mr. mcdermott: i yield to mr. hope, the -- three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. hope: i rise in support of this resolution. when i first visited burma decades ago, i earn will -- i learned what a difference a misguided regime can make. mr. holt: burma had a rich history, fertile land, abundant resources and a productive population. in the years following the coupe in the early 198 -- the cue -- the coup in the early 1960's, they brutalized their people in a pattern that exists today. for more than 20 year the united states government has sought to use its influence to try to create conditions for restoration of democracy and the rule of law in burma. one tool has been the use of sanctions. the burmese freedom and democracy act was signed into law eight years ago this month. and it requires the president to impose a ban on the import of products from burma. it blocks u.s. support for loans from international financial institutions and freezes the assets of and bans visas for key members of

mr. mcdermott, for five minutes. mr. mcdermott: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcdermott: madam speaker, over the past several weeks we have been debating ways to reduce the federal deficit. republicans have said that everything is on the table and that nothing is sacred, but that just isn't true. the republicans refuse to cut tax give aways to the wealthy and special interests in this country, and when it comes to discussing the merits of continuing our efforts in afghanistan, the republicans clamor to defend it despite our fiscal mess. i want to remind my republican friends the situation we are in now is not new. throughout history from rome to the ottoman empire to the soviet union the over extension of military and protracted struggles in foreign countries has crippled empires. some historians have credited ronald reagan for the soviet union's collapse but what really bankrupted the soviet union was its wars, just like us, they paid a crushing p

mr. mcdermott: mr. speaker, the house has acted. no time for celebration. it's not over yet until it passes both houses, the american economy is not safe. standard and poor and moody's announced to the university of washington and to seattle and to king county that if there is a default on tuesday, these institutions in my state go on the credit watch list for downgrade because they received money from the united states government and there's no certainty that the united states government is going to pay its debts. this is a question about whether the united states is going to be viewed in the world as being responsible and paying their debts. it's not about the future. it's about what we've already contracted. and this house, led by the republicans, has put every state, every county, every city, every university that writes bonds for their financing at risk. it's going to cause people to pay more in the state of washington and in every other state because of this foolishness. we need a clean lifting of the debt limit. the speaker pro tempore: under the spe

mr. speaker, i'd like to enter into the record an article written by jennifer mcdermott which documents this story of technological success. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. paul, for five minutes. mr. paul: i thank you, mr. speaker, and i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. paul: mr. speaker, the congress is concerned about the debt. the people are concerned about the debt. the markets are concerned about the debt. the world is concerned about the debt and what we're doing here today because we live with a world fiat dollar standard and so the whole world is engulfed in this very serious problem. i do not understand, though, that if the debt is the problem, and i agree that debt is the problem, that for us to come here and raise the debt by $2.4 trillion is the solution. that just baffles me. i think it's a distraction because when a country gets indebted to the degree we are indebt