ms. ginny brown-waite of florida. the speaker pro tempore: the -- the chair: the gentlewoman from florida, ms. brown-waite and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from florida. ms. brown-waite: we have a problem as every american in this chamber knows, american is facing unprecedented trillion-dollar deficit a ballooning national debt and steadily growing entitlement obligations. yet each and every time the house comes together to consider spending bills, evidence abounds that very few tough choices are being made. as i'm sure my colleagues will readily agree, never in the history of congress has there been a line item that at least one member did not support. there has not been a single program that somebody didn't think was worthy of the taxpayer dollars. in a perfect world where the united states is flush with money, very few spending ideas don't hold some merit. but simply having merit does not mean that american people have enough money to pay for it, nor do they h

ms. brown-waite:00 thank you -- ms. brown-waite: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i rise in support of h.r. 403. for our nation's veterans the fight does not end when they return from battle. readd jsing ---readjusting to civilian life and coping with the physical and psychological effects of war can be a daunting task. current reports estimate that about 154,000 veterans are homeless on any given night. this statistic is a tragedy. however congress is now taking a step in the right direction. the homes for heroes act creates a special assistance for veterans' affairs want h.u.d. and provides at least 20,000 low-income veterans with rental vouchers and aids veterans in applying for and obtaining assistance. additionally i'm proud that this bill includes help for veterans with mental health disorders and assists low-income veterans and their families with personal and financial planning, obtaining veterans benefits and vocational training. as a former member of the committee on veterans' affairs, i'm aware of the many unique issues that our veterans face. the homes

ms. brown-waite. the chair: the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. brown-waite: thank you. mr. chairman, i rise in support of my amendment to the national defense authorization funding which is included en bloc one. i thank chairman skelton and also ranking member mckeon for allowing this amendment to be included. in 2005 the department of army authorized the creation of the combat action badge to provide special recognition to soldiers who personally engage the enemy during combat operations. this is a very honorable distinction. however, the award limits eligibility for this badge to those soldiers that served after september 18, 2001. overlooking the thousands of veterans who have made similar sacrifices in previous wars. my amendment corrects this error by expanding eligibility to include those soldiers who served since december 7, 1941. in accordance with the wishes of veterans who may be eligible for this badge, the cost of it would be born by the individuals not the military. therefore not only does this award recognize veterans who engage the enemy in combat, but it

ms. ginny brown-waite of florida. the chair: the gentlewoman from florida, ms. brown-waite, and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from florida. ms. brown-waite: just a few moments ago i rose to point out what i believe is unnecessary spending. i suppose it's not a coincidence that i rise again to point out what i believe is another unnecessary spending item. section 303 of the foreign relations act before us authorizes funding for the establishment of a lessons learned center. if money were no object i think it may be a fine thing to do. in fact, it's thoord imagine that anything produced by the center would not be used. however, as you can imagine many of my colleagues are wondering why would anyone oppose the center. they might point out that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. mr. chairman, in some way miscolleague mace be right. but what is essential is that we do learn from our mistakes. that's prix liss -- precisely why the state department's exam to become a foreign service office

ms. brown-waite. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. brown-waite: this bill started out as the tax and cap bill, then the clean energy bill because my colleagues on the other side of the bill real arized this wasn't selling at home. it should be called the let's send more jobs to china act. this bill is going to cost people in the state of florida an additional $500 on their utility bills. let's look at the jobs that are going to be lost. in my district alone, we'll lose 2,100 manufacturing job, 3,200 construction jobs and 1,900 retail and wholesale jobs. . america cannot afford this at a time when our economy is so fragile. gasoline prices under this will rise substantially. electricity prices will rise up to 90%. this is a bad bill. this is a bill that is going to cost americans not only more in their wallets, but certainly jobs going elsewhere. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back her time. the gentleman from new york. mr. rangel: i recognize the gentleman from chicago, illinois, mr. davis for on

ms. brown-waite: to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. brown-waite: thank you, madam speaker. an overall of our nation's health care system is underway and i'm glad that people from my district are engaged on this critical issue. unfortunately the democrats he shared very few details of the plan except that there will be a public plan, which i have to tell you that most people are frightened of. while i realize we are in the minority problem, i still have almost a million constituents to represent, including more medicare beneficiaries than any other member of congress. my republican colleagues and i have made numerous attempts to reach across the aisle to share our ideas on how to improve the health care system and make it more affordable. so we are drafting our own bill. when president obama invites members of congress to the white house to craft health care bills, he invites only democrats. he's met with industry representatives, but never with

ms. brown-waite of florida. amendment number 15 of mr. royce of california and amendment number 19 of mr. kirk of illinois. the chair will reduce to two minutes the voting. the unfinished business is the request of a recorded vote of amendment number 1 by the gentleman from california, mr. berman, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the yeas prevailed by voice vote. the clerk: amendment number 1, printed in part b printed in house report 111-143 offered by mr. berman of california the speaker pro tempore: a -- the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. those in favor say aye. in favor of the amendment will votea. those opposed, no. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a 15-minute vote. [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 of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is e