ms. jackson many years ago. everybody's voice has to be heard.u listen to everybody, no matter who you are, the matter what position you hold in the city, you end up with the projects, the way things are done. so i want to share that with you, thank you for being here with me, recognize everyone here today. we are breaking ground, building a library, connecting everyone together. we should do more of this and find more people to participate. thank you for being here. [applause] >> thank you, mayor. we are the envy of many libraries nationwide. it is because we have leadership like mayor lee who understands the role of libraries. thank you for your wonderful testimonial. with us here as well from the mayor's office, the education adviser and school board president. [applause] next on our program, it is my honor to introduce several state senators. leland yee is first on the order of business. he has been supportive of the library, not only in sacramento, but at this time in the city. [applause] >> i went over to mark lino to congratulate him. mayb

ms. jackson lee. on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the ayes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 6 printed in house report 112-172 offered by ms. jackson lee of texas. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-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 expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the chair: on this vote the yeas are 1 5 -- 175rk the nays are 240, the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 9 printed in house re

ms. jackson lee. ms. jackson lee: let me thank the chairman very much, and i definitely support cooperation between the federal government and the state government. that is absolutely the best part moreship and one that i encourage -- partnership and one that i encourage. having been part of the local government in my city of houston, i know that unfunded mandates are very difficult to overcome. but i argue vigorously against the underlying legislation because it does equate to undermining the health of americans. we need clean water, not dirty water, and so this amendment strikes the entire legislation that causes us to ignore a partnership that has been established between the e.p.a., the environmental protection agency, and the national pollutant discharge elimination system, which is a state system. and to my count, some 47 states have initially got into the system and have worked to ensure they have clean water. why do i suggest that this is a very challenging approach to take that the legislation hav

ms. jackson there l. clay said, and if in fact, it was determined that bayview-hunters point, that visitation valley, and little hollywood -- i'm not sure, i have not documented it -- if that is the truth, i think the committee should look at that and make sure everything is justified in that particular area. i would like to point out a few positive things. this product would bring in approximately $180 million in new development to the southeast section of san francisco. 1600 new first-class family housing units, 15 percent of which would be affordable or middle-income families. bring new stores and businesses to the community. it would be a green development bill to a sustainable standards. development with a maximum of community participation, and i can definitely say this project would be commendable to the shipyard and candlestick point development. so i urge the supervisors to look at that and let this positive project continued. thank you very much for your consideration. supervisor cohen: thank yo

ms. jackson lee: i do not yield back. how much time do i have, please? the chair: 2 1/2 minutes. ms. jackson lee: i will continue and i will not at this time yield back my time. let me explain to you about the old acres council. this is an african american community. they conducted a study to ack assess the community's health risk. a local landfill could be the cause of the problems. enormous cancer in that area. it was awarded a $20,000 grant from the e.p.a. and it is commonly known as the superfund which obviously it was in some years past to conduct tests to conduct assess and aquality the risks to human health. the goal of this program was to investigate whether there were hazardous runoff. this community needed those resources. the council used the grant funds to hire a consultant to take air and water samples. the analysis revealed high concentrations of high toxin substances. they observed substances seep pping. this will collected into pools of water. they became engeorged and increased -- increasing exposures of residents to hazardous substances. it educated a poor community

ms. jackson lee of texas. amendment number 3 by mrs. capito of west virginia. amendment number 5 by mr. polis of colorado. amendment number 6 by mr. connolly of virginia. amendment number 9 by mr. blumenauer of oregon. amendment number 10 by mr. carnahan of missouri. amendment number 1 by ms. jackson lee of texas. the chair will reduce to two minutes the minimum time for any electronic vote after the first vote in this series. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 2 printed in house report 112-144 by the gentlelady from texas, ms. jackson lee, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 2 printed in house report 112-144 offered by ms. jackson lee of texas. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will r

ms. jackson lee: i have an amendment at the desk noted as 175. ms. jackson lee: amendment number 69, please. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the chair: amendment offered by ms. jackson lee of texas, page nine, line six, after the dollar amount insert, redeuce by $650,000. page nine, line 13, after the dollar amount, insert, increasedly intrs 30,000. after the dollar amount, insert by -- increase by $500,000. the chair: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized for five minutes. ms. jackson lee: i thank the chairman and want to express my appreciation to mr. young, who is the chairman of the subcommittee and to mr. dicks, the ranking member, for their long years of service. to my colleagues, good news today. when the announcement came that the president of the united states would send the same sympathy letter to families of those soldiers who committed suicide in battle as those who had fallen in different ways in battle. the reason why that is good news is because the sentence i'm reminded of is that the president and his office indicat

ms. jackson lee, for five minutes. ms. jackson lee: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i rise to oppose the epidemic across america dealing with voter suppression and requiring voter i.d. do you realize that almost every election in my own state of texas there has been discrimination, intimidation to voters? whereas we used to be able to use a birth certificate, utility bill, government check, paycheck, and other documents, now we cannot because someone suggests that someone will steal someone's birth certificate to impersonate a voter. i don't think that's right. what we need now is to eliminate the poll tax of the 21st century. barbara jordan recognized that voting is a right not a privilege. and she stood in the gap to ensure texas was covered by the voting rights act. she would not be here today if we had the voter intimidation that we are seeing going across america. eliminate the voter i.d. requirement. put in the standard requirement of identification that people have had and stop seniors and others from voting. with that, mr. speaker, i would like to yield to mr

ms. jackson lee: to strike the last word. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. ms. jackson lee: i do want to thank our appropriators. this is a tough, tough business. i certainly want to thank the ranking member who i have had the privilege of working with and thank the chairman as well because this is a tough dilemma we are facing. i think i come with a very unique perspective. i live in hurricane and flood country. houston is the site and was the recipient of hundreds of thousands of katrina survivors coming in from new orleans. we have faced our own ups and downs, most recently with hurricane ike. i walked the beach with both former president clinton and former president bush when we went down to galveston and looked at the amazing devastation. so many of us who are concerned about the tragedy in diop pin, missouri, and other places -- joplin, missouri, and other places, and i talked to members of congress who there is flooding going on in their district as we speak. here's the dilemma we have and the reason i rise to raise the question of the recapturing of alrea

ms. sheila jackson lee. ms. jackson lee: thank you very much. the chair: the gentlelady from texas is recognized -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. jackson lee: thank you. as a member of the homeland security committee, i want to join my colleagues on the judiciary committee, on which i also serve, to note the uniqueness of our time. there's a point that i think is very important about the continuity of the existing f.b.i. director mueller. and that is that we live not only in dangerous times, but we also live in times where resources are being strained. questions are being raised about the resources necessary for law enforcement and certainly a leader who understands the broad needs of the american public and the collaborative needs, collaborating with other law ep forcement, because of past experiences, is very important. mr. mueller in his 110 years has had collaborative efforts with all of the law enforcement, federal law enforcement agencies and has opened up a dialogue between local and state law enforcement agen

ms. jackson. >> good afternoon. i am asking you to please pass on this, because it has been over a year now, almost two years, that we have worked on at this for local hiring here in san francisco. and there is going to be a meeting at 3:00 here at city hall to talk about giving an update on how the local hiring has been going. and that will be in room 278 with avalos on june 22, so i am asking you to pass this. and thank god, we got it. thank you. supervisor cohen: if you can is replete that for the listeners at home. >> for the listening audience, it will be a 3:00 p.m., city hall, room 278. an update will be given on how local hiring has been going on since it has been approved by you, the board of supervisors. and i wanted to say, because i do not think that will get up here again, those of you that are watching and knew my brother, daniel young, he passed yesterday morning, and his body will be at lewis, and i think that funeral is on friday. daniel young was born and bred here in san francisco. his birthday wa

ms. jackson. let me call more names. [reading names] >> good afternoon, supervisors. linda richardson. i have over 25 years of environmental justice. i am a land use expert. i want to bring to your attention something the new members of the board need to know once and for all. the most comprehensive health assessment of any resident of san francisco was conducted in thebayview. -- the bayview. they got together with the department of public health. three people conducted the most comprehensive study. indicators had not been identified before. you should ask the department of public health. they established everything we know about the viewbayview. -- bayview. this was before the shipyard development. when the city created the department of environment, i wrote to the environmental just piece. it was a development concept for the entire bayview huntesrs- point. article 31 came out, the most comprehensive set of regulations. what you have, you have local, state, and federal regulators. it is the bay area quality control. they have been very instrumental. it is something that you must all

ms. jackson lee of texas. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 370, the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee, and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from texas for five minutes. ms. jackson lee: i'm glad i'm able to rise and speak about legislation that involves one of our closest allies canada. and because this is a relationship with canada and because it is an international issue, i'm assured that in the process, we will have significant oversight that includes the environmental protection agency, the secretaries of defense, commerce, transportation, energy, homeland security and the attorney general will have to comment on this application before the conclusion and the final decision. that is good news. but i also think it's important as we discuss what the potential of this relationship with and the opportunity for oil coming from a friendly neighbor is to be reminded that many of us have said over and over again that we must cease to rely upon foreign oil. in fact, in a senate hearing, when egypt was beginning to in essence e

ms. jackson lee: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. jackson lee: yesterday our republican friends jumped for joy when they passed the draconian bill that would cut $6 trillion and of course jeopardize a lifeline for millions of americans, and that is social security. we have all been referring to a president that is endeared by this whole country, president reagan, in his letter to senator baker said, the nation can ill afford to allow such a result. the risk, cause, the disruptions, and the damage lead me to but one conclusion, the senate must vote to raise the debt ceiling in 1983, when the country was much smaller. but what do we face here? frivolous activity like republican freshmen who are in their manner of efforts show the disrespect for the office of the presidency. one member said, i have a challenge for the president. i dare him. i double dare him to even think about cutting social security. well, you just cut social security as a republican freshman, and i would ask you to respect the office of the presidency. why don't we en

ms. jackson l, for a unanimous consent request. the speaker pro tempore: for what time? mr. mcgovern: i yield for unanimous consent. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for unanimous consent. ms. jackson lee: i stand here united for america voting yes on this bill to save medicare, medicaid and social security. as an american i ask unanimous consent to put my statement intohe record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcgovern: madaspeaker, i'd like to yield one minute to the gentleman from georgia, a member of the financial services committee, mr. scott. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for one minute. mr. scott: thank you very much. thank you very much, mr. chairman. ladies and gentlemen of the house of representatives, this is not a nation of tea party people. it is not a nation of democrats or republicans. it is a nation of all of us, and what the reid plan presents, it represents the tea party, the republicans and the democrats and the president of the united states. this is what the american people expect

ms. jackson lee: i'd like to yield before you close. mrs. christensen: i yield my time to sheila jackson lee. ms. jackson lee: i thank her for her leadership but i wanted to, when i said the bust, i want to equate it to the balanced budget amendment. that is what this cap -- excuse me, cut, cap and balance, it is a balanced budget amendment but let me be very clear because you said something very important. the balanced budget amendment, it was passed, would virtually guarantee that future budgets would cut and end medicare as well as drastically cut medicaid, just like the republican budget. the balanced budget amendment takes 2/3 of the house and senate to pass, it is almost impossible for it to pass and we are not like states where states do balance but they only have to take care of their state. . mrs. christensen: we would never be able to raise revenue, 2/3 of both bodies. ms. jackson lee: in joplin, missouri, the floods, the tornadoes and let me finish on this, we served on homeland security. we have seen the death of mr. karzai's brot

ms. jackson lee, for five minutes. ms. jackson lee: thank you very much, madam speaker. and i wish to this morning raise concerns that are international and domestic. i rise today to ask the question when will dr. assad, the president of syria, begin to act in a manner that respects the human dignity of the people of syria? it is a tragedy to watch as the -- to see one country that, one, had hoped would realize that a civilized government respects the dignity of its people. syrian americans are crying out and reaching out to members of congress and leaders across the nation to attack this horrific violence that is occurring in syria. the mutilation of a 13-year-old boy, the slaughter of individuals in the street, and seemingly the absolute arrogance of the president of this nation. many of us have thought that dr. assad, the son of the former president, would recognize that the 21st century does not in any way tolerate the kind of abusive and oppressive leadership that has occurred in the past. and that it is high time for the leadership to be vested in the people. now,

ms. jackson lee. the chair: the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee, and a member opposed will each control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from texas. ms. jackson lee: i thank the chairman and i thank mr. frank and the ranking member and the managers of this legislation as well. and i have become friends with my two poster pictures here, because i do think they symbolize the composite of america. and my amendment, i think, focuses on making sure that the consumer financial protection bureau, something that consumers ask for -- you know sometimes under the christmas tree or during the gift-giving season, you get a gift you may not have asked for but you know you want something and all of a sudden that gift shows up. that's what the dodd-frank bill did with the consumer protection bureau and now they want to derail and delay this very important legislation. the bureau was created and one of the strongest provisions of the dodd-frank bill and was to consolidate the authorities for consumer protection. it is an important bil

ms. jackson lee: i thank the gentlelady very much. last night the democrats were here waiting while the republicans could not get their own conference together. any of you were watching the national news, it was not because we were not ready to vote and to move forward on a compromise, it was because those who believe that had a landslide victory are still talking about elections instead of talking about the american people. this is the worst bill that any american could ever imagine in the history of this nation. i tell you that because this bill will in fact default the american government in six months. and it will not adhere to the constitution which says the declaration of independence is the promise and the constitution is the fulfillment. we actually have the authority, mr. president, under the 14th amendment to raise the debt ceiling by way of acknowledging that the public debt should always be recognized. but in this particular legislation, in six months if we do not cut by $1.6 trillion and pass a balanced budget amendment t

ms. jackson lee: if the gentleman would yield. i thank you for your passion and what you're saying makes me think of what we're doing to even the younger generation because you have made a point of what has lasted over half a century, over 50 years and it is a framework that can be in place for those who are young. and if we take it apart, we will not have this structure that is helpful. there is no reason to argue against modernizing, looking at ways to improve medicare. our republicans are talking about ending it as we know it and the running of the bull. and frambingly, i have this image on a voucher plan of the running of the bulls, run of seniors trying to get the last voucher, trampling each other because they are seeking that one lifeline they need. medicare is the infrastructure of our hospital system. you cut into medicare, you are talking about closing hospitals and eliminating physicians and ending care as we know it. is there any understanding to the fact that we need to be adults and sit down -- when i look at my city

ms. jackson lee, for a unanimous consent request. the speaker pro tempore: for what time? mr. mcgovern: i yield for unanimous consent. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for unanimous consent. ms. jackson lee: i stand here united for america voting yes on this bill to save medicare, medicaid and social security. as an american i ask unanimous consent to put my statement into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcgovern: madam speaker, i'd like to yield one minute to the gentleman from georgia, a member of the financial services committee, mr. scott. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for one minute. mr. scott: thank you very much. thank you very much, mr. chairman. ladies and gentlemen of the house of representatives, this is not a nation of tea party people. it is not a nation of democrats or republicans. it is a nation of all of us, and what the reid plan presents, it represents the tea party, the republicans and the democrats and the president of the united states. this is what the american people exp

ms. jackson lee: thank you very much, mr. speaker. there have been a number of points that i would just like to bring really to the attention of my colleagues and to indicate that i hope we can do better. that's my message. i hope we can do better. i hope we can do better than having two presidential candidates in the republican party sign a pledge that would suggest that would suggest that children of slaves were much better off than the children of african american parents today. we know we have a high number of single parents throughout the united states raising children, but just read the saves' narratives and the biography of frederick douglass, there was no marriage between slaves and children were torn away and those who had given birth and they were torn away from each other. slavery was a destructive part of this country. and i would suggest if we are negotiating the debt ceiling, we should not have leaders in the room that make a statement that we'll have no resolution because president obama is president. i'm insulted and o

ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from texas is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: i thank the gentleman very much and i'm just overwhelmed with the words breathtakingly ignorant policies. i'm literally shocked and let me tell you why. when you want to understand my republican friends, why we're in the position we're in, what about the 37.5% of the debt being the bush-era tax cuts? tax cuts on which this bill and any of your negotiations don't in any way suggest revenue. which the american people understand. arrogant policies by the president? the recovery and reinvestment was only 5.2%, creating three million jobs. let me say that again. three million jobs. the economic downturn came about with the iraq war and others. so today, my friends come on the floor of the house with the cut, cap and balance. as member of the judiciary committee, let me suggest to you that the amendments that were put in the bill have destroyed any sense of balance to the balanced budget amendment. but -- can i -- mr. mcgovern: i yield an additional one minute. the speaker pro t

ms. jackson lee: on behalf of the american people. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair now recognizes the gentlewoman from new york, ms. hochul, for five minutes. ms. hochul: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise for five minutes to revise and extend my remarks. less than two months on this job, i only have one question to ask. is anyone in this body listening to the people who sent us here? i could only conclude at this point that the answer is no. or we would not be teetering on the precipice, not just a government shutdown, but intentional, i say intentional economic shutdown. the likes of which we have never seen in this country. i say intentional because the stakes of this high expense game of chicken, we all know the game of chicken, got a couple of crazy teenagers racing toward each other on a highway and nobody's going to swerve. what happens? when no one blinks, no one swerves? no one comes to their senses? a crash. lives are lost. no survivors. it's not a pretty sight. it didn't have

ms. jackson lee: thank you very much, mr. speaker. flying in today our plane was delayed, didn't have the opportunity to advance my support for h.r. 33, the church plan investment clarification act of 2011. and i want to acknowledge the sponsorship of congresswoman ggert and indicate tat unde current law thousands of church pension plans are denied participation in collective trusts, rendering them unable to pull their assets or reap the benefits of buying power. many churches experience difficulties and encourage expense when is diversifying pension plans. our chunches, our houses of worship provide invaluable service and many of those in my own community, the new light christian church, st. john missionary baptist church and many others work throughout our community, we are blessed to have lakewood church in our community as well that works very hard, a church leadership that i've known for many, many years. so this bill has been supported by the church alliance, the ymca retirement fund, the church pension group and others and i th

ms. jackson lee: thank you very much, mr. speaker. flying in today our plane was delayed, didn't have the opportunity to advance my support for h.r. 33, the church plan investment clarification act of 2011. and i want to acknowledge the sponsorship of congresswoman biggert and indicate that under current law thousands of church pension plans are denied participation in collective trusts, rendering them unable to pull their assets or reap the benefits of buying power. many churches experience difficulties and encourage expense when is diversifying pension plans. our chunches, our houses of worship provide invaluable service and many of those in my own community, the new light christian church, st. john missionary baptist church and many others work throughout our community, we are blessed to have lakewood church in our community as well that works very hard, a church leadership that i've known for many, many years. so this bill has been supported by the church alliance, the ymca retirement fund, the church pension group and others and

ms. jackson lee: mr. speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the house will come to order. the gentlelady may proceed. ms. jackson lee: mr. speaker, i just heard celebration just a few minutes ago regarding the passage of the cap, cut and balance that really should be named the tap dance, establishing the loser' club for americans and busting of benefits for americans bill, because what we are doing is tap dancing around the responsibility of this congress to, in fact, raise the debt limit as we have done hundreds -- not hundreds, but 60 times but of course we are establishing losers by the very fact that interest rates will go up, medicare will be gone and chamber of commerce and hundreds of businesses will, in fact, be begging for us to lift the debt ceiling. but more importantly, we will cause america's lack of paying her bills to hurt businesses and let me introduce you to the losers now that this bill has passed, welcome to the losers, soldiers, grandparents, mothers and fathers

ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from texas. ms. jackson lee: thank you very much, mr. speaker. and i thank the distinguished member of the budget committee as well for the great work that he has been doing. as i listen to my friends discuss this question of being responsible, i want to at least announce breaking news that our friends in the other body have come up with a semi-solution on revenue and on the question of how we would cut. they are seeking to be responsible. and today in this body, we are not. i heard a tutorial about the green light and red light, which as you are a member, green is yes, and no comes up red. what the red will mean is to stop the insanity, to stop the loss of our moral compass, the responsibility to pay our bills. what the red light will mean is that we, in fact, would be not paying the bills of our family. we wouldn't be paying social security. interest rates will spike. the u.s. dollars would decline and our credit would literally go out the door. that's what being without responsibility is what we ar

ms. jackson lee: if you'll yield one quick moment to add to what he said. we're also in a climate of fighting against terrorism. and in order to secure the homeland you have to make choices about how you invest and so i have a different opinion, i think if you invest money, you get innovation, you get jobs and none of what has been said by speaker boehner has anything about innovation, jobs and has no seemingly understanding of the importance of securing the homeland. i yield back to the gentlelady. mrs. christensen: thank you for adding that again. at this time i'd like to yield to the former chair of the congressional black caucus, congresswoman barbara lee from oakland. also chair of the out of poverty caucus. a lot of times, well, even up to this weekend we've heard that nobody's talking about the poor. but i thank you for lide leadinging -- for leading, for starting the out of poverty caucus, for leading us to an agenda that continues even today of pathways out of poverty and for bringing us to the floor every day for the last couple of weeks to talk a

ms. jackson lee, for five minutes. ms. jackson lee: i'd like to particularly thank the out of poverty caucus, congresswoman lee, towns, and conyers, honda, and a number of other members who have joined that caucus and all of us who are here on the floor who are members of that caucus. and who believe that this could not be a more important time. a few days ago i got on the floor to rename the cut, cap, and balance legislation that was passed that would cut $6 trillion out of the hearts and needs of the american people. and i called it the tap dance, looser's club, and -- loser's club, and bust the benefits bill because this is not a question of members who are standing here today wanting to recklessly spend your money. in fact, we are excited about opportunities that help boost the middle class. but we want to remind our colleagues that there are americans who are impoverished. do you know that there are americans who are on the frontlines? young soldiers, the ages of 18, 19, 20, and 21 who have come out of places like the

ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from texas. ms. jackson lee: thank you very much, mr. speaker. and i thank the distinguished member of the budget committee as well for the great work that he has been doing. as i listen to my friends discuss this question of being responsible, i want to at least announce breaking news that our friends in the other body have come up with a semi-solution on revenue and on the question of how we would cut. they are seeking to be responsible. and today in this body, we are not. i heard a tutorial about the green light and red light, which as you are a member, green is yes, and no comes up red. what the red will mean is to stop the insanity, to stop the loss of our moral compass, the responsibility to pay our bills. what the red light will mean is that we, in fact, would be not paying the bills of our family. we wouldn't be paying social security. interest rates will spike. the u.s. dollars would decline and our credit would literally go out the door. that's what being without responsibility is what we ar

ms. jackson lee: thank you, madam. the vote on the schiff amendment on yesterday, which was july 14, 2011, i incorrectly voted no. i ask unanimous consent that my correct vote be placed into the amendment -- excuse me, placed into the record as an aye vote for the schiff amendment on yesterday, july 14, 2011, to the energy and water bill which is -- to the energy and water bill that was under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman's statement will be entered into the record. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland rise? hoyer highway i ask to speak out of order for -- mr. hoyer: i ask to speak outer order for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hoyer: thank you and i yield to the majority leader. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. cantor: i thank the gentlelady. i thank the speaker, i thank the gentleman from maryland, the democratic whip, for yielding. madam speaker, on monday the house w

ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from texas. ms. jackson lee: thank you very much, mr. speaker. and i thank the distinguished member of the budget committee as well for the great work that he has been doing. as i listen to my friends discuss this question of being responsible, i want to at least announce breaking news that our friends in the other body have come up with a semi-solution on revenue and on the question of how we would cut. they are seeking to be responsible. and today in this body, we are not. i heard a tutorial about the green light and red light, which as you are a member, green is yes, and no comes up red. what the red will mean is to stop the insanity, to stop the loss of our moral compass, the responsibility to pay our bills. what the red light will mean is that we, in fact, would be not paying the bills of our family. we wouldn't be paying social security. interest rates will spike. the u.s. dollars would decline and our credit would literally go out the door. that's what being without responsibility is what we ar

ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady texas is recognized for the remainder of the hour. ms. jackson lee: let me thank the gentleman from florida. let me thank the gentleman from florida, he has certainly awakened a number of issues and members on his important discussion. i wanted to join in his commentary about this very important discussion. mr. speaker, we will be leaving shortly and i'm glad that we will be returning on monday for very serious business. many of us have been in meetings today engaging on solutions rather than distractions as relates to the business of the american people. none of us have experienced, i believe, the attention to an issue of the budget as much as we had that attention now from our constituents on will the debt ceiling be raised. there's not a time in these past couple weeks that i have gone home when businesspersons, students, seniors, working families have not asked the question, will we get it done? i'm an optimist and i said to them, yes. i exp

ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for two minutes. ms. jackson lee: thank you, ms. slaughter, for your generosity and i want to thank the gentlewoman from maine for recounting the prayers of americans and i would ask them to continue to pray because compromise is part of the democratic way. but my friends on the other side did not tell you correctly why we are now involved in frivolous activity on the floor. we're not raising the debt ceiling. and the reason is there are 53 senators in the other body that have signed a let that are said they're absolutely not going to vote for this draconian presentation and the reason -- and let me call the roll. the reason they're not going to vote for it, because it is a short-term solution to a long-term problem. it has no revenues along with cuts. 64% of the american people say, balance it, cuts with revenues, to invest in our nation. let me read the roll why senators are not voting. the other body is not voting. democrats recognize this is not the way to go. you will lose your medicare, pell grants w

ms. jackson lee: madam speaker, i'm excited about the number of members who welcome guests to the quites capitol. it is an important place because it belongs to the american people. i'm delighted tat point dexter -- that the poindexter family has joined me. but many of those here have traveled on airplanes, through airports. i am on the homeland security committee, i'm disappointed and outraged that the f.a.a. bill is held up on minor issues such as whether or not we'll allow our workers to engage in discussions about their work conditions. it is being held up because the bill cancels f.a.a. and air traffic controllers in small airports and the supplemental support, you will, the supplemental support that's been given to small airports in rural areas. it's time get to work, our republican friends need to stop holding up this bill for minor issues so americans can fly in safety and security. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. the clerk: leave of absence requested for mr. griffith of virginia f

ms. jackson lee: there is no doubt, mr. young, you are the renowned expert on alaska. so i don't rise to counter that. in fact i come from the other open wild state that likes their own self-determination and they just associated you with the state of texas. i remind my colleagues that there's water in virginia, there's water in massachusetts, and there's water all along. but i rise to support the gentleman's amendment because frankly the last time i talked to the very important coast guard, they are short on money. frankly i want the coast guard to be in the port of houston doing their job as relates to protecting the coast line of america from terrorists. they are involved in that. they are not in essence an agency that can just expand its resources. i would just raise the question, i think the gentleman from washington was very engaging and cooperative by saying how can we work this out? my interpretation is in opposing the language that's in the bill and supporting mr. dicks is that we have in essence a legislative earmark. and that means that all of us can rise up

ms. jackson lee: i thank you, mr. speaker. this morning we joined together to express our commitment to one nation. unfortunately we are in a collapse and a crisis because we are, as my good friend from michigan said, drawn and strangled by those in the tea party who believe that america is -- belongs to only one group. well, i stand here today to say that we must not take to their words that says do not surrender. you don't surrender when you walk on -- work on behalf of the american people. you wonder why the economy is slow, because it is strangled by lack of action. let's join together in a bipartisan way to lift the debt ceiling. if not the president has constitutional authority to lift the debt ceiling and get members to move forward and this country to be able to protect the 401-k's, social security, medicare and medicaid. mr. speaker, we are one nation, we should represent the people of the united states because we can create jobs, we can move the economy and we can show the world that america is run by adults and we s

ms. jackson lee: thank you very much. my good friend did what many of us did, he's my neighbor in louisiana and i went home to texas and interacted with so many constituents, many of them asking the question -- why? and i believe it's important to ask the question, why not? let me tell you, my let me tell you my friends, we don't need to politicize the debt crelling, but we need to tell the truth for if the debt ceiling is not raised, trillions of dollars will be lost, not in those of us who sit on this floor, but in the portfolios and packages for seniors and 401-k's. if you want to talk about $1 trillion, talk about what will be lost to our seniors and hardworking americans. there is no option. there is not an option for short-term. that's a joke. that's politics to start up back again in april or march. let's go forward with the proposed plan. let's get a deficit reduction, raise the debt ceiling, cut what we can. and go into regular order. that is the responsible, adult way to go. america is watching. america is looki