mr. walz: i move to strike the last word. the chair: the gentleman will suspend. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? king kings move to strike the last -- mr. kingston: move to strike the last word. we accept the amendment with reservations. my friend has been working hard on this amendment particularly in the last five hours. but we had a debate on this and ms. kaptur offered an amendment that restored funding to the account. it was my intention to zero it out because i do want to reduce the number of federal programs that are out there. the full committee can restore it. i'm not sure what $2 million in that account will do. i do support renewable energy, but i will say there are dozens of programs and dozens of research channels available to people for renewable energy particularly in the rural area. so i want to say to my friend from nebraska and from minnesota that we'll accept the amendment, but you need to keep your eye on us. but i'm very serious about eliminating as many programs as possible. we nee

the pledge of allegiance today will be led by the gentleman from minnesota, mr. walz. mr. walz: please rise and honor our country with 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: the chair will entertain up to five requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. poe: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker: without objection. mr. poe: mr. speaker, president obama has unilaterally brought america into its third war, the war in libya. the strution provides that congress, not -- the constitution provides that congress, not the executive, should give the nation the power to go to war. the resolution says there must have been an attack on the united states or the war is in the national security interest of the united states, says the war powers resolution. also, the war powers resolution has a cease after 60 days unless there is congress approva

mr. walz: mr., i rise today to honor a piece of american history and to pay tribute to the americans that created it. 2011 marks the 50th anniversary of the international harvester scout, the first scout built out of american ingenuity and steeled, rolled off the assembly line 50 years ago in fort wayne, indiana. literally drawn on a napkin in a kitchen table. my good friend from virginia, mr. donnelly, and i will talk about the iconic story of the scout. we talk about the stories of the people that keep it alive. people respect our history and believe it is worth preserving. the scout reflects the exceptional american personality. ingenuity, thriftiness and a can-do spirit. it was built in the heartland of indiana. honoring our history reminds us of what we were capable of together in this great nation. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota yields back his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? mr. woodall: mr. speaker, -- mr. mica: mr. speaker,

the clerk: amendment number four offered by mr. walz of michigan. >> to the mr.mash: even as they bargain for a wage below the set rate. we block military construction and veterans' affairs appropriation bill. there are two main reasons the house should block davis-bacon. first it wastes taxpayer dollars. a recent study showed that on average nationwide the government's set rate is 22% higher than the true market rate. for example, sheet metal workers in long island, new york, are paid $28.79 per hour while the government set rate for that area is $45.40. factors in -- factoring in costs of materials and supplies, it is estimated they overpaid by 10% to 15%. davis-bacon gives an unfair advantage to union employees. small businessesmark of which are nonunion, lower their prices competing against larger union firms. the tradeoff for nonunion employees is a lower wage rate but more work which should not disadvantage those who are willing to perform more work for less money. by eliminating government mandated wages, we can better allocate resources and put more ameri