mr. speaker. i ask members in the gallery to join us in the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain up to 10 requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentlelady from pennsylvania rise? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. mrs. dahlkemper: mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize worldwide marriage encounter. they have strengthened countless marriages through a weekend workshop to improve couples' communication. the worldwide marriage encounter is totally self-supporting and no couple is turned away because they do not have the ability to pay. in 2009, over 10,000 couples attended worldwide marriage encounters in the united states alone. ma

mr. speaker. this will be our -- i will be the last speaker. mr. speaker, i really appreciate all of my colleagues coming over and making points that they made. i want to tie in to mr. johnson's comments, particularly about the rule of law. we're all sympathetic to the young people who find themselves here illegally, having been brought here by their parents. we are sympathetic to that. but their parents left a place that was not as good a place to live as the united states. and the foundation of what makes us a great country is the rule of law. and if we let the rule of law be undermined, then we will be no better than the places that they have escaped from. i agree with mr. johnson also that this bill is very misleading, i would like to point out something that's been said by the proponents of this bill, that isn't accurate. dream act supporters would have you believe that illegal aliens who don't go to college will earn citizenship through service in the united states armed forces. armed forces. already, we have legislation that will allow that t

mr. speaker, mr. speaker, can i -- can i join the prime minister in paying tribute to private john howard from third battalion, the parachute regiment. he showed enormous courage. we pay tribute to his sacrifice and our thoughts and deepest condolences are with his family. and i join the prime minister also since he originally came back to afghanistan and pay tribute to all our troops serving afghanistan and all their families. can the prime minister confirm that after his changes are introduced, english students will pay the highest fees of any public university system in the industrialized world? >> the figures are well-known about what students will pay. they are much lower. they are much lower than what students, for instance, pay in the united states. but i have to say -- i have to say to the honorable gentleman, in the end we have to make a choice here. if we want to see -- if we want to see university education expand, if we want to see universities well funded we have to work out where that mon

mr. speaker. i'm not going to give way, i'm afraid, because the honorable lady will have the chance to intervene on other people. i do apologize. mr. speaker, we do need to look at higher education funding but we must look at it as a whole within the education system with apprenticeships, with further education. and the single vote today does not none of that. in terms of the current proposals on the table now, i have said all along, and i look at my right honorable friend to say that there are indeed many progressive things within the proposals in terms of the levels at which graduates has to make a contribution. in terms of part-time students, that's very welcomed. in terms of the threshold of being 21,000, i fully acknowledge all those things. but i have to say that we need to debunk a myth here. all those positive things that are in there, and they are in there, and they're progressive in the graduate contribution, they do not need to be tied to a huge increase in fees. that is simply a non-- i

mr. speaker. i rise to ask one question to george w. bush and the republican leadership in congress, where are the jobs? 2001 and 2003 tax cut packages fell well short of their names. from 2001 to 2007 the economy grew at its slowest pace since world war ii. the bush tax cuts failed to bring the growth they promised and now my colleagues on the other side of the aisle want a no question asked extension of this failed policy. not so fast. 66% of all growth between 2001 and 2007 went to the top 1% of americans. did that trickle down to the rest of us? all you have to do is ask the family in albany or schectady or troy, new york and they will say it most certainly did not. the choice is clear, i stand with the 98.1% of households in my district, the middle-income community, the working families. i hope my colleagues on both sides will review their own district numbers and do the same. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana seek recognition? mr. fleming: ask unanimo

mr. speaker. mr. speaker -- mr. sablan will be thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 3353. i want to thank chairman john conyers and chairman bobby scott and their staff for their help in getting and bringing this bill to the house floor. i also want to thank my colleagues on the other side of the aisle for their support for my bill to bring this under suspension of the rules. approval of h.r. 3353 will further national policy to support a broad range of activities carried out by state of territory governments to prevent and control crime as well as to improve the criminal justice systems. program funds are allocated using a formula that provides a minimum amount of jurisdiction to accomplish these goals. the exceptions are the northern mariana islands and american samoa which is funded under single jurisdiction despite that these two are separate jurisdictions with entirely separate local governments. and each of the governments have their responsibility for the same basic criminal justice system as well as any other state or territo

mr. speaker. mr. speaker, house resolution 1745 provides a closed rule for consideration of the senate amendment to h.r. 4853. the rule makes in order a motion offered by the chair of the committee on ways and means that the house concur in the senate amendment to h.r. 4853 with the amendment printed in the report of the committee on rules accompanying the resolution. the rule provides one hour of debate on the motion equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on ways and means. the rule waives all points of order against consideration of the motion except those arising under clause 10 of rule 21. the rule provides that the senate amendment and the motion shall be considered as read. finally, the rule allows the speaker to entertain motions to suspend the rules through the legislative day of december 3, 2010. the speaker or her designee shall consult with the minority leader or his designee on the designation of any matter for consideration pursuant to this

do you have any further speakers? mr. pomeroy: no further speakers. mr. johnson: you told me that last time too. mr. pomeroy: i yielded to my colleague from new york for purposes of closing, we did not have an additional speaker. mr. johnson: i urge my colleagues to support this important legislation. it is good for america and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from north dakota. mr. pomeroy: by way of close, let me say that the legislation before us is in important and reflects what has been a pattern of bipartisan work between the ranking member and myself as i have chaired the social security committee. i've enjoyed working with sam johnson. pretty thrilling thing for a kid from north dakota to get to work with an american hero and i have appreciated his conscientious service as ranking member of the social security subcommittee. i've also have deeply appreciated the opportunity to chair the committee. i received a social security check in my own life when my dad died, i was teenager,

mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. doyle: mr. speaker, i i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. mr. doyle: mr. speaker, i first want to thank chairman boucher. and to let mr. bouch every know -- boucher know it has been a privilege to work with him on the years together during the energy and commerce committee, especially the two years he served as chairman of the subcommittee on energy and the subcommittee on communications technology and the internet. he has been a great colleague and partner in legislation and a great friend and i want to wish chairman boucher only the best in his next steps. i also want to thank chairman waxman for strongly supporting this bill that will give local communities across this country access to their airwa

mr. speaker. mr. speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: members please carry your conversations off the floor. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. sessions: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i want to thank the gentleman from massachusetts, my friend, the gentleman from, mr. mcgovern, for yielding me such time as i may consume today. and i want to thank the gentleman for his consideration that he has given me, personally, professionally over the last year and wish him the very best in this holiday season. mr. speaker, i rise today in strong opposition to this completely closed rule and to the ill-conceived underlying legislation. week after week, my friends on the other side of the aisle continue to bulldoze their massive spending and overregulations bill to the floor of the house -- over-regulations bill to the floor of the house with no republican input and no regular order. as a matter of fact, even today at least one member of the democratic party showed up with a d

mr. speaker, mr. speaker, the obr forecast on monday was hailed as a great sign of success by the chancellor but i want to test out what it will mean for families up and down this country. the prime minister has been telling us for months that under his plans unemployment will fall next year but on monday the obr said unemployment would rise next year. can he explain about this. >> i know the prime minister worked extremely hard on this and i know there's cross-party support for it and i think it's important as we go into this vital last 48 hours and he talked about the obr forecast that the chancellor mentioned yesterday. these are independent forecasts published for the prime time independently and not super feared by the chancellor of the exchequer. what the office of budget responsibility found is that unemployment will be lower than previously forecast. they haven't altered their forecast for unplea agreement next year where they are forecasting a rate of 8%. but they are forecasting increases in

mr. speaker? mr. faleomavaega: i have no additional speakers. mr. burton: do you have any time you would like to yield to our side? mr. faleomavaega: i would like to yield whatever -- i yield one minute. mr. burton: i thank the gentleman for yielding and we'll let mr. smith from new jersey take that one minute and i thank you for your general rossity. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. smith: you know, worldwide, communeist dictatorships either crush or seek to control religious organizations. i have seen this in my 30 years as a member of congress. and m.s.n. was coming up for renewal, met with members of congress who would have slick talking points about the number of churches and number of believers, all the while people were suffering in the prisons or the ghoul ags who happened to be believers and all part of a disinformation campaign. i will say to my colleague, vietnam is the exact same tactic and give you some numbers and fact sheets but if you are a believer not under the control and happen to be part o

mr. speaker. mr. speaker, once again i must rise in opposition to the rule to consider the senate language for s. 510, the food safety modernization act now contained in h.r. 2751, a bill related to the cash for clunkers program. as i stated before, i believe our nation has the safest food supply in the world. i also believe that we must continually examine our food production and regulatory system and move with changes that improve food safety. i'm very disappointed in the process by which this legislation is being considered. what we have here is another expansion of federal power without benefit of thorough consideration. this is the stimulus bill, cap and trade and the health care bill all rolled all over again. the house version of this legislation was rolled out in draft form and marked up in the energy and commerce committee over a couple weeks during the summer of 2009. during all that time, members of the house agriculture committee stood ready and willing to work on this legislation. it's unf

mr. speaker. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from california has 11 minutes remaining. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, at this time i'm happy to yield three minutes to my very hardworking colleague from columbus, indiana, who offered some very thoughtful remarks and endured the committee on rules last night. three minutes for mr. pence. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana is recognized. mr. pence: thank the ranking member for yielding. i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. pence: thank you, mr. speaker. since last summer i have been among those voices in this congress calling for action to prevent a tax increase that would affect every american. just a few short weeks from now. so i rise with a heavy heart today to say that as i look at this short-term tax deal negotiated by the white house with congressional leaders, that i have concluded after much stud

mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the resolution is agreed to. >> mr. speaker, i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote has been requested. those favoring a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 413, the nays are zero. 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended and the resolution is agreed to and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california, ms. lofgren, seek recognition? ms. lofgren: i call up prifflet resolution h. res. 1737 in the matter of representative charles ra

mr. chairman. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from texas will control the time. the gentleman from texas. mr. brady: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. brady: i want to thank mr. tanner for his leadership and service through the year, he'll be missed. the economy is struggling and this congress hasn't done enough to promote the job creation we desperately need. this legislation can be the first new play we run. the bipartisan legislation extends the generalized system of preferences in the trade preferences act and renews certain miscellaneous tariff reductions. in doing, this bill lowers taxes on products that american manufacturers need to be more competitive. more competitive u.s. manufacturers means more jobs for american workers. america's farmers will benefit if this legislation as well because it will help hold down the cost of fertilizers and pesticides. more importantly, american families will benefit from the

mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today in support of s. 3307, the healthy, hungry free kids act of 2010. i apt also thank chairman miller for his leadership on this issue and i want to thank all of our staff who have worked so hard on this bill. finally i'd like to thank the nutrition and antihunger groups who helped raise the awareness of this very important issue, including those in my district. in the healthy families and communities subcommittee which i chair, we've worked hard over the last two congresses on how we should address many of the important issues through child nutrition re-authorization, including how we can reduce childhood obesity. i am proud that this bill contains provisions from the bills which i have introduced which will promote nutritious and wellness in child care settings and support breast feeding for low income women. as a nurse for over 30 years, i've seen firsthand the risks and illnesses that can result from obesity. childhood obesity, diabetes, heart disease are all on

mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. 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 cr

mr. speaker. earlier the prime minister expressed concern about unemployment. unemployment in his constituency is 1.5%. in my constituency, 7.3%. a full job center is available decided to close down. this can not need any test of fairness. will be personally review this disastrous decision to? >> i would very happily look at the discretion of job centers but the fact is through local government and other spending we do put a lot more money into the deprived areas in our country. yes, we do. and if you look, i had a little check before coming, if you look at what's happening to grant changes, for instance, comparing my constituency, but cuts in my constituency is 27% greater than in districts i simply don't accept that this government isn't being fair and helping those who need help the most. >> thank you, mr. speaker. all of us in this chamber would have had tragic cases of late diagnosis of cervical and common cancers that should and can be survive. the prime minister promised to do more while in

mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from oklahoma, mr. cole a member of the committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. cole: i thank the chairman for yielding. i have not intended to speak on this particular issue. i had the opportunity to hear my good friend, mr. wolf, in debate recently and i wanted to come down to the floor and correct a misimpression he has about the so-called fix, let me begin by thanking my good friend the chairman for allowing us to put that legislation in the bill. i proposed the amendment on the floor which passed unanimously on a bipartisan vote by our subcommittee in the interior. the bill, frankly, the measure has absolutely nothing to do with gaming. as a matter of fact, the supreme court fix that it addresses didn't involve gaming at all. it involved a housing case, land put into trust and used for housing by an indian tribe. what the supreme court has done by a very narrow interpretation of the 1934 indian reorganization act is create two classes of indian tribes, so

mr. speaker. mr. udall once said that those elected to positions of leadership have a moral obligation to exercise leadership. since coming to congress, and throughout my whole career, i've always done what i believe was in the best interests for my district, for our state and for our country. this is what i was elected to do. to make tough decisions. knowing some were not as popular as others and i would not have changed one thing, not one vote, not one decision. when i think about what we've accomplished together in congress over the last four years, i know that there are many reasons to be proud. we are able to make college more affordable for millions of young americans. we were able to invest in clean energy technology that will clean our environment and set our nation on a path to energy independence. we've raised the minimum wage for working families across this country. we were able to ensure equal pay for an equal day's work for women. day's work for women. we passed historic health reform, m

mr. speaker pl weiner says, we recognize -- mr. wiener says, we recognize success, we all want to be part of it. god bless them for having the wealth they have, whether it's inherited or earned. we recognize success and the job that wealth does to create jobs, etc. but we also want to reward work. we want to reward work. in order to reward work in this legislation, we had to have a big payoff to the top one quarter percent of america's wealthiest families. i hope my colleague as they review this, this is very difficult. nobody wants taxes to go up for the middle class. everybody gets a tax cut in this. we don't see why we have to give an extra tax cut to the wealthiest and extra extra estate tax benefit to the top one quarter percent. as members have to make up their mind about this, i hope they will vote for the pomeroy amendment to this legislation and they have to make their own decisions as to whether it is necessary to be held hostage to pay a king's ransom in order to help the middle class. we cannot allow taxes to go up come

mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i know that it comes as no surprise of this house that i have been one very critical of this administration's policies on a number of different fronts and i suppose that will be no different tonight. but mr. speaker, i guess i wanted to start out tonight by addressing the wikileaks issue. i know that a lot of people across america have looked upon this with interest and i guess it's significant in my mind that what we have seen on the wikileaks issue is really more conformatory. and wait has demonstrated is that this administration has practiced for a long time a foreign policy of apeasement and has been a disaster. the most pressing question is how a 22-year-old private first class in a remote location in iraq could have gained access to so many of these documents especially since they are far outside his scope of responsibilities and represents a glaring failure on parts of the state department and even parts of the defense department. and some of these commonsense security

mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for such time as she may consume. mrs. biggert: i rise today to support house resolution 1264, which expresses support for the designation of march as national essential tremor awareness month. e.t. is certainly the most common movement disorder afflicting nearly 10 million americans and, of course, those who have this disease, everyday life can present some frustrating challenges. and unfortunately, due to lack of awareness and stereotypes, many suffering from essential tremor do not seek medical care. unfortunately, there are no medications that have been developed for people with these tremors, so i thank the gentleman from kansas for bringing this important issue before us today to raise awareness about e.t. but i'd also like to thank the gentleman from kansas, mr. moore, for his hard work, years of service, 12 years, i think it is, since we came in at the same time, of service in this

mr. speaker. i rise in support of the preserving foreign criminal assets for forfeiture act. i commend both my colleagues, ms. chu and mr. poe, for bringing this legislation forward. as he talked about, we have a problem where a court case has allowed a loophole, a major loophole where criminal organizations are able to shield their assets from our justice department. we do not want and we cannot allow for these foreign criminal organizations, whether it's drug cart tells, money launders or others to be able to shield those assets from the law. not only removing the accountability but allowing them to keep their assets that they may use against our law enforcement in the united states. it's critical we get it passed quickly to close this loophole and prevent those types of shielding from the law as it's currently happening. i also want to point out something else my colleague from texas talked about. in the stanford case this is a case where somebody created a ponzi scheme that affected lots of peo

mr. barton. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for as much time as he may consume. mr. barton: i thank the gentleman from california for his courtesy. i would ask the chair how much time i have remaining? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has 15 minutes remaining. mr. barton: may i ask how much time my friends on the majority have? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california, mr. stark, has 13 minutes remaining. the speaker pro tempore: thank you, mr. speaker. -- mr. barton: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. barton: the republicans do rise in support of this one-year fix for the reimbursement rate for physicians. having said that, i think i was able to listen to some of what my distinguished subcommittee chairman of the energy and commerce committee, mr. pallone, was saying as i was waiting for the tram to come over here, it is time, mr. speaker, for members on both sides of

mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from ohio, mr. turner, the ranking member on the strategic forces subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio is recognized for two minutes. mr. turner: thank you. i'd like to thank ranking member mckeon for his leadership on this committee and certainly for his support for men and women in uniform and what has been in this long year of trying to get a bill passed for the national defense authorization act. i'd also like to thank our chairman, ike skelton. ike is leaving us with an incredibly distinguished career. he has led the armed services committee in an incredibly bipartisan way. nye on both sides of the aisle people have appreciated his leadership, his counsel and his dedication to what is a strong national defense. but i must rise to point out that this bill really shouldn't be the ike skelton national defense authorization act. this should be the nancy pelosi national authorization act because it's just a shame that this house and our committee labored for a year tput toge

mr. speaker, i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. berman: i'm very pleased to yield one minute to my colleague from ohio, the state where ambassador holbrooke's most difficult and successful diomatic effort tooklace, ms. kaptur, for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from ohio is recognized for one minute. ms. kaptur: i want to thank the distinguished chairman of the committee, my friend, howard berman, for yielding me this minute to use this resolution in recognition of ambassador richard holbrooke as a moment to extend the deepest condolences from the people of ohio, to his family, to all those whose lives he touch, and try to -- tried to heal. i can remember one time in cleveland ambassador holbrooke ring one large gathering walking through meetings with this garrulous nature and full of life and keeping ohio in a very special corner of his heart. i remember how proud he was of his own heritage, of his wife's heritage, and how hard he worked for our country. one can only imagine all those flights from capital to c

mr. speaker. i concur with what was last said, i have great respect for the committee. nobody wants your job. i came here 14 years ago and looking back on years that have gone by, i met charlie rangel as a colleague here and then i learned sometime after that we were fellow veterans and fellow soldiers. i realize that he had served with honor and distinction and a year ago last december, i lead a co-dell, we flew to korea and reflecting back on my time as a student, teacher, commander of staff college and read a lot of that history, the conflict i served in, as many of you, and i thought of charlie. and he was valorous and did his job. charlie's erred. we know that. i'm not going to repeat those things. he's erred. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. scott: i yield the gentleman 10 more seconds. mr. boswell: he has erred and i think censure is too much, a reprimand is appropriate and he would accept that and i ask this house to recognize that in its history and do the ri

mr. speaker. mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, parliamentary inquiry. mr. jackson: are there two more votes before members dash out of here tonight? there are two more votes? the speaker pro tempore: that's correct. pursuant to clause 8, rule 20, proceedings will resume on motions to suspend the rules previously postponed. votes will be taken in the following order, h.r. 5510 by the yeas and nays and 3874 by the yeas and nays. first electronic vote will be conducted as a 15-minute vote. remaining electronic votes will be conducted as five-minute votes. this is a 15-minute vote. the unfen issued business is the vote on the motion of the the gentleman from massachusetts to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5510 on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5510 a bill to amend the emergency stableation act of 2002 relief program to be used to provide legal assistance to hom

mr. speaker. i would just urge this body to give tse who give all for us the chance to deal with this in their own way and vote no on this repeal. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlewoman from california. mrs. davis: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from rhode island, mr. langevin. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from rhode island is recognized. mr. langin -- mr. langevin: i ask animous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. langevin: i rise today in strong support of the don't ask, don't tell repeal act of 2010. at no time and certainly not at this critical juncture should we be discharging qualified, dedicated service members who are willing to defend, serve, and sacrifice for our tion. don't ask, don't tell policy is costly, it is ineffective, and it is unnecessary. its repeal clearly makes a major step toward ending dirimination. the department of defense's own internal survey contr

mr. speaker. we are extraordinary for a lot of reasons. there are a series of pillars of american exceptionalism. beautiful marble pillars that have been cut and polished and our founding fathers understood that and they set them in place. and i think god moved the founding fathers around to shape this nation. when he look out across the world and i think down through the heritage of nation after nation and look for a country that has a history that is even similar to the history of the united states, and i don't mean that as far as the chronology of the events that took place, the wars, the depression, the foundation of our country. the foundation of the united states of america is absolutely and completely utterly unique to any of that in the world. if you look over the last 250 years or so, the most successful institution in the world, part of it has been our religious institutions, but arguably, the most successful institutions in the nation states that emerged out of city states when they were

mr. speaker. thank you, mr. chairman. i rise in strong support of this legislation as the best way to move our economy forward. the middle class tax relief extends significant tax relief to every american. let me say that again. every american. under this legislation no matter how much you make, the first $250,000 will continue to benefit from today's lower rates. and given the softness in our economy and the number of households that are still struggling, that's the right thing to do. but what this legislation does not do is put a additional $700 billion on our national credit card, as our republican colleagues would like to do, by extending an extra bonus tax cut to the folks at the very, very top. instead, for the top 2%, those reporting income over $250,000, we have the clinton era tax rates on just that additional portion of that income. and with our annual deficits now topping $1 trillion and our national debt apoaching $14 trillion, it's the right thing to do to make sure our economy is on a sustainable footing for

mr. speaker. >> thank you, mr. speaker. this point i had meetings and in addition to my duties in this house i shall have further such meetings later today. >> heidi alexander. >> thank you, mr. speaker. time and time again the prime minister has said he wants to protect the poorest and most vulnerable whilst reducing the budget deficit. so -- [shouting] >> so can the prime minister -- [shouting] >> so can the prime minister explain to me and residents of my constituencywhy he is keeping huge cuts upon local he tends to spend half of the federal budget on child fundingon, and servic for the in our schools, the per pupil funding will be maintained at 6951 pounds per pupil. that is the 10th highest in the country, recognizing the level of deprivation. on top of that for the first time in our history we will be adding a pupil premium. >> the bbc reports that german finance minister wants to set an interest rate to punish ireland. will the prime minister confirm that this country wants to help ireland? >> my right honorable fri

mr. speaker. mr. speaker, a few weeks ago when we sat down for turkey dinner with our families we certainly had plenty to be thankful for. while our thoughts, however, were still thinking about the men and women of the armed forces, both active duty and retired who have risked life and limb for all of us, and these folks, these troops were in our prayers, our thanks and in our hopes. but, mr. speaker, it's critical that the gratitude to these courageous americans be expressed not just with kind thoughts around the thanksgiving table or speeches on veterans day. we need to show our thanks for these, not words, which is why it was important last week that the house passed the physician payment and therapy relief act ensuring that seniors and military families continue to see their doctors. but even as we were taking that important step, military health benefits continue to be endangered because defense secretary gates is considering a proposal to increase the amount that military retirees pay for their h

mr. lewis of georgia. madam speaker, cam newton is from college park, georgia, outside atlanta and went to west lake high school in mr. lewis' congressional district. from there he came to auburn earlier this year. cam quickly became a starting quarterback. from his first few games with auburn it was easy to see that standing at 6'6", and 250 pounds cam is no ordinary quarterback. he can rush, throw, and even catch touchdowns from anywhere on the field if the ball was in his hands, he was a threat to score. needless to say cam has set many records in his long list of statistics that are down right unbelievable. if you saw his incredible performance against l.s.u., cam had 49-yard run for a touchdown, the miraculous comeback win in the iron bowl in the second half after trailing 24-0, or with 16 seconds left in the first half of the s.e.c. championship, the hail mary pass into the d zone for an unbelievable catch by darwin adams, you have seen why cam is such a driving force for the auburn tigers and why he won the heism

mr. speaker. within the next -- within the next couple of years, they will relocate a further 1300 jobs away from bath allowing two major sites in the city to be redeveloped. given the urgent need for 3,000 additional affordable homes within the city, will he give me the assurance that the mod will work with the homes and community agency and the local council to ensure that the sites will be used for the houses rather than getting the best hoe of the sale? ? >> i discussed this with my honorable friend this morning ani agree they should work with the home and community agencies try to bring this about. sometimes the wheels can turn quite slowly when it comes to defense states and i know he will work hard and i would ask the ministry of defense to work hard to get this fixed. >> thank you, mr. speaker. the prime minister will be aware that a week is a long time in politics. having had all that time key now update the house on his rethink of the school partnerships? >> i think it's quite a common p

the speaker: without objection. mr. tonko: madam speaker, i wanted to take a moment to -- >> some may look at the recent election and say we were off track. while shows showing up to vote may have chenoweth-haged from 2008 to 2010, i and so many of my colleagues stayed trued to the people who elected us to change this country. we did that from health care to financial reform to the repeal of don't-ask, don't-tell, i do not apologize for our accomplishments i embrace them. i have worked on capitol hill nearly 12 years starting at a junior staffer for a senator and becoming an elected member of this house. despite the cynicism of this congress, i have been privileged to work alongside staff and members dedicated to the public good. i thank them and i will forever be grateful that a shy public school student from modest means from syracuse new york could come here as a member of this great congress in this great country. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolin

mr. rangel violated that trust. the speaker challenged us to enter into a new era of transparency and accountability. mr. mccaul: let us begin today, let justice be served, let us begin to enter into a new era of ethics to restore the credibility and integrity of this house, the people's house, and with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from alabama. mr. bonner: i yield 3 1/2 minutes to the gentleman from washington state, mr. hastings. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is are recognized for 3 1/2 minutes. mr. hastings: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank my friend from alabama for yielding time. for over two years, i served on the investigative committee that reviewed allegations and evidence involving mr. rangel and we found a substantial reason to believe, which is what our threshold was, that violations occurred. because the facts of this matter are not disputed, i will not comment on the evidence. i will, however, comment on the length of the investigation and particularly a statement made

mr. speaker. >> mr. speaker, mr. speaker.he speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland rise? mr. hoyer: i yield to the gentlelady from missouri. mrs. emerson: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. majority leader, for allowing me to steal some of your time. but i would be remiss if i didn't try to tell a little bit more of the story that our beloved friend and colleague, ike skelton, started, kind of started all back in 1980 with my family with ike when my late husband bill and he drove into work every single day, and the stories that i learned both from bill and ike because i used to take ike in after bill and that every thursday now that we come in with prayer breakft has been for me a remarkable experience because of what i have learned from our colleague, ike skelton, both from history and also an understanding of the great love that he has for our wonderful state of missouri. his commitment and his dedication have been extraordinary, and he has been for me not only a real hero but also someon

mr. speaker pl weiner says, we recognize -- mr. wiener says, we recognize success, we all want to be part of it. god bless them for having the wealth they have, whether it's inherited or earned. we recognize success and the job that wealth does to create jobs, etc. but we also want to reward work. we want to reward work. in order to reward work in this legislation, we had to have a big payoff to the top one quarter percent of america's wealthiest families. i hope my colleague as they review this, this is very difficult. nobody wants taxes to go up for the middle class. everybody gets a tax cut in this. we don't see why we have to give an extra tax cut to the wealthiest and extra extra estate tax benefit to the top one quarter percent. as members have to make up their mind about this, i hope they will vote for the pomeroy amendment to this legislation and they have to make their own decisions as to whether it is necessary to be held hostage to pay a king's ransom in order to help the middle class. we cannot allotaxes to go up come j

mr. speaker. >> mr. speaker, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland rise? mr. hoyer: i yield to the gentlelady from missouri. mrs. emerson: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. majority leader, for allowing me to steal some of your time. but i would be remiss if i didn't try to tell a little bit more of the story that our beloved friend and colleague, ike skelton, started, kind of started all back in 1980 with my family with ike when my late husband bill and he drove into work every single day, and the stories that i learned both from bill and ike because i used to take ike in after bill and that every thursday now that we come in with prayer breakfast has been for me a remarkable experience because of what i have learned from our colleague, ike skelton, both from history and also an understanding of the great love that he has for our wonderful state of missouri. his commitment and his dedication have been extraordinary, and he has been for me not only a real hero but also so

mr. speaker pl weiner says, we recognize -- mr. wiener says, we recognize success, we all want to be part of it. god bless them for having the wealth they have, whether it's inherited or earned. we recognize success and the job that wealth does to create jobs, etc. but we also want to reward work. we want to reward work. in order to reward work in this legislation, we had to have a big payoff to the top one quarter percent of america's wealthiest families. i hope my colleague as they review this, this is very difficult. nobody wants taxes to go up for the middle class. everybody gets a tax cut in this. we don't see why we have to give an extra tax cut to the wealthiest and extra extra estate tax benefit to the top one quarter percent. as members have to make up their mind about this, i hope they will vote for the pomeroy amendment to this legislation and they have to make their own decisions as to whether it is necessary to be held hostage to pay a king's ransom in order to help the middle class. we cannot allow taxes to go up come

mr. speaker. thank you, mr. chairman.i rise in strong support of this legislation as the best way to move our economy forward. the middle class tax relief extends significant tax relief to every american. let me say that again. every american. under this legislation no matter how much you make, the first $250,000 will continue t benefit from today's lower rates. and given the softness in our economy and the number of households that are still struggling, that's the right thing to do. but what this legislation does not do is put an additional $700 billion on our national credit card, as our republican colleagues would like to do, by extending an extra bonus tax cut to the folks at the very, very top. instead, for the top 2%, those reporting income over $250,000, we have the clinton era tax rates on just that additional portion of that income. and with our annual deficits now topping $1 trillion and our national debapproaching $14 trillion, it's the right thing to do to make sure our economy is on a sustainable footing for

mr. thompson: thank you, madam speaker. i recognize a public servant who is retiring from my congressional office. mrs. dorothy harry has served the citizens of my district for 14 years. dorothy has been the first contact in the district office for more than a decade. the constituent calls have been growthed by her with a professional, courteous and caring attitude. she has never been late by even a minute. her service leaves nothing undone. she joined the staff with a lifetime experience working in her family's insurance agency. constituents have contacted her office with insurance-related issues and had guidance. she is the mother of two daughters and has been quick to share that one of her daughters created christmas ornaments that hung on the white house christmas tree. she will retire from public service as a member of the pennsylvania fifth congressional district at the age of 21 young ears old. the citizens have been served by her, job well done and thank you, dorothy, you will be missed. i yield back. the speaker pro

mr. speaker. i hope the house will share in my view and i commend this motion to the house. [applause] >> thank you for that very robust opening speech. to oppose the motion i shall in a moment call mr. conner morgan. i know you will give him a warm welcome. i just informed members of the youth parliament that conner will say some words and irish gaelic and then he will for our benefit repeat the meaning in english. mr. connor morgan. [applause] >> [speaking in an irish gaelic] for those of you not one of the prisons and fluids and irish, i apologize. loosely translated it was, thank you, mr. speaker, fellow members it is a great honor to stand before you and have an opportunity to address you and iris and i wanted thank you all of you for the opportunity and respect you have shown me. [applause] 7,000 pounds is the amount of debt a prospective medical student will face the 70,000 pounds but 32,000, average stood it will face should the catholic religion fees be lifted as indicated. members -- som