mr. lewis: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill house bill 5611, a bill to extend the funding and spending authority for the airport and airway trust fund. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5611, a bill to amend the internal revenue code of 1986 to extend the funding and expenditure authorities of the airport and airway trust fund, to amend title 49 united states code to extend authorizations for the airport improvement program, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from georgia, mr. lewis, and the gentleman from kentucky, mr. davis, each will control 20 minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from georgia. mr. lewis: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, may i ask for unanimous consent to give members five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the bill, house bill 5611. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. lewis: mr. speaker, i yield

waxman who has already spoken, and mr. lewis who is going to follow, as we take this time to very appropriately remember an amazing life, someone who, as was pointed out when mr. buyer mentioned his birth date, october would have marked his 100th birthday. coach wooden lived virtually an entire century and i was struck with the quote that mr. waxman reminded us of that you've never lived a perfect day until you've done something for someone that cannot -- who cannot repay you. coach wood season an individual who had a humility, but a great inner strength. one of the things that was very apparent as you watched him coach and as you saw him involve himself with students and with so many others in the community, there was that gentlemanness and strength of character that did belie that resolve that he had, but at the same time he is someone who was able to be a real winner and i think it was pointed out very appropriately right after his passing when bill walton and kareem abdul-jabbar stood on the floor of the court for the team t

i would indicate aving spoke within the riators, mr. lewis has not heard from mr. obey on ati'm sure he's anxisly awaiti that. i would also like to ask gentleman aut t budget and what can eect as far as he budget having now been in june, there having been no budget,nd can we expect a markup in the bget commite por to our leaving july 4 recess? mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman foyielding. ayou kn, mrspratt and i and others have been working on this for many months now to try see if the is a budget that can garnerhe majoty support. there was some indication, i will tell the ntleman he's usually the white house with us, he wasn't here today but mr. cantor is usuay joining us at the white house in our meetings with the presint but the fact is that the senate republican leader indicated he'd le to see some bipartisan agreement, at leas on spending levels, and observe that he thought that the spending levels thesident had sent down for our consideration were -- he would like to see a lowe number but he appreciated the fac tt that number was sent down and was a constraint

mr. lewis: i asked my republican colleagues, can't you hear, can't you feel, can't you see? where is your heart? where is your compassion? where is your concern? extend unemployment benefits and extend it now. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california rise? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. >> mr. speaker -- ms. lee: mr. speaker, the wars in iraq and afghanistan will burden our children and grandchildren with the debt the republicans created. the wars have cost over $1 trillion, and it's mind-boggling to hear that the minority leader wants senior citizens to pay for these wars. he wants the increase in social security retirement age for 70 for people that have at least 20 years until retirement and wants to tie it to the consumer price index. boy, i tell you. instead of the wage inflation index. and wants it only to those who need them. several years ago the republicans -- l

lewis. >> number 13, mr. speaker. >> i thank the honorable gentleman for his question. we are conducting a counter- insurgency operation in afghanistan. he asked specifically about the military purpose of routine foot and vehicle patrols in

lewis. >> number 13, mr. speaker. >> i thank the honorable gentleman for his question. we are conducting a counter- insurgency operation in afghanistan. he asked specifically about the military purpose of routine foot and vehicle patrols in afghanistan. if you are going to win the counterinsurgency and succeed in what is called "war amongst the people", you have to be among them, protecting them from the insurgents. that is how we are going to create a more stable and peaceful afghanistan, from which we will be able to return, leaving the afghan forces in control. >> dr. julian lewis. >> does the prime minister accept that there are other ways of fighting counterinsurgencies that do not involve sending out uniformed personnel along predictable routes, day after day, to be sniped at and blown up? will he request his military advisers to focus on long-term strategies that could achieve our strategic aims without having to pay such an unnecessarily high price? >> i know that my honorable friend takes a close interest in these matters, and i have arranged for him to meet se

lewis libby, top aide to mr. cheney, was convicted of perjury for lying about his statements to the journalists about an undercover c.i.a. officer. buffalo, new york, up next on our democrats line. caller: hey, how are you? host: fine, thanks. caller: first off, i'm not a caller: first off, i'm not a democrat. i'm actual until new york state. we have a very, very good system of voting called fusion voting. my only three choices are democrats, republican, independent, i guess i got to go with democrat. however, i do believe our democracy is safeguarded for such an event like this, for a leak, and i believe that corporations, especially the news corporation, since they pay for attorneys, for a variety of reporters who may know something they're not supposed to. i do believe our system had safeguarded. i do not believe that mr. obama should be cracking down on this. i believe it's a matter of life and death, and it's going to undermine our intelligence capability. maybe somebody should go to jail of course but other

mr. chairman and thank you to all of you. i want to start with you because as you well know among the troops serving us in afghanistan today many are in fort lewis in my home state during the frontlines of the stryker brigade and they have suffered tremendous losses this year and with increasing taliban offensive operations every day, families across my state are picking up a paper almost every morning now and reading about more. i am committed to giving our servicemembers every research they need to bring a quick and decisive end to the taliban and the other insurgent forces but i am very concerned about the increasing number of casualties, but also work concerned about the reports we have not solidified our gains in march in southern afghanistan despite the tremendous sacrifice their servicemembers and their families. i wanted to ask you today what you can share with us or give us some insurance that marjah and our operations in southern afghanistan are a success? >> let me address it and then asked the chairman to do so as well. first of all, we made very clear at the very outset many months ago that this summer would see increased casualties

lewis: i thank the gentlemafor his courtesy to the previous group -- mrs. lummis: i thank the gentleman r his courtesy to the previous group, allowing them to act nong the importance of our ally there is. one of the issues we have to adss as we address this economic downturn we are in is the role of the federal government in exacerbating the problem. as we all know, federal employment and private sector employment are not the same thing. a private sector job pays for other people's jobs through taxes, whereas a public sector job consumes more than it pays in taxes. so it's important that we watch the relationship and the growth of federal jobs versus the decline in private jobs. this first chart that i have shows the federal government employment and how it's changed in the past number of years. i'd like to point out that years 2002, 2003, four, 2005, and 2006, where federal government employment was relatively flat. in fact, almost flat as a pancake. then we get into the pelosi congress d it's going up markedly with the year010 here on the end of this char

mr. airman and thank you to all of you. i want to start with you because as you well know among the troops serving us in afghanistan today many ae in fort lewis in my home state during the frontlines of the stryker brigade and they have suffered tremendous losses this year and with increasing taliban offensive operations every day, families across my state are picking up a paper almost every morning now and reading about more. i am committed to giving our servemembers every research they need to bring a quick and decisive end to the taliban and the other insurgent forces but i am very concerned about the increasing number of casualties, but also work concerned about the reports we have not solidified our gains in march in southern afghanistan despite the tremendous sacrifice their servicemembers and their families. i wanted to ask you today what you can share with us or give us some insurance that marjah and our operations in southern afghanistan are a success? >> let me address it and then asked the chairman to do so as well. first of all, we made very clear at the very outset many months ago that this summer would see increased casualties.