mr. herger: thank you, mr. chairman. i yield one minute to the gentleman from tennessee, mr. roe, who is also a physician. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. roe: i thank the gentleman. thank you, mr. speaker. why was this so hard? house republicans have been saying for months that we'd be happy to support legislation ensuring seniors have access to doctors. they were willing to cut spending to stop the deficits from going any higher. doctors and patients both have -- are benefiting under this legislation but today's headlines should be this, bipartisan solutions are possible when the majority tries to meet the minority halfway. when we cut spending, we can address many of the critical problems facing our country. hopefully today's bill isn't the end of bipartisan cooperation. our economy is still in dire straights and republicans can help democrats get -- straits and republicans can help democrats get people back to work. otherwise the job loss and exploding deficits we've seen for the past 18 months will only continue and no one benefits from that. i

mr. herger. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. herger: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank my friend from wisconsin. yesterday the supreme court delivered a victory for our constitutional freedoms by upholding the right of individual citizens to keep an bear arms. to fully honor the second amendment, we must also be vigilant against regulations that place unnecessary burdens on manufacturers of guns and ammunition. the requirement for manufacturers that pay federal excise tax biweekll+y is costly and does not improve tax compliance or public safety. h.r. 5552 is a commonsense bill that doesn't add to the deficit and will help ensure law-abiding americans have access to american-made firearms. it is supported by the n.r.a. and a number of hunting and conservation groups. i urge the passage of this legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from wisconsin. mr. ryan: does the gentleman from wisconsin have any additional speakers? ok. i'll just simply wrap up then. mr. speaker, i'll yield myself the remainder of the time. this is

mr. herger: i'd like to -- mr. shimkus: i'd like to inquire how much time is left. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois has 4 1/2 minutes. mr. shimkus: can i inquire how many speakers you have, i'm the only one, i'd like to -- i'll just reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: i'm pleased -- mr. waxman: i'm pleased to yield to mr. dingell for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. dingell: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. dingell: we have before us an opportunity. we can begin to solve a problem that's going to destroy our medical care system in this country. doctors are abandoning medicare patients because they can no longer afford to serve them. it's turning out we are now finding we are losing the capability of addressing one of the greatest health problems we've got, seeing to it that physicians do take care of our people and that they have the resources necessary to do it. this is a proposal which

mr. herger: request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. herger: madam speaker, for the first time since 1974, the house has failed to pass a budget resolution. instead of making tough decisions, congressional democrats have chosen to keep their heads in the sand. a problem won't go away just by ignoring it. it will require real leadership and a commitment to fiscal discipline to tackle the out-of-control spending and debt that threatens our economic prosperity. failure to even propose a budget fundamentally means that congressional democrats have no plan and are content to ignore skyrocketing debt. madam speaker, the american people know it's a failure of leadership to ignore the massive tax increases and the crushing burden of debt washington is leaving our children and grandchildren. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginiaarise? >> ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >

mr. herger: mr. speaker, i rise to israel's right to self-defense and express my outrage over the knee-jerk, international condemnation of our strong ally following the recent flotilla incident. the activists ignored warning from israeli forces to turn away from gaza and disregarded invitations to offload supplies elsewhere. worst of raleigh, they placed israeli forces in grave dangerer by brutally attacking them. many countries immediately condemned israel. their reaction sharply contrasts with their failure to denounce the hostile behavior of iran and north korea. i applaud the obama administration for avoiding this double standard. the united states must always stand against the unfair treatment of an important ally. the speaker pro tempore: mr. defazio of oregon. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009, the gentleman from utah, mr. bishop is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. mr. bishop: i appreciate the opportunity to talk about the 10 amendment and