mr. himes: thank you. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: at this time i would like to yield four minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. garrett. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. garrett: mr. speaker. like all my colleagues i believe that financial reform is necessary. but the legislation that's before us really which empowers failed bureaucrats through government overreach and unnecessary job killing is just not the right legislation. first one of the major fundamental flaws, 2,300-page bill is a section that basically empowers government bureaucrats with so-called resolution authority to basically pick winners and losers again to continue that failed bailout philosophy. i know the chairman and the proponents of this bill blame these provisions are meant to add certainty and stability to our financial system. but when you think about it, when you set up an alternative to bankruptcy for failed firms, so that there are now two poten

mr. himes: the wall street reform bill that we have crafted addresses every one of the links in that chain of madness. yesterday, the minority leader called the reform killing an ant with a nuclear weapon. mr. speaker, i'm a human being so i know that eight million jobs lost and $17 trillion in savings gone is not an ant. mr. speaker, i worked years in the financial services industry, so i know this reform is not a nuclear weapon. it is a critical and essential mechanism to restore the faith of the american people in their system and the prosperity that will follow. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky rise? mr. yarmuth: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. yarmuth: mr. speaker, you know, it's pretty clear that there's a difference between democrats and republicans and their attitude toward the economy. democrats want

and mr. himes: one of the most disheartening aspects for -- of the flotilla situation was the facts set aside by much of the world and instead prejudice was allowed to emerge, a prejudice against our ally, israel and we learned that the facts are a good deal more complicated than we were led to beeve initially. this was a flotilla with more than one agenda, a flotilla with a clear intention of provoking the kind of response that was ultimately provoked. and make no mistake, there isn't a person in this chamber or anywhere else that isn't saddened by loss of life. i would like to step back from the facts that mr. wiener did a good job in articulating, to larger issues that cannot be lost in our relationship with the state of israel. the best way i can encapsulate, israel for the united states, is family. we speak of a special relationship with great britain. we have at least a special relationship with the nation of israel. it is a relationship of family. in some cases, very literally. in other case