ms. richardson: mr. chairman, i have an amendment at the desk. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 12 printed in house report 112-213 offered by ms. richardson of california. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 406, the gentlewoman from california, ms. richardson, and a member opposed will each control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california. ms. richardson: mr. chairman, my amendment is intended to strike the provision that reduces the amount of funding for the december of reduction program. five years ago congress passed the diesel emission reduction act as a part of the energy policy act of 2005. the program was authorized at $200 million per year for five years. in 2011 the congress acted responsibly and in light of our fiscal crisis situation we reduced that amount by $is 100 million per year. this amendment brings into question whether it makes sense to reduce a proven successful program that is not increasing r

ms. richardson: mr. speaker, i rise in support of the 685,000 workers of the united states postal service who are facing a very devastating future without our action. if congress doesn't act now, we could potentially lose 120,000 jobs. imagine that, that are in jeopardy today. the united states postal service offers a very affordable system. but right now they are in jeopardy. why? because back in 2006 they were -- i would say in a discriminated way -- required to pay $5.5 billion in overcharge into benefits that are not incurred at this time. based on long-term projections, they have an estimated surplus, imagine that in this time, of $55 billion to $75 billion. without this mandate, usps would actually have a $611 million benefit that they could help out in this tough economy. . there are 6 5,000 workers not at fault for -- there are 685,000 workers not at fault for this requirement and this does not need to continue. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman rise? >> i rise to hob h

ms. richardson is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. first of all, i want to talk about the cuts that the house of representatives supported and actually many colleagues here. i don't know if you gentlemen are aware, but actually of the appropriations bill, we -- not we. i didn't sport this. $2.7 billion was removed, that's 6% less than originally requested by the administration specifically within customs and border protection. $89 million was cut, 1% less than requested. transportation security administration, 4% less. coast guard, something you just talked about, $37 million was cut, .4% less than requested. within fema, the most dramatic cut of 1.4 billion, 21% less than requested. what would you say to members of congress in the senate who despite your efforts in your reports seem to not value these services to the level that you say we need to have them? what would your response be? >> i'm sorry. you were -- did you want to hand m -- handle that? you named cuts on homeland security in general? >> yeah, and what advice would you gi