mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself 1 1/2 minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. kline: i came to congress seven years ago to do my part to make this country better. every vote i cast and every policy i help shape must be judged by whether achieves what my constituents sent me here to -- here to accomplish. as each member of this, the people's house, prepares to vote yea or anyway tonight -- nay tonight, we should all take a moment to remind ourselves of why we are here. our job is to ensure american employers have the tools and freedom they need to sustain jobs and create jobs. instead, this bill will destroy jobs at a time when we need them the most. our job is to ensure freedom, security and prosperity for future generations. instead, this bill will be paid for by our children and our zpwrands grandchildren and our great-grandchildren. our job is to legislation openly with integrity and fairness. instead this bill is full of backroom deals negotiated behind closed doors. thi

mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in opposition to h.r. 4247, and yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. kline: let me begin by stating unequivocally that the incidents uncovered by the g.a.o. are unacceptable. no child should be put in physical danger by the use of seclusion and restraints in school, and the tragic stories just related by the chairman of cedric and paige are unacceptable everywhere. in each of the cases reviewed by the g.a.o., there was a criminal conviction, a fining of civil or administrative liability or a large financial settlement. in other words, everyone agrees that what happened is simply wrong. we do not need a change in federal law for such behavior to be condemned. sometimes the most powerful tool we have as elected officials is the bully pulpit. and chairman miller and mrs. mcmorris rodgers have worked hard to call national attention to the misuse of seclusion and restraints in our schools. states clearly recognize t

>> if i could, congressman, take one's second on mr. kline to question.ery vehicle understand. yes, as a consortium of 48 states working together, both unions in supporting it, this is committed, this is a third rail. a couple of years ago you couldn't talk about this issue. everybody's coming together think this is the right thing for children. i can give you quotes from republican governors, i can give you quotes from the head of the u.s. chamber of congress, everybody sing this is the time to come. if states want to opt out of that for whatever reason, that's fine with us, too. and what we want is to make sure there our high standard that is not we just want the local university minnesota, university of tennessee, whatever it is to certify that a civil take when you classes. so you can work as part of that collaborative. so far that are is huge momentum there. or if states choose to go it alone, have it certified by the local institution of higher education. and we'll be fine with that. so this is driven at the local level. this is a federal initiative

kline. >> thank you mr. chairman. i want to thank the secretary for being with us here today. and coming back so soon after your last appearance. i actually very few cabinet secretaries with your appetite for this much punishment. we're here this afternoon to discuss the administration's blueprint for esea, elementary and secondary education act. these 45 pages have been anxiously awaited by many in the education community, the media and, of course, near congress. for the last several weeks we've been meeting at the member and staff levels on a bipartisan basis with our counterparts in the senate and this blueprint is viewed by many as the first attempt by any one of those parties to put pen to paper and offer details on any substantive propositions. i appreciate the way secretary duncan has framed this document and i hope we'll keep his words in mind today. as the secretary says, this is a blueprint nirkts bill. congress writes the laws, and i'm pleased to say in the case of the elementary and secondary education act, for now we're start with a blank sheet of paper. the bluep

mr. kilroy of ohio, carol porter of new hampshire, peter welch of vermont, franz kline of florida, and allf these young people that here who helped. all that we want to do to maneuver and win votes in the congress is not possible without the outside mobilization of people who understand the impact of the legislation and make their voices known to the members of congress. remember, nothing is more eloquent to a member of congress than the voice of his or her own constituents. many of our colleagues have already gone home to talk to their editorial boards, to see their families, and to meet with their constituents on this legislation. i think our class of 2006 and 2008 who are here in their own right and as representatives. [applause] i signed the big bill. this is a much smaller bill we are signing now. but none of these bills matches the number of pages that led to this -- letters from constituents asking for this legislation. [applause] [applause] >> the bill is embroiled. it will now go to the president of the united states to make things better for our country. we have made history here

representatives john kline and tim walz from minnesota along with the rest of the minnesota delegation and representative bruce braley from iowa whose tireless work on this issue should not go unnoticed. mr. speaker, when it comes to our veterans issues, partisan pal ticks are not an option. we all share a common goal in congress to support our troops and have worked together to ensure that those that serve our nation get the respect and the recognition that they deserve. while we authored legislation that would have provided an immediate fix for this issue, a major hurtle we faced was that many members of congress did not know the problem ever existed. despite the fact that 19 states had 500 or more constituents who had not received money many members were unfortunately aware which was a major hurdle in passing this legislation. so we made it our mission personaly to educate members of congress about the problem and we tried to raise awareness about the issue. we also sent numerous letters to the defense proportion authorization committees so we could begin to address the problem in congress. while thousands in the meantime continued to wait for the d.o.d. to act. and in the house we we