mr. wamp, will each control 30 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. edwards: may i ask for order in the house, please. the chair: the gentleman is correct, the house is not in order. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. edwards: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. edwards: madam chair, members, on behalf of america's service men and women, our veterans, and their families, it's a privilege for me to present the fiscal year 2010 military construction and veterans eaffairs appropriations bill. i believe this bill and the work we have done since january of 2007 is work that all of us, democrats and republicans aliking can be very proud of. in this time of war, we have continued our tradition of a bipartisan military construction and veterans' appropriations bill a bill that honors in a meaningful way the service and sacrifice of our service men and women, our veteran, and their families. in the past 2 1/2 year arkse

mr. wamp: i thank the speaker. what we will see over the next 60 minutes is a conversation here on the floor of the united states house of representatives about our economy, this issue of energy, and innovation. frankl our free enterprise system in the future, the role of the government, and i think the problems with excessive spending. but i want to open by talking a little bit about how i have vested my time and energies as a member of the house over these last 15 years, because it's a privilege to serve my last term here in the house as i'm a candidate for the governor of the state of tennessee now, but i'll tell you, i am one on the republican side that's been extraordinarily active on alternative energy. for eight years, i chaired the renewable energy and energy efficiency caucus here in the house with congressman, now senator, mark udall of california. we built a caucus of over half the house, almost evenly divided between democrats and republicans and javow kated while the republicans w

mr. wamp: mr. chairman, i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: part a, amendment number 3, printed in house report 111-209 offered by mr. wamp of tennessee. the chair: the gentleman from tennessee, mr. wamp, and a member opposed will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from tennessee. mr. wamp: i thank the chairman and i thank the committee for an extraordinary product. i think this bill is worthy of our support. the staff has done an excellent job supporting the members. i want to thank the rules committee for ruling this amendment in order because mr. davis of tennessee and myself come to the floor today to offer the amendment to transfer $14 million from the corps of engineers' regular account, their operating account, over to the construction account. and the reason is that we have, on the tennessee river, a loch, an aging loch with a real problem of concrete growth. we've known now for 15 years in this must be replaced. we are under construction. we're in the

thon the record quotion from mr. wamp was that c street residents ve all agreed they won'talk about their private living arrangements. the newsntinelharacterized the agreement as a pact. we called the newsentinel today tosee if they got that ong to see if mr. wamp's office had at l also called them to say the que was wrong to demd a retraction or correcon. they said theyaven't heard from hi turns ouzack wamp office is only complaini us to. until we have reason to believe mr. wamp was lyinghen he said street residents have all agreed not to spe about c street or his home s paper s lying when theyttributed the quote to him i am going t have to stand by what i said. if i have said something unte on thi program i a quite literally not kidding more than happy to correct it. but congressman wamp if you sa someing to your hometo paper that sounds bad when repead on tional television, don't blame theerson reading your quote back to you for how creepy that crt quote makes you sound. m tempted to add something here about bearing fa

the onhe record quotation from mr. wamp was that c street residents have all agreed they wot talk about their private living arrangements. the news sentinel characteze the agreement as a pac called the news sentinel today to see if they got that wrong toee if mr. wamp's fice had at least also calle them tsay the quote was wrong to demand a retraction or rrection. they said they hen't heard from him. turns out zack wamp'office is only complaings to. until we have reason to believe mr. wa was lying when he said c street residents have all agreed n to speak about c re or his home state paper was lying when they attributed the quote to him, i am goingo have to d by what i said. i have said something urue on this program i amuite literally not kiddinmore tn happy to correct it. but ngressman wamp if you say something to yr hometown paper thatous bad when repeated on national televisio don't blame the person reading your que quote makes you sound.py that i'm teted to add something here about bearing false witness but i shall rrar

and it's unfortunate, as mr. wamp pointed out, because, and as i tried to point out earlier, in other countries left and right agree on the importance of nuclear power. it's clean energy that is available, readily available and safe to reduce dependence on oil . immediately. alternative sources are being developed and they're important. but in terms of significant substitution of oil with new sources, clean and reliable sources of energy, there's nothing that's available that can be more impacting and more effective than nuclear power. so it's a curiousity. as a student i study comparative politics, comparative law. as a student of the left and the right in many countries i find it curious as to why it is, because it evidently is, a pillar of thought of the american left. opposition to nuclear power. but it's a fact. i will be asking for a no on the previous question, mr. speaker, so we can amend this rule and allow an open process. there is no question that the rule the majority brings forth today will help to cement

mr. zach wamp, is the republican lead on this bill and i'm very pleased with the work that not only mr. how he has led in such a way to make sure that the men and women of the military understand his dedication and devotion to this process. it's my intent to discuss the importance of the underlying bill as well as some of the concerns in the legislation. and i would also like to highlight the democrat majority's large increase in spending across the board for appropriations bills. this is unacceptable, especially in a time of huge deficits and exceptionally high unemployment. mr. speaker, i think we should aim for a balanced budget, not unlimited spending. i think this body should have to make tough decisions and set priorities, not set the bar so high or in this case so low for just spending so much money that we cannot and do not have to make tougher decisions. this bill provides crucial funding needed for the military construction and housing funding for our troops and their families and other quality of life projects. and the congress should have to go through those projects one by

when the john ensign scandal broke, mr. wamp told the "knox news", quote, these are trying times and obviously with senator ensign and governor sanford, everybody is disappointed. there's no doubt about that not so disappointed he would turn down their money. he also said, i hated that john ensign lived in the house. and it happened because it opens up all these kinds of questions. but he also said, quote, i'm not going to be the guy who goes out and talks. one of the major unanswered questions about the role of this secretive "c" street group, in the ensign scandal, is whether the other members of congress who lived at "c" street, who studied there had a role in the funneling of nearly $100,000 in cash from senator ensign's parents to his mistress and her family. the mistress's husband, doug hampton, says that the payments were suggested by and directed by the other members of congress who were living at "c" street. so, did congressman wamp help come up with the plan to pay off senator ensign's mistress in this sex scandal, and

mr. wamp: permission to address the house for one minute. the gentleman is recognized. mr. wamp: neither party has an exclusive on integrity or ideas and these challenges are not republican challenges or democratic challenges, theyr in fact, american challenges. but i have to tell you, a few years ago, a republican president with a republican congress, he proposed sweeping changes to immigration policy, but those changes kind of flew in the face of the rule of law. they threatened our sovreignty and republicans said no. here we are today, all of us want our president to be successful, but the democratic party needs to look at the president and say this is not what we need to protect our health care system. we need to change it. we need to reform it. we need to improve it, but we don't need government control of health care. it's too important. 85% of the people in this country today are satisfied with their health care and they're afraid this new proposal will put that in jeopardy. this is a matter of life or death. people are not waiting in line to leave this country for he

murtha, but also the appropriators, mr. wamp and mr. edwards. i'd also like to thank the chairwoman of the rules committee, ms. slaughter, for not only making this amendment in order but also the words of support that have been expressed on behalf of the armed services committee but also the rules committee. and i thank both these gentlemen for accepting my amendment, and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. anyone seek time in opposition? the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from texas. as many as are in favor will signify by saying aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. and the amendment is agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 5 printed in part a of house report 111-233. for what purpose does the gentleman from massachusetts rise? mr. tierney: i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: part a, amendment number 5 printed in house report 111-233 offered by mr. tierney of massachusett

mr. wamp: the world is looking to us for innovation and that's the goose that lays the golden egg, free enterprise system, entrepreneurship and american innovation can pull this economy back in a good direction, not regulation. other governments are moving away from regulation and high taxation. we're moving towards it. it's innovation, not regulation. you look at the new cap and trade legislation for energy and the environment, it's a regulatory scheme, a taxation scheme, not an innovation scheme. where is nuclear power and new technologies that can lead to robust job-creating u.s. economy. look at the health care system, it's a regulatory scheme and litigation scheme, protecting the status quo in litigation. the greatest medical centers are saying this government-insurance scheme is the wrong approach. we need less litigation and unleash the entrepreneurship and innovation so we can lead. where are the jobs? they are in our free enterprise system. the government choked it with taxation, regu