ms. gabbard. ms. gabbard: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker: the chair will entertain up to 15 requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from arkansas rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker: without objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in recognition of the service of arkansas state university agricultural economics professors dr. greenwall. this marks the 20th anniversary of the agribusiness conference which the doctor has faithfully directed the past two decades. this premiere agribusiness focuses on global agriculture, farm policy, commodity outlook and bioresearch. dr. greenwald makes the program pertinent regularly bringing state ag leaders and university alumni to the event. mr. crawford: while attending arkansas university myself, i had

ms. gabbard, all of whom served with distinction in iraq. this threat is evolving. earlier this week al-qaeda's central leadership declared that those operating in western iraq and syria were no longer an affiliated group. we will see how this power struggle develops, but isis' independence is a reflection of its unprecedented resources including weapons and personnel and cash and its resulting operational strength. this is a threat to iraq but also to us. isis has reportedly been actively recruiting individuals capable of traveling to the u.s. to carry out attacks here. while al-qaeda in iraq has been powered by prison breaks and by the syrian civil war, it has also been fueled by the alienation of much of the sunni population from the shia's dominated government in baghdad. al-qaeda has become very skilled at exploiting this sectarian rift, and maliki's power grab has given them much ammunition. this is a point that ranking member elliott engel and myself raised and underscored with president maliki when he visited washington last fall. this committee will play a