ms. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. pallone from new jersey, i yield one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: thank you, ms. chairwoman. i know the time is short, bill brief. this is a very important bill to the nation's beaches. i represent a coastal area. basically a few years ago we passed the original beaches act which allowed for testing of ocean waters so that people would know, as a sort of right to know measure, when to go in the water and when not to. it's been very successful in keeping beaches clean and notifying people when they shouldn't go swimming or when beaches have been cleaned up and they can go back into the water. we found we needed better protection. that's what we're doing with this bill today. it calls for more rapid testing within 24 hours. sometimes it would take, within a few hours, i should say, because sometimes it would take 24 to 48 hours in the past before we would know whether beaches should be closed. there's a much more rapid testing method within a few hours. in addition to that, the grants a

ms. johnson of texas for today and ms. fallin of oklahoma for today. the speaker pro tempore: wofmente the requests are granted. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. poe: i ask unanimous consent that today following legislative business and any special orders hevert entered into, the following members may be permitted to address this house, revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material, myself, mr. poe for today, july, , ms. ros-lehtinen for today, mr. fleming for today and july 8, mr. pence for today, mr. jones for today, july 8, 9, 10, 13 and 14. mr. burton for today and july 8, 9 and 10. mr. olson for july 9. mr. inglis for today and july 13. mr. moran for today, july 8, 9 and 10. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. woolsey: i ask unanimous consent that today following legislative business and any special orders hevert entered into, the following members may be permitted to address the house for five minutes to revise and extend their remarks and include thrn extraneous materials. ms. woolsey, ms. ka

ms. johnson: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. you know, it's interesting of what i'm listening to. this sounds like 15 years ago when president clinton tried to reform the health care system. this time we must do it. the increase, just to small businesses to cover their employees, has gone up 129% since the year 2000. workers pay more. small business workers pay an average of 18% more in premiums. how far do we have to go before we have the common sense to change it? if anybody disagrees with the bill, read it. that's the first thing we must do. read the bill. i have read the bill. it's a good bill. it's so unfortunate that the influence on this house is coming from insurance companies who have been in control of health care for the last 30 years. we must change that. they've given out $100 billion around here. we must change it. the people need this health care reform. right now. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expir

ms. eddie bernice johnson. the chair: the gentlewoman is recognized for two minutes. ms. johnson: thank you very much, mr. chairman. and let me thank chairman of the committee, the ranking member, for their work. i rise today in support of a provision in the manager's amendment to increase the amount of funds available for human rights and democratic initiatives of the u.s. department of state and the u.s. agency for international development. specifically, the democracy fund in this appropriations bill will be in large helping countless people across the globe. i'd like to thank my colleagues, the honorable nita lowey, and the honorable kay granger, for accepting my amendment, and i commend them for their hard work on this bill. this really is an important bill. at this moment in history, i cannot help but be reminded of particular problems we are facing internationally. . although we have developed a high standard of living in our own country, so many people across the globe cannot think about democracy because frankly, they're so busy trying to survive and they don't sh

ms. johnson, you really wanted the cap, so -- >> i'm not a big counsel fan myself, and not really endorsingthat. but i think it has to rest with whoever has the authority to do the bailouts. who makes the bailout versus collapse decision? i think it's treas because they write the checks. >> i know your prior history at the imf. mr. royce? >> thank you, mr. chairman. i would ask a question of mr. mahoney and mr. zandy for their opinion on this. but for many years, i was concerned about the perceived government backing of fannie mae and freddie mac. and about the ability of these firms to borrow at interest rates that were a lot lower. they were near governmental rates. and most private companies, of course, because of perceived investment rink associateded with fannie and freddie being so much lower, most competitors were at a disadvantage. at the same time, they were allowed to involve themselves in arbitrage. i think the leverage was 100 to 1. i think that one of the main problems that we had was legitimizing the idea that subprime loans were safe. and i think the fact that the government

ms. johnson: thank you very much, mr. speaker, and let me thank our congresswoman from ohio, congresswoman fudge, for organizing this special order on health care. over the years the degree of accessibility and quality of health care in the united states has faulted. we are a nation in crisis. many americans who are uninsured and unable to pay their hospital bills are deprived of the care and attention needed to ensure their well-being. fundamental change is necessary to truly make progress toward a healthier america. we must rescue our health care from the insurance companies and the pharmaceutical companies. my experience as a state and federal legislator and a nurse have provided a unique vantage point from which to discuss this issue. during my 15 years as a professional nurse and that of a chief psychiatric nurse at the veterans administration hospital in dallas, texas, i witnessed the diminishing state of our health care first-hand. our system of health care is especially weak when it comes to mental health, for exa

ms. -- beat the throw, but misses the plate. bottom of the ninth, jim johnson gives up the walk off home run. the yankees 8 them 2-1 in yankee stadium. they make a change tomorrow. they may have to move someone off the 25 man roster. it looks like relief pitcher who only has a few games for the orioles and still has minor- league options left may be the person. people are reporting for the training camp. practice starts a week from tomorrow. the ravens will continue to look for more depth in receivers. they are looking at a d.j. they also get a second look at 1 player. they plan to meet with their mason later this week. michael vick has paid his debt to society. but if he gets paid to place in the nfl again -- that remains to be seen. he no longer has to wear an electronic ankle monitor. his next step remains uncertain. they call his review ongoing. he cannot sign with an nfl team until they lift his indefinite suspension. if a team will sign him -- that remains unpredictable for several reasons. negative publicity that will follow him back into his days as a f

-- and seize the cities they came closer here at hue than anywhere else ms >> when he opposed the war in vietnam,. lyndon johnson remarked "if i've lost cronkite i've lost middle america." >> i don't believe that was a deciding matter at all. it was just another droven water in a great torrent that was overwhelming not lyndon johnson at that point. >> cronkite's focus on the watergate scandal during the nixon administration helped propel that story to the headlines. in the last few months of his tenure, cronkite was given 11 awards, including the presidential medal of course freedom. afterwards he continued to host specials. in 1985 he was the first newsman aside from edward r. murrow to be inducted into the television hall of fame. even in his retirement he was tive in television. during the 1996 presidential campaign he led the fight for free air time 0 on tv networks for presidential candidates. in his final years he was a highly sought-after public speaker, host of documentaries and avid sailor on his yacht. as television news moved out of its infancy, walter cronkite helped it mature. >> that's the way it i

ms. sanchez. votes no. mr. higgins. mr. higgins votes no. mr. yarmouth, voetsdz no. mr. camp. mr. camp votes yes. mr. larson votes no. mr. herger. votes aye. mr. johnson. mr. johnson votes aye. mr. brady. mr. brady votes aye. mr. ryan, mr. ryan votes aye. mr. cantor, mr. cantor votes aye. mr. linder. mr. linder votes aye. mr. nunez, votes aye. mr. tea barry votes aye. ms. brown wait, votes aye. mr. davis of kentucky. mr. davis of kentucky votes aye. mr. reichert, votes aye. mr. buse taney. votes aye. mr. heller, votes aye. mr. ross cam, votes aye. mr. mcdermott, votes no. mr. tanner. mr. tanner votes no. mr. chairman chairman votes no. 16 yeas. 25 nays. thank you mr. chairman the underlying bill allows for redistribution of unused slots for primary residents in medical education, increasing the total number of graduate, milled education slots by 15% is really, part of my amendment. it would direct these newly created slots as well, currently unfulfilled slots for training of primary care residents as in the underlying bill and includes pediatric service specialty residents, pediatric medical, subspecialties, surgical specialties or pediatric psychiatr

ms. edwards: i thank the gentleman. i was listening to my colleague, mr. hall, and mr. johnson. i want to say particularly something about the critics' charge about we don't want government running health care and government is going to choose your doctor. i grew up in the united states air force. my father was in the military. when we were young children and had to go get health care coverage, we called, made an appointment, you know, got the tonsils checked, got whatever medication was needed, and went home. we saw a primary care physician. the government provided system. my father on his retirement was in the v.a. system, got excellent coverage through the v.a. system. my brother retired from the united states air force. excellent service and care through the v.a. system. those are government provided systems, medicare. medicare is one of the most efficient, efficient health care systems that we have. so what are we talking about here? the critics can say what they want, but they know that when it's medicare or veterans coverage or coverage through these systems that people g