker, as we have seen obamacare basically rammed down the throats of americans with the majority not wanting the bill passed, with the vast majorit

mr. gohmert is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. this has been a good day legislatively in the united states house of representatives. and there's a lot of good things to be said about what's happened today. yesterday, there was a wonderful event, the -- it's called the president's prayer breakfast here in washington. and the president was gracious enough and i'm not being sarcastic, he was gracious enough once again to extend his presence with the first lady, who was also extremely grarkse and represents us well as the nation's first lady. it was a marvelous breakfast. held north of the capitol. there was so many moving, touching things that were said and done from having an 11-year-old girl who sings like an angel bless us and also having an amazing speaker, the author of a book on "amazing grace: the william wilber force story" as well as bonhoeffer from germany, he was funny, he was inspirational, he was touching. one of the things that's been such a blessing over the seven years i have been in co