mr. rooney: mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to my friend and colleague, mr. lynch from massachusetts. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for two minutes. mr. lynch: thank you, mr. speaker, and i thankhe gentleman for yielding. i rise in support of mr. rooney's resolution. mr. speaker, it's it's a sad irony that at the same time that we're committing our sons and daughters to an armed conflict in libya in support of democracy and the rule of law that we are also hear at home trampling on the fundamental principles of separation of powers and the plain language of the united states constitution which is the supreme rule of land in -- law in our land. i've heard several times now that this is an argument about politics. well, politics is to congress like wet is to water. we cannot avoid that. but the united states this issue is really within of substance and the united states constitution clearly states that president's power as commander of chief to introduce armed

mr. rooney: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. rooney: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. the house will be in order. please, take your conversations off the floor. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. rooney: mr. speaker, on march 19 of this year the president sent us into kinetic military activity or war in libya. within 48 hours the president notified the congress in accordance with the war powers act of his decision to do so. for 60 days the president under the war powers act had the opportunity and chose not to come to this body and make the case as to why being in libya was important. on the 60th day he wrote a letter to this body saying that he would welcome authorization but he's not asking for i

mr. rooney: mr. speaker, i yield one minute to my friend from massachusetts, mr. frank. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for one minute. mr. frank: mr. speaker, i want to send a message to our allies, and i don't think we are pulling the rug out from under them. look at these wealthy populous nations of western europe. i believe it's a good thing to get rid of gaddafi. does america have to do everything? people say we are the indispensable nation. that's a terrible burden to impose on ourself. we cannot afford it and it cannot be done effectively. let's get people who can dispense with it. my friend, the ranking member of the appropriations committee said, we have to do this because nato can bomb but they can't suppress. what a great bunch of allies, they can bomb on armed people but if they shoot back they got to come running to as you. yes, i want to send a message to nato. gaddafi's a bad guy. if england and france and italy and germany and spain and the neth

mr. rooney: mr.arch 19 of this year the president sent us into kinetic military activity or war in libya. within 48 hours the president notified the congress in accordance with the war powers act of his decision to do so. for 60 days the president under the war powers act had the opportunity and chose not to come to this body and make the case as to why being in libya was important. on the 60th day he wrote a letter to this body saying that he would welcome authorization but he's n asking for it. time and time again on the armed services committee we were presented with speakers om the administration who would give certain updates on various matters to which i would ask you, are you here to -- i would ask, are you here to ask authsizationnd the witnesses would say no. -- authorization and the witnesses would say no. after 90 days and the president has not seized activity or hostilities in little bit -- ceased activity or hostilities in libya, the time has come and gone and we've sent our indication o

mr. rooney: mr.ch 19 of this year the president sent us into kinetic military activity or war in libya. within 48 hours the president notified the congress in accordance with the war powers act of his decision to do so. for 60 days the president under the war powers act had the opportunity and chose not to come to this body and make the case as to why being in libya was important. on the 60th day he wrote a letter to this body saying that he would welcome authorization but he's not asking for it. time and time again on the armed services committee we were presented with speakers from the administration who would give certain updates on various matters to which i would ask you, are you here to -- i would ask, are you here to ask authsization and the witnesses would say no. -- authorization and the witnesses would say no. after 90 days and the president has not seized activity or hostilities in little bit -- ceased activity or hostilities in libya, the time has come and gone and we've sent our indicati

mr. rooney: mr.peaker, on march 19 of this year the president sent us into kinetic military activity or war in libya. within 48 hours the president notified the congress in accordance with the war powers act of his decision to do so. for 60 days the president under the war powers act had the opportunity and chose not to come to this body and make the case as to why being in libya was important. on the 60th day he wrote a letter to this body saying that he would welcome authorization but he's not asking for it. time and time again on the armed services committee we were presented with speakers from the administration who would give certain updates on various matters to which i would ask you, are you here to -- i would ask, are you here tosk authsization and the witnesses would say no. -- authorizationnd the witnesses would say no. after 90 days and the president has not seized activity or hostilities in little bit -- ceased activity or hostilities in libya, the time has come and gone and we've sent ou

mr. rooney: mr. speaker, i yield one minute to my friend from massachusetts, mr. frank. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for one minute. mr. frank: mr. speaker, i want to send a message to our allies, and i don't think we are pulling the rug out from under them. look at these wealthy populous nations of western europe. i believe it's a good thing to get rid of gaddafi. does america have to do everything? people say we are the indispensable nation. that's a terrible burden to impose on ourself. we cannot afford it and it cannot be done effectively. let's get people who can dispense with it. my friend, the ranking member of the appropriations committee said, we have to do this because nato can bomb but they can't suppress. what a great bunch of allies, they can bomb on armed people but if they shoot back they got to come running to as you. yes, i want to send a message to nato. gaddafi's a bad guy. if england and france and italy and germany and spain and the neth

mr. rooney does. i oppose this war, it's unconstitutional, it's in violation of statute, and there's a way to end the war, vote for rooney step one and the kucinich-amash amendment which defunds the d.o.d. bill, you can do that when we come back. but to claim that the arab league is somehow asking for us to continue this attack on libya is plain false. the fact of the matter is we have al jazeera reporting that italy's foreign minister and outgoing head of the arab league have called for a halt to hostilities in libya. it was reported that two days ago, the outgoing head of the arab league, said now it's time to do whatever we can to reach a political solution and that has to start with a cease-fire uer international position. you don't have the arab league here saying come on, go for, prosecute the war. bomb libya. th are not saying that at all. we have to be very clear about that. even china who is eating our lunch financially, they are not involved in this war. they are saying there ought to be a p

mr. rooney. the other is offered by a democrat, the other gentleman from florida, mr. hastings.when i think about 3:00 in the morning on june 26, 2009, we had begun on 2005, june 25 of 2009, we began the debate on this horrible idea of cap and trade. and it was 3:00 in the morning that i was sitting upstairs with my rules committee colleagues, mr. speaker, and dropped in my lap, still hot because it had just come off the copying machine, was 300 pages of an amendment that we reported out force -- mr. woodall: two additional minutes. mr. dreier: at :00 this is morning we were handed this measure. what we have before us as again complied with the three-day layover requirement, not a single amendment was offered, and there is a proposal offered by a democrat and a proposal offered by a republican. and so, mr. speaker, i have to say that i believe that this rule is one that does allow for a free flowing debate. it allows for an opportunity to consider this. and it's not as if we haven't been engaged in this discussion for a long period of time. my friend from cleveland is here and h

mr. rooney: his dedication to quality news coverage has earned him a telly and an emmy he served his country honorably for five years in the united states army. he continues to serve our community where he's active in several organizations, including big brothers and big sisters. he's widely recognized for his thursday's child feature which for 30 years profiled children to help them find forever adoptive parents. thank you for your service and contributions to our community. you're a truly -- you're truly a pillar of the treasure coast and palm beach county. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expir president obama's approval rating. 47% of prove right now, 46% disapproveallup poll showing president oma's approval rating. 47% of prove right now, 46% disapprove. those are the latest numbers. what do you think president obama needs to do to win in 2012? "national journal" has this piece in their publication. the economy is the dominant issue. several states could flip to the republican nominee. this reporter interviewed 10th veteran democratic and republican strate