mr. mcgovern: mr. spear, is it true that a bill considered under suspension of the rules denies the minority party the right to offer any amendments or even a motion to recommit? the speaker pro tempore: a motion to suspend is not liable to amendment on the floor. mr. mcgovern: further parliamentary inquiry, meerks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will state his parliamentary inquiry. mr. mcgovern: is it true that it requires a 2/3 supermajority vote in order for a bill to vote? the speaker pro tempore: under rule 15, a motion to suspend it will have 2/3, a quorum being present. mr. mcgovern: further parliamentary inquiry, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentman will state his inquiry. >> the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: is it also true, mr. speaker, that a bill considered under suspension of the rules does not pass if it receives a simple majority vote but no2/3 of the vote? the speaker pro

mr. mcgovern: i yield the gentleman 15 seconds. mr. levin: mr. dreier, it's clear what you're doing here. mr. reid wants to sit down and work with mr. mcconnell. what you're trying to do is make sure that a signal is sent to the senate, don't bother, we're going to -- mr. dreier: will the gentleman yield? mr. levin: yes. mr. dreier: i say the action we are about to do here today is see the process that senator mcconnell and senator reid work together. why? mr. levin: i take back my time. mr. dreier, that is pernicious nonsense. the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to address their comments to the chair, not otherwise. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: i didn't hear you, madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: i said members are reminded to address their comments to the chair and not to others. mr. dreier: i will not only address you, madam chair, i won't point my finger at you as i address you. the speaker pro tempore: thank you. mr. dreier: let me say, madam speaker, that senator mcconnell has just minutes ago asked senator rei

mr. mcgovern: yes. our leader is prepared to close for us. the speaker pro tempore: then i'll close on our side. i reserve the balance of my time -- mr. dreier: then i'll close on ouside. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: madam speaker, i yield myself 15 seconds before i yield the remaining minute to -- the speaker pro mpor the gentleman is recognized for 15 seconds. mr. mcgovern: i implore rational republicans to passing the reid bill. i appeal to your sense of responsibility, to your sense of duty to your country, have the courage of your convictions to do what's right. don't be paralyzed by the threats of the tea party or other extreme groups. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. mcgovern: medicare, medicaid and social security, and i yield the balance of our time, one minute, to the gentlewoman from california, the democratic leader and the defender of medicare, medicaid and social security, nan

mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, at this time i'd like to yield minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from connecticut, ms. delauro. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from connecticut is recognized for two minutes. ms. delauro: mr. speaker, we are five days away from a historic, unprecedented and needless default. instead of acting responsibly and in a bipartisan way to raise the debt ceiling, the republican majority continues to hold the american economy hostage to press their agenda. even though the debt ceiling was raised seven times under president bush, even though 110 current members of the majority have voted to raise the debt ceiling in the past, the majority continues its dangerous games of brinkmanship. included in this bill is $917 billion in cuts, mostly to critical public investment, education, infrastructure, biomedical research, law enforcement, food safety, they will all be slashed. and yet these progrs, which i call discretionary programs, they are only 3.1% higher than it was five y

mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, this bill this proposal that we are debating today is dead on a-- this proposal, this bill that we're debating today is dead on arrival. we're fast approaching a deadline that we need to address and here we are debating a bill that we know is going nowhere in the united states senate. not at this time. and, mr. speaker, i would urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, enough with the theatrics. this is time for a grown-up moment, this is -- grownup moment, this is time to act like adults, to work with the senate, to work with the president, to come up with a bipartisan deal and to get this job done. but let's understand why we are where we are. when bill clinton left office we had a balanced budget. we had surpluses. when president bush took over the republicans what happened? tax cuts mostly for pealty people that weren't paid for, a prescription drug bill that wasn't paid for, two wars that weren't paid for. you know, and we end up in this terrible debt situation.

mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, at this time i'd like to yield minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from connecticut, ms. delauro. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from connecticut is recognized for two minutes. ms. delauro: mr. speaker, we are five days away from a historic, unprecedented and needless default. instead of acting responsibly and in a bipartisan way to raise the debt ceiling, the republican majority continues to hold the american economy hostage to press their agenda. even though the debt ceiling was raised seven times under president bush, even though 110 current members of the majority have voted to raise the debt ceiling in the past, the majority continues its dangerous games of brinkmanship. included in this bill is $917 billion in cuts, mostly to critical public investment, education, infrastructure, biomedical research, law enforcement, food safety, they will all be slashed. and yet these programs, which i call discretionary programs, they are only 3.1% higher than it was five

mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, at this time i'd like to yield minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from connecticut, ms. delauro. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from connecticut is recognized for two minutes. ms. delauro: mr. speaker, we are five days away from a historic, unprecedented and needless default. instead of acting responsibly and in a bipartisan way to raise the debt ceiling, the republican majority continues to hold the american economy hostage to press their agenda. even though the debt ceiling was raised seven times under president bush, even though 110 current members of the majority have voted to raise the debt ceiling in the past, the majority continues its dangerous games of brinkmanship. included in this bill is $917 billion in cuts, mostly to critical public investment, education, infrastructure, biomedical research, law enforcement, food safety, they will all be slashed. and yet these programs, which i call discretionary programs, they are only 3.1% higher than it was five

mr. mcgovern: yes. our leader is prepared to close for us. the speaker pro tempore: then i'll close on our side. i reserve the balance of my time -- mr. dreier: then i'll close on our side. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: madam speaker, i yield myself 15 seconds before i yield the remaining minute to -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 15 seconds. mr. mcgovern: i implore rational republicans to passing the reid bill. i appeal to your sense of responsibility, to your sense of duty to your country, have the courage of your convictions to do what's right. don't be paralyzed by the threats of the tea party or other extreme groups. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. mcgovern: medicare, medicaid and social security, and i yield the balance of our time, one minute, to the gentlewoman from california, the democratic leader and the defender of medicare, medicaid and social securit

mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, let's be clear. under the republican plan they will cut social security and medicare by $6,000 per senior citizen. talk about a tax increase. at this point i'd like to yield one minute to the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from texas is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: i thank the gentleman very much and i'm just overwhelmed with the words breathtakingly ignorant policies. i'm literally shocked and let me tell you why. when you want to understand my republican friends, why we're in the position we're in, what about the 37.5% of the debt being the bush-era tax cuts? tax cuts on which this bill and any of your negotiations don't in any way suggest revenue. which the american people understand. arrogant policies by the president? the recovery and reinvestment was only 5.2%, creating three million jobs. let me say that again. three million jobs. the economic downturn came about with the iraq war and others. so today, my

mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, is it true that a bill considered under suspension of the rules denies the minority party the right to offer any amendments or even a motion to recommit? the speaker pro tempore: a motion to suspend is not liable to amendment on the floor. mr. mcgovern: further parliamentary inquiry, meerks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will state his parliamentary inquiry. mr. mcgovern: is it true that it requires a 2/3 supermajority vote in order for a bill to vote? the speaker pro tempore: under rule 15, a motion to suspend it will have 2/3, a quorum being present. mr. mcgovern: further parliamentary inquiry, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will state his inquiry. >> the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: is it also true, mr. speaker, that a bill considered under suspension of the rules does not pass if it receives a simple majority vote but not 2/3 of the vote? the speake

mr. mcgovern: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i'd like to yield four minutes to the gentlewoman from california, ms. matsui. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california is recognized for four minutes. ms. matsui: thank you very much, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 1309, the national flood insurance reform act of 2011. a full five-year re-authorization of the program is critically important for our nation. i want to thank and commend chairwoman biggert and ranking member waters for their leadership on this issue. ushering in a five-year re-authorization will provide welcomed relief for those who live in our country's floodplains. i thank chairwoman biggert for including language from my own, h.r. 902, legislation that will modernize fema's flood insurance legislation. it will take local, state and federal funding into account when determining flood zone designations. h.r. 1309 would extend the national flood insurance program, nfip, for five years, and allow property owners in particip

mr. mcgovern: i quote, i node you're help. i can't tell what you it is, you can never ask me about it later, it was going to hurt some people, end quote. the problem is, mr. speaker, is that the people they're going to hurt are senior citizens on medicare and social security, they're going to hurt children who don't have enough to eat, they're going to hurt students trying to afford a college education. they're going to hurt the very people who can least afford to take the hit, all in the name of protecting tax breaks for million airs and billionaires. -- millionaires and billionaires. their approach is reckless, their approach is wrong, their approach is unfair and i urge my colleagues to vote against this rule and against this bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. dreier: will the gentleman yield? mr. speaker, will the gentleman yield? may i yield to the gentleman? mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise to simply congratulate my col

mr. mcgovern: mr. chairman, i will be brief. my amendment is simple. if fema makes a mistake in mapping a flood map, the community will be reimbursed for the cost. if fema makes a mistake in mapping a flood area, then they should pay for it. doing so will result in significant savings for towns and homeowners, and to me this is something that should be noncontroversial. hopefully wins bipartisan support. i have a longer statement, and i ask unanimous consent that my full statement be inserted in the record. and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: without objection, the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from illinois rise. mrs. biggert: i would support the amendment. the chair: the question -- the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from massachusetts. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 14 printed in house report 112-138. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas

mr. mcgovern: mr. chairman, i rise in support of amendments to this title that cut funds, reduce our military footprint and move to bring our troops home from afghanistan and i rise in opposition to the underlying bill. i want to commend the ranking member of the committee, congressman dicks from washington, for his leadership in calling for a fresh look at how we carry out military operations in afghanistan and the need for a strategy that brings our troops home sooner rather than later. i just returned from a trip to afghanistan. i cannot describe how impressed i am with the commitment, the dedication and the work carried out every single day by our men and women in uniform and those in the civilian services. i met and spoke with them in kabul, bases and air force bases and small villages. quite simply, they are incredible. but over and over and over again, i heard the same message, this is not sustainable. the strategy that we are pursuing in afghanistan is not sustainable and it is costing us too m

mr. mcgovern, pending which i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. woodall: also, mr. speaker, during consideration of this resolution all time is yielded for the purpose of debate only. and i'd like to ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. woodall: mr. speaker, house resolution 355 provides a closed rule for consideration of h.r. 2560, the cut, cap and balance act of 2011. the rule provides for four hours of general debate on the underlying bill and grants the minority party a motion to recommit with or without instructions. mr. speaker, we're at a moment in our nation's history when i turn on the television, when i read the newspapers, i get a lot of advice, folks say, act, act to raise the debt ceiling, act to cut spending, act to balance the budget. mr. speaker, today we are here to do all of those things. all of those things. cut, cap, balance. and

mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, six days ago on friday, july 1, armed men assassinated a candidate for city council of a town just outside of colombia. he was the ninth local candidate murdered over the past few months. last thursday, june 30, luis eduardo, investigating links between paramilitary groups was shot down in an area i first visited in 2001. he was 70 years old. he was returning home at night with his wife when he was gunned down. he was murdered a few days after another witness was killed. and investigators for the attorney general have said several other witnesses have disappeared. antonio mendoza morales was a councilman in the caribbean town , the 34-year-old mendoza was also lead of the association of displaced persons. he was also shot and killed last thursday night. he is at least the 11th land claims victims rights or displaced persons leader to have been killed in colombia so far this year. displaced and victims rights add vow cats in this region -- advocates in this region received dea

mr. mcgovern. [applause] one of them is interning in the office of the committee, so i want to highlight that. i will yield to the gentleman from massachusetts. >> thank you. welcome. >> mr. chairman, since you're claiming authorship. estimate what the gentleman yield briefly i would remind my staff that senator leahy is the author of this bill that we have before us. senator leahy -- >> i would again reclaiming my time briefly, the senator cannot be the author of the house bill. >> it is not a house bill. >> i believe there was something regarding speeding the freedom of information act, which i believe having briefly looked at this bill again i understand we have to pass the bill to know what's in it but i am confident saying there is no expedited freedom of information act process used in this bill currently. the current leahy bill. i assume there is no longer in fact expedite the freedom of inflation act request perhaps indeed a worthy cause and one worthy of the legislative committee. but i don

mr. mcgovern: i yield the gentleman 15 seconds. >>> right now, a live look at the house floor where at any moment a vote is expected to begin. members are did ebating senator harry reid's debt and deficit bill. all indications are in this latest in a long string of political moves, the bill will be defeated. good afternoon, i'm richard lui. good day to you. let's get to the latest in washington. the senate is in session working towards 1:00 a.m. and a test vote on harry reid's plan to fix the problem. house republicans are preparing to symbolically vote down the legislation itself. it's getting heated on capitol hill. take a listen. >> our soldiers in afghanistan repeatedly asked admiral mullen yesterday, will we get paid? will our families get your checks? shame on the republicans for making that happen. in battle, when you accidentally shoot your own, it's called friendly fire. when you deliberately shoot your own it's called fraging. republicans stop fraging the american economy and american people. >> luke russert is live on the capitol hill with the latest. we have the senate and hous

mr. mcgovern: i rise in support of the amendment. this is a modest amendment. i wish the cut were greater than the cut being proposed here because i think everybody in this chamber knows that there is a great deal of waste and abuse that exists within our military spending. we have no bid defense contracts and we go right down that road of all the contracts that we have given out and how wasteful they are been and still preserving weapons systems that are part of the cold war and there are savings to be had within the military. the other point i want to make, when we talk about national security and national strength, we ought to be talking about making sure the people in this country can earn a decent living. national security should mean jobs. it should mean the strength of our infrastructure, the quality of our education system, which we are neglecting, which my friends on the other side of the aisle want to balance the budget by cutting those programs that provide our strength, our economic strength. when you go home to your districts, the first thing that

mr. mcgovern. [applause] >> and one of them is in turning it in the office of a former -- is in turn -- interning at the abbas of a former -- at the office of a former rules committee member. >> i will remind you that senator leahy is the author of this bill. senator leahy is the author. >> again, my time briefly, the senator cannot be the author of a house bill. >> this happens not to be a house bill. >> i believe that there is something regarding the freeing of information act -- freedom of information act. having briefly look at this bill, and i know we have to pass a bill to know what is in it, but i am fairly confident in saying that there is no freedom of information act process these in this bill currently. >> the lady bill cook >> the lady bill. -- the leahy bill? >> the leahy bill. the dreier amendment to vote -- to thedreier bill. >> i am not quite sure what this means. i know that the chairman said that it was getting numbers in sync with the cbo and where the speaker wants this bill to

mr. mcgovern. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for three minutes. mr. mcgovern: rye rise in -- i rise in strong opposition to this closed martial law rule. today is a sad day. in just a few days the process in this house has completely devolved. it's shays-meehanful. we have gone from open rules, to closed rules to same day martial law rule. all because a few extreme members of the house refuse to do the right thing. the rule today waves the -- paves the way for a bill that's worse than the ones the republicans pulled yesterday. that's not coming from us. it's pushing us further and further apart. these last few days have not been about trying to find the united solution, these last few days and weeks have been about trying to unite the house republicans. it has been wasted opportunities. for weeks and weeks and weeks my republican friends have walked away from a balanced, fair, and bipartisan approach allowing the united states to pay its bills. that walked a

mr. mcgovern: i thank the gentleman for his comments. i wish we were more cautious in the way we committed our young men and women in the field of battle. we need to be -- it's politicians that put our service men and women in harm's way and it's politicians that keep this war going. the fact of the matter is that we have an unreliable partner in afghanistan. president karzai is corrupt, he fixed the last election. i mean, he's denigrating our service men and women. when i was over there one of our soldiers from massachusetts said to me, what bothers me most is we're risking our lives to try to help improve the quality of life for people in this country and the president of this country, mr. karzai, you know, denigrates us, diminishes what we do. calls us names. accused the united states of using nuclear weapons in afghanistan. the massachusetts soldier said to me, do you know what that feels like? do you know what that feels like? look, we need to rethink our policy in afghanistan. nobody's talking about walking away, what we're saying

mr. mcgovern. miss foxx, if you read the bill, that only applies to fiscal year 2012. it sets up budget targets for 10 years. the only way that cap applies is the first year. the remaining years continually ratchet it down. it is in the section related to the cut, ok? it goes cut, and then cap, and then supposed rigging of the constitution, that is what it does. so if you look at the constitution, i would urge the american people not just to read this. but read it in connection to the constitutional provision that they are proposed, which jerry rigs the constitution of the united states in a way that favors by definition cuts to things like medicare over closing corporate loopholes. it requires two-thirds to eliminate a corporate tax loophole for the purpose of deficit reduction. you're going to put that into the constitution of the united states. >> by a reading of the bill, social security and medicare are on the table for future cuts. it is important that that be clear. if that is something that the gentle lady from north carolina disagrees with, maybe she could joi

mr. mcgovern: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank the ranking member, ms. slaughter, for yielding me the time. mr. speaker, i rise today to oppose this rule and the underlying legislation. mr. speaker, i have two children, ages 13 and 10, and one of our favorite things to do as a family is to go hiking and we have hiked all over this great country. we have a love and a respect for our open spaces and for our environment and unfortunately the republicans' fiscal year 2012 interior appropriations bill throws that into grave danger. this interior appropriations bill represents an unprecedented departure from our nation's decades-long bipartisan commitment to protecting our shared environment, magnificent natural resources and our cherished cultural treasures. it's a shame that my republicans colleague prioritize tax breaks and incentives for highly profitable oil companies over the grand canyon, the cape cod national sea shore, state parks and even public health. mr. speaker, i could be here all day talking about the harmful cuts and misplaced priorities that

mr. mcgovern: may i ask for a roll call on this vote. i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: those in favor of taking the vote by the yeas and nays will rise. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 further proceedings on this will be postponed. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? mr. webster: mr. speaker, by the direction of the committee on rules, i call up house resolution 337 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 50, house resolution 337. resolved,that at any time after the adoption of this resolution the speaker may, pursuant to clause 2-b of rule 18, declare the house resolved into the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of the bill h.r. 2354, making appropriations for energy and water development and related agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2012, and for other purposes. the first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. all points of order aga

mr. mcgovern. if you did you would know good and well that there is not a single social security cut in this entire program. there's not a single medicare reduction in this entire program. 16 pages. it is capped. it is capped. >> i strongly disagree with him that somehow social security and medicare are protected. they are not. >> reclaiming my time. reclaiming my time. that is why we put things out there and i'm glad you are asking the question because i have got the answer and for anybody who is wondering, let me tell them right now. let me tell them right now, if you want to know what the priorities are down this bill you go back and look at h.r. 1. the single most open continuing resolution debate this institution is ever had and you will see our funding priorities there. if you want to know where we want to go, go back and look at the april budget debate where we proudly debated in this house every single budget resolution that was brought to the floor of this house. every single budget resolu

mr. mcgovern. miss foxx, if you read the bill, that only applies the fiscal year 2012. it sets of budget targets for 10 years. the only way that cap applies is the first year. the remaining years continually ratcheted down. it is in the section related to the cut, ok? it goes cut, and then capped, rigging of thee id constitution, that is what it does. so if you look at the constitution, i would urge the american people not just to read this. but read it in connection to the constitutional provision that they are proposed, which jerry rigs the constitution of the united states in a way that favors by definition cussed the things like medicare over closing corporate loopholes. it requires two-thirds to eliminate the corporate tax loophole for the purpose of that is a reduction. you're going to put that into the constitution of the united states. >> by reading of the bill, so security and medicare are on the table for future cuts. it is a born that that be clear. if that is something that the gentle lady from north carolina disagrees with, maybe she could join us and call

mr. mcgovern for the minority. let me just explain as we discussed when we were together earlier we had the report from the congressional budget office and everyone knows when you're dealing with a magnitude trillions of dollars of spending and the quest to ensure that we comply with the pledge we are working on right now so we are going to recess this evening and hoped to reconvene tomorrow. actually we will adjourn we've taken the testimony already come and we will convene tomorrow at some point. we don't have time set yet. but we will look forward to an opportunity when we can come together and again, to ensure the package we have is in full compliance. thank you very much. >> mr. chairman, i just want to say are we going to be called back this evening? >> no, no one will be called back this evening. >> do you foresee any time -- >> as i said, we will let you know tomorrow -- let you know tomorrow. it will be sometime during the day tomorrow, so we will certainly give you as always the one hour of notice before

mr. mcgovern, talk about what has caused the problem that we're in right now, he failed to mention the failed stimulus bill, he failed to mention the failed health care bill, both horribly expensive. but i think it's important for us to look at the facts on one of the items that he mentioned. they continue, mr. speaker, to engage in this class warfare, us versus them, the multibillionaires, the -- all this sort of stuff, over and over and over again. we happen to recognize that we're all in this together and there should be shared sacrifice. i think that's why it's important for us to look at the facts. let's look at the facts here. as we continue to hear people decry the so-called bush tax cuts, which as we all know are no longer bush tax cuts, they are the bush-obama tax cuts, they became that last december when president obama supported the extension of them, let's look at what happened with the 2003 growth-oriented tax cuts. in 2003, mr. speaker, the federal government had $1,782 ,000,000 in revenues. that was in 2003 before the growth-oriented tax cuts went into effect. mr. speaker, in 2