ms. kaptur: ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the the gentlewoman from ohio is recognized for one minute. ms. kaptur: i would like to rise this evening on behalf of the people of the state of ohio to offer our great heartfelt support to our brothers and sisters in the nation of japan. every person in the world, really, is bound with the -- with compassion and with hope that we can find a way to help heal the great damage that is occurring there and has occurred. i know that we have over naval vessels that have moved across the pacific to offer assistance and nations around the world will help the nation of japan. my message is one of hope to the japanese people. some that i have worked in my career, so many educational leaders and just the people of japan who have been so kind to us on our visits there. i hope they know that japanese americans living in our country and ohio's 9th district are bound with them in an attitude of rebuilding and healing, we offer a very special hello to the valiant people of j

ms. kaptur, for five minutes. -- the gentlewoman from ohio, ms. kaptur, for five minutes. ms. kaptur: mr. speaker, a little over a week ago the executive branch launched military force against yet another middle eastern country, this time it is oil rich libya. u.s. naval and air forces attacked libyan military installations across that country, wiping out air defenses, intelligence systems, tanks, and also apparently is now targeting that nation's ground forces. under what policy is the executive branch operating without a vote of congress and expending millions of defense dollars and state dollars on offensive action taken inside a nation that did nothing provocative toward the united states and in fact last year was even a recipient of u.s. foreign aid? the president's justification for this action was that it was not an act of war but rather humanitarian mission to prevent a catastrophe that would have result interested libya's military forces under the command of libyan president gaddafi from taking the civilian center. our president says he did not act alone. as french, br

ms. kaptur: i ask unanimous consent to speak for one minute, please. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. ms. kaptur: i want to reiterate some statistics i introduced in the record earlier today as we try to balance the federal budget, let's look at who has the money. if you look at the big banks from wall street that took us down this dangerous road, six banks, citigroup, goldman sachs, j.p. morgan chase, wells fargo, made last year $51.5 billion in profits. that's with a b, billion. today the majority passed a few billion dollars in cuts and they took it out of the hides of ordinary americans paying the price of this recession. but imagine if you worked for a wall street bank and only had to pay an effective tax rate of 11.5% or 11% when most businesses in america have to pay 35%, they are getting a really good deal. we didn't nick their bonus aspenny and the top executives walked home with $26 million. if you want to ask yourself the question how to balance the budget, why not look at where the money really is. and none of that is

ms. kaptur and i sent you a letter on and it was at draft notice, and you were kind enough -- it was mr. owens, the assistant administrator. it has to do with false or misleading product names. here is my concern. there are two companies in ohio, scott is pretty well known, and the other i did not know about until this dustups started, and this is anderson golf pro. the proposed pr notice, which will not go through guidance -- rule making, it will be guidance. it was to take a look at trademarked names. have a lot of problems with that. a trademark name is a trademark name. but the comments being solicited on names that apparently the agency will have problems with predicator, germ shield, professional grade, pro, say, safer, safest, and green. when i was growing up, green was a color. if someone has gone through the process of having its fertilizer trademark, i have no problem with the epa looking in the bag to make sure it is safe for human help and everything else. but a lot of time and money, some of the trade mart names have been around since the 1960's. seets lawn pro i don't anyth

ms. kaptur, for five minutes. ms. kapp i thank you very much, madam speaker -- ms. kaptur: i thank you very much, madam speaker. let me ask you, where are you? america's trade policy is operating as if we were still in the last century instead of the 21st. time and again this congress keeps failing to grasp reality and learn from past failures. instead, congress keeps doing more of the same failed approach. now, this administration has pledged to soon submit another so-called free trade agreement this time with korea. there are even some in congress who are demanding the president attach agreements to panama and colombia at the same time. all of these agreements fail to put america in a position to win economically by creating jobs here in our country. i want to remind my colleagues that these agreements are nothing more than expansions of the same failed trade policies established by nafta. think about china. ever since those agreements were signed we've never had a single balanced trade account with those countries. these same approaches racked up another half tril

ms. kaptur: i thank the gentleman and i urge my colleagues to vote no on this continuing resolution. it cuts money for jobs for people and cuts social services to our senior citizens when gas prices are going up and food prices are going up. jobs that clean up our bruin field site, it cuts public broadcasting the only decent broadcasting with the trash that's on the air today, and cuts the save america's treasures program. so people say, where are you going to get the money? let me tell you where the money is and what's not on the table in trying to plans the federal budget. how about the profits of the wall street big sticks, morgan stanley, citigroup, they took last year $51 billion in profits. $51 billion at the expense of the american people in this great recession we're endure, they're mape as clams. their top executives took $26 million, not counting their stock options. we didn't touch a penny of their bonuses, can't do that. they're paying at an 11% tax rate when businesses in my district have to pay a 35%. what's fair about that? we could have $13 billion, $14 billion if the

ms. kaptur, for five minutes. ms. kaptur: thank you, mr. speaker. the proposed south korea trade deal is the largest nafta style trade agreement proposed in 15 years. some people in washington, including president obama, support this agreement. congress should not. most importantly, the nafta-korea deal will result in more job loss across countless communities in our country. the u.s. international trade commission studied this agreement and determined that it will be a net job loser for our country. just like the nafta deal was, just like the china deal was, just like all the failed nonreciprocal trade deals our nation has negotiated over the last 25 years. yes, a handful of companies will come out ahead, and they have a lot of power in washington, but as a whole our country loses. we've heard a lot about deficits lately. this deal with the koreans will only put us deeper in the hole. why would congress do this again to the american people and to the american economy? last year, the united states ran up another half trillion dollar trade deficit wi

ms. kaptur, for five minutes. ms. kaptur: thank you, mr. speaker. almost one in our homeowners in our country is under water. meaning they owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. and all of this misery is due to wall street's rigging of our economy. but on wall street they are popping champagne works. the nation's biggest banks, bank of america, wells fargo, citigroup, j.p. morgan chase, goldman sachs, and morgan stanley, have been raking in huge profits, all at the expense of the american people. in fact, these institutions have doubled in size through predatory mergers since the fall of 2007, and six banks, these six banks, now control 2/3 of the banking system in our country. they cleaned up with profits in 2010, $51.6 billion in profits. more profits than they made before the american people bailed them out. main street is under water, wall street's going on a pleasure cruise. it doesn't take a mental giant to figure who got our money. accordings to a recent report -- according to a recent report, the economic crisis that wall st

ms. kaptur. you are recognized. ms. kaptur: thank you. thank you, mr. speaker. across the world we witnessed millions of ordinary people rising up in public assemblies, many at risk to their own lives, speaking out for a better life for all. from madison to cairo to columbus, courageous people are taking a stand for justice for the many not just the few. another giant rally is planned today in columbus, ohio, where the republican resumesforamerica@mail.house.gov , john kasich, the son of public workers, is systematically attacking the hard-earned collective bargaining rights of our state public workers, policemen, firefighters, teachers, and other public sector workers, he even called an ohio policeman an idiot and was forced to apologize. that is his priority. not job creation. not education. not economic development but attacking workers. that is why thousands of people will converge on the state's capital again today to call him out on his extreme right-wing agenda. the public outcry started in wisconsin. give its long history of progressivism. americans have

ms. kaptur: i thank the gentleman and i urge my colleagues to vote no on this continuing resolution. it cuts money for jobs for people and cuts social services to our senior citizens when gas prices are going up and food prices are going up. jobs that clean up our bruin field site, it cuts public broadcasting the only decent broadcasting with the trash that's on the air today, and cuts the save america's treasures program. so people say, where are you going to get the money? let me tell you where the money is and what's not on the table in trying to plans the federal budget. how about the profits of the wall street big sticks, morgan stanley, citigroup, they took last year $51 billion in profits. $51 billion at the expense of the american people in this great recession we're endure, they're mape as clams. their top executives took $26 million, not counting their stocoptions. we didn't touch a penny of their bonuses, can't do that. they're paying at an 11% tax rate when businesses in my district have to pay a 35%. what's fair about that? we could have $13 billion, $14 billion if they

ms. kaptur raised and the issue with oxycontin and so what i want to see from you on this priority list -- and i understand you got to keep some of this quiet but i'd like to know where this is in the priority list and see how many dollars have been spent because i really believe this is one man's tear, maybe a personal issue after somebody else. i'm not sure where the balance is but again, i want to know where it is on the priority list. why it's where it is on the priority list, how many people are in this investigation and how much it has cost the taxpayers? >> okay. i appreciate your concern and i have raised some similar questions in the agency. >> i'm going to shut up in a minute but i want to say to you as a bike rider. it's one of the healthiest things americans can do right now and i know of your personal interest and health. but this is -- this is an icon who revolutionized bike riding and brought it home to so many americans and again, he's guilty, you know, that's a different manner but i just sense that, you know, this is blown out of proportion in terms of resources put into