mr. pascrell, do you have a question or two? >> thank you. i want to ask mr. stana about standards. i know that homeland security keeps on changing the goal. it makes it more difficult for them to do and the other folks to do what they have to do. it's my understanding that various -- at various times it has become apparent that the sbi net would not be able to meet established performance criteria. that the department has simply lowered its standards rather than fixing the problems with the system. at one point, there were nine such criteria. we talked about this a few years ago. now there's three. at one point, the system was supposed to identify and classify 85% of the entries. now it's only 70%. so mr. stana, what can you tell us about the performance criteria for both project 28 and tucson 1. how do they compare? and are we grading on a curve? >> with respect to project 28, the criteria there was 95% plus or minus 5%. so that was much higher. for block 1, i believe the objective is 85% but the threshold for acceptability is 70%. i would hope that over time, that bar would go up

mr. pascrell: and so we pray this never happens again. thank you, mr. speaker. speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlewoman from florida continues to reserve the balance of her time. the gentleman from new york. mr. ackerman: i yield myself 10 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york's recognized for 10 seconds. mr. ackerman: we have no further additional members, so if the gentlewoman would like to close, we'll wait on the speaker if she chooses to close as well. ms. ros-lehtinen: you need an additional minute? how much time do we have, mr. speaker? the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida has two minutes remaining. and the gentleman from new york has three minutes remaining. mr. ackerman: mr. speaker, i yield myself two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york's recognized for two minutes. mr. ackerman: mr. speaker, the day after that horrific event, i was back in new york. i went to the piers where the people were waiting to claim bodies and hear of missing loved ones. there was

mr. pascrell: and so we pray this never happens again. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlewoman from florida continues to reserve the balance of her time. the gentleman from new york. mr. ackerman: i yield myself 10 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york's recognized for 10 seconds. mr. ackerman: we have no further additional members, so if the gentlewoman would like to close, we'll wait on the speaker if she chooses to close as well. ms. ros-lehtinen: you need an additional minute? how much time do we have, mr. speaker? the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida has two minutes remaining. and the gentleman from new york has three minutes remaining. mr. ackerman: mr. speaker, i yield myself two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york's recognized for two minutes. mr. ackerman: mr. speaker, the day after that horrific event, i was back in new york. i went to the piers where the people were waiting to claim bodies and hear of missing loved ones. there

mr. pascrell: mr.speaker, on a day after the president addressed this country on a need for regulatory reform in the financial sector, i stand before you to discuss the state of the economy. unfortunately, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle failed to comprehend the inextricable connection between the economy and the need of comprehensive health care reform. we must remember that the extraordinary rise in health care costs and insurance premiums has affected several segments of our economy. surging health care costs slow the rate of job growth by making it more expensive for companies to add new workers. as health care costs rise, corporate operating margins are cut which reduces the capacity of firms to grow by investing in research, plant and equipment. furthermore, high and escalating out-of-pocket costs are forcing families to delay mortgage payments on their homes. since enactment of the recovery and reinvestment act we have prevented delay layoffs of tens of thousands of teachers, police

mr. pascrell: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pascrell: i have a quote from republican chief justice earl warren, no longer with us. he said many people consider the things which government does for them to be social progress. but they consider the things government does for others as socialism. he said it. it is a message to everybody in this house. the fear mongering that's gone on in the last few months does not bring us any closer to resolution. look, private insurance companies are for-profit businesses. i can't blame them, you can't blame them for being in the business of denying access to needed care, avoiding and dumping the sick and confusing consumers. they are, after all, driven by profits, not patients. i aim in my business, what i have to do here in the house, is look out for my constituents. for the hardworking families in new jersey that are being tossed aside so that insurance companies can maximize their profits. i support america's affordable health choices act bec