mrs. lowey: before us contains a defense bill and a military construction vetans affair bill adjusting the f.y. 2012 funding levels to meet f.y. 2013 needs. it is unacceptable that federal agencies and departments covered by the 10 remaining bills would be forced to operate under full-year continuing resolutions based on plans, spending levels enacted 15 to 18 months ago. congress' failure to do our job and pass responsible annual spending bills limits our ability to respond to changing circumstances, implement other laws enacted b congress and eliminate funding that is no longer necessary. specifically, this bill will delay plementation of the affordable care act scheduled to begin enrolling participants in october. without i.t. infrastructure to process enrollment and payments, verify eligibility and establish call centers, health insurance for millions of americans would be further delayed. last year's levels will hamper enforcement of dodd-frank protections against improper practices in the

mrs. lowey: mr. mckeon, i just want to emphasize again that the general and the recent appropriations hearing on the defense bill testified that sequester would be a disaster for the military, and it's unfortunate that we are not ridding ourselves of the prospect of the disaster that the sequester bill will result in. i'm delighted to yield two minutes to my distinguished leader, mr. hoyer. the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to address their comments to the chair and not to other members of the house. the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. hoyer: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hoyer: i agree with the gentlelady who has just spoken. i want to say to my friend, mr. mckeon, this is neither regular order nor rational policy. it ought to be rejected. this c.r. does nothing to address the irrational cuts to defense and nondefense that the sequester will require. it could be very harmful to our economy and to our na

mrs. lowey: mr.aker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i came to congress 25 years ago and joined the appropriations committee a few years later with a strong sense of responsibility and optimism. with hard work and bipartisanship this committee has the power to transform lives. to ensure that whether you are from the poorest block of urban america or a penthouse in manhattan, with hard work you can achieve the american dream. to research treatments and medicines so that we can cure the most tragic illnesses like cancer and hiv-aids and child hood disorders like autism, to give every youngster the opportunities my grandchildren hardworking parents struggle to find childcare or afford pre-k or think about how they are ever going to pay for a college education. to invest in the initiatives that have made this nation great, bolstering our economy, giving americans jobs, building our infrastructure, teaching our chil

mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, before i yield to my next speaker, i would like to thank mr. frelinghuysen for addressing sequestration and the devastating testimony of all those representing our distinguished armed forces, but i'd also like to clarify again that this continuing resolution reaffirms sequestration. it does nothing in language or deed to make any effort to cancel sequestration. we on this side of the aisle would be very pleased to continue to work with you on regular order to go every bill, casting away waste, fraud, and abuse, but to do away with sequestration, and i know my distinguished chair and i could work it out so we would not have sequestration. this bill, section 3002 reaffirms sequestration. with that i am -- mr. rogers: would the gentlelady yield? would the gentlelady be so kind as to talk to the mrs. lowey: i yield. mr. ronellers: would the gentlelady talk to the senate to send us over something to deal with sequestration, and two, would the gentlewoman ask her president to

mrs. lowey: mr. mckeon, i just want to emphasize again that the general and the recent appropriations hearing on the defense bill testified that sequester would be a disaster for the military, and it's unfortunate that we are not riing ourselves of the prospect of the disaster that the sequester bill will result in. i'm delighted to yield two minutes to my distinguished leader, mr. hoyer. the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to address their comments to the chair and not to other members of the house. the gentleman from maryland is recognized. . hoyer: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hoyer: i agree with the gentlelady who has just spoken. i want to say to my friend, mr. mckeon, this is neither regular order nor rational policy. it ought to be rejected. this c.r. does nothing to address the irrational cuts to defense and nondefense that the sequester will require. it could be very harmful to our economy and to our nation

mr. lowey, thanks very much for being with us. i appreciate your time. >> my pleasure. >> am i overstating it to say that in the united states of america, gun manufacturers have immunity from liability that no other industries have? >> you're right. i mean, there's a basic principle of civil justice which governs everyone in society. that we all have to act reasonably. and if we don't, we are deemed negligent. we can be liable. the only people that that rule does not apply to are licensed gun dealers, manufacturers and distributors. >> does the industry behave in ways that they otherwise would not behave if they weren't immune from prosecution in your view? >> there's no question about it. i mean, we have cases where gun dealers supply criminals profit from those sales and then they come up with defenses such as, i put a gun on the counter. i turned my back. what do you know, the criminal took the gun, left money on the counter for me and i didn't know that he was going to do that. that, as implausible as it sounds, is a compellin

mrs. lowey: the house republican budget resolution is abandonning american families. since 2010, congress has cut services and investments critical to american families by $1.5 trillion. sequestration slashed an additional $68 billion, which will cost 750,000 jobs this year alone. this budget resolution will exacerbate this damage by cutting an additional $1 trillion over 10 years from funding levels agreed to in the budget control act. it would have a severe impact on critical services and investments like veterans' benefits, homeland security, schools, medical research, law enforcement and pell grants. it is time to stop the mindless cuts to critical services and investments and support job growth and middle-class families. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from utah rise? >> request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, today, i rise in defense of the common people of america. people who don't have annual vacations, people who don't fly to v

mr. chair. >> ms. lowey, thank you very much. the place we find, each of us find ourself and our country, is a difficult one. and as we work together and work through these tasks, it is important to see that your leadership, along with chairman rogers, along with bill young, who has now joined us. bill, we were talking about you a few minutes ago. it is a great honor to have you with us today, and thank you for taking time to come up here in the rare air of the rules committee to join us once again. you buoy us with not only your leadership, but your presence today. each of us are dealing with circumstances that i think none of us wish we were. the facts of the case are that we are spending money that we borrow, and when you borrow money to run the operations, whether it's a family or whether it's a business or whether it's a government, at some point you've got to pay it back. our government will spend around $275 billion a year that we will pay on interest. and in a normal year where interest rates were different, that could mo

mr. hoyer. he was there in the 1990's when we worked to pass this legislation on the appropriations committee. he and rosa delauro and congresswoman nita lowey and i worked to fund the violence against women act. he's been there for -- on this issue for a long time. i'm pleased to yield him two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized for two minutes. mr. hoyer: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. hoyer: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to congratulate the leader for her efforts in getting us to this point. today after two months i think we're going to do something very positive and do it in a very bipartisan way. i think that's excellent. i think america will be advantaged. every american, women, yes, but every woman will be advantaged. house democrats support the fully inclusive re-authorization of the violence against women act which passed the senate by a bipartisan vote of 78-22, as has been referenced. the majority of republican senators and all republican women senators voted in favor. that bill represents a compromi