mr. quigley: this legislation will help the small businesses in my district such as allen joe's dele, a family-owned business in franklin park with pubsandwiches to die for that is looking to expand. it will also save businesses such as national plumbing and heating supply company in illinois which had to shut down after six years because banks ended its line of credit. to respond to these problems i will vote to create a new $30 billion loan program to boost lending to small businesses so they can expand and create jobs. i also co-sponsored an amendment that will include commercial real estate lending at small business lending. this will complement regular lending efforts and help businesses like allen joe's, capitalize on existing property to expand and create new jobs. i urge my colleagues to pass this critical legislation. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? mr. thompson: mr. speaker, request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend

mr. quigley. mr. welch, you are recognized for five minutes. >> i am amazed at your capacity to get goods from here to there. i do not think the american people have any appreciation for how incredibly complex and difficult it is. thank you for your work. the big question is whether, in the accomplishment of that, the approach that has been chosen by others to pay $2 billion to a half a dozen private contractors who didn't provide security to equip our soldiers is the right approach. would it be better to do what has been done in our history and a sign that responsibility to the afghan security force were there would be under direct control and supervision of our commander. i would be interested in your opinions about the pros and cons of each approach. i guess i will start with you because people are looking at you. i want to give deference to our men in uniform as well. >> sir, we do not believe that the afghan security forces are mature enough to take over this mission. in a perfect world, this wou

mr. quigley, you are >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, i've been here 14 months now and this is the kind of work that the committee should be about. so i applaud your efforts and your staff efforts. gentlemen, put yourselves in our place. i understand your lack of awareness of what was taking place, but what would concernn you or us, what concerns you is the fact that it took the these questions. sir, you call them allegations, they're called findings here, but either way, at least they're asking the right questions. were you aware that any of these questions were asked at all by anybody else within your command? >> i'll start and then let my teammates join in. under host nation trucking, i was not personally aware of the kind of allegations that are being made. but i have to say that we take them seriously just as you and this committee have taken them seriously. when tte allegations are presented we need to research them and determine what the facts and evidence are and have the evidence we tan -- we can take hard actions whet

mr. quigley: mr. speaker, trade is critically important to our economic well-being. trade provides a market for american goods and sustains millions of jobs in vital american industries. in fact, exports support one of every five manufacturing jobs. trade can also make the u.s. a lowered in clean energy technologies. in 2009, china etched the u.s. out in top spending on clean energy. but projects like the all-elect trick commercial truck built in my district and supported through a federal stimulus investment can restore the u.s. as a leader in this field while creating jobs here at home. now we need to pursue a better competition policy and help simplify the patchwork of global regulatory standards that cripple businesses trying to export goods internationally. we can make trade policy work for american businesses and for a cleaner environment. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to take from the speaker's ta

mr. quigley: thank you, mr. speaker.to my colleagues, i appreciate their ability to pronounce names they are not necessarily familiar with so well and i appreciate those who co-sponsored this legislation. about three weeks ago several hundred brave chicago blackhawk hockey fans sat in philadelphia and wondered why patrick cane was flying across the ice in celebration. he scored the goal that no one saw. the goal that brought an end to 49 years of frustration for blackhawk fans and exercise that goes to the demons of jack lemaire in 1971 and he helped make the chicago blackhawks the stanley cup champions. it was a long, extraordinarily tough road for these players. many of these players competed in over 10 games when you count the olympics. extraordinarily grueling stask for them to accomplish this, but that goal set off a celebration that ended with two million people in downtown chicago in a parade. it set off the celebration in philadelphia among the few fans there from chicago, and among the alumni of blackhawks inclu

mr. quigley: as the recent pentagon shooting illustrates, terrorists can still easily gain access to firearms. a recent gun show audit conducted -- revealed that 74% of sellers approached by investigators complete sales to people who appear to be criminals or straw purchasers. this is unacceptable. it is time to close the gun show loophole. today's decision puts to rest the tired argument that any sensible gun control restriction is a slippery slope toward the reskcation of all gun owning rights. there's never been a better time for this congress to reclaim the middle ground, stop giving terrorists unlimited access to unlimited fire power. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: ms. ros-lehtinen from florida. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> i rise to address the house for five minutes and ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to pay tribute to marine lapse corporal who was killed on march 11 while patrolling in combat operations in helmond province in afghanistan. gar

mr. quigley: back in december we asked, should we send more troops in afghanistan? we should have asked, would a greater military presence make america safer? and then question we asked, how can we get supplies to troops scattered in afghanistan? we should have asked, will getting supplies to troops fuel the insurgency we're fighting? now we are asking, can a new command for the afghanistan ensure a -- ensure we win the war there? we should have been asking, is this war winnable and will it make america safer. we have to start asking the right questions. the first question is, where are the terrorists? we are so focused on the details of afghanistan that we are missing the larger picture. the terrorists we are fight are no long for the afghanistan only, they are operating in yemen, somalia, subsaharan africa an here in the just. the christmas day bomber was from nigeria. an increasing number of terror attacks are being plotted here on american soil. major hasan who killed 13 people at fort hood, texas, was born in virginia and an increasing number of extremists from

mr. quigley: madam speaker, you ve no idea how much i'm going to enjoy this, but sometime late last night patrick kane slipped a puck to a goaltender in overtime and thehicago blackhawks became the stanley cuchampions. congratulations to the team for their greaseason. many of these players have played over 120 games this season, including the olympics, to achieve thr one goal. a special thanks to the owner the blackhawks, rocky. while hockey never left chicago, he brought it back. the management team, the coach and dale. madam speaker, today chicago is my kind of town. thank you and i yield back. the speaker: for what purpose does the gentlewoman fronorth carolina rise? ms. foxx: i ask perssion to addresthe house for e minute, madam speaker. the speaker: without objection. ms. foxx: thank you, madam speaker. the 2010 federal dget deficit will hit $1 trillion this month. and we've also recently learned that the federal debt will reach $19.5 trillion by 2015. you'd think this would be a case for some real careful examination of the federal dget you'd think congress would be looking everywhe

mr. quigley of illinois. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009, and under a previous order of the house, the following member are recognized for five minutes each. mr. mcgovern of massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: i ask unanimous condition sonet to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcgovern: i rise to express dissatisfaction with our involvement in afghanistan. as we are being asked to consider tens of billions of dollars in supplemental funding for the war, i believe that now is the time for us to ask tough questions and demand straightances. -- straight answers. of all the problems president obama inherlted from the bush administration, afghanistan is the one that keeps get manager complicated. in just the past few week two brave young soldiers from my congressional district in fall river, massachusetts, lost their lives in afghanistan, this is a big deal. we need to get it right. last december, president obama told the am