mrs. hartzler, is recognized as the speaker of the designee of the majority leader. mrs. hartzler: thank you mr. speaker. you know, today back in missouri, this frigid cold snap is making life miserable for everyone. we have below-zero temperatures and a lot of snow. a lot of children are home from school. and it is like on days like this and across much of america that we appreciate the ability to go to our therm o'stats and turn up the temperature and keep warm and we don't need the government involving themselves. it is vital for us and it is being threatened by the environmental protection agency. their increasing burdens and making our regulations more difficult and costly for hardworking taxpayers. while i support commonsense regulations designed to protect my constituents and the environment, many of the e.p.a. regulations have gone too far, threatening to raise electricity rates during these cold winter months and hurting markets designed to provide rural homes with proper heating systems. county officials, farmers, city administrators as well as moms and dads acro

mrs. hartzler: permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. hartzler: it's time for washington to quick wasting money and the good place to start is to get rid of duplicative programs. the inspectors general found is wasted by on ailing to enact cost-cutting measures. and i fought to eliminate the catfish scheme. it has spent $30 million of your money and has president inspected a single fish and this is one example. the people of this nation deserve no less than a government that is transparent and spends the money of the taxpayers. i'm sponsoring legislation that addresses wasteful spending and get government out of the way. yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota seek recognition? >> address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. mr. paulsen: i recognize peace corps week and celebrate its 53rd anniversary this saturday. it is doing great work with 7,200 volunteers working on projects in 65 countries. however, none

mrs. hartzler: i agree with the army chief of staff who said in a hearing, the a-10 is the best close air support platform we have today. even air force chief of staff has said the a-10 is the best airplane in the world at what it does. the air force should not retire he a-10 before the replacement reaches full capability, otherwise it will result in a close air support gap that will put our ground troops at increased risk. there is no greater responsibility than ensuring our men and women in uniform have the support they need to accomplish their missions and return home safely. premature divestment of the a-10 by the air force would create a dangerous close air support capability gap that could unnecessarily endanger american service members in future conflicts. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from rhode island rise? mr. cicilline: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. cicilline: i rise today in support of raising the minimum wage a

mrs. hartzler: he has used his expertise to build an internationally he renowned food and agriculture policy research inns tute that provides high quality analysis for congress and the usda. this system of statistical models allows congressional members and their staffs to analyze the effects and tradeoffs of competing policies. dr. womack's academic integrity is evidence of a nonpartisan reputation. however, his reach far exceeds that of capitol hill. i want to commend him for her.his tireless effort to reach out to farmers around the worrell. his fashion for agriculture and vast knowledge of statistical models paired with his ability to effectively communicate complex ideas in a commonsense manner have made him a priceless asset to all he encounters. again, i want to thank dr. womack for his lifelong efforts and recognize him for this achievement. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? p without objection, the gentleman -- without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. johnson: thank you. i rise today to urge my fello