mr. hoyer: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to speak out of order for one minute for the purposes of inquiring of the majority leader the schedule for the week to come. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hoyer: i thank the speaker. i'm pleased to -- once the house is in order. the speaker pro tempore: the ouse will be in order. mr. hoyer: i'm pleased to yield to my friend, the majority leader, mr. cantor from virginia. mr. cantor: i thank the gentleman from maryland, the kemic whip -- democratic whip, for yielding. last week, mr. speaker, the gentleman from maryland was kind enough to note and celebrate my birthday with a colloquy. and luckily i get to return the favor today. so, mr. speaker, i would like to say happy birthday to my friend, mr. hoyer, and wish him many, many more birthdays. mr. hoyer: reclaiming my time. i want to thank the gentleman for his kindness. and the american public must be thinking the geminis are schizophrenic. i yield back. mr. cantor: mr. speaker, on mo

mr. hoyer: i ask unanimous consent to speak out of order for one minute for purposes of inquiring of the majority leader the schedule for the week to come. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. hoyer: i thank the speaker. before yielding to my friend for the schedule, however, i would like to join, i know, with all of our colleagues wishing him a happy birthday. it is the majority leader's irthday today. because i don't want him to retaliate i'm not going to mention which birthday it is, but i want to congratulate him and wish him the very best. we'll have a birthday colloquy today. i thank him for his leadership and yield to him the time to explain our schedule for the week to come. mr. cantor: mr. speaker, i thank the gentleman, my friend from maryland, for those kind birthday wishes. yes, it is my 50th birthday, and i have been saying all day my wife and i are empty nesters now, it's about time i'm 50. i do thank the gentleman. mr. speaker, would tell the gentleman i'll

mr. hoyer, for five minutes. mr. hoyer: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hoyer: i rise to join the eader t i rise to join congresswoman esty and congressman thompson in recognizing this sad anniversary. mr. speaker, it is with sadness that we mark the six-month anniversary, tomorrow, of the tragic shooting at sandy hook elementary school in newtown. on that day as has been repeated and must be remembered, americans were united in shock and grief at the senseless murder by a crazed gunman of 26 innocent people. 20 innocent first graders and six courageous school staff members who took -- tried to protect them and help save the lives of others. since that day approximately 4,500, the leader mentioned 5,000, but a figure in excess of 4,500 americans have died as a result of gun violence, according to the newtown action alliance. mr. speaker, this is not just a tragedy. it is a epidemic. one that congress has a moral responsibi

mr. hoyer: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to speak out of order for one minute for the purposes of inquiring of the majority leader the schedule for the week to come. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hoyer: i yield to my friend, the majority leader. mr. cantor: i thank the gentleman from maryland, democratic whip, for yielding. mr. speaker, on monday the house will meet in pro forma session at 11:00 a.m., no votes are expected. on tuesday, the house will meet at noon for morning hour, and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. votes will be postponed until :30 p.m. on wednesday and thursday, the house will meet at 10:00 a.m. for morning hour and noon for legislative business. on friday, the house will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business. last votes of the week are expected no later than 3:00 p.m. mr. speaker, the house will consider a few bills under suspension of the rules. a complete list of which will be announced by close of business tomorrow. in addition, i expect the h

mr. hoyer, thank you so much for your leadership on make it in america. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for taking the floor and i thank the gentleman from new york for joining in. i think that we are on the cusp of a real expansion and reinvigration of our manufacturing sector in this country. for a lot of reasons that i point out around the country and i know the two of you do as well. first of all, salaries are going up overseas. that's good news for them and frankly for us. furthermore, as we all know, it's costing a lot more to ship goods back to the biggest market in the world than it used to. and thirdly, i think both of you have talked about energy. we are about to become an energy-independent nation with energy that has a cost less than most of our competitors around the world. so we have become in a relatively short period of time, i think, in many respects the venue of choice for somebody who wants to either expand or establish manufacturing here in this country. or frankly continue

i'm a very special friend, mr. hoyer. nd mr. cantor, thank you for your kindness. and to the esteemed members of the president's cabinet, i'm delighted to be with you, particularly madam secretary. we have worked together on so many things. i want to say i am probably the luckiest man. i am proud mostly of the friends that i have made. that has been the most important thing in my life. i have a wonderful wife. i want to tell her how much i love her today and how much she means to me and why. i was looking at some books and i found in the proverbs in the bible a set of verses, 31:10. if you will take a look at that, you will see why debra is so important and dear to me. i will endear her more to you. i have been blessed with a wonderful family. a father who was an inspiration to me and a mother whose goodness was cherished by all who knew her. i'm proud that my daughter is with me today. my son christopher and his wife cindy, thank you for being here. and my brother, jim, thanks. and his wonderful wife, gigi, who is at home struggling with a terrible curse. and a ba

mr. hoyer: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i am pleased to rise tonight to honor and to lead a special order, but to honor a great american, a great colleague and a great legislator whose service to this country and to this institution have been unman ofed -- unmatched. it is appropriate that we rise tonight, appropriate particularly in light of the action that was taken and has been discussed today on the voting rights act. thatpeaker, let me observe the gentleman from texas said something about cramming down throat, -- somebody's the voting rights act. i will remind my colleagues that was passed 388-23 in this house and 98-0 in the senate in 2006. let me say we honor a man tonight who not only voted for the voting rights act in 1965 but has voted for every re-authorization of that act since that time. john dingell came to congress as a member in 1955. winning a special election to fill the seat held by his father , john dingell sr. who himself served from 1933 to 1955. john dingell and his father have represented th

mr. hoyer: i'm disappointed. this ought to be a bipartisan bill. mr. peterson wants it to be a bipartisan bill and many of our people, the majority of our people supported it in committee. i think the chairman wants it to be a borne bill. i understand he has to deal within the framework of his caucus, like every chairman has to do. on either side of the aisle. i understand that. but it is a shame, in a bill that ought to be bringing us together, for people who provide this country with food and fiber and indeed provide a lot of the world with food and ber, that we have put this almost poison pill, i don't know if it's going to be a poison pill, but almost poison pill in it. i regret that. it's not worthy of our country. it's not worthy of the morals of this nation. but i thank the chairman and i thank the ranking member. for their efforts to try to bring us together, whether they've done so or not, we have to see. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from minnesota reserves. the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. lucas: i yield to th

mr. hoyer and then our special guest. >> thank you, madam leader. as disappointed as i was yesterday, i am happy today. today the court stood up for the principles of america of equal justice under law. the supreme court's historic decision to strike down section 3 of the 1996 defense of marriage act opens doors of opportunity for thousands of married couples in maryland and of course we had a vote in maryland of the people and they said we wanted to have equality in maryland. in 12 other states and the district of columbia, recognizing that same-sex partners married under laws of their states are entitled to the constitutional equal protection of which we have spoken so often. the court today listened to voices of millions of people who said that they wanted to have justice and be able to choose those whom they love. justice kennedy's majority opinion makes it clear, and i quote, "doma's purpose and effects is a disadvantage, a separate status and so a stigma upon all who enter into same-sex marriages." stood that stigma has thankfully been erased.

mr. hoyer and then our special guest. >> thank you, madam leader. as disappointed as i was yesterday, i am happy today. today the court stood up for the principles of america of equal justice under law. the supreme court's historic decision to strike down section 3 of the 1996 defense of marriage act opens doors of opportunity for thousands of married couples in maryland and of course we had a vote in maryland of the people and they said we wanted to have equality in maryland. in 12 other states and the district of columbia, recognizing that same-sex partners married under laws of their states are entitled to the constitutional equal protection of which we have spoken so often. the court today listened to voices of millions of people who said that they wanted to have justice and be able to choose those whom they love. justice kennedy's majority opinion makes it clear, and i purpose and effects is a disadvantage, a separate status and so a stigma upon all who enter into same-sex marriages." stood that stigma has thankfully been erased. i was proud to

mr. hoyer for five minutes. mr. hoyer: i ask feak to revise and extend. -- i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hoyer: i know i -- before i get to my remarks -- join all the house in saying thank you to your father and to the greatest generation who not only fought the terrorists of their time but came home and built the greatest economy we've ever seen and gave us all opportunities of our generation. i'm older than you are, but of our generation. so i thank you for your comments and i know that your father is extraordinarily proud of you and extraordinarily proud of the remarks you just made showing how proud you are f him. mr. speaker, tomorrow the majority party is set to recess leaving e for a week in place the economy stifling and irrational policy of sequester. we talked about the greatest generation. i fear that this generation's going to be the greediest generation, is not going to leave our children the great economy that was lef

we have been joined by our whip, mr. hoyer. >> thank you very much, congresswoman fudge, the chairman of the congressional black caucus. i join members of the asian pacific caucus, members of the hispanic caucus, but this is about all americans. not just particular americans. particular americans are protected. but in a real sense it's about all of us and the kind of country we are and want to be. today's ruling is a disappointing blow to voting rights in america. and will have a real impact on voters. in 2006, congress in which i serve, re-authorized the voting rights act in a bipartisan fashion and under a republican president. significantly bipartisan support. overwhelming. there was a broad consensus then, as i believe there still is today, that sections 4 and 5 of the voting rights act were both responsible and necessary answers to the lingering problems of discrimination at the ballot box. if anybody thinks there are not continuing efforts to make voting more difficult for some people, they haven't been reading the paper

mr. hoyer, for five minutes. mr. hoyer: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hoyer: i rise to join the eader t i rise to join congresswoman esty and congressman thompson in recognizing this sad anniversary. mr. speaker, it is with sadness that we mark the six-month anniversary, tomorrow, of the tragic shooting at sandy hook elementary school in newtown. on that day as has been repeated and must be remembered, americans were united in shock and grief at the senseless murder by a crazed gunman of 26 innocent people. 20 innocent first graders and six courageous school staff members who took -- tried to protect them and help save the lives of others. since that day approximately 4,500, the leader mentioned 5,000, but a figure in excess of 4,500 americans have died as a result of gun violence, according to the newtown action alliance. mr. speaker, this is not just a tragedy. it is a epidemic. one that congress has a moral responsibi

mr. hoyer, for five minutes. mr. yer: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hoyer: i rise to join the eader t i rise to join congresswoman esty and congressman thompson in recognizing this sad anniversary. mrspeaker, it is with sadness that we mark the six-month anniversary, tomorrow, of the tragic shooting at sandy hook elementary school in newtown. on that day as has been repeated and must be remembered, americans were united in shock and grief at the senseless murder by a crazed gunman of 26 innocent people. 20 innocent first graders and six courageous schl staff members who took -- tried to protect them and help save the lives of others. since that day approximately 4,500, the leader mentioned 5,000, but a figure in excess of 4,500 americans have died as a result of gun violence, according to the newtown action alliance. mr. speaker, this is not just a tragedy. it is a epidemi one that congress has a moral responsibility to

mr. hoyer: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i thank the gentleman for yielding and i rise in opposition to this rule. as it fails to make in order several important amendments, including one from representative speier and gabbard that would have continued a critical debate on the urgent problem of sexual assault in the military. the previous speaker has pointed out how important an issue this is. if it's such an important issue, it really deserved broader debate in this house fully. unfortunately the rules committee sought fit not to allow them in order. i want to thank hem for making in order the amount by ranking member, mr. smith, to close the detention facility in guantanamo bay, cuba. i have been to guantanamo i don't know how many of my colleagues have been there, but i have been to guantanamo. and guantanamo is a significant drain on the department of defense's resources. there are other reasons which i will speak of, but the numbers speak for themselves. it cost us $1.6 million per detainee. that's versus $34,0

the chair recognizes the gentleman from maryland, mr. hoyer, for five minutes. mr. hoyer: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, as we proceed with the 15th week of the republican policy of sequester, this house continues to avoid taking the steps it ought to be taking to replace the entire sequester with a balanced alternative. instead, house republicans have fully embraced the sequester's draconian cuts which slash funding from our highest and lowest priorities equally and put our economic recovery and national security at risk. last week they approved a rule deeming the ryan budget's caps for next year which locks in the sequester cuts. this is a blatant violation of the budget control act agreement reached between the two parties in august of 2011. now, we're about to consider defense authorization bill that shifts $54 billion in sequester cuts from the pentagon onto domestic programs which were already cut by sequester like head start, meals on wheels, rental assistance for low-income families. how shameful. this follows the passage of two appropriation bills last

we have been joined by our whip, mr. hoyer. >> thank you very much, congresswoman fudge, the chairman of the congressional black caucus. i'm joining members of the asian-pacific caucus, members of the hispanic caucus. but this is about all americans, not just particular americans, particular americans are protected, but in a real sense, it's about all of us and the kind of country we are and want to be. today's ruling is a disappointing blow to voting rights in america and will have a real impact on voters. in 2006, this congress in which i served, re-authorized the voting rights act in a bipartisan fashion and under a republican president. significantly bipartisan support, overwhelming. it was a broad consensus then, as i believe there still is today that sections 4 and 5 of the voting rights act were both responsible and necessary. answers to the lingering problems of discrimination at the ballot box. if anybody thinks there are not continuing efforts to make voting more difficult for some people, they haven't been reading t

a person who has been a leader on this issue for a very long, long time, our distinguished whip, mr. hoyer. before he speaks, though, we are waiting for one more of our lgbt task force members and they are our stars today and we salute them for their courage and leadership and for the joy we all share today. mr. cicilline. >> as disappointed as i was yesterday, i am happy today. today the court stood up for the principles of america of equal justice under law. opens doors of opportunity for thousands of married couples in maryland and of course we had a vote in maryland and they said we want to have equality in maryland. in 12 other states and the district of columbia, recognizing the same hiff sex partners under laws of their states are entitled to the constitutional equal protection of which we have spoken so often. the court today listened to voices of millions of people who said that they wanted to have justice and be able to choose those whom they love. justice kennedy's majority opinion makes it clear, and i quote, doma's avowed purpose and practical effects are to have a separate st

dingell: i want to begin by thanking mr. hoyer, our leader and our whip, and our dear riend mr. barrow, a wonderful, courage ageous the gentleman from georgia who has to fight to remain here. and you, mr. kildee, you have a great family name. your uncle was my dear friend. i'm satisfied that he is going to be very, very proud of you and grateful for your friendship. and i thank gene green for his kind words about me. wonderful man, wonderful wife. his concerns are about people. and i want to say how much the remarks of my colleague from maryland, donna edwards. donna, you are a wonderful lady. there is a story about here. i worked awfully hard to see to it that her predecessor was able to stay here, but she was so good that he never stood a chance in spite of everything i could do to save him. she is a great lady and full of goodness. and the stories she told about the kids was just a story about her goodness, because she saw to it that these wonderful young people had a place to stay here during the president's inauguration when they were going to play in the march in the parad

hoyer: i thank my friend, mr. speaker. what's before us is before us. what's before us is a rule. not the melcon bill, not homeland security, what's before us is the bill. and what does the bill do? it doesn't have an open process. it doesn't allow us an amendment. mr. van hollen wanted to have an amendment and say, let's go to conference on the budget. let's decide what these numbers ought to be. no, it's our way or the highway. you've passed a budget, you're going to stick with those number, they won't work. you know they won't work. that's why you don't go to conference. because mr. ryan knows he couldn't make a deal. that could he bring back to this house and your side would vote for it, i tell my friend on the rules committee. so what's before us is before us. and ratification of sequester, which starts with s, which stands for stupid. it is a terrible process. it is an irrational, commonsense-defying process. and yet my republican friends continue to demand that we mark to figures that were contrary to the understanding, agreement, deal, if you want, that we made. in august

we have been joined by our whip, mr. hoyer>> thank you very much, congresswoman fudge, the chairman of the congressional black caucus. i join members of the asian pacific caucus, members of the hispanic caucus, but this is about all americans. not just particular americans. particular americans are protected. but in a real sense it's about all of us and the kind of country we are and want to be. today's ruling is a disappointing blow to voting rights in america. and will have a real impact on voters. in 2006, congress in which i serve re-authorized the voting rights act in a bipartisan fashion and under a republican president. significantly bipartisan support. overwhelming. there was a broad consensus then, as i believe there still is today, that sections 4 and 5 of the voting rights act were both responsible and necessary answers to the lingering problems of discrimination at the ballot box. if anybody thinks there are not continuing efforts to make voting more difficult for some people, they haven't been reading the papers,

steny hoyer, saying i have no concerns about mr. hole holder. shep?oj just responded to another judiciary committee request regarding the seize your of the ap phone records. reporter: today doj defended its size our of the "associated press"ç phone records saying it told the "associated press" within 90 days of taking the records. that's required by law. doj says it didn't initially notify the ap because, quoting here, the potential target could become aware of the investigation and seek to destroy evidence, create a false narrative/=- or otherwise obstrt the investigation. its an explanation that may not apiece republicans on the hill, however. >> shepard: doug in d.c. senator john mccain says he cannot fully support somebody's daughter joining the u.s. military. one of the strong statements from lawmakers taking on the problem of sexual assault in the fighting forces. >> perhaps the clear is sign yet that syria is gassing it's own citizens. that's ahead. >> shepard: sexual assault and harassmentç could destroy the fabric of the u.s. military like

mr. steny hoyer and wish them many more birthdays.hank the gentleman for his kindness, and the american -- the american public must think we are indeed schizophrenic. >> i think the gentleman. mr. speaker, on monday to hustle meet at noon -- the house will meet at noon. those will be postponed until 6:30 p.m. on thursday, the house will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business. the last votes of the week are expected no later than three clock p.m. on friday, no votes are expected. the house will consider a few suspense is next week, a complete list of which will be announced by the close of business today. the house will consider hr 1797. i also expect the house to consider hr 1947. chairman frank lucas, the members of the agricultural committee have all worked very hard to produce a five-year farm bill with strong reforms and i look forward to a full debate on the floor. i think the gentleman and wish them a happy birthday again and yield back. >> i think the gentleman for his good wishes and i thank him for the information. if i c

hoyer responded to the remarks. this exchange is 25 minutes. >> mr. speaker, no votes are expected. the votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m. on wednesday and thursday, the house will meet at 10 a.m. morning hour. the last vote is expected no later than 3 p.m. the house will consider bills on the suspension of rules, a complete list of which will be enclosed. the house will take up and have two bills on the resource committee. the offshore energy and jobs at offered by the chairman, and hr 1613, the continental shelf transboundary authorization act sponsored by representative jeff duncan of south carolina. the bill continue our efforts to increase to foster environment and economic growth and lower energy costs for working families. finally, i anticipate bringing to the floor the agricultural appropriations bill. i yield back. >> i think the gentleman for his comments. i would ask him a couple of questions not on the announcement. the gentleman spoke last week about student loans. no action on those is on the calendar for next week, if i am correct. can the gentleman tell me, know

mr. speaker, on the part of the people. >> house minority whip steny hoyer instead offered the gop a heapinglk. >> majority leader continues to want to blame the democrats for his inability and the republicans' inability to give a majority vote to their own bill! we will take no blame for the failure of the farm bill. none, zero. as much as you try to say it, you can't get away

mr. speaker, on the part of the people. >> house minority whip steny hoyer instead offered the gop a heaping dose of real talk. >> majority leader continues to want to blame the democrats for his inability and the republicans' inability to give a majority vote to their own bill! we will take no blame for the failure of the farm bill. none, zero. as much as you try to say it, you can't get away from the statistics, 62 otherwise known as 25% of your party, voted against a bill. >> but the ultimate smackdown was delivered by minority leader, nancy pelosi, who knows a thing or two about discipline, and excoriated the clown farm across the aisle. >> it's always interesting to me when they blame other people for their own failures. if we ever came to you when we had the majority and said we didn't pass a bill because we didn't get enough republican votes, well, you know, that's really -- it's silly. it's sad. it's juvenile. it's unprofessional. it's amateur hour. >> and, indeed, the amateur hour headlines are rolling in. once again, questioning speaker john boehner's ability to control his troops.

hoyer. he's going to have the briefing with alexander on tuesday afternoon. thank you very much for being with us, mr. leader. >> you bet, andrey a. glad to be with you. >> i know you support the concept of these programs but tell me why you think the balance doesn't need to be adjusted or changed. >> i think we need to look at the balance, andreandrea. i think we had a briefing yesterday, it was a classified briefing so i can't talk about the substance. what i can talk about, however, is that it was one of the most thoughtful briefings in which i've participated with the whole caucus invited. the whole caucus wasn't there. republicans, democrats, the congress. it was very interesting in terms of the bipartisan views that were expressed. some support it, some not supported. some thinking we need adjustment. it was not along party lines. it was a very thoughtful consideration that as a nation, as policy makers we have to balance the constitutional privacy rights that americans want and must have consistent with our constitution and on the other hand america's desires and congress's desire to make sure