ms. kaptur. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. kaptur: i would like to thank ranking member van hollen. i rise again to oppose the republicans' destructive attempt to repeal the accord -- affordable care law. their 31st such attempt. in ohio already the law has been making a difference for hundreds of thousands of people, middle class families, nearly 100,000 young adults have been able to remain on their parents' health insurance plans. in the first five months of this year, over 700 seniors any many hometown of toledo, ohio have collectively saved over half a million dollars in scription drug costs. last year, 1.2 million medicare beneficiaries in highway receive freed preventive care from their doctors like mammograms and colonoscopies. insurance companies are now paying out over 11 million in rebates. to ohio families -- in rebates to ohio families because they did not spend enough on paying for health care. over four million ohioans, including 1.5 million women and 1.1 million children have seen their insurance companies drop

ms. kaptur: mr. speaker, the draft farm bill, unfortunately, contains serious damage to the supplemental nutrition program, the foundational food lifeline for millions of americans. what a shame. when unemployment levels remain too high, with the cost of living rising with, with food prices going up that affect so many of our senior citizens and millions of americans who live at the edge, surely this congress can do better. wall street speculators and bankers got to keep all their bonuses and the republican majority can't seem to find their way to ask the richest to pay something to help our republic close the gap. millionaires and billionaires. couldn't they forego some of their ill-gotten treasurer, especially the speculaters who led this republican to the edge? so what do the republicans do? literally take food out of the mouths of children, seniors, the unemployed, the disabled. $16 billion worth. citizens who live at the edge of poverty receive $1.50 per meal in benefits. the farm bill thus far

ms. kaptur, for five minutes. ms. kaptur: thank you. mr. speaker, i rise today to talk about what is nothing less than the largest transfer of the american people's wealth from main street to wall street. the largest transfer in american history due to the fallout from the financial crisis of 2008. banks at the heart of the crisis all got larger. as their c.e.o.'s made more money, while average citizens saw their incomes stall or drop, or be eliminated, and communities across this country hit hard by their losses. recently, the federal reserve issued a startling report that showed the net worth of the average american family fell by as much as 40% during the last three years, but i can tell you the banks and speculators at the heart of this crisis that has hurt us all have all done better. it's really startling. the 2010 numbers set families, ordinary middle class families, back by nearly two decades. america's middle class was the hardest hit. and while many families saw losses in their retirement savings, they saw their home worth go down

ms. kaptur. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. aptur: i would like to thank ranking member van hollen. i rise again to oppose the republicans' destructive attempt to repeal the accord -- affordable care law. their 31st such attempt. in ohio already the law has been making a difference for hundreds of thousands of people, middle class families, nearly 100,000 young adults have been able to remain on their parents' health insurance plans. in the first five months of this year, over 700 seniors any many hometown of toledo, ohio have collectively saved over half a million dollars in scription drug costs. last year, 1.2 million medicare beneficiaries in highway receive freed preventive care from their doctors like mammograms and colonoscopies. insurance companies are now paying out over 11 million in rebates. to ohio families -- in rebates to ohio families because they did not spend enough on paying for health care. over four million ohioans, including 1.5 million women and 1.1 million children have seen their insurance companies drop t

ms. kaptur: when six wall street megabanks control 2/3 of the wealth in our nation, it's too much economic power in too few hands. when undisclosed billionaires spend billions on political campaigns and they crush the voices of ordinary citizens, it's too much political power in too few hands. america must put an end to the influence of secret money on our elections. the disclose act of 2012 would shine the light on the secret money in political campaigns, but the republican leadership won't bring it up. even though americans, 3/4 of our voters think campaign finance reform is a key issue for the election, and 69% of the public believes that superpacks should be illegal. jet house republican leaders refuse to bring up the disclose act. it's long past due that we put power back in the hands of other ordinary citizens. let's rechannel the billions being wasted on campaign overkill to help our seniors afford food and balanced the national budget. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the chair lays before the house a message. the clerk: to

ms. kaptur: madam speaker, i rise today to draw attention to how campaign superpacs are contributing unlimited campaign spending which shifts enormous political power to the superwealthy, ruled by those who truly threaten our republic and harm representative republic. look at this cartoon. shows how the superpacs really have a stranglehold on the politics of this country. with the citizens united ruling by the supreme court, they threw away decades of legal precedence governing campaign contributions and the result has been a growing stranglehold by the money barons in our political process. the american people know it and they know wher' not doing anything about it. at a minimum we should demand greater transparency of who actually is giving this money, no more donors, and i urge my colleagues to sign the discharge petition, 4010, that's here on the floor today to move the bill for disclosure to the floor. but what we should really do is pass a constitutional amendment to allow for campaign spending and contribution limits and i have that bill and i have had that bill congress after congress

ms. kaptur: mr. chairman, i want to thank the gentleman from washington for yielding me this time. i want to acknowledge the work of our full committee under the chairmanship of mr. rogers. obviously the wonderful work of our chairman, bill young, and our subcommittee ranking member, mr. dicks. their collegial work has made this bill possible and it will benefit our entire nation, our men and women in uniform, our armed forces and all those who are touched by this legislation. i would like to add my voice to those who wish to acknowledge the magnificent work that congressman dicks has done in his years of service to our country, back from the time when he first worked for senator warren magnusson. we would like to wish him, his wife sue see, and their beautiful family many healthy and productive years ahead and we thank him for his service, all the dutiful, always enlightened. when he walks from these halls officially, he takes great knowledge and should take great satisfaction with him for a yb well -- for a job well done indeed. i want to extend to congressmannierry lewis as well