i think mr. upton probably inviting me here because i am in a unique position. we are a manufacturer of american main valves that are used in oil production. i know the technology. probably spent more time sands thant the oil everybody combined. foremost, the canadians are completely perplexed. i am just talking about the general public. as to why america is thumbing its nose at having this crude. somebody said it is as if he owned a catering company and you were having a wedding in your friend chose an enemy to do the catering rather than your friend. the need for crude oil when not -- will not go away anytime soon. it is in everybody's best interests to get away from it. the technology needs to be developed and brought forward. as a member of the private sector, when things are in demand and the technology is there, we will grab hold of it and run with it. other sources of power, if they were available and private -- capital and consumer wanted them, we would be all over the -- all over it. we started in the early 1990's with the zero oil sands where there was

billion, $12 billion, given a significant amount and we'll hear at the active passive summit from mr. uptonm told it will be focused on the fundamental value at microsoft. simon, earlier, you mentioned we got earnings from microsoft last week that were better than many had anticipated and so the stock did, in fact, rally on an otherwise lackluster days. pc sales seemed to be falling off a cliff and not to mention the -- not particularly great reception for that product, but there's a lot of other value there in the view of valueact that can be focused on and used as a pathway to future growth from microsoft that doesn't involve windows. we'll get more on that, but certainly a significant development for a company that has had its share of shareholders trying to raise a ruckus, but at the end saying it's not worth it and we're not going get anywhere and there isn't necessarily that much we can do and we have seen active investors with significant positions nonetheless in very large companies that have had very big reputations who are able to galvanize a shareholder base and we'll see if that

mr. speaker, ranking member waxman and i have sent on etters to chairman upton the energy and commerce committee, and chairman whitfield of the energy and power committee. dealing with climate change. mr. speaker, since mr. waxman and i are not able to get the majority on the energy and mmerce committee to act, i take it upon myself to come to the house floor to speak directly to the american people on why this issue is so the power to hem, the people. mr. speaker, last year, 2012, marked the hottest year ever ecorded in u.s. history. more than 2/3 of our nation of ienced drought, half nation's grazing pastures and up to 30% of the nation's corn crop was in poor condition or in very poor condition. which impacted the price that for merican people pay their food, for ethanol and for consumer goods for all the american people. mr. speaker, just because some of my colleagues might not like what the science is telling us, it does not mean that they can continue to put their collective heads in the sand and ignore, simply ignore these facts away. these last year -- last year's record droughts, s, ser