mr. schiff, for sponsoring this legislation and i want to thank mr. schiff for not just this piece of legislation, but other pieces of legislation and his relentless effort as a member of congress to make sure that the greatest resource in our country, children, are protected from child predators. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from virginia. mr. scott: i yield myself such time as i may consume. i thank the gentleman from california for his leadership on this issue. i ask my colleagues to support the bill and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1469 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative -- the gentleman from virginia. mr. scott: i ask for a roll call vote. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman ask for the yeas and nays? the yeas and nays are requested. all those

mr. schiff. the speaker pro tempore: without objection.. for what purpose does the gentleman from vermont rise? mr. welch: i rise to request permission to put in the record that on h.r. 433, i mistakenly recorded my vote as a no, i meant to record my vote as a yes, i'd like to appear in the record that my intention was to vote yes on the mcgovern-obey amendment. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman's statement will appear in the record. under the speaker's announced spoil of january 6, 2009 and under a previoused orer of the house, the following members are recognized for five minutes each. mr. critz of pennsylvania. the gentleman is recognized. mr. critz: i rise today to recognize this july 4 as the 234th anniversary of our great country and the 50th anniversary the stars and stripes that fly above our capitol and across the nation today. on july 4, 1960, the red, white, and blue flag rose above our nation as an emblem of our national pride and freedom, representing the now-50 states that came together to form a more pe

mr. schiff and mr. defazio of oregon for five minutes. 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 members are recognized for five minutes each, mr. poe of texas. mr. poe: thank you, mr. speaker. when i was at a town hall meeting in texas, a local man came up to me afterward to talk about his concerns over where our country was headed, something to do with the firey inferno in a hand basket. i noticed his tee-shirt. here's what it said, i love my bible and had a photograph of the bible and i love my guns, with a photograph of two .45 colt resolvers. they were in the right order after all he was the local preacher. we have the freedom of speech and that includes the freedom of religion. it is first in the constitutional bill of rights because without it, none of the wreft would be possible. the right to bear arms is the second amendment because without it we could not protect the first amendment. the recent supreme court decision stated the obvious what is written in the bi

mr. schiff. >> thank you for being here and thank you for your good, hard work. i go back and forth between trying to decide whether you or ambassador mitchell has the tougher job and probably from week to week it goes back and forth between the two of you. i want to ask you -- the question that i wrestle with most and that is, i think that our military can clear these areas that the taliban occupy. i think we can build through usaid and through your good efforts we can build infrastructure. we can build capacity. the question i have is not can we hold but can the afghans hold? once a year from now we start drawing down our troops. can the afghans hold or will the taliban simply come back? and whether they can hold will depend on whether they have a form of governance that the afghan people are willing to fight for and to die for. right now, you know, the afghan people are very disturbed by the level of corruption, not only in the regime but on a day-to-day level, the fact that to get their crops from one place to another they have to bribe five people along the