mr. jeffery. along with our treasure island community that is here today. we have our chief dave franklin who is the incident commander of the day during the fire and who has been with sf fire department for over two decades as well as deputy chief operations mark gonzalez who is a san francisco native and has served since 1989. and i just want to read the commendation. this is in recognition of your teamwork, bravery and selfless act of heroism in the early morning of february 16, 2013 when the men and women of the san francisco fire department and one of our neighbors risked their lives in an attempt to save another. the board of supervisors extends its highest commendation and profound gratitude during this difficult time of mourning and healing. * the treasure island community who is here today and the board of supervisors wish to thank you for reminding us what an honor it is to be a public servant. and i think we often talk about what it means to be a public servant and a city employee, but i think the men and women of fire truck department truly exem

mr. jefferies will stay at this 15 minute levels. without objection, so ordered. tier 2. all but one are 10 minutes. 4 then 5 then 1. 1 with the close. who has an amendment? >> mr. chairman, i have an amendment. >> an amendment offered by mr. cicilline relating to education. >> one of the most important investments we can make as a nation is in the education of our children. as we make choices in this budget and set priorities, if we fail to address the needs of our learners and those seeking higher education, we do so at our own peril. in the challenges we face today will pale in the comparison to the crisis we will face if we fail to short americans of the education, training and skills necessary. by 2018, more than 60% of jobs will require some post secondary education and training. by 2018, we will need 22 million new college graduates will fall short by several million carry with more jobs requiring some level of post secondary study or training, it is clear now more than ever that education is one of the biggest keys to economic growth. our students have the knowledg

mr. jefferies, for five minutes. >> mr. chair, i am a new member here and i think i am generally a pretty optimistic type of person. oftentimes, many of the teams we have seen over the last several months with in this institution, and i do not doubt the sincerity of several of our friends on the other side of the aisle, but many of the themes we see that have been articulated suggest that the sky is falling. we are debating what many of us view as a very draconian budget and we are told, if it does not get passed, the need for such austerity measures are designed to prevent the great united states of america from becoming greece or spain or perhaps something worse. the sky is falling. we also, on this committee, subcommittee, had a hearing that was entitled the obama administration regulatory war on the economy. very ominous. the sky apparently is falling, notwithstanding the fact that the administration has created about 6 million private sector jobs. today, there is a thing advanced by some, again, not questioning the vie