mr. issa: thank you, madam chair, i yield two minutes to the gentlelady from louisiana, a member of the energy and commerce committee and someone who knows about the challenges people face in the work force today. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. >> madam speaker, some of the greatest joys of my life for the births of my daughter and son, two years ago my daughter madison was able to be there for the birth with my wife, one of the great joys of my life, and then four weeks ago tomorrow, the birth of my baby boy harrison and i was there as well, just wonderful, wonderful times that every family should spend together. those opportunities already exist today in law. there's nothing in this bill that either takes away or gives the ability for parents to do that. they already have that right today. as they all should. why i rise in objection to this bill is it adds an extra $938 million in new entitlements, in new debt, money that we don't have in this country to an already growing deficit,

mr. issa: i thank the gentleman. and we believe that the precious time on the floor needs to be well spent and we certainly support that we are well spending it. this is an important piece of legislation. it's important because in fact we in the federal government need to team with cities and localities around the country to ensure that we not distort where prosecutions are made. i fully support this legislation because in fact it will with all due respect to my colleague it will relieve the cities and the counties from often choosing a federal venue rather than local venue if we help them protecting their witnesses, something that the federal government and the u.s. marshals have proven to do well. it's a bipartisan bill. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd ask how many minutes are left. the speaker pro tempore: six minutes f

mr. issa: mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 1741, the witness security and protection grant program act of 2009. witness testimony is a critical component of our criminal justice system. even with sophisticated d.n.a. and other forensic evidence, there is no substitute for an eyewitness testimony. however, engaging the cooperation of witnesses is frequently a daunting obstacle in many criminal prosecutions. many witnesses fail to come forward or refuse to testify out of fear of retribution by the defendants or pressure by the community. it's no surprise that violent criminals will unleash their brutality on witnesses whose testimony could result in years or decades in prison. it is also no surprise that violent gangs and drug organizations are the source of much of this brutality. the justice department's national gang center reports that gang members so frequently engage in witness intimidation that it is considered part of the normal gang behavioral dynamics. state and local law enforcement

mr. issa: at this time, i would like to three minutes to the the gentleman from from ohio, ranking subcommittee member and somebody who has worked very hard in trying to make this bill better, mr. jordan. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. jordan: i thank the gentleman for yielding and his work on this issue and many others. on monday, june 1, 2009 in ontario, ohio in our district, 1,200 general motors employees found out they were losing their jobs. the obama task force said 1,200 families will face the consequences of unemployment. we are ready to pass another $1 billion entitlement for federal employees where millions are struggling with joblessness, it is unconscionable that this congress puts more spending on the backs of american families and businesses at a time when taxpayers have to fighten their belts, we are asking for an additional $1 billion. federal employees are entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period because of a birth, adoption or the taking in

inds lee -- mr. issa: i -- [newline] mr. issa: this is a pice of bipartisan legislation with chairman conyers, another piece tries to deal with a greater inequity than even this one. internet broadcasters or podcasters or webcasters pay as much as half of their revenues, half of their gross revenues if they pay performances of music and n.a.b. was cited as being a participant. let me make something very clear, mr. speaker. the national association of broadcasters has chosen to have an absolute burn the bridge attitude toward terrestrial broadcasters paying even a cent. i join with chairman conyers, mr. berman, myself and many others in urging that this pattern of lowering to what we believe is a more fair rate or helping lower to what we believe is a more fair rate in fact flies in the face of terrestrial broadcasters continuing to say that the only fair amount to pay in the way of royalties to music producers, actual performers, is zero. the public today, mr. speaker, when they hear this, they hear this, will be shocked to f

lynch and the gentleman from california, mr. issa, each will control 30 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. lynch: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks. the chair: without objection, so ordered. mr. lynch: i now yield myself as much time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lynch: today i rise in strong support of h.r. 626, federal employees paid parental leave act of 2009, which was introduced by our colleague, congresswoman carolyn maloney on january 22, 2009. as chairman of the subcommittee on the federal work force, postal service and district of columbia, i'm proud to serve as an original co-sponsor of this bill, along with 55 other members of congress. h.r. 626 takes an important step toward improving the federal government's ability to recruit and retain highly qualified work force by providing paid parental leave to federal and congressional employees for birth, adoption or placement of a child from foster care which is

mr. chaffetz: i want to also echo my compliments to chairman towns, ranking member issa who has a keen interest in this area for his work. the chair of the subcommittee, mr. lynch who is truly a gentleman and a great person owork with. i also want to put comments in for the good men and women that are working at all these types of functions. i was excited to participate in the oversight and government committee because of the tremendous workload they have. there's a great expectation from the american people that we deal with their money fairly and honestly, that we make sure that every dollar is accounted for and we've seen too many mishaps where dollars have been overspent or misused. certainly as we look at what is going to be surely the single largest tax increase in the history of the united states with the so-called cap and trade, as the democrats move this bill forward, if it were to pass, literally hundreds of billions of dollars taken out of the pockets of americans across the country that will be spent on who knows what. we've got to make sure that every single one of those dollars is

paulson told members and i think i asked this question and mr. issa brought this up. you're a sharp guy, m.i.t. graduate, mr. paulson is smart, mr. geithner is smart. you convinced congress you could go in and clean off these assets and yet ten days after that, after we passed this, i didn't vote about it but ten days after you bring -- don't tell them what the meeting is about and you have completely clean gd strategies. so did you know before congress voted on it or did you know after congress voted on it that you would not be able to go in and purchase these securities and do what you told us you were going to do? >> we knew after. one of the problems was that -- >> but here is what i want to understand. this was a month-long -- i remember the first conference call we listened into as members of congress was in september. you had a whole month, yet within ten days the strategy, probably a few days -- you had a whole month leading up to this convincing congress you could do this and yet within ten days complete change and yet you're bringing nine banks to washington,

then we'd jump for work to months to december and we have the e-mail and letter that both mr. issa and burton had brought up, the letter that mr. cuomo said to the members of congress where he said secretary paulson informed that he made the threat dealing with merrill lynch acquisition at the request of chairman bernanke. we also have the e-mail from the richmond fed chairman, just had a talk with mr. bernanke says it is irrelevant because not credible intends to make it more clear if they played the card and need assistance management is going oregon, excuse me. and then the third 1i would point out is the e-mail from mr. and willow at the new york fed, which deals with the disclosure concern. also this is in december of last year where he says i fink i will ask merrill lynch a current estimate and he makes the statement if i get a sense merrill lynch is leaning toward a january fall when i will steer them to a leader. but i am trying to figure out is we have all this pattern here which as i asked mr. lewis when he was here if what took place at the october 13th had an impact on

i'm joined in introducing this legislation by my colleague from california, mr. issa. last year our bill passed the house overwhelmingly and i ask my colleagued to support it again this year. i'd like to thank our judiciary committee chairman, john conyers, and ranking member lamar smith, and all the co-sponsor of this bill. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. i recognize myself for such time as i may consume. thank you, mr. speaker. thomas jefferson observed that, quote, the only security of all is in a free press. the agitation it produces must be submitted to, it is necessary to keep the waters pure, unquote. were he alive today, jefferson would not take too kindly to liable tourists. the subject of h.r. 276 5 -- 2765. oh, it seems true that some u.s. media more recently have become fan clubs rather than objective pursuers of truth, there's still some very dedicated journalists in the united states who should be free fro

mr. issa: i thank the lady. mr. speaker, it's clear today that some of us would be silent as to the aspiration to the people risking life and limb on the streets of iran today. we cannot and should not be that way. yes, it's an internal matter, but it's an mearnt -- it's an internal matter who have denied real free elections and even when the will of the people was obvious in fact want to overturn the will of the people for a president who could be a reformer and give opportunity, particularly to women in his country. so i urge support for this resolution because it sends the message that we are in fact with the people who want freedom. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. who seeks recognition? the gentleman from california. mr. berman: mr. speaker, i'm going to yield -- should i be yielding one minute to my time to the gentleman from south carolina at this point? ms. ros-lehtinen: yes. mr. berman: and then he'll have the time. ms. ros-lehtinen: so i'll give 30 seconds of my time

the amendment -- mr. issa: on that, i request the yeas and nays. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceed option the amendment offered by the gentleman from cave will be postponed. it is now in order to consider amendment number 2 printed in house report 111-133. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. green: i have an amendment at the . the chair: clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 2 printed in house report 111-133 offered by mr. al green of tick. the chair: pursuant to house resolution, mr. al green and a member opposed will each control 2005 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. green: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. thank you. madam speaker, this bill allows o.p.m., that's the office of personnel management, to increase the amount of paid parental leave up to eight weeks . it allows this after considering a variety of factors. benefits to the federal government, cost to the federal government, trenleds in the private secto