mr. pallone said and mrs. capps will reiterate, that it is not standard practice or was not standard practice to perform early detection for hearing loss on newborns. usually parents after about a year would recognize something isn't right, that maybe speech was delayed and that's when testing would occur. we found that early testing has benefits. however our side of the aisle must recommend a no vote at this time due to the authorizing of appropriations with the language of, quote, such sums as necessary, end quote. this type of open-ended authorization advocates or duty to budget for programs responsibly. the bill would re-authorize the newborns and infants hearing loss program. it would enable the secretary of health and human services to assist and recruitment, retention, education, and training of qualified personnel in hearing and health care providers. unfortunately in re-authorizing this program, the bill contains no limits on authorization of spending for the program. as my colleagues know, authorizin

mr. pallone: i yield to the gentleman from new york, mr.on, for the purpose of unanimous consent request. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. mcmahon: thank you, madam speaker. on behalf of staton island, trish and marty fullum, i ask unanimous consent to insert my statement into the record. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman from new jersey will be charged with the time consumed. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i yield to the gentleman from new york, mr. ackerman, for the purpose of unanimous consent request. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. ackerman: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. burgess: i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: i yield to ms. eshoo for the purpose of unanimous consent request. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman i

mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. first of all let me say as i did the other day, as you know i guess about a week ago we passed an extension to eliminate the cut in the s.g.r. for -- the doctors fix, until the end of this month. this bill before us today would take us until the end of the year, december, 2011. at the time the gentleman from california, mr. herger, also got on the floor and made statements which i think totally do not represent what we were doing. first of all, i would say with regard to the doctors fix, nobody wants the 25% cut in doctors reimbursement rate. that's why we were here last week for the extension to eliminate that cut until the end of this year, and that's why we are here today to eliminate that cut until the end of 2011. the fact of the matter is it's the republican party and it's the gentleman from california, mr. herger's party, in the house that refused to vote for a permanent fix when we passed it in the democrat majority over a year ago. as i said that day, only one person, dr. bur

mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to offer h.r. 5470, a simple piece of legislation that provides a straightforward technical correction to the energy independence and security act of 2007. specific provisions in the energy independence and security act intended to increase the energy efficiency requirements for battery chargers and external you power supplies, have been implemented in a way that includes security and life safety products that yield no energy savings. the law requires the power supplies on these products to meet energy efficiency standards in a number of different modes, including offmode and standby mode. security and life s

mr. pallone and others, but the c.r. version of food safety that we are being asked to vote on today is not the version that came out of the house. for that reason, i oppose and the basic c.r. overall, there are numerous reasons from an energy and commerce perspective to oppose that. we would ask for a no vote and i reserve the balance of my time the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan. mr. dingell: i yield to the chairman of the energy and commerce committee 1 1/2 minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. waxman: the house passed the food safety bill a year ago in july, 2009. and we waited for the senate to act and they recently acted by 73 to 25 in favor of the legislation. when we had it before us, there were 283 supporters. now, the senate made some changes in the bill, but all of the advocacy groups have told us that f.d.a. needs this legislation to be able to protect the american people from unsafe food, whether it's domestic or f

mr. frank pallone, mr. bart stupak, and i say congratulations to them for successfully bringing this legislation through the house. i also want to acknowledge senator harkin, senator durbin for their work in facilitating passage of this bill in the senate. among the critical reforms in this bill are increased inspection of high-risk facilities. expanded authority to inspect recall records. the formation of a more accurate food facility registry. improve traceability in the event of an illness outbreak, and improved surveillance of food-borne illness. the bill also requires certification of certain foreign food imports as meeting u.s. food safety requirements. alt of these tools will help improve the f.d.a.'s ability to respond to food-borne illness outbreak and hold industrial food production facilities to higher standards. for too long the cornerstone of our food safety system, the f.d.a., has had only ancient tools and an outdated mandate at its disposal. this bill will go a long way towards stemming the

mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. first of all let me say as i did the other day, as you know i guess about a week ago we passed an extension to eliminate the cut in the s.g.r. for -- the doctors fix, until the end of this month. this bill before us today would take uuntil the end of the year, december, 2011. at the time the ntleman from california, mr. herger, also got on the floor and made statements which i think totally do not represent what we were doing. first of all, i would say with regard to the doctors fix, nobody wants the 25% cut in doctors reimbursement rate. that's why we were here last week for the extension to eliminate that cut until the end of this year, and that's why we are here today to eliminate tha cut until the end of 2011. the fact of the matter is it's the republican party and it's the gentleman from california, mr. herger's party, in the house that refused to vote for a permanent fix when we passed it in the democrat majority over a year ago. as i said that day, only one person, dr. burgess,

mr. pallone and others, but the c.r. version of food safety that we are being asked to vote on today is not the version that came out of the house. for that reason, i oppose and the basic c.r. overall, there are numerous reasons from an energy and commerce perspective to oppose that. we would ask for a no vote and i reserve the balance of my time the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan. mr. dingell: i yield to the chairman of the energy and commerce committee 1 1/2 minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. waxman: the house passed the food safety bill a year ago in july, 2009. and we waited for the senate to act and they recently acted by 73 to 25 in favor of the legislation. when we had it before us, there were 283 supporters. now, the senate made some changes in the bill, but all of the advocacy groups have told us that f.d.a. needs this legislation to be able to protect the american people from unsafe food, whether it's domestic or f

mr. pallone and others, but the c.r. version of food safety that we are being asked to vote on today is not the version that came out of the house. for that reason, i oppose and the basic c.r. overall, there are numerous reasons from an energy and commerce perspective to oppose that. we would ask for a no vote and i reserve the balance of my time the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan. mr. dingell: i yield to the chairman of the energy and commerce committee 1 1/2 minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. waxman: the house passed the food safety bill a year ago in july, 2009. and we waited for the senate to act and they recently acted by 73 to 25 in favor of the legislation. when we had it before us, there were 283 supporters. now, the senate made some changes in the bill, but all of the advocacy groups have told us that f.d.a. needs this legislation to be able to protect the american people from unsafe food, whether it's domestic or f

mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. last night the house finally passed on a bipartisan basis and sent to the president a middle-class tax relief package which also included extending unemployment insurance. for the middle class it provides tax relief of $1,500 for income up to $75,000, $1,000 for income at $50,000 and $500 for income of $25,000. it also includes extended unemployment insurance, a 13-month extension of federal support for 99 weeks of unemployment insurance for laid off workers. the package includes child tax credit, extends the child tax credit for two years. it's worth about $1,000, doubled from $500 for qualifying children under the age of 17. and a payroll tax cut. creates a $120 billion payroll tax cut that's worth about $1,400 for the average new jersey household of $71,000 in average income. alternative minimum tax tax relief. earned income tax credit, higher education tax credit to help afford sending your children to college. and also tax cuts for business investments. basically allowing busines

mr. pallone: we've had the biggest tax cuts, child tax credits, payroll tax reduction, education tax benefits. the list goes on. in addition to that we did the fix for medicare for another year, rerepealed don't-ask, don't-tell and yesterday we did the food safety bill, one of the most we could possibly pass. there is no question this has been a productive congress and a very productive lame duck congress. and i'm also hopeful that today in the senate and here in the house we'll pass the 9/11 health bill for first responders and that will complete, again, one of the most productive lame duck sessions and productive congresses in american history. thank you, madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. for what purpose does the gentleman from connecticut seek recognition? >> madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks members and insert extraneous material yuss material on the senate amendments to h.r. 6523. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1 the house will stan