mr. bishop: mr. chairman, once again, we thank the pages who will be having their graduation ceremonies tomorrow and leaving us. we wish them very well on their further endeavors. thank you very much. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. -- without objection, the time of the the gentleman is expired. the unfinished business is the request for a vote offered on the amendment from the gentleman from high because, mr. king, on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. king of iowa. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in favor say aye will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen a sufficient number having arisen. a vote will be taken. members will record their votes by electronic vote. this is a series of two-minute votes. [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

mrs. capps: mr. chairman, i yield myself 30 seconds to respond to my colleague from colorado, the author of the bill. section 328 of the clean air act is what is at issue today in this amendment. it was created more than 20 years ago largely at the insinsens of california officials. in fact, my republican predecessor, he introduced this legislation because residents were unhappy about uncontrolled air pollution from offshore drilling as well as local industry and business groups who were upset that offshore sources were basically free to pollute while onshore producers tried to make up for the degraded air quality. only two states now have this permission to -- mr. gardner: will the gentleman yield? the chair: the gentlelady's time has expired. i will yield 1 1/2 minutes to my colleague from delaware, mr. carney. the chair: the gentlelady has 1 1/2 minutes remaining. the gentleman is recognized. mr. carney: i rise in support of this amendment and i ask unanimous consent that this letter from the dela

mr. camp: mr. speaker, i have no further speakers. i will just reserve and close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. mr. levin: thank you, mr. camp. you are going to close. i now yield a final minute to our leader who will close on our behalf, ms. pelosi from the great state of california. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. pelosi: thank you for your compliment to our great state of california. thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, when i first heard that this legislation was coming to the floor i anticipated with some positive thought of, yes, this is the right thing to do. america must pay its bills. we know how to do that. we want to go forward assuring the american people that when we decide not to default on our debt that we are showing our strength even though it may be difficult for people to support that. then, i heard that it was going to come up like this on sunday. they said it would be up on tuesday. the bill is predated on a false premise. it says

mr. miller: mr. speaker, members of the house, little more than a year ago 29 coal miners lost their lives in the upper big branch mine in west virginia. our nation watched in sadness as a small community felt the lash of the worst coal mine tragedy in decades. our nation promised these families to get to the bottom of what happened and we promised to make sure that nothing like this would ever happen again. the good news is we learned what caused this tragedy. last month an independent panel released a 13-month long investigation report. they said the explosion could have been preventable. the warning signs about dangerous conditions in the mine were ignored leading up to the tragedy. they found that the massey energy company ignored basic safety precautions that the mining industry had recognized for more than a century. repeated violations had become business as usual, something which the investigation called the normalization of deviance where unsafe behavior and conditions become normal at upper

mr. goodlatte: mr. speaker, i reserve. -- mr. woodall: mr. speaker, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i have no more requests for time and i want to ask my colleague if he's prepared to close. mr. woodall: we're prepared to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. slaughter: thank you. i urge a no vote on the rule. remind us the last time we had such a weighty debate we devoted 26 hours to it and 263 members, more than half the house of representatives, spoke. i agree with what has just been said about ms. lee, it's much too late. it comes at a very strange time, and it says this is a political move which i regret, because, as she pointed out, and those others who have been here before, voting to go to war is the most solemn experience that we face here. so let me urge a no vote on the rule and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from georgia

mr. marcus jones? >> mr. speaker, mr. speaker, as a parent, i'mppalled that the party opposite burdening our children with ever more debts that the party opposite are putting forward with their reckless tax cuts and spending commitments of which the v.a.t. cut is the latest. >> order! order! the honorable gentleman will now resume his seat. valerie bags? >> thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. speaker. >> shhhh. >> there are 400 avoidableebts from epilepsy and relatable conditions. my rule bill asks for two things, an immediate referral to a tertiary specialist and an education support for children with an assessment and additionalupport so that they can fulfill their potential. could the prime minister meet with me the joint epilepsy counseling and professor helen crops how we can advance these provisions which will not only save costs but more importantly, ve lives. >> i'd be delighted to meet with her and also with helen cross who i know well who is an absolutely brilliant clinician and someone i know well. i am keen

mr. carter: mr. chairman, i reserve a point of order on the gentlewoman's amendment. the chair: a point of order is reserved. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from california for five minutes in support of her amendment. ms. richardson: mr. chairman, as former chair and current ranking member on the homeland security emergency preparedness subcommittee and member of the transportation and infrastructure committee, i offered this amendment in good faith to save lives and to protect american citizens. like my republican colleague, chairman king, i have a strong concern with the current appropriations bill in its current form which in and of it self could potentially cause dangerous threats to our national security by drastically cutting vital response and prevention programs, leaving americans and their visitors vulnerable when we are most in time of need. my amendment will make great strides to remedy this danger by ensuring that the department of homeland security secretary allocates $50 million f

mr. polis: mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from ohio, ms. kaptur. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from ohio is recognized for two minutes. ms. kaptur: i thank the gentleman from colorado, mr. polis, for yielding and rise against this rule and the underlying bill. the bill is unconstitutional, it will stifle american job creation, cripple american innovation, throws out 220 years of patent protections for individual inventors and violates the cut-go rules, increasing our deficit by over $1 billion. this bill should never have been brought to the floor. not only is it chalk full of special interest legislation for large banks and a handful of corporate interests, what we are voting on today makes mockery of the openness that the republican leadership promised in legislative procedures. the bill has gone through a lot of its rations without sunlight since it was first reported out of committee. and the congressional budget office is scoring this latest version of the bill th

mr. reed: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker: without objection, the gentleman will suspend. the house will be in order. the speaker: the gentleman may resume. mr. reed: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i did unanimous -- ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker: without objection. mr. reed: house resolution 287 provides for open rule of consideration of h.r. 2017. mr. speaker, i rise today in support of house resolution 278, to provide the rule for h.r. 2017, the homeland security appropriations act for fiscal year 2012. mr. speaker, i'm proud to be managing this rule, the first truly open rule since july 31, 2007. an agriculture appropriations bill in the 110th congress. the 112th congress has made it clear that it's an open process and this rule exemplifies this initiative. for 119 members of the 112th congress, this is their f

mr. camp: mr. speaker, i have no further speakers. i will just reserve and close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. mr. levin: thank you, mr. camp. you are going to close. i now yield a final minute to our leader who will close on our behalf, ms. pelosi from the great state of california. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. pelosi: thank you for your compliment to our great state of california. thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, when i first heard that this legislation was coming to the floor i anticipated with some positive thought of, yes, this is the right thing to do. america must pay its bills. we know how to do that. we want to go forward assuring the american people that when we decide not to default on our debt that we are showing our strength even though it may be difficult for peop to support that. then, i heard that it was going to come up like this on sunday. they saiit would be up on tuesday. the bill is predicated on a false premise. it says th

mr. paul: mr. is a resolution that endorses the policies that have been going on for four months. not only is the congress basically been pretty strong in opposition of what's been going on, the american people are even more so. so what this resolution does, it endorses exactly what has been going on, another unconstitutional war, involvement and justification under nato, the united nations, doing it secretly. there's an attempt to restrain the funding of this effort over here over in libya, but why and how can we restrain it because we never authorized it? restrain unauthorized funds? the president just goes and does it. . the challenge on the congress looking at the unitary president. the unitary president has been around for quite a few years and that means presidents do what he they want. the congress just acknowledges it. so that is what we are doing. this is what this resolution does. it acknowledges and gives the authority to the president to pursue what he has been doing. so obviously h.j.r

mr. thune: mr. president, point of clarification here. the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. mr. thune: my understanding is the senator from california cannot yield time to another senator. the presiding officer: the senator can yield time but not the floor. the senator from california. mrs. boxer: thank you. so is there objection to my unanimous consent request that senator thune go right after senator brown for as long as he wishes. ms. snowe: mr. president, reserving the right to object. you've been addressing the senate. so wouldn't it be appropriate for the senator from south dakota now to speak? mrs. boxer: the unanimous consent sthaeuft right to -- is that i have the right to call on senator brown. i can yield to senator brown is my understanding. the presiding officer: you can yield time but not control the floor. mrs. boxer: i was going to yield time to senator brown. the presiding officer: not give senator brown the floor. mrs. boxer: then i will yield to him for some quest

mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the following pending amendments be agreed to. cochran number 512 as modified with the changes at the desk, carper 517 and paul 503, a manager's amendment at the desk be agreed to. that at 11:00 a.m. on wednesday, june 29, the senate proceed to vote in relation to the remaining amendments to s. 679 in the following order -- demint 501, portman-udall, udall of new mexico, cornyn, that's three senators as modified with the changes that are at the desk. demint number 511, toomey number 514. further, the cornyn amendment number 04, mccain and the paul amendment 502 be withdrawn, that no amendments be in order to any of the amendments prior to the votes. upon disposition of the amendments, the bill be read a third time and the senate proceed to vote on passage of the bill as amended. that there be no motions or points of order in order. the bill or any of the amendments other than the budget points of order and applicable motion toss waive. finally, that

mr. bloom, mr. snowbarger, and i think today the most important thing we can understand about this hearing, it's not about democrats or republicans, it's about the american people. and i would think that this hearing is, indeed, essential when we talk about taxpayer dollars being invested. if you could, mr. bloom, there was $50.2 billion in total t.a.r.p. assistance. could you tell me how that was divided up? >> congressman, i'm not familiar with that particular number. there's 49 and a half is the total assistance to gm. i'm familiar with that number, but i'm not -- i'm trying to be response e to your question. i'm not familiar with the 50.2 number. >> do you know how that was divided up? >> well, the -- again, the rough numbers are that the total assistance provided to general motors was 49 and a half billion. the total assistance provided to chrysler was 12.5 billion. there was 1.5 billion provided to chrysler financial, 17.2 billion provided to general motors acceptance corporation, and there's

mr. garrett: mr. speaker, i applaud speaker boehner for raising this important issue today before the house. i cannot agree more with the speaker that the president has failed to explain to the nation the purpose and goals of our military operation in libya. the speaker's resolution rightly demands answers from the president with regard to the security interest and military objectives in our engagement with libya. i would go even further than that that the president has been in violation of the law and set out specific responses from congress. but let's be clear, congress must engage in a full and open and honest he d bait about sending our brave men -- debate about sending our brave men and women into combat. we owe that to the people. the founders intended such debate when they granted congress the power to declare war. the president's complete failure to receive specific authority as required by the war powers act and by the constitution leads to only one conclusion, that president obama is in viol

mrs. kara mill. mr. duffy and his wife, mrs. heidi duffy. mrs. naomi aferly and her husband, mr.organ. mrs. sarah blomenfield mrs. winnie agel and her guest. mr. greg kennedy and his wife, mrs. karen guverman. mr. robert sparks and a guest. mr. a.j.baeon and his wife ms. kate field and her husband. the honorable norman mineta and his wife, mrs. veni mineta. and mr. jeremy alters and guest, mrs. liana geriol. mr. richard faunte and his wife, mrs. jenine faunte. mr. robert but -- bucini and his wife, mrs. elizabeth bucini. mr. haywood yan and his wife, mrs. yan. >> it's great. no better place. i was here years before at an architecture group. >> nuremberg? >> yes. >> the honorable john roberts, chief justice of the united states, and his wife, mrs. jane roberts. ms. darlene miller and her guest, ms. terry lee strauss. the honorable senator jeanne shaheen and her husband, mr. william shaheen. the honorable austin goolsby and his wife, mrs. robin goolsby. ms. lisa budmoon and her husband, mr. mark kastoler. mr. doug hickey and his wife, ms. dawn ross. ms. susan eisenhower and her gue

mr. carper: mr. president? mr. president, i'd like to begin my remarks this afternoon, really, to congratulate several our colleagues who've worked long and hard on this legislation and their staffs who've worked equally long and hard. senator schumer and senator alexander -- i see senator collins is on the floor -- senator lieberman, our leaders, democrat and republican leaders, senator pried and senator mcconnell. anyone watching this debate from across america on c-span might be wondering why is this important? why are we spending several days in the united states senate to focus on a mom nations bill? why? for those folks who might be wondering why, let me just offer these thoughts. this administration has been in office for roughly two and a half years now. if you look throughout the federal government, the executive branch of the government, most of the positions that require presidential nomination and senate confirmation have now been filled. but a number, including a number that are in highly important, hi

mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, a vote for this rule is a vote to cut w.i.c. even further and give it to brazilian cotton farmers. at this point i yield 1 1/2 minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. doggett. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas, mr. doggett, is recognized for a minute and a half. mr. doggett: our republican colleagues have chatted endlessly about making hard choices, but most of the hard choices they make today are hard only on the hungry. hard on hungry children, hard on hungry seniors. they've got tremendous cuts to the women, infant and chirp nutritional assistance. it -- children nutritional assistance. it means that 350,000 women and infants will be denied assistance, including tens of thousands in my home state of texas. they made a hard choice. instead of putting food on the table for those women and infants, they chose to send $147 million to brazilian cotton farmers. i think that's not just a hard choice, it's a very bad choice. those young children will never achieve

mr. paul: mr.s a resoluti that endorses the policies that have been going on for four months. not only is the congress basicallbeen pretty strong in opposition of what's been going on, the american people are even more so. so what this resolution does, it endorses exactly what has been going on, another unconstitutional war, involvement and justification under nato, the united nations, doing it secretly. there's an attempt to restrain the funding of this effort over here over in libya, but why and how can we restrain it becse we never authorized it? restrain unauthorized funds? the president just goes and does it. . the challenge on the congress looking at the unitary president. the unitary president has been around for quite a f years and that means presidents do what he they want. the congress just acknowledges it. so that is what we are doing. this is what this resolution does. it acknowledges and gives the authority to the president to pursue what he has been doing. so obviously h.j.res. 68 for

mr. kingston: mr. chairman, i move to strike the last word and i wanted to object to this and explain the point of order. the chair: the gentleman will suspend. does the gentleman continue to reserve his point of order? mr. kingston: i continue to reserve. and -- the chair: the gentleman is recognized. kingskidges the reason -- mr. kingston: the reason is that the amendment may not be considered en bloc under clause 2-f of rule 21 because the amendment proposes to increase the level of funding and outlays in the bill and under the house rule, the amendment has to be budget-neutral with budget authority and with outlays and this only does one of those and i know the gentlewoman has worked very hard on this and that was intent but because the budget authority and the outlays both have to be considered, that's what the problem is under rule 21. i know the gentlewoman is an expert in this, has put a lot of time and compassion in it and it's something that the committee is not turning our back on at all, bu

mr. moran: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, if this resolution passes and we weaken nato's mission, gaddafi mayvery well prevail. his forces will then kill, rape, and torture all those libyans who oppose him as he is already trying to do. gaddafi has reportedly kidnapped thousands of people, including young students to serve as human shields and marcat the vanguard of his forces. if any of his own soldiers refuse to gun down unarmed innocent civilians, they are shot immediately. once he's done with his own people, he'll turn his attention to those nato and middle eastern nation that is attacked him and seek revenge. remember, this is a man who is already responsible for the deaths of 189 innocent passengers on pan am 103. let's face it, this is not about whether the obama administration has been fellow enough in explaining the libyan rationale to congress. members understand why the president intervened. we can read. we can think. we can decide. the real question is, will we politicize this effort in the same way that

mr. frank: mr. speaker, i want to send a message to our allies, and i don't think we are pulling the rug out from under them. look at these wealthy populous nations of western europe. i believe it's a good thing to get rid of gaddafi. does america have to do everything? people say we are the indispensable nation. that's a terrible burden to impose on ourself. we cannot afford it and it cannot be done effectively. let's get people who can dispense with it. my friend, the ranking member of the appropriations committee said, we have to do this because nato can bomb but they can't suppress. what a great bunch of allies, they can bomb on armed people but if they shoot back they got to come running to as you. yes, i want to send a message to nato. gaddafi's a bad guy. if england and france and italy and germany and spain and the netherlands and scandinavia can't together muster the military force for this weakened poor nation, then let's re-examine the value of this ally. there was in the "king and i" whe

mr. rangel: let me thank mr. kucinich and i support his efforts over the years, but especially today in allowing this very sensitive constitutional question to be debated. i ask and almost pleaded that he allow me to follow my friend, dan burton, because nothing could prove to our colleagues and those that know both of us how nonpartisan this issue is and should be. this is not a question really of past presidents who always thought they were doing the best for the united states of america when they put out men and -- put our men and men in harm's way. none of them thought they were doing anything immoral. this is not a democratic problem, it's not a republican problem, it's not a problem of the president of the united states, not nixon, notennedy, not johnson, certainlyot president obama, certainly not the bushes. it's a problem of the house of representatives and the united states senate. this is a congressional problem. we have not fulfilled our responsibility. some people have heard say, well, this isn't reac

mr. poe: mr. speaker, the more we learn about pakistan the more they sound like the benedict arnold nation and the list of countries we call allies. first, it was osama bin laden, the world's number one outlaw, living comfortably in a mansion in pakistan for years. but pakistan claims no knowledge of that. now, a reporter in pakistan has been murdered. he has been critical of the pakistani government. he reported that the naval place in karachi that was attacked was done so by al qaeda members of the navy of pakistan. human right watch said he was assassinated by members of the pakistan intelligence agency who previously had threatened to kill him. meanwhile, pakistan is chumming up to the chinese. sounds like pakistan is playing both sides on the war on terror. 7-10 americans believe we need to stop or decrease foreign aid to pakistan. we should stop foreign aid to pakistan until we know whose side they're on. we don't need to pay them to be unfaithful. they will do it for free, and that's just t

mr. woodall: mr. speaker, -- mr. mica: mr., i ask unanimous consent that the committee on transportation and ways and means be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 2279 and ask for its immediate consideration in the house. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 2279, a bill to amend the internal revenue code of 1986 to extend the funding and expenditure authority of the airport and airway trust fund, to amend title 49, united states code, to extend the airport improvement program and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: is there objection to consideration of the bill? without objection, the bill is engrossed, read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from wisconsin rise? mr. petri: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill just passed, h.r. 2279. the speaker pro tempore: without objec

mr. harper: mr. speaker, i yield as much time as he shall consume to the gentleman from california, mr. lungren. mr. lungren is the chairman of the committee on house administration. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. lungren: thank you very much, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise in support of this legislation. you know, mr. speaker, my mom was born and raised in chicago, illinois, and listening to her stories about what transpired in the political process when she was growing up there, i used to think that the only place you could find immortality in this world was on the voting rolls of cook county. but i find here today that ronald reagan was right. immortality is in the name of a federal government program. this is supposed to be a temporary program. it was supposed to give temporary assistance to the states to make sure they could comply and it's done that. it has done that. it has let out all the money, billions of dollars that go to the states to assist i

mr. price: mr. chairman, i yield myself such time as i might utilize. i'm pleased that we're considering the fiscal year 2012 department of homeland security appropriations bill in a timely fashion and under an open rule. chairman alder --ed aer holet -- aderholt has been a true professional in the drafter of this bill and certainly want to share in his commendation of all of our staff on both sides of the aisle. for the second year in a row, overall funding for the department of homeland security will drop. it is below the president's request and returns the funding to the 2009 level which is concerning to many people, including myself. this allocation has required chairman aderholt to make some tough decisions. he's been able to retain adequate funding for the front line employees of the department of homeland security to continue to conduct critical operations along our borders, to protect our nation's airports and sea ports and to respond to the waves of natural disasters that our country has ex

mr. minister. thank you, mr. secretary. we will now join our discussion session. >> thank you very much. it is a pleasure and an honor. perhaps the first question to secretary geithner, i know that you and the obama administration or admire in india's growth rate. >> and fiscal deficit. [laughter] >> but there is some time of feeling in the advanced countries in europe and the u.s. that this growth rate somehow subtracts from progress in other countries. how do you explain, how do you elaborate on the interdependence of economies on how, in fact, wrote in the emerging market economies, particularly in india, in some circumstances is actually quite beneficial to the u.s. economy and u.s. consumers and investors? it is sometimes a hard thing to really explain and get the message out. maybe you can take this opportunity to say a few words on that. >> it seems self-evident to us, but it is not necessarily accepted immediately by anybody. the way i think about it is this. if you look at the am

mr. corker: thank you. mr. president, i rise to talk about the tester-corker vote that will take place at 2:00 today. i know there has been a lot of discussions about the durbin amendment which occurred during dodd-frank and where we are today. i jus -- i just want to spend a moment clarifying the fact that the tester-corker amendment does not do away with the durbin amendment of. the durbin amendment will still be the law of the land. and a huge victory, i think, during the dodd-frank regulation, something i didn't support, but a huge victory for the retail industry in that for the first time in the history of our country, per the law that was passed, debit cards are going to be a regulated entity. and there's nothing about the tester-corker amendment that in any way changes the fact that it's going to be a regulated industry. that is going to occur. what tester-coxer does -- what tester-corker does is to try to bring back into balance how we look at this particular transaction. you know, mr. president, we're

mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i serve as co-chairman of the congressional career and technical education caucus with my friend and colleague, jim langevin of rhode island. the career and technical education caucus is a group of members seeking to broaden awareness here on capitol hill on the importance of career and technical education. i take the floor today to offer yet another example of the critical role that career and technical education plays in helping individuals remain competitive in a constantly changing work force environment. on june 7, 2011, history was made at the central pennsylvania institute of science and technology. two young ladies, anna kreshak and trisha wright combrad waited from their automobile program at the highest possible level. these nontraditional students in the technology program earned their diploma along with state, national and world certifications in their field of study. the most amazing part about their accomplishments with a their path to success. anna had only one

mrs. lowey: mr. speaker? the chair: the gentleman will suspend. the gentlelady's amendment falls within the previous paragraph. is the gentlelady seeking unanimous consent to return to the previous paragraph? mrs. lowey: i ask unanimous consent to return to -- the chair: is there objection? >> object. the chair: the gentleman from alabama objects. mrs. lowey: i rise to strike the last word, then. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized for five minutes. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, my amendment would address two critical shortfalls in the fiscal year 2012 homeland security appropriations bill. inadequate funding for communities devastated by recent disasters and for first responder and anti-terror programs, we have a responsibility to help rebuild homes and businesses following disasters throughout the south and midwest where communities are reeling and families are mourning and rebuilding. chairman aderholt whose alabama district was devastated by tornados took the first step in committee by increasing

mr. leahy: mr.i ask unanimous consent that the cloture motion with respect to the verrilli nomination be withdrawn and at 5:30 p.m. the senate proceed to vote without intervening action or debate on calendar 118, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table with no intervening action or debate, no further motions be in order to the nomination, the statements related to the nomination be printed in the record, that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate then resume legislative with the other provisions of the may 26 unanimous consent agreement remaining in effect. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: i thank the chair. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of justice, donald b. verrilli jr. of the district of columbia to be solicitor general of the united states. the presidi

mr. camp: mr. speaker, i have no further speakers. i will just reserve and close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. mr. levin: thank you, mr. camp. you are going to close. i now yield a final minute to our leader who will close on our behalf, ms. pelosi from the great state of california. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. pelosi: thank you for your compliment to our great state of california. thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, when i first heard that this legislation was coming to the floor i anticipated with some positive thought of, yes, this is the right thing to do. america must pay its bills. we know how to do that. we want to go forward assuring the american people that when we decide not to default on our debt that we are showing our strength even though it may be difficult for people to support that. then, i heard that it was going to come up like this on sunday. they said it would be up on tuesday. the bill is predicated on a false premise. it say

mr. cardin: mr.resident, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. cardin: mr. president, i have eight unanimous consents for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have been approved by the majority and minority leaders. i ask unanimous consent that these requests be agreed to and these requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. cardin: mr. president, i rise in support of the feinstein amendment that would eliminate at long last the subsidies for ethanol, corn-based ethanol in america, and i would ask my colleagues, in a little while we're going to have a chance to vote on this and i would ask them to support the feinstein amendment. i thank the leader for making time on the calendar so that we can vote on this issue, and i think that -- i hope that the majority will support this. i know we have a 60-vote threshold and i would hope that we would be

mr. gibson: thanks, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, over 50 congressional districts across our country have at least 10% of their population without high speed -- without access to high speed broadband. my district is one of these over 50 districts. this is a significant impediment to job creation. we have farmers without access to the high speed broadband, we have many small businesses in our district, including bed and breakfasts which impact our tourism. without that access. this amendment helps address that situation. now, the underlying bill zeros out the loan program for rural broadband. this is down from $22.3 million that we just closed out a few months ago for f.y. 2011. and with the healthy respect for the leadership of the agricultural appropriations subcommittee, i think this is a mistake. i know that there have been issues with this program in the past. i have read the i.g. report. i will also say that my understanding is the administration has made progress. since the publishing of that report. one of the things

mr. lieberman: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. lieberman: i thank the chair. mr. president, it's my honor now to rise as chairman of the homeland security and governmental affairs committee to speak on behalf of s. 679, the presidential appointment efficiency and streamlining act of 2011, and i do so with great gratitude toward senator alexander, who is here now on the floor; senator schumer, and others who worked together to clear away procedural obstacles to focusing on this piece of legislation. this is a noble effort that's been tried before and failed, but i'm confident that this time, with the support of our leaders, really our bipartisan leadership -- senator reid, senator mcconnell, senator alexander, senator schumer, not to mention senator collins and me, in our committee role -- we're going to get this passed. this is a bipartisan effort to solve a problem, or at least help so

i would like to introduce mr. ford. >> welcome to the 47th annual cable car bell ringing competition. this is one of a kind. this is a comptation -- competition for the world championship and thank you for coming. i also have to thank our cable car grip men and conductors. every day they help move people around our city, they're great ambassadors and do a great job entertaining visitors to our fine city. we have two members from the mta board, bruce oka and malcolm hideke here today. i'd like to thank our judges. we have judges representing a lot of president businesses here in the union square area. with that, to all the mta employees and fine citizens of san francisco, thank you for joining us today and thank you for your support. >> matt ford, ladies and gentlemen. the bell ringing competition is a two-part event today. we have professionals competing for a number of prizes in the coveted title of world champion bell ringer. for the amateur portion we have executives from some of our local media outlets competi

mr. poe: mr. speaker, we have a group of people in the united states who are all volunteers that i call the american angels abroad. they are el-- those thousands of peace corps volunteers throughout the world that are helping third world countries in many different ways. they go to remote areas of the world, far from home, far from their families, they work in very primitive conditions, but yet they are those angels trying to help other people throughout the world. and they are called the peace corps volunteers. the peace corps started as an idea of president kennedy back in 1960 when he spoke to the university of michigan and encouraged those students to volunteer to help america abroad. and finally, in 1961, he started the peace corps. since then over 200,000 americans, mainly young people, mainly females, have volunteered to go around the world representing the united states. it is very hard work being a peace corps volunteer. they deal with issues that most americans never deal with. just simp

mr. speaker, can i join the prime minister in paying tribute to the royal electrical and mechanical engineers? the corporal from the parachute regiment, and the private from the third battalion the regiment? they all serve their country with dedication and bravery, and our hearts go out to their families and friends. mr. speaker, armed forces day is also coming up this saturday, and that is an opportunity to remind us all of the service that was provided by the armed forces in afghanistan, libya, and all around the world, and this gives us a chance to honor them for the service they provide with honor and courage for our country. we support the mission in libya, but in the past week, both the first sea lord and the commander in chief, air command, have raised concerns over the prospect of an extended campaign. will the prime minister take this opportunity to assure the house that sufficient resources are in place to maintain britain's part in the mission at the core rate of engagement? >>

mr. lazard to read the spirits of officer suguitan. >> on saturday generate 23, 2010 at 1721 hours, ms. johnson phoned the police to report that her roommate, mr. smith, was suffering from psychological problems, had been drinking, and was taking medication. in her request for the police, this johnson indicated mr. smith was not known to carry weapons and that she wanted vice from officers on how to deal with mr. smith. she needed assistance based on his behavior. officers brodericks suguitan and samuel fung arrived at the scene within four minutes. officer suguitan and fung were met by the woman outside of her porch. officer suguitan observed at the front door of the residence was open and stepped inside. officer suguitan noticed mr. smith and mr. rios, an additional roommate, were standing face to face having a conversation. both men were approximately 7 feet in front of officer suguitan. officer suguitan looked at both men and stated, how are you doing, we are here to help. mr. smith a

the gentleman from florida, mr. nugent, is recognized. mr. nugent: mr. speaker, i support the rule and the underlying legislation and i encourage my colleagues to support it as well. i know that since i've come to the house i've gotten up here and talked time and time again about our government's core mission. there's no doubt there's nothing more central to the purpose of government than to provide for our nation's defenses. it's in the preamble of the constitution, provide for the common defense. it's in the oath we took when we swore -- when we're sworn into office to defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestic. h.r. 2219 fulfills our constitutional duty to provide for our nation's defense. additionally h. house res. 320 ensures it will review the legislation completely in an open and transparent manner that all american people deserve to see. with that i yield back the balance of my time and i move the previous question on the resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his

mrs. lummis: mr. chairman, the chairman of the subcommittee informs me that he will accept the amendment and call for a voice vote. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from new york. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. and the amendment is agreed to. for what purpose does the gentleman from iowa rise? mr. king: mr. chairman, i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will report. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. king of iowa. at the end of the bill, before the short title, insert the following, section, none of the funds made available by this act may be used for ru-486 for any purpose. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. king: thank you, mr. chairman. this is an amendment that comes -- it's really -- there's an iowa focus on this that affects the whole country. but we have had a practice that began experimentally in iowa by planned parenthood of issuing telemed abortions by di

mr. president, for being with us for some sometimes difficult questions and think you all of you. i close the debate. these questions ranging from the tenth to june 2nd focus on the carbon tax to cut greenhouse gas emissions and a deal with malaysia concerning asylum seekers. this is just over 35 minutes. >> im david. coming up we are going to show highlights of the latest parliament. climate change continues to dominate the agenda here as the government finalizes its plan to introduce a carbon tax. the government is also under pressure to do more about those arriving carrying asylum seekers. it is finalizing a deal with malaysia to send some 800 asylum seekers as a deterrence. meanwhile the government is also being forced to act on the live exports of cattle to indonesia after its shocking scene in the mistreatment in a number of lives. here are the highlights of the austrian parliament. >> my question, will the prime minister of state house on the report by the climate commission in tit

i believe mr. ford did an excellent job under all of these circumstances in which he had to labor, and i wanted you all to know, and i wanted to stick with you because i understand how difficult these decisions and transitions are. you hear all these people -- this ought not happen, this is unfair. i wanted you to know that you were in my prayers as you make the decisions for the agency, as i am praying for mr. ford as he goes through this time. thank you for being as fair and just as equitable as you can with one another. chairman nolan: we appreciate it. good to see you. i could not agree more with your comments. ok. >> item 12 -- discussion as to whether to conduct a closed session. >> is there a motion? >> ok, the commission will go into closed session. to discuss the troy and wheeler cases. on the 14 directors, we will not disclose the information discussed. >> we will not disclose. >> i am sorry. just for the record, both cases were not unanimous. uofd wheeler case was not your man -- unanimo

we'll go first to mr. kucinich and mr. kelly and mr. johnson. mr.owbarger, throughout this process what kind of interaction was there between the auto task force and -- because you were heading the pension guarantee board then. throughout this process you were involved with the delphi and this process, so what kind of interaction took place between the two of you? is. >> in regard to general motors? >> in regard to both, delphi/general motors overall. >> my recollection was that very early in the process pbgc had a conversation with mr. ratner, i believe mr. bloom was invite today that meeting but was held up at another occasion, at which we discussed the consequences of a general motors failure on the pension system of general motorses and what the impact of that might be on the pension insurance system -- >> what discussion did they have with you relative to the hourly being topped off and not the salary? is. >> none. >> any, any comments, any correspondence that they gave you on that specific question? >> i don't recall any, no. >> okay. ranking

>>hanks, mr. lawson. mr. kramer, you would agree, then, that the national defense and the interest in national defense for the additional federal authority is necessary? >> yes, sir, i think it's absolutely required. >> okay. and mr. colly, you mentioned in your testimony that you didn't think it was necessary for nerc to develop standards to ensure the availability of large transformers. and i'm certainly not an expert in that area, but it's my understanding that the availability of large transformers is one of the key issues out there. and i was just curious if you would elaborate on your decision on that. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i do take the issue of spare equipment and transformers very seriously, physical attack, cyber -- it is a major issue. i think we don't have enough information yet to know what the standard should be in terms of how much equipment and where it would be located and how we would transport it. so if i said something opposing, i may have misspoken. i'll have to look at my written t

mr. carter: mr. speaker, i rise today to urge the democrat leadership in the senate to merely take up the fiscal year 2012 department of homeland security appropriation bill which was passed by this house on june 2. with the 10th anniversary of the tragic attacks of september 11 rapidly approaching, the proliferation of violence along the southern border and natural disasters, it is irresponsible for senate democrats to hold up this bill any longer. the house passed bill included $1 billion in supplemental funding in fema disaster relief program that is available immediately upon passage. these funds are desperately needed to respond to natural disaster that have swept the country, including the wildfires which have devastated my home state of texas. the house-passed bill uses taxpayer dollars wisely, cutting $1.1 billion from tweer 2011 levels while -- from fiscal year 2011 levels while making sure that the border security and others are fully funded. it putting the security of american citizens at

mr. dicks: mr. chairman, i make a point of order against the amendment because it violates clause 5-a-2 of rule 21. the amendment prohibits the use of funds for implementing the patient protection and affordable care act and thus is proposing a limitation on funds in a general appropriation bill for the administration of attacks or tariff -- a tax or tariff in violation of the rule. the chair: any member wish to be heard on this point of order? mr. wing: chairman. the chair: the gentleman from iowa. mr. king: the rule referenced by the gentleman, we have many limitations on funds in our appropriations bills, and if the decision comes down to whether there is a parliamentary objection or not, i think i can go back through many of these appropriations bills and find limitation after limitation. the practice of the congress has been to do so and there will be other amendment which is have not been objected to that limit the utilization of this fund and many others. i simply make that argument to the ch